The Spectral Catch
As the elevator approached the twelfth floor, Apple Bloom was a little worried. Ducky warned them that Eternal Rest's most powerful minion awaited them here. The fight against Ooga was already intense, and Leyla Rahfa and the three magician sisters had been also powerful foes. And after eleven floors and two basements with a lot of difficult fights and traps and hardships, fatigue started to be felt.
But she couldn't give up. She still needed to save Scootaloo as well as Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Starlight Glimmer. Eternal Rest also had to be stopped.
She went through a haunted manor hit by a millennial curse where she had to constantly escape her brainwashed friends and ended up fighting horrors like wraiths, a windigo, and even the manor itself.
She went through a whole haunted valley possessing no less than five 'manors' each more dangerous than the previous one.
It's not a stupid hotel that will stop her, especially now that she had friends with her.
But then again, she knew that without her friends, she probably would have failed long ago. This hotel was really more dangerous than any other places she went before. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to capture Cruller without Little Ghost. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to destroy Piano Virtuoso's piano alone. One of Gorros' castle's traps would have certainly killed her if it wasn't for her friends, and Gorros himself would have been a real pain to fight alone.
Now, against this next foe, she knew that she could count on her friends again to ensure that she won't fail despite everything.
Ding!"
The doors opened, and the fillies entered the twelfth floor. They quickly understood what was the theme of this floor, and what was certainly their enemy by the same occasion. In front of the elevator, inside a basin made to look like a large barrel, was a pool with a miniature island in the center. The chandelier had the form of the wheel of a helm. There were frames with pictures of the sea and of islands on the walls. The pillars were wrapped in rope. When the doors of the elevator closed behind them, they could see fishes graved on them. The arrow of the elevator was shaped like an anchor.
This was a nautical-themed floor, and the ghost guarding it was very very probably a pirate. A real pirate ghost.
They remembered Ducky's words. The foe in this floor will be somepony very cruel that they probably already knew by name. So it was probably a very well known pirate.
And Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle already guessed who was that pirate. They didn't know about the real him, but they read and heard a lot of pirate stories, and this pirate was regularly used as a character in them. He was like the superstar of pirates. Heck, some of the foals even disguised as him in Nightmare Night.
Now knowing that they were about to fight THIS pirate, the fillies advanced down the hallway starting from the elevator hall, at the right. They passed beside a counter where they discovered that this floor was actually a restaurant, an anchor even displaying the menu beside it.
A restaurant themed after pirates. It would have been a killer with colts.
Then, they arrived at the end of the hallway where there was the bow of a ship with some barrels and nets. A hole in the hull let them enter the ship to reach a double door with portholes.
When they passed them, they were again in awe at what they saw. The room was huge and looked like the inside of a cave with waterfalls at the sides and water coursing between the paths. Of course, it was furnished as expected from a pirate-themed restaurant. Barrels were used as tables here and there with stools for chairs. Other tables were wooden planks against the walls of the cave. At the other side of the room, they also could see what seemed like a round bar, and behind it, at the exit of the room, carved in the stone, was a giant skull, the exit door in its mouth. The sources of light were simply candles placed a little everywhere, on the tables, in little holes in the walls, and in lanterns suspending from ropes. There were also some skulls (hopefully fakes) decorating the cave here and there.
All it missed was a stage where a band of 'pirates' could play nautical/pirate songs and it would be perfect.
"Celestia... The colts at school would go nuts in there," said Apple Bloom.
"Especially Pipsqueak," said Sweetie Belle.
"It'd be a dream come true for him."
"And you're perfect for this place, Sweetie Belle," said Little Ghost. "Skeletons work very well with pirates. You could play an undead pirate protecting her treasure."
"Wouldn't I be a little young to be a pirate?"
"It's not like there are any other living skeletons walking around in Equestria."
«Maybe there are and we don't know,» said Pinkie Pie.
«That's very unlikely,» said Rarity.
«But we must admit, this hotel puts any others to shame,» said Twilight.
