//------------------------------// // Chapter 051: Battle of the Skies (Part 1) // Story: Ultimate Equestria // by Leo Pachino //------------------------------// Cannon fire roared over the sea. The fire and ash of burning ships turned the ocean and rain to crimson. Screams of pirates and soldiers screeched around the world. Clashing and snapping metal rung across the sky. The entire world rumbled under the massive explosions that dotted the area. In the roaring skies of darkness and thrashing waves of wrath, the war had begun. Korsan’s crew versus everypony else, it was a battle for the world. Solid balls of lead and iron were exchanged across the lightning filled clouds between the ships and The Perfection. Each shot whittled the other down. Volleys were thrown in rapid succession, turning the tips of their cannons to a scorching shade of red and white. The fabric of sails were burnt and shredded apart, falling into the ocean. One of the cannon shots from The Perfection nailed the powder room of one of Equestria’s ships. The ship was disintegrated by a massive explosion, leaving behind a bow lit aflame. The princesses’ mighty battleship pulled next to Korsan’s airship. The ponies onboard fired harpoon cannons into the hull of The Perfection. With one might heave, the airship was pulled down and smashed into the sea behind the royal battleship. Chunks of wood and water rained down onto the ponies on deck. Soldiers quickly hopped aboard the grounded airship to join the battle on The Perfection’s deck. The royal battle ship the pulled away, keeping its distant and providing cannon fire. On the main deck of The Perfection, the new mutiny party and Celestia’s soldiers, all led by Twilight Sparkle, fought the loyal pirates of Korsan. Swords, arrows, spears, boat chucks, cannonballs, and bolts of magic bombarded the deck. Chaos blanketed over the heads of the ponies as they battled. In the center of this chaos, Rainbow Dash formed a tornado in rapid flight. The flying projectiles and smaller weapons were sucked into the massive gale. Soon, the air tornado turned into a typhoon of razor metal. Korsan’s pirates saw this and tried to flee from the metal tornado. A few were sucked in though. They were bashed around in the vortex and spat back out, unable to fight. As Dash continued to fly around, she was attacked by one of Korsan’s pirates. She was trapped in a magic aura and carried away. The metal tornado immediately burst, sending the debris over the edge and into the sea below. Rainbow Dash was pulled down towards a raised claymore, aimed right at Dash’s rump. At the hilt of the claymore was one of Korsan’s, Pip. The pirate filly evilly snickered as Dash struggled, her rear drawing ever closer to the sword. In the nick of time, Applejack charge in behind Pip. Applejack slammed Pip’s hind with a powerful buck. Pip flew off the airship screaming. “Rat deserved a spanking.” Applejack snorted. “Thanks for covering my back.” Dash said, free from her restraints. One of Korsan’s stallions snuck up behind Applejack. He raised a sword and went in for the backstab. Dash quickly came to the rescue and bashed herself into the stallion from above. The attack shattered the wood floor below, sending Dash and the pirate into the gun deck below. They landed onto a loaded cannon. The two entered a brutal hoof fight. The cannon’s gunner jumped away from the fury, not wanting to get hit by the flailing hooves. The gunner aimed his horn at Dash, preparing a fireball blast. Applejack leapt into the hole and stomped on the end of the cannon barrel. The cannon bounced off of the floor from the sudden force. Dash then threw her opponent into the gunner. The two of Korsan’s pirates collided and tumbled into a pile. Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack bucked the cannon. The cannon fired into the deck above. The midair recoil launched the cannon into the two pirates, sending both of them into the floor below. The two mares looked over the destruction they had just unleashed. They gave a blind hoof bump in congratulations. It wasn’t much later until a wave of pirates, all armed to the teeth, charged towards them. The two heroes stood tight together and prepared to fight on. In the galley, Pinkie Pie, Butch Taylor, Yin, and Yu, were battling their own slew of pirates. However, their battle took a bad turn. After a long clash, the four were backed into the center of the galley. They were surrounded by twelve of Korsan’s crewmembers, easily outnumbering them. The pirates were led by Ivan and Horus, both more than ready to kill the rebels. Outskilled and outnumbered, Pinkie and her troop appeared to be helpless. The twelve villainous pirates snickered as they watched the five rebels bump into the edge of Korsan’s throne and table. Pinkie and the others had nowhere to go now. Korsan’s crew drew closer and closer, seeing the beads of sweat pouring from their victims’ faces. Just as their weapons were about to strike, Pinkie suddenly yelled out, “Wait!” The pirates stopped for a moment. One of them asked, “Why?” “Uh… Does any pony have a birthday today?” Pinkie asked. The twelve paused and looked at each other with a confused look. “I had one yesterday.” Another one of them replied. “Well, Happy Belated Birthday!” Pinkie cheered. “Thanks, I guess.” The pirate replied. “Enough of this!” Horus exclaimed. Ivan confirmed, “Aye.” “They’re just buying themselves some time, let’s get them.” Horus proclaimed. “Hold on, Horus!” Yu exclaimed. “Oh come on-what is it?” Horus groaned. “Before I die, I need to know something, something about Hoofball.” Yu said. He knew Horus was an avid fan of Hoofball. It was Horus’ second favourite thing, second to only fabricating past stories. And with Yu and his friends surrounded, Horus would play along to further the torture. “…What?” Horus asked, curious. “So about the most recent game, the one where our favourite team’s going against some foreign team. You know the one, Who’s on first, What’s on second, and I-Don’t-Know’s on third.” Yu explained. “I don’t know.” Horus replied. “That’s third.” Yu said. “Who?” “No, Who’s on first.” “Wait, what?” “What’s on second.” “I don’t know what you’re-” “Third base.” “What?” “Second.” “Who?” “First.” “Huh?” “Shortstop.” “Alright, enough of this, I’m getting a headache.” Horus groaned. “Wait!” Yin exclaimed. “No! No! No!” Horas screamed. He raised his spiked mace at the yellow stallions. “No more delays! Time to die!” He roared. “Aye.” Ivan replied, raising his massive knife at the five ponies in front of him. Just before Korsan’s pirates struck, the sound of a window shattering erupted behind them. The pirates quickly turned around to see Maurice, Cecil, and Jarvis, standing in front of a shattered window. Dramatically posed, the three raised their cutlasses to the pirates. “Maurice! Cecil! Jarvis!” Pinkie cheered. “Hey Pinkie!” The trio replied. Cecil exclaimed, “We’re here to save you-” The three stallions were immediately pinned to the ceiling by Korsan’s ponies. Maurice broke free from the spell and charged towards the enemy pirates. Horus walked up to Maurice and threw the small stallion’s cutlass aside with his weapon. Maurice backed away in fear immediately. He picked up a small spoon from the floor and held it up to the albino pirate as if it was a shield. Horus chuckled upon seeing the tiny utensil before him. He taunted Maurice, “By thunder, Pipsqueak! If you think that this mundane spoon is going to stop me, think again.” Horus then threw his head back and cackled manically. He stopped though, as the hushed giggles of Maurice reached his ear. “What’s so funny?” Horus coldly asked. Maurice simply replied, “You might want to take a better look.” Curious of what that meant, Horus squinted into the spoon. There was something peculiar about its reflection. An immediate feeling of terror spiked inside Horus. He realized that the wide reflection was showing something outside the galley windows. Horus snapped his head to a side and looked out of the windows. A wave of pegasi came bursting through them. Millions of glass bits showered onto the pirates. A second wave of pegasi burst through the other side. In seconds, the galley turned into a raging river of motley ponies. Korsan’s pirates were swept away by the pegasi, vanishing without a trace. Pinkie and the other four watched in shock and awe as the pegasi flooded the galley. The galley immediately cleared, revealing Cecil, Jarvis, and Maurice, cheering at the other side of the room. “Wow!” Pinkie exclaimed. “That was incredible! I would’ve never have seen that coming! I didn’t even know you guys came to help us!” “Thank you. The princesses picked us up and sent us here to help ya.” Jarvis replied. “How did you