The Sea Singer

The Sea SingerChapter One: Pilot

     "Fooooour!" the crowd of dirty, smelly bar patrons enthusiastically shouted as I downed yet another shot of pure Serenity Island moonshine. The evil water flowed down my gullet like oil, burning my throat with the intensity molten lava from the planet's core. By Celestia's pearly white flanks, this was not one of my better plans.

     I was sitting at a two pony table in the middle of an old west style bar, sitting across from me was a big, buff stallion who had a gruesome scowl on his ugly mug. The bar was dimly lit, like you would expect most shady joints like this to be. The only source of light filtered in through the grungy winows, stained a piss yellow from years of ponies smoking indoors. The place smelled of body odor and cheap five-bit bottles of whiskey.  This was the one of the more dangerous kinds of bars, the kind where most less-than-innocent ponies get themselves shot just for not sharing another's opinion.

    On the flip side, that also made it the place to get the best deals on booze. The lawponies tend to avoid places where they're outnumbered and outgunned, which made it a haven for illegal beverage runners. Today's little adventure involved me striking a bet with one of the distillery owners, if I beat him in a drinking contest, he would give me a juicy discount on a shipment of moonshine I was fixing to pick up. If I lost, I would have to pay normal price, plus twenty percent.

     Luckily,  I was winning.

     "Fiiiive!" I slammed the shot glass down on the table with enough force to knock over the other four empties. The molten lava booze still tore at my throat, forcing me to choke back a wet cough. Wow, this was some strong stuff, probably ninety percent alcohol or so. Hooch runners always did like to push the limits, it was no wonder that he drove the prices up so high.

     "Give up?" I asked the stallion, my voice hoarse.

     The booze jockey, Corn was his name, threw down an empty glass and let out a squeaky wheeze. The kind of wheeze that somepony got from eating a red hot Marexican chilli pepper without drinking any milk to wash it down. "Heh, not by a long shot!" he lied. This pony was on his last drink and he knew it. Then again, I probably was too.

     I gave a sly smirk and raised a full glass at him "This one's for you." Then I threw back said drink in one painful gulp.

     "Siiiix!" the crow of drunkards cheered. Honestly, I don't what these ponies found so exciting about watching two grown stallions slowly set themselves up for liver failure in a contest of sheer dumbassery. Did they really have nothing better to do?

     Probably not.

     Corn's perpetual scowl intensified. It looks like this guy expected me to give up after that last one. Looks like he was wrong, heh heh.

     Corn eyed his flicked to the next shot...then they flicked to me...then to his shot...then back to me. He was carefully considered the risks and rewards of going on. He took the 'shine into his hoof, I could see the hesitation on his face as plain as day.

     "Give up now?"  I chuckled "All you have to do is say it, say uncle!"

     He visibly gritted his teeth and glared daggers at me "Not on yer life." He braced himself and drank the shot, throwing the empty glass into the wall and shattering it into a hail of silvery shards. He looked at me with a wry smirk. Damn, this guy was good. Well, it was six for six now and-...Oh.

     Corn's smirk instantly disappeared, his face contorted into one of agony, it also seemed to turn quite a few shades greener. In a flash, he stood up from his chair and barreled out the bar's doors and onto the porch. The crowd and I watched with a grimace as he leaned over the railing and threw up the contents of his stomach into the street, heaving and moaning as he did.

     We stared at the poor bastard in silence, the only sound was coming from Corn's heaving. Then just as quickly as it happened, the quiet disappeared. I was the first to throw my hooves in the air and cheer at my apparent victory "Wah-hooo!"

     The crowd of drunkards more than shared my sentiments, they cheered louder and a longer than I. "YEEEEEAHHHH!" they bellowed all at once. One of them gave me a smile and playfully punched my shoulder.

     "That was awesome!" one of the drinkers shouted.

     "Totally!" another agreed.

     "I likes me a stallion that kin hold his drink!" came the sultry voice of one of the mares. Since when did the ability to not throw up constitute sexual prefrence? Meh, who cares? Certainly not I.

     The big booze runner stumbled back into the bar and plopped himself back into the chair as the patrons congratulated me. He wiped the leftover puke off his muzzle with the crook of his arm and ran the other through his greasy yellow hair.

     "That was a mighty fine match," I complimented, offering him a smile "but a deal is a deal; Four crates of fine Serenity Island Moonshine at fifteen bits a unit."

     Corn must've sobered up a bit from heaving, because a drunk stallion just can't look at somepony else with that kind of anger hatred. "Ain't no chance in Tartarus!" he growled "I don't know how ya dun did it but you cheated! Effin' you want the 'shine, then you're gonna hafta pay twenty five bits a pop like ere'pony else!"

