I slowly opened my eyes and the light from the room flickered through my field of vision. I woke up In a haze with a sore head and back. I let out a deep yawn and rubbed my eyes. I looked around the room I was in to see the fire from last night was still going. I remembered the day I had yesterday and I smiled.
I tossed the sheets off of me and they folded across the bed haphazardly. I sat up at the edge of the bed and let out another yawn. And stood up. I walked over to my leather gear and started strapping it on. I placed the duster over the armor and placed my hat on top of my head. I grabbed the mask on the table and looked at it... I love this freaking mask.
I placed it over my face and in a flash I was covered by red and black flames like last night. When the flames died down my gear was changed. My armor was plated with metal that ran red with glowing curves and symbols and my weapons changed too. I smiled and looked at myself in a mirror on the wardrobe. I was about to leave when there was a furious knocking on the door.
" open up you... Open this door now you sick fuck." Said a familiar voice. I walked over to the door and unlocked it. I opened it up and it was the bar mare from last night... She seemed angry. I just smiled at her.
" morning" I said.
" get the fuck out of here..." She said. " you're a monster."
" talk to your boss lately." I said knowing what this was about.
" get out now..." I just laughed a bit at her pitiful attempt to seize control of the situation. " get out or I'll throw you out." She said.
" oh will you now." I said moving forward and towering over her. She looked at me with anger and she closed her eyes backing away. The horn on her head started glowing blue. I could see the same blue aura shape around my body. She was trying to use magic on me.
Before she could get control of me something awesome happened. Her magic aura around me faded to red as my armor glowed bright red. It seemed to take a more evil static form. Soon the aura covering her horn did the same and in a flash she was thrown against the wall by her own magic... It doesn't just stop magic... It reflects it... That's a beautiful thing.
" no but... How." She said on the ground. I walked over and stood above her. I leaned down and stuck my face into hers almost laying on top of her. She turned away in fear.
" I don't completely hate you... So I've decided That you've learned your lesson... But I want you to know that I could have done whatever I want with you." I said she just whimpered and kept her eyes closed. "Thanks for the beers sugar... Be seeing you around." I said getting off of her and walking away.
I walked down the hall and into the bar. There were only a few ponies in the bar now but I'll leave them alone for now... Maybe. I saw one stallion with an unopened bottle of bourbon. I walked over and put my hoof on the back of his head. I smashed his face into the counter and he was knocked out. I took the bourbon and uncorked it. I took a sip and looked around. The other ponies looked at me but when I looked back at them they all turned away.
I put the bourbon into my bag for later with those other bottles of booze that escaped my mind. I walked to the door and pushed it open. I walked out and into the streets. I looked around and started heading deeper into the city. I looked over and something caught my eye. it was a wanted poster... Yay it was me again.
This time it was me with my leather armor and an angry stare. It said wanted dead or alive. The reward for my capture or corpse was 25 million bits now instead of the previous five. I didn't walk over to the picture and look it over but i just glanced at it as I passed by so I don't arouse suspicion. There were a few crimson followers looking at the wanted poster. And as I walked through the streets i noticed them more and more.
Getting nervous that my disguise wasn't enough I though of a few ways to slightly improve it. And I think the only one dead giveaway I had was the skull buckle on my hat. I quickly reached up and snatched it off and placed it in my bag without some pony noticing. I looked around and felt a little better now. Though I got strange looks from other ponies I was sure it was because of my armor.
I walked down the streets some more and passed numerous guards now. Before there were just a few here and there but now they're everywhere. I tried not making eye contact with them and they ignored me. I looked around looking for something to do. I looked down at the dirt as I was walking and I noticed a large shadow quickly cover over the road accompanied by a low hum.
I looked up and smiled. There were royal canterlot war ships flying high above the city. All the ponies looked at them with curiosity as to my they would be here. I know why they're here. I kept looking up and confirmed they were the ships me and the other canterlot convicts had stolen. much of the ponies didn't seem to be afraid of the balloons but only because they didn't know who was piloting them. i smiled again and spread my wings wide. a few ponies that were close by stepped back and i shot straight into the air.
i flew up towards the balloon ships and whirled past the front of the hull. i flew up and gently floated down and clasped my wings together. i fell to the ground of the ship and my hooves hit the wood of the hull causing a loud clap. i looked over and smiled to see this was indeed the battalion we stole from the prison. the crew looked at me and they seemed angry. it must be the mask. they sheathed their weapons and drew closer.
