Spyglass’ eyes narrowed as he felt himself get cut off, taking a moment to scan over the occupants of the restaurant - all now distracted by the rather dramatic entrance of the mages -, before looking back over to them. “...As I was saying, you can’t just leave us on that note! It’s cruel, and cliffhangers are for ne’er-do-wells and criminals.”

“Captain, remember what we do,” Patch spoke up, bopping Spyglass on the head with his hoof before looking back to the three mages. “So, to what do we owe this particular change of subject?”

“Welcome, though it may be,” Vex chimed in, currently feasting on Spyglass’ salad as he looked back to the three seers.

“Apologies, Spyglass, we thought we would find you sooner.” Urd stepped up to him, Skuld looking over the populace of the restaurant while Verandi counted off seconds in her head, watching the door. “Listen, something’s come up.”

“What’s happened now?” Spyglass raised his eyebrow, looking over Urd’s face, seeking out a hint as to what’s going on. Her expression was unreadable, though the creased brow betrayed some worry.

“Alright, this is going to sound very strange, but...” Urd bit her lip lightly, looking away slightly before looking back to Spyglass. “We’ve been hearing things.”

Spyglass opened his mouth.

“Not those kinds of things!” Urd shivered, shaking her head. “Goddess, no. Look, we’ve come to warn you about something... something a friend told us about.”

“A friend?” Spyglass raised his eyebrow, ignoring the sounds of Vex and Eye bickering at each other over food, and the feeling of broken glass under his hoof.

“Y-Yes! A friend! A friend, who is quite worried about you.” Verandi nodded, grinning before going back to her watch of the door, her grin fading into a grimace.

“Yes. Look, we’ve been hearing a lot about your travels from our friend, but recently, his news has gotten... vague.” Urd gulps lightly, getting a tap on the shoulder from Skuld. “You still have that scroll I gave you, right?”

“Of course. But why? And who’s this friend of yours?” Spyglass furrowed his brow, though his glare missed Urd’s eyes as she quickly checked the window at the wall, looking back to him as his glare softened.

“There isn’t any time, just hang onto that scroll, and look out for yourselves, alright? We can’t stay here, and someone’s looking for you.” Urd grit her teeth and rubbed the back of her neck, shivering lightly. Someone, someone, who is that someone? O-Orange coat, but that’s all we know! Gah, this is enraging!

“Urd, are you alright?” The captain slipped out of his chair and moved over to her side, rubbing her lightly with a wing. “You seem off.”

“I-I’m fine, just fine! Just, look out for anyone with an orange coat, okay?” Urd looked back to him, eye twitching a bit before she gave him a quick nuzzle on the cheek, slipping up to his ear as she did so. Eye looked over at that, brow rising just a bit as Vex stole her opportunity. “Someone on your ship is being hunted...” She whispered, before slipping away from him, Skuld and Verandi nodding to her and heading for the door. They all slipped out of the restaurant in a hurry, running off up the street.

“FAREWELL, UNIT—” Everyone in the restaurant cringed as Velvet twitched hard, a loud grinding coming from the back of her neck. Her eye twitched several times before any words came out of her quivering mouth. “...ERROR. LEVEL THREE UNIT DESIGNATION MISSING.”

Ye Goddess, could she be any more disruptive? Spyglass grit his teeth and rubbed his ear, groaning. Though, more worryingly... Hunted? By who? Spyglass looked on out the door in confusion, rubbing his cheek where he was nuzzled.

His thoughts were dashed by a familiar cat call from Eye, the stallion chuckling heartily. “Hehe! Looks like you’ve a suitor, Cap—” He cut himself off as he looked down to his plate, or rather, the plate’s remains. “Oh damn it, where’d my food go!?”

Vex, now sitting back in her seat, shrugged. The table at that point was covered in broken glass, but not a hint of anything biological was left behind. Every salad was devoured, utterly and completely, to everyone’s dismay. Patch and Jam leered at her while Eye just shrugged it off and looked around the restaurant, making eyes at passersby.

Finishing up his glare, though, Patch looked back to Spyglass, raising his eyebrow. “So, sir, since we’re all done here...” He darted a leer back at Vex, who just looked at him and shrugged, before he glanced back to the captain. “Shall we head on back to the ship and leave? I figure that, even with Eye’s, er... ‘charm’, the local guard might respond yet.”

“I believe we should, Mr. Patch. Very well, pay our bill and let’s be off.” Spyglass tossed a small bag to Patch, a waiter coming over to collect payment while the rest of the newly assembled crew moved off their chairs and headed towards the door, Vex smiling gleefully with a new spring in her step. His eyes remained fixed on the street, however, even as he left the restaurant, Patch pulling up the rear and keeping the bag under his wing. Just what did Urd mean by someone being hunted? We may be infamous, but we haven’t got so large a bounty that anyone famous is coming for our heads...

He hummed and looked over to Patch, decidedly avoiding Eye’s glance as he went back to his new scattergun, showing it the love and attention it truly ‘needed’. “Mr. Patch, amongst us, you’re about the only one I can speak openly with... what do you think of what happened?”

“Honestly, sir? That someone was trying too hard at subterfuge. Why? And why the sudden confidence?” Patch raised his eyebrow at the captain, trotting up to his side.

