Tales of Apple Scratch : Friendships throughout the world

by Mariacheat-Brony

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Human, Other, Original Character, Cloudkicker
Length: 13774

[Humanized AU] If one were to take a look through the vast world in which Equestria exists, one would see that friendships can come from anywhere and last for a life time.

[Humanized] [Part of the Apple Scratch Verse]
One-shots collection about various countries and people in my Apple Scratch Saga.
Basically just an excuse for world building and try my hand at OC's creations, or rarely used side & background characters of the show and how they all end up being connected to the perverted socialite that is the officer Cloud Kicker of Ponyville.

Enjoy.

Published 2017-02-15 09:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2017-02-15 09:30:02 UTC

The non-choice of a sailor.

The Eastern Ocean of Equis, four months before the Canterlot Royal Wedding,

It had been a couple of months since Ford Mustang had joined the crew of the corvette Luna’s Swordfish, a small reconnaissance ship of the Royal Navy of Equestria. Adapting himself from the Jupitarian Corps routine to the Navy’s was bitter work, but the blue-haired man eventually got it right. The fact that weather-based magic, and more specifically his particular affinity with water-manipulation, was a rare resource in the Navy helped him a lot in his endeavor. Indeed, the Admiralty’s statistics showed that Jupitarians represented only about five percent of the Navy’s manpower.

It was Ford’s third time at sea, once again with the same objective as the other two times : scouting through the Flaming Archipelago in search for a pirate’s den nearby. The archipelago was a huge cluster of lands that hadn’t been colonized due the eternal white fire that raged all over its largest island. The same island where the Dracan Invasion had been wiped out by the Silver Fleet and the High Princesses of Equestria nearly six hundred years ago.

While the islands composing the archipelago weren’t colonized nor inhabited, many fishermen’s, naturalists, or even cartographers’ expeditions used them as supply points for food and clear water. But lately more and more of those expeditions began to disappear before some shipwreck survivors were found and told that a massive three-mast vessel with its whole hull the color of the sea which had appeared out of nowhere was responsible for their demises. As more and more survivors and their respective shipwrecks were discovered, the threat it represented was deemed worthy of being taken care of by the Admiralty. But first, they needed to find it.    In their previous expedition, the Luna’s Swordfish had found another shipwreck on an island seventy miles south east of the burning former Dracan harbor. Ford and his crew hadn’t found any bodies of the supposed fishing crew which made them hope they had been captured instead of lost at sea. Its resolve higher than ever at the possibility for a rescue, the corvette's crew doubled their efforts into scanning the nearby seas and islands in their search of a blue-hulled vessel.

It had taken them nearly a full week to sail back to where they had found that last shipwreck after returning to Baltimare for supplies as well as to warn the admiralty of their discovery. The shattered hull of the fishing boat was still where they had left it. The captain decided to travel south, as the most recent wrecks had been found while sailing in that direction from the center of the archipelago, asking for every man on duty to watch the horizon. And that was exactly what Ford was doing despite being off duty at the moment, even if it wasn’t for the same reasons as his fellow crew mates.

Ford had taken the habit to stay on deck during some of his free-periods on the ship to sketch the wondrous sight the seas provided. The endless horizons, the exotic islands, the gentle sea life, all those beautiful sights the Swordfish would pass by and were just waiting to be put on paper.

On this day, Ford had spotted a small school of dolphins happily jumping in and out of the ocean a few dozens of yards starboard, as if to say hello to the corvette as they raced the ship through a slalom of islands with their gentle clicking barely heard over the sounds of the wind and waves. He quickly draw a rough sketches of the jumping mammals, his lead dancing across the paper to capture the graceful movements of the sea creatures.

‘’So, what did you ‘capture’ today, Mustang?’’ The ship’s First Mate, Lucky Cook, asked curiously after checking on everyone on duty.

‘’Dolphins, Sir,’’ Ford replied in an even tone, his eyes focused on the mammals as he briefly pointed his pencil at the center of his attention.

‘’PHEW!’’ Lucky whistled in admiration as he took a peak at the drawing after glancing at the dolphins in question. ‘’You got some great strokes of pencils there, Mr Mustang,’’ he commented with a brief, friendly tap on his subordinate’s back. ‘’Don’t show off too much or you might be stuck to scouting and mapping duty,’’ he warned playfully before reaching for his pocket watch.

‘’And here I thought the Navy would have me doing something different than in the Jupitarian Corps, Sir,’’ Ford replied with a small chuckle, as he remembered most his training missions during his time in Las Pegasus.

‘’Yeah, well what can you do?’’ Lucky called with a shrug, his eyes focused on his pocket watch. ‘’Try to finish your sketch quickly, you should be in the crow’s nest in a few minutes,’’ he added for the off-duty sailor before going to check on other crew members.

‘’Aye, aye, sir!’’ Ford replied as he sped up his drawing hand’s movements.

True to the first mate’s warning, the bell signaling the shift change rang a few minutes afterwards. Releasing a disappointed sigh at the fact that time flew by too quickly, Ford closed his sketchbook and walked away from the rail to put it with his belongings below deck, sparing a last quick glance at the happily jumping dolphins. Only to see them suddenly change course when dozens of loud explosions rang through the ocean.

Barely a blink later, his precise eyes caught sight of a matching number of large steel ball appearing out of thin air a few yards beyond where the dolphins had been swimming and jumping. Two massive, light-made, blue wings appeared Ford’s back as his reflexes from his time in the Jupitarian Corps kicked in. He took flight a heartbeat later, letting go of his sketchbook and pencils as the winds gathered around his now free hands, while shouting at everyone to take cover. The cannonballs reached for the Luna’s swordfish almost instantly after that.

A good third of the projectiles tore through the rails and few crates lying on the deck before ending their courses into the ocean port-side of the ship, while the rest of them crashed into the hull of the ship, probably hitting the lower decks which Ford’s off-duty comrades were about to leave. The flying Jupitarian couldn't the screams of pains and agony that came from below deck over the loud cracks of cannonballs ripping apart the Swordfish’s dark blue hull, but his experience convinced him that they were there.

‘’Mustang!’’ The booming voice of his Captain, Lime Pants, called as she firmly kept hold of the bar despite the volley they had suffered. ‘’Wind in the sails, NOW!’’.

‘’Aye, Captain,’’ a shocked Ford replied loudly before gathering the winds between his hands.

The hovering Jupitarian focused for a few seconds before flying over the stern of the Swordfish, conjuring the winds forwards to fill the sails, giving the damaged ship a sudden boost of speed which made her jerk forward and stumble a few crew members. After the sudden increase in speed, Captain Lime barked orders to release as much sails as possible, an order that Ford quickly followed along with some of the most seasoned members of the crew.

Once all the necessary sails released and filled by the conjured winds, Luna’s Swordfish began to tear through the waves at a fast pace and Ford landed back on the poop deck, a few feet away from the Captain and the bar. The blue and yellow haired man looked back on the starboard side of the ship, trying to discern something about their attackers when he saw dozens of roped hooks coming out of thin air a good ten strokes from the Swordfish. It was when they hooked themselves on to the remains of the rails or some of the roping of the Equestrian ship that the invisibility spell cast on the attacking vessel faded away.

The hull had been painted in a pale blue that imitated the color of seas of the Archipelago. It was as long as the Equestrian ship but it had at least a couple of decks more than the Luna’s Swordfish, considering the pirate crew was looking down on the Equestrian sailors from their main one. The pirates’ white sails were as full as the Equestrian’s and added to the fact the largest ones were almost twice as big made it keep up with the Swordfish despite its Jupitarian boost.

Ford’s eyes went over the many hooks and ropes that began to pull the damaged corvette to their respective ship. The Swordfish began to slow down as more hooks were sent in her direction. Ford’s gaze travelled along the length of the approaching pirate ship to his own, his cerulean eyes ending their course on her heavy anchor and its holder. Ford looked at the closest weapon he could find, namely the sword at his captain’s belt, and then he glanced up to the winds he had conjured to boost the speed of the Swordfish.

‘’Captain, I’m gonna need to borrow that!’’ Ford called quickly as his hand reached for the hilt of Lime Pants’ heavily decorated cutlass.

‘’Wha…HEY?! Get back here, Mustang!’’ Lime shouted angrily as Ford took off after pulling her blade out of its sheath.

The blue haired Jupitarian flew up just above the crow’s nest, the captain’s cutlass held horizontally in front of him with his left palm resting against the blunt tip of the blade. With a long, soft breath, Ford gathered the winds he had conjured before along the edge of the sword. The winds whistled sharply as they obeyed the Jupitarian’s command, producing a sound that reminded him of a grinding wheel. When the whistling stopped, Ford flew above the short distance separating the two ships, slowly raising his sword arm as he clearly saw the all the ropes connecting the Swordfish to her enemy.

