"Hey, Gilded. I was wondering how much longer it should take us to get to Equestria?" Justin asked.

Gilded sighed. "Looks like we're flyin' over Druathica..."

"C'mon, Daddy! It can't be that bad, right? At least Mr. Gilded Blade is with us!" Ruby told Justin, embracing him in a hug.

"Huh... another ship? Isn't this route intended for one ship each?" Justin thought to himself.

Gilded looked around uneasily, and muttered to himself, "I only hope they didn't follow me..."

"Ah, well my wife and I are moving to Ponyville! Rumor has it, they even allowed a DRAGON to live there!" The stallion said, with his left arm wrapped around his wyvern wife's shoulders.

"I think we're being hunted." Gilded whispered to Justin.

The ship started shaking.

"What's going on, Gilded?!" Justin asked in a worried tone.

"The Black Wing Pirates!" Gilded said in a worried tone.

"Alright listen up, all of ya! We are the Black Wings, and we're gonna only ask ya once... come to our ship nicely, and we MIGHT just let ya live! Refuse, and ye'll all take a nice long nap... permanently!" Iron-Hoof said in a mic connected to an amplifier.

"Daddy, I'm scared!" Ruby said, while being held by Justin.

"Shh, it's gonna be okay, honey. I won't let ANYTHING hurt you!" Justin cooed to her.

"Do you even realize who I am?!" Iron-Hoof yelled towards Justin.

"I'm new here, so I don't really know who you are..." Justin told Iron-Hoof.

"...I'm Captain Iron-Hoof..." Iron-Hoof said, while pointing a giant sword at the crew behind him. "This is my crew! We're not here to discuss pleasantries, either! We're here to loot you all, and take you all as our prisoners!"

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Justin yelled at a diamond dog who was trying to take Ruby away.

Iron-Hoof lifted Justin over the edge of the rails to the ship.

"Put him down, Iron-Hoof!" Gilded yelled.

"Well well... look who we have here! Gilded Blade!" Iron-Hoof's smile turned into a glare, while he growled between his teeth, "Long time, no see." He raised his sword at Gilded. "...YOU were the one that killed my brother!"

Gilded raised his middle claw at Iron-Hoof. "You forget, Iron-Butt... it was YOU who betrayed the Mercenaries, and it was YOU who invited your brother to do your dirty work!" He lowered his middle claw. "Your brother tried to kill me, so I only did what was necessary!"

Iron-Hoof punched Gilded in the face, then backhanded him. Afterwards, he lifted his sword, and raised it up high.

"Please! Don't hurt him!" Ruby screamed, catching Iron-Hoof's attention.

Iron-Hoof gasped, and pointed his left finger at Ruby. "You're an Alicorn!"

"Get your ugly hands away from my d- ACK!" Justin yelled to Iron-Hoof, who was slowly approaching Ruby, before getting choked, and lifted up by the other minotaur.

"Don't worry, mate! We'll take good care o' her!" The second minotaur whispered to Justin, before throwing him down the ship.

Justin closed his eyes, as his life flashed before his eyes, up to the latest moments.

"Huh... I guess those rumors ARE true..." Justin thought to himself, right as everything went dark.

"A human? Within the Everspring? And here, I thought you knew everything!" A masculine voice said, followed by a feminine groan.

"Zecallo! Have the years blinded you? Come see for yourself, and you'll know it is true!" The female replied, clearly in an annoyed tone. Then, the sound of hoofsteps could be heard, and from the sound of it, they were getting closer.

Suddenly, the hoofsteps made a sudden stop, while the male gasped. "Zeena! Why did you bring him here?! Just look at him! He looks injured, my dear!" Then, Justin's vision started to slowly come back, while he began to groan in pain, which made the couple gasp, as he began to slowly sit up.

"Where am I?" He asked, to which he turned his head towards the source of the two voices; a couple Zebras, one a male, and one a female.

The one that stood closest to him was the female, who had blue eyes, a leafy bra with golden threads keeping it together, a leafy kilt, held by a golden belt, and a large variety of golden necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.

The male looked almost the same in masculine form, only his eyes were green, and he didn't have a bra on... or a shirt, for that matter. He did, however, have a lot more necklaces wrapped around his neck, each of which holding different stones on them, through loose golden strands of the chains of the necklaces.

