I found that I'd paused as the memories of what came next flooded my mind all at once, during which time Celestia had just been staring at me in surprise. When I noticed her, I managed to recover and raise an eyebrow. "Something wrong?" She blinked and looked off to the side.

"I-" She cleared her throat and shook her head slightly. "I was aware Captain Quicksilver possessed a few-" Now, she adopted a drawn frown and swayed her head around.

"Learned perspectives, but I find it bewildering she would blunder what was meant to be a simple cruise so disastrously," she huffed, drawing a smile from me.

"Yeah, I was pretty bewildered myself," I said, my smile widening. "And 'learned perspectives' is definitely a nice way of putting it." She grimaced with a sigh.

"She was drawn from Canterlot's population prior to it becoming our capital, so certain views upon her fellow pony are expected," she murmured, drawing a mirthful snort from me. She shot a sideways scowl my way in response. "Considering everything that has been occurring over the last decade, I do beg your pardon, 'Captain Throat-Cutter,' that the need to secure a trained sea captain who could be trusted overtook the need to ensure she was as accepting as my sister or myself." My eyebrows shot up as she used my old Naysow nickname, and I chortled.

"Surely. And don't get it crossed," I began, wagging a finger at her. "It was the Quicksilver's crew that took exception to her 'perspectives' not me." I fixed her with a narrow-eyed smile as she held her scowl for a few moments. Finally, her expression softened with a hum.

"Clearly. The mutiny of the Quicksilver remained one of the biggest mysteries about your early voyage to us," she said, bringing a hoof to her chin in thought.

"Yep. Was still kind of a mystery to me too," I replied, sliding my knees up and locking my fingers together around them. "Specifically that things were getting that bad aboard."

She tilted her head and leered at me. "I understand you were stuck inside your cabin for most of the voyage, but did you not suspect something was wrong when the rations were cut?" I barked a laugh and pointed at her.

"Oh-hoh! Thanks for reminding me," I slapped my knee with another laugh before holding my hand up. "We'll come back to that." She blinked and furrowed her brow.

"Very well," she hummed, shaking her head. "But I still don't understand how things went this horribly." She stared off to the side with a thoughtful look.

"We chose Quicksilver because her father assured us she was too loyal to me specifically to ever be at risk of going against my wishes," she said, more to herself than to me. "And since we really only needed to set you off on a cruise, keeping you mobile and therefore hard to track, she seemed like the ideal candidate. She could navigate, understood her ship, and she wouldn't do anything reckless while transporting you." I pursed my lips as Celestia mulled over what I'd relayed so far.

"Well to be fair, the little lady did say she followed her chart exactly," I offered with a shrug. "Maybe someone messed up on your end?" Her ear swiveled and she suddenly turned my way.

"You said you saw somepony leaping from the side of the ship before you set sail?" She asked. When I nodded, she hissed through her teeth. "Whoever that was must have snuck aboard and swapped the chart we'd already given her for one that would lead you into peril." A bright smile exploded on my face.

"Ah, and because dear Captain Quicksilver was so set on following your orders to the letter," I mused, causing Celestia to clench her eyes with a groan. I chortled and cast a satisfied smirk her way. "There, see? Some of this is your fault, just not in the way you were thinking!" I fell into a brief fit of wheezing laughter, until Celestia scowled at me, at which point I coughed and fixed her with a smile.

"Granted, I hadn't even considered the whole course going bad being your fault, either," I offered before clapping my hands. "So, hey! We both learned how much more you messed up!" When her scowl hardened I cleared my throat and tapped my temple with a finger.

"Anyway, where was I?" I hummed.

"Four months out. Black flag bearing down upon you," she said with an unamused tone.

"Right!"

I gnawed my thumb as I stared at the approaching ship, completely frozen with fear and my mind blank. The rest of the crew was a bit more productive and actively scrambling around the deck with audible fear. Gabber remained right beside me, still observing the pirates with his spyglass, while everyone else screamed.

"What do we do?!" Rosepetal, a pink earth pony, cried. "I've only sailed in the Lunar sea! We don't have any pirates up there!" One of the other earth ponies, and one of the few crew members I'd never spoken with, shot forward beside Gabber.

"Gab! You've traveled all the way to Griffinstone!" He cried, fixing the older pony with a hopeful smile. "What do we do?" Gab continued spying on the pirates for a moment before nodding. The gesture drew silence from the crew and all of our attention to him. Even Quicksilver, who'd been curled up on the deck the whole time, perked up.