«Maybe once Eternal Rest's gone, somepony nicer'll take her place to run this hotel,» said Applejack.
«And then we could go in this restaurant!» said Spike.
"We would've to invite the others from school," said Apple Bloom.
The fillies began to move, following the path which started by going to the left. They went down some stairs and reached a box with a mechanism to raise a pirate flag. The path then did a U-turn and continued down another staircase. Going all the way to the other side of the cave were there were some barrel-tables, it did another U-turn and passed by another staircase to reach a raised part with a box of coconuts. There, there were two possible paths. One going back to the right toward some more table and a treasure chest, and the other going toward the end of the room with the bar. They first went to open the chest which revealed to be possessed by Eternal Rest's power. Using the nearby stools as weapons, the fillies easily destroyed it and took the gold that was in it.
Then, when the fillies approached the giant stone-carved skull, it opened its mouth, fully revealing the exit. When they opened the double door and entered the next room, their jaw dropped again.
An artificial sea... This hotel had a bucking artificial sea! With a beach! And again, the walls and ceiling were perfectly paint to look like the night sky, but this time, there were clouds! There were even coconut trees! However, the room was plunged in a mist that hid most of it.
They just had no words.
Then, Sweetie Belle saw something in the mist. "Uh?"
"What's it, Sweetie?" asked Apple Bloom.
"I swear I just saw the silhouette of a ship in the mist."
"Wow. Not only they have an artificial sea, but they also have an actual ship?" asked Little Ghost.
"Best pirate-themed restaurant ever," said Apple Bloom.
"And something tells me we have to go on it," said Sweetie Belle. "How do we make it come?"
"There's a pier with a bell. Maybe we must make it ring. Ya know, like sailors do."
"Let me do it," said Little Ghost before she flew to the bell and headbutted it to make it ring.
"Ya know there's a rope to make it ring, right?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Faster this way."
The fillies then waited for the ship to come. And out of the fog, appearing like a ghost ship, it came. It was a rather small ship, with two masts, but it was still impressive from the fillies point of view. As it placed itself against the pier, they could hear sounds coming from the desk as if a crew of pirate was having a party. An accordion was playing, voices shouted "Yaaarr!" or laughed. Then, the plank was laid out for the fillies, as if the crew was inviting them for the party.
Exchanging looks, the fillies climbed the plank.
And just when they reached the deck, all sounds suddenly disappeared. Plunged in the mist, all that could be seen on the deck were crates used as tables and stools. It was as if the ship was abandoned. Carefully, the fillies advanced, looking in all directions, Poltergusts ready.
Then, as they were near the center, silhouettes appeared in the mist around them, and out of it flew ghosts. Pirate ghosts. At least two dozens who surrounded the fillies, all armed with a scimitar, saber, or charged crossbow. A real collection of ugly cutthroats that once plagged the seas around Equestria and beyond. And now, they were all looking at the fillies with sadistic smiles, probably imagining many torments for them. The fillies quickly got back to back, Poltergusts pointed at them, daring the pirates to approach.
"Don't worry girls. They shouldn't be much harder to defeat than a Trickster," said Apple Bloom.
But then, the double door in the stern opened, and the pirates in front of it parted way so the fillies could see the arrival of the captain of the ship. First, between the mist and the darkness in the room behind those doors, they saw nothing, but then, two small lights appeared in the darkness. They were followed by the appearance of a glowing eye. Slowly, they approached, and a silhouette formed in the darkness. Finally, the fillies discerned the ghost of a captain-clad sea blue earth pony stallion. The stallion was imposingly tall and and possessed an eyepatch covering his left eye. Many charged crossbows could be seen poking out of his clothes. But his most distinguishing feature was that he possessed a long black beard and a long black mane both tressed. Out of his mane, from under his hat, also came two fuses that were lit. His only eye showed intelligence, but also an evil madness that promised suffering and death. He really looked like a demon incarnated.
