The captain of the vessel had heard the name of the ship that was coming to get them. The old stallion let the pipe just fall out of his mouth and his body felt that it was going numb. Out of everything that he could have expected to have gotten his way that day, it had to be that one vessel that he had the most terrors from.
A shudder went down his spine as he asked for the impossible. “Give me, give me those, binoculars, lass.” He had to see it with his own eyes that the ship that had doomed everything was sailing into their direction. With the storm lying behind it, it only seemed to have been truly appropriate that the devil of the seas had gotten for them all.
Applejack gave the binoculars to the captain and took over the helm for the moment. The old stallion did a step or two aside in order to watch the ship in its full and highly eerie glory. The things were set for his old eyes and gave a clear view on what was going on a couple dozen miles ahead of them. He got the ship in his eyes and couldn’t take it anymore. There was no doubt in his mind that that ship was the ship he never wanted to see again.
Just the entire looks of the vessel managed to have gotten the creeps up to him. The binoculars were dropped from his eyes as she shook his head from left to right. “It can’t be!” he muttered up before he leaned against the wooden railing. Oh how he wished that it all didn’t happen to be true yet the demons were still coming their way.
It had only been a sheer matter of time before the vessel would have caught up with them. The captain of their vessel couldn’t do anything in order to prevent an incoming attack. They were caught between two fires that literally were hell-bent upon taking the other out.
Though there was one little thing that didn’t make sense to Applejack. Why would Rarity have called upon her vessel during that time? Outside of escaping trial, there didn’t seemed to have been an actual reason in her eyes.
Unless she had planned something that was just so stupid, that it actually could have worked. Rarity was an outlaw, a pirate that managed to stay alive by raids and all those nice little things. Yet she wasn’t a true formal Equestrian citizen anymore. Which meant that if war would have been declared on her, it would have been declared only on her.
That revelation caused the eyes of the admiral to open up wide. “Oh you clever, but nasty mare,” she whispered to herself in the lowest volume possible. The whole time had Applejack been thinking about her wanting to make some sort of great escape. Though when she thought about it more , Rarity did in fact seemed to have been planning to sacrifice herself for the rest of the group.
A shock went through her before she had to shake her head for a moment. All of the newly gotten information was just a little bit too much for her to handle and she didn’t wanted to be doing anything with it actually. The matter was still a young one and everything could have happened with it. Of course Rarity could have sacrificed herself, but she could just as well take right for the other side and make a quick getaway.
The eyes of the admiral turned over to the old stallion who looked like he could hurl up the contents of his stomach at any given time. Though there never was something that came out of his mouth. That little fact alone caused them both to be happy. The eyes of the old stallion looked back to Applejack for a moment before he spoke the words that he knew about the vessel.
“The Vengeful Belle, the demon’s vessel,” he spoke to her before he once again shook his head. “A vessel so evil that it’s being captained by a mare with a skin as white as snow. No grain of mercy is shown to merchant ship that crosses its path. A crew of anthronies thought extinct, it’s danger itself.” Those were the words that he spoke up to her, in a low, growling tone. Almost as if he had survived one of the raids that the vessel had done all those years ago.
Applejack wanted to argue against the captain but made the decision not to. Who knew just what kind of troubles would have been erupting as she had told him that the captain of the vessel was literally with them, on the deck. It must have driven him over the edge of madness. She almost wanted to suggest that he would have retreated back to his own cabin.
Yet that meant that he constantly would have seen the griffon ship chasing them. Which one was better to be seen was unknown to the earth anthrony. So she made the decision to not speak a single word about the matter.
"So Ah’ve heard,” she then would have said. The seconds of silence just had been burned away. The earth anthrony shook her head while her entire world was literally being rocked. Only Rarity knew what was going to be the plan but the admiral had the decency not to accuse her of anything while she stood on the deck.
But she did felt her grip around the unicorn loosen up. The tight grip of being able to bring her to court and have her trailed to a jail sentence had become looser and looser. Almost as if the neck of Rarity had been smeared in with butter, or grease. “A captain as pale as snow, but with a heart as black as charcoal,” the admiral whispered in a soft tone. It was naturally one of the many rumors that were being spread about Rarity Brittenburg’s reputation on the high seas.
The old stallion nodded to the spoken words as he added a few more of his own words to the matter. “if that vessel has set its eyes on us, we’ll be going down to the locker itself. Or worse, we’ll be chum for the Kraken.”
