//------------------------------// // Chapter 004: Goodbye and Farewell // Story: Ultimate Equestria // by Leo Pachino //------------------------------// The next morning, Twilight and the others were back at their homes and packing their bags for their upcoming quest. In one swift night, a pirate made a fool of them and took off with the Diamond Eye. Now, without need of Princess Celestia’s command, the mares and dragon were going to take the diamond back, and bring justice to those robbed by Captain Korsan. “So Twilight,” Spike asked Twilight as he put a large collection of gems in a suitcase. “What’s the plan again?” “After Korsan and his crew raided the gala,” Twilight replied. “Rarity and I watched their airship fly off in a specific direction. I looked at several maps after the raid and discovered he’s most likely heading northeast, out to sea. There’s a location that’s directly in Korsan’s path called Thieves’ Hold, an infamous gathering place for criminals. Princess Celestia gave me permission for us and our friends to take a ship there and cut him off, taking the Diamond Eye back and apprehending him.” “Sounds great,” “I knew you’d say that.” “But,” Spike continued. “Once you do catch up to him, what are you going to do? One third of the guards were hospitalized after the raid and the other two thirds were unable to fight right from the start. How are we even going to take on Korsan, let alone his crew and ship? What do you know about him?” Twilight hesitated a bit, trying to think of a good description of Korsan’s strengths and weaknesses. “Well… Korsan is highly adept to mechanical arts, close-range combat, leadership, navigation, animal taming, and anti-magic, despite him being a pegasus.” Twilight said. “Wait, how does that work? Isn’t anti-magic an advance spell?” “Yes, but this stallion did something new. The straps he used to disable the other princesses’ magic power contained an unknown substance that nullifies magic. This substance is also probably used in his harness, his swords, and his ship.” “Freaky stuff…” “But that’s not the weirdest part. He stands, walks, and fights on his hind hooves and wears these weird claw-shoes on his front hooves. Their like your claws when they’re engaged.” “Wouldn’t that be hard for him, being a pony and all?” “It should. But it doesn’t. In fact, he’s even more agile than most normal pegasi. I think it has to do something with his mechanical exosuit, based on what he said.” “He sounds tough, any weaknesses?” “Uh…” Twilight was utterly stumped. “Please tell me you know some weakness to him before you attempt to fight him.” Spike warned his friend. “…He… He has a distaste for Earth ponies and pegasi for some odd reason and wears an eyepatch.” “Those are not weakness!” Spike exclaimed. “Nah-ah, depth perception!” Twilight retorted in empty pride. “What are we going to do then?” Spike then asked, raising an eyebrow. “We’ll… improvise.” “With what?” “Spike, why are you being so hypercritical about this?” “I just don’t want you or anypony getting hurt when we’re going after this stallion, that’s all.” “I’ll do research while we’re out at sea. Don’t worry Spike, we’ll have each other’s’ back.” Twilight comforted the small dragon. “That sounds good. By the way, you said something about him being a pegasus, yet he has a distaste towards them?” “Yeah, he immediately acted kind of aggressive when Celestia brought it up. He then explained that he was going to use the Diamond Eye to fix that or something, not sure how though.” “Twilight, are you sure you want to do this only hours after his attack? I don’t want to overcomplicate this, but something big could be going on, something that we might not be ready for.” “We have to act now. Cadence worked hard for the presentation for the Diamond Eye and it’s one of the only historical artifacts of the Crystal Kingdom lasting beyond King Sombra’s reign, and Korsan just took it from us. And besides, if we don’t go now, Korsan might run away and we’ll lose him, possibly forever.” “Alright…” Spike nodded. “Are you fully packed Spike?” Twilight asked, closing the last suitcase of her luggage. “This will be a long trip.” She warned. “I’m almost done.” “Hurry up please, we’re expected at Vanhoover in a few hours.” Meanwhile, at Rarity’s home, the white unicorn is