“W-what are you?” Twilight stutters as she backs away from the two-legged pirate.

“Frightening at first, I understand.” Korsan pridefully replies, “I never intended myself to assume this posture, but I guess that’s the price to pay when you experiment with mechanical arts on your own body. Personally, I’ve grown fairly attracted to it.” Celestia then flies down to the first floor alongside Twilight and Cadence. “What are you doing here?” She sternly asks him.

“I have only come for the Diamond Eye. I apologize for my violent theatrics upon arriving Princess Celestia, this is a very finely constructed piece of architecture, but my ship was too big.”

“Your ship? You mean that giant floating wall of wood and cannons behind you?”

“Yes, ‘The Perfection’, the home of me and my crew of one-hundred, and the symbol of my ultimate goal. Five-hundred metres of blood, sweat, tears, and more blood than you can imagine,”

“You must have some advance technology to have such a massive thing able to fly. Are you the one who’s been attacking nearby kingdoms, both inland and coastal?”

“Correct on both terms.”

“Well, whatever plans you had for stealing the Diamond Eye, perish them. You’re under arrest.”

“Arrest? Me? By who? You and what army?”

“This one, guards!” At the instant of the princess’ command, tens of guards burst from the doors leading into the ballroom on all floors. Fully armoured and armed with spears, crossbows, and swords, Earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn guards line up side by side and prime their weapons.

“One-hundred and twelve? Are you serious?” The brown stallion begins to chuckle to himself.

“What’s so funny? I only see a hundred of your lackeys.”

“You do indeed, but as a ruler of a kingdom, you of all ponies should be aware of the tactical disadvantages most of your troops have, them being Earth ponies and pegasi.”

“What does that mean? And besides, I don’t see a horn on your forehead.” In a second, Korsan’s grinning face snaps into a scowl.

“I rest assure you, that will be an issue I will be dealing with after obtaining the diamond now.” Korsan then outstretches his right hoof forwards, prompting the shadowy figures to line up in two formations of five by ten ponies. Each one of them reveals themselves by illuminating their horns of many colors.

An all unicorn army? Stallions and mares of all sizes and colours at Korsan’s sides, all grinning with excitement, take a step forward. Swords and daggers levitate in front of them and go into an offensive stance towards Celestia.

“As a pegasus, I’m aware of my current limitations. Perhaps I’m required to demonstrate to you what I mean. Attack!” With a unison flick of the pirates’ horns, every guard is encased in a magical aura and levitated off of the ground. The unicorn guards respond to this by using their magic to break from their entrapment. “Looks like you only have thirty-five guards now.” Korsan’s army then immediately charges forwards towards the center of the room, followed by the free guards charging at them. “Engage shields and fire!” The army quickly follows his orders as a multicoloured shield appears in front of them and a barrage of bolts of magic are fired through the back of the shield and into the resistance. In a matter of moments, the two sides collide and disperse across the ballroom, with usually two pirates attacking a single guard in close quarters combat. Whatever ponies that weren’t fighting at close range engaged in a long range magic firefight across the chamber. Onlooking guests hide underneath tables, chairs, musical equipment, or anywhere else where the fighting isn’t taking place. At the center of the room, amidst the chaos, Korsan slowly approaches the large crystal on the pedestal, admiring its beauty.

“You think it’ll be that easy?” Princess Celestia, Cadence, and Twilight emerge from behind several groups of fighters and walk up to Korsan from the other side of the small pillar.

“Perhaps,”

“Give it up Korsan.” Cadence proclaims, “You’re going against four alicorn princesses alone. There’s no chance of you winning.”

“Where is the fourth one?”

Another mare’s voice speaks into his ear, “Right behind-” However, before she can finish, Korsan quickly turns around, seeing Luna with her horn glowing brightly. Before she can react, the pirate captain charges up to her and reaches his right hoof behind his back and underneath his swishing cape. His other hoof raises to Luna’s horn as the five spikes on his shoe appear to spring to life, slide down the metal boot, and grab onto the horn as a claw. His right hoof returns into the open, holding a miniature version of his harness in between its claws. In moments, Korsan wraps the small device around Luna’s horn and backs away swiftly.

“Too easy.” Princess Luna thinks nothing of this and attempts to fire a magic bolt from her horn. To her surprise, it doesn’t fire anything and the horn’s glow instead dies down.

