Fanfic / The Pirate Pegasus

Pirates, sirens, whirlpools, krakens, stowaways, hurricanes, desert storms, mysterious islands, plots of genocide, and an old guy... What's the worst that can happen?

"I am the terror of earth, sea, and air. I am the ultimate pirate captain. I am Korsan..."

— Captain Korsan

The Pirate Pegasus is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic adventure fanfic novel.

During the Grand Galloping Gala, a bipedal pony named Korsan invades the castle and steals the Diamond Eye, a priceless artifact, and escapes in a floating pirate ship. In response, Twilight and her friends get on their own ship and take off to sea to chase down Korsan. What at first seemed to be a retrieval of the Diamond Eye, turns into a massive villainous plot to eradicate all pegasi and Earth ponies.

Read it here.

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This work provides examples of:

A-E

• Abusive Parents: Korsan's parents, siblings, and relatives constantly abused him due to him being a pegasus and not a unicorn.
• Action Girl: Practically every female character here is either a pirate, a pirate fighter, or just someone who knows how to deal with trouble.
• Advanced Ancient Acropolis: Upon reaching Alicorn Island, Korsan and his crew discover that it's home to a massive ancient kingdom, now completely abandoned and in ruins.
• Anti-Air: Korsan's crossbow and pet Juliana both serve as to take out flying opponents when he's without his crew.
• Anti-Magic:
  • Korsan uses a self-made substance to protect himself from unicorn magic, having it lined in his harness, weapons, and his ship (making it able to fly).
  • Korsan keeps several small straps lined with anti-magic that he can strap onto a horn and disable it's magic properties.
• "Ass" in Ambassador: Sir Garrison Valkyrie, Ambassador of Cervidas. During the gala, he lectures the princesses about the economy due to Korsan's recent attacks. And he's a bureaucrat, much to their displeasure.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: During Korsan and Rainbow's fight in Chapter 14, Dash uses electricity to try and harm Korsan. With his suit being metal and his own self being a pegasus as well, Korsan harnesses the electricity charged into his body and uses it to knock out Dash.
• Automatic Crossbows: Korsan builds one of these that fires metal bolts instead of arrows.
• Ax-Crazy: Korsan by far.
  • Isyan also becomes this during his torturing of Korsan in the mutiny.
• Badass: Korsan Maden, a cyborg pirate that is a master of nautical engineering, highly adept to mechanical arts, close-range combat, navigation, animal taming, and anti-magic, despite him being a crippled pegasus. And that only scratches the surface.
  • Twilight comes at a close second as she can go toe-to-toe with Korsan.
• Badass Cape: Korsan sports a large black cape to not only look good, but to also hide his deformed wings, any weapons behind his back, and his mechanical back piece from frontal view.
• Badass Driver: Craig and Korsan.
• Bad Guy Bar: Thieves' Hold sports one of these and is the only place at Thieves' Hold where the Mane 6 actually explore.
• Bad Guys Play Pool: Several pool tables are inside the bar of Thieves' Hold.
• Ballroom Blitz: One goes down between the royal guard and Korsan's crew after the latter invades during the Grand Galloping Gala.
• Bar Brawl: One immediately ensues between Korsan's crew and Twilight's after Korsan discovers that Twilight and the others are in the tavern with him.
• Battle in the Rain: Daring Do's battle against Cornelius Cutlass in the beginning takes place in the rain.
  • Korsan's fights against the bounty hunter and the Mane 6 at Thieves' Hold takes place while a thunderstorm is outside.
  • The final battle takes place in a vicious rainstorm.
• Beam-O-War: Neo Korsan and Twilight clash beams as their final attacks. At first, Korsan appears to be winning the struggle, however, as the other members of the Mane 6 support Twilight, Twilight's beam expands twice that of Korsan and obliterates him.
• Beam Spam: One of the ways Neo Korsan attempts to kill off the Mane Six in the final battle is firing off millions of beams at them. However, the Mane Six actually dodge and deflect each and every beam fired at them.
• BFG: Korsan's crossbow-minigun-cannon.
• BFS: In the final battle, Perfected Korsan wields six three-hundred metre long swords made of ice. The Mane 6 get a hold of these massive swords at times actually engage in swordfights with him.
• Big Bad: Captain Korsan Maden.
• Big Entrance: Korsan is fond of doing this in public areas.
• Big, Thin, Short Trio: Jarvis is big, Cecil is thin, and Maurice is short.
• Big "WHAT?!": Occurs several times,
  Twilight: What day is it anyways?
  Spike: The day of the Grand Galloping Gala,
  Twilight: What?!
  • And,
  Rainbow Dash: ...did she (Twilight) finish Daring Do and the Lost Kingdoms of Trihearth?
  Spike: No, she only got midway through the climax.
  Rainbow Dash: What?! She doesn't know that Daring Do's mother is-(cut off)
  • Not even Korsan's immune,
  Pirate: It's that blue wench (Rainbow Dash) from Equestria!
  Korsan: What?! Why didn't the lookouts see her?
  • Also,
  Twilight: If you’re (CMC) going to be with us, we have to establish some ground rules.
  Applejack and Rarity: What?! We're letting them stay?
• Blade Lock: Occurs several times throughout the novel.
  • It is take up to eleven in the final battle when the Mane Six and Neo Korsan use Perfected Korsan's blades to fight each other and enter blade locks.
• Bottomless Magazines: Completely averted with Korsan's crossbow, having only 15 metal bolts max.
• Bow and Sword in Accord: Korsan wields these on him at all times.
