Over the Edge and Over Again: Chapter 16
The Black Pearl
From the streets below, the few ponies that actually dared to look back saw the black ship as it continued to hang there in the night sky, touched only by the flickering light of the moon as it struggled through the torn and tattered sails. On board, the men stood tall and looked up to their captain as he gazed down on everything else, his form reduced to a wandering pile of bones and rotten flesh.
Whilst the rest of their kind fled through open streets and back alleys, Twilight and her friends stood their ground. They nervously watched as the other ponies pushed and shoved, galloping away in frantic and disarrayed herds.
At the very edge of the ship was Hector Barbossa. He peered over, casually leaning his ragged form against the railing of the main deck. He surveyed the world below as the rest of his crew roared and danced around behind him, cheering in his own rasping voice.
As the last pony to flee the vicinity vanished from sight, the Elements of Harmony reaffirmed their resolve to one another and gave their full attention to the enemy above.
Moments passed, and as the mares stood still, Barbossa never spoke a word. Instead, he simply stared at them. He confidently tried to curl his lips into a smile, despite his how his own body betrayed him. His rotten skin and the remains of his lips clung to his skull like a foul mould, and a horrid, torn attempt at a grin surfaced instead.
Despite his skeletal appearance, the mares below didn't sway under him. They were too far away to see him with complete clarity, and they were thankful for it.
“Hector, listen to me!”
Deep down, even if his actions seemed to suit him perfectly, Twilight knew he wasn't acting on his own mind. She also doubted simple words were ever going to actually reach him, but despite the pointlessness of it all, she tried anyway. What else could she do with him so out of the way and well protected?
“Discord's just pulled you into one of his twisted games! He's got you right where he wants you! Please! You don't have to do this.”
Barbossa recoiled sharply at her words with a poor rendition of surprise to accompany it.
“Yer... right, Miss Sparkle. I'm... I am no beast's pawn! I'm me own man! I don't have te do this!”
Restoring his composure, he uttered a single word and waved his hand out towards the city in front of him. In the moments that followed, the air exploded in a hail of smoke and iron as the cannons fired, reducing the stunning equine architecture in their way to a pile of crumbling debris and dust. The faint sound of screams could be heard through the turmoil and destruction.
“No!” Barbossa bellowed back down. He didn't bother holding back the laughter rising from his gut. “I want te do it!”
Sure that the cannon-fire had ceased, Rainbow flew up to the ship. She stopped just below the deck this time, not quite sure she was ready to tackle the arsenal of pistols waiting for her up there.
“Where's Fluttershy, Hector?!"
The captain of the Barbossas took out his flintlock and dangled it loosely between his fingers as he returned to the railing of the ship. He waved the barrel of the weapon in Rainbow's general direction and swung it gently from side to side.
“I have no idea. Maybe ye should be keepin' a better eye on yer pets?”
“I know you know where she is! And she's our friend, not our pet!”
“Pet, or not,” he joked, “I have no idea where she is. Perhaps she found some other lady-friends to occupy her time?”
She ignored his taunts. Though, much to her own annoyance, a brief glimpse of the deck and the men gathered there convinced her she wasn't any closer to her goal. She was certainly ready to argue some more, but soon found herself cut off.
“But we're wastin' time. Right men?!”
Raising their fists into the air, the crew cheered along with their captain. Four of them marched forward, joining the talkative Barbossa at the edge of the ship. Each struggled with a long, thick piece of rope held in their arms, and one by one, they flung them overboard. The loose ends fell past Rainbow and struck the cobblestone streets below with a dull thud.
“And I'm finished,” Barbossa growled to Rainbow. “Done dealin' wi' the likes o' you.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“Since the day we met, I've been abidin' by yer customs, yer rules. Helpin' the ponies in town, tendin' te the children, and givin' 'em tattoos. But now...”
He raised a skeletal hand into the air and snapped his dry, bony fingers together. The sound resounded, and with its toll, the crew behind him began to move. The four men from before took hold of their ropes, and they grasped onto them tight as they leaped overboard.
“Now, Rainbow Dash. Now yer in my world.”
The four Barbossas hit the ground and landed unsteadily on their feet. When they found their footing, they stretched their backs and stood up to their full heights. They all reached to their sides, drawing out their swords.
Applejack pushed herself forward, head held low as she guarded those behind her. Rainbow dived down from the sky and joined her as Twilight stepped up her guard too. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen.
“Um...hello?” Twilight timidly asked.
Ignoring Twilight's words, the men just stood there, still and silent. Everything about them was identical; the clothes they wore, their movements, their mannerisms. Their faces. They were just like the Hector they knew. The only difference was that, unlike the original, they didn't wear a hat; only a dark green bandanna. Their captain was the only one still wearing it.
“The all powerful Elements o' Harmony,” Captain Barbossa grumbled under his breath with a dead smile, just loud enough for the crew to hear. “Strike 'em down! Show 'em no quarter!”
And the four men did as they were told.
The first of the pirates lunged forward, slicing his sword down towards the ponies before Rainbow swiftly bucked him out of the way, throwing him down onto the ground. She gasped as two of the others came forward in his place, their own swords aimed for her head.
