//------------------------------// // Trotuga: Horizon // Story: Lunar Pirate // by Starlit Skies //------------------------------// The Lunar Sailor quietly sailed in the early morning mist that settled over the waters around Trotuga, slicing through the waves with little noise save for the sails that fluttered in the breeze. It approached a small island, wholly occupied with a grungy, sprawling pirate haven. A faint clamor floated over the sea from it despite the early time. The mist grew lighter the closer the ship came to the harbor, showing the rings of protruding wooden docks, a little under half of them taken up by other ships of various sizes and status. Then the peaceful spell was broken. “HALT YER SHIP!” the grubby looking official called out as the floating object in question approached the dock. The Lunar Sailor stopped just short of the dock at a single nod from its celestial captain. The official in question trotted over to the end of the dock, his girth causing his gait to be more of a waddle as the aged wooden planks creaked under his weight. “Good morrow good sir, what can I do for you today?!” Luna called, in a slightly less loud voice than the booming sound that had projected itself from the lips of the rather portly pony standing near the edge of the dock. “What be yer business here in Trotuga?!” “I have come with my crew to sell plunder looted from various coastal cities.” “Name of the ship?” he asked in a dull voice, used to this part of his job. “It’s printed on the hull.” The official gave Luna a long disdainful look before turning his head as if it were painful to do so to look at the name etched in golden ink on the side of the browned hull. He read the name there and it became immediately obvious that it was known to him, as he jumped in recognition. “You be at the front of the list of ships to admit under any circumstance. Welcome to Trotuga, Princess Luna and First Mate Reginald.” He backed away from the slowly approaching ship timidly, as if expecting something bad to happen. On board the boat it was a different story. Luna turned to the reddish-yellow mare standing to her right. “What exactly did you do as Captain to get that spot? Even with my status I never got top of the list privileges.” “Oh,” Amber responded, with an air of nonchalance about her, “just a very interesting incident involving two flintlock pistols, half of a watermelon, and a rather odd plunger. Not to mention the amount of alcohol consumed beforehand. Maybe that wasn’t such a great idea.” Luna laughed, not quite a booming laugh like she was known for prior to her incarceration, but more of an amused chuckle. “Well in any case, it has served its purpose, for we will always have a safe place to escape to.” There was then a slight lurch as the ship was brought to a stop and tied up by the dock workers. The moon goddess turned back around to face the deck of her ship that held her crew. “You all know your assigned duties. We’ll be here for approximately three days. That should be enough time to gather supplies and allow you all to enjoy yourselves after our victory at Aquila. I do however expect everyone back on the ship by no later than one o’clock in the morning unless cleared with me. Understood?” Even though everypony knew exactly what to do, none would have dared shake their head if they hadn’t known. Such was their leader. “Then go enjoy yourselves except for the few assigned guard duty.” There was practically a stampede to get off of the ship. Within minutes, only the officers and the few disgruntled guard ponies remained on board the ship. “You all know what you’re doing?” Luna inquired. Horizon answered for them all, with a simple nod of his head. He then flew in a spiral off the ship, closely followed by Ocean Breeze, both laughing as the enjoyed flying through the near perfect morning weather. Steel Rose just rolled his eyes and made his way off the boat by the use of the thoroughly trampled gangplank, him too followed by the other officers. *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* From the mind of Horizon... Okay, gather intel, find a pony trained in infiltration and espionage, and shop with Breeze for some extra sailcloth. I can do that. I looked back over my shoulder to make sure that she was following as we loped over cluttered and uneven rooftops of Trotuga. I didn’t relish going down into the dirty depths again, but I was probably the most familiar with the pirate haven after growing up on the streets here. I angled down to land in a fairly open straightaway, only bouncing off the ground slightly as I landed. I stood somewhat proudly, happy to have remembered the right place to go to. Of course, my moment had to be ruined by something. And by something, I mean a mare ploughing into my backside. “Oof,” I gasped, toppling onto the roughly cobbled pavement face first, much to the humor of other pirate ponies nearby. “Don’t ev’r stand i’ the straightaway boy! Haven’t yer learn’d that b’now!” called a pony walking by, reinforcing his comment with a small chuckle. I shot him my best glare, which he dutifully ignored, and turned to help Breeze up, only to find she had landed a few feet to my right in a flawless manner. Of course. An expert flier who manages sails would know better than to land on a pony in the middle of the road. Even so, any help I could have offered was useless, as the other