//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: A Pirate's Life 
// by Twilove 
//------------------------------//

The sun shone warmly against the unconscious pegasus’ skin as she laid on the hot sand. Her eyes slowly opened as she heard the calming noise of tiny waves hitting the shore. She slowly sat up, holding her throbbing head with her hooves. When she felt better she took in her surroundings. She was on a beach, a tropical island probably.

“Am I dead?” She asked herself.

A voice from behind her startled her as it answered with a slight laugh.

“Probably not. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to talk.”

The captain turned around and met two beautiful emerald green shining eyes. A male unicorn stood before her, smiling gently.

“Where am I?” She asked him. He just chuckled.

“You’re on Solar Island.” He said as he approached her slowly. He was a light brown unicorn, Sharp saw. His mane was shining black and his eyes were a beautiful shining green. The captain stood up quickly and went to draw her sword, only to realize she had left it on the ship. 

“Damn it.” She muttered as he approached her. She just backed up more, holding her guard up. A low chuckle came from the stallions throat as he stopped walking.

“Don’t worry, bella. I won’t hurt you.” He said. He used a language Sharp did not recognize. She had heard and learned many languages over the years, but this one was unknown to her.

“What do you want then?” She asked him.

“The reason why you’re here.” He said matter-of-factly. 

“Oh... I honestly have no idea. I can only remember being thrown into the water by a huge wave. After that everything is blank…”

“That means you’re lost.” The stallion walked towards her again. This time Sharp stood where she was, but still held her guard up. “I’ll help you if you want. I know this island like the back of my hoof.” He said, a gentle smile on his face.

Even though she still did not trust the guy, she followed him. He knew this island and she had to take advantage of that. She wanted to go back to her ship, her crew, her own warm room. But that was not possible now. She had to do everything to survive.

She followed the light brown unicorn through the tight forests on the island. It was hot and slightly uncomfortable as they trotted over the sand and leaves. There were a few new scratches added to the pegasus’ coat. Probably from her almost drowning. The bandana around her head was gone and the one around her neck was pretty much useless. Her mane was a mess and her eyes hurt from the salt water and the bright sunlight. 

“Well, here we are.” The stallion said as he pushed a few leaves beside with his magic and walked past them into a clearing. Sharp followed swiftly as he let her in. “This is my place.”

“Is there no pony else?” Sharp asked. The stallion sadly shook his head.

“No. They all left when they had the chance.” 

“Why didn’t you leave?” Sharp kept asking as she looked around the clearing. A few big leaves were bent down and hold still with a few sticks and twigs, probably a bed. There was also a place for a campfire and some pots and other kitchen things. There was a sort of storage with all kinds of fruit.

The stallion looked up to the sky. “Because,” He started. “I fell in love.” He said, smiling brightly as he averted his gaze back to the pirate.

“With who?”

“The island.” 

He smiled warmly at her. She knew he was telling the truth just from looking in his beautiful green eyes. She was charmed by his look as he smiled at her.

“You know,” He started again. “The island really is beautiful. There isn’t any money you can fight over. You have to stay together, so that creates a bond between ponies, and you rely on each other. You have to trust each other and be honest. You can’t just go out on your own…” 

Sharp just nodded as he looked at the sky again. Like it would bring back the wonderful times he had spent with his friends. He sighed slightly before talking again.

“It was… special. Not like the outside world. That’s why I stayed here. There are no thieves, robbers or killers. That’s what I hate. Ponies who kill, just for the heck of it.” He said seriously. Sharp was taken aback by this. She was a killing, thieving, robbing pirate. She gulped as he looked at her with those eyes again. It was like he held her there with them. Like he could make her do anything just by looking at her.

“What’s your name?” He asked.

“Sharp Wings, and yours?” He looked at her for a moment before sighing.

“You’re a pirate…” He said, obviously disappointed.

“Yeah, so? I care about others, you know! You can’t just judge somepony by what they are!” Sharp yelled at him. This time, he was taken aback. 

“I-I’m sorry. I just know your name and… Well, they don’t say good things about you to be honest.” 

Sharp huffed. “Well, some things are probably true. Probably most actually, but I still care about others. I would’ve never abandoned my crew.” Her voice started to crack just by thinking of it. “I miss them… I really need to get back to them.” She said. The unicorn smiled again and walked over to her.

“My name’s Emerald Fire.” The stallion said gently as he looked her straightly in the eyes. “Why…” 

Sharp cocked her head to the side as he seemed like he wanted to ask something. But he closed his mouth and shook his head.

