//------------------------------// // Unpunctual Guests Third part // Story: Ainz Ooal Gown in Equestria // by zakan //------------------------------// In the luxurious office of his room, Momonga was receiving the updated reports. "That would be all in the reports regarding Nazarick's operational status, Ainz sama." "Excellent, thanks to all your efforts the tomb is able to operate indefinitely at 60% of its capacity; although it is a pity that we still cannot find materials or substitutes for the medium-high and superior range consumables." "Yes, the explorers continue to expand the search constantly, we still need to know a good part of the globe, as for what you previously ordered, here is the list of the servants of the fourth floor, I also took the liberty of including an inventory of summoning scrolls of mercenary NPCs with underwater capabilities. " "Hooo, excellent job, I expected no less from the guardian supervisor." The succubus blushed at her master's words and replied while holding her hands on her cheeks, moving her hips and wings slightly. "I am not worthy of your sweet words, Ainz-sama-" "M-mhm." Uuhaa, Why did I had to alter her settings!? Feeling a bit uneasy, Ainz asked: "...Albedo, when you call me by that name, what do you think?" "I think the name fits you perfectly and that I love you- * ahem *, it shows how upright you are, our Supreme Master." "…This name originally belonged to all forty-one members, including your creator Tabula Smaragdina, I have ignored the others and assumed this name without permission, considering this, how do you think they would feel?" "...Although you may be offended ...please allow me to say this, if this bothers Ainz-sama, you may even order me to end my own life... if Momonga-sama used that name, I'm sure that the rulers who left us behind would have their own opinions on it, however, during the time the other masters abandoned us, only Momonga-sama stayed until the end, so if you were to use that name we would certainly feel full of joy." Albedo bowed her head and Ainz was speechless. The words 'abandoned us' echoed in his mind. All his former companions had had their respective reasons for leaving, Yggdrasil was just a game, there was no reason to abandon their real lives for it, this was also true for Momonga, but to leave Ainz Ooal Gown and also the Great Tomb of Nazarick... would not one feel a grudge against those former companions? They even abandoned me! (ES) did they? "...Maybe so, maybe not, people's emotions are pretty complicated ... there is no correct answer ... raise your head Albedo, I understand your feelings, I have decided ... that this will be my name; until my companions reappear and object, Ainz Ooal Gown's name will refer to me." "Yes, my Supreme Master... I am truly pleased that the person I love the most uses such a noble name." The person she loves the most... huh. The uneasy Ainz decided to ignore this problem for the moment. "... So that's how it is, thank you." Albedo treasured the ring she wore on the ring finger of her left hand, which she caressed with her right hand as she spoke, it was an Ainz Ooal Gown Ring, it was her own decision on which finger she wanted to wear the ring, but the reason why that she had chosen that finger was obvious, these were Albedo's true feelings, as a man he should feel happy, but his feelings were the result of the change that Ainz had casually made in Albedo's adjustments, causing her to feel guilty. "Albedo... your feelings for me are only the result of the alteration I made in you, they are not your true emotions, like this..." What should I say next? Was using magic to alter his memories the right thing to do? Ainz couldn't continue, looking at Ainz, Albedo asked with a smile: "What kind of person was I before I got altered?" A nympho. Ainz didn't know how to say that, Albedo looked at Ainz who looked cold on the outside, but inside she was panicking and said: "I think the current me is great, I don't feel sad Ainz-sama." "But..." "But ...? But what?" He did not reply, but still felt an unfathomable atmosphere from Albedo's smile, she continued speaking to the silent Ainz: "The most important thing is..." Ainz waited for her to continue, but only muttered with a sad expression: "It… if it bothers you?" He opened his mouth stupidly, looking at Albedo's beautiful face, her words were deeply marked in his mind (Although it was now empty) But Ainz knew what she was saying and answered hastily: "N-no way, how could it bother me?" He wasn't dissatisfied with being loved by a beauty like Albedo, at least for now. "Then everything will be fine, right?" "...Hey-" It just didn't feel right, this was what he thought, but Ainz couldn't find a reason to contradict her. "Everything will be fine, right?" There