even pull this off?” Pinkie asked. Cecil answered, “We got some help.” As if on cue, Fluttershy flew in through one the shattered windows. Upon seeing her, Pinkie immediately ran up to her and gave her a tight squeezing hug. “You did this Fluttershy?!” Pinkie yelled into her ears. “…Yeah.” Fluttershy chokingly replied, feeling her lungs deflate in her friend’s hooves. “Did you secretly fly off to one of the pegasi platoons in Celestia’s armada and organized a surprise attack to wherever Cecil, Maurice, and Jarvis would find a group of pirates to strike?” “…Sure.” “Thank you, thank you, thank you! The only things that could make this more awesome are a lemur and a whale!” As if on cue, as well, a black and white lemur emerged from Fluttershy’s mane. Pinkie gasped and backed away from the small critter. “Witchcraft!” She exclaimed. “No, I just took him along with us.” Fluttershy calmly replied. “When the volcano was erupting on that island we were on, I couldn’t just leave him behind.” “Great! Now that we have a lemur, all we need now is a whale. And guess who brought the whale?!” Pinkie asked. “What?” The surrounding ponies asked. “A whale?!” Fluttershy gasped. “A what?!” Cecil, Maurice, and Jarvis screamed out loud. A massive, powerful moan roared from below, shaking all of The Perfection. Everything shook and shuttered, all but Pinkie Pie. Everypony stopped in their tracks and braced themselves in unknowing horror of that that sound was. “Yep, a whale.” Pinkie replied. “Pinkie Pie, remember a few weeks ago when you said you were preparing a surprise.” Fluttershy asked. “Yeah,” Pinkie nodded. “Is this the surprise?” Looking out of the galley’s front doors and broken windows, the ponies inside saw a sight almost comical. A massive blue whale breached the sea and rose along the ship’s stern. Everypony gasped as they set their eyes onto the whale, collecting into one breath of fear. “On the nose!” Pinkie cheered. The gigantic whale slammed into the main deck of the equally gigantic airship. The Perfection tipped and started to sink. The whole ship tilted into the beast’s weight, almost capsizing the whole thing. Everypony onboard screams as they all tumble towards the stern. “Great mother of mercy!” Korsan’s voice could be heard above, surely fighting the whale’s pull with a panicked grip on the steering wheel. “Okay, big guy! That’s enough.” Pinkie yelled out to the whale. The blue whale moaned to Pinkie Pie and slowly slid off the side of the ship. The ship stabilized, but now a massive chunk of the hull had been taken out. Anti-magic poured from the side and into the sea, murdering The Perfection’s altitude potential. Even as the airship rose from the sea, it would only be for a hundred metres or so before stopping. Looking to her sides, Pinkie saw the frozen faces of her comrades beside her, processing what has just happened. “Hm… Perhaps I should’ve warned everypony about the whale.” Pinkie commented. “Why didn’t anypony tell me about a whale?!” Korsan groaned. He was on the verge of puking all over the wheel. At his sides, he saw Celestia’s ships still in view, firing their cannons up at his ship. He set the steering into its advance mode and attempted to pull his airship away. However, the ship instead jerks down. The pirates of Thieves’ Hold have fired more roped harpoons into the hull. Added to The royal battleship’s harpoons, the ships below had more than enough power to pull The Perfection down. Cannonballs hailed from the sky, quickly turning the decks of the airship into infernal ruins. One of these massive balls struck right beside Korsan, creating a hole into his quarters. Down there was his super cannon. Korsan had an idea. Korsan thrusted Juliana into the air and leapt into the hole. “Free The Perfection and get it flying! Use Arctic Wind if you must!” Juliana screeched in compliance. The ice phoenix flew under the sinking hull, releasing her cold into the air. As she flew around the grappling ships below, the rain that’s caught in her icy wind turned into a hail of spikes. The ponies below retreated from the barrage of ice darts. As the spike hailstorm continued, Juliana snapped the ropes off with her sharp beak. One by one, the ropes holding The Perfection down were cut. As Juliana soared around the boat, she dodged the storm of metal, wood, and lightning that littered the skies. She cut the