Moby-Spike

Moby-Spike

Chapter 2: Derp n’ Dash

Continued from last diary entry

She quickly tackled me into a friendly hug, and I excitedly asked her,

“Derpy, I’m so glad to see a familiar face! But what are you doing here, anyway?”

She got up off me, and began explaining as I dusted myself off.

“Oh, well I’m part of the crew on this ship! Yep, I’m a pirate pony these days!”

She puffed out her chest in a show of pride, though with her eyes and my knowledge of her sweet nature, she just looked silly. I was, naturally, a little suspicious. Sure, I was looking for adventure. But becoming a pirate? Piracy is illegal in Equestria, and I began to wonder why the harbor master would direct me towards this ship.

“So you’re a pirate now, huh Derpy? Have you, um…stolen a lot?”

I asked with a tint of fear in my voice. I was more than hesitant about joining a pirate crew, especially if they were active in illegal tasks. She shook her head quite vigorously, and divulged,

“Well, not really. Occasionally we’ll take some food or treasure from places, but for the past year or so we’ve been doing other things.”

I was confused, so I inquired what kind of things she was talking about. A visible hint of trepidation struck and she mumbled,

“Um, I’m not really supposed to go telling ponies that aren’t part of the crew…”

She turned her head down, so as to break eye contact. I just shrugged, and assured her I didn’t mind not knowing.

“So Derpy, where’s the rest of the crew? Why aren’t you out with them?”

She gave a small grin, and explained,

“Oh, I’ve been ordered to watch the ship while they’re in the harbor. I do this almost every time we dock, anyway. I’m the deckswab, so the extra time helps with my duties.”

She pointed a hoof towards a mop and a bucket of soapy water underneath the deck, which she likely had been cleaning the brig with. She then put her hoof back to her chin, and thought aloud,

“Although, it’s also because every time I go in the harbor I seem to get somepony in a fight. I just can’t help being clumsy and knocking into somepony down there.”

I agreed; after all, it was really crowded, especially in the shops.

I was getting antsy waiting around for the crew to return, so I decided to go back to the harbor to look for them. Derpy told me that they had headed towards a rustic tavern called McShooty’s, so I left the ship and began my search. It wasn’t at all hard to find; the amount of noise coming from the bar could be heard all the way from the dock. I entered with the intention of complaining to the manager about the ruckus the patrons were causing, but as soon as I got inside I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that. The bar was dimly lit and incredibly filthy, and judging by the fact that it shook in the breeze I would say it was in major disrepair. Most of the ponies inside looked like criminals, and I instantly felt unwelcome and unsafe.

I made my way hurriedly towards a barstool, and asked the bartender if he knew whether any captains had stumbled into the bar. He raised an eyebrow at my appearance, but didn’t question me and pointed me towards a table in the back. I swaggered over in an attempt to look seaworthy, but looking back now it probably just made me look more foalish. There were five ponies sitting around the rickety table, all playing some kind of card game I never took the time to ask about, but they were definitely betting big amounts of bits on it. As I approached I only got more nervous; most of the ponies at the table were eyeing me, and I was sure they didn’t have pure intentions. I got to the table without a hitch, and coughed to introduce myself. At this point everypony’s eyes were on me, so there was no time to beat around the bush. I shakily asked,

“I’m looking for a captain, and I hear one of you is just what I’m looking for, right?”

At this, they all turned their heads towards a pony sitting on the other end of the table. It was a pegasus mare, although it was hard for me to see much else of her appearance due to her get-up, other than the fact that her coat was a bright blue color. An eye-patch lay on her left eye, and an open red vest covered much of her body. She also had a big and rather corny pirate hat on which she was using to cover her face, but she tossed it aside once all attention had been turned to her. She began a short inspection of me, during which I’m sure my bad poker face served only to worsen her image of me.

But after a few seconds her pupils dilated, and the air of strength emanating from the mare seemed to go away. Her jaw slacked open, and she got two words out, babbling,

“T-Twilight Sparkle?”

I nodded my head, worried about how this pony could possibly know me, but then she jumped up and grabbed me. She flew me out of the bar despite my protesting and dropped me to the ground. I tried to start lecturing her on not touching other ponies without permission, but she stopped me by tackling me in a big hug. I yelled for help and she quickly got off of me, with a smug grin on her face. She turned her head to the side and sarcastically asked,

“What, you don’t remember me? Your best bud Rainbow Dash?”