was a mysterious air emitted in Albedo's repeated question, Ainz tried one last effort and asked: "I modified Tabula Smaragdina-san's settings, don't you want to go back to your former self?" "If it is Tabula Smaragdina-san, surely he would bless us with the same feelings of a father towards a daughter who is getting married." "... Th-, is that so?" Was he that kind of man? While Ainz was thinking about that, a metallic sound was heard, looking at the source, they saw a sword on the floor, the Death Knight who was holding the sword had vanished, it had been summoned not long ago, which allowed the Overlord to shake off the uncomfortable topic. "...It disappears after some time if it is summoned by the normal method ...so if i use a piece of equipment as a means to summon the knights there is an extended time, but they are not permanent, but if they are summoned using a body, they yearn for this world and they will not disappear? If there were a large number of corpses, they could be used to reinforce Nazarick. " "Should we collect bodies en masse?" "...For the moment that will not be necessary, the opportunity will present itself at another time, this world has not presented us with any challenge that needs it, and the gold that we can obtain from business allows us sufficient solvency to defend ourselves without problems." "Understood, but we must think of a way to get fresh bodies." Well, there is no point in continuing to think about those issues for the moment, let's see mmm ... ooooh, good, it seems that it will not be necessary to use many scrolls, at least for the moment. Ainz thought as he distracted himself from the modifications he made to Albedo by reading the report that had just been handed to him. "Ah, that's right, it's been a little over 36 hours since the attack in Canterlot started, what is the status of Princess Twilight's group?" "According to the reports we have received from Demiurge, they are currently aboard a transport ship, from the storm king as stowaways, they are going in the direction of what will soon be his kingdom; apparently their objective is to reach the island of the people who have moved under the water, of which we now know its name, it is about Mount Aris, home of the hippogriffs, that is what has been obtained so far from the prisoner." -The supervisor answered her loved- Hippogriffs? Does that mean then that they are half horse and half griffon? But then how did they move underwater? "It means then that they have to possess some item or ability that allows them to change to some variation of the hippocampus species." Wait for a second!, did he say prisoner? "Did you say, prisoner? Who is it?" -The Overlord asked with a certain concern that he could hide well under his voice, which sounded like it was somewhat annoyed in the supervisor's ears, making her feel somewhat nervous- "Yes, the explorers had already seen it a couple of times before, but they had not been able to capture it since it was staying close to the water, but a few hours ago, the creature ventured further from its access point to the mainland, she is currently in one of the cells on the fifth floor. " "Have it been tortured for information?" "No, when he received it, Demiurge just asked her what it was and where it came from, she gave the information without resisting, after that she was placed in the cell to be interrogated later." Fiuuu, thats something good, I don't like the idea of ​​torturing an innocent being, at least not if I don't gain anything of value from it. "Well I want you to bring her to the throne room in 30 minutes, I'll question her myself." At these words, the succubus lost her composure, she was openly worried that she had annoyed her master, she believed that these words were impatience or discontent due to the slowness that she and Demiurge showed in the face of the matter. "Ainz-sama, I'm so sorry!" -Said the supervisor of the guardians kneeling and keeping her head down- "You don't need to bother with such trifles, I'll question her right away!" Uuuuaaahh, what happened? ... ha, I got it, I got it! "Calm down Albedo, I'm not upset, you can get up." -Said Momonga trying to reassure her- "Still, I apologize, it is a disgrace to cause Ainz-sama to waste his precious time on insignificant things." Aaarrrgh what a headache, I have to be very careful with how I speak. "None of that, I want to question her because I think it could be a great opportunity for us." Albedo's face quickly changed emotions, going from her initial regret that she felt for having disappointed her master, to one of happiness when she realized that she had not failed, then to one of adoration when she realized that her loved one showed his wonderful intellect and finally to one of resignation and