//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Pirate Hideout // Story: Equestrian Fantasy V // by MinoKiri //------------------------------// Fluttershy inspected the displayed flag curiously. “If I’m not wrong, this is a jolly roger, right? The sign of a pirate… So that boat belonged to pirates?” Flash heard hoofsteps out in the distance. He quickly pushed Starswirl and Fluttershy, who were both anticipating meeting the pony coming towards them, back into the cave where they game from. They hid in a crevice out of sight of the passage way of the pirate hideout. “Are you guys insane?” Flash whispered, “These are pirates! Do you understand? Pirates! Do you want to get killed?!” Starswirl exclaimed, “Hey guys, wouldn’t it be an amazing if-!“ Flash held his mouth shut and peeked around the corner. He signed in relief. “Shut up,” Flash whispered, “We don’t need to announce that we are here. We need to go, now.” “But Flash,” Fluttershy said, “We need to get to the Wind Shrine, and those pirates have a boat that can sail without wind. We need to at least ask them if they can sail us there.” “Do you honestly think that pirates will give you ride if you ask nicely?” Flash said, “They are backstabbing, pillaging, thieving scum of the sea.” “Ha! They’ll keel-haul us if we try that nonsense!” Starswirl whispered, “I on the other hand have a much better idea.” “What do you have in mind?” asked Flash. “We sneak onto the ship and take it in the dark of the night!” Flash sighed. “You are damn gutsy for an old-timer. It’s a risky plan, but it’s not like we have any other option. This is the only chance we have in getting to the Wind Shrine.” The three of them nodded. ----- The three of them waited until dark to start moving. Starswirl used his light magic to illuminate the way but dimmed the light so they wouldn’t attract any attention. They passed by a few pirates who seemed to be patrol, but they were asleep on the job. The hideout was connected to the sea with an extremely large opening, large enough for the ship to fit in. The ship was docked in a makeshift port near the large opening. Flash untied the ship from the dock, and the three ponies creaked up the board to the ship. Flash quickly sprinted his way up to the wheel of the ship. He put his hoofs around the wheel, but it didn’t move an inch. No matter how hard he turned, the wheel wouldn’t budge. Flash looked around looking for some switch to flip or button to press to start the ship. “There has to be some trick to this ship,” Flash whispered, “Look around.” The three ponies split up the search for the secret that made the ship sail without wind. After a minute Flash heard a yelp from Starswirl and saw a flash of light. Starswirl ran to the deck followed by a brown coated earth pony with a peg leg and eye patch. “Trespassing on a pirate ship, eh?” the pony said, “Well I gots meself some brave or stupid landlubbers.” He unsheathed a blade and pointed it at Starswirl, “Ye didn’t expect to steal a pirate ship without a fight, did ya?” Starswirl stared intensely at the earth pony as Flash started to sneak up behind him for a surprise attack. “You, sir,” said Starswirl, “Are messing with the wrong unicorn.” His horn glowed an assertive light blue aura, and the brown earth pony was engulfed by the same glow. Starswirl flicked his horn to the side at the earth pony was flung overboard, screaming. A large splash was heard down below. “Take that ya pirate scum!” Starswirl exclaimed. “What was that?” asked Flash, approaching Starswirl, “I didn’t know you knew that spell. Didn’t you lose your memory?” “I wasn’t just sitting around twiddling my hooves when we were waiting for night time. After discovering that I could do magic, I looked into myself and saw the raw magical potential within me. That look sparked my memory,” explained Starswirl. “Wow, that is amazing,” said a voice behind Starswirl. Fluttershy yet again appeared out of nowhere, startling the old pony. “Good heavens, Fluttershy. You almost gave me a heart attack!” said Starswirl. The sound of flapping wings filled the night sky. A group of 5 pegasus ponies all dressing in some sort of purple pirate uniform appeared led by a cyan coated pony. The pony had a short rainbow colored mane tied behind a purple bandana. He seemed pretty young and small for a guy, almost feminine. One of the uniformed Pegasus said, “Capt’n what are your orders?” “Just stand down. I’ll handle these punks,” answered the cyan pony. He had a strange voice. It sounded like a voice of a young teen, but he seemed to be the captain of the pirates. The cyan pony approached us and took a polite bow, “Welcome to my ship, intruders. My name is Captain Dash of the Rainbowbolt pirates.