“To answer the first question, because the entire thing is perplexing me. Urd hasn’t given me any kind of warning like this in the past, so I’m wondering who her ‘friend’ is, and what they might have in mind for ponies like us. As for the second, take one look around and ask me that again.”

Patch followed Spyglass’ order, looking amongst the rag-tag band he’d found himself in the company of, then looked back to Spyglass. Suddenly incapable of asking the same question, finding the words stuck in his throat under a heavy weight of something called common sense. “...Granted point, sir.”

“Indeed. I suppose there’s nothing for it, but I do wish to extend her warning to you. Watch for anyone with an orange coat. I will tell our lookout the same, but you’ve the second best pair of eyes on the crew, Mr. Patch.”

“Second to Jam’s, of course, and mine,” Eye chirped, giggling quietly as he put himself between Velvet and Jam, batting his eyelashes at the stallion. “And Velvet’s... ahh, dare say they’re even better than mine! So glad to add you to my royal court, Jam... we’re going to get along just fine.”

“Ohhhh, yes, I’m... very sure of that.” Jam grinned crookedly, chuckling a bit as he flushed red again. Why does this stallion have to be so hot? The Goddess has it out for me for something... but what? I already apologized for stealing that magazine! Profusely! With tongue! What more could she want in me!?

“Something on your mind besides the best places on a ship for getting to know someone better, Jam?” Eye raised his eyebrow, frowning a bit as Velvet tilted her head forward, turning it to the side as it hung lateral to her chest.

“UNIT-JAM APPEARS TO BE SUFFERING FROM A HIGH HEART RATE AND POSSIBLE HEAT CONTAINMENT FAILURE.”

“Strange indeed. Eat something off, Jam?”

Jam blinked at both ponies, swiftly shaking his head and turning away from them, looking on at the estranged ponies on the street all watching the pirates walk on towards the dock. “Nothing! Just... thinking, that’s all. Don’t worry about it.”

Eye leered at the back of Space Jam’s head, watching his ears splay back as he felt that icy stare burrowing into his brain. “Two things, Mr. Jam, that you should know about me... one, I don’t like it when ponies keep secrets from their future emperor.”

“Apologies, Mr. Eye... er... and what’s the second?” Jam gulped, before yelping as he felt his splayed ear get nibbled on, eyes going wide as his cheeks caught fire, a sultry whisper creeping into his mind that just turned the rest of him red in the process.

“That I’ve ways of getting beautiful blondes to sing for me...”

And hopefully, said singing will be taking place behind several meter-thick walls, for my sanity’s sake... Patch grimaced, his own ears splaying back as the crew made it back to the dock, the sight of the ship offering some relief to the one-eighth vampire. A hefty promise of relief for the blushing Space Jam was made as well, as Eye got decidedly close, nuzzling his mane with a smile on his face.

“You know, there’s something that bothers me, Captain.”

“And what’s that, Mr. Patch?”

The two pegasi stood at the railing of the Farsight Pirates’ flagship, the Iris, looking on at the second ship sailing beside them as they rose up towards the sky. Patch narrowed his eyes slightly at the ship they stole from the slavers that Eye and Velvet had dispatched, ‘Tomcat’ emblazoned on the side of the large hull. “Why did we bring that ship along with us?”

“Strategic importance, more places for crew to sleep, extra firepower when we need it. The gryphon rebels may be a brutish sort, but they know how to build a good cannon. And that ship is covered with them.” Spyglass smirked lightly, nodding. “Our ship, though impressive, just doesn’t have that many guns on it. With a second ship under our command, though, many should learn to avoid us, and in the case that we find another slave ship...”

“Well, for one, we send Eye and Velvet again.” Patch looked sidelong at his captain, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t think you’d want to go randomly sinking ships, sir.”

“Well, no, I wouldn’t. Our purpose is to free slaves, not murder them along with their captors. Then again...” Spyglass turned his head, looking back at the small crowd that had gathered on the deck of his ship, narrowing his eyes at Eye trying to put Jam in a collar. “Sending Eye and Velvet, though tactically sound, feels just as foolish.”

“So you chose not to sell the ship, because having it along for the ride is better. Despite us being able to sell it for...” Patch looked over the Tomcat, raising his brow a little. “Mmmm, estimate being around a million bits, maybe a bit more, which could then be used to upgrade the Iris to something more combat ready.” He looked back to Spyglass, raising his brow.

“Who in Tradewinds would pay a million bits for a ship, Mr. Patch?” Spyglass spat out the words, looking back to the city below them, glaring at the towers. “It’s a hive of locusts down there, no proper business prospect could ever be achieved there. Tradewinds... hmph.”

Patch scoffed, smirking grimly at the captain. “You really don’t like that city, do you?”

“It’s that obvious, is it?” Spyglass rolled his eyes lightly, looking back to Patch as the air grew colder, the two pegasi’s coats fluffing out a bit to help with keeping heat in. “What tipped you off?”

“Everything from the vitriol in your voice, to the glare like you wanted Celestia herself to blow the city up.” Patch gestured to Spyglass’ mouth and eyes with his hoof, raising his eyebrow as he spoke. “What’s wrong with Tradewinds, though? I’ve only heard good things about it.”