• Cane Fu: Craig Y'ol Timber uses a cane to hit Rainbow Dash. Though it doesn't hurt all that much, Dash does find it annoying real quick.
• Catapult Nightmare: Twilight and Applejack simultaneously wake up this way after having similar nightmares.
• Chef of Iron: Ivan Voorhees and Butch Taylor, both cooks for The Perfection.
• Chromatic Arrangement: Maurice is red, Jarvis is green, and Cecil is blue.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Maurice, Jarvis, and Cecil have a habit of backstabbing each other, but usually get over it after some arguing or a fight and continue to spend time with each other.
• Clock Punk: Korsan's armour and devices are mainly built of gears and pistons, looking to be run on technology made before the invention of steam.
• Coattail-Riding Relative: Isyan Maden is part of his cousin Korsan's crew, despite how their family disowned Korsan before he became such a successful pirate.
• Comic Trio: The "Rivals with Benefits". Maurice is the more aggressive member, being an instigator for most of the trio's fights. Cecil is the more welcoming and cunning. And Jarvis is the less intelligent one that actually considers Maurice's over exaggerated suggestions.
• Continuity Nod: With it part of the "Midnight Universe", there are several nods to previous fan works by Mario Hyrulia thrown throughout the novel.
  • Daring Do and the Lost Kingdom of Trihearth is a reference to The Tragedy of Queen Crysalis.
  • Fluttershy's line: "It's just as likely as us being trapped inside an alternate universe." can be seen as a reference to Rise of Empress Midnight.
  • Craig's line: "She (Celestia) won't be if she's still dating that mutant guard." is a call back to Celestia's relationship with Relv from The Pony Weapon.
• Cool Boat: The Perfection, a 500 metre long airship that flies on anti-magic and sports 100 cannons. It is able to support a crew of 100 (and Korsan and Juliana) for life without ever needing to land with it's own onboard farm to provide food.
• Counting Bullets: Adverted when Korsan uses his crossbow ammo on fifteen incoming billiard balls and attempts to shoot the cue ball, only for the weapon to loudly click and the cue ball hits him.
• Dances and Balls: The Grand Galloping Gala at first appeared to be a regular ball, but is later attacked by Korsan.
• Deserted Island: After drifting out on sea after losing their boat, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle to Korsan, the Mane 6 find themselves on a seemingly abandoned island.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: In the Breach, a giant sandworm snags his mouth onto Korsan's anchor and drags the ship around. Korsan's response? Jumping onto said sandworm and literally punching the anchor out of it. Later on, Korsan uses the sandworm to "double club haul" his ship across a gap. So while the ship is vertically plummeting down into the abyss, Korsan runs up the sideways top of the boat and delivers a massive punch onto the sandworm right behind his ship.
• Drives Like Crazy: Korsan's crew thinks their captain drives like crazy, given that he enjoys going on crazy joyrides. Rarity gets a front seat to a joyride when Korsan speedily drives the enormous The Perfection through a tight underground cave system, destroying a fair portion of the vessel upon escaping.
• Dual Wielding: Korsan commonly wields two serrated cutlasses that are usually stored in the back section of his suit.
• Dumb Muscle: Jarvis, being willing to steal from the dangerous Grivs just to play another round of Poker.
• Eldritch Abomination:
  • The sandworm, a massive worm that inhabits the Breach.
  • Perfected Korsan, the result of Alicorn!Korsan fusing with The Perfection, a massive airship with metal tentacles, massive swords, and a huge dragon head.
• Eldritch Location: In order to reach Alicorn Island, the ponies have to enter the Breach, an enormous bottomless canyon that cancels out all magic and flight. Sporting a thin floating current of sand and a gigantic sandworm, the Breach is by no doubt such a location.
• Embarrassing Last Name: Grivs', one of the most threatening stallions of the bar, last name is Dinklesworth.
• Enemy Mime: Chopin, one of Korsan's crew members.
• Eskimos Aren't Real: Craig thinks that the Crystal Empire is merely a fairy tale.
• Especially Zoidberg: In Chapter 2 when Celestia is talking to the ambassador of Cervidas about pirates:
  Ambassador: Over the recent five years, the crime rates have skyrocketed at Cervidas and surrounding kingdoms. This has mainly been influenced by pirate attacks.
  Celestia: Pirates... even the landlocked ones?
  Ambassador: Especially the landlocked ones.
  • This occurs again during Chapter 10 in the bar at Thieves' Hold as Korsan is placing bounties on the Main 6,
  Korsan: ...and the older white unicorn is four million bits. I want them all alive.
  Random Mare: Even the older white wench?
  Korsan: Especially her...
• Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Korsan occasionally says a few words in French for what seems to be aesthetically arbitrary reasons.
• Evil Cripple: Korsan suffers a broken back and wings due to childhood injuries. Although he's created a suit to help him walk, the suit unintentionally causes Korsan to walk on only his hind legs and never let his spine repair properly.
• Evil Makes You Ugly: After turning to a life of crime, Korsan uses his stolen resources to outfit himself with a mechanical suit that has slowly broken him into bipedal movement.
  • Not to mention his eyepatch.
• Evil Redhead: Maria Vanschwitz, one of Korsan's crew members.
• Eye Patch Of Power: Korsan sports one of these on his right eye.

