Prisoners of the Heart

by KidatHeart5

Salvation

Flog walked up to the motley crowd of scum and villainy gathered around the shattered remains of the crystal that had protected the island from detection.

“COMRADES!” he shouted, causing all eyes to fix on him. He explained to them, “This was no mere accident! ‘Twas a ploy! A ploy cooked up by one of the slaves!”

One of the pirates scoffed, “Pfft! Like they could ever come up with an idea like that.”

Flog smacked the dirty pony and continued, “You fool! There can be one pony who had the brains for such a scheme…Noname! He destroyed our crystal not just to expose us, but also as a distraction! As we speak, the slaves are down below in the tunnels making their escape! We must stop them before they reach the beach!”

Another stallion asked, “What’s gonna happen if they get to the beach?”

Flog smacked him as well and shouted, “Idiot! They’ll overwhelm us! That’s why we keep them in tight spaces! Now, quickly! Set fire to all the tunnel exits! We’ll smoke them out so they’ll pool into the checkpoint building!”

---

Meanwhile, inside the tunnels, the groups had split up into three so one could have more of a chance to escape than the others. However, the slaves had to move slowly. If they ran, their thundering hooves would cause the surface to shake, thus alerting the slavers to their location.

Zealot told the group he was leading, “All right. We’re almost there. The exit is just up ahead.”

One female slave asked, “Are we really going to be free, my prince?”

Zealot answered, “Well, we’re not out of the woods yet. For all we know, something could go wrong.”

Suddenly, flames burst to life at the far end of the tunnel.

Ocellus pointed to it and asked in concern, “Like that?”

Zealot’s eyes shrunk as he breathed, “Oh, no.”

The female slave freaked out, “No-no-no-no-no-no-no! That exit’s our only way out! I can’t go back there! I just can’t!”

As she raced towards the fiery exit, Smolder chased after her, “Wait! Stop!”

Thankfully, she managed to tackle the pony before she could reach the fire. Then, the others saw that the flames were licking Smolder’s back.

The female slave stood up and gasped, “Oh, I am so sorry!”

Smolder asked, “About what?” She looked back to see the tongues of fire touching her back. “Oh.” She stood up as she smiled and waved nonchalantly, “Eh, it’s no biggie. Dragons are resistant to fire.” Then, the revelation dawned on her. She facepalmed, “Of course! Dragons are resistant to fire!” When the ponies started coughing, she said, “Listen! You can’t stay here! You need to go back the way you came! You’ll die if you don’t!”

A male slave protested, “We’d rather die here than up there with those barbarians!”

Zealot raised his voice, which grew hoarser with every second, “I won’t let you!”

Smolder coughed, “Besides - *cough cough* I can fly for help once I’m out there.”

Ocellus then stepped forth and said bravely, “And I’m coming with you.” She then transformed into a yellowish dragon, causing Smolder to smile in tenderness of her friend being willing to accompany her.

Zealot told the other slaves, “Everyone…*cough* back this way!” As the slaves started running down the tunnel, Zealot said to the girls, “Take care, girls!”

Once everyone was gone, Smolder held Ocellus’s claw and asked, “Ready?”

Her friend nodded, “Mm-hmm.”

They crouched forward, ready to lunge at the burning fire.

Smolder cried, “Go!”

The girls ran through the flames and jumped out of the burning exit with only char marks on their bodies. The girls lied down on the sand as they coughed from the smoke.

After Ocellus morphed back into her normal self, she rasped, “*cough cough cough* I thought dragons were resistant to fire.”

Smolder coughed her answer, “Fire…*cough* Not smoke.”

Meanwhile, inside the tunnels, Zealot’s group ran into Gallus’s group.

Gallus and Zealot both said in unison, “What are you doing here?! Our exit was burning! You, too?!”

Yona’s voice added, “Us, too!”

Both leaders turned to see Yona and Sandbar with their group emerging from another tunnel. Just then, a trapdoor opened at the end of a fourth and shorter tunnel.

The voice of a cruel pirate taunted, “Well…You’re in quite a rut, aren’t ya? Come up here if ye want to live!”

The slaves had no choice but to obey. In single file, they ran up the steps and into the checkpoint building.

Once every slave was out of the smoking tunnels, Flog commanded his group, “Shut every door here!” After his ponies did as he ordered, he smiled evilly, “Now…to take care of some business…”

---

Just off the shore of the island, a giant portal appeared out of the blue. A large ship sailed out of it and landed sideways at the edge of the sand. The ramp lowered and Mothball, Screwball, Bubble Gum, Roller Blade, and Skater trotted down onto the beach. Apple Butter stayed onboard with Captain Old Salt and a hoof-full of his finest crewmembers.

