//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Freedom 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

	It was so peaceful lying in the sun with a gentle breeze.  Fluttershy didn’t realize she’d been asleep until Rainbow began shaking her and screaming obscenities.
“Get your lazy flank up!  We’ve got five armed speedboats closing in on us!”
Fluttershy squeaked and jumped straight up.  Rainbow collared the other pegasus around the neck and dragged her inside.
Twilight was leaning over her computers and staring intently at the radar picture.  Applejack reclined in her usual place in the command chair, although her body showed nervous tension.  The radio beside the orange mare came to life.  “Sweet Apple, come in.”
Applejack regarded the radio for a moment before warily picking up the microphone.  “That’s us.  Sounds like you, Blueblood.”
The reply was a haughty laugh.  “It appears that my reputation precedes me.”
“Naw,” said Applejack.  “Celestia told us you were comin’.  As for your reputation, I was talkin’ to Rarity the other day—”
There was a burst of static that interrupted her.  Blueblood’s voice came back.  “Well, if you knew we were coming, then you certainly know why.”
“Eeyup.”  Applejack sighed with resignation.  “And don’t worry, we'll give you exactly as much mercy as you would give us."  She tossed the microphone aside.
“Who was that?” whimpered Fluttershy.
“A stallion that’s a mite full of himself.  He’s got a little fleet and thinks that makes him royalty or somethin’.”  Applejack shrugged.
“Those-those speedboats have guns!  You’re acting so…casually.”
“Well sugarcube, I’d rather die relaxed than in terror.  ‘Course I’d like to go on livin’ if that’s an option.  Don’t worry none about those boats or their weapons.  We’ve got plenty of our own.”
Rainbow chose that moment to walk through the door carrying a machine gun and a grenade launcher in addition to her usual brace of pistols.  Fluttershy gulped.  They’re actually going to have a shootout on the high seas!  “I…I want to leave!”
“Nothing stopping you,” commented Rainbow.  “If you get up in the air, you can probably see land from here.”
Fluttershy flung open the door and started to step out on deck.  She saw one of the speedboats pulling alongside.  A pony operating a mounted machine gun turned, pointing the weapon at her.
There was an explosion right beside Fluttershy’s ear.  A well placed shot from Rainbow took down the hostile pony, and also set Fluttershy’s ears ringing.  She squealed and hopped backwards, ending up on the deck behind Applejack’s chair.  The earth pony calmly adjusted the throttles, slowing the boat slightly.
“Why aren’t we speeding up?” pleaded Fluttershy.  “Can we outrun them?”
“Maybe.”  Applejack stared out the windshield.  “But if you don’t take care of your problems as soon as you can, they’ll wear on you ‘till you do.  Trust me, that ain’t the kind of burden you want.”
Amid scattered gunfire from outside, Twilight called for Fluttershy.  The yellow pegasus dashed towards the computer room, thinking perhaps the electronics could provide some extra protection from incoming bullets.
“I need you to check something for me,” Twilight said.  “We’re getting another radar contact.  It’s moving fast, and I think it’s probably some kind of air unit.  There’s no way to tell what it is from here, so I need you to go and see.”
“Are you crazy?” asked Fluttershy, her voice barely audible over the sound of gunfire.
“Rainbow will protect you.”
“How can you be sure?” Fluttershy squeaked.  “She doesn’t like me!”
“Just give her a chance,” suggested Twilight.  “This is really important that we know what we’re up against, and I’m sure she’ll understand that.”
That was perhaps the craziest thing anypony had ever asked her to do.  Going outside where bullets were flying was the last thing Fluttershy wanted.  She stepped out of the computer center intent on taking shelter in a more secure location, but Applejack swung the wheel over hard.  As the boat skewed sideways, Fluttershy stumbled and plowed into the door.  It burst open, and the yellow pegasus found herself sprawled on the deck and exposed to gunfire.
A pair of the speedboats were on fire.  Sweet Apple’s sudden maneuver had forced them into a collision.  Rainbow had finished off both.
“What are you doing here?” demanded the multicolored pegasus.  She aimed a burst of machine gun fire at one of the remaining three boats.
“Th-there’s a new contact on radar!” Fluttershy managed to shout above the chaos.  “Twilight says it’s the flying kind.”
A couple of bullets slammed into the bulkhead beside the two of them and Fluttershy dropped to the deck again.
