//------------------------------// // When Priorities Collide // Story: The Olden World // by Czar_Yoshi //------------------------------// Valey had no choice but to be dragged along by Puddles, bound to her with her forehooves frozen together like two links in a chain. Overpowering the mare was out of the question; even if she wasn't abnormally strong, her hooves stuck to the ground as if by suction cups, little frosty hoofsteps remaining in her wake as she walked. Eventually, Valey gave up struggling and settled for riding awkwardly on Puddles' back, figuring she'd save her strength for whenever a real opportunity presented itself. Puddles, for her part, happily followed the yet-unnamed captain, Belinda and Howe to the roof of a nearby building. All three of them could fly, and Valey thought for sure she'd get a chance to slip away when someone carried Puddles... but the earth pony merely planted her forehooves on the building's wall and they stuck, leaving thin tendrils of frost and allowing her to climb up. Valey clung tightly to her; falling and dangling by her forelegs would be very uncomfortable. "Well then," the captain said once they were all settled on the roof. "I be Cap'n Golbez the Black, and ye be sayin' ye want to join me crew. What's an ice mage like ye want with the likes of the open seas, lass?" Belinda imperiously cleared her throat, still heavily scratched from being shoved through a window. "Answer truthfully! Captain Golbez's crew is a righteous organization, and we don't take petty criminals or outlaws! So depending on what you're doing with a sarosian-" "And meee," Howe giggled to the side. "My great fortune of possessing an airship became yours, and in turn, we forged a bond that will endure throughout the ages! I, your most loyal compatriot, pledge to-" "Put a sock in it, both of ye," Golbez interrupted. "I wouldn't be opposed to a small compromise here and there, seein' how we're on the back paw. But sing, lass. State yer' reasonin'." Puddles shrugged, bouncing Valey on her back. "To annoy cute Valey, and because it sounds fun. I wanna swash buckles and wear an eyepatch and yell 'Arrrrr!' And I wanna boat, and your hat. Let Puddles be captain!" Golbez looked like he had just opened a cabin to find it filled to bursting with fish. "What's that ye say?" His beak dropped just a little longer, then he started laughing. "Arrrr har har har! Ye want me job? To have a ship of yer' own and be called Cap'n? No! Why don't ye just steal a ship instead of pestering me, then? What do ye even think we do with our time, lass? Fancy it a never-endin' party? That and it bein' a whole slog of gutless villainy be the only two tales that get told out here on the mainland. Do ye really think that?" Puddles stuck out her tongue. "Who cares? Puddles wants'ta be one. I made up my mind this morning." She puffed out her chest like this was a proud accomplishment. "Are you serious?" Belinda looked offended. "You romantic slacker! How dare you disparage our crew with your insinuations of laziness! Raaaugh..." She shook in place. "But we do need the talent..." Golbez shook his head and stepped back. "This be the exact grade of idiot I made me last crew from. Belinda, ye take over this for me. I be sheddin' tears for the lost art of piracy." Belinda walked smugly up to Valey, knowing full well that she was restrained and there could be no fighting. "Hello, sarosian," she declared, looking down on her with superiority. "You knew who we were, at least. Did we demolish your pathetic crew some time ago? It wasn't worth remembering." "Nope!" Valey replied with forced glibness. "I just stowed away on your boat and was there that time you got your rears handed to you all at once by a single sphinx, and you didn't even notice." She frowned. "Now seriously, what's your beef? You mind sending Bubbles here packing? Because I'm pretty sure we're all offending each other right now and want nothing more than to be as far away as mutually possible." Belinda smiled, drawing a sword. "Well, there's an easy fix for that..." Valey's cutie mark burned, and her eyes widened as the griffonness prepared to stab. Chained to Puddles, she could maybe dodge one attack, but if they kept coming, she was defenseless! It would hurt, but she'd have to grab the blade with her wings and try to disarm her by force. Hopefully talons didn't have as good a grip as- Flash! There was a spark sunlight glinting off moving