Ponies of the Caribbean

by Shukawarioserfi

Chapter 2

As Twilight and her friends drew closer to their destination, the road turned from brick to dirt and finally to swampy mud. As the road changed, so too did the weather. Gone were the breezy meadows of Ponyville, the heat and humidity here were a drastic change from their hometown.

Rainbow Dash, who had been convinced to help pull the cart when they got into the wetlands, was the most affected by it.
“Why would anypony ever want to build a town in this horrible place? We may as well be on the surface of the sun.”

“It’s the perfect place for ruffians and criminals to congregate, if you ask me.” Rarity responded. “No civilized pony would ever dream of stepping foot here, and they know it.”

“They may do bad things, but I don’t think you need to speak so harshly about them.” Fluttershy said.

“Fluttershy’s right girls. Whether or not we agree with what these ponies are doing, we’re going to need one of them to help us. You never know who’s listening, so let’s try to keep it civil.” Twilight said. “Get ready everypony, we’re coming up on the city.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, they came across an older stallion sprawled out in the mud. The four of them that weren't tethered to a cart went to his side. Twilight was the first one to speak.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?"

No response from the old pony.

"Um, Mister..?" Twilight prodded him with her hoof.

"Agh, what's that? who's there?" he muttered as he escaped unconsciousness.

"I'm Twilight and these are my friends. We saw you laying on the side of the road and thought something was wrong. You're not hurt are you?"

"Hurt? Heh heh, no. Nothing a little hair o’ the dog won't fix, anyhow. You're not from around here, are ya? Locals don't pay no mind when yer passed out in the gutters."

"As a matter of fact, we're not," Rarity responded. "We're here on behalf of Princess Celestia, and we need to charter a ship. I don't suppose you'd be willing to help us with that?" She flashed the most manipulative puppy-dog eyes she could muster.

"Well of course I'd be honored to help out on royal business, but you see, I still need that spot of rum. I seem to have spent all my money last night paying taxes-"

"I get it, I get it." Rarity rolled her eyes and floated a bit to him. "Here's your alchohol money, now would you please be ever so kind as to point us in the right direction?"

"Thank you kindly, I certainly would. Down at the end of the main road through town by the pier there's a tavern called 'The Broken Horseshoe.' Great big sign out front, you can't miss it. That's where most of the captains go to drown their sorrows." He nodded and muttered something in farewell before stumbling away.

With those directions in mind, they walked into the town. While passing the first few poorly constructed wooden houses, they assumed that they were just in a less developed area of the town. They soon discovered, however, that the entire town was constructed similarly, the only difference between the buildings was size. Small shacks for living in and larger huts for social gatherings. It made Pinkie wonder,

"If these pirates are supposed to be getting super-duper rich from stealing Dragon treasure, why does their entire town look Applebloom's treehouse?"

"Something tells me the captains aren't keen on investing that money in the betterment of the town." Twilight said while eyeing the multitude of vagrants lying in the streets. "Anyway, I think this is the place we're looking for."

She took a deep breath. "Alright girls, be on guard. There's no telling what could happen in there. These ponies make a living off of fighting and stealing. Stay cool and be ready for anything. They all braced themselves and entered the bar.

Author's Note:

This is the official finished version.