"oi... get off or we'll kill ya." said one of the bandits. i reached for my mask and pulled it off revealing my face. the plating on my gear turned to ash and i looked at the crew. they seemed shocked to see me.
"put you're weapons down..." i said. they lowered their weapons but didn't sheath them. i put my mask back on and i transformed causing an even more drastic reaction from the bandits.
"aye... i'll have to thank ye' for saving us the trouble of finding ya." said a voice from across the ship. it was coming from behind the door to the captains quarters. the door swung open to reveal a pony who... he looked like a pirate in every imaginable way. he had a peg leg for his back left hoof. an eye patch and a pirates hat. he even had a freaking parrot. he even redecorated the blimps so the balloons had skulls painted on them.
"and who are you." i asked.
"i'm the feared captain dread hoof... foulest pirate there is in equestria. i was there when we broke out of the prison... i got on one of these ships and when you left i quickly took control." he said.
"a pirate huh..." i said. "haven't heard of many of those."
"and i can't remember the last time i saw a cowboy." he said. we glared at each other then burst out laughing. "welcome aboard mister scar." he said. "please... let us talk in my quarters." i smiled and walked over. he gestured me in first and came in after me closing the door behind him. "have a seat..." he said.
i walked over and took a seat on one of the chairs in the room. he walked over and took the seat on the other side of me. there was a nice wooden desk separating the two of us. he leaned back behind the desk and pull out two bottles of beer he pulled the corks off of both and handed me one. i smiled and grabbed it.
"it's only been about two days... but hows the pirating going so far?" i asked.
"arg..." he said. i can't believe he just said 'arg'... this guy is great. "nothing yet... these ships are very war heavy... they can stand their own in a fight... as for the loot, nothing yet."
"so you escaped with me in the prison... i didn't see you, everything was a blur of blood and bodies." i said.
"speaking of the prison..." said dread hoof. "i propose a toast." he said holding up his bear. "for escaping the cold embrace of death." he said. i held up my bottle too.
"reason enough for me." i said and we both taped bottles. i chugged down half of mine and he finished his. i took a breath and then finished the rest and let out a sigh of pleasure. "so you here to plunder the city or something." i asked kicking back and putting my hooves up.
"no... we're here for you, mister scar." he said, i let out a loud laugh.
"what?... miss me?" i asked.
"not exactly mister scar." he said getting up and pacing around. he looked out over to the window and stared outside for a few seconds. "you see if we want to be a respectable fleet of pirates we need loot..." he said. he turned his head over to me and glared at me with his one good eye. "and you mister scar... are worth several fortunes." i got up and all my happiness left me and was filled by doubt and rage.
"you're going to turn me in..." i said. "good luck killing me..." i said pulling out my axe and holding it tight in my hand.
"no no mister scar... we aren't killing you... we need you alive." he said.
"why?" i asked. "if you think i'm going to let you take me alive you're even crazier than i thought."
"well mister scar if we have you alive it makes it easier to get the reward from the princess... if you're dead well then what's going to make her give us the reward... she has what she needs and she doesn't care for us... hell she might just kill us all there... but, mister scar, if you're alive that gives us leverage." he said. i just glared at him in a crouched position like i'm ready to pounce holding my tomahawk. "we could always threaten to let you go and then she loses... see we need you alive if we want our fortune."
"well that's too bad..." i said.
"and why is that?"
"because you're going to have to kill me if you want a chance to drag me to canterlot." i said glaring more and more at the pirate.
"oh i know mr. scar... i know... i'm not some fool, i've planned this out." he said. i was about to ask him a question when i felt myself tense up. my eyes shrunk and i could start to see black spots popping up in front of my eyes... he poisoned me. i started growing faint and weak.
"you..." i said drunkenly. "i'll kill you."
"i think not mister scar." said dread hoof. he looked at me and smiled as i leaned over and hit the floor. my eyes grew heavy and soon they shut. and eventually i was surrounded in darkness. i tried my best to force myself awake but no matter how hard i tried it wouldn't work. i was a fool to trust somepony like him. i tried to yell but i couldn't even hear myself yelling.
my eyes flickered open and i was greeted by a gloomy dimly lit room. it wasn't even a room... it was a cage. an iron cage connected to the bottom and top floors with a mast pole sticking in the middle. the pole was a thick wooden pole that connected to the mast. and a mast of a war balloon like this is just pole that connects to the metal clamps around the balloon. and something more interesting was that i was fiercely tied to this pole. there was at least a foot thick layering of rope tying me to this pole... they didn't want to take chances.
