Ultimate Equestria

by Leo Pachino

Chapter 062: Meanwhile...

Far away from the coast of Equestria, far into the endless waves of the ocean, stood the stone towers collectively known as Thieves’ Hold. At the top of one of these grand stacks was once an old, decaying tavern. But after a miracle upon the seas, an enormous tavern took its place.

It stood three stories tall, almost doubling the height of the stack it stood on. Over half of the floor-space dangled above the sea below. However, the colossal building stayed firm as stone thanks to the large steel beams that connected the cantilever deep into the mountain below. The tavern was made of a beautiful structure of stone and wood with cement interior support. Large windows shone the golden light of inside out over the entirety of Thieves’ Hold. The tavern could’ve been easily mistaken for a lighthouse.

On this hour of midnight, the sky was clear. The shine from the towering bar is at its greatest. Roars and cheers from the tavern echoed throughout the tall rock towers and surrounding waters. Below the bar, down the winding ramp, at the edge of the harbour, a pony, dressed in a dark cloak, made his way to the bar. As he slowly walked down the long wooden walkway of the harbour, he looked to his left and right. He examines the hundreds of ships that were parked throughout the many docks. It was like being in a wooden web, with bridges intertwined, but beautiful when complete. His lone self was a speck compared to the web he stood on.

The soft winds flowed through his cloak were just as salty as ever. But, for some reason, the wind had a bitter, metallic stench upon entering his nose. The water that occasionally splashed onto him felt cold, but really nothing else. The night was as clear and sharp as ever, but the pony saw only a blur.

It was a troubling time for the pony, but all too familiar.

He hobbled his way up the slowly rising ramp. The moist, yet firm wood below relieved the stallion from what he had been through to get here, though not enough for his hooves to feel like metal. As he climbed higher and higher, the sounds of the tavern above his head grew louder and more audible. After several long minutes of climbing, the cloaked pony reached the massive balcony before the front of the tavern. Several large dining tables and even a billiards table were set up on the balcony, but not a pony in sight, most likely due to the recent rain.

To the stallion’s right, his eye caught a glimpse of the massive pair of double doors that lead to the inside of the tavern. Slowly, he shuffled to the set of doors and pried them open.

He was immediately enveloped in the golden glow and rambunctious voices of inside.

The first thing the stallion saw upon entering was the massive golden chandelier just above his head, showering the majority of the bar in warm light. The stallion’s view traced the wires that held the lights in place. He saw the indoor galleries of the second and third floors that looked down to him. At least a hundred ponies could be seen from the stallion’s perspective of the galleries. A wide array of pirates, dignitaries, and regular sea faring ponies could be seen conversing with one another, playing games with one another, examining their charts and maps for the eleventh time, and eating and drinking massive rations of food and drinks.

Behind him, just above his head, the stallion saw a gigantic stain glass window that took up almost the entire wall. It showed six ponies defeating a massive monster. The monster was an airship with the head of a stallion, all made of metal.

Below the cloaked stallion was a massive red carpet that gently brushed his soggy hooves. It was almost overwhelming for the pony to take in so much atmosphere.

The sights and sounds slowly set in. From every angle, the whispers and shrills of laughter, rage, happiness, and just ordinary words and sounds entered the stallion’s ears in one grand symphony of voices. With the exception of only a few loud screams or swears, the vast majority of the voices could not be understood from this open location of the tavern. However, the stallion could hear something coherent rise to his ears, one coming from the second floor above.

Leaning back against the front wall, the stallion looked up over the edge of the second floor to see a large group of ponies. They were surrounding a blue pegasus in a striped shirt and a brown trench coat and his small band of musicians. Focusing his senses on the stallion and his team, the cloaked pony heard the music erupting from the instruments, and the voices that sung.

They all chanted in unison,

“Yo! Ho! Ho!

Here we cheer again,

For the sinking of the demons,

And the drowning of our woes!

Yo! Ho! Ho!

Check your sails my friends,

The wind is in our good favour,

And the storms are all away!”

After chorus was sung, the violinists performed their duo. The audience that sung along now danced with one another along to the whimsical whirring of the strings. The cloaked observer below stretched during this time before returning his sights on time to see and hear the blue stallion in the center sing his verse. The instrumental quieted down to give him the limelight.

“Now the captain of the Deadly Storm,

He was not the kindliest,

Had a quick temper and terrible lust,

For blood of the wing and might,

He made a crew of criminal scum,

And spread his terror out to sea,

Attacked all who he did not enjoy,

Pray him sinking from one good storm.”

In a matter of moments, the chorus started again and the music roared to life once more,

“Yo! Ho! Ho!

Here we cheer again,

For the sinking of the demons,

And the drowning of our woes!