F-J

• Fantastic Racism: Korsan holds a strong prejudice to Earth ponies and pegasi for their "inferiority", with his master plan to actually wipe them off the face of the Earth.
• Free-Fall Fight: In Chapter 14, Rainbow Dash and Korsan get into one in a thunderstorm after the former knocks the latter from his airship.
• Firing One-Handed: Korsan fires his crossbow this way.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: When Korsan is attempting to attack Nitin Gale for talking about his past, November tries to stop the pirate, only to be tossed quickly aside.
• Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better: Korsan walks on his hind legs due to his mechanical suit forcing him into it over time and never letting his broken spine heal properly.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Captain Korsan went from being an unwanted child with a self-imposed disability to the most threatening pirate in the world.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Korsan in spades, being able to construct a flying pirate ship, that can sustain itself and support a crew of over 100, single-handedly in only three years. Some of other inventions include a mechanical suit that supports his broken back, muscle controlled-claws, anti-magic, a crossbow/gun, and several others.
• Gatling Good: One of Korsan's newest weapons is a mounted minigun that automatically aims at anything that moves and fires metal bolts like his crossbow.
• Genius Cripple: Korsan is this, he even build a mechanical suit to replace his broken spine.
• Gory Discretion Shot: It is strongly implied that the bounty hunter's death by Korsan was fairly gory by the sound of the clunk coming from outside the bar. The bonus chapter showing Korsan's encounter with the bounty hunter at Thieves' Hold from the bounty hunter's perspective reveals that the hunter was in fact decapitated.
• Gratuitous French: Korsan speaks singular French words in particular situations. These range from "Adieu" to the fencing starting commands, "En garde, prêts, allez".
• Grumpy Old Man: Craig Y'ol Timber, consistently berating the girls and hitting Rainbow Dash with his cane.
• Handicapped Badass: Even with a broken back, destroyed wings, and only one eye, Korsan is able to use his intellect and mechanical devices to take down even three alicorns one by one.
• He Knows Too Much: After revealing Korsan's backstory to the bounty hunter (and the Main 6 indirectly), Nitin Gale is quickly attacked by Korsan after the bounty hunter spilled the beans and was later killed.
• High-Altitude Battle: Many battles occur in high altitude areas, namely Korsan's pirate airship.
• Hostage Situation: After the Fountain of Balance doesn't work, Korsan holds Fluttershy hostage and demands that Twilight transforms him into an alicorn. She fails to do so due to that fact that she isn't a natural alicorn. However, Korsan frees Fluttershy, never intending to kill her.
• Humanlike Hand Anatomy: Korsan's hooves have extendable mechanical fingers that behave like human hands.
• Ice Breaker: During the battle between the SS Raindrop and The Perfection, Juliana freezes the water around Twilight's ship and later smashes into it, causing the entire ship to obliterate.
• I Know Your True Name: November yells Grivs' full name, "Grivs Dinklesworth", or order to catch his attention and not injure the Rivals with Benefits.
  • A minor instance occurs when Korsan announces "Twilight Sparkle" upon seeing her at the gala.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Korsan can shoot a bullseye from across a room with his crossbow twice, with the second bolt actually piercing the first.
• Indy Ploy: As soon as The Perfection entered the Breach and encountered the sandworm, Korsan basically has to make up everything as he goes, which results in the craziest of stunts.
• Insane Equals Violent: If Korsan wasn't violent enough when sane, when he's insane, he's even more violent especially with himself.