Mothball said, “It’s too foggy here. How we gonna find anything?”

Bubble Gum said, “I have an idea. Screwball, can you whip up a conch shell?”

Her cousin-in-law asked in confusion, “What for?”

“While the Young Six stayed with us on Marendelle, I taught them the same thing I taught the other kids. If they were ever in trouble and we were nearby, they needed to blow into a conch shell so it would alert us while escaping the villain’s notice at the same time.”

Roller Blade praised her, “B.G., that’s brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that?”

Screwball conjured up a seashell and said, “Here you go! One conch shell!”

Bubble Gum thanked her and then blew into the shell, which gave out a long, hollow call.

Moments earlier, Ocellus resumed her normal form after having surveyed the compound as a seagull this time. Thankfully, the guards on the wall walk of the fortress had left their posts, allowing Ocellus and Smolder to linger outside the gates without being seen.

The dragon asked, “Well, what’s happening?”

Ocellus answered, “They’re smoking out the others so they could be trapped in the center building. Oh! And I think I saw something on the shore.”

“What was it?” At that moment, the girls heard a familiar sound. “A conch shell?” Smolder’s eyes then widened. “Bubble Gum! They made it!”

Ocellus asked in rising excitement, “They’re here?!”

Smolder searched the ground for something. “Yeah! I think so! Help me find a conch shell so we can let them know we’re here!”

“It’s too foggy! Wait, I got an idea!”

The changeling then transformed herself into a conch shell. When Smolder held her up, Ocellus blew with all her might.

On the shore, the royals heard another conch shell in the distance.

Skater said, “That’s them! Come on! This way!”

The five of them followed the call of the conch shell until they saw the massive walls of a tall fortress and the figure of a small dragon.

Bubble Gum smiled as she hugged her friend, “Smolder! We’re so relieved you’re all right!”

Roller Blade then commented, “Glad you put her technique to good use.”

Smolder smiled, “We both did.”

She set the conch shell on the ground and Ocellus appeared right before the royals’ eyes.

Mothball praised, “Ocellus! That was very clever of you!”

Smolder then said urgently, “We don’t have much time! The slaves are in trouble!”

Ocellus explained, “Flog and the slave drivers have them trapped in the center building! We gotta hurry!”

Skater nodded, “Right! You girls go back to the ship and tell them to expect some rescued slaves.”

Roller then asked, “By the way, how many are there?”

Smolder answered, “Lots.”

Mothball whistled, “Looks like we got our work cut out for us.”

---

Inside the checkpoint building, Flog and his crew had the slaves backed up against the wall. Most of the slaves were understandably frightened, though some tried to put on a brave face.

Flog threatened in a wicked tone, “Now, children…You have pulled the rug under my hooves for the last time!”

CRASH!

The villains looked to see that the double doors had been practically ripped from their hinges and wood splinters were everywhere. Still, they could not see the assailants.

One of Flog’s crewmembers asked in fright, “What was that, boss?!”

Another stallion shivered as he asked, “You don’t suppose it was a…g-ghost?!”

Flog dismissed the notion, “Are you all mice?! There are no ghosts on this island!”

As if challenging his claim, an unseen force pulled at a portly stallion’s club. He cried, “Oh, yes, there is!”

In an attempt to pull it back, the portly stallion accidentally swung his club into his comrade’s face, knocking him out. In just mere moments, the pirates and slavers felt themselves being attacked by “ghosts”.

Flog scowled as he lifted a chair, “I got your phantom right here!”

Abruptly, he felt himself being jumped on and he let go of the chair. He tussled with the “spirit” before he kicked it into the wall. The tapestry hanging there fell onto the unknown figure and revealed a mare-shaped lump with a pokey half-sphere on its head.

Flog smiled, “I knew it. You’re no spirit.” He grabbed a poker and readied to plunge it into the lump. “Which means you can be killed!”

Before he could strike at the lump, something bit his back leg. While he gave a cry of pain, the invisible pony escaped from underneath the tapestry. She then ran towards the slaves and revealed herself only to them.

The kids who knew her shouted happily, “Screwball/Aunt Screwball/Mom!”

She shushed them, “Shh! Don’t give me away!”

One of the slaves asked, “But can’t they see you?”

She shook her head, “No. Only you can. Listen, my invisible friends and I are gonna get you out of here.”

Pepper asked, “But how?”

Sandbar said, “We can’t get past the pirates, and the trapdoor’s pretty much shot.”

Screwball asked, “Trapdoor?”

Dyna explained, “This one. It leads into the tunnels, but they’re smoking from the fires at the exits.”