“Forget it.” He said with a slight laugh. “Alright bella, you can stay here as long as you promise not to steal or kill anything.” 

Sharp groaned. No stealing or killing? This was going to be an absolute hell, but she had to go with it to survive. With a sigh she gave in. “Alright. I promise.” 

Emerald nodded and trotted towards the sleeping place. “You can sleep here.” He pointed towards a bed of leaves. It didn’t look to comfortable, but Sharp had no choice. 

“Thanks…” She muttered. Emerald smiled at her, his shining green eyes looked warm and gentle. She found herself stuck in his gaze again. He had beautiful eyes.

“How long have you been lying on the beach anyway?” He asked. Sharp shrugged and shook her head.

“I honestly have no idea. Probably pretty long, seeing at it is almost night already.” She said. Emerald nodded and walked to the cooking pot. 

“I still have some food over from my own meal. You can have that.” He said smiling at her. Sharp just nodded and walked over to the pot. It was filled half with some kind of purple substance.

“Uhm… What is it?” Sharp asked. Emerald chuckled.

“I knew you were going to ask that. Even though you’re a pirate, I’ve heard a lot about the wellness of you and your crew.” He said. Sharp nodded. “It’s stamped fruits from the island. I’ve learned which plants are deadly or poisonous, and which are eatable.” He finished smiling. Sharp gulped and looked at the pot again. “Come on, it’s actually rather tasty, you know.” Emerald laughed. 

Sharp nodded again and let Emerald get her a bowl with the purplish substance with his magic. After she sat down he gave the bowl to her and she held it with her hooves. Taking a sip she closed her eyes. The purple fluids danced on her tongue as she tasted it and let it slide down her throat. Her eyes were closed tightly as she got ready for the taste on her sensitive tongue. But instead of a purely nasty taste, she found herself liking the juice. Her eyes opened widely as the taste of the liquid set in and made her mind flutter. 

“That was delicious!” Sharp exclaimed when she had finished the bowl. “What exactly was it?” She asked as she looked to the emerald eyed stallion.

“Pretty much only berries and a few special verbs. I call it bacche deliziosa” He said smiling. “That means berry delicious in Italian. Would you like some more maybe?” 

Sharp nodded her head as Emerald took her bowl and filled it a second time. After something about five bowls Sharp got tired.

“Thanks Emerald. I’m glad you’re here.” Sharp said as she laid down on the leaves. Emerald smiled warmly at her as he nodded. 

“Don’t worry about it, bella, I’ll be here for you.” 

After that he turned around and went to sleep, so Sharp did the same. Though there was something bothering her, a few things to be exact. She didn’t die as she expected to happen when she fell into the water. And she left her crew all alone, and also that poor little foal. She wondered how they were doing, why she was here and why she hadn’t died. She decided to let it rest and get some sleep.

This night she had another weird dream. She was on a beach, all alone. The wind was blowing through her mane silently as the tiny waves splashed on the shore. Sharp watched the sunset silently, sighing happily as she remembered her first sunset when she was on a ship. It had been so beautiful. Just like this time. As she watched, she felt a presence come closer behind her. With a swift movement she turned around and faced two beautiful shining green eyes.

“Emerald…” The pegasus muttered as he came closer. He stood next to her on the shore, watching the sunset silently. Sharp felt save with him next to her. His eyes shone beautifully in the sunlight as the sun lowered towards the horizon. After a few more moments, the sun disappeared completely and darkness surrounded the two. Sharp looked next to her at the brown stallion, who looked back at her with a gentle smile. Sharp smiled back as he came a little closer. She felt her face slightly heating up as Emerald brushed his coat against hers. He came closer towards her face and gently touched her nose. At that moment, she woke up.

A bright blush had found itself on Sharp’s cheeks as she opened her eyes widely and sat up. She swallowed a lump in her throat as she looked at the stallion beside her. What happened? The last dream she had, had come true, so what about this one? With a sigh she laid back onto the leaves and tried to sleep again. But she found herself heating up every time she thought about the dream. Did she start to like him? She didn’t know. She had never before been in love, so she wasn’t sure how it felt. With another sigh she tried sleeping again and closed her eyes, calming down a bit.

After a while she felt something moving beside her and heard rustling. Deciding to ignore it Sharp held her eyes closed as her mind stayed blank. Until she was suddenly yanked to her hooves by magic. She heard a laugh as she stumbled back down on the ground when the force let go of her.

