Avast Ye Ponies!
“Wheeeeee!” Dinky exclaimed as Sea-you-around dived out of the water and into a roll, with the little unicorn holding on tightly to her back. Her cheerful cry was short as the Seapony splashed back under the water, only to reappear moments later pulling her body into a graceful spin as they left the water. Raindrops and Cheerilee watched her from the deck of the Autumn Delight, smiling as the Seapony played with the filly.
“Wow, she’s certainly excited to play with the Seaponies again,” the magenta mare beamed as Dinky let out another shriek of delight.
“Definitely. These Seaponies are a real friendly bunch,” the Pegasus replied, a rare smile still lighting her face.
“Well why wouldn’t we be, especially after all the help your Dry pony friends gave us the last time we saw them. Shame that Ditzy isn’t here this time, but it’s certainly lovely to meet you two,” a voice declared a little below the two mares. Cheerilee and Raindrops looked down to see the Merpony Dusky Jack leaning against the boat, a toothy grin on his face.
“Well it’s lovely to meet you as well Dusky,” Cheerilee giggled, “it’s a shame that Raindrops and I couldn’t visit you last time while Trixie and the group were on holiday, but I had a classroom of fillies and colts to teach, and Raindrops had a busy week of weather duties planned out that she couldn’t get away from.”
“No way we were missing out again this time, especially seeing as how your discovery was so urgent,” Raindrops said, remembering the scroll Trixie had been mailed detailing the discovery the Seaponies had found, as well as Luna’s instructions to get Cayo El Bayo post-haste once she had been informed of the valuable find.
“Well we’re glad our discovery was so worthwhile for you. We still don’t really know too much about this Corona situation, but if it’s enough to have all of you and the Dry pony princess worried, then giving it to you is the least we can do,” the Merpony smiled, giving a playful flick of his tail that sent up a small splash of water at Raindrops and Cheerilee.
Raindrops reacted quickly and shielded herself with a wing. Cheerilee however got a faceful of water that matted her mane down over her eyes. As the earth pony wiped the water off her face, Raindrops and Dusky started to laugh. That was until Cheerilee took her revenge by grabbing Raindrops and pushing her into the water straight on top of Dusky.
Meanwhile, Sea-you-around rose out of the water again with Dinky still clinging to her back. “You’re a fun one Dinky. I haven’t been able to splash about like this in ages,” the Seapony laughed, submerging herself until only her head remained out of the water. The little unicorn scrambled frantically up her neck and hugged Sea-you-around’s head to keep herself out of the water, giving a giggle.
“You’re fun too Miss Seayaround,” Dinky gave the Seapony a friendly nuzzle against the back of her head, bringing an even bigger smile to the aquatic pony’s face.
“Hey, how about we see if your friend wants to come in and play,” Sea-you-around suggested, floating the two of them to the front of the boat where they could see Pipsqueak jumping up and down next to Captain Sunset Beard, asking him all manner of questions about his life at sea. The orange bearded earth pony simply smiled and answered his questions, finding it refreshing to see a youth so interested in boating, particularly since Ponyville was right in the centre of Equestria and far from any oceans.
“Hey Pip, do you wanna come and play with me and Miss Seayaround? The water’s really nice and Miss Seayaround knows lotsa tricks,” Dinky called to her friend.
Once she had found out about the trip to Cayo El Bayo to visit the Seaponies, Dinky had pleaded to come. Ditzy had been a little hesitant at first, since she had shifts at the post office all week and wouldn’t be able to go, but once she learned that Trixie, Lyra, Raindrops and Cheerilee were all going, she allowed her little muffin to go along for the trip (though she made it very clear to Trixie that she was to keep an eye on her daughter while they were away or there would be dire consequences). However since Pip and Dinky had grown so close, it was inevitable that he wanted to come along as well, so he could spend time with his friend and get to go out on a boat.
“Sure thing Dinky,” he replied giving her a wave before turning back to Captain Sunset “Thanks for telling me about all your sea stories Mr Captain Sir. It was really cool.”
Sunset just gave the little colt’s mane a ruffle before stroking his thick orange beard, “No problem at all son. It’s not often I see a young colt like you so interested in sailing. With an attitude like that, I reckon it’ll be no time at all before you become the Captain of your own ship.”
“Really, you think so? I really want to be a sailor when I grow up,” Pip exclaimed gleefuly, giving his tail a playful twirl. Sunset just laughed and patted the young colt on the head.
“Absolutely me boy, absolutely. Now go and have some fun with your friends.”