"We should give serious consideration," he said with confidence. "To strikin' our colors." Silence continued to hold the deck until Quicksilver jumped up.

"You want us to surrender?! Are you crazy?!" She screamed, which cued other members of the crew to begin howling similar complaints. Gab simply shrugged in response.

"Aye, ain't like we're being chased by the Bell-bound or some other ghost ship. Those're flesh and blood folk over yonder," he mused, shooting a grimace out to the ship. "If we surrender, they might not kill us." Quicksilver blanched at his words.

"Might?" She squeaked. Happy shot me an anxious look as Gab nodded.

"Well, no telling with sea-scum," he explained, turning to the crew with a curious expression. "You ever heard of 'Big' Timber Kicker?" He looked around for an answer.

"No?" Happy replied, at which Gab nodded.

"Fella hated cowards, and used to make captured crews fight each other to the death if they gave up without a fight," he said, sending a chill up my spine and causing Happy's face to turn slightly green. A few murmurs rose from the crew as Gab hummed. "Other pirates prefer easy prey." He turned back to the ship and clicked his teeth.

"But if we do fight and we do lose, you can be certain they'll make us suffer for it," he declared. I swallowed and considered the ship which had now drawn close enough that I could make out several dark silhouettes running around its top deck.

"But- But that's only if we lose!" Quicksilver squealed, causing Gab to roll his eye.

"They've got forty guns to our none, idiot," he growled, causing her to wilt. "And ships that big need a lot of crew, so they've got us outnumbered." As everyone continued to panic, Happy suddenly jumped.

"I got it!" He cried, whirling around to face the expectant faces of the crew. "Let's run!" Everyone, myself included perked up at his suggestion until Gab snorted.

"Run where? That thing's a full-rigged frigate," he groused, shaking his head and fixing Happy with a weary frown. "Don't know what fairy stories you been reading before our delightful captain gave you your rank, but them things ain't slow by any sight." Happy's ear twitched but he held the hopeful smile he'd adopted since making his suggestion, seemingly too scared to process any other emotion. Gab again turned to the ship before hissing.

"And they're between us and Mount Aris," he murmured. The crew shared a look before erupting into another full-blown panic. My heart was beating so hard that I was able to drown them out, however, and began considering the waves below.

"Never had a talent for swimming, but," I thought. Before I could follow that line of thinking further, something tugged at my pant leg. Turning, I saw Doctor Holiday looking up at me with a severe expression.

"Mr. Cutter, a word, if you please? Quickly," he said before stepping away from the rest of the crew, and closer to the bow. Furrowing my brow and considering the pirates one more time, I followed along. Once I reached him, he nodded and removed his hat. "With all due respect, I must inform you that, as the most visually distinctive person aboard this vessel it falls upon you to make use of that distinction and keep our foe from visualizing my companion."

"What?" I huffed, which urged him to roll his eyes and jolt closer.

"You look strange, fool. Use that strangeness to keep them from noticing Zama!" He spat, nodding his head to the starboard. When I turned to look, his horn lit up and snapped my face back toward himself. "Look with your eyes, not with your head, fool." I blinked and after a moment, turned just my eyes to see Zamaradi's head poked up from the opposite side of the starboard rail. Once she saw me looking at her, she ducked down and vanished.

"I don't-" I was yanked down closer before I could continue.

"Don't nothing. You'll do if you want to make it out of this with your skin still glued on," Holiday said, tilting his glasses down to glare into my eyes. "My companion has an idea for how to get us out of this." As I met his intense leer with a blank, uneasy frown, Early the lookout yelled.

"They're coming about! We're in range of their guns!" He declared, silencing the crew's panic by virtue of the existential dread the report conveyed. "There's an Abyssinian strutting about and seems to be givin' orders!"

"Abyssinian? Ah-hah! We're in luck!" Gab cried with a laugh, drawing all of our eyes to him. He nodded our way with a hopeful smile. "Their captain's a cat! They almost all hate havin' to work for their quarry!" The crew shared a look and Happy swallowed.

"So, if we surrender-?" He urged.

"Vastly less likely to kill us than most," Gab replied with a sigh before his smile wavered and he looked across the crew. "All in favor?" A tense silence fell upon the deck as everyone shared a nervous look. Everyone except Holiday, who shot me a nod. Shortly thereafter, with some effort, the sails were all furled, the anchor was dropped, and we all stood side by side in a line on the starboard side.