i could hear the sounds of ponies laughing upstairs. there was no light coming from above me which either meant i was on the third level of the ship or i was out until night. once i saw a window and there was no light shining through it i was sure it was night. i could hear the trotting of hooves against the wood and muffled voices. from what words i could pick out they were celebrating my capture. i know i left the ship but still... these are my bandits, i feel like i've been mutinied. those traitorous bastards will all die.
i struggled for a while and tried to either break free of the ropes, which was not likely, or hope they did a horrible job of tying them and i could just wiggle out. after a few minutes of struggling i managed to loosen the grip of the rope a little bit... but it was still pretty tight. i shifted around a bit and something jabbed me in the side and i yelped in pain. i tried to see what it was and i saw i was still wearing my gear... all of it. it could have been anything that poked me.
why didn't those idiots take away my stuff... this is exactly how i got out last time. hmm... maybe it works like the mask. i just noticed i was still wearing the mask when i thought about it. i guess nothing can be take off of me while i wear this mask... except for my bags which were laying against a few barrels of gunpowder. but that makes sense since they aren't morphed like the rest of my gear... they were plain.
i struggled some more until i heard the close sound of hoofsteps. i looked over and the room was filled with the hollow sound of hooves hitting the wood of the ship. i saw a stallion walking down the stairs into the hull and over to my cage. i just looked at him and glared hatefully. he walked over and swung a key in his hoof. the walked over and unlocked the cage with the key. he was a short light brown stallion with a red doo rag and leather armour. he had a cutlass and a few daggers as well as a pouch of money. he walked over and pulled one of the daggers from his belt and held it up.
a tinge of fear struck over my heart and i was getting nervous. he loomed over and knelt down. i stared at him with hate and he looked at me. he held up the dagger and i got more and more nervous. with a clean sweep he brought the dagger down... and dug it deep into the ropes keeping me bound. i looked at him with surprise and curiosity and he quickly cut his way through the ropes and tossed them off... i was free. i stood up and i couldn't believe what just happened i looked at the kid and gave him a devilish smile.
"thank ya kindly kid..." i said tipping my hat. "now i don't have to kill ya."
"don't worry about it." he said. "when i heard they were going to turn you in i didn't want to be a part of it... so i planned to help you escape." he said.
"thanks a lot kiddo." i said. "now lets get to work." i said grabbing my tomahawk and holding it tight.
"where almost to canterlot..." he said. "i would just go now."
"i don't care if were two feet above canterlot... these bastards are going to die and i'll crash every ship into the fucking palace if i have to." i said.
"alright..." he said smiling. "i'm getting the fuck out of here before the fireworks start." he said spreading wings and going over to one of the cannon hatches. he opened it up and crawled out. he saluted me off and i tipped my hat to him... then he was gone. i'm not sure who that kid was but it's good to know i still have some kind of respect here. now to think of a plan.
i quietly trotted over to the stairs and slowly climbed up them. i peaked my head up and checked around nopony was here. i looked around and saw the ponies celebrating on the deck and drinking beer. i also noticed that i'm not on the same ship. i could see the other ships glowing in the dark of night from their lights. there were five ships... the main vessel which is twice as large as the rest... and the rest. i was in the back right vessel. before i went to move i saw i forgot my belongings... don't want to waste all that hard earned gold.
i quietly trotted back down the stairs and spotted out my bags. i walked over to them and picked them up. i fastened them to my armor and went to leave. before i left i looked back at the barrel they were leaning against. the barrel said: "gunpowder". i looked around and saw there were tons of these barrels. an evil smile quickly spread across my face... this was going to be awesome.
i grabbed the barrel and gently leaned it over onto its side. i pulled the cork out and the black gunpowder started pouring out onto the floor. i pushed it around a bit across the floor into a long line and gave myself a fuse. once i was good enough away i reached a hoof into one of my pockets... and pulled out some matches. i smiled again and lit the match. i tossed it onto the end of the gunpowder. then i ran like hell.
i rushed over to one of those cannon hatches the other pony left from and pushed it open. i jumped out and fell into the darkness of the night sky. i shot my wings out and recovered from the free fall. i turned over to look at the ships sailing away. i anticipated what would happen and i was smiling the whole time. i flew over to follow behind the ships so i don't miss it. i sat there and waited for a little bit. i think i might have used too much of a big fuse. i followed them for a little bit longer. dammit i hope it's not a dud... it wasn't.
