Why Can't You See It My Way?
Rainbow Dash talked, and Squall listened. A few other pirates stood around and watched as well, but for the most part, they hung back from the conversation taking place. None of them wanted to intrude on the discussion and accidentally throw themselves in front of Squall’s ire, simmering just below the surface of the mare’s nearly expressionless face.
“Shortly after we crashed, we started to wonder why help wasn’t coming for us,” Rainbow said. “We’re friends with Princess Luna, so we figured she’d come looking for us in our dreams. But she hasn’t, so we figured that there had to be something that’s blocking her from finding us. Some magic or something.”
“And is there?” Squall simply asked, keeping her voice level and her tone neutral.
Rainbow swallowed and shrugged. “Rarity said that there was. She could feel it in her horn. Can’t you?”
“It takes very powerful magic for a unicorn to feel it in her horn if she’s not the one casting it,” the pirate captain said. Red magic built along her red horn, and Rainbow shrank back in worry before Squall simply released it and let it dissipate. “I’ve felt the barest tingle of feedback whenever I use my horn in my time here. So perhaps what you’re saying is true.”
Rainbow nodded. Though some part of her wanted to tell Squall everything, motivated as she was through terror and the pirate captain’s threats, she wisely held back on some of the key details. Even though she didn’t want to give up on the peaceful solution, true Equestrian as she was, it would be smarter and safer to carefully guard whatever key advantages she could hold onto. Maybe if she fed Squall and her crew enough of the story, she could gauge later if there’d been any change of heart in her or the other pirates. She needed allies if she was going to get out of this, and for the time being, at least, she couldn’t count on Rarity and Gyro to bust her out.
“We started traveling to different islands to see if there was some way to lift it,” Rainbow said, weaving in little omissions of truth to fashion her careful lies. “I’ve been to the other islands but haven’t found anything that could help us get rid of the magic that’s stopping Luna from finding our dreams. But I have found a bunch of temples and stuff for an ancient pony civilization’s gods. I think they’re the key to getting out of this.” After a second, she shrugged. “I flew here to see if I could find one on this island chain. You haven’t found anything like that, have you?”
Squall thought for a moment, but Rainbow couldn’t tell if she was trying to remember something or was debating whether to tell Rainbow what she knew. But, given what she knew about Squall, she was surprised that the pirate even began to answer her at all. “There are old ruins in the very center of this island cluster,” Squall said. “But we haven’t been able to get in. I would’ve set up camp on them, but they’re cursed. It’s too dangerous out there.”
Rainbow blinked and frowned. “What do you mean, cursed?”
“They’re cursed, damn it,” Squall growled, the hair on her neck rising some. “If we stayed there, we’d die. And I won’t throw away what crew I have left needlessly.”
“But those ruins are the key to getting off these islands,” Rainbow protested. “If we could get to them, look around…”
“We?” Squall said, raising an eyebrow. “There is no ‘we.’ You are my prisoner. You are nothing. You’re only useful alive until I’m bored with you. You may know things about these islands from your time spent on them, too, but that’s less important to me. I know how to survive, and I will keep my crew together. We can suffer any amount of time on these islands before we make it back someplace civilized.”
“But that’s what I’m trying to help you with!” Rainbow protested. “If we just worked together instead of fighting each other, We could be rescued in weeks!”
“I told you, I’m not interested in becoming a prisoner to leave these islands!” Squall barked, forcing Rainbow shrink back. “Given the choice, I’d rather stay out here in the middle of the ocean, where the weather’s pleasant and there’s plenty of food, than go back to miserable Equestria and run from the gallows. So no, we will not help you, I will not help you get back home. I have half a mind to kill you right now and be done with it…” Squall tore the dagger out of the sand, and Rainbow’s eyes homed in on it. She sucked on the blood still dripping from the deep cut in her lip, but other than that found herself unable to move. But eventually, with a twirl and a flourish, Squall jammed it back into a sheathe on her belt. “But then I wouldn’t get my entertainment value out of you. If I can’t hold you for a ransom from a position of power, then I might as well make you suffer until even that becomes boring.”
