"Ah'm da skipper."
Apple Bloom paced the clubhouse impatiently. It was getting later in the day and she wanted Scootaloo to show up three hours ago. Her excitement had faded to annoyance as she mindlessly walked the same pattern in the clubhouse with Sweetie Belle sitting in the corner watching her with a book open in front of her. Today was the day, the day Scootaloo finally revealed her big surprise. The one she had been so secretive about and somehow Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were involved. What has she been working on? And why can't she tell me! And why am ah talkin with myself? She looked over at Sweetie who had gone back to reading her book and wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to anything. "Ah just can't take it! Where is she?" Apple Bloom said loudly making Sweetie jump.
"I don't know, maybe she forgot or... I don't know."
"She told us this morning an was all excited." Sweetie shrugged at Apple Bloom then went back to her book. "What are you reading anyway?"
"Um, it's called Loving Sunshine." Sweetie said nervously.
"Isn't that a romance book?" Apple Bloom asked grinning. "A fillyfooler romance?"
"Yeah." Sweetie Belle blushed avoiding Apple Bloom's eyes. "But it's actually really well written."
"So are you a - um ya know..."
"A what?"
"You know... Ah mean you're reading that book - it's okay if ya are Ah'm just asking."
Sweetie's heart raced as she realized what Apple Bloom was asking. Before she could respond the door opened and Scootaloo walked in the clubhouse.
"There ya are scoots! Where have you been!" Apple Bloom shouted.
"Sorry, there were - um, complications with the - the thing." Scoots said as she panted as if she had just galloped across Equestria.
"Are you going to show us?" Sweetie asked eagerly.
"Yes but before I do, I have to say this." Scoots paused for dramatic effect. Apple Bloom moved in closer to Scoots and Sweetie leaned over her book. "What if I told you, I found a way for all of us to get our Cutie Marks? This is the fool proof way and it's nothing dangerous."
"Huh?" Apple Bloom and Sweetie exchanged confused expressions.
"There's one activity we can all do and get our Cutie Marks -" Scoots tried to explain again but stopped as both Apple Bloom and Sweetie looked even more confused. Sweetie had her head cocked to side and her mouth slightly open and Apple Bloom just had a blank look on her face.
"Never mind, follow me. I'll show you what I have been working on for, like, ever."
Apple Bloom rushed to the door as fast as she could, she stood impatiently waiting for Sweetie to put her book back in her bag. "Come on Sweetie, hurry."
"I'm coming, sheesh."
Apple Bloom and Sweetie followed Scoots out of the clubhouse, through Sweet Apple Acres and into town. They followed her onto the main road leading to the town center. Instead of crossing the bridge to go into the town center, Scoots took a sharp right and walked along the river.
"So where are we going?" Sweetie asked, a little confused.
"You will see."
Apple Bloom was starting to get annoyed with her pegasus friend. She liked a surprise like the next pony but this big secret Scoots had been working on for the past months was driving her crazy, she needed to know.
They had reached the outskirts of town and the river was getting wider. This puzzled Apple Bloom because she knew there wasn't anything on this side of town except a small marina. So, It came as a great surprise when Apple Bloom found herself in the marina standing on one of the piers. She followed Scoots to the end of the pier where a large sailboat was moored. Apple Bloom recognized the design of it as one she had seen in a history book, a square rigger.
"Without further ado, I present to you..." Scootaloo pointed at the sailboat.
"A boat?" Apple Bloom asked, unsure if Scoots was joking.
"Not just a boat but a totally awesome boat built by me."
There was a long pause as Apple Bloom let what was just said sink in. Surely she didn't just say that. There's no way she built this. She looked over to Sweetie Belle who seemed to be having the same thoughts. "You built this - what?"
"Yeah, I built it." Scootaloo puffed her chest out with pride. "I had lots of help though from Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie."
"Pinkie Pie?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yeah, it turns out she is really good at making things. All those crazy contraptions you always see her with, yeah she invented and built every single one."
"Oh, wow Scoots. Ah can't believe y'all built this. Ya designed this after that one we saw in the history book didn't ya?"
"I did but it's only one eighth the size and Pinkie Pie changed the hull to make it faster." Scootaloo explained as Apple Bloom and Sweetie stared at the ship in awe. "It's a square rigger in design and has extra large sails on the mast for speed."
"Cool, so we are going to get sailing Cutie Marks?"
"Not just sailing Cutie Marks. Sailboat racing Cutie Marks. We are going to enter the race across The Great Equestrian lake, she is built for speed after all."
Apple Bloom felt her heart fill with excitement, she had always wanted to see the annual sailing races but was never able to go. A plan began to form in her head as she imagined herself holding a trophy on the pier. All her fiends and family were cheering for her, she could see Sweetie smiling at her in admiration with that cute smile -
"Apple Bloom, are you even listening?" Sweetie asked, her voice squeaking a little.