after my last though the ship exploded once at the bow... then it only went worse from there. the first explosion was followed by a second, then a third. soon enough the sound of explosions and the crimson glare of fire filled the night sky. i flew over with a smile of victory. flying shappenel fired up from the ships hull into the balloon and it popped. the force of the air leaving caused the burning ship to ram into the one next to it.
the first ship grabbed onto the second one and lit it on fire. the first ship started dragging the second one to the ground with it and they ducked under the other three ships. once they were both under the other three ships the second ship exploded and started shooting off huge balls of fire. one of which fired straight up through the balloon and right under the hull on the ship to the far right... it just keeps getting better.
the raging ball of fire that fired up into the last ship to the right set off its kegs of gunpowder and it started blowing up too. the ship exploded violently and it shattered into pieces and destroyed the side of the last remaining ship besides the command ship. the last small ship was shoved over into the large ship and soon the small ship started combusting. before it could do any real damage to the large command vessel the balloon popped and it fell to the ground. the right side of the large command ship was on fire and almost completely gone. i smiled at my reign of destruction. the large ship was tilting a bit but straightened out and continued to fly... now that won't do.
i quickly flew over to the ship which was drastically losing speed. as i grew closer i could hear the terrified shouts and yelling of ponies as they tried to comprehend what just happened. they were pouring buckets of water on the fires as fast as they could. they were using their own drinking water to put out the fires. i flew over and landed on the hull of the ship smiling as the ship burned around me. i looked ahead to see captain dread hoof on top of the ship and the bridge next to the wheel looking at me with fire in his eyes... really i could see the burning ship in the reflection of his eyes.
"get him boys..." he yelled pointing at me. all of the crew looked over and saw me. they growled in anger and rushed over and circled around me. "kill him... kill him now."
"yeah boys... kill me." i said egging them on. one pony rushed at me with a cutlass and slashed at me. i parried it off and cut clean through the middle of his head. the top half of his head slid off and he dropped dead. all the blood that got on me and my tomahawk seemed to get absorbed into my gear. my gear glowed a bit then settled down. while i was distracted i didn't see the other pony come at me with an axe.
he rushed at me and i turned around. i didn't have time to react and he swung at me. his blade hit one of the metal plates on the side of my duster and it didn't do anything... i didn't even feel any pressure. his weapon just bounced off my armour and he slid back and growled at me. this mask is pretty awesome... but what happened next was better.
he glared at me then his eyes widened with some kind of realization. he yelled out in pain and clasped his hoof on his side. i looked at him like he was crazy. suddenly a few trickles of blood dripped from his hoof then it spread into a huge gash across his side. it's the same place he hit me. that's not possible... no way... this thing reflects magic and physical damage... that's so fucking badass... i'm an unstoppable king. he kept yelling out in pain while his buddies looked at him with fear.
"ahhh. what... ahhh how is that possible... oh celestia help me... gaaahhh." he yelled out writhing in pain on the ground bleeding profusely. i just smiled and rushed at the other ponies while they were distracted. i ran in between and few and started chopping away. i tripped one pony and on his way down cut his head off from the back with an uppercut. from there i brought my axe straight down on top of another ponies head. one pony hit me with a sword on the back but like what just happened i took no damage and a huge gash worked its way across his back and he fell in pain.
i turned to see a few other ponies. i grabbed my rope... well evil looking chain, and held it. i grabbed the handle and shot it out at one of the ponies. it fired out nicely and evenly with the pointed hook at the end of hit heading right for the pony. he went to back up and stood on his two back hooves... mistake. the hook at the end of the chain pierced his stomach and shot through his back. he clasped his gut in pain and went silent. i pulled hard on the chain and ripped the hook out along with his guts. his intestines spilled out onto the floor and he toppled over. i smiled and pulled the chain back and hilted it back onto my belt... it could be useful in a lot of other situations.
before i did anything else a huge boom shattered the air as part of the ship exploded next to me and rumbled the ship. the explosion killed four bandits in the blast and the shrapnel flying through the air killed another two and lit one pony on fire. this ship was coming down. i spread my wings and took off but before i could get far something grabbed my back hoof and held me down.
"oh no ya don't." said a voice... it was captain dread hoof. he pulled me back and slammed me against the ground. it hit the ground with a thud and let out a gasp as the air ran out of my lungs and i breathed deeply. i looked up to see him slashing down at me with a large large ornate cutlass. even though i had my reflective armor on my initial reaction was to hold up my tomahawk and block the strike. out weapons met in a clash of sparks and we were at a draw with both of our weapons pressing against each other. i was trying to push him away but it felt like he was trying to cut through my axe.