The Kraken, Applejack had heard the rumors of the mysterious and legendary beast. A massive monster that roamed the seas and oceans of their world. It was often associated with death itself as the thing was a giant beast. Nopony had truly seen what it actually was or how it looked. But many spoke about it having enormous tentacles and a massive maw big enough to swallow pretty much anything it desired. “Then let’s pray on the fact that it isn’t aimed for us,” added Applejack as she tried to play along.
Whether the old sailor and the admiral had liked it or not, Rarity had heard every last word that they had spoken. Her ears were especially open on the facts that they would be starting about her and her crew. It was not much of a surprise to her actually, given the fact that she did have a rather sinister reputation to begin with. As well as her own ship coming their way.
Perhaps had the time come for her to make her grand revelation to the old stallion? Give him that one last heart attack and perhaps redeem her blackened soul a little bit before him. To show him, that she wasn’t as heartless as depicted. A grin came to the face of the unicorn as she leaned a little bit over the railing of the deck.
Her voice was turned a little louder so that they all could hear the words that she had to say. “Rumors have it, that the White Widow kills and plunders without mercy. She goes around and about wherever she pleases,” the unicorn spoke up before she charged up her horn. “But what if those rumors happened to be wrong and are just tales made by sailors, drunk as a skunk? Any of you thought about that in the past?”
The words reached both the captain of the vessel as well as Applejack. Both were naturally surprised to hear the words. Though they were surprised in their own reasons. Applejack could almost plant the palm of her hand in her face, while the old stallion only got more curiosity. “What are you saying there, lass?” he asked towards the disguised mare.
Rarity couldn’t help herself but to give off another chuckle before she gently shook her head. “All of you sailors are so likely to take upon the stories that are being picked up in bars. But remember that ever legendary being, has a core of truth hidden inside of it. Think deep, the White Widow is nearer than you think.”
It took the old stallion a couple of seconds while he reached out for his pipe and rose both of his eyebrows. It couldn’t have been true, right? It couldn’t have been true that she happened to be the mare wanted in pretty much every single port along the Equestrian coast. More and more confusion hit the stallion as he wanted to know the finer details of everything.
“Speak the words that are on your mind, lass, and speak the clearly!” he replied to her in a yell that caused his old tone to be pitched a little bit too high. Rarity flung her head a little bit backwards just before she removed herself from the railing. If he wanted that she told him to just speak in clear words, so would she have done.
“Careful what you wish for, old sir. You might actually get it,” she replied before the charge of her horn was released. The sapphire blue light was cast all over the ship and the unicorn would have just vanished within it.
The captain could only look in horror as to what would be coming next. Anything was possible when it came down to the unicorns and he was thrown into it once again. The admiral remained standing at the helm despite the fact that she just wanted to do something about Rarity. Yet none of the other mares knew what could be done while the captain himself seemed to have been turned into a statue.
It was literally impossible for the admiral to remove herself from the position. There wasn’t anything that could have been done to stop Rarity from whatever it was she was trying to accomplish. They would only have watched in horror and terror until it was done.
But every magical light had to fade away again at one point or the other. And so did it happen to the light that was created by Rarity. There were just stood a mare with blonde hair and green eyes, now stood a mare with purple, curly hair and eyes as blue as sapphires.
The infamous captain that made a name for herself under the alias of White Widow stood upon the deck of the old captain’s vessel. Bafflement and horror were the only two emotions that went through the stallion. He couldn’t believe that the terror of the oceans was literally standing his very deck.
Where he seemed to have been a statue before, he only became more of it as all the muscles in his body just turned into stiffs. “As you can see, good sir, I’m not a rampaging murderer who is going only around and about. It are the looks that cursed me, but believe me when I say I have no intent to bloodshed today. Not on this vessel at least.”
Those words caught the ears of Applejack and they were repeated in her head at a constant rate. Was Rarity Brittenburg really planning to make the sacrifice where the admiral had thought about before? From the sounds it seemed to have been that way, but she could just as well have meant a ship that was coming from over the horizon.
The captain still couldn’t believe the facts as they were presented to him. It just wouldn’t go into his old mind that the most notorious pirate captain had been standing right under his nose the whole time. It just didn’t wanted to enter through his skull.
After some dreaded seconds he turned his attention over to the admiral and spoke the words that were on his mind. The only words that were on his mind in fact. “Now I think I know, how you have felt. Travelling with her for who knows how long…”
“Don’t. Ah mean it, don’t,” replied Applejack. She didn’t wanted him to start about anything. The last thing that the mare needed was a guilt trip caused by the old stallion. She had endured the whole journey to the center of Equestria with the pirate captain, she had to make sure she would survive the coming hours as well.
