On board The Black Pearl, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Cadence were each looking at the Letters of Marque Cadence had stolen from Trixie, whilst Lightning Dust busied herself with scrubbing the deck of the ship.
“Trixie?” asked Applejack.
“Yes, they’re signed by 'Lady' Trixie Lulamoon of the East Equestria Trading Company,” said Cadence, an ounce of discust in her tone as she mentioned Trixie's name.
“Blaugh,” said Rainbow, sticking her tongue out in disgust.
“Shining Armor was working for Trixie and never said a word about it… but, if Trixie wants the compass, that can only mean one thing,” said Applejack.
“Of course… she wants the chest,” said Rainbow, turning to face Applejack and Cadence.
“You know, now that you mention it, she did say something about a chest,” said Cadence.
“Cadence, do you realize that if the Company gets their hooves on that chest, they’ll control the entire sea?” asked Applejack.
“And that is a very worrying thing to think about, my dear,” said Rainbow.
“Not to mention bad. Bad for every mare’s foal who calls themselves a pirate. Way I see it, there’s a bit more speed to be coaxed from these sails. Brace the foreyard!” yelled Applejack as she walked off, leaving Rainbow Dash and Cadence alone.
“Now that we’re alone, care to tell me how you came by these?” said Rainbow, pointing her hoof towards the stack of letters.
“Persuasion,” said Cadence, a sly smirk making its way upon her Snout.
“Friendly, by any chance?” asked Rainbow, a grin also beginning to form on her face.
“Decidedly not,” replied Cadence with a small giggle.
Rainbow took the Letters from Cadence. “Shining Armor strikes a deal for these and upholds it with his usual honor, yet some how you’re the one holding the prize,” said Rainbow as she began to read the letters, unaware of catching Lightning Dust’s attention.
“‘Full pardon, commission as a privateer in the employ of Equestria, and the East Equestria Trading Company.’ Like I could be bought for such a low price,” said Rainbow as she put the Letters in a pocket of her overcoat.
“Rainbow, the Letters, give them back!” said Cadence.
“No… persuade me,” said Rainbow, turning and walking away from Cadence.
Cadence walked up behind Rainbow. “You do know that Shining Armor taught me how to handle a sword,” she said.
'Probably what they’ve been doing for the past year for three hours a day' thought Rainbow, before turning to face Cadence. “Like I said,” she said, hand wandering near her sword, “Persuade me.”
Cadence scowled at Rainbow before she walked off. Lightning Dust, having just finished with scrubbing the deck, approached her.
“I still can’t believe you actually believe her… I don’t trust her as far as I could throw her,” said Lightning.
“Oh, what’s it to you if I trust her?” asked Cadence.
Lightning smiled. “Did it ever occur to you exactly how your fiance ended up on The Flying Dutchman in the first place?” she asked before she walked away.
Cadence scowled at Lightning Dust. She then pulled out Rainbow’s compass and opened it. The needle turned and pointed in a new direction. Cadence looked and saw that it was pointing right at Rainbow Dash.
'What the-?' thought Cadence. She looked at the compass again and saw that it was pointing away from Rainbow. With another scowl, Cadence closed the compass.
Meanwhile, on The Edinburgh Trader…
“Such a strange thing to come across a longboat so far out in open water,” the captain told Shining Armor, who was wrapped in a blanket and drinking some hot tea.
“Just put as many leagues behind us as possible, as fast as you can,” said Shining Armor.
“And what exactly are we running from?” asked the captain.
Before Shining Armor could reply, something a caught his eye: a beautiful dress. He got up and walked over to it.
“This dress… where did you get it?” Shining Armor asked the captain.
“It was found aboard the ship,” said the captain, before chuckling. “The crew thought it was a spirit bringing some omen of ill fate.”
“That’s foolish,” said Shining Armor, examining the dress.
“Oh, yes, exceedingly foolish. It brought good fortune,” said a crewpony who was also in the room.
“The spirit said, ‘pull in at Tortuga,’ and we made a nice bit of profit there, off the books, of course,” said the captain.
