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The Pirate Pegasus

by Leo Pachino

Chapter 6: Siren Gulch

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html>The Pirate Pegasus

The Pirate Pegasus

by Mario Hyrulia

Chapters

Regal Invites

“As the raging thunderstorm continues to rock the ship back and forth, Daring Do watches in horror as Captain Cutlass Cornelius approaches her at the end of the breaking wooden bow. With her wing sliced halfway through from their previous fight, she can’t fly away and instead faces two options. She should either jump off and drown, or face off against a superior foe. The dragon pirate chuckles as he draws closer to Daring Do, sharpening his sword-like claws against each other. With each step Cornelius takes on the weakened bow, a loud crackle can be heard. Now, with only a metre of distance between them, the heroic pegasus closes her eyes tightly and curls into a small ball to think of her options just a little more. Manically laughing, Cornelius raises his bladed claws high into the air. Bolts of lightning strike down on the claws are charge them full with electricity, to the point where the metal starts releasing small bolts of energy to the pouring raindrops that come anywhere close to them. The pirate captain swings down his arms and-”

“Twilight!”

“Spike! I was in the middle of the climax! You threw off my groove.”

“Sorry.  The tickets just arrived and I was a little too excited.”

“Gah…” The mare known as Twilight groans as her eyes break away from the lines of text in the book and turn towards the purple baby dragon standing at her side, holding two golden slips of paper in between his claws. She immediately recognizes them as tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, the royal ball that she and her friends always look forward to going to. As her purple eyes travel upwards and meet Spike’s large greens, his face turns to a look of discomfort and shame.

“Sorry…” Twilight sighs and takes a deep breath to calm herself down before responding.

“It’s fine… I’m sorry I snapped. It’s just that I wanted to finish this before Rainbow Dash does and spoils it for me. Thanks Spike. What day is it anyways?”

“The day of the Grand Galloping Gala,”

“What?!”

“Yeah, you-”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Frantically, Twilight leaps up from her position and hops from the bed, causing the open book to flop forwards onto the sheets. The alicorn then begins to dart around her large crystalline bedroom chamber, picking up several items scattered at every corner of the room. Her horn glows intensely with several shades of purple as items become enveloped in a purple aura and flung into the middle of the room in front of the dragon.

“I tried to, but you were too intent on finishing your book and beating Dash. I tried to tell you that the ticket delivery was late, but you didn’t listen. Only after I got the tickets and practically shouted at you did you listened.”

“I was thinking I would start getting ready when they arrived, I wasn’t expecting them to be this late.”

“They were.”

“Okay, what do I have? Spike, help! Dress?” Casually, Spike reaches into the large pile and sifts through the items, examining each one quickly and tossing out any toys or random things that accidentally got thrown in.

“Check.”

“Slippers?”

“Check.”

“Earrings?”

“Check.”

“Necklace?”

“No-” Spike’s denial is cut short by a necklace of pearls being flung into his face and dropping into the pile. “Check.”

“Bits?”

“Ten, no, eleven bits,”

“Tickets?”

“Got them.”

“’Daring Do and the Lost Kingdoms of Trihearth’?”

“No, you don’t need it. You’ve had your face jammed in it for a week.”

“I do! Rainbow Dash will not spoil it for me this time.”

“She wo-”

“She will!”

“Fine, I’ll add it to the pile.” Spike turns to the bed and reaches for the book. Upon grabbing it, the feeling of moist sweat and heat surges into his claws, nearly causing him to drop it in reflex. However, instead of adding the book to the pile, Spike instead slips the book under one of the large bed pillows. For your own good Twilight… he thinks to himself. “Check.”

“What else, what else, what else…”

“Your crown,”

“Yes! My crown?”

“Check.”

“That should be it right?”

“Yeah,”

“Good, then let’s go!”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“You just said we-”

“Not the items, you.”

“What?” Confused, Twilight walks over to a large mirror hanging onto the wall to examine her reflection. She sees that she has deep, black bags beneath her eyes and that her mane is a frowzy mess, with purple hairs tangled up in each other and her pink highlights weaving through the cluster and spiking out the back. “Oh.”

“And don’t forget, you have to put on these things.”

“You’re right. Thanks. Go on ahead without me. The others should be at the train station. Tell them to go to Canterlot without me.”

“Will do,”

Meanwhile, at the train station on the outskirts of Ponyville, five mares, each dressed in beautiful, colourful clothing, are quietly standing on the boarding platform. With a train approaching in the distance, the five soon become anxious at the absence of their sixth and seventh friend.

“Where is she?” A cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail amongst the group impatiently asks, “Shouldn’t Twilight have been the first pony to be here?”

“Quit your fussin’ Rainbow Dash.” An orange Earth pony with blonde hair retorts, “She can always catch the next train.”

“But we agreed to wait for her Applejack.” A yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail gently responds, “What if she panics when she can’t find us here?”

“I know Fluttershy, but I don’t like it when my little sister and her friends are already there without us to supervise them. Who’s idea even was that again?”

“It was Pinkie’s if I recall correctly.” A white unicorn with a curly purple mane and tail answers, “But it’s not all that bad as you put it. How much trouble could my sister, your sister, and Scootaloo cause-”

“A lot.”

“Well… maybe. Yeah, it was kind of a dumb idea.”

“But they would’ve been so bored here Rarity!” A pink Earth pony exclaims, “And besides, I made them all Pinkie Promise not to cause any trouble in Canterlot.”

“Guys!” Rainbow Dash yells, “We’re forgetting the issue at hoof. What are we going to do if Twilight doesn’t show up when the train gets here?”

“Girls look,” Fluttershy calmly exclaims, “it’s Spike!” The four others look over to where Fluttershy’s staring and see Spike running towards them from the entrance of the train station.

“Hey everypony!” Spike calls out.

“What’s keeping Twilight?” Dash irritably asks.

“Twilight was sidetracked by that new Daring Do book out. She’s getting ready now and it’s probably going to take a while. She said that we should go without her.”

“Did she finish?”

“No, she’s still getting ready.”

“No, no, no, I mean did she finish ’Daring Do and the Lost Kingdoms of Trihearth’?”

“No, she only got midway through the climax.”

“What?! She doesn’t know that Daring Do’s mother is-” Before Rainbow Dash can finish, the powerful blow of the train horn interrupts her. “The train’s here. I’ll tell ya later.” One by one, the five ponies and Spike walk into the open train car. They each then take a seat inside, with the mares being careful in their positions as to not damage their large dresses.

“Those dresses look great.” Spike remarks.

“Why thank you,” Rarity stiffly responds as she continues to meticulously correct her position, “I worked on these over the past month, including that tuxedo you have.” The small dragon looks down and notices that he is wearing a black suit, much to his surprise.

“Oh yeah, I nearly forgot I was wearing this all day. The thing’s so comfy.”

“Wish I could say the same.” Applejack remarks, obviously scratching her behind underneath her dress.

“So, do you think anything odd is going to happen?”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asks.

“You know, your first gala ended in chaos. The second one we went to last year ended with Discord bringing that Smooze thing and nearly sending your friend into an alternate universe. Wouldn’t it be a bit expected that something bad might happen this year?”

“Nah, it was probably just chance. Nothing bad will happen this-”

“Don’t tempt fate!” Pinkie Pie screams.

“What?”

“If you say that nothing bad will happen, something bad will happen! It’s a law of the universe!”

“Or just nothing bad will happen.”

“I bet ten bits on it.”

“Fine, I bet ten as well. That’s how confident I am that we all shouldn’t worry this time.”

“You’ll be so sorry.” The train horn blares three times as the locomotive begins its departure to Canterlot. Starting with a sudden jerk forwards, the train slowly begins to accelerate and head forward on the iron tracks. Spike looks out the window at the orange evening sky and sees Twilight’s enormous crystal palace in the distance amongst all of the various buildings of Ponyville.

“Well Twilight,” Spike speaks to himself, “see you on the next train.”

“Don’t feel do down. We’re all still going to the Grand Galloping Gala still.” Out of nowhere, a bright purple light flashes in the middle of the train car, blinding the six inside with it. A purple alicorn with a sparkly blue dress and a golden jeweled crown emerges from the light as it fades.

“Twilight!” They all exclaim as their vision recovers.

“Sorry,” Twilight replies, “I forgot to check the time.”

“We heard from Spike.” Rainbow Dash responds, “So, you haven’t gotten to the part where it’s reveal that Daring Do’s mother is-”

“Don’t say another word!”

“Oh, right, spoilers…”

“Speaking of which… Shoot! I left the book at home.”

