//------------------------------// // Final Spark // Story: Thorned Rose // by Salty Alty //------------------------------// The momentary silence was deafening, and even the roar and chuff of engine and propeller alike were mere background noise. The pony cut an imposing figure, with both visible muscle and scar in abundance. There was noticeable patchwork and repair in the doublet, nearly seamless with the rest of the fabric. His face however... His face spoke volumes. Steely gray eyes glared at his prey, with a darker gray lock of mane caressing his left brow. As he spoke, a few teeth were missing, and the tongue that licked his lips was pierced. Nor did the pony fall in to the normal stereotype of a bilge rat. He was remarkably well shaven for his occupation, nor did he give off a foul odor as he graced the Chamomile's deck. The silence was broken once more, the voice taking on the likeness of a whip. Harsh, furious, and swift to cause a reaction. "I said... Who is the captain of this ship?" Immediately, Chessur piped up. "I-i.... I am. What can I do for you Mr...?" The unnamed pony huffed haughtily, before replying with a contemptuous tone. "Captain Cutter of the Dragon's Reach. What's in your hold? I don't have all day." Chessur smiled sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck with a hoof. "This is a travel yacht, there's nothing but supplies and a few bottles of alcohol in the cargo hold." The Captain huffed. "Right. And my mother was a grounder," turning back to his ship, he shouted. "Galley, 'Vane, get over here!" A few seconds later, a pair of pegasi landed on the Chamomile's deck. One, an unclothed purple pegasus mare with a neon blue spiky mane, and the cutie mark of a wind vane. The other had a loose white shirt, soft yellow coat, their mane being brown with a single stripe of red through it, his cutie mark hidden underneath some slacks. The stallion spoke with a surprisingly soft voice for one of his stature and occupation, his tone completely smooth and without a rumble. "Y-yes Cap'n?" Cutter glared at him. "You and 'Vane go search the hold. If you find any trade goods, shout for me." And then he spoke, turning to Chessur. "And if we find that you lied to us, you're going to take a long walk through the sky, are we clear?" The prench pony gulped. "C-c-crystal!", gesturing with a hoof towards the cargo bay doors in the center of the deck. The two buccaneers walked to the small hatch, opening it to reveal a small staircase. As they retreated down the steps, their hooves clopping on the hard and polished wood. As his crew-mates entered the Chamomile's hold, Captain Cutter looked to the rest of Chessur's crew. "Now. Where'd the pegasus go?" Rose snorted, glaring at the white and scarred stallion with a scornful eye. "She's jetted off over to Part Havre to get help. Even if you send an interceptor after her, they won't reach her in time." He raised an eye at that. "What'd ya think we were gonna do to ye? Sink you off the bat?" The crew of the Chamomile blinked, before Chyrp replied. "Errr... You mean you weren't going to shoot us?" The disgruntled pirate facehoofed. "What buckin kind of ship do you think I run?! That's how all those other rats get the navy on their heads!" A few moments passed with the two parties exchanging idle chat as they waited for the pair of pegasi to finish in the cargo hold, and after a few minutes 'Vane's head popped out from below. "Nothin' cap. They're bone dry except for basic supplies, like food and water." The white pegasus chuckled. "Well I'll be damned. Load up some of their food, and grab some medicine if they have it.", before looking towards Chessur. "I do apologize for purloinin' some of your supplies, but I'm sure you understand. Do spread the word of my... benevolence you hear? As he finished, the wind had gone from a slight breeze to an increasingly fast gale. 'Vane and Galley clambered out of the cargo bay, looking around. After a brief moment, Vane started tugging on her captain's sleeve. "Err... Cap. That cloud bank wasn't black before." Indeed, she was correct. What had before been a white and pristine grouping of clouds had gone pitch black and stormy gray, the darkest point at the center... and if you looked close enough, you may have even seen a mote of blue that wasn't born of the lightning that was crackling and stringing around the clouds. Cutter narrowed his eyes. "That ain't a good sign... That ain't good at a-AGH!!" CRACK! The Captain being cut off, as a single massive lightning bolt sprang from the center of the mass of clouds, hitting the bow of the Reach's gasbag, barely hitting the patchwork. It struck in the span of a second, the crew of the sloop having no time to react. As the mass of plasma and arcing electricity collided with the cloth, the hydrogen within the balloon ignited, turning what was once an airworthy ship into a charred husk. Any crew that may have been able to fly suddenly weren't, as the flames licked at and consumed their feathers. The hull of the Reach rocketed down towards the ocean quickly, tumbling through the air as it got tied up in the remnants of it's gasbag. The Chamomile was sent careening away, the gangplank, along with Galley, falling rapidly. The flames were not quite able to reach the Chamomile's balloon, but they made their presence known as a wave of heat washed across the deck. Reacting immediately, Rose sent a hoof flying into Cutter's muzzle, the nose letting out a loud CRACK at the impact, the sounds of Chyrp and Gavin engaging the other pegasus faintly registering in the back of her mind. Cutter responded with his own right hook while attempting to take flight, Rose catching it before pulling the captain back to the deck, charging her horn and sending a blast of kinetic force at his forehead, the beam colliding and staggering the stallion heavily, as he attempted to shake off the hit. As he stumbled back, he growled out. "'Woulda let you lot live... BUT NOW I'M GETTIN' REAL TIRED OF YOUR SHIT!", And with that sentence spoken aloud, his hate filled, bloodshot eyes glared at the gryphic mare in front of him. Lashing out with a hoof, he struck her across the cheek, sending Rose reeling from the impact. Following it up with a buck to her chest, a single hoof connected with a loud clink, the impact