Yo! Ho! Ho!

Check your sails my friends,

The wind is in our good favour,

And the storms are all away!”

“All thought he would never be stopped,

But then in the day of fate,

He crossed paths with the wrong good land,

Heroes they had, a matter of fact,

Quickly deployed and set off to sea,

The heroes soon gave a quick chase,

To the very ends of the world,

They didn’t care, them heroes be blessed.”

“Yo! Ho! Ho!

Here we cheer again,

For the sinking of the demons,

And the drowning of our woes!

Yo! Ho! Ho!

Check your sails my friends,

The wind is in our good favour,

And the storms are all away!”

“Sirens, krakens, giants, monsters all the like,

The heroes stayed true to their soul,

And chased down the evil captain’s ship,

No matter how the odds were stacked,

The heroes fought to the bitter end,

Made traitors of the captain’s own men,

And as all ponies took their sides,

The battle to save the world begun!”

“Yo! Ho! Ho!

Here we cheer again,

For the sinking of the demons,

And the drowning of our woes!

Yo! Ho! Ho!

Check your sails my friends,

The wind is in our good favour,

And the storms are all away!”

“The battle was tough, lasted three hours,

The Deadly Storm turned to a wreck,

The evil captain of the dying ship,

Revealed his inner demons upon his foes,

But the heroes stood their solid ground,

The heroes fought and gave their all,

One last shot, they took him down,

And the evil captain is dead!”

The entire bar screamed out in rejoice of the final line. The windows rattled from the force of the sound, almost shattering them. The cloaked stallion stayed frim however, remaining stoic as now the entire tavern sung along,

“Yo! Ho! Ho!

Here we cheer again,

For the sinking of the demons,

And the drowning of our woes!

Yo! Ho! Ho!

Check your sails my friends,

The wind is in our good favour,

And the storms are all away!”

For the final verse, the singing stallion slowed down the tempo dramatically. He delivered the final lines,

“And here we are, safe and sound,

From the captain of the Deadly Storm,

The heroes are now known as legends,

For the rest of time and sea,

Though some questions have stayed as questions,

There is hope they will be answered,

Drink up me lads, and stay safe,

Quite a good pirate’s life for you…”

The tavern roared in applause of the song. The stallion and his troop backed into the unseen reaches of the gallery. Soon, the crowd calmed down and returns to the casual bustle that the cloaked stallion first saw.

As the stallion lowered himself from the wall, the reason of why he came returned to his mind. His gaze lowered down back to the floor ahead of him and onto the large serving bar in the center of the area. Slowly, he walked over to the bar, with his sight dead-set on the barmaid there, a dark blue unicorn with long, ice blue hair.

“November Gale,” The stallion whispered to himself, not letting out a squeak.

As he drew closer and closer to the serving bar, unbeknownst to him, several of the patrons seated nearby started to stare at him. They conversed with each other about him, escalating in volume, as do most conversations in the tavern. The cloaked stallion started to hear the gossip. Words about his stature, his movements, his unseen objects that caused his cloak to jut out at certain points swept throughout the floor of the tavern. These words did not alter his progress.

Eventually, he made the long walk to the bar, and sat himself down. He patiently waited and watched the mare as she conversed with a pair of stallions on the other side of the square bar.

---

“…and then I said, Oatmeal? Are you crazy?!” Jarvis exclaimed, unknowing of the cloaked stallion listening in on him.

“Hahaha! Jarvis, that is actually pretty genius.” Maurice laughed.

“Thank you.” Jarvis not-so-humbly replied.

“If only that genius were to extend to your common sense, I tell ya, mate.”

“What do you mean, Maurice?”

“Come on. Eating a bowl of dry rice and then drinking boiling water?”

“It gets cold in Pingwin.”

“So what? I heard you throwing up all the way from the Hooviet Union.”

“That’s ridiculous. What type of mail would you be delivering to those guys anyways?”

“…Special kind of mail, packages.”

“…”

“…Anyways, heard the latest rumour about Maria?” Maurice asked, changing the subject.

“The one where she’s a descendant of one of the Tetred Knights?” Jarvis asked.

“No, you haven’t. Alright, there’s a new rumour going around that she’s been cursed by La Pesadilla.”

“…Who?”

“La Pesadilla is a mythical being said to curse little foals into making their nightmares come true. Apparently, Maria is either a ‘foal’ being cursed, or is being controlled to fulfill a nightmare. That’s why she’s gone missing.”

“That’s stupid.”

“But wait, this one might check out.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Jarvis groaned.

“I’m being legit with you alright. A while ago, somepony in Reno thought they saw Maria in a specific building, the same building where another pony claimed to have seen the one of La Pesadilla’s nightmares.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah.”

