I facehoofed. “We forgot the submarine!”
“Where did ya leave it?” asked Applejack.
I stared out over the empty water around us. “I don’t know the name of the river. I don’t know how far up it I was when I left it.”
“It’s gone, then,” said Rarity.
Rainbow glanced over the railing. “Hey you sharks, your stupid device is gone!”
There was a chorus of angry protests, but the school of sharks following us gradually dispersed. Honestly, they looked a little old for school. A university of sharks?
We sailed uneventfully for a couple of days. We’d all reached the quiet decision to go home. There’s only so much adventure you can stand. Frankly, though, it was a little bittersweet. We’d seen some cool stuff and gotten a whole bunch of gold to take back with us. Still, sauerkraut was getting a little bland, even to me.
Thanks to us solving their croc problem, the Kangaroo Kingdom was happy to have us back. We stopped in to get some supplies and did a little partying.
I spotted Hopper, but he didn’t approach. Probably afraid that I would kick him in his kangaroo balls a second time.
The festivities, organized by Pinkie at the K & R resort again, carried long into the night. It was a good way to spend some time ashore. At some point during the party, the Kangaroo King pulled me aside. “I have to warn you, there have been many reports of pirates in the area.”
“We’ve been hearing reports of pirates ever since we left Equestria. I think it’s actually us, and our reputation has been blown way out of proportion.”
The King shrugged. “Well, it’s not too much further to get back to Equestria. Have a good trip.”
I told him that we would. In the morning, after the party had finished winding down, we climbed back aboard the ship and headed out. The wind was blowing nicely and the sky was clear. Off in the distance, a ship came into view. I yelled at Rainbow to go check it out.
She flew away and came back a few minutes later. “Moose.”
“How many?”
“Lots.”
I was somewhat proud of her that she didn’t say “mooses.” “It would be nice to finally meet some of them.”
“Uh, about that,” said Rainbow. “They didn’t seem to be any kind of organized crew.”
“So they aren’t representative of the moose country?” I asked. “That’s okay, I suppose.”
“Are we going to tell them about the submarine?” asked Applejack.
“We can, although since we have no idea where it is, it won’t do them much good.”
“Are we going to tell them about the gold we got from that cave in the mountain?” asked Rarity.
“Hell no.”
The ship drew closer. The moose aboard seemed to be working on something. It looked like a thin cannon. With a pop a package flew across the gap between the ships. Pinkie picked it up and read the message.
“Greetings, we are looking for the lost moose treasure. Our country poured all its resources into creating a highly advanced machine called a submarine in order to safely store the key to the chamber on a the volcanic island where tons of gold were hidden. After the revolution, however, the secret was lost.”
“So it rightfully belongs to them,” said Twilight.
“We don’t know who these guys are,” I said. “Rainbow, you said they didn’t look like any kind of organized group, right?”
The pegasus nodded. I stepped over to Pinkie to read the note for myself. “Unless they have proof—which they don’t, the note says everything was lost—then it’s salvage rights.”
Twilight nodded. “I guess that makes sense. They might not be too happy about that, though.”
“Who says they have to be? We’ve got privateer rights issued by the Princess.”
Just then, there was a whistling sound. Something splashed into the water on the other side of the ship. I looked over at the moose vessel. There was a cloud of smoke rising from one of their cannons. They had also hoisted a black flag with a skull on it.
“Moose pirates.” I narrowed my eyes. “Fluttershy, you aren’t doing anything, go get our own pirate flag.”
Timidly, she asked, “The one with a picture of Princess Celestia doing—”
“That’s the one.” I touched my sheathed cutlasses and turned to face the rest of the crew. “All right all of you, listen up! They fired the first shot, and that pisses me off! Get to your battle positions and prepare to fight!”
“But…they’re pirates!” stammered Twilight.
“And who are you?” I asked. “Celestia gave you a privateer license.”
“I don’t know how to be a pirate!”
I turned away. “Ye best be learnin’ then. Davy Jones gives no quarter to idiots.”
Not the best pre-battle speech, but I could have done worse. Our two ships squared off, and the fight began.