Tag tried to shift, but he couldn’t. He opened his eyes slowly and looked around, he didn’t recognize any of his surroundings and struggled to get out of his hammock. Then he remembered.
Pirate ship, right. He thought to himself.
You’re so funny when you forget things. Book said with apparent amusement. Tag shook his head and tried to get out of the hammock unsuccessfully.
How do you get out of this thing?! He asked. He heard Book sigh in his head.
Just roll. He said. Tag rolled all the way to the right and fell out and onto his hooves. He looked around to see if anypony had seen his embarrassing moment, thankfully nopony was around.
What should I do? Tag wondered.
Go see what the status is on us getting to Heaven’s End. Book suggested. Tag nodded and trotted above deck. He could see the crewponies trotting around to various tasks but it had calmed down since they had taken off. Tag trotted over to a roughened pony; his body was covered in numerous scars.
“Is Captain McCutchen around?” Tag asked nervously. The pony looked at him for a moment with a strange look on his face.
“Is something wrong?” He asked curiously. Tag cleared his throat.
“Sorry, it’s nothing. But I was wondering where I might find Captain McCutchen.” Tag mumbled quietly. The pony looked at him for a moment.
“Uh… he should be in his office. Over there.” He directed, pointing to a door at the back of the ship. Tag smiled at him briefly.
“Thank you.” He said, still mumbling and trotted off.
Why does this seem so hard for you? Book asked confusedly. Tag put his head down in embarrassment.
Pirates, I don’t know if I can trust them. I know they’re nice and stuff but McCutchen put on a good act for the Princess; how do I know that they aren’t doing the same for me right now? Tag thought.
Pirates can be loyal when they want to be, and they want money. I can guarantee that they would die to complete their mission. Book explained. Pirates live and die by a code of honour despite appearances. I don’t know how they keep to it but it seems to be working out for them.
Yeah, I’m just nervous. Tag thought sheepishly.
I suppose that will go away eventually, it had better because I have a feeling that this will be a long trip. Book sighed. Tag stood in front of the door and took a short breath. He pushed open the door and trotted into McCutchen’s office. The office was a small workspace filled with papers, a desk stood on the right covered in charts and on the left was a coat rack that held McCutchen’s coat. On the other side of the room was another doorway that led into a downward staircase Tag stood at the top looking downward uncertainly.
Should I go? Tag asked peering into the dim lantern-lit passageway.
It would only make sense to. Book answered. Tag trotted down the stairs, stumbling as the ship rocked back and forth.
At the bottom of the stairs was a large room; the far wall was a large window that showed the open sea behind the ship, the bright sunlight shone through the window and lit up the entire room. Tag could see McCutchen standing in front of a table with a loose shirt on. He hadn’t noticed Tag enter and continued to concentrate on the map. Tag stood fro a moment hoping he would notice but McCutchen was so absorbed in his work that Tag ended up speaking first.
“Captain?” he asked hesitantly. McCutchen startled and looked up at Tag with a slightly embarrassed look on his face. “Sorry.” Tag mumbled under his breath.
“Don’t worry about it, Tag.” He said rolling up his map. Tag trotted over to him.
“How much longer do you think it would take for us to get to Heaven’s End?” He asked looking curiously at the rolled up map. McCutchen looked at him for a moment with a confused look on his face then he started laughing out loud. Tag lowered his head to try and hide his blushing face.
“…Have you ever ridden on a boat before?” McCutchen asked.
“No… not once.” Tag mumbled. McCutchen’s smile disappeared in an instant.
“I find that hard to believe.” He said. “Everypony has to have ridden on a boat. Tell me Tag, where do you live?”
“Ponyville, currently.” Tag answered quickly. McCutchen looked thoughtful for a moment, he ran a hoof through his goatee.
“I’ve heard of that place, somewhere in the mainland, right?” He asked.
“I guess…” Tag trailed off.
“Don’t you know about your own hometown?” McCutchen asked, surprised.
“It’s not my hometown really.” Tag muttered; he didn’t like the way this conversation was heading.
“Well then where is your hometown?” McCutchen asked with an expectant look on his face. Tag fought for an answer that would satisfy McCutchen.
You were born in Canterlot, right? He asked quickly.
Yep. Book answered.
“Canterlot… I was born in Canterlot.” Tag said hesitantly. McCutchen’s expression became surprised again.
“Really? You certainly don’t look the part. You look like you’re… ready for fighting.” He observed looking particularly at Tagia. Tag shifted the arm away from McCutchen’s gaze.
