//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: Crew of the Marblehead // by M48 Patton //------------------------------// The storm was getting worse. Even outside of Ghost Island's influence, Storm Killer's small fleet of pirate ships was being battered by heavy winds and high seas. The lead ship was Ristophina's battleship, a massive construction of hardened oak reinforced by only the best magic that gold could buy. Twenty-eight of the massive anti-ship ballistas sat on her deck while her crew of over two hundred battle-tested pirates handled the ship. Yet despite this, there was a palpable feeling of fear that pervaded each nook and cranny of the vessel. Creatures of all sorts sat or lay on the main deck, ignoring the biting winds that whipped at them with fury. They looked into the maelstrom that had swallowed their captain and the schooner with concern, searching for any sign of their prey. Ristophina's first mate paced the forecastle, his eyes glancing between the deck and the storm. A griffon well past his prime, but having earned the respect of his crewmates, he was not one to be taken lightly, nor was he one to worry. However, even his veteran facade was beginning to crack and his nerves were beginning to show. “Sail ho! Off the starboard!” Came the cry of a lookout. With a powerful leap, he was airborne off the side of the ship and climbing into the sky until he was level with the crow's nest. “Whereaways?” He called. The lookout pointed with his hoof. “Two points north of the lightning strike.” Sure enough, large white squares were climbing their way over the horizon in defiance of the approaching storm. Bringing a spyglass to his eye, the first mate carefully observed the approaching ships. Already he could tell that there was more than one ship, at least three, maybe a forth. On the lowest and largest sails of the ships was an insignia, easily identifiable and recognizable to any who saw the shape. “Blasted Equestrians!” The griffon seethed. The beating of wings attracted his attention to a second griffon while a thestral glided along the air currents up to them. “What do we do?” The second griffon asked, her eyes glancing between him and the horizon. Realizing that he had just been unofficially placed in command, the first mate had to make a snap decision. “We hold.” He ordered. “At least for now. Spread the word for all ships to crew the weapons.” The threstral merely nodded and began to glide back down while the griffon gave him a quick 'aye aye' before diving away. Alone with only his thoughts and the buffeting wind, the first mate looked through his spyglass once more. The mere sight of an Equestrian warship was never a good sign, although it was doubtful that those ships presented a threat to the small armada floating (or flying in the case of the airship) beneath him. Still, wherever an Equestrian went, it meant trouble for any self respecting rapscallion. “Where are ye, cursed ship?” He spat. “Bring us back our captains.” As if the responding to his wish, a cry from lookout turn his head towards Ghost Island. “Marblehead ahoy!” A ghostly grey shape, effortlessly defying the cursed storm, smashed through the waves towards the waiting ships. “By the Reaper.” Dark smoke poured from the chimneys in thick clouds only to be blown away by the wind while the ship approached at a frightening speed. The pirates onboard the ships began to cheer at the sight, claims of “Never had a doubt” and “Nothing could stop Storm Killer” began to be exchanged on deck. It was almost too good to be true, but a quick glance through his spyglass revealed the sight of Storm Killer himself standing on the prow of the Marblehead, waving his sword. The griffon smiled in relief, circling down to the deck of the battleship beneath him in order to welcome his captain back onboard. Storm Killer's head hurt, but the familiar motion of a storm slowly brought him out of his groggy state. It didn't take him long to discover that he was bound tightly by enough rope to rig a small ship and his daggers, even the hidden ones, had been taken. “Oh look who's awake!” Makry's voice pounded in his skull. “The fool who lead us into this trap!” “Wha' 'appened?” He asked, looking around the small room. It was large enough for all the creatures there to be set inside the room with enough distance from each other that assisting the pirate next to them would be impossible. Pipes and boxes were attached to the bulkheads but nothing that look especially useful, and there was only a single door that looked sturdy enough stop even Stone