Late that night, Applejack waited until all was silent on the ship before making her move. Gently, she slid open the door, wincing at every metallic whine and scrape it produced. She forced herself to move slowly, trying to pass off the noise as the creaking of the ship and shifting of the cargo.
When the door had been opened enough for her to barely squeeze herself through, she poked her head out and paused, holding her breath and waiting, listening closely for any sound of an approacher.
The only sound she could hear was the rise and fall of the sea. Normally this was a peaceful feeling, but Applejack couldn't help but feel that this was masking some important sound. Shaking her head, she extracted herself completely and began her escape.
She walked slowly, rolling each hoof as she placed it down so as to not make any noise. She jumped as she thought she heard a noise behind her, but saw nothing. Now with her heart beating furiously in her chest, she continued walking. She had to get off this ship.
She froze as she heard a sound that was distinctly pony in origin. Poking her head into the next room, which had been lit with a single candle, she saw Lyra, the mint green unicorn from before, who was probably supposed to be guarding her. However, she was currently pinned down by a cream colored earth pony mare who had placed her lips over Lyra's, and judging by the playful squeaks and little fitful movements she was making, neither was going to watch for escapees.
Perfect.
She continued down the hall, climbing the stairs and making her way up to the top deck. Remaining on a lower step, she inspected the deck. It appeared clear, so she got the rest of the way up and began sprinting towards the railings.
At least, she tried; but as soon as she cleared the deck, pain suddenly exploded behind her head and she collapsed to the deck. When the world had stopped spinning and she had managed to regain some control over her body, she looked up to see Octavia, grinning evilly and holding an oar.
“Good evening,” she said, in a refined, clipped voice that would have sounded more at home coming from the hostess at a dinner party than a pirate who had just clocked her. “Did you not enjoy your quarters?”
“Go choke on a pear,” Applejack managed to say.
Octavia merely grinned and began dragging Applejack back into to her cell by her tail. Applejack attempted to force herself up, but was having great difficulty figuring out which way was up, and that was without trying to answer the question of what all those stars were doing flying around her head. Weren’t they supposed to be up in the sky or something?
Octavia unceremoniously dragged her into the cell and daintily stepped outside. “Thank you, I needed that. In fact, I'm not even going to tell the captain you tried to escape, that's how fun it was.” Octavia chuckled darkly as she locked the door for real this time. “Sleep well, apple mare.”
With a frustrated groan, Applejack pushed herself up onto the bed and pulled the ragged blanket over her head.
* * *
The next morning found Applejack with a mild headache and a wet mop in her hooves, swabbing the deck. Apparently, Rainbow Blitz had a firm 'no worky, no eaty' policy, and this was her current assignment.
And as if her day couldn't get any better, Li'l Scoots was technically her superior. The filly was overjoyed to not be on the bottom rung of the ship anymore, and was enjoying her role a bit too much.
“Missed a spot, apple mare,” she grinned, gesturing with a tiny wing.
Applejack responded by flicking water at her face before resuming mopping.
“Hey!” Li'l Scoots protested, rubbing a hoof brusquely against her face.
“Sorry, boss,” Applejack said, with just a hint of sarcasm. “Won't happen again.”
“It better not,” Li’l Scoots threatened, “or Rainbow Blitz will make you walk the plank!”
Applejack rolled her eyes and continued mopping.
* * *
After Octavia (who had had a continuous smirk on her face) had approved her work (which was a much more difficult task than it appeared), Applejack was permitted to eat. She trotted into the dining area, plopped herself down at the table, and sighed. Octavia had refused to let her in until the whole of the main deck had been finished, so the eating area was fairly empty by the time she got there.
Li’l Scoots seemed to think that arriving at this time was normal, and happily ate her somewhat cold food. Applejack sat in a different area, picking morosely at her breakfast, which appeared to be brown mush and a rock, but had probably at some point in time been oatmeal and a biscuit. What she wouldn’t give for a nice, hot apple pancake, smothered in apple syrup and served steaming hot..
She jumped as a white pegasus appeared in her field of vision. “Hi!” Surprise chirped. “Did I surprise you?”
“Kindof,” Applejack muttered, looking down at her food. She shifted slightly to face away from her, sending every bit of nonverbal ‘go away’ she could muster towards her.
It seemed Surprise wasn’t good at nonverbal cues, though, as she sat down cheerfully next to Applejack (even sitting was a joyful activity, apparently) and began eating.
There was a semi-awkward silence, and eventually, Surprise broke it. “You still mad about yesterday?”
“No,” Applejack answered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Why ever would you think that?”