After gathering his senses again, Justin noticed that he was no longer outside, but rather, inside a tribal-looking hut, and was lying in a bed made of hay and leaves. "I must be in their house... but where IS their house, though?" Suddenly, he gasped. "Wait a minute... Where did the ships go?! Where's Ruby?!" He thought to himself, right as he started to panic, with his heart rate jumping up again.

Seeing the panicked look on the human's face, the two zebras quickly rushed up to him, while the female spoke, "That look you give, it's troubled, no? What's happening that makes you feel like so?"

Justin, now remembering that the Zebras spoke in rhyme, replied, "I need to find my daughter! She's still on that airship! Have you seen where it went?!" And now, both of the zebras' eyes were widened, while their mouths hung open. "What?"

"You fell from the ships that sail in the sky? How in the world did you not even die?!" The male zebra asked.

The next thing Justin knew, they started talking to each other in another language... a language Justin has already learned thanks to the reading he did in Gryphonia. He figured out the language was Druathican, as pointed out by the accent they spoke in. What surprised him was the fact that when they spoke Druathican, they didn't rhyme.

"Zecallo! Why would you even ASK that kind of question?! Of course he didn't come from that ship! A fall like that could make even Princess Celestia die, if she didn't have a protection spell on her!" The female zebra asked the male.

"Zeena! If he DIDN'T fall from it, then please tell me why he was unconsciously lying in a crater!" The male replied, unintentionally giving their names to Justin right there. Justin, however, saw that they were arguing, and decided to chime in, hoping to calm things down.

"Actually, I did fall from the airship." Justin said in Druathican, which caught them by surprise. "In fact, I was on a trip to Equestria, when we were ambushed, and I was thrown overboard."

"So, wait... you understand us?!" Zeena asked, to which Justin nodded. This caused both she and Zecallo to blush. "I hope we didn't send you the worst impression... we haven't really been in the best shape since our daughter ran away."

Justin could sense the pang of depression that ran through this household when he woke up, but hearing that statement gave him clairvoyance of their situation. If he was going to find his daughter, he would have to help these zebras find their daughter first. It only seemed logical.

Clearing his throat, Justin asked, "Is there anything you need me to do?"

Zeena, at this point, was already broken into tears, so Zecallo had to answer for them. "Yes... if you ever make it to Equestria, please look for our daughter, Zecora. She said she was going there to make friends who would actually love and tolerate her... but Zeena and I didn't take it seriously, until it was too late."

"Very well, then. Is there a message that I can give her, as proof of how you feel?" Justin asked, to which Zecallo responded by handing him a golden necklace with a small rock in the center that had a sapphire in the center, with a group of emeralds that surrounded it in a sun-shaped pattern.

"If you find her, give her this. It's an ancient family heirloom, handed down by the leaders of our tribe. I am the current leader, and perhaps will remain so... but I feel it is time for me to pass the torch to her. Oh, and if she did happen to make friends in Equestria, then perhaps it is time that we travel there ourselves... but just Zeena and I." Justin raised an eyebrow at that statement, but Zecallo already sensed his confusion, and continued. "After being the leader for so long, I have learned, through my daughter's actions, how much it has been destroying my family. Not to mention the fact that we have no control over our defenses, with our villagers being abducted recently-"

"Wait, your village was raided? By who?" Justin asked, ignoring the language he spoke, since he knew that they could understand him, and that he could understand them.

With a small delay, the two replied in their native tongue, "They called themselves 'Black Wings'... and when they abducted our villagers, they were last seen headed towards the Druathican Grasslands, within the far-eastern side of the island!"

Justin nodded his head, stood from the bed, and picked his saddlebag up from the floor near the left side of the head of the bed, and began walking out the door, picking up his jacket, and fitting it back on his shoulders, followed by him strapping his armor pieces and rings back on, and checking his weapons' conditions. As expected, the swords were bent out of shape badly, so he placed them in his saddlebag, and took out his bow, then wrapped it around his right shoulder, strapping it back into place again.

Once he stepped outside the door, Zecallo grabbed his left shoulder, and said in a worried tone, "You can't be serious! They'll kill you, or everyone in there, if they see you!" Justin, however, pulled his shoulder free, and continued walking.

Before he took five steps, he turned his head to the left, and replied, "Yes, but if I don't go, I may never see my daughter again!" At that, Zecallo's eyes widened, while Zeena stepped beside him.

