Journey to the center of Equestria

by Rarity Belle

Chapter XIX

With a moan and a groan from the hit in her back was Applejack just furious about what had happened. The admiral never would have thought that Twilight was even capable of doing what she had done to her. Never had she expected that the soothsayer would actually and physically managed to harm her in any way or form.

Her back was aching like hell while both of her hands were sticking in the mud of the road. Annoyance and anger were both racing through the mare as she straightened her spine as much as possible. The artificial leg that she carried was clearly to be seen but in the moment she didn’t care about that. Every last one of her senses had set itself upon getting revenge.

Revenge on Twilight, revenge on others. The feelings were flowing through her body at a rate unseen by her before. The normally calm, collected, stern but honest green rimmed eyes had been turned over into else but glares of hatred. She managed to rise herself back up from the ground and blinked only once with her eyes.

Wheezes were released by the earth anthrony as she looked around while gentle puffs of steam almost leaving her nostrils with every single exhale. She was angry to the core, that much could have been for certain already. “Ah’ll find ya and Ah’ll gut ya. The both of ya,” the mare spoke to herself. A deep growl of almost pure hatred was released into the air.

Luckily for Applejack, was her volume kept low so nopony who was passing her would have heard the words. Yet there was one little thing she had forgotten about. The fact that she didn’t have her sword. Not that it mattered too much in the moment to her. Her hands could be just as deadly as the sharpest sword.

The mare wanted to do a step into the direction she thought would be leading to the place where Twilight would have gone. Yet as soon as she tried to move her steam powered leg, the thing simply refused to work. Curiosity suddenly rose itself in the body of the mare as she wanted to know exactly what caused it.

The earth anthrony bend herself over before she lowered through her good leg. The coat was flung aside so that she had a better view on the leg. A leg that wasn’t covered by the pant-leg of her trousers for obvious reasons. Not even when she wore a disguise did she wanted to have anything covering it directly.

The eyes looked over the leg from hoof to hip before they finally managed to see what was wrong. Technically she didn’t saw it, but as her hand went over the valves in the back of the thigh it became apparent some of them had been closed off. Who had done that was unknown and Applejack didn’t care.

She opened the valves quickly into the right places before she felt the steam crawling up to her face. The boiling water didn’t even hurt her as she gently got back up again and took another step forward. A step that that time went without a single hitch.

The earth anthrony was content with the smooth motions her legs was making. Then her eyes looked out for some of the scum that could be watching through the shadows. The last thing she wanted was to be recognized by any of them.

Once again were both head and body hidden away from the crowd. The mud on her hands got wiped away on the coat. It did gave her two very distinct stripes of brown over it which clashed with the black nature of the coat itself. If even one anthrony recognized her, the game would be over and the battle for her life would begin. The admiral really was in the den of the manticore then.