The sword arm came down in a wide arc as the winds began to sing sharply before all the ropes hooked to the Swordfish snapped as they were cut in half. The pirates who had been pulling on the ropes with all their vigor all fell back with loud surprised yells. Ford then slashed the captain’s cutlass toward the anchor holder and its mechanism at the prow of the ship. The Wind-blade sore through the skies again as it crashed against its targets, cracking and scratching the thick wood and slightly rusty metal, but they still held on as Ford’s shape clashed against them.

‘’Dang it!’’ Ford muttered as the last breezes of winds left the edge of his cutlass. ‘’Well, there’s always plan B!’’ he added before diving towards the sea with a strong flap of his wings.

As he passed the rail level of the Swordfish, the blue haired Jupitarian threw his captain’s sword on the deck as the now free ship began to distance the pirate one. Just before he reached the water, Ford straightened his flight to hover at top speed just above the waterline. He extended his hands down, his digits smoothly passing below the surface and causing no foam at all. The Jupitarian flew to the anchor’s level and then suddenly flapped his wings to go straight up, long tendrils of water connecting his hands to the sea.

Mid flight, Ford rapidly spun on himself before violently snapping the tendrils of water against the scratched anchor holder. In two loud impacts that sounded like cracking whips, the thick wooden holder broke, freeing its metallic, heavy cargo. The now free anchor heavily hung against the light blue hull, its tip a few feet above the waterline while Ford kept going up. As he reached a bit above the prow, Ford spotted the furled chain of the anchor and the locks and handles that kept it furled. He then strongly whipped them both with his water tendrils, ripping the lock apart from the chains and snapping the handles of the wrapping mechanism. As the pirate crew yelled angrily about the damage he had done, Ford flew away from the ship, smugly watching the chain quickly unfurling itself as its anchor fell into the sea.

In the archipelago, the islands weren’t that far away from one another and the pale teal color of the sea clearly suggested that the sea wasn’t as deep as the dark blue immensity of the ocean. It would take some times, but Ford knew that the anchor would cause the pirate ship to stop, especially now that they couldn’t do nothing to block it. He glanced back at the Swordfish, who had lengthened her advance, slowly barring starboard, her remaining ballistae ready to shoot while the rest of the crew readied their bows and crossbows for their first retaliation volley.

Ford was about to fly away to join them when he felt something holding back his left foot. He looked down to see his whole left leg glow in an orange glow of Titanian magic before a heavy metallic net flew in his direction in a glow that matched the one surrounding his leg. The heavy net collided against Ford before wrapped itself around him, not unlike a snake with its meal. With his wings trapped against his back, Ford barely had the time to mutter a course before he hit the water next to the pirate ship.

************************

The next coherent thing Ford remembered after his forced sea landing was being thrown roughly on the hard floor. All the memories from between those two moments were nothing blurry images of irons cannonballs and fiery bolts soaring through the skies under the booming roars of cannons and the heavy cracks of shattered wood, until the darkness of his near drowning conquered his mind. The Jupitarian groaned in pain as he tried to push himself off the ground while his eyes tried to shy away from the blinding light that filled his vision.

‘’Hey, Captain!’’ a gruff voice came from a few feet behind him. ‘’The flying sailor is waking up,’’ it said calmly as Ford turned to lie on his back, his hands covering his eyes.

As footsteps on the the wooden floor came closer, Ford massaged his blinded eyes before they finally got used to the intense light of the room. After blinking rapidly, the Jupitarian noticed the barred well of light above him. Thick rods of dark metal crossed each other in the well’s structure, making it impossible for anyone to pass anything thicker than an arm through it. It didn’t stop the scorching sun light from hitting heavily on Ford’s tired body. He tried to crawl out of the light, only to see the cell he was lying in was too small for even a small child to find some well desired shade.

‘’So, you’re the Jupitarian sailor who damaged my ship,’’ a low, deep voice came from outside the cell, prompting Ford into looking at the door of his prison.

There he noticed a massive, crouched figure on the other side of his cell’s bars, one of his hands softly stroking his large crimson beard while his golden eyes shimmered with interest and curiosity at the sight of the trapped Jupitarian. Ford barely acknowledged the other man outside his cell, presumably the one who had called his captain, and focused his attention the crimson-bearded man.

‘’I suppose so,’’ Ford replied slowly as he sat up with an uncomfortable groan.

‘’I must command you on your abilities, Mr…?’’ the bearded man continued as he joined hands together, his left thumb softly caressing the golden ring with a small orange sapphire encased on top of it.

‘’….Mustang,’’ Ford replied in an even tone.

‘’Well, Mister Mustang, your skills have certainly impressed my crew, as well as myself,’’ The man stated calmly.

‘’You have a peculiar way of showing it,’’ Ford commented as he slowly looked around him. ‘’I’ve seen doghouses with more furniture than this cell,’’ he added after realizing that the only thing actually occupying his prison was him.

‘’I don’t have enough mattresses for my crew, I’m not going to give one to a prisoner,’’ the man playfully chuckled his retort, his golden eyes still trying to read Ford’s surprisingly lack of reaction to his status. ‘’You seem awfully calm for someone who’s just been told that he’s a captive.’’

‘’Well, I’ve been intensively trained into keeping a cool head about things,’’ Ford explained matter-of-factly as the image of his former instructor, the Winterjet, Crystal Pagétonas, popped out in his head. 'Sometimes literally', he added for himself as memories of the Ice-shaper’s most heavy punishments came to mind.

‘’Is that so?’’ the pirate captain asked with curiosity. ‘’Maybe, that will help in your situation,’’ he added with a malicious grin.

‘’Huh?’’ Ford let out in confusion as the man kept grinning at him.

‘’I’m going to be honest with you,’’ the man calmly began, his lips still bent upwards. ‘’The only reason you’re not at the bottom of the ocean with the rest of your crew is because you’ve showed me something that I could use to my benefits,’’ he stated matter-of-factly, his smile widening when Ford visibly tensed at the fate of his crew. ‘’I saw you command the waters to rip apart the anchor of my ship. I stood there when you forced the winds into filling your sails and then into cutting all our ropes,’’ he paused briefly, keeping his interested eyes on Ford’s angry ones. ‘’Imagine the advantages that you could bring to my ship along with my mag….’’

‘’No,’’ Ford calmly interrupted his captor, not even bothering himself into thinking about his proposal.

‘’…No?’’ The pirate asked after a brief pause caused by Ford’s interruption.

‘’No,’’ Ford simply repeated with a shake of your head.

‘’Are you sure?’’ The captain asked casually as Ford replied with a nod. ‘’Hum, well, that was to be expected. I’ll just have to ask again tomorrow,’’ he said with a shrug before standing back up and walking away from the cell.

‘’You should have taken Captain Bloodbeard’s offer, Sailor,’’ the other pirate commented softly when his captain was out of earshot. ‘’It would have saved you from a few unpleasant days,’’ he added casually before following after his captain.

Ford glanced briefly at the pirate before his eyes travelled back to the crimson-haired captain. He watched him walk over to a massive barrel at the end of corridor, his magic levitating a wooden cup to his hand. The captain filled the cup and walked to another cell in front. The cup floated into the cell as Bloodbeard began to speak. He was too far for Ford to hear him, but he kept watching until he witnessed the pirate captain suddenly duck.

The wooden goblet flew back out of the cell, without a magical glow this time, right into Bloodbeard’s subordinate’s nose. A simultaneous yelp and sickening crack later, the man was on the floor with his hands covering a bloody nose. Bloodbeard growled as his hand glowed once again. A loud hiss of pain came from within the other cell a few seconds afterwards as Ford could feel the temperature rising drastically in the cell, even from where he sat. The blue-haired man looked around his cell, realizing how dry the air felt around him as he couldn’t find any refreshing shade. As he remembered Pagétonas’ gruesome training session in the Las Pegasus’ desert, Ford let out a low insult about the pirates’ parents’ profession.

The trapped Jupitarian had realized that, If he was right about the purpose of his cell, he had to be out of it before tomorrow evening. If he wasn’t out by that time, Ford was convinced he wouldn’t have the strength of will, or the strength at all, to throw his cup at Bloodbeard like his fellow prisoner had done.

************************

The young pirate, Stinky Bottom, was heading for the cell as the sun reached for its zenith. His crew mates and him had drawn lots to see who’ll be in charge of checking on their prisoners during lunch time, and he had lost. Slowly, he navigated through the corridors of the lower decks until he reached the heavy door that lead to the cells. After unhooking the keys from his belt, which had been given to him by the first mate, Stinky unlocked the heavy door and walked inside.

