Flugelhorn of my youth

Chapters

If one must move.. Do it in style!
Questions and answers.
The Pirate and the Pinkie. Pt 1
The Pirate and the Pinkie pt 2 : Enter Twilight

If one must move.. Do it in style!

For most crystal ponies the empire was now a wonderful place to live with the final defeat of Sombra thanks to the empire's great hero...Spike the Dragon... But it was not a better place for one pony.. It was not a nice place at all for Captain Silver Aircutter....

The trouble was that everypony who knew him or of him were quick to remember the bad things and they didn't bother to remember the good things that he did but he could hardly blame them.. Nopony liked a tax collector and when you were the only tax collector of a cruel and quite insane unicorn pony... It was even worse and when one added the fact that he went around stealing and/or finding treasures that belonged to other ponies or in a museum.. So it naturally bothered ponies that he was even around them.. Much less having him living next door.

He could accept the punishment of being Sombra's personal pirate more than the tax collecting because there were still tax collectors but there was no point in telling anypony that things could've been worse.. A lot worse. There was also the fact that his cutiemark was a pirate flag.. True it was a very famous old crystal pony pirate flag that once represented freedom if somepony bothered to look for the older history books and scrolls that Sombra didn't want anypony reading but wanted to keep because they held many great secrects and so they were buried in the catacombs of the library and were forgotten except by the likes of somepony like himself. But thankfully like anypony who was able to recover forgotten relics he too knew when to keep something secret.

Perhaps if he had told them one of the secrets they might be more friendly but that could mean revealing secrets that were best left buried. He was perhaps the only pony that had seen how much Sombra really wanted to rule the world and not just the empire..

So he kept that fact a secret but lucky for him building a crystal airship was not one of his best left buried secrets but that didn't mean it was going to be easy for him to build one... Much less find out how to build it's top secret crystal solar engine that was buried somewhere inside the huge mound of scrolls that he was now looking though..

Building a crystal airship was a part of their long almost forgotten past that predated Sombra by 2000 years.. Once the crystal empire built many such ships long before Sombra took over. It was one of the reasons it was still called an empire.. Because they had kept the secrets of how to build one for their own use and in their heyday day they were on par with the trains of today.. Now he just needed find...

" Blast it! Where is that scroll? I know it was here when I first found it!" Aircutter muttered as he went though a huge pile of scrolls that made a pile that even Pinkie Pie might think twice about grabbing one from the bottom and yet that was exactly what he was somehow managing to do though it quaked with from the last withdraw ...

Then he stopped and looked at the scroll .. Only the most secret of the old crystal scrolls were made out this kind of paper and he looked at it.

" YES! Found it! Now I can finish building my airship! I know I may be overdoing it but if I must leave the Crystal empire then I'm doing it in style and I'm doing it like a proper pirate should do... I'm going by a ship! " Aircutter said happily but then he suddenly got a bad feeling and he looked up at the pile..

The scroll pile then quaked again and fell down and nearly buried him and that caused him to lose the scroll, He sighed and began to dig for it again and thankfully he found it quickly..

He tucked it under his good left wing.. Then with his good left eye he sadly looked at the covered stump that once was his right wing that had been savagely cut off by Sombra when he was but a young colt when for the second time tried to refuse to serve him and he had only wanted to play a Flugelhorn.. The first time had cost him his right eye.. Another two reasons to build a airship..

He wanted to fly again even if it was by airship. Thankfully his coat hid the whip scars on his back from the times that Sombra didn't get what he wanted... They were his other reason to leave the empire.. Too many bad memories..

He left the library and went home which ironically used to be Sombra's giant warehouse that he had kept some of his stolen treasures in so no ponies came around because of their bad rep but he still had to work quickly if he wanted to leave in time.

There were plenty of ponies who wanted to demolish the place because they were not needed to remind them of Sombra .. In fact he had a week before Princess Cadence had the warehouse torn down and build a children's play center. She even had a ceremony planned at the end of the week and it was going to be a close call for him...Very close!

" Crystal Ponies... Today we are here to build a children's playground where once King Sombra kept much of his gotten goods. Now instead of this place being a place of unhappy tears let there be the laughter of young ponies of all kinds as I cut this ribbon and...What's that noise? "Cadence asked as she stopped mid-way from cutting the ribbon and looked up.