“What did you do?!”

“Anti-magic, your horn is no longer able to perform magic unless a very small needle can deactivate the strap from inside with great precision. My harness is similar, in that it prevents me from being affected by magic. And I assume at this point, your fellow princesses are realizing they can’t grab me with their telepathy magic. Isn’t that right?” Korsan turns around to see the trio sweating profusely as their horns are glowing vibrantly yet with nothing happening.

“I swear, release me now or there will be serious consequences.”

“Like what? You’re defenseless against me.” However, to the pirate stallion’s surprise, a small flaming figure appears from the third floor and charges into his face. He yelps in pain as he feels his face pulse with immense heat from the creature in front of him.”

“That!” Korsan runs back and shoos the creature away, causing it to fly up and circle around the second floor. He examines the creature for a second and realizes what it is.

“A phoenix, what an interesting pet you have. I have a special pet as well that I would love for you to meet.” As the flaming bird swoops down for another attack, a blue creature flies into the ballroom from outside and smashes into the phoenix, launching it into the wall. “Good Juliana, make sure that that pest stays away from Daddy’s work.” Korsan returns his attention to the black alicorn. “I reckon you have never seen an ice phoenix.” Leisurely, the tall stallion reaches an arm behind his back and cape and pulls out a long, serrated cutlass. The trapped princess’ eyes shrink as the jagged blades, with glowing light similar to that of his harness appearing in detailed designs on the sides, draw close to her as she backs away, forgetting that she has wings out of fear.

“Stay away!”

“Aww, scared?”

Celestia’s voice hollers from behind, “You get away from by sister!” Korsan immediately swirls around and points his sword upwards with the broadside facing him and the older sister. His sword is immediately met by a beam of concentrated white magic, which absorbs the attack with no recoil.

“What is it with ponies and announcing themselves before attacking? Actually, in hindsight, it’s a fairly hypocritical statement.”

“Get away!” The white alicorn then charges at Korsan with her horn aimed at his throat. The pirate quickly reacts by pulling out an anti-magic horn strap and attaching it to Celestia’s horn as he dodges the dash. Princess Celestia fails to stop after missing and accidentally tumbles over her younger sister, sending them both falling onto the cold stone floor.

“Any more resistance?” Korsan impatiently snarls, having his moment with Luna interrupted. His question is answered by Cadence teleporting behind him and delivering a punch into the back of his head. Korsan growls for a moment, but quickly recovers and smashes the back of his head into the pink alicorn’s chin. With her now discombobulated, Korsan strafes aside a step and performs a sideways flip over her, pulling out another horn trap and attaching it to her. Upon landing, the bipedal fighter grabs her by the neck and tosses her into Celestia and Luna, creating a larger tangle. “And now… Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Korsan looks back at the pedestal and sees the purple mare standing in front of it, staring at him.

“How do you know my name?” Twilight asks.

“I do research. What? Did you expect anything less of me, thinking I was just some mindless barbaric pirate? Don’t expect your fight against me to be any different to your superiors. I suggest you back down now, I don’t want to harm you, nor did I originally intend to with your friends.”

“And let you get away with the Diamond Eye and hurting my friends anyways? Not a chance.”

“I see your reasons, but you must realize that whatever your next move is that I don’t like will result in you getting hurt. You’re surrounded.” Twilight takes a moment to look in her peripheral vision and realizes that he is right. All the resisting guards have been taken out and she’s now surrounded by one-hundred pirate unicorns and Korsan. “Don’t push it.” Korsan then pulls out another cutlass from his back, making him now dual wielding.

“Fine, I don’t see any other option…”

“Quite, now move aside.” Defeated, Twilight slowly walks to the side and let’s Korsan finally come within arm’s reach of the large crystal. The pirate captain’s face lights up as his mechanical claws grab onto the large artifact. “Finally, the other half of the Diamond Eye is mine, now I can fulfill our quest. The moment of our triumph draws nigh!” His crew roars in laughter and cheer while the onlookers continue to cower.

“Wait, you have the other half?”

“Yes, I found it of the coast of Pingwin.”

“That’s thousands of kilometres north of here! It’s an artic wasteland practically!”