As soon as he stepped inside, Stinky was assaulted by the heavy warmth that filled the alley between the special cells that Bloodbeard had insisting on adding to the ship when he took over it. Even in the coldest nights at sea, the cells kept the heat accumulated during the day in, making it seem like a never-ending furnace. The pirate wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his hand and then reached the barrel of clear water that was kept in plain sight of the cells, two lengths of ropes as thick as Stinky’s forearms holding it attached to the wall. Bloodbeard had ordered to fix one barrel of water in clear sight of the cells to taunt their occupants with what they’d be missing dearly during their time in her.

He poured himself a cup, which he gulped down in one go. The content of the barrel was lukewarm at best, but in such dry place it felt like water freshly out of a glacier. Letting a loud relieved sigh, Stinky helped himself with another cup and then he walked to one of the cells. He ignored the first occupied cell and went straight for their newest prisoner.

The Jupitarian sailor who had been thrown in the cell the day before was lying on the ground, his ripped shirt wrapped around his head like a cowl. He had probably done so to prevent the heatstroke that would like follow his imprisonment. While commending on the idea, Stinky thought that it probably didn’t help much. The pirate stopped in front of the bars, reaching for a nearby long staff. He then casually passed it through them, poking at the prone body of the Equestrian sailor.

‘’Hey, how is it going in here?’’ Stinky asked with a chuckle, poking strongly on Ford’s shoulder. ‘’Oy ! I’m talking to you!’’ He called more loudly, giving the prisoner a good strike with his shaft.

Stinky grumbled unpleasantly at the lack of Ford’s reaction, muttering a curse before he quickly reached for the water cup. The Bloodbeard’s idea was that their time in the dry cells would ‘’strongly suggest’’ to their prisoners that joining the crew was in their best interests, as well as Bloodbeard’s. Of course, for that to happen, said prisoners couldn’t die from dehydration or heatstroke. With the cup in one hand, Stinky fumbled with the keys to unlock Ford’s cell. Then he kneeled next to the unconscious man.

‘’So pathetic!’’ Stinky let out as he lifted Ford’s head up to pour the water in his slightly open mouth. ‘’The other one’s been here for a week and this one’s down after one measly day!’’ he added as the blue-haired Jupitarian coughed a few times in response to his drink. ‘’You’re lucky the captain needs you!’’

After he was certain that Ford was indeed alive, Stinky dropped his head unceremoniously and stood up to exit the cell. As he turned around to leave the cell, Stinky felt something strongly grab his ankle. Surprised by that, the pirate snapped his head down to his feet, seeing the stern but tired face of Ford looking up to him while the Equestrian sailor tightened his hold.

Out of reflex, Stinky pulled out his sword out of his belt and was about to threaten Ford with it. He never got to say his threat though, as words died in his mouth when he saw sparks of electricity coursing over the length of the Jupitarian’s arm. The sparks cracked loudly through the dry air of the cell, covering the shouts of the electrocuted pirate as the smell of ozone and burned flesh slowly filled the room.

Stinky’s lifeless body fell backwards, pushing the cell door open with its weight while Ford stood up with a brief groan. He spare one solemn glance at the dead pirate as he leaned down to grab the keys at his belt and the fallen sword on the ground. The sailor then closed his eyelids to cover his now lifeless eyes.

‘’And you were unlucky your captain needed me,’’ Ford whispered softly.

With his cell now open, the prisoner fumbled out of it, feeling relief when he finally reached for the much needed shade of the corridor. Thanking the gods for his training in the desert of Las Pegasus, Ford ignored the barrel his body demanded to consume from and reached for the other occupied cell. It took a few loud tries to find the right key for the cell, tries that stirred the prone prisoner into raising her head off the ground.

Her long, dust-full, jet black hair unveiled a dark skinned face with an intricate white tattoo around both her eyes. The first thing Ford noticed was how thin the woman looked. The dirty cream blouse that the pirates had given to her was clearly a few sizes too big, looking more like a short dress covering a bony torso and her thin calves. The only conclusion Ford could draw was that in addition to torture her with thirst, Bloodbeard had also been starving his female prisoner.

‘’Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you,’’ Ford gently whispered as he pushed the barred door open. ‘’I’m going to get you out of here,’’ he added, softly offering his hand at the prone woman.

The dark-skinned woman looked back at Ford’s offered hand for a second. Then she slowly pushed herself off the ground. The Jupitarian took a step forward to help her up, only to realize that she didn’t need his help at all. With nothing but a tired, low groan, the woman stood up tall, towering over Ford’s six feet tall body. The blue-haired man mentally let out a wow of surprise when he realized that the top of her scalp almost reached the ceiling as he strained his neck backwards to keep looking at her in the eyes.

Like Ford a few minutes ago, she wobbled uncertainly during her first steps with her eyes focused on her feet, as if she wasn’t convinced that her skinny legs could hold her up. When she realized that they did hold her, she looked away from the ground to gaze in Ford’s direction. The woman let out ragged, deep breathes as her ocean-blue eyes were focused on the man who had opened her cell. Ford looked back at her in confusion, trying to pinpoint the glint that had sparkled in her eyes once she glanced at him.

The blue-haired Jupitarian thought about it for a few seconds before he witnessed her taking a step in his direction. It was then that he figured out that particular glint. It was a glint that still instilled a bit of terror in his mind, a glint of a powerful, predatory instinct that he had often seen in the purple eyes of a blonde friend of his. The prisoner’s eyes were shining with an intense feeling of animalistic longing.

‘’W-wait! Now’s not the….’’

But before he could even finish his sentence with his cheeks turning redder than they already were, Ford’s face was covered by a large, black hand which shoved him to side. Not exactly expecting that kind of strength in the woman’s emaciated arm, Ford’s body didn’t offer any resistance. Something that granted his head a strong bashing against the metallic bars of the open door as the prisoner walked past him.

The Jupitarian held his ringing skull in both his hands, letting out a small whimper of pain while he slowly turned around after hearing loud splashes of water behind him. Ford then saw the woman leaning over the barrel, her head disappearing below the troubled surface.

‘’Three years in Cloud’s company completely messed me up,’’ Ford muttered to himself as he recovered the rough meeting of his head with the barred door.

‘’Hey! Stinky!’’ a loud voice came from outside the cells, startling Ford. ‘’What the heck is taking you so long?’’ it asked as footsteps sounded closer at every word.

Letting out a curse, Ford readied his stolen cutlass and went to the drinking prisoner. He grabbed her shoulder to pull her away from the barrel, as it was in clear sight of anyone standing in the hallway. However, he didn’t have the chance of actually pulling her out of the way when she snapped her head out of the water to angrily glare at him as soon as he laid his hand on her. The anger in her blue eyes made Ford gulp nervously before he pointed at the hallway in response to her unspoken question. She glanced in the hallway’s general direction as Ford slowly let go of her, hearing the voice and footsteps of the other pirate. She let out a displeased sigh before looking back at Ford, her eyes falling on the cutlass in his hand.

‘’You have a sword, sailor,’’ she slowly said in a hoarse, tired voice before leaning back into the barrel of water. ‘’Use it,’’ she advised softly before her mouth went underwater again.

Ford barely had the time to register her reply when he spotted the calling pirate in the corner of his gaze. Whatever snarky comments he had in store for her died in his throat when he saw the two pirates that had come to check on their comrade freeze at the sight of both prisoners out of their cells. As they both drew their blades out, Ford lunged out of the cell to fight.

Ford parried the first blow by letting it slide along the edge of his cutlass before bashing the exposed face of his attacker with the hilt of the blade. As his comrade stumbled backwards while holding his face, the second pirate dodged Ford’s swing by hiding behind one of the wooden pillars of the hallway. With the agility of a monkey, said pirate jumped out of his hiding spot to the empty space behind Ford.

The Equestrian sailor conjured his blue wings in response, making them bash against the jumpy pirate’s undefended sides. His face-bruised companion lunged at Ford, who caught his sword-holding arm before it came down on him. One poorly executed swing later, thanks to the distraction caused by the agile pirate getting hold of Ford’s light-made wings, the blue-haired man’s sword hand was caught in Bruised-face’s free hand’s grip. All three of them were pushing and grunting to make the other side yield until they were all interrupted by a loud snap that rang through the lower deck.

All three men turned their heads to the origin of the sound as another loud snap resonated through the hall. They all blinked in shock at the sight of the massive barrel of water being lifted in the air at the woman’s arm length, the two thick ropes that held it in place lying broken on the floor. With loud splashing noises, the content of the barrel poured over the prisoner’s body, making the cream blouse cling on her body like a second skin.