“Sorry, bella. I just couldn’t get you to wake up.” She heard. The voice was kind and had a slight hint of fun in it. She opened her eyes and stood up slowly. Before her stood the stallion of her dreams.

“It’s alright. I’ve always been a tight sleeper…” Sharp muttered as she looked at the unicorn. He chuckled and held a bowl in front of her face with his magic. Sharp blinked as it floated in front of her.

“Here. I made you some more bacche deliziosa, bella.” He said as he put the bowl on the ground in front of her. Sharp nodded and held it with her hooves, drinking from it. “I was planning on doing my monthly clean up today, but since you’re here I might as well show you around the island.” Emerald said as Sharp finished her bowl. The pegasus smiled warmly at him and nodded.

“Thanks.” She said and stood up, putting the bowl back where it belonged. She still missed her crew, but she knew they could take care of themselves for now. 

Emerald walked towards some sort of home-made storage room. It was made out of leaves, wood, and several other things. It was a good thing he was a unicorn, otherwise building all those things by himself would’ve been a lot more trickier. Sharp smiled as Emerald came out of the little space with some home-made saddle bags. They were made from leaves and some sticky spider webs. He smiled at her as he walked past her and put some things in his bags, including some home-made weapons.

“Well then, let’s get going.” He said smiling, taking the pegasus pirate with him. 

The sun shone brightly as the two ponies trotted through the tight forest. Emerald showed the pirate all kinds of nature things, such as fruits, plants, animals and so on. Sharp found herself stuck in his eyes the whole time as he talked. She loved spending time with him, even though she didn’t want to admit it. She found the nature quite interesting so far. The deadly and poisonous plants could come in handy some time. Most animals were friendly, but a few weren’t. A big eagle found the two ponies trotting towards the waterfalls and decided to attack. Emerald already heard him coming and jumped towards Sharp to shove her out of the way. The eagle’s sharp claws scratched slightly over the unicorn’s coat, but disappeared quickly. Wincing a bit, Emerald stood, making room for the pirate to stand up too. 

“Are you okay?” Sharp asked as she stood back on her hooves.

“Yeah, it’s just a scratch.” Emerald laughed slightly. “Don’t worry about it.” He motioned her to follow him again. They walked further into the forest and eventually came to a beautiful place with waterfalls, fruits and all kinds of animals and plants. 

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Emerald said as they walked towards a bench made out of stone. 

Sharp’s eyes shone as the ponies neared the huge waterfall. The water flowed down with great speed and strength and fell onto the rocks beneath it with loud splashes. The beautiful blue liquid sparkled in the warm sunlight. 

“Yes, it sure is.” Sharp said, slightly dazed from the amazing place. Her eyes scanned every nook and cranny of the wonderful clearing until they fell on the stone bench. “Did you make that?” She asked. Emerald looked at her, then at the bench with a smile and nodded.

“Yes, I did. But not alone. My friends worked on it too. Even with magic it wasn’t quite easy.” He laughed silently. Sharp looked back at him and wondered if he really missed his friends so much.

“You know, Emerald. If you miss your friends, you should just go to them.” She said. “This island may be beautiful, but it isn’t worth anything when you live all alone.”

With a chuckle Emerald nodded. “You’re right about that.” He looked up at the sky. “I just… I’m just not sure about it. Maybe someday I’ll be able to see them again.” He said as they sat down on the ground. The grass was soft and slightly wet from the night damp. It was already noon and Emerald took some fruit out of his saddlebags. 

“Want some?” He asked, handing some to the pegasus. Sharp nodded and smiled, taking a yellowish fruit in her mouth. She took a bite, taking in the taste. With a smile she swallowed it.

“What was that? It was delicious!” She exclaimed. Emerald laughed slightly and smiled warmly at her.

“That is a frutta gialla.” He said. He had called this language ‘Italian’, but Sharp did not know it. “It means yellow fruit. Pretty simple actually.” He said with a laugh. Sharp nodded and smiled at him as she ate the frutta gialla. Emerald took some other fruit and ate it himself. After they finished eating he stood up again.

“Let’s go back. It’s getting pretty dark.” 

With a nod Sharp stood up and followed after him. She looked at him differently now. Even though they had met each other just the previous day, she felt herself attracted to him. He amazed her in almost every way. His eyes always shone brightly, even in the dark, and his personality was admirable. And of course his looks weren’t bad either. Sharp didn’t realize it yet, but deep in her heart, she started to love the stallion more and more each minute they spend together. Her dream from before hadn’t just been a dream. It was a vision of the future.