Faithful and Strong

by Golden Scribe

Chapter 7: Ponies Underfoot

Hornblower hadn’t been at all sure what to expect when the ponies came aboard to assist in the repairs. He had hoped that Bush and the other officers would have been in charge of the proceedings, treating the ponies as just another division. Or perhaps Twilight and her friends would be in charge of the other ponies, while his men were in charge of them. Unfortunately, that didn’t appear to be the case.

“This way!” Twilight said cheerfully, waving her repair list over her head as she led a mixed group of men and pony crews to the masts, “I’ve concluded that this is the section most in need of repair, and where we should focus the most energy. Split up into three groups. Those with the greatest woodworking skill, work on the mast in the middle. Those with middling skill, follow Applejack. The rest of you, stay with me and just follow my lead.”

“Aye-aye, M’aam!” the group chorused cheerfully. Hornblower couldn’t possibly fathom how his men were able to take the fact that they were being bossed around by a talking purple unicorn in stride. Did no one else on board have a healthy dose of skepticism? No, apparently he was alone in this. Even Lieutenant Bush was talking unconcernedly to one of the craftsponies, apparently discussing the cannons. Still, even if he didn’t share their enthusiasm, the least Hornblower could do was cooperate and put on an agreeable demeanor.

With that in mind, he made his way around the ship, looking in on the various repair jobs. He had to admit, work was progressing much faster with the extra help. The masts were starting to look like actual masts again, instead of cobbled together bits of wood. And the holes in the deck were now completely patched, and were being sanded down by another group of men and ponies, who were focused intently on the job. Hornblower nodded his satisfaction.

“How’s it going over here?” A beaming voice squeaked out, and Hornblower’s hands curled behind his back as Pinkie Pie popped into view. He wasn’t sure if it was her voice or her obnoxiously cheery personality that grated on him more, all he knew what that he couldn’t seem to get away from her. At least her attention wasn’t focused on him this time. “Hmm, it’s looking good, but…everybody looks so serious! I know work isn’t fun, but that just means we need to find ways to make it fun!”

There were murmurs of agreement, to Hornblower’s dismay. Pinkie trotted back and forth for a minute, lost in thought. Then she gasped in delight, bouncing on the spot. “I know! A song! It’ll give you something to do, plus if we all can time the motions with the words, we can all work in harmony and make the deck look nice and even! Do you have any good ‘deck sanding’ songs?”

“I’m afraid not, m’aam,” one of Hornblower’s men piped up, “And I don’t know if our normal sea shanties would make sense to you and the other ponies.”

“Ooh, you have songs too? You’ll have to teach them to me! But for now, I’ll just make something up. One second!”

Hornblower, who had blanched at the mention of music, was now attempting to get belowdecks, but had to navigate through the bits of equipment that had been set out for the job. Thus, he was still on deck when Pinkie burst out into song.

“Sand, sand, sand the deck,
Work the stone and bend your neck,
Our skills are put to the test,
We need to do our very best,

We won’t stop for a glass of milk,
Until it all looks smooth as silk,
Then give the wood a tidy shine,
And this old ship will look just fine!”

The men actually burst out in applause. Hornblower couldn’t see Pinkie’s face, but he was sure she was beaming from ear to ear. “Aw, it’s nothing, really. I just whipped it up, seeing as we’re in a hurry and all. I’d have come up with a better one if I’d had some time to really punch up the rhymes. Come on, now, everybody sing with me!”

Mercifully, Hornblower finally managed to get below before the caterwauling began in earnest.
***

One advantage of being the ship’s captain was that you could barricade yourself in your cabin for long stretches and no one would think twice about it. Hornblower was never more grateful for that privilege than he was right now. Even though it had only existed for three hours, that damn song had caught on, and now the entire crew was singing some variation of it, changing the lyrics to suit the task at hand. He couldn’t walk five paces without hearing that noise ringing in his ears; even in the safety of his cabin, he could still hear a low murmuring. He’d always tolerated the various shanties the men sung, since it wasn’t his place to ban music entirely from the ship, but for the whole crew to be doing it all at once struck him as a bit much.

He glanced around the cabin, wondering what excuse he could give for remaining in there if anyone should come knocking. He’d already eaten the afternoon meal, there was no paperwork to be done, he’d written up what little correspondence he had, and Twilight had already drafted up a repair schedule. There wasn’t much reason for him to be in here. Except…

Hornblower made up his mind. Perhaps it was a little unorthodox, but, well, this was an unorthodox situation. Quickly, he sent for his steward. “Ask the kitchens to heat up some water,” he said when Polwheal appeared, “It’s been warm enough today that I believe a bath is in order to remove the worst of the sweat.”

Polwheal, as befitted a good steward, made no comment about his taking a bath in the middle of the afternoon. Instead, he knuckled his forehead and retreated to the kitchens. Hornblower remained at his desk, fiddling with papers and trying to look busy, until Polwheal returned and announced the bath was ready. Then Hornblower rose to his feet and made his way to the private bath, stripping off his clothes on the way.

