//------------------------------// // Chapter 020: Word of a Pirate // Story: Ultimate Equestria // by Leo Pachino //------------------------------// A kilometre above the ocean, The Perfection flew across the cloudy blue skies. Inside the low brig of The Perfection, Rarity and Sweetie Belle were inside their cells as per usual. With the ambient noises of wood creaking and hooves trotting along the upper floors as their only permanent company, the two prisoners were practically statues in beds, waiting to come alive and eat when Chopin brought them food every few hours. The loud metal creaking of a door snapped the two out of their ceiling-bound glances and the two sisters look to see what caused the sound. Much to Rarity’s surprise, it was Slasher. She had pulled the lever to Rarity’s cell door, opening it. Her gentle hoofsteps were noticed by the two prisoners before, as they were used to the mime’s heavier stomps. “Slasher?” Rarity silently exclaimed to the chipper pirate. “What are you doing here?” “Captain’s recalibrating his suit,” the brown mare calmly replied as she then approached Sweetie Belle’s cell. “It’ll take a while, so I thought it’d be nice to show yous around The Perfection. It must suck being stuck in here for days.” “Aren’t you worried about us escaping?” “How? We’re thousands of metres above sea level on one of the heaviest militarized ships in existence,” Slasher said. “Fair point…” “It’s tough to pull these without magic, err,” The brown unicorn groaned, eventually pulling down the adjacent lever and opening the filly’s prison door. “Thank you, Miss!” Sweetie cheered. She bolted from her caged room and hugged the slightly larger mare’s leg. Slasher was overcome with awe. She exclaimed, “Aw, you’re so adorable! So, where would you two like to go?” “The treasure room! Please?!” Sweetie asked. “Now, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity firmly stated. “We trapped on a boat filled with cutthroat pirates, no offense, Slasher, and I don’t think they’d appreciate us messing with their stolen valuables.” “Yeah,” Slasher agreed. “Not even most of we are allowed in there. Oh! We have the gardens, you can visit there!” “Wait, a garden?” Rarity asked, immediately bewildered. “Yeah, we grow all sorts of plants and foods there, especially potatoes. They’re delicious. Can we go there? I want to go there with yous.” Slasher insisted. “Sure…” “Yes! Follow me.” With Slasher Gutzoult leading the trio, the mares headed up the stairs and into the medical area. There, they came across a light green mare with a silvery mane and tail. She was wearing a nurse’s coat, cleaning the wooden floor with a mop. From the smell and sheer amount of mop fluid, there seemed to have been a rather large mess on the floor earlier. Rarity instantly recognized her and instantly called out to her, “Hello, Lilis.” “Hm?” The nurse responded. She looked up from the damp flooring and was surprised to see the ship’s captives free from their cells without Korsan or Chopin with them. “Miss Rarity? What a surprise. How’s that cut of yours doing?” She asked. “My cut?” Rarity asked. Rarity looked back at her hind legs and saw her right one wrapped in a thick white bandage cloth. “Oh, I nearly forgot about that. It’s doing well. Thanks for taking care of it.” Rarity said. “Rapiers make a might of a gash if you’re not careful.” “I figured.” “So, where are you taking them, Slasher?” The nurse, Lilis, questioned Slasher. “I’m just showing our guests around while Korsan’s recalibrating,” Slasher enthusiastic replied, bouncing up and down. The cat-loving pirate’s black mare flopped in front of her green eyes. Lilis remained indifferent. “Please tell me it’s not your room. Your cats have already put me to hard work with whatever diseases they manage to pick up.” The nurse told her. “No, it’s the botany chambers.” “I’m not sure the cooks would like you interrupting their work.” “It’s fine. I promise.” “Fine, just make sure that Yu and Yin don’t see you. Don’t want that little foal with you picking up on their bad habits.” “Will do, Lilis. By the way, who revisited lunch this time?” Slasher asked. “Fawnswa,” Lilis said. “Oh…” “We should get going,” Rarity interrupted, holding back her disgust. “Right?” “Oh, yes. Quickly now,” Slasher said. Going around the wet wood, the trio made their way upstairs into the cabins. Down the hall, they reached the entrance of the gardens. Peaking inside, Rarity and Sweetie Belle were immediately stunned, as rows and rows of plowed land and water span across an entire sector of the ship. Carrots, watermelons, pumpkins, wheats, all neatly organized. Slowly following their guide into the gardens, the two sisters looked around the massive indoor farm, all brightly lit by lanterns on the ceiling. “How is this ship this massive able to fly?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Especially with an entire farm built into it?” Rarity added. “I’m not entirely certain,” Slasher sheepishly answered. “I’m not the smartest when it comes to this stuff. I think Korsan said something about electrocuted anti-magic built into The Perfection’s structure counteracting a magic air-field, making it able to fly regardless of massiveness. I don’t know too many big words.” “My friend, Twilight, would probably kill to learn about this anti-magic stuff your captain knows about.” Rarity said. “Princess Twilight Sparkle?!” “Yes? You saw her at Thieves’ Hold, didn’t you?” “No, I was busy cleaning a spare sail while Korsan and half of the other crew members entered the bar three days ago. But I heard that the battle was amazing! Princess Twilight and Captain Korsan, beating the ever-living daylights out of each other, exchanging blows one right after another. I wish I’d been there to see it. How’d it start