metal, and then the reddened tip Belinda's sword was quivering less than an inch from Valey's nose. Her view of the griffon was blocked, separated by Puddles' raised forehoof, the sword running her leg completely through. "Bubbles. I like that." Puddles' voice was cold and metallic, and not lacking in volume. Belinda suddenly jumped back, clutching at her sword talon and hissing as if it had been stung. "Don't touch cute Valey. She belongs to me!" The color of the sword metal slowly lightened, spikes of frost forming along its surface, until it shattered entirely, the foreleg still held high. As everyone watched, Puddles' wound crackled with ice-blue energy, sealing itself and disappearing entirely. Puddles finally blew on the hoof, pushed her goggles back to reveal her eyes, and put the restored hoof down, making a show of it taking weight. "Now," she chirped dangerously, back to her usual voice. "I wanna boat and an eyepatch and a cool hat. Let Puddles join!" "What fiendish strength," Howe whispered to himself. "Such power among non-unicorns is exceedingly rare! How mysterious..." "...Ye've made yer point," Golbez admitted. "Belinda, lay down me rules and see what the icy lass thinks of them." Looking shaken, Belinda straightened her golden crest and gave Puddles and Valey a haughty sniff. "Listen up, heretics. Captain Golbez's crew has one rule: skirmish with the heathens of the night. All other activity is on an as-needed basis. Garsheeva's laws are to protect the faint of heart from having to get their hooves dirty, and we respect that by being the ones to do the dirtying! It's a noble calling, and we sacrifice our own privilege to live as real citizens for the betterment of the empire! With us, you go ashore under the refuge of audacity, or not at all. It's a one-way lifestyle, a job you can't turn your back on! Is that really what you think you can handle?" Puddles raised her head, sniffing. After a while, she pointed out in a direction towards the sea. "Puddles doesn't want to be on land. She wants to go..." She sniffed again. "That way." Valey blinked, the behavior suddenly catching her attention. What was she doing? Belinda's eyes narrowed. "Did you listen to a thing I said? You're lugging around a sarosian on your back and just took a blow for her! Stop being disrespectful!" "Because cute Valey is Puddles'." Puddles shrugged, as if that should have been obvious. "Go get your own cuddly pony." She blew a raspberry. Howe anxiously tapped his forehooves together, sitting off to the side. "That is the demeanor of a mare who can kick all our rears in a heartbeat..." "Troublesome child." Golbez shook his head. "Is throwin' an ocean party really all that matters to ye? If we brought ye along, what would ye do? Laze about the deck all day long? Hog the best cabin for yerself? Would ye at least help fight in skirmishes?" "Yup!" Puddles bounced a little, instantly cheering up, and started pacing. "Can I come? Please bring Puddles!" Belinda flung a talon at Valey. "Prove you're worthy by dispatching-" "She can come," Golbez decided. "It be worth providin' for another body with her abilities in combat. Two, if she be needin' to drag this bat around. Forty years, and the first time I'll have ever had a sarosian on me crew..." He shook his head. "As prisoner, but no matter. Come now. Let's get back to me ship and see to it the rest of me crew hasn't blown anything up while we've been away." Valey grimaced as Puddles started walking again. No! She was getting taken captive on a pirate ship? Belinda said they fought sarosians for a living; they absolutely wouldn't make the Stormhoof mistake of leaving the lights off for her. This wasn't worth it. She wasn't about to die or be further separated from her friends for this stupid windigo. She could smell Starlight, she was getting closer... She needed a way out. Forcing herself to be cool and calculated, Valey scanned her surroundings, paying extra attention to Puddles. There had to be a weak point she could exploit somehow. Some way to get herself unstuck from her... The hurt hoof, maybe? Valey glanced at the ground. Puddles' walking was unencumbered, not even carrying a limp. The hoof looked perfect, leaving a trail of frosty hoofprints just like the other as she glued herself to the rooftop, preventing Valey from lifting her away... and then she saw it: only one pair of hoofprints were left in Puddles' wake. The back hooves couldn't cast ice