"Sorry, Ah was just thinking."
"I said, do you know anything about sailing?"
"Um, a little. Ah've been payin attention in history when Miss Cheerilee was talkin about the Equestrian Navy. Ah even read a couple books about it."
"Oh, wow. I didn't know you were so interested in this kind of thing." Scoots said a little taken aback.
"Me neither." Sweetie said.
Apple Bloom looked from Scoots to Sweetie and smiled. Ah think I got the perfect way to do this... just like the Equestrain Navy. We will be the Cutie Mark Sailors. "Okay if we are goin to do this, Ah'm da skipper." Apple Bloom said pointing to her self with a forehoof as she puffed out her chest a little.
"The what?" Sweetie asked looking utterly perplexed.
"The captain, the commanding office or CO. Sweetie, you'll be my executive officer or XO and Scoots, you'll be my command master chief or CMC."
"This is Scoots' ship, shouldn't she be the captain?" Sweetie Belle asked. "And what does an executive officer do?"
"Scoots knows this ship better than all of us and will be the technical expert. If she's the captain she won't have time to make sure everything is working like it should. My job will be to give orders, make sure we meet out mission... winning and to coordinate several different things at once. The executive officer assists the captain in all those things and is the second in command. Scoots will be in charge of the sails and steering the ship...she gets to drive since it's her ship. She can also enlist the help of more ponies if we need a crew to help us."
"Wow, Apple Bloom. You really thought this through. If you can plan and decide like that on the fly, you should totally be the captain." Scootaloo said as her wings buzzed with excitement. "Steering is more what I want to do anyway."
"Great! So can we go aboard and take a look?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I don't know... can you? Captain." Scoots smiled back at her.
Apple Bloom could hardly contain her excitement. The fact that Scoots built a ship was beyond cool but they were going to be in the race that she always wanted to attend. She didn't know why sailboats and naval things in general interested her so much. She was a farm pony that lived on an apple orchard and liked to concoct potions now and then. Still, sailing and the Equestrian Navy was fascinating to her. Perhaps it was because it was something out of the ordinary, full of excitement and adventure, something completely foreign to her, so opposite of the farm.
Scootaloo led the way down the pier and up the ladder onto the ship. "Here is the weather deck. As you can see there are three masts. Up there is the helm and in there is where the captain sleeps." Scootaloo said pointing to the part of the ship near the back behind the wheel. "Sweetie, your room is next to the captain's and mine is next to yours. There are two decks, the one below where the rest of the crew sleeps plus a mess hall then below that is for cargo and where the sweeps are."
Apple Bloom approached the helm of the ship, she put her hoof on the wheel. She felt the smooth wood as she ran her hoof over the many spokes. "Wow, Scoots, this is real, where the hay did you get this?"
"That was hard to find, Rainbow Dash... um, acquired it." Scoots eyes shifted.
"And just where did she acquire this?" Sweetie asked suspiciously.
"I can neither confirm or deny that she may have taken it off a wrecked frigate from somewhere in the Friesian Sea." Scoots smirked a little, as she repeated exactly what Rainbow Dash said to say if somepony were to ask.
"So... she stole it." Sweetie inferred.
"Well, that can be niether confirmed or denied." Scoots said again.
"Oh Scoots, all ready talkin like a real sailor, I love it. Who gives a shit where it came from, it's awesome." Apple Bloom said excitedly.
There was a long awkward pause as both Scoots and Sweetie looked at Apple Bloom with mouths hanging open in shock. Ah think they didn't expect me to use curse words. Is it bad that Ah think Sweetie is totally cute right now? No brain it's bad you keep talkin to your self. They look stunned, better say something. "What?"
"Apple Bloom, I can't believe you just said a bad word..." Sweetie whispered still in shock.
"What, we are sailors now. Start talkin like one."
"Oh okay - um -um," Sweetie blushed a little and looked around to make sure there weren't any other ponies around even though they were on the ship and completely alone. "Shit." Sweetie squeaked then clapped her hooves over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock that she actually said that out loud. "Shut up, it's not funny!" Sweetie said as embarrassment set in. Both Scoots and Apple Bloom had fallen to the deck, paralyzed with laughter.
"Sweetie, I think we should leave the sailor talk to Apple Bloom." Scoots finally said after recovering a bit.
Apple Bloom looked at Sweetie with a grin. She is so adorable...focus. Race, Ship, Sweetie - no, race. "All right y'all we got a lot of shit to get done - oh come on! Stop acting like you ain't heard ya big sister say bad words." Apple Bloom said annoyed and Scoots and Sweetie flinched at her cursing again.
