Airship Mauled

by Darkonshadows


Chapter Five, Building Relationships: Romance of the chimera.

-Cheerilee-

“Thanks for letting us know we’re needed again, we’ll gladly come by Airship Mauled later next week and we’ll get to work on it.” The stallion tipped his hard hat to our as of yet unnamed cat leader. “Let your mother know ahead of time to cook some extra for us, her food would absolutely be worth the trip almost on its own. We’ll at least give Celestia a large discount for the services rendered.”

“Thanks, oh and don’t forget to bring a unicorn that can cast a bubble of silence around our home.” After that the cat turned to leave and I was now curious as to why the town was called Airship Mauled.

I was still trying to come to terms with the fact that my students weren’t fillies and colts. The three I was following were friendly enough and Celestia had said the school needed someone to run it, but I didn’t know it was so out of the way.

“We’ll stop by Sugar Cube Corner for some snacks and drinks, then we’re heading straight back to Airship Mauled. Hey, are you still with us teach?” The Abyssinian addressed me affectionately, she was the one that informed me that I was the one to be teaching them.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that…” I had been following them silently for a while and I was being quite rude to them. The only one that seemed normal of the three was the pony and she didn’t seem very talkative. The scar she had and the pirate hat she was wearing around town seemed unusual to me.

I’m a little confused that all the ponies here in Ponyville acted like the pirate hat was a normal everyday occurrence, they were at least slightly skittish of the Abyssinian or even the parrot.

“Don’t worry, I understand. We’re not what you were exactly expecting, let me introduce myself properly Ms. Cheerilee. I’m Jaded La Perm, my friends call me Jade.” Jade turned from me and pointed out her friends, she introduce the pony first and then the parrot. “This here is Fizzlepop Berrytwist, she prefers to be called Fizzle and there’s something she’s going to have to show you later if you plan to stick around. That there is Jacky Blackcap Chickadee, she’s was stuck on an island until recently and it’s why she’s looking around everywhere in excitement.”

“Hello.” It was all the pony said to me as she gave me a pensive glance, but gave warmer look towards the Abyssinian. She didn’t think much of me and I wondered why.

“Hey Captain, how come ponies don’t use airships more often? I’m only seeing them around that Canterlot place in the distance.” It was a good question from Ms. Chickadee and I cleared my throat to answer it.

“Well airships are costly to build and maintain, the few who own the airships around Canterlot are the rich and noble.” I was quite willing to share my knowledge with a new student.

“In other words. The nobles of Canterlot have a monopoly on airship building, transport and trade in the given area and are actually holding the rest of the ponies back from growing the industry. They are making it too costly for normal ponies to afford easily and are doing it out of hedonism, a sense of power and to flaunt their egos with having something that others can’t possibly afford. ” Well Jade seemed to know quite a bit about things and that was quite an accurate summation of why we don’t have as many airships as other places. It was kind of sad, but it was the truth that the nobles were in the way of airships being commercially available to the rest of the public. “The nobles are just thankful there aren’t any pirates here who would want to tussle with the local Wonder Bolt squads, at least when said squads are on their game. Also, no we are not going to pillage and or loot them Jacky.”

Wait… what!?

“What do you…?” I started and was cut off.

“Aw, come on Captain. Why can’t we just do a little looting, pillaging and plundering?” Okay what kind of person was this Jacky that she would suggest robbing the nobles out loud like that, more importantly what kind of environment was she raised in? Jade did say she came from an island, so that’s a clue. “I mean it’s not like there are people that actually like those rich snobs right? We could make better use of those airships, if they weren’t being built so shoddily just to only look impressive. The construction on that one in particular looks like it’d perform poorly in a fight. It’s like a sad flying peacock, all visuals and very little in the way of actual function compared to form. A single cannonball to the tail of that thing would have it dropping to the ground in a minute.”

“I think that might be one of Prince Blueblood’s airships.” I muttered out loud, it looked like it was a decadent enough cruiser to be one of his.