     I rested my elbows on the table and folded my hooves together, I summoned my inner lawyer and spoke with a very businesslike tone "I truly am sorry to hear that, Mr. Cobb, really. But where I was born and raised, we find it real rude to not honor a bet on mere suspicion of cheating. And how could I have cheated anyway? You, sir, drank from the same-"

     "Did y'all here me?!" Corn Cobb barked, his acrid breath assaulting my nostrils "Ain't...no...way...in...TART'RUS!" He emphasized each word by slamming his hoof into the table, spilling the remaining shots of moonshine.

     I sighed "Well in that case-" before Corn even knew what was going on, he suddenly found the business end of my flintlock resting on his schnoz "-You'll just have to find a way in Tartarus, Mr. Cobb." I said, not dropping my lawyer tone.

     Corn looked like he was about to piss himself, his eyes crossed humorously to stare at the loaded pistol. "I- uh...erm," he stammered. The crowd of drunk ponies surrounding us suddenly realized that they all had left their ovens turned on, and dispersed without another peep.

     I cocked back the hammer "Now I'm gonna boil it down to two options for you," I explained "Number One: I could scatter what brains you do have all over this fine establishment and it's patrons, leaving me without a shipmet to sell and you with a darn big hole in your head. I doubt that anypony wants to see that. OR, Number Two: You could cut your losses and sell me the crates for fifteen bits a bottle and we can all walk away unhurt, apart from a hangover and a little liver damage-" I pressed the barrel firmly into his forehead "-Comprehendé, muchacho?"

     He didn't Comprehendé.

    "Gaaaaaurds!"

     Crap.

     In a millisecond, two big and burly bouncer-lookin' fellas burst from one of the bar's side rooms. It was one unicorn mare with floating a musket beside her and one earth pony stallion clenching a rusty shovel in his jaws. Corn looked at them and pointed a hoof to me "Sic 'em!"

     Not wanting to know what getting hit in the head with a shovel feels like, I holstered my pistol and backed away from the table cautiously "Now hold on there, folks." I said in the most calming tone of voice I could manage "Can't we just discuss this like civilized ponies?"

     In response, the musket mare took aim and fired at me. The gun roared with a low boom and the shot whizzed past my head and embeded itself into the wall.

     I stared at the fresh hole "I'll take that as a 'no' then." That being said, I turned tail and hauled flank out the doors and into the town. "Thanks for the free drinks!"

X-X-X-X-X

     I rushed out into the dusty streets of Serenity, gaining me a few odd looks from the townsponies that had elected to stay outside on this hot summer day. This town always reminded me of Appleoosa back in the day, before it was swallowed up by nature. Old-timey shops and homes lined the streets in a tight crisscross pattern. Most of the building beared little difference from one another, making it a mite difficult for newcomers to get around.

I was, more or less, a newcomer.

 I trotted in place for a moment, unsure of which way to go. "Now where oh where did I park that ship?"

     I had no time to answer my own question before the two goons ran out of the bar, hell-bent on shooting and/or bludgeoning me. I chose a direction at random and hightailed it. Naturally, they gave chase.

     My strong earth pony legs pounded the dirt road, carrying me through the town at top speed. Heh, they didn't call me Strider for nothing.

     I shot across the dirt streets, ducking and weaving past a few townsponies that were out for a stroll. The goons behind me rudly shoved through them, unaware of the death glare that they received.

     I made a sudden right turn and nearly collided with a cart of cabbages, pulled by a pale green earth pony. Luckily, I managed to side-step that cart and murmur my apology to the pony.

     A loud crash sounded behind me, followed by a few suprised shouts and the woeful cry of an older stallion "My cabbageeees!"

     I stopped to take a look at the commotion. As I had expected, my pursuers were tangled into a mess of splintered wood and cabbage. The green earth pony was standing over the heap, yelling a multitude of explicit words so foul that they could have made a sailor blush like a schoolfilly. (I would know, I used to be a sailor!)

     A new bad guy-looking pony burst forth from a random house, this one was an earther mare with a flintlock in her mouth. She immediately spotted the wreck and helped pull the two buffoons out of it, muttering something around the pistol. The two pointed two accusing hooves my way. That was my cue to take off.

Boom! A shot buzzed past me, knocking my hat off. I picked it back up to find a fresh hole going straight through it. I glared up to the offending ponies "Somepony's going to pay for that!" But here and now was neither the time, nor the place. For now, I run.

     They chased for what felt like hours until I decided that running in a straight line just wasn't going to loose them, so I made an abrupt right turn into an alleyway. The three ponies lost their momentum just as I had hoped. The alleys were only wide enough for a single pony to fit through, and not three dimwitted rent-a-gaurds chasing me side by side. I had successfully turned their own numbers against them.

     I emerged from the alley only to find four new henchponies shaking their muskets and clubs at me. As any other smart pony would, I went the other way.

