//------------------------------// // Chapter 044: Why? // Story: Ultimate Equestria // by Leo Pachino //------------------------------// Inside the sick bay of The Perfection, Rarity stiffly laid in a bed, recovering from her injuries from Alicorn Island. She was attended to by Lilis, the nurse who also helped with the rapier wound. The two were good acquaintances at the least, passing by each other at least once a day. As painful as it was for Lilis to deal with the injuries, Rarity had good faith in her. As Lilis worked, Rarity’s attention could be focused on her thoughts. They were bouncing everywhere, ranging from trying to put together a plan to save her friends to recognizing who is truly her ally and who is her enemy. “This is ridiculous,” Lilis grumbled to Rarity. She was examining Rarity’s front hoof. It was almost completely destroyed mostly thanks to Korsan’s claws. Blood still dripped from the open wounds, staining the nurse’s light green fur. “I’m sure glad I stayed onboard. What did you ponies do on that island that could’ve resulted in this?” Lilis asked. “…” Rarity was silent. “Hello?” Lilis called out to her. Eventually, she waved her hooves in front of Rarity’s frozen eyes. Rarity blinked and snapped back into reality. “There you are. What caused this hoof injury? Another rapier incident?” Lilis asked. “No, no, Korsan accidently stabbed me while we were escaping a trap.” Rarity explained. “With his claws?” “Yes.” “No wonder the actual tear looks so clean…” “Hey, Miss…” “Jewmerin. Just call me Lilis.” “Lilis, how you feel about Captain Korsan?” “…” “Lilis?” “Nah, you don’t need to hear about me. I’m pretty much on equal standing with all of the other pirates. We respect our leader.” “Really? Even after that day, three years ago?” “…” “After what happened to November and Nitin Gale?” “…Listen, Rarity. Can you keep a secret? I’m a bit nervous to tell you due to you and the captain’s, intimacy.” Lilis said, a shiver running through her body. “Don’t worry. Korsan and I aren’t really doing so well after something happened on the island. You can say anything about him.” Rarity explained, giving Lilis ease to talk freely. “Well, to be honest, most of us pirates don’t like Korsan at all.” Lilis explained. “Really?” “He scares us. We respect him out of… necessity. He’s threatened to turn us into the authorities, to kill us, or to torture us if we were to do something he didn’t like. Most of it’s only implied, but Korsan is certain to drive the message home.” “Why not just retire?” “Most of us just can’t leave him like Nitin Gale and his daughter. They had a lot of money and luck when asking Korsan to retire. He was in a great mood at the moment. After discovering the Diamond Eye some couple years ago, he’s never been quite as happy. Our lives are bound to this wretched boat. This is our home. Though, it’s more of a hospitable prison. If you try to leave, you’ll be good as dead without many assets to start a new life. Not to mention a constantly watching eye,” “That’s horrible!” Rarity gasped. “Shhh! There are still a good number of crew members that are loyal to Korsan to the core. They could be listening in on us at this very moment.” “Sorry. Haven’t you and the others tried to rally against him?” “We can’t. We don’t know who to trust. Most ponies don’t even know I’m against him. And even if we did know, Korsan and his closest followers would destroy us if we’d ever rebel. He’s just too powerful. However, I’ve heard rumours of some mutiny going down soon.” “I might of heard them. I thought it was just gossip.” “It might be, but it may be my only chance at freedom from that insane creature.” “Who’s leading the mutany? Any ideas?” “No clue. Whoever he or she is though, they’re either really dumb or really smart. They had to have studied Korsan for a good long time and knows exactly when to strike.” A loud thump then shook the floor below the two mares, causing the two ponies to leap in surprise. “Was that coming from the brig?” Rarity asked. “So what now?” Spike asked to his fellow friends on the mast. “I think we just need to wait.” Twilight replied. “We should come up with a backup plan or something.” Spike suggested. Applejack then asked, “What can we do? There’s only eight of us and we’re all tied together to this wooden pole.” “I don’t know what we can do, but I know some ponies that can do something.” Twilight said. “Who?” Spike asked. “We should get Alexander to go get Korsan.” Twilight said. The group turned their attention to Pinkie Pie. For the past hour or so, she had been endless talking to the pirate beside her. Grevious was suffering from the endless chatter, so much that he had turned deaf to all outside conversation. “…Rainbow Dash told me all about it!” Pinkie exclaimed. “The final battle between Daring Do and Captain Cutlass Cornelius was the best moment in all of the