The following week, the roaring cracks of thunder roar across the stormy skies over the vast ocean that Thieves’ Hold sits on. Like a waterfall, rivers of rain pour from the dark heavens onto the stone stacks that tower of the raging waters below. On the rock tower where a popular tavern once stood, only the wooden foundation of it now remains, hovering over the edge of the steep cliff. However, it is not abandoned, as a massive construction event is unfolding on the isle. As the rain pours down and the thunder cracks, hundreds of ponies are bustling around the platform with all sorts of building material on them. Wooden planks, logs, furniture, iron rods, lamps, stone blocks, and several miscellaneous items are being thrown around the area as the sounds of roaring pirates and heaving workers fill the air. At the balcony, currently undergoing reconstruction as well by pegasi and unicorns, a dark blue unicorn mare and an indigo unicorn stallion are observing a soaked scroll lay across a small crate. On the scroll are several schematics and blue prints of a very large building.

“These look great Dad!” The young mare cheers to the older stallion.

He jokingly replies, “Thank you November, though I’m not sure if our budget will handle this.”

“Ten million bits?” The two then glance over to the giant crate behind them, brimming with golden coins shining in the rain. They laugh in glee upon seeing the gold as a green Earth pony with a set of three long logs on his back approaches them.

“Who am I kidding? Ha, ha!”

“Mr. Gale.” The large stallion calls.

“Hm? Oh yes Jarvis, place those next to Cecil.”

“Yes Mr. Gale.”

“Please, just call me Nitin.”

“Okay then.” As the two ponies return to their blueprints, the green stallion trots over towards the back of the growing foundation and heads towards a blue pegasus lifting several other logs up and fitting them through round holes in the floor. “Hey Cecil.” The hovering stripe shirted stallion looks down and sees Jarvis with the three logs on his back.

“Hey Jarvis,” The pegasus replies, “put them with the others.”

“Need some help?”

“Sure, help me get this stubborn bugger in.” Quickly, Jarvis walks up to the tall log Cecil is holding up and pushes his hooves down against the sides of the wooden tower. The log slowly begins to lower into its tight hole. “There we go…”

“Quite a lot of rain we’re getting.”

“Oh please, this is nothing compared to what’s going on in the northwest.”

“What’s going on there?”

“There’s a massive hurricane forming in that region, rumours are spreading around that an entire ocean’s worth of water will be pourin’ there. This is merely the edge of it.”

“Pity for anypony who’s sailing there.”

“Speaking of sailing, where’s Maurice?”

“I don’t know.”

“He ditched us when Korsan left.”

“He probably left knowing that we as a group would stick around to rebuild the bar.”

“Perhaps.” As the massive vertical beam is set in place, a massive flash of blue light bursts from beside the two stallions. The blinding glow dies down immediately, revealing a small red unicorn in his casual back suit and top hat. “Maurice!”

“What’s up you slacker?”

“Guys!” The excited stallion exclaims. “I’ve just scored a big one!”

“How big?”

“I just looted a mailing ship headed from Equestria to Cervidas with me crew!”

“You what?!”

“Yeah!”

“Maurice!” Cecil scolds the bouncing pony. “Do you realize that you committed one of the biggest federal crimes between two of the largest military kingdoms? We’re pirates, but even we draw the line when it comes to mail. That’s too much of a risk.”

“Relax, the ship’s crew barely knew what hit them. I even got a few of the more de luxe letters.”

“And tampering with the mail?!”

“Hey, check out this one butt kisser’s letter to the king.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Maurice takes a moment to clear his throat before reading out loud to his fellow rivals with benefits.