     The intense beating of my heart pounded in my ears as the adrenalin rush kicked into to full swing. I galloped hard to get away, pusing my legs to go faster and faster. I zagged into another alley, but the posse didn't fall for it a second time. They went around the building and came close to having me cornered.

     A pegasus swooped over me, nearly konking me on the noggin with a frying pan. I stumbled,  but did not fall. "How many goons does Cobb have?" I shouted to nopony in particular.

     I tried to duck into yet another alley, but I was forced backpedal when I saw three familiar ponies charging at me from the opposite end. Okay, not that way then.

     The posse was within spitting distance now, giving me some serious motivation to keep running. I forced my body to widen the gap between me and them, but it was quickly becoming apparent that I was loosing this little race. The mob closed in, getting close enough for one of them to snap at my tail. Thankfully, she never did get a good hold on it.

     I had to think of something to try, and fast, or else it would not turn out pleasantly for me...

X-X-X-X-X

     "End of the road, pal!" one of the henchponies shouted at me.

     I couldn't think of anything.

     I found myself staring at the end of a rocky cliff at the very edge of town. This was where Serenity Island ended and the Green Sea began. I looked over the cliff, the endless expanse of Everfree Forest loomed below me in every direction, like a giagantic pit of raking claws, ready to snatch up any unlucky pony it could get. The drop must have been fifty feet at least, there was no way I could have lived through the fall. Even if I did, I'd be in no shape to survive alone in the wild.

     I looked to the left and to the right, the cliff was to narrow to sidestep the posse. So the only way was backwards and forwards, and both were equally unappealing.

     This pack of idiots had me by the balls, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do.

     Or was there? A low hum sounded in the air, not unlike that of a giant metal cicada. This was a distinct noise that I have come to know and love very much. It was a noise that signaled rescue. I stood there, looking at the crowd of ten or so ponies with a knowing smirk.

     Corn Cobb separated himself from the mob and calmy approached me. His beady little eyes regarded me like a cat regards a defenseless mouse before it gets horribly mangled and tossed away. "It's over, Strider." he said "Ya dun got yerself in a tight spot over the price of a few measly 0 a 'shine. Now dont'cha feel like a fool?"

     "Captain Strider to you, Cobb!" I instantly corrected him, ignoring his question. (For the record, yes I did feel like a fool.)

     Cobb raised an eyebrow at me "Izzat so? Then where's y'all's ship, Capp'n?"

     "Should be here in a few minutes!" I grinned widely at the old moonshiner, making everypony a little uncomfortable. The hum was getting louder now, the entire group heard it very clearly. I noticed a few ears turned toward the source.

     "What's that noise?" one of the mares asked.

     "I dunno." another answered "Sounds like a motor."

     "Never you mind that!" Cobb snapped at his henchponies. He turned to regard me again and cleared his throat "Now Strider, I'm gon give'ya two options for ya to pick-" he chuckled darkly "-One: I kin tie ya up to an airship and show ya what bein' keelhauled without water feels like. And trust me, pardner, it don't feel too friendly. OR Two: I kin give ya a huntin' knife and a rifle and banish ya to Everfree. Let whuddever's in 'ere have their way with ya. Which do you chose, Cap'n?"

     "Option Three," I answered, maniac grin threatening to tear my cheeks "I get the hell outta dodge."

     The mob shared looks among one another "Huh?"

     A massive shadow encompassed the entire cliff as the light was blocked out by a gigantic figure. It rose from the drop behind me, slowly and steadily, like a second sun. The hum of it's droning engines shook the cliff like a minor earthquake. Aye, this was a ship, and not just any ship. It was my ship. The twin ballons mounted on her sides, a mite bigger than Ursa Minors, kept the gargantuan wood hull afloat. She was painted in me two favorite colors: Midnight blue and seafoam green, with green as the primary and blue as the trim. The pure white sails unfurled to reveal my coat of arms, a beautiful blue mermare with flowing blonde hair. She had a long, bulky prow with a carving under it that matched the sails. Twelve small square ports opened up, revealing twelve gleaming black cannons, aimed right at the bad guys.

     Proudly painted on the stern in bold blue lettering was the name of my one true love: The Sea Singer.

     A grey and blonde wall-eyed head popped up from the deck's railing, she spotted me and waved "Hiya, Captain!" Derpy Hooves cheerily greeted.

     "Hiya, Derps!" I returned "What took'ya so long?"

     "I stopped for a few drinks." she giggled, winking at me.

     I turned to speak to Corn Cobb, who was staring up at the ship, either dumbfounded or awestruck. "Cobb," I shouted over the engines "I've got two ladies that I'd like to introduce to you. The blonde one with the funny eyes is my first mate, Derpy Hooves. Don't worry, she won't hurt you. Honestly, it's the big one with the cannons sticking out of her gullet that I'd be more concerned about. That fine lady's name is The Sea Singer, and she has enough firepower to turn this town to a smouldering black crater, so I suggest you don't piss either of them off!"

