Author's Note

I'm fairly new to this fanfiction thing, so I'm grateful for any feedback. I'm posting this chapter as a "trial run" for my current fic ideas and style of writing. If there's anything I could do to improve the readability, enjoyment, interest-level, etc. of my story please say so in the comments!

1 - Fogbound

Waves broke and wood creaked. A cold, salty sea spray carried through the air as the HMS Assurance cut across the water. She was a frigate, built in the early 18th century, with speed and maneuverability in mind, rather than sheer size and firepower. She was carried by three masts, with clean, white square sails hanging from them and a Union Jack fluttering above the lookout’s post in the middle. She boasted forty-four guns carried along two decks, a considerable amount of firepower given the smaller size of the ship compared to mightier “ships of the line.” Under the gun decks was the berthing area, where the crew lived and slept when not on duty. Her armament provided ample power to fulfill her intended role—patrolling for pirates and smugglers.

Now the ship was headed to resupply in New England, before sailing across the Atlantic to spend some time in the reserves. The ship carried nearly 250 men in total. One hundred sailors, whose time in America was over and who looked forward to spending some time at home. And, a large company of one hundred fifty veteran soldiers, to whom the Assurance was merely transportation. They were to disembark at New England and reinforce the northern garrisons in response to a growing French and Indian presence.

The Assurance was under the command of Captain Robert Williams, a young man in his early twenties. Despite his age, he was far from inexperienced. Born and raised on the seas, his father was a naval officer, and from William’s earliest childhood days he was working on ships. Williams was only seven when he began doing servant work on the ships. Thanks to his own personal skill and fortunate circumstances, he found himself as the captain of the Assurance.

Williams was an optimistic sort of fellow, filled with the energy of youth and joyful patriotism for his great homeland and the vast Empire that he now played a role in defending. He had not been in command long, but the crew had taken a liking to him. His upbeat nature and willingness to listen to more experienced crewmen under his command for guidance helped them get along swimmingly. Certainly something that would come in handy, for what the future held...

Captain Williams stood by the helm, thinking. He hoped not to remain in England too long, for he always wished to visit the vast corners of the world. While his time in North America had been interesting, it was far from the exotic areas of the Empire like India or Africa. He did prefer North America to the Caribbean, where vicious diseases and native savagery was rampant, or so he had heard.

“Sir!” he called, “We’re about a day out from the port. The lookout sees heavy fog ahead, and that may make navigation difficult.”

Williams snapped out of his musings and looked up at the Lieutenant. “Talk to the navigational officer, make sure we maintain our bearing as we pass through. As long as we maintain that, we should be fine. Fog up here never seems to last too long anyways.”

“Aye aye, sir!” Brown replied with a nod, moving down onto the main deck.

The ship returned to being rather quiet, as men moved back and forth to attend to their duties, and the occasional murmur of conversation carried over the strong winds and crashing waves. It was early in the morning, and most of the men were waking up from their slumber. With grey, overcast skies, a thick fog rolling in, and a biting wind, the day looked bleak.

Williams was thankful for the heavier coats that the ship carried, helping keep himself and the others warmer up on the deck. Presently, he was wishing for a hot cup of tea to warm him and cut through the early morning drowsiness. Alas, that was a luxury he would have to forgo until they reached port. Only a day left to port, he reasoned, and then they would be able to gather plenty of supplies to keep them comfortable, and alive, through the month long journey back to England.
As the ship slowly entered the thick fog, Williams felt a slight sense of uncertainty, or perhaps anxiety. He had sailed through fog before, of course, but this just felt… different. It was denser than usual, too, and he could barely see past the sides of the ship, and not at all in front of it. Not that visibility should be a worrying problem out here, where there were few rocks and obstructions. If they kept their bearing, they should arrive safely and as scheduled.

The wind blew, the sky remained grey, and waves and sea spray continued to crash against the ship. As Nature held her bleak course, a general ennui settled among the crew, as Williams stood by the helm.

Three days. They had been sailing through this accursed fog for three days.

“Where the bloody hell could we be!” exclaimed the navigational officer, looking over scattered maps and location estimates on a table, with Captain Williams and Lieutenant Brown on the other sides.

