• Published 2nd Jul 2012
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Over the Edge and Over Again - Perpetual Motion



Having failed to reach the Davy Jones' Locker, how will Captain Hector Barbossa cope with the perils of Equestria instead?

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Swords Crossed

Over the Edge and Over Again: Chapter 5
Swords Crossed

Despite the day still being young, and the more relaxed residents of Ponyville still in their homes, Twilight was adamant her friends meet her early. She and Fluttershy had visited them the night before, telling those who were unaware of the strange creature stalking the grounds of their town. While some needed more convincing than others to visit the library before noon, those who had already been involved with the creature were all too happy to help.

“Get on with it Twilight.” Rainbow Dash was the one who needed convincing.

Her friends were sat on their haunches in front of a large blackboard that Twilight had set up. Along with what she had written, there were also pieces of paper and some small pictures, one of which was a rather crudely drawn sketch by Angel. Despite having more knowledge on the matter than her friends, Fluttershy still sat on the floor, eager to hear what else her purple friend had to say.

“All right. Most of you already know about the incident with the Crusaders in Everfree forest...”

Rainbow and Pinkie Pie simply shook their heads. Twilight had told them they would be helping to look for an animal, but not much else. Then again, that’s what the meeting was for.

“They were apparently attacked by a strange animal in the forest. Today, we're going to look for it.” The two ponies just widened their eyes, Rainbow now feeling a lot less tired and Pinkie a little less active. However, Twilight was quick to reassure everyone present.

“Don't worry, they're fine. However, I don't believe it is a monster. We met him after he came out of Fluttershy's house, and-”

“It was in Fluttershy's house?” Twilight inwardly groaned. Dash was a great friend, but she would be a better one if she didn’t interrupt her explanations. After giving the light blue Pegasus an accusing stare, and Rainbow quickly hushing up, Twilight continued with her account of what happened.

“We met him at Fluttershy's cottage yesterday. His name is Hector Barbossa. He said he was a captain and w-” This time Pinkie was the one who interrupted.

“What's he a Captain of? Oooh, is he a pirate?” This time grumbling audibly, Twilight was about to give her the same look she’d given to Dash before realising...

“He might be, actually. He talked kinda piratey. Spike, write that down.” Promptly doing so on a small piece of paper, Spike finished the note and stuck it up on the board with the rest.

“I'll start again. We met him yesterday at Fluttershy's cottage. His name is Captain Hector Barbossa. He had stolen a book, and when we approached to talk, he talked back. He called Fluttershy names, made her cry and kicked me in to the river. We don't know where he is now, or what his motives are, but there are things we now know about him.”

Pausing to give the information time to sink in, she watched as everyone bar Fluttershy started frowning and asking questions. Even Spike looked upset, but then Twilight had vowed to tell them all at once rather than letting them whisper among themselves. Rarity thought it was some sort of hell spawn who tried to eat her little sister, while Applejack saw him as a pony attacking thief.

“Now, I know you all have questions, but please wait until I've finished. While I appreciate your input,” she motioned to Pinkie Pie. “I'd like to explain everything we know before we add new ideas.”

Seeing everybody silently nod, Twilight cleared her throat and began her presentation.

“Right. First off, what he actually looks like. I know I'm not the best at drawing, but this is him.” She pointed towards a sketch of the captain. It wasn't crudely done, but Twilight knew it didn't do Hector justice. It was a rough sketch, made completely in ink, featuring his main body and long legs. She couldn't get his clothes right, but made sure to draw his big jacket, boots and hat, seeing as they were the easiest and most identifiable. She also gave him beard, but it was nothing much like the one he had; stretching up towards his ear and extending down his torso.

“As you can see, he permanently stands on his hind legs, and has long forelegs with claws, like Spike.” Spike waved with a smile and waggled his fingers. “He doesn't need to balance himself, and his hind legs are strong enough to kick an average pony down. His forelegs are flexible, and he has the ability to grab stuff like Spike can. He wears a large jacket with more clothes underneath, boots, and a greenish bandanna under his hat. I don't think he has much fur either, but he had a small beard and some more on his head.”

