//------------------------------//
// Commission 
// Story: Ponies of the Cursed Seas- Rise of the Fiends 
// by iowaforever 
//------------------------------//

Don't have much to say on this chapter... there is a bit more rant below.
I still don't own My Little Pony or Pirates, comments and likes are welcome.




Commission

Summer had come to Ponyville, and all was well. A few ponies were milling around aimlessly while groups of foals went this way and that. Shopkeepers had started to close up for lunch and Pegasi shifted clouds around for maximum shade coverage.
And in the Ponyville Library, it was one of the most important days of the week.
“Okay Spike, do we have everything?” asked Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn in charge of the library.
“Uh, I think so.” Spike pulled out a fairly large checklist and began searching through it. Twilight’s obsessive nature meant that most of the items on the checklist were redundant, but nopony was brave enough to correct her or suggest she was being too meticulous. Spike did not mind most of the time, but he secretly hoped for something to get Twilight to loosen up.
“Read me the list once more just in case.”
“Okay... checklist, books, sandwiches, extra quills and ink, floor layout of the library... yep, I think we have everything.”
“Great. I can finally start reshelving.” Twilight began searching through the stacks of books, trying to find the right combinations to place them in before deciding on topic, publishing date and relevance to the topic presented. Separating all the books would take time, but as Twilight had no other engagements that day she was in no real rush. She pulled one stack to her using her magic and set to work.
“Spike, did those encyclopedias I ordered come in yet?”
“They’re not supposed to come in until tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? But what if somepony needs them now? What if they use the old encyclopedias by accident and hurt themselves when they misread the information? Can a pony get sued for not providing the right encyclopedias?”
“Relax, Twi, they’ll be here before you reopen the library tomorrow morning.” Twilight squirmed a little, but relaxed after a few moments.
“I guess we’ll just skip that section for now.” She grabbed a sandwich and continued on. “Have you seen that book on Magic Theory around?”
“Cherilee asked to borrow it when you were in Canterlot; she said something about giving a lesson on magic someday.”
“Wonder why she didn’t just ask me to give a lecture?”
“You like using big words, Twilight.”
“Well... Yeah, but it’s for important concepts.”
“Do you expect a bunch of fillies and colts to understand all those 'important concepts'?”
“I did.”
“But your special talent is magic; of course you’d be able to understand.” Twilight tried to come up with a good retort, but nothing she came up with sounded right. She merely sighed, silently conceded defeat, and went back to sorting, stopping only to decide how much she was willing to blend subjects. They continued reshelving until there was a knock at the door.
“Huh, that’s odd; everypony should know we’re closed for reshelving.”
“Maybe it’s somepony from out of town.” Spike said before picking up another pile of books.
“I haven’t seen Pinkie running around looking for space for a party, so that might not be it.” Twilight finished stacking another shelf and opened the door using her magic. Standing outside was a white earth pony stallion with a blond mane and goatee wearing a heavy blue coat and hat. A complicated brace with a sword attached to it was strapped to his right foreleg and a braided lock of hair hung in front of his left ear. The stallion gave her a smile.
“Hello Twilight,” Captain Montana Mays said “I saw you had the blinds closed so I was afraid you were out of town.”
“Oh, Captain Mays. Good to see you again.” Twilight blushed a little “Sorry about the mess; it’s Reshelving Day and things tend to get a little cluttered.”
“That’s fine. I have to deal with a few messes from time to time.” Mays entered the library while Twilight went back to sorting books “Need any help?”
“No, I think I have this under control. You can help yourself to one of those sandwiches I put out if you’re hungry.”
“Thank you.” there was silence for awhile before Twilight spoke again.
“So, what have you been up to? I mean, you haven’t been in Ponyville since the beginning of Cider Season.”
“I’ve been around: Canterlot, Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Ponaeus, a few other small towns, that sort of thing. I would have brought back something from each place I visited, but space became an issue and I had to scrap that plan.”
“That’s understandable. Did you meet any new ponies?”
“A few. Most of them were nice enough, but some had a few... issues. And then there was the really eccentric ones.”