Daring Do books. The two were on this ship, in a storm, both about to fall off into the raging waters below. And when all seemed lost, it’s revealed that Daring Do’s mother is-” “Pinkie!” Twilight called out to her. “What? You want to say something to Alex?” Pinkie asked. “No, I haven’t read up to that point yet. Spoiler alert.” Twilight stated. “Oh.” “But since you’re done, I would like to say something to Alexander. I need him to bring Korsan over here.” “Don’t need to.” Pinkie said. “What? Why?” Twilight asked. “He’s coming already.” “What?!” The mares and Spike looked over to the main deck and saw the tall stallion approaching them. By his side now was Chopin, holding an inked quill and scroll. Korsan had a new expression on his face. His pride had returned, but an itch still lingered in his mind. He seemed constantly distracted. His eyes twitched back and forth between the prisoners and whatever was on his mind. His muscles tightened on occasion, the aftermath of excruciating machine work and the dynamic emotions held in his system. It distressed him, only thinly veiled by Korsan’s mental ego. He still had an apathetic mood, but something was going on. He was planning something. “Bonjour.” He greeted them in a condescending tone. “Say what?” Dash asked, confused. “Daft wench…” Korsan muttered. “Hello.” Twilight coldly replied. Her face immediately turns into a stone scowl as she and he made eye contact. Korsan replied, “Ms. Sparkle, her accomplices, I’ve been hearing that there’s some strange activity going on between you all. Alexander, want to clarify?” His eye shifted to his crew member. Alexander was clutching his ears and laying on the wood deck fearing the seemingly endless voice of Pinkie. “Alexander?” Korsan called out to him. “We haven’t been doing anything. We’ve just been sitting around with this rope tightly wrapped around us.” Twilight said. “Is that so?” Korsan asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yes.” “Hm…” “What do you want now, Korsan?” “Very well then, since you’re so eager and all, I’ve been needing to ask you a few questions.” “…” Immediately, Twilight’s lips sealed shut. Her only response was simply a burning glare into her enemy. “When have you come across the name, ‘Alexander Maden’?” Korsan asked. “…” Twilight didn’t answer. “What was that vessel you and the others were on in the Breach?” Korsan asked. “…” Twilight didn’t answer. “Where did you even find it?” Korsan asked. “…”Twilight didn’t answer. “How did you even know where the Breach is, let alone suspect me to be there?” Korsan asked for a fourth time. “…” Twilight remained silent, readying herself to not answer the fifth question. “Oh come on, you have to cooperate. I require answers from you. Now please,” “Why?” “Hey, I’m asking the one asking the questions here. Now please-” “Why should I have to answer to you?” “Why should you not? Do you want something?” “I want out of this prison and taken back home.” “Oh, you’ll be taken home alright. But not until I get some answers from you,” “I’m not going to comply with monsters like you.” “Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, please, just answer some questions for me.” “…” “Twilight?” “…” “Not the silent treatment again,” “…” Now frustrated with the stubborn mare, Korsan stepped back and took a deep breath. His hooves massaged his tired cheek. He looks towards the other prisoners, all giving him a silent glare. “It’s best to assume that none of you are talking as well?” Korsan. “…” No response, as expected. Silently, the pirate captain walked towards the bowsprit and looked out to the endless sea ahead of him. Twilight was faced directly at him, unable to relieve him from her vision. No clouds were in the sky to distract her. The moon nor the stars had appeared yet to tire Twilight. It was only her, him, and the twilight. Both Twilight and Korsan felt like they were the only two ponies in a thousand kilometres. “Have you ever stood and stared at it, marveled at its beauty, its innocence?” Korsan asked her. “Billions of ponies just living out their lives, oblivious. Did you know that the earliest of our species lived only consisted alicorns, no unicorns, no pegasi, no Earth ponies, where none suffered, where everypony was happy? Though, this is mostly dependent on theory and may be completely false. Yet, I have seen enough to believe that this prehistoric world existed in some form, thriving with the beautiful alicorns.” Korsan looked back to Twilight. He seemed eager to talk about the ways of these supposed ancient ponies and their history. He said, “They had reached the pinnacle of technology, magic, and knowledge of this world, thousands, maybe millions of years before our time here. It soon became a disaster though, when ethics came into question. You see, sometimes, certain unlucky ponies were born into these inferior bodies, ones