also packing several suitcases. However, a smaller unicorn was following her around. “Sweetie Belle,” Rarity calmly exclaimed at the filly. “For the fifth time, no. You cannot join us.” “No fair!” Sweetie Belle whined. “Applejack’s probably letting her little sister join, and Scootaloo’s going to want to tag along with us.” “Applejack’s half as firm as I am, and even she wouldn’t let Applebloom join us for such a dangerous trip. We’re spending at least a month on open waters with pirates and storms around every corner. Not to mention that that Korsan creep we’re after has the hots for me.” Rarity said sternly. “Then why are you tagging along if it’s so dangerous?” “The only reason I’m joining my friends is because somepony needs to keep some level of integrity of the ship we’re going on up. Mom and Dad will look after you while I’m gone. And besides, Applebloom and Scootaloo will still be around to keep you company.” “But the Cutie Mark Crusaders must join you guys, think of all the possibilities for cutie marks there could out there that we can research.” “The only things you and your friends will get on your flanks out there are splinters, bruises, seawater, tons of dust and dirt, or even everything at once.” “Please!” The young filly begged. “For the final time… No!” Rarity snapped. With that said, Rarity returned to her work. Sweetie Belle, now rife with childish anger, stomped off into a corner, sat down, and pouted. The little unicorn watched as her big sister packed and packed, one suitcase after another. After a short while, a pile of suitcases surrounded Rarity. “Do you really need all of those large suitcases?” Sweetie asked, her temper dimming in curiosity. “What?” Rarity replied, confused. Rarity took a moment to look behind her and saw a three metre tall pyramid of large purple suitcases, teetering back and forth from its height. “Oh… Well yes, yes I do.” Rarity answered, a bit unsure of her answer. “Really?” “…Maybe one or two too many,” In the meantime, on the distant outskirts of Ponyville, at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was rummaging through the central barn with a yellow Earth pony filly, her younger sister, Applebloom, watching. “Applejack,” the younger sister spoke. “Can I-” “No Applebloom.” Applejack quickly responded. “But why?!” Applebloom immediately moaned. “First off, it’s dangerous. Second off, you’ll mostly be alone while we run the boat on our journey. Rarity’s twice as strict as I am, so there’s no chance Sweetie Belle will come along.” “What about Scootaloo?” “She’ll also be alone on the ship since I said no for your permission. Third off, somepony’s gotta take care of my work at the farm while I’m gone. Your big brother, Big Mac, has enough work on his plate already and he gets easily seasick, so he can’t take my place.” “Darn it…” “Don’t feel sad about it, you’ll be fine. Let’s see, what else do I need? I got a some books, some snacks, clothing…” “Water?” Applebloom suggested. “Bah, that won’t be an issue. I’ll be surrounded by it.” Applejack dismissed. “Doesn’t this fancy ship you’ve been talkin’ ‘bout have all of those things?” “It doesn’t hurt to pack a small bit of extra. Oh I know!” Quickly, Applejack darted into the back of the barn. Applebloom immediately knew what was going on, slowly placing a hoof over her face in shame. Applebloom asked, “It better not be-” “Apples! Lots and lots of apples, crates of them,” Applejack proudly interrupted her. “…that.” “Don’t be such a neighsayer. I can bake up all sorts of goodies on my trip with a healthy surplus of apples.” “Can I help you bake-” “No.” Meanwhile, high above in the clouds, Rainbow Dash had already packed her things in four large saddlebags and was now flying with them resting at her sides. Behind her followed an orange pegasus filly, hopping from cloud to cloud alongside Dash. “…As fun as it would be, Scootaloo,” Dash said to the filly. “I don’t think this mission would be that much fun for you.” “Oh come on,” the small mare, Scootaloom confidently retorted. “My wings are growing strong, to the point where I can almost fly. I could be helpful in getting the Diamond Eye and beating that pirate for stealing it.” “I enjoy your enthusiasm, but I’m afraid it’s too dangerous as well.” “Danger’s my middle name.” “No, I mean really