"Rarity would wash my mouth out with soap is I said mud, I don't want to know what she'd do if she head me saying other things."
"Anyway, we need ta get things ready. We need to hang the Cutie Mark Crusader flag off the fantail, and it needs to be big enough to see from far away. Ah will work on that. We need uniforms, Sweetie, talk to Rarity and see if you can get her to make Equestrian Navy uniforms. Scoots, work on assembling a crew, you know the ship and what we need."
"Yes ma' am!" Sweetie said excitedly.
"I think we will need at least four more, to help with the sails and other operations"
"Perfect. Okay Sweetie the uniforms will be as such: Ah hold the rank of captain, you hold the rank of commander and Scoots, command master chief. The other four will probably be petty officers, two second classes and two third classes."
"Ohh, Apple Bloom, we need to name the ship." Scoots said excitedly. They both turned their heads to Sweetie.
"What?" Sweetie asked a little confused as to why they were both staring at her.
"Well, you're the dictionary... so think of a name." Scoots said.
"Hey! I'm not a dictionary!" Sweetie squeaked but to her annoyance they were both still looking at her. "I don't know what to call it."
"Okay, how about we all think about it then at our next meeting we will decide who came up with the coolest name." Scoots suggested and the they all nodded in agreement.
"Sounds good, master chief. Ah'm goin to check out the captain's quarters."
"Ooh me too." Sweetie said and followed after Apple Bloom.
"I'll be right there, just going to check one of the sails." Scoots called after them.
They entered the area behind the helm and entered a large dinning room space. "Officer dinning room" Apple Bloom said mostly to herself. There was a large table through the middle of the room. Fine china in a hutch along the bulkhead, the dishes were held in place by thick wooden holders to keep them from falling in rough waters. Where did they get all this stuff? There were three doors that opened to the room, the big one at the back she assumed was the captain's room. Her and Sweetie walked the length of the room and entered the room at the back. The room was decent size with a bed and a desk, the back of the room had a large curved window. Apple Bloom knew she was at the stern of the ship, she could see part of the pier and the shore bank from the window. "Wow this is so cool."
"Yeah," Sweetie said in awe. "Apple Bloom, you are going to be a good captain, I just know it. We are going to win this thing."
Apple Bloom's heart fluttered and she blushed a little at Sweetie's words of encouragement. She looked at Sweetie with desire. Her crush on Sweetie started out small but with the recent excitement of everything, she felt her liking Sweetie more and more. Sweetie simply stared back with those cute big green eyes, blushing a little.
Apple Bloom's body started to act on its own. She started to lean in closer to Sweetie, her heart beating rapidly. She puckered her lips and closed her eyes, Sweetie closed her eyes too. Apple Bloom was so close, she could feel Sweetie's warm breath.
Just then the door swung open and hit the wall with a crash, both Sweetie and Apple Bloom jumped. Apple Bloom quickly side stepped to Sweetie's side. "There you guys are." Scoots said, she didn't seem to have noticed what her two friends were about to do. "So, what do you think?"
"It's really cool." Sweetie said quietly, her face was still red.
"The other rooms aren't as interesting, but come below deck and see what else we got." scoots said, her wings buzzing with excitement as she zoomed out of the room.
Apple Bloom looked back to Sweetie with an awkward glance. Dang it Scoots, ya ruined the moment, now it's awkward. "Well, Ah guess we better see the rest of the ship..."
"Oh, yes, yes we should." Sweetie said; mostly to make conversation in hope to alleviate the awkwardness.
The two fillies met Scoots on the weather deck where she stood impatiently waiting by a hatch. She lifted it open with her mouth and disappeared below deck. Apple Bloom approached the hatch to see a very steep ladderwell to the deck below. "Come on you two, we don't have all night!" Scoots called from somewhere below.
"Oh wow, that looks dangerous." Sweetie said observing the ladderwell apprehensively.
"Meh," was Apple Bloom's response before she began to climb down. She had to admit it was very awkward and scary climbing down. "Scoots Ah know you were trying to make this like the real thing but could you have made the stairs a little more...um, less steep?" Scoots didn't have time to answer as she heard a the sound of hooves slipping and a loud scream. Apple Bloom acted out of instinct, ran to the ladderwell and reached out with her forelegs and caught a plummeting Sweetie before she hit the deck. The force of her fall slammed Apple Bloom's hooves into the deck and pulled the rest of her body on top of her. Sweetie continued to flail her hind legs about for a few seconds, her forelegs over her face.
"Ah got ya." Apple Bloom said, trying to pull herself up but her legs were still trapped under Sweetie's body. She could feel the unicorn breathing heavily.
"Th - th - thanks. I lost my hoofing." Sweetie said sheepishly. Her eyes locked with Apple Bloom's, both of their faces blushed.