Doing his best to repress the blush that came to his cheek as the woman’s curves became more obvious as more water came down, Ford came to realize that something was strange when both pirates let go of him. One quick glance at them let Ford know that they weren’t embarrassed by the fact that the obviously only piece of clothing on the woman was getting transparent due to her impromptu shower. Confusion replaced embarrassment on Ford’s face when he caught on the fact that the two pirates seemed terrified by what they were witnessing. His gaze went back to the woman and he realized why once his mind managed to reach the conclusion that the curves underneath the wet cloth weren’t there two minutes ago.

The woman had been starved and dehydrated for more than week from what he had heard. When Ford opened her cell, he had noticed that she was tall, but she had nothing but her skin over her bones and a dirty blouse way too big for her to cover her intimacy like a gown. And now, there she stood, her long dirty blouse hugging a thick body that looked like it had been carved into marble, making it actually look like a blouse instead of a dress; her arms three times thicker than before, now both sporting a well defined musculature that justified how easily she was holding a large barrel in which all three grown men could have been standing into.

Once the barrel was empty, Ford could notice how her face didn’t look emaciated anymore as she let out a pleased sigh. She let go of the cumbersome barrel, which loudly rebounded on the ground, before brushing the droplets and strands of hair that covered her face with her now massive hands. Once that was done, she turned around to face the three men, her lips curling up into a predatory smirk as she glanced in the pirates’ direction.

With two loud clangs that startled Ford, the two pirates let go of their swords and made a run for the stairs at the end of the hall. The Equestrian sailor barely had the time to register that they were gone that the amazonian woman ran past him to chase after them. Ford tried to call her to stop, only to watch in shock as she caught the slowest of the two by the neck. The now muscular woman shoved the face-bruised pirate’s into a nearby wooden post with a sinister crack, not even breaking her strides, before the man fell lifelessly on the floor.

The other pirate loudly called for help as soon as he reached for the stairs, screaming at the top of his lungs that she had recovered and that they needed to warn the captain. The tall woman didn’t slow down when the pirate shouted while running up the stairs. She was even gaining on him before they both went out of Ford’s field of vision. Hearing the shouts suddenly stop after a loud crash against wood, Ford picked up a second cutlass before he ran after them.

Ford ignored the two unconscious pirates on his way to the main deck, his ears assaulted by the panicked clamors of the crew as he went up the stairs. Once he reached the main deck, Ford paused just in time to dodge a catapulted pirate that landed at his side before rolling down the stairs with great fracas. Then he caught a glimpse of the giant woman’s escape.

She had caught most of the crew off guard, storming out of the lower decks while most of them were busy eating their lunch. She didn’t wait for them to recover, tearing her way into the surprised ranks of the pirates. Some of them were still too shocked to take actions against her while others had thrown themselves in her way. Those courageous ones were now lying on the floor, either unconsciously silent or moaning softly in pain while holding the part of their bodies where she had stroke.

What unsettled Ford the most in the woman’s escape wasn’t that she was easily plowing through the pirate crew. It also wasn’t the fact that she was getting closer to the damaged prow of the ship, nor that the closer she was getting to the edge of the ship the more violent she became. What was puzzling Ford the most was the fact the whole crew seemed to ignore his very own existence to capture woman again.

More and more pirates started to take actions against her escape, only this time, unlike their fallen comrades, they took the time to pick up thick length of ropes or sturdy nets to throw at her. The tall woman dodged the first ones cast at her, even managing throw a nearby pirate into one of the nets that missed her. Yet Ford could see that she would be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of objects being thrown at her, thus he decided it was time for the crew to notice him.

The blouse-clad woman had just jumped away from a large noose meant to ensnare her arms against her torso when she spotted two heavy nets flying to from both her right and left. She realized that she couldn’t dodge those : her momentum was carrying her right into them, leaving her no chances to stop herself or to jump in another direction. Then, she felt a strong wind pushing her loose hair in her face, feeling herself getting almost swept by it.

With one hand, she pulled her hair out of her sight, witnessing the two nets land back on the ones who had thrown it, much to their dismay. Her tattooed face briefly turned behind her to see the man who had freed her taking off thanks to the two light blue wings on his back. As she noticed how the winds reacted to each flap of them, causing the crew to look in his direction, the woman decided to run forward once again.

A few seconds later, she had reached the broken edge of the prow, smiling happily as she was about to dive off the ship to her freedom, all while Ford was flying around her, disrupting every efforts put into stopping her. Curses, insults and a few panicked ‘no’s rang through the airs as her feet left the wooden floor of the main deck. Her hands had almost touched the water when she felt her body slow down its fall in the air up until she was floating upwards in an orange glow.

‘’Shit!’’ Ford muttered slowly as he spotted Bloodbeard standing just outside of a door on the quarter deck, his ring-clad hand glowing brightly.

‘’Mister Mustang!’’ the pirate captain called loudly, while levitating the struggling woman back on deck. ‘’I strongly suggest that you come down now!’’ he shouted angrily, prompting some of the pirates to aim what Ford recognized as Gryffin handguns at him.

‘’F……’’ Ford let out sourly as he slowly landed back on the ship’s deck.

The floating woman kept struggling in vain as Bloodbeard walked down to the main deck a few feet to Ford’s left, the rest of his crew gathering around the pair of almost former-prisoners. After a few loud demands accompanied with more cannons being pointed at him, the blue-haired man dropped the two swords he had in hands. He waited until the captain brought his crimson-bearded face in front of him, forced to witness his fellow prisoner hanging upside down while her blouse’s end fell down. The whistles and catcalls from the pirate crew that followed made Ford want to puke in disgust as he chastely looked away from her. If she was embarrassed by her situation, the woman didn’t show it and cease struggling when Bloodbeard came into her field of vision, only to hatefully glare at him.

‘’I must say, Mister Mustang, that I’m disappointed in you,’’ Bloodbeard said with a shake of his head as soon as he stood before the disarmed Jupitarian. ‘’I’ve thought you would be more… coolheaded than that,’’ he said after searching for his words.

‘’You’ve obviously thought wrong,’’ Ford retorted with a shrug, casting a brief glance at the indecently floating woman, who seemed unaware of her own state of undress.

‘’As for you, Kayla,’’ Bloodbeard slowly turned his head to the woman he was keeping in his levitation spell. ‘’After all this time, you’ve still haven’t changed your mind?’’ The only response he got from her was a narrowing of her eyes, which looked quite intimidating thanks to her tattoos. ‘’You do remember what I suggested if the cells couldn’t break you, right?’’ he asked sweetly, using his magic to pull her blouse looser than before.

The happy, excited cheers from his crew was all Ford needed to take a step toward the taunting captain. The barrels of the guns pointed at him were aimed higher at his chest and head. The crimson-bearded man looked away from Kayla’s levitating form to calmly glance at the disgusted and angry sailor, all while some of the pirates were very happy at the suggestion their captain had made.

‘’You’re despicable,’’ Ford muttered angrily while sparks of lightning coursed through his closed fists.

‘’It comes with the jo…’’

‘’Hahaha!’’

A few eyes turned to the origin of the soft giggle that interrupted Bloodbeard’s retort. Still hanging upside down, the tall woman, apparently named Kayla, seemed lost in her own amusement. The soft laughter grew in intensity over time until the woman couldn’t hold it in any longer. What had started a soft giggling fit turned into a booming mocking chortle that could be heard from anywhere on the ship.

Confusion filled the mind of everyone present: the barrels aimed at Ford lowered as their owners looked away from him; the sparks along Ford’s arms died down when his focus was broken by Kayla’s laughter; the cheers chanted by the crew at the prospect of a rape were replaced by surprised mumbles; even the glow of Bloodbeard’s magic fainted a little at the unexpected reaction of his female prisoner.

‘’What’s so funny?’’ Bloodbeard asked in low tone, his eyes narrowing as he leaned forward to look into her eyes. Her reply was to simply laugh louder. ‘’I asked you what’s so funny?!’’ Bloodbeard angrily asked again, his right, ring-clad, glowing fist flying toward her.

With Bloodbeard’s focus broken by anger and confusion, Kayla had more freedom to move even if she couldn’t break out off the levitation spell. She caught the captain’s glowing fist in her larger hand before she tightened her hold of it, her thumb and forefinger pinching the orange gem on Bloodbeard’s ring. Wild panic replaced anger in the pirate’s eyes as Kayla’s laugh slowly came to an end.

