Chapter 41 – A Queen's Request
By the time G and his friends finally managed to lose the soldiers, all six of them were on the verge of collapse. After getting chased for at least an hour, G's group eventually found themselves regrouping in a small alley between two buildings, barely enough room to move about but still well enough out of sight that the soldiers easily missed them as they ran by it. After spending a few minutes trying to catch their breath, everyone eventually found themselves ready to make their way back to their house as soon as possible, their groceries may have been dropped and long gone by now but they didn't care, the most important thing now was getting back to the others before anything else happens.
"You're sure we lost them?" Nyx asked fearfully, she may not have done much running due to being inside G's pocket the whole time but the mental stress was enough for her to be just as exhausted as the others.
"Quite sure," G said confidently, turning towards the others. "Everyone okay?"
"I think so," Ruby replied through heavy breaths, never in her life did she use so much of her speed semblance at one time.
"Uncle is very dizzy right now," Uncle added, placing a hand on his forehead while leaning against the wall of the alley.
Luffy on the other hand, who wasn't breathing as heavily due to a higher stamina, only pouted.
"I still say we should have stayed and fought," he grumbled, one of the many complaints he had ever since the whole chase started.
G merely rolled his eyes at that.
"And what? Cause a riot while the palace guards bring out the crossbows and horses?" he retorted sarcastically. "Are you insane!?"
However Luffy only scoffed at that remark.
"What was all that about anyway?" Nyx asked curiously. "You didn't do anything to make the royal family here mad at you, did you?"
At those words everyone then shot an accusing glare in G's direction, to say that the Living Genre was insulted at the insinuation wouldn't be that far off, then again he has been known to land himself in trouble no matter how many times he tried to stay careful, maybe he did something without realising it.
"I have no idea," he admitted, once again looking out towards the street outside of the alley. "But one thing's for sure, we better get back to the house before…"
Suddenly G found himself stopping in the middle of his sentence upon feeling a sharp sting in the back of his neck, upon inspection he then was shocked to pull a small, red-feathered dart out of it, at that moment the Living Genre suddenly felt a great deal of drowsiness sweep over his entire body.
"Oh NNNnnnnnnnoooooooo…," he uttered in a slurred voice. "Not Agaaaaaaaaaaaaain…."
Those were the last words G ever said before collapsing to the ground, thankfully landing back-first so he didn't crush Nyx, who at this point quickly jumped out of his cloak pocket to check up on her friend.
"G!" she exclaimed, rushing up to G's mouth just to see if he was breathing.
However Nyx wouldn't be able to tend to her friend's well-being for long for at that moment a second dart suddenly shot out of nowhere and hit her directly in the hoof, within seconds she was out cold. And thus the cycle continued, the next dart hit Ruby in the arm, then Uncle in the forehead before he could react, after that was Sonata, who took a shot in the right butt-cheek, it was then that Luffy started to get really angry, despite the fact that he had just taken his own dart straight into the chest.
"Hey, who's doing…!?" he snarled furiously.
But before he could even finish, two more darts were shot out of the shadows of the alley, one into his leg and the other just below his left eye, with one more final attempt to move he then finally gave up the struggle and landed face-first into the ground. However before the drugs inside his system began to take full effect Luffy's vision, now blurred from said drugs, suddenly spotted a pair of brown leather shoes walking out of the shadows, and then his ears picked up the sound of a low, gravelly voice, possibly from someone fairly old.
"Well, lookie what I caught here," it said.
Of course being unable to move his head, Luffy couldn't see anything more of this stranger other than the pair of brown boots he was wearing. Not only that, but that also meant he couldn't turn his head once he heard the sounds of clanking metal and footsteps, followed by even more voices.
"You lads REALLY need to work on your technique," the first voice said, almost chuckling.
"What do you want us to do with them?" a second asked, this one clearly belonging to a younger man.
"They'll need time to calm down a bit before the task at hand," the first voice replied, causing Luffy to grit his teeth in anger. "Bring them to the dungeons."
And with that, Luffy heard nothing else and his vision went completely black.