Spike turns to Dash and asks in a whisper, “…Is her mother dead?”

“Shush!”

“Oh, sorry, just curious…”

“Now then, anything important happen while I was gone?”

“Discord’s not coming,” Fluttershy remarks, “he says he’s going to some Bad-Anon group meeting and won’t be back by next week.”

“I’m going to win a bet against Fluttershy.” Pinkie exclaims.

“No you won’t.”

“I’ve recently been practicing lightning manipulation.” Rainbow cheers, “It’s going to be so awesome!”

“Nothing much going on with me,” Rarity adds, “boring, but I like it.”

“Big Mac’s been working out.” Applejack replies, “Soon he’ll be able to buck apples out of three trees with a single buck.”

“Oh! I almost forgot. This year, Cadence will be presenting a historical artifact to us and the media to gain tourist attraction to the Crystal Empire.”

“What is it?” the other six ask simultaneously.

“The Diamond Eye, a large diamond monument that dates back to before King Sombra’s reign on the Crystal Empire. There’s only half of it though, since it broke ages ago and the other half was never found.”

“How big are we talking?” Rarity asks.

“About the size of Big McIntosh if it were still in one piece,”

“Wow!”

“It’s going to be stolen!” Pinkie Pie cheerfully exclaims, “See Fluttershy, it’s destined to happen.”

“Enough of this,” Applejack groans, “I’m already irritated enough with this dress chafing parts of me I didn’t even know I had, do not push it. That diamond is not going to be stolen tonight.”

“Fine. Sorry.”

“Good.”

“For now…”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing!”

“Hey Twilight,” Spike asks, “Is there anything else special about that diamond?”

Twilight promptly replies, “There is writing engraved into the diamond, but it’s in a very ancient language and that it’s only part of a full message. Scholars say that it’s some form of poem with a very important subject matter.”

“Where do you think the other half is?”

“No idea. King Sombra did a lot of changes to the kingdom all of those centuries ago. The other half may be underneath a hundred metres of ice and snow a hundred kilometres away from the empire, and that’s only if it didn’t make its way out to sea. If that’s the case, it might as well be on the other side of the world.”

“Oh.”

“But there is some hope in finding it, albeit very little.”

The Grand Galloping Gala

The following first hours of the Grand Galloping Gala at the Canterlot Castle run smoothly, with Twilight, her friends, and their plus-ones each finding their place amongst the heavily populated area. Most of the massive chambers the large castle is made of are filled to the brim with nobles with vast wealth, delegates from every corner of the world, high ranking political figures, and every celebrity of every species, shape, and size known to the common ponies, all chatting with each other and enjoying the night being served with traditional music, gourmet foods, and only the most refined drinks with hundreds of years in their production. However, the room with arguably the most activity is the ballroom. With a bright full moon and millions of stars able to be seen from its open walls, and the entire circular three-story room suspended over the cliffside city of Canterlot like a massive balcony, it is no surprise. Guests dance in the open center of the first floor as the upper two floors watch from their balconies. At the back of the uppermost floor is Twilight, standing next to a large white alicorn, a black alicorn slightly shorter than the white one, and a pink alicorn barely taller than Twilight, all princesses of their own accord. The four regal mares watch the festivities below peacefully, enjoying their view with the moonlight illuminating the ballroom.

“I must say Luna,” The white princess proclaims, “your work with the moon is perfect. The light is at a perfect angle.”

“Thank you sister,” The black mare replies, “It took several nights, but I managed to work it out.”

“Miss Sparkle,”

“Yes Princess Celestia?” Twilight responds, turning her head to her speaker in the process.

“How have things been going in Ponyville?”

“Nothing really eventful has happened over the past few months, just the usual really.”

“I see. And how about you Cadence?”

“Same here,” The pink princess answers, “Well, except for the preparations of the Diamond Eye.”

“Speaking of which,” Twilight interrupts, “When are you going to show it?”

“It’s all set in the next room downstairs. I’m just waiting for this last song to finish.”

“Are you excited?”

“Yes, it’s so beautiful. And with the moonlight at this angle, it’ll look even more beautiful when I reveal it.”

“I bet it will be.”

“Excuse me,” A stallion’s thick accented voice calls out from behind the four princesses. They look back to see it is a thin blue pegasus in a tuxedo.

“Ah yes,” Celestia replies, “Sir Garrison Valkyrie, Ambassador of Cervidas. How may I help you?”

“Pardon my intrusion, but the king and queen of Cervidas wanted to warn you of some upcoming economic troubles and possible future threats to security of your kingdom.”

“Oh dear, please do.”

“Over the recent five years, the crime rates have skyrocketed at Cervidas and surrounding kingdoms. This has mainly been influenced by pirate attacks.”

“Pirates… even the landlocked ones?”

“Especially the landlocked ones. Reports are vague, but they all seem to describe some type of large sea vessel that flies. They may sound ridiculous, but they’re our only leads and coastal cities report the same anomaly originating from ocean waters. Thus they are all classified by pirate attacks.”

“My that’s-”

“And must I remind you and how that affects our economic systems and inflation? Two-thousand years ago, there was only a one percent yearly inflation rate. A thousand years later, it increased a percent. Five hundred years after that, it grew another to three percent. These pirate attacks are estimated to exponentially increase that rate to unhealthy levels. And that’s just inflation. I have so much to inform you. There are also factors such as taxes, gross domestic production, employment, standard of living, debt, government payments, media coverage, income…”

Oh no, Twilight thinks to herself as the words of the middle-aged ambassador ring in her ears, this is going to be a long night. I’m going to have to tolerate this if I’m going to represent Equestria as a princess. Maybe this music will end as Cadence will be able to cut him off to present the Diamond Eye. When will this music end anyways?

Meanwhile outside the castle and in the middle of the royal gardens, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike are all gathered together by a fountain, each with bored looks on their faces.

“This party blows.” Rainbow Dash moans.

“I hate to admit it,” Pinkie Pie replies, “but you’re right. The dancing is so slow and all the ponies here just talk about politics and big words I don’t understand.”

“And these dresses are itchy,” Applejack adds, scratching at her belly, “Or is it just me?”

“This kind of reminds of our first Grand Galloping Gala,” Fluttershy declares, “Before we caused havoc to the gala anyways.”

“I just hope that Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are having fun on their own.”

“They’re in pretty dresses at a royal party, of course they’ll be excited. I guess the charm’s worn off for us it seems.”

“Maybe,” Spike replies.

“Why aren’t you with Twilight anyways?” Rainbow asks.

“The ballroom she’s in has a section reserved for the princesses and specific guests. I don’t qualify so I decided to hang around somewhere else until I got bored.”

“Ouch.”

“Meh, I don’t mind, I understand.”

“I’ve just noticed. Where is Rarity?”

“Probably in her little euphoria with some of the guests here,” Applejack answers, “Perhaps the ‘charm’ hasn’t run out on her.”

“Hey!” Pinkie Pie exclaims, “Maybe we can play ‘I Spy’.”

“Sure,” Spike replies, “That’ll pass the time until something interesting happens.”

“Okay, I spy with my little eye… something that is tall.”

“The castle?” Rainbow Dash asks.

“Correct! Your turn,”

“Okay. I spy… something itchy.”

“Applejack!”

“Correct.”

“Yay!”

“Oh ha, ha.” Applejack sarcastically snaps, “You try wearin’ this hunk of sandpaper.”

“Okay, my turn. I spy with my cutesy little eye… something brown.”

“Brown?” Spike confusingly asks.

“Yep.”

“The dirt?” Applejack asks.

“Nope,”

“A tree?” Fluttershy asks.

“Warmer…”

“Warmer?” Rainbow Dash responds, “Hmmm…” Dash takes a moment to examine Pinkie’s eyes. She sees that they are looking off into the middle of the night sky in a much squinted manner.

“My eyes are blue, so you’re getting colder…”

“What are you even looking at? Some rock in space?”

“Nope,”

“We give up,” Applejack proclaims, “What is it?”

“An ominous airship heading right at us,”

“A what?” The mares and Spike quickly gather around Pinkie Pie as they look to where she’s looking. “I don’t see anything…”

“See that dark spot in the sky, the one without any stars?” The four others squint tightly at the starry sky and eventually see the dark spot.

“I see it!” Rainbow exclaims, “It’s a little brown, black, and… green?” As the mysterious dark spot grows, a very faint green glow surrounds the brown bottom half of the thing. “What is it?”

“I told you, an airship.” Pinkie answers, still in her cheery tone.

