//------------------------------// // Chapter 038: The Showdown (Part 1) // Story: Ultimate Equestria // by Leo Pachino //------------------------------// In an instant, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were lifted into the air by ten unicorn pirates at once. “Don’t try breaking out of this one. I have ten unicorns trained on you. That means you have to break all ten magic grips at once. Now, prepare for your demise.” Korsan declared. Twilight merely returned the threat with a small grin. Korsan was confused the sight. “What, you some trick up your sleeve?” Korsan asked. “Whatever it is, you aren’t hindering my progress this time, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight replied, “Let’s see about that.” Her horn immediately then started glow a blinding light. She was charging a powerful spell. “Get your weapons!” Korsan yelled at his followers. Twilight fired her spell. A bright green flash of light encapsulated the entire chamber in a blinding glow for a full second. The light died down quickly, revealing the mares were free from the magic. They stood strong, ready to fight. The pirate army attempted to lift their weapons and the mares once more with their magic, only for their horns to stay dimmed. “An AMP?! Impossible! Where did you learn such a pulse spell?!” Korsan exclaimed. “Same place where we learned this!” Twilight lunged forward into the enemy mob and hit the leading pirate in the face with a powerful punch, sending him back into the sand. The other pirates surround her and attempt to beat her down. Twilight ducked the wave of hooks and jabs. She then flapped her wings onto the ground, launching her upwards into the air. The force of the launched the pirates back into the others and blasted them with sand. Rainbow Dash tagged into the fray and flew into the fallen mass, brutally ramming them. “Fight them, you idiots! The AMP will last only for a minute or two.” Korsan roared. A pirate stallion ran at Rainbow Dash from behind and grabbed her. She flew up and slammed down her grabber into the dirt. The pirate immediately let go. Another stallion came with a dagger in his hoof. He threw it forcefully at her. Dash leapt over it. The pirate then threw a punch as she landed. She grabs the hoof and head-butted the pirate, knocking him off. Yin and Yu then rushed at her sides in a combined flank attack. They grabbed onto her outstretched wings. The three dropped onto the floor. Rainbow Dash recovered and rapidly spun her body on the sand. The brothers lost their grip and were flung to the opposite ends of the grotto. She taunted the four fallen pirates, “Is that the best you-” She was interrupted by Juliana. The ice phoenix bashed into the mare’s exposed stomach. The two fliers back away from each other and took to the air. They chased each other around the room, clashing at every opportunity they had. The stone walls of the cave turned into glaciers and arctic wind spirals. A sandstorm slowly formed and consumed the grotto. With a pursuing army of fifteen pirates behind her, Pinkie Pie was growing short on options. She had running around the sandy isle for as long as she could to avoid them, but her breath was growing sparse. “I feel like we got our magic back. Grab her!” Maria, one of the leading pirates, commanded. “We can’t!” Grevious replied at her side. “The sand’s too thick. It’s getting into my eyes even, I can’t think straight! We need a ranged attack.” “Then use it!” Maria demanded. “Ryan!” Grevious called out to the pack. The pirate named Ryan galloped to Grevious’s side. On his back was a large, wooden crossbow, fully loaded. “Got it!” The sniper pirate replied. Swiftly, the sniper pirate grabbed his crossbow in his magic and aimed it at the mare. However, before he could take the shot, a large gust of sand blanketed his sight. The stallion fired blind. The storm wave parted in the wake of the arrow. To the pirates’ surprise, Pinkie was nowhere to be seen. “What the?!” Maria gasped. Pinkie had vanished with only a second of time behind a sand veil. It was impossible to get far with that amount of time in this storm. Quickly, the pirates panned out across the area. Sounds of distant fighting and the sand blowing about echoed through the storm. Frozen sand pellets bulleted the area, destroying any hoof prints or specific craters in the sand. The pirates were baffled. How could Pinkie evade them in these conditions? “Where is she?” Maria demanded. No response was heard behind her. Only the current of sandstorm could be heard now. Something was wrong. Maria looked behind her, counting five others. They were loosely scattered in the storm, unable to hear her. But what happened to the rest of the pirates? Maria glanced over to Grevious, sifting through the beach below him. “Alexander, what are you doing?” Maria asked. “Our crew is disappearing for some reason!” Grevious replied, “I’m figuring that out.” “And?” “I think I have an idea where they and Pinkie went.” “Where?!” A mysterious force suddenly pulled Grevious under the sand. Barely a scream escape before he was buried. The only proof of his being was poof of dust in his wake. Maria jumped back in horror. She drew out her knives, ready to turn the nearest insight into a pincushion. She looked back to the other pirates. One by one, the stallions and mares slipped under the sand, each releasing only a yelp upon disappearing. Only Maria remained. A soft rumble was felt right below Maria’s hoof. She instinctively threw her knives into the loose sand. She then pulled out another knife and furiously stabbed the ground for a good number of seconds. “I know you’re down there!” She yelled into the sand. “Who?” A bubbly voice asked from behind. Maria was only able to see a pink hoof grab her face from behind before being dragged under