This really was him. The most feared pirate in history who appeared in countless stories. All the tales Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle read and heard about him didn't do justice. He was much more terrifying than in any story, and Sweetie Belle had to retain herself from running away. Even Little Ghost couldn't help herself but to hide behind Apple Bloom.
"Eheheh... You don't seem to be surprised to see me, little filly," said the stallion.
"After the warning Ducky gave us, and when we saw what was this floor, Ah guessed that it would be ya, Captain Blackbeard," replied Apple Bloom.
«Oh Celestia... That's really him. The terror of the seas, Captain Blackbeard,» said Twilight. «How many ships did he sink? How many ports did he attack? How many ponies and other creatures did he kill before he was finally stopped? He's not a pony! He's a monster!»
«Woah, nelly! To think that he's here, above our heads,» said Applejack.
"Eheheheh. You guessed right. I suppose you're there for this," said Blackbeard before he lifted his eyepatch, showing the elevator button to the thirteenth floor in the place of his eye. "And I also suppose you're there to save her." He hit the floor two times with his hoof, and out of the mist came Rainbow Dash who landed beside him.
«Rainbow Dash!» shouted everypony.
Blackbeard then put a saber under Rainbow's throat. "Well, you'll have to choose, lass! The button, or her? Resist, and I cut her throat! Let yourself be killed, and she can go!"
The fillies looked at him in horror, and the pirates around them began to laugh.
"That's... That's..."
"Not fair? Yes. What did you expect? We're pirates! We don't play fair!"
Apple Bloom growled for a few seconds, thinking what to do. She knew she couldn't let herself being killed, but she didn't want Rainbow Dash to die. But then, she got an idea, and her growl turned into a smirk.
"In that case, Ah won't play fair either. Twilight?"
It took a few seconds, but the alicorn seemingly understood what Apple Bloom wanted her to do because she suddenly teleported behind Blackbeard and blasted him with a magical beam. She then teleported back to the caravan with Rainbow Dash.
The fillies could hear some struggles from the caravan, Rainbow Dash, being hypnotized, resisted against the others, but eventually, they were able to wrap her in a rope.
Blackbeard recovered from the blast, and it was hard to say if he was amused or enraged by what happened. In the end, he settled for a laugh. "You win this one, lass! You must have pirate blood in your vains!" He then took his saber and pointed it at Apple Bloom. "Kill her!" he roared.
The fight started with the pirates possessing crossbows firing at Apple Bloom, but Little Ghost quickly used her shield to block some of them, and Sweetie Belle used her own body to block others, leaving very few for Apple Bloom to dodge. At the same time, the other pirates all charged to attack with their scimitars and sabers. The fillies each caught one of them and slammed them around, but Apple Bloom had to stop her slamming to parry the scimitar of one of the pirates with her Poltergust.
Little Ghost quickly acted and used her shield while charging at the ghosts, opening a path for them to get out of the encirclement. But as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed, a trapdoor opened just under the skeleton filly, making her fall into the crew's quarters where more pirates awaited. Apple Bloom, however, couldn't help her as she continued to capture ghosts after ghosts. However, because of their number, she was forced to climb one of the staircases to the bow, then to climb of the shrouds. As she climbed, Little Ghost protected her against any attacks from the pirates, especially the arrows from the crossbows.
But then, suddenly, the ship shook, almost making Apple Bloom fall. A ghostly aura appeared all around it, and part of the deck shifted to form a face, Blackbeard's face, including the eyepatch on the left eye.
"That madstallion took possession of the ship?!" shouted Apple Bloom in horror.
It was the fight against the Gem Manor all over again, but this time, Apple Bloom didn't have a reserve of Poltergusts to use as superbombs at her disposition. As she continued to climb to reach the crow's nest, Blackbeard laughed.
"Ahahahahahahah! You will never defeat me, lass!"
Suddenly, as Apple Bloom reached the nest, the mast began to shake violently, like a pony shaking their leg to get rid of a pest clinging to it, threatening to make her fall right into the mouth of Blackbeard's face. Little Ghost rapidly lifted her to help her get in the nest. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle was able to get out of the crew's quarter by a door of the bow, but when she saw the face in the deck, she immediately climbed one of the staircases beside her to go on the bow, far from the face. There she continued to capture some of the ghosts that followed her out of the crew's quarter.