“There are no such things as ships that fly on air,” Applejack retorts.

“Then what do you call that silly?” Drawing closer, the dark figure soon forms into shapes in the observers’ vision.

“It is a ship.” Fluttershy mumbles, “A very… big and scary ship… that’s flying without magic.”

“Yep,”

“Hey, Dash,” Spike nervously speaks, “could you maybe fly up there and get a closer look at it?”

“Well…” Rainbow Dash gulps, “I can try.”

“Be careful.”

“…And with that all said and done. Let’s move on to how the concepts of income have been changing.”

Nooo! Twilight screams to herself internally. How do Celestia, Luna, and Cadence not go insane after this much talking? How does this music keep on going? And how has this ambassador keep talking after just one glass, a fancy thin glass! The music in the room soon starts to die down, much to Twilight’s relief.

“Excuse me sir,” Cadence speaks, interrupting the ambassador’s lecture, “I have to present the Diamond Eye now. Perhaps we can continue later.”

“I see,” the stallion calmly replies, “Proceed. In fact, I want to accompany you.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary-”

“Please do!” Twilight accidently shouts. She quickly catches her tongue before continuing, “It would be good for the citizens of Cervidas to hear a close up report on the diamond.”

“…I guess so. Follow me Garrison.” As the two ponies shuffle out the back door, Cadence looks back at the relieved Twilight and gives a sharp stare at her, one that immediately translates in Twilight’s head.

You owe me, Twilight translates the stare to in her head.

“Well,” Twilight proclaims, “That was quite a-uh… An interesting lesson,”

“Stupid Cervidasian bigwigs,” Celestia grumbles, “Always thinking we can’t run a kingdom. If I could, I would certainly take their thick scrolls on politics this stallion reads from and shove them-”

“Ease sister,” Luna calmly retorts, “it’s just a couple days a year we deal with them. And they’re all not so bad-”

“Oh shut up, you want to do the same thing.”

“Yeah, I would.”

“Hmph, stupid lot of them.”

“So, Celestia,” Twilight nervously says, “Are you exited for the presentation of the Diamond Eye?”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

“Shush,” Luna barks, “it’s time.” With the final note of the dancing music fading away and the dancers retreating to their seats at the edge of the room, a finely dressed staff member walks to the center of the chamber .

“Ladies and gentlecolts, ponies and griffons and yaks and all other great species of the world,” the grey stallion proclaims, “It is my honour to announce to you, her royal majesty of the Crystal Empire, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and her unveiling of the Diamond Eye.” Soon enough, a large pedestal with a large blue cloth covering the top hovers in from the unseen parts of the first floor and onto the center of the ballroom in a pink glowing aura. The aura dies down as Princess Cadence gracefully walks up to it and begins to circle it.

“Welcome everypony,” she announces to the onlookers, “This artifact was found a year ago shortly after the re-foundation of the Crystal Empire, several metres beneath the ice and snow of the Crystal Mountains. This gemstone is an absolute wonder in its design, construction, disappearance, and purpose, in that it’s a complete mystery. However, one of the few things we know about it, is that it is a symbol, a symbol of the rich culture of the Crystal Empire that thrived thousands of years ago and continues to now. And now, without future ado, allow me to present,” With a flick of her horn, the blue cloth gently hovers off of the pedestal and falls to the floor, revealing the artifact on top of the while pillar. “The Diamond Eye!”

“Whoa!” Twilight exclaims. Oohs and aahs erupt from the audience as they gaze upon the Diamond Eye. It is a large, clear half-circle with a jagged edge along its diameter. Mysterious symbols and patterns can be seen either engraved into the crystal or are bevels sticking out from its relatively flat surface. With the moonlight beaming into the crystal, these engravings and bulges project onto the walls of the ballroom, causing more roars of awe to wake.

“Any questions about the Diamond Eye?”

“How much is it worth?” A mare from the second floor calls out.

“In its current condition, five-hundred million bits, but that’s merely for its physical value. In all truth, it’s priceless.”

“Where’s the other half?” A stallion on the first floor asks.

“We don’t know, but the search it active.”

“Any idea on what those markings mean?” Another stallion on the first floor yells.

“We have no idea. It is a very ancient language that’s been dead for hundreds of years.”

“Do you have any current hypothesis on what its purpose was?” Luna loudly asks.

“Well, we have a few theories. It could have been a monument to somepony, a decoration, or even possibly a doctrine or creed of some kind. Any more questions?”

“Yes,” a mare on the first floor responds, “What’s that thing outside coming towards us?”

“What?” The pink princess slowly turns around to see a rainbow coloured blur outside one of the opening, charging right at her. She ducks as the mysterious figure flies right over her and brutally crashes into the closed door ahead.

Twilight speaks to herself after seeing the crash, “Was that… Rainbow Dash?” In a pair of flashes of light, Twilight teleports herself next to Cadence and approaches the figure. “Rainbow Dash?” In a matter of moments, the figure reveals herself as Rainbow Dash and frantically runs up to Twilight.

“Bad! Bad! Bad!” She hollers, shivering with her pupils shrunken into pinpoints.

“Rainbow! What’s going on?”

“P-p-p-p-p-p-pi-pi-p-p-p-”

“Spit it out!”

“P-pi-p-pirates!”

“Wha-” All of a sudden, a series of explosions blast along the outside walls, shaking the entire ballroom. Screams erupt momentarily as ponies scramble around the chamber in terror. Stone and rubble fall from the ceilings and walls and onto the floor as the chaos ensues. Another volley of explosions erupts against the castle, this time with several bursting inside the room. The room then fades into darkness with the only light being a faint green hue coming from outside. “What the hay is going on?”

“They’re right outside!” Twilight looks back towards the outside world, only to see a wall of dark brown planks of wood with small grooves glowing the faint green glow. A line of black cylinders are seen poking out of the wall of wood, emitting thick smoke.

“Cannons?” The chaos and havoc continues with seemingly no end as screams and hollers fill the air. Twilight knows there is no hope in calming them down. However, after a long while of panic, the screams of terror are cut short by a loud, sinister, group of laughs echoing from the wall of cannons. A long and wide wooden plank then drops down from the top of the glowing wall and lands one end at the edge of the ballroom with the other tied to the wall. Now frozen stiff in fear, the onlookers inside the castle watch as a line of shadowy figures walk from the wooden barrier, down the plank, and into the ballroom, clustering around the edge of the plank.

“Well, well, well…” A young stallion’s voice calls from the top of the wall, “If it isn’t the Diamond Eye.”

“Who are you? What’s going on? I want an explanation now! If this is an invasion, prepare to get your flank kicked!”

“Don’t fret. I have no quarrels with you. I’d be happy to explain what’s going on.”

“Who are you?”

“Allow me to introduce myself.” A sequence of metal steps is then heard as the mysterious pony walked down the plank. Reaching the floor of the castle room, he then starts to make his way up to Twilight. The purple mare makes her horn glow and reveals the stallion in the bright light of her horn. He has a dark brown coat of fur that nearly matches the color of the wood outside. His mane and tail are a mess of jet black hair, looking as if it hasn’t been cut nor styled in years, yet it somehow looks somewhat proper and neat. He’s walking on his hind legs without any sign of strain, with his front hooves swinging back in forth in tune with his motion. On his left side of his face is an icy blue eye staring dead straight at Twilight, while on the right side, he wears an eye patch that covers his other eye and a scar that peeks from the top and bottom of the black patch. His hooves each has what appears to be a silvery, metal shoe with five spikes protruding from them over the front of his limbs. Connecting to these shoes are long connections of copper gears, pistons, and other pieces of mechanical parts that stretch along the sides of his limbs and into the back. He wears a black metal battle harness on the upper part of his chest with a sickly blue and green light originating from the center circular buckle piece and through small grooves engraved in the straps wrapping around his entire torso, similar to the lights of the wall. Around his back is a large black cape that stretches down to the floor with its corners trailing and dragging against the wood.

“What the…” Twilight terrifyingly mutters as the abnormal looking pony towers over her, smiling. Stopping only a few centimetres away, the bipedal stallion spreads his front hooves apart, displaying himself triumphantly.

“I am the terror of earth, sea, and air. I am the ultimate pirate captain. I am Korsan…”

The Pirate Pegasus

“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.”

Goodbye and Farewell

The next morning, Twilight and Spike are back at their home and are now packing their bags for their upcoming quest.

“So Twilight,” Spike asks Twilight as he’s putting a large collection of colourful gems in a suitcase, “What’s the plan again?”