“Hm, well, it would seem that the local ‘government’ is doing its job then.” The captain sat down and leaned on the railing, looking back at the city before it was covered by a cloud as the two ships ascended above the cloud line. He laid his forelegs on the wood and put his chin down on his hooves, frowning. “Wonder if Greymane is still working as mayor?”

“Greymane as mayor, hating Tradewinds for an inexplicable reason, and one of the few times I’ve seen you be genuinely troubled by something. Ohhh, I smell a story coming on. Mind if I get a chair and some paper for my will?” Patch grinned and chuckled, even as Spyglass punched him on the shoulder, leering back at him.

“Oh, sod off, fangy. The story’s not that long.” He scoffed, before sitting back upright and gazing off to the sky before him. “This is rather out of character though, yes. Well, if you’re willing to sit down for a few minutes, I could use a chat...”

“We’ve been sitting here for thirty minutes already. What’s another thirty more?” Patch shrugged and leaned on the railing, facing Spyglass and folding his forelegs. “Speak away, O Great Storyteller.”

“Charmer... but yes. It’s a story from a while back, when I was getting my start as a captain...”

“Land ho, Captain!” The cry came from the crow’s nest, reaching down to the exceptionally handsome and very capable Captain Spyglass, standing at the bow of his brilliant ship, the Iris. His captain’s hat was held under his wing, allowing his hair to be swept along by the breeze as the airship drew closer to the docks of the island.

“Thank you, Mr. Telescope!” Spyglass shouted back to the crow’s nest, the pegasus saluting to his captain before shifting back to his spot near the mast. The captain locked his eyes on the shimmering towers of the city, smiling to himself. “So, time to see what all this fuss is about... Tradewinds, the Windfall Island. Well, I can certainly tell why the city’s so famed.” His eyes turned upward as his crew moved about the ship, making sure the cannons were pulled away from the walls, the sails were tied and pulled back up to the crossbeams on the mast, and all hands were on deck for docking.

As the island drew close, Spyglass turned, brow furrowing over his shining eyes, full of youth and strength, as he gazed over the assembled troopers who dared to follow him on his crusade. “Are we ready for docking, crew!?”

“Sir, yes sir!” The crew responded unanimously, snapping a crisp salute to their captain, thirty ponies strong. They were all just slightly less handsome and glorious as their leader, but respectable none-the-less. Telescope and Oracle stood among their number, the cowardly Telescope shivering in place while Oracle just wandered away on Cloud Nine or whatever he called it.

“Excellent! Prepare to weigh anchor once we reach the dock, three shifts of crew so we always have ponies on board! The rest, when off-shift, are allowed to check out Tradewinds, but as soon as I’m back, I expect you all to return as well! Am I understood!?” Spyglass shouted out, commanding, yet smooth like bourbon.

“Yes sir, Glorious Captain Spyglass!” The crew responded, and soon, the ship came to the dock. In an orderly fashion, the anchor was weighed, crashing through the water and finding solid ground soon after, keeping the ship in place while Spyglass and his crew headed off into the city. The shimmering towers stood tall above his head, though some were still very much under construction, pegasi swooping in and around the towers like bees in a hive.

“Intriguing...” Spyglass smirked, coming down to the street and starting his walk into the city, flanked by Telescope and Periscope, his first mate. “So, Mr. Periscope, what do you know of this city?”

“Everything, Captain.” Periscope, tall, proud and not in the slightest a complete nerd, adjusted his well-polished glasses and swept back his mane, taking only a moment to look around the city before responding in full. “Tradewinds is a center for trade and commerce out at sea, and a nexus for information going between several islands, including Trottingham. I hear even Canterlotian nobles find themselves here from time to time, carting in all kinds of goods and property.”

“Including...?” Spyglass raised his brow, looking over with his completely functional left eye, and ignoring Oracle cooing in blind interest at all the shiny bits and baubles put up for trade in stands on the street.

“Slaves, of course.” Periscope nodded, frowning as an intensely boiling hate for everything slavery came to being in his heart, Spyglass feeling the rage inside as well. “Though I’ve no idea if it’s just periodic trade, or something bigger here. Is that the reason for our visit, Glorious Captain Spyglass?”

“Indeed, First Mate. I’m here to investigate the university.” Spyglass looked on ahead, not at all distracted by the ponies at the side of the street trying to hawk everything they could at the exceptional example of equinity in front of them, though Oracle couldn’t resist their cries, and started buying everything he could. “Supposedly, there’s a trio of mages here well-known for their connections in information gathering.”

“Is that so? Well, we had better make haste before that fool burns all our money.” Periscope looked over at the high-as-a-kite stallion and turned up his nose, harumphing in response to his blatant abuse of finances. “Insulting...”

“I agree, Mr. Periscope. Insulting indeed. Come, Oracle, keep up! And stop buying everything!”

Of course, Oracle promptly ignored the order like the fool he was, and once the trio finally made it to the University of Mages, the druggie was rolling around a massive bag of goods, his bit bag empty at last. “Yo, dude, we made it... sweet doors, man,” He said with that sickeningly smooth voice of his. It was like honey laced with sewage, the stallion even drooling sewage as he spoke.

