Cutter

While our crews worked to supply our ships under Amethyst's direction, Catarina, Dreadless, Junior, and I gathered in Ben's villa, waiting for him to relay his knowledge about our target. Finally, he emerged from his house and rolled out a map on his table.

"Right, here's my two bits for how to pull this off. Port Grover is set in a unique portion of the Grover River," he explained, leaning over and tracing a claw along the contours of the river itself. "Lots of pools and dips providing all sorts of water depths, and therefore just grand for building all manner of ships." He tapped the stamp denoting the port.

"Shouldn't be too huge a surprise it's one of Griffinstone's major shipyards, then, hey?" He added with a weary smile before gesturing to the woodland that surrounded the port on all sides.

"Dreadless will use his mortars to hurl firebombs into the woods near Port Grover," he explained, drawing a thoughtful hum from the minotaur. "A solid forest fire's a good way to draw the port's defenders away from the harbor, especially since that forest is where they get most of their building material from." He stood up straight and held his paws out at us.

"Now, don't think that means it'll be easy to swipe the ship. Junior here's the only one arrow-proof, and the place will still be heavily defended even with this distraction," he took a claw and jabbed several points along the port. "And neither Junior nor your ships will hold up long against constant bombardment from the seventeen gun towers they've got." Catarina leaned in, rubbing her chin with two claws.

"A land assault with the majority of your force is the way to go, I reckon. There are sheltered inlets here and here you might make use of and leave your ships in," Ben continued, pointing out the spots near the mouth of the river. "You can still expect them to be guarded or watched, however, so I recommend sending a landing party ahead of the rest to clear some space." He grimaced and looked at us each individually.

"The second they realize one of their warships has been hijacked, you brace for impact. I'd wager they'd rather sink it than let it get away," he added, gesturing to Dreadless and the forest. "And if you're lucky, they won't be able to mobilize enough crew to send any of the other warships after you." He leaned back and folded his arms.

"Regardless, it won't be safe to stop her until she's back at Naysow let alone hide her long enough to get your ships towed," "So bring enough sailors to crew her and all of your ships as well, and just leg it back here once you've got it rolling. They can handle scrambling back once you're clear."

"It might be easier to get as many aboard as we can then just dump them in long boats once we're passed the river's mouth," I retorted, sharing a look with Dreadless and Catarina, who nodded in response.

"If you reckon! This is your cruise, Commodore Cutter," Ben cried, throwing his paws up and sinking into his seat with a smirk. "Only thing more you're getting from me is well wishes."

As our four-ship fleet crawled along the coast, I couldn't help but notice the fifth sea-craft in our company. Much closer to the coast, Junior was paddling a big raft made from several whole trees, with his oars also being a pair of trees carved into shape. At his side was a collapsed sail on a huge pole that he used to catch the wind and surf when his arms got tired.

"He, uh," I murmured, leaning on the quarterdeck rail to leer at him. "He really lives like that?" Dreadless hummed as he considered the giant as well.

"Works fine for him," he mused. "Not sure they make ships his size anyhow." I nodded in response and then turned to the minotaur.

"You know, we've been working together for almost two years now, and I never had a chance to ask," I said, drawing a raised eyebrow from him. "Why do they call you 'Not So'?" His expression remained severe but he nodded before reclining against the rail beside me.

"It was warring time in the plains again, and as was tradition, all the young bulls formed into gangs and went afield to fight each other with clubs, to develop our skills," he explained, folding his arms and leaning his head back in thought. "Now, ever since I was old enough to join, there were three brothers who always formed gangs of five and then sought each other out before cooperating as one unit of fifteen." He faced me with a wide frown and held up a hand.

"I take no exception to this, of course. Nothing wrong with teaming up and making bigger groups," he snorted and wagged a finger. "And especially nothing wrong with them planning all this ahead of time, even though the rest of us often had no idea who we would be teaming with." He folded his arms again and furrowed his brow.

"Now, for the first time, I was voted by my group of five to lead, and I found another gang and convinced their leader to cooperate," he slowly nodded, making a fist and punching the air. "We had some success, overwhelming two other teams at different times." He held up one finger and squinted at me.