     As if on cue, a rope ladder urnfurled from the decked, beckoning , me to it. I lept over the gap and caught one of the rungs in my hooves. I turned back to shout my parting words as the ship began to depart "Well, fillies and gentlecolts, it's been a fun game of tag, but now I hear my mother calling, time for me to go! Adios!" I paused "Oh, and thanks for the good deal on that shipment!" I fished a pouch of bits out of my coat pocket and tossed it to his hooves "This should cover it!"

     Cobb wasn't having any of that, he ignored the money and drew his pistol, threatening me with it "Celestia damn it, Strider!" he screamed at the top of his lungs "What the hay are you talking about?!"

     "You'll find out later!" I shouted as I began the long climb up Sea Singer's deck.

Boom!

     A bit-sized hole suddenly appeared in the ship's hull, right where my head was a second ago. I turned back to Cobb, hurt look upon my face. "You shot my ship!"

     "I was aimin' fer yer head!" He snarled.

     That won't do. Not at all. I drew my own pistol and brought the barrel up to bear. I leveled the sights directly at his ugly little face and pulled the trigger.

Boom!

     Corn Cobb doubled over, screaming in pure agony.  He clutched his front-left leg, crimson liquid spilling from the wound and staining his brown coat red.

"Agggh! Motherbucker shot my leeeeeg!"

Huh, I missed. Damn moonshine made me tipsy.

     I hauled myself to the top of the rope ladder, Depy grabbed my hoof and pulled me onboard to sweet, sweet safety. I picked myself off the deck and brushed the excess dust out of my coat and hat, gaining a few sideways glances from five or so of the crew.

     "TIME TO GET THE HAY OUTTA HERE!" I hollered, my voice sounding throughout the deck "LET'S PUT SOME DISTANCE BETWEEN US AND THIS ROCK!"

     The crew gave a collective salute and an "Aye, Captain!" and went to their stations, readying the ship to make way.

     I decided a moment to relaxation was in order. I drew a deep and calming breath,  taking in the familiar scent of oak planks that always lingered on my beloved Sea Singer. I exhaled in a long, calming sigh, letting out all the tension from today's shenanigans. I slumped against the side of the railing.

      "Y'know," my fist mate began "You didn't have to go shooting him."

     I waved my hoof dismissively "He put a hole in my baby, I put a hole in his body. By my somewhat cloudy judgement,  that looks to be a fair trade." As an afterthought I added "Did'ja get the shipment alright?"

     Derpy giggled to herself at the thought of today's job "It was like taking moonshine from a drunken gaurd. When did everypony get so bad at crime around here?"

     I laughed with her "About the same time we got so good at it." I stood back up and looked about the ship, searching for the telltale ice cream mane of my navigator "Where's Sweetie?" I asked "She's usually up here mocking the bad guys from a safe distance."

     "She's below deck, in the infirmary ." Derpy answered "When we took the goods we had a little scuffle with some of the gaurds. Sweetie got grazed, but she's fine. The doc is patching her up."

     I nodded "Let's go pay her a visit, see if she hasn't bitten the good doctor's head off."

     "You go on, Captain." Derpy said "I have to make sure nopony tried to drink some of the shipment while I was away. You know how they get."

     "Okay. If you catch any of them red hoofed, make sure to tie 'em to the mast upside down for a few hours, teach 'em a lesson."

     "Aye aye, Captain. "

     With that being said, we parted ways.

X-X-X-X-X

     I peeked in through the glass window, catching a view of Sweetie Bell lying prone on the infirmary's only operating table, giving nasty looks to our resident doctor. The room itself was a joke to be called an infirmary, being so small and empty of professional medical supplies. But calling it "The room with a table, a few over-the-counter drugs, and a first-aid kit" didn't fit very well.

     Doctor Cotton Swab was standing over Sweetie, levitating a bottle of hydrogen peroxide at her side. Swab was an middle-aged unicorn doctor, about six or seven years my elder, though the stress bags under her eyes made her look a little older. She had her shock of electric blue mane tied into a standard nurse's bun, starkly contrasting her steel grey coat. Her cutie mark signified her medical skills: a pair of band-aids and a red cross arranged like a skull and crossbones.

      "Hey wai- OUCH!" Came Sweetie's high-pitched voice.

     "Quit being such a filly!" Cotton Swab's older, rougher voice scolded with a motherly tone "It's just a little antibacterial! You're not going to die."

     I opened the door without even knocking and trotted right in, earing me a glare from Doctor Swab and a relived look from Sweetie. "Afternoon, ladies." I greeted coolly.

     "Captain, (thank Celestia) tell her that I don't need any more anti-whosit!" Sweetie pleaded with me. "I'm fine, really."

