Fish had been diving since she was a small filly and had found herself in and around boats a lot. Now she was older, stocky, strong and full of jokes from a hundred different lands.
Her favourite ice breaker on new jobs was, “How many shop keepers does it take to change a lightbulb?”
“Only one, assuming you have the receipt.”
Mermare Services had never really had an official start. Fish and Lilypad had always earned a bit here and there from recovering various items from rivers and ponds. Fish had realised early on that there were quite a lot of items lost accidentally and that their owners would be very glad to have them back. So far it had ranged from jewellery to a weather vane.
This ability had led them both to making a full time living off the water, working out of an outbuilding at Sam and Glyn’s farm. Between Lilypad’s natural ability as a seapony and Fish’s strength as an earth pony it had worked out very well. With a busy river not too far away and plenty of mills locally, a new job was never far away...
A colt ran into the farm yard and asked Sam for, “Murmire Services?”
“I think you mean Mermare Services,” she laughed. “It’s around the back.”
He was soon met with a confusing collection of nautical items.
Mermare survived on its ability to take almost anything as payment. The shed had a museum’s worth of objects stacked outside, comprising of the usual items that you would expect to see including; a bucket of water with the words ‘snow’ written on the side and a dark blue shield with the Night Guard crest on it. The regional Tax Pony hated every single item.
Lilypad was reclined in a large half barrel when the colt barged in through the door. He stopped dead with his mouth hanging open at the sight of the seapony tail right in front of him. She flicked water at him to divert his attention.
“There is a broken boat down at the dock,” he spluttered. “They need you right away!”
Fish sat up in her chair, ears raised at the phrase ‘right away’. The word ‘anytime’ was okay, but anything ‘now’ always paid better. She began hurling various objects through the open window into the hand cart which was waiting ready on the other side.
The colt suffered another bout of astonishment as Lilypad withdrew her fish tail into the water and with a huge swish leapt out. She landed on all four hooves looking like a perfectly normal unicorn while water cascaded down around her. The transformation spell was now one of her best party tricks.
Fish threw the yolk of the small cart over her shoulder while Lilypad tossed into it a metal box, the colt and herself.
“Giddy up cabby!” she called. Knowing that Fish would not be able to respond with the young pony present.
The “Canterlot Princess” was a very fine paddle steamer indeed. All white paint and shiny metal fittings with smart hats and polished hooves for passengers. It had been towed up river by ponies pulling from the river banks. On the tough bits a rowing boat had been used. Normally sea ponies would do the work, but the sight of a hundred or so passengers had scared them off.
Sea ponies had been very shy when Fish first met them. Even now they were not out for any sort of fame. Their greatest skill was avoiding cameras; with many a photographer getting a fine picture of a disappearing tail !
Todays task was a log jammed in the paddle wheel below the water line. Ponies were fearful of deep water and very wary of rivers. If the flowing water wasn’t bad enough, steep river banks or thick mud could exhaust even the strongest stallion in minutes. Fish’s skill was not panicking and using the natural current to her advantage.
As a filly she had been fascinated how effortlessly large boats were moved around when land ponies and sea ponies worked together. Mooring ropes were quickly brought to the dock side by sea ponies whilst land ponies wrapped them around the bollards using them as brakes. The steady current worked against the ropes, swinging boats neatly into a mooring. Any adjustments were made by letting rope pay out by the dock ponies, or by pulling furiously if it all went wrong.
Once the ‘Princess’ was secured to Fish’s satisfaction she fitted her diving mask and stepped off the dock into the cool water. She felt at ease and quickly worked her way to the problem and gave it a good tug. Lilypad arrived having found a quiet place to transform whilst everypony had been watching Fish.
The log was indeed well jammed in there. It was heavily water logged and had got right into the wheel itself. It looked to have hit the river bottom, ramming it in hard. Fish bucked it a few times and it didn’t move an inch. The end jammed in the metal work needed to be cut from the end wedged against the hull. Fish pointed a hoof at the ideal cut line and Lilypad nodded.
“Fire Rope?” asked Fish as they surfaced.
Fire-Rope arrived by special delivery in a metal box when required. It was another ingenious invention by unicorns. Why it had been invented wasn’t clear, but a rope that burned underwater was perfect for her work. It even came with a string fuse and handy lighter.
“The metal box please!” called Lilypad to a dock pony. He passed it down from the cart and opened it, reeling at the smell.
“Old stock,” she smiled, grabbing the end in her magic and disappearing under the water.
Space was limited between dock, paddle and boat, so they took time to carefully pass the rope back and forth, wrapping it tightly around the log. Fish then climbed out of the river while Lilypad moved upstream to keep a lookout.
Fish removed the igniter from the box and poked the fuse into it. Looking to Lilypad to check all was well she pressed the pedal on the device making a little metal wheel spin against a flint. The steady stream of sparks lit the fuse string which flashed into life with a green tinge. The burning travelled quickly under the water and into the main rope.
Fish held her breath. The paddle wheel was metal and would be relatively safe, but fire-rope was easily capable of weakening iron. The wooden hull was more of a risk and if the rope touched it she would be paying to have the pleasure cruiser re-floated and re-planked.
Initially a few bubbles indicated it was lit properly before a bright orange glow showed through smokey water. This gave way to violent bubbling with bangs and cracks as the temperature rose. There was a strong smell of wood smoke added to the steam as the fire rope ate into the log.
Ten minutes later the noise and sound had died away and the river current had washed the dirt and one half of the log away. Left behind was the end of the wood poking loosely from the wheel. Fish shouted to the Ship’s Engineer to make sure the engine was locked before climbing down and kicking it under the boat.
Lilypad was already ashore and writing out the itemised bill as Fish coiled ropes and stowed her diving mask. She had become fascinated with the land ponies ‘paper work’ as sea ponies didn’t have it. Even paper treated with magic fell apart after a few years in water.
Once affairs were in order the “Canterlot Princess” slipped her mooring lines and with gentle splashes from her paddles she chuffed her way back down stream to continue her adventure.
“I got 20% on the fire rope, plus labour,” announced Lilypad as she stepped back into the cart.
“Nice one,” replied Fish. “Another month and it would have been off its best. Now I can give mum some rent. Let’s go down the tavern and eat something unhealthy to celebrate.”
The End.
Author's Note
The link to scribblers channel for the narrated version :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mwnWpepqeU