Hand. All of the other captains were there with him, although on Makry and Grif were awake. Like him, they had been bound in rope and relieved of their weapons. Growler was slobbering on the floor with a muzzle attached to his face while Stone Hand was chained to the wall by thick manacles. Green Tea was hanging upside down from the ceiling, wrapped up in green vines and what looked like changeling goo on her horn. Ristophina was encased in ice, framed with her mouth open in a furious scream while her blade was outstretched in a slashing motion. “Bah all da bloo' in da sea, wha' appened?” Storm Killer asked again, barely comprehending what he was seeing. Makry spat at him before answering. “I'll tell ye what happened!” She hissed. “You had 'er! Storm Stalker, Reaper, ye had the whole bloody crew! Stopped 'em dead where they stood, all busy lookin' at ye! Ship was ours!” “Ah 'member tha'!” Storm Killer snapped. The Grat hissed at him for interrupting, but then her eyes glazed over. “Then that. . . thing came out.” She whispered, shivering at the memory. “You fell on the deck like somecreature gave ye a knock to the head. When that happened, all Tartarus broke loose. “Wha' thing? An' who gobbed me?” “A ghost of the past.” Grif muttered, his gaze far away and his body shaking in odd spasms. Makry looked at the griffon with pity before turning back to Storm Killer. “Twas a great white apparition, took one look at Risto' there and froze 'er along with half my crew. We tried to fight it, but we was no match for the beastie. Froze our weapons, threw us overboard, brought us down by the dozens. Then the bloody vines showed up.” “Vines?” Storm Killer looked at Green Tea, studying her bonds. “Aye, came up from every last part o' the ship. By then, we was movin'.” Makry said, all of the fire from her voice gone. “Took us right out into the storm, like it were nothin'. They had a changeling, that's what got Stone Hand, pretendin' to be Green Tea. Those that was left of us were havin' none of it. Tried to jump overboard, we did. Something grabbed me when I hit the water, dragged be down before throwin' me back onto this cursed ship. Same with the rest of all those overboard.” Makry hung her head, a small sob escaping her. “An' then I saw 'im, Storm Killer, the cap'n.” Storm Killer tried to lean forward, but the ropes kept him from making even that simple movement. “Wha' dew yew mean? Wha' manner o' creature be 'im?” “A bloody pegasus.” She whined. “He was just a bloody pegasus, but that beastie was sittin' there right beside him like some sort o' pet, and another creature as well. An' there was yer daughter in front o' him, bowin' and beggin' his fer'giveness like a filly.” “AH DON' BELIEVE IT!” Storm Killer thundered. “She'd ne'er bow tae naw creature!” “She was ye fool!” Makry screamed back. “She's afraid o' him like I was afraid o' you! 'Cept I'm not afraid o' you no more! Not after today!” “Ah, cannae believe eh'. Mah daugh'er, cryin' lahk a babby.” “Ye Tartarus ridden old crab!” Makry snapped. “She's gone! She's been taken an' ye've lost your only chance to back! Reaper, ye might've put 'er in more danger than she's ever been!” “Storm. . .” The old pirate whispered, realization taking shape as a pit in his stomach. “Oh Reaper wha' 'ave Ah done? Storm, Ah'm sorry.” “Cap'n! Ah'm sorry!” Storm Stalker was on her stomach, bawling her eyes out in front of a very unsteady Trade Breaker in the wheelhouse. Despite the head ache, a little bit of Zebrican potion making and some ice was doing wonders for his hangover. “Storm, I, oh Celestia.” The captain groaned. “Storm, I don't blame ye.” “Cap'n! Ah shoulda tol' yew aboot mah da', an' the let'ers, an'. . . an'. . .” Storm's tears blurred her eyes and she began to hiccup. Trade Breaker picked her up and straightened her hat. “Aye, ye should have.” He said softly. “And I should've been there fer ye when ye was needin' me. We've both made mistakes, an' now we have ta pay. Now Storm, let me ask ye this; will ye do it again?” Storm shook her head, finally regaining control of herself. “Good. We'll decide on yer punishment later.” Trade Breaker nodded. “Now get to work and find out what in the blazes is happening on me ship.” “I believe I can help with that, captain.” The door to the wheelhouse opened and a gray box with Swiss-cheese legs stepped through. “So that's where ye've been hidin'.” The captain remarked. Drip reverted to his earth pony form with a green flash and he frowned. “It's not good.” He stated. “From what I could gather, there's more pirates waiting for us outside the