#
By the time G managed to finally pry open his eyes, he wasn't met with much light, in fact the only light source he was able to find after his vision finally cleared up was a single lit torch hanging of the stone wall… two feet away and on the other side of a row of iron bars. Upon seeing this, G instantly became so shocked that he suddenly fell off the stone slab that served as his cot and landed face-first into the damp floor. After the initial shock, G soon found that he wasn't alone in the cell he was in, upon looking at his surrounding he saw that everyone else in his shopping group was in there with him. Laying down on another stone slab across the cell was Uncle and Ruby, both of whom were only just waking up themselves, at the foot of their slab was a pile of manky old straw, which quickly rustled as Nyx and Sonata's head popped out of it. Finally there was the most… unusual; of circumstances, with Luffy, the pirate hung from the top of the cell by his feet like a piñata, wrapped in chains and still snoring with a small snot bubble inflating and deflating from his nostril. After taking everything in for a moment, G finally began to sit himself up.
"Ow man, I think I bent my beak on that fall," he groaned, rubbing his nose in pain, his magical disguise long since dropped after being knocked out. "Everyone okay?"
"A little dizzy but I think so," Nyx replied woozily, before turning her head up towards the bound pirated still hanging in the centre of the cell. "Luffy's still passed out though."
G sighed at that, although while it was somewhat relieving that his friends were fine to some degree, it was still distressing that they were sharing in his fate of being locked up in a dungeon located lord knows where, though judging from the smell he managed to acquire despite his bleeding nostril, there was definitely a strong smell of seawater close by, which meant that wherever they were then they must be somewhere near the coast. However this bit of info didn't do much to settle G's nerves, in fact it only made him feel worse.
"Why is it that every time I come back to an old stomping ground, I end up getting drugged?" he complained.
Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, as soon as those words were spoken, a small distinct chuckle echoed from the shadows outside of the cell. Quickly turning their heads towards the source of the laughter, the group saw a tall silhouette leaning up against the corridor just a few feet away from the bars. Though the torch did provide a bit of light, it didn't do much to reveal this stranger's appearance, in fact the only thing that anyone could really tell about him was the fact that he may have been wearing a large coat and a tri-corner hat. After the stranger was done laughing, he finally stepped out into the light, he was an elderly, yet surprisingly muscular human man with shoulder-length silver hair, moustache and goatee beard, all of which had small streaks of red in them, he also wore a dirty brown coat wrapped in a red sash around his waist and a brown, moth-eaten Tri-corner hat topped with a blood-red feather. Needless to say this man's appearance was somewhat intimidating and yet… strangely familiar, at least from G's perspective. Before long the stranger took something out of his coat pocket and held it up to the bars of the cell with a smug look upon his face, upon closer inspection, everyone instantly recognised the object as the same type of dart that knocked them all out.
"Quite the mixture, is it not?" he chuckled. "A little formula mixed up by my shipwright if you could believe, knocks you out for hours and peels away any magical disguise you should have on you. Normally I only need on dart per fool, but as you've probably noticed, I had to give your rubbery friend there an EXTRA few doses for his stamina."
However all this explanation did was rile everyone up even more.
"Who are you!?" G demanded.
"What do you want from us!?" Ruby added.
Of course the red-hooded girl could have easily gone for her scythe since it was clearly still strapped behind her back in its compact form, in fact aside from Luffy everyone else seemed to be free to do as they please in the cell, and what's more they still had whatever weapon they were carrying at the time of their capture, there wasn't even any guards nearby. Which meant that the person standing outside was either completely insane, or completely confident in his own ability to defend himself… or possibly both. Either way, it didn't stop the stranger from twisting his beard with a finger and give G a large smirk.
"Oh G, I am hurt," he said, catching everyone by surprise with the mere fact that he knew who the Living Genre was by name. "Do you not recognise me?"
Upon seeing G's confused expression, the stranger couldn't help but chuckle.
"Perhaps this will jog your memory," he continued, surprisingly everyone even more when he suddenly broke out into a small song:
Safe and sound at home again, let the waters roar, Jack.
Treasure's found and monster's slain, let the waters roar…
"Jack?" G gasped, interrupting the song for a brief moment.
Only then did G finally realise why he suddenly found this stranger so familiar, for this was someone he hadn't seen for a long time and yet still holds dear to his memory for being one of his most admired characters. Upon seeing the sudden look of realisation from G, the stranger smiled again, only this time it was a smile of contentment as he gladly took out a small key and opened the door of the cell, casually walking in as he shook G's robotic hand. At that moment, the confusion for the others only doubled once G started singing along with the stranger.