“Please, can we not talk about this? I’d rather not go into my past.” He said lamely. McCutchen was silent for a moment.
“Of course, you just had to ask. In regards to your earlier question it will still be awhile before we get to Heaven’s End. If you look at this here map…” As he finished speaking he took out another map and unrolled it on the table. He put one hoof firmly on a spot near a large chunk of land. “We are here.” He put his hoof on a small piece of land near the other side of the map. “This is Heaven’s End.” Tag looked at the distance between the two points.
“It’s going to take a long time, is that what you’re telling me?” he asked flealy. McCutchen nodded. That was when the sun darkened. Tag quickly looked out the window and saw that a large cloud had moved in front of the spot where the sun had been not a moment ago.
“That’s strange…” Tag said quietly to himself. McCutchen looked out the window too.
“No, that shouldn’t happen. The Sea Weather Patrol broadcasted that there wouldn’t be any clouds for the next few days…” He said. He quickly turned around and trotted out of the room. Tag had no choice but to follow. Out on the deck the crewponies had gathered to look at the strange rogue cloud. A strange silence had fallen compared to the friendly chatter from when Tag was here last. Brook trotted up to the two of them.
“What are your orders Captain?” she asked.
“Catcher!” McCutchen called out without hesitation. A brown pegasus flew out from the crowd and floated in the air. “Get rid of that thing.” McCutchen ordered. The brown pegasus offered a quick salute and jumped up to the cloud. He wound up his hoof and punched the cloud hard causing it to poof in several different directions. A loud cheer came from the crew as Catcher flew back down.
“Alright everypony, back to work! We want to get to Heaven’s End this month!” McCutchen ordered and the familiar sound of many conversations filled the air.
What do you make of that? Tag asked.
I think that Discord is really getting powerful again. And if he get’s much stronger he can change much more than the clouds and weather. Book said worriedly. Tag looked back at McCutchen who had an unreadable expression on his face.
“What now? Is that all we can do?” He asked. McCutchen turned to Tag.
“It’s not like we have permission to change the weather ourselves, the Sea Weather Patrol is in charge of that. I think we can safely say that we’re doing them a favour by removing that cloud, although I doubt they’ll be doing us any favours anytime soon.” He explained. Brook trotted up to the two stallions.
“Sir! Antediluvian wants to speak to you, says that it’s important.” She reported. McCutchen breathed in quickly.
“Take me to him, now.” He said quietly and motioned for Tag to stay put. The Captain and Brook galloped off leaving Tag alone in the middle of the deck.
Who’s Antediluvian? Tag asked confusedly.
How am I supposed to know? Book asked back. Tag sighed and looked around; the crewponies went about their tasks forgetting about the cloud incident. Perhaps you could try and help some ponies. Sleeping all day won’t get you anywhere. Book suggested.
I guess you’re right… Tag trailed off. He saw a gray earthpony stallion walking by and stepped beside him.
“Uh… I don’t suppose there’s anything I can do to help around the ship?” He asked. The earthpony was taken aback and took a moment to recover.
“Right now I think that we got all the bases covered but you might be able to help down in the galley.” He said.
“Well okay then, could you show me the way?” Tag asked sheepishly. The earthpony laughed loudly and started towards the lower deck making Tag follow.
“You’re a funny one!” The earthpony said and stopped at the bottom of the second flight of stairs. “I’m Lop, nice to meet you!” He said sticking out a hoof. Tag shook it.
“Nice to meet you too, Lop. Tell me… is everypony on this ship as friendly as you are?” Tag asked looking around at the ponies sitting on benches rowing while telling jokes and laughing. Lop was thoughtful for a moment.
“Pretty much.” He answered. Tag nodded, impressed. Then he heard the rowing ponies break out into a song.
“Alter of dawn, bury me in light
Crimson eclipse, blood and body ignite
Lysergic communion, thy cup runneth over
Ascend through the trees as the landscape fades
Disciple of the sun, the red horizon cascades
Burning away the masks meant to hide
Writhing becoming the demon inside
The battle rages for the church of the sun
Victorious, I dethrone the chosen one
Defeated cast the weak to the sea
Perched upon my throne, immortal deity
My kingdom of flames, my servants the stars
A prophecy revealed through all of my scars”
Lop trotted over to two ponies near the back, and motioned for them to stop.
“You two take a break, me and the agent here will take over.” He said, the two nodded gratefully and trotted up the stairs. Lop took the seat next to the ship wall and Tag sat next to him.
“What was that song?” Tag asked as they started rowing.
