Chapters The brash always goes first
Commander Supreme Rainbow Dash of House Stormwing stared at the island in the distance, it stood alone in the eye of typhoon winds that never seemed to let up, hence why she and her subordinates, Spitfire and Soarin had trouble getting there.
Rainbow turned to her second in command and spoke, “Make sure the division is prepared to decimate them if they don’t agree to the terms.”
Spitfire nodded and went to pass the message down the line of clouds that held a division of troops, just in case talks went south.
“You think the bats will agree to our terms Commander?” Soarin asked to the cyan mare's left.
“Commander Sidewinder is a fool, but he’s dangerous, don’t drop your guard around him,” Rainbow warned before she saw that Spitfire had returned and without warning took off above the massive storm, the two lieutenants trailing behind her.
“Is it true that he brought all of the Thestral here? I heard it was a myth but with how many mare ’o war that are out there I’m not too sure if it is,” Spitfire said as she caught up with her leader.
“Not sure, but he has most of the navy, and I won’t let him have that many ships,” Rainbow responded before she dived over the edge of the storm and darted towards the beach past the ships.
Rainbow landed on the black sand softly, so as to not announce her presence. She looked around for any signs of life, until her eyes rested upon a set of chairs and a table. The table separated the two chairs, the one that faced away from the interior held a Thestral whom sipped from a straw that was dipped into a coconut, Commander Sidewinder himself.
Rainbow was confused as she slowly trotted over to him, weary of any trick or trap. Sidewinder wore sunglasses and swimming trunks, from where he got them whom could say, but it was him. He took notice of her, evident in the way his head turned to look at her then to his drink and back again.
“Rainbow Dash, that you?” he asked, voice slurred from the beverage no doubt.
“Commander Supreme Rainbow Dash,” Rainbow reprimanded lightly before she took a seat opposite him.
“Sorry, not sorry ,um, what’re you doing out here?” Sidewinder asked in a haze.
“I’m here to seek an alliance with you, we could help each other,” Rainbow said without missing a beat, “Now put your drink down so we can talk.”
“Live a little Dash, I mean Supreme Commander. I’ve got more, you want one?” Sidewinder answered, only to have his drink knocked from his hoof.
“Focus and think, I want the Thestral to join with House Stormwing. And I want you to command them,” Rainbow said with a smile, she really wanted this.
“Why would you want us?” the drunk bat pony questioned.
“Because while Thestral are slower than Pegasi you make up for it by being quiet. I’m in need of a stealth force to get rid of House Moon and Star,” Rainbow answered, hoping to appeal to the natural Thestral mindset of shadow war.
“And ,um, what uh will happen if uh we say no?” Sidewinder questioned as he swayed from side to side.
“I can’t have any enemies, you can accept our offer of partnership or you can be destroyed.” Rainbow leveled the ultimatum to the stallion, confident that her show of force would work.
Sidewinder smiled and extended a hoof before he spoke, ”Yeah, lets do it. And we’ll have a drink in celebration.”
Rainbow raised her eyebrow as she noted that there were no more drinks around that she could see. Her gaze shifted back to the older Thestral to see him no longer swaying, but sitting still with a serious demeanor.
Now Sidewinder looked at the scarred Pegasus with an unreadable glint in his eye, his words were, instead of slurred, sharp and to the point, “… That little banter is what I would be saying if I actually was drunk and had any intention of cementing an alliance with house Stormwing.”
Rainbow Dash frowned, she didn’t understand where the Thestral was going on about, until he spoke next.
“Quite the position you find yourself in Ms. Dash. Here, on my island, threatening it’s inhabitants with death if we refrain from adding fuel to the fire that plagues Equestria. Not a wise move Ms. Dash, not a wise move,” Sidewinder said with the evidence of disdain growing in his voice with each passing word.
“Anypony who doesn’t ally with us is a traitor to Equestria! And that’s Commander Supreme Rainbow Dash to you!” she shouted with rage.
“A traitor to Equestria? Or a traitor to your idea of Equestria, one with a Pegasi dominant society?” the stallion responded with narrowed eyes.
Before Rainbow could retort Sidewinder sat up from his relaxed position and continued, “You serve no pony but yourself and the rest of the traitorous Pegasi! All of you elements merely want dominion over the other, breaking the very core foundations of Equestria! Worse yet, you believe yourself to be the second coming of Commander Hurricane! As for your rank, tis merely there to inflate your ego.”
Rainbow snorted in an attempt to intimidate the bat winged pony and replied, “The Pegasi are the only ones that can lead Equestria into the future, it’s our responsibility. I was going to give the Thestral a chance to join, but after seeing you I don’t need you. And if your answer is final, I will sink this island, all of the lives that you thought that you were protecting are now forfeit to your stubbornness.”
Sidewinder’s eyes flicked to Spitfire and Soarin then to Rainbow herself before he began to chuckle, that then morphed into full blown laughter. The rainbow manned Pegasus nearly jumped out of her seat to strangle the bat only, she found that she couldn’t move.
“Have you ever wondered where the Princesses went?” Sidewinder asked out of the blue as he finished having a laugh.
“I was once perplexed by this, why would they simply disappear without so much as a word?” he asked, not expecting a response, but received one anyway.
“They lied to all of us, they didn’t control the moon and sun. Equestria was a lie, a lie to keep us all in line. Now let us go!” Rainbow shouted, utterly perplexed as to how the bat was holding them in place.
Sidewinder made a clicking noise as he shook his head, then he looked past her and said, “I don’t believe she’s noticed yet, are you ready to come out?”
It was then that Commander Supreme Rainbow Dash looked down, for the first time during the meeting, to find a blue magical aura surrounded her hooves and barrel, they were crisscrossed in such a way so as to keep her rooted to the spot where she sat. Rainbow turned her head to find that the same happened to both her subordinates, save that their mouths had been covered, hence why they had said nothing the entire time.
When Rainbow looked back to the Thestral her eyes became akin to pin pricks as to her right sat the mare of the night herself, Nightmare Moon. A Nightmare Moon that was no doubt made of flesh and blood, as she felt the near scalding hot breath upon her. Rainbow couldn’t believe her own eyes, the evil that was cast out of the missing lunar princess sat beside her, a furious look upon her face.
“Good day and salutations to thee Commander Supreme. Forgive mine protégé, he lacks the bluntness that We require for what happens next.” Nightmare Moon said, slipping into a mixture of modern and ye olde Equestrian.
Rainbow had built up a raging retort to get the crazy Thestral to release her. However, it died in her throat.
Miraculously she managed to get a word out, “How?”
It was a whimper, a mewl of a rabbit in the face of a hungry lioness.
“How what my little pony? How doth We stand here, upon this beach? It doth not matter at this point in time,” Nightmare looked to Sidewinder and switched tones so opposite that one would even question whether she had been angry not a second ago, “Commander, inform the strike teams to decimate Our enemies camps, take the ones whom surrender alive. All of the noncombatants are to be taken unspoiled and brought to Canterlot when we give the order.”
Sidewinder bowed to his princess and left the beach to the mountain at the center of the island.
Rainbow watched his retreating form before Nightmare turned her attention back to the armored Pegasus.
