This wasn't good, but at least I was alive.

Napoleon was the one holding all the cards at the moment, so it was him I'd have to try and convince to do... something. I had no idea what his goals were now that he had gotten rid of the Captain.

Honestly, seeing the Captain die like that and Napoleon shooting him in the face after the fact was... intense. Thankfully though, desensitization to brutal violence helped me get over the event soon enough, for the most part anyway.

I was at the very least able to focus on Napoleon and whatever it was he was planning to do.

"Now then, I suppose you have some questions for me, hmm?" the pig asked, tilting his head slightly and giving me a condescending smile, "well by all means, ask away. The crew won't interfere, and we've got all the time in the world."

"Well, we don't, actually," I replied after regaining my bearings, "I was gonna try to find a way to warn Rarity, but, well..."

I gave the blank faced mare a significant glance and Napoleon chuckled.

"I assume you're referring to the massive beast that's said to inhabit the waters near this area?" Napoleon guessed before shaking his head, "believe it or not, human, but I've traveled along this route many a time, and I've never once encountered the dreaded Charybdis."

He snorted and leaned forward with a slight scowl.

"I don't know who you've been talking to, but I can tell you from experience that there is no giant sea monster, human."

Somehow I was still inclined to believe Lassie. Still...

"Okay, fine," I replied, shifting to a more comfortable sitting position, "then can you tell me what's going on with the other ship? And the other ponies you captured?"

"Ah, worried about the remaining Elements of Harmony, eh?" Napoleon answered with a knowing smirk, "yes, I know all about them. Shame about poor Applejack and... Rainbow Dash, was it?"

He scrunched up his face in thought for a moment before giving a small shrug. I watched Rarity for any sign of recognition, and I swore I could see her frown slightly, just for a split second, but it was gone in a flash if the expression was even there at all.

"In any case, the ship holding the other ponies is about half a nautical mile ahead of us," Napoleon continued, "or at least, it should be. In fact..."

He pulled a pocket watch out of his suit and glanced at it briefly as he spoke. A moment later he nodded and replaced it back into his coat pocket before turning back to me.

"...the other ship should be slowing to a halt right about this time for the Captain's inspection. Who knows, maybe you'll get to see the others for yourself."

That... was actually great news.

If I could find a way out of this mess, I could get in contact with the other Elements. At the very least I wanted to know what kind of state they were in.

Probably not too good if Applejack and Rainbow Dash really were dead. That... would really suck. Without them, there was no using the Elements of Harmony.

As far as I knew, the Elements were Equestria's greatest line of defense, and they were rendered completely useless, not by a majorly powerful villain of epic proportions, but by some no name slaver in a foreign land.

Life just sucks sometimes.

A clearing of the throat caught my attention and I looked back up at Napoleon. He leaned back in the chair, folding his stubby little fingers in his lap and smirking at me.

"Before we go on, I'd like to talk about that favor you owe me," he cast Rarity a side glance, "Rarity, untie the human please."

Wordlessly, the mare lit up her horn and after a few seconds, I felt all of my bindings fall away. I quickly stood up and rubbed my sore wrists as I looked at Napoleon with a deep frown.

I could've tried to rush the pig and take him out, but he'd probably sic Rarity on me before I could do any real damage, and besides that, I wasn't really a fighter to begin with.

I opened my mouth to ask what he was planning, but was stopped short by the sound of several muffled footsteps in the distance outside the room.

They were getting closer to the door.

"You see, most of the crew is loyal to the Captain for one reason or another," Napoleon explained suddenly as he hopped off the chair, "there are some, that feel the way you and I do of course, and it was thanks to their efforts that I was able to pull this little stunt off at all..."

He walked over to one end of the room and laid down on the floor, much to my confusion. Still, he kept talking as if this was a normal occurrence.

The heavy footsteps and loud voices were getting closer.

"...unfortunately, the rest of the crew won't be too happy about what transpired here," Napoleon continued, nodding towards Rarity, "Rarity, if you would?"

Rarity then took the ropes that had been used to bind me, and used them to tie up Napoleon instead. My confusion spiked for only a moment before I realized what he was planning.

"Seriously?" I growled, looking from the now tied up swine to the door, "seriously? You're gonna use me as a scapegoat?"

"I'm afraid so, dear boy," he replied in an oddly gleeful tone, "if you want to repay me for saving your life, then you can start by taking my place on the chopping block," he then nodded at Rarity, "Rarity, the pistol."

Before I knew what was happening, something heavy was shoved into one of my hands.

The door slammed open and a burly black cat man, a lanky grey and white bird woman, and a muddy brown pig that was much taller than Napoleon burst into the room where they saw me standing there with a pistol in my hand.

The instant they entered, Napoleon starting squealing like the pig he was, his face twisted in a panic and tears streaming down his face. I couldn't help but stare in disbelief.

Dude... what the actual fuck?!

"HE KILLED HIM!" Napoleon squealed at the top of his lungs, "THE BASTARD ACTUALLY KILLED THE CAPTAIN!"

These three must've been really loyal to the Captain, because they all went ballistic. I didn't get a chance to say or do anything to defend myself as they made a beeline right for me.

I took a startled step back, but was quickly yanked forward by the larger pig and dragged towards the others. I was silently freaking out at this point, and didn't even bother to listen to what the crew was saying nor did I really notice them tear the incriminating from my hands.

All I could think about was my inevitable death as I stared at the smirking pig. Something slammed into the side of my head, and I saw stars. In my sudden pain and disorientation, I was only vaguely aware that my glasses had been knocked off of my face.

Another blow later and I was out.

---

An interesting fact about me.

I've never gotten a headache in my entire life, not even a minor one. I drank until I passed out once and woke up perfectly fine. No headache, no nausea... nothing.