“To Ceres, King of Cervidas,

My liege,

I have the honor to inform you that the power of Equestria has been exaggerated to a degree that beggars belief. This evening I had the pleasure of witnessing a band of thieves make off with Equestria's greatest treasure during their annual gala despite the presence of a company of elite soldiers and all four of the alicorn Princesses. This theft was not carried out, lest you be misinformed by others, by darkness or by subterfuge, but by sheer force of arms. Their guards were overwhelmed despite superior numbers and their Highnesses were undone by the bandits' leader, who defeated them alone and unaided. Having seized their prize, the thieves left, victorious and of their own accord, apparently having deemed it not worth their while to take neither hostages nor plunder - nor indeed seize - the city. Should my words fail to do justice to this night's events, I have included with this letter photographs which I was able to take whilst the focus of the room was on our unexpected guests. I should emphasize to your majesty that these thieves were neither creatures of darkness nor bearers of enchanted arms, but mere mortal ponies of an ordinary sort.

Therefore, I implore your majesty to, with haste, gather together what soldiers you may, and set sail fo-”

“Okay, okay, I’ve heard enough.”

“That sounds a lot like that one raid Korsan did in Equestria.” Jarvis proclaims.

“That was three weeks ago right?”

“Four weeks.” Maurice corrects the blue pegasus. “I think.”

“Why would a mailing ship be at least three weeks late?”

“I don’t know. The ship was being a little suspicious.”

“Whatever, just get rid of the letters you took before some official catches you.”

“We’re in the middle of nowhere, who’s going to find us?”

“Probably the same lot as that group with Pinkie,”

“Oh yeah!” Jarvis exclaims. “I remember her.”

“We all do. She’s the reason this place is getting upgraded, no, fixed for once.”

“Hey, when do you think she’ll come back?”

“No clue. Maybe Maurice will attack another mail ship and find a letter that’ll answer your question.”

“It was just out there in the open!” Maurice retorts. “I wasn’t going against an armada or anything.”

“You may as well be trying to pick a fight with Korsan.” Jarvis replies.

“Actually,” Cecil asks, “where has he been? We’ve been here for about a month and we haven’t seen one sign of him.”

“Wasn’t he busy with something involving some diamonds, an island, and being able to use magic?”

“If I recall correctly, yeah…”

“Do you think he found what he’s been looking for?”

“Knowing him,” the red unicorn answers, “probably.”

“What’s going to happen to us then?”

“He’s probably going to try and kill us or something. I say we split this place when the bloke finally snaps and hide until the heat dies down.”

“What about November and Nitin? Shouldn’t we stick around help out with the new bar?”

“Hey, I didn’t say Korsan did find whatever he’s looking for to start his blood campaign now. I’m just saying in case it does happen.”

“When do you think that’ll be?”

“Probably long before I get caught for this mail job.”

“Don’t tempt fate Maurice.”

“Oh please, as I said, we’re in the middle of nowhere-” Suddenly, a massive object soars over the trio as well as the rest of the working ponies, casting a frightening shadow across the foundation and catching their attention. They all look up to see the object and the white glow surrounding it as it starts to lower by the balcony. “Is that Korsan?”

“It can’t be,” Cecil replies, “it’s too small. It’s not even glowing green or has sails.”

“A zeppelin?” Soon, other smaller blimps hover over the stone towers and surround the larger leading airship. “An armada of airships? Only large military kingdoms would have-Oh dear.”

“You have messed up big time now.”

“Hey, you’re all going down with me. We’re all pirates here. Also, when we get to prison, I’ll be the one who gets the soap first.” Most of the pirates stand frozen as the larger zeppelin parks itself at the edge of the overhand. Its large side door opens and a long ramp extends from the dark inside to the balcony of the bar. November and her father prepare to pull out their weapons on them as dark figures emerge from the dirigible’s cabin and step onto the ramp.

“Who’s this?” Nitin sternly asks. Two of the figures walk across the ramp and reveal themselves by the light of the lightning strikes that dance across the night clouds. They are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, both garbed in thick, extravagant armour that covers them from head to tail, one in gold and white, the other in black and blue.

“The princesses of Equestria?!” The bar maiden gasps upon seeing the powerful alicorns before her very eyes.