“Doth thou know what Commander Hurricane would do if he saw you right now? As a traitor to the crown he would have both you and your subordinates crucified, or pressed. He was rather fond of the latter when it came to traitors,” she trailed off before she spoke again, “Your punishment is to be most severe, but for now you’re safe from the chopping block.”
Rainbow finally found her strength before she bellowed, “Punished for trying to fight a tyrant? I beat you once, I can do it again. When I get out of here I’ll kill you for everything that you and your horse of a sister-,”
Magic wrapped around the cyan mare’s neck and squeezed, it cut off her air and blurred her vision as the mare in the moon spoke, “That was a mouthful ‘commander’ and it’s very rude to talk with your mouth full, you could choke.”
The magic was taken away before Rainbow went into a coughing fit, “We expected more from all of you, to be understating the point. Rest assured, your former friends will be joining you soon enough.”
Rainbow continued to cough as a trio of black clad Thestral landed beside the princess of the night and bowed.
“Bind her so that she doth not have sight or hearing. As for her wings, remove them. That goes for all three.” Rainbow’s eyes widened at what she heard and she began to struggle before everything went black.
Nightmare Moon looked to the sky above the island and gave the barest of nods, with that something miraculous happened. The storm surrounding the island let up, only white clouds surrounded the place. The night princess finally heard it, the sweet sound of yelling and screaming from the division that was meant to kill all of the bat ponies as their leaders were taken away to be bound as per her instructions. Fleetfoot was commencing the attack, and it was working from the sound of it.
“Princess?” a now armored Sidewinder called from behind, “If I have your leave?”
Nightmare Moon looked at the stallion out of the corner of her eye and said, “Commander, leave Ms. Fleetfoot to her job. You may commence with the attack on House Earthborn. But a word of warning, I am aware that you have an axe to grind with Applejack. There will be no dissent on the matter of taking her alive to face true justice. if you do kill her, the consequences shall be dire.”
Sidewinder bowed before he took off, and was followed by five more armored Thestral. It was then that Nightmare shrunk slightly and morphed into Princess Luna whom turned away from the conflict and headed towards the mountain to offer the Thestral, Pegasi, Earth ponies, and Unicorns who lived on the island, comfort in knowing that soon, very soon, the madness would be ground to a halt and peace would return to the lands.
After the trial of the former Elements of Harmony.
Exacting details and revenge
Princess Celestia had to find a place to sit after trying to hear her little ponies pleas. The grievances of the inhabitants of the island were seemingly endless, not to mention heartbreaking. Pegasi forced from their homes if they refused to ally with Stormwing. Earth ponies forced into slavery by her own apprentice. The list went on and atrocities grew in scale. Now however, she wanted to be left alone.
Celestia found a section of beach that was unoccupied and trotted down it to the edge of the water. Her breath became shaky as she stared at the horizon, with tears following seconds after.
“Princess?” a voice made Celestia whip her head around to see Fleetfoot, the last wonderbolt sitting calmly behind her.
“Yes my little pony, what may I do for you?” Celestia asked as she wiped away her tears.
Fleetfoot frowned and flew towards her until she was a foot away. Celestia nearly jumped out of her coat as she was swiftly hugged by an airborne Fleetfoot.
“Let it out,” Fleetfoot gently commanded, a command that Celestia obliged.
Tears came forth, of pain, and rage, and sorrow. All of her carefully built walls crumbled, the pains of her sub-, no, her children was too much.
“They committed such evil,” Celestia wailed into the crook of Fleetfoots neck.
Fleetfoot did her best to console her ruler, but couldn’t help her own tears.
The two parted as they calmed down, Fleetfoot landed in front of Celestia before she asked her question, a question that plagued everyone’s mind since the beginning of the war.
“Princess, where did you and Luna go? Why did you leave us here?” her voice cracked as she spoke.
Celestia turned and motioned with her head to follow her down the beach, Fleetfoot did as commanded.
The matron of the sun breathed deeply before she answered, “My sister and I didn’t leave by choice my little pony. Something took us, a demon. A conniving, evil creature that called itself, Legion. Now known as The Laughing Mare."
Fleetfoot’s eyes widened at the revelation, and suddenly the pieces began to fall into place.
“I will explain fully once we get back to town. I would request silence on your part so as to make sure that everypony is on the same page,” Celestia said after a moment of silence before she turned to begin the trek back to the rough town that had been built from flotsam and recycled resources.
Fleetfoot followed dutifully behind her princess and when they reached the center of town she rang a large bell six times in quick succession. The townsfolk, being comprised of all four races immediately headed to town square. They gathered around its boarder in a semi-circle. All eager to hear what the princess was going to say.
“My little ponies, I wish, I wish to put your minds at ease about what happened ten years ago when mine sister and I vanished without a trace.” Celestia announced, which brought murmurs from the crowd.
Celestia swallowed, and continued, “It was not by choice that we left, far from it. A day prior to our vanishing Luna and I were on the trail of an entity so vile it threatened the very nature of our world. It called itself, Legion. Better known here as The Laughing Mare.”
Celestia watched as the faces of curiosity turned into horror. Some of her little ponies shook with fear.
“It captured us in our drawing-room and imprisoned us in the bowels of Tartarus.” Celestia explained and was about to explain further only another voice interrupted her.
“What I and a couple of guys here want to know is, why the bloody hell did the sun not stop going round? That’s what you control right, what happened to that?” a scruffy looking Earth pony questioned.
The crowd, for the most part, made noises of agreement whilst others whispered about not interrupting the princess.
“My little ponies, I’ve never controlled the sun’s rising and falling, but it’s trajectory,” Celestia answered, and hoped that would placate the crowd. Instead it confused a few.
“I do not control the sun, I set the sun in a path that will positively effect crops and warm the days at the perfect temperature.” Celestia answered in simpler terms.
This answer placated the crowd who nodded their approval. At their silence Celestia continued.
“The Laughing Mare has poisoned the minds of the Elements of Harmony and granted five of them unnatural abilities, such as Applejack who can spot a lie.” Celestia’s mention of the former farmer garnered a collective hiss from the Thestral in the crowd. She’d let it slip her mind what had happened to the bat ponies and she bowed her head in shame at what happened, to all of the races.
A new voice questioned her, this one had traces of the Trottingham accent. A tall, beige Pegasus stepped forwards.
“And how do we kill it?” the tall stallion asked with his head cocked to the left.
“I’m sorry?” Celestia asked, as if his question seemed to have been lost in the distance between them.
“I said, how do we kill the bloody thing?” the stallion repeated louder, his pale blue eyes bored holes into the princess.
“That is a job for my sister and I, Mister?” Celestia asked as she could have sworn that she saw him before her imprisonment.
“Captain Flintlock, of the Walrus. At your service Ma’am.” Flintlock answered with a small bow.
Celestia wanted to kick herself for forgetting the youngest Pegasus to graduate from the naval academy. Now an older stallion with sunken eyes and a dirty beige coat.
“Rest assured Captain, my sister and I will be handling the Cult of Laughter. And we will be sending the demon into the deepest pits of the underworld, never to return. And then we shall end this war, no more will anypony have to fear for tomorrow. We will have harmony again, I promise you all.” Celestia placated the sailor, and was responded to with cheers.