Applejack had to make haste if she wanted to catch up with Twilight and give her the payback she deserved. Although something like that was easier said than done. On the other end of the spectrum, it would have been a lot easier just to look for an anthrony with pretty much the same coat and hat.

~~~~

Speaking of Twilight Sparkle herself, the unicorn soothsayer had managed to walk her way down to the docks. She had to calm herself down so much in order not to be amazed by the way the pirate port had been constructed. For she was looking at a cavern system carved out by the sea itself with only one or two ways of actually being able to sail in and out of the place.

The place was lit by countless torches of either the docks themselves or the vessels that were anchored there. Yet the fun didn’t stop there, for bodies of water were actually responsible for the moving of the vessels.

Bodies of water moved each ship safely in and out of the narrow gauge that separated the port from the free oceans of Equestria. “So that’s how it happens,” she mumbled to herself before she continued to walk down the stairs.

The scars of battle could be seen on each of the vessels while the next was even crazier in design than the last one. Vessels from all shapes and sizes, armed with all kinds of weaponry and a crew even more bloodthirsty than the last were seen by her eyes.

Uncomfortable was the best word to describe the feeling that was going through Twilight’s heart. Though she had to remain calm no matter what. They could smell her very fear if they wanted to. The unicorn didn’t wanted to get in a fight with any of the crewmembers of any of the ships but the odds wouldn’t always be in her favor.

Though right in front of her they appeared like they were nothing. Half a dozen drunken stallions that were still taking swigs of rum out of the bottle and had camped down at the walkway. They were actually right in Twilight’s way to walk to the one dock she needed to be. The unicorn came to a standstill on a safe distance from the six of them. With a calm set of eyes had she looked if there was another way around them.

She didn’t care if she had to walk around two other ships, as long as she didn’t had to cross that lot would she be happy. So her eyes began to scan around the place in the hope to find something that could be helping her.

Yet luck was on her side. Just to her right and a little bit in front, there was another walkway that separated two vessels. Relief went through the mare without a doubt but she still had to come pretty close to the scum that were sitting there.

"You can do this Twilight,” she whispered to herself . Then both of her hands were placed inside of the coats pockets. The unicorn anthrony then continued to step forward at a calm pace. She tried not to mind the drunken sailors too much before she would make her turn.

Though she didn’t go unnoticed in their eyes. Even the feminine shape of her body was picked out just like that by the drunk eyes. The saying went that the most honest anthrony was a drunk one. It didn’t took long before their voices filled the air and Twilight began to believe that little fact right on the spot.

“Hey pretty lady, come over here and have some fun with us!” one of them yelled to her in an unusually kind tone. Moments later would he erupt out in laughter. The unicorn just didn’t understood what the joke was and tried her utmost best just to shake them off of her mind.

Which was something that was actually a lot easier said than done. More and more of those words came into the ears of Twilight. Only once she finally had made her turn did she thought it would have been all over. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Pretty lady! Where are you going to?!” the same sailor spoke towards her again. With all the might in his body did he try to get up from his position. He managed to stand back on his hooves for about ten seconds. Then he crashed back into the bag of wheat he had been sitting against the whole time already.

For a moment there was silence while Twilight ceased her walking in an utter fear for the sailors. She thought that anything and everything that could have happened there and then. Small drops of sweat were traveling down the sides of her head as she hoped it would all end well.

It also revealed to the unicorn that she truly hadn’t a clue of what was going on in the world and how to react to it. While it was true that she knew bits and pieces of it, she hadn’t seen every single layer of society. Right there, she found herself in the lowest one of them all. Time crawled down to a near standstill as she waited for the reply of the stallions to happen.

Seconds went by in silence while the stallions were looking at each other. They all bellowed out in a deep and genuine happy laughter then. Something about the crash of their own mate had caused them to forget Twilight’s entire existence. Which on her turn gave her a free pass.

It was something for which the unicorn was truly happy about as she felt the weight being dropped off from her shoulders. Though the troubles weren’t over yet. For she had to find the right vessel first and then hope she convince the captain.

