Wind in the Sails.

The sea had gone from calm and beautiful to violent and frightening. Waves towered over the sides of the ship, soaking everything and everypony on board. The sails had been torn by the violent winds, and the scraps wiped around like a squid reaching out for it’s next victim.

Captain Storm Wind, the leader of our expedition, lived up to his name. He stood calmly on the main deck, calling out orders over the screaming winds. The ship lurched, and everypony got flung off their hoofs, except the captain. He spread his deep teal wings to balance himself, and gracefully slid to one side, avoided falling over like everypony else. It was one of those times I wished that I had wings. I snapped back into reality when the barrels of fresh water I was helping to tie down lept out of their bindings and very nearly crushed me, had Slip not been to pull me out of the way. I quickly thanked him and we both charged after the runaway barrels.

We had just finished refastening the barrels, when the lieutenant ran over and ordered me up to the crows nest with a lantern. I thought I misheard him over the wind, so I just stood there confused.

“Listen to me colt!” The lieutenant shouted over the screaming winds. “We can’t see past these waves, we need you to go up and get a view over them, and signal to us what’s ahead by moving the lantern towards the safest direction” He paused as another wave of water crashed into the deck. “I know it’s dangerous, but your small size will make it easier for you to stay in the nest! Trust me, now go!” and with that he dropped the lantern into my hoofs. Somehow it was still lit, even with all the water crashing everywhere. I took the lantern in my teeth, and jumped onto the net leading up the main mast to the crows nest. The wind got worse as I climbed higher, I was thrown in all directions, bouncing with the loose net. I nearly dropped the lantern countless times, I barely clung to it with my teeth as I struggled upwards. The rain made it almost impossible to see, my hooves and legs were numb from the wet and cold, but I eventually made it up to the nest. I quickly tied myself to the mast with the safety rope that was kept up there, and peaked out over the edge to look at the ocean. It was the most surreal sight I had ever seen. The waves stretched to impossible heights in the sky. The sky was pitch black with brief flashes of lightning illuminating patches of the ocean. I did my best to move around to point myself in the direction where the waves were lowest, but it was impossible to predict whether the waves were growing or shrinking. On and on it went, for hours I ran back and forth with the lantern clasped in my hooves, the rain stinging my eyes and the wind chilling me to the bone. I risked a quick glance down, and I could barely make out the lieutenant at the helm. He was straining his eyes upwards at me in the nest, madly twisting the wheel to direct the ship, his face set stern with grim determination.

Suddenly the ship lurched to the side from a hidden swell that came up behind me, and I was tossed over the edge of nest. I dropped the lantern in fright as I plummeted down towards the deck, when I was jerked back by the safety line. I hung there,the breath knocked out of me, watching the lantern descend towards the ship. After it crashed on the deck, I snapped out of my scared trance and began looking for a way to get back to any bit of solid ground. I could barely see through the dark and rain, I got the feeling that I was being swung around by the tossing of the ship. I found out I was right when a bolt of lightning flashed in the clouds, and I saw the mast flying up towards my face. I kicked my legs out, and barely managed to skip off the mast sending myself spiraling through the air. I whipped back around the mast in a wide arc, still spinning wildly. As I swung through the air, I caught a glimpse of a familiar deep-yellow fur on the rigging.

“Slip!” I call through the storm, but the wind overpowered my voice. I swooped past Slip and heard him call out. I tried my best to get my spinning and swinging under control, but the storm tossed my around like a cat with a ball of yarn. My wide arc through the air was suddenly cut short and I backflipped towards the mast, slamming into the net leading up to the crows nest. I clung to the net and glanced up to and saw Slip holding a long pole with a hook on the end in his mouth, the hook had the rope I was tied to wrapped around it. I could have hugged Slip for saving my life, but we were still in the rigging and colts don’t hug other colts.

“You alright!” Slip called down. “You were screaming like a filly up there.”

“I...I’m fine now!.... Th...thanks!” I squeaked back, still clinging to the net. I was in no mood to go flying again anytime soon.

“You want to head down?” Slip yelled over the winds. I was content to sit there squeezing the life out of the net. “Come on” Slip urged as he climbed down towards me. “Let’s get down from here, some of us don’t have a safety rope!” Right, there wasn’t any rope for ponies climbing up the rigging, only on deck and in the crows nest. I quickly untied myself from the rope, and we both slowly made our way back down to the deck clinging to each other and the net. I was shaking by the time we got down, from the cold and wet as well as the shock from my unplanned flight.