Celestia smiled, for the first time in a long time.
Sidewinder eyed the headquarters of House Earthborn, it took them two days to reach the place, even with the help of a few friendly trawlers that collected kelp. Had he been born a Pegasus he’d have no trouble getting to far off places but he was Thestral, silent and fierce.
“Commander, are we ready to begin?” a voice from below asked.
Sidewinder looked down to see a younger Unicorn as he squinted up at him, Pepperjack was his name.
“No, there are too many sentries. We wait till the midnight shift change,” responded the older stallion from his position in the trees.
The task force of seven, five Thestral, an Earth pony and a Unicorn, had positioned themselves in a mass of trees above an orchard overlooking the base.
“All we need to do is wait for our contact and everything will be taken care of then?” the Unicorn asked as he tried to refrain from using his magic and thereby giving away their position.
“Here she comes.” Sidewinder murmured when the contact headed in their direction, no one guarding her.
Applebloom made her way up the hill and into the thicket of trees. She could see her breath in the crisp night air.
“I’m here.” She whispered, as she could barely see anything.
Sidewinder crept down from his position and whispered so as to not startle the mare, “What’s the news? Any new additions to the force?”
“Fifty in the barracks, dozen or so in the mess, and Braeburn got here yesterday with a couple dozen reinforcements from Appleloosa.” The red headed mare answered in a hushed tone.
“Alright, when is the shift change?” Sidewinder pressed for more information.
“In ten minutes, takes five minutes to complete. They all have to sweep the orchard for thieves.” Applebloom’s answer elicited a low hiss from the Thestral. The noise chilled her to the bone.
“Alright, go get everyone who isn’t going to fight out. You have fifteen minutes before we attack, and if you even think about warning your brother or sister, so help me God,” Sidewinder growled out in warning which made Applebloom leave the area in a calm but fast manner.
The oldest Thestral resumed his position in the tree as the Earth pony, Pipsqueak, asked Winding Storm, a Thestral, “Why do you Thestral hate Applejack so much? When anypony even mentions her you guys hiss.”
“When Twilight Sparkle put the slavery act into place she made Thestrals and Earth ponies mine the tunnels under Canterlot to look for gems to feed her dragon. Applejack found out, she and her army bucked a fault line, which caused a cave-in. That created a gas leak, there was a spark and it lit up the whole mine.” Winding Storm answered, as he checked his small wrist crossbow for defects.
“Oh Celestia, she did that and that’s why the boss hates her?” Pip asked, his face a look of horror at the callousness of the mare.
“Believe it or not, no. Sides wasn’t at Canterlot when it happened. He was surviving out here with his son in a small colony of Thestral. Sickness hit, and little Thunderbolt went to get clean food to help his friend who was ill. He, he got caught taking an apple from a nearby orchard that was under Applejacks control. To send a message to anypony that thought of stealing… she killed him and threw him into the newly made Ponyville swamp. He was twelve years old.” Winding explained with a guilty look before their commander got down from his position.
“Alright, the shift’s about to change. Jack, sabotage the siege machines. Make sure none of them can work. Winding, Pip, take care of Big Mac and Braeburn. Everypony else, pick your targets and take them down. Leave Applejack to me.” Sidewinder said as he removed himself from the trees.
Everypony moved out as the Earthborn soldiers checked the orchards.
Rainbow Dash woke abruptly as cold water was dumped over her. She rolled onto her back and screamed, her wings were gone.
Rainbow looked around in a near delirious state till she figured out where she was, she was in a small cell with Princess Luna on the other side of the bars.
“This cell, was once in the warship Lurker. It’s housed many criminals, murderers, thieves, and now you,” the princess said as she went over the perimeter of the cell with her eyes.
“Why are you keeping me here? I was loyal to you even though your powers were fake!” Rainbow tried to reason only for Luna’s facial muscles to crease in a frown.
“Loyalty, true loyalty is what my sister and I ask for. I believe that your loyalty ended when you allowed your soldiers to do as they wished, allowing them to threaten towns with flooding in order to gain monetarily. You flooded Ponyville, albeit being tricked into it, is no excuse for it hath cost many lives, both foe and unaligned,” Luna spat out, her voice rising after every misdeed, “Doth thou know what mine sister and I can do? I control the flight path of the moon in order to provide light for lost ponies, and to bring a good sea tide. I doth not simply control the rotation of the earth thou foal, if I or mine sister did such a thing we’d be casting our magic unceasing!”
Luna calmed herself as she looked away from the scarred pegasus then said, “If you truly showed loyalty you would’ve provided for everypony freely. Does Celestia get a bonus paycheck for good crops every harvest? No, she believes that one should use their power to care for others and not use it to make ponies fear you!”
Luna continued as she saw the shame make its way onto Rainbow’s face, “Though it’s not all your fault. The Laughing Mare is to blame for some part.”
“What does that have to do with this?” Rainbow asked in a defeated tone.
“The Laughing Mare has poisoned all of your minds, thoughts of unity and love become those of division and hate. That voice that whispers to you when you are in the war room, the voice that tells you that scorched earth is better than losing. That’s The Laughing Mare working to bring you to ruin. It’s what she does you see, all to claim this world as her own. And thanks to the manipulation of Twilight Sparkle, she’s here, dividing the Elements of Harmony and sinking her claws into the earth.” Luna revealed, face still hard as she looked at her prisoner.
Rainbow didn’t know how to respond to that, in hindsight she really wished things went differently. She regretted the flooding of Ponyville, she regretted not trying to keep her remaining friends together. Now she realized the gravity of what transpired, all of the strife was for something to claim Equestria. There was only one thing to do.
“I’m sorry,” Rainbow choked out before water filled her eyes and she wept on the cave floor.
“I accept your apology, but you still must face justice. Fret not, for your followers won’t face the same fate, at least those who surrendered. Take comfort in that.” Luna said, solemn in her duty.
With that she left the cyan mare to her thoughts.
The raid was going well enough, sentries had been dealt with and now Sidewinder approached Applejack’s quarters, utterly silent.
He reached the door and turned the knob. When it was open he shot a dart from his wrist crossbow at the bed where the leader of the house slept, the dart had been dipped into a paralyzing agent which would put it's target to sleep in less than a minute. The dart hit it’s mark and Sidewinder went to collect his target.
He pulled back the covers, and his eyes widened as the door shut, this was a trap!
A voice from behind made him whirl around, “I thought I recognized my sister acting up, you no good son of a bitch.”
There, in between Sidewinder and the door stood Applejack, and not a second later she charged the Thestral!
Sidewinder’s eyes widened as Applejack charged, she’d taken him by surprise in an admittedly well executed trap. The mare was not even a foot away when Sidewinder moved, he jumped back to the bed as Applejacks’ hammer moved to the spot where he stood!
Not fast enough, as the weapon dealt him a glancing blow, which knocked him back. The Thestral growled in rage, and with a mighty flap of his wings he crashed into the mare who was trying to regain her balance. The glass window shattered, and sent the two into the dirt.
Applejack recovered first and stood on all fours as her opponent shakily got to his hooves.
