CHAPTER 9—Fluttershy and the Captain
Sunshine began to creep its way back into Pinkie Pie’s life. For the longest time, she was worried that she may never see her friends again (though she did her best not to show this). But here before her, sitting on the bed, dressed half in a pirate-styled dress and the other half in pearls—the Pirate Queen, the Element of Kindness.
Fluttershy.
Pinkie Pie tried to form words, but instead formed tears. Her smile still held, even as her tears flowed. She covered her mouth, struck completely speechless for the first time in a long time.
“… Not the kind of reaction I was expecting,” quipped the Captain. He gave his Queen an aside glance and noticed she was in tears, too. Fluttershy jumped off her bed and ran to her friend, embraced her, told her how much she’d missed her. They held each other for what felt like forever before they parted.
Pinkie still looked into Fluttershy’s green eyes, now shimmering with overjoyed tears. The Captain merely watched, a smile on his lips. He did the right thing. He knew it, deep in his heart. He looked upon his wife, feeling blessed by her radiant smile.
Oh, that smile.
She… never smiled for him. Never smiled at him. The more he thought about it, the more he became disturbed by this realization. His mind floated backwards, as if through a portal, into the past…
*****
It was a stormy day above ground, not that anypony here cared. The work was well under way, this menacing maze being rebuilt in some areas, repaired in others. Here, in this underground laboratory of oil and metal, this suspicious and gruesome factory, gathered many minds, many subjects, many goals.
Captain Keelhaul with his first and second mates with him, and the Judge on the far side of the room, flanked by his personal assistants as well as a few of his personal guard. It was rare for the Judge to have his guards, as he was powerful all by himself, but they were here he was later told in case his other benefactors decided to pursue some kind of mischief.
Warm smiles abounded the two stallions as they walked toward each other. It had been months since their last personal meeting. The Captain hugged the Judge, who bid him welcome.
“My Judge, how long has it been?”
“Far too long, my friend!”
But it was not an idle visit. They both were very busy stallions, and this meeting was of utmost importance. The Judge had a mission for the Captain: to find an object called the One Light.
“The One Light?” Captain Keelhaul echoed. “I’ve read of it. It’s an… object of the arcane persuasion, is it not?”
“That’s putting it mildly,” answered the Judge. As his friend explained what the One Light was exactly, the Captain’s eyes fell on one of the Judge’s personal attendants: a young pegasus mare with long pink hair, eyes as teal as the ocean waves, and a coat buttery gold. She looked back at him demurely, as if unsure whether or not to return his glance.
“… properties of which are… My Captain, does something trouble you?” the Judge asked.
The Captain snapped back to attention. His mates looked at him smirkingly. They had traced his eyesight, and were comforted to know their usually kept-to-himself, introverted Captain was still interested in mares.
Especially cute Pegasus mares. She WAS a hot number, all right. The particularly tough-looking first mate leered in her direction, only for her to shrink behind the Judge.
“No, nothing is wrong, I’m sorry,” mumbled the Captain. He cleared his throat as they all sat at a table. This planning room was bronze, lit only by a lamp overhead. The heat inside was sweltering, and for a moment, the Captain was tempted to remove his fancy coat.
And his hat.
And his other clothes.
And lay that young Pegasus mare sweetly across his—
“Paging Captain Keelhaul! Incoming message from planet Earth!” shouted the Judge, evidently frustrated with the Captain’s absence of mind. Keelhaul came back to attention. “Oh, my goodness! Please excuse my…” he searched for words, but only found that Pegasus mare. He shook his head. “… Cluelessness! My utter cluelessness!”
The Judge raised an eyebrow. “My friend, I try to be patient with you as I am with my closest subjects, but I beg you pay attention. This mission is extremely important.”
“I appreciate your understanding, my Judge. I’m just… distracted, as of recent.”
A look that was a mixture of bafflement, and frustration was chiseled into the Judge’s face. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. “We are wasting time. Let us get to the meat of this discussion.” He nodded to one of his assistants—the male Pegasus with the sour face—and the servant laid a map across the planning table.
The Judge pointed to a large continent. “As you know, this is where we currently are, in Gearlotte.”
“I follow.”
He nodded at one of his other assistants—this one a red Earth pony mare, who while beautiful was not as exquisite as the Pegasus mare—hoofed her Judge a red pencil. With his telekinesis, he drew a circle around a spot on the map: a small island.