While everyone mostly just remained silent, Pinkie often ooh and aahed at something that caught her interest. Twilight had no doubt they would know who he was if they saw him, but at the very least she hoped her description would at least give them an idea of what they were dealing with.

“And as I said before, he can talk. He also seems intelligent, as he can read, as well as...plan attacks. He also doesn't seem to like eating flowers, oats, nuts or hay, but may enjoy apples. As far as tools go, he apparently has a sword of sorts and a thing that explodes, but I couldn’t see them. They might have been under his jacket though. And…that’s pretty much it. Any questions?”

Instead of what she expected, everyone kept quiet. She knew her collage of information on the captain was informative, but she’d expected someone to ask something, or at least put a new idea forward. Eventually Rainbow raised her hoof to catch Twilights attention.

“So...does it eat ponies or not?”

“I don't know. Maybe. But he didn't eat me or Fluttershy, and he took the time to break into the Apple's barn to steal food. He might be an omnivore.” Rainbow just stared back at Twilight with a blank expression on her face.

“It means he might eat meat as well as vegetation. But he seems talkative. Don't just assume he's going to eat you if you see him.”

While it was easy for Twilight to say that, trying to talk to a creature that potentially had a thing for spit roasted pony wasn't something the others fancied risking their time doing. But they trusted her, and at the very least she’d convinced them that the creature wasn’t a bloody thirsty killing machine. Pinkie even seemed somewhat excited.

“But the fact remains we still have to look for him. He seems smart and, as much as it pains me to say this, not completely evil. If talking fails to work, we'll have to catch him. Besides, I doubt he'd be much of a problem if we cornered him in a group. He had to resort to pushing me into a river to get away last time, after all.”

Despite how hesitant a few of them seemed, it wouldn't be the first time they'd faced something bigger or stronger than they were. Fluttershy had dealt with Dragons and Manticores, and at the very least the others had fought numerous Changelings at once.

“So how we gonna go about doing' this?” Applejack brought Twilight to her next point of interest. She was so glad she planned all this out beforehoof.

“We'll need to split up into groups; Rainbow and Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie, and finally, me, Spike and Fluttershy.” She had thought long and hard about whom to pair everyone off with. She wanted at least one pony with strength or flight in each group, to assure that at least one could catch or fight Hector off. She also didn't want any one group paired in such a way that allowed Barbossa to have an advantage. Plus she needed to bring Spike along anyway.

“And if you find him, try talking to him. Ask what he wants, and maybe we can help him. In the end, hopefully he'll either go away on his own, or tell us why he’s here.” Rarity spoke up soon after Twilight had finished. She asked somewhat calmly, but it was obvious she was still worried.

“Twilight dear, I do trust you, really I do. But what if it does attack us?” Twilight had thought about it. She had to. But she didn't know the danger he posed, or whether he had the tools the Crusaders and Angel claimed he did. In the end, if talking should fail, she chose to play it safe.

“If you think you could take him quickly or by surprise, do it. But keep your distance. We don’t fully know what he’s capable of.”

- - - -

Continuing to read his new book, Barbossa quietly sat alone in the small tree house. He had been awake for at least an hour, and due to changes in his plan, he pondered his next move. His planned raid on the school wasn’t going to happen now, seeing as it was the middle of the day. Children went to school during the day, and seeing as they didn't seem to like him here, he thought it best to not push his luck. However, he was fast running out of ideas.

He furrowed his brow and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't know what to do. He'd even considered going back into Everfree and jumping around until he found the way he'd originally came through. He'd had saner ideas though, like searching for the public library, or simply asking a local for assistance. That was likely what he should have done when he had the chance.

“Bugger.”

Looking back, it was hardly the best idea he’d ever had. Sure, he got away with the book, and he wasn’t sat in a prison cell, but at what cost? From what he’d read in the book, the yellow one was practically like a child, fawning over how “fuzzy” and “pudgy” even the harsher animals were. And the purple one had even acted cordially towards him; she may have even helped him. Maybe if he’d let her get a word in edgeways he would have listened. But no, he’d thought himself above the prim purple creature and kicked her in the river.