Though the captain himself was caught on two fronts. At one end could he have taken the helm again and allowed Applejack to get her. But he didn’t knew anything about their treaty. Which was exactly the thing where Rarity made usage of. In the eyes of the admiral it seemed as if she had been planning everything since the day they had begun.
That fact wasn’t true of course, as all of the event just turned out to be rather lucky coincidences. Lucky for Rarity but rather unfortunate for Applejack actually. The admiral remained standing at the helm of the vessel as she closed her eyes for a moment.
It was the call of the captain and he was caught at two fronts. At one hand he had the griffons chasing him. A bloodthirsty folk that wouldn’t have stopped at anything to get to the mares. And at the other end of the line stood the pirate captain herself. The decision on what needed to be done was something that didn’t feel right in his mouth.
The head was given another shake as the words wanted to leave through his throat, but there were none that came out. The decision couldn’t have been made by him at all. He didn’t had any word of saying in the matter. Time itself would have been the judge of them all.
That same time came and went while the Vengeful Belle sailed closer and closer towards the much, much smaller vessel. Rarity hadn’t said their goodbyes to any of them, it just wasn’t her style. But they all knew what was going to happen soon enough. All of the mares felt that their group would have been falling apart within that very moment.
And just like that, when the two ships sailed past one another without a word, would Rarity have made the jump up the railing and readied her wrist mounted harpoon. The thing had saved her life numerous times already and there was another that could have been added to the list. For as the bow of the Vengeful Belle went past them had she aimed the tip of the harpoon to the main mast of her vessel.
Applejack knew that she wanted to bring Rarity to trial, she had to do something drastic. But instead of turning to starboard a couple dozen times, she just had to release the helm and ran as fast as she could. The stomping over the deck gave away what had been planned and Rarity realized it.
Her head turned itself around to face the incoming admiral and she gave something she hadn’t given Applejack much before. A smile. A warm, genuine, well-meant smile was given off to the admiral before the harpoon was fired. The confusion was so great in the body of the admiral that she came to a standstill. She didn’t knew a single thing of what the mare meant with her silent words, if they even were silent words.
But just like that had the unicorn vanished again. Just like that was she swinging over the railing towards her own vessel. All of the mares looked at her when she hung at the side of her own ship. She made a small salute to the group of mares as the last words could have been heard coming from her. “See this as my resignation of the company! See you in twenty-four hours, Jackie! Have a good sail y’all!” Those were the last words to be spoken by Rarity Brittenburg just before she left the company for better or for worse.
Just like that had she left the company that had travelled down to the very center of Equestria. The company that had faced facts always stacked against them but always managed to get out of there alive. The company that had even fought in the War that Never was. And many more things had happened, both big and small.
The anthronies of the company all returned to the deck again as they didn’t knew the words that they had to speak on the matter. Anything was possible for them in that moment. But the one thing that they knew was that they had lost a great asset to their team. The captain himself had taken matters in his own hands again and had taken control of the helm again.
Applejack turned herself around to face him as she couldn’t contain her anger whatsoever. She wanted to bring the unicorn back home to get her trailed, instead the whole thing could have started again. The hunts for the elusive White Widow could be happening again. The two mares of the sea were still in their treaty but that could go to Tartarus in Applejack’s mind.
“Turn the vessel ‘round!” she bellowed over the deck.
All of the mares and the stallion didn’t knew what they heard out of her mouth. Out of everything that could have been either said or done, those were the words that she spoke up. But was she mad? Had she actually lost her mind completely? They tried to get away from the griffon ship and not towards it.
Pinkie Pie was the only mare that still looked over the railing of the ship and saw how the Vengeful Belle made a turn around. Whether it would ending up directly next to them or tried to avoid the griffon ship as much as possible was unknown to her. All that she knew for certain was that Rarity had gone, possibly for good.
The old stallion stared down into the eyes of Applejack as he adjusted the course to sail straight through the storm. “I’m not going back around just because some admiral orders me. I love my life as it is and from the looks of it are we going straight into a storm! If we go now, we might have a slight chance of making it out alive!” the captain yelled back to her, defying her commands.
His words were true though. The mind of the admiral was only set on getting the thing that she wanted. And in the moment that didn’t seemed to have been for the common good. The admiral became furious. For weeks had she the mare right where she wanted to have her, but just like that had she lost her as well.