“ He had a smug grin as he looked at us. “You two are very brave to attempt to steal our ship.” Two? thought Flash. He looked around and Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen. “Looking for an escape route?” asked Dash. He tapped his hoof on the ground and the group of pirates surrounded them. “Don’t be alarmed. They won’t attack you unless I command it. This will be just me versus you two.” Starswirl immediately set off his telekinesis spell against the pirate. “Useless!” yelled Dash. The light blue aura got absorbed into a pendant around his neck. Starswirl retreated as soon as his spell got absorbed, and Flash stepped forward with his broadsword in his mouth. He charged at Dash and swung his blade. The cyan pony easily dodged every swing. “Is that all you got?” asked the pirate. He kicked Flash’s chin and ripped the blade out his mouth. He weighed the blade on his wing and threw it back at Flash. “Nice sword you got there. Its worn out, but you could sell it for some good gold. Its well made." Suddenly a frightening chill went up Dash’s spine. He sensed a taste of fear and death in the air. He suddenly felt an unnatural flow in the air behind him and leaped out of the way to avoid whatever was attacking. Fluttershy was behind him, her knife stuck in the boards of the deck. Dash was breathing heavily as she evaluated what just happened. He approached Fluttershy, impressed. “You are terrifying. I’ve never been attacked like that before in all the years I’ve been a pirate!” He noticed Fluttershy’s pendant shining in the moonlight. “Where… where did you get this?” asked the pirate. “My father made it,” answered Fluttershy, pulling the knife out of the ground. “Who… are you?” said Dash in a daze. “I am Fluttershy, princess of Hurrifane,” answered Fluttershy, “I sincerely apologize for attacking you and for attempting to steal your ship. I only attacked to save my friends from harm.” Fluttershy dropped to the ground. “I beg of you. Please allow us to use your vessel to transport us to the Wind Shrine. My father is in danger.” Dash was breathing heavily and seemed to be panicking even more than he was before. He shook his head violently and looked towards his crew members. “Throw them in the brig,” He commanded. He turned to Fluttershy, “I’ll have an answer in the morning.” Flash and Starswirl prepared to fight back but Fluttershy said, “Please, you two. Stand down.” The two silently let themselves be tied up and carried to the ship’s brig, trusting in Fluttershy’s words. ----- The three ponies were thrown in a small jail cell in the bowels of the ship. The cell was extremely dirty and probably has been cleaned maybe twice since the ship was built. Starswirl was the only bitter one inside the cell. “Well this is a fine pickle we got ourselves into!” he ranted, “Who was the genius who came up with the idea to steal this ship, anyways?!” “Look into a mirror, old man,” Flash spat back. The old stallion cowered in the corner. “Oooh… My aching head… What was my name again?” Flash sighed and turned to Fluttershy, “So you’re actually a princess, Fluttershy? I didn’t see that coming.” “Oh... I’m sorry. I didn’t really mean to hide it,” she muttered. “Eh… In the long run, whether you were a princess or a beggar, I probably would have ended up helping you out,” Flash admitted, “But why were you traveling to the Wind Shrine alone? Wouldn’t you go with some guards or something?” “After my father began his trek to the Wind Shrine, the royal army sent a vast majority of our soldiers to back him up. The rest of the troops were in charge of protecting the castle. I didn’t want to thin the castle guards, so I left alone, secretly.” “Ye got guts for a princess.” The brown pony, who Starswirl flung off the boat, was standing outside the cell bars. At a closer look, he had a spikey black beard and a x shaped scar on his cheek as well as an eye patch and peg leg. He looked like the stereotypical pirate pony. “What are you doing here?” said Starswirl snapping out of his headache. “Capt’n ordered me to give you dinner. So here.” He slid three trays under the bars. It was piece bread and a cup of water. “Breads a little stale though.” He took out a stick of butter and smeared some on Fluttershy’s bread. Fluttershy muttered, “Thank you, um.” “The name’s Hoofbeard. That butter is a token of my appreciation for giving my capt’n a good panic.” He had a mischievous grin. “Capt’n’s been getting to cocky now adays. He needs a good scare once in a while to get ‘em on track.” He laughed heartily as he walked away from the cell. ‘What a strange pony,” whispered Starswirl as he went back into his headache spasm. The other two started to nibble that their dinner. ----- Dash was in his quarters sitting on the ground leaning against the wall. His hoof was slowly massaging his head as he thought about his options. He let out a big sigh and brought the pendant around his neck to his eyes. “They are the same pendant,” he whispered, “But that is impossible.” The pendant rocked back and forth. The pendant had a smooth, purple orb in the center decorated by silver and gold around it. “I searched the world for a jewel with the same properties as this pendant, but never found a single one.” He stood up and sat down in a chair. “But somehow she has an identical jewel, and identical pendant design, unless my eyes were deceiving me.” He recalled his glimpse at the pendant. “No. It even has the same inscribing within the jewel.” He paced around his room. “What does this mean?” He looked into the ceiling. “What do I do?”