Long we've tossed on the rolling main, now we're safe ashore, Jack.
Don't forget yer old shipmate, faldee raldee raldee raldee rye-eye-doe!
Once the song was sung, all of a sudden a magical blue aura enveloped the stranger and his body changed with a flash of white light. Where a hand once held G's in a handshake, was now replaced with a navy blue hoof.
"Hello laddie," the stranger greeted with a smirk, his face now more equine and at eye-level with G.
Upon really seeing who it was he was facing, G's face obtained a cheerful grin as they both laughed merrily and pulled each other into a respectful hug.
"Jack Silver! You sly Son of a Sea-Dog!" G chortled, squeezing the ponified stranger tight.
Upon seeing the stranger in his true form Nyx's jaw couldn't help but drop, the hooves, the Navy Blue coat underneath the brown one he was wearing, and the HORN! This wasn't just any being, this was a frigging UNICORN! What's more, he looked almost exactly like the older stallions she has seen walking by in Canterlot, at this very moment Nyx just couldn't believe her eyes, especially since G seemed to KNOW this stallion.
"I can't believe it, Jack, what the heck are you doing here?" the Living Genre asked, finally releasing the stallion from the embrace.
"I was about to ask you the same question," the stallion, now known as Jack Silver chuckled in response, only to tilt his head over G's shoulder to look at the others. "But first off, perhaps introductions are in order?"
Recomposing himself form the moment, G then cleared his throat and began gesturing towards the new arrival with a proud look upon his face.
"Of course," he said. "Everyone, allow me to introduce one of my oldest friends, and one of the finest buccaneers to ever sail from Equestria and back again, Captain Jack Silver!"
"Charmed, I'm sure," Jack replied, albeit in a much calmer tone than G was using.
Upon hearing the word "Equestria" Nyx's suspicions were confirmed and she couldn't help but beam with delight, fellow Equestrian was here!? But wait, was it the SAME Equestria she came from or another one like Goggles.
"Equestria?" she thought aloud. "So he's from…"
"Another Alternate version of your home?" G interrupted, catching on to the filly's curiosity. "Yes, you'd be surprised on how many are out there."
Hearing this Nyx nodded with understanding, she REALLY needed to look into how many possible alternate realities there are after this whole adventure is over.
"Captain, say hello to Ruby, Uncle, Sonata, Luffy, and of course dear Miss Nyx," G continued, his face frowning as he gestured towards the still sleeping Luffy. "I assure you, he's much more pleasant when he's awake."
"Though not by much," Uncle muttered under his breath, still having not forgiven the rubber man from eating his spell ingredients yesterday.
Of course Jack silver merely ignored the old Chi Wizard and proceeded to kneel down to Nyx's eye level with a gentle smile upon his face, happy to see a fellow pony after so long.
"A pleasure to meet you my dear," he said, offering his hoof to greet her.
"Uh… thank you," Nyx replied nervously, taking his hoof in her own and allowing the Captain to greet her with a hoofshake. "The same can be said for you sir."
After all initial greetings were accomplished, it was then time to get down to business, particularly inquiries about why this whole charade was done in the first place.
"So what's the deal Jack?" G asked, his face suddenly regaining its serous expression. "Why'd you bring us here? And what's with the human guise?"
However Jack merely chuckled at that.
"Forgive me for the deception my friend," he said. "But I'm afraid it was necessary given the circumstances I was under."
Given all the event s he and his group had gone through over the last two dimensions, G understood completely what his friend was getting at.
"Perhaps you better start from the beginning," he suggested, only for Jack to shake his head in response.
"All in good time my friend," He said, his horn suddenly glowing and changing him back into his human disguise. "For now we are needed upstairs."
At those words, Jack then pulled out a small pistol from his pocket and with a swift motion, shot a bullet directly at the chain that was holding Luffy up, causing it to snap and allow the pirate to slump straight into the stone floor. After which, he then exited the cell, allowing the others the opportunity to follow him afterward… once they were done undoing Luffy's bonds of course.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked dizzily.
