Cozumel, the last port between Equestria and Griffonia, though given its size and inhabitants one would never give it a second glance. A simple fishing village inhabited mostly by Pegasi and a handful of Unicorns. However, this is not a tale of either of those. This is the tale of a simple Earth Pony named Land Locked and the role he'll play in shaping history.
Just a ways off from the small village Land Locked was continuing his "Training" as he stood on his small raft. After months of trying, he had finally managed to get his sea legs; he had gone from stumbling foal, always falling into the water, to being able to steadily walk even in the roughest wave his beach training grounds could throw at him.
"Land?! Are you down there?!" Came the sudden but familiar voice of Land's father, causing Land to lose his focus and quickly fall into the shallow waters.
The soaking wet pony quickly scrambled back onto his makeshift raft in an attempt to escape the surprisingly cold water.
"Yeah dad?" Land answered as he coughed up a bit of water, watching as his father descended from the air.
"Well then" Land's father began with some forced disappointment "I thought you'd be happier to see me again."
"I'd be happier if you took me with you." Land retorted.
"You know very well, that I'd love nothing more than to take you with me bu-"
"Yeah I know" Land interrupted "The open water is no place for someone who can't fly. I could fall in the water, and there would be no way from me to get myself out." He finished reciting the words his parents had told him dozens possibly even hundreds of times. "But dad, I've gotten better with my training."
"What about that little slip?" His father asked with a raised eyebrow
"That's not fair, you startled me." he retorted
"The sea isn't a fair place, and if you want to sail it you'll have to ready for anything to break your focus. The call of the gulls, waves against the hull or even cannon fire. The sea doesn't give a warning and given the chance, she'll gladly drag you to your end."
"Bu-"
"No buts son, I'm not letting you risk your life for something so foolish,"
"But it's not foolish it’s what I want to-"
"I said no buts, now hurry up and get home, your mother is waiting for us." With that Land watched as his father took flight starting his way back home, leaving Land alone with his crushed spirits and his slowly drifting raft.
"It's not stupid" he muttered to himself as he tried to shake his father's words from his mind, as he slowly trudged back into the cold water, grasping the rafts rope in his mouth. Foolish the word continued to echo in the back of his mind. Just because he was born without wings his dreams became foolish "No" he growled through clenched teeth as he yanked the raft out of the water. His dreams weren't foolish, no matter what anyone tried to say. With one final tug, the raft was back on the beach.
"I'll show them" he muttered as he started on his way back home, leaving his raft behind.
Later that evening the young stallion found himself lying in bed. His mind now racing over not only his father's words, but the words he had heard all of his life. "No wings" "Dead Weight" "Liability" he had spent the vast majority of his life trying to find someone willing to give him a shot, but every time a ship came in looking to recruit, it was always the pegasi and the unicorns taken, never the lone Earth Pony.
Land Locked gave a loud yawn as the voices in the back of his head, were quickly muffled by the warm embrace of sleep.
"Captain, the storms getting worse!" came a faint cry through the pounding of rain.
"Who's there?!" Land shouted as he shielded his eyes from the rain. "Hello?"
The young stallion was started as a rather large griffin came into view, quickly scampering along the wet wood. It was only then that Land realized the floor beneath him was rocking back and forth.
"What are you doing?" cried the griffin "Captain needs us to cut the mast down or the entire ship's going into the drink."
Confusion spread through Land's mind as the entire situation started setting in, he quickly made his way after the griffin, doing his best not to fall over as the ship rocked back and forth and the rain continued to pour down, this was nothing like his training.
"What's happening?!" Land cried in confusion
"We don't know!" responded the Griffin as it approached the large interlocked ropes descending from the mast "This storm came out of nowhere; we've lost all sight of the royal fleet." The Griffin finished as it wrapped its claws around the ropes and slowly began climbing.
Land stared in horror, unsure of what he was supposed to do now.
"Come on kid, I need you up here!" the Griffin cried down.