“Here,” he said, “is where my intelligence tells me the One Light is located. It has taken me and my forces nearly three decades to find this information, and we have pinpointed it location to EXACTLY…” He peered more closely at the map.
“Oh! Silly me,” he said, taking an eraser and removing the red circle. “I circled a bread crumb. It looks like you aren’t the only one distracted today!” He looked back at the Captain to once again see his attention was elsewhere.
The Captain recoiled as a red pencil bounced off his head. His concentration returned to the matter at hand. “Would! You PLEASE! Pay attention!” the Judge said. Captain Keelhaul’s mates glared at the Judge. Keelhaul put his forelegs in front of them, easing them.
“Yes, my Judge,” he seemed to agree, “the One Light is a powerful arcane magick, hidden away in…” he looked at the map. “… a bread crumb?” He raised an eyebrow.
The Judge redrew the circle, this time over a tiny island. “It is located here: on Tomorrow Isle, amidst the frigid lands of the Imps.”
“Aye,” groaned the Captain. “Imps.”
The Judge looked into his friend’s eyes. “Only you can venture safely into this area, my Captain. The Imps have no quarrel with you.”
The Captain breathed heavily, breaking eye contact with the Judge. The Judge’s face fell. “What—did—you—do?” he asked in a voice that boiled with tranquil frustration.
Keelhaul merely fidgeted and looked away. His first mate threw in an opinion. “If I ‘ad an innerjection, yer ‘onner, th’ Cap’n wouldn’t talk ‘bout it. It was a dark day, it was.” The second mate—a younger Earth pony who only had one leg left—nodded. “Gotta admit though, it WAS pre’y funny when th’ li’l dev’l danced abou' with a doubloon between his—”
“IN ANY CASE,” interrupted the Captain, “they have revoked my protection status. If I were to sail their waters now, my ship the Sleipnir would be rendered aflame.”
The Judge seemed to think this over. “Even so, nopony I know knows their way around Imp country as well as you do! If I were to hire anypony else willing enough, I’d be hoofing this job—which is VERY IMPORTANT, mind you—to nothing less than an amateur! I don’t know anypony else fit for this job. Will no amount of money be enough to convince you?”
The Captain set his forehoof on the Judge’s shoulder. “For you, my Judge, I would do my best to throw this island AT the Imps for free should you ask. This trip would not just endanger myself, but my crewmates as well.”
The Judge sighed. He reclined, looking down at his map. “This was a dangerous mission. I… cannot force you, my friend, to do this.”
The Captain still had his hoof on the Judge’s shoulder. He tried to look into the Judge’s eyes. “I understand why this One Light is important to your Master, my Judge. And I never abandon a friend when he is need of my services.” The first and second mate raised eyebrows at this statement. The sour-faced Pegasus stallion smirked, while the Earth pony mare elbowed him with a glare in her eye.
The Captain grinned brightly. “That’s why I am going to do this mission.”
The Judge looked back up into his old friend’s eyes. “You are?” he asked.
“Of course! But under one condition.”
The Judge smiled, overjoyed. His black teeth were always terrifying to the Captain’s crew, but the Captain himself (actually knowing the Judge’s condition) always found it a… unique sight to behold. “Name it! Whatever it is you want, it is yours!”
The Captain looked behind the Judge, where the yellow pegasus mare was still hiding. The Judge’s eyes followed. He took on a face of surprise. The surprise slipped into a smirk, an aside glance of the eyes to the Captain. The Judge looked to Fluttershy, a soft smile on his lips.
“I see. You desire… this little flower?”
The Judge moved out of the way. Fluttershy, still huddled in an adorable pile of anxiety, shyly looked up at the Captain. The silence between them was worth a thousand words—all of them hilarious. The Judge turned to the sour-faced pegasus. “Doctor, can I have a diagnosis?”
“I’d say he’s lovestruck. He’s got it bad.”
Sunset’s assessment was spot-on, as the Captain envisioned Fluttershy as a queen, a mighty monarch of the seven seas; them conquering a castle together, battling wicked hordes of the horrible beasts bound to live there. Then they’d populate that palace with precocious pirate pony foals of their own.
Yes, it was a splendid plan.
“Um… h-hello?” squeaked the beauty.