Spyglass and Periscope just offered a grunt of disdain at this, before Spyglass promptly pushed the doors open, light spilling into the darkened halls of the reception office. The sun of Celestia framed the amazing captain as he stepped up towards the desk, a little unicorn mare sitting there, looking on at this dapper angel of perfection in doe-eyed affection. He swept up towards the desk and laid a foreleg on it, winking at the lass behind the oaken desk between two shining suits of armor, both uninhabited. “Hello, my dear. I’m looking for three mages that are supposedly here... would you happen to know where they are?”

“Uh... w-what are their names?” The mare squee’d lightly, grinning as the silken words drifted into her ears. “I m-might know where they are...”

“Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.”

“Ah! Th-Them, yes, um, th-they’re just down the hall, my knight...” The mare smiled brightly, and Spyglass leaned in, raising his brow slightly as he produced a rose from his coat.

“For you, my love, in return for this.” Spyglass spun the rose around and placed it gently behind the mare’s ear, the thorns having already been trimmed off. “A rose, for a most beautiful flower.”

The mare swooned, fainting on the spot as Spyglass headed off to the hall on the right, his hooves kicking up a bit of dust from the floor. The hall wasn’t all that impressive, with dusty suits of armor, ancient relics of untold power, and trophies of varying places in magic contests sitting in trophy cases along the hall, under paintings of historic mages and such. Oracle wandered along behind Periscope and Spyglass, his face getting all over the glass of the trophy cases and cases containing the armor and relics, numerous ‘ooooo’s and ‘ahhhh’s drifting out of his maw. Periscope took his time admiring the paintings, little hums of thought and acceptance drifting from him, while the glorious captain kept his eyes on the prize.

Soon, they came to the last door on the left in the hall, just before the spiral stairwell with its protective suit of armor watching over it, and the plaque on the door said ‘Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos. Professors.’

“Simple, to the point... nice.” Spyglass nodded in appreciation at the silver plaque, before reaching out to the lever for the door. “Periscope, come in after you’ve torn Oracle off that armor case, alright?”

“Y-Yes, sir!” Periscope grunted, trying to pull Oracle off one particular glass case containing a gold suit of armor.

“So sparkly!” Oracle groaned, giggling to himself as he held on with all four legs, Spyglass rolling his eyes and opening the door, stepping into the room.

He was greeted by a rather clean, though dim, room filled to the brim with books, bookcases, shelves with potions both still and bubbling, some static in color, others changing color as you looked at them from different angles, and there in the center of the room, assembled around a crystal ball, were three mares in cloaks.

“Straight!” The zebra shouted, tossing down her two cards and laughing triumphantly. “Try and beat that, Clotho!”

“Four of a kind.” The mare placed her two cards down on the table, smiling pleasantly and sitting back in her chair, folding her forelegs. Definitely an earth pony, but her thick, luxurious mane made it impossible to tell if she wasn’t really a unicorn. The zebra stared at the two cards in shock, before growling and sitting back in her own chair, kicking the table in a huff.

“Cheater,” She put simply, glaring at her opponent.

“Oh come on, Lachesis, it’s just a friendly game of poker. Also, royal flush.” The last pony, definitely a unicorn, judging from the horn jutting out just between her forelocks of hair, put down her own two cards, smiling brightly. “Pay uuuuup.”

“Friendly game of poker my butt...” Lachesis huffed and put up her bag of bits, Spyglass slowly walking up towards the table. “Sorry, stranger, we’ll be with you in a sec.”

Spyglass furrowed his brow slightly at the sudden address, the zebra not even bothering to look over at him. The unicorn giggled brightly, collecting her cash from Lachesis and Clotho, the earth pony finally turning and looking at him over the back of her chair. “Can we help you?”

“Oh, yes, you can, actually.” Spyglass cleared his throat, sweeping back his glorious mane as he looked to Clotho. The mare raised her eyebrow slightly as the captain found it rather difficult to speak, his mouth moving, but no words making their way out. Of course, it took naught but a try or two to say a complete sentence. “I’m looking for information.”

“That so?” Clotho shrugged lightly, hopping out of her chair and walking over to him. “Very well. My name’s Clotho. What’s yours?” She reached out with a hoof, smiling lightly at him.

“Oh, er... Spyglass, madam.” He smiled back, taking her hoof in his and giving it a shake. His eyes locked with hers, the vibrant blue taking him away like a ship across the sea, her gentle smile warming his heart from his cold travels through the sky. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“As to you, captain.” She nodded, letting go of his hoof and moving back towards the table, swaying her hips as she went. “So, what information have you come to get?”

Spyglass felt a twinge run up his spine as he watched her go, gulping quietly, before trotting over to the table. “R-Right, uh, apologies, ladies. I was hoping you three could help me in finding something out about this place.”

“Oh! Is this a guessing game?” Atropos leaned in in front of Spyglass, smiling at his face. “I love guessing games!”

“A-A guessing game? No!”

“Let her guess, Mr. Spyglass. She won’t leave you alone otherwise, the annoying klutz...” Lachesis rolled her eyes, sitting back in her chair and sighing. With a reluctant nod from Spyglass, Atropos hopped out of her seat and started to circle him, narrowing her eyes as she examined him.

“Hmmm. Glorious outfit with a glorious hat and a glorious voice. Clearly you’re a captain of a ship, a really good one, and a really sharp optics-themed crew with... one delinquent on board. Alright, and you’re here for...” Atropos hummed quietly, sitting down beside Spyglass and folding her forelegs, closing her eyes in thought. “Let’s see...”

