Ultimate Equestria

by Leo Pachino

Chapter 012: Dead Pony's Tale (Part 1)

Fourteen long days had passed, with our heroes working at the tavern day and night. Every day, thousands of pirates of all varieties flocked the quint bar after hearing rumours of its legendary cider, buying at least ten mugs at per visit. It seemed like every hour, the price of the ciderwould increase.

Finally, on the day marked as Korsan’s return from his expedition, Twilight and her friends finally reached ten million bits in sales, and payed off their bounty in full. They still had tons of bits left over and decided to spend the rest of the stormy night celebrating their liberation.

Everypony in the tavern was invited for an all-night-bash. Games, songs, and various party events were right throughout the tavern that night. Cider was on the house, and everypony was downing the stuff like there was no tomorrow. As the party progressed, some of the pirates began to lose hold their cider.

“Oh come on! There’s no way she can do it.” Maurice yelled out amidst a crowd of onlookers of an event before swigging down on his drink.

“Pinkie can do it!” Cecil yelled back with a cider mug in his hoof. “I put twenty bits on it.”

“She’s standing on a table with a missing support, five metres away from the dartboard, and has only one dart. Impossible!”

“If that oddball of a pirate, Korsan, can do it twice,” Jarvis replied, his mouth half-full with special cider. “She can do it.”

“He had a mechanical claw and crossbow helping him.” Maurice clarified.

“And only one eye and two legs to stand on.” Jarvis argued.

“Here she goes!” A random patron declared.

The crowd immediately turned silent as Pinkie stood on a wobbly table. With a dart in hoof, she concentrated on her target, a dart board all the way across the room. She tossed the small brown dart with all of her might. It flew in the air for a long second. Everypony held their breath.

It smacked dead-center on the bullseye. Bystanders immediately roared out with both cheers and jeers.

“Yes!” Jarvis and Cecil exclaimed.

“Bloody bloodsucking bloodsuckers!” Maurice angrily cursed, chucking his bet of twenty-five bits to the wooden floor.

“Congratulations Pinks, you get your five percent of the pot.” Cecil told her.

“Thanks Cecil.” Pinkie replied with joy as she jumped from the table, diving into the large pile of gold bits below. “How much is it anyways?”

“Let’s see,” Jarvis muttered to himself. “Carry the seven, divide by twenty, remove the two and twenty, multiply by four, factor in Maurice’s slap to the face, add eight… That’s a hundred and one bits right and a free slap to Maurice’s face there for ya las.”

“Hooray!” Pinkie cheered.

“Wait a moment Cecil,” Maurice barked. “You tricked me!”

“I-what?” Cecil asked.

“You did,” Jarvis confirmed.

Cecil asked, “How did I-”

“You were gloating about how you were going to win.” Jarvis told him.

“Yeah,” Maurice replied. “You used some mind tricks on me. You know I can’t stand competition.”

“Hold on just a second,” Cecil retorted. “If Jarvis knew it was mind games, why didn’t he warn you?”

“Wait…” Maurice said, placing a hoof to his chin.

“He clearly wanted to get your share of the winning pot.”

“Jarvis!” Maurice exclaimed in an inebriated rage.

“Oh no you don’t!” Jarvis snapped back at Cecil, equally as smashed. “You had your share in tricking Maurice.”

“You know what, I’m tired being the pirate who doesn’t do anything. My body is back and my body is ready! Come on, put ‘em up!” Maurice declared.

Maurice then drew a cutlass from inside his tuxedo and held it at the ready.

“All right then, I’ve been itching for a good old hooffight.” Jarvis proclaimed, pulling out his wide broadsword.

A loud, soggy burp escape Ivan’s mouth as he wobbled into position.

“Let’s do this!” Cecil hollered as he pulled out a pair of daggers from his belt.

“Hey, Ivan, you compensating for something with that big sword?!” Maurice asked.