" it's the roof of the warehouse! I don't know how but It's-It's opening!!! " Said the nondescript pony who was sitting in the bulldozer.

All jaws dropped as a strange ship nearly the size of the whole warehouse that made of some kind of crystal began to fly over their heads and then stopped for a moment and Captain Aircutter's face looked down at a very surprised Princess Cadence and her husband Shining Armor looked up with dropped jaws as they read the name of the ship.. S.S. Airhoof and then they looked at the face of most white crystal pegi pony they ever saw.

" So you must be Princess Cadence and may I say what a honor it is to finally be able to meet you; I'd like to say that while I bear no ill will against you and the rest of the crystal ponies I think it's for the best that I leave you and try my luck at being accepted elsewhere seeing how many ponies here misjudged me based solely on the fact I once was more or less forced to work as King Sombra's righthoof pony.. Now if you'll excuse me I'll be taking my leave of this place and trying my luck at Ponyville! " Aircutter said

" Wait! Who are you!?" Shining Armor asked loudly as he shook off the shock of seeing the airship.

I am Captain Silver Aircutter! He yelled back and the airship began to move again as the ponies watched the airship fly into the sky with slack jaws..

" Oh dear! However will I ever explain this one to Aunt Princess Celestia? " Cadence asked as the airship disappeared into the sky.

' And how will I explain this one to Twilly? " Shining Armor asked as they looked at each other and wondered what they would make of this unexpected development.

Questions and answers.

As it turned out crystal airships were not known for their speed and right now could not run at night at all and it was meant for a full crew to work on it so it took the airship a full two days and half to reach Ponyville but he was sure that with some tinkering he could get the speed up but then again he did take quite a few shortcuts building everything in the first place and had not even got around to making everything it needed to work right so working on it was a must but he got what he wanted and gave everypony something to think about.

But right now he needed to find a place to land as he looked though his telescope to land and soon found something near a cottage near some patch of woods called Everfree forest on the map he had gotten from a resent trade but he wasn't too surprised when as soon as he landed his ship was quickly surrounded by many ponies.

As strange as it sounded this was exactly what he wanted because after being treated more or less like dirt even though he wasn't exactly treated fairly himself by Sombra but ponies being ponies looked at the crimes he committed for Sombra and not the fact that Sombra wasn't nice to him too and while they said they wanted to forget that was more part of Sombra's curse than their real desire to not remember. If they ever questioned in public it was in a way that you'd only notice if you were close enough to overhear it when they thought no pony but the pony they were talking too was in earshot.

He lowered the gangplank to see that Cadence was giving him the stinkeye because she was a obviously a little miffed with him for his showboating and the one called Celestia had a frown that was about one fourth as bad as Sombra's in a disgruntled mood.. So that was the pony he heard though the underground gossip line that had invited Discord to a party and that made him wonder if she needed a reminder that she was supposed to be a ruler first and have fun second.. The purple one had to be Twilight Sparkle and she did her best to look stern but looked more like she was trying to copy Celestia and was no where near as regal...Yet.. ..

The last Alicorn had to be Luna that he heard about and she looked more demure than anything else.. Something about her expression reminded him of the only real reason he had stayed so long in the empire if had not been for her he would've left as soon as Sombra was defeated but love had a way of making ponies do very stupid things even if it was one-sided but when she had married a few months ago.... That when he decided to do something about everything and change his life and he wasn't above spreading his misery. He was a pirate after all..

Spike was there as well and he wanted to see how much of hero he really was for himself.. The rest he really didn't care about but that odd creature had to be Discord and he might prove interesting as long as he kept track of him.

" Well I wish I could say I'm surprised you are all here but I'd be lying mostly because I wanted you here." Aircutter said crisply

" You could've just wrote some pony! " Twilight said as soon as he said it

" Oh please like I had a reason to trust anypony in the empire to deliver my mail; Besides I don't do polite very well.. It's a pirate thing and I'm a pirate...Well ex-pirate since I don't steal anything that belongs to anypony anymore but my point is I'm a unrefined pony and never will be refined. " Aircutter said in his gravelly voice that sounded as unrefined as he said he was.

" Pirate thing?.. Are you THE Captain Silver Aircutter as in the one who worked for Sombra? " Cadence suddenly asked with a surprised look because she had always thought he had left the empire shortly after things had calmed down considering his past.

