“Um…Zecora…um…how are you going to find any…um…voodoo?” Fluttershy quietly spoke up.
Guybrush stood over the cauldron and looked in as Zecora added a few herbs and plants to the mysterious green liquid in the cauldron.
“You know, I never understand why its always a mysterious “green” liquid in cauldrons. I mean, would it be so wrong for it to be blue, or red.” Guybrush said to himself.
Zecora stirred the liquid concoction. It started to turn to a bright pink.
“…It’s pink…” Guybrush commented.
“Oooo! Let me see!” Pinkie Pie squealed with delight as she looked in.
“Now, let me finish mixing this special brew; and soon, you will know any whereabouts of voodoo.” Zecora spoke as she threw in a few more spices and herbs into the cauldron. She continued stirring as it soon turned a bright purple. She then poured some of the concoction into a bowl and set it on the table.
“Uh…not to be mean, but it smells like year old grog...and trust me, no pirate likes year old grog.” Guybrush commented.
She began to chant in a language in what Guybrush assumed was a foreign language in this world. The ponies backed away as the bowl began emitting a green smoke. It whipped and wormed around the room as it began forming a map of Equestria. The ponies, Guybrush and his first mate gasped in awe at the sight. A small dot glowed just south of Canterlot on the map.
“There, my ponies as I show to you; there is only one spot of voodoo.” Zecora stated.
“That must be LeChuck! What’s he doing over by that big city?” Guybrush asked himself.
The ponies looked in concern. “If that is that…little pony pirate…it looks like he’s headin’ right for the Royal Castle.” Applejack said as she looked at the map.
“…That could be really bad…He might try and hurt Princess Celestia…” Fluttershy softly spoke up.
“Ha! That little shrimp of a “Voodoo God?” Why, the princesses could take him down with three of their hooves tied up.” Rainbow Dash joked.
“Still, we should make our way to the Castle and at least provide support. If something were to happen, at least we can help. I’ll send a message to Spike telling him to warn the princesses about LeChuck heading that way and send the Elements of Harmony to the Castle.” Twilight stated.
“The what of what now?” Guybrush asked as he cocked his head.
As Twilight started writing the letter, Guybrush began scanning the various potions, herbs, and spices. “I see you have interest in some of my brews; I’d happily give you one, if you choose.” Zecora said, smiling.
“Thanks.” He replied as he continued to scan. Nothing seemed really eye catching, until one bottle caught his eye. “Sneez-more, one wiff and you’ll be blowing your own sail…I think I’ll take this.”
“A choice that is swell; may it serve you well.” Zecora responded.
Guybrush dropped the bottle of Sneez-more in his pants pocket.
“Alright, I sent the letters. Well Guybrush, it looks like we’ll have to skip seeing Ponyville for now. Were on our way to the Royal Castle.” Twilight said as she flapped her wings in urgency.
“Aye sir, we best shove of quickly before that dastardly LeChuck does anything to their leaders.” Winslow commented.
Guybrush nodded as he left; his first mate behind him and the ponies following suit.
“Alright, Winslow. Set a course for….the royal pony castle!” Guybrush excaimed, pointing a finger out heroically.
“Aye aye, Captain Threepwood!” He shouted jovially, saluting Guybrush.
They began to triumphantly march forward away from the hut. Guybrush thought how manly and brave he must look, storming towards the castle to save their princess from LeChuck.
“Uh, Captain Threepwood? How do we get to the castle?” Winslow asked.
Guybrush froze in his step.
“…That…is a very good question Mr. Winslow.” Guybrush replied. He turned back to the ponies and smiled sheepishly. “Uh…Which way to the castle?” He asked.
Twilight brought a hoof to her face.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As Guybrush hesitantly stepped onto the brightly colored train, he wished desperately that he would soon be back on a boat than another train. He grumbled as he sat down in one of the seats as his first mate sat in the other seat facing him. Just as Guybrush was getting comfortable, the train jerked forward again, causing him to jump and yelp.
“Still not used to riding mechanized transport, eh Captain?” Winslow chuckled.
He sighed and sat back down in his seat. “All I wanted was a boat. I was told in the contract with LucasArts that I was to travel by boat.” Guybrush complained.