Maurice yells out to the two from the other side of the rock stack, “I wasn’t the one that tampered with your mail! It was Korsan!”

“How did you all even-”

The white alicorn interrupts her with a powerful message, “We received a letter from Princess Twilight Sparkle that detailed for us to come to this location and enlist the help of all of you.”

“Who?” Cecil shouts out.

“Twilight Sparkle. She says you all know her.”

“…”

“…What did the letter say? Oh! Pinkie Pie’s friend-”

“Pinkie Pie! This came from Pinkie’s friend?!”

“Uh… yes?” Luna answers, slightly confused by the abnormal connotation.

“This is important! Everypony shut up and listen to these two!”

“Okay then…”

November humbly asks the two great mares, “What does Twilight need help with?”

Celestia responds, “She says you all know Captain Korsan, correct?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“He’s about to begin his global campaign to wipe out all pegasi and Earth ponies. Twilight and her friends need all of our help to stop him.”

“Fight against Korsan?!”

“Yes.”

Nitin glances back towards the frozen pirate workers before speaking, “We’re in.”

“Hey!” An old, cranky voice faintly sounds off from underneath the airships at the waters below. “Will all of you keep the noise down?”

“Who’s that?”

“If all of you don’t shut up so I can get to sleep, this here cane’s going to have a word with all of y’all!”

Another week passes on the open seas. With the sounds of a ferocious storm brewing outside roaring into the galley of The Perfection, Rarity, Maria, and Sweetie Belle quietly sneak into the armoury from the screaming galley. Although having looted this room on several occasions before, hundreds of sharp weapons and articles of armour still hang from the walls and stands. Quickly, the trios of mares get to work by sifting through the stockpile and grabbing as many good items as their magic can hold. As Rarity searches through a pile of battle undergarments, she comes across a red silk dress that appears to have been misplaced.

“Huh.” Rarity remarks as she scans the dainty clothing. “This is odd.”

“What is?” Maria asks from the other side of the room.

“This. It looks nice, but it is out of place in an armoury.” The red maned mare turns her head around just in time to see Rarity flick the dress in the air to fluff it.

“Look out!”

“Wha-” As the floating garment snaps and fluffs, several large spikes suddenly extend from the near invisible seems of the slick dress. Surprised, Rarity drops the dress and backs away into the corner, never taking her eyes off of the now dangerous object.

“Have you never heard of a trap dress?”

“Only in story books, I never thought they were real.”

“Of course they’re real. Sheesh, and Korsan thought he could train you to be a killer.”

“It was only two weeks, I could be a decent fighter.”

“I could so be. But this is not the time to squabble. I’ll just fix this thing and add it to my pile. This is our last run into the armoury before the attack.” Carefully, Rarity picks up the spiked garment with her magic and proceeds to flick it once more.

“Not like that!” The dress snaps once more, immediately firing metal spikes in every direction. A needle flies directly at Maria, but she ducks in time and the spike strikes the wooden wall behind. Several barely miss Sweetie Belle as she scampers behind a shield in a worried panic. One of them soars into the galley and smashes a large window, creating an earsplitting shriek to ring across the entire quarterdeck.

“Oops…”

“You are such an idiot!”

“Well sorry, I didn’t know it was going to do that!”

“Ivan or somepony is going to come in here any second and catch us!”

“Aye.” A large, booming voice replies from the doorway. The three mares look over to see the massive black stallion walking into the room and approaching Maria.”

Maria immediately begins to panic, but calms down in order to talk to the chef in a laidback tone, “Oh, hey Ivan, sorry about the window. You forgive me right?”

“Aye.” Ivan coldly replies with his usual stoic answer.

“I was just showing Rarity some of our newer weapons and letting her test one or two of them.”

“Aye.”

“So yeah, how about you hurry along back to the kitchen and prepare some supper for us? How about letting Sweetie Belle help ya?”

“…Aye.”

“Look, I’ve just been a bit jumpy from the storm and the dress problem, nothing more.”

“…Aye.”