seriousness when seeing that with only a brief description, her master had been able to find something that neither she nor the Archdemon, had managed to see with the full report, with much resignation, she got up, bowed and went out to carry out her orders. "As you order Ainz-sama, I will make preparations immediately, with your permission." "Mmhm, it's alright Albedo, go ahead, we'll see you later." Great, it seems that I managed to calm her worries, at least a little, haaaaah, I hope I can finish convincing her, I hope this shot does not backfire on me. Albedo left Ainz's room silently and saw the leading butler of the Pleiades, who was walking towards that place. "Sebas Tian you arrive at the right time." "Albedo-sama, Is Ainz-sama in his room?" "Yes, that's how it is." Albedo felt somewhat downcast, but quickly that was replaced by somewhat frantic joy, she felt some superiority, after reading her expression, Sebas Tian raised an eyebrow: "You seem to be in a very good mood, did something good happen?" "That's right." The reason Albedo had been so happy about the conversation she had with Ainz, she had told him that she wanted to marry him, and he had shown no signs of rejection or annoyance. That means... Albedo's expression instantly changed from joy to a smile of evil and lust, it was a smile that she never showed in the presence of Ainz. "Fufufufu, this will work, it will work without a doubt, the one sitting next to our lord will be me, Shalltear will have no choice but to give up." Those were the words that expressed her thoughts as a woman, not as a Supervisor, then she made a fist with her hand and declared to the butler with motivation: "My succubus blood is boiling ..." Skystar was crying uncontrollably, after the shadow creatures captured her, she was terrified, but the huge creature that they took her with was even more terrifying, her eyes shone with a deep red color, the wings on her back were similar to those of a dragon, but its figure was very different, more similar to a Minotaur, and the aura it gave off froze her blood when the creature spoke asking him her species and where she came from, she could barely complete her answer between stutters before fainting, to her horror, when she woke up she found himself in this frozen cell, the strange thing was that even though there was ice everywhere, she did not feel cold. * Sob, sob, snif, snif, sob, sob, snif * "Mom was right, I should have listened to her, * snif * I'm a fool, * snif, for ignoring her I was caught and * sniff * because of me, now the Storm King has a w-way to * snif * force her to obey him, Bwaaaahaahaa! " "Yare, yare, I have never heard something so ridiculous." A voice was heard from outside the cell that made her give a small jump in surprise, immediately afterward, the cell door opened, at the entrance a bipedal creature was found standing, dressed in an elegant red suit, with glasses and well-groomed, with a smile on his face that ruffled her feathers. "I'd rather be skinned alive thousand times than serve such a buffoon." In his office when he was about to leave, suddenly Ainz felt like if someone speaked to him and turned up. Mmm, is it my imagination? "W-what a-are you going t-to do to m-me?" "For now, I have orders to take you before the sorcerer-king, what happens to you afterward will be entirely up to him, so [Get up and follow me]." Demiurge used his 'dominance mantra' to make the hippogriff follow his orders, for him the expression of horror and surprise on Skystar's face as she realized that her body had completely stopped obeying her was quite pleasant. They left the frozen prison and walked to the entrance, on the way Sky was worried, she was in the form of a sea pony, if she walked through very rough terrain she could get hurt, but everything was unfounded, as soon as they reached the entrance, an ovalemerged from the ground as dark as the very bottom of the ocean, but as thin as parchment, the creature in the red suit crossed it unceremoniously, she tried to resist but it was useless, when she was about to cross, she closed her eyes in fear. After a moment the only alteration she could feel was the sensation under her limbs, she went from a hard and cold surface to the softest one she had ever felt, this made her open her eyes immediately, what she saw before its eyes left her without breath, had it not been for the 'dominance mantra' she would have collapsed from the impression. In front of her was a gigantic double door, it was easily more than 7 meters high, the surface was not engraved, it was sculpted, there were two opposing figures, one of the fine and delicate details, while the other had a rough and aggressive, the only thing they had in common was the level of detail, both seemed capable of