Spyglass blinked at her in surprise. “Well, er... yes, that’s all quite correct. And I’m here f—”

“For information regarding local criminal activity?” Atropos smiled, finally responding to Spyglass, raising her brow in the process. “Am I right?”

Spyglass blinked a few times in confusion, before shaking his head and nodding, smiling politely. “...You are, actually. How’d you do that?”

“This school’s full of ponies who love tricks. You tend to learn how to read others here.” Atropos grinned as she hopped back onto her hooves, bouncing over to her chair. “I’m right though! Woo! I rock, man!”

“Yeah, yeah, chill out, sugar-brains.” Lachesis leaned forward and set her elbows on the table, raising her brow at Spyglass. “Alright, boyo, what’d you want info on?”

“Right...” Spyglass furrowed his brow, sitting down by the table as the mares all looked to him, including the caramel angel by his side, and he took in a deep breath. “The information I need, is on—”

“Okay, hang on, before you continue...” Patch broke in, waving his hooves. “I... I-I just need a moment here to process things.”

“Of course, Mr. Patch, though interrupting someone who’s speaking is rather rude.” Spyglass frowned at his companion, raising an eyebrow.

“So is exaggerating your story to the point of disbelief...” Patch sighed, rubbing his brow.

“And I’m surprised you didn’t once call yourself ‘sexy’, Captain!” Eye raised his brow as he sat at Spyglass’ other side, the stallion suddenly freezing in place, his ears perking straight up.

“M-Mr. Eye! Heh, what a surprise, ah... how long’ve you been listening in?” He stammered, looking over to the interloper with a shaky grin on his face.

“Around the point of Oracle buying everything in Tradewinds. Quite the tale, though! And the way you described Clotho, she sounds like a mare I’d love to have in my harem!” Eye smiled, chuckling to himself, though not many laughs made it out before he leaned back from a suddenly advancing Spyglass.

“You can’t have her.” Spyglass narrowed his eye, voice spilling over with venom as Eye stared back at him with a raised brow. A few moments were spent on the ice-cold staring contest, Patch leaning over slightly and clearing his throat.

“Er... Captain?”

Spyglass leaned back up, taking a deep breath and turning back to the railing. “...Apologies, Mr. Patch. As for your claim, no, I was not exaggerating. Everything I said was true and completely accurate.”

“Sssssure, you’re truly the ultimate example of equinity... though, er, Clotho? Lachesis, Atropos? Who’re they?” Patch raised his eyebrow, frowning. “And for that matter, Telescope? Oracle? What, you already had those names picked out? What started this whole ‘optics’ theme with the crew, anyway?”

“Alright, for your first question, yes, I thought it was strange as well. Those would be Urd, Skuld and Verandi, and if you had let me finish, you’d have learned that they like to change their names. As for the second question,” Spyglass trailed off on the word, blinking once as he sought out an answer in his mind. His mouth soon closed, eye turning away from Patch as he rubbed his chin with a hoof, mouth opening again, silently. Eventually, he found his words as he gazed back out to the sea, deadpan fixed on his face. “...I don’t remember.”

“How do you not remember?” Patch leaned over a bit, looking over Spyglass’ thoughtful expression.

“I just don’t... I know I came up with it some time ago, and I could’ve sworn I remembered it... but it’s just, vacant. No matter, I’ll remember at some point. It’s a silly reason anyways.” Spyglass shook his head, turning back to the center of the deck. “At least all the commotion has cleared up...”

“Indeed. Miss Vex took my queen away into the bowels of the ship, said she had some experiments to run.” Eye frowned, looking back at the trap door at the side of the ship leading deeper into the hull. “I offered my expertise on Velvet’s, ah, ‘internal components’, but Vex cut me off and threatened to, in her words, ‘explode my face’ if I continued speaking.”

Well, that would have been nice to hear myself... Spyglass frowned quietly, getting up and proceeding on towards the center of the ship. “Well, no matter. I’ll continue the tale later, Mr. Patch, as we’ve some work to do anyways.”

“What work is that, Captain?” Patch raised his eyebrow, hopping to his hooves and heading over to the pegasus.

“Checking the armory, to make sure Eye hasn’t gotten in.” Spyglass looked back to Patch, furrowing his brow. “I’ve left it alone for five minutes now, and who knows if Eye’s gone anywhere besides the deck.”

“Very true... well, lead the way, and hopefully we won’t smell anything besides gunpowder in there.” Patch frowned, proceeding on with the captain as Eye shouted to them from behind.

“Avoid the back right corner! I clean my guns there, and I prefer to leave it pristine and untouched by my minions’ hooves!”

Spyglass just narrowed his eyes, groaning. “Grand...”

“UNIT-VEX, IT IS RECOMMENDED YOU NOT TOUCH THAT PANEL.”

The filly groaned as she poked at Velvet’s chest, ears splayed back from the sudden, full-force shouting. “Yes, yes, I’m aware. You tell me that with every panel I touch. Don’t you trust me on this?” She pouted slightly, looking up at Velvet’s chin with her good eye. “What could possibly be hiding behind this panel?”