K-O

• Kamehame Hadoken: Celestia fires a magic beam at Korsan during the gala, in which the latter absorbs the shot with his anti-magic sword like it was nothing.
  • Perfected Korsan (later on Neo Korsan) gains this ability and uses it to try and destroy the Mane 6 in the final battle.
  • When Neo Korsan fires his final beam to finish the Mane 6 off, they fire their own beat at him and defeat him.
• Kick Chick: Applejack and Rainbow Dash both predominantly fight by bucking.
• Killed Offscreen: After being defeated by Korsan, the bounty hunter is taken outside by him and is killed after a short moment of talking.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Slasher is this in flying colours. Not only does she have three cats in her cabin, but she used to be a burglar of cats.
• Left Stuck After Attack: During Korsan's and Twilight's fight at Thieve's Hold, Korsan attempts to punch a grounded Twilight, only to miss and get his metal claws stuck in a floorboard. However, this later serves as an advantage as Korsan uses the plank as a shield to defend against Twilight's fireball attack.
• Made of Iron: Korsan is able to tank being knocked around the place, furniture being slammed into his body, and even a fireball exploding in his face with only a plank of wood for a shield, and can still fight on, though this is partly due to his mechanical exosuit.
  • After being shot with Twilight's ultimate beam attack, after being impaled through the chest by a massive ice sword, after getting the crap beaten out of him by everyone in the final battle, Korsan reveals himself to still be alive.
• Meaningful Name: Korsan's name is Turkish for "Pirate".
  • His last name is Maden, which is also Turkish, meaning "Metal" or "Mine". When put together, Korsan's name roughly translates to "Pirate of Metal".
  • Isyan, Korsan's cousin's name, translates to "Mutiny" or "Riot".
• Mega Maelstrom:
  • The mares encounter one in Siren's Gulch with a giant squid in the center. Spike manages to escape the whirlpool though by using the water current to force their ship over a cliffside wall.
  • Craig later drives their ship into another maelstrom. This one, however, leads to an underground cavern system that quickly takes them to Thieves' Hold.
• Megaton Punch: By overclocking his suit, Korsan can perform powerful punches capable of tapping out giant sandworms.
• Mini-Mecha: Korsan's mechanical suit, a collection of metal gears and pistons, serves as to not only replace his broken spine, but also to boost his strength and agility.
• Mushroom Samba: In Chapter 26, Twilight inhales a hallucinogenic gas in the temple of Alicorn Island and enters a nightmarish dream.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Korsan, Grivs, Ivan Voorhees, and Butch are some of the multiple names given to the more intimidating characters in the novel.
• Never Going Back to Prison: Slasher makes it very clear that she never wants to go back after being reminded of the day Korsan's crew gun-downed an entire kingdom.
• Nightmare Sequence: In Chapter 17, after an intense argument, Applejack and Twilight both get nightmare sequences involving each other in Korsan's mechanical suit attacking them.
• Ninja Maid: November Gale, at first looking to be a simple bar maiden, turns out to be an ex-member of Korsan's crew alongside her father in the kitchen. She's even still packing a knife and ready to fight.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Korsan's a bipedal cyborg pirate.
• Noble Bird of Prey: Juliana, an ice phoenix, is both a very powerful and even more loyal member of Korsan's crew, being Korsan's pet herself.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: Garrus Valkyrie, an ambassador, basically harasses the princesses with lectures.
• Older Than They Look: Craig appears to be in his elder years (60-80), but his dialogue suggests that he's lived for over a thousand years.