Screwball looked at the trapdoor and then got an idea. The propeller on her beanie spun with yellow magic and a flash of light bordered the trapdoor. After the light died down, she opened it to reveal an above view of the sand on the beach.

“Oh, wait!” she exclaimed before conjuring up a slide between the floor and the sand below. “Now go, go, go! One at a time, one at a time!”

The kids slid down first and they found themselves in front of a ship.

Bullet called up to the slaves on the other side of the floating portal, “Come down here! There’s a ship waiting for us!”

This excited the slaves and they began to slide down the slide one by one. After they got off the slide, they raced towards the ship’s ramp.

Meanwhile, inside the building, the invisible rescue party was getting exhausted. However, they continued fighting the fiends to distract and hopefully capture one of the pirates.

When Grunt noticed that the slaves were going down the trapdoor again, he shouted to his comrades while battling his unseen enemy, “Guys! The slaves are going down into the tunnels again!”

One of the slave drivers told him while tussling with an invisible force, “Those suicidal fools! Just grab one! We have more elsewhere!”

Grunt pushed his foe back and swooped in to grab Aerodynamic. When she heard her daughter shriek, Skater looked up to see a griffon with one arm around the young pony’s pinned arms and waist and the other arm around her neck.

Skater gritted her teeth and flew towards the fireplace. She grabbed a hot branding iron as she thought, Not my daughter, you –

She then shoved the rod up Grunt’s rear end, causing him to yelp in pain and let go of Dyna. Grunt flew frantically around the room, trying to ease his pain. When the invisible team saw Grunt swooping down towards them and the pirates, they jumped out of the way before Grunt crashed into his comrades.

When Screwball saw that all of the bad guys were in one huge pile, she broke out a machine gun and shouted, “ALL RIGHT, YOU BUNCH OF BUZZARDS! EAT NUTTY PUTTY!”

She shot at the pirates and slave drivers multiple times, encasing them in a sticky slime-like substance. She couldn’t help but laugh maniacally as she shot her machine gun.

“Screwy! SCREWY!”

The muffled voice broke her trance and she saw a lone stallion fighting against the putty.

“It’s me, Roller! Don’t shoot me!”

She magically ripped the putty from her friend, who gave a loud yelp of pain.

She smiled sweetly, “Oops. Sorry, Roller.”

Skater smirked to her brother, “Hey, you wanted to know what a wax would feel like. Now you know.”

Roller glared at his twin.

Mothball said, “Okay, everyone’s down the portal. Let’s take the pirates before –“

Suddenly, swords started to shred the putty and the substance began to slowly recede from their captives.

Screwball exclaimed, “What?! But my putty –“

Roller grabbed Screwball and said, “Now’s the time to move it!”

Once the invisible ponies slid down the slide, Screwball got rid of it, the portal, and their invisibility. The team then ran up the ramp and told the captain to set sail. Before anyone could act, Screwball took matters into her own hooves by using her magic to flip the ship towards the giant portal. She then pulled a long cord with a red handle from the stern of the ship and let it withdraw back into the water. The sound of a large motor filled the air as the ship began to lunge forward. Once the vessel quickly reached the other side of the portal, the gateway closed, leaving only the sea and the thinning fog behind.

The gates of the fortress slammed open and Flog and his motley followers stepped out to see nothing out of the ordinary. No ship, no “ghosts”, and no slaves. Flog gave a mighty shout of rage and then all was quiet for a minute.

When no one said anything, one of the pirates dared to break the silence by asking Flog timidly, “Er…Captain? What do we do now?”

He was met with a quick punch to the face courtesy of Flog.

The pirate captain thought to himself, That insolent Noname was right! He and his family are not to be underestimated. Then again, neither am I…

Flog then answered in a low but infuriated voice, “The same thing pirates always do: make every last royal pay with their lives if it’s the last thing we do.”

---

When everyone on the ship arrived in Marendelle, there was great rejoicing at the homecoming of its royals and the rescue of the innocent. Marendelle itself shed its layer of snow and ice, and the sun shone once again to brighten the hearts of the kingdom’s fair citizens. However, no one was more overjoyed than the royal family themselves.

Inside the castle, the children laughed and shouted happily, “Mom! Dad! I sure missed you, Mommy! Here we are, Mommy!”

Bubble Gum wept for joy as she cuddled her quads, “Oh, my darlings! My darlings!”

Oddball asked Mothball, “How did you find us, Dad?”

Zealot answered, “I believe you should thank the Young Six for that.”

The six children smiled in modesty and pride.

Sweetie Belle said to the royal children, “Run along and play now. I’m sure you’ve missed your toys.”

Every kid but Aerodynamic cheered and ran off.