magic. There was her chance. Valey continued to rest on Puddles' back, walking her own hind legs along the ground as they drew closer to the edge. Puddles was going to climb down. She would be unbalanced right about... Now! Valey flipped herself forward into a somersault with a yell, crashing her body into the back of Puddles' head and slamming her frozen forehooves into the mare's soft belly as she tried to straddle the edge of the roof. The impact made Puddles slip, and Valey pumped her wings, giving her an extra burst of momentum as she jumped. "W-Woah!" Puddles teetered, standing on only her forehooves with her rump in the air as Valey lunged out over the street canyon. "Grrr! Cute Valey, what are you... Waaaah!" Crack! Puddles' ice spell was strong, and so was her body, but the packed roof material was the weak link. A small chunk of the corner gave way, Puddles' forehooves both frozen to it, and together they toppled into the street. "Guh!" Valey spat, getting a facefull of Puddles' tail, and writhed, trying to slide Puddles out of her grasp and drop the mare while hovering to get away. Puddles twisted in her grip, kicked at her chest... and her cutie mark flashed, telling her ice was incoming. With a flap of her wings, Valey twisted herself around as well, blocking the attack with the ball of ice that already consumed her forehooves. Puddles slipped free from her grasp, but remained a deadweight, a forehoof of her own now locked to the ball that held Valey's. Valey hovered and Puddles dangled, meeting each other's eyes as Howe and the pirates stood by on the roof, staring. "Cute Valeyyyyy!" Puddles wailed, grinning fiercely. "Don't leave Puddles!" "No!" Valey struggled to stay aloft. The ice was heavy, but now that Puddles was off the ground, she wasn't so hard to carry herself... unless she made more. "Leggo! You're not worth it! I'm done with this game! Get off, you stupid thing!" Puddles lunged with her free hoof, targeting further up on Valey's already-numb forelegs. Flash! Her cutie mark warned her, and she pulled backward, kicking the limb out of the way from the side with a hind leg before she could be iced. Puddles moved to try again... Smassssshh! Valey jetted straight down, slamming Puddles and the ice ball that linked them against the nearby roof to the tavern. Puddles yelped, but more importantly, cracked free from her relatively-shallow connection to the ball. Finally unattached, Valey turned and bolted outward and upward, straining to gain altitude as fast as possible even as the ice weighed her down. "Hiyaaa!" Puddles reared back and stomped, causing the entire roof beneath her to erupt with teal. A pillar of ice appeared beneath her, propelling her upwards, and it didn't stop growing. Valey winced, flapping harder. Puddles was gaining on her just by riding a growing ice crystal... Then her power seemed to run out and the ice shattered, Puddles making a well-aimed leap at the apex. "Cute Valey, come back!" "Bananas, I said no!" Puddles had no way of controlling her trajectory midair, but Valey did. With a swoop, she darted to the side, swirling into Puddles' blind spot. Puddles flailed... and Valey flung her locked hooves over the airborne mare's head, pressing the ice against Puddles' neck and pulling as hard as she could. "If anything, you're coming with me! Now pass out already! You better be spent..." Puddles gagged and flailed, her forehooves unable to reach behind her or do anything more than scrape at the huge ice boulder that linked Valey's forehooves and was now crushing her windpipe. "Puddles..." "Loses!" Valey gasped. "Izvaldi! Pass out! Arrgh, you're heavy!" "Nooo!" Puddles swung her hooves one last time, and with a shatter of ice, the block around Valey's hooves broke, causing Puddles to plummet. Valey hissed, trying to regrab her, but she had no feeling in her legs and it was like doing anything with the end of a stick held in her mouth. "Puddles won't go back!" she shouted as she fell. "Cute Valey, come with Puddles!" Puddles fell, and Valey stopped trying to catch her. "If you want to see me so badly, come to Izvaldi! It's where I'll be! You're resourceful; you can make it! Now... bye!" "Cute Valeyyyyy!" Puddles wailed, falling, but Valey flew up. She flew further and further, peering back with keen eyes, saw Puddles freeze herself right before landing and then get up, staring... and she turned towards Starlight and flew, refusing to look back.