"But then we saw the brothers and their band," he said in a low tone before bringing his hand to his chest. "I suggest that we pull back to a narrow pass nearby. I would hide on one side and my companion would do likewise on the other. When the brothers pursue us, we jump out from either side of them and win." He gestured to his left and right as he spoke before grunting and fixing me with a scowl.

"My companion objects and calls me a coward before running off with his team and getting destroyed," he shook his head and reclined again. "My team and I pull back and hide, and then, when the brothers pass by, we jump out and are quickly destroyed." He took a breath and sighed hard.

"When we recover from our bruises, the village chief storms in and decries me as a coward, having heard what I did," he offered me a wide, unamused frown with a shrug. "So, I was 'Not So' Dreadless." I recoiled with a huff.

"Damn," I grumbled, folding my arms as he nodded.

"The name stuck with me for many years until a proper war came to the land," he explained, rubbing two fingers together. "While on patrol, I was suddenly struck upon the back of the head. Before darkness took me, my attacker, one of my squad mates, whispered the name in my ear." He furrowed his brow and growled.

"When I awoke, I was captured and aboard a slave galley, remaining enslaved for eight months before my fellow slaves and I broke free and claimed the ship," he jabbed a thumb at his low, two-masted ship, the Walrus. "I kept the name to remind myself why I will never return home nor abide by the trivial rules of engagement we were taught as calves." He turned to me and concluded his story with a firm nod. I hummed and scratched at the short beard I'd begun to grow before a grappling hook suddenly latched onto the rail between us. We both turned to see Catarina sprint up the rope and then leap aboard my ship.

"Commodore Cutter," she chirped as she removed the hook and tossed it back to her armored sloop, the Delight.

"Aye?" I replied before she approached, pulled my left arm across her, and held me in a headlock.

"We have a competent crew and versatile officers to command in our place, and this is the first time we've sailed together despite having helped each other so much," she said before using a claw to spread the fingers on my hand. "Come show me why Apricot is so obsessed." I choked in response, earning a quiet laugh from Dreadless as she dragged me away to the Quicksilver's cabin.

As the moon slowly crept up from the horizon, we spotted the small bonfire that was meant to signal us and sailed our fleet up the Grover River before turning into one of the little coves Ben had pointed out. Just as he predicted, there was a simple camp set up around a log cabin with a short palisade encompassing it, but its ability to thwart us or warn anyone of our approach was snuffed by the arrival of our scouting team who had anchored outside the river and trekked inland on foot.

The griffins strained against their bindings as we disembarked from our ships, their frustrations rapidly turning to panic upon seeing four of the Merits of the Flying Gang. Zamaradi turned from her prisoners and approached us with a smile.

"Diamond dogs sniffed out the few who tried to slip away, Commodore," she explained, gesturing to a quartet of diamond dogs looming over her captives. "Ain't a soul inland who knows we're here."

"Thank you, Captain. We towed the Company here for you," I responded with a nod, gesturing to her ship that was tied to the Quicksilver. I turned to the other Merits as our crews began preparing for the inland assault."What do we think, people?"

"The plucky zebra can hold this cove on her own I wager," Dreadless replied as he shot Zama a smirk. "But let's leave her a compliment of twenty just for fun."

I gave him a nod as I considered his ship and waiting crew. "Solid. How close do you need to be to use your mortars?"

"A few hundred meters, so we might receive gunfire before we are through. We have oars and my gunners are trained to lob hellfire even while we bank to and fro," he said with a proud humph. "They'll find my xebec a troublesome target."

"We'll advance close to the river shoreline, so try to hit further inland," I explained as I considered the woodland we'd soon be marching through.

"No, I think I will have them try to land a pot atop your head, Cutter," he quipped with a snort. "At any rate, we should be out of the way by the time you arrive at the port's walls." Junior chortled and pounded his fist into his hand.

"I'm arrow-proof, so let me go in front of the raiding party," he said before beating his fist against his chest. "Plus, I'd like to see a stone wall that can keep me out." Giving him a nod, I whistled to gain our small army's attention. All in all, we'd secured a force of two hundred and fifty-six to pull this off, counting all of our crews. With Dreadless sticking to his ship, and Zamaradi guarding this cove, that left us one hundred and forty and we needed most of those just to get the ship moving.

Every able body was going to count and every loss was going to hurt our chances of success.

"Alright! We'll take thirty minutes to rest and then we're moving!" I called out. "Be ready and expect a fight!"