“After Korsan and his crew raided the gala,” Twilight replies, “Rarity and I watched their airship fly off in a specific direction. I looked at several maps after the raid and discovered he’s most likely heading northeast out to sea. There’s a location that’s directly in Korsan’s path called Thieves’ Hold, an infamous gathering place for criminals. Princess Celestia gave me permission for me, you, and our friends to take a ship to there and hopefully reach it before he does and cut him off, taking the Diamond Eye back and apprehending him.”

“Sounds great,”

“I knew you’d say that.”

“But, once you catch up to him, what are you going to do? I heard that one third of the guards were hospitalized after the raid and the other two thirds were unable to fight right from the start. How are you even going to be able to take care of Korsan, let alone the ship? What do you know about him?”

“Well, from what the guards, the princesses, and I experienced, Korsan is highly adept to mechanical arts, close-range combat, leadership, navigation, animal taming, and anti-magic, despite him being a pegasus.”

“Wait, how does that work? Isn’t anti-magic an advance spell?”

“Yes, but this stallion did something new. The straps he used to disable the other princesses’ magic power contained an unknown substance that nullifies magic. This substance is also probably used in his harness, his swords, and his ship. But that’s not the weirdest part. He stands, walks, and fights on his hind hooves and wears these weird claw-shoes on his front hooves, like you.”

“Wouldn’t that be hard for him, being a pony and all?”

“No, in fact, he’s even more agile than most normal pegasi. That’s what’s so uncanny about him. I think it has to do something with his mechanical exosuit based on what he said.”

“He sounds tough, any weaknesses?”

“Uh…”

“Please tell me you know some weakness to him before you attempt to fight him.”

“…He… He has a distaste for Earth ponies and pegasi for some odd reason and wears an eyepatch.”

“Those are not weakness! What are we going to do then?”

“We’ll… improvise.”

“With what?”

“Spike, why are you being so hypercritical about this?”

“I just don’t want you or anypony getting hurt when we’re going after this stallion, that’s all.”

“I guess you have a point. I guess I can do some research while we’re out at sea.”

“That sounds good. By the way, you said something about him being a pegasus, yet he has a distaste towards them. Is that right?”

“Yeah, he immediately acted kind of aggressive when Celestia brought it up. He then explained that he was going to use the Diamond Eye to fix that or something, not sure how though.”

“Twilight, are you sure you want to do this only hours after his attack? This is starting to sound like this Korsan character has something big going on, something that we might not be ready for.”

“I am sure. Cadence worked hard for the presentation for the Diamond Eye and it’s one of the only historical artifacts of the Crystal Kingdom lasting beyond King Sombra’s reign. And besides, if we don’t go now, Korsan might go somewhere else and we’ll lose him, possibly forever.”

“Alright…”

“Are you fully packed Spike? This will be a long trip.”

“Almost,”

“Hurry up please, we’re expected at Vanhoover in a few hours.”

Meanwhile, at Rarity’s boutique, the white unicorn is also packing several suitcases. However, a smaller unicorn mare is following her around.

“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity calmly exclaims at the filly, “for the fifth time, no. You cannot join us.”

“No fair!” Sweetie Belle screams, “Applejack’s probably letting her little sister join, and Scootaloo’s going to want to tag along with us.”

“Applejack’s half as firm as I am, and even she wouldn’t let Applebloom join us for such a dangerous trip. We’re spending at least a month one open waters with pirates and storms around every corner. Not to mention that that Korsan creep we’re after has the hots for me.”

“Then why are you tagging along if it’s so dangerous?”

“The only reason I’m joining my friends is because somepony needs to keep the integrity of the ship we’re going on up. Mom and Dad will look after you while I’m gone. And besides, Applebloom and Scootaloo will still be around to keep you company.”

“But we Cutie Mark Crusaders must join you guys, think of all the possibilities for cutie marks we could get out there.”

“The only things you and your friends will get on your flanks out there are splinters, bruises, seawater, tons of dust and dirt, or all at once.”

“Please!”

“For the final time… No!”

“Do you really need all of those large suitcases?”

“What?” Rarity takes a moment to look behind her and see a three metre tall pyramid of large purple suitcases, teetering back and forth from its height. “Oh… Well yes, yes I do.”

“Really?”

“…Maybe one or two too many,”

In the meantime, on the distant outskirts of Ponyville at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack is rummaging through the central barn with a yellow Earth pony filly watching.

“Applejack,” the small mare speaks, “can I-”

“No Applebloom.” Applejack quickly responds.

“But why?!”

“First off, it’s dangerous. Second off, you’ll mostly be alone while we run the boat on our journey. Rarity’s twice as strict as I am, so there’s no chance Sweetie Belle will come along.

“What about Scootaloo?”

“She’ll also be alone on the ship since I said no for your permission. Third off, somepony’s gotta take care of my work at the farm while I’m gone. Big Mac has enough work on his plate already and he gets easily seasick, so he can’t take my place.”

“Darn it…”

“Don’t be so sad about it, you’ll be fine. Let’s see, what else do I need? I got a compass, some books, plenty of drinking water and plenty of food, clothing…”

“Doesn’t this fancy ship you’ve been talkin’ ‘bout have all of those things?”

“It doesn’t hurt to pack extra. Oh I know!”

“It better not be-”

“Apples! Lots and lots of apples, crates of them,”

“…that.”

“Don’t be such a neighsayer. I can bake up all sorts of goodies on my trip with a healthy surplus of apples.”

“Can I help you bake-”

“No.”

Meanwhile, high above in the clouds, Rainbow Dash has already packed her things in four large saddlebags and is now flying with them resting at her sides. Behind her follows an orange pegasus filly.

“…As fun as it would be Scootaloo,” Dash says, “I don’t think this mission would be that much fun for you.”

“Oh come on,” the small mare confidently retorts, “my wings just developed and now I can fly. I could be of great help in recovering the Diamond Eye and beating that pirate for stealing it.”

“I enjoy your enthusiasm, but I’m afraid it’s too dangerous as well.”

“Danger’s my middle name.”

“No, I mean really dangerous. I saw what Korsan and his crew did. They didn’t hesitate when they levitated the guards into the air, with only the unicorns breaking free. I can barely imagine the damage they would cause if you crossed into their territory.”

“Whoa, this must be super serious if that’s coming from you. You’d usually laugh at something that seemed threatening.”

“Quite, so you know you can’t join me on this.”

“I guess so.”

“I’m happy you understand. I’ll be back in hopefully a month or two.”

“Okay. Bye Dashy!”

“Bye Scoots.” Hm, the cyan pegasus thinks to herself as she sees her filly friend turn around and fly away, she seems to be taking this awfully well. She didn’t even bring up the CMC or wanting cutie marks… Meh, just might be me.

Down below from where Rainbow Dash is flying, on the rolling grassy hills just outside of Ponyville, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are walking side by side pulling wagons of stuffed suitcases on them.

“I knew it!” Pinkie cheers, hopping up and down as she moves forward. “You tempted fate, and now you must pay up.”

“Are you still going on about the bet?” Fluttershy groans, “You’re right, whoo-hoo, but there’s a bigger issue at hoof.”

“You’re not backing out of it are you?”

“No. We just have to deal with this Korsan stallion and then we can take care of the bet.”

“How about this, how about we make a new bet.”

“Oh no…”

“I bet that we’ll come across a giant carnivorous squid on our travels at sea.”

“Pinkie, that’ll never happen.”

“It’s an adventure at sea, of course it’s going to happen.”

“No it won’t.”

“Fine, then the bet is on.”

“Wha-”

“If I win, then you have to pay me twenty bits, if you win, you don’t have to pay anything.”

“Hmmm… Fine, it’s not going to happen anyways.” I pray that nothing like that happens. I’d have a heart attack or something if some squid attacked us!

“Are you excited?”

“Excited for what?”

“Excited that we’re going on a grand adventure out to sea against a pirate crew of course silly,”

“Oh, well, it will be a pleasant cruise if that’s what you mean.”

“I’m so excited! Just imagine the things we’ll be doing out there. Riding our ship throughout the storms, fighting pirates, getting in pirate bar fights, swing across boats onto the pirate ship, telling pirate tales, telling ghost tales, telling ghost pirate tales, getting pirate loot, getting kidnapped by pirates, being turned into pirate loot, and so much more!”

“Most of those things you listed, if not all of them, are not going to happen.”

“Wanna be-”

“No.”

A few hours later, at the ocean docks of the coastal city of Vanhoover, Twilight, Spike, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy meet up with their luggage in tow at the entrance.

“So,” Twilight proclaims, “is everypony here?”