#
Judging from the fact that it was sunset based on what they saw through the massive glass windows as they walked through the extravagant hallway a few minutes later, it only stood to reason that whatever Jack used to drug them, it knocked them out for most of the day, which only added more concern to the situation for the group once they thought about the others still waiting for them back at G's house. After finally managing to calm Luffy down after he woke up from his drug-induced nap, the group's tension only grew from there as they all followed Jack Silver in his human form through a series of hallways, all of which had a number of guards standing at attention every few feet, which begs the question, why they weren't freaking out over G's appearance since he wasn't in his disguise at this point. In any case the appearance of these guards could only mean that Jack must have brought the group to the same royal castle they spotted earlier, the reason how or why, however, remains to be seen.
"So how do you guys know each other anyway?" Nyx asked G curiously, wondering how such a stallion would come across the Living Genre before now.
"Oh me and Jack go way back," G explained, albeit making sure the said unicorn wasn't listening. "I once jumped into his realm and accidently got caught in the middle of a crossfire between two ships, turns out one of those ship's was Jack's. By the end of the end of the battle I ended up getting locked up in his brig for a week, after that he eventually saw that I was a nice guy and we've been drinking buddies ever since."
"That's so cool!" Luffy commented, his cheerful smirk returning to his face.
"So why is he here in the castle?" Ruby asked, taking note of her surroundings. "By the looks of it I'd say he's pretty chummy with whoever lives here."
After making sure Jack was still out of earshot, G simply sighed in response.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But whatever's going on, I can guarantee that Old Jack here has something up his sleeve, he's not called the Master of the Seas for nothing."
At those words Luffy couldn't help but pout, granted he admired fellow pirates if they're nice enough people, but there are some comments his ego could never let slide. Deciding to ignore Luffy's childish behaviour, G then shrugged and decided to quicken his pace so that he was walking right next Jack.
"SO what's with the shapeshifting anyway," he muttered, bringing Jack into a light-hearted conversation. "Never knew that was one of your tricks."
At those words, Jack once again chuckled.
"There are many things a Captain doesn't reveal old friend," he replied. "As for why I'm currently like this, I suppose the reason is pretty obvious."
Overhearing the conversation, Uncle decided to add his piece.
"When in Rome, dress like a Roman?" He queried, causing a few eyebrows to raise.
Though of course, once again it was Jack who chuckled in response, it would seem that he was becoming more and more amused with the group with each passing minute.
"In a manner of speaking," he replied. "I was skulking around the area for the past week and a half and discovered that those who live here in this palace were in need of help. And as fortune would have it, the help they need ties in with my own goals, so I managed to break in here and offer my services."
Now it was G's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Your goals?" he asked.
But for some reason Jack simply ignored that particular question and continued walking, only when he came to a sudden stop did G understand why.
"Ah, here we are," Jack finally said, gesturing towards the large double doors in front of them.
To say that the sheer size of these doors was intimidating would have certainly been an understatement, in the group didn't know any better, then they could have sworn a giant used them, in fact they were so intimidating that Sonata found herself clinging onto Luffy's arm, much to the pirate's confusion. However soon enough it wasn't the doors themselves that were drawing the group's attention, but rather the person standing in front of them. He was a tall, slender man with silver hair tied up into a small ponytail and was wearing a light purple shirt beneath a black jacket, from basic appearance he looked like the head butler, or perhaps even the head of the household, either way he seemed important, so much so that Jack felt the need to bow his head in respect.
"Master Silver," the stranger greeted, also bowing his head.
"Hello Grimsby," Jack greeted in response, a toothy smile spreading across his face as he gestured towards the others. "I have brought the guests as requested."
At those words, Grimsby looked toward the group with a curious glare, almost completely hesitant to ever let them anywhere near where he was standing. However his duty came before his personal feelings on the matter so…
"I see," he finally said with a sigh. "Her majesty is waiting inside."
And with that, Grimsby turned and pushed the doors behind him open, leaving the group to drop their jaws in awe upon seeing the glorious room that was on the other side.
"Woah," Ruby exclaimed.
"Nice digs," Luffy added, his attention suddenly focused on something else other than the extravagance of the room.
Although the room itself was beautiful, with its marble walls, its many paintings that hung upon them, and of course the red carpet that rest beneath the group's feet, it was the person that sat upon the throne at the far end of the room that was what Jack Silver, followed by everyone else began to pay attention to. She was a beautiful woman in her late twenties, possibly her early thirties, with a flow of bright red hair tied up into a bun, sapphire blue eyes, and wore a bright purple dress with long sleeves that ended with small frills at her wrists. Of course the most noticeable trait of this woman had to have been her enormous belly, granted the dress added with the fact that she was sitting down hid it slightly, but there was definitely no mistaking the fact that this woman had to have been eight months pregnant at least, maybe even nine months. However this woman's maternal condition wasn't the main focus right now, in fact in Luffy's case he just seemed to ignore it completely.