Shoving her friend out of the way, Applejack turned to kick the pirates. She missed one and landed a firm hit on the others' arm. The man she failed to attack continued in with his own. She barely had a time to dodge before the sharp blade grazed her hide.
Seething through her teeth, Applejack stumbled back away from her attackers as four more made their way down from the ship, hauling themselves overboard and sliding down the rope.
“There's more comin' down!” she cautioned.
As the new arrivals dropped to the ground, more than willing to serve their good captain's cause, another set of four were already forming at the brink of the ship.
Stumbling back from yet another attack aimed her way, Twilight struggled to put her magic to any use. Every time she cast a spell, the men barely seemed to acknowledge it. If she attempted to levitate their weapons away, they pulled them free from her influence. If she attacked them outright, they shrugged her magic away as if it was nothing at all.
That was even if they gave her enough time to cast a spell at all. If she got the chance to try again, she soon found herself dodging another incoming attack. And from the looks of it all, Rarity wasn't faring any better.
“Our magic isn't working on them!”
Barbossa yelled from his position, ordering more of his men over the side of the ship.
“Now why would I do what I'm doin' if that weren't the case?” Barbossa mocked them, laughing. “Let's see ye take away me weapons now!”
Another group of four came down, and then another. And each time a new selection of old boots touched down, they went for their weapon of choice and chose a target. More than a dozen littered the ground, and more were at ship’s edge, ready and eager to follow.
Pinkie was running circles around one of the men, jumping from side to side on her hind legs as she raised her forehooves into the air and boxed them around. Pistol ready and aimed, the pirate sneered at the pink mare. His attempt to fire was foiled as Pinkie dived down and bucked him hard in the stomach.
The Barbossa wheezed and slowly fell to the ground as another duplicate elbowed him out of the way. He unsheathed his sword and began his own assault on the pink nuisance.
“I think,” Pinkie said as she gleefully hopped back further and further, avoiding the pirate as he fruitlessly tried to slice her open, “we're making them angry...”
“Too angry,” Rarity agreed.
Barbossa watched from above as more of his other selves leapt overboard. Amidst the struggle, Twilight looked up into his eyes, her own sad and pleading. A brief glimmer of hope flickered across her features when Hector calmly stared back. But all she got was an undead pirate looking back at her with an degraded, incomplete grin. Not another moment was spared on her as he urged another selection of his men down to the steadily growing battlefield. He wasn't going to let her ruin his fun.
Eventually Twilight accepted the rejection, and turned her attention away from him as well.
“Just go. We can't take this many of them on our own.”
The others nodded before heading down the nearest escape route they could find. All five of them retreated back down a nearby alleyway as their tails trailed in the air behind them.
Hector Barbossa glanced down at the world below. First to the mares as they ran, their power over him gone, and then to the men at his beck and call. A crew crafted and molded in his image, and the finest replica of the finest ship his world had to offer. And he adored what he saw.
“Five o' ye, get after those cullies! I want their hides linin' the cabin walls!”
Five of them men did as their captain ordered, and dutifully gave chase.
“The rest o' ye, take a walk through town,” he calmly commanded. “The vermin of this world think themselves better than us just because they have command over the weather and magic at their control. They think themselves better than us because their world blossomed in peace without chaos or anarchy clawin' at their back. I say it's high time they saw what the world was meant te be like! Let's see how they take a world they can't control, a world where the rain falls hard an' cold on their furry faces! A world where pirates are no longer a child's fairy-tale.”
Each of the men cheered as a harsh, grating chorus spread over their ship, the new Black Pearl. They marvelled at the world being described, their merciful natures as poor as their captain's.
“Their homes are demolished and their spirits are broken! Now get me what I'm due. I want everythin' they think they deserve. Every jewel, every speck of gold and silver. Anythin' of interest or value! I want it all layin' at me feet!”
The brash, cackling laughter continued to fill the air as the men mindlessly and excitedly set about their task. They ran in different directions, spreading like a plague throughout the streets of Canterlot. The rest of the crew on board continued to pour from the ship, heaving themselves down the long ropes in perpetual groups of four.
Five of the men had a different task, however, and they kept to it as loyally as their brethren did. The five ponies galloped on, constantly trying not to look back to their pursuers.
But even without looking back, Twilight could tell they were gaining ground. Not only had they been given a head start, they also had another advantage; the mares all had four legs, and the humans only had two. While humans could have been faster, it was still something small to hold onto.
And sure enough, when she finally took the chance to glance back, the pirates were falling behind.
“Keep going! They're not fast enough!” Twilight yelled, mustering a smile as the sun suddenly popped unceremoniously into the sky.
The others didn't bother nodding to Twilight; they felt that continuing on was a better use of their energy. The mares ran on, and bit by bit, the men fell further and further behind. And they knew it. The pirates struggled and panted as their legs refused to take them as far as they wanted to go.
So one of them stopped. The man reached down to his side and grabbed hold of his firearm. Lifting the pistol from its resting place, the static Barbossa raised it, and without a moment of hesitation or restraint, fired. His arm recoiled as the bullet shot through the air with a loud bang.
And Rainbow wailed out in pain as the shot hit its target. She fell over to the ground, grinding against the stone slabs as she scraped to a stop against them.
“Rainbow!”
