“Save me!” Fluttershy begged.
“I’m trying!” Twilight frantically replied.
Korsan had a blade aimed at Fluttershy’s throat. His psyche was a mess. If he sensed something was amiss or didn’t get what he wanted, he’d surely murder the innocent mare with no second thoughts.
Twilight bravely leapt from the iron chunk and charged towards Korsan. However, she was cut off by a magically-projected shield between her and Korsan. It was a physical shield, only magic was able to go through it. Korsan’s maddened grin grew wider as he silently congratulated the crew member that projected the shield.
“Let me in!” Twilight demanded.
“Turn me into an alicorn from out there. Perform teleportation or any stunt like that, and this mare goes bye-bye.” Korsan warned. “Do it!”
Seeing no other option, Twilight attempted to turn Korsan into an alicorn. A faint purple aura surrounded him and her horn. Twilight focused her mind with all of her might. Fear and terror quickly set as the squeals of her friend and the crackling of Korsan’s gritted teeth roared in her ears.
“I don’t have an eternity! Just do it!” Korsan demanded.
“Captain,” Maria called out to Korsan. “Isn’t this taking things a little too far?”
“What do you mean, Maria? We’re pirates, we’ve always done this!” Korsan answered.
“Don’t hurt Fluttershy!” Rarity screamed.
She ran up the sandy hill galloped to Korsan. Maria jumped in front of her and tackled Rarity to the floor.
“Don’t be an idiot! This is a hostage situation!” Maria warned Rarity.
“Keep her in her place!” Korsan told Maria.
“No! Korsan! You promised!” Rarity cried.
“Running out of patience, Twilight!” Korsan hissed.
“Applejack! Stop him!” Rarity pleaded.
She looked up from the stone flat and saw Applejack watching over the ordeal with a horrified glance. In her hooves and pressed up against her chest was Applebloom, too scared to look. The two were frozen just like what Rarity was a second ago, overcome with the immediate terror before them.
“Fluttershy!” Rarity yelled out.
“Only a few seconds left, you wench!” Korsan yelled.
“I can’t!” Twilight cried out, still trying to cast that one spell.
“It really looks like she can’t, Captain!” Maria said. “You’re scaring half of the crew, sir, I think it’s best that you stop this!”
Korsan retorted, “No, Maria! Ten…”
“You’re just upset, Captain! “Please! Spare Fluttershy!” Rarity screamed out as Maria held her down in the sand.
“Nine…”
“You’re insane!” Twilight cried, her tightly sealed eyes pouring rivers of tears. “I’m giving it all I got!”
Her horn sparked vigorously as her magic output reached its limit.
“Eight…”
“Just finish her off already! This tension is doing nothing!” Isyan yelled out.
“Seven…”
“This is beyond cruel, sir,” Yin spoke up, speedily galloping to his captain.
Yu joined his brother and yelled out, “Stop this now-”
“Why are you all suddenly pansies?!” Korsan asked. “What do you think you signed up for when you all joined me? Six… Besides, you never had that much trouble three years ago when you destroyed that sky kingdom. Five…”
“You don’t think I regret that? Every night, I’m haunted by the screams of all of those ponies who posed no threat to us! My brother, Yu, can’t even get five hours before waking to that nightmare!” Yin declared.
“Four… Then why didn’t you leave me? Just like the Gales,”
“…” The pirate crew remained silent.
“My point exactly, you want to live the good life. And the only way you’re getting to that good life is by paying the price of blood. Hear me fellow stallions and mares?! If you don’t want to spend your days scraping the dust from the floor just to get a decent meal, then you all stick with me!”
“…”
“Three!”
“Twilight!” Fluttershy screamed.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight screamed.
“No!” Rarity screamed.
With her horn buried in the dirt, Rarity could only watch as the seemingly inevitable came.
“Get off of me!” Rarity pleaded to Maria.
“The captain has given his orders!” Maria replied, shakiness present in her voice.