“I could ask the same thing about Cecil’s dual daggers.” Ivan retorted.

“Why was that aimed at me?” Cecil barked. “You should be insulting Maurice for using a crutch of a sword.”

“Excuse me?!” Maurice snapped.

“You heard me right.” Cecil slurred.

“You know what? I don’t need this. I only need these hooves.” Ivan declared, chucking his sword into a corner of the bar.

Cecil and Maurice blindly followed suit. Maurice nearly lost balance upon dropping his sword. The trio of rivals then engaged in a stoned hoof-fight. The rivals with benefits leapt onto their usual card table and fumble over each other, trying to fight each other.

November watched the brawl from afar, giggling at the sight of the trio of pirates tripping about. She knew they wouldn’t hurt each other that badly and just get tired. It was exactly like how it was a few years ago. After a cider-induced brawl, the three pirates would end up napping on the table, all cuddled up with each other. The next morning, they would forget they ever fought and be friends again.

Meanwhile, watching as the dartboard competition drew to a close, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo clapped their hooves together. They were seated at a large, round table, covered in treats and golden bits.

“Nice work Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash hollered.

“My, that Earth pony’s got some talent,” November remarked from her serving bar next to Twilight and the gang’s table. “Though, that’s still not as amazing as all of you paying off that massive bounty. We’re back in business. My dad’s been getting a lot better and is even slipping out of his depression. Even those three stallions over there are back to their fighting ways, it sure beats their constant sluggish arguing and empty threats. At this rate, we could even renovate this place to be a luxurious café. How can we ever repay you?”

“That won’t be needed.” Twilight replied. “You’ve already done more than enough for us.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go back to working for us? We all really enjoy your company.” November pleaded.

“As fun as it sounds, we have our own duties back home. We also still need to get the Diamond Eye back from Korsan. We could always come back here in the future to see how things are going and ship more crates of apples when those last two boxes run out.” Twilight said.

“I understand. Good luck.”

“To you as well, November. Actually, can I have a paper and inked quill?”

“Okay.”

November darted back into the kitchen to fetch the items. A glowing light escaped the room as she opened the door.

“Wow,” Applejack said. “It’s already time?”

“I was getting pretty use to this place.” Spike noted.

“As delightful as it was,” Twilight replied. “We need to remember that we have ponies waiting for us back at Equestria.”

“Besides, I think I’ve had enough of dirt-riddled pirates for a year.” Rarity said.

“Are you writing a letter to the princess?” Spike asked.

“Yep.” Twilight answered.

The paper and quill then hovered in front of her. Twilight thanked November and wrote on the paper,

Dear Princess Celestia,

I know it has been a week or two since I’ve even wrote to you, let alone seen you. But don’t worry. Things have been going well out here. The SS Raindrop is still in tip-top condition. Everypony here is healthy and happy, even the fillies. Yes, I know about them stowing away. Although we’ve had a few hiccups on our adventure, we’re getting close to getting the Diamond Eye back from Korsan. I hope things are going well back in Equestria.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

“Here Spike,” Twilight said as she rolled up the letter into a scroll and gave it to him. “Send this to her.”

“Got it,” Spike replied, clutching the scroll tightly in his claws.

Spike blew green fire from his mouth onto the parchment, causing the letter to disappear in green mist. The letter had been delivered to Princess Celestia.

“So, got any information on Korsan last week?” Spike asked.

“No, I searched all over this place.” Twilight said. “The only thing notable was some random map of an island without any coordinates.”

As Twilight went into detail about her findings, the front door creaked open. A greyish white pegasus, garbed in a black cloak, walked into the bar. His eyes were shaded by the metal trim pulling down his hood. Passing by the other patrons, small metallic chitters sounded from under his cape.

Slowly, he walked up to the serving counter, where November greeted him while washing a mug.

“What can I do for you sir?” She asked with a smile.

He replied in an expressionless voice, “First, a drink.”

“Sure, it’s on the house tonight.”