“You’re insane,” Rainbow muttered. “I’m surprised your crew hasn’t mutinied on you yet.”
“I’m not,” Squall said with a predatory smile. “Power commands respect. And I am powerful.” Her horn sparked and flared as she forced mana through it, and everypony else in the pirate camp winced and flattened their ears as a booming crack of thunder echoed from the captain herself. Her eyes briefly flared with magical power before the gray of her irises returned a few seconds later. The sand around her had been scorched, and random streaks turned to glass from the intense heat. “I could have been a student at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns had I the pedigree and money to attend. But when you grow up on the streets with smugglers for parents, that’s not where you end up.”
Tossing her head back, Squall turned away from Rainbow and started to march back to her separate hut. “Enjoy the reprieve while you have it. I have more important things to worry about this morning than beating you around. That’s more of an after dinner kind of activity anyway.”
Rainbow and the other pirates watched her go until she disappeared inside of her shelter. As soon as she did that, her officer started giving out orders to the other pirates, slowly causing them to disperse. Somepony dragged Rainbow back under her lean-to, throwing her into the sand with a grunt. Rainbow winced as the world briefly spun around her and planted her hooves into the sand to steady herself. Hopefully the concussion wouldn’t have her out of commission too much longer…
But as she finally settled down, her eyes wandered over the pirates in the camp. Yes, she knew that there was no way she could get Squall to work with her, but that wasn’t the point of trying. If she was going to have any sort of hope at escaping the pirate camp, she’d need help from within. And though most of the pirates didn’t seem fazed by her words, she caught one watching her from the other side of the camp as he prepared meals for the crew. The difference from before was that it wasn’t malevolent or hateful, but instead more… curious.
Rainbow made eye contact with him, ruby to red. The coal black pirate shifted uncomfortably and looked away, but Rainbow still held the gaze a few seconds longer. He would be the one she’d focus her efforts on. She could tell just by looking at him that he wasn’t as willing to spend the rest of his days on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere. She knew that if she could get through to him, she’d have a chance at turning him against Squall.
But how was she going to do that?
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So rainbow didn't actually tell squal everything, you had us worried.
Good thing she didn't tell here everything...
Good god, Squall is raving mad.
I do not think Squall is as powerful as she makes herself out to be. I bet Rarity (with some cunning and thaumic ju-jitsu) could go horn to horn with her and win.
She may (currently) be in charge, but she is no leader. I would bet she got her position through bluff, bluster, and liberal application of the old ultra-violence on any who stood in her way. In the pony-eat-pony of pirate gangs, Squall probably has to be ready to fight off (and possibly kill) any challengers to her authority at a moment's notice. That probably would make her impulsive and reactionary. Rarity/Gyro/Dash could exploit this and goad Squall into doing something dumb...
Phew, she didn't tell them everything. At least she's tempered enough to do that.
Now, how to go about starting a rebellion in the gang...?
8643522
I think she's precisely as powerful as she says. Rarity just has the potential to be more. After all, one is a pirate captain developed and tempered in the crucible of battle and blood. The other is a fashionista from some backwater town who got involved in saving the world through artifacts and friendship. Even if she has the potential to be greater than the pirate, Rarity would need reason and opportunity to develop it. Something she never had.
8643692
Squall all but straight up admitted she does not have the same raw power as Rarity. What she does have that Rarity lacks is the will to use lethal force without remorse or hesitation.
She has a lot of pride too and a front to maintain before her gang. I imagine Rarity et al could use this to provoke her into attacking and overextending without planning or foresight...
Simple: seduce him!
According to the internet you are shipped with basically everyone, so one single stalion (who probably didn't have private contacts with any mares lately) shouldn't be a problem!
See, even mid-torture Dash is willing to attempt the peaceful solution, true Equestrian that she is.
If Squall had half a brain, then Rainbow and Rarity would've stumbled across a mixed group of ponies and pirates working together to build a ship and sail to the Confederacy where they'd agreed to go their separate ways. Even if Squall betrayed them and murdered them once the ship was finished, she'd be smart but a psychopath. Rather than dumb and also a psychopath.
I look forward to her eventual out-smarting and comeuppance so much!