13.5- Nine Lives
The same evening...
The night was long and cold as the ponies who worked for the stallion named Dr. Caballeron patrolled the personal ship that had several artifacts onboard that were raided from numerous different ancient ruins. The boat itself was on course to the doctor’s personal mansion to be stored away before any treasure hunters like that of Daring Do would take anything on board away from them. Despite being a doctor, when it came to ancient treasures, Caballeron preferred the old saying… “finders keepers” and did not see the point to museums or having these artifacts being on display.
Yet, the talk amongst the ponies on board was not of Caballeron, but of something else that the ponies on board heard. A rumor that spread like wildfire throughout the Horseshoe Bay and now was the talk amongst the crew members. “I don’t believe it. It’s sounds like a bunch of bullcrap!”
“No, it’s true! The barkeep in port told me that many ponies, griffons and a bunch of other people have all encountered this Black Cat thief. Rumor is, anypony who’s encountered her has had more than their bits stolen… but has been left having nightmares for days. It’s supposed to be even faster than a pegasus.”
“I would only believe if I see that for myself, Starboard.” Another pony spoke up, looking back at the stallion as they spoke. “Speaking of which, it’s time to change shifts. You’re supposed to take over Calm Shore’s place for Nightwatch.”
“Okay, but if the rumors are true, don’t say I told you so.” The earth pony named Starboard grumbled before he stepped out and slammed the door behind him. He was frustrated at more than one thing. First, there was the fact that the ponies that he was paired up with were drinking on the job while they were supposed to be guarding all this treasure for their client. Second, because of all the others being in some kind of drunken stupor, if something were to happen, their client would be furious if something were to happen to what they were suppose to guard. Third… and probably the most important right now… he can’t happen to find any signs of where the other sober pony on this boat, Calm Shores, would be.
Then… out of nowhere… he heard a creak in the wooden boards of the deck, causing him to turn around and see if he heard anything. He had a crossbow in case of emergencies, but when the stallion turn around, he saw nothing anywhere. It had the stallion be on edge… and made him want to hurry and find Calm Shores.
A few moments after beginning his search though… he did not find his colleague anywhere. Which, had his fur stand up on edge as the stallion continued to look around frantically as he tried to calm himself… Only to hear something fall nearby. He turned around rather quickly… only to find a gold coin in the middle of the deck where he was standing…
And an unknown figure perched up above him nearby. It donned a navy cloak, black wraps around what looked like something that minotaurs would call ‘hands’, and darkened trousers from the waist down. Certain features on the figures clothes matched the color of the figures mane along with the glow that was radiated from the evening moon and it’s azure eyes. It was then that something clicked in the stallion's head… which soon had every part of his body tremble in fear.
This figure… was the same thief he heard about in the harbor… The black cat. Before he could speak, it was when the figure leaped down, picked up the coin… and placed one of it’s fingers to his mouth. “Ah ah ah… No talking… only listening…”
“Wha-”
“No talking,” The figure spoke, a young female voice coming from her. “You had a friend, yes? The mare that was here earlier…” All Starboard could do is nod as the girl continued to speak, a bit scared of what was going to happen… and if something happened to Calm Shores. “Easy there, I’m not going to hurt you. Your friend is fine… In fact, she’s on the lifeboat on the water outside the ship. There’s another one with your name on it if you go now…”
Hearing that made Starboard relieved… for only a moment. But it was then that a new thought emerged inside his head… What was she doing… and why? “I only harm those that try to attack me first… and since you two are the only ones who haven’t tried to put a crossbow bolt in my back, I’m letting you get out of here while you still can.”
“W-why-?”
That had the girl glare directly at the stallion… shortly before repeating what he said. “Why? I’ll tell you why… Because there’s something on this ship I want… and I’m giving you the option to get out of here on your own before things… well… go overboard.” At the last part, she chuckled a bit before tilting her head in a certain direction. “All I ask is that you leave the key for the cellar… I know you have it because Calm told me.”
Listening to what he said, the stallion dropped the key, allowing for the thief he was talking to the chance to pick it up and store it in a satchel on her waist. But as he left for the lifeboat, he only had one question for the girl… “W-who are you?”
The girl had only one word to say in response as the stallion. “Maeve.” That… was followed by her throwing a dagger that curved like a boomerang as it cut the ropes holding up the lifeboat and letting it drop to the water below.