The pirate ghosts were now joined by Tricksters, Buffys, Throwers, and Creepers disguised as pirates, the Tricksters also armed with sabers, scimitars, and crossbows while the Throwers came out of the deck with powderkegs that they planned to lit and throw at the fillies.
"Fools!" shouted Blackbeard at the Throwers. "You want to damage my ship? Return those powderkegs back in their place!"
"Oops..." said one of the Throwers with a sheepish laugh before they returned the powderkegs back in the ship.
Apple Bloom saw all this from the nest, giving her an idea of how she'll destroy the ship. But before she could say it to Little Ghost, the mast suddenly gave a violent swing and hit the filly ghost like a bat, sending her toward the beach. Then, the ship suddenly tilted to the side, and Apple Bloom strongly clung to the nest. Sweetie Belle however, still on the bow, wasn't able to stop herself from falling overboard. Some of the ghosts followed her into the ocean, and more went after Little Ghost on the beach.
This left Apple Bloom alone in the nest with ghosts attacking her. She thought about joining her friend on the beach, but the ship then moved away from the pier, isolating her in the middle of the ocean, and Little Ghost was too busy with the ghosts attacking her to be able to join her.
But then, Blackbeard's face disappeared from the deck only to appear in the floor of the nest and to try to bite her legs. This forced Apple Bloom to get out of the nest, taking a scimitar dropped by one of the ghosts by the same occasion, and she jumped against the mast's sail. She planted the scimitar in the sail to slow down her fall, and while she fell, she activated her Poltergust on one of the ghosts following her. Despite himself, the ghost trying to escape was used as a 'balloon' that slowed Apple Bloom's fall even more until she reached the bow.
Blackbeard's face appeared in the bow beside Apple Bloom, and she jumped above the guardrail to join the main part of the deck. Ghosts were less numerous, so she had less problems fighting them until Blackbeard's face appeared beside her again and charged at her to eat her. She jumped out of the way and continued to capture the remaining ghosts while avoiding it.
Blackbeard eventually got enough of playing cat and mouse with Apple Bloom and moved his face to the wall of the stern. He then tilted the ship up to make the filly fall toward him. Apple Bloom couldn't cling to something in time and fell toward the mouth, but she was then caught by Little Ghost.
"Got you!"
"Thanks Little Ghost! Ya saved mah life there!"
The filly ghost transported Apple Bloom toward the beach where Sweetie Belle, who had walked out of the water, was fighting ghosts. Just as they joined her, they saw that Blackbeard's face appeared in the bow of the ship, at the very front under the figurehead (which was a seapony mare).
"I'll not let you escape me!" he yelled before the mist became thicker to the point that the fillies could see nothing anymore. Then, the mist disappeared and the fillies saw that the beach they were now was part of a small island, and the ocean around it was going seemingly infinitely toward the horizon. A violent storm was now present, its strong wind causing the ocean to become turbulent while lightning regularly striked it. The ship was still here, circling the island.
"It's two times in a row that we're sent to a pocket dimension!" shouted Apple Bloom.
"We should have expected this," said Little Ghost.
The fillies, however, couldn't think about it too long because they were still attacked by ghosts. The ship also began to fire at them with its cannons.
"Watch out!" yelled Sweetie Belle.
Apple Bloom ran, and a cannonball passed behind her, destroying a coconut tree. Another hit the sand not far, sending some sand on her. Despite this, they continued to capture the ghosts on the island, less and less numerous. Eventually, the ship fired again, but this time, Apple Bloom was prepared for this. She put her Poltergust to red mode, but instead of sucking, she blew air toward an approaching cannonball. The blown air was so strong that it was able to stop the cannonball and to send it back toward the ship, damaging it.
"You're foaling me!" shouted Blackbeard.