absorbed by layers of padding and metal. Rose cracked her neck, a scathing and scornful gaze set upon the captain, stepping backwards. "And you didn't have to chase us... LOOK WHERE THAT LANDED YA MATE!", grabbing his coat within her magical grasp and slamming him against the deck with a thump, her adversary rolled out of the doublet in retort, rocketing towards her with a flap of his large wings. Impacting her squarely in the chest, the two rolled from the impact, Rose kicking the stallion off. Scrambling to her hooves and drawing her sabre with her magic, she held it in front of her diagonally, shifting it to match the pegasus's erratic movements. Cutter, tired of playing around, rushed forward swiftly, the sabre leaving a large gash in his chest as he pushed through, unperturbed by the blade. Ramming into her with a shoulder, he knocked Rose down to the ground, leaping to pin her down. Rose rolled away, scrambling back to her hooves as Cutter slammed down in front of her. Eyeing her sabre, she willed it towards her with a mental tug, the hilt nicking her opponent's ear as she recalled it, grabbing it from the air with a hoof. Moving quickly, she stood up and brought it down in an arc at the Captain's face, who moved backwards a second too late, the blade leaving a nasty cut in his muzzle. The pegasus grinned, swiftly flapping his wings and ascending. Rose held her sword towards him defensively, but as he made to dive bomb her, he feinted, dropping to the deck instead, and swiftly rushing her. Standing on his hind legs, he grabbed her sword hoof and turned, slamming Rose into the hard wood of the hull, taking the blade from her hoof. As he stabbed towards her, she rolled to the left, springing a kick into his groin. The stallion recoiled in pain, stabbing into the deck with a grimace. "You lil' bi-", being cut off as Rose, having spent her time getting back up, brought him into a choke hold. Losing his concentration, the sabre clattered onto the deck, now forgotten by the two quarreling ponies. Fighting to maintain control of the situation, he began trying to force Rose towards to the railing of the deck, as his lungs begged for breath and he began seeing stars. The battle-tested mare dropped prone, wrapping her hind legs around the stallion's waist, fighting to keep a strong grip. Wiggling and writhing, the buccaneer finally managed to elbow the mare's muzzle, Rose loosening her grip just enough that her adversary was able to break free. Clambering on top of Rose, he began raining punch after punch upon her face, aiming at her horn. The Ranger holding her hooves in a defensive position as she was forced to endure blow after blow, struggling to maintain her concentration. After what felt like an eternity, she managed to belt out a basic wave of kinetic force, weakly launching her assailant a few meters away. Rising on all fours, Rose looked to where she had launched the Captain, seeing that he recovered, much the same as she had. Forming a small shield into the shape of a disk, she launched it directly between his eyes, the impact staggering him for but a brief moment. As he shook off the daze, he opened his eyes to see Rose staring at him triumphantly. As he opened his mouth to snark, he felt something impact his side with a loud TWANG. Looking at his right side, he saw a large ballista bolt had impaled itself into his chest, courtesy of Gavin. Gasping for breath, he grinned wildly, "H-heh... Good game folks. Good game.", he said, before suddenly rushing forth and attempting to tackle Rose off of the Chamomile's deck. Rose's eyes widened, moving to dodge the suicidal pegasus. While she succeeded in evading the brunt of the charge, she was far too close to the railing and got knocked over by Cutter's wing. She immediately registered the rushing wind as she went into free fall, being sent careening towards the surface of the ocean. Captain Cutter was in a similar situation as her, though falling much slower due to his wings. Holding all of her hooves out in an X formation as her muscle memory took hold, she attempted to slow her descent as much as possible, futile as it may have been. Eyeing the pirate captain out of the corner of her eye, she gathered up a large portion of her remaining wellspring, shaping the spell and letting loose an arrow of energy, sending it hurtling towards her target. The arrow struck true near the base of his wing, sending the pegasus tumbling mid flight and falling like a brick. As the ocean's surface drew closer, she slowly transitioned to a dive, accepting her fate. 10,000 meters. 8,000. 7,000. 6,000... And as she resolved herself, she heard a nearly imperceptible whoosh, as something grabbed her, the impact jarring her. Blinking her eyes open, she looked to her barrel to see a pair of blue hooves wrapped around her waist. Snapping to look behind her, she saw the exhausted face of Aquila, huffing and panting from exertion. "Cheers 'Quila. Have a nice flight?" Rose said jovially, smiling at her friend as they began to slowly ascend towards the now immobile Chamomile. Aquila's right eye twitched. "Yup. Totally. How was yours?" She asked, her nose scrunched in annoyance. "Pretty nice all things told. Falling to your death really makes you appreciate the sky more y'know." Laughing quietly, Rose spoke once more. "The funny thing is, is that this has happened before. Back when The Beast was sent to put The Squall down, a stray ballista bolt caught my skivvies and sent me careening off the deck. They had a rescue bird on me within a minute!" As the two idly chattered on the slow ascent back to the ship, they graced the Chamomile with their presence once more within a half hour, the crew celebrating at their escape from certain death, The lone pirate that remained on board was bound and placed within the small, confined brig of the Chamomile. As they set sail, they celebrated for the entire week. Dance, song, and drinking were commonplace during that time, with even Chessur forgoing all formalities and partying like a wild animal... That is of course, after swearing his friends to secrecy. He had a reputation to maintain after all! And so, as the week passed by, songs were sung, and praises were given to the pegasus who saved their lives. And soon... they would arrive at their destination.