• One-Winged Angel: After turning into an alicorn, Korsan fuses with his ship, The Perfection, and transforms into a living, metal doomship, calling himself Perfected Korsan.
• Our Sirens Are Different: When the Mane 6 reach Siren Gulch, they are immediately mesmerized by sirens, with only Spike being immune. Later it is revealed that the sirens are luring their boat towards a giant squid with the intention of the squid destroying the boat and both parties eating the ponies.
• Out-Gambitted: During Rarity's sparring battle with Korsan in the galley, she attempts to distract Korsan with a who's-on-first schtick while her sword charges into his back. However, Korsan knows about Rarity's trick and plays along, only moving as Rarity's sword flies forward and strikes her instead.
  Yu Shou: So wait, who was tricking who into tricking who?
• Overdrive: Korsan's mechanical suit can enter an overdrive mode by increasing the rotation and speed of the gears and such. This give him greater speed and power, but can result in the suit breaking down and requiring extensive recalibration.

P-T

• Pet Monstrosity: Korsan owns an ice phoenix named Juliana.

• Pirate Girl: There are quite a number of female pirates, both in Korsan's crew and in the tavern at Thieve's Hold. Later it's revealed that November Gale also qualifies as one.

• Pokémon Speak: Ivan only says "Aye". However, it appears that Korsan and the other crew members understand what Ivan means and can engage in conversations with Ivan.
• Power Nullifier: Korsan's anti-magic straps can disable a unicorn's ability to perform magic.
• Power-Upgrading Deformation: Korsan's mechanical armour provides him with better agility and finer capabilities such as manipulating tools and other objects, but it forces his body into a bipedal position and cripples himself further.
• Prison Rape: While in prison, Yin apparently was somehow involved in prison rape, as Yu claims that a fellow mare "dropped the-(soap)" and something to do with "Bubbles" and "Pablo".
• Punched Across the Room: Occurs multiple times throughout the bar fights at Thieves' Hold.
• Punny Name: Craig Y'ol Timber = Cranky Old Timer
  • November Gale = Gales of November
  • Nitin Gale = Nightingale
  • Slasher Gutzoult = Slash your guts all out
• Race Fetish: Korsan's only interested in unicorns with his beliefs that they are superior.
• Reality Is Out to Lunch: The Breach
• Rousing Speech: After failing to become an alicorn and killing off Isyan and the mutiny, Korsan delivers a huge rousing speech to his crew, detailing how he loves fighting, his beliefs in full colour, and what they are going to do next.
  Korsan: My friends, it has often been said between you crew members that I like war. Rumours that sneak under my nose, yes? Thought that I wouldn't catch on? Well I did, and I wish to dash these rumours. My friends, I like war. No, friends, I love war! I love it all. I love blitzes, I love defensive lines, I love sieges, charges, I love mop-up operations, and retreats. Wars across prairies, in streets, in trenches, in grasslands, in frozen tundras, through deserts, on the sea, in the air, I love every act of war that can occur upon this world. I love the thrill, the power, the scale, the rewards, the action, the peril, the risk, the risk of death! Every time I am one sword swing away from demise, I enter euphoria. I love blasting the enemy to smithereens with artillery salvos that thunder across the lines of battle in every direction. My heart leaps with joy whenever a pony is tossed high into the air and blown to pieces by well-placed explosive rounds. And there is nothing like my grand galleon using its one hundred guns to destroy enemy ships, and the feeling that comes when an entire crew runs screaming from their blazing brig, only to be swallowed by the ocean below, is such an exquisite feeling. Like when ranks of infantry brandish their blades and rushing into the enemy's territory. It moves me deep within my heart to watch a fresh recruit stabbing over and over into the bloated chest of a long-dead unit of resistance, filling the blood-lust that had been empty for all of his previous years of a life of contained anger and rage. The sight of deserters being captured and held for ransom is an irresistible pleasure, especially when a little torture is involved. And there is nothing more arousing, than the sounds made by soldiers of defense dropping like flies, screaming in agony as they're mowed down by ear piercing cannons! When a band of pitiful resistance fighters makes their final stand with nothing but their own hooves, only to have their city smashed to mites of dust block by block by solid lead balls, I'm in ecstasy.
  Now, don't call me crazy, but this next part, the part that I love most, is a bit of a doozy for the easily sickened. But, what I love even more, is my crew, all of you, under attack. I love it when my forces are ravaged by an entire armada of warships. It intrigues me, like a good book, to see the character I have been rooting for my entire life, throwing their safety out the door and facing up to the massive enemy, and perhaps even be killed. I love to be squashed under the hooves of the nation's strongest soldiers. The humiliation, as my crew crawl around like vermin, ducking from arrows and balls of metal flying overhead. But be rest assured this is not merely for some sort of masochist's enjoyment inside of my soul, merely. When the time is right, those who squashed us get squashed back, a reward that's completely worth the cost and risk. In its entirety of rewards, costs, risks, and power, I love war with all of my heart and soul. Gentlecolts and mares... All I ask for is war, a war so grand as to make Tartarus itself tremble. Sea artists, I ask you as fellow brothers and sisters under my infinite wisdom, what is it that you really want? Do you wish for further war as I do? Do you wish for a merciless, bloody war? A war whose fury is built with iron, and lightning, and fire? Do you ask for war to sweep in like a tempest, leaving not even ravens to scavenge our target's remains, from this Earth? ...Very well. Then battle is what you shall have. We are a clenched hoof, ready to strike down all who oppose us, with our might. But... After having our ancestors' legacy enduring over many centuries wallowing in the darkness by these inferiors, for us, a simple "ordinary" war will no longer be sufficient. We need a massive war! A war beyond any other that pony's history has ever known! One that shall alter the course of history and restore all of our future descendants to the glory we as an entire species deserve!