“I ain’t letting ya’ll get away with this, boy. Me and my kin don’t take kindly to thieves,” she sneered, but by the last word she seemed to have struck a cord in the bat pony.
Sidewinder growled in a rage and with a flick of his wrist to the right he unsheathed a dagger. He would give her no breath, no room for refocus until the mission was complete. It was then that he knew that Pepperjack had done his job, evident in the way the ground shook and a loud boom was heard.
***
Winding Storm was a dead-eye, meaning he could hit a small target from a long way off. He aimed his crossbow, careful to aim at the eye of his target. He breathed slowly, steadily, as he prepared to take the shot. Then it happened, the siege machines went up in a fire ball, right as Winding let a bolt fly.
Big Macintosh turned just in time to hear a loud ping on his helmet. He turned to face his attacker, no doubt linked to the attack. He focused on the bat pony as he reloaded his weapon. Mac charged him, and the pony used his wings to sail into the air! The pony twisted to where he was upside down, and let another loose. Mac simply turned his head and let the bolt hit his armor. Then something heavier crashed into him, not nearly enough to knock him even slightly off balance, he used a foreleg to throw it to the ground. It was a bat, not the one that he was fighting earlier but another one, fury entered his eyes as he reared high into the air and brought his fore hooves crashing down onto it’s head! He heard a hiss and saw out of the corner of his eye the earlier one coming at him!
Winding Storm unsheathed his dagger and tried to flank the giant of a pony only for Big Mac to hone in on him. Winding twisted in the air as Big Mac’s armored foreleg tried to make him crash, but Winding was slightly faster than Mac and was able to sail under the arm.
This was his chance! Winding knew that Big Mac knew if he lost sight of his target he would need time to re-acquire him. Time that needn’t be wasted. Winding prayed to whom ever would listen that his shot would hit the target. Winding twisted so that his back was facing the ground, he sighted the eye and fired. Mac turned right into the shot and howled as his eye was taken.
The behemoth staggered for a moment and tore his helmet off as Winding hovered in the air before, in a burst of near unnatural speed he shot towards the shocked Thestral. Mac jumped and sent the Thestral skidding into the earth!
Winding rolled onto his back before a hoof crashed into his breastplate, and cracked it. The young Thestral spat blood into the air as Big Mac prepared to finish him. Mac reared back and pressed all of his weight down. Winding closed his eyes as the hoof came down, he imagined that he’d see Thunderbolt again after six years of training. He hoped they’d be able to play again after all that time.
After a moment of nothing Winding opened his eyes to find that Pepperjack had made it and had slipped a rope around Big Mac’s neck. The unicorn held Mac up with his magic and lifted him off the ground. Mac gurgled as his own weight closed his throat.
“Are you going to lay there all night gawking, or would you mind being useful and help Mr. Pipsqueak?” Pepperjack asked the Thestral who stood and flew to the other side of the compound.
***
Pipsqueak rolled out of the way of Braeburns’ lasso, his years on The Walrus had apparently been worth it, he was faster than the cowpony without armor. He could dodge all night if need be but now it was a question of getting in close.
Braeburn readied another rope before a crossbow bolt narrowly missed him. A bat pony landed by the pinto and glared at him as Braeburn readied a noose. Without warning the bat rushed him but veered off as Braeburn launched his weapon. The noose found purchase around the bat’s barrel and the earth pony used all of his strength to send it crashing into the mess hall.
Braeburn barely noticed the pinto pony in time. He crashed into him, unfortunately Braeburn rolled with the tackle and threw the colt off, just as the barracks went up in flames.
Braeburn breathed deeply as he took in the chaos, blood spatter caked the mess window, he noted that nopony ran out to help them. At this he realized, to his horror, that there would be no reinforcements. This was a textbook ambush.
Braeburns’ gaze became akin to an inferno as his eyes settled on the pinto pony as he tried to stand with a noticeable gash in his foreleg.
The cowpony was methodical in his approach, he stalked towards the limping teenager with a murderous intent.
Pip breathed heavily as he staggered to his hooves. He winced as he moved his left foreleg, a piece of wood was buried in the limb. He bit into the offending object and tore it from himself.
Pip grunted in agony, it was bigger than he thought and now he had a heavily bleeding limb. He looked towards Braeburn to find that he was closing in on him.
Their gazes met for an instant before the cowpony caught Pip with a right cross. The blow was hard enough to send him into the ground. Pip’s vision swam as he was rolled onto his back.
Pip choked as a hoof was placed on his throat.
“You picked the wrong side Pip, but it’s good to know you’re back. I missed you, boy,” Braeburn said as he sniffed him, before Pip shot his hind leg up.
Braeburn grunted as he backed off. The kick to his crotch gave Pip enough time to get to his hooves. Pip saw red as he slammed his hooves into the Apple clanspony. Pip used his good foreleg to jab Braeburn in the nose and continued to do so thrice more until the former farmer tried to knock him off his hooved when Pip went to hit him over the head.
Pip’s adrenalin addled mind did the work and he wrapped his forelegs around Braeburns’ barrel and flipped over him as he used his own weight to send Braeburn face first into the dirt.
Braeburn crawled and tried to rise only for Pip to trip him. The sailor was exhausted, but wasn’t about to allow Breaburn to walk away from this. Pip crawled atop his opponent who tried to fight him off, only Pip redirected his feeble attempts at retaliation and slammed his good hoof into Braeburns’ head.
He grunted as he brought his full fury to bare, once, a cry tore through Braeburn, twice, a wet gurgled cry, and thrice, there was a crack and blood caked Pips’ hoof. Braeburn knew no more, which satisfied Pip just fine as he struggled to stand.
“Bloody hell, Winding?” Pip called, as he realized that his friend hadn’t come out of the mess.
Pip staggered in a near drunk fashion towards the mess before he was stopped by a Thestral he didn’t know. And was made to lay down despite his protests.
“Winding’s in the mess, I-I got to get him,” Pip said shakily as he was bandaged up.
Soon Pepperjack levitated an unmoving Winding Storm towards the group.
“How many casualties?” Pepperjack asked, his tone clipped.
“Two, Banks was killed by an angry cook and Scarlet by the big one,” the Thestral replied, her voice was reminiscent of the accent in Prance.
“Has anypony seen Sides?” Pepper asked, fearful of the answer.
The silence was deafening but Pepper was soon filled with urgency as Winding coughed up blood.
“Oh dear, Fleur, I’ll make sure that Mr. Winding is stable, you go into the medical tent and get a bloodbag and an IV stand. He has serous internal bleeding, and his blood pressure is dropping,” Pepper ordered as he used a basic healing spell on Winding’s lung.
***
Sidewinder hid himself in the bomb shelter beneath the barn. It was dark enough and big enough that he could have a breather from Applejack’s onslaught. A match lit a torch which illuminated a good portion of the shelter and would expose Sidewinder to the Supreme Commander if left alone.
“Ya’ll wrecked the whole place you varmint, after I kill you I’ll go after your kin, see how ya’ll like it,” Applejack said, her ire raised to it’s highest level.
Sidewinder used the bunk beds to remain hidden, since they were stacked three high he could go relativity unnoticed.
He moved three rows away from the hunting Apple matron and replied, “You can’t do that I’m afraid.”