The others stopped at the sound of Rarity's voice. Rainbow's right, hind leg was bleeding from just below the knee. Slowly, the cyan mare got to her hooves, and she hissed through her teeth and held her eyes shut tight.
“Right,” Twilight warned, her nostrils flared. “That's enough!”
Stamping her forehooves on the ground, Twilight pointed her horn in the pirates' direction. Focusing on the cobbles around her hooves, she forced them into the air as the humans took a step back. They all raised their pistols to fire, not that it helped them.
“I can't cast spells on you, but around you is good enough for me!”
The pirates watched as the cobbles from the streets burst from their rightful places and shot into the air and straight towards them. Three of the men fired their flintlocks, failing to hit anything as the bricks hit them instead. Two of them fell back as multiple projectiles hit their torsos, and the other three howled as their arms were attacked instead.
Unable to refill his gun, one of the Barbossas pulled out his sword and deflected whatever he could as more cobblestones shot in their direction. He repelled most that came his way, and his comrades followed in his example, only for his blade to snap clean in half soon after.
Gritting his teeth, the Barbossa looked towards his attacker. But he couldn't see her. In the place of the alleyway that had been there before, a crudely constructed wall was now forming, built from mismatched stones and bricks.
He turned to his mates, only to see another forming behind them. Stones flew in from above and clicked swiftly and firmly into place with bright flashes and sparks of purple magic.
The five men howled as they hurled attacks at the wall, kicking at the bricks as it continued to grow higher and higher. More stones came from above and a choice few struck the men on their shoulders and stomachs. Then the walls began closing it.
The mares watched curiously as Twilight concentrated. She pulled more and more bricks from the ground as the pirates fought their losing battle with the stones. The walls had began to fold in on themselves, with one continuous dome starting to form as the ends met each other.
Eventually, Twilight teetered back to look at her work. The alleyway was now mostly dirt and weeds, and the bricks were now piled and fused together into a single stone dome. The humans could still be seen and heard from inside as they moaned and roared through the crude gaps the different sized bricks created.
As easy as it was to justify pelting them with bricks and kicking them to the ground, Twilight couldn't bring herself to genuinely try and kill the creatures. And after what they did to Rainbow, it was also so much more satisfying to see them trapped inside something she had made.
“Come on. That should buy us some time.”
The mares nodded before continuing down the streets. Rarity ran to Rainbow and offered a shoulder for support, but was politely declined. Rainbow casually waved the unicorn away as she hovered into the air and shakily followed on behind the rest of her friends.
Out of the noise, one man shouted above the others in a harsh, broken voice. If the mares had stayed a few seconds longer to hear what he had to say, they might have thought he had yelled, "sparkle".
But they didn't, and while not desperately, they still ran from the pirates they had left behind. The ship wasn't far, and they didn't want to risk more men catching up to them.
Their alleyway split into two, so they chose left as they ran through more twists and turns in the hopes it got them somewhere marginally safer. They all breathed hard, but none were doing so more than Rainbow. She was flying as fast as the others could run, though her pained expression and clenched teeth gave her away.
Coming to the end of the alleyway, the five mares slowed to a stop as they came to see a larger road in front of them. It was a wide main street, and one that lead through various turns up to the castle. The pavement was littered with various shops and buildings, some broken and charred from the cannons, and others barely recognisable as buildings at all. Wrecked stalls and carts lay strewn across the road, as did their wares.
The groups of ponies herding themselves up the street were more noticeable, however. They all galloped as fast they could down the streets while the humans bled from the flying ship in the distance and gave chase after them.
But like before, the ponies were all faster and none of the men ever caught up. For the most part, anyway; some appeared injured and cut as they limped along with the others.
As more and more ponies evacuated the main street, the Barbossas soon began to ignore them and focus on what had been left behind. Some of the men never even reached the creatures they were chasing.
They instead chose to ram into doors, kicking them down or destroying them outright with small explosives, for no other apparent reason than to cause more chaos than they already had.
More and more of the men raided the buildings, and for as many as there seemed to be moving in, a small number eventually began moving back to the ship, their undeserved spoils in hand. Which was, apparently, anything they pleased.
One was carrying a selection of hats within his arms. A particularly fancy collection of hats, for that matter. He was wearing one too; a large, yellow top hat with a wide rim. Another was riding away at a near breakneck speed, hunched clumsily over a foals scooter as he struggled to control it properly.
“They're just... stealin' everything?” Applejack asked.
“I think so,” Twilight answered as she looked between the men and the pastel colours of the ponies scattered around. A small number of whom had stopped to watch the strange, bipedal pirates raid their homes
Then again, that is what Hector had said he'd do; get all the treasure he wanted. And nopony was exactly trying to stop him from doing so. Realising the pirates seemed to be more than occupied with their current objective, Twilight turned her attention to Rainbow. She was sat on the ground, her breathing laboured.
“Rainbow, how are you holding up?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah... fantastic. You know, considering that's the second time he's broken one of my legs,” she managed to say.
Twilight was prepared to argue that it wasn't exactly Hector's fault, nor did it appear that her leg was actually broken per say, but she decided that now wasn't the time to argue. Especially if it involved standing up for the alien who had organised a looting spree of the city and shot her friend in the leg.