“Just get back to your job and quit snooping.” Maria snaps, returning into her equally cold attitude.

“Aye.” Stiffly, the large unicorn backs out of the armoury and returns to the adjacent kitchen.

“Sweetie Belle, follow him.”

“Okay,” the frightened filly answers before galloping after Ivan.

“Alright Rarity, he better make ourselves scarce. Take these weapons into the brig with the others while I return this place to normal.”

“Got it.” Rarity replies. With a flick of her horn, the couple of piles of weapons are levitated into a single floating ball of metal, wood, and cloth. She then quickly walks out of the armoury with the ball in tow and heads down towards the bottom of the ship, leaving Maria all alone.

“Idiot, but I do pity her. She’s been through quite a bit, like me…” As the white mare frantically removes the needles from the walls, ceiling, and floor, a cold breeze washes over the room. Maria doesn’t pay mind to this and continues to clean up, stuffing all of the metal objects into a chest in the corner of the room. With her back turned against the rest of the room, she carefully places the misplaced artifacts in a non-suspicious area of the box, already filled with kunai daggers and other throwing knives. Just as she’s about to finish the job, two cold, metal fingers run across her cheek, sending a feeling of instant terror all across her pale body.

A menacing, yet icy voice then whispers to the back of her head, “Maria Vanshwitz.”

Without turning around, knowing of what her fate will be when she does, Maria coldly replies to the voice, “…You.”

“And your favourite fellow crew member.”

“The clown?”

“Mime, he gets easily offended so you know.”

“I know what you want.”

“Do you now?”

“What else? You want to kill me, maybe torture me for a good while.”

“You would want that, wouldn’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play coy with me. You want to put yourself out of your misery. Forget this pain you currently have deep inside you.”

“What misery? The only thing close to misery I have is resentment towards you.”

“Good, you still have that cynical sense of humour mixed in with that sassy attitude. I'm glad. I did so want you to be at your best for what I’m about to say to you. You see, it doesn't matter if you stop me and kill me with whatever amount of magic you’ll have. I’ll be proven right. Insane you may say? You claim that I am not even a pony anymore, but more of a suicidal monster? Well then you’d be wrong Miss Vanshwitz. I've proved my point to you, thanks to your own self. I've demonstrated there's no difference between me and everypony else! All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest pony alive to lunacy and treading in the darkest shadows of existence. That's how far the world is from where we are. Just one bad day. You had a bad day once, am I right? I know I am. I can tell. You had a bad day and everything changed. It was the day you and Hans broke up after you fully joined Faction to kill me? He practically resented you ever since then, even now as we speak two weeks later. You had a bad day, and it drove you as crazy as everypony else who’s suffered such a terrible loss, thinking that love and life is pointless, only you won't admit it! You have to keep pretending that life makes sense, that there's some point to all this struggling! And now you make it all the more evident and obvious by joining this second uprising? By Tartarus, you make me want to puke. I mean, what is it with you? What made you what you are now? Some promise of Hans’ returning love? The threat of this ‘fear’ that everypony on this ship has been gossiping about? Experiences from your past somehow motivating you? Perhaps a different bad day? Something like that, I bet. Something like that. Something like that happened to me, I’m sure you know I had a bad day. I... I'm not exactly sure what it was. Not sure which day, what event, what mindset I even was in when I finally snapped. I’ve had my fair share of breakdowns, but I can never recall which was the last straw. Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another, sometimes two weeks ago, when Isyan removed my eyepatch, sometimes twenty years ago when I was only a wee colt and being rejected by my family. If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice! Ha-ha-ha! But my point is... my point is, I went crazy. When I saw what a black, awful joke the world was in this ludicrous state, I went crazy a coot! I admit it! Why can't you? I mean, you're not unintelligent. You must see the reality of the situation. Do you know how many lives I can heal from the struggling of inferiority? Plenty more than I can count! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Don’t you see it? It's all a joke! Everything everypony ever valued or struggled for, struggled for in this pathetic, downgraded planet, it's all a monstrous, demented gag! So why can't you see the funny side, or any side that makes at least some sense? Either you’re mad, or you’ve just haven’t accepted the punchline. Why aren't you laughing?"

