Boom. A loud thud of a cannonball crashing into the side of her ship, followed by the sound of splintering timbers and ponies below deck crying out, whether out of fear or out of being wounded by the shrapnel that used to be the hull of the ship. The terrible scent of burnt powder stung in her nose, and adrenaline coursed through her veins.

Twilight shook herself from her stupor as she quickly drew her sword, realizing this was no time to be in her head. That Changeling galleon had an angle on them she didn’t think they’d be able to get in time, so they needed to think fast and respond quickly.

“Hard to port, we need an angle on them!” She ordered with a roar, her helmspony quickly working to follow her commands as she continued to order all of the sailors to manipulate the masts to complement this endeavor, all the while Twilight quickly barged downstairs to assess the damage. There was a gunner who now had several large splinters of wood in her leg, and a large hole in the hull of her ship that some crewmates seemed to be attending to. It was bad, but it should be alright in terms of keeping the ship afloat. Down below, blood mixed with the scent of powder to create a gloomy and suffocating cloud of misery that Twilight could seldom bear to be around if she could help it.

“All gunners on the starboard side, get ready! We’re going to give them a volley, else we’re sunk! I only want the surgeon on that wounded mare, the rest of you are just gawkers!” she chastised as she quickly gestured to the unmanned guns, which the loiterers quickly solved and began loading, though often looking back to the screaming mare who was by now strapped down off in the corner. Other crewmates began to work hard to plug the holes in the hull with oakum and seal them with tar, desperate to prevent the sea from dragging the ship any further down. Their captain, meanwhile, returned back on the topdeck, quickly pulling out her spyglass to hopefully get a better idea of what exactly the Changelings were doing.

That was when she asked herself the question. What WERE they doing? They were at the perfect angle for a broadside a second ago, but they seem to have moved out of that angle. Was the galleon… starting to face their ship? They were! The massive galleon was beginning to point towards their ship, before dropping every sail it had and angling them to catch the wind. That bug captain must be insane!

“Captain, what are they doing?!” Yew demanded to know from his captain while tying one of the ropes attached to the sail which he worked alongside several other ponies.
“The bastards seem to be trying to get in close! I think… I think they’re planning on ramming us! Or boarding us, at least!” Twilight shouted in disbelief, quickly putting her spyglass away as she looked from left to right in a frenzy. She had to come up with a plan, and fast.

That was when she realized it. Fast. Fast and light. The enemy galleon had the superiority of more guns and crew, but their ship was faster and far lighter in the keel, significantly shorter-set in the water. It would have no problem gliding over most sandbars, whereas the heavy Changeling galleon would struggle.

“Turn this ship around, ponies! Hard to port! The gunners will get their volley, then we’re running for the coast!” Her throat was beginning to ache from roaring orders over the sounds of panic and chaos, but her voice was the one lifeline her crew had back to the realms of order and logic. It needed to reach them no matter what.

And just as could be expected from the expertly drilled crew, they followed her orders with precision and haste. The ship’s sail raised to half-mast, the ship began to turn as hard as it could without tearing itself apart. The near-second the starboard gunners got their chance they took it as instructed, which filled the air with the noxious smoke and the thundering boom of two whole decks firing in near-unison towards the Changeling galleon. Twilight’s ears rang as she forced them flat on her head and she watched the cannonballs fly through the air expectantly. One landed on the target, likely taking a few lives on one of the lower decks, and several more soared higher than anticipated. Whilst most of the straying cannonballs simply hit nothing, she counted at least two that seemed to tear into the sail attached to the main mast of that massive galleon.

She half expected the buggy madmen of that other ship to start turning to return the favor, but whoever captained that ship simply carried on his mad mission to reach the Star of the Sea. Perfect. Twilight smirked as she continued to watch as the ship finished its turn, with its nose now pointed just a touch past the shore. Quickly, she ran to the front of the ship and gazed into the clear coastal waters to verify what she had suspected. And just as she had hoped, not too far ahead was a rather large shoal, part of what these islands were famous for. It was likely too deep for the Star of the Sea to risk getting caught on it, although it’d get close. So close, that there was no way a Changeling galleon would be able to go over it without getting stuck.