“I’m sorry about Jacky, she was raised on an island that was made by, and is mostly for, pirates. I’m her captain for life after getting her off said island.” After a moment of silence to think it over as we entered Sugar Cube Corner, she then added. “Correction we can raid one of Blueblood’s ships later, but we’d have to ask Celestia for permission to do some limited and rather specific… privateering.”

“Fine by me Captain, I wouldn’t want you to get you in trouble with the sun princess!” I can’t believe those two were actually considering it, much less that they would even ask Celestia if they could. What kind of students was I being saddled with?

“You two are nuts.” Fizzle aptly described how I felt about them, but she was the one with the scar and pirate hat making it sound more ridiculous coming from her mouth. “If you actually end up doing that, then take me with you. I’m getting tired of just sitting around Airship Mauled and would welcome the adventure.”

There were no words for what I was dealing with right now.

-Jade-

It was always nice seeing Pinkie, but we couldn’t stay in Ponyville all day and play pirate with her. We had to get Cheerilee introduced to our hovel of a humble town after all. Though Pinkie pretending to be a sugar pirate would explain why most of the ponies around us were ignoring Fizzle’s pirate hat, admittedly the hat gave her facial scar quite a bit of flavor to her appearance.

“So your education wasn’t that bad?” Cheerilee was a bit shy about talking to us, but she eventually opened up enough to ask us about our schooling. “Just hearing about your physical education sounds like a nightmare!”

“Wooden cutlasses hurt a lot, sure, but I wouldn’t call my school bad. Though the worst ones were the ones that were splintering a lot from too much use.” I did not need to know about her pirating school any more, Jacky had decent marks in all her classes and if it weren’t for her bad luck she would have been off the island sooner. “We got extra credit for carving out new swords for ourselves and others. I’m no less educated than Captain La Perm or Quartermaster Fizzle.”

“I don’t like being called a quartermaster Blackcap.” Fizzle actually got along with Jacky most of the time, she just didn’t like being called a quartermaster. It probably sounded like an insult given that Fizzle only had about a quarter of her horn left.

Speaking of Fizzle’s horn.

“I think we’re far enough away from Ponyville Fizzle.” She looked at me while wincing, she really didn’t want to show Cheerilee her broken horn. “Better to show her now before she discovers later, do it while she still has the time to turn around and go back. Also Jacky is not using Quartermaster as a derogatory term, she’s actually trying to endear herself to you. Quartermaster is a very important position in a pirate crew for someone highly intelligent and she’s actually trying to compliment you… in her own way.”

“I know… it just sounds a bit derogatory to me considering…” At a point Fizzle just drifted off looking away. She didn’t sound angry, just upset that she had to show Cheerilee what’s under the hat.

Fizzle still didn’t really like talking about her horn, in fact I’d say she was mostly trying to forget she was a unicorn or had ever been one at all. It was a part of her history and it might be a part of it again eventually if I had any say about it.

“Show me what?” Well Cheerilee this might shock you, but Fizzle is more than meets the eye. She should stop the deception and or conning about being an earth pony.

I sent Fizzle a look as I put my left arm around her comfortingly, she didn’t shrug me off. We stopped walking and Fizzle gave me a look. Fizzy closed her eyes and removed her hat with her left hoof while sighing loudly.

Cheerilee gasped at the sight. It was old news to me and Jacky, though I wished Jacky had held back on suggesting installing a hook where Fizzle’s horn once was. The suggestion had been a bit insensitive to Fizzle and I had let Jacky know how I felt about her upsetting my friend.

“Oh… well then… if it bothers you, I won’t talk about it and we can just move on.” At least Cheerilee understood it was a touchy subject, she’d be a great teacher for her empathy.

“I was attacked by an Ursa… it’s where I got my scar from.” I hugged Fizzle tighter, she gave me a weak smile and hugged me around the waist with her right hoof.

“For what it’s worth, you seem to be coping better than most ponies would.” That was actually quite comforting for Cheerilee to state, as Fizzle seemed to lose tension in her body and she nuzzled up against me.

“It’s because I’ve got people that care about me.” I tussled Fizzle’s mane and she smiled a bit more, eventually we separated.