“Yep,” Rainbow confirms.

“Anypony forget something before we go?” Applejack asks the group, oblivious to the fact that her cargo of four massive crates of apples dwarfs the others’ luggage.

“Well,” Fluttershy answers, “I wonder if I left enough food open for my animal friends…”

“No,” Pinkie sharply replies, “you gave them quite enough. I could see the pile from outside.”

“It seems we’re all set then.” Rarity says.

“Now the only question remaining is,” Spike adds, turning his attention to the vast array of large and small ships scattered throughout the harbour. “Where’s our boat?”

“That’s a very good question,” a familiar older mare’s voice announces behind him. The seven look back and see Celestia standing with them.

“Princess Celestia!” They all exclaim in surprise.

“Hello my little ponies.”

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asks, “Aren’t you supposed to be in Canterlot right now after the robbery?”

“Don’t worry, Luna’s taking care of the delegates. I just came here to wish you all good luck.”

“I see.”

“Your ship is over there.” The white alicorn raises a hoof towards the far right of the docks. The others look to where she’s pointing and sees their ship. It is a massive galleon with a solid red and gold painted exterior. Three tall masts on the ship pierce the sky, each with two wide, white sails sporting the symbol of Equestria, a shield with the sun and the moon together. Ten small steel cannons poke out of each side of the vessel. At the stern of the boat, hosts a large quarter deck with windows revealing the large galley and captain’s quarters. “The SS Raindrop, a fifty metre long, one-hundred fifty metric ton luxury behemoth of oak and steel, made to sail anywhere. Armed with twenty quick-fire cannons and a hundred metric ton anchor, this ship will take on any challenge and escape with only a few scratches. Although it may not be as powerful as Korsan’s airship, this will certainly strike fear in any small ship that wants to pick a fight with you. I’ve already taken care of food and water resources on board in the cargo bay, they should last you at most three months.”

“Oh my… Celestia, are you sure you want to give us this massive ship?”

“I’m certain. I well comprehend your understandings of ship operation and maintenance. Now, are all of you ready?”

“Yes we are.” With a flick of the large alicorn’s horn, the eight ponies and cargo disappear from the wooden docks in a flash of light and reappear on the main deck of the large galleon. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Good luck all of you, come back safely.”

“We will.” The white princess’ wings then unfold and Celestia takes off into the clear sky. With the vast blue sea ahead of them, Twilight returns her attention to her friends. “Alright, let’s take off.”

“Aye-aye captain,” Pinkie promptly responds before saluting in her own random way.

“Alright, first, we hoist the anchor.” Twilight’s horn glows as she focuses her attention to the unseen anchor over the edge of the bow. A loud rattling is heard as the ship begins to shift back and forth upon being freed from its restraint. “Done.”

“The sails appear to be already opened.” Spike announces.

“Right then, and finally…” The purple mare then swiftly runs up to the top of the stern and finds the wheel standing at the center of the deck. Grabbing it with her magic, she gently sets the steering wheel stiff and centered. “How about a little wind Dash?”

“Gotcha!” Rainbow hollers. In a single bound, the pegasus launches herself into the air and hovers behind a sail at the center mass. Rapidly beating her wings, Rainbow Dash soon causes a large gust of wind to pump into the sail, jerking the entire galleon forwards.

“That’s enough.” With the ship now pulling out of the harbor, Twilight gently turns the wheel clockwise, turning the ship as well. “Let’s see, it was seventy-eight degrees clockwise from the east…” As the ship almost becomes parallel with the coast, Twilight straightens the wheel, stopping the turning. “There, now we should be heading straight for Thieves’ Hold.”

“Now what do we do?” Rarity loudly asks.

“Just kick back and relax. We have a good tailwind now.”

“Yay!” Pinkie exclaims, “Vacation Time!”

“Good,” Applejack adds, “now I can start taking care of my stuff.”

“Are all of those massive crates apples?” Rainbow questions the orange Earth pony.

“They sure are.”

“You realize that Celestia already stockpiled some food for us?”

“Yeah, but you can never be too prepared. You don’t see me whining about Rarity’s stack.”

“Rarity is ‘excessive for personal reasons’, Twilight is ‘too prepared’, you’re entering psycho territory.”

“It doesn’t hurt,” Fluttershy retorts.

“Whatever, I’m going to take care of my things and find a room.”

“We should all at this point really.” Spike declares.

“May the adventure begin!” Twilight proudly shouts. With the wind brushing over her shoulders and the waves rushing past the sides of her ship, high hopes fill the young mare’s head.

The Adventure Begins

After several days and nights of sailing, with the only land last seen was the coast of Vanhoover a week ago, the seven ponies still continue their journey aboard their ship to catch Korsan. This night, with a half-moon in the sky and several stars twinkling in the sky, the group is in the galley, eating apple pie quietly, each spread out across a large table.

More apples, Rainbow Dash thinks to herself as she pauses from her meal, at this point I might well be eating those hard biscuits in storage for a better tasting meal.

“Hey Twilight,” Fluttershy asks to Twilight at the other end of the long dining table, “how much longer until we reach Thieves’ Hold?”

“Halfway, another week probably,” Twilight answers with a mouthful of pie.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy,” Applejack proclaims, “I’ve still got plenty of apples.”

“Why does it have to be so far away?” Rainbow impatiently barks out, feeling her stomach growing queasy from the apples.

“The Antlertic Ocean is huge,” Spike replies, “it would be a great place to disappear from the world.”

“You know what’s strange?” Rarity asks out loud, “Throughout our entire time at sea, we haven’t seen a single pirate ship or any ship for that matter ever since we left the harbour. What’s up with that?”

Twilight gulps down her mouthful of pie and answers, “You heard what the princess said about this ship. If any small pirate ships were to see us in the distance, they’d probably get away and not pick a fight. Though, you do have a point about there not being any friendly ships that we’ve seen. I guess rumors of powerful storms and sea monsters drive most ponies away from this area, making Thieves’ Hold a much more ideal place for Korsan to go.”

“Speaking of rumors,” Pinkie speaks, “How about we tell some ghost stories while we’re all here together?”

“In the middle of the night?” Fluttershy protests, “I’d rather not.”

“Of come on Flutter, it’ll be fun. I’ll start. Once upon a time, there was a trading ship that was set to sail to the kingdom of Ti, but was sent off course by a large hurricane. The sailors on board didn’t know and continued to sail forwards, and eventually fell over the edge of the world. Legend says that if you’re lucky, when approaching Ti oversea, you’ll see a ghost ship sailing towards it before it sinks underneath the waves and disappear.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Twilight retorts, “The world’s round, not flat. And there is no such thing as ghost ships or ghosts in general.”

“My turn,” Rainbow Dash calls out, “this one will make you all unable to sleep tonight. Once, there was a stallion. His name was Pablo. Pablo was not a very good pony. He liked to… have-”

“Inappropriate story Dash!”

“What? It’s just us seven.”

“Who even told you that story?”

“Who told you?”

“…”

“Seeing as you know how it ends.”

“…Well…”

“How does it end?” Applejack asks out of growing curiosity.

“Not well. Who’s next?” A small snicker is heard coming from the cyan mare as silence draws over the candle lit room.

“I guess me…”

“Good. Make sure it’s an acceptable story.”

“Okay… Here is the legend of the Dark and Crimson Mare. There once was a young mare that lived alone in a house at the edge of a cliff that stood over the ocean. One day, during a very windy night, the cliff edge collapsed and fell into the ocean, taking the house and the sleeping mare, dressed in her sleeping gown, down with it. The mare drowned in her sleep in only a few minutes. Now, when you go to the missing cliffside at night at a new moon, you might be able to see the ghost of the mare hovering where she slept, with her fur coloured red, her gown completely black, and her eyes wide open, staring at you.”

“Ooh! That is scary!” Pinkie exclaims.

“Too scary,” Fluttershy squeaks.

“How about you Fluttershy?”

“Me? No, I’ve had enough scary stories for tonight.”

“Oh come one,” Rainbow Dash replies, hovering over to the yellow mare and giving her a noogie on the top of her head. “Just tell us a story and then you can go, please.”

“Well, okay I guess. Once upon a time, some fillies went into a haunted house. A ghost showed up and spooked them. But then the fillies remembered that ghosts were real, and discovered that the ghost was just a stallion with a blanket over his head. The end,”

“It’s Pablo!”

“Quit it Rainbow Dash!” Twilight barks as Rainbow starts laughing uncontrollably in the air, eventually falling onto the floor in her laughing fit. ”Sorry Fluttershy for that little instance, it was a… enjoyable story.”

