//------------------------------// // Load The Cider // Story: Pirates of Equestria: Dead Stallion's Chest // by The Phantom Joker //------------------------------// “They’re giving up!” yelled Scootaloo. She and the rest of the crew cheered for their apparent victory as Shining Armor approached Rainbow Dash. “My baby sister is on that ship! If we can outrun The Dutchman, then we can take her. We should turn and fight!” Shining Armor told Rainbow. “Shining, why should one fight when one can negotiate?” said Rainbow with a smirk, tapping the lid of the jar of dirt, which was sitting on the helm’s railing in front of her. “All one really needs is the proper leverage.” Suddenly, The Black Pearl came to a jolting stop, sending the jar of dirt sailing through the air and smash open on the deck, revealing it was full of nothing but dirt. “Uh-oh!” said Rainbow as she ran down to the shattered jar and started digging through the dirt. “Where is it? Where’s the thump-thump?!” she muttered in a panic. “We must have hit a reef!” said a crewpony. Shining Armor’s face turned paler than usual. How could he have forgotten Spike’s secret weapon? “No… it’s not a reef!” he yelled, running over to Cadence, who was looking over the side of the ship and dragging her back. “Get away from the railing!” “What is it?” asked Cadence. “The Kraken,” muttered Shining Armor in a low voice. Rainbow jerked up from her digging, terror clearly evident on her face. “Defend the mast!” yelled Applejack. “It’ll attack from the Starboard side, I’ve seen it before! Load the guns and hold for my signal!” yelled Shining Armor. As everypony ran about getting the guns ready, Rainbow Dash snuck over to the longboats as the Kraken’s tentacles began creeping their way up the ships hull. Shining Armor went belowdecks once everypony on the deck had their spears and whatnot at the ready. “Easy, everypony!” he said. As the Kraken’s tentacles steadily rose up further, Cadence couldn’t help but start to get nervous. “Shining Armor?” she said, backing slowly away from the tentacles. “Steady! Steady…” said Shining Armor. “Shining Armor?” said Cadence, now visibly worried. “Hold… hold…” muttered Shining Armor. “I think we’ve held fire long enough!” yelled Silver from her cannon. “Shining Armor!” squealed Cadence, now looking at him through the entrance to belowdecks. “FIRE!!!” yelled Shining Armor. The cannons blasted the Kraken’s tentacles, which did enough damage to send it into a hasty retreat, but not before it smashed the longboats. As the crew cheered, Shining Armor returned to above decks. “It’ll be back. We need to get off the ship before it’s too late,” he told Cadence. “Shining, there’s a problem with that: the Kraken destroyed the boats,” said Cadence, staring at the rubble that used to be their longboats. Shining Armor turned and saw the wreckage of the boats… and a barrel of gunpowder rolling past. A plan beginning to formulate in his head. “Open the grates! Get all the gunpowder onto the net in the cargo hold!” he said, before grabbing a nearby, loaded rifle and giving it to Cadence. “Whatever you do, do not miss.” Cadence nodded. “The instant you’re clear." As the crew set about doing as Shining Armor asked, a problem came up very quickly. “We’re short stocked on gunpowder, there’s only six barrels left!” a crewpony told Applejack. Applejack ran into Shining Armor on her way back abovedecks. “There’s only half a dozen kegs of powder left!” she urgently told him. “Well then, load the cider,” said Shining Armor as he went about his way. A horrified Applejack looked at Shining Armor as he left. Finally, with a groan, Applejack said, “Aye, load the cider too!” The crew, of course, wasn’t happy. “Is nothing sacred?!” yelled Diamond Tiara. Meanwhile, out in open waters… Rainbow Dash was hastilly rowing her longboat away from The Black Pearl. 'Just keep rowing, just keep rowing,' she thought to herself as she went. Back on The Pearl… “Step to,” said Cadence, before looking off the side of the ship to see Rainbow’s boat trying to make a break for it. “Oh, you miserable coward!” No sooner had she said, the ship jolted to a stop again. “Not good,” said Scootaloo.  The Kraken’s tentacles smashed through The Pearl’s portholes, ensuring the crew couldn’t use the cannon trick again. “Haul away!” called Shining Armor, who was on the cargo net. “Heave! Heave like you’re being paid for it!” yelled Applejack. “Put your backs into it!” yelled Scootaloo as some of the crew turned the wheel, which lifted the net. Belowdecks, everything was chaos as the Kraken grabbed ponies and pulled them out through the portholes. Back with Rainbow… Rainbow kept rowing her boat as fast as she could away from The Pearl. As she looked foward at her ship, and suddenly felt a longing for it. She then looked behind her at the wonderfully safe land. Torn apart by her internal conflict, she pulled out her compass. It pointed directly toward The Black Pearl.