“Alright then Widow, ready or not…here I come,” she said to herself as a deep breath was taken. It would have been then or never that her journey would have continued. The time to look for the mighty vessel that simply known as the Vengeful Belle.

It felt like almost an hour had passed by before Twilight Sparkle finally managed to find herself walking down the walkway that would be leading her to the right vessel. One more turn was made and the unicorn stood face to face with the stern of the ship. A ship coated in a white paintjob with spots of blue on places left and right.

Twilight had to admit that it looked like a beauty. Weren’t it for the fact that there wasn’t any light that shone out of the windows of the captain’s cabin. But to already make a judgment about whether or not the captain was home, wasn’t on its right time. No, she had to investigate a little bit more before such a verdict would have been able to be created.

So the only thing she could do was to walk around the ship and watch what it actually was. As it turned out to be, the ship shared characteristics from a naval war frigate but was about half a time shorter. It was still a massive vessel in Twilight’s eyes. Even if it was a lot shorter than those from the navy.

Yet she quickly made the connection that due to its smaller size, it could hide a lot easier inside of the cavern system. “Curious, highly curious,” the mare mumbled to herself. Then she noticed the two decks with the ports for the cannons. It was a vessel armed to the teeth and carrying three masts, the white and blue paintjob only added to the beautiful looks.

Though when Twilight continued to look up on the mast, she could see it waving in the wind that stood decent in the cavern. That flag that made even the toughest of heart tremble, the dreaded Jolly Roger. It waved with pride in the wind, showing the alliance to everypony.

The eyes of the unicorn tore themselves away from the flag. A deep exhale was given while she blinked with her eyes. The thoughts were too conflicting for her at the moment. Twilight decided to walk a bit more towards the bow. She wanted to see just what kind of figure the ship had taken to itself. What had it claimed to spook every other vessel with?

Slowly and carefully did the unicorn got to the end of the walkway and watched how the lines that connected the ship to the dock. It was bobbling very lightly into the calm waters of the cavern. Then her eyes finally saw the bow statue.

What happened next was that she almost reached for her heart and fear and took a couple of steps back. For never in her life had she even dared to expect the bow statue as she saw it. It was a true horror to look at and she immediately understood of why anthronies called the captain by the nickname of White Widow.

The statue that stood at the bow was an interpretation of the frightful devil herself, Nightmare Moon. Only the upper body was carved out of the wood but that was more than enough. The horn had connected itself at the tip to the bowsprit while one arm was stretching out as if it wanted to grab something. Yet the hand was held in such a manner that it was holding something up.

The other arm went at the side of the body, reaching for a sword that hung on the side of it. But that wasn’t even the worst of it. The worst of it was that it was the image of Nightmare Moon, the spirit that the soothsayer and fairly much everypony who had at least heard of her was afraid of.

Yet on that vessel –the proclaimed terror of the oceans– it was the bow statue. Twilight rubbed one of her hands almost constantly over her face as she even began to wonder just where on earth she had gotten herself into. “The terror of everypony, glorified as a bow statue… Guts, lots and lots of guts they must have.” Those were the only words that Twilight could be speaking up before she walked back past the hull of the ship.

There only happened to be one thing left to do and that was to actually board the vessel. Luckily for her was there another walkway that went up and towards the top deck. So that was exactly what the thing that she did.

Mere moments later had the soothsayer gotten on board of the vessel and she allowed her horn to gently scan the place to sense any dark magic. If the magic of Moon would have been present would the situation have gone from pretty much impossible, to downright impossible.

Agonizing seconds came and went for the unicorn as she continued to scan the vessel. Traces of magic were found but they weren’t as dark as those in the woods of Everfree. It was a massive relief for the mare but she knew that she still just had to be careful about it. One wrong move and everything could be over.

That was actually already the problem. Twilight didn’t have Applejack with her to protect her, which meant that she was already on her own. Not to mention there was another matter, a matter that Twilight wanted to forget as soon as she noticed the flag. Yet she couldn’t help it that eyes were from up there were watching her.

It was a feeling that had never left her and as she began to wander over the deck in the hope to find anyone, it still was there. Always present and always lurking. “Maybe, that’s where the magic comes from?” Twilight said to herself as some sort of an excuse. An excuse that went something along the lines of a spell being cast over the vessel. A spell which would give everypony who got aboard the feeling of being watched.