dangerous. I saw what Korsan and his crew did. They didn’t hesitate when they levitated the guards into the air. I wouldn’t like to see what’d happen if you crossed into their territory and got hurt.” “You’d usually laugh at something that seemed threatening.” “Exactly, so you know you can’t join me on this.” Dash said. “I guess so.” “I’m happy you understand. I’ll be back in hopefully a month or two.” “Okay. Bye Dashy!” “Bye Scoots.” Scootaloo came to a quick stop with her cloud hopping. Dash continued forward, looking back and seeing the orange filly waving goodbye. Hm, Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She seems to be taking this awfully well. She didn’t even bring up the CMC or wanting to do cutie marks research… Meh, just might be me. Down below from where Rainbow Dash was flying, on the rolling grassy hills just outside of Ponyville, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were walking side by side, pulling a wagon of stuffed bags on them. “I knew it!” Pinkie cheered, hopping up and down as she moves forward. “You tempted fate, and now you must pay up.” “Are you still going on about the bet?” Fluttershy groaned, “You’re right, whoo-hoo, but there’s a bigger issue at hoof.” “You’re not backing out of it are you?” Pinkie asked, raising a pride-brimming eyebrow. “No. We just have to deal with this Korsan stallion and then we can take care of the bet.” Fluttershy calmly replied. “How about this, how about we make a new bet.” “Oh no…” “I bet that we’ll come across a giant carnivorous squid on our travels at sea.” “Pinkie, that’ll never happen.” “It’s an adventure at sea, of course it’s going to happen.” “No it won’t.” “Fine, then the bet is on.” “Wha-” “If I win, then you have to pay me twenty bits, if you win, you don’t have to pay anything.” “Hmmm…” Despite Fluttershy being sick of gambling, especially after just losing a bet, the offer enticed her. This was the chance for her to get back, and finally get Pinkie to be quiet. “Fine,” Fluttershy agreed. “It’s not going to happen anyways.” I pray that nothing like that happens. Fluttershy thought. I’d have a heart attack or something if some squid attacked us! “Are you excited?” Pinkie asked. “Excited for what?” “Excited that we’re going on a grand adventure out to sea against a pirate crew of course silly,” “Oh, well, it will be a pleasant cruise if that’s what you mean.” “I’m so excited! Just imagine the things we’ll be doing out there. Riding our ship throughout the storms, fighting pirates, getting in pirate bar fights, swing across boats onto the pirate ship, telling pirate tales, telling ghost tales, telling ghost pirate tales, getting pirate loot, getting kidnapped by pirates, being turned into pirate loot, and so much more!” “Most of those things you listed, if not all of them, are not going to happen.” “Wanna be-” “No.” A few hours later, at the ocean docks of the coastal city of Vanhoover, Twilight, Spike, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy met up with their luggage in tow at the entrance. “So,” Twilight asked aloud. “Is everypony here?” “Yep,” Rainbow confirmed. “Has anypony forgotten something, before we go?” Applejack asked the group, oblivious to the fact that her cargo of four massive crates of apples dwarfed the others’ luggage. “I wonder if I left enough food open for my animal friends…” Fluttershy thought out loud, now thinking about it. “No,” Pinkie sharply replied. “You gave them quite enough. I could see the pile from outside.” “It seems we’re all set then.” Rarity said. “Now the only question remaining is,” Spike noted, turning his attention to the vast array of large and small ships scattered throughout the harbour. “Where’s our boat?” “That’s a very good question,” a familiar mare’s voice replied behind him. The seven looked back and saw Celestia standing with them. “Princess Celestia!” They all exclaimed in surprise. “Hello, my little ponies.” The princess formally greeted them. “What are you doing here?” Twilight asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Canterlot right now after the robbery?” “Don’t worry, Luna’s taking care of the delegates. I just came here to wish you all good luck.” “I see.” Twilight replied. “Your ship is over there.” The white alicorn raised a hoof towards the far right of the