He’d also likely cemented his new reputation too. Assuming the animals from yesterday didn’t know the children, he could have easily asked them for help, but doing the same now would be significantly harder. He’d never been one to ask for help before; his pride didn’t allow it. Help was for the faint hearted, and unless a problem could be solved on your own or with your own men, it wasn’t worth the hassle solving. But perhaps this would have been the one time to push his pride to one side. But hindsight was a wonderful thing and if he had to approach a talking horse for help, he may as well have some say in which one it was. He didn’t fancy letting the authorities or the big red one find him first.

Coming to the conclusion that he had to leave the small tree house, he closed the book and returned it to one of his pockets. As much as actually enjoyed reading about all the different creatures that could kill him, it wasn't getting anything done. While his patience was strained due to the lack of progress in getting home, his confidence wasn't. It may take time, but he wouldn’t be stuck in this world forever, he wouldn’t let Jack keep the Pearl, and he certainly wouldn’t let anyone but him take credit for saving the seas. There wasn't anyone who could continue his plan, but assuming someone else just so happened to think of it, he had still thought of it first.

Leaving the small abode in no poorer a state than when he’d entered; he forced his way back out of the small door. Getting out was more awkward than getting in, given his size and the ramped steps at the entrance, but he was soon stood outside no worse for wear. Having read about the surrounding area beforehand, the pirate had a rough idea of what parts of the town lay where. To his left was the way he came and, consequentially, Everfree forest, while somewhere to his right was the main entrance to Ponyville.

Not planning to simply take the entrance into a strange, foreign town, he instead planned to find an alleyway or side street to hide in. Hopefully then he could monitor how many animals were actually there and maybe even find one to talk to. Approaching a large group didn’t entice him, seeing as they’d likely want to harm him now, but if there was one wandering on their own, he could gain their trust and use them to further his own ends. It was fool proof.

“I'd like te see Jack cope this well.” He gave out a hearty, cackled laugh. He envied Jacks ability to plan things as they went along, sure, but surely even Jack would struggle with what was happening.

Then again, he'd likely become the centre of attention like he always did. The horses would probably even like him for it too. It seemed like the kind of thing Jack would make happen for himself.

Groaning Jacks idealistic experience away, Barbossa got back to his previous line of thought. He would have to head back towards the farm in order to reach the outskirts of Ponyville. The buildings there would surely be enough cover, at least until he could judge what course of action to take.

Once the farm was squarely in his sights, he realised that despite the size of the land, there were no farm hands or apple pickers. Not even the two from last night. Surely they weren't they only ones who picked all these trees?

“If they are, they ain't holy.” Putting the image of two monstrous horses endlessly destroying trees to one side, he saw the red one come out from the barn. It was pulling the cart from the night before, filled to the brim with barrels and bushels apples.

He was probably heading off to sell them, seeing as Barbossa had likely bruised more than a few of the stock during his semi-successful raid on their stores. Keeping behind a tree, he watched as the large red horse eventually left the confines of the farm, going through a large wooden arch and eventually out of sight.

The captain pondered heading back down for more food, seeing as no one was actually present on the farm, but he soon tossed the idea out of his mind. He still had four apples, and despite how empty it appeared, there was likely someone around somewhere.

Choosing to instead take the more interesting route he had already planned, he made his way for the outskirts of town. While the maps he had didn't show all the alleyways and side streets, he assumed it would be easy enough to navigate.

Walking around, making sure to keep to the shadows, he didn’t see anything of any worth around the town’s boundaries. Ponyville also didn’t appear to be as clear cut as he’d thought, with buildings having apparently been built wherever there was space. The lack of coordination also meant there weren’t many streets he could simply walk into.

It also meant there weren’t many places to hide. If he wanted to get into Ponyville, this wasn’t the way to go about doing it. Not that he needed to actually go in; the sounds of chatter and vendors haggling gave him a good idea of what was going on in town anyway.

“A market place…” While he had to stay between the trees, he could still see into a few of the streets. Most were busy, and if it was still as early as he thought it was, they weren’t going to get quieter anytime soon. He didn’t know if markets were different in this world, but he wasn’t going to make another stupid mistake. If he wanted someone’s assistance, he would have to make do with finding a lone wanderer and working it out from there.