     I cracked a wry smile "I don't know, Sweetie." I warned "Back in my seafaring days, I've seen a pony like you lose a whole leg to infection just 'cause he didn't splash a little peroxide on it afterwards. Hoo boy, did that sailor scream. I had to take a frying pan to his head just to shut him up 'til we could finish the operation."

     Sweetie's eye became wider than dinner plates at my tale. "Really?" she whispered.

     I nodded "Yep."

     "Captain, please don't put any of those exaggerated sea stories into her head." Cotton nagged me  "That poor pony probably lost his leg because your captain didn't think to bring a trained medic on the ship. Any idiot with half a brain and a bottle of decent antibiotics could've saved him."

     Cotton returned to patching up my navigator "Don't you listen to him, hon. I'm not going to let anypony on this ship get that sick, even if I have to drag 'em in here kicking and screaming. "

     "I know I know," I said  "but what can ya do? Past is past. Y'now how they say hindsight is twenty degrees cooler...or something like that. " I shrugged "We were young and incredibly stupid."

     "Now, you're not so young anymore."

     "True."

     "But in all your stories I thought you were the one who was captain?" Sweetie questioned with a little confusion in her voice.

     Sweetie's thougts were put on hold when Cotton Swab poured a little peroxide over a cotton swab and wiped it over Sweetie's war- wound, eliciting a small hiss and an "Ow" from the patient. I took a close peek at it, the shot was superficial at worst, she wouldn't have even needed stitches.

         I let out an embarrassed chuckle and rubbed the back of my neck "Yeah well, that was after I shot the old captain."

     Cotton look up from her work and raised an eyebrow at me "You shot your own captain?"

     "I had a good reason!" I defended.

     "And what, pray tell, could that have been?"

     "I was young and he was incredibly stupid."

     My story must've irked the doctor further, she shot a mean look my way. "Sir," she grumbled while wrapping a clean bandage on Sweetie "With all due respect, if you have no businesses here then please get the hell out. I have a patient to attended to and you're not helping with your little tales of murder."

      "Sure thing, Captain Swab." I snarked  "I just need Sweetie to report to the bridge and draw us up a route to Canterlot after you're done with her."

     Sweetie Bell shot up instantly "Were going to Canterlot?!"

     Cotton shoved her back down into a lying position "Hold still, I'm not done here!"

     "We are!" I said cheerfully "It should take a day or two to strike a deal with Berry Punch and offload the goods, assuming she hasn't been thrown in jail again, so you'll have plenty of time to visit your sister."

     The navigator squeed in delight "I haven't seen Rarity in months! Oooh, I hope the shop's doing well." She eyed my brown turncoat and hat. Which, by the way, had a few more holes in them than it they did the day before "Looks like you need to pay her a visit, too."

     I laughed heartily "Ain't that the truth. I recon Rarity'll start flippin' tables the moment she sees what I done to this old coat."

     Cotton Swab smirked "Isn't ragged and dusty a little last season?"

     "Doctor Swab, my dear, ragged and dusty is always the hot fashion." I answered, feigning a high-class accent "At least on this ship it is."

     "Anywho, I've gotta go see Scoots and tell her to start flyin' in a north-ish direction til' you can draw up a course." I gave the two mares a casual salute and sauntered off toward the bridge...

X-X-X-X-X

     The clinic, which I had recently disembarked from, was located on the stern of the ship, just under the crew's quarters and above the engine room. (Stern means the back end of the ship, for all you land-kissers that don't know a mast from a masochist) The bridge, where the pilot's controls were, was in the bow. (Alternatively, the front end.) Which meant that I had to cut through the upper deck to get there.

     The hard-working mares and stallions of my crew were busy maintaing the direction of the sails, as they only cast slidelong glances and subtle nods my way as I passed them. I wasn't a pony in the habbit of forcing my crew to stand at attention every time I trotted by them like some of those pompous,  overdecorated windbags that captain all the military ships in The Green Sea.

     The senior crewmembers like Cotton and Sweetie and I had become comfortable with eachother over these past years, a comfort born out of mutual of respect of one another. I gave the orders, they followed them, and I give them all a damn nice cut of the profits. If they didn't follow orders, I can sometimes get a little... cross.

     A perfect example of crewponies not following orders hung from the main mast just a few feet away from me. One of the sailors was tied by his midsection to the large wooden pole... upside down. This colt was one of the newer members that I picked up a few weeks ago in Las Pegasus. He gave me a nervous smile as I passed him by.

     "Heh heh...Hello Cap'in."

     I stopped and bent down to look him in the eye "Ahoy, sailor." I greeted, trying to hold back my mirth "So, how have you been?"

     "Honestly, sir?" He chuckled "I can't feel my legs."

     "Tried to snag a bottle of moonshine, did'ja?"