“Most certainly, and it is also the birthplace of my sweet Juliana. Come here Missy!” At his command, the ice phoenix immediately returns and hovers over Korsan’s shoulder. Korsan returns one of his swords behind his back and strokes shiny gradient of glowing light and dark blue feathers with his free claws, prompting the bird to land on his shoulder. “Have you turned that fire phoenix to ashes?” A gentle coo croaks from Juliana as a response. “Daddy’s so proud.”

“Korsan, I’m giving you this chance, return the Diamond Eye to its pedestal now, go away, and I might forgive you.”

“You really think I’m going to do that?”

“A longshot, yes, but if there’s any good in your heart you’ll see this is wrong. Maybe we can work together and solve the mysteries of the Diamond Eye now that we have both halves.”

“Ha! I know what your answer will be if you figured out my intentions are with the complete Diamond Eye. Certainly I can’t trust my crew to keep it a secret. So I’m afraid that I’ll have to deny your offer. Come along my hearty crew, we feast aboard!”

“Huzzah!” The pirates cheer. One by one, the crew of a hundred pirates walks back up the plank and onto the massive airship, with the last member picking up the Diamond Eye piece with his magic and taking it with him.

“Take heed all of you, know your place. And I better not find anypony trying to follow me, unless you intend to join my crew, in which, if you are a unicorn, you are more than welcome.”

“Hey!” A mare’s voice calls from behind the doors across from Korsan’s standing, “What’s going on in there?”

“Who is this? Reveal yourself.” Slowly, the massive stone doors open and Rarity walks into the room. Immediately, she’s frightened by the hovering guards, the hiding ponies, the toppled princess pile, the destroyed state of the ballroom, and Korsan standing beside an empty pedestal all at once.

“W-wha-what happened? Who are you? What are you? Did you cause this?”

“Oh my…” Korsan’s eye grow as his sights sharpen onto the white mare. A warm, fuzzy feeling starts to rise from the back of his neck to the center of his skull as the pirate captain finds himself entranced by Rarity’s appearance. “I apologize for my more, abnormal appearance. It is understandable for your fright, but you grow used to it in time. I am Korsan. And who might you be?”

“R-Rarity…”

“I must say, you look most certainly elegant. It might not be the brightest room in the castle, but I can see that you take considerable time to maintain a well-made public image, one to catch the eyes of many-a-stallion.”

“Can it Korsan.” Twilight barks from the side of the room, “She’s not interested with pirates. You got your diamond, now go. You’ve already done enough damage to this place. Rarity, stay away from him, he caused this entire mess.”

“This is not your concern miss.”

“No, hold on.” Rarity snaps, “What makes you think that I’d be interested in you after you caused this and present yourself in this manner all of a sudden? Are you mad?! You return that Diamond Eye and get out of this place this instant or else I’ll make sure you’ll be sore for the next week.”

“Hmph. Fine, it was a longshot anyways.” The pirate replies with a smirk, seemingly having taken no offense to the rejection, “Though I can always have one more member in my crew.” Quickly, Korsan runs onto the boarding plank and heads up to the top of the wooden wall with Juliana in tow. “Adieu!”

“Hey! Get back here now!” However, but Rarity can reach the wooden board, it is lifted back over the top of the boat. “You won’t get away with this!”

“Unfortunately,” Twilight somberly replies, “he has. He just had the upper hoof and trumped us. Anything we do now is just going to hurt somepony” Soon, the massive wall of wood and cannon barrels springs to life as it moves forwards and accelerates rapidly. Everypony watches as they see the back of the massive pirate ship sink below their view and disappear from their sights. Twilight and Rarity run up to the room’s edge and look out the window to see the massive floating boat already in the distance soaring away with the laughter of the pirates on board echoing back to them.

“So that’s it? This pirate and his crew just came in here, knocked out a third of the guard, left the other two thirds stuck in the air by magic, stole the Diamond Eye, hurt the princesses, brought panic to the Grand Galloping Gala, destroyed the castle, and I think I saw Rainbow Dash soil herself, and you’re just going to let him get away with it?”

“Well, the magic will wear off once the ship flies off a large enough distance.”

“Still, you’re just going to let them get away?”

“No, we’re going to go after them, and stop Korsan from causing any more of these attacks.”

“How?”

“I… I am not sure.”