The Captain snapped out of his daydream. “Yes?” He came back to reality again. Yes, first things first! He removed his hat and bowed low in a sweeping gesture. “Hello, mademoiselle,” he greeted courteously. “I am Captain Long John Pegleg Patch-Eye Blackbeard Bluebeard Redbeard Killyourface Upside-Down Jolly Roger Silver Hook Keelhaul.”
“I-I-I’m Fl-Fluttershy.” Her voice was not above a mouse’s timid whisper, which the Captain found adorable.
So precious was this sweet angel, thought the pirate. So awestruck was she, no doubt, by his cunning presence! By his intoxicating, rosy-red eyes! By his charming mannerisms! By his thick, perfectly maintained beard! BY HIS GREAT, MASCULINE BOOMING VOICE! He offered her his hoof. Gingerly, she moved her own to it. Still looking into her eyes, becoming more absorbed into them, he kissed her hoof—and her entire face turned beet-red.
Nothing captured the old Captain like a woman who was still innocent enough to blush at a gentlecoltly advance! He was wholly hers now—and if he could, she would be his!
“My Judge, if you could do me the favor…?”
The Judge raised an eyebrow. “… What, really? Now? Here?”
The Captain looked up at his old friend pleadingly. “Do you attempt to obstruct the path my heart takes? The heart of your dearest, oldest friend?”
The Judge stifled a heavy sigh. “What happened to all the other mares I married to you?”
The first mate interjected again. “Ya don’ wanna know, m’Judge, sir.”
The second mate followed up, his eyes beginning to water as he removed his hat in respect. “We still ’aven’t go’n wha’s lef’ the firs’ ‘un off th’ rudders.”
Fluttershy’s color escaped her face accompanied by a squealy whisper. And any courage she may have had. Her eyes shrunk in fear and her mouth recoiled in complete terror. She fixed up her face as she looked into the Captain’s eyes. “U-Um, Mr. Captain Jolly-beard…uh, Hooky-roger…?”
“Ye can call me Keelhaul.” The Captain leaned in close and whispered into her ear. “Ye can also call me ‘husband.’”
Fluttershy attempted to protest, her words not coming out at all right—in squeaks and spurts, but never full sentences. The Captain smiled warmly. The girl was speechless! The privilege of marrying a pirate captain (and a king among pirates at that) didn’t come along every day.
Fluttershy looked up pleadingly at the Judge. Then back to the Captain. She didn’t want to marry this guy! He was so scary—and she’d be in the company of scalawags and scoundrels! Pirates who’d grope her and do awful things to her! She looked back to the Judge, leaned into his ear and whispered, “Please don’t make me do this!”
The Judge asked his friend of thirty years to please wait for a moment. He took Fluttershy along with his other two servants out of the room, sat down in front of Fluttershy and looked into her eyes. Despite the darkness in his eyes, he wore a sympathetic look.
“Okay, I understand. This is all very sudden, Fluttershy, and it’s difficult for me as well as you to go through with this. But do you understand what’s at stake here?” Fluttershy tried breaking eye contact, only for the Judge to put his hoof up to her cheek, and held her face to look in her eyes. Although he was not rough with her, she could not help but feel like she was being bullied. She shook her head.
“I-I can’t. I can’t do this.” Her voice became even smaller. “I can’t… get married!”
The Judge gently let go of Fluttershy, and began to pace about as he usually did when he was explaining something. “If Keelhaul does not agree to get the One Light for us, the plan stands a bigger chance of failure. This is the most crucial step in the plan, Fluttershy! You know we can’t afford to screw up now!”
He sat down in front of her again. Fluttershy went over the situation in her mind: she really wasn’t sure what the “plan” was, but she understood that it was of very high importance to her new employer, and that she was being selfish for getting in the way of his goal. But… “I can’t get married! I don’t even know him.”
For one twisted moment, Fluttershy assumed that her argument, while a very good one if this were any other situation, was beside the point. They needed this One Light, and it was the Captain who currently held the upper hand in this bargain: “Gimme the girl, you’ll get your Light”. The Judge looked to his other subordinates to get a third and fourth opinion. “Shine Brightest, Sunset, what do you think?”
Shine Brightest had liked Fluttershy ever since she had met her, but understood better this situation. “Fluttershy,” she told her, “You need to be brave. Things are different outside of Equestria, and you need to learn how to survive with the constant change you're liable to face.” She smiled. “Besides, the Captain is a good stallion. He’ll protect you.”