“Just stay still for a moment.”
Twilight focused on her friend's leg, controlling her magic as it kneaded and hugged the injury. While she had a decent amount of knowledge on healing spells, the purple mare had only gone as far as healing cuts and the occasional small breaks in bones, and even then, she'd practised a lot before even trying.
Healing somepony else's injuries shouldn't have been all that hard, in theory. But she'd only ever healed herself for the most part, and even then she'd studied for it. A lot. She'd needed x-rays and knowledge of unicorn anatomy. She had practised on a plastic skeleton and memorised the structures of the body-parts she'd wanted to heal.
The only reason she'd healed her ribs on the spot a week ago was because she'd healed them before; back when she was trying to study Pinkie's sense and had her... incident with Ditzy. If it had been anything else that had happened to her, she would have seen sense and went to hospital.
Rainbow's wound was deep, but save for the bullet embedded inside, it appeared to be fine. Both the muscle and the bone had been untouched. The only problem was how would she go about healing a bullet wound?
A dull thudding echoed into the alley as three men stormed past, prompting the mares to adhere to their instinct and dive back. Rainbow winced and covered her mouth as she leaned more than she wanted to on her leg. The aliens wandered by unperturbed, and the mares all breathed a small sigh of relief.
Moving back to the the task at hoof, Twilight did the best she could. She numbed the wound and did what she could to cease the slow but steady blood-flow. She then began easing the small bullet out of its nesting place, only for it to entice the blood out that little bit quicker.
Finally giving into the sour frown on Rainbow's face, Twilight left the metal ball where it was, and numbed the wound once more. A piece of cloth to physically stem the blood would have greatly helped. She'd never really needed to heal anything more than a cut when it came to gashes on the skin.
There was a reason there were different doctors for different injuries; they each had specialities. Pistol wounds apparently weren't among Twilight's.
“We need to get you cleaned up, Rainbow.”
The cyan mare shakily nodded, almost tempted to say she already knew that. It wasn't so much the pain that bothered her. That was bearable, and she'd suffered plenty worse before, but the sight of her own blood spreading around her leg made her stomach churn.
Broken bones and wings were fine. It was just the more red she saw, the more squeamish it seemed to make her. In the end, she just deterred herself from looking, which didn't work as well as she thought it would.
“And how do we go about doing that?” Rarity asked.
“If I had enough time to concentrate and something to cover the wound, I'm sure I could heal it.”
“Saying that is all well and good, Twilight, but I can't see time being on our side right now. That, and there's an army of pirates gallivanting all around the place.”
“And we still ain't got a good idea of where Fluttershy is,” Applejack interjected. “There aren't even any guards around town.”
“Or Spike and the princesses,” Pinkie added.
Rainbow giddily nodded from where she sat on the floor and looked outwards the pirates raiding the buildings outside the alley. Most of the ponies were gone now, though a few still at least tried to fight back.
The pegasi were having the most luck. They dived down from above and pushed the men down to the ground. She wouldn't be surprised if some had also stolen their weapons, much like she had done when Hector first arrived.
Though, it all seemed pointless in the end. If the downed men didn't get back up, a few more arrived in their place soon after.
Across the street, there was also another skirmish taking place that caught her attention. Two earth ponies, who looked rather upper-class in their top-hats and monocles, bucked and kicked against another pair of humans that had managed to get halfway through the door to their home. At least, Dash assumed it was their home.
And while it seemed for the slightest moment that the ponies were winning, using whatever they could to get the advantage, they lost in the end. As their attacks continued, one of the men pulled out his pistol, and it only took the sight of a sword and the sound of the flintlock firing to scare them away.
Rainbow looked to the ponies who stood by and watched. Some were close to the men, but until they got in the way, nothing seemed to happen. The Hectors would scrounge and steal to their hearts’ content.
“They aren't bothered about us.”
“What?” Twilight asked.
“The Hectors,” Rainbow pointed out, “Unless we go after them, they don't go after us.”
Raising an eyebrow, Twilight slowly marched out into the city street, expecting the complaint unfounded. But Rainbow as right. While most of the aliens had a weapon at hand, none seemed inclined to attack unless something stood in their way. A few brave ponies even watched as their homes were robbed, and received nothing more than angered grunts and sidelong glances for their trouble.
That's when something else caught her eye; the pirates weren't the only thing the ponies had been running from. Buildings that were once rooted to the ground now lay marooned in the air. They shared the same invisible sea with that of the blackened pirate ship bobbing up and down in the distance.
The sky sifted and churned. The sun was high, shining down on the city, yet the sky itself was dark and cold. A storm was brewing. Lightning crackled across the horizon and thunder sounded to match with the marching men below, yet there were no clouds. It was as if it was all drawn onto the sky itself, behind the sun. Like a painting of a raging storm at sea. Wafts of sands flicked at Twilight's eyes, and a damp wind stroked at her coat. Bizarrely, it smelled like fresh blueberries.
And yet, the world was not upside down. The clouds were not raining chocolate milk and the hills were not patterned like old chess boards. Everything was getting there slowly. A little old storm of chaos was brewing. Literally.
“I think everypony might have guessed Discord's free...”
“But what about the Hectors? Why are we the only ones getting shot at?”