anyways? Did your crew and Korsan’s crew stand on opposing sides of the bar and then charged into each other like in an epic action book?” “Not really, Korsan was about to attack November and her dad and Twilight decided to intervene by smashing a chain into Korsan’s back.” “Oh no, he said too much again.” “Who? November’s dad? What do you mean?” “A little less than three years ago, several months after… then… We visited Thieves’ Hold. The bar had been recently built by November and Nitin Gale. When we first walked inside, Nitin was talking about his experiences with Captain Korsan. He talked about Korsan’s childhood extensively. I wasn’t able to hear much before the captain got furious all of a sudden and attacked Nitin Gale. He bashed the old ex-member into every corner of the bar in a seething bloodlust, never stopping and even tossed November across the bar when she tried to stop him. After a while, Korsan ran out of steam and ordered us to leave immediately.” “That’s horrible. How old were you when you saw this?” Rarity asked. “I was fourteen, but I’ve seen worse even before then.” “Aren’t you in the least bit concerned about Nitin Gale and all that he went through? Aren’t you upset at your boss doing such a horrible thing?” “I was concerned! I was even going to try to break it up if the captain continued. When he ordered us to go, I was practically furious with him. However, as we were leaving Thieves’ Hold, I saw the captain head up into his chambers, looking as if he was about to cry or something like that. I don’t really understand it, but there I realized something. It was like, Korsan was regretting what he just did and tried to hide his shame from the rest of us. Look, I know that the captain appears to be this merciless maniac, and he is at points, but he really does care for us. He has feelings and emotions like the rest of us.” Slasher explained, tears building in her eyes. “…Is that really a reason to forgive him for attempting to kill most of my friends?” Rarity then asked. “Well, no, it’s just… He has good reasons-” “Good reason my flan-” “Shhh!” The pirate mare hissed at Rarity as they reached the edge of the gardens. Ahead of them was a large glass room with trees inside it. With the sunlight from outside beaming into the massive tree room, Slasher and her two companions turned deathly silent. Sounds of what seemed to be stallions whispering could be heard above them. “That sounds like its coming from the cellar, follow me quietly.” Slasher said. Sweetie Belle murmured, “But why-” “I said quietly,” Slasher demanded. Confused, the two sisters listened and followed the small brown pirate as they snuck across the dirt floor of the room, bobbing and weaving between the trees. They climbed up the staircase in the chamber to the top, leading to the cellar that was right below the kitchen and galley. Peeking their heads over the landing on the top floor of the hull, the trio looked through the open doors and into a large room. The room was filled with wooden barrels of liquids, but no pony could be seen inside. The voices grew more audible though as they drew closer to the room. Slasher’s thin ears sharply pointed forward in attempts to interpreting the voices. “What’s going on?” Rarity asked. “I don’t know, for a while, I’ve been hearing this talking around this area whenever Korsan’s busy with something. Be quiet for a tick,” Curious of what Slasher’s hearing, Rarity sharpened her ears towards the mumbles and begun to hear them more clearly. “…so that’s when we’ll hit him?” The voice of an older stallion uttered. “Yeah,” A younger stallion replied in a strict tone of voice. “He won’t know what hit him.” “Is this really the best idea? You saw what he’s capable of late night.” The older stallion asked. “For all we know,” a mare then replied. “He could very well know of what we’re planning and will strike back when we do. Why else would he have been showing off during that fight against that wench we got?” The younger stallion retorted, “He’s an oblivious moron. Listen, if we don’t get this done sooner or later, he will find out and we’ll all be dead.” “Well,” a third stallion replied. “You’ll at least be dead. After all, you know more than we do.” “Dead pony tell no tales,” the elder pirate said. “The sooner we complete this mission, the sooner we get the riches.” The younger stallion declared. “I’m sick and tired of that twit running us into the ground. High time we do something about it…” What’s going on? Rarity thought to herself. It sounds like they’re upset at somepony. Wait, didn’t Slasher say something about a certain somepony… Rarity slowly turned to the focused teenager, thinking she may have a clue. Sweetie Belle, right between the two, began to wrinkle her nose as some loose dust tickles her insides. In one swift motion, the filly violently sneezed, causing the other two to cringe in fright as their cover was blown. “They didn’t hear that, right?” Rarity hastily asked. “Somepony’s over there, check it out.” The leading stallion of the unseen group yelled out. “Oh no,” Rarity gasped. “Shoot!” Slasher silently exclaimed. “Rarity, get your sister and run back. If they know we’re here-” “What about you? Who are they?” Rarity asked. “Just go!” Frantically, Slasher head-butted Rarity’s side and forced the two down the stairs to the room floor. Getting the message, the two sisters darted into the gardens while Slasher returned to her position at the stairs. Running as fast as they can without making a sound, Rarity and Sweetie Belle darted into the cabin area. However, as they turn around to the stairway down into the lower floor, they accidently collided with Yin and Yu walking up, sending the two brothers tumbling down and smashing into the lower floor. A pair a mildly pained groans