Land Locked gave a gulp as he nervously wrapped a hoof into the ropes and carefully pulled himself up; repeating the motions as he steadily began climbing. Always fearful that the rocking of the ship, would throw him into the raging waters below. Only a few more seconds and he'd reach the top, however the sudden boom of thunder broke his focus.
The young stallion gave a cry of terror as he lost his grip; he closed his eyes in fear as he waited for the inevitable icy embrace.
"Well now, we can't have any of that." spoke a new voice.
Land Locked continued to keep his eyes shut, despite the new voice. However, after several more seconds the icy embrace of the sea never came and the fearful stallion slowly began to open his eyes. His mind was filled with confusion as he stared out at the calm waters from a pristine beach, the faint cries of the gulls off in the distance.
"Hello?" Land cried out weakly as he picked himself off the warm sand.
"Greetings" answered the same voice as before, the voice was definitely female, but was not the voice of someone Land had ever met.
"Who are you?" He cried again as he continued to search the empty beach for the source of the voice. "What's happening?"
"You're dreaming" the voice answered "As for who I am, that doesn't matter. All you need to know is that I'm someone who's placed a lot of faith in you my little pony."
"Why would you put faith in me?" The stallion asked as he sat down, slowly shifting the sand about with his hoofs.
"Because it's always those who are underestimated the most that can change everything around them." The voice answered. Land didn't know what it was about the voice, but he found it comforting.
"How can I change anything?"
"Well, that hard to say. All I know for certain is that you have one chance, are you willing to take it?"
Land's ears perked up at those words "Yes" he stated flatly
"That's good to hear" the voice stated, a hint of relief in its tone. "There will be a ship pulling into port tomorrow. If you want a chance to live your dream, and change the world, you'll be on board it when it leaves port."
"How do I do that?"
The voice gave a soft laugh "I'm sure you'll find your own way, good luck." the voice finished as it slowly began to fade away.
With that, Land found himself back in his bed, the light of the sun slowly creeping through his window. He gave a soft groan as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and pulled himself out of his bed, the words from his dream still echoing inside his head. He did his best to try and shake them from his mind as he made his way downstairs for breakfast, if he started doing things that voices told in his dreams told him to do, ponies would start thinking he was crazy.
"Good morning son" came the cheerful voice of Land's mother
"Morning" he answered tiredly as he sat at the table. "Where's dad?"
"Your father went into town to pick up a few things for breakfast, I was about to ask you to go look for him." She finished with a look of agitation. "I swear if he's out drinking with his buddies this early, the sea will be the least of his concerns."
Land did his best to hide a smirk as he made his way out of the house. His mother was probably right with her assumption; his father would usually spend most his time in the tavern with the rest of his sailing buddies, especially after having been away for several months.
The stallion was surprised at how nice of a day it was. He was used to it always being sunny, but this time it was something special. It might have been the very few clouds that dotted the sky, or the faint breeze, something about this day just felt right.
Land continued on his way through the town, he had spent his entire life in the village going through the same motions every day. After a few more minutes of walking he had finally made his way to the tavern, after asking around he was quite surprised to find out that his father hadn't visited the tavern yet. As far as Land Locked could tell, his father was actually heading out on the errand that he was sent on.
"Where are you dad?" Land quietly asked himself as he continued on his way through town.
"You don't understand!" came the voice of an angry stallion from inside one of the shops "My ship needs to be setting sail within the next three hours."
Land Locked slowly made his way into the store, doing his best not to look like he was eavesdropping as he started looking at different objects on the shelf.
"I said I'm sorry sir, but I can't just have ponies packaging their supplies in my store." Wake the store clerk answered, trying his best to reassure the captain. "My staff can have all of your order at the docks within the next two hours."
"Very well then." answered what Land assumed was the captain of a ship; a grey Pegasus who looked as though he had, had everything in life thrown at him. "But if my supplies are not there on time, I will be taking what's already been loaded, along with the rest of your pay." The captain stated firmly as he made his way out of the shop.