Though she couldn’t have been more wrong on the matter. For high up in the masts, in the crow’s nest of the middle mast there was something. Something that had been awoken just by Twilight’s very presence upon the vessel. A pair of sapphire blue rimmed eyes were almost constantly looking down to the mare just to see what had been in store for her.

The ship wasn’t as deserted as Twilight thought it would have been. Not to mention the fact that she still thought to be having the element of surprise to her side. Though not one, but two anthronies actually had it a whole lot better than that she did.

Round and round she went on the top deck, all while looking towards whatever would even indicate a little bit on a little hump of flesh that was sleeping. Though there was nothing that could be seen. Perhaps beneath the deck she would be having more luck, but that meant that she would actually be giving the advantage to another anthrony.

Which wasn’t something she actually wanted to do in the moment. Yet the longer she stood on the deck, the more the feelings of fear were crawling up to her. All of the sudden her very guts just told her to get the hell out of the place. Something would be going down terribly and the last thing she wanted was to get caught in the crossfire.

With a quick turn did the unicorn go around. She wanted to walk back to the boarding ramp with a quick pace to her hooves. Though her luck was running dry. For a hat wearing figure made its way up and blocked the way out for her.

The unicorn released a deep gulp while she took gently steps back and tried to calm any form of anger that was going through the anthrony with gentle motions of her hands. “I, I didn’t mean to just sneak aboard of the ship the way I did, you have to believe me. I, I didn’t enter without permission, well, kinda did but, but you have to hear me out!”

Twilight didn’t have a clue against whom she was talking. Whether it had been a crewmember or the captain itself. Anything could happen in the moment as not even a single part of the body was released to her. All that was shown was that black hat and mud stained coat. The breathing of the unicorn became more and more uncontrollable when she tried to talk her way out of the situation.

Yet from her partner there was nothing else then silence that was given off. The other anthrony did continue to walk up to her with a calm pace. The sounds of a metal hoof against the wooden deck made Twilight think that the other anthrony had a peg leg of some kind. But she was looking in the opposing direction of what was actually going on.

“H-Hey, s-say something, will you?!” Twilight exclaimed. The fear in her body continued to rise to highest she hadn’t seen or felt before. She was scared, she was truly and honestly scared in the moment. Anything could have happened and she prepared herself for that very thing.

Yet high up in the crow’s nest, that same being that had been looking at her, found that it was time to make itself known to the two of them. For the situation was escalating quickly and in its own mind were the two of them were trapped like rats. Which was exactly the place they needed to be. So one arm of the being rose itself up and got a hold of the rope that hung there.

Only to then just step over the edge and almost in total silence made its way down to the deck of the vessel. It knew Twilight was a unicorn because it had seen the horn shining so that was the most logical pray to be caught.

Once the being set both hooves on the deck, they moved forward in silence. The eyes looked in almost every direction to make sure nothing was there. Once again would Twilight be in for the scare of a lifetime. What was about to happen, could have been the showdown in all three of their lives. Something grand was about to happen, that was the only certainty.

“Come on, tell me something, anything!” Twilight begged towards the hat wearing figure. She really just wanted to know who it was that was keeping her on board of the vessel. Of course she could have just teleported her way off of it but that meant also another thing. The very fact that certain mysteries wouldn’t be solved. And mysteries unsolved wasn’t a good thing for the unicorn at all. She needed to know everything that was happening in the moment of time.

The two of them were so focused upon each other that the third figure could just sneak up behind Twilight without being spotted. All of the sudden it then happened. All of the sudden did Twilight felt an arm going around her neck. It almost began to choke her right before she was pulled backwards.

The next thing she knew was that the cold steel of a barrel was placed against her head and the hammer was cocked. Once again was she held under shot by an anthrony that didn’t spoke a word. One could have said it became a routine for her. Though Twilight had never gotten used to the feelings of hanging in the balance of life and death.

A loud yelp was released by the unicorn. In an desperate attempt had she tried to call upon her magic. But the arm was so tight around her neck, that it blocked off any magic that wanted to travel to her horn. She was rendered useless. The eyes couldn’t even move around to see her captor. She had gone out of the frying pan and into the fire. Fires that wouldn’t be extinguished that easily.