     "Ayep."

     "It's a rookie mistake to underestimate my first mate, sailor" I explained "She might have the depth perception of a one-eyed, drunken diamond dog with her condition, but that don't mean she's as dumb as one."

      "I understand that now. I do belive I've learned my lesson, captain. " he said with an apologetic expression.

     "Good to know!" I turned to trot away "Carry on."

     "Hey, wait!" the sailor shouted after me.

     I turned and eyed him coolly "Hmm?"

     "Uh, a-aren't you gonna cut me down?!"

     I put a hoof to my chin, pretending to contemplate the question. Truth be told, I already knew what I wanted to say "No, I don't think I wil."

X-X-X-X-X

     Fun fact; The Sea Singer was the one of the first models of airship to feature a bridge. Before Everfree had even begun to take over Equestria, the first generation of airships had their controls in the stern, mostly above or in front of the captain's quarters, just like a seafaring vessel. Having the pilot's vision blocked by a bulky cloth sail worked in the water but not in the air, since airships go in all cardinal directions instead of just starboard and port.

     To fix this, the ship's controls were built toward the bow where the pilot could see in most directions without having their vision obscured. The bridge was actually built below deck, under the prow, giving the sailors inside extra protection.

     The dome-like window protruded from The Sea Singer like a bubble on the surface of the water. I could see The Green Sea below in all directions but behind, an ominous mist flowing up from the forest floor. Scattered about a U-shaped panel were all manner of levers, buttons, and switches that I only knew rudimentary uses for. Sailing, I was a master at, but flying was never my forté. That's why I had a pilot.

     Scootaloo stood on her hindlegs at the north window of the bridge, wheel in hoof. The bright orange mare stared stoically at the horizon, her gaze only straying a little as I walked in.

      I'm not going to beat around the bush, Scootaloo was a cripple. She was born with a pair of wings that never fully developed, they only grew to be about half the size of a normal pegasus. Scoots wasn't ever able to fly very far, but she could pilot a ship like nopony's business. Her cutie mark, a minature of an old model of airship, was proof of that.

      "Ahoy there, Captain." She greeted me pleasantly, her eyes not straying from the sky "Did everything go smooth like you planned?"

     "Does it ever?" I chuckled.

     "Well, no." Scootaloo admitted "But things have to change some day! What happened?"

     "Let's see," I said, putting a hoof to my chin "I got drunk, stuck my gun into somepony's face, got chased about the town like a wild goose, got shot at, and shot somepony."

     Scoot smiled mirthfully "Same ol' story. Same ol' song and dance, eh?"

     "Ayep." I agreed "Just another day in the life of you rougishly handsome and highly talented captain."

     I couldn't see her face, but I knew that Scootaloo rolled her eyes "If you say so, sir."

     "I do say so!" I chirped "Anyhoo, I need you to point the ship in a northern direction until Sweetie gets up here with the charts and stuff."

     "Aye aye, sir." Scoot said, turning around to the console and punching a few of the shiny buttons with practiced fluidity. The pegasus grabbed the Singer's oversized wheel and spun it thirty degrees to port. The ship in turn lurched, jarring us around as the engines and the sails turned toward the north simultaneously.

     "Geez!" I griped, grabbing hold of the console for balance "Could you make it a little smoother next time, Scoot?"

     "Not can do, sir." she retorted "One of the baubles down in engineering busted while you were out. I can't use any if the turn radius hydraulics 'til Bloom and Oak get it fixed." As an afterthought, she added "By the way, Applebloom said she needed a replacement part to get it running again.  She wanted to see you about that."

     I sighed in a self-pity sirt of way "Welp, a captain's work is never done. I guess I'll get to it then."

     Scootaloo nodded "You do that. I'll be here, like always."

     I turned around to leave but was stopped by Scootaloo "Hey, wait."

     I turned around and cocked an eyebrow at her.

     "Where are we even going?"

     "Canterlot. "

     Scoot did that wing-buzzing thing that pegasai do when they're exited "We're going to Canterlot?  Cooooool, I can go see some of the new military airships they got floatin' around the docks."

     "Yeah, great." I nodded and headed out the door without another word...

X-X-X-X-X

     After my first year of flying on the Sea Singer, I got used to traipsing about the whole ship and fulfilling everypony's needs after a job. It always seems that every time I leave the ship something or somepony always gets lost, stolen, broken, or shot, and I'm the stallion who has to deal with it. Mostly because I'm the best at getting stuff replaced with my many trading connections and my knack for bartering.

     I stopped short of the blackened iron doors that led to engineering. A faint rumble could be both heard and felt through the threshold. I never liked going into the engine room, it was sometimes so loud in there that the engineers had to wear ear protection just to hear themselves think.

     Thankfully, our current course didn't demand that much of the engines since we weren't turning or running at full speed, so the noise was mercifully lessened,  but not eliminated.