Below Deck
“Uh… Mates, something doesn’t seem right…” One of the shipmates below the main deck spoke up as everypony on board looked towards them. “Is it just me… or are those our lifeboats drifting away from the ship?” That single question… immediately had the entire crew on edge as they all immediately drifted to the side of the side. Seeing the same exact thing that the same pony had described.
“...... Everypony, get off your asses and get topside NOW!!” The deckhand of the ship, One-Eye, snapped as everypony dropped their food and beverage to pick up their crossbow’s and blades. But just as they were about to head outside, the door soon immediately snapped open… and the resulting gush of wind blew out every lit candle they once had.
“Starboard, what the bloody hell is going on-?!”
“Sorry boys… But I’m not him.” They heard, seeing a new figure in the door’s entryway as it was holding a pair of daggers in it’s hands. But when she said two words… everything soon changed instantly as the figure began twirling both of her daggers and a magenta like glow illuminated from the weapons.
“Good night…”
Instantly, for all the ponies in the room. Everything went pitch black. None of them could see a thing, even though they can hear each other freaking out over what was going on. Some of them attacking each other in the panic and paranoia. “What are you fools doing!? She’s just one girl! Catch her already!!!”
“S-she’s too fast!!” One of the other crew members shouted, before dropping to the floor seconds later after failing to shoot their crossbow and hitting a wall instead. Which, to Maeve, was a good thing. The quicker she was, the likelier that these drunken sailors would knock themselves out before even touching her.
Yet, the moment she thought that though… was when things did not go as well as she thought it would. “I see her!!”
“Whoops…” She sighed, looking back at the ponies that were still standing. Out of the five of them that she originally saw in the room, only two of them were unconscious and on the floor as she looked back at the three others that were about to attack her. Firing their crossbows at her, only to miss her arm and neck by bare inches. “That was too close…”
Reaching to the sides of her cloak, she soon got another pair of throwing daggers in her hands as she glared at the remaining guards in the room. “Well… what doesn’t kill me… better start running.” In a flash, Maeve lunged forward at the pony that was closest to her, slamming his head into the ground and knocking the stallion out cold. Then, before one of the two remaining guards could fire off his crossbow, Maeve hurled another two daggers at the second one. The first of the two striking the weapon… while the other one struck alongside the head of the pony who was wielding it as they soon dropped to the ground.
Now, only one pony remained… and he was just as terrified as he was defiant. “W-what the hell are you!?” The only response from the girl originally… was a flick of the knife that was in her left hand as a brief turquoise glow could be seen. Shortly before the girl soon appeared behind him… and with one of her daggers to the stallions throat.
“Someone that had something stolen from me by your employer… and I came to get it back,” The thief said with a sinister edge to her tone. “Now, I hate to rush things, but let’s make a deal… You show me where the cellar for your treasure is… and I’ll make sure to not stab you in the back.”
“You crazy bi-!” Before the stallion could fully insult the girl, the knife on the stallion’s throat went a bit closer to his neck as he could feel the cold. “Okay, okay okay… O-other end of the s-ship… main door… silver lock… There, I told you… what happens now-” As he said that, the girl then struck him in the face with a curled up fist as he laid there unconscious. All before chuckling.
“Oh, I forgot to mention… When I said ‘stab in the back’, I meant that literally.” She chuckled before taking a moment to tie up all of the crew, pilfer them of their belongings, and leave them knocked out on the main deck. As for her though, what Maeve was looking for was something rather… precious to her. And it was the first thing she found upon busting the lock to the treasure room and having the door swing open.
It was a magenta colored gem. One that was similar to the features on the back and front of her cloak as she took it and placed it in her pocket. The room was filled with other treasures too, but none of which she really needed even though it was tempting to have them. She had gotten what she wanted… and now, there was only one other thing left to do.
When Daring Do had arrived in Horseshoe Bay this morning, there were some things that she did not expect upon landing in the port city. She was originally here because of a rumor that she overheard where some ancient treasure was stolen by thugs who were hired by her nemesis, Dr. Caballeron. But upon landing this morning, she was rather shocked to find a lifeboat come into the shore… with a rather big chest of gold and treasure inside it along with a mark of what looked like a pawprint on the side of the boat.
The second thing she didn’t expect… was the first thing she heard about upon the locals in the harbor recognizing the mark. “The Black Cat… that’s her mark.”