Continuing along the route to the front gate, he kept close to the trees and surrounding bushes. He wouldn’t walk directly into town, but if he waited long enough, someone was likely to walk by the front gate on their own. All he'd need to do was come up with a way to earn their trust. Maybe if he offered food or-

“I found it! Applejack! Look, look. Over there!”

Turning around, there was now, somehow, a bright pink horse about ten yards away from him, sitting in between a few trees. She was ushering someone else towards her and pointing in his direction. He couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous some of their colour schemes were. The other one appeared to be the orange farmer with the nice hat.

“♪ Mr Pirate ♫” The pink one was waving at him now. Not like the rabbit had; it was as if she was glad to see him. Her friend didn't seem too happy though.

Barbossa stood there, waiting for them to make the first move. The pink one seemed...friendly enough, but he wasn't sure about the other one. He'd seen it kicking the trees; if she attacked him, he'd have to fight back. Unlike Twilight and Fluttershy, he knew she could hurt him.

However, as much as he had planned to talk to one, now that he had the chance, he didn’t really know what to say. The horses appeared to be thinking along the same lines. The farmer was anyway, the pink one just kept waving at him.

“Y'all stole my apples!” So they wanted to talk. She had blurted it out, probably looking for something to say, but it proved they wanted to talk to him. And that boded very well indeed.

“Aye. What of it?” In an attempt to seem sociable, the captain walked towards them. But to his surprise, they both suddenly moved back. Even the pink one seemed a little less bright..

“Y...y'all need to pay for what you took...” She was trying to act confident, but it was failing.

“Fine.” The pirate reached into his jacket and pulled out a small bag of coins. He doubted they were acceptable, being Spanish silver, but if it was simply to prove good faith, it was good enough for him. He picked out four reales and held them out. “Here.”

They were too out of range to reach for the coins, but if anything he hoped it would bring them towards him. Not that he needed to attack this time; his priorities had changed. Seeing as he needed some locals to help, it might as well be these two. They didn't seem too trusting of him though. Apparently money wasn't a big enough incentive in this world.

“Will ye be takin' me coins or not?” The horses still didn't move. The pink one had even ceased waving, taking up the same worried stance as her friend. The pirate crudely groaned.

“Do I have to toss 'em te ye?” He had shouted it an attempt at sarcasm, but to his surprise, the orange one nodded. Rolling his eyes, he threw each coin at the mare, one by one. He watched as her worried expression replaced itself with a furrowed frown and half scrunched eyes.

“These ain't no bits!”

“Aye, they be Spanish silver reales. And four be more than plenty for the apples I took, of that ye can be sure.” She didn't seem as pleased by the offering as Barbossa had hoped, glaring at him from where she stood.

“They be all I've got. Shall I be taken' 'em back?” He asked with a crooked smile on his face and his hand stretched out, and as he had expected, she kept the coins. Not that she looked pleased about it.

“Uh...T-thank ya kindly...But ah still don't trust you.”

“And why be that then?” The pink one answered this time, puffing out her cheeks as she glowered over at him.

“Because you hurt our friends.”

“You must be speakin' of Miss Sparkle and her friend. It were nothin' personal, I assure ye.” Maybe kicking down that horse really wasn't the correct course of action to take. However, he would just have to try harder to compensate. Once again attempting to move forward, this time slower and with his hands in the air, he was pleased to see the two horses stayed put.

“Me intentions are strictly honourable, and it were merely down te unfortunate circumstance that I took the actions I did.” He said clearly. “If I could go back te change it, ye can be first to know I would, but if ye’ll just hear out a poor o-“

Suddenly feeling a huge pressure on his back, Barbossa grunted as he was forced face first to the ground. Attempting to look up, all he could see were white flashes and sparkling shapes that weren’t there. His head wasn’t much better, still throbbing from the impact. Finally coming to his senses, and realising he had been shoved on to the ground from behind, he looked up to see a blue horse with...a rainbow mane?