“Besides the fact that we took all your bits, and left your ship with kindof a big hole in the bottom of it?”
Applejack shot to her hooves. “You what?”
Surprise giggled. “I’m joking! Derpy’s clumsy, but she’s not that bad.”
“It wasn’t funny,” Applejack grumbled, returning to her food.
Surprise smiled. “For what it’s worth, I hope you get your ship back.”
There was another little silence for a while, and then Applejack spoke. “What’re you late from, anyway?” Applejack asked.
“Scouting,” Surprise said. “Rainbow Blitz has been steering us in a kindof circling pattern, looping around, searching until we find your island and drink all the cider. The first pony to lay eyes on it gets second dibs, so there's lots of us on wings and magiskis to be the first to find it.” She paused. “Not so much the magiskis, 'cause it's kindof hard to recharge those. We have a lot of unicorns, but not all of them are real strong with magic.”
Applejack glared angrily. “You’ll never find it,” she hissed, and she firmly believed it.
Surprise shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not.” She hunched over and gnawed on her biscuit, looking for all the world like an oversized white rat.
Applejack pushed her bowl away and let her head slam onto the table. She couldn’t wait to get off this ship.
Eventually, she got tired of the noise of Surprise eating, and so lifted herself up and headed outside.
She didn’t make it two steps before something landed on her. She bucked the pony off and spun around, scrabbling for her sword, but she quickly realized wasn’t wearing it.
It didn’t quite matter. She recognized her attacker fairly quickly.
“Hey there,” Rainbow Blitz said cheerfully.
Applejack caught her breath as her heart continued pounding. “What are you doing here?” she blurted.
“This is my ship, the Sonic Rainboom,” Rainbow Blitz said. “I am the captain, and I go where I please.” She smirked. “Do you have anything you want to share with me?”
“Just my hoof upside your head,” Applejack seethed.
Rainbow Blitz took an exaggerated step back. “Oh, well, pardon the feathers off me,” she said sarcastically. “Octavia?”
The gray mare was suddenly beside Applejack.
“Take her back down to the brig. She needs a little time to… cool off.”
Octavia gestured with her head, and Applejack began walking.
* * *
Later that afternoon, Applejack stood at the front of the ship, staring out into the ocean. Rainbow Blitz had released her for lunch (which had been just as palatable and appealing as breakfast had been), and then just never told Octavia to put her back in, so she was taking full advantage of this. She rested against the bulwarks, enjoying the feel of the sun on her coat and the wind through her mane. Her ear flicked as she heard another pony approaching from behind.
“Nice day, eh?” Rainbow Blitz grinned. Applejack didn’t even need to look at her to know she was smiling broadly. “Enjoying the sunshine?”
Applejack nodded, not really wanting to start any conversation.
Rainbow Blitz didn’t care. She leaned on the woodwork next to her. “So, what’s it like sailing as a pirate?” she asked.
“For starters, your food could use some work,” Applejack said honestly.
Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah. Dinky’s good, but we’re running low on supplies. We’ll have to restock soon. Hopefully we get to your island before then.”
Applejack frowned. “Thought you said you had plenty of supplies?”
Rainbow Blitz pointed at herself. “Pirate,” she informed her. “I say a lot of things that aren't necessarily true.”
“Well, Ah have no intention of betrayin’ my family,” Applejack growled. “So you'd best start making your shopping list.”
Rainbow shrugged. “Suit yourself. But we’ll find it eventually. Other than that, how do you like my ship?”
Applejack wanted to say many things, most of them derogatory, but the truth came out. “It’s a beauty,” she said. “She sails like a dream, she’s got the straightest keel Ah’ve seen, and she’s fast.”
“Everything on this ship is fast,” Rainbow Blitz grinned. “Especially me.”
Applejack rolled her eyes.
Rainbow turned to leave. “Well, you just keep considering my ‘cider for safety’ offer, ‘kay?” She extended her wings and took off.
Applejack watched her leave. Now that she knew Rainbow Blitz didn’t intend to keep her in the brig indefinitely, she began devising a new escape plan... until she saw a little orange filly standing resolutely close by, eyes fixed firmly on her target.
“Lemme guess,” Applejack said flatly. “You’re my new foalsitter.”
“It’s a real important position,” Li’l Scoots said proudly. “I might even get a cutie mark in prisoner guarding.”
Applejack had had very similar conversations with her own blank-flanked sister, but here she could say things she never would have dared to say to Apple Bloom. “Oh yeah? What would that even look like?”
Li’l Scoots raised a hoof... and then dropped it. “Uh... a pair of eyes?” she thought.