With that Pip gave a wide smile before turning and taking a massive leap (or at least he thought so) from the boat and splashing water all over Dinky and Sea-you-around, starting an immediate splash war between the three of them.
Lyra gave a chuckle as she watched, flicking her gaze back and forth from the splash fight, over to the other side of the boat, where Raindrops had recovered from the surprise push and was now lifting a struggling Cheerilee up into the air over the water.
“After all the troubles we’ve been having lately with Corona and all the other endless disasters that seem to fall on Ponyville, it’s certainly nice to catch up with some old friends and have a pleasant day at sea,” Trixie smiled placing a hoof on Lyra’s back.
“I couldn’t agree more Trixie. I’m glad that Cheerilee and Raindrops could join us this time. The Aquatic ponies seem to enjoy there company as much as we do,” the mint Unicorn said as the two of them watched Raindrops drop Cheerilee into the water while Dusky laughed.
*Splash* “AAAgh sweet Luna that’s cold!!”
Trixie and Lyra laughed at the floundering teacher when a second splash caught their attention. From the stern of the boat, they watched two more aquatic ponies rise from the water, Sea Shanty the Seapony and Rock Beauty the Merpony. Between the two of them they held a chest filled to the brim with old gold coins.
“Phew, that’s the last one,” Sea shanty declared, wiping her forehead with one of her flippers. Trixie took this as the queue to give them both a hoof, and used her magic to levitate the chest from the water and deposit it next to 4 other chests on the Autumn Delight’s deck. The chests weren’t all filled with gold however. One held ancient weapons and armour from a time long passed, while another held gems and jewellery that had been discovered amongst old ships sunken and lost at sea. What was important was that all the items in the chests held enormous value, of which Trixie could not stop pointing out.
“Look at all this gold! If Luna trades all this with other nations like the Griffin’s it’ll be worth 10 times its weight in silver!”
“Well we’re glad it makes you so happy. To us, these are nothing but trinkets and remnants of our old war with the Seaponies. Now that we are at peace with one another, we have no reason to keep these reminders of our violent past,” Rock Beauty said, turning to Sea Shanty with a smile. A smile, Lyra noted, that seemed a little more than a smile you give to a friend.
“You have no idea how much help you’ve given us by hoofing over these treasures. With these, Luna will have huge sums of bits put into the royal treasury to help us prepare for whatever damages Corona will do next,” Trixie could barely keep her hooves from bouncing excitedly on the deck. Lyra just smiled at her joy. It was rare to see the blue Unicorn this over the moon (well, when sober anyway) and it always brought a smile to the musicians heart when her friends were happy.
“Well now we’re done with the heavy lifting, if you’ll excuse me, I think a sneak attack on Sea-you-around is in order. After all, I still need to get her back from leaving that crab in my bed,” Sea Shanty gave her posterior a quick rub before submerging and slinking her way towards the magenta Seapony currently fighting a losing battle of splashes to Dinky and Pip’s combined efforts.
As the Seapony disappeared, Lyra turned around to see her Unicorn companion had occupied herself by going through the various treasures, a jewelled crown fitting snuggly over her wizard’s hat and assorted gold and gem encrusted bracelets on her legs. Glad she wasn’t paying much attention, Lyra leaned down towards Rock Beauty.
“So, I noticed that smile you gave Sea Shanty,” she said with a grin filled with teeth and a knowing look in her eye. Rock Beauty suddenly blushed and looked away.
“I-I’m not s-sure what you mean,” the Merpony stuttered while her eyes flashed left and right trying to make sure nopony else could see her. No Seapony in particular.
“You know, if you like her you, should just ask her out,” the green Unicorn gave a cheeky wink that made Rock Beauty’s face light up even further red.
“I-I don’t know what you’re t-talking about Lyra!” the Merpony seemed to shrink down and started tapping her flippers together nervously.
“Oh really,” Lyra chuckled “Because I’ve been around for a while and I know the difference between a friendly smile, and a ‘I would totally love to be making out with you right now’ smile.”
When Rock Beauty just seemed to turn away embarrassed, Lyra’s cheeky grin faded to a warm smile and she placed a supportive hoof on Rock Beauty’s shoulder, “Hey, there’s no need to be embarrassed. Everypony gets a crush sometimes. Besides, Sea Shanty definitely seems to like your company. There’s no harm in asking her out. I think you two would make a great couple.”
Rock Beauty seemed to ponder this for a moment before turning back to Lyra, “Maybe you’re right Lyra. Thanks. Oh and sorry.”