"Hey, who's that?" he asked, rudely pointing a finger at the woman, also ignoring the fact that there were two more guards on either side of the throne who in turn growled at the rubber-man's discourtesy.
Of course this only earned him yet another one of Uncle's two-fingered strikes.
"Obviously the queen," he growled, making sure that only Luffy could hear him. "So for the love of all things good, please can rubber-boy just keep his big mouth shut!?"
Needless to say Sonata wasn't happy with how Uncle handles the situation with Luffy, however even she wasn't air-headed enough to insult a member of royalty, so she too shook her head in hopes of making sure Luffy stayed silent. He may have been reluctant to do so, but eventually Luffy did as he was told and allowed Jack Silver to address the queen.
"Your Highness," he said, taking of his hat and giving the queen a respectful bow. "It is a pleasure to see you again."
As G observed the smile that the queen had given Jack, it was clear that he somehow managed to earn her trust at some point, possibly even before and the rest of the group even arrived in this realm, no matter where he goes, Jack Silver is always a stallion of charm, or in this case a MAN of charm given his disguise.
"Likewise Captain," The queen replied, her attention suddenly drawing towards the rest of the group. "I trust THESE are the ones you spoke of?"
"Aye," Jack replied with a nod, placing his hat back upon his head. "And I assure you their skills are just as impressive as I have promised."
Their skills!? Just what exactly was going on through Jack Silver's head? Even G couldn't even fathom just what was going on, was this what he was talking about when he said that the help the royal family needed would tie in with his own goals? If so then how do G and his companions fit into all of this?
"I must say you are an odd looking bunch," the queen commented, her gaze focusing on G. "Particularly you, good sir."
It was at this point in time that G REALLY wished he was still in his disguise, it certainly would have made things so much easier if he didn't have to explain what he was. Thankfully though, the queen didn't seemed to be interested in wondering just what G was or why there was a unicorn with wings hiding behind him, at least that was the given impression the Living Genre got when the queen's gaze softened when she turned in his general direction. Not wanting to be rude, he then spoke up to give the queen a reply.
"I tend to get that a lot, your majesty," he replied, allowing a small chuckle to escape his mouth before his curiosity began to take over. "If I may ask, what is the nature of our little… meeting?"
However the queen only raised an eyebrow at that.
"Have you not been told yet?" she asked, earning a shake of G's head before turning to face Jack Silver once again.
"I thought it best that the request come from your lips alone, dear queen," he explained calmly, just as though he was anticipating such a question to be asked.
G just couldn't put his finger on it, just what was Jack up to? Thankfully he didn't need to wait long for an answer to that question.
"I see," The queen said with a sigh, her mind contemplating on what she must do next. "Well in that case I shall tell you all that needs to be said."
Hearing this a great many of G's small group began to shiver with anticipation, of course for Nyx this was no different that speaking to Princess Celestia or Luna, but for the others the situation was a whole different experience.
"Oh my gosh, I am so nervous," Ruby whispered to Sonata with a small smile. "I never met a queen before."
But anticipation aside, G kept his focus between Jack and the queen, whatever was going on between these two h was so eager to find out.
"What I ask of you is of the utmost importance to both the kingdom… and to me," the queen explained, instantly grabbing everyone's attention. "I trust you're familiar with the stories that have been spreading around town?"
"About the Princess being kidnapped by pirates?" G replied, raising an eyebrow and earning a saddened nod from the queen in response. "I assure you news does indeed travel fast."
"Yeah, sorry to hear that, your grace," Ruby added, doing a nervous curtsey in the queen's presence
Sonata on the other hand only scratched her head in confusion and whispered in G's ear.
"Why is she sorry?" she asked, causing G to roll his eyes.
"Think about it Sonata," he whispered back. "If she's the queen and the PRINCESS is missing…?"
Thankfully the youngest Dazzling wasn't too air-headed to figure out what G was referring to and snap her eyes wide with realisation.
"Oh! Right," she said sheepishly, before giving her out curtsey towards the queen. "Yeah, sorry."