Smirking, Apple Bloom said "Sweetie Belle! Little Ghost! While he's focused on me, return on the ship and use the powderkegs in it to destroy it! Don't worry for me, Ah'll survive!"
"You're really amazing, Apple Bloom!" shouted Sweetie Belle.
"Count on us!" said Little Ghost.
The ghost grabbed the skeleton and flew toward the ship. Meanwhile, with her Poltergust in red mode, Apple Bloom finished capturing the ghosts on the island so she could focus in the cannonballs fired by the ship. It fired again, and again, Apple Bloom used the Poltergust to blow air at one of the approaching cannonballs and send it back, managing to destroy one of the cannons.
Sweetie Belle and Little Ghost landed not long after. However, they discovered that some ghosts remained in the ship, and they immediately went to attack the fillies. As they defended themselves, the fillies passed through the trapdoor to the crew's quarter and began to explore the inside of the ship in search of where the powderkegs were stored. All the while, the ship, with the help of what remained of its crew, continued to fire at Apple Bloom, but the fillies always managed to send back a cannonball at it. Thus, the ship regularly shook, and the inside was absolute chaos.
But eventually, the fillies managed to find the room where the powderkegs were stored, and Sweetie Belle used a saber from one of the ghosts to pierce one of them. She then took the pierced powderkeg and used it to create a powder trail long enough to let them time to escape. All the while, Little Ghost protected her from the crew attacking them. Once she was done, Sweetie Belle placed the powderkeg back among the others and used a lantern to light the trail.
"Quick! Let's get out of here!" she shouted.
Little Ghost immediately grabbed her and flew away. She rapidly traversed the floors of the ship until reaching the trapdoor, and they both escape a couple of seconds before the ship exploded. When they reached the island, Apple Bloom joined them.
"Ya did it! Ya're awesome!"
"It was no problem," said Little Ghost.
"It was fun! I really had the impression to be in a pirate story!" said Sweetie Belle.
"But Ah don't think Blackbeard's done yet..." said Apple Bloom before she looked at the burning wreckage of the ship.
She was right. Like a demon, Blackbeard emerged from the flames, absolutely enraged and now armed with two sabers. He was followed by what remained of the crew, only eight ghosts including two pirates, three Tricksters, two Creepers, and a Thrower.
With a roar, Blackbeard charged toward the fillies and savagely attacked Apple Bloom who had put her Poltergust back to yellow mode, swinging his sabers at her again and again without giving her time to counterattack. Sweetie Belle helped her by trapping Blackbeard with her Poltergust, but the captain not only resisted, but he even managed to hit the skeleton with a swing of his leg, sending her flying a few meters away. This still left enough respite for Apple bloom to activate her Poltergust and trap Blackbeard. Again, this didn't affect him much as he restarted attacking Apple Bloom, forcing her to stop.
A Creeper then tried to grab Apple Bloom from behind but was promptly stopped by Little Ghost who had been capturing the other ghosts one by one. Already, she had captured the Thrower and two Tricksters. But as she saved Apple Bloom from the Creeper, one of the two pirate ghosts took out a crossbow and fired. Apple Bloom barely avoided the arrow by lowering her head as she parried another swing from Blackbeard. Little Ghost then slammed the Creeper on the pirate to stop him from recharging his crossbow.
Sweetie Belle came back and activated her Poltergust on Blackbeard again. And again, the captain tried to hit her, but this time, the skeleton avoided the swing. When Apple Bloom reactivated her Poltergust on Blackbeard too, the both of them then slammed him, making him drop his two sabers. The second Creeper, however, managed to grab Sweetie Belle and to stop her, giving Blackbeard the occasion to free himself from Apple Bloom. While Little Ghost saved Sweetie Belle from the Creeper, the captain fired at Apple Bloom with his many crossbows. To avoid the many arrows fired at her, Apple Bloom went to hide behind one of the coconut trees that fell on the sand because of the cannonballs, and she waited there for an opening.