Velvet clicked a bit as she blinked, currently held up in a metal harness keeping all her legs, head and body steady. “THIS UNIT DOES NOT HAVE ANY DATA REGARDING MECHANISMS WITHIN THE CHEST CAVITY.”

“Not have any...? What...?” Vex furrowed her brow, frowning as she looked back to Velvet’s chest. “Intriguing... what could be hidden in here then? Best to take precautions, though.” She rubbed her chin lightly, looking around her quarters.

She’d been given a small room in the barracks, which she had swiftly turned into her personal workshop. It took quite a lot of work to move the beds, get the desk out of the room, put up a workbench, set up the metal harness for her projects, and find a filing cabinet big enough for all her notes, but it was all put together in less than a day.

Rather vexing, how much a pirate can complain about his bed being moved, though. She hummed quietly on that ponderous thought, before moving over to her tool chest at the side of the room, near the foot of her bed. Her hoof ran down the labels of each of the drawers, the filly mouthing off each one as she went. Wrenches, torch heads, drivers, spare parts... ah, here we go. Blast shields. With a smile, she grabbed the handle with both her forehooves and sat down, gritting her teeth in a huff. With a mighty pull, the drawer opened up, slowly as Vex scooted along backwards.

Held within the drawer was two metal plates with brackets on the sides, Vex looking back to Velvet and clearing her throat. “Ah, Velvet, some assistance, please? Bring these two steel plates out, if you would.”

“VERY WELL, UNIT-VEX.” Velvet nodded as her horn fired up, grabbing the steel plates inside the drawer. And with a prompt yank of her magic, she ripped the entire drawer off the tool chest, Vex screaming as she jumped backwards, just avoiding a messy end under the heavy metal.

“I said the metal plates, not the drawer!” Vex grit her teeth, glaring at the newest source of her ever-rising headache.

Velvet blinked a few times, looking back to Vex with a furrowed brow. “THIS UNIT WAS UNABLE TO SEE THE PLATES WITHIN THE DRAWER, AND FOUND IT MORE EFFICIENT TO REMOVE THE DRAWER ENTIRELY.”

“Oh for the love of... fine, just grab the plates - the plates, not the drawer -, and set them up in front of you!” Vex groaned before getting back onto her hooves, walking towards the tool chest as Velvet went about setting up the two short blast shields. Chest-high walls for the filly, though they’d barely reach up to the knees of any adult pony. Vex soon returned with a pair of bolts in her hoof, and a hammer in her mouth, muffled words making it out of her clenched jaws.

“UNIT-VEX WILL HAVE TO CLEAR HER VOCAL OPENING BEFORE THIS UNIT CAN UNDERSTAND HER.”

Vex frowned and spat out the hammer, taking a breath. “Put the two blast shields together at the hinges, if you would.”

“AH. VERY WELL.” Velvet nodded harshly again, before using her magic to cleanly slip the two metal plates together in a V-shape, the hinges soon getting a bolt hammered through them.

“Thank you, my dear. Alright, now that the defense is set up, I should be protected from any errant weaponry... short a compressed particle cannon.” She scoffed at that, shaking her head as she hammered in the second bolt. “Pah, as if that would be part of your armament. Such technology is years and years away... though, I would love to apply the theory for it.”

Soon, though, with a bit more adjusting from Velvet following Vex’s orders, the shield was set up to block any weapons that may fly out of Velvet’s chest. Just to be sure, though, Vex put on an oversized mining helmet, her good eye just peeking out from under the rim. “Alright, let’s get this open.” She narrowed her eye and moved forward, using her flat-head screwdriver to stab into the side of Velvet’s chest. The click of a latch reached her ears, and she quickly dropped down behind the shield as the door swung open. “Eep!”

No explosions, gunfire, or world-ending cataclysms were triggered, however. The door simply opened up, some kind of monitor and keyboard unfolding from inside, expanding once they reached out from the dense, complex clockwork inside. Vex gulped, peeking back up from her shield, going wide-eyed at the device now revealed to her. “What in the world...? What is this?”

“THIS UNIT CANNOT SEE WHAT HAS APPEARED FROM THE CHEST CAVITY. THIS UNIT REQUIRES A DESCRIPTION.”

“I-It’s some kind of, ah... metal box? With a glass screen, and there’s writing on it as well. Very strange.” Vex rubbed her chin in thought, tipping her mining helm back so she could get a better look at it.

C-OS MK II, V0.05 LUNACO SOFTWARE INC., 1035 USER ACCESS TERMINAL ACCESS TO BE PERFORMED ONLY BY AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL LOGIN:

She blinked a few times at the green writing of the black screen, tilting her head slightly. Her eyes turned down to the keyboard, immediately recognizing the characters on the board as being of the Equestrian alphabet. Soon, though, she found herself grinning, giggling even, as her hooves rubbed together. “Oh, you are just full of surprises, Velvet! Do you understand what this is?”

