Far away from the coast of Equestria, far into the endless waves of the ocean, stand the stone towers that are collectively known as Thieves’ Hold. At the top of one of these grand stacks is an enormous tavern, one that stands three stories tall and has over half of its floors dangling above the sea below. However, the colossal building stays stiff as stone with the help of large steel beams that connect the overhanging floor deep into the mountain below. The tavern is made of a beautiful structure of stone and wood, with cement interior support, with large windows that shine the golden light of its insides out over the entirety of Thieves’ Hold.

On this hour of midnight, the sky is clear, and the shine from the bar is at its greatest. Roars and cheers from the tavern echo throughout the tall rock towers and surrounding waters. Below the bar, down the winding ramp, at the edge of the harbour, a pony, dressed in a dark cloak, makes his way to the bar. As he slowly walks down the long wooden walkway, he looks to his left and right. He examines the hundreds of ships that are parked throughout the many docks connected by a web of bridges, with his lone self being a speck compared to the web he stands on. The soft winds though flow through his cloak are just as salty as ever, but for some reason, have a bitter, metallic stench upon entering his nose.

He hobbles his way up the slowly rising ramp. The moist, yet firm wood below relieves the stallion from what he has been through to get here, though not enough for his hooves to feel like metal. As he climbs higher and higher, the sounds of the tavern above his head grow louder and more audible. After several long minutes of climbing, the cloaked pony reaches the massive balcony that connects to the front door of the building. Several large dining tables and even a billiards table are on the balcony, but not a pony in sight, most likely due to the recent rain. To the stallion’s right, his eye catches a glimpse of the massive pair of double doors that lead to the inside of the tavern. Slowly, he shuffles to the closer set of doors and pries them open, and is immediately enveloped in the golden glow and rambunctious voices of inside.

The first thing the stallion sees upon entering is the massive golden chandelier just above his head, showering the majority of the bar in light. As his view traces the wires that hold the lights in place, he sees the indoor balconies of the second and third floors that look down to him. At least a hundred ponies can be seen from the stallion’s perspective of the balconies. A wide array of pirates, dignitaries, and regular sea faring ponies can be seen conversing with one another, playing games with one another, examining their charts and maps for the eleventh time, and eating and drinking massive rations of food and drinks. On the other side, back at the front wall, the stallion sees a gigantic stain glass window that takes up almost the entire wall, showing six ponies defeating a massive dragon that looks to be made of metal. Below the stallion is a massive red carpet that gently brushes his soggy hooves. It is almost overwhelming for the pony to take in so much atmosphere.

As the slightly quickly begin to set in, so do the sounds. From every angle, the whispers and shrills of laughter, rage, happiness, and just ordinary words and sounds concur to the stallion’s ears in one grand symphony of voices. With the exception of only a few loud screams or swears, the vast majority of the voices could not be understood from this location of the tavern. However, the stallion soon hears something else coherent to his ears, one coming from the second floor above. Leaning back against the front wall, the stallion looks up over the edge of the second floor to see a large group of ponies surrounding a blue pegasus in a striped shirt and a brown trench coat and his small band of musicians. Focusing his senses on the stallion and his team, the cloaked pony hears the music erupting from the instruments, and the voices that sing.

They all chant in unison,

“Yo! Ho! Ho!

Here we cheer again,

For the sinking of the demons,

And the drowning of our woes!

Yo! Ho! Ho!

Check your sails my friends,

The wind is in our good favour,

And the storms are all away!”

After the final line is sung, the violinists perform their duo. The audience that sung along now begin to dance with one another along to the whimsical whirring of the strings. The cloaked observer below stretches during this time before returning his sights on time to see and hear the blue stallion in the center sing his verse and the instrumental quiets down,

“Now the captain of the Deadly Storm,

He was not the nicest of most,

Had a quick temper and terrible lust,

For blood of the wing and might,

He made a crew of criminal scum,

And spread his terror out to sea,

Attacked all who he did not enjoy,

Pray him sinking from one good storm.”

In a matter of moments, the chorus begins again, and the music roars to life once more,

“Yo! Ho! Ho!

Here we cheer again,

For the sinking of the demons,

And the drowning of our woes!

Yo! Ho! Ho!

Check your sails my friends,

The wind is in our good favour,

And the storms are all away!”

“All thought he would never be stopped,

But then in one day of fate,

He crossed paths with the wrong kingdom,

Heroes they had, a matter of fact,

Quickly deployed and set off to sea,

The heroes soon gave a quick chase,

To the very ends of the world,

They didn’t care, those heroes be blessed.”

“Yo! Ho! Ho!