Additionally, down the line from me, just beside Gabber, I saw Bell Pepper looking back at me with his muzzle scrunched up like he was trying really hard to remember something. Everyone else had their nervous faces locked on the approaching pirate ship, whose crew was clearly hard at work slowing their ship down. After a few minutes, they'd drawn close enough that several bipedal cat-folk began hurling grappling hooks over. Once these were latched onto our rail, they began heaving and dragging the two ships closer and closer together. One of the ponies on our side whimpered as the deck lurched and rolled from the sudden and awkward motion, while Holiday drew a pipe from his coat and began smoking with a patient, even expression.

"Steady. Steady, all," Gabber quietly urged, waving a wing at us. Just beside him, Quicksilver had her eyes firmly fixed on the deck and was visibly quaking. All eyes suddenly snapped up with a heavy crash signaled the two ships had made contact. Looking at the enemy ship, whose rail was a good twelve feet higher than ours, my breath hitched.

While the entire rail was suddenly lined with dozens and dozens of rough and angry feline heads, with crossbows and spears aimed our way, a single beige bipedal cat in a silken red coat suddenly leaped up and flew down to our deck with a somersault. A cheer rang up from the enemy crew as the figure slowly rose to his full height and swept his arms out in a theatric pose, revealing the bandolier of knives across his chest and the scimitar hanging from his hip.

"Greetings, fellow sea-farers!" He cheered in, to my mild surprise, a heavy Spanish accent, revealing his crooked, uneven whiskers and single golden fang. He folded one arm behind his back and wagged a claw at us. "Today, you have made several critical errors. But first and foremost, I shall congratulate you on the very wise decision to permit a passing vessel and her crew passage aboard your ship." He lurched forward and began pacing the deck before us like a buzzard. A few more loaded crossbows slipped over his ship's rail and were leveled our way, drawing a nervous murmur from some of our crew.

"But now, we must broach the sensitive topic of your mistakes," he said, raising an eyebrow and fixing us with a sinister leer as he strode across the deck. "Have you not heard? These waters are prowled by the panic-provoking pirate crew of!" He whirled about and swept his arms out as his crew yelled all at once.

"Don Arnoso!" They all called out. A few whoops and hollers followed as Arnoso bobbed his head with a satisfied smile. Then he snapped his claws and the pirates went silent, at which point he scowled at our whole crew.

"And yet I find your silly little pony ship sailing along without any defenses," he declared, his eyes narrowed as he pointed at us.

"How dare you snub the timber-shivering rumor of Don Arnoso by entering this sea unarmed?" He demanded, before throwing his paws up and adopting a curious expression. "No, really! How dare you? Why dare you? Who are you? Who is captain of this silly little pony boat?" He placed one paw on his hip and waved the other at us expectantly. As we all turned toward Quicksilver, she jabbed a hoof my way without looking up from the deck.

"Him. It's him. The tall freak," she declared, causing my eyebrows to shoot up. Everyone but Holiday and Gab looked my way and, to my eternal contempt, faced Arnoso and nodded. As my jaw dropped, I turned to Arnoso, who was looking me up and down before stepping right up to me, one paw gently caressing the pommel of his sword.

"Greetings, fellow sea captain," he purred with a raised eyebrow. I clenched my eyes with a grimace and sighed before remembering what Holiday had said. Looking the cat in the eyes, I nodded with a slight bow.

"Greetings, uh, Don Arnoso," I said, at which he recoiled.

"No, no, no, my friend," he said, waving a claw before pinching two claws together for emphasis. "It is 'the feared pirate Don Arnoso.'" He sniffed.

"And!" Faster than I could see, his sword snapped out and lightly jabbed me in the belly. "How are you?" I blanched, but he waved a paw at me.

"No! Do not answer that!" He chided, pacing away, but keeping his sword leveled at me. "Instead! I shall interrogate your crew. Tell me!" He wagged his sword at the crew before crouching and looking over them all.

"How has your captain treated you all so far?" He asked, looking at each of them. "Has he been fair? Or has this strange individual indulged in equally strange measures of tyranny aboard this vessel?" Most of the ponies shared a look at the pirate's words, while Gab just grimaced with a sigh. The pirates still aboard Arnoso's ship quietly laughed as he suddenly snapped to his full height with another theatric sweep of his arms.

"For if so, fear not!" He cried, bringing one paw to his chest and waving his sword at his crew. "The bone-chilling buccaneer troupe of Don Arnoso shall play the role of liberators for you!" He paused with a purse-lipped smile before bringing his sword forward and leaning upon it like a cane.