"Are you guys okay?!"

“What're y'all doin' Rainbow?! He were talkin' just fine!” Barbossa didn't know what was going on, but the farmer sounded angry. Not as angry as he felt, though..

“Twilight said to take him down if we could. And I'm pretty sure he didn't see it coming.” And the new one sounded cocky. Too cocky.

Pressing one elbow against the ground, he slowly pushed himself to his feet, but before he could respond to what had happened he felt two hooves push against his ribcage and send him back to the floor. Opening his eyes, more controlled than he rightly should have been, he looked up at the horse aptly named Rainbow.

“Yer pushin’ me…” He growled at her, spitting as he spoke. The other two clearly knew Twilight, and while they seemed ready to listen to him, he couldn’t say the same for this…Rainbow. She was already getting on his nerves.

“Yeah, well that's what you get for trying to eat my friends.” Giving the pirate another light nudge to the chest, he clumsily fell back to his previous position on the ground. Gritting his teeth together, he clenched his fists before getting back to his knees.

“I don’t know why Twilight said to be careful. It doesn’t seem so tough.” She turned around to face Applejack, rather proud of her accomplishment.

Grabbing the rainbow tail in front of him, he yanked it back while attempting to stand up. The shift in movement allowed him to swing the blue mare back behind him while he caught his balance. Too shocked to react to the pirate, Rainbow ended up being forcefully flung into the trunk of a tree.

Not one to stay down after hitting a tree, Rainbow flew straight for the captain. But having his senses returned to him, he easily saw her coming and pulled out his sword, slamming the hand guard into her face. Hearing a crack and a grunt of pain, he trembled on his feet before looking down at her.

“That'll teach ye to mess with me.” Spite dripping from his mouth, he stared down at his former opponent. His legs hurt, and his back was aching, but by god, he wouldn't let anyone down him and get away with it. He didn’t believe attacking the other two would help in any way at this point, but the blue one had been asking for it. Praying his loose temperament hadn’t lost him his chance at speaking with the other two, he sheathed his sword and announced back to the horse with the fetching hat.

“Now,” he caught his breath, clutching his sore chest. “I’m guessin’ I’ll be gravely regrettin’ doin’ what I just did, as well as the madness that occurred wi’ Miss Sparkle, but I assure ye, there be r-“

Catching him in the side, the winged horse sent him slamming back to the ground, barely missing a tree as he fell. With the blue horse standing over him he elbowed the mare in the ribcage, hoping it would at least give him a chance to stand. After cantering slowly backwards, the pirate got back to his feet and once again pulled out his sword. Jumping up in the air, Rainbow began flapping her wings, hovering in mid-air with her forelegs outstretched like fisticuffs. He knew deep down he would regret doing this, but he wouldn't let something like her make a fool of someone like him.

“Ye bloody INGRATE! What the hell’s yer problem!?” He stared her down, still wheezing from his kick to the chest.

“You are! You hurt me and friends, and you expect to get away with it?!”

Suddenly diving forward and slamming her head into his stomach, the captain felt his legs give way under him as he slid to ground, winded and struggling for air. Not letting her get another shot in, he elbowed the same spot in her sides he had hit before, and shoved her out of the air. As she hit the ground, he heard a loud crack and wail of pain from the mare as she clutched one of her forelegs. This was going all wrong. He’d only meant to teach her a lesson, not begin a timberland brawl with her! She was ruining his chances!

Standing above her, he lurched back as she flew up and bit his hand, taking hold of his sword as it fell from his grasp. Catching the hilt in her mouth, she flew out of his reach and dropped it into a nearby tree.

“Ha. What you gonna do now?" She was shaking, and her snout was covered in blood, but she still somehow found the energy to shake her flank at him and make crude noises with her tongue. He'd had enough. He didn't care anymore. She was making a fool of him, and as far as he was concerned, any better man would have given into temptation and killed her long ago. Clutching his stomach, he smiled and gave out a cackled laugh before pulling out his flintlock, aiming it towards her.

“I'll be shootin' ye down, that's what!” The blue mare just stared at him, before widening her eyes in realisation. “I’d like te see ye be so hardy when ye can’t fly!”