A true and great amount of effort had to be done by her in order to control the emotions that were going through her. The captain himself still recalled the words that she had said to him before. Perhaps there was indeed something about the pirate captain that made her not look like a monster. Perhaps he did believed too much of the tails that were said in the bars.
The words that she had spoken to him just before she left showed a great amount of respect to him. But whether they were meant or not, remained a fact to be discovered. The old stallion didn’t knew what to do, outside of honoring their made agreement. His eyes suddenly gained a look of determination within them.
For the moment he set all of the thoughts about the unicorn aside and began to trust the pirate for what it was worth it. She wouldn’t have done the things she did without a reason. That was enough reason for the stallion to take her words for what they were. As well as the fact that she didn’t wanted any bloodshed on his vessel.
“My mind is set, admiral,” the stallion eventually spoke to her, “we’re going to Canterlot as we had agreed upon and that’s that!”
Though the words weren’t taken too lightly by the admiral. All of the fury and the anger that she had stored within her must have gotten out in one deep exhale. But even then there was still enough left to make her choke another being. All of the anger still needed to be vented could only have been gotten out at one way.
The mare made a couple dozen steps before she stood back by the helm of the captain. One hand had taken a rest upon the railing as the other was placed upon the spot where her sword usually had been placed. But since they still were incognito, it couldn’t be there. How gladly she would have drawn her sword and set it upon the throat of the stallion as she spoke the words.
“Turn, this vessel, around, now,” said Applejack in a true and threatening tone towards the captain. Who in return only glanced his eyes over her for a moment. He didn’t seemed to have been all that impressed on the matter as she was unarmed.
But that never meant she couldn’t do any harm anymore. He had to be curious about her hands and hooves, for those could deliver a set of strong punches. Yet would the admiral actually going to be hitting an older stallion right in the face or anyplace else? He certain hoped that she would have been able to contain herself.
“Turn, this vessel, around!” the mare exclaimed to him once more. But that time she gained the full attention of the stallion who blinked only once or twice. He had at least heard the words that she said to him, which in and of itself was already a very good thing. Whether or not he would have listened to her remained a question to be answered.
“I am not going to turn this vessel around! Not because of some idiotic witch-hunt that began years ago!” the captain snarled back to the admiral. The other mares were still standing on the decks as they noticed how the sails only caught more and more wind. Whatever would be happening next didn’t really matter, for they were carried directly towards the massive storm.
The first drops of rain were already hitting the deck while the sun had been blocked for them. The sun had been blocked by the massive amounts of gray clouds. Something just spooked Rainbow Dash as she had a grand look around.
The whole storm that they were coming into didn’t seemed to have been made by the pegasi. Which made the revelation to her that it was created by something a whole lot more dangerous actually, nature itself. The eyes of the pegasus went wide as she realized that fact and had a great look around again.
She left the conversation scene and moved to the bow of the vessel. There she would have tangled her hand around one of the many ropes as she jumped up the railing herself. Only to have her body sticking out as far as it was allowed. She had to do some sights in the hope to shatter the things that she thought about.
Nopony had truly noticed that Rainbow had gone off because their eyes were only set to both Applejack and the captain. The conversation between the two of them had heated up to unbelievable levels. They were all actually and genuinely afraid that Applejack wouldn’t have been able to hit an elder stallion right in the face.
Both of the fists of Applejack were trembling like there was no tomorrow. The face turned gently into a shade of red that they had never seen from her. Years, if not decades of frustration were shown in her eyes as the stallion himself also began to fear.
But he realized that he had to keep his hooves firm on the ground. He couldn’t let the anger of the admiral win the war that was being waged between the two of them. The boiling point of the mare had almost been reached as she seemed to wanting to just punch the aged anthrony.
None of the mares dared to look and they couldn’t do anything to change the situation. Of course Twilight had it within her powers that she could have separated the admiral from the aged stallion. But that way she would have never learned the lesson that was to be learned in the moment. The seconds ticked away as nothing happened outside of frustration being build up.
If they didn’t know any better, they could have sworn to themselves that there was steam that came out of the ears of the admiral. What could have caused it and why it happened were two matters that none of the mares actually knew. They all just prayed deeply upon the fact that everything would have turned out alright.
Finally did the mouth of Applejack open up and she tried to speak in a calm and collected tone, which was actually a lot harder than anything else. Seconds upon seconds just came and went before she was able to speak up. “Okay, if that’s how we’re gonna play it, so it happens to be,” the mare spoke up in an accent-less tone. In fact, her entire tone had turned monotone when she spoke the words.