mare was already standing up. “Oh, I’m sorry for hitting you mister.” The mare who hit me looked down before I could catch her face, long hair flopping over to hide her face, “It’s no big issue. Say, you aren't from around these parts, are you? Your accent sounds different. Equestrian?” I prided myself on knowing accents fairly well, growing up being surrounded by a conglomeration of every accent known to ponydom, as well as some that were in outer countries such as zebra, griffon, and a particularly strange type of middle eastern swallow. “Yeah. I’ll just be on my way then…” She tried to move around me, but I stopped her for some reason. Even later, I still wasn't sure why I did it, especially as there was always the possibility of her drawing some sort of bladed weapon. “No, I wanna make sure you’re alright. Just look at me. Your face did just plow right into me.” I didn’t even have to look over to know that Breeze was rolling her eyes at my pathetic attempt at a joke. So humor wasn’t exactly my strong suit. Oh well. She took a deep breath, sensing that I wasn’t going to go away until I made sure she was all right and looked me straight in the eyes. Her eyes were some of the most beautiful things I had seen, though I could also tell why she didn’t want to look at me. Her eyes were slightly out of focus, not pinpointing a single target even though I was only a few feet from her. “And there goes the staring again” she muttered under her breath, a single tear starting to form at the edge of her silvery coat. Lucky for me, as I was so enraptured at the moment, Breeze came to my side like she did all those years ago. “Horizon didn’t mean to stare. He just finds unusual ponies to be gorgeous. I mean, take a look at me. He finds me so enchanting.” The two mares giggled together in a way that only girls could. The tension released and I could breathe easier again. “You’re unusual too?” the new mare questioned. “Mhm, I’ve got some condition called dyslexia, so I find it very hard to read and write. I couldn’t get a job anywhere else, so I was cast into the streets and eventually became a pirate. Don’t let your disabilities control you.” “Aww, that must have been horrible growing up then.” The mare seemed crestfallen for a moment, but brightened again. ”I’m Derpy, assistant to the best spy and conjuror this side of Equus!” If my eyes hadn’t widened enough to show my amazement at the coincidence, my mouth did the talking as it hung agape. “Close your mouth Horizon, you’ll catch flies. And there is plenty of them around here. Derpy, we were actually looking for someone who the talents of a spy to join our crew. Could we perhaps meet him?” “Her. And sure! She doesn’t have any work right now, so we’re kinda waiting for a chance like this. What luck,” she said with a slightly goofy grin that made me feel warmer inside. “Follow me!” and with that, the silvery mare flew off again in the same direction that she came from, though slightly crooked. “Get moving Horizon. You’ll get to find the sailcloth when we go to the market since I just did most of your job.” “But-“ I started to protest, still in disbelief about the luck that just came my way. “No buts. Now get your butt moving.” I sighed and flew off in the direction that the receding silvery-gray figure had gone, not looking forward to haggling in the market for half of a bit, but at least the prices were, for the most part, honest. You don’t want to swindle someone who has no problems with turning around and delightfully stabbing you in the back. But in the time that I had been lost in my thoughts and following on autopilot, we were flying through a part of the town that I had rarely visited as a colt. It wasn’t the dirty, dark, and dank depths of the undertown (as I was very familiar with those places), but the higher class ponies’ dwellings (which were, for a pirate’s dwelling, relatively clean). I almost started drooling at the opulence displayed and thought back to how desperately I wanted to steal from here as a colt, but the young filly in a stockade outside a house we passed evaporated those thoughts from my mind. I barely managed to stop myself short from ploughing into Breeze as she and Derpy stopped at the entrance to a house. While it wasn’t the nicest house on the row, it was still more extravagant than any house I had ever set foot in legally, let alone been invited into. “We’re here! She should be inside. Probably making potions of some sort,” she said with a somewhat goofy smile on her face, despite potion making being unusual nowadays. But this is one of the three great pirate havens after all and the unexpected was an everyday occurrence. The three of us walked inside the candlelit house, Breeze and I more slowly than the other mare. It could never hurt to be too cautious, especially when a clumsy mare like Derpy claimed to be the assistant to an infiltrator. “Welcome you three to my humble home. I’m glad that Derpy didn’t come alone.” My heart skipped a beat as I jumped and let out a shriek in surprise. I turned around and saw a pony wearing a dark cloak standing in front of the door. Her yellow eyes illuminated in the dim lighting in the main foyer. She tossed back her cloak to reveal the marked body of a zebra and a striped mane. I recognized her instantly, as she had been a frequent visitor to the apothecary where I was forced to work as a colt. “Hello Zecora.”