//------------------------------//
// Pirate Pip 
// Story: The Crusaders of Harmony 
// by Sun 
//------------------------------//

	"WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?!?!"
Pipsqueak cowered on the floor as Sweetie Belle sat up and roared at him. This dumb colt hadn't answered his door, but he some how thought it was okay to throw himself right on to Sweetie Belle? 
"Sweetie Belle...calm down-"
"CALM DOWN?" The young mare interrupted Twilight. "YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN, AFTER HE ALMOST SLICED ME IN HALF?" Sweetie Belle pointed a hoof at Pip. Her face was hot red with anger and fury, her eyes narrowed into thin slits. She was about to explode.
"I-I didn't mean it..." The spotted stallion spoke softly from where he was cowering on the floor. "I just-"
"Didn't mean it?" Sweetie Belle's face was still twisted with rage, and her voice came out like a snake hiss. "How could you not mean to practicly kill me?"
"I'm sorry, mate." Pip bowed his head. "I'm a pirate crew member. See, I trained to protect myself from intruders. I wouldn't really hurt you. It was just for scare."
"Wait a second here ya'll." Apple Bloom padded over to Pipsqueak. "You're really a pirate?"
Pip nodded. Sweetie Belle had calmed down now, and she gazed thoughtfully at the stallion. Babs still stood behind, but her eyes widened.
"That costume I wore on Nightmare Night, was just a costume. But it was my dream to be a pirate, so I went off for a couple of years and joined a crew." Pip explained as the four mares in front of him listened carefully. "The crew taught me how to navigate on a map, use a compass, and fight against enemies. But I would never hurt any pony, I promise. Only unless you were some sort of zombie...or somthin' like that I guess."
"I see." Sweetie Belle still had that feeling of anger inside her, but she was mainly controlled now. "So do you always keep that knife on you?"
"That's right, mate." Pip stood up. "Now you may know now that i'm Pipsqueak. But do you lot have names?"
"Oh, right." Sweetie Belle giggled softly. "I'm Sweetie Belle. This is Bab Seed (The white mare gestured a hoof to the orange mare standing behind her), Apple Bloom (She pointed a hoof at the bright yellow mare with the bright red hair), and Princess Twilight Sparkle (Sweetie Belle nodded at the purple alicorn behind her)."
The pirate's eyes widened. "Princess!" He exclaimed as he immeadiatley bowed to the floor in front of Twilight. "Blimey, i've never met a real princess before!"
Twilight smiled. "Not many ponies have, Pip."
"Well, I shouldn't say that." The pinto recalled. "I met Princess Luna  on my very first Nightmare Night. She's my favorite princess." Pip's eyes travelled off in the distance as he began to remember the encounter with the Princess of the Night.
"I'm sure she will be happy to see you again." The purple alicornprodded a hoof on the floor. "That is...if you come with us."
"Come with you?" Pipsqueak looked around confusingly at the group of mares. "What you mean 'come with you'?"
"Listen, Pipsqueak." Twilight began slowly explaining the Griffon Empire and how Equestria would soon be at war. She left out no details, making sure that the stallion would absorbe every bit of information she told him. She finally finished off by stating how her and the girls were re-building the Cutie Mark Crusaders along with some other ponies, and how they needed this to work because of a recent failure of the Elements.
As Pip listened to the story, Sweetie Belle was lost in thought:
"A recent failure of the Elements."
What did Twilight mean by her Element of Harmony overpowering the others. What was thaat failure that had happened? Sweetie Belle couldn't remember the last time the Elements were needed. They had worked fine against Discord, and there had been no other conflicts in Equestria since then. 
"What is the failure Twilight is talking about?" Sweetie Belle whispered to herself. By now, Twilight had finished telling the story, and Pip was thinking over if het should join in with them or not. Finally after sveral moments, that had seemed to pass by like hours, Pip made his desicion.
"I will join in on this fight to save Equestria. The pirate vowed. "And I am honered to be chossen by you, Princess." Pipsqueak added to Twilight with a bow.
Twilight smiled with a soft chuckle. "Thank you, Pipsqueak. I'm the one who should be honored with the thought of having a pirate on her quest along side her."