"Who was that?" Land asked as he slowly approached the counter.
"Oh Land Locked, I didn't see you come in." Wake stated in surprise "Oh, that was just some old sea Captain; he wanted his crew to come in and bring all their purchased supplies down to the docks on their own."
"So why didn't you let him?" Land asked in slight confusion. "Don't all the other captains have their crews load their own cargo?"
"Yes, bu-" Wake stopped as he leaned in closer to Land as he began to whisper "There's something about him that I just don't trust about him."
"What do you mean?" Land whispered in response
"His ship is unlike any ship I have ever seen, in all my life. The vast majority of his crew consists of Griffins and I don't think any of them are from Equestria."
"So what if they're a little strange?"
Wake quickly looked around as he made sure there was nobody else. "I think... I think they're pirates."
Land Locked probably should have been more concerned by this news, but two things got in the way of that. The first thing was the memory of his dream; the second thing was that he heard pirates would accept almost anyone as a crew member.
"Land, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking are you?" Wake asked nervously as he realized who he had just told there were pirates in town.
"No, I wouldn't dream of it, Wake." Land answered trying to hide his growing grin "I know how unsafe it is for a pony like me, I don't have wings so I could fall in the water and drown" He continued to trying hide the annoyance in his voice as he recited the words that everyone had told him in the past.
"By the way, Wake have you seen my father?" Land asked as he started on his way out of the store.
"Yeah, he was here a few minutes before you got here, I think you might have passed him on your way here."
"Damn." groaned Land Locked "Well, I guess I've gotta try and catch up." With that Land made his way out of the story, but he didn't have any plans on heading after his father, he had a boat to catch.
Land wasn't actually sure what he was going to say to get on board, but he was pretty sure he could think of something by the time he got to the ship, besides how much different could pirates be to normal sailors? He'd just find the Captain; tell him that he's willing to help.
"Greeve, hurry up!" came a female voice that broke Land's train of thought,
Land quickly glanced around, for the source of the voice and found a large Griffin standing outside of another shop.
"Greeve, if we're late, the Captain will skin us." The Griffin shouted once again.
"Keep your feathers on!" groaned another Griffin as he exited the store, two small bags held in his tail. "I don't know what you're getting so worked up about Gwyn; Captain isn't planning to leave for a few more hours."
"That doesn't matter." Gwyn retorted "If Captain Exo decides we're setting sail right now, we have to be ready."
"Fine grumpy beak" Greeve stated with some attempt at appearing serious.
"Is that anyway to talk to your superior?" Gwyn partially hissed as she glared at the slightly smaller Griffin.
"No it is not, my apologies first mate grumpy beak." He quickly added with a quick salute.
Gwyn gave a sigh "Let's just get back to the ship, before I skin you."
Well they don't seem all that bad Land Locked thought to himself as he started carefully following them back to their ship. Sure the big one seemed grumpy, but the other one seemed to have a sense of humor and that was something Land could work with. But for now, he'd just have to focus on following them back to their ship.
"So where's Glorn?" Greeve asked as him and Queen continued on their way through the village, it was nice to have some peace and quiet every once and awhile.
"No idea" Gwyn answered "The old feather brain has probably drunk himself stupid by now. Gods know he doesn't get enough of it on the ship."
Greeve gave a laugh "Well at least he's sober when it counts."
"I'll give him that" the other Griffin retorted "Though it would be nice if he didn't leave his bottles all over the ship, I almost broke my neck the last time we had a storm."
"That's just Glorn's way of making sure we're ready for anything" Greeve added with another laugh.
"Well then, if that's the case, Glorn should have readied you for finding him." Gwyn said with a grin "I'm going to get things sorted on the ship, you've gotta go find him."
"Fine" Greeve said with a sigh as he spun around immediately bumping into Land Locked who had gotten far too into the conversation happening in front of him.