Junior provided us with an excellent path through the forest as he bulldozed his way through the trees, casually pushing them down as he lumbered forward ahead of our army, followed closely by myself, Catarina, and our personal crews.

"Never thought I'd be taken part in a siege," Gab murmured just behind me, his wings bristling over the bandolier of knives he'd brought.

"I think this is technically a storming," Powder retorted, her heavy and spiked iron horseshoes clattering as she marched.

"I think you can technically kiss my rear," Gab spat back. Suddenly, a boom echoed through the air, followed by another and another.

"Hear that?" I called out as several more booms split the air. "I think that's our forest fire."

"Double time, then," Junior retorted, ripping up a tree and using it for extra leverage as he plowed on. As we hastened forward, I kept stealing a glance to the right and out at the river as the rumor of cannon fire filled the air. Before too long, Junior drew attention to the orange glow visible ahead and the billowing plumes of pitch-black smoke boiling into the sky. Shortly after that, I saw the yellow sails of Dreadless' ship through the trees as he withdrew from the port, and then we saw the clearing between us and the walls of Port Grover.

I lit my gun's cord with a match and took a breath as Junior broke through the treeline and hurled himself at the walls of the port like a rockslide. As Catarina and I rushed out into the moonlight, Junior slammed his shoulder into the stone structure, causing it to buckle inward a bit. Along the wall, the griffins who would have otherwise been able to take shots at us took flight in a mad panic away from the giant who'd suddenly exploded into view, especially as he reared back and slammed into the wall again.

To the left, the blazing forest fire was still raging as griffins circled overhead dumping water and sand. To the right, I spied the long line of ships docked at the port, sails all furled. From the angle we were at, I actually couldn't tell which of the ships was our target so I faced forward again just in time to see Junior punch all the way through.

"Keep on his heels! Move!" Catarina screamed, leveling her pistol crossbow and shooting up at one of the griffins in the air. As we stampeded through the hole Junior made, a lot of things happened at once and my racing heart made certain I was aware of it all as things seemed to slow down.

There was a bell tower at the center of town which was currently frantically clanging.

There were plenty of uniformed griffins still filling the streets, but they were in a panic and most hadn't drawn their weapons yet, instead carrying buckets and looking our way in shock.

There were vastly more griffins not in uniform, and screaming at the sight of us before bolting.

And finally, I spied the gilded and heavily decorated stern of a ship that matched the shape and size of Gasparde's.

"That way!" I yelled, causing Junior to swivel on his heel. The second he registered the ship, he clutched his hands together and hurled himself toward it, shoulder first with a steadily growing hollar. The soldiers in his path leaped out of the way and tumbled, after which a few managed to scramble to their claws and draw weapons.

"It's Throat-Cutter!" Someone yelled as our forces rallied after Junior, lobbing spears, knives, and bolts behind him to scatter or drop the soldiers.

"Don't get caught up! Move!" I yelled, leaping to the side and waving the party on. Against my own advice, I was suddenly struck from behind and slammed into my face.

"Damned pirate!" The heavy bastard on my back yelled as he raked his claws across my back. My jaw reflexively clenched as a sharp hiss escaped my throat and just before the griffin was slammed off of me. Gasping, I rolled away from him and swept my gun out. The uniformed griffin rolled to his paws and claws before turning just in time for me to blast him in the face. As he flopped back, I gasped and clenched my back around where he'd sliced me.

"C'mon Cutter!" Gab yelled as he and Dinky pulled me to my feet.

"Papa!" Someone screamed. Panting, I looked down to see a young griffin standing in the open door the soldier had tackled me from, just before his eyes snapped from the fallen griffin to me. Even as the army charged passed me, his horrified, quaking gaze pierced through the crowds straight onto me.

I found myself in a daze for a few moments but managed to tear myself away and, with one final lingering glance his way, turned forward and charged alongside the rest of the party. My breathing was heavy but as it gradually evened out, my head cleared up and I was able to snap back to the situation at hand.

We were spilling out onto the docks as Junior grabbed the stern of our target and pulled the entire ship down so he could peek over it. The sight of him made the few birds currently on deck scramble and fly off, allowing us easy access via the gangplank.

