Ultimate Equestria

by Leo Pachino

Chapter 043: Prisoners of "The Perfection"

Korsan and his crew escorted their now prisoners out of the temple and on board The Perfection. After a few vital repairs, The Perfection was able to take off and left Alicorn Island. The blue beam from the fountain had pierced the sky and revealed an exit to The Second Pulse. It was a portal, high above the volcano, that led to the evening sky of the surface world.

With Korsan at the wheel once more, the airship rose from the mysterious island and waters and through the portal in the dark sky. A bright light flashed as the ship passed through. After which, the crew found themselves and The Perfection floating on sea in the normal realm. The Breach was far behind them on the horizon, destined to never be visited by The Perfection after what just happened.

Everything was back to normal.

At the front of the now idle ship, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Applejack, Applebloom, and Scootaloo were tied to the front mast in thick ropes. Rarity and Sweetie Belle sat by the bound group. A long-needed rest was needed from the heroes, practically unable to put up any sort of fight now.

Taking a gulp of breath before facing her once-friends, Rarity turned to Twilight. Twilight had a new anti-magic strap on her horn. The sight plagued Rarity with guilt.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean for this to happen to you all.” Rarity humbly stated.

Twilight stayed silent for a moment. She looked away from Rarity, but eventually looked back.

“…Are you serious?” Twilight asked, neither accusatory nor pleased, only stern and stoic.

“Of course I am.” Rarity replied. “Twilight, during those two weeks when we were separated, I always wanted to come back to you. You’ve been my friend since you came to Ponyville, and I could never imagine you and I actually hurting each other.”

“Then what was with you trying to defend Korsan?” Twilight asked.

“It was the thing I could do to keep everypony safe, all of you girls, Spike, the pirates, and Korsan. I was an idiot for not thinking Korsan was going to pull something like that.”

“You saw what he did at Thieves’ Hold, he murdered that bounty hunter.” Rainbow Dash replied.

“I know, I know, and I thought I could change that when I joined his crew. Turns out I was wrong. Look, if you’re still upset at me, I understand. I might as well just leave you all be after the disaster I caused.” Rarity said.

“You didn’t cause anything.” Fluttershy spoke up. “It was Korsan who held me hostage. If anything, we should be glad for you. You tried to stop him.”

“But-” Rarity tried to interject.

“But what?” Pinkie asked.

“I, I don’t know. I feel like I’m still on Korsan’s side, and that I’m supposed to be enemies with you.” Rarity said.

“Are you?” Applejack asked.

Sweetie Belle answered for Rarity, “After hearing what he did to Rarity? No way!”

Rarity hesitated before confirming.

“No. If being with that fiend means being having to be enemies with all of you. Never!” Rarity declared.

“You know what? I’d rather depend on my friends to protect me and my kin than just some magic spells. What was I thinkin’? Betraying my friends and family? Ridiculous.” Applejack added.

“So are we fighting back?” Spike asked.

“No!” Rarity immediately replied.

Rarity knew Korsan and his crew were too strong against the ten of them. If he still trusted her and Sweetie Belle, perhaps the two could try to distract him and the others and get their friends out of this mess.

Rarity explained her plan to the others. They agreed to it, putting their trust into Rarity.

“Shhh. Here comes Korsan.” Applebloom muttered to the others.

Immediately, the mares and Spike turned towards the back of the deck. They saw Korsan walking to them, equipped with a fresh new cape and machine parts. Alongside him was Alexander Grevious, the same stallion that with them during the hostage scene.

Oddly, Korsan wasn’t boasting any stride. His mind was in another place or something. He looked rather stern.

He stoically said to them, “Hello, everypony. Welcome aboard The Perfection. I apologize for this rather, obscure, imprisonment. I’ve received word from the boatswain that the brig is currently waterlogged. But don’t fret, as soon as that is taken care off, all of you will be resting more comfortably in the cells below. This here stallion is going to be keeping an eye on all of you. Ms. Rarity, please report to one of the surgeons to take care of you. Ms. Belle, please assist Ivan with supper.”

