No one knew? No one knows. No one gives a damn. I once trusted a man like you, and all that ended was the engulfing flame of temptation and hatred. I once trusted a woman like you, and it turned out she wasn’t strong enough for the simple trials of life. So go ahead, do as you please... there’s no one left to stop you. This generation is dead. We are simply going to have to try again tomorrow. That’s all that’s left to do.
But... but you... She’s dead! She’s fucking dead!
She shares the fate of righteousness as a whole. There is nothing I can do.
No... No, no NO! YES YOU CAN! FUCK YOU! You can! You can...
Take him away.
You can’t do this! You can’t fucking do this! You’re going to burn! You’re going to burn, the sun will be blacked out of the sky, you be damned, this whole country be damned!
...and me along with it.
"Find someone and keep them close. Find someone else and keep them far away. That way, as long as you protect them, you will never be alone."
Chapter 7
"Grrah!" Pipsqueak cried through clenched teeth, through the handle of his sword. Patch stepped back and deflected the swing. He tried to get a hit in on his own, but the young captain was too fast and completely evaded it. Pipsqueak spun to get some extra momentum behind his blade, but Patch saw it a mile away and crouched under the swing. Under the full force of his rising anger, he rammed his head into Pipsqueak's chest, causing him to cough and sputter. He backed off, trying to gain distance.
"What do you want?!" Pipsqueak yelled as loud as he could with the wind knocked out of him. "Something as superficial as money!"
"No, no no." Patch corrected. "I want justice. Money's a by-product. A helpful one."
"Justice?" Pipsqueak scoffed. He motioned towards the battle raging on next to them. The sound of Flintlocks going off, blades making contact, and yells of pain and agony bustling through the air. "A fat lot good you're doing for justice right now."
"Murdering a murderer is not murder." Patch retorted.
"Stealing from a thief is still stealing." Pipsqueak responded back.
"Heh. Not a soul alive will prosecute for that."
"I would."
Patch charged at the comment, a new fury behind his eyes. Pipsqueak smiled and tossed Patch to the side, using the pirate's momentum against him. He smashed into a couple of barrels of gunpowder which spread out across the deck. Groaning, he tried to get up. Pipsqueak was already sprinting towards him, sword outwards in a stabbing motion. This is it. Straight through the heart... No, the skull. I can end this right here, right now. He jumped...
BAFF
Pipsqueak heard ringing and his vision grew dark. He absentmindedly felt his body fly to the right, spinning in mid-air a couple times before hitting the ground rolling. First what came back was pain. Then swelling. Vision. Hearing. Thought. He then just made the connection that he was punched in the side of the face. Hard. He tried gathering his strength to stand. Disoriented, and his knees weak, he managed to stand. He was still facing the ground but it was progress. He shook his head in order gather his bearings, and then focused his sight to the blur standing next to the mess of barrels that the pirate captain was residing on. The blur helped up a pony who he guessed was Patch. Great, two opponents. Pipsqueak attempted to make an association to the blur in front. Purple hair?
Scoots? No, she has no reason to punch me. Well, at least, with intent to harm. Pipsqueak made out wings. That... pegasus that was helping him deal with Scoots? No... she was yellow. Where is Scoots anyhow? Beh. Pipsqueak's sight became clearer. He then realized why he couldn't recognize the blur. It was a griffin!
"A griffin? Here?!" Pipsqueak shouted in astonishment. The griffin smirked and folded her arms.
"I'm Vex, disgusted to meet you," Vex greeted, giving a tout bow. Pipsqueak scowled. The young captain identified with the accent, it was nigh identical to his. He saw the griffin help up her captain and affectionately brush him off. She pulled a pistol and pointed it at Pipsqueak. "Hate to cut our introduction short, Captain. But then again, not."
Pipsqueak eyed around frantically for something to do. He knew deep down that this girl wasn't stupid; she wasn't going to hesitate to fire that pistol. In fact, she was already pulling the trigger. Something caught his eye, something small, heavy looking, and possibly breakable. He took his chance. He flung his hoof forwards as fast as he could, catching the object and launching it across to his executioner. The gun fired as soon as the thing hit her face, screwing her aim. It shattered, and Vex screamed. The small lead ball ejected from the gun royally missed Pipsqueak's body. Pipsqueak saw a glint of fire through the brittle glass of the object he had threw and realized it was a gas lantern. The glass lantern had caused some cuts, and burned the tips of a couple of her feathers, but the wounds were superficial. Pipsqueak used this opportunity to get some cover from the five other guns she had tucked away.
"Bastard!" Patch yelled as he started towards his opponent. Vex zoomed past him and beat him to the punch. Pipsqueak tried to hide behind the duels and railings to avoid any incoming lead. Vex however, already snuffed him out, as the (pretty beautiful, Pipsqueak had to admit) griffin instantly filled his vision. There was a delay of action, as if she wanted his brain connect the fact there was danger ahead of him. She did not, however, wait for him to react. As soon Pipsqueak's face turned to that of horror, Vex struck with her claw. Five parallel scarlet streaks etched themselves across his face as his head flung in the direction of Vex's talons. Vex followed up by kicking with her left hind leg, adhering to the direction Pipsqueak was leaning. He recoiled in the opposite direction and went airborne, landing on his back. When he opened his eyes, the griffin still took up most of his field of vision, along with the sky. She was above him. Anticipating a fatal attack, he rolled, and heard the griffin's talons stab into the wooden deck. He got up and found Vex drawing another pistol. Acting quickly, he bucked the gun out of her hand, and reared up to swipe his hind leg across her face. The hit connected and Vex fell to the ground, wincing, but still conscious. Pipsqueak looked around desperately for a weapon, for he dropped his sword when that bitch, as Pipsqueak started to refer to her in his mind, had punched him. Patch was nearly there to help his feathered friend. The situation was bad for the young captain. He could find no blades, but Pipsqueak spotted the gun Vex had dropped. He took a forward tumble and grabbed the gun off the floor. Pipsqueak heard a blade make contact with the deck of the space he previously occupied. He could only assume it was Patch's scimitar hoping to deal some damage.