Dyna went up to the Young Six and hugged them. “Thank you! Thank you so much for helping us get back home!”

Zealot smiled and nodded, “Yes, we’re all very grateful for what you’ve done for us.” His face then lowered in sadness. “But I’m afraid the same can’t be said about the others we saved.”

Skater said, “I still can’t believe that there are enough of them to fill the entire ballroom to capacity.”

Mothball then added, “Yeah, and even then we had to put the rest in the library.”

Button Mash stated, “If they are to stay here, we’d have to build a dozen more houses in the village.”

Sandbar said, “But they can’t.” He sighed as he and his friends hung their heads, “We can’t.”

Scootaloo asked, “What do you mean?”

Gallus explained, “The slavers told us that they found us through blood magic.”

Silverstream added, “Or more like hair magic.”

Sandbar told the adults, “They used our hairs to track us down and find us on Marendelle. I bet they’re using the same thing for the other slaves.”

Little Button asked, “But what about when Zealot was bought by Dad?”

Zealot answered, “That’s different. When one master trades or sells their slave to another, they no longer bother with them. Slavers only use blood magic if the slaves escape without being sold off or traded.”

Screwball asked, “And how did those pirates manage to break free of my Nutty Putty?”

Zealot then said, “They have protection spells cast upon themselves that almost always work except if they’re captured or killed. They might still have enough protective magic left to launch an attack on us. As long as they have slave hideouts elsewhere, they’ll still be protected from our defenses.”

Roller Blade asked, “But what about Gallopinghost Island?”

Quill Scarlet deduced, “I believe that has something to do with the chain of information. The more people you share your secrets about a slave hideout with, the more vulnerable to attack it will become.”

Zealot realized, “Of course! That’s why Flog said that no one outside of the slave trade could find Coltavo Island! It could only be exposed through sharing information or destroying the source of the protection spell.”

Yona asked, “But how we defend ourselves against pirates when they come?”

Button Mash spoke, “We can’t risk open warfare with the pirates. It would endanger or even take innocent lives.”

Sweetie Belle then got an idea, “But what if we send the slaves away, to the jungles of Equestria? Since it’s a vast and almost uninhabited place, it would give the slaves a better chance at hiding from those dreadful pirates.”

Rumble said, “No, they’d still track them down.”

Apple Bloom then thought of something, “Wait. What if we leave some of the slaves here to lure the pirates to Marendelle? But then we’ll send the other slaves to the jungle coast to lure the rest of the pirates away!”

Pip clapped his hooves, “Divide and conquer! Brilliant! Then we can chase away the rascals chasing them!”

Snow Pea said, “We’d better split the jungle party in half so the pirates will split up as well. That way, we’d have a better chance of subduing those villains.”

Bubble Gum pointed out, “One moment. Even if we do chase the pirates away from the ships going to the jungle, we might never catch them again.”

Screwball then piped up, “Ah. But that’s where we attack the pirates coming to Marendelle. We capsize their ships and take them prisoner. And then, we’ll get them to tell us the locations of their remaining bases.”

Rock Salt asked, “Uh…how do we capsize their ships?”

“One word: cannonballs.”

The Young Six looked at the adults in confusion, to which Rock Salt told them, “It’s Screwball. Don’t question it.”

Button Mash asked, “Zealot, how long did it take for the pirates to reach Coltavo Island?”

He answered, “At least a day, if not several hours.”

“Then it is decided. We must form a plan tonight, and at daybreak, we put it into motion.”

Comments

[dlewis53]

Alright! The breakout was a success! Albeit not without some bumps in the road. I liked how the physical properties of dragons were utilized, and at first, I was confused as to how the rescue team managed to turn themselves invisible, but figured it was because of Screw Ball. Speaking of whom, she was hilarious, ESPECIALLY when she summoned a freaking MINI-GUN that shoots nutty putty and the maniacal laughter! I also liked that this particular plotline isn't quite done considering both the DNA-tracking spell as well as Flog's ominous declaration. Overall, this was pretty cool, and I'm honestly curious how this and the other two plotlines will tie into each other.

[Godslittleprincess]

Oooh, I'm expecting big boom somewhere within the next two or three chapters.

I see Skater went Molly Weasley on one of the pirates.

[Foxhelm]

Question, if Screwball can conjure that mini-gun, why not encase the pirates in ice... I know that might be more up Snow's alley, but they did kidnap her child... just saying that if I could warp reality and someone tried to do the things these pirates did or attempted to on my child(ern)... there would be literally Hell for them to pay. Unless their weapons and armor are made with some steel that was smelted in pure order, they should still be in the putty.

Other than that, not much to say that hasn't already been said better by others.