“Thanks.” Fluttershy cheers, “I’ll be going to bed now. Good night.”

“Okay. Good night.” Slowly, the yellow mare exits from her chair and makes her way to the door leading downstairs. “So, who’s next?”

“I guess I will,” Rarity declares as the sound of a door closing erupts behind. “There once was a pair of young unicorn brothers. The only family they had was their mother and each other due to their father leaving years ago. One day though, the mother died from disease, leaving the two heartbroken. Desperate to have her back, the two attempted a forbidden magic. However, instead of it bringing her back, what they brothers created was a monster, at the unseen cost of the older brother losing two legs and the younger losing his body, having his soul sealed inside a nearby empty suit of armour. It is said that they now roam a distant and unknown land, seeking a way to return to their original bodies at whatever the cost.”

“Ooh, deep.”

“Thank you, I heard it from the ambassador of Saddle Arabia during the gala.”

“Cool. You want to have a go at it Spike?”

“Wait!” Fluttershy’s voice calls from underneath, “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” After a second of silence, Fluttershy suddenly bursts from the door with a frightened look on her face.

“That laughing, coming from outside”

“I don’t hear any, just us and the candles.”

“Must be because I was in the dark and below the main deck,”

“Could be, we should investigate.”

“Wait, what if it’s the Dark and Crimson Mare? Or the ghost trading ship? Or Pablo?”

“There are no such things as ghosts, nor Pablo. You can stay in here.”

“Okay… Just be careful.”

“Everypony else, follow.” Quietly, the five other ponies and Spike scramble up to the main deck and start to hear the faint laughing as well. They wonder around the dark, searching for a source either onboard or on the ocean.

“I hear it,” Spike whispers, “but I don’t see anything.”

“Sounds like a whole lot of laughers to,” Applejack softly replies, “Has anypony checked under the boat?”

“That’s stupid,” Rainbow Dash retorts, “who’d be laughing underwater?” As Rainbow and Applejack soon engage in a silent argument, Spike turns his attention to the port edge of the deck, seeing Pinkie Pie looking up into the sky with her pupils shrunken, with a green tint reflecting in her eyes and her mouth at a gape.

“Pinkie?” Spike nervously asks, “Do you see something?”

“What if,” the pink Earth pony cryptically responds, “the laughing’s coming from right above us?”

“That’s ridiculous, no pegasi would be flying this far out to sea. And the pirate ship we’re after is way ahead of us.”

“Then what’s that?”

“What?” Spike turns his head up and is shocked at what he sees. “Oh…” Spike and Pinkie see that Korsan’s airship is hovering right above the SS Raindrop, and is the source of the mysterious laughing noise. “Twilight! Rainbow Dash! Applejack! Rarity! It’s Korsan’s ship, it’s right above us!”

“What?” The four mares exclaim as they look up and see the green glowing underbelly of the pirate ship as well.

“How is that possible?” Twilight asks out loud, “Korsan had a head start.”

“Who cares?’ Rarity joyously replies, “We can just take care of that creep and his crew now and head back with the Diamond Eye.”

“I guess, but I haven’t really figured out how yet. We can’t teleport on board with the ship blocking any good teleporting location in view. We can’t fight it directly with the size and artillery it has. What can we do?”

“I got it.” Dash pridefully cheers, “You, Fluttershy, and I can just sneak on board, grab the diamond, and sneak back down. Simple.”

“It’s a heavy diamond, probably guarded. Are you sure we can do this?”

“Yeah,”

“I’ll go get Fluttershy, you go ahead and scout things out. Good luck.”

“On it,” Swiftly the blue pegasus flies upwards to the bottom of the airship, hearing the laughing grow louder and louder. As Rainbow Dash makes her way up the side of the hull to the quarterdeck, a bright golden glow is seen emanating from the windows where the joyous hollers are coming from. Curious, Dash peaks her head up from the bottom and is immediately surprised at what she sees. A massive galley, five times bigger than theirs, lit up by hundreds of candles inside. The large room holds a gigantic a U-shape table, lined with one hundred chairs, with most of them being seated upon by unicorns of all shapes and sizes. Stallions and mares, young and old, tall and tiny, shaved and bearded, bare and fully dressed, bald and lengthy manes and tails, fat and skinny, bearing every colour of the rainbow and more, each had their own unique combination, with only a few being similar to one another. All seated are jubilantly laughing and cheering as golden bits, jewels, clothing, and large plates of food of every variety are being passed all around in the air by their magic. At the center of the room is a large serving table, with large black pots holding tons and tons of plants, breads, fruits, vegetables, drinks, and more delectable, making the spying onlooker drool beyond control. However, the main focus of activity lies beyond the serving table, with a young, pale mare with a long red mane and tail with a small dagger in her control fighting against an old, dark blue stallion with a small grey braid wielding a large two-bitted axe. The seated pirates watching the fight cheer each time the two fighters’ weapons clash, growing louder and louder and throwing around more and more items as bets. Yet the thing that grabs Dash’s attention the most is at the far end of the room, opposite of the dining and serving table. There, sitting upon a large chair on an elevated platform, with his own large table with food and treasures sitting on it, is none other than Korsan, quietly watching the fight with a smile on his face.

It’s him… Rainbow thinks to herself as she continues to spy inside the lively galley. Soon the fight ends by the mare tripping over the stallion with her magic and disarming him in the process. Immediately, the galley roars in both excitement and short-lived anger as massive amounts of stuff is sent soaring across the dining table to the watchers that won the bet, soon obscuring their faces with the amount of stuff they won. As the old stallion rises back to his hooves, the young mare outstretches a hoof, prompting him to calmly shake it with his own. The two combatants then quickly head into a room to the right of Korsan’s behind with their weapons in tow. That might be the armoury where they keep the weapons. Wait a minute Dashy, remember, find the Diamond Eye and get out. Don’t get distracted. Suddenly, her train of thought is interrupted by her vision turning completely light blue and a blast of cold hitting her face. Rainbow Dash backs away in shock and sees with her recovering vision that it is Korsan’s ice phoenix attacking her. It loudly shrieks at her before charging in for another strike. Rainbow quickly reacts and flies back down to her ship. Stupid parrot! I’m not going to get back that diamond with that thing making a noise.

Inside the galley, with the post-fight chaos still roaring through the atmosphere, the fighters return from the armoury and walk onto Korsan’s platform and walk to the other end of the captain’s table. The two then bow their heads to him, prompting the onlookers to quiet down, knowing that their captain will now be talking.

With silence now the only thing being heard, Korsan tranquilly speaks, “You both did well. Miss Maria Vanshwitz, mechanic, your use of surprise and overwhelming your opponent are quite adept. However your technique and stamina are still lackluster. Please try to exercise that.”

“Yes captain.” The young mare responds in a pant before walking to the dining table and taking an empty seat.

“And Butch Taylor, cook, your strength and intimidation are well used. Yet your vigilance and speed need attention. I know you’re growing old, but please don’t let your age get the best of you.”

“I understand captain.” The old stallion responds before also heading to a seat.

“Crew of ‘The Perfection’, it has been a fine night with you all. But I’m afraid I’m going to have to get to my chambers early to further study the Diamond Eye. Good night.” However, as Korsan starts to exit his chair, the ice phoenix soars into the room from an open door, screeching as it flies to him. “Juliana, what’s wrong?” As Juliana reaches her master’s outstretched hoof, a small feather from Rainbow Dash is spit out of her beak and into Korsan’s claws. “A feather?” Holding the small feather close to his eye, Korsan examines it thoroughly before lowering it to his nose and sniffing it. “Northwester Equestrian Oak and refined steel,” Quickly, the pirate captain jumps from his seat and runs to the door with Juliana leading him. “Follow me!”

“Yes captain!” The pirates at the table sharply respond as they follow behind him and his pet as they reach the port edge of the main deck. With Korsan and his crew watching, the ice phoenix flies overboard and towards Rainbow Dash still heading down to Twilight’s ship below.

“It’s that blue wench from Equestria!” A middle-aged stallion crew member calls out.

“What?! Why didn’t the lookouts see her?”

“They might have fallen asleep from that last joyride you did.”

“Get me a spyglass!” Almost immediately, a small telescope is levitated in front of Korsan. He swiftly grabs it from the air and holds it up to his eye, looking through it and getting a better look at the ship below. “It’s Princess Twilight, from Equestria. She’s with five others and a baby dragon. They’re probably here for the Diamond Eye. They’re following us with a galleon, fifty metres long, twenty small cannons, six sails, thirty centimetre thick hull, must be royal class.”