She didn't get one however because thanks to his powers, Blackbeard levitated his crossbows around him, and once he ran out of arrows, he replaced them with energy arrows giving him infinite ammunitions. The captain wasn't stopping from firing forcing the filly to remain hidden behind the fallen tree, and he took one of his sabers before he approached it to directly attack her. He had Apple Bloom trapped.
But he was suddenly bashed by Little Ghost and her shield, making him stop from firing at Apple Bloom. by then, all the other ghosts had been captured, leaving only the captain. The filly ghost was quickly joined by Sweetie Belle, and together, they trapped and slammed Blackbeard. Since the stallion had stopped attacking Apple Bloom, she was able to move from behind her cover and she joined her friends to capture Blackbeard.
The stallion, however, was able to use a lot of strenght to resist being slammed again and charged at Apple Bloom, sending her on her back. He then put a hoof on her belly to stop her from moving and raised the other to crush her head. But his strenght finally seemed to leave him because he struggled to bring his hoof down while still resisting being sucked. He roared again, his eye looking like it was on fire as he fought against the pull of the Poltergusts to finish the filly.
Seeing that he was failing, he roared even louder in rage before he was finally sucked in Little Ghost's Poltergust, the elevator button dropping on the sand. The pocket dimension then disappeared, and the fillies were back on the artificial beach inside the hotel. But now, the ship was a burning wreckage in the artificial ocean and the beach was totally devastated.
Apple Bloom remained on the sand, on her back, taking heavy breaths as she recovered from the difficult fight, and especially from the terror she felt for a moment at the end. Blackbeard really was a demon. To the very end, he tried to kill her, and he was really terrifying.
"Ya know, girls... Ah'm really lucky to've y'all..." she said.
"You're welcome," said Little Ghost with a weak giggle.
"I will never read a pirate story with Blackbeard the same way," said Sweetie Belle.
"Me too..." said Apple Bloom. After a few more seconds, she slowly got up and said "Let's return in the caravan. After this fight, Ah need a rest, and we must free Rainbow from the hypnosis."
The muscled stallion and the mare with the afro looked at the screens that showed the fillies' progression, their jaw dropping.
"They... They defeated Blackbeard..." said the stallion who couldn't believe what he saw.
Eternal Rest gave a sneer. "Deep End, your turn."
The stallion, Deep End, looked at her as if she was crazy. How could she send him when it was clear that he had no chance to beat those fillies? They just defeated bucking Blackbeard, Eternal Rest's most powerful minion! He was doomed! But then he saw her smile and understood that there was no way for him to get out of this. Eternal Rest was intending to have all of them facing the fillies even if she knew that it would be no use. Maybe she even knew from the start that they would all be defeated, and she sent them to fight the fillies anyway to be entertained before she would personally face them.
"Welp, big guy, it was nice to know you. Don't worry, I'll follow you just after," said the mare with the afro with a hopeless chuckle as she patted his shoulder.
Deep End gave a whimper, then exited the room.
The mare sighed. "I know how you feel, Big Guy... I feel like you..."
Stats
Page generated in 0.014 seconds
Total duration
877 users online
1,117,473 hits today, 2,205,040 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Somehow, I just knew that you would use the Pirates of the Caribbean theme for this floor's boss battle.
Why didn't she just use her Earth pony strength to buck the cannonball back at the ship? Would the cannonball be too heavy to be simply bucked back?
10276541
I feared that it would be illogical, that the cannonballs should in reality break her legs. Beside, she wouldn't be strong enough to send the balls back to the ship. I know that speaking logic in a story happening in a magical world where the heroine can suck ghosts with a vacuum cleaner is illogical by itself, but I still want to keep some logic, so I took the option with the less risks.
10276549
Nice update. But will the next update show them de-hypnotizing Rainbow Dash? And where will the Fluttershy and Starlight be? And will Pinkie Pie join them at the Disco for a dance off?
10276681
I can only answer the first question. The others would be spoilers. Yes, we will see Rainbow Dash being de-hypnotized.
I am on my second reading of this series.
I took the time to actually read the Blackbeard fight for the first time here.
Linked music fits.