“I don't know. Maybe the Hectors looting Canterlot have other priorities,” Twilight responded. “I think we should just get away from the Hectors that are trying to hurt us before they manage to get out of their cage.”
The others nodded, and careful not to distract the Barbossas pillaging down the street, the five mares moved up the road towards the castle. Though Applejack stopped in front of Rainbow before following.
“On ma back, now. Y'all ain't in no fit state to be walkin'.”
Initially trying to shake the offer away, Rainbow soon found herself nodding. Applejack pulled the pegasus onto her back and shifted around until they were both comfortable. Once the all clear to move was given, the farmer followed on behind the others.
Despite the number of ponies that had ran through the streets, very few were left now. The only ponies outside were those brave enough to attempt a counter-attack on the pirates, while the rest appeared to be hiding in whatever buildings or dwellings they could.
Though, Twilight realised, some were probably just waiting for the men to finish their raid. She assumed they were thinking logically; if there was nothing left in the homes to pillage, then the aliens wouldn't have any need to go back inside. Whether it proved to work in the end or not was another matter entirely.
But with her eyes already set on the castle, Twilight led her friends to the front gates. They needed either the princesses or the elements of harmony. While they couldn't do anything about Hector unless they got close to him, they at least had a way of luring Discord out into the open.
That is if he hadn't already hid the elements somewhere for them to find again. Though he hadn't made it obvious he'd done anything to them, so it was about the only thing Twilight could think about doing.
At least, that was the plan until the number of pirates near the ship dwindled enough for her to free Hector's mind without difficulty; teleporting up there was all well and good, but she doubted there'd be enough time to do what she wanted, given how many men with pistols surrounded him.
The castle also had supplies they could use for Rainbow's leg. Twilight had stemmed the blood loss for now, but that would only keep the wound from getting worse for so long. The bullet needed to be removed eventually.
Before long, little under an hour had passed. They had helped anypony they could on the way, and it had been relatively easy to avoid the pirates that patrolled the streets. Growing near their destination, some more stood in their way.
Three Barbossas were raiding a small building off to the right, not caring to look at the ponies who stood barely five metres away. Two men kicked and bashed at the front door, while the other man stood there, rummaging through some crates out in front. He occasionally hauled out the innards and tossed them thoughtlessly to the ground.
“They're like wild animals,” Rarity whispered.
With a final smash, the wood of the door splintered and cracked. It hung loose from one hinge as one of the Barbossas tore it free from the other. He laughed as his mate threw what was left of the door to the ground and the two of them wandered inside.
“Think they'll want to hurt us?” Pinkie innocently asked.
“I don't think so,” Twilight replied. “I honestly think they'll leave us alone if we don't bother them.”
Seeing no other way to go other than forwards, the five mares slowly cantered behind the Barbossa rummaging through the wooden boxes. The street was wide enough for them to do so, but hardly so big that they could simply wander past, letting their hooves clop noisily on the streets. It was kind of hard to gauge what the men considered ‘getting in the way’, and being careful had proved to work thus far.
Still moving slowly, and still carefully watching the pirate going through the ponies' belongings, they all held their breath as the man suddenly stopped rummaging. He stood up straight and looked down as he cracked his shoulders.
The mares let out a sigh of relief as he then shoved his hands back into the box and pulled out a foal-sized stature of an alicorn. They couldn't tell if it was Celestia, or even Luna, but it was still an alicorn. It was made from a dull green, cloudy gemstone.
Seemingly pleased with what he held in his arms, the pirate turned towards the house again. The malachite carving was clutched in his arms as he stood at the doorway, waiting for his mates.
Smiling at their distraction, the ponies moved down the street, still making sure to keep quiet. Pinkie and Rainbow stuck out her tongues towards the man facing away, pulling faces until Applejack nudged them both enough to stop.
“Barbossa!”
The mares widened their eyes as the man in question sharply turned his neck to face them. They slowly tilted their heads away from the captain and towards the direction the sound had came from. Twilight had to resist the urge to slump her shoulders at what she saw.
There was now another human stepping out of an adjoining street, clearly not another copy of Hector. He was skinnier, and slightly shorter. His clothes also weren't of a high calibre; they looked more like rags than anything else. He wore a brown shirt and a dark brown jacket, complete with matching trousers and shoes.
He also had a monkey held within his arms who wore the same style of clothes. The little creature had a white, puffy sleeved shirt and a miniature waistcoat with a dark red pattern on it.
Still coming to terms with the new creatures stood across from them, as well as the copy of the captain now blatantly staring directly at them, the ponies blinked again as they heard a curt yell from behind the new human.
“Where?!”
Another one came out from behind the other, ragged and gasping for breath. Unlike the other man, he was fatter, and again, slightly shorter. He had no shirt, and instead just wore the dark brown jacket, with the same trousers and shoes. His chest was bare of fur, but it was still somewhat hairy, not that the same could be said for his head; he was going bald.
“It is the cap'n!” he cheered.
Both men ran towards the Barbossa holding the statue. The copy still looked towards the other men, paying no heed to the ponies well within his line of sight.
“I'm tellin' ye, it's bloody good to see yer still standin', Barbossa!” the fat man yelled as they made their way across the street. Both he and his friend briefly stared at the group of ponies before leaving them be.