G couldn't help but face-palm at this, thankfully the queen didn't seemed to be interested in the minor quirks of the group for the moment and continued on with her explanation.
"Both my husband, the king, AND many of our Armada has searched the seas for several days now and as far as we know there is nothing," she said, her look of sadness worsening with every syllable she uttered. "Not even from our… special units."
Hearing this G scratched his chin with thought, now things were beginning to take an interesting twist.
"I see," he said. "So the Mermaids can't find the ship either, huh?"
As he had expected everyone in the room gasped with surprise, especially Jack and the queen, did he really just say MERMAIDS!? Granted, he may have said that they take a good number of up the population in this realm but at the moment he was implying that the queen herself is in cahoots with them. Surely that can't be true… can it?
"Excuse me?" the queen stuttered, completely taken aback by what G had just said.
Of course G expected such a reaction, and as luck with have it, he had a solid response to it.
"Forgive me for being blunt," he said respectfully, giving a small bow. "But I would appreciate not being kept in the dark about any of this, I know for a fact mermaids exist and that you and they are closer than you'd like to display to… shall we say, foreign company."
That last part, of course he emphasised by gesturing towards the rest of his group, all of whom couldn't help but look away awkwardly out of embarrassment.
"Granted most of your palace's household staff know of them," G continued, gesturing towards the guards on either side of the queen's throne. "But that's as far as it goes, am I correct… Ariel of Atlantica?"
Once again everyone gasped of his own group only did so because he addressed the queen so informally, the queen herself on the other hand, as well as her guards, gasped for a different reason entirely. After a brief moment of silence, the queen looked towards her guards.
"Leave us," she ordered.
Though hesitant to do so, the guards quickly obeyed and left the room via a side door, leaving the Jack Silver and the group completely alone with the queen, who to everyone's surprise, smiled with amusement.
"You were right, Captain," she said, looking towards Jack with a smile of approval. "They ARE an interesting bunch."
Jack couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"Indeed," he replied.
Of course Jack expected G to say something like this, after all if there was one thing he could count on it was his unpredictability, never the less he also expected the queen to react with little to no hostility too, which means that everything seems to be going as smoothly as he had hoped.
"How did you know?" Queen Ariel asked curiously, causing G to chuckle himself.
"Now I don't think it really matters, does it?" he answered, his usual cocky attitude starting to seep through his calm demeanour.
"I suppose not," the queen sighed in response, seeing no point in getting of topic. "But back to the matter at hand. My daughter still remains lost and no one has yet to find her. In short… I need your help."
At those words, everyone in the group looked up at the queen in surprise, even G was shocked to hear this.
"Uh… say what now?" Luffy uttered, earning himself one of Uncle's two-fingered strikes for not keeping his mouth shut. "OW!"
But despite Uncle's persistence in keeping the rubber-man silent, Luffy's curiosity was shared by everyone in the group, especially G, the queen of the kingdom was asking for THEIR help? Why?
"Mr Silver informs me that you are the best tracker in any land, and your friends are without a doubt some of the best fighters he has ever seen," Queen Ariel explained, looking directly towards G and giving answer to the many questions that was going on through everyone's head. "I ask you… No, I BEG you, not as a Queen but as a mother longing to see her daughter again. Please, find my girl and bring her back to me."
Seeing the heart-breaking look upon the queen's face, Nyx felt like she was going to cry for she felt a bit of a connection with this woman, if this is what the queen felt for her daughter then Celestia knows how badly her own mother was missing her, no parent should have their child taken away, EVER. After taking a moment to contemplate the situation at hand, G then looked up to the queen and spoke.
"Would you please give us a minute to talk this over?" he asked, knowing full-well that he would need the full support of the whole group with whatever decision is to be made.
Queen Ariel nodded at that, understanding complete
"Go ahead," she said, allowing the group to converse.
Upon seeing G usher his group into a small huddle, Jack silver couldn't help but feel nostalgic, he may have been in a different realm and in different form but the rules of requests still remained the same no matter where one was. It may not have been the first time he had seen another group of individuals contemplate the situation at hand, but even he had to admit that with his old friend G, in the mix, even he couldn't predict the answer he would give. Meanwhile, amongst the huddle itself, the group began their discussion in a hushed tone.
"So what do you guys think?" G asked, curious as to what the rest of his friends made of the situation.