  Yet, I can sense doubt still among you gazing upon me, for good reason. We are but a single battalion. We are the remnants of a long defeated cause now numbering merely a hundred strong. However, I believe that each of you warriors is equal to a thousand of their inferior might! We represent a force that could easily defeat an army of a million and one ponies, one hundred thousand fully rigged brigantines, ten thousand factions, and a thousand countries combined! It is time for them to awake the ones who sent us screaming into madness, to obscurity, and who now lie sleeping. Let's drag them out of bed by the mane, and remind them of what we are! We will remind them of what it feels like to live in fear, in inferiority, in pain. We will remind them of the sound of our ancestors' greatest powers grinding against their throats. We will remind them, that there are more things between birth and death than are dreamt of in their philosophy. Our legion of one hundred mighty unicorns is going to burn this wretched world down to ash. Yes, my friends! We shall begin a assembly of new eras, starting with the war against all of the known world! But first, we shall strike Equestria, the leading country of this old world, and turn it into a beacon of our new world. Soon, Equestria's charred remains will illuminate the night sky! I have brought you all glory, riches, and power, just as I promised I would. All that now remains is your cooperation in this final campaign, our greatest campaign! Back to our favorite battlefield. Back to our beloved war! At last, the sea lion has crossed the ocean and is heading up the hill. Attention, all soldiers of The Perfection! This is a message from your captain, Korsan Arasinda Maden. ...Friends, let's bring them Tartarus.
• Royal Rapier: Rarity wields one of these in her galley fight against Korsan.
• Rule of Cool: More or less of half the things Korsan does is this. Fighting several alicorns at once? Check. Taking a massive airship on a joyride through a cavern? Check. Club hauling on sand? Check. Punching a monstrous sandworm? Check. Double club hauling? Check.
  Isyan: You're mad!
  Korsan: I know!
  • Craig also falls under this.
• Sand Is Water: The floating sand path in the Breach behaves like a very shallow current of water.
• Sand Worm: Twilight's team and Korsan's team deal with one as large as The Perfection in the Breach.
• Saying Too Much: Slasher and a few other characters do this by accident.
  • Korsan gets murder crazy when people talk about his past.
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Craig seems to think this when he encounters the Mane 6.
• Sherlock Scan: Korsan is capable of identifying where a seemingly random pony got a fancy suit just by smelling it and later concluded that he is a bounty hunter as well.
  • He can also know when Twilight and her friends are near him or something is theirs by the Northwestern Equestrian Oak scent of their ship.
• Shock and Awe: While Rainbow Dash and Korsan are fighting in freefall, Rainbow Dash builds up internal electricity by soaring into the thunderclouds and attacks Korsan with electrified punches and kicks. However, Korsan's metal armour conducts this electricity and uses it to paralyze Dash as the two land into the ocean.
• Shout-Out: Several shout-outs are present.
  • Ivan Voorhees' last name is in reference to horror movie icon Jason Voorhees.
  • In Chapter 1, Fluttershy claims that Discord's gone off to a Bad-Anon.
  • In Chapter 5, the story Rainbow Dash tells is a parody of this joke on Mini Ladd's YouTube channel.
    • Rarity soon follows up with her story, which is actually the synopsis of Fullmetal Alchemist.
  • Slasher's cats' names are Larry, Moe, and Curley.
  • In Chapter 23, Korsan references Jaws when speaking with Isyan about the sandworm.
  Korsan: We, might need a bigger boat.
  Isyan: What do you mean might?
  Sandworm reveals itself.
  Korsan: Scratch that. We're gonna need a bigger boat.
• Sky Pirate: Korsan and his crew fly around on their floating pirate ship, making them able to attack landlocked, in air, and regular sea towns.
• Sound-Only Death: The bounty hunter's death by Korsan is only heard inside the tavern.
• Splitting the Arrow: Korsan fires his prototype crossbow that shoots metal bolts at Thieves' Hold. The first bolt hits the bullseyes and the second splits the first bolt.
• Sufficiently Advanced Bamboo Technology: The ponies that lived on Alicorn Island invented anti-magic, long before Korsan seemingly thousands of years later.
• Sword and Gun: Korsan wields both cutlasses and a crossbow at his ready.
• Talk Like a Pirate: Though stereotypical pirate language is used at some occasions, there are several uses of actual nautical terms.
  • Ivan Voorhees fits this trope perfectly, though he only says "Aye".
• The Mutiny: Korsan suspects that some of his crew members are planning to overthrow him. He's right and foils it as soon as it starts.
• The Phoenix: Korsan has an ice phoenix named Juliana, who assist him in combat occasionally.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Korsan delivers a massive one to Twilight, pretty much shredding at everything she stands for.
• The Voiceless: Chopin, a mine-like crew member of Korsan.
• Tragic Bigot: Korsan's bigotry towards pegasi and Earth ponies are rooted back to his family persecuting him for being an "inferior" pegasus.
• Treasure Map: An unusual variation. The Diamond Eye and its other part together actually projects a map on a wall when held up to light. The map itself is a collection of symbols that leads to Alicorn Island.
• Treasure Room: On Korsan's airship, the second floor of the massive quarterdeck is a massive room containing tons of gold, gemstones, artifacts, and many collections.