So, they carried on their dash to get over that sandbar. The crew didn't seem to even know exactly what their captain had in store for them, but they didn't need to. They just needed to follow orders. Twilight turned back around to look back at that galleon, and just as she expected, they were still chasing. They were even gaining on them a touch, since the sails were fairly slack.

Twilight grinned as she imagined the look on the over-confident bug’s face when he ran face-first into the sandbar and realized he was…

THUNK.
A loud crashing sound came from below, that reverberated up the ship until it made Twilight’s footing fail, falling to the ground unbalanced.

Twilight awoke in her cabin with a jump, bouncing up from her position slouched over on her map table. She must have passed out whilst charting the ship’s course. Far from becoming of a gentlemare, but she had a few more drinks in the comfort of her cabin than she perhaps should have had. She wiped the tiniest touch of drool from her cheek as she groggily lifted her head, looking from side to side to get her bearings straight, a slight fuzzy haze lingered over her vision as she did so.

She also couldn't help but think back to last night. Had she really said all those things? Worse question yet, had she meant them? Would she go out of her cabin and find an empty ship, a sitting duck for the constables who would surely drag her to the naval court and try her for refusing to follow an order? Or worse, treason? These things all spun around in her analytical mind which found itself weighed down by the heavy chains of her binge last night.

Twilight glanced down at the map on her table, as her eyes worked to focus themselves. A map of the western Equestrian coast, as well as the eastern coast of the New World. Upon the map, a clear (although somewhat messy) line was drawn from their position in Baltimore all the way to Boarston in the New World. One of the larger Equestrian settlements, it would certainly be an excellent place to restock and hire on new crew to replace anypony who decided to walk away, though risky if the Navy notices quickly that she didn't report for decommissioning and sends a light packet ship to carry the news of her arrest warrant.

She rubbed her eye with the back of her hoof as she felt the cotton-dry prickling sensation of her dehydration plaguing her mouth. That certainly didn't help the headache she was nursing, she'd have to go below deck and get more water to hopefully recover quicker.

Either way, she needed a better plan than simply landing in the port. She was putting the cart before the horse a bit, but either way it doesn't hurt to come up with a plan. She's royally screwed no matter the weather if she has no crew, so might as well give herself a few more minutes of imagining she’ll be alright.

Running her hoof on the map again, Twilight pondered what to do. She couldn't dock directly in Boarston, couldn't walk right in the front door… maybe she could try to be a bit stealthier. Drop anchor along the coast next to the wilderness and head to Boarston by hoof to then recruit all the extra sailors she needed.

She'd need a disguise, though. Her current attire, especially her fine purple jacket, would immediately make her too memorable. Anypony and everypony would be able to say they saw her. Just some simple, common-pony clothes would suffice for a disguise. Maybe some ash or dirt to further obscure her identity. She stroked her chin with her hoof thoughtfully, though in truth she was just wasting time. She wasn't getting that much done.

But unfortunately, the future is always on its way. A loud, firm knock on her cabin door alerted her to that as she bit down on her tongue and silently cursed everything that could come to her mind to curse. The Queen, whatever gods there might be, whatever gods were never there. All of them drew her ire. She approached the door at a slow pace, staggering somewhat as her head spun with a fierce bout of vertigo. Her horn glittered and glowed in the darkness of her cabin with its curtains drawn as she opened the door with her bright pink telekinesis.

Despite being fully ready to face the powers that be, she was pleasantly surprised to only see a familiar face. Seapony Yew stood in the bright of the late-morning sun as he smiled his yellowed smile, seemingly glad to be the one to surprise Twilight.

Which it certainly was one. Even through the blinding light of the sun and the hangover she was nursing, she couldn't help but smile back at him even despite her squinted eyes as she raised a hoof to shield herself from the rays.

“Cap’n,” the stallion greeted with a slight smirk, clearly reveling in Twilight’s surprise. “Don't be so surprised t’ see me. Ya didn't really think we’d flake out on ya, did ya?”