docks. The others looked to where she was pointing and saw their ship. It is a massive galleon, with a solid red and gold painted exterior. Three tall masts on the ship pierced the sky, each with two wide, white sails sporting the symbol of Equestria, a shield with the sun and the moon together. Ten small steel cannons poked out of each side of the vessel. The stern of the boat hoted a large quarter deck, with windows revealing the large galley and captain’s quarters. “The SS Raindrop, a fifty metre long, one-hundred fifty metric ton luxury behemoth of oak and steel, made to sail anywhere. Armed with twenty quick-fire cannons, a hundred metric ton anchor, and an array of semi-automated steering and sail-pitching mechanisms, this ship will take on any challenge and escape with only a few scratches. Although it may not be as powerful as Korsan’s airship, this will certainly strike fear in any small ship that wants to pick a fight with you. I’ve already taken care of food and water resources on board in the cargo bay, they should last you at most three months.” Celestia explained. “Oh my… Celestia, are you sure you want to give us this massive ship?” “I’m certain. I well know of your understanding of ship operation and maintenance. With you as captain Twilight, you’ll only need a few ponies to actually operate it. Now, are all of you ready?” “Yes we are.” With a flick of the alicorn’s horn, the seven ponies, Spike, and cargo disappeared from the wooden docks in a flash of light and reappeared on the main deck of the large galleon. “Thanks.” Twilight said. “You’re welcome. Good luck all of you, come back safely.” Celestia announced. “We will.” The white princess’ wings unfolded, and Celestia took off into the clear sky. With the vast blue sea ahead of them, Twilight returned her attention to her friends. “Alright, let’s take off.” Twilight declared. “Aye-aye captain,” Pinkie promptly responded before saluting in her own, silly way. “Alright, first, we hoist the anchor.” Twilight’s horn glowed as she focused her attention to the unseen anchor over the edge of the bow. A loud rattling is heard as the ship begun to shift back and forth upon being freed from its restraint. “Done,” Twilight said. “The sails appear to be already opened.” Spike announced. “Right then, and finally…” Twilight said to herself. Twilight swiftly ran up to the top of the stern and found the wheel, standing at the center of the deck. Grabbing it with her magic, she gently set the steering wheel stiff and centered. “How about a little wind Dash?” She called to the pegasus below her. “Gotcha!” Rainbow hollered. In a single bound, the pegasus launched herself into the air and hovered behind a sail at the center mass. Rapidly beating her wings, Rainbow Dash soon caused a large gust of wind to pump into the sail, jerking the entire galleon forwards. “That’s enough!” Twilight yelled. With the ship now pulling out of the harbor, Twilight gently turned the wheel clockwise, turning the ship as well. “Let’s see, it was seventy-eight degrees clockwise from the east…” She uttered to herself. As the ship almost became parallel with the coast, Twilight straighted the wheel, stopping the turning. “There, now we should be heading straight for Thieves’ Hold.” “Now what do we do?” Rarity loudly asked. “Just kick back and relax.” Twilight gladdened them. “We have a good tailwind now.” “Yay!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Vacation Time!” “Good,” Applejack said. “Now I can start taking care of my stuff.” “Are all of those massive crates apples?” Rainbow questioned the orange Earth pony. “They sure are.” Applejack pompously nodded. “You realize that Celestia already stockpiled some food for us?” Dash asked next. “Yeah, but you can always use some roughage. You don’t see me whining about Rarity’s stack.” “Rarity is ‘excessive for personal reasons’, Twilight is ‘too prepared’, you’re entering psycho territory.” “It doesn’t hurt,” Fluttershy replied. “Whatever, I’m going to take care of my things and find a room.” Rainbow Dash said with a huff. “We should all at this point really.” Spike said. “May the adventure begin!” Twilight proudly shouted. With the wind brushing over her shoulders and the waves rushing past the sides of her ship, high hopes filled the young mare’s head.