Here we cheer again,

For the sinking of the demons,

And the drowning of our woes!

Yo! Ho! Ho!

Check your sails my friends,

The wind is in our good favour,

And the storms are all away!”

“Sirens, krakens, giants, monsters all the like,

The heroes stayed true to their goal,

And chased down the evil captain’s ship,

No matter how the odds were stacked,

The heroes fought to the bitter end,

Made traitors of the captain’s own men,

And as all ponies took their sides,

The battle to save the world begun!”

“Yo! Ho! Ho!

Here we cheer again,

For the sinking of the demons,

And the drowning of our woes!

Yo! Ho! Ho!

Check your sails my friends,

The wind is in our good favour,

And the storms are all away!”

“The battle was tough, lasted three hours,

The Deadly Storm turned to a wreck,

The evil captain of the dying ship,

Revealed his inner demons upon his foes,

But the heroes stood their solid ground,

The heroes fought and gave their all,

One last shot, they took him down,

And the evil captain is dead!”

The entire bar then screams out in rejoice of that final line of the verse. The windows rattle from the force of the sound, almost shattering them. The cloaked stallion however stays put, remaining stoic as now the entire tavern sings along,

“Yo! Ho! Ho!

Here we cheer again,

For the sinking of the demons,

And the drowning of our woes!

Yo! Ho! Ho!

Check your sails my friends,

The wind is in our good favour,

And the storms are all away!”

For the final verse, the singing stallion slows down the tempo dramatically, and delivers the final lines,

“And here we are, safe and sound,

From the captain of the Deadly Storm,

The heroes are now known as legends,

For the rest of time and sea,

Though some questions have stayed as questions,

There is hope they will be answered,

Drink up me lads, and stay safe,

Quite a good pirate’s life for you…”

The tavern roars in applause as the stallion and his troop back into the unseen reaches of the second floor. Soon however, the noise calms down and returns to the casual bustle that the cloaked stallion first saw. As the stallion lowers himself from the door, the reason of why he came returns to his mind. His gaze lowers down back to the first floor ahead of him and onto the large serving bar in the center of the area. Slowly, he walks over to the bar, with his sight deadest on the barmaid there, a dark blue unicorn with long, ice blue hair.

As he draws closer and closer to the serving bar, unbeknownst to him, several of the patrons seated nearby begin to stare at him. They slowly begin to converse with each other about him, escalating in volume, as do most conversations in the tavern. The cloaked stallion begins to hear the gossip. Words about his stature, his movements, his unseen objects that cause his cloak to jut out at certain points, sweep through the first floor of the tavern. But they do not alter his progress. Eventually, he makes the long walk to the bar, and seats himself down. He patiently waits and watches the mare as she converses with a pair of stallions on the other side of the square bar.

“…and then I said,” the stallion overhears what the larger, green stallion is saying. “Oatmeal? Are you crazy?!”

“Hahaha!” The red, smaller stallion laughs. “Jarvis, that is actually pretty genius.”

“Thank you.”

“If only that genius were to extend to your common sense, I tell ya mate.”

“What do you mean Maurice?”

“Come on. Eating a bowl of dry rice and then drinking hot water?”

“It gets cold in Pingwin.”

“So what? I heard you throwing up all the way from the Hooviet Union.”

“That’s ridiculous. What type of mail would you be delivering to those guys anyways?”

“…Special kind of mail, packages.”

“…”

“…Anyways, heard the latest rumour about Maria?”

“The one where she’s a descendant of one of the Tetred Knights?”

“No. Alright, there’s a new rumour going around that she’s working for the Black Paladin.”

“That’s stupid.”

“But wait, this one might check out.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

“I’m being legit with you alright. A while ago, somepony in Equestria thought they spotted Maria in a specific area, the same area where another pony claimed to have seen the stallion shortly before.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

“What would Maria, a well-trained pirate assassin, who knows when to pick a fight, try to mess with him? Isn’t that right November?”

“Yeah, it really is out of Maria’s character.” The barmaid replies.

“I’m telling you,” Maurice proclaims. “I’ve read the letters, this could be what Maria’s been up to.” He then snaps his head to the ceiling and yells. “Hey Cecil! Is the latest rumour probably true?!”

A mumbled voice answer back, the same one belonging to the stallion that sung earlier. “No.”

“What?! Craig believes me!”

“He pretty much believes everything.”

“Excuse me Maurice, Jarvis,” November interrupts. “There’s somepony waiting for me.” The mare then turns around and hustles towards the cloaked stallion. “Hello there sir. Welcome to the Thieves and Heroes Tavern. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

The cloaked stallion stays silent for a second before replying. “…No issue.”