“The Captain is love, the Captain is life and a good one takes care of their crew in times of strife!” Only because you wouldn’t accept anything else Jacky.

Ms. Chickadee might still annoy me or Fizzle at times, she may be a bit unlucky, but she’s always going to be our friend come Tartarus or planetary flooding. If there was a current active element of loyalty, it was certainly Blackcap.

A loud shifting in the nearby trees caused us to pause, this area seemed rather… oh… right.

I was forced to the ground by a familiar chimera pouncing on me. We were currently walking right by flame geyser swamp, I had forgotten that an old friend practically patrolled the tracks for track kill when her hunting was going poorly.

Fizzle’s reaction was to get ready for a rough fight, she growled and her stump starting to spark up wildly. Jacky’s reaction was to pull the sword I used from the mêlée a trois, she was a much better sword fighter than I was. Cheerilee looked to have a panicked expression on her face and looked stuck between a fight or flight response.

As for me?

“Hey, Bloody Maries… how’s life treating you?” One would hope the others noticed that I was rather calm about having been shoved to the ground and had a chimera standing over me.

“Can’t complain, though our front left leg has been a bit of an issue since we faced you in battle.” All three heads said at once. Well I did address them as a whole being, so as such they’d speak as one. After a moment Mara the tiger head decided to nuzzle me affectionately. “Hello mate, you are looking quite well.”

“Er… what... I just thought I and Marie had a deal.” Now I lost composure, did the chimera just seriously call me her mate? I made an offer of nonaggression and friendship based on Bloody Maries not killing any intelligent thinking beings. It was something she had yet to actually do and not for the lack of trying mind you. “Didn’t she tell you?”

I did ask Marie to stick to wild animals or other carnivores, which shouldn’t have been too hard and the snake head had even agreed with me at the time. How had things changed so drastically from then to now?

Of course there were now horrific implications to my current positioning beneath them and I almost wished it meant she was going to consume me… eat me… rip me a new one? Nope, I couldn’t think of a way to make this sound any less perverted and that’s with an intelligent flesh eating monster standing over me. She did have sense of exotic beauty though… darn you hormones!

“Captain… you… know this strange land creature?” Jacky never had to deal with a number of creatures before, she was seriously thinking of getting a pet flying squirrel after seeing one for the first time. She put away the sword.

“Yes, she does. Now if you will excuse us, we will converse with our mate about things of importance that have happened to us since we last met.” What had happened to Bloody Maries? I was currently and completely lost, maybe even caught a bit flatfooted and might be even too flabbergasted to respond. “Yes Marie told us of your dealings with her, but I and Maria have decided to further the deal into something more.”

“Wouldn’t that require that I be there to discuss it?” I could sense trouble in my near future, given they all shook their heads no.

“Your presence wasn’t required, you who achieved victory over us.” Maria leaned down and slapped her tongue against my neck and dragged straight up the side of my face mussing up my fur. “We give you our affection.”

“You know what, save me from her… please!” My friends looked ready for a fight, but backed off when the Bloody Maries glared at them and started to cuddle me between her tiger paws.

“We will follow our mate wherever she goes!” All heads said at once in a possessive manner. “You can’t keep us away forever.”

“Only you can end up in a situation like this Jade.” My dear friend Fizzle muttered dryly, she shook her head and started walking in the direction we were originally going. “Well nothing for it, we’ll have to bring her home with us.”

“I will gladly accept living in your cave, I have no place anymore among my kind.” As she collectively said this, Bloody Maries quickly tossed me deftly onto her back. I looked down at her in surprise and a little bit of worry. “Do not feel sad for us mate, once we chose to pursue you our six parents saw us off properly as is traditional among chimera.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m feeling right now… let’s go with that.” Instead what I was truly feeling, which was fear mixed with a sprinkling of horror at possibly having a chimera following me around for the rest of my life.

“Is this normal for you?” A curious Cheerilee asked of my two friends.

“For the Captain?" Soon followed Jacky’s swift and eloquent reply. "Yep, certainly!”