‘’What’s funny is that you don’t remember what I told you the first time you threatened me with what hangs from your crew’s crotches,’’ Kayla slowly replied, applying more pressure on the gem. ‘’Puffer-fishes will never be big enough to bother a whale,’’ she stated calmly before her eyes glinted predatorily at the surprised pirate. ‘’In the same fashion as a sea snake like you could never become a Unicorn.’’

When those words left her mouth, Kayla’s fingers applied more pressure on the orange gem between them, who first cracked under it before it shattered. As soon as the gem broke, many things happened : orange, glowing runes appeared on the ship’s railings before they disappeared, as if being blown away by the wind; the skies and the seas around the ship appeared more blue to the eyes of those who looked at them, like they were looking at them without the help of some sort of lens; and finally the magical glow around around Bloodbeard’s hand and Kayla’s body vanished, letting the later fall freely towards the floor.

During her fall, Kayla let go of the wannabe Titanian’s hand and to throw a punch at his shocked face. Her massive fist collided against his nose, prompting a sickening crack to rang through the air. The pirate captain fell backwards as blood poured out of his broken nose. Some of his crew mates rushed to his side to help him while the rest slowly refocused on the two prisoners after getting the distracted by the invisibility spell on the ship being negated. Only to notice that Ford and Kayla had used the distraction to either fly off or run to the edge of the ship.

‘’KILL THAT WHALE-SIZED WENCH!!!’’

As Bloodbeard’s furious order rang through air, the few already armed pirates raised their handguns to aim at the running woman. A dozen of barrels were pointed at her back as she reached the edge. The pirates were about to pull the trigger when Ford, who had witnessed the whole scene dived with a strong flap of his wings.

Dragging the winds behind him with his magic, the Jupitarian flew down at top speed, reaching Kayla’s level just a second before it was too late. As he grabbed the woman mid-dive, Ford fully extended his wings, liberating the winds he had forced down around them. The strong gale he caused threw the pirates off balance, disrupting their aim at the right moment. Most of them either shot into the air and the others shot into the deck or worse into their own feet.  Ford was about to take off with the tall woman secured in his grip after he quickly admired the results of his wind shape. It was at that moment that he saw Bloodbeard had stood up from the ground, blood slowly dripping out of his broken nose, his right hand pointing a gun at Ford and Kayla. After he ignored the wind that made his men missed their shots, Bloodbeard took his.

A loud bang rang through the air as Ford flew starboard, twisting his body so that he could try to cover Kayla’s. He felt the burning bullet penetrate his light-made wing-bone, piercing through it instantly before it burrowed itself in his right shoulder. He let out a brief scream of pain that caused him to swallow some water when he and Kayla fell into the sea.

He felt Kayla quickly slip away from his grip, which had quite loosened up due to his wound and his fall. Ford tried to move his right arm to swim only to feel an intense pain in his shoulder. The wounded man then swam with just his left arm and both his legs, his damaged arm hanging limply to his side. Ford managed for a couple of strokes, actually swimming away from the pirate ship. He felt himself going faster but he decided to look behind him to see what the pirates were up to.

Confusion filled his mind when he realized he was far from the ship enough to see it whole in the center of his vision. Said confusion made him stop swimming for a second, making him realize that he didn’t even need to swim to get away. It was as if he had been caught in a surface current that carried him away from the ship and against the swell of the sea.

‘’What the hell?’’ Ford wondered out loud as the current carrying him slowed down to a stop.

‘’Are you okay, Sailor?’’

Kayla’s voice startled Ford who turned around to see her floating next to him. His body reacted to his sudden movement by reminding him that he had been shot in the shoulder. He groaned in pain as his left hand went instinctively over the open wound in response.

‘’Could be better,’’ Ford honestly replied before glancing at the now relatively far away ship that seemed to tack their way. ‘’They saw us,’’ Ford muttered angrily, trying to conjure his wings before the pain he felt told him it was too soon for that.

‘’Hahaha,’’ Kayla playfully let out the same mocking laughter as when she was hanging upside, albeit not as loud as before. ‘’Bunch of fools,’’ she added more to herself than to Ford.

Ford turned his head to the dark skinned woman with a raised eyebrow after her comment. His other eyebrow joined it almost instantly up his forehead as Ford saw a massive black tail ended by black and white flukes bash the water next to him before disappearing below the surface. The wave caused by that propelled Ford a few yards to his right while his eyes followed the movement of the cream and black shape that swam from where Kayla had been seconds earlier.

The clear water and the shoals of the Archipelago made it easy for anyone to observe what was happening underwater, should they take the time for it. Thus Ford could see Kayla swimming below the surface at top speed thanks to the large black and white appendage that had replaced her legs. The dark mermaid dived deeper into the sea, spreading her arms when she reached the appropriate depth before swimming back up with a strong strike of her flukes.

The injured Jupitarian could only watch in awe as he felt the sea, and himself, being dragged towards the spot Kayla was swimming up to. The swell was completely disturbed as more waves seems to converge to Kayla instead of naturally flow in one direction. The dark-haired mermaid emerged from the water, actually leaping out of it thanks to the raw power of her tail. Her massive arms were spread open when she bursted out of the sea.

Despite having basically jumped out of the water, a big wave formed just below her tail. As Kayla kept going up and forward, the wave grew to catch up to the jumping mermaid. She raised her arms until they formed a ‘’y’’ with her torso. The wave kept growing taller and larger, its tip almost reaching the height of the pirates’ crow’s-nest while its base was wide enough to match the ship’s length. Then, Kayla brought her arms down, crossing them before her chest as she let herself fall backwards.

The massive rolling wave moved forward, abandoning its creator who happily dived back into the calm sea that had seen it emerge. The pirate ship tried to tack out of the way, but it was too late. The tip of the wave came down when its base came in contact with the prow of the ship. The roll formed by the tidal wave shattered the vessel while some of its crew members tried to escape by jumping off it. They met the same fate as the ship and got crushed; then swallowed by the sea.

A few minutes later, the sea became quiet again and the only things left of the pirate ships were few planks that drifted on the surface and an awestruck, wounded sailor who was dragged by the collar by a pleased whale-tailed mermaid to the nearest island.

************************

The amazonian mermaid had taken upon herself to carry Ford out of the water as soon as she was in her depth. - after her black and white tail returned to its legged-form, of course - The injured sailor had protested that he could walk just fine and that there was no need for her to do that. Kayla ignored his protests by simply taking the tall, but none the less small compared to her, man in her arms before walking out of the water. She had placed her right arm under his back, paying much attention as to not put pressure on the bloody hole in Ford’s right shoulder, while her left one was placed under his knees.

As Kayla stoically made her way to the white sandy beach, Ford’s face was torn by the embarrassment he felt as he realized the position he was in. Like a lot of his fellow sailors, he had often imagined himself rescuing a cute little mermaid and ending up carrying her bridal style after saving her from some danger of the seas. It seemed like Fate had decided to twist his little fantasy around.

Before he could ponder over that sour irony, Kayla bent her knees to lower Ford’s body into the sand. Soon enough, the sailor felt the muscular arms of the mermaid retreat from his back and knees. Now free of her load, Kayla stood fully back up, her arms extended high above her head. The sailor was startled by the loud pops and cracks that came from the woman’s spine and bones as she stretched. He looked up to her, only to turn his face down almost instantly. He had realized how short Kayla’s blouse fell when she stretched and had noticed that said blouse seemed to be the only piece of clothing she had on.

He heard a couple of her heavy footsteps in the sand before she sat down across of him. Ford glanced in her direction, seeing she had chosen to sit with one knee up, on top of which she rested both her hands. Holding back a brief cough of embarrassment, the Jupitarian sailor kept his eyes focused on Kayla’s, trying to act as calm and casual as he had learned to do so with the very few female models he ever had.

'Well, she’s about as shy as Cloud…' Ford mentally commented before he noticed how cold and observant her ocean-blue eyes were. '…with none of the playfulness though.'

‘’So, what happens n…’’ Ford began after a few seconds of silent staring between the two former prisoners.

‘’Why did you help me, sailor?’’ Kayla suddenly asked in an even tone, interrupting Ford’s question.

‘’Huh?’’ Ford eloquently replied in confusion.

‘’You could have escaped as soon as you were out of your cell,’’ Kayla explained matter-of-factly. ‘’You lost a lot of time setting me free and standing by me as I was rehydrating myself,’’ she added in a displeased tone that seemed to be aimed at herself. ‘’Even on the main deck, you sticked around to try and help me when you could have just flown away without anyone noticing you,’’ she concluded before staring straight into Ford’s blinking eyes.