"Let him go, Zecallo. We may not know him, but I can tell just from looking at his equipment that he knows what he's doing..." Zeena said, while holding onto his right arm. Zecallo, though hesitant at first, nodded, before looking back at Justin.

"Very well... and if you manage to save our village, then we will tell you anything you need to know." Justin nodded, and turned his head forward. Then, after walking down the five steps that led to the ground level, he headed east, carrying his bow in his right hand as he did.

For about an hour, he walked, until he heard a distant sound, the sound of a small branch cracking, which caught his attention. Quickly, he activated the ruby, sapphire, and emerald's powers, which created the "Wind Element", and drew his bowstring back. As he did, a pure white arrow manifested between his fingers, which released a small gust of wind from the tip of the arrowhead. Then, he shot it at the top branch of a tree.

Once it landed, he became surrounded by a white fog, and felt himself quickly get lifted into the air. Unknown to him, though, was that the fog was actually himself, and when he felt like he had been lifted, he was actually transported through the fog as a manifestation of a spirit in the wind, unable to be seen by normal eyes. Once the fog made it to where the arrow landed, he manifested back into his regular form, and found himself standing on top of the branch he shot, while the arrow was no longer there, and didn't even leave a mark where it landed to begin with.

After getting his bearings together, Justin looked down towards where he was standing mere seconds ago, and spotted a diamond dog standing where he just was, holding a jewel-crested golden-handled scimitar with a white blade in his right paw. He appeared to be looking around warily, almost as if he thought he saw a ghost.

"Where are you, beast?!" He asked, now looking around in a circle. "Come on out! I know I saw you standing here!"

Justin smiled slyly, and activated his ruby ring, while pointing his left hand towards his "target". Then, with the snap of his fingers, a branch in the opposite direction of where Justin stood caught on fire, which got the diamond dog's attention. As he turned his head, his eyes widened at the uncommon sight of a fire that just materialized on it's own. At this point, the scimitar in his right paw was shaking, and he was unable to move, due to fear. He didn't even have time to speak when the newly created fire circled around him, and kept him from going anywhere. Then, he was about to cry for help until a bubble formed around him that kept anything from being heard within.

As he yelled, he realized that it was pointless, and sighed, while closing his eyes, and looking down in defeat. It was then that he noticed a pair of legs walking his way, wearing dark brown hiking boots, blue jeans, and had a yellow piece of clothing flowing from behind it. When he looked up, his heart raced even faster when he realized just who it was.

"Y-YOU?! I thought we killed you, already!" It asked, now sounding more angrier than scared.

Justin smirked, and replied, "Well, I guess you thought wrong, then! So, you'll tell me where my daughter is, won't you?"

The diamond dog spat on the ground, and retorted, "You must be outta your mind, freak! What makes you think we even CARE who your daughter is to begin with?!"

Suddenly, Justin's eyes glared daggers at him, while his fists balled up. While doing so, a thought came to his mind... a thought he wanted to try out.

If he was able to survive a fall that was well over a thousand feet in the air, could his strength possibly be greater in this world? To test it out, he walked towards the nearest tree right next to the diamond dog, and cracked his knuckles. Then, with one swing, he punched the tree, which quickly fell to the ground as soon as his fist made contact, leaving only the broken stump that was still planted firmly in the ground.

While Justin was surprised beyond measure, he managed to hide it, and turn towards the diamond dog, who also appeared to be lost for words. Then, Justin walked back towards the diamond dog, and raised his fist again, now aiming at the diamond dog, who closed his eyes in fear. "Now, then... care to rephrase that?" Justin asked, now glaring at the diamond dog again.

The diamond dog, now sweating bullets, gulped, and stuttered, "O-of course! N-now, then... who exactly IS your d-daughter?"

"The one they called an 'Alicorn'!" Justin said through clenched teeth. The diamond dog's eyes widened at that statement, while his sweat continued to pour down. Now growing impatient, Justin lifted the diamond dog through the wind magic, lifting the bubble and the fire that surrounded it in the process, and yelled, "Answer me, mutt!"

Without saying a word, the diamond dog closed his eyes, and pointed his finger towards Justin's right direction, while shaking in fear. "Th-the camp i-is in the far-eastern side of the forest! Y-you can't miss it!"