" Ah so you have heard of me I was wondering about that since you never went after me or the others who had to serve Sombra personally" Aircutter said

Twilight turned to look at Cadence " You know this pony? " She asked as she looked at her.

" Not personally but after you left the crystal ponies started to remember more stuff and told me that there were ponies that he made work for him but there was one young orphan colt that he took in as his personal righthoof and he stole stuff and did things for Sombra but since I heard it may not have been by choice for any of the ponies I let the matter drop for all the ponies that personally worked for him and felt that all the ponies should be given a second chance but one name did come up many times during my questioning abut Sombra and what he did there when he ruled and that name was Sliver Aircutter! " Cadence said as she looked thoughtfully at Aircutter

" Yep! That's me! He kept beating me until I agreed to work for him but I managed to hold out until he took my eye and wing.. After that I worked so well as his personal pirate that my cutiemark ended up becoming a crystal pony pirate flag..." Aircutter said as he pointed to his cutiemark

" But a cutiemark don't work that way! " Twilight stared say until Aircutter held up his hoof to hush her and she looked a little vexed about it but let him say whatever it was he had to say.

" That's true most of the time.. Not all the time.. A young pony if they are young enough can be made to require another cutiemark to the point they become good at something other than what they love to do and once they do get that cutiemark it changes them forever and also Sombra wasn't exactly a good father figure though he was the closest thing I had to one for most of my life and what's more he knew that trick so thanks to him I got a pirate cutiemark.. " Aircutter said with a small grumpy snort to think that this pony would think she knew it all which she didn't!.

" What I don't understand is how you could build something like this under everypony's noses and how you managed to escape me before I could do something. Shining Armor said as he looked at the airship..

" Well aside the fact I made it in a warehouse that all ponies avoided because Sombra used it for he own ill gotten gain and other unsavory things.. Also It's not really that hard to make airships because it mostly uses the same crystal stuff that the buildings are made of with a few adjustments t make it lighter and stronger.. I mean have you not ever wondered how the buildings were made or what they were even made of? It's really quite light stuff in spite of it's looks and when they are done working on it os not your normal crystal.

I used most of the scrolls that tell you how to make airships and that warehouse wasn't exactly empty of stolen stuff when I first got there.. Some of went into the airship and the rest I traded for what I needed since the owners are long gone now and there's always a way to get what you need or want to know if you don't mind looking for the shady shops that deals in shady stuff and I am a pirate and pirates go to shady shops to find what they need or want to know..."

" As for escaping you..No offence but if I had to guess I'd say those guard skills of yours have been dulled quite a bit since you got married and you do have other duties on your mind like helping to run a empire among other things ,,, BTW,,,, I heard that the guy you have to looking into who was taking your desserts is the one who's taking them...Those shady shops are plenty good for all kinds of gossip.." Air Cutter said with a smirk that made Shining Armor want to punch Aircutter's face with his hoof but he didn't because he wasn't that kind of pony though he was tempted but he did make a quick mental note to re-hone his guard skills and to look into the matter of the disappearing desserts and maybe find a way to wipe that smirk of this pony's face without planting his hoof into Aircutter's face.. But right he more annoyed by the desserts right now; Cadence made those for him to enjoy; Not some other pony!!

" I see; As for this airship... What do we do about it Princess Celestia? " Shining Armor asked as he looked at her.

" There is nothing illegal about owning one or running it around but I do ask that you do say something to somepony about it before you move it around from this day forward. " Celestia

" Yeah and if he don't then me and the Wonderbolts will put the brakes on him...Hey what's so funny? Rainbow Dash demanded to know when Aircutter started laughing in such a gravelly way that most of the others thought he was sick or something.

" Oh please the Wonderbolts are little more than a bunch of glorified air born showoffs and are nothing like a real air defense team! If you said somepony like my grandfather would stop me then I'd believe you but quite frankly all of Equestria has not had a real air defense team since my grandfather's! Now If he was still around I wouldn't have gotten two feet off the ground and as for what they call the military these days.. Their main role is to guard the princesses because there's not much in the way of other uses for them which made it easy for me to get away and I did catch them by surprise. " Aircutter said

Rainbow Dash almost shoved her face into Aircutter's face as she flew to him; YOU TAKE THAT BACK! The Wonderbolts are greatest air team in history! She said with a mad look on her face.