Sunset snorted. “Like how he protected his first and second wives?”
Shine Brightest hissed at her brother. Sunset shrugged. “I really think it’s a bad idea for her to marry him. But on the other hoof, without his assistance, the difficulty in obtaining the One Light increases exponentially.” He looked at Fluttershy, trying to grab her eyes with his own. He frowned—not condescendingly, but in a way that expressed pity. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but… this is the way things are.”
Fluttershy lowered her head. The Judge stroked her mane, trying to comfort her. “It pains me to ask you this, but if you refuse, everything all of us have worked toward stands a strong chance of falling apart, and we can't afford to.” Fluttershy looked into the Judge’s eyes with tears in her own. With a long frown, she nodded slowly. “Okay, then,” she said quietly.
Shine Brightest gave Fluttershy a hug, whispering to her to be brave. The Judge hugged her closely too, stroking her mane, apologizing again for this situation. Sunset sighed and shook his head, resigned to his personal opinion not being worth anything in the presence of logic. He opened the door for everypony else to re-enter the planning room.
Captain Keelhaul was there, standing with perfect, gentlecoltly bravado and posture. He looked at Fluttershy and smiled warmly. The young Pegasus mare walked up to the Captain, and put her hooves in his, closed her eyes and sighed. Let’s just get this over with, she thought.
The Judge rested his front hooves—one on the shoulder of the Captain, and the other on the shoulder of his servant—and said, “By the powers invested in me by the all-consuming Abyss, I, Judge Star Fall, pronounce you husband and wife, stallion and his mare. May the world tremble at your hoofsteps.”
One of them was trembling all right.
Fluttershy looked to her new husband. There was not a drop of malice in him at all, despite his being a pirate. Even though he was not malevolent, Fluttershy had once been told that an ignorant pony causes more damage than a pony who intends to do harm. She got the feeling she was going to experience this firsthand.
The Judge looked to his friend. “My Captain, I ask of you, as this fair one is like family to me, that you keep her safe.”
“… Aye.”
“… From harm.”
“… Aye.”
“… From creatures... that would... harm her.”
“… Aye.”
The Judge noticed the horny expressions on the first and second mates. He scowled at them (exposing once again his terrifying teeth) until those expressions deflated. He looked back the Captain. “… From your crewmates.”
The Captain glared at the Judge. “Why, my Judge! It seems you think I plot to ravage her!” Fluttershy gulped. Keelhaul rested his heavy hooves on her shoulders. “By my beard, she will not be seen or touched by my crew! Consider your One Light found!”
*****
As the Captain’s mind crawled back to the present, he heard Pinkie Pie whispering to his Queen, “Does he do this… often?”
“Only when providing the readers with somewhat-important backstory,” answered Fluttershy. The Captain snapped back to attention. “Well!” he said coming between the two, “It is good that my Queen is blessed with seeing a familiar face.” He smiled tenderly at Fluttershy.
She… didn’t smile. Instead, she looked away, as she always did. His smile disappeared as her gaze turned elsewhere. “… Is something wrong, my Queen?” he asked, genuinely concerned.
Fluttershy met his gaze again. She seemed almost… upset. “Captain? Can we be alone… f-for a moment?”
The Captain was stunned into silence for a moment or two. He merely nodded. “Of course,” he mumbled. He then walked out of his cabin and onto the deck, Pinkie Pie watching him curiously. When the door was closed, Pinkie turned to Fluttershy. “What was all that about?” she whispered.
Fluttershy took in a deep breath and let out an angry, frustrated growl. “GAH! I thought I was going to go CRAZY!”
Pinkie looked at her as if she had suddenly sprouted wings. As if she sprouted wings on top of her… regular wings. Except she was looking at Fluttershy’s face and not her wings, which were perfectly normal. Let’s just say Pinkie Pie looked at Fluttershy like she was a weirdo. “Why?” she asked. “You’re the Pirate Queen! That’s so awesome!”
“No!” hissed Fluttershy, walking back toward her bed. “No it isn’t! I never get to do anything, or speak to anypony, or sing to any animals.” She thrust her head, and yelled, into her pillow. “And it’s all because of that horrible Captain, keeping me locked up like a bird in a cage!”