"Sorry bout that Kid" Greeve spoke as he quickly clambered back to his feet. "Wasn't watching where I was going." he added as he quickly took to flight.
"That's no prob-" Land quickly found himself speechless as he saw the ship before him. He had been so focused on the two Griffins in front of him that he never noticed the ship come into view.
The magnificent black ship was unlike anything he had ever seen. It's three masts easily dwarfed all the ships that had ever made port in his town, Slowly he made his way down the dock, marveling at its hull, at first he was trying to figure out what kind of would it was made of, but he quick found that it wasn't wood, but what appeared to be some kind of "Shell"
"She's beautiful isn't she?" spoke a voice from behind him.
Land Locked quickly spun around to find the source of the voice and was surprised to see the old grey Pegasus from the shop.
"She's the finest ship of her make." The Captain added
"Who made it exactly? I've never seen anything remotely like it." Land asked as he shifted his gaze back to the boat.
"I'd love to tell ya lad, but that's a secret. Now if I may be so bold as to ask, do you have any particular reason to be down here or did you come simply to marvel at my ship?"
"I wish to sign up"
"You wish to what?" The Captain asked
"I said I wish to join your crew."
Exo gave a laugh "Lad, I appreciate that you have guts, it takes a lot of nerve to just outright ask a Captain to join his crew. But I don't think this is the type of ship you'd want to be on board."
Lands expression quickly shifted to disappointment "Is this because I can't fly? If so there's no reason to beat around the bush. I know I can't fly, but I've trained for so long, I could easily pull my own weight."
Exo laughed again "Trust me; this isn't about race or experience. You could offer me the finest Griffins sailors in all of Equestria and I'd still turn them down."
"Please Sir" Land pleaded "Just give me a shot; I can be of use to you."
Exo's expression shifted from his more cheerful appearance to far more serious.
"Lad, I'm not looking for crew members, and trust me when I say this." He began as he slowly leaned in "This ship isn't what it seems, it would be in everyone's best interest if we just finished loading her up and set sail."
Land Locked gave a defeated sigh as he turned away from the captain and slowly made his way up the docks and back towards the town. He had one last shot it had just been crushed. Not even pirates were willing to give him a shot. Apparently his dreams were just that, dreams.
"Hey Land!" shouted Wake as he came galloping out of his shop. "Your father came by a few minutes ago and asked if I saw you. He assumed you were playing out on your raft so I told him I send you his way if I saw you."
Playing The word stung he knew nobody took him seriously as a possible sailor, but now they just attributed his dream to a game. This was about the moment when something inside of him snapped, he had always just wanted a single chance to prove himself, but nobody was ever willing to give him one. He was little more than dead weight in their eyes, someone who'd never be useful for on the open water.
"Actually" Land Locked began with a grin "One of the transports ships just hired me for their crew" Land loved everything about the expression on Wake's face.
"What?!" cried the store clerk
"Yeah" Land answered as he continued his lie "One of the crew members got sick, so they asked me to fill in."
"Wha- wai- When are they leaving?"
"Oh they're leaving in a few minutes; I need you to pass the message on to my folks for me." Land finished as he started on his way out the door. "Tell them I'll be back in a few minutes" he quickly added as he broke into a gallop.
"Bu- Wait Land, be sensible!" came the fading cries of Wake as Land Locked made his way back to the ship.
He didn't actually have a plan for how he was going to get on board, or what he was going to do once he was on. But the Captain seemed like a nice fellow, so he was about ninety percent sure nobody would throw him overboard. Besides, the crazy voice in his dream told him this was a good idea, and so far she was the only thing to ever agree with him.
After a few more minutes of galloping he found himself back at the dock, the magnificent ship still docked. However, the crew had finally started loading their supplies; he had hoped that when he ran into Wake he still hadn't had the supplies sent down. Now he only had a few minutes to figure out a plan.