" If you mean they are the greatest modern air team I might mildly agree with you but the greatest air team in history was my grandfather's!" Aircutter said with a snort as he got in her face.

" Oh really? Then why have I not heard of them?" Rainbow Dash said with a snort as the two of them shoved each other around with their heads.

" Because they died trying to stop Sombra from taking over the Crystal empire more than a thousand years ago because my grandfather was none other than the leader of the 301'st Airbones squad !" Aircutter said and Twilight, Cadence and Shining Armor gasped in shock as if they heard something unexpected because they did!!!

Rainbow Dash looked at them when she heard it.. " Don't tell me you know what he's talking about Twilight!" She said as she flew to them.

" in a way yes; Cadence knows a little more than me but she has been sending a few books she thought I might be interested in and one was the history of the Crystal Empire's air defense force.. It told of a team that was on par with the Wonderbolts long before they were around I didn't say anything because I know how you love the Wonderbolts." Twilight said as she suddenly looked very interested in her hooves digging into the dirt to avoid looking at Rainbow Dash.

" No way! Seriously? Cadence? " Rainbow Dash looked at Cadence with pleading eyes.

" We are still working on writing abut the history about the fall of the empire to Sombra's control but from what I learn there was an attempt to stop Sombra by the only other defense the empire had other than the tower and that was the Airbones squad but they all died attacking him and defending the empire" Cadence said with a calm face after making with her I need to relax breath.

" See! Now that's out of the way is there any other questions here or are we done here so I can see what my new town has too offer now?" AIrcutter asked as he looked at them

" WHAT? You mean you want to move here? "Rarity asked with shudder as she thought about this, this unruly and unrefined pony living in her fair town!

" That is the reason I came here" Aircutter said with a shrug.

" But why? I mean there must be heap of towns and other places you can go too. " Applejack asked as she looked at this pony trying to understand his motive for moving into Ponyville of all places to go to even if it was the nicest place in all of Equestria as far as she was concerned..

" Yes but none of them have the princess of friendship in them and yes I know about that too.. Shady shops have all kinds of info if you can find them and know what to ask for and while I'll never be refined I do hope to learn to how to make friends since I have no clue how to make friends. " Aircutter said as he looked at their reactions which was mostly a little surprised.

" Oh I know exactly how you feel! I have such trouble understanding friendship and just when I think I understand it I learn something new like not going around trying to send ponies away to another reality! I have a feeling that maybe we can learn together and maybe even be friends seeing how we have something in common!!! " Discord said as he popped next to him and now was dressed like a pirate and hugged him but Aircutter didn't look so sure about being Discord's friend...

" Weill I suppose as the Princess of Friendship I have to help him too and maybe I can help but first tell me everything you know about your grandfather so I can write it all down for the sake of history! " Twilight said as she began to push him a little towards her castle

" But I was so young when all happened! " Aircutter protested as he dug into the ground a little

" You know enough! Now talk if you want my help!" Twilight said as she pushed him even harder causing a little ditch to form.

" Me and my big mouth!" Aircutter said as most of the ponies left to leave Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor behind.

" You think he will be ok with them? " Cadence asked as she watched Aircutter finally give up and followed the others.

" Yes; He knows that he needs help in learning to be a friend and I think he is off to a fine start even if he is quite unrefined. " Celestia said as she made a mental note to ask Twilight to write a report on how he was doing later on.

" I think he will be fine.." Luna said with a small smile

" In any case now that we know why he came here I think we can leave knowing he's in good hooves. " Celestia said

" I agree though it may not take him as long as it will Discord... I'll meet you at the train my dear" Cadence said as she flew off.

" I just hope he don't hurt twily's or any ponies feelings because he's got quite the bad mouth on him" Shining Armor began the walk back to the crystal train.

Finally only Rainbow Dash was only one left as she sat in midair flapping her wings just enough to stay in the air and looked like she was sitting in the air and she sat there and sat there and finally said what was on her mind before she went to join the others.

" The wonderbolts are still the better team!!!!!" She said loudly to her self.

The Pirate and the Pinkie. Pt 1

Aircutter looked quite relieved when Twilight finally let him go after two and half boring hours of avoiding questions he didn't want to answer because they would bring up bad memories or reviel secrets that he wasn't ready to share just yet or worse she might not understand but she got enough info to be satisfied.