“Eccentric?”
“Princess Celestia set up a few demonstrations so she and Luna could see just how strong the Concordia really was. We were about half way through when these two unicorns showed up and said they had some kind of... steam-powered autocannon they wanted to show off.”
“These two unicorns, they wouldn't have happened to go by Flim and Flam, would they?”
“I take it you’ve met them?”
“They tried to drive Applejack’s family out of business during Cider Season... You didn’t accept their business, did you?”
“Actually I turned them down, even though their steam cannon had a pretty impressive rate of fire. I didn’t know about Cider Season; it was mostly disagreements in practicality.” Twilight’s inner analyst got the better of her and her mind began to construct several reasons why something like a steam-powered cannon would not be very practical.
“Was it because it was too big? Was it too noisy? Did the steam system create too much heat? Were you worried about hiring more unicorns to manage the cannons?” there was silence.
“I was going to say it was too expensive, but I guess those were valid reasons as well. Anyway, they didn’t take no for an answer, so Luna had to scare them off.”
“Oh.” Twilight assembled another stack and kept working.
“On a different note, apparently I'm very popular amongst the nobility; they think I’m some kind of hero for fighting off all the Diamond Dog raiders. I can’t say I’m too fond of most of them.”
“This would have to do with your last encounter with Prince Blueblood, right?”
“You know about that?”
“I’m pretty sure half of the ponies in Equestria know about that. I expected you to have a few issues, but nothing on the scale of what happened.”
“It was his fault, not mine.”
“That still doesn’t justify challenging him to a duel in front of half the ponies in Canterlot. You could have hurt somepony and made even more trouble.”
“... You’re probably right.” Twilight nodded and finished stacking another bookcase “So, anything interesting happen around here while I was gone?”
“Oh yes. I visited myself in the past to warn myself not to worry about the future but I didn't get it until after I'd tried warning myself, Spike got a baby phoenix when he joined the Dragon Migrations, I finally got Rainbow Dash to read something, Fluttershy’s been more assertive lately, and the Cakes won a big baking competition in Canterlot two weeks ago.”
“Ah, sorry I missed it.”
“Well, there was the issue of some of the bakers’ food getting eaten, but other than that it was a lot of fun.” Twilight finished the last shelf and turned to face Mays. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”
“Actually... Yes. Twilight, I need your help.” Twilight frowned; while she was not the type of pony to turn down a friend, the way Mays spoke made her uneasy, and the last time they had cooperated on anything had nearly got him, her, her friends and his entire crew killed.
Twilight, you faced two gods, several dragons, a hydra, the monsters in Tartarus, and Pinkie Pie; you can handle anything, a voice said in the back of Twilight’s mind.
“For what?”
“Tomorrow I have to leave Manehattan to deliver a new ambassador to the Ottomare Empire. However, ships have been disappearing off the coast and I don’t think they’re behind it, so I plan to do a general sweep of the area to find out what’s going on.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“You know more about magic than anypony else I’ve met. If whatever’s going on is magic based, then you can help me find out where she ships are and, if possible, get them back.”
“This won’t be like last time, where all of us almost got killed?”
“I can’t guarantee anything, but my crew and I have gotten used to sailing and fighting as ponies. Hopefully nothing bad will happen, but if something goes wrong we can protect you.”
Like I need protecting, the small bit of ego Twilight had picked up sometime during her time in Canterlot said. For whatever reason, it sounded a lot like Rainbow Dash. A few other thoughts crossed Twilight’s mind, but she labeled them as unimportant and made up her mind.
“I think I can go. I’d have to tell Princess Celestia and the mayor, but I think that won’t take too long.”
“I can take care of that for you, Twilight.” Spike said, walking out of one of the other rooms with a feather duster in one hand and Peewee perched on his head. “I’ll also look after the library, Owlowicious and Peewee for you.”
“You don’t want to come?”
“Nah, I think I’ve done enough traveling after the Dragon Migrations. Just be careful, okay?” Twilight giggled.
“Okay Spike.” she focused on Mays again “Just let me finish up here. Maybe some of my friends wouldn’t mind coming; after all, wouldn't more of us be able to handle whatever problem you do end up dealing with?”
“I’m sure I could accommodate them.”


....................