The young captain turned to find his opposition. Vex, Patch, and... that yellow pegasus. They were all frozen in place, prepared to charge as soon as Pipsqueak left an opening with the flintlock in his mouth. Damn... I could handle maybe two, but I can't take three. There was also a problem with firing that pistol. Firing a gun with your mouth is the most inaccurate thing in the world next to playing skeeball drunk and with all your legs broken. Pipsqueak took in the environment once again to see how he could regain an advantage.
Oh. Wow. That's... convenient. Pipsqueak saw a trail of black gunpowder leading up to the barrels Patch fell into earlier, with the trio standing right on top. Thank Luna! ...and er, Celestia. Pipsqueak closed his eyes in feign defeat, and bowed his head to the three pirates. As soon as they lowered their guard, Pipsqueak smiled, put the barrel of the gun on the trail of powder, and pulled the trigger. The sparks trailed back to the source almost instantly.
"FUCK!" Patch yelled as he jumped to the side and hooked his leg around the yellow pegasus with him. They weren't quick enough to dodge the incoming explosion, but were fast enough to not be seriously hurt in any degree, not even enough to get a burn mark. The griffin didn't have anyone to save her, but she was quick enough to jump backwards out of a fatal radius. It knocked her back further than the other two rag dolls, and the trajectory launched her off the ship with a smoke trail. A splash was heard and she was out of sight.
"This has gone far enough!" Patch yelled. "Retreat!"
Retreat? Pipsqueak thought, puzzled. They are far from losing, I wonder why-
"It's been fun, Captain, really, but I gotta run, and your defective ship really ain't that hospitable." Patch didn't smile through his joke. Pipsqueak hurt Vex, almost killed Fluttershy, and teared the pirate captain a new asshole. His hatred of the Legion nearly entirely bore on the shoulders of the young captain. Everything Patch had hated about the military shined through Pipsqueak, and he did not like it at all.
"Defective ship?" Pipsqueak asked, cocking his head.
"Fuck you too." Patch responded plainly, actually taking Pipsqueak aback. The pirate helped his yellow companion up, who was still dazed from the explosion. Pipsqueak eyed his own ship once again, this time looking for 'defects'. He couldn't really find anything wrong until he looked at the sails.
"What the..." The sails were absolutely torn apart. All three of them. Tattered. "Flippin' nob'eads."
"Sithee!"
Pipsqueak turned and saw Patch on a rope leading to his own ship, along with many other pirates. Their pegasi were already on the other vessel.
"Should we go after them, sir?" A pegasus asked Pipsqueak. He shook his head.
"No. As much as I'd love to send my pegasi on a suicide mission (and I don't) there would be no way for the crew to back you guys up, at least not with our sails in this condition. I want you guys to stay right here, okay?" Pipsqueak put a hoof on the shoulder of his soldier. "Nothing's worth your life, lad." Pipsqueak sighed. "Okay guys, lets patch this up so we can get the hell out of this ocean. I'm sick of it."
"Needles, get your sewing equipment. Don't look at me like that, I know you have some. Snips? Can you grab me some-" Pipsqueak was cut short with a stumble over some sort of orange lump. He looked down at the floor and saw Scootaloo, passed out and snoring peacefully; save for the blood in her hair and nose. Pipsqueak had to hold back a chuckle. "Damn chicken."
"Fuck him." Vex spat, shaking her entire body and fluffing the water out of her feathers. "No, seriously, fuck him. When I see him again, I'm gonna ram my guns so far up his ass, he'll be spittin' lead out for ages."
She took out her signature flintlocks and started emptying water from their barrels. "And then I'm gonna shove em down his throat and make him taste his own SHIT!" Vex wanted to hit something, bad. Pinkie Pie was apparently standing next to her (She hadn't noticed until then), so she slapped the back of her head.
"Aaaaoowww..."
"Nah, Vex. That'd be too good for him. He'd probably like it too." Fluttershy joked, the only one not having an enraging and frustrating experience with the young Legion captain.
"Seriously?" Patch said in a kiddish tone, his temper finally dying down. "What's with the gay slurs? So many gay slurs." They all laughed, the tension and adrenaline of the battle finally wearing off. Patch faced his yellow friend. "Hey, great job with the sails. It was a nice fail safe, one that we actually had to utilize."
"No problem, Cap'n." Fluttershy said timidly, hiding a blush with her hoof. Pinkie marveled at this. She was just like she was years ago. It disintegrated quickly, but Pinkie took it as a small victory of the mare she once knew.
"I can't believe one minging lad jus' brayed 'ar fooking arses." Patch said in disgust. "Ain't that a threp in't steans?" All eyes on the ship stared at him, puzzled. Quizzically, Patch asked, "Wut?"
"We have no idea what you just said." Vex deadpanned. Patch chuckled.
"We suck." Patch clarified.
Fluttersigh. "Well that's an understatement."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the short length, there was just no way to continue this story other than going to the next arc, and that's for next chapter (Well, sorta. You'll see what I mean). Next chapter's already half written (again, you'll see why) so it should only be a few days. No Author's Commentary just like the previous chapter, sorry.