“Oh dear. Are you okay?” November worryingly asks upon hearing his extremely gravelly and tired voice, almost sounding as if he was dying.

“…I’m fine.”

“Can I get you anything sir?”

“First… a drink.”

“Anything in particular?”

“…Whatever’s cheap I guess…”

“Had a bad day?”

“…Yeah. Lost a bit…”

“Well, how about I get you this one free?”

“Sure.” Quickly, the barmaid gets to work and begins to fill a large mug with fresh cider. While she is doing this, the lone pony stares at her, tracking her every motion in great detail. November slowly begins to feel this presence behind her, but shrugs it off. She hands over the brimming cup to the cloaked stallion, who simply nudges it around with the shadowy tip of his nose.

“Need some help there?”

“…”

“…Sir?”

“…Let me ask you something… How long has it been since the fall of The Perfection?”

“You mean Korsan’s defeat? Seven months.”

“Huh, it’s been that long…”

“I know how you feel. Feels like almost yesterday when Twilight Sparkle and her friends showed up and gave that pirate a piece of all of our minds.”

“…”

“…Sir? Are you okay?”

A moment of silence falls between the two. The surrounding noise seems to dull as the two ponies focus on each other. Finally, the cloaked pony, the lone stranger, speaks. “…Yeah, ‘a bad day’, call it that. It isn’t the first time something like this has happened to me, having everything I’ve strived for, what I deserved, taken away from me. But, what else would you expect in the type of world we live in today? One moment, you’re at the top of it all, with your life-long dreams finally achieved, and nothing standing in the way. The next, you’re back down to the bottom of the barrel, more hurt than ever before.

It’s nature really. Seasons, years, lives, wars, dynasties, economy, ideologies, they all share a cycle to them. They are born from the rubble of failure and reach their peak at some point in their life, but will inevitable crumble and become fuel for the next. No matter how many numbers you throw into the equation, no matter how long you prolong the peak, the end will always be there, waiting. As cruel as it is, it is loving as well, just like nature, neither ugly nor beautiful.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time at sea it seems, thinking and reflecting on my past actions. An old… pony of interest… told me that I was being a foal, and by thunder he was right. I was reckless, a hopeless romantic, impulsive, and not at all effective by several measure. But one of the more powerful words that I’ve come to affiliate my past self is ‘merciful’. I pitied those that I’ve grew to hate far too much, and it costed me quite a few things. Luckily, after this ‘bad day’, it has been fixed, all of it.

As the old me died out, a new me was built on top. A new cycle has dawned. I no longer suffer the ailments of my inferior stature. As the old war has ended, a new one, a grander one is brewing. As this dynasty draws to its closure, a new one shall step in and take the throne. As we enter the depression, it is only a matter of time for prosperity to return. The cold winter is warming up and the new year is on the horizon. Everything that exists is cycling as nature intends, and is coming full circle once more. Be rest assured, my ‘bad day’ is neither just the beginning nor just the end, but both, as the cycle goes on.”

“…”

“Is there a problem?”

“No, no. I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“Oh.”

“You sound almost, familiar to somepony I know, but different.”

“Who was this pony I might ask?”

“Oh, no pony special, just an old… pony of interest.”

“…I see.”

“Do you need help with your drink sir? How about a straw?”

“I’m fine. I, am, completely, perfect... …And second, I want just one thing…” As the stallion reaches his hoof towards the handle of the mug, his black cloak accidently slides down, revealing a metal bar piercing through his burnt and withered hoof. Red bulges of practically destroyed flesh cover whatever skin is revealed beneath the matted fur. November jerks back in surprise and nearly pukes at the sight.

“Oh my-! We need a doctor!” She quickly calls out. As she scrambles to try and fix the terrifying hoof with her bare hooves out of instinct, she accidently tugs on the stallion’s cloak too hard. The black cloth rips away to reveal the stallion’s wings, withered and serrated with hundreds of metal objects large and small. Everypony around gasps at the horrid sight of the jagged stump of a horn that poked out on his forehead. But the stallion, now revealed, stays perfectly still and silent amongst the chaos.

“…” His one remaining eye, his scarred, rough, glazed-over eye, stares into the frightened blues of November. As her mouth quivers, her hooves shuffle back, and her eyes and body tremble from the beast before her, the stallion’s mouth twists into a jagged smile, stretching ear to ear.

“Im-imp-impossible! It-it-it’s you!”

“…Revenge…”

THE END

“You’ve come back.”

“I have.”

“So, what are you here for?”

“I’m here to train you.”