Pinkie rubbed Fluttershy’s back in an attempt to comfort her. She thought over what she could say. “The Captain has his reasons,” she said, unsurely.
Fluttershy looked at Pinkie Pie. Her gentle eyes had somehow developed a deep anger that almost made Pinkie want to find something to hide behind. “I have seen nothing but this cabin for almost a month! I’m so frustrated I could just scream!” And she did just that: she screamed like… well, okay, it was more of a squeak, as Fluttershy was mindful of the other crew members who likely wanted some peace and quiet to go with their sailing.
Before Pinkie Pie could say anything else, Fluttershy continued her rant. “Whatever his reasons are, they aren’t worth being stuck in here like I’m some kind of prized pet!” Tears began to fill her eyes and she returned to her pillow, softly sobbing.
After a while of letting Fluttershy let out her emotions, Pinkie decided to try reason—something she was surprisingly adept at. “Have you tried talking to him?”
“He hardly ever listens to me,” Fluttershy explained. “He only listens when he thinks I want a present.”
“Has he tried…” Pinkie thought over how much tact should be put into her next sentence. “Has he tried doing, um…” She pursed her lips, her eyes darting about curiously. “… that thing... that Mr. and Mrs. Cake did... to get the twins? On you?”
It was Fluttershy’s turn to look at Pinkie strangely. She looked aside, her face flushed. “Um… no.”
“Is it because you won’t let him?”
Fluttershy’s face contorted into disgust. “Please tell me you’re not saying I should.”
Pinkie Pie shook her head. “No, no, no, no, no! Not at all!” She looked about nervously, as though the Captain were able to walk through walls. “It’s just that, your relationship seems… rocky.”
In a moment spent out of her usual character, Fluttershy replied in a flat and sarcastic tone, “Really? Gee, I hope I haven’t made it obvious. I’d hate for the Captain to know.”
Pinkie Pie looked at Fluttershy. “He doesn’t know you don’t love him?”
Fluttershy’s mood began to worsen. Her eyes became dangerously close to giving Pinkie her infamous Stare. “I’ve tried telling him so for the past two months. There is. No. Relationship. We have no chemistry. We have no future together. We have next to nothing in common at all. It’s like he has no idea how real relationships work, and gets all his information from fairy tales and romantic adventure novels.”
Pinkie gave Fluttershy a wry smile. “Sounds like he’d be a better match for Rarity.” She added a nervous chuckle, only for Fluttershy’s expanding scowl to chase it away.
Fluttershy rested her face on her hoof, her angry eyes averting Pinkie, as if trying to spare her from The Stare. She made a sound like an angry balloon deflating. “Yeah, Rarity sure has great taste, doesn’t she?”
She looked back at Pinkie to see her frown as if she had just been betrayed. Fluttershy’s face softened. “Oh, I-I’m sorry,” she apologized. She buried her head in her pillow again. “I don’t wanna be so mean…”
Pinkie began rubbing Fluttershy’s back again, like a mother comforting a daughter whose teen relationship went bust. Or in this case, kablooey. “It’s OK, you’ve just had a really rough time. You’ve been isolated, you’re at sea, you’ve been isolated WHILE at sea, you’re stuck in…” Pinkie WAS going to say Fluttershy was in a quickly stagnating relationship she had no way to get out of short of killing the Captain, but she felt that might make the situation worse. Fluttershy was in a state of distress and desperation as it already was, and she didn’t need to give her any ideas.
“…You’ve been separated from your friends!”
Fluttershy looked up at Pinkie Pie. Her eyes seemed to plead with Pinkie’s, as if begging to not be left behind. Not again. Pinkie hadn’t realized the extent of their situation (Had she merely ignored it?), but now, looking into Fluttershy’s lost, lonely eyes… it hit her, like a splash of cold water in the face.
“We’ve been separated from our friends.” Pinkie’s voice had flattened, along with her mane. She lied down at the foot of Fluttershy’s bed. Her eyes began to leak, her heart about to break. “And I don’t know if we’ll ever see them again.” A quiet sob escaped her throat.
“I… just don’t know!”
A few minutes passed, Pinkie at the foot of the bed, crying, Fluttershy on the bed, not sure what she should do. The gravity of their situation became heavier with every passing second. Despair coiled around the two like a giant snake, its python grip choking the life out of any hope they may have had.
