Morning sunlight flooded a copse in the still green depths of the Everfree Forest next day. Dewdrops hung heavy and bright on leaf and petal, plentiful as the tears shed by Blaggut. But Slipp wasn't shedding any tears. In fact, he was singing another song as he walked through the forest, confident that he had escaped. He was in such a good mood, he even pulled a few diamonds out of his sack and began juggling them in the air as he walked and sang.

"Sixty men all lost at sea,

All of 'em drunk except for me,

'twas I who had to face the storm,

With nothing in sight to keep me warm.

Yo, ho, ho, ho…"

He was interrupted by a loud wail from Blaggut.

Instantly Slipp's good mood eveaporated. "Yew keep snottin' an' slobberin' like that and y'll rot yer eyes. Now stow that wingein', d'ye hear?"

Blaggut did not even try. His whole body shook as more tears poured forth. "Wot did yer kill the old alicorn for, Cap'n? She never did us any real 'arm. You shouldn't 'ave slayed 'er!"

Slipp trampled the grass in a circle around Blaggut, speaking through clenched teeth. "I killed 'er cos she was tryin' to kill me. Can't you get that through yer thick 'ead? Any'ow, she needed killin', jumping out at us and scaring us like she did. Look, wotcher goin' t'do, sit round 'ere cryin' 'til they catches up with us? Come on, stupid, we got travellin' t'do."

Slipp punctuated his words with the usual kicks at Blaggut. Blaggut sat unmoved, head in paws, heaving with grief. "If I traveled for the rest o' me days the memory of that pore creature lyin' stabbed to the 'eart, and that betrayed look on Miss Rarity's face would still be with me. You go without me, Cap'n. I'm no good to nobeast anymore!"

Slipp seized Blaggut roughly and pulling him upright, he began shaking him furiously. "Lissen, dead brains, I'm still the Cap'n round 'ere, an' if I sez yore goin' then go yer will!"

No sooner had Slipp released him than Blaggut slumped down and continued weeping. The searat Captain's rage knew no bounds- he stormed about the copse, destroying flowers and tearing at the foliage as he gave vent to his anger.

Blaggut carried on as if unaware of it all. "The ponies are good an' decent creatures. I could 'ave been one too, in time. Though a searat can't change 'is colors they say, and mebbe that's true. If we'd never stopped in Ponyville, everypony'd still be livin' there peaceful an' 'appy, 'twas no place fer bad uns such as us."

Slipp could stand no more. Snatching up a thick branch of dead wood, he laid into Blaggut. "Up on yer paws, oaf. Leave the thinkin' t'me; I'm the Cap'n an' yore the fool! Come on, gerrup, you blitherin' empty 'eaded, no account, washed up gobbet o' flotsam!"

Blaggut got up.

He came at Slipp with a strange light in his tear stained eyes, paws outstretched and teeth bared, regardless of the blows that were being rained upon him. Slipp began backing away. The branch broke as he slashed and struck at Blaggut's head and body. Slipp tripped and fell and Blaggut was on him, his paws tight about the captain's neck. The broken branch fell from Slipp's nerveless grasp as Blaggut's viselike grip tightened. They lay face to face, the searat boatswain's voice coming to gasps as he shook Slipp like a rag doll.

"Fool! Aye, yer right, Cap'n, I was a fool, an oaf, an idiot, an' all those other names you called me. That's cos I took up with you, Cap'n. Yore bad right through, you'll never change, that's why I gotta do this. Sorry, Cap'n!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Luna's body lay in a coffin in the center of town. All the ponies had gathered to pay their final respects. That night, Luna would be taken by train back to Canterlot, to be buried.

"My good friends," Celestia said, "The poems have been recited, the prayers all said. My sister, Princess Luna, has moved on to sunnier pastures, quieter noontides, and more peaceful woodlands, though she will always live in our hearts. But I can hear her speaking to me now, guiding me as ever she did from the time we were fillies. She is telling me that life in Equestria must continue." She paused to smile. "Luna says that there is fruit to be picked, boats to be sailed on the pond, work and play for all. As the summer fades to autumn, we will celebrate the memory of our dear friend."

Something fell from the sky and landed at the feet of the crowd. Rarity was standing at the front. She picked the object up. "It's one of my diamonds!"

"Sorry!" a voice called. "Didn't mean to drop that, I was just coming down… Anyway, here are all your diamonds. Take them an' live long in peace!"

Every eye turned upward. Blaggut was climbing down the roof of City Hall, with the sack of diamonds on his back. He slid down the drainpipe and landed on the ground. He walked over to Luna's coffin. As he addressed the crowd of ponies, his voice was raw and husky with sorrowing.

"I killed me own Cap'n this morning. Yore Princess was a good creature, Captain Slipp did wrong to slay 'er. I would've stopped 'im, but it all 'appened so quick. Any'ow, I brought back Miss Rarity's gems an' that's that, you kin kill me now."

"You don't still want to kill him, do you?" Twilight asked Celestia concernedly.

Celestia shook her head. "No. I was angry last night, and I said some things I shouldn't have said." She tried to put a hoof on Blaggut's shoulder, but the rat pushed it away.

"I deserve to be killed," he said. "It's my fault that your sister is dead."

Rarity came up to him and took his paw. "It's not your fault. It's Slipp's fault."

Sweetie Belle went up and grabbed Blaggut's other paw. "Mr. Blaggut is good, not a killer. He makes boats and I like him!" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded.

"You're no killer, Blaggut," said Celestia. "If you were, you'd still be running. But you returned, after you slew the guilty one. And you brought back Rarity's diamonds."

"You're still a little confused, aren't you, Blaggut?" Twilight asked.

The searat sat down. "We lied when we told you we was travelers. We was searats, always 'ave been. Tho' I never 'eard tell of a searat who killed his Cap'n. I did, but I was drove to it. Cap'n Slipp was a bad un; he'd a killed more if he lived."

Twilight sat on the steps next to him. "You did right, Blaggut, it was only justice long overdue. Good will always defeat evil, and there is good in you."

"You'll excuse me askin', darling, but what'll you do now?" Rarity asked. "I mean, where'll you go?"

"I don't know. I can't make myself go back to being a pirate, but I don't know how to be nothing else."

"Why don't you stay here?" Twilight suggested. "You could be my new pupil, and I could teach you about the magic of friendship."

"Friendship? I like the sound of that. I never had a friend before."

"Well, you've got at least one friend right here," said Rarity, putting her arm around him. "I'm your friend, Blaggut!"

"And I'm your friend too," said Twilight. "We'll all be your friends."

A smile broke over Blaggut's face.