"Let's get her underway! Prepare to repel boarders!" I yelled once I was on deck. Our hundred-strong crew began frantically working at the rigging and sails as well as crowding the helm which was so huge it needed four ponies to pull. Junior roared as he swept his tree through the air to scare off or smack any griffins trying to fly passed him and completely ignored those who had perched on the rooftops to shoot him with crossbows. Still, as huge and good as he was, he was only one creature and a number of griffins were able to slip passed him.

They flew by and exchanged shots with our raiders, managing to shoot a few pegasi who were up in the rigging. A desperate, gasping grunt erupted from my chest as the ponies fell all the way to the water or the deck, crashing against either surface with a fatal crunch. Despite their success, the griffins were unwilling to get in melee range of us, and so we were able to finally unfurl the sails.

"We're loose! Helm! Bring her about!" I yelled, sprinting up to the quarterdeck where I saw Junior still menacing the griffins. "Junior! We're almost out!"

"Roger that!" He yelled back in a partial laugh. I furrowed my brow at his casual tone, remembering that though we certainly couldn't carry him on the ship, he had been insistent he'd be fine. Returning my attention to our own situation, I now focused on the gun towers lining the port.

"Brace for cannon fire the second we get rolling down the river!" Catarina yelled.

"Should we return fire?" Someone demanded.

"Don't bother! Just get to cover!" I replied. The crew that wasn't immediately necessary hurried below decks, while those we needed to handle the sails kept an anxious eye fixed on the towers looming above us. Each tower had a wide, fortified platform at its top, upon which seven guns were pointed out at the river as well as up and down it. From where we were, we'd pass right by six of them and were still in the line of sight with two others.

I leaped down the stairs from the quarterdeck and to the helm where Catarina was waiting and shared a look with her. "I hear you usually spook your prey into submission," she said with a nervous smile. "You ever had them return fire before?"

"Once," I huffed, looking up at the gun towers, which were already visibly preparing to rain death upon us. "They missed us by a country mile." The ship finally turned into the current of the river and we were off.

Further up the deck, I spied Gab. Up in the rigging was Hatch. Happy and the other musicians were below decks. Holiday was back with Zamaradi, per his request. Powder was near a line with one hoof hooked around it, but her eyes were fixed on the guns above us, no doubt her carefully trained eye already figuring how many blasts we'd be weathering before we escaped.

If we escaped at all.

I couldn't see Scurry or Rosepetal. Jackdaw was at the bow, his head swinging around as if he were looking for something.
At which point I realized I couldn't see Bushtit either.

I took a deep breath and held it for longer than I intended.

"Heave!" Dreadless roared as he and the crew pulled the lines that were attached to our currently broken foremast. With a few more pulls, they managed to get it upright, at which point it made a God-awful crunching sound which the deck directly below it mimicked. The rest of the able-bodied crew scrambled to fix a series of metal braces in place to hold it for the return voyage.

Back on shore, near the camp we'd moored our ships at, Junior was nursing his sling-bound broken arm which had been struck by a cannonball once the gun towers got an angle on him. Despite his injury, he'd dived into the water and strode across the riverbed all the way back here. Overall, it could be argued that we'd pulled off our heist with fewer complications or losses than you might expect.

But fewer is very different than none, as the row of canvas-covered bodies lining the larboard rail could testify, especially the one I found myself unable to take my eyes off. As I sat on the quarterdeck stair, gnawing my thumb and leaning against the banister, Gab trotted up to the body, guiding the members of the Quicksilver's crew who'd either hidden below deck or remained behind with Zamaradi, who herself had boarded upon hearing the news.

Bushtit's ears swiveled and then she began heaving before collapsing into a sobbing heap, at which Jackdaw clenched his eyes and then laid down to pull her into a hug. A visible chill shook most of the crew and a few, like Happy turned away, desperately blinking their tears away. Holiday took a heavy drag off his pipe and brought his hat to his chest, while Zamaradi removed her sash and draped it on the canvas.

Unable to tear my eyes away, I barely registered Catarina as she sat on the stairs beside me until she leaned forward to look at me.

"Did I make a mistake, Cat?" I asked in as stable a voice as I could manage. "Bringing us here?" She hummed and scooted closer.

"If it was a mistake, then we're all guilty of it," she replied, wrapping one arm around me and pulling me close.