“Let’s get you to the doctor!” Slip edged towards the hatch leading below deck, his hoof over my shoulder.

“I don’t need a doctor,” I answered with a shiver. “I’m fine”

“You’re shaking worse than a old mare in an earthquake” Slip said sternly. “You at least need to lay down. We earth ponies aren’t built for flying, leave that to the pegasus.”

“Fine, if you insist.” I relented with a laugh.

On way to the hatch, we passed under the helm where Lieutenant Thunder still stood.

“Ships-colts Toffee and Bend! Glad to see you made it down. don’t worry about the waves the storm is dieing down. We’ll be fine from here on out!” It would have been much more reassuring if he had not been creamed by a wave, he was still there fighting the sea when Slip and I ducked below deck.

“So, your last name is Bend?” I had realized he never mentioned that, and walking in silence was getting awkward.

“Yeah Toffee, it is.” Slip responded with a nervous smile, which I found odd but I chose to ignore at the time.

“Why didn’t you mention that before?”

“No reason, just didn’t seem relevant at any time.” He seemed eager to get off the subject, so I dropped it with a simple “Oh”.

We arrived at the small cabin that served as the doctors office, it was nothing like the room father used to have but it did it’s job. A few tables had Stallions with various storm related injuries; broken legs, bruises and bad scrapes from tripping or getting hit with something. The doctor was bandaging a sailor pony’s head when we walked in.

“I’ll be with you two in just a moment” The doctor said waving at us to come in. “Just sit down there and I’ll get to you as soon as I can.” The doctor was a middle age unicorn stallion, right on the verge of being old. He was mint-green with a dark brown mane and tail, his cutie mark was a bundle of bandages.

I sat on an empty table, trying to get my hooves to stop shaking, and Slip sat in a chair facing me.

“Now then, what can I help you with?” The doctor asked as he walked over to us.

“Peanut here fell out of the crows nest and flew around the main mast.” Slip answered with a tired chuckle, I noticed he was rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well colt, shouldn’t you wait till you grow wings to start flying.” The doctor said with a laugh. “Well let’s check to see if theres any serious injuries.” As he was checking to make sure I didn’t bruise or break anything, he stopped suddenly and hmmm’ed. Which made me nervous, that is one thing you never want to hear a doctor say. He looked at me with a confused face, then at Slip, then at me. He then saw Slip rubbing the back of his neck, and you could see an idea pop into his head.

“I assume you were the one who cut the flight short?” The doctor asked Slip.

“Yeah, with one of those hooks we have laying around.” Slip answered.

“Hmmm, you look like you might have pulled a muscle in your neck.” The doctor said as he grabbed a bottle and cup from a small table in the corner. “Drink this” he said pouring a small bit of a blue liquid into the cup. “It will relax the muscles and keep them from locking up.”
“Thanks.” Slip said as he drank the medicine and the doctor went back to examining my midsection where the rope had cut into my skin a bit.

Suddenly Slip’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed on the ground. I jumped up startled, but the doctor put his hoof on my shoulder and told me to sit down. As he moved Slip up onto a table he explained.

“I meant to knock him out, he’ll be fine don’t worry. I needed to talk to you about something.” I was worried now, nothing good comes from a doctor telling you that.

“W..what about?” I asked

“I know I am getting on in years, but I can still tell a filly from a colt when I see one.” I gasped, how did he know? My uniform, although soaked still covered me, and I hadn’t been here long enough for my mane to grow out too long. I stared at the doctor with surprise and terror, if the captain found out I would be booted off the ship as soon as possible.

“You do know the navy has rules against having fillies and mares on board during voyages?” The doctor asked, to which I only nodded. “I assume you had your reasons for joining anyway?” again I nodded. “Well, my duty as a member of the navy is to report this at once.” I jumped and started to beg him not to report me, but he cut me off saying. “However, if you tell me why you came here I might be obliged to forget this ever happened and no one will be any wiser.” I sat back down on the table, and recounted all the events leading up to me disguising myself as a colt and joining the navy. The doctor sat leaned back in a chair, staring at me with narrowed eyes. I sat with my head hung in silence, waiting for him to decide what he would do. After what seemed like hours he leaned forward in his chair and smiled at me.

