Faithful and Strong

by Golden Scribe

Chapter 16: Quick Repairs

Celestia was true to her word. By the time Bush came on deck for his morning watch, the entire beach was lined with ponies, tools on their backs and looking eager to help. A bit daunted by the sheer number of them, he relied on Miss Sparkle to divide the ponies between the two ships, before heading over to supervise the Féroce’s repairs at Hornblower’s request.

Even though he should have been used to it by now, Bush was a little in awe of the sheer mass of ponies running around the deck, the bright colors standing out all the more against the dark browns of the Féroce. The ratio of man to horse was about four to one at this point, though the ponies still cheerfully took orders from the officers. In an attempt to keep from overcrowding things, Bush stayed out of the way on the quarterdeck, only occasionally coming down to examine the progress.

And that progress was more than impressive. Even the ponies who hadn’t been present for the first set of repairs quickly picked up what needed to be done and set to work. Things moved even faster when someone started up the Sea Horse Shanty and everyone fell into the proper rhythms. At the rate they were going, there was a strong possibility that the two ships would be able to depart by evening.

Bush was discussing the possibility of giving the ship a new, properly British coat of paint when he heard a loud splash from across the water, followed by an even louder shout that unquestionably had come from the Lydia. Bush immediately told Lieutenant Galbraith to take charge and headed down the gangplank. For Hornblower’s sake, he hoped it was an easily solved problem.

He arrived on the Lydia’s deck in time to see Miss Sparkle glaring at a blue-coated unicorn. “You could have at least asked first!”

“The great and hardworking Trixie saw no need!” the unicorn replied, “Why would the cannons need wheels anyway? Surely a good push is all that’s necessary?”

Hornblower was standing beside Miss Sparkle, hands clenched into fists behind his back. Nevertheless, his tone was even as he said, “Miss Sparkle, I think Miss Trixie would be better suited overseeing the sanding of the deck. Why don’t you take her there while I get a group of men and ponies to retrieve the wheels. This bay isn’t all that deep, is it?”

“I don’t think so,” Miss Sparkle said, “I could see the bottom when I went swimming a few days ago.”

Hornblower nodded. “Owen, gather some men and rig up a pulley system. It may be faster if we can get them up that way.”

“Aye, sir!” Owen saluted and hurried off. He had barely gone when Rainbow Dash, still sporting a bandage around her head, approached Hornblower. “Sorry about this, Captain, but, well, they wanted to make amends.”

Bush looked behind her and saw the three young fillies looking up at Hornblower tentatively. Hornblower got down on one knee and examined them critically. “What exactly did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know?” The little unicorn squeaked, “Whatever you tell us to do. We can help fix the ship, I promise!”

“I’m sure you can,” Hornblower said, before glancing at the rigging overhead, “Tell me, do you think you have the strength between the three of you to lift a wheel over your heads?”

“Yeah!” the pegasus said, “We’re totally capable of doing that!”

“All right,” Hornblower said, and Bush was flabbergasted to see him smile, “Then I want you to stay right here. My men are going to be lifting wheels out of the water. You three are to untie them and stack them up as soon as they touch the deck. Then my men will come and take them to where they need to be. All right?”

“Yes, sir.” The fillies said in unison.

“And who knows,” Hornblower said, standing up, “Perhaps you’ll earn your cutie marks in wheel stacking.”

Their eyes all lit up. “Cutie Mark Crusader wheel stackers!” they cheered, slapping their hooves together. Then they moved to the side of the ship and sat, eagerly waiting for the recovery process to begin. Dumbfounded, Bush moved away to recruit help from the Féroce’s repair crew, only to find Applejack near the gangplank, smiling fondly at the fillies. She glanced from Bush to the fillies to where Hornblower was standing, and she said casually “I might have explained to Captain Hornblower what my sister and her friends like to get up to in their spare time by way of apologizin’ for the cannon incident. Looks like he took it to heart.”

Unsure how to respond to that, Bush just nodded vaguely and headed down the gangplank. Best to take advantage of Hornblower’s good mood as long as it lasted.
***

“That’s the last of ‘em, sir!” Crewman North said, panting slightly for air as he climbed up the gangplank, dripping water onto the recently sanded deck.

Hornblower glanced over at the fillies, who were busy hefting the latest wheel onto the pile. As soon as it had been set down, The red-haired pony turned to Hornblower with a wide smile. “Seventy-two wheels present and accounted for, sir!”

“Good work. North, go dry off. Owen, get these wheels reattached. Perhaps Trixie will be as happy to put them back on as she was to take them off.”

As the men hurried off, Bush (who had returned to the Lydia on the grounds of “being better as having his orders heard”) noticed the three fillies looking at their flanks, which had, alas, not sprouted cutie marks. “Aww…” they said simultaneously, pouting.

Hornblower crouched down to them again. “Cutie marks or not, you three did a marvelous job. Well stacked, well-counted, good timing…my own crew couldn’t have done better. So hold your heads up high, little fillies.”

They beamed at him and ran off, presumably to share the praise with their family members. Bush couldn’t stop his mouth from falling open, and glancing around at the surrounding men, he could see that he wasn’t the only one. Was it possible that the captain was having another nervous breakdown, this one manifesting in a personality change?

Hornblower rose to his feet, glanced around the deck, and managed to fix each and every man with a death glare. “What are you staring at? We’ve still got a fair bit of work to do! Away with you now! I want these ships ready to sail by evening!”

The men saluted and scurried away. As Bush retreated back to the Féroce, he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. Hornblower was all right after all.

Comments

[Enthalpy]

This story is a lot of fun, and it manages to capture the spirit of both the Hornblower books and FIM!

[Golden Scribe]

5663039

Aw, thank you! I really wanted to get all the voices right, and have the seriousness balanced out by the sweetness of the ponies.

I'm so glad people are enjoying this story!