What could she have done? She was cornered between two fires. At one end there was her captor, on the other there was the mysterious, mud stained stranger that just remained standing there. Twilight thought she needed a miracle to get out of the mess she had gotten in.

Oh Shining Armor, how stupid I have been, I should have listened to you and just not have gone. Applejack, I am so, so, so, so sorry that this had to happen. I really, really should have listened to you two and not have gone, were just some of the words that the unicorn screamed to herself in thought as she continued to look at what would be happening next.

Though luck might have been on her side just a little bit more than she originally would have expected, or even could have thought. The head of the silent stranger moved itself up to finally face both Twilight and her captor. Not even her wildest dreams could have come up with the revelation. She was finally stopped being dragged around and her eyes quickly shot upwards to see the middle mast of the ship clearly.

That was where they had stopped. Her captor had the mast in its back and used the unicorn as some sort of living shield. But when the eyes turned back to the stranger, that stranger didn’t appear to be all that strange as originally had been thought.

But the orange skin already gave it away, not to mention those freckles just below the eyes. The mysterious stranger was nopony else then the admiral of the navy, Applejack. The second that Twilight realized who it was, there was both a shock of happiness as well as terror that went through her body. She never would have expected the admiral to find the vessel on her own.

Yet somehow it all happened, somehow it all worked out. Outside of the fact that Twilight couldn’t perform her magic, Applejack didn’t have access to her blade and they still didn’t know the identity of the captor. At least Twilight didn’t. Everything else seemed to have worked out.

A deep huff was being released by the admiral. Her arms were crossed over each other and her green rims didn’t look into those of Twilight but further. Instead they went over her shoulders and towards the being who had captured her. Happiness wasn’t to be found within the eyes, the glare of a past long forgotten could be seen for just a second.

“Oh no,” did Twilight whisper to herself as she still tried to get herself out of the hold. But it was a losing battle. Never would she even have been able to win the battle against the other being. The hold was just too strong to be broken by her chicken-strength. Which rendered her just useless and at the mercy of Applejack and her captor.

“Looks like the winds of change have brought us together once more, White Widow,” said Applejack then in a confident tone. She took a step closer. The barrel of the gun was placed even more firm again Twilight’s head while her eyes had gone wide from the mentioning of the name.

Once more there was something going on that she never in her life could have expected to have happened. A deep gulp was being released when the realization went through her that she was held as a living shield by the anthrony they needed to get in their team. As far as first meeting would go, it could be considered to be pretty terrible to say the least.

All of the sudden was there the sound of another horn charging itself. The blue magical aura revealed more of the scene. It was only used as a flashlight for the admiral to know against whom she was talking to. In the eyes of the admiral did the scene came. There they stood, both Twilight Sparkle with her hat taken off and the coat still on. But there was an arm covered in the sleeve of a white blouse that went to another body. A body of a white skinned, purple haired, unicorn mare.

A stunning unicorn that managed to surprise Applejack every single time. She carried the face was that of a true lady from high classed cities itself. But that was all deceit, for beneath there laid a ruthless monster that wouldn’t stop at anything from getting what she wanted. That was White Widow in a nutshell, a true femme fatale who ruled the seas but never was crowned queen.

Twilight wanted to turn herself around so badly and look the other unicorn in the eyes. But she just couldn’t because of the position she was held into. She was truly and really rendered useless. Not even a single muscle could be turned without being hurt. For her there was only one other explanation to be given. She had been enchanted by the pirate as well to feel that pain.

She had to give it to her, it was a good tactic. “Don’t do anything stupid, Applejack! I want to see the light of day again!” pleaded Twilight in a struggle. Even talking hurt her mouth badly as it were. It then all came down to Applejack with the wonder of whether or not she would be making the right decisions. All that the mulberry mare got out of the admiral, was nothing more than a huff before the eyes went back to that stare over her shoulder.

“Hmhmha,” the lady-like but also cutting voice of White Widow chuckled up. Then the actual words left her mouth. “So it looks like we once again stand against one another, Jackie. But the place is unlike you. So do tell me before I blow her brains out, how on the name of the demons of the sea did you managed to find me here. Talk, quickly. I’m not feeling as patient tonight.”