“This is no time to go tree on me!” shouted Rainbow.  “If we’ve got more bad guys incoming, then we’ll need more firepower.  Load this mag.”
Fluttershy stared at the steel magazine and the box of shells that were dropped in front of her.  “I don’t know how!”
The other mare shook her head in disgust and took to the air.  Like a blur, she zoomed at one of the remaining boats.  There was a pop from the grenade launcher she carried, and the vessel went up in a fiery explosion.
Fluttershy watched Rainbow work, noticing some of the rhythm the multicolored pegasus had possessed at the bar fight.  She’d obviously done things like this before, and often.  Fluttershy noticed her smile.  It was okay to be proud of your skills, but how could anypony enjoy this?
Rainbow turned towards the remaining two boats.  Diving at the first, she fired at the crew.  They had all been hit by the time she landed on it.  After kicking at the steering wheel to send the speedboat off course, the mare set her sights on the last target.
A white unicorn stallion who appeared more striking than the rest of his crew was aboard.  With a panicked expression on his face, he spun his vessel around in an attempt to flee.  A missile came screaming out of the sky and annihilated the boat in an explosion.
Rainbow jerked her head up, staring with astonishment at two small aircraft that were rapidly closing on the boat.  She rushed back to Sweet Apple and dropped to the deck beside Fluttershy.  “That’s a pair of gun-armor equipped pegasi closing on us!  I need a better weapon!”
The two incoming ponies were equipped with metal suits that resembled miniature fighter jets.  They were armed with missiles and guns.  While pegasus ponies were naturally good at flying, the extra weight was handled by compact jet engines.
“But they helped us…” said Fluttershy, getting up.
Rainbow stared at her incredulously.  “Whoever these mercenaries are, they had no trouble killing a bar full of ponies.  They probably bumped off Blueblood on purpose just to have us all to themselves.”
As if to prove her right, a line of bullets stitched the deck with holes.  Rainbow pushed Fluttershy away from her, and the bullets passed between the two of them.
“You can’t stay still,” shouted Rainbow.  “If you do, you die.”
Fluttershy was pretty much continuously whimpering by this point, but somehow managed to heed Rainbow’s advice.  She scrambled to the side of the boat, finding shelter beside a large steel tube.
“You know that’s a torpedo launcher, right?  There’s about five hundred pounds of TNT in there.”  Having warned Fluttershy about the dangers of what she was taking cover behind, Rainbow slapped a new magazine in her weapon and sprang into the air.  The two armored pegasi had been anticipating her move and were quick to pounce.  Rainbow wasn’t hit, but was forced to tumble across the deck to escape the hail of bullets.  She growled savagely and blindly fired in the air, out of anger more than anything.
The pair of attackers swept low over the boat, seemingly taunting everypony aboard.  “They’re teasing us!” screamed Rainbow.  “We’re sitting ducks, and they know it!”
“Can we surrender?” asked Fluttershy.  
The other mare looked at her with surprise and more than a little disgust.  “They’re not trying to capture us, they’re trying to kill us.  Playing around first just shows what kind of sick ponies they are.”
“I…I can’t take it anymore!”  Fluttershy sprinted across the deck, heading towards the stern of the boat.  Her wings flared as she gathered speed for takeoff.
“Stop!” shouted Rainbow.  In the instant before her hooves left the deck, Fluttershy suddenly changed her mind.  She dropped flat, crying out as the attacking pegasi opened fire.
Their bullets missed by a wide margin.  The two ponies were so surprised that she hadn’t taken to the air that they overshot their target and collided.  A thunderous explosion reverberated off the steel deck as jet fuel and weapons went up in flames.  The wreckage dropped into the ocean behind the boat, quickly disappearing beneath the waves.
Fluttershy raised her head.  While her ears were still ringing, it was apparent that things were much quieter now.  The only sounds were of wind and the throb of the engines below deck.
A hoof nudged her shoulder.  Fluttershy looked up to see Rainbow standing over her.  The blue pegasus glanced down at her, looking like she couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.
Fluttershy got up.  “Thank you,” she said quietly.  “If it weren’t for you, I would have been dead.”
Rainbow’s lip twitched and she turned away suddenly.  “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had to save your flank.  I don’t care if you got lucky and took out those armored units.”  She stomped back towards the wheelhouse.
