Pirates of Equestria

The stallion stirs with an aching pain on the side of his head. He can hear the calming, gentle sounds of the waves smacking the sides of the ship. His check is in pain from laying on the cold, wood floor, and lifts up his head as his vision becomes clearer. Illuminated by the moonlight, Apple Bloom looms over him as fear immediately sinks down into his chest. “Well now, look who’s finally awake,” she says. “I can’t tell ya how long I’ve been waitin’ for a moment like this.” The stallion tries to speak, but finds his mouth is wrapped up with a filthy rag. “Don’t even try. I jus’ want you to listen.” Apple Bloom kneels down so that she can meet at eye level with him, taking pleasure in his fearful quivering. “Now, you ever hear of a little island called Red Apple Isle?” The stallion shakes his head. “It’s the name of my home, or at least it was.” Apple Bloom grabs the stallion but the collar of his coat. “That is, until it was attacked and pillaged by you an’ yer captain!”

The stallion shuts his eyes, breathing heavily. Apple Bloom then releases him, and brings out a book. She lays it down before him, opening the cover. “Open yer eyes,” she commands, but the stallion refuses. Quickly growing impatient with him, she bashes him in the side of his head with her hoof. “I said, open yer eyes.” Dreadfully, he opens he gives in to her demand to see that the book is in fact a photo album. “Now, do you see this pony right here?” she asks, pointing to a photo of a mare in a brown, ranch hat. “This is my sister, Applejack. An’ this here, this is my brother. This is my granny.” She begins flipping through the pages. “Here’s more of my family, and here are my neighbors!” The stallion squirms, watching Apple Bloom grow more furious with every page. “An’ now, everypony in this book is dead! An’ it’s all because of you!” She slams the book shut, causing the stallion to flinch as she pushes it aside. “You and the rest a’ yer crew are nothin’ but heartless scum. After what you all did, I suppose it’s only fair I return the favor.” Apple Bloom draws her dagger out from its sheathe, and the stallion’s eyes grow wide as his heart brims with anxiety. He attempts to wriggle his hooves free from the rope tied around them, but it proves useless. “What I’m going to do with this blade can never match the years of pain I’ve gone through, but nonetheless, you deserve it.” She clenches the handle of the dagger, and readies herself as the stallion’s muffled screams fill the air.

“Apple Bloom! Stop!” Scoot shouts as she bursts through the hatch and onto the deck of the ship. She spreads her wings and darts towards Apple Bloom, restraining her.

“Let me go, Scoot! I need to do this!” Apple Bloom struggles to free herself.

“No. . ! You don’t. . ! This isn’t going to solve anything!”

“It will for me!”

“Okay, and what would ‘they’ think?! Would your sister want to see you murder this stallion? Would she say it’s the right thing to do?” Apple Bloom gives in, ending her attempts to break free and drops her dagger to the floor.

“Alright, now let’s head back down to our quarters and try to get some rest until morning.”

“Y-Yeah, right.”

“And let’s make sure we get him locked back up too.”

“I’ll take care of it, just . . . wait.” Apple Bloom’s eyes are drawn to something out in the distance.

“What? What do you see?”

“Is that . . . land?”

“No way. It is! We gotta wake up Sweetie Belle!”

“You go an’ do that. I’ll make sure this filth gets locked up.” Scoot hurries back below deck, and Apple Bloom turns to the stallion. “Yer lucky she came to stop me. As far as I’m concerned, you should be dead.” She bites onto the back of the stallion’s collar, tugging him all the way back to the open hatch. She shoves him down, watching him painfully tumble down the short flight of steps. She then drags him all the way to an empty room as he moans from the pain, slams the door and locks it with a ring of iron keys.

With Sweetie Belle, Scoot and Apple Bloom gathered above deck, they gaze out at the incoming mass of land. “Yeah, that’s something alright. It’s too dark to tell if it’s inhabited though,” says Sweetie Belle as she peers through the telescope.

“Well, it’s better than nothing,” says Scoot.

“Even if nopony’s livin’ there, we might find some fruit er somethin’ fer the journey ahead,” says Apple Bloom.

“I think we’re going a little too slow, by the time we get there it’ll be sunup. How’s about we get this ship moving a bit faster?” Just as they did before, Scoot and Apple Bloom take their positions.

“Belle!” Apple Bloom calls. “In case somepony does live there, make sure you git that horn covered. It’s too risky for you to wander around anywhere without it hidden.”

“Good call. I’ll get it taken care of. By the way, is that stallion still in that room?”

“Yeah, an’ unfortunately, he’s still breathin’.”

“Alright, well we’re going to have to figure something out. We can’t just keep him locked up in there forever.”

“I’m workin’ on it. I had one idea, but it’s probably not the best. Hey, if no one lives on that island, we could always drop ‘em off there!” As Sweetie Belle returns below deck, Scoot chuckles.

“You know,” Scoot begins as she creates a breeze to push the sails. “It’s funny how you cared so much when he was just a body floating at sea! Now that you know who it is, you’re wishing him dead!”

“So? I’m allowed to change my mind, aren’t I?”

“I mean, he’s still a pony!”

“Are you tryin’ to defend him?”

“I’m just saying—”

“Scum like him deserve to be dead! Unless yer sayin’ that all murderers should be saved?”

“Never mind!” Scoot shakes her head. “Shouldn’t have even brought it up,” she mutters to herself. Once they are close, they anchor the ship. Sweetie Belle returns with her head covered with a white cloth. “Well, it looks empty so far.”

“We need to go in deeper to be sure. Let’s git goin’.” Apple Bloom lowers a rope ladder for them to descend. As Sweetie Belle climbs down to the shallow waters below, Applebloom stops Scoot before she can join her. “Hey, you should hide yer wings too. Just to be safe. Meet up with us on the beach.”

“Yeah, sure,” says Scoot, rolling her eyes. She then goes back below deck, and into her quarters where she retrieves a black vest from her hammock. She passes by the room where the stallion is held up, and pauses for a moment. She glances at the door, throws on her vest, then forces herself to not waste any more time. The stallion listen’s as Scoot’s hoofsteps leave the hall, and the hatch slams shut. Hoping that the coast is finally clear, he opens his coat as Apple Bloom’s dagger drops to the floor. He grabs it and carefully slides it behind the rag tied around his mouth. Pushing and sawing at the cloth, it tears and gives way allowing him to breathe freely. With the handle of the knife clenched in his teeth, he proceeds to saw at the rope tied around his hooves.

Scoot climbs down the ladder and into the shallow waters. Galloping towards the beach, she rejoins with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. “There ya are,” says Apple Bloom. “Now, let’s stay cautious. We don’t wanna git caught in case anypony that lives here is bad news.”

“Well, couldn’t I just fly up and get a better view to see if anypony’s around?” Scoot asks.

“I don’t think that’d be a good idea,” says Sweetie Belle.

“I’ll only be up in the air for a second.”

“That’s still too risky. Whoever lives here might not take too kindly to a Pegasus scouting their land. The only reason a Pegasus would come down to the land would be for nothing good.”

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom adds. “An’ we’re lucky we haven’t run into any of those Vultures. Let’s just stay close, an’ keep an eye out.” The three of them make their way off the beach and into the mass of palm trees ahead.

“Hey, you smell that?” Scoot asks.

“Yeah,” says Sweetie Belle. “Maybe somepony does live here after all.” They soon come to a clearing, and their hearts instantly sink to the bottom of their chests once their eyes gaze upon what lies ahead.

“No way,” says Scoot.