//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Jolly Parrot 
// Story: Daring Do: the Legend of the Algae Photis (A Ranger side-story) 
// by Wanderer D 
//------------------------------//


Daring Do: the Legend of the Algae Photis


by Wanderer D


Chapter 6: Jolly Parrot


"Do my eyes deceive me, Mullet, or do I see a carrion-eating, gutter-crawling, landlubber sorry excuse for a bilge rat scurrying around the deck of my ship like he has any right to breathe?"

"Celaeno, what a nice surprise to see you here!" Capper exclaimed, smiling wide and solicitously at the parrot captain.

"I don't suppose you're here to pay me back for that jolly old adventure we had near Cape Storm?" Celaeno continued, her eyes ignoring the trio of pegasi that had walked onto deck behind the Abyssinian. "You know the one, right? Immense rewards, was it? Unquestionable wealth, you said. Right in the middle of the Storm King's territory..." she trailed off, leaning down slightly to glare at him, claw on the pommel of her scimitar. "...oh wait, that part you forgot to mention."

"Ah, uh, that might take some time-e-e-eeee—" Capper's voice went an octave higher when the tip of Celaeno's scimitar pressed against his throat.

"Then," she hissed, eyes narrowing, "what could have possibly possessed a scallywag such as yourself to set paws on my ship?"

"That would be us," one of the ponies—the only one who was clad in strange armor—spoke up. Celaeno turned to look at her, still frowning, but couldn't fight the surprise when she noticed that she wasn't looking at a pegasus, but an actual, honest-to-goodness alicorn. Next to her, looking up at Celaeno with starry eyes and slightly pink cheeks, was a cyan-coated pegasus with rainbow mane and matching tail.

"I'm not hiring, savvy?" she stated.

"Hey, what's your—" the blue pegasus spoke up, red eyes flashing.

"We're not here for a job," the alicorn interrupted. "Well, not for us."

The other pony, a golden-furred, gray-haired mare wearing a pith helmet stepped forth. "We're heading to Mt. Aris and then to Fleece. Capper here was just made our acquaintance, and he mentioned that you might be able to help us."

Celaeno's eyebrows had shot up and she turned to stare incredulously at Capper… who wasn't there anymore. She glanced up, growling just as he made it to the taffrail. However, just before he could vault over it and make his daring escape, he froze on the spot, body shaking and fur standing on edge, looking for all Celaeno could tell as if he had been struck by lightning.

Then he collapsed onto the floor, twitching. 

"I did not say your life-debt was repaid," a voice said. This time it wasn't just Celaeno who blinked in surprise, as her crew, who had gathered around to see what the argument was all around, also bore witness to a tiny, pony-like bug in armor… who had apparently electrocuted the cat.

Evercreature on deck—save for the armored pony—took a decent step back from the tiny bug-pony.

"Seems like there's a bit of a story behind that reaction of yours," the pegasus said, "but hear us out—"

"No," Celaeno snapped, sheathing her scimitar and crossing her arms. "I refuse." Her declaration was echoed by the crew, most of them saying something along "aye". Not that Celaeno expected any less. They knew her well enough.

"Aww, come on," the rainbow one insisted, "you're pirates! Isn't adventure part of your deal?!"

"Not when it doesn't end up in some sort of reward," Celaeno said, "and whenever Capper has been involved, that has never been the case."

"We have bits," the alicorn said, "I'm sure we can reach a mutually-profitable arrangement."

Celaeno grimaced as the denial from the crew turned into grunts of consideration. She faced the ponies. "Fleece is the one land I don't fly back to, savvy?"

"As a Princess, I can guarantee that the agreement we come to will be profitable for you. If you are indeed pirates, I can even sign a pardon for all of you in Equestrian lands," the thrice-damned alicorn added. "Provided you're careful after that, it would open merchant routes to the north for you, with no more hiding."

This stopped Celaeno despite herself. She slowly turned around. "Why me?"

"Capper sold your reputation very well," the pegasus said. "He said you were from Fleece, and that you knew the place like the back of your claw. He said that you had been to every corner and every city there, and that you were well-versed in their mythology."

"Did he, now?" Celaeno muttered, glancing angrily at the unconscious Abyssinian. She should have known better than to open up to that little scoundrel.