Seeing how he didn't have a place to home he would just stay on the ship and see about finding a way to make some bits and buy the land it was on and getting something to eat and pay for other needs.. He had just gotten out of Twilight's castle when... POP! Discord appeared before him! Causing Aircutter to stop walking and look at him a little annoyed.

" Finally! I thought Twilight would never let you go! I wanted to talk to you about us maybe becoming friends!" Discord said as he looked at him with a smile that only a certain well known crazy cat from another story could match.

" No offense but may I ask why I should agree to something like that? You said you were having trouble with making friends and I'm not exactly sure how it works myself. " Aircutter said with a hard look at him.

" That's why I think we should be friends! You are going to have trouble making friends and I'm going to have trouble making friends! You have a dark past that ponies are going to judge you by and I have a dark past that ponies are going to judge me by! Why it's like we are almost family here! " Discord said with a even bigger grin as he made lighting and thunder appear behind him causing a few ponies to be spooked or look up it see if it was going to rain.

As mush as he hated to admit it Discord did have a couple of very good points there and he sighed as he had to wonder if this was going to prove a good idea but he had to admit he saw no reason to say no.

" I guess I got to start somewhere but no huggy or overfriendly stuff and don't expect me to always act like a friend and you have to respect my personal space!! " Aircutter said as he looked to see Discord's reaction.

" Agreed!.. In fact I feel the same way! Well mostly that way! Oh Fluttershy will be so happy to learn I made a new friend! I can't wait to tell her! " Discord said and vanished with another pop!

Aircutter started to walk again when.. POP! Discord reappeared and shook his hoof.

"Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you! " Discord said as he shook him so hard that his whole body shook. POP! He disappeared again.

He started to walk again when POP! He reappeared and Discord started to say something again.

" Just go already! I get the idea! " Aircutter said with a bit of a grumpy look and Discord gave him a claw's up and popped out to tell Fluttershy the news.

"What a day! Glad that's over.. Now to.. " Aircutter said to himself as he started to walk again.

"HEY THERE! " Pinkie Pie suddenly said as she came up next to him and somehow stretched her neck to where he could see her face in front of him and she too had a grin but this one looked more like uber happy to meet him.

"GAH! What's the big idea? Aircutter asked as he could understand how Discord could do strange stuff but this pink pony didn't make any sense.

" I'm Pinkie Pie and I want to have a welcome party just for you! I never had a pirate party before or at least not one with a real pirate there or should I say that wasn't a little pony's party!? I guess what I'm trying to say is I'd love to have pirate party with a real pirate there!" She said with a smile so real and so happy that it made him uncomfortable looking at her as he was not used to any pony looking at him with such a happy smile that screamed I'm happy to meet you!

He sighed and wondered what was with this place that there would be those who would be willing to be his friend on such short notice. Was it the presence of Twilight or was it just a few ponies as most of the ponies moved away when he got near them? It didn't matter he had a hunch that if he didn't agree to the party that she'd drive him crazy until he agreed.

" Look if I agree to this party and you manage to get ponies to come will you leave me alone about it? " He asked

" Don't be silly! I want and need to know to know a few things and now my chance to ask a real life old school pirate.. Now do you have a parrot? " Pinkie asked as she took out a sheet of scrolling paper that hit the ground and rolled a hundred feet away causing Aircutter to moan in dispair.. It was really becoming one of those days when nothing went right but no rule saying he had to stand still for her questions and he did have shopping to do.

" Fine I'll answer if only to get you to not ask anymore but we are doing this while I try to get some shopping done. As to the parrot thing No; That parrot thing is a myth; Most pirates would never have a pet and if they did it would be a cat or dog. In fact I hate parrots. They make noise all night; They can repeat stuff you don't want them to say and they are a lousy companion on any ship.. " Aircutter said as they started walking and Pinkie somehow rolled up the scroll like a old window blind..

" Ok; Then I'll just not invite any real parrots... I'll just have to fill in if anypony want to see one. " Pinkie said as she wrote something down and Aircutter just sighed.. He didn't even want to know what she meant by that one but he got a bad feeling about it.

" Next; do you have any pirate super powers? You know like maybe eating some strange crazy fruit and becoming a super stretchy pirate? " Pinkie Pie asked with her trademark grin.

" What in the name of Equestria are you talking about? Do you have any idea what you are even talking about?" Aircutter stopped to look at her with a puzzled look.