moving at any moment. Although they appeared to be pretty heavy wood, when approached, they opened without generating the slightest sound and the room that was revealed behind them was even more impressive. The sky was so high as to force her to turn directly to see if it existed, huge gold chandeliers with exquisite engravings hung from the ceiling, full of inlaid jewels, these bathed the room in a slightly bluish light, on the sides were columns adorned in gold, so thick as to hide even the largest of hippogriffs, even if they had their wings fully extended, with the utmost ease. But indisputably the center of attention in the room was the huge throne that seemed to have been sculpted from a single obsidian crystal, and sitting on it, was the most terrifying entity Skystar's eyes had ever seen, it appeared to be a skeleton, but where the eyes should have been when the creature still had meat on its face, there were some small flames, when they arrived in front of the throne, the creature in red ordered her to prostrate, and it also prostrated, then the unthinkable happened, the skeleton spoke. "I have brought her, just as you ordered the supervisor of the guardians, Ainz-sama." "Good job Demiurge, I see you have her under the influence of your dominance mantra, mmm… that won't do, release her, I need her to be able to respond freely." "…Yes, as ordered!, [Releasing Control]" "Wh-where am I, u-you are not the s-storm king, are you?" Skystar stammered to the skeleton on the throne, as she was grateful to have been prostrate when released from control, otherwise, she would have collapsed on the ground in fear. "First of all, let me introduce myself, I am Ainz Ooal Gown, the Sorcerer King, and to answer your question, you are at this moment in my humble home." The hippogriff was dumbfounded, no, rather completely frozen, this thing in front of her was a king. A king? And I have been talking to him as if he were my jailer?! If I want to be able to go home, I must behave well! "I-I apologize for my disrespectful behavior, your majesty." The sea pony said, prostrating herself again, ignoring that the Archdemon beside her gave his approval to such a reaction. "It does not matter, given the way you got here, it is understandable, I have ordered you to be brought here because I wish to speak to you directly if you answer with lies you will be returned to your cell immediately if you do not answer what I wish, the same will happen. " Aniz said, putting a little more emphasis on the last part, causing a torrent of thoughts in the hippogriff. If I don't answer, I'll be locked up! I hope he don't ask me something I don't know anything about *Glup* "I will respond as best as i can your highness." "My first question is, Who are you?" "My n-name is S-skystar, I-I am, *shig* I am the heir to the hippogriff throne… although I think you already knew that, right?" Eeeeeeeeh, a princess, but what the hell was she doing alone in an abandoned city?! "M-mhm, it was more of a theory, tell me, how come you are a hippogriff, while you look more like a hippocampus?" "My people use the magic of a pearl to change shape." -Said the princess, sure that this would not be a problem, after all these creatures had not followed her to the water before, in addition, they did not know the exact location of Aquestria- Oooo, that's interesting, will it be a Yggdrasil item? What will its limits be? "I see, that's something interesting, how long have you lived underwater?" "W-we moved a-a little over two years ago after several of our allies were s-subjugated and we repelled the scouts of the storm empire." Now I understand, that explains the destruction in the city, it couldn't be just by abandonment. "What is the name of your current ruler?" "T-the current ruler of the hippogriffs is the q-queen Novo, my mother." "Lastly, what is your relationship with Equestria?" Hey, aren't you going to ask about our troops or how many of us are in total? "Politically, we are neutral, e-extra officially, we are on friendly terms, at least that's what my mother told me about it." "Very well, you see Princess Skystar, neither you nor your people are my targets, who I am after, is the storm king, I am going to take his empire." Hearing him say so casually that he would overthrow the ruler of the world's largest empire, Star lost what little control she had managed to gather. "What, what?! That's impossible, his army is probably the largest and most powerful in the whole world!" She could have continued, but her surprise was suppressed by the chill she felt, there was no need to turn, the creature next to her was upset, and judging from her eyes, the one standing next to the throne as well; Sky star hastily bowed her head and hurriedly apologized. "I beg your pardon