Justin nodded his head, and began to walk away, before turning his head towards the diamond dog again, and walking back towards him. "Answer me truthfully... what will you do when I release you?" While asking that, Justin walked towards the opposite direction of where he needed to go, while turning the diamond dog around to keep facing him.

With a gulp, the diamond dog replied, "I-I'll probably retire from being a pirate, and try to live a better, honest life!"

Hearing that, Justin sighed, and snapped his fingers, causing the bubble, the fire, and the magic grip he had on the diamond dog to vanish instantly, causing the diamond dog to drop to the ground, which was only six feet below him. While dispelling the diamond dog, Justin also activated an invisibility spell using the same wind magic the arrows used, only he also levitated to avoid any footprints and noises from being heard.

After standing up, the diamond dog looked around, and noticed that Justin was supposedly gone, even though he hovered directly over him. Taking the opportunity that he had, the diamond dog quickly turned towards where he pointed at earlier, and scurried towards it, unaware of the fact that Justin floated smoothly behind him every step of the way.

About five minutes later, the diamond dog began to see a light that shined brightly in the distance. He knew that he was almost home, and was planning on telling his boss his findings right away. Unfortunately for him, Justin already flew past him, and noticed the large wooden walls that surrounded a large fortress that held the familiar "Black Wing" flag on the top of the main gates, which were guarded by pairs of black-feathered gryphons, each wearing red bandanas like the other pirates. The fortress was placed neatly on the top of a distant hill within a large grassland that had bright green grass that flowed like the ocean as far as the eye could see.

Before the diamond dog could leave the shadows of the jungle, and into the open areas of the grasslands, Justin caught him in another bubble spell, which caught the diamond dog by surprise. Before he could scream, he was dragged back several meters out of sight, and placed a few meters on top of a tree. At this time, Justin dispelled his own invisibility, but kept the levitation spell on himself, while he glared at the diamond dog, who couldn't even stop shaking at this point.

"So much for 'better life', huh?" Justin asked, inching closer towards the diamond dog. Before he could get a response, Justin quickly levitated the diamond dog's scimitar, along with it's sheathe, into his hand, drew the blade, and plunged it into the heart of the diamond dog, causing him to shriek in pain, and slowly close his eyes, as his breathing ceased. "You should've done better with your life... I would've spared you, then." Justin whispered, before pulling the blade out, and cleaning it with water magic. Then, he used his emerald ring to make the nearest tree that he stabbed the diamond dog next to lift the corpse with a group of vines that grew on it, and tie the corpse midway through the air, rested on the side of the tree facing the fortress's direction.

When the deed was done, Justin drew another wind arrow, and shot it into the top of a tree on the outskirts of the forest. Before landing, though, he turned himself invisible again, so that when he landed, he didn't even appear to be there.

He quickly, yet quietly, dug through his saddlebag, and pulled out a telescope that he got from an archaeologist in Skyhaven. Then, he stretched it out, and looked through it, revealing most of what was going on inside the fortress... and what he saw was, by far, a sight he did not enjoy seeing.

In the center of the camp that stood in front of the largest tent of "Fort Black-Wing", a large bonfire was set, and in the center of it, there was a large fire building up. Circling the fire was a group of eight diamond dogs, each of which large and strong-looking ones. They were drinking large portions of what appeared to be Evalonian Ale, undoubtedly imported from the grand city of Evalon, the capital city of The Highlands, home of the Minotaurs and Goats. The diamond dogs were sitting on top of logs, laughing at their recent activities, almost like ruining the lives of the poor souls caught up in their deeds were the funniest things on Earth... Justin felt a hint of rage building inside him when he saw that.

Then, they began mocking their victims by imitating them with their gestures. The first one to imitate a victim stood up, and began flapping his arms around, making a serious-looking face. No doubt they were talking about Gilded Blade there.

The next one to make an imitation gathered a bunch of leaves and twigs, then placed it on his face, and began shivering in a playful, yet mocking way. "That must be their imitation of me." Justin thought to himself, lifting his eye from the telescope. Then, he looked through the telescope again, and the hint of rage skyrocketed at their next imitation.

