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Book 1, Chapter 1: Remembrance3,758 words
Book 1, Chapter 2: The Gala6,643 words
Book 1, Chapter 3: A Life Without4,753 words
Book 1, Chapter 4: New Course4,009 words
Book 1, Chapter 5: Changes5,476 words
Book 1, Chapter 6: Pride & Payments2,955 words
Book 1, Chapter 7: Bitter Resolutions3,980 words

Book 1, Chapter 7: Bitter Resolutions

Contract after contract.

Payout after payout.

Fund cut after fund cut.

That was how the Sea's Fury had been getting by for the next year. They would receive a contract from the Governor and would complete it with perfection... only to watch in dismay as the Commodore and his soldiers walked away with the majority of the gold they'd earned. This was not how a privateer's life was supposed to be.

"We can barely afford to fill our stomachs!" had become a very common complaint among the ship.

All the while, the battles continued to rage between the lands. It seemed like not much action was being taken to stop the wars like the Governor had planned. What the privateers did not know, however, was that Moneyburn wasn't using a single bit to end the wars. Out of the sight of normal citizens, Moneyburn and Brass Flaw indulged themselves in expensive clothing and furniture, as well as fine wine and food. He was not the least bit concerned in ending the wars, but rather in living as lavish of a lifestyle as possible. But it was no secret that privateers and sailors everywhere were starting to become suspicious.

So weary did they grow of all this, that Blackmane gathered his crew one evening and brought up a plan he'd figured out earlier that day.

"All right, lads. We've been workin' our hooves to the bone for Governor Moneyburn, and all he's done is just take our earnings, Well... I for one, have had enough, and I'm sure ye all feel the same."

The crew all nodded and murmured their agreement.

"So, here's the idea. I got this contract from Moneyburn a couple days ago. To make it simple, we're to take a ship that has around 730,000 gold. Apparently, the ship belongs to a bunch of pirates who've looted all those bits. The Governor plans to take about 80 percent of those earnings, but I propose another idea. I got myself a private island due west of here. It's uncharted, and not many ships make their way around that area. I say we complete the contract, take the 80, nay- take 90 percent and stash it at my island. We'll bring the rest to Moneyburn and tell him that it was all we found on the ship. What say ye all?"

"Aye!" not one crew member objected to this. They were all sick of the way they'd been living, and they were ready for a decent amount of gold for a change.

"Then it's settled. The pirates were last spotted hiding out around the Ravenplume Islands. Let's make our way there and we'll take what's rightfully ours."

****** ONE WEEK LATER ******

Princess Luna stormed her way down the castle's hall, her breathing coming out in an angry growl. She'd had enough! Ever since becoming the rulers of Equestria, her sister had ruled the day, while she ruled the night, as it had always been. But Luna began noticing- ponies everywhere always enjoyed the light of the day, the sun's warmth. They revered Celestia with gratitude for their sun princess.

But when she rose the moon at night? Everypony was asleep before it reached even a quarter's height in the sky! Barely anypony ever even spoke to her, and when they did, it was only a simply greeting. They didn't have a care in the world for the night, or for her!

"Is this how you treat your Night Princess?" she hissed to herself as she approached the throne room.

True, her sister had tried to convince her otherwise, that the ponies of this land still adored Luna, that they meant no ill will when they fell asleep during the evening's hours. Yes, she tried, but Luna was no longer convinced. First Hydro was taken from her, and now the appreciation of her ponies was stolen away as well? This had gone on too long! For too long, Luna had been robbed of everything she held dear, always being told to just be grateful for what she had. Well, now she had nothing! Absolutely nothing!

Several times recently, Luna had gotten into small scuffles with her sister, with the sun princess telling her to just be patient, that the love and adoration for her would soon show- but it never did. Also, she'd been hearing that voice in her head more and more. The voice that encouraged her to give the ponies of Equestria the same shabby treatment they'd given her. Encouraged her to step up, and take what was rightfully hers. She'd begun to listen to that voice- and now, she was doing what it had asked. Today, she was taking Equestria for hers and hers alone! The ponies would love the night and its Princess- and if they didn't, then she would make them by force! She brooded over this as she entered the throne room. It was now or never.

"Sister? Are you here?" Celestia's voice was heard from the front of the throne room. Apparently, the sun princess had been looking for her.

"Not another step!" Luna ordered firmly, stepping out in front of her designated throne, looking down at her sister with bitter resentment.

Celestia looked at Luna with concern. There was that evil glare in her eye, again- but this time, it was much stronger. Almost as if it could escape any moment. She remained silent, trying to keep the peace.

"Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light?" Luna spat the words out with hatred.

The sun princess was about to tell her to please calm down, that nopony hated her and it was all a huge misunderstanding. But Luna spoke again- spoke the words that the voice had been telling her all along.

"There can only be ONE Princess in Equestria! And that Princess will be ME!!!!"

Celestia watched in horror as the evil in Luna's eyes suddenly burst forth with a bright light. Then, Luna looked at her sister with a deep, smoldering fury as she levitated into the air., using her powers to raise the moon directly in front of the sun, blotting its light completely. Then, just as she'd once described from her nightmares, Luna began to transform, her coat becoming as black as the abyss, her horn and wings extending, her eyes glowing with evil. Her voice grew deeper as her maniacal cackling echoed through the throne room.

Celestia was afraid it would have come to this. It had all started back when Luna was in love with Hydro. The way her parents treated the two caused anger and resentment to rise within her sister, eventually growing more and more until Luna became power hungry and driven by hate. She resolved to try and reason with her sister before taking action by force, hoping that she could bring back the Luna that used to be joyous and full of life. She shouted to her sister, who was approaching.

"Luna, I will not fight you! Lower the moon; it is your duty!"

"Luna?" her sister- or what had become of her sister, asked casually. Then, she said something that would haunt Celestia for centuries to come.

"I am Nightmare Moon! And I have but one duty now- to destroy you!!"

***** MEANWHILE... *****

The ship was sailing as fast as it could. Things had gone according to plan in the beginning stages. They had located the pirates' ship easily and taken the gold with no difficulty, leaving the empty ship for Moneyburn to reclaim and document for Bridleton. It didn't take long for them to search the ship- they only took the papers, captain's log and the pirate flag. But, while the Sea's Fury was sailing away, the Commodore noticed that it wasn't going in the usual direction.

"Governor, come and take a look at this." Brass Flaw had called, soon joined by Moneyburn.

"Where in the world is Blackmane sailing to?" the Governor had asked.

"I don't know, but it seems quite suspicious, don't you think."

"Aye," Moneyburn nodded, "Keep our distance, but follow that ship."

The Governor's ship, the Requiem, successfully managed to follow the Sea's Fury, all the way to the island where Blackmane had spoken of. As they approached the ship, the Commodore and Governor saw the crew loading bags and chests of gold into the lifeboats.

"I think I know what they're up to." Moneyburn commented, "Let's put a stop to this."

On the deck of the Sea's Fury, the crew were joking, talking and laughing delightfully, pleased that they finally had a decent amount of money for a change. No more fund cuts to 'end the wars' as Moneyburn called it. But the cheery talk ended when High Tide looked through his scope.

"It's the Requiem!" he shouted to everypony, "And she's approaching fast."

"Everypony act normal!" Blackmane ordered, to which the crew hid as much of the gold as possible and began doing work on the ship. They all tried to play it off as best as they could when the Requiem approached.

"Ahoy! Captain Blackmane!" Brass Flaw shouted.

"Ahoy there, Commodore!" Blackmane replied, "What brings ye out here?"

"I'd like to ask you the same." Moneyburn said, emerging from the shadows.

"We...we're just stoppin' to recover from the raid on the pirates is all." Blackmane answered.

The Commodore and Governor looked at one another, grinning slyly and chuckling. Moneyburn let out an exasperated sigh as he came into closer view.

"Really?" he asked, "Then may I ask why I saw you putting all the gold into your lifeboats?"

"What're ye talkin' about?" Blackmane tried to cover as best as he could, but said nothing more when the ship's soldiers walked forward.

"Do not test my intelligence." Moneyburn said crossly, "That is my gold, and you are to hand it over immediately."

Sighing, Blackmane signaled his crew and they began uncovering the bags and chests. They had been SO close, but it was of no use now. And there may very well be consequences for what they did. Nopony was looking forward to having fewer contracts. Governor Moneyburn grinned smugly as they set up a walking plank between the ships. They were just about to begin transferring the gold, when-

"Stand off!"

Everypony stopped and looked in shock as Maelstrom approached the ship's edge and kicked the walking plank off, causing it to sink into the waters below.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Brass Flaw demanded.

"This has gone on for too long." Maelstrom declared, "Do you expect us to stand by idly while you take all of our hard earned gold?"