storm. It seems as though Storm's father has gathered the best pirates he could find and brought them here to try and rescue her, and apparently they think you're some sort of beast that's taken the entire crew hostage.” Trade Breaker glared at Storm Stalker. The mare refused to make eye contact. “Anyways, it's not all bad.” Drip continued. “The pirates were expecting to take the Marblehead and sail her out themselves, so the ships waiting for us might think we're friendly. At least, for a little bit. Meanwhile, there's still the matter of the pirates onboard. We haven't finished searching the whole ship, but the crew and I are fairly certain we found all of them. All told, they outnumber us at least three to one. I don't like those odds if they break free.” Trade Breaker sighed and looked out the wheelhouse windows, the storm battering against the glass with useless fury. In the distance, he could see the edge of the storm, and occasionally the white speck of a sail. “Well then, we get rid of them.” He ordered, pushing the engine telegraph all the way forward. Moments later, Poisoned Beaker responded from the engine room. Slowly, the Marblehead began to pick up speed. Cheers turned into cries of alarm and celebration turned into panic when Storm Killer's smiling visage was burned away in green flame and the Marblehead's horn blared out her warning. With barely a moment to react, the crew of Ristophina's battleship screamed as they jumped over the side in an effort to avoid the knife-like bow of the approaching ship. It could barely even be called a collision as Marblehead made an abrupt turn into the wooden vessel, crashing into the starboard side and smashing it into splinters with impunity. The doomed ship lurched to port and nearly capsized from the blow before water rushed into the gaping hole on the opposite side. Whatever crew was left on the ship quickly grabbed whatever they thought might float and dove into the water. Her masts slipped beneath the waves and she rolled onto her back floating on the surface like a breached whale. So sudden was the attack that for a full minute after the ship had been struck, the only sound was that of the battleship's timbers breaking and the rumble of the Marblehead as she steamed away. Then all Tartarus broke loose and the pirates began to make sail in order to pursue the steel behemoth. Captain Grif's airship was first to move, cutting the ropes binding her to the ships below and turning about sharply. Without warning, their ship was suddenly pitched to one side as several of their ropes randomly snapped and tore holes in the envelope. A yellow pegasus smiled and waved at the shocked crew before leaving the crippled ship and forming up another pegasus, this one being dark blue. “Jump.” “What?” The quivering pirate asked meekly. The nightmarish beast lowered itself until it was level with the bound intruder. A blast of cold air very nearly freezing the pony on the spot. Unleashing a massive roar that simply blew the unfortunate pirate off the side, his screaming cut short by the water. Unlike the first pirate, his compatriots were not so eager to question the order of such a terrifying creature and eagerly took the opportunity to escape the cursed vessel when their bonds were loosened. The more solid pirates, or simply the ones frozen in ice, needed a little more effort to remove from the ship. The side effect of dumping several large blocks of ice into an ocean full of floundering creatures was that said creatures now had impromptu life rafts. Several of them even thanked their frozen comrades for keeping them afloat once safely out of the water. Trade Breaker watched the pirate vessels as they ceased their fruitless chase of the Marblehead in order stop and rescue the icebound pirates. Henry slowly walked up beside him and chuckled. “T'would seem as though they are reluctant to pursue.” He remarked. Trade Breaker nodded, but did not smile. “Aye, that'll change as soon as they find out we kept their captains.” The wendigo turned to look at the pegasus questioningly. He noticed this and shrugged. “Don't look at me, Drip's idea.” Trade Breaker explained. “The bug thinks we have a use for 'em.” “Ah 'ope 'e knows wha' 'e's doin'.” Storm Stalker said as she approached. “An' 'e be'er nae touch mah Da'. Ah love the ol' sod, even doe 'e's more trouble than a Princess.” “Drip knows what he's doin'.” Trade Breaker grunted. “Though, I might be needin' to get the rest o' the plan out o' him a'fore nightfall, assumin' I can find the blasted fellow.” The other two nodded in agreement.