"Well, at least those of you willing to cooperate with our demands," he added with a strange, loopy laugh. "So? How is he?" I blinked and considered our crew who looked my way with a set of confused leers.

"Uh-" Some managed to murmur before Pepper suddenly gasped.

"Oh! I remember why we should kill him!" He cried, whirling around to jab a hoof at me. "While we all had quarter rations, he still got full rations! Captain's orders!" Arnoso recoiled at the revelation before turning to me with a scowl and his paws on his hips.

Celestia stared blankly as I shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," I said before humming and wagging a finger. "Maybe she was worried about me being underfed? Or starving?"

I shrugged again. "I dunno. Anyway!"

As Arnoso held his displeased expression upon me, I noticed two things. First, I spied Zamaradi climbing with surprising dexterity up the side of his ship to one of his gunports. Second, his crew had begun chanting a few different punishments to levy upon me. Things I hadn't known existed on Equus until that exact moment. But before I could ponder how crucifixion would work on a planet with so many quadrupeds, Arnoso held up a clenched paw and silenced his crew.

"Starving your crew while you grow fat?" He tsked, wagging a claw at me. "Such a poor policy to sail under." Seemingly owing to the fact she had hooves, Zamaradi slipped. Fortunately, the ship's shape left her at an angle where she wasn't immediately noticed by Arnoso's crew. However, a few of the pirates nearest to where she had slipped apparently heard her and began leaning over the rail. I grimaced and cleared my throat.

"And what of it?" I yelled, managing to draw their attention back to me as Arnoso raised an eyebrow. I folded my arms and stuck my nose up at him. "I'm three times their size. Of course, I need more food than them." Arnoso tilted his head back a bit at my words as I waved a hand at the crew.

"Besides! Beasts of burden don't have the right to complain about how their masters treat them," I snorted, fighting off a sharp pang of embarrassment that came as the crew balked at my declaration. Arnoso's crew ooo'd at my words as their captain pursed his lips, considering the ponies for a moment.

"A fair assessment," he said to the audible annoyance of the ponies, nodding sagely before drawing one of his knives. "But! For our purposes a positively unsalvagable mindset." I shuddered, looking past him to see Zamaradi disappear into a gunport. Arnoso stepped to my side, leveling his knife with my stomach.

"Now, if I were the one who has so suffered under your mismanagement, I would prefer to pierce you like so," he explained, poking my side before pointing at the mast. "And run you through so that your innards are pinned upon your ship's mainmast." My stomach churned at his description even as he stepped away and twirled his knife at me.

"At which point we would make you dance away and unravel yourself," he added with another loopy giggle that did nothing for either my rapidly beating heart or the crew who whimpered at his threat. Then he slapped his knife back in his bandolier and clapped his paws. "But! I believe your punishment is best decided upon by those who have so suffered under your rule." He turned to the crew and held his paws out to them as his own crew cheered.

"So, my dear, poor lost souls!" He said, leaning forward at the hips and fixing them with a grim smile. "What shall we do with him?" Holiday was the only one who didn't look my way, as everyone donned a set of matching and terrified expressions. Worst was Quicksilver, who upon looking me in the eyes averted her gaze with tears beginning to form. Arnoso began impatiently glancing from pony to pony before standing up straight with a frown, but before he could do anything, Happy raised a hoof.

"Er, well," he began, drawing Arnoso's gaze which made him hesitate. "Make him- walk- the plank?" He adopted a nervous smile as the pirate considered his offer.

"Ah-hah! Now there's an idea," Arnoso finally declared, drawing a sigh of relief from me and a chorus of laughter from the pirates. Arnoso waved his sword at the rest of the crew. "All in favor?" Then, before anyone could answer, he barked a laugh.

"Ah, ah, ah! How silly of me," he said, shaking his head and offering them an apologetic smile. "I have almost forgotten!" His expression hardened as he jabbed his sword at Happy who wilted and hugged the deck.

"Only those who assist us by transferring all the valuables aboard this ship for us will have a say," he hissed with a malicious grin, wagging his sword back at me. "The others will be joining your captain since clearly you still have a soft spot for him!" The crew all shuddered at him as his expression fell into a harsh glare.

"To the exclusion of your fellow sea-farers," he added with a bitter tone before suddenly perking up. "So?" The crew hesitated and shared a look before all turning to Quicksilver who swallowed hard.

"We don't," she cleared her throat. "We don't have any valuables."

"No?" Arnoso hummed, drawing an angry murmur from the pirates.