escaped the two. “Sorry!” Rarity exclaimed. “Ow…” One of the brothers moaned in response. “It was an accident!” Sweetie Belle cried out. “Figured,” The pirate replied. “Hey,” the other tangled unicorn broke noted. “Why aren’t you two in your cells? We were just going up to find yous when we found your cells have been opened.” “We were just taking a small tour of the boat, nothing more,” Rarity quickly replied. “With who?” The stallion duo asked. “With… Fawnswa, yes!” Yin and Yu glanced at each other, as if mentally judging her answered. They both returned to her, looking surprisingly happy. “Oh, he needed an escort after his technicolor spitting fit. That makes sense in his case. We told him not to try carpentry upside with a shot of Anton’s stuff.” The right brother, Yu, said. “What were you two even doing down there?” Rarity asked. “Fetching you two. Yeah, Captain wants to see you, Rarity, in his private chambers.” “What about Sweetie Belle?” “She is going to be supervised by Butch and Ivan while they prepare dinner.” The first brother, Yin, proclaimed. “Something about letting her interact with the crew and having fun.” “In the kitchen?” Rarity asked, her eyebrow raised. “Don’t worry. They’ll keep a good eye on her.” “…” “If you don’t like it, too bad. Captain’s orders,” the first brother coldly stated. “Oh come on, Yin,” Yu playfully retorted. “Don’t be in such a downer because you slipped down a few stairs.” “Your hoof is in my spleen,” Yin answered. “Oh. Sorry.” As the two pirate brothers untangled themselves, worry set into Rarity’s mind. She wondered about what’s happening to Slasher now. Please let her be okay, Rarity silently prayed. Upstairs, in the back of the top floor of the quarterdeck, Korsan was inside a small library. He was doing his scheduled recalibration of his suit. It seemed like every month, the suit’s mechanics needed to be tuned. With his front left hoof resting on a golden table and his right turning a wrench jammed inside his left elbow’s metal parts, all the bipedal pony could do is look around to see the same sights he had always seen in his library. Hundreds of shelves, each packed with books of all sizes and colours, neatly organized by his personal system, lining every wall of the room all the way to the ceiling. Only two sets of dual doors in each corner of the triangular room were not bombarded with books. On the table where his body sat on were the two Diamond Eyes stacked on top of each other, buried in a small pile of notebooks and broken writing quills. As the pirate captain felt his mechanical armour beginning to squeeze his back and joints, he gave the final tug on his wrench embedded into the gears of his suit before yanking out the wrench. He tossed it into the corner of the massive table before him, relieved to get that thing out of him. A slight gasp escaped the brown stallion’s mouth as he rested himself into a nearby chair and examined an open journal in front of him. “Let’s see,” Korsan mumbled to himself. “It’s in a combination of both a greater integer function and a quantic function, similar to a diamond’s particle structure when in crystalloid formation. Graphing the equations on a single table and transforming the image created by the graph gets me somewhere, but where’s the next step? Is this step even finished? Perhaps I need to read on Bloomsburg’s studies on the ‘Alicronicom’ again and cross reference it with ‘Daring Do and the Lost Kingdoms of Trihearth’. Maybe I should check Star Swirl the Bearded’s-” Before he can finish his internal monologue, a knock on the right set of dual doors interrupted his train of thought. “Who is it?” He asked. “Rarity-gram.” Yu replied behind the closed doors. “Let her in.” Slowly, the doors swung open to reveal Rarity nervously standing there. As organ music then echoed from the adjacent bedroom into the library, the two ponies silently stared at each other for a moment. Yu has already fled. Korsan greeted her, “Rarity,” “Korsan,” The white unicorn replied in a sharp, yet frightened tone. “I see that your leg’s doing well.” Korsan said. “Why have you brought me here? You know well that I’m neither a fan of you nor your work and would request that you let me and my sister go.” “It’s been merely three days. Surely you’re not as insistent as you believe yourself to be.” “What does that mean? How are you so certain of what’s going inside my mind?” “’Phycology Studies 13C’,” Korsan declared, pointing to a book behind him. “You should read up on it, it’s a good book. What I’m trying to put is that you’re probably interested about the bells and whistles that make up this fine ship. I can arrange something to help that craving. I can arrange a private cabin for you and your sister, give or take a few moves. I can also arrange a little private get-together between you and me, just to know a little more about each other.” “Aren’t you saving yourself up for November Gale?” “Not exactly. I have a very limited number of choices for a good mare by my side. I’m just trying to find which one fate truly has set for me.” “You, some super-sciency pirate, believes in fate?” “To a scientific extent.” “…?” Rarity gave a look of confusion. What is this loon even talking about? She internally asked herself. Korsan explained, “You see, everything in this world can be given a numerical value. And if you’re clever enough, you can use these numbers to better your odds in whatever goal you’re trying to achieve. Fate is just another one of those numbers. I myself will never be able calculate all the numbers in the world, but I can get quite a few for my life close enough.” “So what? Are you now planning to go on some date with me?” “That’s the concept.” “Never in a million years.” “Oh, we’ll see in fair time. Now, how about that personal tour?”