Fluttershy rested her hoof on Pinkie’s mane, no longer fluffy and fun, but straight and sad, as it usually became when Pinkie Pie lost her usual amount of spirit. She bit her bottom lip, thinking over what she should say. Pinkie sniffled, and held Fluttershy’s hoof in such a way that, Fluttershy felt, if she let go, Pinkie might fall.
“Pinkie Pie, I know we’ve been through a lot. But…” Fluttershy felt a contraction in her throat. She swallowed. “Most of that, we went through together.”
Pinkie looked up at her friend, the tears still flowing. Fluttershy continued. “Like Nightmare Moon? And Discord? And what about that time when…” Fluttershy looked away, evidently still embarrassed, even now. “… When I… hurt you, and Rarity?”
The tears began to slow. “We’ve been through so much together, Pinkie. We’ve… hurt others. And we’ve hurt each other. But…” At this, Fluttershy seemed to gather strength. “… for some strange reason, throughout all that hardship and heartache…” Fluttershy swallowed, her voice beginning to crack. “… We stuck together. Our friendship never broke, not even when our hearts did.”
Her tears began to grow fatter, and rolled down from her face. She sniffled. “These past few months,” she squeaked, “have been hard on all of us, Pinkie. But…” Fluttershy moved herself closer to her friend, wrapping her forelegs around her. “But we gotta stick together, OK? We gotta find everypony else.”
Pinkie held onto Fluttershy’s forelegs, and they held each other for dear, sweet strength for what felt like an eternity.
Suddenly, Fluttershy smiled, and opened her eyes wide as if she got a great idea.
*****
Top deck. The wind whistling, wrapping around the Captain, battering the sails. The songs the seagulls sang as they soared overhead. The sound of the ocean crashing its waves into the Sleipnir—a ship he and his first and second mates had designed and drafted. The quest for the One Light, the dangerous journey into Imp territory, the adrenaline of another pirate adventure pumping through the veins of his crew…
There were times when all these things reminded him how much he loved being a pirate.
This was not one of those times.
It was rare for the Captain to feel ashamed of himself for anything—I mean, he was a pirate for crying out loud. But he felt, what he did with Fluttershy, he had taken too far. An innocent crush his ego and imagination had inflated into something it wasn’t? Very likely.
The most fearsome pirate to have ever sailed the seven seas. Killer of giants, robber of wizards, and feared even by old St. Elmo himself. Amassed a fortune in gold and his name was well-known and feared throughout the world. Three-time loser in love. For some reason, that last aspect of his person was enough to bring all his other accomplishments to dust.
His Queen… did not love him.
Looking out at the ocean, he accepted this fact. Mares were a lot like the sea, he thought. Constantly chaotic, of course. But if a sailor knew what he was doing, the sea was the most beautiful and amazing thing they would ever know. The Captain wiped a small tear from his eye, hoping none of his mates saw him as he was now. Comparing his luck with mares to his knowledge of the ocean, he considered it a miracle he hadn’t drowned yet.
Captain Keelhaul looked out into the vast expanse of ocean before him, trying to get his mind off his Queen. He could tell they were closing in on Imp territory: the temperature was dropping fast. His crewmates already bundled up, preparing for the worst (One even complained why the Imps couldn’t have lived in a more tolerable climate). They would have to prepare to weave their way past icebergs, but Keelhaul had a lot of faith in his current pilot, Particularly Tough-Looking (known to his friends as “Tough Guy”).
“Hey,” came a quiet voice next to him.
“Hello, my Queen,” he said. It took a moment for him to realize that his wife was standing next to him. His eyes lit up as he turned to see her directly. “What-What are you doing out of your chambers?!” He immediately looked around to see his crewmates looking at the Queen, many awestruck by her silent beauty.
“I need to talk to you,” Fluttershy said.
The Captain was about to protest, but he looked into her eyes. He realized it now, the extent of her sadness. He realized that she had carried this sadness with her always, ever since he met her and likely long before. And to his great failure—the greatest failure, he felt, a stallion could possibly achieve—he realized his own blindness to what his mare needed. He merely nodded. “Go ahead.”
“I understand how important our mission is,” she said to him. “And I will see it through to its end. But afterwards…” She looked about. Pinkie Pie was there, not far away, and nodded, prodding her to just get it over with.