‘’Well, it’s part of the job, I guess,’’ Ford explained matter-of-factly. ‘’I’m sure you’d have done the sam…’’

‘’No, I wouldn’t have done the same for you,’’ Kayla softly interrupted the sailor again, disappointment and bitterness lacing her voice. ‘’The moment I felt the drought in the air of Bloodbeard’s cells, I only wanted to escape,’’ she explained slowly when Ford didn’t try to say anything in retort. ‘’If I had broken out of my cell on my own, I wouldn’t have bothered checking other cells like you did. I would have left you there to fight my way back into the sea… Just like when you’ve freed me,’’ she added in a shameful sigh.

‘’Hey,’’ Ford called gently after a few seconds of Kayla’s silence. ‘’Don’t beat yourself up over this. If I had been in those cells for as long as you have, I probably would have acted worse,’’ Ford confessed in embarrassment. ‘’I mean, I’m sure I wouldn’t have lasted that long.’’ Ford added when he remembered how much time she had spent in Bloodbeard’s custody.

‘’Maybe, but that doesn’t change the fact that without you, I probably would have rotten away on that ship,’’ Kayla stated after a brief silence while Ford decided to stand up to look at the horizon

‘’Well, you rid us of the pirates, so let’s say we’re even and move on with our lives,’’ Ford said evenly as he tried to recognize one of the nearby islands. ‘’Maybe I should wait for the night to try fly to Celestia’s Warning. At least then I would be more likel…’’

‘’We’re not even, Sailor,’’ Kayla interrupted Ford’s train of thought in a forceful tone, causing him to turn around to look down at the sitting mermaid, only to see the lower end of her soaked blouse as she had stood up. ‘’Very far from it, actually!’’ she added when Ford looked up to meet her stern, disappointed gaze.

‘’Wh-what?’’ Ford let out in confusion before the amazonian woman before him frowned as her fists clenched in anger.

‘’You’ve saved me, Sailor!’’ Kayla explained in a frustrated and angry whisper. ‘’You’ve risked your life for a complete stranger and that’s worth a lot where I come from. A lot more than pure, unadulterated revenge on one’s captors!’’ she added slowly before taking a deep breath. ‘’You were ready to die for me and it would be disgraceful of me to not return the favor. Therefor, I vow to follow you until I can save your life just like you did with mine!’’ she added strongly and solemnly as Ford’s eyes widened in shock.

‘’Look,’’ Ford replied a few seconds of recovering later, raising the hand of his good arm to make sure she didn’t interrupt him. ‘’I can understand what you’re saying, but you’ve done more than enough to repay that debt,’’ he explained uneasily as a displeased frown marred the strong features of his interlocutor.

‘’It’s not a simple matter of debt!’’ Kayla retorted sternly, her sharp and powerful voice making the wounded sailor flinch away from her. ‘’It’s a matter of honor and respect!’’

‘’I think you can say that you’ve honored me by destroying the cause of my wound,’’ Ford countered slowly after a few seconds of thinking. ‘’Quite effectively I might add.’’

‘’No, I didn’t honor you with that!’’ Kayla snapped back angrily. ‘’I brought my wrath onto those murderous pigs and their snake of a captain because I wanted to make them pay for what they did to me,’’ she explained as her voice took a more even tone. ‘’My intentions weren’t not to avenge you nor to protect you, therefor I cannot consider that vow as accomplished,’’ Kayla then stated in a calm voice that reminded Ford of the sea after a storm.

‘’Wow… That’s really… something, I guess,’’ Ford awkwardly replied as Kayla crossed her arms. ‘’But, I can’t… I can’t accept this!’’ the sailor nearly shouted as he quickly shook his head, taking a few steps back.

‘’What?’’ Kayla let out in confusion while Ford stepped further away from her. ‘’How can you not acce…’’

Whatever Kayla was about to say died in her throat as a light blue, massive wingspan appeared on Ford’s back. Before she could react, the wounded sailor took off with a strong flap of his wings, wincing when that movement put a lot of pressure on his injured shoulder. Flying through the pain, Ford reached an altitude a few yards higher than the tallest palm trees of the beach before he glanced apologetically in Kayla’s direction. Even when he was in the air, she seemed to tower him like a work horse would over a foal.

‘’Thanks for the offer, but I’m gonna have to free you from your vow!’’ Ford shouted at the stunned mermaid, his left hand covering his wound because of the strain applied to it by his flying. ‘’May Faust speed you on your way!’’

Instantly after, Ford twisted his body around before his wings carried him further away from the island, leaving a bewildered mermaid standing on the beach. After a few painful flaps, the sailor decided to not move his wings too much and conjured the winds to his aide. Powerful breezes got caught under his feathers, carrying him over the light blue seas and the smaller islands of the archipelago.

Or so it would have gone if something cold and wet hadn’t wrapped itself around his ankle.

‘’What the …’’

A powerful pull suddenly brought the flying man down as the thing that had caught his ankle secured a stronger grip around both his shins. Ford managed to let out a startled scream before he was engulfed straight up by the sea, his wings desperately flapping as hard as they could to try and keep him in the air.

His gaping mouth allowed a flow of bubbles to escape from his lungs just a second before the sea water decided to fill up the now free space. The salted water left a burning sensation in his throat and against his open wound. While he winced mentally at that, the blue-haired sailor also felt a drowsy dizziness beginning to invade his mind : the three days of passive torture, his untreated wound, the forceful dragging, the start of a drowning, all that began to catch up with his body.

Ford felt himself slide against the current until his dragging arms and hands began to scratch against some wet sand. In his tired, drowning mind, the sailor felt his legs point upwards, making his torso and head scratch against the sand as well. Then, he felt the liberating sensation of the fresh wind caressing his calves, belly, chest and then arms through his wet clothes. When his head came out of the water, all of it that he had almost swallowed burst past his open lips in a reflex coughing fit.

It took him a good minute to recover enough to realize that he was hanging upside down a few feet above the water surface, but, oddly enough, still felt like his legs were in the water up to his shins. Ford quickly shook his head right and left to chase the droplets that bothered his field of vision, only to feast his eyes on an upside-down version of the dark and chiseled face of the mermaid he had tried to escape from.

‘’…. Huuuum,’’ Ford let out sheepishly as his eyes locked on Kayla’s, trying his best to not be fascinated by the unnatural glow of magic that shimmered in them as she commanded the sea to leave Ford hanging, literally. That look would be awesome in a portrait! His artistic side managed to think before the reality of the situation chased it back in the corner of his mind.

‘’Sailor, I’ll be as clear as possible,’’ Kayla softly began, leaning her head deep into Ford’s personal space, making the hung sailor gulp nervously when he realized he could probably count the lines of her irises. ‘’There’s nothing you can say or do that will make me free of my vow!’’ she sternly stated. ‘’Your way is now my way! With all the speed the Sea Stallion can grant me!’’ she added in a tone that left no room for argument.

‘’What about you though?’’ Ford asked in a soft whisper. ‘’I mean, you must have a home, some friends, and a family! You’re really ready to leave all your life behind to follow me?’’

‘’Before you freed me from that cell, I didn’t have a life anymore,’’ Kayla replied matter-of-factly. ‘’I was ready to die before helping that sea-serpent. I was without a home, without a family, without friends… I didn’t have anything left,’’ she added calmly. ‘’Now, I have my vow to you. I’m fine with just that at the moment.’’

‘’Still…’’

‘’Besides, you shouldn’t worry too much!’’ Kayla interrupted playfully. ‘’If you’re as weak as you seem right now, I’ll be free of my vow very soon!’’

‘’….Is that so?!’’ Ford replied with narrowed, indignant eyes, earning a condescending nod from Kayla. ‘’I’m going to make you regret those words!’’

‘’Oh really?!’’ Kayla let out with sneer while she was internally interested by his claim. ‘’How so, sailor? I have you trapped and completely at my mercy!’’

‘’Yes, but you’re still within my reach,’’ Ford stated with a smug grin as his left arm snapped forward, his hand grabbing her hold of one of her bare calves.

With a little bit focus from his part, sparks of lightning poured out of Ford’s hand and into the mermaid’s legs. Nearly not strong enough to hurt, but more than enough to startle. Kayla yelped in pained surprise as her control over the water was broken as well as her focus. Ford dropped down, but managed to roll on his feet during his fall while Kayla hobbled backwards. He then lunged at her and before long, he had her pinned down : His arms pushing hers against the sands while her lower body was trapped under his, as he was effectively sitting on top of her.

Kayla shook her head to recover from her electricity-induced daze before looking up at Ford with slightly shocked eyes. She tried to push his hands off with her arms, only to realize she couldn’t move them. The mermaid felt an unfamiliar tingling coursing through her muscles, which strongly contracted in response, thus making her unable to move them. Growling in annoyance, Kayla looked up, noticing Ford’s proud smirk as he looked down on her.