"Folks can feel however they want about you, James Cutter, but no one here can deny this," she said, leaning her head against mine. "You suffer with them. Too few captains can say that."

"I don't know-" I hesitated and clenched my eyes with a shuddering huff. "She was- She was a good helmsmare."

"So I'm told," she quietly replied as I leaned back against her. We sat like that for a while, as other sailors beyond mine mourned for those we'd lost. After a time, Dreadless called out.

"Commodore Cutter," he yelled, drawing my attention up as I blinked the mist from my eyes. He jabbed a thumb at the mast. "The mast is secured. We must move." Before I could respond, he set his brow and shook his head.

"Do not let their deaths be for nothing," he offered in a somber tone. I blinked again as I met his fiery eyes before taking a few heavy breaths. Slowly, I rose to my feet and approached my crew. After a moment, all their eyes turned up to me. I hesitated and considered Rosepetal's body for a moment before taking another breath.

"It's time," I reported, drawing a wincing nod from Gab and a sob from Bushtit.

The sea had never looked so bleary. No matter how I looked at it, I no longer saw the vibrant blue and glittering waves I'd come to know. Now, all I saw was the dark abyss into which I'd committed someone who'd trusted me with her life. Even from the rail of the ship we'd stolen and beached, the rolling waves looked more akin to the hungry jaws of a monster than the medium that carried my home for the past two years.

I leaned hard on the rail with a hearty sigh, blinking to shake off the events that had transpired over the last week. Looking for anything to take my eyes off the sea, I glanced down at the team Ben had sent out to prepare our new defenses and wound up looking over the new holes they'd cut to make room for more guns on the outward-facing side.

Now, anyone foolish enough to try threatening Naysow would have a hundred and twenty guns to square off with first. And no one said we couldn't add more later.

"Oy, Cutter," came a voice behind me. Turning, I saw Gab land on the deck before trotting up to me.

"Hey," I replied, looking forward again and out at the sea. "How is- Everyone?"

"Teary-eyed, as you'd expect," he replied as he reared up on the rail. "Bushtit's talking of quitting."

"Only her?" I murmured.

"Well, her and Jackdaw," he explained with a hum. "Won't deny the rest of the original set are all rattled, though." I considered his words for a few moments before nodding.

"Tell them I'll cover their passage back to Equestria," I said drawing a sideways eye from him. "Only them and the original crew. I don't want word getting around that I'm paying for everyone's retirement." I narrowed my eyes and leaned harder on the rail.

"But if they don't trust me anymore, I understand," I added, drawing a grunt from him.

"Oh, belay that. Ain't a lack of trust, Cutter, it's-" His mouth worked for a moment as he shook his head. "It's just- Hard." I looked down at him as he hummed.

"I reckon we've had a good run so far, but when you make a career of chargin' walls of guns," he considered the fortifications we stood upon. "You can't be too bewildered when you wind up shot." A silence fell between us, broken only by the waves, gulls, and noise of the working crew. After a time, I stood up straight.

"Well, if I have any say, this'll be the last time we run at a wall of guns," I said, pounding my palm against the rail. "I'm confident this is to our benefit. We needed this." I turned to him with a weary, but determined expression.

"But the second everyone's ready, we're back to picking on people smaller and weaker than us," I added with a firm nod, drawing a smile out of him after a second.

"Glad to hear it, mainly for the renewed confidence in your voice, Commodore," he replied with a chuckle before looking out at the waves. Then he recoiled and leaned off the rail with his eye narrowed. Looking out that way, I scowled and drew my spyglass as he snorted. "I reckon some folks wouldn't be so pleased, though."

Far away from us and sailing in a northern direction was the Crowned Eagle. Her gun ports were closed, but the crew was looking back at us and pointing. Up on the quarterdeck, I saw Admiral Gasparde and his two cronies. The bespectacled bird was shooting severe glances our way while saying something to the admiral, who was looking back at us with his own spyglass.

As he scanned our fortification, he suddenly seemed to be looking right at me. After a brief stare-off, he stowed his spyglass, fixed me with a severe yet even stare, and gave me a firm, lingering salute before he strode off the quarterdeck.

As the ship continued sailing without any sign of changing its course, I stowed my glass and turned away. "Some folks can go fuck themselves," I spat as I made my way off the deck.