Sidewinder squinted as he drew nearer to the light. He stewed in anger, and decided against his original plan and began to circle around the loud earth mare.
“And why not? It ain’t like ya’ll are getting out of this,” Applejack retorted.
“Who says I’m trying too?” the voice from behind made Applejack freeze.
It was whispered right in her ear, and she turned to face it. There the Thestral was, folding his dagger back into his gauntlet with his teeth.
Applejack wasted no more time and swung her hammer at him. Sidewinder didn’t jump back, instead he ducked below it and surged forwards. When Applejack was facing towards him a hoof planted itself on the nose. This was swiftly followed by her good eye. The blows sent her head into a bed post and dosoriented her. Applejack righted herself before she found that the Thestral was gone.
“Show yourself, you yellow coward!” she demanded.
A mocking laugh reverberated off the walls before the bat pony spoke, “Coward am I? That’s a lot coming from the mare that killed my son!”
Applejack looked around her and up to see where the voice was coming from. She lifted her eyepatch to make sure she saw everything she could. A blow from the right knocked her head into a bed post, hard enough for her vision to swim.
Sidewinder retreated after the blow and moved around her slowly, only to find her tracking him with that eye of hers.
“I can see you through these here beds ya varmint, come on out,” Applejack demanded with a grin plastered on her face.
Sidewinder crawled out of his hiding spot and stood before her. Applejack rushed him and struck his breastplate. He staggered back and dodged a jab at his face delivered a left cross. Applejack accepted the blow and spun to use her hammer, only for for the commander to duck and use his head to strike her below the jaw.
The Apple backed off and lunged to try and tackle Sidewinder only for him to roll over a bed and put some distance in between them.
“What the hay are you doing?” Applejack questioned.
“Fighting dirty,” Sidewinder replied before he soared over the bunks to hit her head again, but Applejack brought her hammer up which was caught on a bunk.
He angled his hoof so that it pointedly struck her eye. The mare gave a yell and punched his lower abdomen. Sidewinder hit the floor and scurried away as Applejack got loose and went after him.
“I recognize your fighting style, one that Major Blitz taught you after he joined your ranks,” Sidewinder commented as Applejack’s blows became sloppier, missing more often than him redirecting them.
Applejack growled and brought her hammer around only to hit air.
“Your version is sloppy and slow,” Sidewinder goaded.
Applejack bellowed and finally, with a vicious punch, knocked Sidewinder into a post before he fell to the ground. She wasted no time moving in, only to gasp as a dart hit her hind leg!
Her eyes darted to Sidewinder who had used his crossbow to fire another sedative laced dart at her. Her legs shook from her heavy armor, and her tongue was thick.
“This toxin was isolated from the liver of a Celestial pufferfish, the dart paralizes you and you feel everything,” Sidewinder explained, “You’ll be like that for a good two hours.”
He kneeled down and spoke again as Applejack slowly sank to the ground, “As much as I really, really, want to flay you alive for what you did to my boy, I’m not going to. Instead, I’ll let the Princesses have you.”
Applejack gurgled in response as the bat pony left her to assess his force.
***
Captain Flintlock leaned back against the wall of a makeshift bar, his rum was untouched as the Princess of the Sun finished unveiling her plan to him.
“Let me get this straight, you want to walk into Manehattan under disguise and become friends with Rarity? After you’ve captured her The Walrus will pelt the city with cannon fire, and we’ll make a get away?" Celestia nodded slowly, not liking the condescending tone of the Captains voice.
“It’s a stupid and long term plan,” Flintlock deadpanned, much to Celestia’s annoyance.
“Would you happen to have a better suggestion Captain?” Celestia questioned in a near rhetoric fashion.
“As a matter of fact I do, we simply offer them a juicier target, one who’s a known fugitive,” Flintlock revealed, “You will walk in and deliver me to House White-Gold and Rarity will be there, right where you want her. We’ll get her and have more chance of success if we work together.”
Celestia chewed her lip for a moment before she saw the sense in the plan. All eyes would be off of her so she could do the heavy lifting. A good plan all around, admittedly.
“So we have an accord? ” Flintlock asked to which Celestia nodded.
Author's Note
Just a note, never mess with a grieving father.
Flintlock smiled at the mare in the dim candle light, her grin was so sweet that he feared that she’d give him a sugar high. She leaned in and kissed him, a kiss that he returned with just as much fervor. What had he done to deserve such a mare of quality? How was he so lucky?
“I love you, Lieutenant,” her words were silent and Flintlock heard a whistle.
“What?” he questioned, as the whistling grew in volume.
“Captain?” Flintlock’s face contorted in confusion, her voice was deeper than he remembered.
“Captain Flintlock? Are you alright?” the voice changed again to Princess Celestia’s.
Flintlock’s eyes opened blearily and he cursed as he felt his body ache, “Damn, how long was I out?”
His quartermaster, Featherstone, mumbled an apology to the Princess of the day whom sat under a palm tree patiently as the captain got his bearings. It was evening, far too long to be passed out from drink.
“About ten hours sir, The Princess would like a word regarding our next sortie,” Featherstone informed before he quickly left the area at Flintlock’s piercing stare.
The captain shook himself before he looked to Celestia, “Something wrong Princess?”
“I wanted to have a word with you regarding Rarity, you see I was speaking to your crew and they seem convinced that me going with you is a very bad idea,” Celestia said, which brought out an amused snort from the red bearded stallion.
“They think that a mare aboard ship is bad luck. And? One or two think that I walk about without a soul but it doesn’t effect me,” Flintlock responded as he headed to the water and plunged himself into it.
“Yes, they were convinced that you’re controlled by a Zebra witch, but that wasn’t all they told me. They spoke of a Ms. Coco Pommel,” Celestia said and watched as the shivering stallion froze at the mere mention of the name.
“Who told you that?” his reply was in anger as his eyes settled on her.
“It doesn’t matter. The point Captain, is that I would like you to be honest with me. Can you?” the glare faded as Celestia asked her question.
She signaled for Flintlock to follow her into a bar to sit in the shade. When they sat Celestia noticed an old sailor telling tales about Captain Flintlock to a group of fillies and colts.
“Well, you know the stories that Mr. Fibs likes to tell. I somehow sold my soul to a Zebra priestess in exchange for invincibility. That’s the story at any rate. The truth is rather boring, at least to some. The story wouldn’t be half as interesting if they said that Captain Flintlock used to make his home in Manehattan with a nice earth pony who shared his love of the theatre,” Flintlock adopted a sad smile on his face as he was handed a pitcher of orange juice.
“And that’s why you want to come along? Too get even with Rarity?” Celestia asked with an eyebrow arched.
Flintlock shook his head after he swallowed a good amount of juice and said, “No Princess, Ms. Rarity isn’t whom I’m after. I give you my word, there will be no interference by me in regards to Rarity.”
Flintlock held his hoof out for Celestia to shake which she did so slowly, apparently satisfied with the promise.
It was then that the pair noted a crowd was gathering on the fading beach.
Both Flintlock and Celestia squinted to see what it was as the sun set. A little sloop, flying a plain black flag.