“Easy pickings, let’s just sink them already.” An older mare calls out from beside her captain.

“No.” Korsan retorts as his sights set on Rarity looking up at his ship.

“What?”

“There’s a mare on that ship down there, a unicorn. She could serve very well in our crew.”

“So? We can just drop down, snatch her up, and then sink ‘em.”

“I’m afraid it’s not as easy as your initiation as yours Barbara Shores. We have to be more welcoming to this one, but it will be worth it. And I don’t want to distract myself from our goal by having to do repairs. We’ll instead run down their defenses, give them and her some distress without getting our hooves dirty.”

“How so?” The old stallion that fought in the galley asks.

“We’ll take them through Siren Gulch.”

“Are you sure captain? Very few travelers have ever made it through alive.”

“We’ve seen it in action plenty of times. It is possible for a ship of this sort. And for the crew, that’s the funny thing about these ‘hero’ types, they always do manage to ride out that slim chance.”

“You mean that there’s such thing as fate?”

“In a scientific sense. Prepare yourselves sea artists! I’m going to need one of you to keep an eye on that ship and sketch me their faces. As for the rest of you, we’re changing course to Siren Gulch,”

“What is going on up there?” Twilight asks out loud as the massive airship above turns. “They’re changing their course. I would’ve thought for certain they were heading for Thieves’ Hold.”

“Rainbow Dash was caught by that weird blue bird up there. What if they’re trying to throw us off course?”

“Maybe,”

“Get away from me!” Rainbow screams at Juliana as the phoenix turns back towards Korsan’s ship. Dash then flies back down to the deck of the galleon alongside her friends. “Sorry guys, I couldn’t find the Diamond Eye. That stupid bird probably ratted us out.”

“That’s fine,” Fluttershy comforts her, “Did you at least learn anything about the pirates.”

“Their galley is on the lowest portion of the quarterdeck and the armoury is right next to it. And they have mountains of food in there.”

“That’s quite a lot of food.”

“Are you kidding?! It’s practically heaven on a boat!”

“Oh no,” Twilight interrupts Rainbow, “This isn’t good.”

“What isn’t good?” Rarity asks.

“After doing some calculations, I just discovered where they’re going now.”

“Where?”

“They’re heading towards the tip of the Central Ley Line. It might be to throw us off, but it’s just as likely that going to Thieves’ Hold is throwing us off.”

“What’s so bad about some Ley Line?” Spike replies, “It doesn’t sound that bad.”

“Do you even know what the Ley Lines are?”

“No.”

“Anypony else?” No response is given by the others as they blankly star at her in confusion. “The Ley Lines are large uncharitable sections of land that surround the known world. Usually seen with extreme weather and abnormal phenomenon, they’ve been regarded as impossible to go through. And for the few explorers that go into the Ley Lines, it is said that no two ponies experience the same thing, if they even come back.”

“Eep!” Fluttershy squeaks, “We should go to Thieves’ Hold.”

“I’m with Fluttershy.” Rarity adds, “Wherever Korsan’s going is definitely not there. He’s just trying to throw us off.”

“Wait,” Applejack replies, “If Korsan sees us still going to Thieves’ Hold, then wouldn’t he know not to go there?”

“You’re right.” Twilight responds, “If we’re ever going to take him, we’re going to have to play along. Who knows, the Ley Lines may give us an upper hoof for when we confront him.”

“Wait,” Rainbow asks, “If he already knows we’re here, then why isn’t he attacking us? He’s got a giant flying ship with giant cannons.”

“I don’t know myself. Something doesn’t seem right. But if we’re going to get any answers, we might as well follow him.”

Siren Gulch

It has been several hours after Twilight and her team have changed course and have been following Korsan’s lead. Now, after seeing nothing strange since their departure, a thick fog suddenly rolls in and covers their galleon while Korsan’s airship flies over.

“What the hay?” Applejack exclaims as the grey sheet of fog obscures her viewing of the ship above. “Where’d this fog come from?”

“Is this Korsan’s doing?” Rarity yells out, lost in the haze.

“No,” Twilight answers at the wheel on top of the poop deck, “We’ve just entered the Central Ley Line. Brace yourselves girls, we don’t know what’s ahead.” Rainbow Dash then flies up to Twilight from behind the ship and lands with a hard thud.

“What is this?” Dash asks in annoyance, “I can barely see two metres ahead of me and whatever I do, I can’t change it.”

“Relax Dash, this fog probably can’t be affected by pegasi like normal weather.”

“Then how are we supposed to follow Korsan?”

“Pinkie Pie was out on the bow before this fog rolled in. I’m going to need you to slow down our ship while Pinkie directs me with her visibility point.”

“We’ll lose Korsan at that rate.”

“His ship usually flies straight from what we’ve seen, we’ll still reach whatever destination he’s going even if he’s far ahead. More importantly, we don’t know what’s ahead and it could be very dangerous if we hit it hard before we can react.”

“I guess so. I’m going to deal with the sails now.”

“Good. Pinkie Pie!”

“Yes?” A chipper voice echoes in response.

“I’m going to need you to tell me whether to turn left or right and by what angle!”

“Okey-dokey-lokey!”

“Applejack, Rarity, I’m going to need you two to each take a side of the ship, see if anything’s coming at us.”

“Got it!” The two mares reply.

“Fluttershy, help Dash slow us down.”

“Okay.” Fluttershy replies from underneath Twilight’s hooves, inside the captain’s quarters.

“Spike,”

“Yes Twilight?” The baby dragon responds, standing right next to Twilight, much to her surprise.

“Oh, you’re here. Listen, if anything happens to me, I’ll need you to take the wheel. Got it?”

“Yep,”

“Good.”

“Sharp rocks ahead!” Pinkie screams, “Turn an itty-bitty-smithy bit right.”

“Okay, fifteen degrees clockwise…” Carefully, Twilight uses her magic to turn to wheel a very small bit, causing the entire ship to shift right.

“More sharp rocks! Turn an itsy-bitsy-smoothie left.”

“Thirty degrees counterclockwise…”

“Whoa!” Rarity exclaims from starboard, “Turn right!”

“No!” Applejack retorts, “Turn left!”

“There’s a giant rock wall on my side.”

“There’s also one on this side.”

“Turn a kissy right.” Pinkie yells.

“Thirty nine degrees clockwise…” Twilight mutters to herself as she turns the wheel.

“Hey, Twilight,” Spike speaks.

“What? Can’t you see we’re getting into a tight ravine?”

“Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“I don’t know, it’s very soft and faint… …Singing?”

“What?”

“Listen.” Soon, Twilight starts to faded sounds coming from all around her. As she focuses her hearing onto it more, making it more and more clear, the sounds eventually turn into very calm hums and singing.

“I do hear it, sounds beautiful.”

Meanwhile, at the bow, Pinkie Pie is also hearing the singing. Slowly, she feels her senses dulling out, despite her efforts.

“So pretty,” she mumbles to herself, becoming more and more entranced in the music. With the fog starting to lift a little, a shadowy figure, surrounded in a light blue aura, can be seen ahead in Pinkie’s vision. As the ship slowly draws closer, the figure reveals itself to be a large, pink stallion standing on a rock poking from the water. “What are you doing out here?” Pinkie asks drowsily, “You big, strong, stallion you…” The mysterious stallion then motions a hoof for Pinkie to come towards him. The pink Earth pony obeys the gesture and leans herself over the front of the bow, puckering her lips and closing her eyes as her instincts hijack her mind. However, a large slam erupts throughout the ship as it crashes into the large rock and pushes it under, launching Pinkie back from the edge.

“What in the world?!” Applejack exclaims, having losing her hoofing in the short-lived crash. “Pinkie, did something happen up there?” No response is given. “Pinkie? Are you okay? Rarity, how about you?”

“So dreamy…” Rarity’s voice echoes from across the deck at the port side.

“Rarity, quit your daydreaming. Pinkie’s not responding and this darn singing’s making me sleepy.”

“…”

“Rarity?” Applejack starts to turn her head in attempts to look at Rarity, but stops midway upon seeing a figure with a light blue aura in the distance, hanging onto the tall stone cliff edge. “Who’s that?” Drawing close, the ship reveals that shadowy figure is a buff, orange stallion, standing on a rock platform low enough for the crashing waves to splash just a little onto it. Almost immediately, Applejack’s mind melts and her senses are knocked out upon seeing the stallion. “Oh, hi there, you seem to be quite a fine looking stallion, especially around these parts.” Gently, the new stallion motions a hoof for her to come to him. “If you say so…” However, before Applejack can walk off the side of the boat to the mysterious stranger, the ship smashes against her side of the ravine and grinds against it for a few seconds before pulling out, causing some large rocks to smack into the orange mare and cause her to trip back.