The mare set down the mug on the counter and turned to the pair of dual doors behind her leading to the kitchen.

She pokes her head inside and yelled, “Dad, we have another one.”

The voice of her father mumbled from the other side of the wall separating the unknown pony from inside. As November began a conversation with her father at the kitchen, the stranger started to look around. He examined his grey coat of fur dripping water onto the floorboards. His mouth turned to a slight scowl, feeling the moisture mat his fur and clothing beneath.

Soon though, the dark blue mare returns with a wooden mug brimming with cider.

“Sorry for the inconvenience,” she said.

“Not a problem.”

The pegasus grabbed the cup with his hooves and took a drink. He took a small sip at first, but immediately snapped. He started chugging the entire thing down in a single go before slamming the mug onto the polished table.

“What the-what was that? That’s not what I was told the cider was around here.” The stallion gasped.

“I know,” November replied. “Until recently, the cider here was terrible, then a bunch of strangers showed up with crate loads of apples and now no pony is losing their stomachs or getting into as many brawls-”

Before the bar maiden could continue, the cloaked pony cleared his throat and interrupted her.

“Second, I need some information on a pony and his bounty.” He said, regressing to his initial stoic demeanor.

“Ah, one of those sea travelers. Who are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for…”

The stallion hesitated, looking left and right as if making sure that no pony was intentionally listening in before continuing in a whisper.

“I’m looking for… Korsan.”

Immediately upon hearing the name, the bartender backed up to the dual doors. Everypony in the bar turned deadly silent, turning towards the stallion and staring. Twilight and the others as well stop their personal activities and turned their attention to the serving bar. Even Cecil, Jarvis, and Maurice stopped their brawling mid-punch, giving a disturbed look in response.

“What?” The bounty hunter asked.

The unicorn, November, uncovered her ice blue mane from out of the front of her face and revealed her shuttering cyan eyes, trying to get a better look at the stranger as well.

“K-K-Korsan, doesn’t have a bounty, he makes them. A-An avid visitor of this place actually…” November told him.

“Well, what would be his value if I were to capture him and turn him into the authorities?” He replied.

“He’s priceless,” Maurice said. “You’d never be able to catch him alive nor dead. If he were to have heard you, let alone seen you, you’d be dead.”

“What do you mean?”

The stallion scanned the back sections of his body, only seeing his wings fumbling inside the cloak.

“…?” The stallion gave a confused shrug.

“Your wings,” Maurice said.

“My wings?” The stranger gave a brief chuckle.

He, Twilight, and her friends were unaware of the true magnitude of that detail.

“'Tis no laughing matter,” Grivs in the far back corner said. “The madpony is Tartarus-bent on killing pegasi and Earth Ponies.”

“But, if I were to capture him, dead or alive, how much would I most likely get then, if this Korsan is so deadly?”

A moment of silence washed over the entire chamber, even the wooden structure of the building itself stopped rumbling, as if stunned of from the pony’s audacity of challenging the pirate.

“It’s a long story,” November replied. “Let me get somepony to explain.”

The mare then went back into the kitchen area. Everypony stayed silent as they stared at him, undoubtedly making the situation much more awkward for him. After a minute or so of silence, the mare emerged from the kitchen and to the counter. Following her was an old, indigo, unicorn stallion, with a pink scar along the side of his neck. The old stallion gave a stern, dreary look at the pegasus as he walks to the edge of the serving bar. The entire crowd of onlookers’ jaws drop, as if they’re seeing a ghost before them.

Nitin Gale… Twilight mouthed to herself. He must have really changed after we came for him to reveal himself.

Nitin spoke, “So, you want to know about Korsan, huh?”

“His value and location is what I came for,” the shrouded stranger replied. “But if you have a story to tell me, I’m all ears.”

The old stallion gives a heavy grunt before responding, “You are not worthy to know of such a tragedy.”