Flintlock smiled and chuckled before he spoke, “Well, congratulations are in order to Commander Sidewinder, and Mr. Pipsqueak. A full day ahead of schedule. If you’ll excuse me Princess Celestia, I owe my Boatswain a drink.”
***
Sidewinder hovered above the beach with an anchor in his grasp, which he planted in the dirt seconds after he went well passed the water line.
He panted, sailing that fast took a lot out of him. He looked to the crowd and nodded in conformation, they’d won. Fleetfoot, who stood at the front of the crowd before him grinned before she grasped his face and pulled him into a fiery kiss. The two other Thestral grinned as they stepped off but it was short lived as they knew what was about to happen.
The crowd laughed as the two continued but it quieted as the Thestral of the crowd noted that two were missing.
Sidewinder broke the kiss with an apologetic grimace to Fleetfoot as everypony bowed their heads.
“Secure Banks and Scarlett Carson, are at rest,” he said over the wind.
The crowd whispered prayers of mourning of the two Thestral. Many leaned on others for support, whilst others stood alone in grief.
“We’ll meet up later, I have a mission report,” Sidewinder said in regret to Fleetfoot as he nuzzled the Pegasus mare.
“Don’t make me wait too long Sides,” Fleetfoot replied as she flew to Sidewinders’ den.
Princess Celestia, regal in her approach didn’t break stride as her little ponies bowed before her. Celestia nodded towards the commander whom whistled sharply before he left the scene to report to Princess Luna.
The crowd cheered when Pepperjack dismounted the vessel as he lifted a bound, gagged and blindfolded Applejack into the air and set the mare down upon the beach in front of the regal Princess.
“Ya’ll better let me go or I swear I’m gonna boil ya’ll down for grease!” Applejack roared aloud as the gag was taken away and the blindfold removed.
Applejack stopped as she saw the passive Princess. She couldn’t believe her eyes, or ears for that matter, as the Princess began to speak.
“Boil us down for grease? Is it so casual for you to resort to such cruelty, Applejack?” Celestia asked, her voice as cold as ice and her eyes shown only steely resolve.
“You’re not real, if this is a joke Ya’ll ain’t funny,” Applejack shouted to the other ponies as they fixed her with glares.
“I can assure you Ms. Apple, I am very real. Real enough to do this,” Celestia said as she ripped off Applejacks eyepatch to stare into it’s unholy gaze.
“My name is Celestia Del Sol, Princess of the sun, bringer of crops and swift justice. For the crimes of treason, torture, murder, and sedition. You are under arrest,” Celestia proclaimed to the eye before she placed an aura of magic around it.
The orb went dim then black. It’s uselessness sent Applejack into a stunned silence. The eye always worked perfectly and now it told her the cold, brutal, and honest truth, this was the real Princess Celestia.
The silence didn’t last, “Ya’ll left us to our own! You ain’t nothing but a tyrant, always living in fancy castles, while me and my kin have had to work to the bone to survive.”
Celestia nearly couldn’t believe her ears, but replied calmly, lest she reduce the mare to cinders, “Let me tell you something Applejack, I’ll have you know I would’ve traded places with you any day of the week. I would have loved nothing more than to simply do a hard days work, toiling the lands, providing food for everypony. I provided for ponies freely, whether they be free or prisoner. I gave your great, grandfather an enormous amount of farming land, for free. The only thing I asked for was to have him help form a town in the area. Is that so much? Does that sound like something a tyrant would do? He’d be ashamed of you, not only him but your parents would be ashamed.”
Applejacks’ visage contorted in rage as she struggled to get loose and strangle the princess, only the ropes constricted her more as she did so. Celestia replaced the gag before a storm of curses could be heard.
Celestia felt tears roll down her face before she continued, “Mr. Pepperjack, take her from my sight.”
The crowd dispersed as the unicorn did so. Pipsqueak finally stepped off the boat, and stood face to face with his captain.
“Captain Flintlock, sir,” Pip said with a salute.
“Are you alright Mr. Pip?” Flintlock said as he ignored the salute.
“Got pretty banged up sir, but nothing I can’t handle,” Pip responded without looking the captain in the eye.
“That isn’t what I meant. I can see you’re fine, but are you ok?” Flintlock said as he glared hard at the younger male.
Pip swallowed and shivered violently as he answered, “I got the rotten bastard. He’s dead, but I feel… hollow, sir. He’s dead but I still want to kill him for what he did to me.”
Flintlock nodded in understanding, before he gently placed a wing over the younger stallion’s shoulder and lead him back to the tavern, “Come on, I have a promise to keep. Years ago, when I said that when you got him, I’d buy you a drink. You’ve earned that drink. Been saving a bottle of brandy for just this occasion.”
***
The sun rose, signaling a new day. Sidewinder grunted as Fleetfoot opened the palm branches that cut off his alcove from the morning sun.
“After last night you’d think that I’d be the first to arise,” Sidewinder grumbled as he turned over in his hammock to shield his eyes.
Fleetfoot giggled as she climbed into the bed and snuggled her lover, “And what a wonderful night it was, working off steam.”
“I’m still surprised that we got to position three before we gave out, reading does that too you,” Sidewinder said before he chuckled.
“Sides, I don’t know about you but I feel like I could go again,” Fleetfoot murmured as she nipped at the Thestrals ears.
“Yes, so could I but I think we should skip the foreplay and head straight into the main event,” Sidewinder responded before he turned to face her.
The mare pecked him on the nose and nuzzled close to the Thestral.
“Well, what’re we waiting around for?” Fleetfoot grinned as she questioned her lover.
Sidewinder smiled as he leaned up and captured the mare in a kiss before Pepperjack’s voice was heard beyond the palm branches.
“Commander? Princess Celestia would like a word,” Pepperjack’s voice ruined Sidewinders’ mood.
“Why does it have to be now?” the Thestral grumbled as he pecked the Pegasi on the cheek before he went to find his sunglasses.
He then flew passed Pepperjack after they were attached to his face, who received a pillow to the head courtesy of a disgruntled mare.
***
Sidewinder sat beside Flintlock as Celestia unveiled her plan, “I will pose as a pirate who’s gathered much wealth and will seek asylum with House White-gold. To insure a good standing with Fancy Pants, Captain Flintlock will be my prisoner. Since Flintlock knows about the Manehattan jail weakness he will be able to escape. After a long pony hunt I will capture Rarity and bring her to The Walrus. Any questions?”
Sidewinder leaned back in his chair before he spoke, “And what will I be needed for, Princess?”
Flintlock answered for the Alicorn, “I’ll need somepony that my crew trusts to make sure things run smoothly while I’m gone, since I know and trust you, you’re the stallion for the job.”
Sidewinder nodded before he downed a glass of orange juice and said, “Getting in isn’t the hard part, that comes after. How do we get the whole of Manehattan to keep their mouths shut? I don’t know about you, but isn’t our secrecy the best asset we have right now? With respect Princess Celestia, ponies are tired of this war and are starving for hope. And us of soldiers.”
Celestia nodded and replied, “A valid point Commander, and easily answered. House White-gold’s main power, from what Captain Flintlock has told me, is the slave trade and weapons manufacturing. All we need is somepony who can rally the slaves to revolt.”