"He did!" The rainbow one said excitedly, flying up to Celaeno, wings flapping skillfully to keep her hovering at that height. "He said that you were the best pirate he had ever seen, and that you could get us there and back without a hitch!"

Celaeno wavered. It was a good deal. "So why should I take you there and not just hold you for ransom, princess?" she asked, hoping that her crew would take the hint and the ponies would be dissuaded. As intended, her crew laughed evilly, giving blood thirsty looks at the pegasi and peace-loving-alicorn.

They all blinked in confusion when the whole ship shuddered. It took Celaeno a moment to realize the whole thing was enveloped in a magenta magical aura. Just for effect the ship shook a little.

"Several reasons," the armored alicorn said, smiling widely and innocently, "one, you can't fly on your own. Two, I am being very generous with my offer. Three, as of right now, you need us more than we need you."

Despite the shuddering of the ship and her own nervousness, Celaeno slowly drew out her scimitar. "And how do you figure that last one?"

The alicorn smirked. "Remember how I pointed out you can't fly on your own? Well, since airship docks are on average forty five meters high to avoid collisions with smaller buildings or other non-flying vehicles, there's nothing between you and the rocky shore below, Daring, Tala, Rainbow Dash, and I have wings… and I can snap this ship like a twig if I really wanted to."

"By Celestia's mighty beard, Cap'n," somecreature behind her whispered in awe, "this wench is one cold-hearted b—"

"Go back to the kitchen, Spittle," Celaeno hissed. She cleared her throat and sighed. "Fine, let's go to my cabin and talk it over."





Daring had been in a fair number of pirate ships—most of the time as a forced "visitor"—and had developed an eye for the quality of sea (or air)-faring misfits based on the condition of their equipment, not limited to their weapons and clothes, but also their vehicles.

Unlike Rainbow Dash, who kept gasping at everything with almost childish excitement so far… Daring herself was quietly impressed.

Celaeno's ship was well-maintained, but carried within it the character that could only grow out of careful care, and professional upkeep. It felt lived-in, solid, and ready. The crew was rough, as was to be expected, all save Celaeno herself, who was very attractive as far as parrots went, her beauty not marred by her missing leg, but rather enhanced by the choice of gemstone she had it made from.

The ship had history within and without, from the markings and nicks of many battles, still carefully treated to stop the wood from further damage, to the state of the sails, ropes, engines and deck.

The interior was as organized and well-maintained as Sandokan's very own flagship. And that was saying something. Rough, they might look. Illiterate, most of them certainly were. But professionals? No doubt. To a single bird.

Celaeno opened the door to her cabin and stepped in, not waiting for them. Twilight marched in right behind her, Tala on her head, followed by Rainbow Dash. Daring stepped in and to the side, letting a large, muscular parrot who had been earlier identified as Boyle, step in with Capper slung over his shoulder.

The grunt dropped Capper like a sack of potatoes and, after a nod from Celaeno, stepped out of the cabin, closing the door behind them.

She watched her best friend's daughter calmly take a seat across from the wide, heavy, wooden table that was Celaeno's desk. She took a moment to appreciate the quality of the finish, along with the several carefully drawn maps, stacks of bits and gems, and most importantly... the very sharp and silvery blade resting in front of Celaeno, before returning her eyes to the other pony.

Twilight's stunt earlier was almost expected by now, but highlighted a big problem. Twilight was not only trigger-happy and brash, but also very powerful. It was easy to forget sometimes she was travelling with a pony that had been considered a prodigy even before she had achieved what very few ponies ever would and ascended into alicornhood.

Now wasn't the time, but she needed to talk to her about her gung-ho approach to things. Celaeno had been clearly trying to weasel herself out of that deal. Twilight's response was not proportionate to the situation, and if she didn't start realizing that now, it would become a problem later.

Leaving that for later, her eyes returned appreciatively to the short sword on the table. It was an ancient style of Fleecian sword, usually made of cheaper material. This one looked like a family heirloom, and her practiced eyes studied the curve, the design, the edges… it was ancient.

"Well, Capper had one thing right," she said, looking up to Celaeno's eyes. "You clearly have a long history with Fleece. That xiphos bears the mark o—"

"My past," Celaeno, who had followed her gaze to her sword, interrupted. "I do have a lot of history there, but it is also very personal history. If the Storm King wasn't making a mess of the skies and seas, I wouldn't have even considered doing this... and I am still not convinced, regardless of whether you can really break my ship in half or not."

