"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me," sang a soft, sweet voice over the foggy ocean waters, "Yo ho, yo ho, it's a pirate's life for me..."
Young Fluttershy stood at the bow railing of the ship, the HMS Dauntless, gazing out towards the seas. Her pink mane blew slightly in the wind, and she continued to sing.
"Drink up me hearties, yo ho-"
"Quiet, missy!" said an orange stallion, running up to Fluttershy, "Cursed pirates sail these waters! You want to call 'em down on us?"
Fluttershy's eyes widened in surprise, but a voice caught both hers and the stallion's attention.
"Mr. Jack," a dashing young stallion wearing a Royal Navy uniform said, "That will do."
"She was singing about pirates," said the orange stallion warningly, "Bad luck to sing about pirates, with us mired in this unnatural fog. Mark my words."
"Consider them marked. Now, on your way."
"'Aye, Captain," the stallion walked back down towards the deck, "Bad luck to have a mare on board, too. Even a mini'ture." he returned to swabbing the deck, taking a sip from a flask when nopony was looking.
"I think it would be rather exciting to meet a pirate, Mr. Rarity." said Fluttershy to the young stallion wearing the uniform.
"Think again, Ms. Breeze," said Rarity, looking out at the waters through the ominous fog, "They are awful creatures, the lot of them. I intend to see to it that any stallion who sails under a pirate flag, or wears a pirates brand, gets what he deserves: a short drop and a sudden stop."
Fluttershy blinked in confusion, and on the deck, the orange stallion helpfully mimed a stallion being hung.
"Captain Rarity," said Fluttershy's father, Governor Sky, "I appreciate your fervor, but I am concerned about the effect this subject will have on my daughter."
"My apologies, Governor." said Rarity simply.
"Actually," said Fluttershy, "I find it all fascinating."
"And that's what concerns me," said Governor Sky, "Fluttershy, dear... We will be landing in Port Royal very soon, and beginning our new lives. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we comport ourselves as befits our class and station?"
"Yes, father," she turned away, to look out over the bow rail, and whispered to herself, "I still think it would be exciting to meet a pirate..."
The fog was still obscuring almost everything, and very little of the sea was visible. Fluttershy's eyes trailed across the water, until a figure suddenly came into view. It was a young colt, appearing to be about the same age as her, floating on a piece of wood in the water. Fluttershy's eyes widened in surprise. She quickly leaned far over the edge to look at the colt, when she suddenly lost her balance, and fell over the edge.
"Eeek!" cried Fluttershy as she fell into the water.
"Fluttershy!" cried Governor Sky, running over to the edge with Captain Rarity following, "Save her!
As he was saying this, Fluttershy burst out of the water, and grabbed onto the piece of wood the colt was on. She held one hoof on the board, and wrapped her other one around the colt so he wouldn't fall off.
"Ponies overboard!" yelled Rarity at the crew, seeing Fluttershy and the colt in the water, "Fetch a hook! Haul them out of there!"
Quickly, the sailors threw a rope into the water, which Fluttershy caught and gently tied around her and the colt's waists. She might have been scared, but she was no fool. The sailors pulled her and the colt up, and Fluttershy landed roughly on the deck. The rope was untied from her and the colt, and Fluttershy instantly ran over to her father.
"That was so scary..." she whispered to her father.
Rarity, after making sure that Fluttershy was okay, hurried over to the colt to check on him. Fluttershy, worried about the colt, broke away from her father to look.
"He's still breathing." said Rarity with relief.
"Where did he come from?" asked Governor Sky.
"My God..." whispered the orange stallion in horror, facing towards the waters instead of the young colt.
Everypony turned away from the colt, to see that the sea was no longer empty. Wreckage from a ship littered the water, along with the macabre sight of the dead crew. What remained was burning, notable a ragged British flag hanging limply from the stern. Everypony on the HMS Dauntless fell quiet.
"What happened here?" whispered Governor Sky nervously.
"An explosion in the powder magazine," said Rarity in a hushed tone, "Merchant vessels run heavily armed."
"Lot of good it did them..." muttered the orange stallion, "Okay, everypony's thinking it! I'm just saying it: pirates!"
"There is no proof of that," said Governor Sky softly, "It could have been an accident. Captain, these stallions were protection. If there is even the slightest chance one of those poor devils is still alive, we cannot abandon them!"
"Of course not, Governor," said Rarity, before turning towards his crew, "Come about and strike the sails! Unlash the boats! Gunnery crew, jackets off the cannons!" he turned towards Governor Sky, "Hope for the best... Prepare for the worst," he turned back towards two of the crew members, "Move the boy aft. We'll need the deck clear."
The two crew member carefully lifted the colt over to a safe area. Governor Sky pulled Fluttershy away from the awful scene on the water, and towards where they were putting the colt.
"Fluttershy," he said to her, "I want you to accompany the colt. He's in your charge now. You'll watch over him?"
Fluttershy nodded nervously, and her father hurried away to help the crew. She then sat down next to the young colt, where the crew members had left him. She gently pushed some of his mane away from his eye, when he abruptly grabbed her hoof. Fluttershy's eyes widened once again, but she kept a soft, kind voice to calm him.
"My name is Fluttershy Breeze." she said.
"R-R-Rainbow D-Dash." said the colt nervously.
"Don't worry. I'm watching over you, Rainbow."
Rainbow gave a small smile, before he slipped back into unconsciousness. Fluttershy noticed that he had a thin chain around his neck, and gently tugged it free to reveal a gold-and-silver medallion. She turned it over from the back side, to reveal an ominous skull on the other. Fluttershy's eyes widened, once again, and she looked down at Rainbow.
"Y-you're a pirate..." she whispered.
Fluttershy glanced back at the crew, and nervous grabbed Rainbow's medallion, hiding it in her coat.
"Did he speak?" asked Rarity, suddenly arriving next to Fluttershy.
"His- his name is Rainbow Dash," she replied nervously, "That's all I found out."
"Very good." Rarity hurried back down towards the crew.
Fluttershy looked back down at the creepy gold-and-silver medallion, when a wisp of wind caused her to look up. Out over the sea, moving through the fog, as silent as a ghost, was a large sailing ship with dark blacks sails. Fluttershy stared at the ship in fear, noticing the skull on the faintly-visible flag matched the one on the medallion. Fog surrounded the closed in on the black ship, all except for the ominous black flag. As Fluttershy continued to stared, the skull on the flag seemed to turn and grin at her. Fearfully, Fluttershy shut her eyes tight.