“Fortunately, I know of somepony who felt the lash and escaped, somepony to rally them and bolster our ranks. I can think of no others who’d be more itching for a good fight,” Flintlock added after a moment of silence.
Sidewinder nodded in satisfaction before he stood, “When do we leave?”
Princess Celestia answered the question, “Tonight, midnight. Now, if you will excuse me Gentlecolts, I have a costume to prepare.”
Sidewinder and Flintlock bowed as the Princess left them.
“I know that you want to torch Manehattan for what Fleur di lis did to Coco,” Sidewinders statement made the Pegasus turn to him.
“Either it will die or I will,” Flintlock replied with a sneer.
“Flint, look at the bigger picture. We don’t need to lose anypony else. The princess needs you, the navy needs you,” Sidewinder tried to reason only for Flintlock to take a shot of rum.
“No, they’ll get by. They always do. When the mission is over Manehattan burns,” Flintlock growled out, and tried to storm out of the bar, only Sidewinder blocked him.
“Coco would never forgive you for that, and you know it. Spare the city for her, and you can have your vengeance on Fleur,” Sidewinder pleaded to his friend.
Flintlock’s face contorted in fury, “I know she would, but it’s a price I’m willing to pay to make sure that those greedy monsters never do that to anypony again! You, of all should understand that after your son was murdered!”
Sidewinder took a breath to calm himself and replied, “We, the two of us, decided that we’d bring down those who started this. And we both know who did that, think for a second and tell me who that was.”
Flintlocks’ face slowly morphed into one of understanding, “Twilight Sparkle.”
Sidewinder nodded and extrapolated, “Yes, Twilight Sparkle. We can bring the whole thing crashing down around her. You and I can and will have justice, not vengeance. We will bring Canterlot to it’s knees, and when we’re done we will hold all of them accountable for starting this mess. We both are angry, but we cannot let it control us or we are no better than them.”
Flintlock paused in contemplation, there wasn’t many that he’d listen to, but Sidewinder was one of them. The bat pony was right, as much as Flintlock wanted to deny it.
The Thestral stretched his foreleg out to shake before he said, “For Coco Pommel.”
Flintlocks’ eyes flicked to the hoof and back to the sunglasses that his friend wore and clasped the hoof with his own as he replied, “For Thunderbolt.”
***
Within her domain Archmagister Twilight Sparkle stared outside her window at the setting sun in a tad bit of nervousness. This was taking far too long. How hard was it to find a simple filly?
A light knock was heard upon the door, enough to jar her out of her thoughts.
“Archmagister, we’ve used tracking spells to try and locate her, but she’s gone ma’am,” a guard said and tried to abruptly close the door to miss the mages’ fury only he gagged as a magical aura choked him
Twilight levitated the unfortunate to face her and she whispered, “Find her, you have three days to do so or I will induct you into the corpse brigade. Do you understand?”
The guardspony was dropped to the ground, and Twilight gazed out of her study window again.
“Flash Sentry,” Twilight called out, to which a pale orange stallion dropped to the floor from the rafters above her.
“Yes, my Archmagister?” he questioned with a rasp in his voice.
Twilight looked at him, he was perfection, the culmination of her efforts to perfect the Flutterbat spell. A legitimate cross between vampire bat and Pegasus, a perfect weapon. Unlike Fluttershy, who was afraid of everything up to and including her own shadow, Flash was trained and conditioned to respond to any command with utter fealty and zeal.
“Find my niece, and bring her to me. Alive and unspoiled,” Twilight ordered her creation who opened her window and took off into the evening sky .
Author's Note
Guys, thanks so much for the support with this project of mine. Please note I will be going to school during the summer semester thus new chapters will be a tad slower. Also please note that Captain Flintlock is based heavily on the Black Sails/ Treasure Island character Captain Flint AKA James McGraw whom is played by Toby Stephens.
Author's Note
Guys, thank you all for the support on this story, it means a lot to me. As such I decided to update right before I start school. Have an awesome summer!
Theatre
Fancy Pants, commander of House White-golds’ standing army, held an expression of incredulity on his face. The reports didn’t make sense.
“Fleur, are you sure about this?” He asked, not liking the news one bit.
His wife, Fleur di lis, nodded and replied, “Yes, the reports are correct. Commander Rainbow Dash has been missing for a week, as are her seconds in command. My spies have also informed me that House Earthborn has stopped using the railways. Just today my informants have contacted me about a destroyed Earthborn staging area. Whomever struck left none alive and didn’t bury the bodies, they just left them where they lay. Applebloom and the caravan that went with them were nowhere to be found, neither was Applejack herself.”
Fancys’ monocle nearly fell from his face as he formed his response, “An entire camp eliminated? By the Almighty, what could have done this?”
Fleurs’ next words stunned him, “I think it was the remnants of the Crescent Guard. Princess Luna’s elite force, known for their brutal style of shadow war.”
“Crescent Guard? Those Thestral are all dead, everypony knows they were rounded up by Ms. Sparkle and exterminated for not adhering to her,” Fancy Pants countered the theory.
It was then that Sweetie Belle made herself known to the room, “What’s the Crescent Guard and shadow war?”
Fancy wordlessly offered the teenager a seat beside his wife and replied to her query, “The Crescent Guards were Princess Luna’s elite soldiers, Thestral hell bent on eradicating any and all threats to Harmony as concerned to national security. Basically, they were professional assassins and saboteurs. Shadow war is a term akin to guerrilla war, save for it’s explicitly used at night. You see, Thestral don’t understand the concept of large armies having at each other, instead they invented a system that ensures maximum casualties and at the same time having the least casualties.”
“So they got rid of Applejack?” Sweetie questioned the older stallion who shook his head.
“No, I’m afraid not. They were all executed by Twilight Sparkle. Besides, I’ve had the displeasure of seeing their handy work, they aren’t sloppy and clean up their messes. Rest assured my dear, they’re gone. Whatever hit House Earthborn, based on these reports, began the raid with explosive devises. A very frowned upon tactic in Thestral eyes,” Fancy assured the young unicorn, much to the annoyance of his wife whom glared at him for not believing her.
“We cannot simply rule this out,” Fleur tried to protest, only to receive a warning look.
“I can assure you Lady Sweetie Belle that you are perfectly safe behind these walls,” Fancy said before he smiled as the teenaged mare curtsied and left husband and wife alone.
“I will issue an order to our army and the navy in the bay, all sections on alert. Even if it is only to make you feel better my dear,” Fancy conceded after Sweetie Belle shut the door behind her, Fleur kissed her husband on the cheek and exited swiftly.
***
Flintlock stared at the bottle of rum on his desk, it’d never been opened.
“Captain?” Flintlock looked up at the sound of his princess as she spoke.
There she was in front of him, disguised as a red haired unicorn, and garbed in a white shirt and fine red cloak. Not a bad look to be honest.
“A bit on the stereotypical side but it should do the job,” Celestia admitted with a grin.
“We need to work on the voice and something else, a defining physical feature. A scar or something, to really get them to believe the look,” Sidewinder suggested as he peaked out from a large cupboard.
“Hmm, oh, I know,” Celestia said as she looked into a mirror before her horn lit up.
The illusion of a large, unsightly scar appeared below her left eye and stretched to her lower jaw, “How’s that?”