“Ye seen the screamin' horses too?” the taller one asked, pointing at Twilight and her friends with his thumb. “Thought we was somewhere unholy fer a while, back there.”
The Barbossa didn't answer back. He just stood there with the statue within his clutches. A smug smile was winding its way onto his face. Applejack and Twilight shared worried looks as they resisted the urge to cause a hassle.
The two other men just looked back at him, and then to each other. The lankier one awkwardly moved his lips before raising his eyebrow. In a fit of realisation, he tore the monkey away from his chest and presented with glee to his captain.
“And we brought Jack too!. He was the one what helped us track you down.”
Twilight mouthed the monkey's name with her lips, recalling it from the first day Hector spent at the library. She looked towards Rarity, and then to Pinkie, and they had realised it too.
“Barbossa?” the fat man asked, waving a hand in front of the man's face, looking at his partner when the captain, once again, refused to answer. Or even speak at all. “Ye okay?”
- - - -
Once more ignoring their questions, Barbossa merely raised his head. He peered over their shoulders, cracking a smile at the sight beyond them.
Raising their brows, and somewhat curious, Pintel and Ragetti turned to see what was supposed to be so interesting. Six more of Barbossa stood on the street they had come, their own faces contorted into the same, strange smile the other man had.
Standing in a mild stupor, Pintel hurriedly turned back and forth between Barbossa, and Barbossa, and the other Barbossas. Ragetti did the same, flailing his lips as something he wanted to say didn't quite want to come out. Jack reached out towards the duplicated men, screeching and howling with his teeth bared.
“I don't think he's what we're lookin' for...” Pintel mumbled.
Hoping they could pull such a feat off, and rather sure they could, both men began to casually wander away. They ignored the little monkey as he raked at the open air, and they ignored the colourful horses as they watched from the sidelines.
They watched the copies of their captain began to crowd towards them. Ragetti felt a hand clasp down on his shoulder, and Pintel wandered in close as Barbossas began to surround them on all sides. A ring of men had begun to form around them.
In a fit of panic, Ragetti kicked back his leg out, striking one of the copies' legs and forcing him to the ground. Seizing the opportunity, Ragetti moved away and pulled out his sword, frantically pointing it towards the Barbossas.
Jack just climbed higher and clung to the man's hair, much to Ragetti's own discomfort. Pintel didn't stop backing away.
“Yer pullin' out yer sword on the captain?!”
“Which one you think's the real one then? We can leave that one alone!”
Somewhat pleased with the answer he received, Pintel pulled out his sword. It just so happened that they all did as well.
Not quite sure he fancied his chances with eight enemies hailing down on them, Pintel pulled out his pistol and fired the one shot it had inside. One of the men fell unceremoniously to the ground, not that any of the other duplicated seemed to care about his demise. Ragetti did the same, and he watched another man fall back as the others marched forward.
Two men down, and nothing seemed to have changed. They were still outnumbered, and if they were being honest, the attack hadn't gone as well as they thought it would. It got worse when the Barbossas charged forward, raising their own swords.
“Oh... oh bollocks...” Pintel took some more steps back, still not quite he fancied his chances. He kept his sword raised regardless.
He parried with one of the Barbossas, blocking the attacks that came and frantically struck back where he could. The blades chimed, practically sparking with each hit as the chubbier man failed to match his captain’s expertise. Or so he thought.
Striking forward once more, Pintel pierced his blade through the man's gut. The Barbossa blinked, staring down to the metal as he slid lifelessly from it and onto the ground. Looking at the body, Pintel rolled his shoulders, cracking a confident smile. He'd defeated Captain Hector Barbossa. One of them, anyway.
It had been a bit easier than he thought it should have been. He didn't know a man better with a sword than Barbossa. There was no way he should have landed a single hit, let alone won the fight. Maybe he had just been lucky? It was about time.
Coming back to his senses, another attack was blocked as another of the Barbossas stepped forward. It was only then that Pintel had a chance to look at the blade. It was clean.
“No... blood?”
Struggling to come up with the same luck he did last time, Pintel continued the assault until his opponent was forced to step back. Ragetti wasn't faring all that much better.
Running forward, Ragetti went for another Barbossa as it ran for him, only to see it forced to floor as a set of orange hooves bucked into him from the side. Ragetti creased his brow as he looked at the little orange horse in the weird little hat, and promptly decided that as long as it was helping, he didn't really want to know. He moved onto the next man.
This time, nothing stopped him from attacking, but much to his dismay, the captain's copy pulled up his cutlass, blocking the strike perfectly. The rest of the opposing side had donned the tactic too, blocking when the fight didn't go their way.
Trying again, Ragetti struck his sword down as hard as he could, and then did so again from the side, but all his hits were parried by the captain. Each time he failed, he was forced back, and he soon found his uncle by his side, albeit walking away on his own accord.
Out of the corner of their eyes, the two deckhands could see one little horse sneaking across the floor, her pink body lowered as if she was ready to jump or pounce. If she meant to attack or simply surprise, Ragetti never found out as she watched a Barbossa swiftly kick her in the face. She fell back, but the copy didn't deter, and continued fighting.