that could not use magic. It was a mutation, if you will, caused by the sheer randomness of life. Although the advance magic of the alicorns would occasionally fix the problem, there was a backlash in regards to identity and other preachy stuff like that. Birth defections and mutations became the norm, which would require that the great ancients had to dummy down their works for these ponies. Centuries pasted, and the numbers of the unicorns, the pegasi, and the Earth ponies, rapidly outweighed the alicorns.” At that moment, Korsan’s clawed snapped shut. Rage pulsed through his system, the mere thought disgusted him. “…And, as the majority died, the rich culture and grand achievements of the alicorns died as well. All was forgotten. But, I believe that, as a collection of sub-species to the alicorns, we define our reality through progress, and there could be a chance to recapture the glory of the ancient alicorns through that. I’m afraid to say this though, but the number of ponies able to do so are vastly too slim compared to pegasi and Earth ponies. “This is why I desire to redesign the world, to give everypony the world that was once heaven. It can achieve with the ability to perform magic and later simply grow our own wings and power. We can reach the peak of our global civilization like before. I say our global civilization because it truly does involve all of us ponies.” “Is this where the genocide plot kicks in?” Twilight smartly asked. “Even a small remaining faction of this old world would cause civil unrest between us. It would destroy the heavenly seed I plant! Evolution in a sense, Twilight, evolution, like the dinosaur. Once great beasts, now degraded into tiny mammals that now call these greats monsters. Look out that window that is your self-designed barrier. They lost their time. You and your friends had your time. They deserve the future as is their world, Twilight. The future is their time.” “…” Twilight had no response. “I'd also like to share a revelation during my time travelling the world and gathering knowledge as a pirate. It came to me when I tried to classify you and your troop as a type of heroes. I realized that you're not like most heroes. Every hero I’ve encountered that has tried to stop me always followed some type of trope, or process. Strategic planning, getting bigger ships, rallying an army, ways to somehow, but always failing, to stop me. “But you girls, and dragon, do not. You just keep coming at me headfirst, again and again, losing ponies and vitalities, until every resource is consumed. It’s insanity really when you think about it. Do you know the definition of insanity? Insanity is doing the same, maudire, thing over and over, and expecting a different result each time. You hold a strong bond with your beliefs of equality, but ultimately succumb to the grim reality once I get my point to you, not like those other heroes that either keep their thick skull, or flat out join me. “Such heroes that fit you are only spoken of in fantastic folklore and fairy tales, not really real at all. You are no such heroes, just look at you. However, there is another type of pony on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A villain. Villains always attack persistently, yet are always foiled by the heroes, and perhaps even have a change of heart and join them. They are often deemed insane, often defy goodness for all, and are just mean overall. Sound familiar? You are the villains. We are the heroes. Are you following this?” “…” “Can you hear me, Twilight? You must be, I can see it in the twitching of your ears. I'm going to be honest with you. I hate this world, this innocence, this prison, this reality, whatever you want to call it. I can't stand it any longer. It's the smell, if there is such a thing. I feel soaked by it. I can taste the stink of obliviousness. And every time I do I feel I have somehow been infected by it. It's repulsive, isn't it? “I must get out of here. I must get free and in that body is the key, my key. Once this world is reformed and I get my desires granted, there will be no need for this crusade. Don't you understand? I need you to help me. I have to fix everything, to restore peace and true equality, and you have to help me. The world will not merely listen to some mere criminal pegasus, they need a celebrity, an idol, to endorse the message.” “…” “You're going to tell the world that you stand by my side or you and your friends are going to die. Do you get the picture, or are you just going to fight?” “…” The two ponies, Korsan and Twilight, villain and hero, pegasus and alicorn, stared at each other, head on head. A dangerous mind game was being played. Whoever snaps first will most certainly lose. But who will win? Will it be Korsan’s grand gestures of progression and terror? Or will it be Twilight’s undying loyalty and resilience?