I walked outside and was met with the inviting sight of pirate ponies armed with swords boarding our little fishing boat. Now, I may have been intimidated, if they weren’t four foot tall ponies. I almost laughed, but they charged so I had to wreck their shit.

“Chaaaarge!” One pony yelled at the top of his lungs. Man, it’s too early for this shit.

All seven ponies charged at once, the first one to arrive was given a quick kick in the face, and was swept aside like a sack of feathers. The second tackled Blue Sails, they rolled around, the pirate on top of Blue. They struggled, cussing, and breathing heavily the whole time. The pirate had his neck, Blue desperately fighting for air, grabbed the other ponies’ arms, using brute strength to move towards him, stabbed the other between the eyes with his horn. The pirates eyes going wide, and going limp on the unicorn’s horn. He stood, and shook the other pony off of his horn. This is a pony I could fight with. Two more rushed me, I punched one, grabbed him and threw him at the other. I rush the remaining three, easily knocking them off board. I laughed as they scrambled about in the water, taunting them, to come back up and try again. Then a big ass pony shut me up by punching me in the face.

Here I was, on the deck, cold blood pouring from my nose, and the only thing I could see was red. My nose was throbbing, probably broken. I couldn’t move my right arm, more than likely I hurt it while mowing down those other ponies. I tried to get up, but fell on one knee. Blood in my eyes, I could hardly see. I turned to look at Blue Sails, who was shaking in his boots. Shit, I’ve got to take this guy don’t I?

I shakily get on my feet, grabbing my left arm, I spit out some of the blood that’d gotten in my mouth. I looked directly at the pony who’d decked me just moments ago. He was looking cocky, laughing, that pisses me off. I felt a rage like never before, I hadn’t been this mad when I arrived here, not when she left, not when I watched my dad drink his life away, and my mom be too weak to protect herself or me. I stood up straight, and watched as his eyes turned and looked into mine, he glared, but I wasn’t scared. I was furious.

I charged him, throwing my right arm directly at his face. He dodged, and kicked me in the ribs, it hurt like hell, I fell on my right knee holding my ribs, he made to kick again, but I’d had enough. I grabbed his hoof, and pulled him towards me, everything burned, I could feel a few broken ribs moving about as I pulled him closer. I wrapped my hands around his neck and squeezed as hard as I could. Fighting the pain, and his struggling, I wouldn’t let up, not now, not after he’d hurt my pride like that. He squirmed about, and I could see the fear in his eyes, almost begging me to stop, to let him live, because he didn’t want to die. Tears fell down his cheeks as my grip got tighter and tighter, his veins popped out, and his eyes looked like they’d burst at any moment, I shaked his neck, and he went limp. Feeling the perspiration of both of our bodies, I panted above his lifeless form. I had won.
I stood up, and watched the pirate ponies that were still awake back away, then rush to their ship as fast as they could. The ship sailed away, and I stayed on one knee for a while, until Blue Sails made his way over to me.

“Quite a fight, huh? To be honest, I didn’t expect you to be this good, that was, well brutal to say the least.”

“Heh, you’re one to talk.”

“That is true, however, we’re talking about you right now. You fight well, and deserve a reward, come with me.”

Not well enough, that last fight was proof enough.

“Coming.”

We entered the cabin and he started to work on a meal as I sat down. He said he was making vegetable soup, I love vegetable soup.

While he was preparing the meal, I took the moment of peace to think. About my parents. Growing up I didn’t have a lot, we were poor, and every paycheck went towards food, bills, and alcohol. My dad was a carpenter, he could make anything. I remember him building my bed for me, that was one of the very few possessions I had, and I treasured it dearly. He’d work hard every day, and bring home the paycheck every week. Though we had enough to get by when it came to food, we’d be late on bills sometimes, because every night he’d go to the local bar, drink six beers, then bring six home to drink until he fell asleep. He wasn’t always abusive, before he was the nicest man I’d ever known, but then he got fired. He’d come home drunk, with even more drinks, and would yell and curse at me and my mother. He’d beat her, and when I tried to protect her, he’d beat me. I loved my mother, but she was so weak, and I couldn’t be weak. My fists got rougher, and my wits quicker, and I beat his ass out of our home. Last I heard of him, he’d died in Chicago, trying to make a quick buck at the local liquor store.

“Here you are.”

Blue Sails came in with the soup, and it smelled delicious. I was so hungry, I could distinctively smell the ingredients. The garlic, tomato, pepper, salt, and the beef. Wait, beef?

“Uh, you put beef in it?”

“Yes, I can tell you’re omnivorous, so don’t try to hide it from me. Just look at those teeth, it’s obvious.”

“Huh, so… are you eating some?”

“No, I have my own batch. No way am I eating that.”

“I bet you would if you were starving.”

He grinned.

“Maybe.”

I dropped my spoon before I could even take my first bite, I would never have guessed he’d say that!

“Haha, kidding; kidding!”