"Uh-uh. All we have is a trade pass for Equestrian ports," Quicksilver added, visibly shaking as Arnoso began idly tracing a claw across his sword.

"Trade pass?" He hummed gain.

"Yeah, it lets us secure supplies using credit rather than physical money," Quicksilver explained with a desperate nod. Arnoso perked up, scraping his claw on the sword with a sharp noise.

"Sounds positively ripe for abuse," he mused before frowning and tilting his head at Quicksilver. "Ah, but you say it only works in Equestrian ports?" When she nodded he nodded as well.

"Worthless, I'm afraid," he said causing her to wilt. Then he snorted and nodded his head at his ship. "To us at least! What else do you have?" Quicksilver gasped and leaped towards him.

"Him! He's valuable!" She cried waving a hoof at me. At that moment, a meaty thunk hit the deck just beside her and she jumped before flopping over. Looking down, there was a crossbow bolt lodged right under where she'd been standing. Arnoso meanwhile stood with one paw up holding off the rest of the shooters before gesturing to Quicksilver with the same paw. She whimpered and sniffled before nodding at me. "He's the whole reason we're on this trip!" Arnoso shot a concerned glare my way as she slowly stood up.

"Princess Celestia of Equestria commissioned this whole ship just to safeguard him!" She added. The pirate stared at me in thought for a long while before turning back to her.

"He's not really the captain at all, is he?" He said with a thoroughly disappointed tone. The crew shuddered as Quicksilver whimpered before slowly shaking her head.

"N-no," she squeaked once and then a second time when Arnoso slowly stalked toward her.

"You are, aren't you?" He accused.

"I- Y-yes," she replied, hugging the deck as he bent down before her.

"You lied to me?" He asked with the same tone. She gasped a few times and shook her head, hiding her face under her hooves.

"Yes," she squeaked causing the pirate to perk up.

"Ah, good girl," he said with a smile before gently petting her head. "I forgive you for lying!" Quicksilver hesitated but relaxed with a smile as Arnoso rose to his full height. Then, still smiling, he snapped his sword out and it stuck in her leg. Twisting it viciously to the point her leg was forced to bend at an awkward angle, he then wrenched it out and sent Quicksilver sprawling onto her back. She gasped desperately until finally, she began screaming.

"But you nearly made me torture a valuable hostage to death in your place," Arnoso declared, wagging his claw at her. "This is unforgivable." Half the crew collapsed at the sudden attack, while the others cried out alongside Quicksilver. Gab merely turned away, clenching his eye shut and Holiday huffed a plume of smoke. Then, Arnoso turned to me with a sharp glare, looking me up and down.

"You were prepared to suffer in her place?" He accused, tilting his head and holding his critical leer. The sound of Quicksilver howling with every breath, coupled with the sudden violence he'd performed had me too shaken to respond. However, just for a moment, my eyes darted toward his ship and he straightened up with a surprised look in his eyes before turning to his crew. "Search the ship! They've boarded us!"

"Damn!" Holiday spat as the pirates snapped to attention. Then, I noticed smoke rising out of one of their lower gunports.

"Fire! Fire in the orlop!" One of them shouted.

"The magazine!" Another cried. All hell broke loose aboard the ship then as they scrambled and lost interest in keeping their weapons trained on us. Arnoso clenched his teeth and whirled around.

"You miserable- HAAGH!" Was all he managed to get out as Gabber zipped up and slammed all four of his hooves into his face. As the cat was sent sprawling, the older pegasus dashed for the stairs.

"Below decks! Hurry!" He screamed. Without looking back, I took off after him. The sound of hooves slamming against the wooden deck meshed with the occasional bolt striking, so I wasn't sure how many of the pirates had recovered from their panic. However, Quicksilver's screams continued to fill the air and were muffled briefly as she was seemingly hauled below decks along with the rest of us who'd made it. Following Gab's lead, we hurried down past my cabin to another stair that led to one deck lower.

Halfway along this third deck, we passed through a fortified wall with an iron door. Once I was on the other side, I collapsed and lay on the deck panting and wheezing. A few seconds after that, I heard the door slam shut behind me and I looked up to see everyone had made it.

Though not completely unscathed as Doctor Holiday, with Quicksilver draped over his back was rapidly urging two crewmates to the side. One had a bolt in her side and the other had one in his hoof.

"Hush now, hush," Holiday soothed as he ripped off his coat and tore it into several lengths before bandaging the three.

"Brace yourselves," Gab panted, watching the opposite wall with a nervous leer.

"Why didn't we hide down here in the first place?!" Bushtit screamed.