“Ay sir…but uh…you know what happened to that…” Winslow whispered as he made circle motions above his head, making what looked like circular ears.
Guybrush sighed in disappointment. He looked out the window and watched the scenery pass by, idly tapping his fingers against his knee.
“Something troubling you, Captain Threepwood.” Winslow asked, breaking the silence.
“…Well…I worried about LeChuck…” Guybrush admitted.
“Ah, I see…Don’t worry about it Captain Threepwood. You’ve fought him plenty of times and defeated him.” Winslow comforted Guybrush.
Guybrush grinned a bit.
“And besides, the zebra has shown us that there is no voodoo here, and we've seen that his voodoo powers have been quite diminished.” Winslow further stated.
“Mhm…but there’s just something rubbing me the wrong way about this…It just doesn't feel like it’s supposed to be this easy…”Guybrush commented.
“I wouldn't worry about it sir. Sometimes the path to victory is straight and short, as my mum used to say.” Winslow responded.
Guybrush nodded. “I guess your right. I mean, we have a lot of root beer. And I got my cutlass. We’ll take down LeChuck, no problem. I mean, what could go wrong?” Guybrush stated proudly.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As the train came to a stop, the ponies stood in front of Guybrush. “Uh…Guybrush? We…have a…well, teeny tiny problem…” Twilight spoke sheepishly.
“What do you mean a Teeny tiny problem?” Guybrush asked.
“Well…unlike Baltimare…Canterlot is…well…not as nice to new…uh…creatures.” Twilight responded, still sheepishly smiling.
“Which means they probably run you out of town. Pitchforks, magic, the whole shebang.” Rainbow Dash stated.
Guybrush swallowed, making an audible gulp. He peaked outside of the door. Unlike the coastal town of Baltimare, this city looked far more elegant and glamorous. Guybrush looked at the houses. Along with noticing that many of the houses were taller then the other once he had seen here, many looked to be made from brick and mortar, them having shingled roofs, unlike the thatched roofs he had seen in the coastal town. The inhabitants of this town looked to be mostly unicorns, all dressed up in fancy attire.
“Heavens…” Winslow whispered to himself.
“Hmm…you sure they would try to run us out of this town?” Guybrush asked.
“There isn’t a shadow of doubt, Guyhush.” Twilight stated.
“Guybrush.” He corrected her.
“Right, sorry.” Twilight apologized, facehoofing herself.
He continued to look around. He watched some of the well dressed unicorns pass, when he saw a bunch of barrels. A unicorn was filling them up with some water and loading them onto a cart. Guybrush thought for a moment and smiled, snapping his fingers as an idea came to him.
“I have an idea.” Guybrush said triumphantly.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Applejack and Pinkie Pie were rolling two barrels down the streets of Canterlot, followed by the rest of the ponies. Some of the inhabitants looked at them, as if questioning why two ponies were rolling barrels instead of using a cart. This was soon followed by a shrug or a scoff in their direction.
“Psst…Guybrush…” Pinkie said in a whisper. “You okay in there.”
“Oh yeah…perfectly fine…tell the world to stop spinning please…” Guybrush replied, a little disoriented.
Pinkie Pie smiled, continuing to push the barrel. Inside the barrel, Guybrush was bracing himself against the walls, trying to not bounce around in the barrel. The continuous spinning made Guybrush’s stomach burble. Guybrush hoped to the seven seas that he did not throw up. His hand suddenly slipped, and he started to bounce around in the barrel.
About a half an hour of bouncing around and rolling, he saw a crack of light from the top of the barrel. The top soon opened up, Guybrush spilling out onto the grass.
“Oh! Mister Guybrush! Are you okay?” Fluttershy worriedly spoke to him.
“I’m bobbin; are you my mother?” Guybrush mumbled.
Winslow picked Guybrush up and shook him a bit. Guybrush shook his head and regained composure. He looked up to see he was now standing in front of one of the biggest buildings he had ever seen. A giant white building composed of a couple of towers and one main building, the many spires and purple and gold trims decorating the towers. Guybrush stood at the main building, the doors shut in front of him.
He pushed the doors open, only to be greeted by a cohort of Royal Guards, all pointing there weapons at him.
