Captain and Ebony walk through a small out-of-the-way alley. Rose had set up a meeting for them with a friend of hers. Starry and Arrel went to visit his sister. Howler ,Twigs and Smokey are looking after the ship.
“I don’t get why we have to do this sneaking type stuff. Can’t we just walk there?”
“No, the guards are still on the hunt for the pink-headed pirate that freed the changeling. More-so after that little assault on the mansion.”
“Please stop making fun of my mane.”
“Why don’t you just dye it?”
“Can’t, it turns back to pink.” They quickly cross a street, ducking back into an alleyway before they’re noticed. Ebony scrunches up her nose trying to stop the sickening smell of urine, booze, and other things she didn’t want to begin to list.
“I have to agree though, I don’t like it back here either,” she mutters.
“Does that mean we can use the roads now?”
“No, the guards are already on edge because of the dark red ship with black sail that has docked in the harbour. We’re lucky they haven’t tried arresting us yet.”
“Fine… What do you think the job well be?”
“I don’t know, all Rose told me was that he’s into the shipping busine--” Captain puts his hoof to her mouth as his ears perk up. She fights back the impulse to gag as she feels the gunk they’ve been walking through, being pressed against her mouth. He lowers his hoof and turns to her only to receive a punch to the chest. “What was that for?! Do you know what’s in this stuff!” she shouts, furiously trying to rub her muzzle with her foreleg.
“Sorry about that, I thought I heard something.”
She stumbles onto the grimy path, not daring to slow down even for a second. The sounds of her pursuer’s hooves against the path ringing in her ears. The heavy chains around her forelegs are starting to take their toll as the fatigue begins to bite through the adrenaline. She spares a glance behind her as the sound of their hooves begin to grow more distant. A smile begins to form on her face. I doing it, I’m finally free, she thinks. Then she runs into a brick wall or at least that’s what it feels like. She opens her eyes and looks up at the blue stallion in front of her.
Captain looks down at the deer that had ran into him. He sees the terrified look in her eyes. His gaze focuses of the chains around her forelegs. Long scars run down her back and several burn marks are scattered across her flank. Not random burns, but branding. Looking down the alleyway he sees three stallions, a unicorn, a pegasus, and an earth pony, running towards them. The pegasus draws his sword, “You’d best leave now,” he says. Captain looks back down at the deer, fear clear in her eyes. He feels a hoof on his shoulder, he looks back at Ebony and she shakes her head.
“Captain, we’re not here to cause trouble. If you get into a fight you’ll attract every guard near here.” Captain looks down at the deer. With a sigh he walks away.
After walking a few hooves away, they hear a yelp from the group. “You stupid little shit! Did you really believe you could get away?” There is an audible smack followed by another yelp. “You should be thankful that we’re trying to teach you savages a bit of civility.”
Ebony feels a wave of anger coming from Captain. “Captain, I know you want to help, but--” She turns to see him galloping toward the group. “Oh boy,” she mutters as she gallops after him.
The unicorn stands over the deer. “Stupid slaves never know when to just list--” His sentence is replaced with a gurgling sound as a cutlass cuts across his throat and wedges itself into the nearby wall. The unicorn falls to the ground as the other two ponies glare at the stallion that had thrown the sword. They leap into action. The pegasus charging straight at Captain with an unsheathed sword as the earth pony tries to pull the cutlass out of the wall.
Captain smacks the sword out of the pegasus’ hold then quickly crushes the confuse pegasus into the ground. Captain swiftly moves on and in moments is behind the earth pony. Captain punches the earth pony in the back of the head, cause the front of his head to collide with the wall. The pony slumps to the ground.
The deer whimpers under Captain’s gaze. He brings a hoof down onto the chains, shattering them. A pegasus rounds the corner, “Good to see you actually didn’t attract every guard in the area,” she says. She looks at the deer as well, “Sorry about that, I’m Ebony and this is Captain. What’s your name?”
“I-I’m Willow.”
“Where do you come from?” Captain asks.
“I’m f-from a small v-village on the outskirts of Kigerston.”
“I meant, where were you being forced to work?”
“P-please don’t make me go b-back there.”
“Where?”
With a gulp, Willow gets up and starts slowly walking the way she came from. “Come on Ebony, there’s something I have to take care of,” Captain says, walking behind Willow.
Ebony quickly follows, “Let me guess, you don’t care how many soldiers notice?”
“I’d be disappointed, if not all of them notice.”
They continue walking in silence, except for the sounds of the broken chains. After several minutes of walking they come upon a small plantation. A large house sits near the front of the property. The house is painted white, two stories, a large deck spans across the front with several columns holding the roof. Towards the back of the property are a couple of fields, with what looks like, deer working them. A small plump earth stallion comes out of the house and walks up the Captain. He has a yellow coat and green mane. Four other stallions come over to the group as well.
“Good to see someone found something of mine. I keep losing this one.” He looks at the four stallions, “You guys bring her out back, lock her in with the dogs.” Willow, shrinks back as the four stallions approach her. Captain steps into their way.
“I didn’t bring her back, I’m demanding the release of all of your ‘slaves’.”