Fluttershy allowed a small smile to come to her lips.  You’re welcome.  She followed Rainbow.
Applejack peered out from the door as the two of them approached.  “Amen, hallelujah, apple butter, what in the world just happened?”
“Let’s talk about it later,” muttered Rainbow, pushing past her.  Applejack swung her gaze to Fluttershy.  The orange mare gave her a nod and opened the door wider to let her in.
Twilight sat at the controls in Applejack’s absence.  “We’re on course for Celestia’s compound.  We should be there soon.”
Rainbow brought out a bottle of rum.  She screwed off the cap and was about to chug straight from the bottle when she stopped, noticing Fluttershy staring at her.  After a somewhat awkward pause, Rainbow asked, “Would you like some?”
“A friendly drink would be nice,” agreed Fluttershy.



The port was somewhat more exclusive than Roanapur.  Above the docks, there was an old stone structure built on the hill.  It was vaguely castle-like, and looked as if it had stood the test of time rather well.  Fluttershy looked up at it while Applejack and Rainbow secured the boat.  She also noticed the group of armed ponies patrolling the area.
The meeting with Celestia was supposed to facilitate negotiations with Fluttershy’s company.  Applejack had speculated that it was working to Celestia’s advantage, but seemed to be okay with that.  Twilight had added that it was much better to be friends with Celestia than enemies.  
Rainbow had merely stated, “She’s a freaking chessmaster.  Of course she’s got a plan.”
“Chessmistress,” corrected Twilight.
Celestia herself certainly seemed mysterious enough.  She was tall and had a pearly white coat, offset by a pastel mane.  The horrific burn scars on her face and chest did nothing to detract from the aura of majesty that seemed to hover around her.
Fluttershy very much wanted to ask what had happened to Celestia, but considering how much power she must wield to have so many guards under her command, thought it better to say as little as possible.
That proved impossible when Celestia addressed her directly.  “Fluttershy, I’ve been in contact with your company.  They’ve decided to cut their losses and forget the situation as long as you agree to never return to Ponyville.”
“Well, with the way they treated her, I can’t imagine that she would want to,” said Applejack.
“What about the phoenix?” asked Twilight.
“The buyer backed off as well, due to so much pressure from law enforcement.”  Celestia smiled.  “I would be willing to take her off your hooves, however.  I’ve always wanted a phoenix.  I’m sure we can reach a fair price.”
“Yeah!” Rainbow cheered.  Celestia swung her gaze to the multicolored pony.
“If you’d like, I have another paying job for you.  There’s an artifact called the Alicorn Amulet that I’m interested in.”  Celestia nodded out the window towards the ocean.  “It’s on a sunken submarine out there somewhere.  I’d like to have it retrieved before an annoying unicorn supremacist group gets a hold of it.”
“Sounds good,” said Applejack.
Twilight nodded in agreement.  “I’ll get everything set up.”
“Good thing we’ve got a pony who knows how to scuba dive,” said Rainbow, touching Fluttershy on the shoulder.
The yellow pegasus gasped in surprise.  “Me?  But…”
The three members of the Apple Company stared at her.  Applejack coughed.  “See, we were meaning to talk to you about this…”
“Now that you can’t go home, you certainly don’t want to hang around Roanapur alone,” said Twilight.  “And besides, how could we turn away the nicest pony any of us has ever met?  Right Rainbow?”
“Um.”  Rainbow cut her eyes back and forth before crossing her forehooves defiantly.  “I just want somepony who might be able to keep up with me drink for drink.”
Fluttershy was taken aback.  How could she become a pirate?  This was not a place for her!  “I don’t know.  I’m not anything like you.”
“Sugarcube, none of us are like the others,” Applejack pointed out.  That was true enough.  None of the three had much in common.  Fluttershy wouldn’t be the odd one out for her personality.
“But I don’t think I could do anything that you do.  I don’t like shooting.”
“Neither do I,” said Twilight.
“But…but…”
Rainbow rolled her eyes.  “Look, we aren’t going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do.  We’ve all got our freedom.”
That was something Fluttershy had noticed.  The lawlessness gave everypony free choice to do what they wanted.  Many turned to crime, but there was nothing that said they had to.  There was nothing that said Fluttershy had to, either.  Maybe she could even make an honest corporation out of the Apple Company—starting with Rainbow.
She smiled timidly.  “I'd like that."