“You can’t let him do this!” Rarity retorted.
“I can and I will, whether I like it or not!”
Korsan then loudly roared, “Two!”
He pressed the sword deeper into Fluttershy’s neck, almost cutting the weak flesh. As Yin reached the pirate captain’s shoulder, he stopped dead in his tracks. A sudden realization came to the pirate lackey’s head. What was he about to do for not only the mare, but for him and the rest of his pirate family?
“Don’t just let him do this!” Rarity yelled out to Yin. “Stop him!”
“…I-I-I can’t.” Yin said in defeat.
He slowly backed away from Korsan, and allowed the crisis to continue.
“One!” Korsan roared.
“Korsan! Think about what you’re doing!” Rarity yelled out.
“I know what I’m doing! And I’m doing it now!” Korsan declared.
“No!”
“Time’s up!”
Rarity and Applejack ducked their heads into her shoulder to avoid looking. Twilight and Fluttershy screamed out to each other as the end came.
However, a few seconds of screaming passed and nothing had yet happened. Korsan had not moved his sword a centimetre. The long shocked onlookers were immediately shocked.
Korsan didn’t follow through.
Carefully, Korsan drew his weapon away from Fluttershy’s throat. His maddened expression quickly degrades into a saddened grimace. He walked away from Fluttershy and Twilight, returning his cutlass into his back piece.
“Alexander Grevious, lower the shield.” Korsan plainly said.
“S-Sir?” The dark blue pirate stammered. Did he misunderstand his leader’s command, or was it some sudden change of heart?
“Lower the shield between Twilight and Fluttershy.” Korsan repeated.
“Okay…” Grevious said.
With a flick of his long horn, the magic barrier disappeared between the two mares.
Twilight and Fluttershy quickly lunged into each other and gave each other a tight, embracing hug. Waterfalls of tears coated the two mares as they held each other.
“I-I thought he was going to-” Fluttershy exclaimed.
“I-I did to!” Twilight exclaimed.
Korsan looked over at Maria, still holding Rarity to the floor. He snapped his claws, prompting her to release Rarity. Rarity instantly rushed towards her friends and joined in the warm embrace.
“Rarity!” Twilight and Fluttershy cheered.
“I’m so happy you’re all okay!” Rarity cried, nestleing herself deep within the circle.
Yin and Yu were frozen, absolutely dumbfounded of what just happened. To two looked to Korsan to see a rather indifferent face on him.
Yin hesitantly asked, “C-Captain, why didn’t you-”
“If she was an actual natural alicorn, she would’ve done it.” Korsan stiffly replied.
“You mean it was all a test?!” Isyan exclaimed.
“A bluff, yes,” Korsan said.
“So, what now?” Yu asked from behind his brother.
“Honestly, I don’t know.” Korsan stated before chuckling. “Heh, I got no ideas, no plans, nothing. For some reason, it feels a bit nice, amidst all of the sentiments I’m going through at this moment. Perhaps we can just, go back to our old ways as normal pirates.”
“Really?” Yu asked. “You were so-”
“I know, I know. But I know when I am beat, as any honourable ship captain is. This quest was a lost cause, I admit it.” Korsan dismissed Yu’s, as well as the other pirates’, concerns.
“What do we do with the rebels, sir?” Yin asked.
Korsan turned towards Applejack and Applebloom, who were looking back at him in a most startled manner.
“Hold them for ransom, including Applejack and Applebloom, like we usually do. But please, be gentle with them, they’ve been through a lot.” Korsan said.
“You’ve been awfully generous,” Isyan replied, leaning over his cousin’s shoulder. “It’s very unbecoming coming from you…”
“Just do as I say. The rest of you hurry along, it’s going to be a long way back to our ship.”
Eventually, the rest of the pirates got over the incident followed orders. They walked over to cuddling mares and collected them. As Korsan looked over the unhurried capture, he sensed Maria right beside him, staring out over the deed as well.