“THIS UNIT IS UNSURE OF THE SPECIFIC ‘THIS’ UNIT-VEX IS REFERRING TO-”

“I have no idea either!” Velvet laughed. “Do you understand? I’ve never heard of or seen such a thing in Equestrian books of golemcraft or artificing! Crystal Geode may have been a hack, but he was brilliant in his interpretation of the coal-burning external combustion engine and he still couldn’t have foreseen this! The humming aura, the magical signature- I’m struggling to find a single point of comparison. Love Lace herself might have been puzzled. This is technology the most brilliant minds in Equestria have not yet dreamed of, technology that should not remotely exist. Somewhere in the world whoever made you- well, with your memory banks on the fritz I suppose that’s something we’ll have to find later. For now…” She rubbed her hooves together in anticipation. “Yes, I’m going to enjoy getting to the bottom of this. Let’s see here…” she peered down. “It’s asking for a... ‘login?’” She frowned, folding her forelegs on top of the blast shield. “Velvet, explain?”

Velvet twitched a few times as something in her head started clicking rhythmically, “LOGIN IS A USERNAME, UNIT-VEX. IT REQUIRES BOTH THAT AND A PASSWORD FOR ENTRY. BOTH WERE AUTOMATICALLY CREATED UPON UNIT DESIGNATION. TRY ‘L01VEX’ AND ‘CLOCKWORK’.”

“Clockwork? Alright, I suppose I could try that.” Vex reached forward, slowly tapping each key with a screwdriver, letting out a quiet coo as she saw the characters appearing on the screen. After putting the two words in, she watched the monitor and waited.

And waited.

Finally, after two minutes of staring at the blinking cursor on the screen, Vex growled and looked back up at Velvet. “It’s not doing anything!”

“HAVE YOU TRIED TURNING IT OFF AND TURNING IT BACK ON?”

“Why would I have to turn you off?” Vex deadpanned at Velvet, looking at her face.

“UNKNOWN. THIS UNIT IS TO USE THAT QUERY WHENEVER SOMETHING IS NOT FUNCTIONING PROPERLY. WHAT IS THE ISSUE?”

“Fascinating. So the circuitry and magical routines are not only complex enough to create sentience, but also to allow for automatic response to queries even when access to memories is obstructed,” Vex mused under her breath, wishing she had placed her notepad a bit closer to the workspace as she tried in vain to manipulate a nearby quill to scratch down her findings. She continued, raising her voice “Well, I’ve typed in L01VEX and Clockwork, but it’s not doing anything.”

“DID YOU HIT ENTER?”

“...No, I didn’t. Er...” Vex blinks, reaching forward and tapping the enter key on the keyboard. The text on the screen scrolled away, with a new prompt replacing it.

PASSWORD:

“Oh, darn it, now it’s asking for a password? Uhhh, shoot...” Vex frowned, just tapping a bunch of random keys before hitting enter again, frowning as a new result appeared on the screen.

LOGIN DENIED. LOGIN:

Vex let out a quiet groan before looking back up at Velvet, frowning from under her helmet. “Okay, er... is L01VEX the ‘login’ thing?”

“IT IS, YES.”

“Okay, so I put that in first, then...” Vex turned back to the monitor, tapping in L01VEX, then hitting enter, then putting in CLOCKWORK for the password. She grinned as the prompts went away, and a new menu displayed itself.

`===============

LEVEL 1 ACCESS GRANTED, DISPLAYING OPTIONS

[Access Logs] [User Details] [Maintenance Logs] [User List]`

“Jackpot. Alright, ah, let’s see here. How do I pick something on this screen?”

“USE THE ARROW KEYS AND ENTER.”

“Ah, brilliant. Thank you!” Vex hummed as she used her screwdriver to navigate down to the last option on the list, hitting enter on it, and going wide-eyed at the list of data sprawling out in front of her. A few were names she’d never heard in the past, though she did find entries that were more familiar. “Well well, what do we have here?”

USER LISTING: NAME || LEVEL || LAST ACCESS DATE GUEST || LEVEL 0 || 210 WEEKS AGO UTTER VEXATION || LEVEL 1 || 30 SECONDS AGO SPACE JAM || LEVEL 1 || UNKNOWN EYE LASH || LEVEL 1 || UNKNOWN PATCH || LEVEL 1 || UNKNOWN TELESCOPE || LEVEL 1 || UNKNOWN PERISCOPE || LEVEL 1 || UNKNOWN BINOCULARS || LEVEL 1 || UNKNOWN LENS CRAFTER || LEVEL 1 || UNKNOWN MAGNIFYING GLASS || LEVEL 1 || UNKNOWN ORACLE || LEVEL 1 || UNKNOWN CERISE VELVET || LEVEL 2 || 45 SECONDS AGO LUNACO_TECH || LEVEL 2 || 210 WEEKS AGO ADMIN || LEVEL 2 || 210 WEEKS AGO SPYGLASS || LEVEL 2 || UNKNOWN [REDACTED] || LEVEL 3 || 238 WEEKS AGO [REDACTED] || LEVEL 3 || 240 WEEKS AGO [REDACTED] || LEVEL 3 || 245 WEEKS AGO [REDACTED] || LEVEL 3 || UNKNOWN [REDACTED] || LEVEL 4 || 270 WEEKS AGO

“Oh, wow, there’s a lot of things here... though, why is my name in there?” Vex tilted her head slightly to the side, blinking at the names. “What even is all this? You have everyone in the crew and several more besides. If I’m here, and the others are there… is this a log of some sort?”