“What’s the mark of a thief and a pickpocket doing on there?” The pegasus heard another one say before the shoreline was beginning to fill up with lots of the locals. Causing Daring Do to leave so she wasn’t spotted and having the scene be escalated further. But it was in during this that she happened to overhear more about this… Black Cat. How the thief wasn’t an equine at all… and was something called a ‘human’. That any encounter with her lead to the victim having nightmares for the next few days… But most importantly, being able to see an image of the supposed thief on a wanted poster.
That was… before it was taken down just a moment after Daring noticed it. Ripped off the town’s bulletin board by a bipedal figure before they proceeded down an alleyway. The pegasus at this point was rather curious about who it was… and therefore, decided to pursue the figure down the alley. Yet, when she turned a corner, the whole alleyway was empty… with nopony in sight.
Or at least… that’s what she thought. “You know it’s rather rude to follow someone like that, kitten.” Daring immediately turned around, only to see the same bipedal figure sitting on a stack of crates as she looked at the pegasus while messing up the wanted poster in her hands before taking a chance to throw it away in a nearby trashcan. “Hmm… You’re not the same as the other kittens… who are you?”
Daring herself raised an eyebrow in response. For one thing, why did she address her and other ponies as kittens? Nevertheless, after a bit, she then answered the question. “Daring Do, Explorer and Archeologist…” Then… something began to click as she looked back at the youngling. “Are you… the Black Cat?”
“Do I look like a cat to you, kitten?” she said, before giggling a bit. “It’s just an Alias, even though some ponies think I am a cat because of how I speak around others… but if you are asking about the thief, then I can only say yes. Yet, that’s only my occupation, Ms. Do.”
“Then let me ask you the same question you asked me,” The pegasus replied, which had the girl tilt her head to the left in curiosity as Daring then asked her question. “Who are you?”
“Originally, I was known by a different name, but that’s a thing in the past, kitten. You may call me Maeve. Treasure Hunter, thief and thrill seeker… Yet, I’m not like most thieves.”
“Could you clarify on that?” Daring Do then asked, rather puzzled by that last statement.
“Even though I do like treasure, I have some personal rules, but there are two main ones.” She said, holding up two fingers in the air. “First off, I only steal from other thieves. Secondly, and most important, I only harm others if they try to harm me first as an act of self defense.” To Daring, that was rather surprising. Most treasure hunters and thieves she encountered were only focused on their personal greed. But Maeve… seemed different. Kind hearted, yet cunning. It was a… different kind of twist to what she normally expected. “Now, Kitten. Since I answered two of your questions, it would be fair if you can answer one for me.”
The Pegasus, seeing this as fair to her, nodded her head as she looked back at Maeve. “Alright, what’s on your mind?”
“Well… I’m trying to find more people like me and the last thing I heard on the streets here was that there’s two of them in a place called… Ponyville I think. Would you happen to know anything about this?” She asked the adventurer.
“I have heard of it, but haven’t met them personally. I only read about it in this newspaper from the last town I was in.” The pegasus replied, only to extend her wing and hand Maeve the article with a picture above it.
However, once she saw the picture, she felt as if her heart skipped a beat. Her face losing the carefree expression that she had earlier as she now looked like she saw a ghost. For a couple of moments, she was silent. But then asked something off the top of her head. “Can I keep this?”
“Yeah, I don’t need it for anything…” She said as she Daring looked behind her for a moment in order to make sure she still had her stuff and closed the flap of her saddlebag. “So what are-”
Before the adventurer could add onto what she was trying to say… Maeve was gone. Nowhere in sight. Vanished without a trace and the same paper she just handed her by her hooves… with the picture missing.
For Maeve though, as she ran into the jungle and away from the port… The adventurer did more than help her… she gave her hope. Because in the image… was something that she thought she lost long ago. The picture itself was of one particular human. A woman, with brown hair tied in a ponytail, crimson wristbands and scarf, jeans and a grey t-shirt with two earth ponies next to her. It even got to the point that it made the girl cry a little.
“I f-found you…” she said to herself, before pocketing the picture away in her coat. “I finally found you...... Emmy.”
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Nice to see a new chapter as well as a new displaced who knows Emma.
its alive!!!!!!
8223373
xD Glad you’re happy with it
what...new people/powers ok cool well good chapter and i hope for more soon
She's either her sister or her mother, I'm calling it right now...
8701513
Go to youtube search for iskall85. You'll see what I mean.
8493006
Emma was the only kid from her family, it's either her friend from the first chapter or her mother