"Fine," Twilight said, "if you don't want to share that, it's okay."

"But, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said, "don't you think—"

"Dash, we have a lot of things we can't tell Celaeno ourselves," Twilight said, placing a calming wingtip on her friends' shoulder. "Not everyone wants to share their life story, and this looks like a painful subject for Captain Celaeno."

Rainbow Dash winced, looking at the parrot with an apologetic look. "Sorry."

"It's alright, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, "just remember different people take things at their own time."

"Right."

Daring noticed Celaeno's eyebrow rise with the appellative, but the captain's face quickly went back to neutral.

"Having said that," Tala spoke up, "we should be honest regardless in that this trip is not without dangers."

"Oh?" Celaeno asked, eyes narrowing. "What type of danger?"

"We have an enemy after us," Daring said, "and they've teamed up with one of the Storm King's ponies."

Celaeno stood up. "There's only one pony that works for the Storm King, and that's Tempest Shadow! That pony is ruthless! She won't give up! If I take you, I have no doubt that she'll—"

"Face the consequences of betraying her country." Twilight's icy voice cut through Celaeno's rant, making her stammer before blinking at the alicorn. "I don't have patience for traitors."

"Right," Celaeno said carefully.

"Look, Captain," Twilight said, "we have bits, I do have the authority to grant your pardon and passage, and as long as we get what we need, I don't mind if you and your crew get your claws on some treasure."

Daring opened her mouth, but slowly closed it, frowning. Twilight had already spilled some of the beans on that, there was little she could do now. Daring knew little about Twilight from before, but the nervous, friendly, eager-to-please, detailed-to-a-fault mare that Velvet had mentioned in the letters had yet to find balance with who she had to become in the other world. Right now, all she could really do was find the time to talk to Twilight and, with Rainbow's help, help her find that balance.

Celaeno sighed. "I'm going to need a better reason for this. Your deal is amazing. I know you have the bits… but this is not a place I am eager to return, regardless of the Storm King's involvement."

Twilight bit her lip. "It's for my friends. They're dying, we need a cure, and what we're looking for is the only thing that might help them."

From the corner of her eye Daring saw Capper's ear twitch. It was clear that the thief was listening in, but perhaps this was for the best. Twilight's honesty had been one of the reasons she had initially agreed to help her, after all. She smiled a little. There would always be a big core part of Twilight that never changed.

Celaeno's surprised reaction at the answer slowly faded, as she looked at the map of ancient fleece she had framed on one of her cabin's walls. She looked at the four, as if slowly things were clicking together. She pointed at Twilight. "You want to go to Ancient Fleece to find a way to cure something that normal magic cannot cure…" she turned to Daring. "You're the real deal… you're Daring Do."

"I am," Daring said. "I pretended not to see the books in your shelf."

Rainbow Dash was immediately over there.

"You have a team… you go to Fleece… you brought a thief… and you needed someone who knew…" she gasped, both claws slamming on her large desk. "The Algae Photis?!"

"Congratulations, Capper," Tala spoke up, making the Abyssinian jump onto all four paws, eyes wide and terrified, looking up at her. "You found us the right pirate."

"But…" Celaeno sat down on her seat, "but that's… it's not real!"

Daring smirked and nodded at the sword on the desk. "Is it really that hard to believe?"

Celaeno looked down at it too, then at the map. She stood up slowly, walking over there, her claws carefully tracing dusty old tomes as she passed until she stood in front of the map. "It's… older than my legacy."

She caressed the map. "It's… it's a myth. It's in a lost city… it's—" she turned around, facing them. "It's to be found when most needed…"

Daring's smile grew, while Twilight nodded solemnly.

Celaeno turned to the map. "I'm going back home?" she whispered. "I'm going to find the the most ancient legend…" she chuckled. "I guess I really am going back to Fleece."

Daring, Twilight and Dash all three walked up to Celaeno, pulling her into a tight hug, which she returned. The trio remained there as Celaeno gathered her wits, clearly surprised but enjoying their support.

"Ahem."

The three ponies and the parrot looked over to Capper, who was grinning uncertainly. "So… we're all good then?"

He froze, fur on end, when Tala landed on his shoulder. "Not even close."


End Chapter 6