I nudged Heavy Keel and pointed over his shoulder at the jungle infested island. “There it is.”
“I can see just fine, Blue.” He sighed, adjusting the ship’s rudder with an idle twirl of the wheel. “How’s the thermos working out for ya?” I took the cap off the thermos and took a sip, the oxygen filling my lungs.
“Surprisingly enough, it doesn’t take all that much water to stay conscious.” I screwed the cap back on and frowned at the puddle forming at my hooves. I had taken off my jacket, leaving my dark green fur exposed to the cool midday air. Wiping off the water that had stuck to my gills, I continued. “Though, the water is becoming a real annoyance.” Keel shrugged, eyes trained on the coastline not too far from us.
“Not much I can do to help you with that. There’s a cotton cloth in my desk that could help you dry off, but blocking off your gills isn’t an option, so you’ll just have to wipe the water off every now and then.” I slumped a little and looked around as I waited for us to come into view of the port itself. My eyes widened as they landed on the sails.
“Woah woah woah, hold up!” There was a bright flash of blue as the sails were suddenly enveloped in light, frozen in place. We drifted slowly to a stop, the waves rocking our ship slowly. Keel turned on a claw and looked at me with worry.
“What? What did you see?” I pointed to the sails and he followed my hoof. “Oh.” He chuckled halfheartedly, rubbing a talon across the back of his neck. He turned back to me. “Yeah we should probably take those down.”
It took a bit of digging in the deck below to find the old sails, untorn, if a bit dusty, and replaced the sails marked with the Equestrian insignia of the two royal sisters orbiting the sun and moon. Keel smiled as the white sails unfurled and we continued our journey to the port.
“It’s bad enough that you can tell this is a caravel of the navy.” My ear twitched, and I reached for my thermos again, taking a sip.
“How can you tell?” I asked, setting the bottle back down beside the helm. Heavy Keel rapped a hoof on the deck below us as he spun the wheel twice to right.
“It’s all in the wood.” He leveled the wheel again, and I noticed that there was a jetty of wood planks sticking around the next corner of the island. “It’s hard for a lot of ponies to get this much lotus to build a ship with, but it still happens.” He tapped the floor again. “But that’s where the cedar decks come in; a cedar lotus mix is what gives us away.” He frowned as he turned back to regard me for a moment. “You mean you didn’t recognize that all of the naval vessels had this combination?”
“I never noticed,” I muttered abashedly. He laughed, turning back to take the helm properly.
“No wonder you stopped smuggling at a young age, chick.” I opened my mouth to make a retort. “Oh, is that it right there?” I squinted hard at the coastline attached to the jetty. A grin slowly wobbled its way onto my lips as I laid a hoof on Keel’s ghastly form.
“Captain Keel, I’d like to welcome you to Gallante Port.”
“A bit modest, eh?” I jumped at the captain’s voice, surprising a couple of the crews around me as I slammed down hard onto the planks of the dock.
“Quiet!” I hissed, smiling broadly at the sailors who all immediately went back to loading and unloading cargo to and from the various ships around. “Why do you have to sit right next to my ear?” Keel had shrunken himself and settled into the hood of my cotton jacket to keep me company, while not alerting anypony to his presence. The second part could’ve been better, I supposed.
“So you can hear me without me yelling, of course!” I resisted the urge to smack the griffon in my hood and instead straightened my jacket, sending him deeper into my clothing. “Hey! I’m sittin’ here!”
“Yeah, it’s a little modest,” I agreed, surveying the small port of eight buildings. “But it gets the job done.”
“How about a tour?” I could feel the grin from Keel at that.
“How about no?” I snorted, finally making contact with the gravel that made up the smuggling den’s road. “Look, here’s the deal; there are two warehouses where you pay to hold your goods, there’s a bar of course, a blacksmith, an incredibly small shipwright, a general store, an inn, and then there’s the mayor’s house.” My hooves halted as I stood before the local bar. “Now quiet,” I growled quietly as a mare and a stallion strapped with crossbows passed with a glance in my direction. I opened the door with my telekinesis and wandered in.
Immediately I was pounded by the familiar smell of booze, tobacco, and good cooking. A look around told me that the bar was just as filled as the last few times that I had been around, with about a dozen and a half booths seated with atleast couple of ponies each. The counter of the bar itself was nearly empty, occupied only by a mare and three stallions. A smile found it’s way onto my muzzle as I spotted the barkeep.
“Blue?” He called over the chatter of the bar. I approached, a genuine smile on my features. “Where have ya been?”
“Haybinger,” I said, settling down onto the worn wood chair in front of the counter. “How’s business been, Chip?” His eyes brightened as he set down the mug he had been previously cleaning and came over to me.
“The usual fare. Where’s Gale?” I shrugged, smile fading a bit. “He out in the port doing business?” I felt a sensation rising in my throat.
“Can I get some water?” I burst out. He leant backwards in surprise, but came forward again.
“O’ course.” As Chip turned around to grab a glass and pitcher, I yanked my thermos out in my magic and drank heavily. When I saw him begin to turn around, I screwed the cap back on hastily and shoved it back into my side pocket. The action was followed closely by water bleeding from the gills beneath my hood.
“Use the cloth,” Keel suggested. I pulled the tied handkerchief from my neck and patted the area around my gills in attempt to dry it, just in time for Chip to set the glass of water down.