One of the diamond dogs tied a stick onto his forehead, and began flapping his arms, while running around the fire. Justin knew right then that they were mocking his daughter. They continued mocking the victims, until they looked up in unison, all focusing on an object that rested far above the bonfire. Looking towards where they were facing, Justin's mouth opened widely, and out of pent up aggression, his arms began to shake as he saw that the object they were looking at was, in fact, a cage that hung on a rope over the camp, and contained Ruby, who was visibly crying, and curled up into her knees. Justin could feel tears building up in his own eyes at the sight. "I'll freakin' kill them for this!" Justin whispered to himself through clenched teeth.

When they were done mocking their victims, they all looked back at a stack of cages, all containing at least one "prisoner" that they've captured. Justin instantly recognized two of them right away; the bride and groom from the party. They were sitting together in a corner of the cage, arms wrapped around the respective partner's backs, while looking towards the large tent.

Justin followed their gazes, and gasped louder than he intended when he saw the person who limped outside the large tent. It was barely noticeable due to the large amounts of blood covering it's body, but Justin could tell by how tall it seemed compared to the diamond dogs, that "it" was, in fact, Gilded Blade, and he was covered in cuts and bruises that made his former white feathers, and brown hairs, all appear a dark crimson color. His eyes were halfway closed, and his breathing was visibly weaker. He had an iron chain wrapped around his claws, and were bound by a dark iron lock in-between.

He was being followed by none other than Captain Iron-Hoof himself, who was carrying his giant sword over his shoulders, and grinning menacingly at the injured gryphon. From the looks of it, they were headed towards a large stump, while the diamond dogs that were surrounding the bonfire stood up, and followed. Justin, now barely able to control his anger, quickly levitated over the gates, but slowly landed to avoid causing any unwanted noises.

Then, Justin looked down, and noticed the other "prisoners" that were trapped inside cages near the other wall. They contained a few more of the passengers, but also held a large number of zebras as well. It didn't even take a second for Justin to realize that they were the villagers who were recently abducted. Oddly, though, they all seemed to be slightly more malnourished than the others. "Were these pirates causing starvation to the zebras, too?!" Justin thought to himself, before turning back towards the "Chopping Block". He saw that Iron-Hoof was standing towards a wall, and polishing his blade while a diamond dog wearing a black mask slowly walked towards Gilded Blade, who was restrained to the stump by two more diamond dogs, who were spitting on him, and occasionally slapping him in the face as well. The one wearing the mask was carrying a large axe over his head, which pretty much signified to Justin that he was the executioner.

Standing behind the block was the minotaur that threw Justin off the ship. He was also grinning at Gilded Blade, while holding a large scroll in his hands. Slowly, he unfolded it, and began reading through the list.

After saying a few sentences from the long scroll, the pirates pointed and laughed at Gilded, who only sat there silently, but was clearly giving them a cold glare. Then, the executioner kicked him in the right kidney, which only made Gilded spit even more blood out. Then, the Minotaur continued reading until he reached the end of the long list.

From what Justin could catch from the list, he learned that Gilded Blade wasn't the only one who escaped the mercenaries. The other two who escaped the mercenaries turned out to be his younger sister, named Gilda, and a cyan pegasus named "Rainbow Dash", who apparently moved to Ponyville to escape from that life, once she began reading up on the "Wonderbolts", who were a famous flight team from Equestria. She also didn't like the sight of death, even though she was one of their greatest flyers, exceeding speeds that went faster than sound itself.

Gilda, on the other hand, was more quieter than everyone else, making her the perfect assassin. Unmatched by others in the dark art, she was considered to be brutal, ruthless, and rarely showed any emotion, which even made her own older brother jump when he saw her glare at him. How and why she showed no mercy was mostly due to her history as a "fledgeling", a gryphon child.

She was often bullied in school, which led to her taking an even darker path in life, where she bullied right back, and didn't take kindness from others easily. The only living beings that she ever showed her true kindness was her older brother, and her quickly-gained friend, Rainbow Dash. Anyone else would be better off avoiding her at any cost.

Despite their differences, both Rainbow and Gilda were rumored to take a flight school together, all thanks to Gilded Blade's encouragement. After the two of them passed, they moved into Equestria, where they took their own separate paths. The only other thing rumors spoke of was Rainbow Dash becoming an "Element of Harmony", which Justin learned about by reading.

According to the legends within those books, the "Elements of Harmony" were considered the strongest weapons in this world, even capable of turning the Spirit of Chaos into stone. They were also used to banish "Nightmare Moon" into the very same moon that she raised every night alongside her sister, "Princess Celestia". The Elements consisted of five individuals that symbolizes friendship, with the addition of another one that brings them together.