Quietly, Rarity and Sweetie walked past the Korsan, glaring at him from the corner of their eye until he got out of their sights. They entered the quarterdeck area, leaving Korsan and his pirate partner with Twilight and her team.

“You know what to do?” Korsan asked Grevious.

“Yes, Captain. Report any conversation and secure the rope.” Grevious stated.

“Well said. I’ll be in my chambers trying to find out where we are. That portal’s zapped all of my instruments.”

“Yes, sir.”

As Korsan went to the back of the ship, his ears keep glued to the mares behind him, just in case they want to sneaked an insult behind his back. Much to his expectation, chatter immediately rose between the mares. He overheard Twilight’s voice talking to the pirate.

“Alexander?” She asked.

“Yes, ma’am.” The pirate stiffly replied.

Korsan slowed down his pace in order to hear the faint discussion.

“As in, Alexander Maden?”

Maden?!

Upon hearing that last word, Korsan stopped dead in his tracks. His mind immediately kicked into high gear. Long abandoned memories surged through his mind’s eye, memories of his family past. Twilight’s knowledge was beyond what he initially thought.

“No, Grevious. Alexander Grevious.” The pirate, Grevious, told her. “Need anything?”

“Oh, sorry. That was it.” Twilight said.

“Okay… I guess.” Grevious said.

Korsan restarted his walk to the quarterdeck. However, this time, his mind was in total flux.

How does she know that? Uncle Alex left my family years before I left? I’m going to need to get some answers out of that wench. He thought.

As Korsan reached the first steps of quarterdeck, he looked back to the front of the boat. Aside of damages during the battle in the Breach, everything seemed normal.

Aside of the scars of battle and new cargo for ransom, absolutely nothing was gained.

---

“Waterlogged?” Applejack whispered to herself. “Sounds fishy. Pun not intended.”

“Hm?” Twilight asked Applejack, overhearing her think.

“Shhh. Not so loud, that pirate’s listening to us.” Applejack whispered.

“He can’t hear us.” Twilight assured her.

“Hey!” Pinkie screamed out to the stallion, startling him instantly. “Can you hear us?!”

“Only you. Though at this moment, I might be able not hear anything but ringin’ for a while. Ow…” Alexander groaned.

Applejack ignored the stallion and continued, “Well anyways, Applebloom and I were hiding in the brig after that whole scene in the Breach right? And while we were down there for a good while, we didn’t see a drip of water get in. There was even a mare sleeping in one of the cells.”

“So what? Korsan could just be being mean to us.” Rainbow Dash said, hung from the other side of the mast.

“That could very well be.” Applejack replied.

“Hey!” Alexander barked at the mares. “I can see your lips moving. Don’t you think that I won’t find out what you’re all talking about.”

“Wasn’t it some boat-swine that told him about the brig?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Boatswain.” Twilight corrected her. “He keeps track of the condition of the ship.”

“Why would that kind of pony lie to his leader?” Dash asked.

“I don’t know.” Twilight replied.

---

After The Perfection returned to the surface world, Isyan decided to run an examination of the ship in its current state. He started from the bow of the ship and had been slowly making his way to the top of the quarterdeck.

As he entered his cousin’s chambers, he was greeted by the heat of the nearby fireplace. Music echoed from the automatic organ on the other side of the room. Isyan walked around the large chamber in search for Korsan, but to no avail. He decided to take this moment of absence as a chance to more thoroughly examine his cousin’s living quarters. The furniture was slightly torn and withered, but still retained its high-end quality. Isyan peeked into the library behind the bedroom and saw a mountain of fallen books.

As Isyan closed the door to the library, the sound of a series of small explosions blasted throughout the entire quarterdeck. Isyan shrieked and ducked into the sheets of Korsan’s bed. After a few seconds of following silence, he poked his head out of the bed. He saw the room hasn’t changed a bit, only shaken from shockwaves that came from the explosions.