"Hey Kid!" game a familiar voice, Land was slightly surprised to see the Griffin that had bumped into him beforehand. "You wanna earn some quick bits?"
"Sure" Land answered with a grin.
"Good to hear, can you help us bring these crates down to the docks?"
"Sure thing."
For several minutes Land Locked found himself and the two Griffins from before carrying the rather large crates up the dock. He spent most of his time, waiting for an opening. After a few more minutes, all the crates had been brought to where they needed and Land Locked once again found himself talking with the Griffin.
"Thanks for the help kid. Here are the bits I promised" Greeve finished as he produced a rather large bag of bits from the satchel on his side.
"Keep them" Land responded "Getting to see this magnificent ship up close is payment enough."
Greeve laughed "That's the usual reaction when anyone sees the Calypso."
"The Calypso?" The Stallion repeated
"Yes, The Queen Calypso" Greeve repeated "She's the finest ship in the Chan-" Greeve stopped himself as he realized he had almost said far too much. "Well it doesn't matter where she came from" He said with a forced chuckle "If you want we're setting sail soon, but I don't think the Captain would mind too much if you enjoyed the view of the ship, till we set sail."
"Thank you" Land answered as he did his best to suppress his grin as the Griffin walked away. Now was his chance and he had already found what he needed. Once he was sure that nobody would see him, he returned to one of the larger crates he had found, the top loose enough to pry off by hoof. Once again he gave a quick look to make sure nobody was watching, and in one swift move he climbed into the crate and carefully lowered the lid down. Now all he had to do was wait.
"Oh God what is that smell" Land Locked muttered to himself as the sliminess beneath finally came into focus. "Oh Gods no, why'd it have to be fish." he coughed trying his best not to gag. However he quickly became dead silent as the faint sound of approaching claws.
"Oh, I guess the kid left already" came the muffled voice of Greeve
"Well then" came a second voice which if he remembered belonged to a Griffin named Gwyn "Looks like you won't be able to pass your work onto someone else."
Land Locked flinched at the sudden tapping of claws from above.
"Sure I can't pass the work onto someone else, but at least I can snack and work!" He finished as he slowly started to remove the lid, completely unaware of the pony inside.
"If you even think about opening that crate, I'll make boots out of your hide." Gwyn hissed.
"Oh there you go again, First Mate Grumpy Beak."
"Just get the damn crates on board the ship!"
"Fine" groaned the reluctant Griffin as he dropped the lid and started lifting the box.
After about a minute of nervous rocking Land Lock could feel the box settle down on the ground. He waited a few more seconds till he was sure that coast was clear before carefully pulling himself out of the box. From the crates that had already been loaded, he could easily tell he was in the cargo hold. But he knew it would become far more packed in only a few minutes.
Slowly and cautiously he made his way the stairs and out of the ships hold. so far he hadn't seen any more of the crew and if he was lucky he'd find a hiding spot soon enough. Eventually though, he came upon the perfect room, it was rather large with a small wooden table in the middle.
After some careful searching, he found the perfect spot located between a shelf and some stacked boxes. Luckily for him, the room appeared to smell even worse than he currently did so if he was lucky, nobody would find him till they were already far from shore. After several minutes of waiting, he found his eyes growing heavy as he slowly drifted into sleep.
Once again the young earth pony found himself lying on the beach, however this time the Calypso was slowly floating just a ways off from the beach itself.
"Hello?!" Land Locked shouted as he stared at the cloudless sky. "I made it onto the boat, just like you told me to. Though, I don't think following a voice in my dreams is a good idea."
"Very good my little pony, you've done well so far." The soft voice returned. "I knew I placed my faith in the right pony."
"So what do I do now?"
"Well this first step was the easiest; it'll only get harder from here." The voice answered a hint of fear in its tone. "If you're to complete this journey you've begun, you're going to need the help of everyone on board that ship. Which means you're going to have to earn their trust."
"How should I do that?" Land asked in slight confusion
"Well first off, you should probably stop hiding in their fish, most creatures find that disgusting" The voice finished with a giggle.