Lying in the bath, Hornblower could feel some of his tension slipping away. He couldn’t really hear the singing from in here, and unlike when he was sitting at his desk, no one but Polwheal would disturb him. Here, he could just relax and temporarily forget about the unusual situation going on on his ship. He closed his eyes and let the water wash over him, content to let it grow cool before he finally emerged.

The peace was shattered by a splintering, crashing noise, and Hornblower sat up at once, automatically assuming they were under attack. Instead, he saw a large hole in the center window, and a grey pegasus sitting, dazed, on the floor, a satchel hung around its neck. As Hornblower gaped, it shook its head and sprung back to its feet, apparently unfazed by smashing through a window, though he couldn’t help but notice that its eyes seemed a bit off-kilter. “Oops!” the pegasus said apologetically, the voice revealing it to be yet another female (Hornblower was starting to wonder if this was a matriarchal society; it seemed to be three mares to a stallion around here), “Sorry! Sometimes it’s hard for me to judge distances, and I could have sworn your window was open!”

“Are you all right?” Hornblower asked, figuring it was best to be polite, even if he’d been the one rudely intruded upon. Still, he was glad that he’d spent a few minutes giving his body a token wash, since now there was a thin layer of bubbles keeping the mare from learning more about human anatomy than she ever wanted to.

“I’m fine!” she said cheerfully, flipping open her satchel and withdrawing a letter, “Is Applejack here? I’ve got a letter from Ponyville for her. They said it was important.”

“I believe she’s up on deck. She the one with orange fur, blonde mane and the apple…cutie mark.” Hornblower pointed to the door, not wanting her to do even more damage to the window. “Through this door, then through the door at the far end of the room, and you’ll be up on deck. You should be able to find her then.”

“Thank you!” the mare said, sidestepping the glass on the floor and heading for the door. Her hoof had just touched the knob when she paused and looked back at him. “Um, I hate to intrude any more than I already have, but…is there anywhere on this ship where I could get something to eat? It’s a long flight from Ponyville to Baltimare, and I had to leave before breakfast.”

“Oh! Er…” Hornblower decided to continue to err on the side of politeness. “Ask the cook. Someone on deck can show you where it is.”

“Thanks! And I’m sorry about your window.” With that, she was gone, leaving Hornblower sitting, baffled, in the tub, the breeze carrying the sounds of singing in through the hole in the window.

After carefully getting out of the tub and getting dressed once more, Hornblower returned to the deck, trying to seek out Twilight. On the way, though, Applejack waved him over. “I’m mighty sorry to trouble you,” she said apologetically, holding up the letter, “But I just got a letter from Big Mac, back at my farm in Ponyville. The trees are suffering from some sort of blight, and they need my help to give ‘em a good spraying. I know you want to get your ship fixed as soon as possible, but I can’t just neglect my farm.”

“Perfectly understandable.” Hornblower said with a genuine smile. He admired her dedication to her home and family, and what’s more, it would mean one less pony in his hair (though if he was honest with himself, Applejack hadn’t been any trouble to him, other than that little incident with the mast). So he just nodded and continued “Take as much time as you need. We have enough help here. Who knows, perhaps we’ll finish the job while you’re gone.”

“You just might, at that. They’re good workers, all of them.” Applejack grinned and tossed her head. “Well, best to get back to the hotel and ask Spike to send a letter to the princess so she can send over a chariot. I don’t have any time to waste if I don’t want to lose my orchard! Good luck with the repairs, Captain!”

With that, she trotted over to the gangplank, where the grey pegasus was waiting; apparently the plan was for them to fly back together. It looked like she was nibbling at something she held in her hoof, but Hornblower couldn’t quite make it out from this distance. Apparently the cook had been able to oblige her. Small wonder, though, since Pinkie kept diving below decks to “help feed everybody! You can’t work on an empty stomach, silly!” According to the cook, they had enough food—mostly of the sweet variety—to fill the bellies of three hundred men. Well, at least the repair crews would be well-fed.

Hornblower returned to the task of locating Twilight, finally spotting her at the other end of the ship, examining the sanding down of the deck. “Miss Sparkle?” He said, when she glanced in her direction, “Forgive me, but there was an…incident a few minutes ago, and I have another item for your checklist. The Captain’s bath needs replacement glass for one of its windows.”

Twilight glanced over the side of the ship, no doubt spotting Applejack and the messenger, and rolled her eyes. “Say no more. I’ll make sure that’s the first thing we work on tomorrow. In the meantime, is there anything you can use to cover up the hole?”

Hornblower nodded, hoping his despair didn’t show on his face. With people and ponies moving in and out of his cabin, now he had no excuse to retreat there. He could only pray that the repairs to the bath were completed quickly; there was only so much of this situation that he could take at one time.

Comments

[Brigantine]

I just need to address this. Hornblower only took one bath in the entire series... and he hated it. The bath was on land in his home not in a ship. Royal navy ships didn't have baths. Hornblower used the deck pump and took showers. He happened to enjoy the showers.

I just really needed to say that.