The storm passed as quickly as it had risen, the waves dying out until they merely lapped at the side of the ship, the rain ceasing until a light sprinkle dripped from the decks above, the sky clearing into a beautiful early morning.
Storm Stalker stood in the wheelhouse, her eyes scanning the rapidly disappearing night sky. Silent Hooves stood at the helm beside her, his gray coat practically blending into the color of the ship. The clank of the door opening broke the silence.
“Helm, what be our course?” Captain Trade Breaker said as he stepped into the wheelhouse, closing the door behind him.
“Sou' sou' west, Sir.” Hooves reported.
“Storm was blowin' nor' west.” Storm Stalker said. “By mah reckonin', we'll be at Ghos' Island by nightfall.”
Trade Breaker nodded. “Perfect. In the mornin' we can haul the Sea Treader free and set those mares loose by afternoon.”
The three figures stood silently for a few minutes, staring out of the thick glass that surrounded the wheelhouse. Finally, Storm broke the silence.
“Why did yew stop me Cap'n?” She asked.
He didn't respond at first, so she asked again.
Breaker inhaled deeply and held for a moment.
“Cause I'm a failure as a cap'n.” He answered.
“Cap'n, yew're anythin' but, but those mares are dangerous! The crew is at risk the longer they're aboard!” Storm protested.
“Aye!” He barked. “An' that's why I've failed! I've put the lives o' six ponies who I owe no allegiance to above the safety o' me crew! An' yet I'm bound by me own convictions to see that no harm comes to them!”
“Ah unnerstan' that yew have morals, so let me do it! We rid ourselves of these ponies an' sail fer foreign seas!”
“NO!” The captain bellowed. “I'll not be having throats cut on me ship! If'n it comes down between the crew an' them, so be it! But it' t'will be a fair fight! Not a murder!”
“Cap'n, she's an alicorn!” Storm pressed. “There's not a fair fight to be had!”
“Enough!” He yelled. “I don't want to hear anether word! I'm goin' to talk wit' the princess an' convince her to leave us peacefully!”
“Aye Cap'n.” Storm said, dutifully shutting her mouth and returning her gave outside.
The door opened and slammed shut, announcing the captain's departure.
Twilight sat in the captain's cabin along with her friends. The bed was comfortable enough, although none of the six ponies had done any sleeping since last night. Instead, they had debated the claims made by Captain Trade Breaker and what to do with the recent knowledge.
Rainbow Dash and Rarity were still of the opinion that the pirates' required a serious kicking while Applejack said that everypony needed to take a step back and look at things from another angle. Fluttershy agreed with Applejack, and Pinkie Pie didn't give any opinion at all, her normally poofy mane had deflated somewhat and she hadn't cracked a joke all night.
That left the tie breaking vote to Twilight, and she was pretty torn between the two options. On one hoof, she was duty bound to bring these pirates in for the crimes that they had committed, but after hearing the captain's words last night, she couldn't make up her mind.
The discussion was ended prematurely by the sound of a hoof banging against the door.
“Who's there?” Twilight asked.
A muffled voice called out from beyond. “Captain Trade Breaker. Permission to enter me own livin' quarters?”
After a nod from the others, Applejack opened the door to allow the pegasus to enter. He nervously stepped through the doorway, all of the anger and passion that Twilight had seen the previous night had disappeared.
“I, um, I hope I'm not interrupting.” He said, his pirate accent was heavy.
“No, in fact you're just in time to answer some questions.” Applejack said while motioning him further into the cabin.
“Yes, I would imagine that ye might have a few.” He nodded. “But before ye ask them, I request the favor of tellin' me story first.”
The mares exchanged another glance with each other before Twilight nodded at him.
“Go ahead.” She said.
He cleared his throat, and then spoke. “I suppose that the best place to start is the beginnin'. It all began when I was born. Me father was a sea captain, one of the best. Trade Master was his name, an' he plied the Equestrian coast haulin' the richest an' most bountiful cargoes to be strapped to a deck. Me mother, who passed away far too soon, was a fair mare that gave birth to two older brothers, both o' which went on to serve in the Equestrian Royal Navy. However, when she gave birth to me, me father took one look at me an' said, 'Ye should've not had this one, dear. He be a misfortune to the sea.'”
Twilight gasped. “How could he say that about his own son?”
“Cause it be true.” Breaker said sourly. “No other colt had such ill winds followin' him as I. Me dinghy sprang leaks an' left me swimmin' fer shore. Me knots, no matter how perfectly I tied 'em, came loose as if they were never there. Me sail wouldn't fill with wind, lest it was to capsize me boat. Then one fateful day, me flank was adorned with another reminder of me curse.”
Twilight looked and saw on his flank the cutie mark of a single mast with a torn sail sticking out of a pool of water.
“Oh no.” Fluttershy whispered.
“Aye.” He said sadly. “Me mark o' shame. It seems as though fate was not done wit' me. Not only was I incapable o' bein' a sailpony, it had to be announced to all who saw me.”
Applejack tried to help. “Maybe you're not supposed to be a sailpony, maybe you're meant to. . .”
“Sink ships?” Breaker said dryly.
“I was gonna say investigate wrecks.” She finished lamely.
“Already tried that.” He said. “An octopus nearly had me fer lunch an' me air hose was cut by a sword fish.”
“Um.” Fluttershy said meekly. “An octopus typically leaves ponies alone and wouldn't try to hurt a pony.”