“Maria Vanshwitz,” He said.
“Captain,” the pale mare quietly replied.
“Are you okay?” Korsan asked.
“…I’m fine.”
“You’ve been acting a lot different lately. What for?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Two weeks ago, you were so joyous, so optimistic. You even asked me about my love to Miss Rarity. Now, you’ve taken a dark turn. You’re so glum and tense. What happened?”
“…”
“I’m fine if it’s merely a change of heart. I just want to know why in case this may be hurting you.”
“Recently, a lot has been on my mind. Ever since Rarity showed up, Hans and I have been thinking about our relationship. Let’s just say that he and I aren’t really doing that well.”
“I see.”
“Am I…-never mind…”
“What?”
“No, it was a stupid question and I knew it.”
“No, go on. It can’t be that bad.”
“Am I… Am I a good crew member?”
“What do you mean?”
“Am I a truly loyal mare to you, Captain? Do you believe I am a worthy member of your team?”
“Of course you are.”
One of the pirates from the larger group called out, “Captain, we’ve captured the rebels, we’ve taken care of the fellow pirates who’ve fallen, and we’re waiting for your order for us to head back to the entrance.”
“Really? That easy?” Korsan asked.
“Yeah, they were too exhausted and couldn’t put up much of a fight. I’m not sure they even did put up a fight. We separated Rarity and put the rest in bags.” The pirate said.
“Let me see.”
Korsan walked to where the mares were captured. There, he saw a large potato bag containing Twilight and Fluttershy. Hovering next to it were three other bags, one containing an incapacitated Pinkie Pie, another holding Rainbow Dash’s unconscious body, and the last holding Applejack and Applebloom.
Next to the bags was Rarity, quietly sitting on the sandy floor, facing away from Korsan. Although he could see her face, the stallion knew what was going on inside her head.
“Rarity, I-” He began, only to be cut off with a quick response.
“I heard, it was all a bluff.” Rarity replied, deadpan in tone.
Korsan attempted to tell her, “Look, I’m sorry for scaring you. But I had to convince-”
“Had to convince what? That you’re a monster?”
“That I was going to do it. I had to apply some leverage.”
“…It’s always leverage with you isn’t it? No just convincing, generousness, or persuading, no, you just strike fear and death into whatever stands in your way to get what you want. Isn’t it?”
“…”
“It only gets you so far, doesn’t it? And to think I thought there was some good in you.”
“Rarity, I’m sorry, I can change-”
“Please, just leave me alone. Let’s just go back to the ship.”
“…Very well then.”
Korsan slowly walked away from Rarity and the pirates and went to the Fountain of Balance. During his private walk from his crew, Juliana appeared from behind an iron boulder and flew up to her master’s shoulder. She rubbed her head against Korsan’s cheek, causing him to sigh in relief.
“Hey there, Juliana, hopefully you’re doing well. Today’s been a pretty poor day for me, though. My dreams of being able to use magic are crushed, my crew will probably distrust me for a good while, and I just lost my special somepony. Figures for that latter one, I thought I could overcome the obvious fact that she’s with them and make her fall in love with me. Boy, was I blind and stupid. I’ve been reading too many books. That’s it. Actually, speaking of ‘them’, where did Twilight and those two mares come from?”
Spike’s voice then echoed from the walls of the grotto.
“Twilight!” He cried.
“What the,” Korsan gasped.
Rushing to the source of the noise, Korsan found Spike, yelling out of the unseen exit of the grotto. From there, he could see a hallway leading to stairs bound to go to the surface.
“Speak of the devil…”
“We heard a lot of screaming!” Scootaloo’s voice echoed from the end of the hall. “We’re coming to help you!”
“Over here! I found an exit!” Korsan yelled out to the crew.
Quickly, Korsan slid down the sandy slope and leapt into the hallway, coming face to face with the ill-prepared Spike.
“Uh oh…” Spike gasped.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Korsan asked.