     I took ahold of one of the heavy soundproofed doors with my teeth and pulled at it with all my strength. Another reason why I hated engineering; the doors were so heavy that it was a pain to get into.

     The door was pried open with an ominous and metallic screech. A wave of hot, dry air hit me like a wall, carrying with it the foul scent of burning coal and motor oil. Reasons number three. And four as to why I hated this room: it was hot and it smelled funny.

     I slipped in through the narrow crack in the door and pulled it shut. Closing it was always much easier than opening it, but it was still a chore.

     Applebloom was sitting at her chair next to the Singer's gargantuan twin engines. The masses of wires, gears, and oddly shaped steel parts hummed and sputtered behind her in a chaotic mess of sounds. I honestly had not the foggiest idea how these thigs worked. I knew they were powered by coal and other burnables...that's it. That's why I had AB.

     Applebloom was my chief engineer. Kind of. There were only two people that ever worked engineering in the ten or so years that Sea Singer had been in the sky.  Notice how I said "people" and not "ponies." Bloom's partner was Oakfang, a tall diamond dog, smart as a whip and black as the coal he shoveled into the furnace.  I picked him up a few years back in Keldigram, one of the last stable underground cities in Equestria. Oakfang was one of my stranger crewmembers, he just kinda showed up one day, offering hard labor in exchange for food and board, no explanations as to why. But who was I to turn down a worker that didn't want to take a slice of my profit pie? Ever since then, he's been a part of the crew as much as Derpy, Applebloom, or I.

     Applebloom was idly leafing through a copy of "Ships and Sails Monthly!" that I notices was three months old. I always liked Applebpoom, she was one of the only young folk around this ship who came in knowing the value of hard work, probably from working an apple orchard before Nature's Curse took over. She, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Bell were the first three crewmembers that Derpy and I ever recruited to fly with us on Sea Singer. Goddesses, they were like, twelve years old when we found them sitting on the sidewalks of Canterlot. Child prodigies, the lot of 'em. Scoot could fly a ship better than any grown stallion that I ever knew, Applebloom might as well have been able to talk to machinery for all I knew, and Sweetie could sing like a chorus of angels, which isn't too useful on an airship, so I put her on navigation since the other two wouldn't separate from her for the world.

     "You rang?" I asked, speaking a mite louder to compensate for the engines.

     Applebloom closed her magazine and stood up from her chair "Capp'n, just the pony ah needed ta see." she said in her southern drawl.

    Oakfang saw me and offered a curt nod my way. Oak never was much of a talkative dog, he only spoke when he had something to say, which was a quality that I felt that more ponies needed. I returned the nod and regarded Applebloom.

     "Scoots said you needed to talk to me about a new part?"

     "Yeah." she said, gesturing a hoof toward the engines "Ah need a new Steam Gauge Assembly fer the hydraulics in engine number one. Ah managed to patch 'er up fer now but we'll be needin' a new one in a week or so."

     "And if we can't afford one?" I inquired. I could have afforded it, probably.  But I prefer to cut the corners that could stand to be cut.

     "Then there'll be some real nasty complications."

     "Define comlplications."

     "The Oh goddess,  oh goddess, we're all going to die! kind." Applebloom deadpanned.

     "Ahh, I'll get right on it just as soon as we hit Canterlot."

     The yellow mare did a double take "We're goin' ta Canterlot?"

     "Why must everypony ask me that?" I whispered to myself "Yes we are."

     "Hot digity!" she exclaimed "Canterlot's the only decent place ta get any good shoppin' done in the whole darn Green Sea."

     I cocked an eyebrow "You never struck me as the shopping spree type, AB."

     "Not if I 'kin help it." She smiled to herself "But steam gauge assemblies ain't the only thing in Singer's engines that's hurtin' fer replacin'. Golly, if it weren't fer duct tape, we'd be crashin' into the ground right now."

     I rolled my eyes, but smiled in spite of myself "Thank you," I deadpanned "I'll try and think about that while I'm sleeping in an airship tonight."

     Applebloom waved a hoof "Ahh, ain't nothing wrong with her. Sea Singer'll always tells me when she's hurtin'." AB placed a hoof on one of the engines and gave it a loving look "Won't ya, girl?"

     In response, the engine continued to run as it always has, blissfully unaware of Bloom's question.

     I pulled up the coat's sleeve and checked my watch. Nine thirty-two, I should probably hit the hay. Assuming that Berry Punch was still in her old habits, getting a good deal out of her was going to be like pulling a sore tooth from an angry manticore, I needed all the rest that I could get.

     Just thinking about sleep gave me the urge to yawn, which I did with great gusto. "Well," I said, stretching out me stiff legs "I'm gonna go crash in my quarters, I'll be there if anypony needs me."