The threat was something that made Twilight’s eye turn into the direction of where the barrel made contact with her head. There she noticed the flintlock pistol that was being held with a firm grip. “T-Tell her!” Twilight added while the fear was still surging through her body.

“No,” the admiral replied. She unbuttoned her coat and just allowed it to wave in the wind. Her steam powered leg was clearly visible and Twilight just couldn’t get the connection made in her head even if she wanted. What did she mean with it?

“No?” Widow repeated with a raised eyebrow. One of her eyebrows rose up in a curious manner. Only to be followed by the laughter once again. “So I take it that this mare is of no value to you then? You know me, I don’t back away. Not anymore.” The once so lady-like tone had taken a turn for the darkest as the eyes of the white skinned unicorn narrowed themselves.

“Oh Ah know that, partner. Ah have been on the hunt for ya ever since. But she, holds value to me. I want to end her life before ya be able to do!” Applejack replied. With a puff of steam that left her left leg had she taken another step closer.

“What?!” Twilight exclaimed as she didn’t even knew why Applejack wanted to do such a thing. That was until she began to dug back into her mind and realized that little fact of the events as they had played out after she had left the bar. “Oh, that’s why…”

Another grumble left the admiral when she tried to fix her leg but never took her eyes off of the pair of them. Something on which Widow could actually capitalize on. “From the looks of it and from the words I have heard, you two have been traveling together for some time now, haven’t you? Which means that you know the other fairly well. So allow me, soothsayer, do you know what caused your friend to walk with such a leg?”

The attention was suddenly turned towards Twilight. The unicorn felt the two pairs of eyes piercing right into her soul. Comfort wasn’t a thing that was given by either of them but she didn’t know the answer on the question. At least, not the answer that she wanted to give.

At first there was a deep gulp before the mouth of the unicorn managed to open itself up and talk the words of truth towards the pirate. It was all that she could be doing in the hope to postpone the inevitable. “N-No, I, I do not know that,” answered Twilight to the pirate captain, who released a simple chuckle in response.

“You soothsayers are always so predictable,” countered Widow with a grin. Twilight began to wonder just how the news of their journey had gotten any kind of scent to a mare like her. But that was a question for another time. One problem could be tackled at once. And right then it was to get her out of Widow’s hold. “Me and Jackie…”

“Don’t, call me that!” Applejack replied in a snarling tone as she had fixed her leg again and just bluntly interrupted the pirate from talking. “Mah name, is Applejack and ya know it.”

White Widow just rolled with her eyes as she released an annoyed exhale through her mouth. “Fine then darling, whatever you want. So as I said, me and Applejack here are going back a long time. Long before the whole zebra conflict of years gone by. But that is only part of the story. The whole story went something along the lines of this…”

“Don’t ya tell her!” growled Applejack just before she took another step closer. In a flash of lightning had Widow moved the flintlock away from Twilight’s skull and aimed it just of Applejack’s and fired a warning shot that went straight past the admiral. The whistle of the musket echoed within her ear and she knew trouble had arrived.

The admiral came to a standstill and rose both of her hands when the second hammer got cocked. The barrel was placed again against Twilight’s head. The expression that was given by Widow had turned into an annoyed one. The other mare didn’t bluff and meant the words she would say. “I’m going to tell my story and you’re going to like it, Jackie. I’m queen and master on these planks, not you. Something that you should have learned a long time ago, commodore.”

Applejack released another deep huff before she took a step backwards. It was unavoidable. Twilight would be getting a history lesson of the relation between the two mares. “It all began, two long weeks before we would be setting sail to stop the zebra ships…”

Comments

[Misty Spell]

“I, I didn’t mean to just sneak aboard of the ship the way I did, you have to believe me. I, I didn’t enter without permission, well, kinda did but, but you have to hear me out!”

"I lack the ability to learn from my mistakes!"

“Oh Ah know that, partner. Ah have been on the hunt for ya ever since. But she, holds value to me. I want to end her life before ya be able to do!” Applejack replied. With a puff of steam that left her left leg had she taken another step closer.

"Look at me not bein' a pirate! Ladeedaa, end of the world? Never heard o' such a thing, ya landlubbin' varmint!"

. In a flash of lightning had Widow moved the flintlock away from Twilight’s skull and aimed it just of Applejack’s and fired a warning shot that went straight past the admiral. The whistle of the musket echoed within her ear and she knew trouble had arrived.

So far Fluttershy has been the only non dick they've encountered.