for my outburst! Your majesty's words took me by surprise, it was something unexpected!" "It is not important, certainly, it can be said that the army of that jester is numerous, even so, for me it is nothing more than a small annoyance." The princess was speechless, the creature in front of her, this skeleton, is despising an army that numbers in the hundreds of thousands as a mere annoyance. But how powerful is his army? -The hippogriff princess wondered worriedly- "Since your people are not my enemy, there is no need to keep you a prisoner, but simply releasing you would be counterproductive." Of course, I will be a tool to force my mother to do whatever he wants. The hippogriff thought, but the next words left her stunned again. "Right now, the storm king's soldiers are very close to Mount Aris… Albedo." "Yes, Ainz-sama?" "Princess Skystar is no longer our prisoner at this time, from now on she will be our guest, at least until we take care of the jester who calls himself king, warn the servants of his stay, also orders the servants to Have one of the guest rooms set up on the ninth floor for her, and if the princess is feeling overwhelmed, or wants to get some exercise, let Aura take her to the sixth floor. " "It will be done as you order." -Said the supervisor of the guardians bowing- "You can retreat to carry out your orders." "With your permission Ainz-sama." The overseer of the guardians, after bowing, retired to do her duty, as soon as she was next to the stunned Skystar, she briefly met the Archdemon's gaze, a gaze in which an unequivocal sentiment was clearly stated both of them, 'Ainz-sama is second to none.' "Demiurge." "Yes, Ainz-sama?" "Go to Titus and prepare a group of 30 kelpies, we will send them as messengers to the hippogriffs, we cannot stay with the princess without notifying the queen, that would be kidnapping after all, you can leave." "It will be done immediately." The guardian of the seventh floor bowed and left to fulfill his mission, once the door of the throne room was closed behind him, he could not prevent a smile from threatening to split his face from the admiration he felt for his master. "I wonder how far into the future his plans go, one hundred, two hundred, no, maybe a thousand years? I don't know, maybe there will be an opportunity to ask him further ahead." Inside the throne room, an awkward silence stretched. Uuuuaaaahh, what an uncomfortable silence, I already prevented them from torturing her, but, now what do I do? Do I talk idly? No no no, ask more about her home? .. right, I can do it both ways! that will do! Meanwhile, in Sky's mind. Ho no, nononono, now what do I do! I've never been alone with a foreign dignitary! *GHASP*, I've been silent for too long, what can I say! Just when the hippogriff was about to say the first thing that came to mind and probably makes the situation worse, Ainz interrupted her. "Well Princess Skystar, while we wait a few minutes for your room to be ready, let's talk a bit, I will allow you to ask a question for each question you answer, now, is your transformation permanent or reversible?" Star was stunned by the change in behavior of the sorcerer-king, even the oppressive aura he gave off had completely dissipated in an instant, she was so shocked that it took her a moment to register that they had asked her a question. "I…i-it's reversible, your majesty." "Enough, you can just call me Ainz." Are you serious? His attitude is completely different from before! "I-if it's alright, * Glup * I'll call you Ainz-sama, just like his subordinates." "Mmhm, I have no problem with that, now, it's your turn to ask." "T-then, if you don't mind your-… Ainz-sama, could you tell me what are you? I've never seen or heard of any similar creature." The swing of questions continued for almost 15 minutes, during the exchange, Ainz revealed as little information as possible, while trying to get as much as he could. On the transport ship, after an hour's flight, the M6s and Spike were found by the crew while they were discussing whether or not to ask for their help. "Well, well, what do we have here." -Said the first officer, a kind of hominid parrot and with a patch that covered where his right eye should be, his plumage was green, as were almost the entire crew- * Croooot * croaked the hominin-macaw that seemed to have some kind of mental illness, judging by its face and the tongue that hung out of its beak. "Yes, you're right, we haven't had stowaways in a long time, I think we should flag them and sell them." -told the parrot in the patch said, causing surprised expressions from the mares- *Ghasp* "I say we should make them stew." -Said the plump cook of the crew, her plumage was a light pink color and she looked more like a love parakeet than a macaw