“Holy shit, I was freaking out. Don’t scare me like that man.”

“Heh, anyways. You seemed to be deep in thought, what were you thinking about?”

Huh. I was pretty surprised when he asked, no one ever seems to concern themselves with me.

“Uh, just thinking about home, you know.”

“Yes, I think about home all the time, it’s why I’m going back.”

He seemed to be sad when saying it, I wonder what’s bothering him.

“Yeah.”

“So what’s your home like?”

“My home? Well, a lot like yours to be honest. Everyone acts happy-go-lucky, and preaches about love and tolerance, but they’re all a bunch of hypocrites. Your neighbors are quick to stab you in the back without a second thought, and friends are fake, acting like they care, but when you’re in a tight spot, the only one there for you is yourself. That’s just the way the world is, you have to be able to handle yourself, not let others handle you. Or you’ve already failed.”

His eyes widened, and he nodded along with everything I said.

“My thoughts exactly, the only one in the world you can trust is yourself. That’s why I’m here now, and not ba-.”

“Back where?”

He started to sweat, and moved around in his seat.

“Nowhere, anyways, I’ll be heading to bed, don’t think just because you got hurt that you won’t be working. I expect you up bright and early.

He walked away, and headed to his room. I stared down at my bowl. He was the first pony who’d even bothered to ask what I was thinking about, or what had me down. He’s a different kind of pony, no one else would give me the time of day, and even if they did, they wouldn’t care. This pony, this is a pony I could fight with. I put some soup in my spoon and took a bite, though delicious, it was cold. Great.

After finishing I headed to bed. I lay down, and try to sleep, but can’t. Something’s tugging at my mind. It just seems no matter how hard I try, I can’t help but feel myself turning into my father. That’s why I was afraid; afraid to take care of her. Out of fear that I’d do to her what my father did to me.
…

I awoke to the sunlight in my eyes once again. I got up, and put my blanket and pillow back in their barrel. I walked up the ladder to the deck, and saw Blue Sails on the masthead, looking out into the blue sea. It was the third day of our voyage, he’d said it was a seven day voyage to get to Port Whinny, afterwards, we’d head west to Canterlot.

“HEY!” I called to him.

“GOOD MORNING!” He yelled back.

I climbed up the ladder leading up, to see what had him so interested. He was looking out into the distance, and instantly I saw what he’d been looking at. An armada approximately fifteen miles out. I don’t know who it belonged to but it sure scared the hell out of me. There were around 40 ships, all armed to the teeth with cannons.

“Don’t worry, those are my ships.”

“Uh, fucking what?”

“Yes, they’re mine.”

“So, if those are yours, why are we in a fishing boat, and why did we have to handle the fucking pirates?”

“We have to be conspicuous.”

“So, you hold some kind of naval power, what are you, a military leader or something?”

“Something like that.” He chuckled.

“Okay, so why are they out here?”

“Well, we were travelling quicker than I had anticipated, and we’re about twenty three knots away from Port Whinny, and they’re here to greet us.”

“Ah, so how long until we get there?”

“An hour or so, there’s no obstacles on the way there, so you’re not needed.”

Wow thanks.

“Okay, see you later then.” I headed to the cabin and sat down at the table, consuming the oatmeal left there, which was strangely still warm.

This guy isn’t who I thought he was. What else is he keeping from me? He owns forty ships… That’s insane. This could either be a good or bad thing, good in the case that I have a powerful ally. Bad, because he could have something in store for me, something I probably won’t like.

I sat there, my ribs and arm still hurt. My nose was broken, I’d put it back in place, but it still has to heal. I stared off into the distance, counting in my head, waiting to reach port. I’m so tired of seeing nothing but the blue ocean. It wasn’t as bad on Half Mast’s ship, because I was in bed, battling the fever. After what felt like forever, Blue Sails came in to tell me we’d arrived.
I came out and saw a huge port town, it’s so big, it should be called a port city. There were ponies unloading our belongings on the dock. I could still see the fleet of ships out in the distance, and one was docked a few ships away.

“I’ll be meeting the captain of that ship over there, I just need you to walk with me around town.”

“Blue.”

“Yes?”

“Nothing.”

I had to talk to him later, he’d been hiding things from me, and I needed an explanation.
…

We checked into a five star hotel near the center of the city, with a name I couldn’t pronounce. The room was incredibly fancy, and huge. There was two beds, a balcony, a fridge, and bathroom. The tile felt good on my bare feet, and the air conditioning filled my heart with joy.

“I could get used to this.”

“Well don’t, because we’re leaving tomorrow.”

“What?!”

“We have to head to Canterlot as soon as possible, and the captain was kind enough to get us a carriage to take us to the next town over.”

I harrumphd, and sat on the bed. I didn’t want to be leaving so early.

“Get some sleep. We’ll be getting up bright and early.”

“Yeah yeah, good night.”

“Good night.”

I lay down, and for once, had no trouble falling asleep.

Author's Note

Sorry for the late update, hope you enjoy!