     "Well g'night, Cloud. "AB said  "Don't let the duct tape engines bite."

     I snorted mirthlessly "Funny."

     I nodded at Oakfang, who in turn, nodded back. Neither of us needed words to understand eachother, we just knew...It's a guy thing.

     I began the grueling task of reopening engineering's heavy metal doors. One long, screeching creak and a loud slam later, I was was off to my quarters...

X-X-X-X-X

     My room was totally unchanged from the way I left it this afternoon. All the many assorted peices of treasure, trinkets, books, baubles, guns, and gizmos  lay carefully and methodically placed on the shelf above my trusty rope hammock. The captain's quarters were built in the upper-half of the stern, giving me an absolutely perfect view of the Green Sea that laid spread out behind the ship through the pane glass windows.

     Lying on a cot up against the wall was my youngest, smallest, and most loyal members of Singer's motley crew of misfits: Easybreeze, my neice.

     Easybreeze was a smally filly, about thirteen years old, give or take a few months. She was born not before, not after, but during the days that Nature's Curse took over everthing at the sea level. She was my brother's kid, had her mother's bright green eyes and her father's pegasus gene. A few years back, her parents got in a real tight spot with the law, they couldn't leave little Breezy all alone so they transfered custody to me. They entrusted me with the responsibility to keep her safe, and I'll be damned if I fail that.

     Breeze had her eyes glued to one of those old-world history books that I had found on a scavenging job in over-grown Fillydelphia. She idly flipped her snowy white hair out of her face, barley noticing me.

     "Hi, Uncle Cloud. " the light pink filly greeted my absentmindedly, not lookig away from the book.

     "There's my favorite sailor." I said with a smile, removing my coat and hat, hanging them on a hook, and throwing myself into he hammock. "Wat'cha doin'?"

     "I'm reading about the socio-political state of Equestria before the Curse happened." she answered. "Did Princess Celestia really have to handle all the lords and nobles by herself for a thousand years?"

     I nodded "Yep. I saw Princess Luna herself the same day that she came back to us. Even got a picture with her."

     Easybreeze's attention was instantly piqued "What? No way!"

     "It's true!" I defended "Here, I'll show you." I slipped out of my hammock and threw open a random chest. After a few moments of digging through a pile of things that brought back more than a few memories, I found the dried up, old slip of paper.

     "'Course," I said, handing it to her "I was young and vibrant back then."

     The photo was taken almost fifteen years ago, it depicted almost half the population of old Ponyville squeezed into a crowd so that they could all fit into the photo. At he very front were six youthful Elements of Harmony with Princess Luna dead center. They all wore smiles that were bright enough to be used as a flashlight, except for Luna, who looked both confused and sheepish. Which was natural, that picture was kind of spur-of-the-moment.

     "Where are you?" Breeze asked, squinting at the photo.

     "There I am." I pointed out a much younger earth pony stallion with a dark blue coat and a chocolate brown mane. He was standing behind and a few ponies to the right of the princess. By the Godesses, I was a total puppy back then.

     I chuckled "Back when the world was flat and the trees weren't out to get'cha."

     I noticed Breeze's eyes drift to the background "Wait, is that Canterlot there on the mountain?" she asked, pointing it out.

     "Yeah, it was a lot smaller than it is now. Back then, we hardly had any airships, the city didn't even have a port. We rode trains and carriages everywhere."

     "I can't even imagine..." she let her words trail off.

     "How we lived on the ground?" I finished "I'll admit it was a lot nicer than it is now. You wouldn't have had to grow up on an airboat, you could've gotten in to a good school, found your cutie mark, got a nice job. Life would've been a lot more stable, more safe."

     "Blegh, sounds boring." Breeze said "It doesn't sound as fun as being a sky sailor."

     I gave her a half hearted chuckle "Yeah,  it was pretty dull when I wasn't at sea. But Eternal Night, cotton cany clouds, and whole empires springing from the ground occasionally added some spice to it every now and then."

     "Cotton cany clouds?" Breeze questioned in a disbelieving tone.

     "Long story. Lots of wierd." I said. I checked my watch again, it was nine fifty-two.

     "It's time for bed." I announced "We should be making port tomorrow, best get some sleep while we can."

     Easybreeze groaned "It's not even dark yet, why do you like to go to sleep so early."

     "Because I get cranky waking up at zero-dark-thirty every day." I answered gruffly "You'll understand when you're older."

     Breeze harumphed and gave me a cross look.

     "Fine," I gave in "You can stay up and read, so long as you do it quiet-like, alrightly?"

     "Yeah, thanks." she said, returning to her book.

     I nodeed and threw myself back into the cradling arms of my beloved hammock. I stretched myself out like a cat and blew out the lamp on my nightstand. "G'nite, Breeze."

     "Goodnight, Uncle Cloud."