His words were threatening, but his voice was apathetic for some reason. After the grand battle against Twilight, the failure of the fountain, and the hostage situation, Korsan was completely drained. He was drained of the will to fight. He was drained of purpose or ambition. He was drained of putting any effort into his pirate ways.
But, Korsan still had it in him to at least humour himself in this confrontation with the last of Twilight’s crew.
“You better watch yourself Korsan!” Spike snapped at the towering figure before him. “If you did anything to Rarity I don’t like, I’m gonna knock your block off.”
“Spike?!” Rarity’s voice echoed from behind Korsan.
“Rarity!” Spike exclaimed.
“So, you wanna play rough huh? Yeah, I could fancy a bit of fun to lighten my mood.” Korsan replied.
Slowly, he reached his hooves behind his back to grabbed his cutlasses, only to feel one of them.
He turned his head back into the grotto and yelled out to the crew, “Can somepony get my other sword? I think I left it on the sand!”
He revealed his only sword to Spike, immediately intimidating him.
“Now, where were we? Seems you’ve gotten a little nervous. Psyching yourself out maybe?” Korsan asked Spike.
“Me? Uh… No!” Spike proclaimed.
“Uh huh, sure.”
Before Korsan could take another step, Scootaloo jumped between him and Spike.
“We aren’t scared of you!” She declared.
“Even if I don’t have magic, you still should have every right to fear me ya little filly. I just bagged your friends, so what are you going to do about it?”
“Either let my friends go now or you will get hurt!” Scootaloo said.
Korsan let out a menacing, yet defeated chuckle before replying, “You remind me of me when I was just a little colt.”
Scootaloo didn’t pay mind to the pirate’s comment and charged right at his chest. Her rival calmly reacted by grabbing her by the nape of the neck with his free hoof. He held the now flailing body up to eye level.
“Scootaloo!” Spike exclaimed.
He jumped up and grabbed onto Scootaloo’s bottom hooves, holding himself up above the ground. Korsan didn’t budge from this sudden increase in weight however, clearly more focused on other things in mind.
“Running around in the streets, going headfirst into trouble with little chances of me escaping, always ready for a fight, I was.” Korsan stated. “Actually, that pretty much sums up me now…”
As he examined the squirming and kicking foal, an odd feeling tingled inside of him. His heart hardened and cramped itself into a ball. His head began to swell and heat up to temperatures that rivaled the sun. His eye’s vision contorted to see things beyond his immediate comprehension. He lost track of his own words as he began to ramble to himself.
“…I am still an inferior pony. I have so little power, but at the same time, I have so much. It’s like a little game. An almost fun game it is, feeling this, this pain, and then giving your enemies the same feeling, and laughing at them. And I’ve been through a lot of pain, of-of suffering, of sickness of this pathetic struggle. Surely, I can vent this all into something with so much power. I-I, I can still do something. Yes, I’ve done it before, I can surely do it again, and again, and again, and again. Ha, ha, who said I needed magic? Me, of course, plain old inferior me, yeah, and why should I take his ideas instead of the obvious path? Yes, yes, I’ve always had the magic. I may not be a part of it, but I will surely lead the way as an unseen hero, yes...”
“What are you saying?!” Scootaloo asked, continuing to struggle in his iron grip.
“Hm-what? Oh, nothing,” Korsan replied, returning to the now rather dull moment.
“Scootaloo, Spike, what are you two doing here?!” Rarity yelled out as she reached the exit.
“Don’t worry, Miss Rarity, I won’t hurt a hair on either head.” Korsan said. “Also, can you please lead the rest of our crew to this exit path?”
“…” Rarity was hesitant.
“Would you rather risk drowning your friends?” Korsan than asked.
Silently, Rarity walked away from Korsan and towards the others gathered at the entrance of the grotto.
“Well, I’m going have to be careful and pick the right hair to pull out…” Korsan muttered to himself.