Shining Armor looked thoughtful for a moment. “And… I’m guessing some of the crew jumped ship there, yes?” he said.
The Captain and the crewpony glanced at each other.
“Why do you ask?” asked the captain.
Before Shining Armor could reply a crewpony came down from abovedecks. “Captain, a ship’s been spotted!” he said.
“Colors?” The captain asked.
“She isn’t flying any!" said the crewpony.
“Pirates!” said the captain.
“Or worse,” muttered Shining Armor, before following the captain and the two crewponies onto the deck.
On board The Flying Dutchman…
Spike crushed the drawing of the key in his claws as he strode up to Twilight, who was held back by a sword at her throat, and grabbed her roughly, holding her still.
“You will watch this!” he snarled.
On the main deck, Jimmy Legs whipped several crewponies as they turned the wheel on a large centerpiece that had the carving of a large squid on the top. This part seemed to rise as the crewponies turned the wheel.
“Let no joyful voice be heard! Let no pony look up at the sky with hope! And let this day be cursed by we who ready to wake… THE KRAKEN!!!” yelled Spike.
“NO!” yelled Twilight as the centerpiece fell, creating a large shockwave from the hull of The Dutchman…
Back on The Trader…
The crewponies looked at The Dutchman through spyglasses and whatnot, unable to deduce wether it was a pirate ship or not. Shining Armor, however, recognized it right away from his perch on the sails.
“Oh, no… I’ve doomed us all. It’s The Flying Dutchman!” he called down towards the confused crew.
Suddenly, the ship jerked to a stop, as if someone had slammed hard on some kind of emergency break, nearly sending everyone sprawling to the deck.
“Oh, Celestia’s chickens, what just happened?” asked a crewpony.
The captain looked over the railing and saw that the ship had stopped. “We must’ve hit a reef! Free the rudder! Hard to port, then hard to starboard!” he yelled, before something yanked him off the ship.
“Free the rudder!” yelled a crewpony, unaware that the captain was gone.
“Hard to port!” yelled another crewpony.
A third crewpony, with a horrified look on her face, raised a hoof in terror off the ship. “L-look!” she said.
The other two ponies looked off the ship and saw the captain, held in the air by a giant tentacle, before he was pulled underwater.
“KRAKEN!!!” yelled the crew as they ran about ringing bells and grabbing spears to try to fend off the tentacles that were now smashing the ship. One crewpony, however, held the dress as a talisman.
“Here it is! Take it! Take it!” he yelled before a tentacle yanked him off the ship.
Shining Armor, meanwhile, was swinging his sword to try to fend of the tentacles, only to lose his sword and get knocked off the sails. Thinking fast, Shining Armor pulled out Twilight’s knife and stuck it in the sail to slow his fall.
The kraken, meanwhile, raised it’s largest tentacles, and brought them down with authority, breaking The Edinburgh Trader clean in half, forcing Shining Armor to jump off.
While underwater, Shining Armor saw the kraken, nothing more or less than a giant squid, as it brought the ship to the depths of the ocean. Shining Armor quickly grabbed onto a floating piece of wood as it drifted towards The Flying Dutchman.
Onboard The Dutchman…
Spike gazed at the dress, which had floated to the surface.
“The stallion’s not here. He must’ve been claimed by the sea,” said the Komodo Dragon-like pony.
“I am the sea,” said Spike. He then walked up to the horror-struck Twilight. “I think you need some alone time with your thoughts. Brig!”
“What of the survivors?” a crewpony asked Spike.
Spike looked once at the survivors and said, “Dead ponies tell no tales.”
Shining Armor hissed as the survivors were killed, which Spike heard.
Spike walked over to the side of the ship and looked over the edge, finding no one. “The chest is no longer safe. Chart a course to Isla Cruces, get me there first or there’ll be Hades to pay!” said Spike.
“Uh… first?” asked a crewpony.
“Who sent that thieving charlton onto my ship? Who told him of the key?” said Spike, turning away. “Rainbow Dash.” He growled.