“Perhaps we’re still too far east and not close enough to the coast?” suggested Williams, taking a cursory glance at the maps, “Or maybe we’ve gone too far north here and we’re headed around, towards Quebec and French territory?”

After a few hours in the fog on the first day, their compasses began to spin wildly and quickly became useless. Thus, they had been restricted to using their estimated speed and last known bearing to make guesses as to where they were. After two days they began to change their direction toward what they believed was Westward, as they did not want to go too far North. Of course this carried the risk of running into the coast, but they believed it was better than being caught by a malevolent current of wind and being carried out into the middle of the Atlantic.

“No, no, no…” muttered the navigational officer, “we should have reached land by now! We should be in the middle of a damn forest by now! There’s no way we’re far enough to be in French waters, but it’s impossible we haven’t reached land yet.”

“We’re in the hands of God, now…” muttered Brown, shaking his head while trying to make sense of their unexplainable location.

“Then I’m sure we’re on a safe course, Lieutenant,” Williams said. He turned to the navigational officer, “Get some rest. You’ve been hard at work with no sleep these past few days and frankly you look like you could use some now. We’ll be able to handle it from here.”

The officer nodded, and made his way out of the cabin and down the hall towards his cabin. Williams sighed, and turned back toward Brown.

“I suppose I’ll head up to the deck, see if anything changes. I don’t know where we are, but we’d be better be ready for anything. Can you ensure the men are prepared just in case? Last thing I want is for some French ship to blindside us out here.”

“Of course sir, I’ll get right on it,” Brown replied, turning and walking out to find and brief the sergeants.

Williams looked at the nonsensical maps and location estimates one last time, before shaking his head and following Brown out of the cabin. They were truly in God’s hands now.

The fog began to thin, and a warmer breeze blew. The last remnants of fog and cloud lifted by the middle of the third day. Williams could finally see the bright, blue sky above and shimmering water below. It was warmer than it had been the past few days. Oddly warm, he thought. In the distance there was evidence of land. Finally, the men thought, they would arrive at port.

“About time we got here,” Williams sighed, “I was getting worried we were blown off course…”

“Sir, I don’t think we’re out of it yet,” began the nearby navigational officer, “These warm airs and clear seas, this cannot be the North Atlantic!”

“Perhaps we were turned around and travelled Southward for three days? No, then the time we spent going ‘West’ would have been going ‘East’ and there would be no land this close… and there aren’t any islands out here…”

Williams nor any of the other officers could think of a valid explanation for these strange events. No matter, they would just need to sail towards land and find a port. They could figure out their whereabouts then.

They sailed a while longer until a cry was heard from the lookout on the top,

“Captain! There’s a ship headed straight for us at ten-o’clock. She isn’t one of ours!”

Williams extended his own telescope and looked over the waves. Sure enough, there was a small brig headed towards them. He could make out movements on the deck, but not enough to identify them. Their clothes looked to be a patchwork of different colors, but they flew no flag. Tramp traders, perhaps?

He swore as a flag was clearly unfurled over the top. A symbol recognized anywhere: a plain black flag. They were pirates. Williams wasn’t sure why a clearly weaker ship would attack them on the open seas, but he wasn’t about to risk failing their mission. They were late already.
“Pirates inbound, loose the sails, all hands on deck. Full speed ahead!” He yelled out to the crew. The highly trained sailors sprang into action, swarming about the ship like ants to make the necessary preparations. The sails snapped as the wind caught them in their full spread, the ship lurching as they sped up. Cannons were readied and rolled into position. Supplies were secured. The soldiers were armed and readied. The proud flag of Britain fluttered in the wind.

Williams took another look at the pirates ship as the two sailed towards each other. As they grew closer he was able to clearly view the crew, and they looked to be… small horses? Colorful ponies? He looked away, shook his head, but when he looked again they were still there.

“Lieutenant Brown, tell me you’re seeing what I’m seeing,” he said with a slight waver, handing the telescope to the nearby officer.

“What are you seeing Capt—What in God’s name are those?!”