because of her short stature, her words caused expressions of horror, while Rainbow and AJ prepared to fight- *GHASP* "Wait a minute, what does the manual say about stowaways, Captain Celaeno?" *Tump* *Tap* *Tump* *Tap* Footsteps were heard approaching, one leg sounded like it was made of flesh and blood, the other had the sound of something hard against wood, the steps were accompanied by the clink of small metal pieces, the captain had an appearance similar to that of a cockatoo, her plumage was creamy white, long lemon-green feathers were born from her head, which was covered by a black scarf, like the rest of the crew, she was dressed in the uniform of the storm king, in her hands can be found a thick book, from which many different colored markers were sticking out, opened the book in one of them and began to speak. "The storm king's manual says… throw them overboard!" The last part was said with a low and threatening voice, before the response of their captain, his men acted, one prepared the planck, while the others surrounded the ponies and just when the M6s were preparing to fight, a whistle interrupted them, it was noon. * FhuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH * "IT'S time for lunch!" -shouted the raspy voice of the ship's captain- A minute later, in the ship's dining room, both the crew and the M6s were sitting at the table, while the cook served them all, the natives of Equestria were so surprised by this turn of events that they couldn't react; the first one to recover was Twilight, she reacted just when the cook served her stew. "What?!" She was open-mouthed, she looked at everyone at the table, trying to find a logic without much success, while she followed the cook with her eyes, the next to react was the speedster. "Wait, wait, wait, you were about to throw us overboard and stopped for lunch?!" -asked incredulously the element of loyalty- Hearing her speak, the alicorn returned her attention to the table and leaned in slightly, while shooting a piercing look at her friend who shouted, 'Really Rainbow, are you truly asking that?!', in the direction of the pegasus, who completely ignored her. The answer to Dash's question came from a large parrot that was sitting next to Fluttershy, his voice was deep, he was a veteran navigator judging by the right hand that had been replaced by some kind of metal prosthesis. "The storm king only gives us an hour break to eat, then we must go back to work." "So… you are… some kind of delivery service?" -Spike asked incredulously- "Delivery males and females, *Shigh* the uniform does not favor us at all." The captain spoke with some self-pity as she stretched the neck of his uniform to the side while saying the last part, this news fell by surprise to the mares, he was not the captain of the ship, 'she' was the captain of the ship, a somewhat understandable mistake after all Celaeno's voice was not so feminine because she was always shouting orders. "So… you guys could take us to Mount Aris!" -said the princess of friendship with a big smile as the map levitated the map spread out next to her to emphasize her point- At last luck is on our side!, I will only have to offer adequate compensation and we could achieve our goal. The alicorn thought excitedly, but Celaeno's next words crushed her hopes. "I'm sorry, we do as the king tells us, or his anger will be worse." She said as she disdainfully manipulated the rule book in one hand, and her spirits were on the ground. "Uugh, sure, you will throw us overboard." -Comment in a controlled voice and with annoyance the princess, but the cook who had just sat next to her, heard her- "Oooh, don't feel bad, it's nothing personal, dessert?" This last question gave the dressmaker some joy. *ghasp* "Is there dessert?" But to her disappointment, what the cook served her was a second portion of the pottage. "Ooouuuu" "But you weren't always homing birds, were you?" Dash asked hesitantly. "What were they like before the storm king?" *Shigh* "Before we were much more adventurous." -The captain answered while with one hand she raised one side of the storm king flag that was behind her at the head of the table, revealing what was under it, getting first of all a reaction from Pinkie- "Uuuuuh, I met that guy in the desert!." The athlete could not believe her eyes and her excitement increased by the second. "That means… you were… Pirates!" "We prefer the term 'high-risk treasure hunters'." The first officer commented with a satisfied smile on his face. "you mean, pirates." -Rainbow went into 'fangirl' mode- "No, I can believe it, I'm on board a real pirate ship! The freest, the rudest, the ones who are not afraid of the unknown!" The Pegasus flew to where the flag was located and tore off the Storm King insignia