The first five are known as The Elements of Laughter, Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, and Loyalty, while the one that brings them together is The Element of Magic.

It was clear to Justin where Rainbow Dash would most likely stand out as. To be a mercenary, you would have to be loyal to those who guide you.

Once the Minotaur finished the long list of "Crimes Against Loyalty" that Gilded Blade committed, he lowered the scroll, and nodded his head at the executioner, while grinning at Gilded Blade, who Justin noticed was beginning to weakly cry, with his eyes closed. "Alright, then! Enough is enough!" Justin thought to himself, as he drew his bow, and aimed it at the executioner. Then, he drew a light green crystal arrow, and shot it at the executioner while he raised his axe. When it made it to it's target, it went through the executioner like nothing happened, while Justin jumped from the flag, and materialized in the air while his feet were set in a collision course for the executioner's head.

In the blink of an eye, the executioner was lying in the dirt, with his axe on the ground below Justin's feet. At this point, all eyes were on him, and by the looks of it, there was a mixture of anger, fear, regret, and sorrow in the pirates' eyes, while the prisoners were surprised, and joyful to see someone who might've come to rescue them.

Ruby, however, was excited to see her dad again, even though she was caged very high in the air, and couldn't see any possibilities of her making it out alive. Even so, she didn't care, as she felt that her dad could figure out a way to save her.

As Justin stood silently, and glared at the pirates who stared at him, the entire scene became silent. Then, he reached his right hand behind his back, and drew the scimitar from the sheath that was firmly attached to the back of his belt, then pointed it at Captain Iron-Hoof, who only stared silently at him.

"You?! You?! How in Tartarus did you survive?!" Iron-Hoof asked, with anger clearly building up in his expression. Without a moment to wait for a response, he spat on the ground. "Eh, it doesn't matter, now!" He pointed at the executioner, who was on his feet again, carrying his axe, and said, "Well, what're you waiting for?! Kill him!"

The executioner nodded, turned his head towards Justin, and roared, while charging right after him, axe in hand, and over his head, ready to strike at Justin, who merely stood there waiting.

Then, Justin's mouth formed a sly grin, while he snapped his left fingers together, and formed a fireball over his hand, which managed to distract the executioner long enough for Justin to slice him in the stomach, while firing the fireball at another diamond dog that tried to join in.

"What the- He's using magic?! I thought only Unicorns could conjure up magic like that!" One of the other diamond dogs stated, while side-stepping around Justin, trying to find an opening. When he found one, he quickly lunged forward, while two others lunged from other directions, only for Justin to jump up, and use his wind magic to increase the height by five times, making him leap ten feet in the air, and land on the head of a fourth one who tried to ambush slightly later.

The original three attackers crashed into each other, with one getting impaled by the spear of one of the other two, who dropped their spears afterwards, and drew their own scimitars, and charged after Justin. When in range, the two of them began swinging frantically at Justin, while he merely dodged their blows, and eventually countered one of them by pushing his blade back, and managing to roll between them, while the other one accidentally sliced the parried one in the throat.

Once the second one fell, Justin quickly grabbed his scimitar, and blocked the last of the three's downward slice by crossing his blades together. Then, while rising up, he sliced the pirate's kneecaps, and once he stood over the now fallen pirate, he plunged the two blades into the ground where the pirate's neck was just a second ago, and kicked the fallen pirate's head in front of Iron-Hoof, who merely stood there, and glared even more.

"What's wrong, Iron-Butt? You scared?" Justin mockingly asked, which won another glare from Iron-Hoof.

"Don't you dare call me that!" Iron-Hoof retorted, which only made Justin chuckle lightly.

"What?" Justin asked, shrugging his shoulders, before placing his left hand behind his back, and wave his right hand downwards, and to the right, giving a mocking bow, before speaking in an upper-class, nearly posh-type voice, "Would you rather I called you 'Rammy Copperbottom', instead?"

Surprisingly, even a few of the pirates began to laugh at that statement, but soon their minds went back to what they were supposed to do. Seeing the opportunity of attacking Justin while he's unarmed, five pirates charged at him at once, each carrying cutlasses of their own, while keeping a safe distance from each other, after viewing their impaled friend who was lying next to their headless one. This time, however, instead of standing still and waiting for them, Justin drew his bow again, and shot an arrow in the air, while the group began to surround him.