"Because then they'd just set the ship on fire with us inside," Gab explained with an annoyed glare before tilting his head. "Now, they got more important things to worry about." A tense silence followed, occasionally broken by the whimpers of pain from Holiday's patients.

"Easy. Easy," he cooed, drawing a hiss from one of the ponies as he carefully drew out the bolt, his own eyes rapidly darting to the wall Gab was watching as well.

"What were they saying about the magazine?" I huffed, at which Gab nodded. Holiday hissed as he finally got the bolt free.

"That's where the gunpowder's stowed, on the cargo deck," Gab explained. "If that catches fire-" Despite the fact he was cut off, I got the gist almost immediately, as a deafening explosion roared out seemingly all around us. While Holiday used his magic to hold his patients still, the rest of us were tossed as the entire ship rocked and rolled. Someone screamed which opened the floodgates for everyone else as well.

The deck rolled for what felt like forever, and with such ferocity, it felt like the ship was about to capsize. Then suddenly it leaned back and we all tumbled to the opposite side as the ship resumed a comparatively gentle bobbing motion. We all sat there, panting and huffing as the ship groaned and creaked around us, accompanied by an occasional thud or boom outside. When these secondary noises finally subsided, Holiday huffed and glared at the ceiling.

"Mr. Cutter," he began as he resumed operating. "Please take to the top side and see if we've caught fire."

"Me?" I gasped, my eye twitching when he nodded.

"You are this ship's treasure, sir," he explained, fixing me with a severe, yet concerned expression. "If any of them survived, they will not harm you."

Before I'd even reached the stairs, I could already hear the crackling sound of burning wood and I spied smoke rising into the sky through the latticed hatch of the main deck. Gripping the club-like belaying pin Gab had urged me to take for defense, I stalked toward the stair and dragged myself topside, my feet feeling like they were made of lead.

"Good God," I gasped when my head finally poked out. The entire upper deck was dusted with foot-long splinters of wood, huge nails, and other assorted debris, as well as the occasional cannon that had seemingly destroyed our larboard rail when they were smashed outward by the explosion. Looking up, I was first struck by the fact that Arnoso's ship no longer had a mast as seemingly the entire top deck had been blown off as well as the fact that his ship no longer towered over our own nor was it right beside us, seemingly sinking at a steady rate. Then, I was struck by the alarming reality that our own rigging and sails were in fact on fire.

"Shit!" I hissed.

"Tut tut," came a weary uneasy voice that sent shivers up my skin. Looking forward, I found a soaking wet and bleeding Arnoso hauling himself up over the starboard ship's rail. The injured pirate fixed me with a bloody smile as he slowly threw one leg and then the other onto the deck. "Such language."

As I stood there staring, he licked his bloodied lips a few times and leered at his destroyed ship for a moment. "I have to wonder," he huffed, raising his bent and chipped scimitar to wag at me. At that moment, something heavy bumped my ankle and I glanced down for just a second. "Will your life be able to cover the costs of that?" When he looked back my way, he immediately gasped and folded at the waist, as I'd hurled the small loose cannonball that had rolled into me, striking him on the leg. As he cried out, I dashed forward and swept my belaying pin across his head, sending him gurgling to the deck where he flopped for a moment until settling on his side. Spying the ball again, I snatched it up, brought my arm back as he brought his up in a pleading motion, and then hucked it with all my might, nailing him in the ribs just under his raised arm.

He hacked and gurgled as he brought his elbow into his crushed side before writhing and thrashing, losing his grip on his sword as he rolled around the deck. I lost my balance and fell flat on my ass as I watched him sputter and flail.

He looked up at me in shock as he slowly settled, coughing and heaving with every attempted breath and I found myself looking him dead in the eyes.

"I'm sorry," I panted, sliding back from him as he shuddered. "I'm sorry." He hacked again and then his head slowly sagged.

"I'm sorry," I gasped, locking my fingers behind my neck. "I'm sorry."

"Sst! Hey!" My head snapped to the side and I came face to face with Zamaradi. Her mane was sagging and dripping with seawater and she brought a hoof to my chin before considering the dead pirate on our deck. Then she looked back at me with a nod. "Good work." I sat there gasping for a few moments before meekly nodding back at which point she patted my shoulder.

"Come on. The ship is on fire," she urged, nudging me to my feet.

"Okay," I gasped one final time before complying.

Author's Note

A belaying pin was a sturdy little tool to hold rigging and ropes in place. It made an excellent mace in a pinch.