“No bloody idea, but they mean to do us harm,” Williams leaned over the helm and shouted, his voice carrying over the noise of preparation, “Listen up men! The filthy pirates headed this way aren’t French, they’re not Spanish, and they’re not… they’re not human.”

A confused murmur arose as Williams continued, “From what we can discern, they’re some kind of pony. Incredulous, I know, but they’re there. Remember we sail in the greatest navy in the world, under the flag of the greatest empire! Do not lose focus, and we will prevail over this rabble.”

Most of the crew didn’t know how to take the captain’s words of some kind of pony pirates attacking them, but their discipline took over and they continued to ready the ship. If the captain’s claims were true, they’d see for themselves soon enough.

Williams guided the ship and looked out towards the ever-growing pirate ship. He narrowed his eyes, and waited for them to come within range.

“Fire the chasers! Aim for the sails!” He yelled.

Seconds later, a pair of shots rang out as the two forward-facing cannons fired at the incoming ship. It was a long range shot, the pirates were still around a half-mile away. One cannonball plunged uselessly in the water ahead of the pirates, while the other scraped a sail. Not enough.

Williams thought… He could wait until the enemy ship drew closer, and bring their broadside along theirs for a more “traditional” approach, but he would risk losing men that way. He could turn towards the starboard side and try to rake the enemy ship as it came in, but if the brig was faster than them it could come behind and do the same to them. He cursed, of course his first real battle as a Captain couldn’t be easy.

Realizing every second he delayed the pirates grew closer, he decided to take the risk. He had faith in the Assurance, he had faith in his crew, and he had faith that God would aid them in this battle.

He began to turn towards the starboard side, so that they would be perpendicular to the enemy ship. Williams briefly thanked his luck as the enemy ship made no motion to turn themselves, if anything they seemed to speed up. They must think he’s trying to flee, he realized.

“Furl the sails slightly,” he called, “slow us down!”

Williams watched closely as the enemy ship drew closer. They came in past the quarter mile mark, and he waited. The crew waited for orders, if they had any anxiety the did not show it, for they were stoic and prepared.
The ship drew ever closer, and the crew could clearly see the strange creatures clamoring aboard it. One hundred yards… seventy five… fifty…

“Fire the cannons, port side! Given ‘em a taste of lead!” Williams finally shouted.

Another few seconds passed, and their cannons rung out. A symphony of twenty-two cannons broke the quiet, as smoke filled the air. Many of the cannons reached their intended target, smashing and splintering the wooden hull of the pirate brig. At this range they had enough power to penetrate the front of the ship and travel some distance down the middle of it as well, likely dealing severe damage to the ship’s structure and the crew within.

The pirates aboard the ship appeared to panic, yet the ship began turning to the starboard side to line up their own cannons with the Assurance’s. Williams brought the ship closer to the enemy.

Suddenly he saw specks of light on the pirate ship. Horned ponies… unicorns? Their horns began to glow, and suddenly a barrage of fireballs were fired at the Assurance. Williams swore as several of them impacted the sails and rigging and immediately caught fire. He knew they had to act quickly.

“Fire in the rigging, sailors, put out that fire! Sergeants, get the men ready for boarding action!”

Buckets of water were passed between sailors, desperate to put out the fire before it spread to the masts and ship decks. The soldiers readied themselves on the side of the ship, muskets loaded and bayonets fixed.

Several of the pony pirates took flight. Why not, Williams thought, if they have unicorns they may as well have pegasi too. He couldn’t believe this, were they in some fairytale land now?

The pegasi flew closer to their ship, swords in hand. The soldiers created three ranks on the side of the ship, one kneeling and the other two standing.

Williams heard a sergeant's voice, “Company, present arms!” The soldiers raised their muskets. “First rank, fire!” A deadly cascade of bullets rushed towards the pegasi, sending several plummeting into the ocean. “Second rank, fire!” Again a wave of lead shot down more of the pirates. “Third rank, fire!” The firing of shots was unrelenting for the pirates, who suffered more casualties to the precise musket fire. Of the fifteen or so that began the short flight, around five remained.

The few that managed to make it to the ship were quickly repelled with sharp bayonets, easily cutting through the cloth that some wore, or the skin of those who wore nothing.

