Pirates of Equestria

The air is thick with the smell of the sea, and crowded with the sounds of seagulls flying overhead along with the restless waves. One small ship sails across the waters, without the sight of land for miles. The gleaming sun creates a glare along a telescope, frustrating the mare peering through it. The beams have sweat trickling down her banana-yellow coat of fur and red mane. "Darn sun," she mumbles.

"Would you put that thing away?!" One of her crewmates calls from below the mast. The mare peers over the rails of the bucket atop the mast she's perched in to see her crewmate shielding her eyes from the sun. It’s easy to spot her despite how high the mast goes, as her orange coat of fur nearly glows in the sunlight. “You don’t need it to know that there’s absolutely nothing ahead!”

“Ya sher about that Scoot?! Because I do think I see somethin’!”

“Oh, really? Hold on.” Scoot spreads her wings, and flies up to the top of the mast, hovering near the rails. “Let’s see, Apple Bloom. Show me what this ‘something’ is.”

“Take a look fer yerself,” she says as she hands over the telescope. Scoot moves her messy, fuchsia mane away from her eyes to gaze out at the ocean.

“Well, would you look at that?”

“I know, I can’t quite tell what it is.”

“I’ll tell you what it is. It’s what we’ve been seeing since day one, miles of sea.”

“Are you. . ? Yer not even lookin’ the right way.” Apple Bloom slightly adjusts the telescope. “Now look.” Scoot can now see something floating in the water ahead.

“Huh, I wonder what that is.”

“Right. Should we check it out?”

“Nah, it just looks like some trash that must’ve fallen off somepony else’s ship. I say we keep going the way we’re going.” Scoot then gives back Apple Bloom the telescope before fluttering back down to the deck. Apple Bloom puts the telescope back to her eye, not ready to quickly assume what she sees is nothing more than pointless debris. She twists the telescope to try and get a closer look at the object, and finds that it is in fact nothing more than a wooden barrel. Just as she’s ready to dismiss it, she notices something peculiar tied to it. Suddenly, she’s struck with the realization that it is in fact more than just a barrel.

“Scoot!” she screams.

“What now?” Scoot groans.

“There’s a barrel in the water!”

“So?”

“Somepony’s tied to it!”

“Are you serious?!”

“Yes! Get Belle!”

“On it!” Scoot pops open the hatch leading down to the lower parts of the ship. “Sweetie Belle! Sweetie Belle you awake?!” A marshmallow-white mare peers out from one of the rooms. She whips her curly, pink mane out of her face to reveal her tired eyes.

“What is it, Scoot?” she asks clearly overcome with morning fatigue.

“Apple Bloom’s found somepony out in ocean!”

“What?”

“Yeah, tied to a barrel! Come on!” The both of them make their way back up on deck, meeting up with Apple Bloom who’s climbed down from her perch.

“Belle!” says Apple Bloom. “Quick, take a look.” Sweetie Belle takes the telescope, and holds it up to her eye. “Right out there, can ya see it?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“We gotta help ‘em!”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“What’ya mean? We can’t just leave ‘em out there!”

“That pony could be dangerous.”

“Dangerous? Are ya nuts? The only thing that pony is, is he’s in need of help.”

“Just look at what he’s wearing. That’s clearly pirate attire.”

“An’ what about it?”

“I’m thinking he might not be too much of a ‘friendly’ pirate considering he’s been thrown overboard.”

“Even if he was, we would have the upper hoof! There’s three of us, an’ one ‘a him! Scoot, are you with me?”

“Well. . ." Scoot glances between Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. "Sure, I'm in.”

Apple Bloom turns back to Sweetie Belle. "Belle?"

"I just. . ." Sweetie Belle begins.

“Look, the longer we decide on what to do, the closer he could be to death. If he’s not dead already. We can’t just leave knowing we just might’ve saved his life if we had tried.” Sweetie Belle ponders for a moment, then nods her head in agreement.

“Alright,” she says. “Let’s go.”

“Alrighty then! I’ll take the wheel. Scoot, give us some breeze to get this ship movin’!”

“Got it!” Scoot salutes as she flies up near the ship’s sails, and Apple Bloom grabs hold of the wheel located on the stern of the ship.

“Now, Scoot!”

“Coming right up!” She flaps her wings, sending enough winds to push the sails along with the ship. It continues to gain speed as Apple Bloom guides it towards the barrel. In a matter of seconds, the barrel comes into view. “Belle! Git ready to bring ‘em aboard!”

“I’m ready!” Sweetie Belle shouts as she leans over the edge of the ship. She watches as they approach the barrel, and just as it’s underneath Sweetie Belle, her horn generates a greenish hue that is also cast around the barrel. “I got it!” It is lifted up and out from the water, and lowered down to the deck. Both Scoot and Apple Bloom leave their posts to gather around the pony tied by rope with his belly to the surface of the barrel. From what they can tell, his coat of fur is gray and his mane is such a dark color of brown that it appears almost black from being soaked in the sea.

“Come on, girls. Let’s cut ‘em loose,” says Apple Bloom. Each of them pull out their daggers from their sheaths, and begin cutting the rope until the young stallion’s body is freed and falls to the floor.

“Is he breathing?” Scoot asks.

“I . . . I don’t know,” says Sweetie Belle.

“Well . . . isn’t there somethin’ we can do?” Apple Bloom asks.

“I’ve got an idea,” says Scoot as she kneels down near his body. She takes in a deep breath, then violently punches the stallion in the chest. He suddenly springs to life as water spews out from his mouth. He curls up, coughing relentlessly as the last of the blockage leaves his throat.

“Hey! Hey, are ya alright?” Apple Bloom asks.

“W-Who. . .” The stallion begins. “Who’s there? Who are you?” The stallion asks as he tries to look up at the three mares, but the sun’s light attacks his face.

“We found you at sea, but you’re alright now,” says Scoot.

“A-At sea? I’m-I’m . . .” The stallion struggles to form words as his body shivers and mouth quivers.

“Apple Bloom,” says Sweetie Belle. “Check him, he might have a weapon.” Apple Bloom lifts up the stallion’s black coat, and finds no weapon on him.

“Look, Belle. Nothin’.” Then, her eyes are drawn to one particular piece of clothing. A red bandana tied around his neck with a distinctive insignia sewn into the crimson cloth, a white, six-pointed star. Apple Bloom can feel fury building up inside of her, and her crewmates immediately take notice. The stallion looks down at his bandana, then dreadfully back up to Apple Bloom’s glare. “You’re one of them.”

“N-No . . . No. . .” The stallion fearfully repeats.

“Apple Bloom, just . . . take it easy,” Scoot advises.

“Belle, you were right.” The stallion glances between all three of them, trembling not from the cold, but from dread as his eyes make their way back to Apple Bloom’s. “We should’ve left him.” She gets back to her hooves, as does Scoot and Sweetie Belle.

“W-Wait. . .” The stallion begs. Apple Bloom bashes the stallion’s head with her hoof, immediately sending him unconscious.