Pommel's Adventures

During thread number 16, a very peculiar event happened. A guard by the name of Bronze Pommel joined up with Changeling 32 and attempted to stop the rampage of the giant monster changeling, Chitania, before she could reach Canterlot. The plan? Throw a poisonous mushroom down her throat. The result?
Well, something went down her throat alright. Something pony shaped.
Thus started an adventure that would span the course of over 40 threads. After being upchucked on a deserted island, he set out on a high sea trek that would land him squarely in the company of the pirate crew headed by Captain Evergreen, and off on a tale that would involve treasure maps, lost cities and sealed evils.
WARNING-Pommel's adventure is a side story, with none of the main characters appearing, and as such it is much, much darker than the rest of the thread's contents. Death, darker themes and more brutal villains are present, and not everyone gets a happy ending. However, this does not affect the main plotline, so if you are weary of such themes feel free to skip. Otherwise, enjoy the high sea, Sinbad-esq adventure.
== Characters ==
=== WARNING, will contain spoilers ===
=== Pommel ===
Just your average, everyday guard. Or so he thought. After being devoured by Chitania, but thankfully not chewed, he rode in her belly for days, battling a giant internal tapeworm before at last being upchucked by the monster herself. She regarded him with little care, not even deeming him worthy to kill, while informing him of her attack on Canterlot. After several days of him attempting to form a raft in order to leave, she finally, for reasons unknown, helped him. She built a raft for him, and sent him on his way.
After days of floating, he accidentally got in the way of a mission to kill a beast called a Dire Eel, and after ruining the rope and net found himself in the debt of the captain of the ship that saved him, called the Widow's Regret, Evergreen. After lying about his profession, as obviously guards would be poorly regarded, he found himself working in their care, the threat of being sold into slavery hovering over his head at all times.
After a run-in in a shady bar with the Minotaur captain of a massive pirate crew, named Brahmos, he got a hold a map to a supposed lost city of gold. With the crew hungry for riches and he himself itching to have his debt repaid, they set off, traveling through the most dangerous section of the sea ever formed, braving monsters and waterspouts and everything in between.
=== Jacqueline Daw ===
Jacqueline Daw, or just Daw for short, was up until recently the first mate (and briefly captain) of the pirate ship known as the Widow's Regret.
She was born to a house slave on the island of Barkbados and spent her life under the authority of the Diamond Dogs that ruled the island and its slave population. This seemed to change when a minotaur claiming to be a deposed prince was brought to the island and ingratiated himself to both the slaves through promises of revolution and the Diamond Dogs by proving himself a competent arena fighter. Daw's mother fell in love with the minotaur and everything seemed poised for said minotaur, Brahmos, the story's primary antagonist besides the city's God, to overthrow the dogs until a group of pirates tried to sack the island in order to rescue and claim the reward for a foreign dignitary's aunt. Daw sided with the pirates and helped guide them to the Dogs' stronghold only to find that Brahmos had installed himself as the leader of the slavers, killing Daw's mother in the process and fought the pirates off, killing their captain.
Daw fled with the pirates, becoming close with the first mate-come-captain named Evergreen until she herself was named the first mate. Together they and the crew of the Regret did pirate things and feuded with Brahmos budding pirate kingdom until a job to find and slay a Dire Eel is interrupted by the actions of a stranded guard by the name of Pommel. From there, she began a budding friendship and eventual romance with Pommel himself, and after Brahmos was killed in the finale she found herself captain of the ship briefly, before passing on the mantle to Rat so she could go and explore Canterlot with Pommel.
=== Evergreen ===
The captain of the Widow's regret, and surrogate father to Jacqueline Daw. A surprisingly caring man, for his profession, who seemed almost weary about the life he lives. He jokingly threatens Pommel with slavery to a camel if he doesn't pay back what is owed for his bungling the Dire Eel hunt, leading to the guardsman stealing the map to the City of Gold from Brahmos and thus the plot. A rival to Brahmos, and hated enemy of said minotaur, their mutual grudge lasted the entirety of the trip, before ending when Evergreen was beheaded by Brahmos on the city of gold.
=== Rat ===
A former merchant captain himself, then betrayed, shamed, and stranded on an island, leaving him forced into the employ of his rescuer Evergreen. Is the new captain of the Regret and intends to take advantage of Brahmos' death to usurp his empire and institute a much less harsh regime.
=== Doc ===
The doctor of the ship, known to have a knowledge base far in excess of your usual pirate. Unfortunately he refuses to give his backstory to anyone for fear of it leading to his demise. Last seen sailing off with Rat to liberate Barkbados.
=== Brahmos ===
The cruel, allegedly deposed prince, minotaur captain of a massive fleet of pirate ships. He had charisma and power, managing to win over several slave states and command an army of Diamond Dogs and other thugs for hire. He was cruel and quick to kill, his favorite method being beheading. Nonetheless, for all his power he met his end at the shining beacon of light fired from Pommel's use of the massive gem in the city of gold, burned to nothingness.
== Story ==
== Trivia ==
* This story technically began on thread 16, officially kicked off on thread 17, and ended on thread 54.
* It is the only side arc not to feature any of the main cast, aside from a dream sequence with 32
* The original idea for the story was simply that Pommel would get swallowed before being thrown up near the climax of the arc and angrily wonder "Where is my goddamn horseshoe!?" in a reference to Pacific Rim.
* Before the Marebbean became the setting for the entire arc, there were plans for Pommel's adventure to take him all over the world, usually resulting in him being heroic by complete accident. Ideas included: Being captured by a camel slaver he mistook for a travel guide, escaping subsequent enslavement by a clan of Diamond Dogs serving a young ambitious dragon, teaming up with said dragon's blind mother in order to get revenge for him stealing her hoard (with the promise of being flown to Equestria in return), getting stranded in the mountains after the mother-dragon promptly passed on after reclaiming her hoard, being happened upon by the Gryphon King (a character very different from the Idris we know) who was forced to travel by ground due to a wing injury and being too proud to ride in a litter, getting split up from said King in a Harpy (creatures that were introduced in the Marebbean storyline) ambush, and fighting in and eventually burning down the Pit of a Thousand Corpses after being blackmailed into competing by the owners in an attempt to recoup losses after their last tournament ended in an extremely unprofitable draw.
* ...also the thing in the evil gem was a heavily veiled reference to G1 villain Squirk. You may now facepalm.
Category:Story Arcs