" I have NO idea!!!!! It's as if someone comes up with the most nonsense thing for me to say and I say it and yet at the same time it makes perfect sense that I should ask them because I'm the kind of pony that would think to ask them! " Pinkie said with a smile as Aircutter just facehoofed himself and started walking again..

" Oh for the love of.. You know what? Never mind! I'll just consider it part of your personality. As that question.. I do have a few things that Sombra gave me but they are magical artifacts that he had no other use for them or felt that I could use them in his quest for evil magical artifacts and they cannot do anything as silly as to make me super stretchy. " Aircutter said as they entered the Sweets shop even though he wasn't sure he would be able to buy anything with his rep but he had to start somewhere and this place was as good as any and he did love his sweets as long as they were not too sweet.

"Okie dokey! Hi Mr Cake! Can you help my new friend here?" Pinkie Pie asked to the pony behind the counter.

"Sure.. What will you have? " Mr Cake.

" Do you have anything in the way of crystal berry treats? If not then Raspberry ones will do." Aircutter said as Pinkie Pie wrote something down.

" Oh yes; We do have crystal berry cupcakes and pies but they have not been selling well because a few ponies find the berries a little on the tart side. : Mr Cake said

" I'll take a dozen of the cupcakes and one pie. " Aircutter said as he gave Mr Cake a few of the bits he had found here and there laying around thanks to some careless ponies before leaving the empire but he looked at them funny.

" Hey! What kind of bits are these? Never saw this kind before!" Mr Cake

" They are from the crystal empire.. The exchange rate is the same as one of yours and they are working on replacing them but they still using the old ones there.. At least for now; They have been exchanging them. " Aircutter explained.

Mr Cake looked at them; Ok I'll take them but if they are no good you'll pay double the price the next time you come in but you may want to get some bits we use. " Mr Cake said as he took the bits

" You do raise a valid point and it's not like I got a ton of them. I'll need to find a way to make bits and I don't exactly have a good job history. " Aircutter said as he rubbed his chin with his hoof thoughtfully.

" I know! I know a way to make some bits! You could let me ride that pirate ship of yours! I always wanted to ride a pirate ship and Apple Jack is always needing a little help on the farm.. She may not pay much but she sure does strap on the feedbag if you know what I'm saying!" Pinkie Pie said happily.

' Hmm.. Get ponies to pay for a ride on my airship or use it to fly stuff to place.. Not a bad idea and I can work here and there until I get permission for it; I guess you're not the total airheaded pony I thought you were Miss Pinkie Pie. Aircutter said as he looked at his order..

" Oh I am a airheaded pony! At least that's what a lot of ponies say but please call me Pinkie! is something wrong? Pinkie as she looked at him staring at his order.

" I just remembered I don't have my saddle bags to put this in." Aircutter said

" Don't you worry! Pinkie's got it covered and grabbed a saddlebag that must've been behind the counter; At least that was where she pulled it from but Aircutter wisely decided to not question if she always had one there or not as he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.

She put it on her back and put his order in the bag.

" Since I still got questions I'll carry it for you." Pinkie said with her smile

" Okiee.. Guess that it for today and it looks like I'm not going to get rid of you anytime soon; Oh wait I promised Twilight that I would go to town hall and see about getting the land that my ship is docked over and no doubt she's waiting there to make sure I do; I hope I got something in exchange for the land or this could get sticky because I don't have no where near enough bits for buying land.. Eh.. I'll find a way; I always do. " Aircutter said as he started walking out of the shop with a bouncing smiling Pinkie close behind.

" Now is it true that pirates can use three swords at the same time? " Mr Cake heard Pinkie ask as they left.

" Oh that Pinkie.. That pony can ask the strangest questions but I do hope that she'll be OK around that pony; He's the dangerous type that's for sure" Mr Cake said as he went back to work.

To be cont

The Pirate and the Pinkie pt 2 : Enter Twilight

Twilight was beginning to wonder if maybe she put too much trust in that Aircutter would keep his word to come to the town hall when he walked though the door with Pinkie Pie right behind him.. She should've known that Pinkie would want to have a welcome party for Aircutter and knowing her it would be something about pirates and she was trying to learn more so that it would be the perfect party .