"it's over dread... there's no hope for you now... just leave and never come back." i said pushing my weapon closer to him. he pushed right back and we were even again. he was smiling while i was struggling.
"i don't think so..." he said. "a captain goes down with the ship... and i'll be sure you go down with her too..." he said smiling. i tried pushing back but he was strong and had me pinned down. we both had to keep both hooves on our weapons because we wouldn't be able to make it with one hoof. i pushed back but another explosion caught me off guard and he pushed down on me some more. he was winning now and i could force him back anymore. i was sweating from the heat of the fire and i could feel the ship start to sink and the temperature of the air outside was growing hotter than the air in the balloon.
i looked around for something i could use to turn the tides but there wasn't much... just fire... dead and burning bodies, and shrapnel... lots of shrapnel. i let out a fierce roar and pushed back some more and tied us again. i put in some more and and started pushing back against him. i managed to lighten his weight enough to push him back and get up onto my hooves. we stayed at it both showing our teeth and glaring evilly at each other.
as we pushed back and forth for what seemed like hours the ship was becoming less stable with the seconds. we were still falling but we were very high above cloud level and we were only dropping inches at a time. there was another explosion that shook the whole ship. i heard the cracking of wood and one of the iron clamps for the balloon came loose and fell to the ground. it hit the ship right behind dread hoof and fell straight through the ship. the ground behind him was almost gone and he didn't seem to notice. i smiled and he glared back at me.
"you wanna go down with the ship..." i said. "fine... see you at ground level." i said. i forced all my weight to the side and pushed his sword to the side out of his hands. i spun and and stabbed him in the stomach with the point on the back of my tomahawk. his eyes widened and the look of defeat spread across his face. he kept his hooves over his wound and i watched as he stumbled backwards. his hoof went over the open hole and with no solid ground to step on he fell. he fell right down through the hole and through the bottom of the ship. i watched as he fell into the night sky below and vanished. i let out a sigh of relief... but it's not over yet.
there was another explosion and the ship rumbled again. i stumbled back and a huge explosion erupted from the middle of the deck. it shot up to the balloon a popped it. shrapnel of all kinds flew across the ship as it quickly started to fall. i was pushed back by gravity against the wall of the captains quarters. i covered my face as flames and shrapnel flew up to me and hit me. a large portion of the ship exploded towards the front and i curled up in a ball and the large pieces of wood and metal bounced off of my armor.
i looked up just as a seven ton cannon flew past me and ripped through the captains quarters to my right. that could have been bad... not like its bad right now. i tried getting up and flying away but the force of falling was pushing me hard against the wall of the quarters. it was like i was stuck to the wall. i looked to see the cloud layer wash over the ship and everything came into view.
the bright castle in canterlot could be seen from here and below me seemed like an endless sea of darkness. as the ship grew closer i braced for impact and knew that this would hurt. i knew there was a good chance this would kill me but i was hoping that my armor could soak up the damage. i looked down as the endless darkness below soon showed itself to be a forest of some kind. i covered my face with my hooves and placed my tomahawk back at my side. the forest grew closer and closer.
and the moment i waited for... impact. the hull of the ship hit the ground and i was shot forward into a volley of shrapnel and a vortex of flames. there was a large explosion and the only thing i could see was fire everywhere. i couldn't even tell it i was falling anymore. a few bits of hard shrapnel hit me and it hurt... but my armor did soak up almost all the damage. it was only a matter of time until i hit the ground. and it was... only mere seconds after i felt a huge force press against my body and i yelled out in pain. i could feel myself hitting the wreckage of the ship below me and my body was constantly hit with feeling of pain coming from all sides as i rolled around and was thrown about. i couldn't see much past the blinding flames but in my line of sight i could see a black dot for a millisecond before it hit me in the head and knocked me out.
i'm pretty sure that i'm dead now...
-Authors Note: so the stories coming along pretty good on my end. i have 20 chapters written for this story... and that's it. I...*smashes head on keyboard*... cant...*smashes head into keyboard again*...find...*and again*... inspiration...*and again*... ive been blanking out all weekend... and Hasbro has the audacity to put off the new episode those bastards... i need my fix of ponies... without it i cant write... must...find...new...fix. if any of you guys know of any good ways to get a daily dose of ponies let me know. if not then i'll just go back to staring at my computer and run through reddit as much as i can before i burn a hole through my retina's... in the meantime, stay shady guys.-End of Note-