“The way I see it, you had no other choice in the matter and you took what resources you had and made the best of them. I have to admire your bravery in signing up on a battleship headed off to fight notorious pirates, but be careful. Some ponies might not be so understanding, let’s keep this between you and I.”

“Thank you doctor.” I said, releasing the breath I had been holding.

“Please, call me Bundle, or Patches. Patches Bundle if you are feeling extra polite.”

“I like the name Patches.” Patches was a good name for him, it fit his odd personality.

“Well then you can call me Patches all you like. But what shall I call you?” he asked with a mock bow, as if he was at a ball or something.

“My name’s Caramel Toffee, but my friends call me Peanut.”

“Peanut, odd nickname. However it sounds more like a colts name.”

“I had that nickname before I was pretending to be a colt.” I said faking annoyance.

“Oh, of course....What I meant to say was...um.....” Patches fumbled over himself, I burst out laughing and he relaxed realizing I was joking.

“Do you have any family Patches?” I asked after we stopped chuckling.

“Yes, I do.” He answered, with a far off look in his eyes. “My wife, Daisy Chain. Our son, Straw Bail, and our two daughters, Lilly Rose and Water Drop. Two of the most beautiful fillies you will ever see.” He finished with a sigh.

“Did you have to leave them? Why did you come on this journey and leave them behind?”

“Well, my son is away at the military college. He’s been there for three out of his four years, I hope to make it back before he does. As for my wife and daughters, I had to leave them. Not because of money, we had enough bits to get by. It was to fulfill a promise, you’ll notice that Captain Storm Wind is the youngest captain in the navy. I was serving alongside him when he was just a sea-pony. He and I became good friends, even though I am almost twice his age. He was just nineteen when he became a captain, it was after a battle with a colony of Gryphons. He showed bravery beyond the calling of his rank, he fought like I have never seen any pony fight before. He was given one of the highest awards for bravery, and promoted to the rank of Captain. After the ceremony he approached me, he told me that he never would have made it without me. I told him that he did it all by himself, but he insisted I let him finish. He said that I was one of the few ponies he would trust his life to, and he asked that I stay by his side. I was planning on retiring then, to settle down with my wife and then newborn son. So he and I agreed that when he got his own ship, I would accompany him on it’s maiden voyage. He was injured later that year, it took him two years to recover from the pain in his wing, he had trouble even just walking in that time, and it was three more years until he was declared fit for combat duty, and given the command of the Eclipse.”
He then leaned in and spoke softly with an air of secrecy. “Between you and me, I was on the medical review board. We reviewed his performance in a simulated combat environment. Speaking honestly, he performed well enough but he was not his best. I could tell he was still coping with pain, but I urged the other examiners for a clean bill of health. In the years that he was recovering I visited him often, and being in that much pain only fueled his determination to get back out in combat. Once he was able to, he applied four times for the examination to get cleared for combat duty. His first exam, he pushed himself too hard and ended up collapsing halfway through. Every other time after that he got more desperate to pass the exam. Sitting around doing nothing was killing him, and I feared that if he failed that examination he would quit the service altogether and go mad trying to occupy himself. Serving is his life, his calling, his drive. He isn’t happy unless he is risking himself to protect others. So, the captain at nineteen, who had to wait until he was twenty four to get his first command, passed his fourth examination and later that month was given the command of his first ship. So here I am, fulfilling my promise to accompany him on his first voyage in command.” Just then Slip groaned over on the table he was laying on, he rolled over and open his eyes.

“What happened?” He asked groggily.

“You fell asleep, I didn't want to wake you. You looked exhausted when you came in.” Patches answered. “You two should get back to your quarters and get some rest, you both had a wild night. Thankfully you both are fine, you just might be a bit sore for a while.”

I thanked Patches and as Slip and I walked out, I looked back over my shoulder at the doctor, his old eyes stared back at me with strength and sadness. I waved goodbye and he winked back, reminding me that he knew my secret. and I would have to be careful to not let anypony else find out. When Slip and I got back to our hammocks, we meet Mossy and Midnight and they told us that the storm had died down to being just a trickle of rain. It had been a wild night, I slept like a log. In the morning we ships colts awoke to one of the most glorious sights we had ever seen.