“Oh… that’s just an old song we sing to keep in time when rowing. If I’m remembering right, then it’s a song sung in honour of a great war although the name of the war doesn’t come to mind right now. It was special for all of the ponies that had been killed in battle.” Lop explained.
“Have you ever had to kill somepony before?” Tag asked as he started rowing too. Lop shook his head.
“No siree, don’t think I would be able to if my life depended on it.” He said darkly, he resumed his usual cheer. “Have you?” Tag thought back to the first time he had killed somepony, that pegasus in the dark streets of Ponyville. Tag shuddered and pushed the oar harder.
“Yes.” He said quietly. Lop gave him a sideways glance.
“I take it that it wasn’t the way get our stripes is it?” He asked casually.
“It… it’s a time that I would rather forget. I’m sure you and the other crewponies are more familiar with death than I am and even my few… encounters weren’t very enjoyable.” Lop was silent for a moment and the only sound came from the other crewponies.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s not like we’re expecting you to kill for us.” He reassured Tag. Tag smiled slightly.
“You guys certainly are different from what I expected.” He said. Lop laughed heartily.
“We really do have a reputation don’t we?” He exclaimed. Tag laughed too.
“Tell me Lop, how did you get into the pirate business?” Tag asked. Lop’s eyes quickly clouded over as he remembered.
“Oh… I used to be a respectable lumberjack, really good with an axe as my cutie mark proudly displays.” Sure enough his cutie mark was a tree with an axe stuck in the trunk. “Well I lived in a log cabin and after one unfortunate forest fire I didn’t live in a log cabin so I was off to find some work somewhere. Of course not being a good traveler I got robbed by McCutchen’s ponies while going down the coastline. Seeing as I put up a good fight they asked if I wanted to join up.” He explained.
“Just like that?” Tag asked surprised. Lop shook his head.
“Well they knocked me out after a long fight and brought me on the ship to rob me of everything I own, THEN they asked me because I woke up.” Tag looked at him.
“That is certainly an interesting tale.” He observed.
“Not the most interesting on the ship though there are way more ponies that have more interesting stories than I do.” He said. “But enough about me, do you have an interesting story about how you became an agent for the Royal Family?” He asked. Tag stiffened.
Should I? He asked.
I don’t see why not, I doubt they would believe you. Book sighed.
“Tag? Are you all there?” Lop asked looking at Tag with a concerned look on his face. Tag shook his head quickly.
“Sorry, I’m fine. About my story…” Tag recounted all that he knew from after Discord created him to when he wandered into Ponyville, and then he made up the rest. Lop’s jaw occasionally dropped and his eyes went to Tagia more than once. The other crewponies around the two stopped their conversations to listen in and soon the entire cabin was silent except for the sound of the waves and Tag’s story. When he finished only the sound of the waves remained. Tag looked around quickly. “Is something wrong?” He asked worriedly.
“No it’s just… that tops every story I’ve heard…” Lop said in awe. Tag looked down.
“I’m not that special.” He mumbled. The entire cabin burst out laughing.
“Not that special, huh?” Lop laughed. “You’re probably the most special one here!” There was a cheer of agreement from the rest of the crewponies. Tag blushed slightly and tried to hide it.
“I didn’t think you would believe me to tell the truth.” Tag mumbled. Lop put a hoof around his back.
“Why would you lie about that?” He asked. “And even if you are, it’s still a great story. We don’t have that many story tellers on this ship.” Tag smiled.
“Well it isn’t a lie, I can tell you that much.” He heard the sound of hoofteps on the stairs and looked back. He could see brook standing on the bottom step looking at him.
“The Captain needs to see you right away.” She said sounding slightly distressed. The cabin was filled with a shocked silence. Tag gulped and stood up. Brook trotted over and sat were Tag had been. “Go, I’ll take over for you.” She instructed Tag nodded and trotted away. Before he went up the stairs he heard somepony ask a question.
“When was the last time that happened?”
----
McCutchen stood in the large room with the window. He stood looking out at the se that followed behind the ship. There was a darkness that Tag hadn’t felt on the ship before, a dark foreboding, feeling. Tag closed the door behind him and trotted up to McCutchen.
“You wanted to see me, Captain?” Tag asked uneasily. McCutchen stayed looking out the window.
“What is your real mission?” He asked quietly. Tag stood behind him trying to think of something to say.
“What do you mean? I thought that Princess Celestia told you.” He said slowly. McCutchen turned around quickly.