U-Z

• We'll See About That: At the end of Chapter 17, Rarity claims that Korsan will never convince her to join his side. Korsan replies with "Oh, we'll see in fair time.".
• When Elders Attack: Craig often hits Rainbow Dash with his cane for reasons limited to "not liking her hair".
• Who's on First?: Rarity attempts to distract Korsan by acting confused about Korsan's taunt, mistaking "Yu" for "You" and "Shou" with "Shall".
  • It doesn't work.
• Wooden Ships and Iron Men: The general aesthetic of the novel.
• Villains Out Shopping: Thieves' Hold (more predominately its bar) is made for this, where pirates can settle down for a few days and enjoy activities with others.
• Xanatos Gambit: During the showdown at Alicorn Island, Korsan puts Twilight through various situations, either way resulting in him winning to some extent.
  • If Twilight kills Korsan by the only means possible that is with magic, Korsan proves his point. If she doesn't and loses, Korsan can use the Fountain of Balance and become an alicorn. The latter happens.
  • If the fountain works, Korsan will become an alicorn. If it doesn't, Korsan holds Fluttershy hostage and demands Twilight to do it. The latter happens.
  • If Twilight does it, Korsan becomes an alicorn and he releases Fluttershy. If she doesn't Korsan will know that she's incapable of doing it and releases Fluttershy. Both maintain his promise to Rarity. The latter happens.
• You Monster!: Nitin and November Gale call Korsan a monster when describing him, followed by Rarity after Nitin's story of Korsan's backstory.
• You're Insane!: Korsan is called this multiple times. He even admits to it to his cousin.
  Isyan: You're mad!
  Korsan: I know!