Believing it was high-time for a new tactic, Pintel blocked one final attack, and forced his foot into the air as hard as he could manage. It struck his enemy below the belt, and the man slowly dropped to his knees as he clutched his trousers. Another two men soon came from a nearby building to replace him.
“I don't reckon',” Ragetti said, not really trying to attack any more as he wandered back, “I like this...”
“I reckon it be about time for a tactical retreat.”
“But we ain't found the captain yet.”
“I'm pretty sure he's around this place somewhere!”
Also not trying very hard to attack their prey, the duplicate men wandered ever forward, and as the cobblestones beneath their feet began to rise into the air, both crewman decided there wasn't much room for debate. Especially when it came to the joys of a tactical retreat.
And besides, they were facing a crowd of Barbossas. Unless something had gone very wrong while he'd been away, there was a good chance they were on the right track.
- - - -
Wanting to at least talk to the new humans on the scene, Twilight tiredly sighed as they proceeded to run away, already fleeing from the Barbossas on their tail. She attacked the copies as best she could with the stones as they all ran, though only one fell to her. Creating the dome and healing Rainbow must have taken more out of her than she thought.
Twilight turned around, pushing the frown she had away from her face as she held a deep breath, releasing it a moment later. The situation was continuously getting more and more complicated. Pointlessly complicated. Everything was just trying its hardest to go wrong.
Fluttershy, Spike, the princesses, and apparently the entire royal guard were missing. Hector was unknowingly (or so she hoped) sending an army of himself to attack the Equestrian capital. Discord was free to do what he wanted. And Rainbow had been shot in the leg.
And now, to top the perfect day off, two more humans were running around for no other apparent reason than to simply make the entire ordeal more complicated. She didn't even know who they were, or how they'd got to Canterlot in the first place.
Oh, and there was somehow a monkey involved too.
“At least we know they're friends with Hector...”
Looking at her friends, and realising she had spoken out loud, Twilight let out another long breath as she trotted back towards them, briefly making sure no other duplicate buccaneers were trying to hunt them down. There weren't any.
“What was that, dear?”
“I'm just trying to get my thoughts into order,” Twilight moaned, “There's just too much going on. I don't even know how those two got here...”
It was obvious who she was talking about, even without a species, or indeed a name, to go by.
“Perhaps we shouldn't dwell on that for now, Twilight,” Rarity offered, motioning down to Rainbow. “There are other things for us to worry about.”
She was now sat on the ground, thanks to Applejack’s impromptu attack on the pirates.
“Leg still hurts by the way,” she joked with a casual wave.
Several pieces of cloth hit the blue mare in the face as she finished. Pulling them away, she twitched her muzzle and glanced up to see Applejack stood in front of her, dropping a few more onto the ground.
“Now we can go about fixin' that.”
Twilight moved forward and gently kicked the small pile of fabrics with her hooves. She looked to Applejack with an eyebrow raised.
“Where did you get these?”
“They were in the front hall o' that house. I left some bits for 'em.”
Asking more out of curiosity than to accuse the good farmer of stealing, despite now being one of the few times Twilight would have considered the deed appropriate, the purple mare thankfully nodded and turned to face the injured Rainbow.
“Well, we're going back in there. I'd rather be somewhere indoors in case any Hectors come back.”
So they did. Rarity and Applejack helped move Rainbow, who insisted she could walk on her own. She didn't fare very well, and soon found herself laying down on a stranger's living room floor. Twilight was already doing whatever it was she needed to do, which seemed to be nothing more than mumbling to herself and preparing the cloth.
“Now we can get that little bullet out of you.”
Rainbow looked down at her leg, swallowing hard as she closed her eyes. Twilight was levitating the cloths to her side and removing any dirt or contaminants from Rainbow's injury. Specks of sand were removed too.
“It's going to hurt, isn't it?”
“Probably. More if you try and move,” Twilight said casually, “Now... hold still.”
Nodding meekly as a reply, Rainbow lowered her head, resting it on the floor as she prepared for the inevitable. At the very least, she reasoned the pain would be followed by less pain and less blood, both of which would be welcome.
After waiting for five minutes she felt a good portion of leg numbing, as well as becoming tighter and tenser. She cautiously opened her eyes, only to see her limb being wrapped in some patterned fabric. It had some green ducks on it.
Minutes later, Rainbow pushed on her forelegs, trying to stand herself up. She was lightly pushed back down by Twilight.
“Stay down for for a while; magic takes time to heal wounds. You should be good enough to limp in about five minutes.”
“I thought you said it would hurt?”
“I assumed it would. I haven't done this before, though it wasn't as hard as I initially thought. Mopping up the blood helped. And I got the bullet out, see?” she said, floating the bloody, steel ball in front of Rainbow's face.
Rainbow curiously glanced at it, feeling her stomach churn as she took notice of the small, red pieces of... something stuck around it.
“Can I keep it?”
But she still thought it was cool, and she was sure nopony else had something that had been shot into their body, then removed. At least, she didn't know anypony that had something that was shot into them by an alien.
“If you want?” Twilight nervously replied, levitating the aforementioned item into into Rainbow's eager hoof. ”But we still need to work out a plan and get to the castle.”