The captain himself was even surprised by the words that she spoke those very words. For after them she just left the helm and walked down the stairs to the deck itself. He couldn’t believe it, the stallion had literally dodged perhaps one of the biggest musket balls that he could have avoided. A massive sigh of relief was released through his nose while he continued to sail. The ship had entered the storm and the only question was how powerful it was all going to be.
Applejack had walked back on the deck and disappeared beneath it all. Fluttershy and Twilight looked to one another as if they silently asked to chase after her. But it was just like the matter of Rainbow Dash. The admiral just needed to have some time alone, she had to recollect her mind for what it was. It still didn’t took away from the fact that there was a powder keg ready to be exploding beneath the decks. A risk that they rather took than anything else.
The mares looked around in order to find Rainbow Dash and found her hanging in the ropes and the stern. Whatever she tried to do, they didn’t wanted to disturb her. Their attention was turned towards the storm that they were sailing into as they all realized that the battle between Rarity and Applejack would continue once more.
The journey hadn’t changed a thing about the feud that the two mares were having. At least not in Applejack's point of view. The hunt would continue soon enough as they kept on sailing away from the prey they had to leave behind.
~~~~
In the meantime and on the side of the Vengeful Belle hung Rarity. The mare lowered the arm with which she had waved them all out. Only to start her climbing on the wall of wood. Her desires to return once more to her beloved vessel had gotten true. Every step she took was one closer to landing upon the very deck that she knew so well.
Which happened after only a couple of seconds. The unicorn stood back upon the deck of her own vessel and looked around to the crew. The harpoon was removed from the point of impact and the rope retracted. The thing was hidden under the sleeve of her trench coat again before she placed the hands behind her back.
“So,” she started while she eyed all of the bat anthronies that were present. “What have you miserable sacks of good-for-nothing been up to while I was gone?” The boatswain turned the helm a couple dozen times to make sure they wouldn’t be an all too easy target for the griffon ship that chased the smaller vessel. “At least you managed to get my note and did what was ordered of you lot. Back to work!”
And just like that did the bat anthronies scatter all over the deck and back to their spots. They were terrified of the wrath that she could give as she ruled with an iron hoof aboard her own ship. The pirate captain then made her way over to the helm while the first drops of rain fell upon her nose.
The boatswain removed himself from the spot before she took over with just one hand. There were no words in the known universe that could have described the feelings that were going through the mare in that moment. That moment when she took back full command of her own ship after having spent weeks upon the face of the land, it just felt amazing and awesome for the lack of a better terming.
The boatswain himself had taken the liberty to get something of the mare that had belonged to her ever since she took command of the ship for the first time. The stallion presented it to the unicorn as if he was going to crown a king, or a queen in their matter.
Rarity’s eyes looked over to him and saw the object that laid in his hands. Her horn charged itself up as she then levitated it out of them. “Why thank you,” she spoke to the stallion who then rose back up.
“Anything for the captain,” the boatswain replied with a humble tone. The unicorn grinned like the little devil that she could be while the object was revealed to be her signature hat. The hat with the long head piece that would cover her eyes from both rain and sunlight. A maroon red color it bore as the charge became a little bit more intense.
What happened next was that the color of the trench coat went from black to a more natural, maroon-ish red color. The mare placed the hat upon her head and discharged her horn completely. She took a deep inhale of air before another grin came back to her. Everything was right where it was supposed to be. Everything had the right coloring while her blades were hidden beneath the coat. Ready to be taken if needed.
“What’s the plan, captain?” the boatswain asked her as he took out his whip. The eyes of the captain looked to him from under the hat. The sapphire blue irises almost seemed to have been glowing. The look was one with which the boatswain was all too familiar with. The unicorn had something cooked up in that brain of hers.
The mare released a sinister sounding chuckle as she looked over to the griffon’s ship and pointed towards it. “I’m thinking about to give them a full broadside. And most likely they think the same thing,” the unicorn spoke before she turned the helm again a few dozen times. The turn would have been made to intercept the ship of the griffons.
Finally there would have been the kind of action were Rarity seemed to live for. But she would have taken the attention away from the group of mares as well. Whether she realized what she was doing or not, remained to be seen. For her personality had changed without a doubt as she had returned upon her own ship.
Time would tell who would have gotten out as the victor from their planned war. The imperial ship of the griffons, or the well tested ship of Rarity Brittenburg? The round could begin whenever they were ready. All while the storm kept on brewing right above their heads and releasing the downpour of rain.