"I say we go for it!" Luffy blurted out, completely desperate to break his cycle of silence. "It's bound to be a great adventure, plus there's a chance we'll be able to beat up some bad guys."
At those words everyone couldn't help but roll their eyes.
"Is that all you think about?" Ruby uttered, almost surprised that SHE of all people was the one asking such a question.
But despite this, Luffy's opinion was shared between everyone else in the huddle.
"Uncle agrees," Uncle stated. "It would be unwise to leave a child in the hands of a hoard of murderous pirates."
"I agree too," Sonata added, though of course she was only saying such a thing because it was Luffy you said yes first.
G on the other hand wasn't so sure, if he had been on his own then he would definitely jump at the chance as long as his interference didn't affect the story he was in too much, but now that he had other people around him going for it, then his concern for them only made him hesitant. However even if he was then the group would just argue with him until he gave in anyway so there was no point in denying them their choice. But the final nail in the coffin came in the form of a small voice coming from a certain Alicorn filly standing right by his feet.
"G," she muttered, giving the Living Genre the most pleading face she could muster. "I think we should do it."
Seeing the pleading look upon the filly's face, G's demeanour quickly softened and he gave in in an instant. He should have known that Nyx would feel a common bond between herself and the royal, well in that case the decision seemed unanimous. Besides as long as he and the others were looking for this kidnapped princess then it may also be a chance to find some lost characters along the way, which in turn would make things go a lot more smoothly. Looking towards the approving faces of the rest of the group, G then smiled and broke up the huddle, turning towards the queen.
"Your Majesty," he said, taking off his hat and giving her a low bow. "We are happy to aquest your request."
Needless to say that answer made the queen's heart skip, she may have only just met these people but there was just something about the way they accepted her request made her feel like they could be trusted, and if Jack Silver recommended them then she should at least give them a chance. Luffy and Sonata on the other hand only scratch their heads after hearing G's reply to the queen.
"Huh?" they both exclaimed in a confused manner.
Once again G couldn't help but roll his eyes, luckily it was Nyx who came to the rescue this time.
"It means we'll do it," she explained, clarifying things for the two.
Ignoring the two's moment of idiocy, the queen continued to smile at G and his group with gratitude.
"Thank you!" she said, feeling the desperate need to say it. "Thank you so much!"
But G wasn't done yet, he may have said yes to the task on his group's behalf, but there was still some unanswered question he needed to clear up.
"With your permission, Your Grace," he said. "You will then be of course be providing a ship, and a crew?"
This indeed perked up everyone's interest, especially when the queen nodded in response.
"AND a Captain," she said, gesturing towards a certain Unicorn turned human in front of her.
Now G was truly beginning to understand what was going on, when Jack said he had his own goals, he was referring to this. It was clear now that he had been planning this whole thing for some time now, maybe ever since he got into Queen Ariel's good favours, he will certainly need to ask Jack about that later. In any case, G instantly began to gain some suspicions, sure, Jack Silver was his friend but he also knew that the pirate had the habit of making plans behind the backs of even his own crewmates. In a nutshell, Jack Silver may have been a good stallion to go and help Queen Ariel's daughter, but G knew that he also had something to gain out of it, and G and his group just happened to be brought along for the ride. Of course those suspicions didn't even bother Luffy, if fact they completely went over his head, in other fact he was just pissed that HE wasn't the one being asked to be captain for task.
"Now wait! I'm the…!" He tried to protest, only for G to elbow him in the gut before he could even finish speaking.
Obviously he was going to get a lecture from Sonata for that but regardless, the decision has been made and he had to make sure that nothing changed the queen's mind, whatever Jack Silver had going through his head, G knew he needed to get to the bottom of it quickly. For now, he will just have to let things play out.
"How soon can you and your comrades set sail?" Queen Ariel asked eagerly.
At those words, Jack's smile widened.
"With the tide, your highness," he replied.
#
(Jack SILVER IMAGE LINK NEEDED BELOW)
Author's Notes:
The featured song is inspired by "Don't forget your Old Shipmate" all credit belongs to the original composer
watch?v=wY1fUAPYH3M
The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:
The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:
The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:
The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth
For the Image of G: art/The-Living-Genre-563434744
For the Image of Witch Hazel: art/Character-Reboot-Witch-Hazel-585406440
For the Image of Jack Silver: art/MLP-The-Pirates-of-the-Alicorn-310894336