“Sorry, for whaaaaaaagghhhhh!” Lyra started before Rock Beauty grabbed her hoof and pulled, causing the Unciorn to fall head first into the water. A few moments later she re-emerged spluttering and coughing while Rock Beauty just giggled.
“Very funny, but now it’s my turn,” Lyra said before playfully tackling the Merpony who gave a startled yelp as Lyra dragged them both under water.
---
A few hours later, after the sun had passed its zenith, the Dry ponies decided it was time to start heading back for shore, where a group of guards would be waiting to take the Seapony treasure back to Canterlot.
“I had lots of fun playing with you Miss Seayaround,” Dinky said giving the Seapony one last hug.
“I had lots of fun playing with you too Dinky. It was great seeing you again,” Sea-you-around gave the little Unicorn a squeeze between her flippers before a blue aura wrapped around Dinky and lifted her back to the boat next to Trixie.
Next to them, Cheerilee and Raindrops gave a hoof to flipper bump with Dusky Jack, “It was nice meeting you two. Give my regards to Ditzy for me.”
“We will Dusky. See you around,” Cheerilee smiled before climbing up the ladder and onto the deck. However before Raindrops could do so, Dusky gave her a tap on the back.
“Just to let you know, for a Dry pony, your pretty cute,” he gave a laugh and a wink then dove under the water to leave behind a giggling Cheerilee and a blushing Raindrops.
At the last group, both Sea Shanty and Rock Beauty gave Lyra a hug.
“It was so good to see you again Lyra. I hope we can catch up again soon,” Sea Shanty said as she let go, giving her a sad smile.
“Yeah, we’ll miss you,” Rock Beauty added, the same expression on her own face. Lyra couldn’t help but feel the same way.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon,” she said, giving them both a hoof to flipper bump. As she swam to the ladder, she turned around and gave Rock Beauty a look, “And don’t forget what we talked about,” Rock Beauty blushed, but gave a smile and a nod of her head in reply.
With that, the four Seaponies gave a wave of their flippers in a final goodbye to their Drypony friends. Everypony aboard the boat smiled and returned the wave, particularly Dinky and Pip, whose hooves waved so fast they looked as though they would fall off and any second. Then with a splash of their tails, and a brief ‘Shoo Bee Doo’ the Seaponies disappeared under the water.
“Well, I’d best pull up the anchor and start turning us about,” Captain Sunset said, departing towards the rear of the boat.
As he trotted off, Dinky and Pip made their way to the treasure and looked at it with wide eyes.
“Wow look at all the gold and gems. This must be worth like a gagillion bits!” Pip cried, standing on his rears hooves so he could examine the gold chest more closely. Next to him, Dinky gave a laugh, “I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as a gagillion.”
While the young filly and colt looked over the chests, the four mares sat down together looking out at the open ocean. Lyra gave a content sigh as she closed her eyes and let the sea breeze wash over her. The ocean seemed to stretch on forever, and it sparkled and shimmered under the rays of the sun. It was sad that the warm glowing orb had become relatively taboo due to Corona's return, because on a day like this, it just made everything feel so peaceful.
“This was a great day. Seeing the Seaponies again was really nice. We should come and visit them more often,” the green mare declared, laying her back against the mast ready to take a peaceful nap.
“The best part is that this was kinda work related, so I didn’t even have to use any of my holiday leave,” Trixie laughed, causing Raindrops to eye roll, but nod her head with a smile. After all, she barely got any holiday leave, so getting to come to Cayo El Bayo on official Knight business was definitely a huge plus for her. After Trixie had informed Luna of the Seaponies treasure discovery, she had immediately instructed them to head to Cayo El Bayo to collect it.
Cheerilee opened her mouth to add to the conversation when suddenly a loud bang cracked the air and a huge cannonball smashed through the Autumn Delight’s mast. The four mares dove out of the way as the mast crashed to the deck before sliding off into the water. Trixie groaned as she climbed to her hooves, quickly checking to make sure everypony was ok. Dinky and Pip were safe, taking cover behind the treasure chests, looking around wildly, scared and confused by the situation. As the other three mares recovered from the attack, Captain Sunset raced back on deck to see what was happening.
Before anypony could say anything, a second bang went off, followed by another cannonball tearing through the Captain’s cabin, sending splitters everywhere. All eyes moved to where the shot had come from to find a massive vessel approaching them over the water. The boat’s wood was dark and its sails were black and torn. A frightening wooden statue of a siren was at the boats bow and at the top of its mast waved the skull and crossbones flag of the Jolly Roger.