“Oh well, look at the time! I’d love to stay and chat, but it’s bingo night!” Guybrush spoke worriedly as he made a quick U-turn, a small cohort already behind them. “Oh!! H…hi there! T-t-those are all v-v-very nice…“ He swallowed hard. “...spears you have there!” He spoke even more worriedly. He heard murmuring among the guards, them never seeing a creature like this before.
“It’s okay, he’s with me.” Twilight said as a dismiss to the guards.
The group looked at him and his first mate. They kept a stoic expression and returned to their posts.
“Not a friendly bunch, eh captain?” Winslow spoke as he looked around.
“Well, not ta be nosy, but if two…watcha call yourselves…ah wait, humans, yeah…if to a ya come in at the castle, trottin’ in like ya own the place, I’d be on my guard too.” Applejack commented.
“A very astute observation, Applejack.” A new voice came from behind them.
Guybrush turned around. He came face to face with a tall white pony with magenta eyes. She wore a gold tiara, her light blue, turquoise, and light pink mane naturally flowing free with no breeze, baffling Guybrush to no end. She wore a gold choker with a gem in it, along with what he assumed were the pony equivalent of shoes.
“….You are a big pony.” Guybrush commented.
“Princess Celestia! D-did you get my message?!” Twilight asked.
“I did indeed, Twilight. Do not worry, Spike has sent the Elements of Harmony here.” The white pony spoke.
She turned her attention back to Guybrush.
“H-hi there. I’m…” Guybrush started speaking.
“Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate™. Yes, Twilight mentioned you, although I think she pronounced it, “Grybush” in the letter.” She finished for him, Twilight face hoofing herself. “I am Princess Celestia, Co-ruler of Equestria.” The princess stated. Guybrush remembered Twilight saying something about the princess on the train ride here…something along the lines of raisins in the sun. Guybrush wondered why she would put raisins in the sun.
Princess Celestia brought over a elegant white case. She opened it, Guybrush seeing five gold chokers with gems on them, and one tiara with a gem on it. As he looked at them, he noted that each gem matched one of the marks on each of his pony companion’s flanks. Twilight called them cutie marks.
Twilight put on the tiara, while her friends put on the chokers. Guybrush looked into his pocket for the six bottles of root beer and his cutlass. He pulled both a bottle and his cutlass out, leaving the rest of the bottles of root beer, his spyglass, the bottle of sneezing powder, and Pinkie’s cupcake in his pocket.
“Be ready…he could be here at any moment.” Twilight said, her scanning the area.
At that moment, they heard a thunk on the door, as if someone was trying to open it. The ponies all readied themselves as Guybrush poured root beer on his cutlass, the door sliding open and the miniature pony LeChuck storming in.
“ARRG! Threepwood!!” LeChuck growled.
“Give up, Lil’Chuck! I have my root beer doused cutlass ready to send you back to where you belong.” He stated triumphantly.
“Stop callin’ me that!!” LeChuck roared angrily
Guybrush made the first move, lunging at LeChuck with the root beer coated blade. LeChuck quickly rolled out of the way, him leaping at Guybrush and slamming into his back. Guybrush flopped onto the ground. In his mind, he admitted that even though he was small, he still packed quite a punch.
He stood back up, brandishing his blade again and swinging it at him. LeChucks small stature made it easy for him to duck under it, LeChuck jumping past and running straight toward the princess. Guybrush turned and ran after the little pony pirate.
“Not so fast!!” Twilight shouted. At that, a ray of rainbow magic came hurdling at him.
“…What witchcraft is this!!” LeChuck shouted as he stood there, the magical ray engulfing him.
At that moment, Guybrush thrusted his blade once again at the pony pirate.
“WAIT, GUYBRUSH!! NO!!” Celestia shouted.
“What?” Guybrush asked as he hit his mark. The rainbow ray fluctuated, it now starting to turn a deep black. The colors from the gems faded as the once rainbow prison exploded in a splash of black. Guybrush heard LeChuck cackle as the blackness faded, LeChuck no where in sight. He was now standing there, looking over at the ponies and the princess.
The angry…angry…scratch that, absolutely furious...princess.
“…Ooops…”
“GUUUUUUYBRUSH THREEEEEEEEPWOOOOOOOOOOOD!!”