‘’Who’s completely at the other’s mercy, now?!’’ Ford asked in a smug tone.

Kayla’s annoyed frown turned into a smirk matching Ford’s a few seconds after those words came out. An deep blue glow brightened her eyes, confusing the dominating sailor. The confusion became puzzlement when he felt his body being lifted. Ford felt the calves he had previously trapped under his legs growing thicker by the second. Both Kaya’s legs moved up before going down swiftly, breaking Ford’s relative balance. Then, a loud thud rang behind him and the next thing he knew, he had been thrown over Kayla before something landed on top of him. Something big, black and white, and really heavy.

‘’Still you, Sailor,’’ Kayla commented as Ford jerked wildly to push off her massive flukes from on top of him. ‘’I’ll admit that was pretty good though,’’ she added as the tingling in her arms slowly faded away.

Once the mermaid had regain full control of her arms, she decided to abandon her flukes and massively long tail in favor of her thick, muscular legs again. After that, Kayla pushed herself off the ground and walked to where Ford had been crushed by her tail. The sailor remained on the sand, his chest rising up and down rapidly now that it was free from its heavy punishment. Kayla stood at his side as he kept looking at the light blue sky.

‘’So, you’re sure nothing will keep you from following me back to Equestria?’’ Ford gently asked through his sighs.

‘’Nothing!’’ Kayla assured with a shake of her head. ‘’Now, come on!’’ she added, before leaning down, offering her hand to Ford. ‘’I’m Kayla. Kayla of the Blackfish Hunting Pods,’’ Kayla said with a second-long smile as Ford took her hand to pull himself up.

‘’Ford Mustang, sailor of the Luna’s Swordfish,’’ Ford replied softly, a deep sadness filling his mind as he remembered the fate of his crew and their ship. ‘’Her last sailor, if you want to be precise,’’ he added bitterly, more to himself than anything else.

‘’Hum?’’ Kayla tilted her head to side in confusion. ‘’Why do you say that?’’

‘’Bloodbeard told me what happened,’’ Ford replied sourly, his fist tightening in anger. ‘’His crew sunk the Swordfish and killed everyone on board,’’ he explained, his head pointing down in shameful anger.

‘’And you actually believed him?!’’ Ford’s response to her surprised tone was to snap his head in her direction, seeing her eyes widened in shock and her mouth slightly open. ‘’How?! How could you have believed that Lizard?!’’ Kayla let out, cocking a skeptical eyebrow up at the confused sailor.

‘’What?’’

‘’I don’t exactly know what happened, but during the fight from a few days ago, Bloodbeard’s ship suddenly tacked to the right before coming to a full stop,’’ Kayla explained matter-of-factly. ‘’They delivered a few broadsides, but quickly after that the battle stopped. A while later, you were carried in the cells unconscious, and none of those bastards who brought you in looked like they were celebrating a victory.’’

‘’You mean that the Swordfish fled the battle?’’ Ford asked with a frown. ‘’That doesn’t sound like something Captain Lime would allow…’’

‘’Sailor,’’ Kayla began in a condescending tone. ‘’I’ve been living in the ocean all my life and I have never seen a fish swimming into a shark’s maw when the shark stops giving chase,’’ she stated firmly. ‘’And I must say that from what I could hear of the battle from my cell, your crew was the fish and Bloodbeard’s was certainly the shark!’’

Ford thought about her words in silence. He remembered how the pirate ship towered over the Swordfish; how its cannons over-shouted her ballistae; how much damage its first broadside had done to her; how unready her crew was when she had been caught completely by surprise. Kayla’s words were making a lot of sense. After all, as much as Lime Pants favored quick frontal assaults over the longer attrition warfare, Ford couldn’t say his captain was a reckless woman.

As he remembered all that, Ford’s pensive, slightly saddened frown morphed into a peaceful smile at the possibility of reuniting with his crew. A smile that Kayla returned with a short humph and a roll of her eyes. Then the tall woman turned her back to Ford and walked into the sea much to the sailor’s curiosity.

‘’Where are you going?’’ Ford asked.

‘’Getting us something to eat! I’m starving!’’ Kayla replied matter-of-factly without looking back. ‘’ While I do that, I’ll also ask around for your ship’s location,’’ she added as water reached to her knees.

‘’Ask around?’’ Ford asked back in confusion. ‘’To who? A clown fish?’’ he added with a chuckle.

‘’Well, if he has seen it in the past five hours, then yes!’’ Kayla replied with a shrug. ‘’Though, a dolphin is much better source of informations. They don’t mess up directions, can actually remember stuff and love to hang around boats.’’

‘’Hang on, WHAT?!’’ Ford almost shouted in Blossomforth’s confused voice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘’Stop interrupting him, Blossom,’’ the sergeant Cloud Kicker chastised her underling sharply. ‘’I wanna hear the rest of the story!’’

‘’The sea-folks can talk to fishes?!’’ the watermelon-haired soldier asked, ignoring her blonde superior, to their blue-and-yellow haired friend.

‘’Well, apparently they can,’’ Ford replied with a shrug before taking a sip of his bottle of cider. ‘’I was really surprised about that myself.’’

It had been a few weeks since Ford’s crew had returned from the Bloodbeard mission. True to the promise he had made with them, the young sailor had let his friends from his time in the Jupitarian Corps know about his little adventure at sea. After reading his letter, Cloud Kicker and Blossomforth Shields had decided to visit Ford in Baltimare for a much more detailed version of the tale as well as catching up with their friend while walking along the docks.

‘’And then what happened?’’ Cloud asked in genuine curiosity. ‘’She actually asked a dolphin to help you guys out?’’ she added with a playful chuckle.

‘’I didn’t really asked for the specifics when she returned,’’ Ford confessed slowly. ‘’I was too impressed by what she brought back as food…’’

‘’What did she bring back?’’ Blossomforth asked slowly.

‘’A great white,’’ Ford simply stated. ‘’Kayla said he had been really rude and tried to bite her when she asked about the Swordfish. Poor beast never stood a chance!’’ he added with a sad sigh.

‘’….Are you making that up?’’ Blossomforth asked with narrowed eyes. ‘’I think he’s making that one up!’’ she said to her sergeant who seemed also a bit skeptical about that last bit.

‘’You believed the part when Kayla forced the sea to wreck and sink a huge galleon along with its entire crew in a second but don’t buy the part of her killing a shark to eat it?’’ Ford asked with a raised eyebrow.

‘’It’s more the part about her talking to the shark before deciding to eat it that bothers my suspension of disbelief,’’ Blossomforth replied with a uncertain shake of her head.

‘’Eating a somewhat sentient fish aside, there’s one thing I really want to know!’’ Cloud stated, after gently shoving Blossomforth away from their sailor friend.

‘’You want to know how we found the Swordfish?’’ Ford suggested calmly.

‘’No, why would I want to know that?!’’ Cloud asked back with a derisive snort. ‘’Your mermaid friend asked for directions and you followed those directions. It’s not exactly a grand tale of adventure.’’

‘’Well, of course it isn’t if you say it like that,’’ Ford commented sourly. ‘’It still took us a few days.’’

‘’…How did you not get an infection during that time?’’ Blossomforth asked softly.

‘’Well, I tried to clean it but I couldn’t really reach my back,’’ Ford explained matter-of-factly. ‘’So, she did something with her water magic to forcefully pull the bullet out of my wound and cleaning it…’’ He said, his hand reaching for his formerly wounded shoulder. ‘’It was really painful,’’ he added with a wince that was shared by Blossomforth and Cloud. ‘’So what do you want to know, Cloud?’’

‘’Do you have to ask, Ford?’’ Cloud asked back with a smile. ‘’You just told us that you found a mermaid to be at your beck and call.’’ Cloud ignored Ford’s loud sarcastic humph. ‘’I wanna know if you two banged, and if so, I want all the details!!!’’ Cloud stated, pointing both her fingers excitedly at the sailor.

‘’Oh, come on!’’ Blossomforth let out in disapproval. ‘’Do you have to go there every time we come to see Ford?’’ she asked with a frown as Ford sighed in a resolute tone.

‘’You didn’t seem to mind the last time we went there with Ford, Blossom,’’ Cloud retorted with sly smirk as Ford and Blossomforth’s faces turned red when they remembered vividly what happened during the two girls’ last visit.

‘’Putting that aside,’’ Ford managed to say as the watermelon-haired girl grumbled incomprehensibly while her hands seemed to strangle the air between them. ‘’No, we didn’t,’’ he then firmly replied.