“Because I’ve heard this a million times from you, I’ve heard that pointless speech each and everytime you open your dumb mouth, and it wasn’t funny the first time. You want me to laugh after having a bad day? Fine, you’ll get one. You’ll get one from me and everypony else when your dead corpse is hanging from the highest mast of this ship. We’ve all had enough of your garbage, sooner or later, all of us are going to want to see you as dead as your cousin.”

“Perhaps it’s the mares now in the brig that are causing this, this corruption? What do you say Chopin? Juliana? My thought exactly. Hans Kraus?” Maria gasps as the corner of her left eye catches a glimpse of the larger yellow stallion standing behind her.

“Hans?!”

“I never said you were correct about your favourite…”

“Hans! You don’t need to give into Korsan!”

“How adorable is this?! It’s a pity really. Hans was so desperate in wanting you too. We all heard it on Alicorn Island. But, when you joined Faction, as I said, that was his final straw, as well as yours shortly later.”

“No… No! Hans! Tell me it isn’t true!”

“…”

“…No…” Warm tears can soon be felt flowing down the white mare’s red cheeks. Maria weeps as she feels her hope soon die in the most gruesome of ways.

“Your illusion is shattered my dear, and so will everypony else’s once the first cannon is fired.”

“Please, if you’re going to kill me, or torture me, just do it now.”

“…I have a different idea. After finishing my newest weapon one or two weeks ago, I’ve been begging fate to find me a new use for this ‘pinpoint-control’ technology, to extend the prowess of my mechanical control to not just be limited to my muscles. Then, I found out a brilliant idea! What would’ve taken two months has now only taken a fortnight. Call it a stroke of genius regarding a new perspective I am now seeing. And this brilliant idea has your name written all over it. Hans, Chopin, take Maria to my quarters and ‘suit’ her up with my newest device. I got some business to take care of involving some very naughty mares.”

In the brig, Rarity, Twilight, and all the other members of Faction Two are gathered up, circled around the large pile of weapons and armoured suits. The twenty ponies, all at once, are rummaging through the pile and putting on as much as they can. They know the final battle is within minutes away, and that this is their last stand.

“Hurry up,” Twilight proclaims, “the moment for us to strike is here!”

“Come on!” Rainbow Dash exclaims as she stuffs her head into a thick metal helmet. “Hurry!”

“What happened to waiting for Princess Celestia?” Fluttershy asks as she grabs a small sword in her mouth.

“We’ll run into her pretty soon, I saw a few scouting pegasi from her armada a few hundred kilometres ahead of us just a few hours ago. We’re going to have to get the jump on Korsan first to throw him and his crew off before they spot Celestia and try to stop her.”

“We were just caught by Ivan,” Rarity speaks, “we’re running out of time.” Soon, everypony is suited up and ready to fight. In rows, side by side, the small army marches towards the stairs at the end of the brig.

“Alright everypony,” Applejack loudly declares, “we’ve been gettin’ ready for this moment for two entire weeks. Now is the time that we fight for what’s right, and save the world from the evil clutches of Korsan!”

“Yeah!” The others roar in triumph.

“Are you all ready?!” Pinkie Pie cheers.

“Yeah!”

“Is anypony having second thoughts?” Fluttershy asks.

“No!”

“Will we make them know who we are?!” Rainbow Dash roars.

“Yeah!”

“Louder!” Spike screams.

“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”

“Are you all tired of Korsan’s tyranny?” Rarity asks. “Are you all sick of the shame he has caused to all of you? Do you wall want to turn a new leaf? Do you all want to be heroes? I say, do you want equality to all?!”

“Yeah!”