“Try me, I’ve faced some of the most mentally insane and abused prisoners across every sea you know.”

November’s father stood silent for a minute, staring into the pony’s orange eyes, examining him.

“Believe me," Nitin warned. "You haven’t even seen half the oceans I have seen, not that I blame you. You are confident stallion though, fine, if you think you are ready to know, then I shall begin.”

“Go.”

The old stallion fumbled with the two long white whiskers dropping from below his nose before starting. The patrons surrounding him leaned their ears towards the counter and dedicated all of their attention to him. Twilight and her friends were especially attentive.

Nitin began, “It all started around 20 years ago, Korsan, a filly, just like you and me, was born. However, his birth wasn't the most normal. He was a pegasus, and for five generations straight, his family was nothing but unicorns. This nearly threw the entire family tree in chaos. Over the course of over a hundred years of pure unicorn blood, his family believed that unicorns were the dominant pony race, and that all others were inferior. Korsan was born of wings, so at first, everypony that was there was shocked and disgusted to see him. However, his parents decided to take him in anyways, to be raised alongside his older brother and sister.”

“So wait, some nutcase wants to kill me for being a pegasus despite him being a pegasus? Sounds a bit hypocritical,” the bounty hunter noted.

“If you were to keep quiet, I would explain.” Nitin hissed.

“Sorry…”

“Over his early years of childhood, he was bullied and teased by his brother and sister, constantly picking up his toys with their magic and even him at times, as if it was a cruel joke. They, and even sometimes including his father and mother, would constantly berate him for being a pegasus and not a unicorn, and told him to stay out of their business or any close affiliation with them in public. The family saw Korsan as a weak link in their family legacy as the best metal workers in town, considering that unicorns were practically the only race that could do the job as well as they.”

“Famous unicorn metal workers for five generations… Wait, where did he live?”

“Baltimare, some city in Equestria if I remember right,”

”Equestria… Are they the Madens?”

“Yes, they kept Korsan very well hidden from public association. But this did not stop Korsan from trying to fit in and try to impress his family at their metal foundry. He had an amazing intellect and knack for building, inventing, and exploration. With the tools he could find in the workshop while his family was away in the different part of the foundry, the young colt would built an assortment of various mechanical devices, from toys, to tools that could be efficiently operated by non-unicorns, to even puzzles and devices for his own amusement. But when he tried showing them off to his family, they quickly criticized him for merely the fact that he was a pegasus."

"Hmmm..."

"When he wasn’t at school, tinkering in his private time, or being oppressed by his family, he would play at the harbour with his friends. However, his friends didn’t last for long, as time progressed; his friends got their cutie marks, everypony except for him. He was the only pony in his generation at his school to not receive his cutie mark, and one of the few ponies that to this day, doesn’t have one. As of result, he was teased by his once friends, further scarring his already destroyed childhood.”

“Wait, did I hear that right? This highly dangerous pony that can scare a bar silent, doesn’t have his cutie mark to this day?”

The stallion immediately burst out into a small chuckle. The old stallion slammed his hooves onto the counter viciously, startling the youngster.

“This is no laughing matter!" Nitin roared. "That teasing and laughing is the very reason he’s so dangerous!”

In fear, the stranger recollected himself. Nitin collected himself as well from his fit of rage.

He then continued on in a solemn voice, “As he was persistently bullied at home and at school, the rage built up boiled to the tipping point. He often engaged in brutal fights at school, with even on some occasions, using his mechanical gadgets as weapons. This resulted in him being removed, school after school, district after district, wherever he went, his rage and lacking physical attributes always dove him deeper and deeper in trouble. At the mere age of ten, Korsan was sent to jail, the earliest known arrest in Batimare’s history.”

“Yikes…”

"And this is only the tip of the iceberg of trouble this colt would bring."

As Nitin continued with the story, the ponies in the tavern continued to listen, their attention completely overtaken. So overtaken, they were oblivious from a green light leaking through the windows and the door.