I was shocked at her suggestion; there was no way she was Rainbow Dash. But when I took a closer look in the light provided by Celestia’s sun, I saw her trademark cutie mark of a multi-colored lightning bolt. It really was Rainbow Dash! I got to my feet with an exuberant smile on my face and this time I tackle-hugged her. I started asking her questions a mile a minute, but she just laughed and pushed me off of her.

“Twilight, there’ll be plenty of time for questions on my ship. I’ll get my crew, you just head back and I’ll meet you there, okay?”

I nodded enthusiastically and skipped back towards the ship.

I found myself in the captain’s quarters again, with Rainbow Dash sitting at a desk with fine jewels lying all over the place. A treasure chest filled with gold sat in the corner, and multiple other expensive goods were strewn about. Most of it was probably stolen, but it was still just as dazzling as any one of Rarity’s dresses. After engaging with typical conversation, I started to poke around as to why Rainbow Dash was the captain of a pirate ship. She sighed and got up to close the door behind her.

“You remember how I said I was gonna follow the Wonderbolts, right Twilight?”

I nodded, and she continued.

“Well, that’s what I started out doing. I followed them from city to city, practicing my moves at any chance I got. Eventually, they had a show in Cloudsdale, and I decided to show them how awesome I could be. While they were doing their show, I flew out of the crowd and did the most awesome routine any of them had ever seen. But after the show, the Wonderbolts came up to me, and they were really mad. They told me I showed them up, and that I was a terrible flier who would never be a Wonderbolt.”

She hung her head, so I put my hoof to her shoulder and assured her,

“Rainbow Dash, you’re the best flier I know. You don’t need to listen to what the Wonderbolts say, because you know that you’re better than them.”

She smiled back at me, and explained,

“Twilight, there’s no need to console me; that happened over a year ago by now. I’m over it. It’s not like you came here just a few days after I left Ponyville, right?”

I hadn’t really thought about it, but I did leave around a year and a half after Rainbow did.

“But Rainbow, that still doesn’t explain why you didn’t come back home. Or why you’re the captain of a ship. Or why you have an eye-patch!”

She chuckled at my overbearing attitude, and kept going with her story.

“Twilight, I didn’t come back because I knew there wasn’t much to come back to. If I wasn’t a Wonderbolt when I returned, I would only come back with shame and humiliation. So I decided to find something else awesome to do, so I headed out here looking for pretty much anything. One day I was hanging around this harbor, and a pony asked me if I wanted to join his crew. I agreed, and I became a pirate. We had some great times stealing all the treasure we got here,”

she motioned towards all the gems in the room,

“but then something terrible happened. We ran into a huge sea monster!”

At this point Rainbow Dash got up and started impersonating her fight with the creature, doing all sorts of loops and punches every now and then.

“We fought hard, but we couldn’t hurt it for some reason. He got really angry all of a sudden, and he ate the captain in one gulp! I tried to save him, but the monster lashed out at me and got my eye out. After that, he just swam away, the coward.”

Rainbow Dash grumbled and shook her hoof out the window at some imaginary image of the beast. She looked back to me, and finished,

“I was the first mate when the captain died, so I rightfully became captain. And nopony had the guts to mutiny against me, anyway.”

I started to ask about Derpy, but Dash knew what I was going to say and shrugged.

“Derpy was actually a part of the crew before I got here. I never asked her why she’s here, but she makes a good deckswab.”

The whole story was a lot to take in, and I thought about all Rainbow had told me for a few minutes. She wasn’t a big liar, but sea monsters sounded a little unlikely. Still, it would explain why she’s a pirate captain pretty well. I decided that she was probably telling the truth, and even if she wasn’t it wouldn’t matter. She had the exact kind of adventure I was looking for, so I asked if I could join the crew. She raised her eyebrows, and asked,

“Are you sure Twilight? There’s some dangerous stuff out there, including other pirates. Not only that, but right now I’ve got this ship set on a course to find that monster that got my eye. You think you can handle all that?”

I agreed vigorously, and Rainbow Dash grinned, settling into an accent more befitting of a pirate.

“Well then, welcome to my crew, lassie! We be setting sail in a few hours, so make sure you’re ready for all sorts of danger!”

I got out onto the deck with a big smile on my face, waiting for the excitement to come. Pretty soon, my real adventure will begin, with one of my best pals by my side!