“What about those two humans?” Pinkie wondered out loud.
Twilight honestly had no idea. The only thing she had to go on was the monkey, but even then, that did nothing to explain who they were. They obviously knew Hector, so that was a start. Then again, it was likely that not all of the honourable captain's friends could be called trustworthy. Or friendly. But she couldn't just leave them, could she? What if they were trustworthy? What if they were the good guys?
“I don't know. We don't even know where they are right now, and to be honest, I think we have bigger problems to worry about.They don't seem bad, but even if they are, they're drops in the ocean now.”
She realised that sounded slightly harsh, but Twilight knew she was right. There were countless copies of Barbossa running amok in the city. Much more than Rainbow said there were on the ship. Two more humans weren't going to cause a massive amount of change in the equation, and even if they were good souls, she wasn't sure how much they could help.
“If we get the elements or one of the princesses, we can help them along with everypony else. But until we can actually do anything, they're on their own.”
- - - -
“Move yer bloody legs!”
It was a small hope of Pintel's that shouting would somehow make up for the lack of speed his legs were inclined to offer him in his current situation.
“You're the one behind me!”
“Just keep goin'!”
Sadly, it wasn't. The men had no earthly idea what was going on any more. They'd given up trying to guess an age ago. Moving through the castle had been simple enough, seeing as there hadn't been any guards or people around to see them. But now they knew why.
People weren't anywhere. Just horses. Lots of coloured horses. Looking back on it all, it made some sort of distorted sense. The castle was filled with luxurious works of art and even suits of gilded armour. And the all of them took inspiration from the equine form instead of a human one.
But even seeing that, the notion that men in general weren't a prospect here didn't really occur to the two pirates. They had just assumed the owners of whatever castle they had found just really, really liked horses. Many lords and ladies of the higher societies had a love for horses, so what else was there to think?
But this was just bizarre. Everything was a size too small, there was a storm brewing behind the sun as it sat high in the sky. They were close to being attacked by bricks from the street and every time they passed a little horse, it screamed at them and fled in raw terror.
Then again, it was more likely they did so because of the horde of Hector Barbossas that Pintel and Ragetti were fleeing from.
The men just continued to move their legs as fast as they could, running anywhere that looked inviting in the foreign city. They had no idea where they were headed, nor where they even were, but anywhere was better than slowing down.
“How many are there?!” Ragetti screamed at his uncle, jumping over another small horse as it cowered at his approach.
Pintel still continued to run, waving his arms at his side in the hopes that it made him move faster. Breathing deeply, and fast losing what was left of his breath, he turned his head, quickly turning it back to his front.
“Oh God...”
At first, there was just the three of them. They had made good on the notion to attack, seeing as there was a good chance they could beat three enemies seeing they'd done so well before. But when they moved to take them down, two more appeared from within another building.
They, for no apparent reason, dropped whatever it was they were carrying and joined in the chase with the others. Abandoning hope to actually win the fight, and rather hoping not to contract a terminal case of death, Pintel and Ragetti just kept running as they desperately tried to escape their pursuers. Which, for the most part, was a pretty solid plan.
Now there was more than he cared for. Twenty, at the very least, and probably more. They had continued to run through the alien city. And with each street they ran through, more copies of their captain joined them to pointlessly give chase.
“Too many!” Pintel screeched back, remembering he had, in fact, been asked a question. “Where the hell they all comin’ from?!
“And why're they chasin' us?!” Ragetti whined.
“How the hell should I know! Just keep peddlin' yer legs!”
The little horses were of no help either. The one in the hat had been a diamond in the rough. Any others that they came across just fled at the sight of their pursuers, though the two men couldn't exactly argue with their reasoning.
It was like some sick, twisted nightmare. Everything was just wrong. Pintel thought he'd be thrown in an asylum if he ever told anyone about what he was experiencing now. He was being chased by a crowd of his captain, surrounded by colourful horses and in a world where day and night lasted but a few minutes at a time.
The younger of the two men wasn't faring much better. That became obvious when Pintel managed to catch up to him. During their run, Jack had somehow climbed up onto Ragetti's back. He hung from the man's collar, still screeching at the army of faux Barbossas following them.
“We can't keep goin'!” Pintel cried.
He could feel his legs going numb. All the blood he'd gathered for the first few minutes had long since vanished, and the only reason he was still going was for the sake of his own skin. If he was running for something he genuinely wanted, all the gold in the world, a dinner to make old King George jealous, he would have undoubtedly stopped a long time ago.
“Ye wanna...” Ragetti wheezed, “go out in a blaze o' glory, like what the captains Jack and Barbossa did?”
Briefly turning his head back over his shoulder, and seeing the threat looming closer than it had been before, Pintel let a dry cough escape his lungs as his answer. He eventually found the strength to nod.
“Aye... Let the bastards have it!”
As both men hobbled to a stop, they wearily pulled out their swords and turned around. With the last ounce of strength he could muster, Ragetti pulled his pistol from his side and aimed it straight for the horde approaching them. Pintel did the same as his nephew. They were glad they had refilled them.
“Good luck,” Pintel said, clenching his hand around the weapons in his grip.
“Aye, Uncle,” Ragetti said, moving his neck to let the little monkey hold on tighter. “You too.”