Pip stood boldly at the praise, puffing out his chest as if he was all muscle. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. Stallions! They seemed to never think of anything but themselves!
"What are we goin' to do?" Pip trotted behind the mares as they left the clubhouse. "Swoop down on ropes and attack those mangy grffions from behind? Ambush them in the middle of the night? Sneak attack them with some sort of magical-alicorn-high-tech-princess-top-secret-device?"
Sweetie Belle glanced over her shoulder at the stallion, his eyes gleamed with the hunger for adventure, and the way he held his head high showed how determined he was. 
"I don't think there is any sort of device like that." The white mare told Pipsqueak. She lowered her voice to almost a whisper. "I'm not even sure what we are going to do."
The pinto stared blankly back at her. "You don't know?" He questioned, his voice hushed. "Then how are we going to save Equestria, if we don't even know what the hell we're doing?"
Sweetie Belle shrugged. How were they going to win this battle? Pip was right. They can't win if Twilight hasn't even mentioned how they were going to fight.
"Now is not the time to worry about that." Twilght growled.
"Dammit!" Sweetie Belle hissed back to Pip. "She overheard our conversation!"
"Not my fault!" Pipsqueak retorted. "You should have talked quieter!"
"ME?" The unicorn snapped. "You were the one who was trash talking Twilight about not having a plan-"
"Enough! Both of you!" Twilight stopped walking and spun round to face the arguing ponies. "I don't care who spoke louder or who trash talked me, but for Celestia's sake, get along! We don't want to have another issue like what happened to Scootaloo!"
"What happened with Scootaloo?" Pipsqueak asked Sweetie Belle. Their conflict had been forgotten.
Sweetie Belle began to feel the anger rise back inside of her. That pegasus had made her so mad! "She was simply a brat, refusing to help and shouting insults back at me as she flew away into the sky." The white mare stuck her nose in the air. "Not my problem, though! If she wants to be that way, then fine! See if I care!"
Pip looked down at his hooves. "Oh...I see." He trrailed off, not knowing what else to say. Sweetie Belle quickly changed the subject.
"So, um...what's being a pirate like?" The unicron asked.
Pip's expression brightend. "Oh it's truly spectacular! Casting out on the big ocean blue! Fighting with swords and knives in hoof and mouth! Swinging on ropes across your magnificent ship!"
"Wow," Sweetie Belle seemed very intrested. "All that?"
"Oh but pirates, we tell wonderful stories!" Pipsqueak cheered as he bounced on the earth. "Like one time, when I was sailin' out with me crew, a HUGE devious sea creature-and I mean HUGE!-shot out of the water and attacked me crew's ship!"
Sweetie Belle's eyes widened as she listened to the young stallion's tale. 
"It was green and slimy, one of the most repulsing creatures I ever laid me eyes on!" Pip continued his story. "It brought it self down on the ship causing a great storm of waves. Some of me crew mates ran and cowered, screaming their lungs out while the monster roared. But I wouldn't let it hurt me ship or me mates! So I grabbed me sword and charged at the monster, slicing him in two so that me ship would never have to deal with that bloody torture again. I saved the day you know."
Sweetie Belle wasn't so sure she believed Pip 100%, but he was a pretty good story teller. Though how he held himself caliming that he was a hero still annoyed the white mare.
"Nice story there, pirate." Sweetie Belle nugged the pinto in the chest.
"Want to hear antoher?" Pipsqueak smiled while Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. "I have a great one about-"
"That's enough you two." Twilight glanced over her shoulder.  "We're almost at Twist's."
Pip stopped in his tracks. He tilted his head to one side. "Twist?" He asked. He had clearly never met the earth pony.
"Yeah she's the one who makes the peppermint sticks at Bon Bon's candy shop." Sweetie Belle explained. "Poofy red hair?"
"Never heard or seen her." Pip shook his head. "But we'll probably get off on the right hoof, right? I mean, I met you mares, and everything is going pretty smoothly with us."
"Yeah i'm sure you and Twist will get along just fine." Sweetie Belle smiled as the group walked into Bon Bon's shop.
"Just Twist, and then we'll be all set! That is if we can get Scootaloo in on this too." the white mare muttered to herself.
"Just everypony wait. We'll be saving Equestria!"