Twilight finishes off the motivational buildup with a final speech, “As Princess of Friendship, I am proud to declare all of you Knights of Equestria. Your bravery, even in the face of danger, your hope, even in the darkest of night, your will, stronger than the thickest metal in the world, all of you have proven yourselves. Though some, if not many of you, might die, it will not be in vain. Your names will be known across the world for thousands of years, as heroes, martyrs for the safety of billions. This is our final stand, we are the world’s last line of defense, we are what shall make history!”

“Charge!” Rapidly, the sea of armoured rebels pours up into the medical hallway and head for the next set of stairs. They then head up past the two floors dedicated to crew member cabins, passing by tens of startled pirates as they make their way to the gun deck. The onlooking pirates soon realize that it is the rebellion and quickly head into their cabins to prepare to fight for their captain. Now washing across the main deck from the front bow, the twenty ponies soak in the thick veils of the night’s rain. As they then reach the largest mast in the center of the ship, the band of rebels see Korsan, walking towards them from the quarterdeck. Lightning sears the sky as the endless rain and howling gales blast against the pirate pegasus’ cape, having its long length rapidly flutter in the wind alongside his black mane and tail. His ice phoenix circles above her master. His scarred eye stares at the army. A sly grin can be seen on his face. Both of his front hooves are armed with his serrated cutlasses.

“Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Applebloom, Spike, Noisy Pegasus, Shy Pegasus, Odd Earth Pony, Tiny Pegasus, Lilis Jewmerin, Yin Shou, Yu Shou, Alexander Grevious, Slasher Gutzoult, Ryan Aran, Butch Taylor, Jack Cauld, Lazarus Lazuli-”

“Cut the names Korsan,” Twilight snaps, “there’s over twenty of us here and we’re all ready to take you down.”

“Is that so? Well, considering the numbers… Juliana!” The blue phoenix screeches upon hearing her name. Soon, the majority of Korsan’s remaining crew emerges onto the main deck and surrounds the rebellious band. Their swords and weapons are aimed at them from all sides, trapping them practically. Ivan also shows up to surround Twilight, pushing Sweetie Bell into the congregated army. “…I have seventy-eight of the most highly skilled unicorns at my disposal. A close call, but I have the upper hoof.”

“You’re going down Korsan, once and for all.”

“Noble, but very misguided. Alright sea artists, let’s put an end to this before any real action can begin.” Quickly, the outnumbered gang is forced into each other and against the large mast as the tens of razor sharp weapons hover towards them. They lift their weapons up and try to deflect them, but all they can do is prolong the sheer superior strength in magic. “Finish them! In five… Four… Three… Two… One-” Just as Korsan is about to lower his hoof to command the final blow, a massive, fiery explosion erupts right in front of him. Hundreds of chunks of wood and metal soar out of the blast as the shockwave launches Korsan into the front of The Perfection’s wheel headfirst. Juliana is flung off of her captain’s shoulders in the flight, but soon regains herself and flies over to his aid. Two more explosions go off from both sides of the hull, causing the surrounding pirates soon break formation and scramble as a large volley of explosive cannonballs soon soar in from above. The brown pegasus looks over the sudden attack on his ship, feeling a wave of both terror and awe wash over him. He looks to his side across from the edge of his ship to see a massive zeppelin approaching him. The dark blimp hovers up next to him and the main door opens, revealing Celestia and Luna alongside several pirates from Thieves’ Hold. Korsan gives a quick maniacal laugh before speaking, “So, you got the letter.”

“Korsan Maden!” Celestia powerfully announces from the aircraft. “You are to stop these atrocities to ponykind right now or we will use force!”

“Bahahaha!” Quickly, the clawed stallion grabs the wheel behind him and smashes his pirate airship against the princesses’ zeppelin before backing away. As he runs around the top deck, Korsan sees five more blimps as well as a small fleet of pirate ships below his. His white smile grows even wider as he settles down behind the steering and yells into the extended speaking pipe. “You want force? We got it! Attention all crew members! Take to your battle positions! The war has begun!”