Suddenly, the entry for ‘Cerise Velvet’s’ last access date switched to ‘0 SECONDS AGO’, something in Velvet’s head clicking again. “UNLESS THIS UNIT IS HORRIBLY MISTAKEN, YOU HAVE FOUND THE ACCESS TERMINAL.”

“Terminal? What’s that?”

“A MECHANISM USED TO ACCESS DATA AND INFORMATION STORED ELECTRONICALLY WITHIN THIS UNIT’S CLOCKWORK AND DATA STORAGE. OTHERWISE KNOWN AS A ‘COMPUTER’.”

“A ‘computer’?” Vex deadpanned harder at Velvet’s chin, jaw hanging open a little in utter confusion. “I mean, I understand the flamethrower, the scatter gun, some kind of... I don’t know, bomb launcher in your hips, but this is certainly not technology I’ve ever seen before. Velvet, who on earth could have created something like you?”

“THIS UNIT IS A CLOCKWORK MACHINE. DATA BEYOND THIS IS UNKNOWN.”

“Of course... not only full of surprises, but full of mysteries as well. Well, I’ll take care of this thing in a moment, still have to fix your volume control so my hearing doesn’t blow out just from asking you questions. How do you fold it back up?” Vex looked around the monitor for some kind of switch, or lever that would be used to push the machine back into Velvet’s chest. But, before she could touch anything, the monitor and keyboard simply folded up on their own, receding back into the machine’s chest before the chest compartment slammed shut. “Oh... that’s convenient.”

“THIS UNIT IS PLEASED TO ASSIST, AND SHE WOULD FIND IT USEFUL TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL HER VOCAL DECIBEL LEVEL AGAIN.”

“Of course. Just a moment! Oh, and dismantle this shield, if you would.” Vex popped her helmet off and let it fall to her side before she picked up her screwdriver, and hopped back to her work.

As Velvet worked on unhinging the blast shields, and Vex made it around to the mare’s side, they both stopped as their ears picked up a sound. The sound of a distant boom.

“Ohhh, of all the things to happen right now...” Vex sighed before immediately rocketing into a scream, as an explosion shook the ship. A bell up on deck started ringing, and the belly of the ship suddenly roared with shouted orders and the hoofsteps of sprinting ponies.

“All crew, all crew! Everyone to the deck! Get your swords and firearms, we’ve got slavers!” a voice shouted from the hall, Vex sighing as she started unhooking Velvet from her harness.

“Go, Velvet, they need you up there. But as soon as this is done, come back here so I can do more work, alright?”

“OF COURSE, UNIT-VEX.” With a quick nod and a hop, Velvet took off towards the door, throwing it open with her magic and running out into the hall, on her way towards the deck. Vex simply sighed and walked over to the door, closing it.

“Well, not much point for me to be up there.” She looked back to her room, brow furrowing slightly as she shifted her mane with a hoof a little. “Hmm... well, guess I could think of ways to defend myself, in case someone breaks into the ship. Blowing myself up is effective, but as the wise ones say, ‘you can do anything once; the problem is doing it twice’.” With a smirk and a scoff, she walked on over to her workbench, pulled over a notepad, and started scribbling.

A moment later, her pen scratched to a stop. “Redacted… access 238 weeks?” she mumbled.

Lifting her pen once again, Vex began to sketch a detailed model of the terminal. Self-defense could come later. For now, there was only the one problem filling her mind.

Mystery Artificer, who are you? And why would you build this?

All the while, roars and shouts came from above deck, as Spyglass rallied his crew against the approaching battleship. His shouts reached the ears of his assembled crew, even as his ship turned with a creak, falling in behind the Tomcat, cannon bays opening up and displaying the myriad of guns at his command. “Alright, boys, this is what you’ve all been working to do, and have been doing for a while! Usual assault plan, we’re going to open with a barrage, then move in behind the Tomcat towards the enemy ship! Once we’re close enough, hooks will be thrown over with ropes, and all pegasi will engage when they’re able!”

“Sir, yes sir!” The crew shouted out, one squeaky Telescope with his rifle clutched in his quivering hooves falling just out of tune of the others.

“Good! Rifles first, then cross and use your swords! Don’t bother with reloads, and let Mr. Eye and Miss Velvet lead the way!” Spyglass leered out over his crew, even as a cannonball ripped by the two ships, and the Tomcat started to return fire. “Am I understood!?”

“Crystal clear, sir!” the crew shouted, Telescope squealing as another round shot tore past the hull, obliterating a cloud behind the Iris with its explosion.

“Excellent! Marksponies, to your positions! Boarding parties, take cover! Wait until we’re close!” Spyglass grit his teeth as he ducked down, a trio of cannonballs tearing by him, thankfully missing the others who ducked in time. “Get moving! Telescope, up in the crow’s nest, now!”

“Y-Yes sir, moving!!” Telescope shrieked, fluttering his wings as he rushed over to the mast and started fighting his way up the ladder. His breath raced, his heart pounded, his rifle nearly slipped right out of his wing’s grip from all his shaking. Oh Goddess, oh Goddess, please, I don’t wanna die here...! He gulped hard, climbing up to the crow’s nest, and finally, he heard the crew’s battle cry, triumphant and powerful.

“A bullet for every enemy’s eye, and the slavers go blind! Let’s get ‘em!!”