“Applejack? Rarity? Pinkie?” Spike nervously hollers at the edge of the poop deck, looking into the thick fog ahead for his friends. “Rainbow Dash? Fluttershy? Does anypony hear me?! Twilight!” Upon turning to Twilight, Spike is shocked to her nearly asleep on the wheel. “Twilight! Something’s wrong with the others! Wake up!”

“Just put the bacon in the pancakes,” Twilight coos.

“What? What’s bacon? Snap out of it, this ship’s going to sink at this rate.” The galleon then slams into the other wall of the ravine, sending the two flying a short distance to the left. “Twilight!”

“I can’t, you’re my cousin’s uncle’s great grandfather’s brother’s nephew twice removed…”

“What’s gotten into you and the others?” Slowly, still deep in her daze, Twilight gets up and slowly walks into the thick of the fog towards the bow. “Hey!” A sudden drop then hits as the ship falls down from a small unseen waterfall. Spike recovers from the fall quickly and runs towards Twilight, following her to the other mares gathering around at the port side of the bow. “Stop!” Spike looks over to where the others are drowsily staring at while their walking to see that over the side of the ship are a group of half-pony, half-fish creatures swimming alongside this rising waves. “Sirens! I should’ve known.” With the fog lifting even more, Spike soon discovers that he and his friends are now circling around in a large whirlpool with a large dark hole in the center. “Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, any one of you! They’re fake, sirens. They’re trying to kill us. Snap out of it!”

“Give me a big hug…” Pinkie sleepily cheers as she prepares herself to jump into what she sees as a handsome stallion pool party. Spike quickly reacts by grabbing a large rope by the front mast and wrapping it around the six clustered together, tying one end of the rope with the middle of it. With a mighty tug at the other end, Spike pulls the hypnotized mares away from the edge, tying his end to the mast to secure them.

“Okay, now I gotta steer this thing.” Frantically, Spike makes his way back to the wheel and grabs it tightly with his claws. Turning the wheel with matriculation, he turns the ship so that it circles around the outer edge of the whirlpool and keeps it in that orbit while he looks for a way out. After several loops, Spike sees that he is completely surrounded by stone walls. However, he soon notices that a portion of the circular wall is slanted at a fairly low angle. “If I remember what Twilight told me about force… if I can get the angle right, I can get this ship to go up there and out of this ravine,” However, before Spike can properly execute his escape strategy, a rumble, louder than the sirens’ singing, is heard from the black hole. “Uh oh…” Immediately after the roar, a giant monstrous creature bursts from the hole. With ten massive twenty metre long tentacles armoured in large scales, a tall arrowhead body covered in a shell of tangled metal and wood, and an enormous yellow eyeball, the baby dragon watches the creature in horror as it reveals itself from its hiding place.

So that’s the sirens are here, Spike thinks to himself as he tightly clutches the shuddering wheel, the sirens lure in ships, that giant squid takes down the ship and all of them feed on whatever’s inside. The large monster then reaches out a pair of large tentacles from its sides and swipes at the ship. It misses, barely nicking the rudder at the back. With Spike waiting now for the chance to escape, he realizes that he’s an open target for the squid. With the sirens’ music growing even louder, even dulling out the thrashing waves, the squid attacks once more, this time striking the front mast, breaking it from the rest of the boat and sending it drifting into the center of the whirlpool. With only the stump of it left and the six mares trying to reach the edge of the ship, the rope tied to the mast starts to slide upwards, towards the jagged top of the broken pole. Panic starts to develop inside Spike as he watches the rope gradually climb upward. Now halfway from reaching the point Spike wants to turn, the monster attacks again with three tentacles, bluntly striking the hull with each hit. Within a matter of moments, the ship breaks from its orbit and starts to descend into the whirlpool and closer to the squid in the center. “No!” Spike gasps, being only a quarter turn away from his goal. However, an idea sparks in Spike’s head on the spot. Grabbing the wheel tighter than ever before, Spike quickly turns the wheel so the ship is now aimed a little to the right of the beast. The galleon promptly charges forwards and right underneath the squid’s bulging eyeball and barely skimming the side of its hull with the metal armour of the monster. With the sirens’ singing hitting its climax, the ship then slams bow first into the stone slab, launching the ship upwards before landing back down onto the rock. Slowly, the large vessel grinds on the stone block with the rapidly dying momentum pushing it closer and closer to the top of the wall. Upon reaching the high top of the slanted stone slab, the ship stops and begins to teeter. Spike realizes that it didn’t have enough momentum to make it all the way as the ship soon begins to teeter more backwards, back towards the whirlpool with the sirens and squid waiting for them. Thinking quick, the small dragon rushes up the slanting ship and slams his body into the cluster of tangled mares, throwing them all towards the bow. With the extra weight immediately shifted to the front, the galleon leans forward over the wall and slowly drops into the open water outside and bobbing back into its normal position. The singing quickly dies down as the ship slowly drifts away from the giant wall and towards the clear, causing the six ponies to quickly snap out of their drowsy states.

“What happened?” Fluttershy asks as she massages her head, “My head hurts.”

“Why is there a rope around us?” Rainbow Dash asks in confusion, “Did we do something last night?”

“My memories’ all fuzzy…” Applejack groans, “But I remember something about some fog and us going into some Ley Line.”

“I was having a fantastic dream!” Rarity whines, not knowing of the truth, “I was with this dashing stallion and we were going out for a swim before something woke me up.”

“Have we entered the future?” Pinkie asks, having immediately recovered from her mind hijacking, “I knew that everything would be covered in water.”

“Spike?” Twilight grumbles as she looks at him forcefully clutching her chest from his body slam. “Did you do something?”

“Yes, I mean, no, I mean, something,” Spike rapidly stampers, trying to recollect his words after his near-death experience. “We were in the Central Ley Line, and then these sirens hypnotized us. You girls were anyways, but I wasn’t affected by their singing, maybe because I am a dragon. And then this giant squid in a whirlpool tried to attack us, so I had to take the boat and escape and-”

“Wait,” Pinkie interrupts him, “Did you say that a giant carnivorous squid attacked us?”

“Yes.”

“Ha! I win the bet! Pay up Fluttershy!”

“Oh come on!” The yellow pegasus roars on the other end of the cluster. “It’s just as likely as us being trapped inside an alternate universe.”

“Wanna bet-”

“No, no, no, one thousand times no!”

“I hope that explains the rope,” Rainbow Dash speaks as she climbs out of the bind.

“Oh my gosh,” Twilight gasps as she looks around the destroyed galleon. “What even happened in there while we were out? The front mast is missing, most of the windows are shattered, the bow has a large hole in it, and most of the paint’s chipped. What will Celestia say when she sees this?”

“She’ll say, ‘Wow! What a wreck!’” Pinkie replies.

“Not helping…”

“It’s fine.” Spike comforts the purple alicorn, “the important thing is that we made it out alive.”

“You’re right. Thanks Spike.”

“And besides, look at this in a good way. Thinks could’ve been a lot worse.”

Applejack immediately exclaims from behind Twilight and Spike’s sight, “Applebloom?!”

“Oh…”

“Sweetie Belle?!” Rarity exclaims as well.

“One more,”

“Scootaloo?!” Rainbow Dash adds.

“I just had to open my mouth…”

“Looks like they made it Captain,”

“I knew it.”

“So, back to Thieves’ Hold?”

“Correct.”

“I just don’t get it Korsan. Why are you so persistent about that one mare? A wench like her can be found pretty much every country. There’s even one in Thieves’ Hold that you like.”

“Dear Cousin Isyan, we all have our preferences and standards. And I have a very selective preference and a very high standard, so only a hoofful of the finest mares in the world would suit me. As such, I have very few chances of getting on their good side. I’m not cutting any corners with this one.”

“You realize that you’re putting the crew at risk with this mare-hunt of yours, excluding the fact that your childish leadership and this goal you’ve been ranting about has already put them in more than enough trouble.”

“Huh, you know what’s funny. That was the same feeling when I let you join my crew after your little incident.”

“…”

“Please Isyan, don’t try to challenge my authority in the future. You very well know of the consequences.”

“Trust me cousin, the thought of mutiny against you is something only the most ambitious of stallions have, and you’re the most out of anypony I’ve known.”

Next Chapter: Stowaway Cutie Marks Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours
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