As the ponies stared at the approaching ship, Captain Sunset gave a burning glare as one word left his lips, dripping with loathing and contempt.
“Pirates.”
---
My little pony, My little pony
Ahh ahh ahh ahhh...
My little pony
Friendship never meant that much to me
My little pony
But you're all here and now I can see
Stormy weather; Lots to share
A musical bond; With love and care
Teaching laughter; It's an easy feat,
And magic makes it all complete!
You have my little ponies
How'd I ever make so many true friends?
---
With the Autumn Delight’s mast destroyed, the ponies could only watch as the pirate vessel sailed up alongside them. The ship seemed to completely dwarf the Autumn in both height and width, casting an enormous shadow over the harmless tour boat. While Captain Sunset's pride and joy was large enough to take decent sized groups of ponies out to sea, this vessel could have easily carried all of the hamlet of Oaten aboard its decks with room to spare.
Raindrop’s wings flared up in rage and she prepared for takeoff, when a grappling line shot from the side of the vessel straight towards her. She took a dive to the left, managing to avoid the metal hook, which instead smashed through the Autumn’s deck and latched on. Several more lines were tossed from the vessel, all managing to take a hold of the smaller ship.
Suddenly a cry came from the dark vessel as several different creatures leapt off of its deck. Thudding down next to Lyra was a large brown bird like creature similar to a Griffin. However, while it had the head and talons of an eagle, this creature had the hind quarters and tail of a pony. Lyra could only gape as she realized the creature was a Hippogriff. Wrapped around the bird/pony hybrid’s head was a checkered bandana and in its right claw was a sharp curved cutlass. Turning to the startled Unicorn, the Hippogriff spread his wings wide in a threatening manner, revealing a large gash on the right appendage. The wound was clearly old and didn’t appear to be causing any pain to the Hippogriff, but he certainly wouldn’t have been able to fly with the injury. This fact clearly didn’t bother the grounded aerial predator as he raised his weapon straight at her.
Following behind him were a short and stocky pair of Tapirs, one charcoal colored, and the other a milky white. They didn’t wear any clothing like the Hippogriff; however both clutched a saber in their tiny trunks, which they each held towards Cheerilee as they flanked to either side of her. The school teacher could see wide smirks upon their faces as they analyzed her, seeming to come to the conclusion she would be no threat.
After the Tapir’s came a rather tall Antelope, who landed lightly on the deck in between Raindrops and Trixie. Unlike the other pirates, the Antelope appeared well groomed with her fur shiny and smooth underneath a long mauve coat. She looked at them both with a dark grin on her face, her horns, which appeared to have been sharpened, were ready to lash out at whoever made the first move. Trixie and Raindrops lowered their heads challengingly, but hesitated to strike first, unsure of their target’s skill level.
The final boarder was a baby blue coated Pegasus with a navy blue mane and wearing a tattered brown vest. On his flank, his cutie mark showed a wave with a boat on it, indicating his talent lay at sea. His fur was dirty and unwashed and his teeth looked yellow and green. Clutched between his sneer was a sharp gleaming dagger which he pointed towards Captain Sunset who simply watched him with a burning glare on his face.
No one moved, everyone waiting to see who would strike first. The standoff was broken when a long boarding plank clattered to the Autumn’s deck next to Cheerilee, who gave a little jump. The distraction cost her as the pair of Tapirs jumped towards her with their sabers ready. The charcoal Tapir made a slice which managed to nick the magenta mare’s right leg, making her grunt as a trickle of red mixed into her fur, but the white Tapir’s strike missed as she rolled backwards out of the way. Quickly leaping out of the roll, Cheerilee delivered a swift kick towards the charcoal Tapir knocking him to the deck and sending his saber sliding. Dodging the white Tapir’s retaliation strike, she grabbed the saber in her teeth and turned to face her attackers.
“Ooh, ready to cross blades with a pirate. Not a wise move. Even without his sword, my brother and I are more than a match for you pony,” the white Tapir, now revealed to be a girl, chuckled, as her brother rose to his hooves and stood beside her, annoyance clear on his face. Cheerilee was unable to give a reply due to the sword in her mouth, so instead she simply raised her hoof in a ‘bring it’ gesture and turned her head to strike. With a laugh, the white Tapir and Charcoal Tapir both charged her.
Meanwhile Lyra gave a yelp as the Hippogriff’s cutlass slashed towards her. She ducked, and felt as the blade cut a few hairs from her mane. She dodged to the side as the pirate brought his free talon towards her, hoping to grab a hold.