Flintlock grinned and said, “Now the voice, can you try a Trottingham accent?”
“The rain in Mane stays neatly in the plain,” Celestia enunciated with a high class Trottingham accent.
Flintlock and Sidewinder grinned at each other, this was going to work beautifully.
“Perhaps we need to…” Flintlock began before multiple thumps from below was heard.
All three paused as it continued before Flintlock flew out of his cabin and down below deck with the other two following soon after. Sidewinder followed his friend below deck and witnessed what was happening, two sailors were fighting, at first glance, then it became apparent that one wasn’t a sailor. A light blue coat and white tail identified her, Fleetfoot.
“What the hell is going on here?” Flintlock shouted, his nerves already rattled at the mere prospect of seeing the object of his ire again.
“This horse snuck aboard sir. We were going to teach her a lesson,” answered one of the sailors.
Flintlock turned to Sidewinder for him to bring the former wonderbolt to his cabin, only the Thestral was already on the move.
“Come with me, now,” a cross Sidewinder whispered to the mare before he lead her above deck.
Flintlock glared at the scene, plates were on the floor as was the food.
“Mr. Featherstone, if this mess isn’t clean in ten minutes every member of this crew will receive no rations from here on out. I won’t have rats aboard my ship,” Flintlock said in a whisper before he went into the armory.
The earth pony went to work, directing the crew to clean up the mess before the captain returned with a ballistic gauntlet. The room fell into a hush as the captain aimed at a sitting stallions crotch and fired.
The stallion yelped in fear as the ball smashed into the wood seat inches away from his testicles.
“Does everypony understand what happens to mare beaters?” Flintlock questioned and paused briefly before he continued, “Does anypony have anything to say?”
No pony moved.
Within the captains cabin Sidewinder ranted, “Why would you even try to sneak aboard Fleetfoot?"
Fleetfoot stood defiant in the wake of Sidewinder’s anger, “What? Did you really think that I’d sit idle and wait for news that you were dead? I’m a big mare Sides, I can fight, you said so yourself! You’ll need help out there!”
“This is different! Yes, you can fight, but you aren’t a soldier,” the Thestral yelled in a retort.
“Not a soldier? I ambushed pegasi with a smaller group and won! What’s got you acting like this? Huh?” Fleetfoot pressed, this made the Thestral practically scream.
“I don’t want to lose you too!” he shouted with tears in his eyes, “If anything happened to you… I-I can’t go on.”
Fleetfoot froze at the outburst and remained frozen when the Thestral continued, “After you came into my life, I could live again. But I just, just, can’t without you.”
The pegasus wrapped her forelegs around the sobbing Thestral stallion in an effort to console him.
“Shh, Sides, shh. You won’t lose me, I promise,” she said as she rocked him gently.
“Forgive me Fleetfoot, I just… After seeing that, that, mare,” Sidewinder tried to explain only for Fleetfoot to nod in understanding.
“I know Sides, I know, but she can’t hurt any pony anymore. And if she tries we’ll handle it together,” Fleetfoot said as she nuzzled her husband.
“I love you, you know? And if you think it’s best that you come along, please be careful when we reach land,” Sidewinder relented finally.
Fleetfoot kissed him on the nose as the doors opened.
Flintlock came into the room again and retook his seat.
“Something I missed?” Flintlock asked as he breathed heavily.
“N-Nothing Flint, just had to let it out,” Flintlock nodded then turned to Celestia when she spoke.
“I suppose that I’ll be getting some sleep. Captain , if you’d be so kind as to wake me when land is sighted?”
Flintlock nodded before the princess went below deck to her cabin.
***
Across the continent Princess Luna sat on her haunches as Gilda of the Gryphon Empire sat before her. Luna cloaked herself in a rather snug set of House Stormwing armor and in disguise as a pegasus.
“As I said, we have a deal with Dash. Give us our money. I would hate for it to come to blows over such a small sum. My soldiers will be compensated in full for their efforts, or Stormwing and my Empire will have some real issues real soon,” Gilda opened at the negotiation table.
Luna tilted her head and replied as she dropped her disguise, “Thine words are… foalish. If, perhaps, Rainbow Dash were still head of her House the deal would still stand.”
The equestrian soldiers had blades by Gilda’s entourages’ necks as the leader herself aimed a pistol at the princess of the night!
“However, that thine accord is null at her capture I have another deal to, perhaps, smooth things over, as it were,” Luna said as she leaned over the table.
“I recommend that you let my guys go, before I put a bullet in your skull,” Gilda said as she pulled the pistol lever back.
“Do you not wish to hear of the new arrangement?” Luna asked as her guards backed off.
Gilda still aimed her pistol as she replied, in an effort to stall, “By all means.”
“You get up. You lay down your weapons. You return to your empire. You tell your father that Princess Luna and Celestia have returned and will resume open trade as soon as possible, and you never set foot or talon in Equestria ever again,” Luna replied tersely, she was in no mood for games.
“And what do I get in exchange for that?” the gryphon sneered back.
“You get to live. You have ten seconds,” Luna replied before she began to count down.
“Seven!”
Many gryphons took to the sky but the leader remained.
“Five!”
Gilda still didn’t move but noted that there were a few ballistic gauntlets being aimed at her.
“Three!”
Gilda growled and threw down her weapon before she followed her soldiers.
“What if she comes back?” Pepperjack asked the princess.
“If she or her followers dare to return, they shall regret it,” Luna responded with a grimace.
***
Flurry Heart peaked off the edge of the tall building as she breathed heavily. It took nearly all of her energy to get up there but it was worth it to not be seen.
The early morning sun gently warmed her as she looked over the factories and into the bay. The pull was there, in a ship with black sails approaching slowly into the bay.
Flurry knew, deep down inside her, that whoever was on that ship would be able to help her, perhaps, finally escape.
***
Fancy Pants stood with his wife on the docks as a familiar ship pulled into the bay.
He recognized it near immediately, the Walrus, a heavily armed brig.
He saw a garbed mare in a long boat with the dread Captain himself, tied up.
“Ahoy!” the pink maned mare shouted upon getting close to the dock.
“Hello madam, here to collect the bounty on Captain Flintlock I presume?” Fancy asked, eager to bring good news to his leader.
“Aye, found him stalking a merchant ship from Zebrica. The mad pony destroyed mine, so I took his. The name’s Sunny Days, Captain Sunny Days, at your service mi’lord,” the mare said with a polished accent as she pushed the feared stallion to his knees.
“Captain Flintlock, it is truly a displeasure to see you again, after you left the halls of my prison red with blood,” Fleur said as she glared at him.
Flintlock struggled at his bindings and gag, which Fleur removed after he tried to say something.
“You know Flintlock, it would be the proper time to wave the white flag,” Fleur chided the bound stallion who stopped struggling for a moment.
Flintlocks’ expression went from angry to a calm boil as he growled out, “The only thing that I’ll be waving is your head, on a stick, in front of your weeping mother!”
“Such barbarism. Guards take him away!” Fancy shouted after the threat to his wife before he turned to the newcomer and said, “Welcome to Manehattan my lady.”
“I believe I shall enjoy my stay,” she replied with a smile .