“That’d just be creepy.”
“Uh... Hoofcuffs?” Scootaloo suggested.
“That’d make me think you were a prisoner. That ain’t such a good special talent.”
Li’l Scoots sat down, mildly dejected. “I really don’t know,” she said.
Applejack knew that the next thought going through her little mind was, ‘maybe my cutie mark will never come...’ She didn’t mean to be hurtful; she was just tired and frustrated, and realized she might have been a bit harsh. Sighing, she decided to do some damage control. “Look, it could be a searchlight or lighthouse or somethin’, makin’ sure they don’t run off in the night.”
“Octavia said you tried that,” Li’l Scoots said, “but it didn’t work.”
Applejack felt a little less bad about teasing her captor now. “It didn’t work yet,” she corrected.
Li’l Scoots shook her head. “Octavia is, like, the best first mate ever. You’ll never escape.”
We’ll just see about that, Applejack thought. Her plan continued to form as she watched the sun begin to set.
* * *
That night, Octavia was awoken by the sounds of a pony groaning in agony. Letting out a groan of her own, she pushed herself to her hooves and walked over to the prisoner’s cell, where through the moonlight she saw Applejack splayed out on the ground, holding her stomach and whining.
“What is it, apple mare?” she demanded.
“Ah... Ah must’ve eaten somethin’ bad for dinner,” Applejack whimpered.
Octavia rolled her eyes. “It’s a pirate ship. Everything’s always bad; surely you’ve noticed this?”
“Yeah, but Ah mean real bad!” Applejack said.
Octavia rolled her eyes and stepped closer. “Look, if you’re doing this for attention...”
But that was as far as she got, for she realized that her hoof had not hit the wooden deck, but instead something soft. She looked down and had just enough time to realize that she was stepping on a blanket when Applejack bit the corner and quite literally pulled it out from under her, sending Octavia crashing to the ground. She looked up just in time to see Applejack reach through the bars, grab her rear hoof and pull her towards herself, physically slamming her body into the metal bars and sending one right in between her rear legs.
Contrary to what many stallions believe, getting hit between the hind legs also hurts mares as well, and Octavia fought through the pain as she forced herself to sit up. Unfortunately, in this position, she brought her head closer to the bars--close enough for Applejack to drive a hoof in between her eyes, dropping her instantly.
Applejack allowed herself a small chuckle before quickly rifling through Octavia’s clothes. Sure enough, the key rested on a string around her neck, and with a few quick motions, Applejack was free.
She didn’t bother taking any of Octavia’s weapons, as she intended to swim for safety and the extra weight would not have been worth it. Sprinting out on deck, she briefly saw a flash of green before jumping overboard.
No, it couldn’t be. Surely Octavia had been the only guard awake at this time?
But as she surfaced, she heard Lyra’s voice. “Mare overboard! She’s escaping!”
Funny thing about pirates—most of them aren’t very good swimmers, and avoided actually getting in the water. Applejack had learned to swim in ponds and in the ocean shallows near her island, but this sea was much rougher than she was used to. Even so, she figured she would have a fighting chance of escaping here.
This feeling of success was slightly diminished when she saw magi-skis being loaded with ponies. She held her breath and dove under the surface, trying to lose or at least confuse her pursuers.
She waited as long as she could before surfacing, and to her surprise, noticed that she seemed to be in the clear, relatively. She dove back under and began swimming further.
When she had run out of breath again, she surfaced as quietly as she could into the bright water. She seemed to have made her esc-
Wait. Bright water?
There was a sharp pain on the back of her neck as teeth gripped her mane and physically pulled her out of the water. This was only slightly relieved when two strong forelegs wrapped around her and finished lifting her higher and higher into the air. Applejack thrashed as best as she could, until it dawned on her just how high she was, and she froze.
“I can drop you if you’d like,” Rainbow Blitz growled into her ear, “but I’m thinking you wouldn’t like that. Just like I don’t like how you tried to escape.”
“Can you blame me, though?” Applejack asked, making a strong conscious effort to not look down.
“No. I’m still chaining you to a cannonball, though. Enjoy your stay on the Sonic Rainboom, because you’re never getting off.”
Looking around, Applejack saw that they had formed teams of pegasi and unicorns to search the water for her. Even the smaller unicorns had their horns lit and light spells spinning, like little living lighthouses. Even if she had managed to slip by Rainbow Blitz, Applejack wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Applejack groaned in defeat as Rainbow Blitz carried her back on board. She was better than Applejack had given her credit for, and now she was going to pay dearly for it.