in one swift motion. Twilight returned to the ground and was instantly surrounded by thirty pirates. All had their weapons at the ready. Three pirates charged their cutlasses at her. Twilight, in turn, raised magic brick walls from the ground. The bricks jammed the weapons between them as they formed. Twilight then kicked over the walls, crushing nine pirates in the process. A small pirate dropped from above and landed on Twilight’s back. The pirate raised a small knife up to Twilight’s throat. Five more pirates crawled over the wall rubble and approached Twilight with their weapons. Twilight chomped onto the small blade. She then snapped her neck around, twirling the small pirate around her head and into the incoming enemies in a spiral motion, knocking them down. She positions the pirate on her back and bucked him off. Another pirate ran up behind her and sliced her weapon into Twilight’s cheek. Twilight shrieked in pain, the corner of her eye spotting the bladed polearm slicing into her flesh. She retaliated by wrapping her wing around the wooden staff and smashing its hilt back into the pirate’s chest. Twilight, now armed with a new weapon, slung the polearm around herself with her magic. A large pirate stallion leapt over at her, only to be smacked back by the blunt side of the metal head. The metal head dislodged from the pole and flew off into the sandstorm. The thirteen remaining pirates watched as Twilight held the now staff in a defensive position. Twilight motioned for them to come and take her on. “Twilight,” a familiar mare’s voice called out to her. “Please stop.” It was Rarity The white unicorn squeezed her way through the pirate horde and slowly approached Twilight. “Rarity, are you with them?” Twilight asked. “It doesn’t matter. Back down now, I don’t want you to get hurt.” Rarity warned. “This is your one and only chance Rarity. Prove yourself a friend or foe. Get out of my way,” “This is your one and only chance Twilight. Keep out of this. Get out of our way,” “You traitor, you did join him.” “For the right reasons,” Rarity’s strong voice slowly turned into a plea. “Please. As your friend, just get out of here.” Rarity begged. Twilight remains silent for a second, only to then slowly raise her weapon at Rarity’s chin. “Never.” Twilight triumphantly said. “Very well then, I tried to be merciful.” Rarity coldly replies. She pulled out a long rapier from a sheath belted around her waist. “If I am your enemy, then you might as well be my enemy.” Rarity threatened. The two mares, once friends, aimed their weapons at each other. The slowly circled each other. The remaining pirates backed away in respect of this upcoming duel. A small mare pirate, unbeknownst to Rarity, charged at Twilight with her claymore blade swinging left to right. Twilight knocked aside the large sword and tossed up the pirate by the pole end high into the air. “Rainbow, take care of this one!” Twilight yelled out before returning her attention to Rarity. “I got it!” Rainbow Dash replied from high above. The high-flung pirate was grabbed by Rainbow Dash at the top of the grotto. With Juliana still in pursuit, Dash had to make quick work of the pirate. The filly pirate squealed and bucked around inside the pegasus’ grip as they spiraled about the chamber. “Quit squirming!” Dash demanded. “Make me!” The feisty pony barked before disappearing in a flash of light. She reappeared right above Dash and grabbed onto her rainbow mane. “Ow! Not cool, not lady-like, not fair!” Dash rapidly exclaimed. “I have the power, you weakling. You will listen to-” Dash suddenly stopped herself and ducked. The speeding ice phoenix couldn’t stop in time and slammed into the pirate. The impact encased her and Juliana in a block of thick ice. Juliana and the pirate dropped down into the moat, leaving Dash alone in the air. “Ha! Suck it! Talk about icing two birds with one stone, I didn’t even need the stone.” Dash taunted at the ice block far below her. She decided to cement her victory by performing a little dance in the air, shaking her rear at the ground. Her victory was cut short as a metal bolt whizzed right past her mane. It stabbed the ice wall behind, leaving behind a trail of loose hairs. Rainbow looked down to the cave floor and saw Korsan on an iron boulder with his crossbow aimed at her. Dash dodged the next four shots and soared directly for him. “Is that the best you go-” Korsan’s metal elbow joint smashed into Rainbow Dash’s incoming face. The mare’s senses shut down for a second as she crashed into the golden sand below. Korsan gently slid down the large hunk of metal and pulled out his serrated cutlasses. “You’ll pay for that!” Dash yelled upon regaining herself. Korsan merely chuckled and responded, “And you’ll pay for rusting my gears with your sweaty head. These were custom made, just so you know.” “Enough talk, more fight. I’ve been waiting for this moment a long time!” “Same here, pest!” The two pegasi lunged at each other and promptly started fighting. Dash soared around the stallion and pecked at him with dive attacks. Korsan deflected the dives with his blades and occasionally swung back at her. Dash avoided the slashes with her speed. The two continued to fight each other like this, putting each other closer and closer to the limit of their speed. Each of their motions were sharpened to their fastest. Each swing was forced to their strongest. The sounds of metal banging into hooves and sand being kicked around rattled the arena in a rapid beat faster than a grand military’s drumroll. Rainbow landed and bucked her legs in Korsan’s gut, knocking him back into an iron boulder. As the pirate captain slowly got up, Rainbow Dash bolted at him once more. “So, it’s going to be like this.” Korsan groaned, wiping the spit and blood from his mouth.