To say that my first experience waking up with a headache was harrowing, would've been a drastic understatement.

I felt like someone was slamming a hammer into my head, and all I could do was keep my eyes clenched shut and groan in pain.

I was faintly aware of the creak of floorboards beneath me, and as I struggled to rise to my feet, I heard a voice somewhere to my left.

"Oi, lad," came a gruff and familiar feminine voice, "can ye hear me?"

It took me a second to realize the voice belonged to Lassie, and another second to realize I had been thrown back into my cell.

A second after that I realized my glasses were missing.

"Gah... fuck, man!" I hissed, wincing as my head throbbed painfully, "ahh, dammit this sucks."

"Salvatore, lad," came Lassie's urgent voice once more, "ye can hear me, can't ye?"

"Ugh," I grumbled, giving up and falling back on my ass. I scooted backwards until my back was against the wall and rubbed a hand across my face as I groaned again and answered, "yeah... yeah I can hear you."

"What happened out there, lad?" Lassie asked, "a few o' the Captain's crew came an' dragged yer carcass back down here. With all the commotion they were makin' I thought ye'd be fish food fer sure."

"No," I replied with a shaky sigh, "no, I just... got framed for a murder is all," I frowned and looked around me, "to be honest I thought I'd be dead right there... why'd they throw me back in the brig?"

"I can't answer that for ye lad," Lassie replied grimly, "but if what ye say is true, then I suspect they have somethin' nasty in mind fer ye."

My heart leapt into my throat at the thought. Against my better judgment, I asked the one thing I really didn't want the answer to.

"So... what can I expect, do you think?" I grimaced , "what kind of nasty thing are we talking about here?"

"Flogging most likely," Lassie replied solemnly, "they'll probably flay you alive with the Captain's cat-o'-nine-tails... and then toss ye screamin' overboard."

"...Oh."

I couldn't really say anything else to that.

I was boned, and there was nothing I could do about it. They weren't gonna be quick about it either and it was that fact that had me literally shaking.

I didn't like pain.

Shocking, I know, but I really hated the sensation. It was funny too, because I actually had a decent tolerance for pain, though I'm pretty sure that wouldn't mean anything if they were ripping my flesh off with a whip.

"You know, I wasn't quite sure what to do with you to be honest."

I stiffened at the sound of that familiar oily voice. My gaze snapped towards the bars of my cell just in time to see the blurry outline of Napoleon walk into view. I couldn't tell, but from the sound of his voice, I could only guess that he had that stupid shit eating grin on his face.

"It sounds like your punishment has already been decided without my input though, so I suppose it doesn't matter now," the pig continued. He reached into a jacket pocket, and pulled out something I couldn't make out, "the diamond bitch has the right of it, unfortunately for you."

He tossed the object through the bars and it hit the floor, sliding a ways before stopping just short of where I was sitting. Now that it was closer I was able to get a better look.

He had apparently gone out of his way to return my glasses.

I grabbed them and put them back on as the swine continued to speak.

"In a day's time, you'll be put to the whip in front of the entire crew as well as the rest of the slaves, though I'm not sure if they'll toss you overboard afterwords."

He chuckled and gave me another one of his infuriating smirks.

"You're lucky, you know," he said, taking a step back, "I've taken it upon myself to inspect the other ship, and I've also opted to postpone the flogging until all our affairs are in order. You should be grateful, human."

I didn't answer.

I really had nothing to say at this point, so I merely waited for him to continue. He frowned slightly, his brow furrowing in thought before once again placing a smirk back on his face.

"You needn't worry about those mares by the way," he said suddenly, "I'll make sure they're taken care of... after all we wouldn't want—"

Napoleon vanished.

There was no warning—no sound, no bright flash of light... nothing. He was there, and a blink of the eye later... he wasn't.

It was aimmediately after that that I began to hear muffled screams coming from somewhere up above. I looked up in confusion, wondering just what the hell was going on all of a sudden... and I wasn't the only one.

I heard all sorts of bemused muttering coming from the other prisoners around me. None of them had bothered to speak up until now, but whatever was going on apparenlty warranted some attention.

"What the devil is happenin' up there?" I heard Lassie mutter, "with all that racket, ye'd think the ship was bein'—"

Then I heard it.

It started out low, and at first, I didn't know what I was hearing... but then it gradually got louder. I wracked my brain trying to find out what it could be... and I didn't have to wonder for long as I came to a horrifying conclusion.

"The screech o' the ocean..."

Lassie's quiet shaky voice only cemented my fear as to what the sound could've possibly been. The noise seemed to come from everywhere at once, and it did indeed sound like a horrible drawn out deep screech.

I could feel it shake the boat, and my heartbeat picked up more and more as the sound droned on. I stood up and stumbled over to the bars, looking this way and that for something that would help get me out of here.

I needed to see what was going on.

"Lassie!" I cried, "Lassie, is that guard still there?"

No response.

"Lassie?!"

I thought I heard her mutter something, but I couldn't tell over the increasingly panicked voices of the other prisoners.

"Lassie, can you hear me?!" I shouted, "we need to—"

"It's over lad."

The quiet voice somehow managed to cut through the cacophony and reach me—slamming into me like a punch to the gut.

"What?" I asked incredulously, "you're giving up? Really?"

"We're trapped like rats, boy," came Lassie's bitter reply, "ain't no savin' us now—not like this."

I... found it hard to argue with that, but still, something wasn't right about all this. Why and how did Napoleon disappear like that?

Wasn't the Charybdis supposed to be a bit farther out according to Lassie herself? No, something was definitely off about this entire thing.

I may have been more scared than I've ever been in my life, but I still needed to know what the hell was going on. Unfortunately I wasn't going to find out anything—much less survive—if I was cooped up in this cell.

I needed a way out, and I needed it now.

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