" For the 12'th time Pinkie; Pirates don't say Arrrgh!; They don't get in a sword fight every time they attack and they don't swear unless they are being very annoyed by a pink pony asking a bunch of random pirate related questions like if I know any pixie ponies which are nothing but a made up fairy tale creature and while I'm at it; Peter Ponny is just a fictional story about a earth pony colt who can fly without wings. OK?!? " Aircutter said as he stopped in front of Twilight and then he looked at her with a look that screamed.. Can you help me please?.

" Sorry about that; When it comes to parties; Pinkie can and will do nearly anything to make sure it's the best party possible; Pinkie don't you think you have enough info now? " Twilight asked Pinkie as she looked at her.

Pinkie looked at her list and then rolled it up like an old window blind.

" Yeah I think I'm good! See you all later! " Pinkie said as she bounced off to plan the party.

" Wait! You took my cupcakes and pie!" Aircutter yelled even though Pinkie was already gone.

" Relax; She will take them to your airship for you but you could be missing a cupcake or two by the time you get there. " Twilight said helpfully

" Oh for the love of !.. Never mind I'm just glad that's over and let me tell you it was hard to think when she was asking so many questions and some of them..UGH! is she always like that? " Aircutter

" Only when she wants to be of forgets her manners but enough of that; I know you don't have enough bits to pay for the land even if it is pretty cheap because it's outside Ponyville limits....So what I'm wondering is how you plan to pay it off. Twilight said as she looked at him and couldn't help but think that he was still keeping a lot of secrets.

" I was able to think of something in spite of Pinkie on the way here and I'll make an offer.. I'll let you and the other princesses use my most important possession for awhile and in exchange you princesses pay off the debt and I'm sure you'll find that to be a very generous offer. " Aircutter said with a confidant smile.

" Oh please! We can fly and we can even get others to fly us to other places if need be! I really don't see how letting us use some Airship will get us to pay off your debt! " Twilight said with a smirk and was thinking that maybe this pony wasn't as crafty as she first thought but then he laughed and suddenly her own confidence sank like a stone as he looked at her with a sly look.

" Whahaha! Don't make me laugh! I wouldn't dream to offer something so mundane to four princesses and who said the airship was my most important possession? No! That honor goes to this! Aircutter said as he pulled up his eyepatch causing Twilight to gasp but it wasn't the awful scarring that shocked her though it didn't help.. It was what was in his eye socket in replacement of his old eye that made her gasp.. It couldn't be! But it was! It looked exactly like it did in the books!!!

' THE RAINBOW CRYSTAL EYE OF STARSWIRL THE BEARDED?!!??! HOW IN THE HOOF DID YOU GET YOUR HOOVES ON THAT!?!?! Twilight yelled in a demanding voice

" You don't need to yell quite that loud and as to your question; I didn't! Sombra took it ages ago when I was but a mear colt with no cutiemark; If you want to find out how he got ahold of it you'll have to ask him but I do know that most of the legends and stories about it are true even the one about anypony being able to use it if they know how..

How do you think I managed to find so much stuff even when it was hidden? I mean I'm good but nopony is that good! And oh by the way the story that it can't be removed until the pony dies of natural death and that it even prolongs the lifespan of who ever has it in their eye socket is also true but my point is I have it and I know how to use it.. "

"In fact if it were not for the fact that Starswirl wasn't willing to lose an eye for being able to use it I dare say he would've done it without thinking about it. In any case it's a much better offer than some old airship don't you think? " Aircutter almost said rather than asked.

Twilight snorted in annoyance and then went limp and sat on the floor.. Blast it! He knew the offer would be too good to pass up! It was THE Starswirl's eye for pony's sake! She and the other princesses would have to be totally insane to refuse such a offer! She watched as he covered up the Starswirl eye.

" Just one question why do you keep it covered? I know that it needs to be protected and that the scarring is bad but why cover it? you don't seem to be the type to just hide it for it's own protection or worry about some scarring. " Twilight

" it's simple when I said that most of the legends are true I meant it and it can be a little disconcerting to be able to look though stuff with just a single thought.. I saw one too many walking pony skeletons when I tried going without it thank you very much and besides it stops the eye's power from working. Starswirl was more than wize enough to see that it should have at least one thing it couldn't see though and it does help it rest until I use it again and as for the scarring it does upset ponies so I keep them hidden and there are ponies who would not care if the legends of it losing it's power if it was taken out by force and they would try to take it anyways and it was more than painful enough going in.." Aircutter said honestly.