He would treat her like the rabbit. He'd simply fire a shot close to her, scare her silly, and force the others to listen. If his rare acts of kindness weren't getting their attention, he would make them listen instead. Besides, if he just so happened to clip her wings, he wouldn’t be the one complaining.

Readying the trigger, and aiming for the tree at her side, he was ready to fire when the pistol just…moved. He just stood there, mouth hanging open as the pistol floated in the air in front of his face. Reaching out for it, he flinched as it flew away from him and towards a white unicorn. She was out of breath, and her purple mane was ragged and frayed.

“Think yer all smart with yer fancy sword.” The farmer spun a rope multiple times in the air from her tail before whipping it towards Barbossa, quickly looping it over his mid-section.

“Let’s see how y'all like what we got!”

Flailing his arms in confusion, and somewhat frustrated he was being treated like a common animal, he angrily moved to remove the rope, only for another to snag around the previous one, along with his right arm. This was getting out of hand. He didn’t need this.

“Wait a bloody minute!” He jumped back in an attempt to pull the rope from her grasp, only for it to fail miserably and instead give her a chance to pull him to the ground. Lying on the ground, and getting his left arm to support himself, he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

“Yippee ki yay!” The pink one then attempted to recreate the feat her friend had, only for the rope to fall apart and hit the pirate in the face.

In a final attempt to get himself heard, he grabbed the ropes and forcefully pulled them in his direction, dragging the orange horse down tail first along with them. Grunting in pain, he kneeled forward in an attempt to stand, still finding it slightly hard to breath. The pink one and the farmer were quiet, and the cocky one was sat off to the side nursing her leg.

“Finally…if…ye’ll j…just LISTEN te me!” Slamming his fist on the ground and letting air escape his nostrils, he prepared to finally speak his piece only to feel something hard connect with the back of his head. Appearing to keep stance for a few moments, the heated look on his face faded as he collapsed to the ground.

Dropping the branch to the ground and carefully walking up to the pirate, Rarity prodded his stomach multiple times before carefully shaking him. Pinkie then proceeded to do the same by poking his face with a stick before turning back around to her friends.

“Heeeeee's outta here!”

“What do you suppose we should do now? We can't just leave it here.” Rarity asked curiously. While they'd had a briefing on what to do, Twilight had focused on finding and talking to the creature rather than defeating it.

“Ah reckon we should go get Twilight.” Seeing as they had no other options available to them, they all agreed and sent Pinkie in search or their purple friend. After she’d gone, Applejack turned to face a rather bloody Rainbow Dash.

“Although we might not have needed to if somepony hadn't got all prissy an' attacked 'im!”

“Oh sure. Feel sorry for the giant. It isn't like he broke my leg or anything.” She sniffled before wincing in pain.

“But y'all were the one what started it! Me and Pinkie were fine, discussin' money and whatnot with 'im. He even paid me back for the apples he took.” Not the correct kind of money, granted, but that wasn't the point she wanted to make right now.

“He had a sword, Applejack. A sword!”

“And ah sure as hay don't see you cut into little iddy biddy pony pieces. If he wanted to use it, ah'm pretty darn sure he would have.” Rainbow could tell her friend was right, but turned her head towards the ground rather than admitting it.

“I thought he was gonna attack you and Pinkie Pie. He had his legs in the air and everything. Twilight even said we don't know what he could do. I just didn't want to risk either of you getting hurt.”

“And ah thank you for it, sugar cube. But we mighta saved a whole lotta hassle if ya hadn't got all ahead o' yerself. I'm not sayin' he didn't deserve it, but he were at least tryin’ to talk to us about somethin’. We should probably get y'all to the hospital too. Ya didn't exactly fare too well against 'im in yer little fight.”

“Fine.” she struggled onto her good hooves and leaned against Applejack. “But only once I'm sure you can deal with him...”

“That's all very well and good, but what do we should with it?” Rarity motioned to the unconscious mass on the ground. “What if it wakes up?”

“Don't y'all worry nothin'. Why’d ya think I brought the rope?”