When they were just a hair away from him, Justin suddenly vanished into a thick smoke of white fog, which moved towards where the arrow landed, which was next to Gilded Blade, who fell unconscious due to the blood loss. Then, Justin shot another arrow, only this one led towards where the cages were. While the arrow flew in the air, Justin quickly picked his gryphon friend up, and waited for the arrow to land.

Once it did, both he and Gilded were engulfed in the wind, and quickly landed where the arrow went, while Justin used fire magic to burn the locks of all the cages in unison. Then, the prisoners rushed out of their cages, and towards Justin and Gilded, who was gently placed on the floor.

Ignoring the pirates who were starting to run towards the large group, Justin looked at the zebras, and asked in Druathican, "Is there a healer over here?"

A female zebra wearing a large number of necklaces of all kinds, with a mane tied in a warrior's knot, replied, "I am the town's healer, brave one! I shall tend to this one's wounds, as long as you protect us!"

Justin nodded, and turned back towards the pirates who were halfway towards where they were. Then, he drew his staff from the hook on the belt that held his shoulder pad, slipped the sapphire ring from his left pointing finger, and quickly attached it to the upper half of his staff. After doing so, he swung the staff in a horizontal direction, while water manifested on top of the pirates that ran to them, causing them to stop and stare in confusion. Afterwards, Justin slipped the sapphire ring back on and, with the power of Nature from the Emerald, combined with the power of Light from the Diamond, Justin jabbed his right hand in the air, aiming towards the drenched pirates. As soon as his hand was fully stretched, a large wave of lightning shot out, and zapped those who were covered in the water.

When the spell was done, there was nothing left of the pirates that tried to attack him besides large piles of bones that piled up. Looking around, Justin could tell there were more in the gallows, so he had to think of a way to buy the zebras even more time.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice that caused him to think even harder. "Daddy! Help me!" Ruby called out from the cage she was in. She didn't sound worried at this point, even though she looked like she was beyond nervous.

While double-checking the survivors' safety, Justin knew they would be unsafe if he left them unprotected, so he created a transparent bubble barrier around them, while he drew his bow, and shot a white arrow at the cage Ruby was trapped in.

As soon as the arrow came into view, she yelped, and dodged it, while it went past her, and fell towards the ground in front of the front gate. "Daddy! That almost hit me!" She yelled in annoyance, unaware of the fact that Justin was now flying towards her, in the same path the arrow went.

Once he was within the cage's reach, he stretched his arms out, and broke through the cage, gently grabbing Ruby as he did, much to her surprise. Then, he held her closely, as the two of them fell over a hundred foot drop, which Ruby was the first to notice, as she closed her eyes, and began to scream.

The screaming didn't last long once she felt Justin gently patting her mane, and saying, "Hey, honey! We're on the ground again!"

When she opened her eyes, she looked around, surprised to see that they actually survived that landing... but then, she glared at her dad, and popped him in the back of the head. "Daddy! What's wrong with you?!"

For the first time in a while, Justin chuckled lightly at his daughter, but she only grew more and more irritated. "You almost killed me!"

Then, Justin shook his head, and embraced his angry daughter, while her anger quickly faded. "No I didn't, honey! That was a ghost arrow! It would've gone through you, if it hit anything besides the target I aimed for, and it wouldn't even leave a mark." Then, he pulled one of his dented swords from his saddlebag, and pointed at it with his free hand. "And if I can survive a fall from the sky that even dented Gryphonite Steel, then I think I can manage to survive a fall like that!" After saying that, he placed his sword back in his saddlebag, and pointed at his rings. "Plus, I had you covered in a protective spell, so that you wouldn't even get scratched from the fall yourself!"

While embracing Ruby, Justin quickly rushed towards the barrier, and placed Ruby inside it, where she was soon treated by the zebras as well, while Justin walked towards the gallows. "Where are you going, daddy?!" Ruby asked, now sounding concerned.

Justin turned around, and revealed that his face was no longer cheerful, but instead, was a serious one Ruby recognized as the one he gave when she or anyone else was in trouble. "I'm gonna show Iron-Hoof what happens when he tries to harm my daughter!" Justin said, before turning back towards the gallows, which had another large group of pirates running towards him. Quickly, he drew his staff, and ran towards the crowd, which quickly swarmed him, only to get thrown into the air, each one of them engulfed in flames, and landing as a pile of ash.