The Captain’s heart sunk. He knew what she was going to say. She wanted a divorce. She didn’t want to be his wife, and never did. He braced himself for the emotional impact, ready to react as gentlecoltly as possible. He had faced down brigands and beasts of all sizes, risked his life for treasure and pirate glory over and over again. But he never felt so terrified and helpless as he did at that moment.
“… But afterwards, I want for us to go to Equestria. Just you and me.”
The Captain blinked. “… Really?” he asked in a thin, quiet voice.
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes. We need time to think things over, you and I.” She walked over closer to him and sat down by his side. She looked out at the ocean, the wind tussling her long pink mane. The Captain suddenly realized this was his Queen’s first time out of her chambers, enjoying the cool air and the sight of the ocean—things he thoughtlessly, cruelly denied her.
“When we married, it happened so fast, and I was so unprepared. I don’t think you were, either.”
“I… acted on impulse, certainly,” the Captain admitted. “And for that, I—”
“No need to apologize,” she quickly said. She seemed to think over her next words. “I want to get to know you better. The real you. Not the Captain who locked me in a room all by myself. I want to know the stallion who married me.” She looked back up at him. The Captain looked deep in her eyes, and fell in love again. The sadness was gone.
She lifted her forelegs up and held his bearded face. “I know that deep inside, you ARE a good stallion. That’s who I want to love. I want to fall in love with you. I want a reason to fall in love with you. That’s why I want you to take me home…” She smiled, her soft lips curving upward gently. “… Johnny.”
The crewmates had all stopped what they were doing to see this strange sight. They had never seen the Queen before—and she was as beautiful as they were told, all right. She carried with her also a sense of power she didn’t need to physically show in order to project. These pirates… Scoundrels. Scalawags. Thieves. They knew what they were, and celebrated their raunchy ugliness every day. But the Queen? The Queen was too beautiful a creature to be in their midst. No wonder the Captain desired to keep her separate.
Pinkie looked around at the crew, reading their eyes and faces, her eyes taking in their awe. She smiled. Fluttershy’s plan was working.
“My Queen,” the Captain began. He sputtered, as if angry at himself. He turned his face away from Fluttershy, who looked at him curiously. After a second, the Captain removed his hat, his black mane being whipped in the wind like his wife’s. “Fluttershy,” he said, the first time he had ever referred to her by her name. “Do you ask me to put down my sword? To dock my ship? To give up sailing and exploring?”
If there was a battle between the power of eyes, her ocean blues had squelched his fiery reds. He felt grabbed by her presence, swallowed whole. She smiled. “I can’t force you to give that up. But if you love me, you’ll at least understand why I ask you to.”
The pirates all looked at their Captain, expectantly.
The Captain shared Fluttershy’s gaze for a few moments. He breathed a sigh, and put his hat back on his head and closed his eyes. He nodded. It was only fair. She gave up her freedom. Now it was his turn to give up something he loved. Keelhaul turned to address his crew. He stood up straight and proud.
“Crewmates, country-ponies… It has been many years since I first set sail on these waters. I guess you could say that the ocean was my first love.” He breathed, his face beginning to crack. “But she was not my true love. My heart, if a pirate ever possessed one, has been given away, to this gentle soul of a mare you see before you now.”
Pinkie fought back her tears and swallowed. She noticed many pirates did the same. A few of them even withdrew their hats or bandannas in respect.
He looked over his crew. “It has been a great honor, sailing with you. You are all fine stallions and mares, every last one of you. Courageous, strong-willed, pirates among pirates. You are every bit as part of the sea as her own treachery. That is why, with great sadness…”
The pirates all leaned in, many unable to hold their tears.
“That I am announcing my resignation. Not just from being your captain, but from piracy. From being a scoundrel. From being a rogue of the ocean waves. After we return from our journey, my final voyage, I shall hang up my hat and my sword for good.”
A wave of deep and heavy sadness swept over the pirates.
Fluttershy walked up to her husband and stood alongside him. He looked into her eyes once more, and remembered why he was making this decision. He looked back out at his beloved crew. “I do not ask that you understand. I do not ask for any of you to follow me as I leave. I only ask that I may leave in good graces. That I may walk away from this life, and follow my heart and my mare down the path of a new beginning, and that we may both walk this path together.”