“Thanks,” I said, holding the glass with a hoof to take a small sip while the handkerchief kept my neck relatively dry. He raised an eyebrow at my multitasking.
“If you’re hot, you can just take off that jacket.”
“I’d prefer to keep it on,” I spat out a little too quickly. Sighing, he opened his mouth to speak.
“Hey Chip, pour me another one!” A stallion a couple seats away called. With a hesitating glance at me, he went to deal with the customer.
“So… What’s the story with you and Chip?” Keel asked, momentarily popping out of the hood to speak. I smiled, setting the glass down and tying the red handkerchief around my neck again.
“There’s really not much to it. My brother brought me to Gallante for our first voyage from the mainland together, and Chip treated me as if I was his own son as soon as we started talking.” I watched Chip chat enthusiastically with the stallion’s friend, whooping loudly at one of his own jokes. “My brother left me in Gallante a lot because he didn’t want me to get in trouble on the high-risk ventures, and Chip was there for all of it. I’ve got a lot of memories of working with him during the late hours.” I wanted to continue but Chip’s return prevented me from doing so.
“Where were we… right, right, Haybinger.” He seemed a little disgusted at that. “What were ye doing in Haybinger?” I chewed on my lip as I thought of what to say.
“Hiding.” Chip squeezed his eyes shut, setting his hooves down on the counter.
“And Gale?”
“He’s in prison, probably.” I cringed at the last word, having simply snuck into my speech out of habit. Chip slowly opened one eye, then the other.
“Probably?” He groaned, shaking his head as he held a cyan hoof against his beard. He rolled his jaw around a bit. “Blue, you’re wanted, aren’t you?” Reluctantly, I nodded my head. Chip went to say something else, but set his raised hoof back down on the counter. He stared at me for a while, making me squirm uncomfortably. I took another sip of water and dabbed at my neck in an effort to cool my nerves. It instead felt as if the temperature had raised a few degrees. He finally seemed to finish whatever he was contemplating in the form of a sigh.
“What’s been your plan?” My brain glossed over the line a few times, before I felt as if a gangplank had slammed into my horn at full speed.
What was my plan?
“Uh…” He waited patiently for me as I thought. “I was just doing odd jobs for ponies in Haybinger, but then the navy came into town and I got scared so I just climbed onto a caravel and I took it out to sea.” I took a breath and held it in, waiting for the reply.
“Blue… As much as I want to believe you, I find it hard to do so. You stole a caravel?” I nodded slowly. “On your own?”
“You can tell him about me, chick.” Keel whispered, digging a claw into my neck. It was small and harmless, but I shivered at the touch.
“Yes.” I lied through my teeth. Chip shook his head again, and I almost felt Keel shake his own head.
“Unbelievable. I’m obliged to not believe you, but then again, you’re right here.” He waved his disbelief off. “What are you gonna do now?”
“I was going to see if there were seaponies near the eastern islands—”
“Seaponies?” Chip resisted the urge to yell, and lowered his tone after clearing his throat. “Seaponies… Do you even know what you’re saying, Blue? Those waters are full of the narwhals from the northern waters—”
I cut him off. “I’m aware.” Chip blinked once. Then twice.
“You need a crew, you can’t just go out there alone!”
I made another lie. “I have my magic.” I raised a hoof as he went to speak. “But I do need a crew.”
“And what are you gonna do with that crew? Just go lookin’ for the ‘seaponies?’” He had a point there.
Keel dug his claws in again. “I’d throw in some treasure if I were you.”
“There’s treasure down there.” I rubbed a hoof against the back of my neck awkwardly, making Keel scramble back down into the hood to avoid being swatted. “We could look for that as a group.” Chip mouthed the word ‘treasure’ and mumbled something indistinguishable under his breath.
“Blue… that is…”
“One of the few choices I have.” I shrugged. “I’m not doing smuggling anymore, Glass. I want to do something honest with my life.” I looked over my shoulder. To Chipped Glass, it looked as if I was looking at the door to the bar, when in reality I was staring right at Keel. “I’ve heard from some ponies that the seaponies are real, and they need help.” Keel gave me a smile at that, and I smiled back. I looked back at Chip. “I believe in that, Chip, and I want to do something about it. The treasure’s just a bonus.” With my cards set up, I came close to his muzzle. “I know you have connections to ponies I can trust, so, will you help me?” Chip ran a hoof through his mane, watching the table to avoid my gaze.
He looked up with a small, toothless smile after a moment. “Of course I will. You know I wouldn’t leave you hanging like that.”
I returned a grin of my own. “Thanks, Chip.” He waved me off.
“Don’t thank me yet.” He made a motion with his hooves. “You remember where the inn is, right?”
“Yeah.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s literally right next door.” He chuckled.
“There are some ponies you might remember there, just tell ‘em Chip sent ya and they’ll be onboard.” Nodding, I stood from the short stool.
“Thanks again, I’ll see you around, Chip.”
“You better!” he grinned. “And maybe next time we’ll talk properly!” I waved to him before I stepped out onto the moderately populated road. As I began walking to the inn, I pulled the thermos out and took a sip.
“Keel?”
“Yes?”
“Is there any actual treasure down there?” He laughed unrestrained, drawing the attention of a couple of ponies on the street. I awkwardly mimicked the chuckles of the griffin as we began to approach the inn.
“More than you would believe.”