As he recovered his balance from the attack, Lyra sent a wave of magic through her horn and summoned her Lyre to her hooves. With a sharp strum on its cords, Lyra channeled the sound into a painful magical wave that would knock the Hippogriff straight off the ship.
Unfortunately the Hippogriff was fast, and he leapt over the blast with a kick from his powerful hind legs. A raven’s screech roared from his beak as he swung his cutlass straight for Lyra’s throat. With a gasp of panic, the musician swung her Lyre in front of her face, which blocked the blade with a loud twang. Angered his attack had failed, the Hippogriff dived forward, his beak ready to take her eyes out. The Unicorn blocked with her horn then channeled a weak burst of magic to push the feathered attacker away.
The Hippogriff stumbled back, but before he could counter attack, a wailing Trixie collided with him and knocked him to the deck. The blue Unicorn groaned before climbing back to her hooves to help Raindrops whose powerful punches were proving useless against the nimble Antelope. Every punch the Pegasus threw, the pirate seemed to easily dodge and counter with a strike from her own hooves. As Raindrop swung her body and dove toward the Antelope with a kick, the horned aggressor rolled below the attack and countered by slicing her sharpened horns on Raindrops wings.
The weather mare let out a shout of pain and the Antelope gave a laugh. It was cut short as an invisible hoof slammed into her face and forced her back. Thanks to Trixie’s opening, Raindrops leapt forward with a powerful kick to the pirate’s barrel. The attacker wheezed as she slid across the deck, a bruise already forming on her chest. Raindrops rushed towards her to knock her out when the pirate Pegasus intercepted the attack with a vicious head butt to the yellow mare’s side.
As Raindrops sprawled to the deck, the enemy Pegasus heard the blast of Unicorn magic and sped into the air, just missing the still invisible Trixie’s magical attack. Unfortunately the Antelope, who had managed to get back to her hooves despite the flaring pain in her sternum, spotted where the blast had come from, and delivered a buck with her hind legs right into the representative’s face.
Trixie’s invisibility dropped as she flew across the deck, smacking into Captain Sunset, who was barely standing and nursing a black eye from his brief encounter with the male Pegasus. As the two both groggily started to climb to their hooves, a flailing white Tapir soared over their heads and splashed into the water below. Cheerilee grinned as she flipped backwards over the charcoal Tapir in a somersault, dodging his clumsy tackle, before slamming both her rears hooves down on his back. The marauder let out a sharp wail of pain, before Cheerilee silenced him with a blow to the head. No longer needing it, the school teacher spat out the saber from her mouth and gave a smirk, "I just love when I get to show off my skills."
Hearing the splashing of the overboard Tapir, and noticing her downed brother, the Antelope, who was still a little winded from Raindrops powerful kick, nimbly leapt towards the school teacher and rammed her with a shoulder. As Cheerilee rolled to the deck, Trixie and Sunset moved forward to help, when a large wing slashed across their legs and they tripped to the wooden planks. The Hippogriff, holding a struggling Lyra in his grip, stood above them with a scowl on his beak, clearly agitated that his targets were putting up such a struggle.
Whatever he intended to next was suddenly stopped, as the blue Pegasus crashed to the deck beside him, curtesy of Raindrops who was fighting to supress her anger and prevent it getting completely out of control, lest she accidentally hurt one of her friends.
A sharp whistle rang out over the deck from the rear of the Autumn. Standing at the end of the boarding plank was a strong and strapping Unicorn. His coat was a snowy white and his mane and beard were a bright red. He wore a long red coat and a large black Tricorn hat adorned his head. Slung around his barrel was a scabbard which held a rather large broadsword. His cutie mark showed a plain looking sword with a red magical energy surrounding it. The Unicorn was certainly an imposing figure.
“Well, it seems we have a fight on our hooves. Usually when we board a vessel, they surrender almost immediately. I rarely ever need to come aboard another ship myself. You’ve certainly given my crew a difficult time, however I believe it’s time for hostilities to cease,” with that, the Unicorn gave a clap of his hooves and a dozen more pirates seemed to rise up upon the enemy ship, overwhelmingly outnumbering the seven members of the Autumn's Delight. They were all different species, from Zebras to Camels and even Alpacas, and all dressed in different attire, some covered in tattered vests, and others, eye patches and bandannas. What they all had in common was a vast array of swords and daggers, all pointing towards the Equestrian Knights and their friends.
The Unicorn just gave a smug smile, as Trixie and co stiffened at the sight of the invaders and their weapons.
“I suggest you surrender, or things might get a little messy.”