Afterwards, Justin quickly freed the prisoners from the other wall, and placed them in a barrier like the other one. Then, he walked past the walls that separated the main section from the gallows.

As soon as he walked past the walls, he was greeted by an army of pirates that stood in a pattern that resembled a road, yet they didn't even attack him. Instead, they were cheering, while some of them said, "Captain Iron-Hoof will teach you a lesson about fighting a pirate!" and a few similar comments.

Ignoring their comments, Justin merely walked through the road, which led around the headsman's block, and ended in a circled out arena made of sand, which was also surrounded by pirates. "Just how many of these guys are there?!" Justin thought to himself, while standing in one of the two circles drawn into the sand, each in opposite directions, and both inside a larger circle, centered in a round open area, and surrounded by the largest walls of the entire camp. Standing in the opposite circle from where Justin was standing was none other than Iron-Hoof himself, only instead of holding his angry face, he was smiling menacingly at Justin, and had his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Well, well, well! Looks like the human, as you called yourself, knows how to, not only survive a deathly fall, but fight, as well!" Then, he smirked, and reached his right arm behind his back. "I have a proposition for you, if you'll listen!"

Justin sighed, then replied, "If you're thinking I'd serve the guy who nearly killed me, and kidnapped my daughter, then you must be out of your mind!"

"Oh?" Iron-Hoof said, pretending to be hurt by the comment. "Why would you think that my actions came without reason, though? Didn't anyone tell you what your 'daughter' is?!"

That got Justin's attention right there. Silently, he shook his head, and replied, "Alright, then... I'm listening."

Iron-Hoof grinned, and said, "Good! I'm sure you know that her race is known as an 'Alicorn', but do you know what makes an Alicorn so special?"

Justin nodded, and replied, "According to the books, an Alicorn is a race that represents the highest of royalty, and according to the books, and rumors, the sun and moon themselves are raised and lowered by two Alicorn Princesses." Then, his eyes widened at the realization. "But nobody else can do that..."

Iron-Hoof nodded his head. "Exactly! So what I have in mind is this... I -err, we can take the two of you to Equestria, the land that those two Alicorns rule, and they can teach her all about her unknown powers!" Then, he rubbed the back of his head. "Also... I never really noticed that the little Alicorn was your daughter, to be honest!"

Justin looked around, and noticed that the former prisoners were watching him from the outside of the gate, while still remaining inside the protective barrier. More specifically, Justin saw his daughter staring at him, shaking her head, as if she knew what Iron-Hoof was saying. He also noticed Gilded Blade was awake again, but still badly hurt. He also shook his head, and mouthed the words, "Don't listen to him." to Justin, even though he couldn't hear him. Even so, Justin understood the meaning of those words enough to read it through lips, beaks, and facial expressions.

Looking back at Iron-Hoof, who was giving a sincere-looking smile, Justin returned the smile, and nodded his head replying, "Thanks."

After a short moment, the pirates looked at Iron-Hoof, who's smile turned into a grin, while he began to walk forward, only for Justin to hold his right hand out, lift his pointing finger up, and shake it left and right. "Now I know how to spot a liar when I see one!" This statement caused Iron-Hoof to back up, while his smile turned into a fierce glare.

"Quite a shame... a good eye like that could've been useful!" Iron-Hoof said, now standing in the center of the circle, while two diamond dogs carried another one of the massive swords that Iron-Hoof carried, and planted it in the ground, where his left hand was hovering over. Then, he gripped both swords, and pulled them from the ground. As he did, the blades melted, and crawled up his arms, which caught Justin by surprise, along with the druids, who were watching from a puddle of water that the magi created in the center of their barrier.

When the blades were completely gone, his arms were completely covered in a metal coating that ended with three spikes where the knuckles were. The metal, however, was flexible enough for him to move where his arms' joints were, from finger to shoulder. Then, he punched the ground, which left a crater where his knuckles made contact, that went one foot deep, and stretched three feet around.

After giving a blood-curdling roar, he rushed towards Justin, who at this point, drew his staff, and held it in a defensive stance, while Iron-Hoof leaped up, and had his right fist stretched back, and ready to collide with it's target.