"Oh haha, if I recall correctly you didn't have a plan."
The voice laughed again "No, I did not, but I am impressed with your actions so far. You continued where others would give up. But if you want to gain the crews trust, you're going to have to prove yourself to be more than a stowaway. I won't lie, that may prove to be a challenge. But if I were to hazard a guess, your best bet would be that Griffin you bumped into, he seems like your best bet."
"Yeah, maybe you'r- Wait a minute, how do you know I bumped into, in fact how do you know any of this?"
"I've got my ways" The voice answered "But now it's time for you to wake up."
"No wai-" Land was cut off as his eyes opened and the sound of laughter filled his ears. Slowly he pulled himself up, making sure to remain hidden behind the boxes. Slowly peeking out, he noticed the two Griffins from before, the one he had come to known as Gwyn causally playing with a knife, the other playing cards with two new Pegasi he had yet to see.
"Gods it's good to be out of that town" whined the female Pegasus "I hate having to disguise myself just to walk around in public."
"Well then stop complaining" growled Gwyn "We've been out of port for the longest time, just drop it now."
"Fine" retorted the Pegasi
Land Locked watched in horror as green flames rapidly covered Pegasi eating away at its fur and wings, after a few seconds all that remained was a horrifying hybrid of insect and pony. Land gave a loud gasp of horror as he dropped to the floor, quickly covering his mouth with a hoof at the realization of what had just happened.
Oh gods what have I done he thought to himself, absolute horror running through his mind. Slowly and carefully he once again started pulling himself up in an attempt to peek out from his hiding spot. However just as his view started to clear the boxes he was met with the slam of a knife as it stabbed into the box. His gaze shot up as a look of terror covered his face as he made eye contact with the knife wielding Griffin.
"Well then, it looks like we've got a Stowaway." The Griffin stated in a mixture of anger and disappointment. "Well kid, it looks like you picked the wrong ship."
"I'm so-" Land quickly began but was almost instantly cut off
"Stow it kid" Gwyn retorted as she grabbed the struggling Earth Pony and started dragging him out of the room.
"Please, I won't tel-"
"Kid, spare me the usual pleading, we're not going to eat you, we're not going to throw you overboard and we can't just let you go."
"Where are you taking me then?" Land asked nervously
"We've got get the Captain to decide what to do with ya." Gwyn answered as she let go of the Pony. "Now pick yourself up, so you can look like you have some form of dignity, and try to show some signs of respect, you stowed away on our captains ship, the least you can do is treat him with the proper respect."
*Knock* *Knock*
"What is it?" answered the Captain from inside his quarters.
"Captain Exo, I'm sorry to disturb you, but we have a situation, can I come in?" The Griffin nervously asked.
"Very well" came the slightly annoyed response
Cautiously Gwyn opened the door and made her way into the room, slowly followed by Land Locked. The young Earth stallion watched as a look of horror slowly spread across the older Pegasus's face.
"What's he doing here?!" Captain Exo shouted angrily
Both Land and Gwyn flinched at his sudden outburst. "We found him stowed away in the crews break room."
"Well then, we're dropping him off at the next port, he can take a ship back to his town from there." Exo answered, his angry slowly dissipating.
"That's not an option Sir, he knows our little secret."
The look of Angry in Captain Exo's face vanished in almost an instance and was quickly replaced with a mixture of sadness and disappointment. "You just couldn't take my advice lad?" The Captain asked, with almost no emotion hinted in his voice.
"Sir I didn't kno- I just want a chance to"
"I told you boy, this ship isn't what she seems." with that the same flames he had seen before rapidly engulfed the captain burning away at his fur and feathers, leaving another monster in the captain's place.
This was apparently the last thing Land Locked's mind could take as he collapsed to the ground.
"I don't think that's a sign of respect." Gwyn stated flatly as she stared at the unconscious Earth Pony.