Twilight had to shake herself to be sure she wasn't dreaming. She had a lot of faith in her crew, but not so much as to expect them to follow her onto the other side of the law. She now realized how foolish she was to think she'd be facing this alone. “We?” Twilight asked for clarification. She needed to know how much of the crew had left and how many had stayed, in case she didn't have enough to sail.

“Yes ma’am, Cap'n. Whole crew ‘cept four stayed. The cookey left, so did two swabbies, and the chaplain,” her first mate prattled off. Twilight thought about it for a moment through her sluggish thoughts. They could easily sail without four ponies, especially since the chaplain and cook were the two that left. She always found the need for a chaplain superfluous, and just about anypony could replace the cook.

“So nothing strictly essential. We may just make the trip then,” Twilight groaned out as she rubbed her eye.
“Our trip where, Cap’n? Crew’s alight with theories n’ speculatin’.”
“Where else but the gateway to the West? Boarston. We can restock on supplies there, and recruit a few more sailors,” Twilight explained with a slight smirk, though her charming air was weighed down by the malaise of last night, especially since the light beaming into her face did her no favors.

“Right. Well, I ain't so sure, but ya word’s good enough for me. I'll tell the crew, full speed ahead. Ya better get some water, you're in no state,” Yew said with some mild concern as he turned away from the captain.

Twilight nodded, despite Yew being faced away. She was glad to still have her handy first mate, and while he gathered the crew she went down below deck to get water, collecting some from the fresh water reserves and gulping it down like it was the last freshwater on earth before wiping her mouth off with the ruffles of her shirt, taking a similarly large gasp of air. This is before pulling out her handkerchief with her magic, and getting some of the water to come out of the tap onto it, wetting the cloth as she then quickly washed her face. Lastly, she filled a small canteen with water. More for later.

“There we go, Twilight. We’re never sad-drinking again,” she commanded herself as her shoulders raised and lowered alongside her chest with a heavy breath of composure, before beginning to trot up the steps again. Hopefully, by now, Yew had everypony gathered and brought up to speed so she could go ahead and give the orders to set sail. The longer they were in harbor, the riskier every passing second became.

As Twilight got back up above-deck, she arrived just in time to hear Yew finish his explanation.
“...An’ that port will be Boarston, where cap’n says we’ll resupply an’ get a few new shipmates.”

“With what money?” one of the sailors called out inquisitively.

Twilight, having stepped up to reach Yew and thereby capturing the attention of the whole crew, immediately spoke up. “We’ve still got some bits stocked up, especially in my emergency trunk in my cabin. As you could imagine, this counts as an emergency.” Twilight smiled, content with that answer being perfect to satisfy the crew. How fortuitous she thought ahead!

“But what about after that runs out? There’s no war, no enemy to raid ships of!” The questioning sailor continued.
Well… damn. Twilight actually hadn’t thought that far yet. She could only blush slightly in embarrassment at having been caught out like that, as she couldn’t help but pause slightly. A pause her crew seemed to find disconcerting, as many of them began to look unnerved.

But then, without missing another beat, Twilight had an epiphany. “It’s simple! We’re not Equestrian privateers anymore. The Changeling treaty doesn’t mean anything anymore, so we raid the buggy bastards anyways! Slavers deserve no peace!” She declared dogmatically and firmly, raising her hoof into the air. Her crew seemingly agreed, whether out of principle or greed. So the crew had all agreed, as Twilight pulled out her compass and took a look at the wind-vane. The winds were perfect for leaving port and heading out West. She could feel the New World calling her name. Calling the name of her crew. Sailing by their own rules, and she’d make sure no changeling ship was safe if it dared fly the Changeling royal colors under her watch.

So, as she swaggered back to the top and took her place a few paces behind the helmspony, she breathed in deep from the salt sea air as they once again put out to sea before anypony was any the wiser.
She would remain a captain, she would remain a privateer of sorts.
Though, no, not a privateer. No, she is something else. They were going to be something different, freer. A renegade ship sailing the seas, freeing slaves, and taking ill-gotten gold.
She’s a pirate.

Author's Note

Yet another chapter. Hope y'all like it. Took me a while. Hopefully next one won't take as long.