The ships were very close to each other now, being only ten yards away. Grappling hooks sailed from the deck of the Assurance and latched onto the pirate ship. The pirates likely knew they had made a mistake, expecting a weak merchant ship but receiving a highly trained military ship instead. Yet now there was no escape.

Williams swelled with pride at how splendidly his first battle as Captain was going. As much as he was tempted to sink these murderous pirates right then, he knew capturing some would be helpful.

“Cannons ready, sir!” A sailor called out.

“Fire!” yelled Williams, as the port side cannons dealt another deadly volley. At such a close range many of the cannonballs tore through the enemy ship and out the other side. The pirates’ cannons and gunners were totally incapacitated and unable to return fire.

Wood tore and splintered as the two ships finally collided.

“Go, go, go!” Men yelled as the British soldiers charged onto the pirate ship, giving the stunned pirates little time to react.

Williams himself drew his pistol and sabre and lept onto the pirate ship, never being one to be far from the action. Perhaps foolish, he recognized, but he was hardly going to stand idly by during his first battle!

The two sides clashed on the deck of the pirate ship, and the British soldiers clearly had the upper hand. Musket shots quickly eliminated many of the pirates, who seemed to only carry swords, and the reach of a soldier using a bayonet far exceeded that of a small sword-wielding pony. Thus, the soldiers were able to cut and slice without much risk to themselves.

Williams looked up and saw the enemy captain, a brown unicorn with a dirty golden mane, standing behind the wheel, barking orders in… English? He just now realized these ponies appeared to be talking English, baffling, but something that had to wait.

He charged across the deck of the ship, towards the helm. As he drew closer, the captain and a regular looking blue pony turned and seeing him, readied their swords. Williams aimed his pistol and fired it directly in the centre of the blue pony, causing it to collapse. He brought up his sabre and he and the pirate captain began to circle each other.

He noted that the pirate captain’s sword was levitating, surrounded in some kind of aura similar to the fireballs other unicorns had shot at the Assurance. What kind of demonic ponies were these, who wielded magics of fire and levitated swords?

“You’d best give up, pirate. You’re not going to get much out of us,” Williams warned.

The pirate snorted, and looked up at him with hard eyes, “I don’t know where in Tartarus you crawled out from, but you’re not leaving here alive!”

The two continued to circle each other, looking for openings and daring the other to make the first move. The pirate struck first, launching a fast thrust at Williams chest. Williams was almost caught off guard, but his reflexes kicked in as he brought his own sword to the left to parry the pirate’s, and almost as quickly he slid his sword downwards and out to put distance between him and the pirate’s sword, before cutting quickly towards the right.

He stepped back and readied himself to parry another attack, but the pirate captain dropped his sword and stumbled backwards. Williams’s sharp sabre had cut across the pony’s neck, and he collapsed seconds later. Advantages of fighting such a short opponent, he guessed.

Around the ship the fighting was clearing up and the British emerged as the clear victors. Prisoners were bound and lined up along the deck of the pirate ship as Williams stood in front of them and studied them, thinking on what he should do.

While a few of them looked defiant, many of the others looked frightened and even remorseful. Rightfully so, he thought, they had certainly picked the wrong ship to attack.

He realized that it would be best to keep these as prisoners, as they needed information on wherever the hell they were, and he figured if the unthinkable had happened and they were really in some other realm, handing these brigands over to the local authority would be a better choice. Only about fifteen pirates remained, so they wouldn’t place too much of a burden on the Assurance.

Williams was still shaking from adrenaline after the battle. It wasn’t his first battle, but the feeling of leading his men against pirates of some sorcerous, strange species was both frightening and exhilarating for the young captain.

He looked down at the prisoners, “Make sure they’re restrained well and throw them in the hold. Take any cannon shot, rations, and materials you can from this brig and sink it.”

He was met with a chorus of acknowledgement as the crew moved to carry out their orders. More slowly than usual, however, as many kept looking back at the strange ponies they had fought.

It was clear what they were all thinking, “What are these things?! Talking pony pirates, like from the mythological tales of the Greeks and Romans? Just where are we, and what are we facing?”