“What would Maria, a well-trained pirate assassin, who knows when to pick a fight, be anywhere near a children’s ghost story? Isn’t that right, November?”

“Yeah, it really is out of Maria’s character.” November agreed.

“I’m telling you, I’ve read the letters, this could be what Maria’s been up to.” Maurice proclaimed.

He then snapped his head to the ceiling and yelled above, “Hey, Cecil! Is the latest rumour probably true?!”

A mumbled voice answered back, “No.”

“What?! Craig believes me, Cecil!” Maurice exclaimed.

“He pretty much believes everything.” Cecil calmly replied.

“Excuse me Maurice, Jarvis,” November interrupted the stallions. “There’s somepony waiting for me.”

November turned around and hurried towards the cloaked stallion.

“Hello there sir. Welcome to the Thieves and Heroes Tavern. Sorry to keep you waiting.” She said.

The cloaked stallion stayed silent for a second before replying, “…No issue.”

“Oh dear. Are you okay?” November worryingly asked.

Upon hearing his extremely gravelly and tired voice, November thought he sounded as if he was dying.

“…I’m fine.” The cloaked pony croaked.

“Can I get you anything, sir?” Maria asked.

“First… a drink.”

“Anything in particular?”

“…Whatever’s cheap, I guess…”

“Had a bad day?”

“…Yeah. Lost a bit…”

“Well, how about I get you this one free?”

“Sure.”

Quickly, November got to work and began to fill a large mug with fresh cider. While she was doing this, the lone pony stared at her, tracking her every motion in great detail. November slowly started to feel this presence behind her. She shrugged it off, the best she could. She handed over the brimming cup to the cloaked stallion. He simply nudged it around with the shadowy tip of his nose.

“Need some help there?” November asked.

“…” The stallion stayed awkwardly silent.

“…Sir?”

“…Let me ask you something… How long has it been since the fall of The Perfection?”

“You mean Korsan’s defeat? Hm… Seven months.”

“Huh, it’s been that long…”

“I know how you feel. Feels like almost yesterday when Twilight Sparkle and her friends showed up and gave that pirate a piece of all of our minds.”

“…”

“…Sir? Are you okay?”

A moment of silence fell between the two. The surrounding noise seemed to dull as the two ponies focused on each other.

Finally, the cloaked pony, the lone stranger, spoke,

“…Yeah, ‘a bad day’, call it that. It isn’t the first time something like this has happened to me, having everything I’ve strived for, what I deserved, taken away from me. But, what else would you expect in the type of world we live in today? One moment, you’re at the top of it all, with your life-long dreams finally achieved, and nothing standing in the way. The next, you’re back down to the bottom of the barrel, more hurt than ever before.

“It happens to all of us. It not now, then tomorrow. If not by nature, then by fate. If not by some villain, then by your own petard. Heh, if you’re lucky, then both will doom you at the same time. I’d kill to see that happen to my foes. They should’ve been what I’ve been through. I’ve gone through Tartarus twice, and they’ve only given an unwavering glance at it. I’ll show ‘em. I’ll take away all they have…”

“…”

“Is there a problem?” The stallion asked.

“No, no. I just wasn’t expecting it.” November replied.

“Oh.”

“You sounded almost, familiar to somepony I know, but different.”

“Who was this pony I might ask?”

“Oh, no pony special, just an old… pony of interest.”

“…I see.”

“Do you need help with your drink, sir? How about a straw?”

“I’m fine. I, am, completely, perfect... …And second, I want just one thing…”

As the stallion reached his hoof towards the handle of the mug, his black cloak accidently slid down. A metal bar was revealed, piercing through his burnt and withered hoof. Red boils of practically destroyed flesh covered whatever skin was revealed beneath the matted fur.

November jerked back in surprise and nearly puked at the sight.

“Oh my-! We need a doctor!” She quickly called out.

As she scrambled to try and fix the terrifying hoof with her bare hooves out of instinct, she accidentally tugged on the stallion’s cloak too hard. The black cloth ripped away to reveal the stallion’s wings, withered and serrated with hundreds of metal objects, large and small. Everypony around gasped at the horrid sight of the jagged stump of bone that poked out on his forehead.

But the stallion, now revealed, stayed perfectly still and silent amongst the chaos.

“…” His breath was shallow, clinging to life, but still fruitful in might.

His one remaining eye, his scarred, rough, glazed-over eye, stared into the frightened blues of November. As her mouth quivered, her hooves shuffled back, and her eyes and body tremble from the being before her.

“And second…” The stallion choked, unable to finish his demands.

---

“...Revenge,” It spoke.