final rope and quickly flew up to the wheel and surrounding levers. At the wheel, she imitated her master, driving The Perfection up and away from the fight. The massive pegasi team orbiting The Perfection quickly darted out of the way as the airship rose. “Don’t let them get away!” One of the soldiers yelled out. Quickly, the swarm of pegasi chased after the fleeing airship. The Perfection suddenly turned its starboard towards the group. The ponies had no idea what was in store for them. The wall of the quarterdeck wall was blasted away by the thing behind it. It was Korsan’s super cannon, fully built and combat ready. Korsan stood behind the cannon, aiming the weapon directly at the incoming mass. “You ponies look mighty hungry for some metal!” Korsan madly exclaimed. The machine roared to life. Its long barrels and gears rapidly moved and shifted in action. The herd of pegasi immediately scrambled away as hundreds of bolts launched from the cannon’s six barrels. In moments, the sky had turned to a death zone. The tables had turned for the worse. Rapidly fired metal rods rocketed into the herd of pegasi. As the pegasi tried to dodge, the super cannon moved on its own, tracking its targets’ movements. Its metal bolts shot down anypony that tried to escape. Hundreds of soldiers and other ponies fell from the sky. Their armour was pieced and bodies were flung into each other. Their hearing was deafened by the sound of the roaring crossbow cannon and Korsan’s maniacal laughter. Two ships then pulled up to Korsan’s airship. They fired a volley of cannonballs at the machine and Korsan. The cannon quickly shot each of the incoming metal balls out of the sky in rapid succession, not missing a shot. Upon finishing off the volley, the cannon proceeded to take down the approaching ships. In less than two minutes, the sails controlling the boats were shredded into pieces and the two ships were left to the raging seas. The spiraling waves crushed and scattered the sail-less ships, now without any form of control. “Is that the best you got? Ha! Six mere mares put up a better fight then the lot of you!” Korsan taunted. “How about you stop hiding behind your toys and actually fight like a stallion?” A mare’s voice yelled out from behind Korsan and his cannon. As he reached for his cutlasses, Korsan slowly turned his head to see exactly who he expected it was. “Why hello…” He hissed with a grin. Inside the vast cargo hold of the ship, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo were being chased down by Chopin. Upon reaching a wall, the fillies turned around to see the mime slowly stalking them. His long, curved knife twirled and teased in the air. Chopin’s smile grew to unhealthy lengths as he drew closer to the fillies. “Keep away from us, you clown!” Sweetie Belle barked. She attempted to pick up the stallion with her magic, only to lead to no avail due to his sheer weight. “Geez, you’re a fat clown!” Sweetie groaned. “Why does Korsan even keep a clown around?” Applebloom asked. Slightly offended by the name-calling, Chopin’s smile lowered down to a small scowl. “Yeah you clown! Shoo!” Scootaloo yelled before throwing a nearby plank of wood at Chopin. Now aggravated, Chopin grabbed the plank with his teeth and chomped it, snapping the board in two. Sweetie and Applebloom immediately backed away in terror. Scootaloo stayed put, not flinching at the mime. She said, “Don’t you take another step forward, you clown!” “Yeah! Clown!” The two others joined in, still scared. Finally sick of this, Chopin stepped forward and screamed into Scootaloo’s face, “I’m a mime!” The sound of a rope snapping echoed from below Chopin. In an instant, the mime was pulled and and suspended in the air. Hanging two metres from the ground and held upside down, Chopin was absolutely confused and shocked. He soon realized that a rope had been tied around his hind hoof that was hanging from the ceiling. Looking back down, Chopin saw the three fillies running around his dangling body, giggling all the way. He threatened, “When I get down from here, I’m gonna-” “Gonna what?” A gruff, ominous voice sneered from behind the mime’s sight. The rope slowly spun around by the unseen figure. Chopin spun around and came face to face with Grivs, perhaps the toughest pirate of Thieves’ Hold. The massive grey stallion grinned as he stared down the mime.