“Which one of us was in a divin' suit battlin' fer his life?” He snapped.
Fluttershy 'eeped' and hid behind her hair. Trade Breaker took a deep breath and let it out.
“I'm sorry miss.” He said quietly. “It's jus' the way me life was fated to be. But I digress. I was the laughin' stock o' sailponies ev'rywhere. Nopony would take me on to be in their crew, those were the hardest years o' me life.”
He paused for a moment, then continued. “It came to pass one day that me father passed on, leavin' behind only his ship an' a small fortune. Me brothers were both in the Navy by then, an' took most o' the fortune, but refused the ship. Fer the first time in me life, I had a ship to call me own. A beautiful merchant that sang when the wind was wit' her. The Sea Treader.”
The captain's eyes filled with tears that he quickly blinked away, trying to hide his embarrassment. “Well, I had a ship but no crew. Not one pony would sign on wit' a captain whose bound fer misfortune, an' no company would send their goods on a ship that I captained. I was at the end of me wits an' me money, when out o' nowhere, a few individuals signed on. I was surprised to say the least when they showed up at me gangplank, but I was desperate an' took on any willin' soul.”
“The pirates?” Twilight asked.
“Oh no, no.” He chortled. “Let's just say I ran into Storm Stalker an' her band at a later date, literally. But back to me tale. The crew was an odd lot, an' certainly nothin' that could sail a ship, but like I said, I was desperate. I used the last o' me father's fortune to purchase a small cargo o' corn seed an' set sail for Bugganville, but alas, me fortune followed our ship. The journey was pleasant at first, an' for a moment I thought that maybe me fate had changed fer the better, but I was sorely mistaken. My course was plotted wrong an' I sailed us into the most treacherous waters that this world has to offer; Ghost Island.”
Twilight gasped in horror. “The graveyard of ships?”
Trade Breaker nodded. “Aye. Right into the teeth of that maelstrom.”
“Wait, what's Ghost Island?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Twilight was only too happy to explain. “Ghost Island is the most infamous piece of land in the ocean. It's an island that is completed covered in a storm everyday of the year. It's said that the winds there can rip a ship from the sea, and the currents carry everything into the rocks that surround the island itself.”
“That an' more.” Breaker said darkly. “The entire sea surrounding the island is one large whirlpool. If'n ye see the island, it already be too late, an' no matter what ye do, there be no endin' fer ye but the rocks. And that be where I sailed my ship.”
Twilight and her friends were silent, barely breathing as he continued his story. “In a cruel twist o' fate, we arrived at Ghost Island right as the worst hurricane to ever terrorize the sea passed over us. Ye thought that little bit o' water last night was bad, ye've yet to see what the ocean has to offer. Waves that make the tallest skyscraper in Manehattan blush, hail large enough to break through the deck, it was Tartarus to sail in. Had it been a lesser ship, I would not be standin' here today, but me father's ship held fast all the way till the end. Battlin' the tiller, I could see the island approachin' quickly, and there was naught that I could do. In a fit o' madness, I turned the ship directly towards the island, to this day I know not why. And then when disaster was about to strike, it happened.”
He paused, his eyes staring at the far wall, his mind in another place at another time. “A wave, the likes o' which I've never seen since, came up behind the ship and picked her up, carrying her over the rocks and towards the island. The ship was set down in between two rocks in the entrance to a natural harbor, and she sits there to this day. Not a soul was harmed in that storm, all twelve of us, includin' a mere filly, stepped off that ship safely.”
The six mares in the room breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
“It was then that we found. . . her.” Breaker said mysteriously.
“Her?” Applejack asked.
“The Marblehead. She was sittin' in the harbor, not a soul aboard. The ship was a ghost ship, sittin' in the middle o' Ghost Island. Twasn't long before me crew an' I boarded her an', upon thorough inspection an' a great deal o' luck, we lit her furnace an' left Ghost Island.”
“Wait, you just found this ship?” Twilight asked.
“Aye.” Breaker confirmed.
“B-But. . .” Twilight sputtered. “Where did she come from? Who built her?”
Breaker shrugged. “Search me.”
“That doesn't make any sense!” Twilight yelled in exasperation. “The ship had to come from somewhere!”
“All I know is that the ship's name is the Marblehead, an' the only reason I know that is 'cause it be written on the stern o' the ship.” Breaker said before glancing at the clock. “Now do ye have any questions?”
“Um.” Fluttershy raised her hoof. “What makes this ship move so fast?”
“Fire an' steam.” Breaker said simply. “Ye want a technical diagram, ask our engineer. Course, her methods are somewhat questionable.”
“Methods?” Twilight asked, fearing the answer.
“If somethin' breaks, hit it with a wrench until it works.” The captain explained.
Twilight nearly fainted at the revelation.
“What about the dragon?” Rainbow asked. “And the griffon, and the changeling? What's their story?”
“They were part o' me original crew, though Culinary Beak is a hippogriff, not a griffon.” Breaker said.
“Wait, you signed up a changeling to be on your crew?” Applejack asked with wide eyes.
The captain nodded. “Aye, along wit' a dragon, hippogriff, two threstals, a zebra, a mother an' her daughter, a disgraced scientist an' her talking timberwolf, an' a, um, well I don't really know what Henry be.”
Twilight called it quits on trying to stay upright and promptly fainted.