to fully reveal the pirate flag underneath. "And you can be great again!." "Dash, I don't think this is a good time for a so-" The alicorn tried to warn her friend but was completely ignored, as she stood at the table to start singing. "∼If you are disappointed, ∼from what you expected nothing went well, ∼ and you think that everything i-is o-over∼" But to the shame of the Pegasus and the confusion of the rest, there was no follow-up, no one felt the compulsion to hum or follow the song, the most surprised was Twilight, and the discomfort soon caused the speedster to explode. "Nothing is impossible! Not even a sonic rainplosion!" Immediately she shot towards the deck, everyone came after her, while the alicorn, at the head, tried to stop her. "No wait, don't do it Rainbow!" But it was late, when they came out on the deck, the pegasus was already drawing behind it, multiple rainbow coils around the ship, on its horizontal axis, and just when everyone was on the deck the sonic rainplosion occurred in the bow of the ship and pushed all the clouds around her, while all the crew was amazed, the princess of friendship was worried, her ears were bent back and adhered to the skull while she was semi crouched. "Oh no." Grubber was very happy, as he kept the ship on course with one hand, while with the other he ate cake, and when he was about to devour his fourth slice, an explosion of color surprised him making him to drop it to the floor. "You saw boss, what a beautiful rainbow there is to starboard." Tempest went to the window to see what her subordinate was talking about. "Mmhm? But… that's not how a normal rainbow behaves… that's not a rainbow!, there's a ship in the center!" -she said looking with binoculars in the direction of the rainbow- "It's the princess!" The commander, abruptly removed her assistant from the helm, changed the direction of the ship towards the rainbow, and increased the march of the ship to the top, then turned to see her feline guide and said in a calm voice that gave her chills : "It looks like the princess was not in the direction you were taking us, what can you tell me about it?" Capper's nerves were running high, although he tried to control them, Tempest left the helm to Grubber who had recovered from the push. "What's wrong, did the cat bite its tongue?" The commander said as she approached the Abyssinian, while he tried to hide his concern under a facade of disinterest, checking his claws and cleaning them on his coat, but when the unicorn approached, he was no longer able to hold it. "Hehehe, how strange, surely they must have got the wrong ship when boarding." The cyan pegasus was satisfied, she had managed to save her pride in the end, using her best routine, her smile did not seem able to wane, at least until she put the first hoof on the deck. "Have you seriously do it Rainbow Dash?! We're trying to escape the storm king's forces chasing us!, and you do a sonic rainplosion?!" "Whoops, hehehe, relax Twilight, nothing will happen, we leave them biting the dust in the city." * Clang, clang, clang, clang * "Crooooot!" * clang, clang, clang, clang * "Crooooot!" The lookout sounded the alarm while aiming to port, they all turned, continued in the direction in which it was pointing, and indeed, in the distance, a ship could be seen approaching quickly, and on its prow, you could see the insignia of the storm king. "Stormtroopers" -said the captain with concern- The alicorn fixed her gaze on the element of loyalty immediately after seeing the insignia, her face reflected a complete and atypical annoyance that threatened to turn into anger, which only got a pained smile in response. "Hehehehe, hum… oops?" But Rainbow's intention had been achieved, the pirates had recovered their motivation after seeing something that was considered impossible to be done, so Captain Celaeno reacted immediately, went to her cabin and returned with a chest, placed it on the ground, and put it on the floor. It opened, when seeing it all the crew approached and began to remove things from it, while everyone recovered their usual equipment the captain began to give orders. "Very good vermin!" -shouted at the top of her lungs as the captain put on her hat- "It's time to show what you're worth, equip yourself and move!" Celaeno took his coat and saber, the first officer took his equipment, which consisted of a short saber and a dagger, the one with the stump covered in metal, took out a hook that he secured to it, and the lookout took a lifesaver that put on as a necklace, once the entire crew was fully equipped, the orders continued. "Secure the rigging, put the cargo away, and prepare for the boarding!" With these orders, one of the crew guided the nervous M6s towards the lower cargo compartment, as soon as they closed the doors, Tempest's ship fired a chain anchor that went through the hull of the pirate ship on the port side, fixing it while the chain it was retracted, bringing the two ships together rapidly without being able to do anything about it. *Creeak!