"This is not your gold, to begin..." Moneyburn said, "And this gold is needed to end th-"

"Oh, give it a rest, will you!?" Maelstrom interrupted, "You are not doing a blasted thing to end these battles! They still continue day by day, and all the while, we notice new furniture in your home, the new clothing items you buy. We all slave away, completing YOUR contracts and fighting YOUR fights while you and your stallions sit back in your plush chairs, relaxing in the breeze! You're just taking all that money for yourself. It's time we all faced the truth- you're no fit for a Governor, you're just a money hungry scoundrel!"

"You'd best watch that tongue of yours before you regret it, sailor." warned the Governor. He then looked at the rest of the crew.

"If you all know what's good for you, then bring that gold over here immediately, and we can-"

"No, Maelstrom is right!" Blackmane said, "We earned all that gold that you took from us, but we have seen absolutely NO progress from any of you! Well, enough is enough! This gold is ours, and if you don't like it, then tough! You've got enough gold anyway!"

"Is that how you want to proceed?" Brass Flaw asked, "You just finished raiding a pirate ship- but if you keep your present course of action, then you will also be charged with piracy."

Blackmane stood there silently, not sure of what to say. Unfortunately, his failure to speak was taken as a confirmation by the Commodore, who signaled his soldiers.

"Very well then. Guards, proceed with force!"

The soldiers then lifted their rifles. The crew was able to drop to the floor in time, but when they fired, one of the bullets hit an oil keg, which quickly caught fire. Before they could reload, Blackmane had approached the wheel, attempting to get away- but he wasn't able to order full sail before the soldiers of the Requiem pulled in the Sea's Fury with grappling hooks and ropes.

"It's do or die, then, lads!" Blackmane shouted, raising his sword. "Who's with me!?"

The crew gave a loud cheer, lifting their weapons into the air.

"For the Sea's Fur- AAGGHHH!!" Blackmane grabbed his side and fell.

"Blackmane!" Maelstrom shouted, running to the Captain and seeing that he'd been shot in the torso. The ship continued to be pulled it, slowly but steadily, toward the Requiem.

"Maelstrom..." Blackmane said, coughing up a mouthful of blood, "It looks like I ain't got much time now, so-"

"Don't talk like that, Captain!" You'll be just fine!"

"Maelstrom, listen to me." the captain said firmly, "You've helped this crew and ship out more than anypony I've known. Fer that, I'm makin' ye the Captain as of right now. Don't let ponies like Moneyburn tell ye what to do- ye were right, we can't let him treat ponies like this anymore."

"Blackmane..." Maelstrom tried to convince the captain.

"When ye get the chance, take a look through my journal and logs. There's a few things there ye need to see. I always knew ye were a unique stallion, one of a kind. Ye've been like my brother, and I am blessed to have known ye and have ye aboard. Ye have a great destiny ahead of ye, and now the time has come to meet it. Now, then, Captain Maelstrom... treat the crew as if they're yer own family. Lead them to greatness. Until we meet again."

Blackmane lowered his head and closed his eyes, his final breath leaving his body in a long sigh.

"Our captain's dead!!!" Maelstrom bellowed in rage.

At this point, the ship was getting fairly close to the Requiem. Maelstrom knelt there for a few moments, rage building up from within his soul. Rage from the wrongful death of his captain, from the way he'd been treated by others in the past, even rage for the King of Equestria, all came up from within his soul, eventually erupting like a giant geyser. He looked up at the Requiem with a darkened expression of pure fury. He slowly unsheathed his sword, his glare locked firmly onto the soldiers on the Governor's ship, while his teeth clenched together in a vicious scowl.

As soon as the ships were close enough together, the rest of the crew watched in amazement as Maelstrom climbed up onto the ledge and gave a mighty leap, landing directly on the deck of the Requiem. He immediately struck down two soldiers while dodging gunfire from another. But the privateers quickly had to stop watching and unsheath their own weapons as their burning ship was now close enough for battle.

On the deck of the Requiem, Maelstrom was cutting and slashing every which way, his blind rage guiding him. Soldiers tried to take him down, but he was so furious, so livid, that not one of the soldiers stood a chance against him. He'd never felt such a burning anger in his entire life. The crew then began fighting the soldiers as well, cutting down guard after guard.

Maelstrom turned from cutting down a guard, wheeling around and facing a very terrified Brass Flaw.

"Maelstrom, I'm sure we can-"

The privateer didn't care what the Commodore had to say. He pulled his pistol out and shot him in the forehead, point blank. Then he turned his attention to Moneyburn, who was on the deck of the ship. Gripping his sword tightly, he made his way toward the corrupt Governor, taking out any soldier who got in his way.