Fluttershy rested her head on the Captain’s shoulder, closed her eyes and smiled. The Captain felt the warmth that radiated from her; she looked so happy. Seeing her smile—at him—for the very first time had lifted his spirits greatly. He looked back at his crew, who at this point were in tears. “I couldn’t ask for a finer crew,” he said quietly, his eyes filling up at the sight.
He looked around, breathed a satisfied sigh, and nodded. Suddenly, One-Leg raised his remaining leg and saluted his Captain. A pink hoof found its way to the forehead of one of his recent additions. Then another pirate saluted. And then another, and another. Soon, all the attending sailors were saluting their king and queen.
“Thank you,” Fluttershy said to the crew. “For everything.”
Pinkie Pie nodded as the pirates cheered for their king and queen. She looked away, her face red, as Keelhaul and Fluttershy’s faces met, locking in a passionate kiss.
Fluttershy’s plan worked, for the most part. The Captain proved his love for her (So they didn’t have to kill him and escape, thank Celestia), and the pirates were behind them all the way. Pinkie never knew how well Fluttershy naturally demonstrated charisma.
Pinkie never asked Fluttershy what it was about the Captain that made her change her mind and rethink her situation. She knew everypony settled down to raise foals of their own eventually, but she didn’t think Fluttershy would warm up to the idea so quickly. Especially since she had complained about their lack of chemistry not even an hour before.
I’ve been going about this all wrong, she had said, on her way out to the deck. I’m a Queen! It’s time for me to act like one!
Pinkie asked her what she intended to do. To this, Fluttershy turned and smiled as she opened the cabin door. It’s time for me to play the most complicated game![]/i
And Pinkie still had no idea what Fluttershy meant. But the girl had a plan, and it seemed to have worked well. But WAS that her plan? Falling in love with the Captain?
Pinkie’s eyes widened. Then they drooped. No. Oh, no, no, no.
Fluttershy didn’t love him. She was taking advantage of his love for her. She was—she was pretending! Pinkie couldn’t believe her friend could be this cruel!
… Well, OK, Fluttershy had her moments. But she couldn’t be THAT cruel!
Could she?
*****
Pinkie paced about the top deck all night, the night wind howling about, as if singing a song for the stars above. They had weighed anchor for the night, careful to not drift into any icebergs. All the other pirates had gone to bed, and even though the lights were out in the Captain’s chamber, Pinkie didn’t even want to think about what was going on in there. She scowled.
The Captain was really a nice guy, Pinkie Pie knew. His heart was in the right place, even if his methods were unorthodox (And the topic of unorthodoxy was something Pinkie knew inside and out). He looked out for his crewmates, he protected Fluttershy from harm… Well, considering his messy marriage history (first and second wives both dead, and Pinkie suspected the first to have been a suicide), it wasn’t unreasonable to think that he would become more overprotective of the ponies he loved.
And she was taking advantage of the poor guy, after everything he'd been through! Pinkie Pie had been friends with Fluttershy for what felt like ages. They had been separated for months, and to finally find each other again, only to see Fluttershy sink to the level of—some… gold… digger floozy pretender-lover…meanie pants… not-nice pony flapper?!
Pinkie looked down and realized she had become so angry, her legs had twisted around each other. She groaned and calmly untied herself. She breathed in that cold arctic air, let it fill her lungs and calm her down. Keep it together, Pinkie ol’ gal, she thought. Just back away from this, back away and look at it from another angle. There’s no way Fluttershy would be that cruel.
She closed her eyes, and breathed again. Suddenly, she felt a vibration along her spine. It started out small, but quickly began to grow. It crept up and down her whole body, like a monstrous shiver that threatened to tear her in half. After it left, she was face-down on the deck.
She was suddenly helped to her hooves. Pinkie opened her eyes and was met by the first mate, Tough Guy. “Pinkie, ‘re you all right? Ya look like ya took a right nas’y spill!” Pinkie shushed him and pointed to the east. Pretty Tough looked in the direction of Pinkie’s hoof.
He heard it too. The sounds of screeching that were beginning to eerily mingle with the wind.
“Imps,” Tough murmured in fear. He ran to the bell above the Captain’s chamber and rang it. “UP AN’ ATTUM, MATES!” he yelled. “THE IMPS ARE COMIN’! I REPEAT, THE IMPS ARE HERE!!!”