“Your Princess has been telling a lot of lies lately.” He whispered, his voice was quiet but steely and made Tag shiver. McCutchen pulled out his cutlass and laid it on the table, he looked back at Tag. “You’re not leaving this room until you tell me the truth.” Tag stood still hoping the Captain’s piercing brown eyes would go away, he knew there was only one way this would turn out. Tag let out a resigned sigh.
“What do you know?” he asked weakly. McCutchen turned away and resumed looking out the window.
“I only know that our destination is Heaven’s End, I don’t know what you’re planning on finding there or why the Royal Family wouldn’t use their own ships.” He summed. Tag breathed out slowly, his eyes drifted to the cutlass still lying on the table.
Calm down... Tag stood beside, but at a distance from McCutchen.
“As I’m sure you know, Princess Celestia raises the sun in the morning and Luna raises the moon at night.” Tag started.
“Skip to the important part.” McCutchen said impatiently.
“It’s a lie, well, mostly.” McCutchen’s eyes widened briefly but they closed just a quickly.
“How so?” He asked.
“There is another sister… her name is Halley.” Tag mumbled.
“And you expect to find her at Heaven’s End?” McCutchen asked.
“At the very least something to help with the effort against Discord.” Tag said shrugging slightly.
“Discord?”
“You know… god of chaos… spirit of disharmony. Discord?” Tag .
“I know who he is, but what does he have to do with this Halley alicorn?” McCutchen asked.
“Discord escaped… and our theory is that she was responsible and that it all occurred on Heaven’s End. I’m going there because we think that she might still be there and even if she isn’t there might be something useful.” Tag explained. McCutchen nodded in understanding.
“Makes sense, but why wouldn’t they send one of their own ships? Why hire us?”
“Because… there was an attempted takeover and assassination attempt on the Royal Family.” McCutchen whistled to himself.
“Sounds like Discord has the upper hoof… claw.” He observed. Tag nodded uneasily not wanting to reveal his role in the attack.
“That revealed that there was a large number of the Royal Guard working for Discord.” Tag went on. “Now the Royal Family, Royal Guard and the researchers are working overtime to find out where Discord is so we can put an end to him.”
“How would you do that? Would you just imprison him in stone again?”
“No… there are to things that can permanently put an end to Discord: the knife on my arm, and the bow that my brother owns.” Tag said lifting the hoof with Tagia off the ground slightly. McCutchen eyed it closely and differently from when they were on the beach.
“What’s so special about that knife?” He asked.
“It can steal the soul of what it kills. It would kill Discord by removing the soul from his body.” Tag explained. McCutchen’s face grew slightly uneasy.
“I don’t think I would understand how that works. Let’s backtrack, why is Halley on Discord’s side again?”
“During the Chaos War, you should know what that is, Halley changed sides for a reason that we don’t know.”
“And so she’s the reason that Discord is free now?” McCutchen asked. Tag nodded. McCutchen stood for a long time looking out at the sea. “Understand that I want to know where I’m going and what I’m doing. Especially if it puts my crew in danger.” McCutchen said in his low voice. “I will go along with this mission only because of I doubt things will go our way if Discord wins. And I will go until the end for my crew, understand that now.”
“Yes, sir.” Tag said. McCutchen nodded to him and picked up his cutlass; he sheathed it and patted Tag on the back.
“I don’t blame you for any of this, and I hope that this little bit of unpleasantness can be put aside because the last thing we need on this mission is mistrust. Trust is what we’re built on.” McCutchen pushed Tag towards the doorway. “Now go, I have a lot of thinking to do.” Tag looked back at him one last time before he opened the door and trotted up the stairs.
That was something I’d rather not do again. Tag thought as he stood at the top of the ship. Other ponies went about their chores unaware of what had happened.
Definitely, I was wondering if you guys would end up fighting. Book agreed. McCutchen certainly isn’t a pony that I would want to go against.
He really cares for the ponies on this ship, and he would die for them, as I’m sure they would do the same.
Who’s to say it hasn’t happened before? Book asked.
I guess… Tag trailed off. Looking around he realized the Brook was beside him, looking at him expectantly.
“What happened?” She demanded.
“I told the truth.” Tag said simply. Brook said nothing but trotted into the Captain’s office. Tag looked around.
Maybe I should just go to sleep. Tag looked up, the sun was starting to make its way down the sky. Wait for it to blow over.
Running away won’t help. Book warned him. Tag shook his head.
I’m not exactly running away, there isn’t anyplace to run to on this ship. Tag sighed and started down the stairs to the hammocks. Tag rolled into his and listened to the sound of several other crewponies snoring. He looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes.
(I should mention that the song is called Lysergic Communion, and has not been created/written by me.)