☠☠☠Two Days After Whitebeard☠☠☠
Captain Feather did not think that today was going to be a good day. Not because he has a string of bad events piling up around him. No, it's because of one event that managed to get overlooked for far too long. A small town called "Banana Town" was apparently under constant pressure from local bandits in their area.
The Captain breathed a deep sigh and closed his eyes, he knew well what kind of damage any kind of outlaws could do while getting off scott-free. Especially in the amount of time it has taken for the Marines to get mobile about it. Normally such a thing as the Marines coming late was unheard of, the government likes to take immediate action when reports of criminal activity come in. They did not want to show weakness, not with the increasing pirate threat in the last two and a half decades.
It was simply an unfortunate turn of events when the village's constant pleas for help got lost in the massive mess a young and inexperienced recruit made of the information center. The town was a poor town, they did not have the luxury of being able to set up a calling tower or get the skilled operators to run it. They had to rely on the mail system, but that got clogged up fast thanks to the recruit. Had such a major setback not occurred Captain Feather or another Captain of equal rank would have been sent to squash these parasites of civilization.
Captain Feather reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a cigar, placing it into his mouth. He lit his lighter and brought it to the fat cancer stick, taking a long and much needed drag. He hated it when civilians got dragged into these messes, they deserved much better. It was why he joined the Marines in the first place, to protect the helpless.
If it were up to him he would be on constant patrol around the islands. But he did not have the command necessary for that.
He took another drag from the cigar and stared at the ever coming closer island from the deck of the ship. He narrowed his eyes and called for a recruit to bring him a spyglass. The recruit rushed back after a minute and handed Captain Feather the spyglass.
He held it to his eye that wasn't covered from the smoke of his cigar.
"What the..." He muttered as he stared at a part of the cliff side of the island. It had an enormous gash that clearly did not look natural. Feather hummed in thought as the Warship sailed around the island. He noticed another anomaly on the island, part of the forest looked like a huge cannonball ripped through it. The path from the sea to somewhere in the middle of the island.
Feather brought the spyglass down. "This has gotten interesting." He simply said.
"Sir?" Asked a Marine earth pony recruit with a questioning look. "What's happened?"
Feather rubbed his chin, "I'm not sure. I saw a huge unnatural gash on a cliff side, and now I see a huge section of the forest simply blown away in a line. Like a huge cannonball ripped through the trees and brush."
The Marine looked flabbergasted, "But how is that possible? Magic perhaps?"
Feather seemed thoughtful and he continued to ponder the situation. He responded after a moment, "Maybe... But that would mean it would be a pretty powerful unicorn that shot that blast. While I want to investigate it, the safety of the villagers is top priority."
"If they are still alive." Thought Feather darkly. He shook himself from those thoughts, they had no place in a Marine Captain.
He turned to the crew manning the ship, "Double time! We need to move it!"
"Yes sir!" Saluted the Marines on the ship before scrambling to get the ship moving faster.
They made good time and made port at the village. Feather did not wait for the landing plank to come down, he simply jumped. As he landed he took quick note of the state of the village. Nothing seemed amiss. Which was strange considering they were being constantly hassled by bandits.
He began his trek into the village as his crew went about their duties, ignoring the desire to stretch his pegasus wings with a brief flight since it was't the time for that. A small squadron of marines following him. Feather looked at the citizens and their expressions, they all seemed to be in good spirits. Captain Feather was deeply confused so he decided to gather some intelligence.
"Excuse me ma'am." Feather put on his best smile as he stopped a nearby mare. "But I believe this village called for the Marines. Something about a bandit problem?"
She seemed confused but brightened when she remembered something, "Oh! You don't need to worry about that sir, King Whitebeard took care of that for us!" She smiled at Feather and started to walk back down the street. Leaving a stunned MarineCaptain behind.
"King?" He asked the mare before she could go any further. "I'm afraid I haven't heard of any king by that name before."
She turned back to Feather, smile still on her face. "Oh, he isn't a king of a nation. He said that he will be king of the pirates."
Feather's and the marine's shot their eyes open and shouted, "What?! King of the Pirates?!"
The mare nodded, "Yeah, it surprised me too. But I don't doubt it, he is really strong."
Captain Feather pulled himself out of his shock and asked seriously, "Can you tell me what he looked like? And a name? I'm afraid I will need this to be in the records."
She looked unsure but seemed to resign herself, "Alright... His name is Luke, but he said he goes by Whitebeard. When I saw him he looked to be about three or four times the size of a normal pony. He had a large, crescent shaped, white mustache and did not look like a pony at all. He didn't have hooves and he didn't have fur either. He also wore a large captain jacket and had this really big spear like weapon!"
Captain Feather nodded as one of his subordinates wrote all of this down. "Anything else?" he asked after a moment.
The mare put a finger to her chin and thought, "Well... He apparently lifted an entire house, rock base and all, and carried it through the forest with all the bandits tied up inside. He was the one that defeated them."
While that kinda of strength was not unheard of... it was mostly kept to skilled individuals that trained their bodies well. Mostly big named pirates and Marines, rarely would you find it anywhere else. And even more rare be able to keep it on the down low for so long.
The Captain's musing were cut short by the mare.
"If you don't need anything else, then I need to go. My husband and I are a little busy." Captain Feather simply smiled and let her go back to her life. His smile dropped when he turned to his men.
"Alright men. This situation has become dire. I want you," He pointed to a group to the side. "To go into the forest and examine the destroyed path. The rest of you, see if you can gather any more information. I need to go make a call from the ship."
The Marines saluted and rushed to do their duties. Captain Feather sighed once more and started walking back to the ship while thinking, "I am thankful this new wannabe Pirate King is not the type to kill civilians. But he chose his path when he announced his desire to be a pirate of any kind. I must do my duty."
He took another drag from his cigar and continued his walk, a small shadow covering his eyes.
"Not a good day at all." He muttered as he look up to the sky and blew the cigar smoke out of his mouth.