‘’Awwwwww,’’ Cloud let out in loud disappointment. ‘’Do you plan on banging her though?’’ she asked in curiosity.

‘’No, I don’t plan on banging her,’’ Ford replied slowly as Blossomforth’s hand flew to her face with an embarrassed grumble.

‘’Oh, I see how it is! She’s not warm to idea, isn’t it?’’ Cloud asked in realization. ‘’If that’s it, I can totally help you with that! I did wonders on Blossomforth, remember?’’ she added with a proud grin as Blossom’s other hand flew to her face before she screamed her frustration into her palms.

‘’You’ll have to ask her that, Cloud,’’ Ford retorted matter-of-factly, his cheeks getting slightly pink at the reminder.

‘’Well, I would but we have yet to meet that mermaid of yours,’’ Cloud replied casually before frowning lightly. ‘’You know, for someone who vowed to follow you until she could save your life, that Kayla girl is quite absent.’’

‘’Huh?’’

‘’I mean, if we were to attack you right now, she’ll…’’

‘’I will crush you were you stand if you try such a thing!’’

The deep voice rang through the air before Cloud heard a strong wave crushing against the dock. Then, the wooden platform creaked as something heavy had landed on it. The blonde could hear droplets of water falling the docks behind her as she saw Blossomforth’s eyes widened in surprise. Slowly, the blonde sergeant turned around to get a first glance at Kayla, only to have her gaze fall on a pair of thick, dark forearms crossed over an equally dark and muscular torso.

‘Oh my gosh, she’s BIG!!!’ Cloud commented mentally before she had to tilt her neck backwards in order to look at the newcomer in the eyes.

‘’Blossomforth, Cloud, this is Kayla,’’ Ford calmly introduced, his hand waving at the wet and tall woman standing just in front of Cloud. ‘’Kayla, this is Blossomforth,’’ he added, waving at the watermelon-haired girl. ‘’And Cloud’s the one you’re glaring at,’’ he added in slightly reproachful tone.

‘’She’s a threat!’’ Kayla let out sharply, her blue eyes narrowed as they focused on the blonde’s purple irises.

‘’She wasn’t going to attack me, Kayla,’’ Ford said, rolling his eyes while Cloud kept staring back in awe at the Sea-folk before her.

‘’I do not believe you, Sailor,’’ Kayla commented slowly. ‘’While you were always quick to say some good things about this Cloud Kicker friend of yours, I noticed how on edge you sound whenever you speak of her. As if you’re somehow scared of her,’’ the mermaid explained slowly. ‘’Besides, she just asked you if you wanted to explode me,’’ she added, leaning closer down to Cloud’s eye-level. ‘’To me, that sounded like a threat.’’

A heavy silence followed Kayla’s words as the Jupitarian trio’s respective expressions changed. Ford’s embarrassment from when Kayla basically told Cloud that he was scared of her, or at least that one side of her, vanished in favor of blank confusion. Cloud stopped sizing Kayla up while her mind wandered off to that one side of it that probably scared all of her friends, with two exceptions, to mimic Ford’s confusion with widened eyes. For her part, Blossomforth’s small awed gasp at the sudden appearance of the famous mermaid turned into a small grin as the meaning of Kayla’s words hit her.

The short giggle that escaped past Blossomforth’s lips afterwards was all the other two needed to start chuckling awkwardly at the now confused Kayla.

‘’What’s so funny?’’

‘’She didn’t mean it literally,’’ Ford explained mirthfully. ‘’It’s just an expression.’’

‘’Really?’’ Kayla asked, her voice laced with doubts as she skeptically raised an eyebrow at the sailor. ‘’And what exactly did she ask you if ‘banging someone’ isn’t about exploding that person, Ford?’’

‘’Huh…,’’ Ford then let out in response, his cheeks reddening a little bit. ‘’How can I put it mildly?’’

‘’It’s doing the horizontal tango,’’ Cloud commented, her laugh grin still ever present on her face despite Ford and Blossomforth’s embarrassment.

‘’Yes, that is what she said it is!’’ Blossomforth replied with an awkward wave aimed at the blonde.

Kayla simply blinked during a few seconds before she could respond with another question.

‘’And what is ‘horizontal tango’?’’

‘’Oh, you don’t know that expression too….huh…’’ Cloud let out briefly before. ‘’Hum… It’s like having a roll in the hay!’’ she added hopefully.

‘’Isn’t hay what you feed your horses and those weird animals you call cows with?’’ Kayla asked in confusion. ‘’Why would anyone roll in that?’’

‘’…Hitting a home run?’’ Cloud tried uneasily, earning a confused tilt of the head from the tall, muscular in front of her.

‘’For crying out loud, Sergeant!’’ Blossomforth shouted in exasperation. ‘’Just say it means SEX already! Banging someone, the horizontal tango, the roll in the hay… All those expressions are just other ways to say having sex with someone!’’ the watermelon-haired nearly shouted her explanation for everyone to hear before glaring at her blonde superior while Ford’s pinched the bridge of his nose with a long sigh. ‘’Did you have to beat around the bushes like that?!’’

‘’Blossom, you’ve gotta be subtle about this!’’ Cloud retorted with a slightly shocked face. ‘’Sex is such a straightforwardly crude word. It has no class at all! You don’t say it to people you’ve just met! They’ll identify you as a perverted creep!’’ she added, shaking her head in disappointment at Blossomforth. ‘’You’ve still got so much to learn, Blossom’,’’ Cloud then let out in a soft, slightly patronizing tone.

‘’So, Kayla, you understand now that Cloud meant no harm with that Banging thing, right?’’ Ford softly asked in a hopeful tone as Blossomforth responded to her superior with a loud ‘Are you serious?!’. ‘’Can we please move on to another topic?’’

‘’And what exactly does ‘having sex’ mean?’’ Kayla asked in confused but genuine curiosity. ‘’You keep using sayings I have never heard before today!’’ The mermaid then justified when the trio became once again stuck in a shocked silence. ‘’So either you explain it precisely and clearly or I will crush you where you stand for asking Ford to explode me!’’ she added fiercely at Cloud Kicker, raising her closed fist threateningly at her.

Before Cloud and Ford could react to the threat and try to defuse the situation, a powerful gust of wind blew past them and pushed Kayla off the dock and straight into the sea. Both looked at their right to see Blossomforth glowing hand extended to where Kayla stood a few seconds ago. The sergeant and the sailor both raising questioning and accusing eyebrows at the watermelon-haired soldier.

‘’What?!’’ Blossomforth asked angrily. ‘’She was about to attack my superio…’’

A massive tendril of water burst out of the nearby sea, interrupting Blossomforth’s defense by circling her ankles. Once her ankles were trapped in its grip, the tendril catapulted Blossomforth into the water, only to be catapulted again, into the air this time, by a huge black and white tail with flukes before she could actually reached the surface. Mid air, Blossomforth stopped her momentum by conjuring her white wings and the winds around her extended limbs.   After letting out an angry war cry, the Jupitarian Corps soldier dived down at the same time as the sea shaped itself into a growing slope that the Blackfish pods huntress swam up to. Wind and sea clashed against one another just as the two women lunged at each other under the helpless, startled gaze of the people they each had vowed to follow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A while later, at Ford’s favorite pub in Baltimare, …

‘’You know, Ford,’’ Cloud casually said as she put her mug of alcoholic cider down on the bar. ‘’It’s weird to say but if you ever want to bang Kayla, you’ll have to ask Blossom’ to convince her,’’ she added, pointing at the two women sitting at a nearby booth.

Blossomforth and Kayla were animatedly discussing together, a happy grin on both their bruised and bandaged faces. They were probably still discussing their earlier fight, often praising each other’s skills or simply explaining the tricks they had used against one another. They had both wounded each other, but there was no trace of animosity left between since after the first two minutes of their fight. Something that had greatly helped Ford’s lie to the authorities about Blossomforth and Kayla having a simple sparring match that escalated in a mini-typhoon due to their excitement and respective skills.

‘’Cloud,’’ Ford called slowly, his eyes locked on to his mug and his back turned to the chatty duo. ‘’You talking about banging got me into enough trouble as it is today,’’ he explained with a deep sigh. ‘’I would really appreciate it if we could talk about something else, please.’’

‘’M’okay,’’ Cloud agreed without a second of hesitation, her eyes still focused on the wounded, talkative duo. ‘’Hey, do you think those two will bang tonight?’’ she asked in genuine curiosity, prompting Ford’s head right into the wooden surface of the bar.

Author's Note

A picture of Ford and Kayla

A huge thanks to Royal Rainbow for allowing me to use his OC as well as for the nice artwork of the duo he was commissioned to do. Excellent job!