* *Tumph* The impact caused the ship to tilt, causing almost everyone in it to lose balance, some of the pirates rolled, but the captain and the first officer only lowered their center of gravity to avoid being pushed, in the warehouse, the M6s. they ended up making a pile of ponies, Pinkie being the one who took the worst part, since she was at the bottom of the pile, on her were Rarity and Dash, in front were Twilight and Fluttershy who had Spike hugging, leaving Applejack between their pairs. When the ship returned to its normal position, the echo could be heard of the chain clicking as it was retracted. * Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang * Once everyone was again on their hooves, the polychromatic mare spoke with shame. "Hehehe ... do you think... they have seen my sonic rainboom?" "Are you seriously asking that?!" *Thump* *Thump* When the princess was about to continue, two heavy knocks on the deck silenced her. Outside, the ships were already almost in contact, from the direction of Tempest, two gorillas leaped towards the crew, touching deck almost at the same time. *Thump* *Thump* At that moment, the bow of the military ship drew close enough to allow it to calmly transfer the captain and her aide. *Clop, clop, clop, clop* Seeing her, Celaeno's eyes widened, with concern and understanding, they weren't running away, they were trying to achieve something bigger than themselves. "Very well, tell me where, the princess, is." The commander ordered with a level and authoritative voice. "Princess?" -the captain asked as she walked to one of the boxes to check the cargo record- "Princess ... princess ... mmm ... nope, we are not bringing princesses, we are only bringing merchandise from the storm king." Celaeno answered, and to accentuate her comment, the lookout took out a figurine that had a rocker head, he showed it while imitating the movement of the figure himself. * Croot * The unicorn began to walk slowly from one side to the other. "Do you realize, if you were sheltering fugitives, the storm king would get very… explosive?" Below deck, Twilight was very nervous and worried, which was as clear as day on her face. "We have to get out of here before they sell us." The alicorn said in a low voice, who responded to her concern was the polychromatic pegasus. "Easy Twilight, they are not going to betray us, you saw their reactions, we can trust them." -Said the speedster confidently- "The first stranger we trusted outside of Equestria, tried to sell us out!" -Said the princess letting some anger seep into her tone- "Easy, nothing will happen." Faced with her friend's passivity, the element of magic huffing annoying while she watched the others, Rarity was hyperventilating and had her four hooves slightly separated from each other as if she was dizzy, while Spike tried to calm her down, Fluttershy was in a ball. With her eyes closed and trembling with fear, Applejack simply leaned against the boxes of merchandise and covered her face with her hat and Pinkie Pie had somehow managed to climb the highest boxes and got into one, head first, only one of its hind legs could be seen that was kicking in the air. *Shigh* A tired sigh escaped her mouth as she put on a determined face and began to observe everything in the cellar carefully to catalog everything that could be useful for the escape. A large waterproof flag, a full spool of rope, and a large reinforced box made of wood, when her mind registered these materials, an idea formed in her head, which put a wild smile on her face, a completely uncommon sight. "I know what to do." Using her magic she gathered everyone in the center of the cargo bay, gave Applejack the roll of rope, and Rainbow the flag. "Hold this and don't drop it." That was the only warning she gave them before activating a lever. On deck, the tension only increased and increased, the pirates clutching their weapons and preparing for combat against the soldiers just a couple of steps in front of them. "Orale, this is really intense." -Grubber said while watching how everything developed eating cake- "I know that the princess is on this ship if you don't tell me where she is after I count to three, this ship will take a nosedive!" -continued the commander- All the pirates exchanged nervous glances, they were not sure if they could win a fight against the commander of the king's forces, the stories painted her as someone quite dangerous. "One two Thr-" "AAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh…."