" I can understand that I guess.... I knew you were keeping stuff from us but nothing like that.. So what is it like? Does it really shoot beams of magic? Does it..MMMTH! " twilight said in an very excited voice until Aircutter covered her mouth with his hoof looking a little annoyed at her as he was getting tired of it the over excited ponies he had been dealing with today.

" I'll tell you all that over time. Do we have a deal or not? Aircutter asked as he removed his hoof.

" Well I'll have to ask the other princesses but I think it's safe to say YES! OOOH! To think that one of Starswirl's most famous... Wait a sec; Do you possibly have a few other long lost Starswirl artifacts? Please say yes!" Twilight asked all excited again.

" Oh I may have a few dozen like the many everlit lanterns I have and a magic compass able to find the best way to anywhere one wants to go but nothing like the eye.. it's the real prize; I'll show you them right now if you promise that nopony will try to take them without giving something of the same value in return." Aircutter said when he saw how much Twilight wanted to see the artifacts.

" Deal! " Twilight said as she clapped her hooves happily together. What started out as a not too good day for her was now looking up! to think there were long lost Starswirl artifacts so near Ponyville right now and hopefully they would stay for long time to come.. Then she blushed when she saw that meant that Aircutter would have to stay but if he could like having some Starswirl the bearded artifacts around then he couldn't be all that bad. Right?...

" Shall we go? I'd like to eat a few cupcakes before Pinkie gets to all of them. " Aircutter said as he made a respectful bow and pointed to the door with one hoof as Twilight clapped her hooves together again and she walked towards the door and they were soon on their way.But as it turned out Pinkie had the party ready by the time they got to the airship and so Twilight had to put off looking at the artifacts until after sunset much to her annoyance but she did take the time to send a letter explaining the deal and soon got the agreements needed to Aircutter's deal.

The party was a hit though Aircutter and Rainbow Dash did fight a little over who they thought was the better air team again and the others did try to get along with him though it was clear that he and Rarity might take a bit longer and Apple Jack still didn't trust him but finally it was time to go home and call it a night

' Oh dear! I do think we stayed out too late! Rarity said as the other ponies left.

" We should've brought something to light our way like some the others did. " Rainbow Dash said as she looked at the already disappearing lights

" Excuse me; But I noticed that the six of you need some lights; You can barrow a couple of my everlit lanterns for tonight as long as you return them soon. " Aircutter said when he came up to them but it was the fact that the three lanterns were magically floating in the air and that he now had a glowing eye where his eyepatch was that caused Rainbow Dash to react.

" What the? How are you doing that? Only unicorns have that kind of magic!" Rainbow Dash asked in surprise as Twilight took the four lanterns.

' It's the Starswirl eye; I'll explain on the way home." Twilight said as she took the lanterns as she thanked him and he covered the eye again and he smiled for the first time since landing here and thought that in spite of the crazy start and dealing with at least a few unexpected twists that it was a good new beginning for him.

They looked at the soft light lit up where they stood.

" Well girls you got to admit he did help us. " Twilight said as she looked at them

" Yeah, yeah.. I guess he's not all that bad and at least as long as he's here I can prove how much better the Wonderbolts are!" Rainbow Dash said as she was given one lantern and one was given to Fluttershy and the third was given to Apple Jack as the others would be going back to town together.

"I don't care! He still a brute and that's all he'll ever be but I must admit it I do think that he may learn to be less of a brute to where I can tolerate him a little. " Rarity.

' He did become friends with Discord which makes me happy for Discord and I'll give him a chance because he became a friend to Discord. " Fluttershy said happily

" I'll think about it... Naw ; Not ready to trust him just yet" Apple Jack said as she started to walk away.

Twilight just smiled. She was sure given enough time that Aircutter would become part of Ponyville and they were soon all walking home.

Aircutter looked as the lights disappeared into the night.

" Ok; I got to admit it's been a crazy day but I think I managed to make a friend or two but I will need to keep an eye on those six ponies and I do mean both eyes because I get the feeling they will need help... Sombra is still out there .. I just know it... The fight is not over yet.. Not as long as he has that one artifact that Starswirl's biggest enemy made... Not as long as the reborn gem is out there and the Starswirl eye cannot find it. I must be ready for the biggest reason I came here. To watch over the only ponies to ever defeat him.." Aircutter said as he got ready for a good night's sleep..

Cont..