The plump stallions laughs at him, the four other surround them. “Is that so? I can’t do that, because as you can see, they’re my property.”
“Good, I’m a pirate. It’s my job to take other ponies stuff.”
“You should stop talking like that or I might have to protect my livelihood.”
“If I were you I’d more concerned about your own life,” Captain says.
The plump one starts laughing again as he walk back to the house. “Do you hope to kill everyone by yourself?”
“No, just you.”
Willow backs up slightly. What is he doing? He can’t possibly beat everyone, she thinks.
“Well, you’re a cocky one. Men, teach him a lesson and take back my slave.” A small grin forms on his face as he hears the sound of metal sinking into flesh quickly followed by a bloodcurdling scream. You should’ve just given me my slave, he thinks. His grin quickly disappears when he hears another scream, then another. One of his stallions crashes into the columns sending a large crack across the surface. He turns around, Captain sheaths his blooded cutlass, the three bodies of the other stallions lay in puddles of blood around him. He stares in shock at him for several moments. “Release the dogs. Guards, get over here!”
Captain sees three dogs round the corner of the house. I hate dogs, he thinks. He punches the first one sending it tumbling across the grass. He bring his hoof down crushing the another one into the ground. He pivots on his forehoof and pulls in his hindlegs as the last dog charges. The dog runs head first into the powerful buck, sending it flying across the yard and straight into one of the window of the house.
Two stallions come running over, one aims a rifle at Captain while the other charges with a sword. Captain quickly draws his sword and throw it at the one with the rifle. The blade sinks deep into his skull. The other one strikes at Captain. Quickly jumping out of the way, Captain dodges the sword and charges. Delivering a massive blow to the head, the stallion slumps to the ground.
He look over at the house and see the owner’s tail disappear behind the door. Captain goes over to his cutlass and yanks it out of the pony. “You two stay here, I’m going to have a little chat with him,” he says.
Willow stares at him in shock. He had just killed six stallions and three dogs without get so much as a scratch. “What is he?” she asks Ebony.
Ebony looks at her then back at Captain as he approaches the door of the house. “Not too sure to be honest.”
Captain presses his ear against the door, he hears several locks being put into place. With a sigh he turns around and bucks the door. The door snaps off it’s hinges and flies into the opposite wall. He looks down at the cowering stallions behind it. The yellow pony takes off further into the house with Captain in close pursuit. Eventually the yellow pony stop in a small room, a desk sits in the middle of the room and in one of the walls is a lit fireplace.
“Okay, okay, I give up, don’t kill me,” The yellow one says. He goes over to the desk and pull out a pile of papers. “These are the documents to the slaves, take them, they’re all yours.”
Captain take the papers and throws them into the fire. “I said I wanted them to be freed, I don’t want them.” He draws his cutlass and puts the blade into the fire. “I saw the marks on Willow. How would you like it if I were to do that to you?”
An agonizing scream comes from the house, several moments later Captain comes out. He is holding a keyring in his mouth. “Sounds like your ‘chat’ went well,” Ebony says. Captain sticks a key into the cuffs around Willow legs and with a quick turn they pop off.
“There, you’re free now, you can go do whatever you want,” he says.
Captain trots over to the fields and over to an alarm bell and gives it a hit. After a few moments armed stallions come running over.
“Who’re you?” asks one of them.
“I’m Captain and I’m here to tell you all to leave.”
“Why should we, looks to that ya are the one who are trespassing.”
“Because I’m here to free the ‘slaves’ and I don’t want them being scared by you lot.”
Several swords are drawn. “Oh really, so you just want us to leave and let you take the boss' property?”
“Your boss is dead, he’s not going to be paying you again. Do you really want to risk your lives against a pirate for nothing?”
They all exchange concerned looks and sheath their weapons and run towards the house. Captain looks at the crowd of slaves that had gathered. He throws the keyring toward the crowd, “Those are the key to your cuffs. You’re all free now, go back to your real homes, families, friends,” he says and walks away. Ebony and Willow quickly follow him. “Are we anywhere near the place, Ebony?” he asks one they’re out of the property.
“Should be somewhere over that way,” she says, gesturing with her hoof. They continue on down the road in silence. Captain would occasionally glance back at Willow. A few question float around at the back of her mind. Until he abruptly stops and turns to face her.
“I said you’re free, you don’t have to follow me.”
She is slightly taken aback by the statement. “I-I was just wondering why you would save me. I’m a… was a slave, I have nothing to offer you. So, why would a pirate like you save me. What was there to gain?”
Captain thinks for a moment before answering. “Nothing.”
“So, you nearly kill yourself to help someone who can’t pay you back?”
“Yeah, that’s pretty well the idea of it.”
“Trust me, it happens a lot more often than you'd think,” Ebony says.
“Let me join your crew,” Willow says.
“Why?”
“I want to repay you and this is the only way I can.”
A large grin splits across Captain face. “Alright, welcome to the crew.” He turns and begins walking in the direction they were before.
“That’s it? You’re accepting me just like that?”
“Yeah, now come on we have a job.”