“No.” the sound of Twilight’s jaw hitting the floor could be heard all the way from Sweet Apple Acres. She stammered form a bit, but managed to regain control before her brain failed completely.
“But Pinkie, you loved our last trip.”
“I know, and this one would also be super amazing and be loads of fun. but look at Pumpkin,” Pinkie shoved the aforementioned foal into Mays’ face “She’s too cute to be left alone!” Pumpkin giggled and swatted Mays’ hat off his head. “Gotta go; Pound’s trying to get into the frosting again.” and with that the pink pony was off.
“Well, maybe somepony else will come.”


...................


“Yeah, I’m gonna have to pass on this one.” Rainbow Dash jumped down from her cloud and landed in front of the two ponies.
“Still having issues from last time?” Mays asked.
“No way. That was cool, fighting off all those cursed ponies. It’s just that I got a VIP pass to the next Wonderbolts show, and there’s no way I’m going to be missing that.”
“VIP?” Mays still had issues with acronyms from time to time.
“‘Very Important Pony’. Now, I’m gonna go finish my nap. Bring me back something cool from your trip.” the cyan Pegasus took off again and returned to her cloud, leaving behind only a small cloud of dust for Twilight and Mays to choke on.


..................


“Nuh-uh. No way.”
“But Applejack-”
“No Twi; I ain’t goin’ anywhere near that ship.” the orange farm pony kicked another tree “I almost died when them cursed ponies attacked and I ain’t gonna leave my family like that. ‘Sides, me ‘n Big Macintosh were gonna spend the next few weeks clearin’ out some of the dead trees ‘round here here and I won’t let him do it by himself.”
“... Okay.”


.................


“Apologies, but I cannot go.” Rarity finished setting up several mannequins and started rummaging through a pile of fabric “On any other occasion I would go. I’ve always wanted to go to the Ottomare Empire and pick up a few new designs, possibly meet a rich young prince if I was lucky, and normally I would never turn down a friend’s request. But I promised to take care of Sweetie Belle for the week, and I must put my family engagements before anything else. You understand, don’t you?”
“Yes, yes we do.”
“Thank you. Oh, if anything, take this.” Rarity crossed the room and pulled out a box from a nearby closet and passed it to Twilight. Twilight opened the box and found a collection of silk scarves, sun hats and even a pair of sunglasses.
“What is all this?”
“This is my ‘Going-To-The-Ottomare-Empire’ collection. Since I won’t be needing it right now, I want you to take it.”
“Thank you Rarity.”
“You’re welcome. Just be sure to bring it back in one piece; I don’t want to have to make all those scarves again.”


.................


“Oh yes, I would love to go.”
“Well, thanks for your time Fluttershy. We’ll see you in a few... Wait, you want to go?”
“Yes, of course I would.” the butter yellow Pegasus smiled again. Twilight’s brain was running on overload: Applejack and Rarity saying no was understandable, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash slightly less acceptable but Fluttershy, the pony who fainted when somepony sneezed too loud, saying yes? Forget Pinkie Pie, this made no sense.
“You. Fluttershy. Want to go with us?”
“Um, yes?”
“Fluttershy. You want to come with us?”
“I said yes.” Fluttershy started to look confused “Should we have that conversation again?”
“Twilight, if I may.” Mays stepped in front of the frazzled purple unicorn “Fluttershy, you do know that this trip may be dangerous.”
“Yes, I know. But I couldn’t let some poor pony be hurt while I stayed here. I just wouldn’t feel right with myself. A-And I read some more on treating injured ponies, so I can be more useful... that is, if you want me to do that sort of thing... Oh, and I heard that there’s this beautiful garden in the Ottomare Empire that’s almost as big as the Canterlot gardens, and I would love to see all the plants and animals they have there.”
“But who would take care of your animals here?”
“Oh, Applejack said she would be willing to look after my animal friends if I went away. She... owes me a few favors... I mean, not that anything bad happened, but she just agreed to help me if needed. My animal friends like her and I don’t think they’d mind... they've never complained about it before...” Mays looked back to see if Twilight had any more objections. The unicorn was still looking frazzled, but at least her mane had straightened out.
“Great.” Mays said “I’ll give you two some time to pack and we’ll head for Manehattan tomorrow.”



The idea of Mays challenging Blueblood to a duel was not mine; All credit for said idea goes to Highwayhoss. I will probably show what exactly happened at somepoint, but not right now...