Moneyburn was braver than Brass Flaw, but not skilled at all in combat. He was only able to hold Maelstrom off for a few moments before the stallion kicked his sword out of his grip and then struck the Governor, causing him to fall.

"With all that gold you stole, you really should have paid for some combat training."

With that, he dropped his sword and yanked Moneyburn up, taking his dagger and plunging it into Moneyburn's torso. He then looked directly into the eyes of the Governor.

"This is where your greed got you. All that gold you inconsiderately took from us, from the other privateers... from hard working citizens who just tried to make a living."

He shook his head in disgust at the Governor before hissing, "You careless, selfish bastard. What good is all that gold now?"

He then punched Moneyburn hard across the face before yanking his dagger out and shoving him overboard. Then, the blue Earth Pony looked to the Sea's Fury, which was now fully engulfed in flames. He cut the ropes from the ship, allowing the two vessels to drift apart, giving them safety from the flames. Maelstrom looked at the rest of the crew, who were standing victorious among the fallen guards. But even though they were victorious against the Governor and his soldiers, they were silent, remembering they had lost one crew member...

"Our Captain is dead." Maelstrom repeated. "And with Moneyburn gone, there is no immediate government for the land."

Maelstrom stood there for a few long moments, thinking everything over. HIs rage was not as bad as it had been a few minutes ago, but it was still there. He then faced his crew, who were waiting for him to speak.

"It never fails, does it?" he said, "There's always somepony out there who thinks that they're better than everypony else, that they deserve more. And they'll do whatever it takes to get what they want, even if it means hurting others in the process. Well, I've had it! All of my life, I've tried to make the best of what I've had, even though I hardly ever had anything! But there were always ponies who were much better off than I was, and they wanted more and more!"

"For too long, I have suffered while the rich have walked all over me! For too long I have tried to make the best of things, only to have some rich, stuck up pony to spit in my face and take everything from me!"

The crew was nodding in agreement- most of them had come from similar backgrounds, and they felt the same anger that Maelstrom was shouting right now.

"They tried to take our gold, and now they have taken our captain from us! I've had enough! No longer will the rich ones walk over us while we grovel! It is time for the rich to feel what we have felt! What say you!?"

"Aye!" the crew heartily responded.

Maelstrom took a step forward and felt his hoof brush against what felt like cloth. He looked down, and sure enough, there was a large folded black cloth of some sort. He picked it up and unfolded it. He saw that he was holding a black flag; in the center was a gleaming white skull... the flag that had belonged to the pirates they had battled. Maelstrom looked up at his crew, who gave him an approving look, some of them even nodding their heads.

"Brass Flaw said that they would charge us with piracy for standing our ground? Pirates for simply trying to make a living?" he asked, "Well, if that's what makes a stallion a pirate, then it's pirates they'll get! Does everypony agree!!??"

The crew cheered loudly, waving their weapons above their heads. Maelstrom tossed the black flag over to the two ponies that were next to the ship's mast. As he thought for a minute of what he was going to say, he looked up at the moon- just in time to see it change in appearance. The shadowy head of a familiar pony formed on its shining face.

"Luna...." he whispered.

It was at that moment he came up with a grand idea. It would show ponies everywhere that they were a force to be reckoned with... and it would also honor his precious Luna, the mare whom he was doing all of this for. He shouted boldly to his crew.

"Then this ship is now ours! No longer shall it be known as The Requiem, and no longer are we the privateers of the Sea's Fury! Everypony will soon come to fear the pirates of the Midnight Skull! Hoist the flag!"

The crew's cheers continued as the flag rose steadily to the top and began flowing in the breeze. The crew then looked to their new captain and cheered in honor of him. He once again felt a swell of pride. He knew now that the only way they would get any decent money was through taking it by force. And he had no qualms with taking from the ungrateful nobles.

As the crew continued cheering and as the black flag glimmered under the moonlight, Maelstrom felt the hatred and anger rise from within his soul. The hatred for the way he'd been mistreated in the past by inconsiderate ponies. And now, he was going to use this hatred and fury to his advantage. He would become rich by taking from the rich- they were going to experience the hatred they'd shown him. Some of the crew members then watched in fascination as Maelstrom's appearance changed before them. Normally, anypony would be frightened of seeing this, but these newfound pirates grinned as they looked on. His blue coat became darker, his dark blue mane now turned to a jet black... but above all else, it was the eyes that they noticed the most. Maelstrom's sea0green eyes turned from their normal color into a fierce, glowing red.

The stallion gave a wicked, sinister cackle. These lands would soon know and fear Captain Maelstrom and the Midnight Skull.

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