"Don't mention it." Apple Bloom continued to look at Sweetie and smile. Once again the awkward silence was back. "Um, Sweetie, if ya could move so Ah can stand up again..."
"Oh, hehe, yeah." Sweetie rolled over off of Apple Bloom's forelegs and they both rose to their feet.
"Are you all right Sweetie?" Scootaloo asked with concern.
"Yeah I'm fine, back hurts a little but I'm okay."
"I should have warned you the steps get a little slick."
"Oh, Apple Bloom I'm so sorry I hope I didn't hurt you." Sweetie said warmly.
"Don't be sorry, not your fault. Ah'm just glad I was able to catch ya...well sorta. Ah'll be okay." Apple Bloom flexed one of her forelegs then wiggled it around. "Yup see? Ah'm fine."
"Thanks for catching me."
"All right, anyway this room here is the general crew dining." Scootaloo said after seeing both her friends were fine after the near mishap.
Apple Bloom averted her eyes from Sweetie and looked around the room. There was a large table in the room with several chairs, not as fancy as the captain's dining room. Apple Bloom noticed the hall at the other end of the room.
"The rest of the crew will live down there." Scootaloo said noticing Apple Bloom's gaze.
As Apple Bloom looked around, she began to wonder how much everything must have cost, the detail, the furniture, it all didn't add up. Scoots wan't rich and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie certainly weren't either. "Scoots, so how much did you guys spend making this thing?"
"Pretty much nothing actually. The ship's hull was salvaged from a wrecked ship in the Arabian Sea. They gave it to Rainbow Dash and we repaired most of it. The local lumber yard donated wood for use to make the repairs. Pretty much everything we either made or salvaged from other ship wrecks."
"So... you stole it? You guys are like pirates." Sweetie said.
"Kind of but by time Rainbow Dash got to the ships the real pirates took anything of value. The only thing she had to buy was all the nice stuff in the captain's dinning room and quarters...but she was buying it off other ship salvagers so it only coasted her like a hundred bits."
"Wow, so cool. Ah never knew you could build a ship out of wrecked ones. Where did you get the idea?"
"In class Miss Cheerilee was talking about epic navy battles against pirates and other nations and she mentioned some ships were abandoned but never actually sunk. I figured if one could be found and with some extra supplies and wood we could rebuild one. And as you can see, it worked. Rainbow Dash said it was a lucky find and even then...we had to do a lot of work. It was from a ship that broke in half. The entire back end of this thing was rebuild by Pinkie Pie and me."
"Oh wow, Scoots. This is so amazing. Why did ya keep it a secret?"
"Because, I wanted to surprise you all with it. We will totally get our Cutie Marks in here for sure!" Scoots wings buzzed excitedly.
"Yes we will. But it's getting late an Applejack will be mad if Ah get back too late. Ah'll see the lower deck later. Y'all remember what you are supposed to do right?" Bothe Sweetie and Scoots nodded. "Good, let's meet up tomorrow then."
Sweetie Belle climbed the ladderwell back to the weather deck very carefully. Apple Bloom went right after her and couldn't help sneaking a couple glances at her rump. Apple Bloom blushed a little pushing the pleasing image out of her mind and turned her attention to climbing the ladder without falling to her death. Scoots was the last one to join them on the weather deck.
Scoots brought her hoof to her head saluting Apple Bloom. "Captain, permission to go ashore."
Apple Bloom smiled before rendering a salute. "Go ashore, master chief." Scoots crossed the weather deck and returned to the pier.
Sweetie followed Scoots in saluting, or attempted to at least. Her foreleg was completely over her forehead. "Permission to go ashore, captain."
That is the worst salute Ah have ever seen. But it's cute so Ah'll let it slide. Apple Bloom returned the salute. "Go ashore, commander." Apple Bloom watched Sweetie disembark form the ship. As captain, Ah'm the last to leave...
When she joined her friends on the pier they smiled at each other and walked off into the night. The walk back was silent most of the way. Sweetie had some questions about what Apple Bloom planned to do and how fast the ship would go. Soon, Scoots bid then goodnight and split from the group. Apple Bloom was about to do the same when Sweetie stopped her.
"Apple Bloom, you should pick somepony else to be the XO." Sweetie said sadly.
"No way Sweetie, you're perfect - for the job."
"I - I don't know. I don't know as much as you and Scoots about this stuff."
"Ah know but Ah will teach you and you can always read about it. Ah don't read much but when Ah find somethin interesting...you will be good, trust me."
"Okay, I - I will try." Sweetie looked at Apple Bloom for a few seconds, they were standing so close together. The awkward silence was back. "It's late, I'm probably in trouble as it is... goodnight Apple Bloom."
"Good night Sweetie," goodnight cutie pie.