Isyan examined the wall of solid iron at the corner of the room. It was the wall that separated Korsan’s bedroom from his sealed room for building contraptions. Slowly, Isyan walked up to the pair of metal doors at the wall. He peaked his head through the ajar doors.

There, he saw Korsan. Korsan was using his wrench on something hidden under a large blanket, something three times its inventor’s hefty size. Upon closer inspection, Isyan saw that the large contraption wasn’t even touching the iron padded floors below. Instead, the contraption was being held up by cables connected to some sort of rigging on the ceiling.

“What is that?” Isyan gasped.

Korsan was immediately startled by Isyan and leapt back in surprise.

“Isyan! Don’t do that to me!” Korsan barked.

“What were those explosions that went off? Did they come from this… this thing?” Isyan asked.

“It is not just some ‘thing’.”

“…A cannon?”

“It’s a brand new type of weaponry, one that’ll change the art of war.”

“How?”

Korsan took a small breath too cool his nerves. He then continued in his usually eccentric tone of voice, with only a small sliver of aggression is still present.

“So, you know how my crossbow fires metal bolts and how it’s faster and more powerful than conventional bows?” He asked his cousin, Isyan.

“Yeah, only you have a terrible shot when it comes to moving targets. Heck, you don’t even count your shots.” Isyan stated.

“Well this is going to solve those two problems for me, by removing the limitations of the pony body.”

“How?” Isyan asked.

“Well, using bits and pieces from my organ, this weapon will emit a unique frequency that bounces off of what’s in front of it and reflects those frequencies back to the weapon, which will read those frequencies like my mechanical suit to my muscles. By continuously doing this, the weapon will know what’s moving in front of it, and shoot it to bits without missing a shot or running out of metal bolts.” Korsan explained.

Isyan was confused.

“...Huh?” He asked.

“Oh, you’ll see. So, why do you barge in here once again, dear cousin?”

“First off,”

“Oh boy, another list…” Korsan moaned.

“Do you even know where we are? Or have you been too busy playing with your toys?” Isyan bluntly asked, not putting up with Korsan’s shenanigans.

“Of course I know where we are. We’re just outside the Breach, I checked my devices and maps just after we got through the portal. It was a decent idea of the makers of the fountain to create an escape route that doesn’t have travelers dealing with that sandworm again.”

“Yes-yes, praise to them or whatever. Second off, you need to check something out back at the bow. Our new prisoners are acting strange.”

“You were just in the cellar the last time I checked, how did you know they were acting up and get to me so quickly?”

“...Ivan told me.”

“Bah, fine, give me a second. I put too much gunpowder in the barrels. I need to fix the input filters.”

“Wait, barrels?”

“Just get out of here.”

“You know, you could be handling your priorities a lot better than this.”

“I know what I’m doing. Do I really have to say it three times in one day? It’s like everypony thinks I am a foal.”

“Well, you do act like one.”

“Bah, I don’t.”

“Yes, you most certainly do.”

“No I’m not a child.”

“Korsan, You are a child. An ignorant, bratty child, that does whatever he wants, regardless to the safety of everypony else, including his own life.”

“Quit being ridiculous,”

“No, you’re being ridiculous! If you keep this act up, sooner or later, somepony’s going to die!”

“Quel crétin...”

“I know what you just said and I am not proud of it. As your older cousin, I say it’s high time you given somepony else a turn at the wheel. Make me captain and stand down. You could learn a thing or two from me.”

“Nah.”

“I demand you, Korsan!”

“Or else what, Isyan?!”

“…”

“Yeah?” Korsan asked.

“…A storm is coming Korsan, and you’re driving right into it.” Isyan cryptically warned.

“Get out of my sights Isyan. I’ll take care of our guests in time. I need to ask them a few questions.”

Child.

Idiot.