The Road to Ornithia

by The FraudulentBrit

How I Met the Powder Monkey

“Wakey Wakey!” Angel Wings sang to her new cabin mate. After the horrific discovery of a destroyed ship in the air, as well as the fact that only one mare was found alive, the day had proceeded same as usual, or at least as usual a day that Angel Wings had seen since she joined the crew. The only thing that was new was her cabin mate, the mare. Unfortunately, after she was brought on the ship, the Pegasus mare simply had her drink with Angel Wings, crawled into a hammock, wrapped herself in a blanket, and hadn’t said a word. Though she enjoyed having a new cabin mate (As well as another mare on a ship full of stallions), she was worried for her new friend’s refusal to speak.

“Come on.” Angel Wings tried get her new friend to move. “It’s a brand new day!” The mare simply gave Angel Wings a grumpy glare as she rolled over, pulling her blanket over her. Angel Wings knew that this mare wasn’t just being a grump, but rather survived something horrible. “Anything you want to talk about?” She asked, trying to get the mare to say something. Instead, the mare simply lay there, saying nothing.

The whistle went off above them, and Angel Wings knew she’d have to get ready pretty soon. Taking a deep breath in resignation, she said, “Look, I’ll be with Mr. Perry today, so if you need anything, I’ll be on the gun deck, ok?” Again, the mare didn’t even move. Angel Wings then continued, “Well, I’m gonna get ready, is that alright?” When the mare didn’t react again, she just sighed and began to get ready for the day.

Angel Wings made her way to the back of the queue, hoping that she wasn’t the absolute last pony to be served. From the smell in the air, she could easily tell that Bully Beef was preparing one of her favorite breakfast dishes, veggie sausage. “Hm, veggie sausage.” She said to herself, allowing her mind to drift off for a moment. She was so lost in her train of thought that she almost didn’t notice the hoof-steps approaching from behind her. “Sleep Well?” Old Silver playfully asked from behind her. Angel Wings jumped into the air in surprise before she realized who had greeted. “Oh, Silver, it’s only you.” She said as she floated gracefully back down to the deck. She then continued, “Though for a moment I thought it was Wyvern.” Silver, cocky grin still present on his face, added, “Well, I do have a better singing voice than Wyvern.”

After both Silver and Angel Wings made their way to one of the tables, Silver asked, “So, how’s our new guest?” Angel Wings hesitated for a moment before answering, “After we had a drink last night, she tucked herself in one of the hammocks and hasn’t moved since.” She took a sip of her drink, an orange juice, and continued, “I’m kinda worried for her.” “So am I.” Silver replied. “There’s no way of knowin’ what happened to her and that ship unless she talks.” After taking a bite from his veggie sausage, he continued, “On another note, you ready for an exciting day with Mr. Perry?” Angel Wings gave Silver a playful nudge and replied, “You bet.” She then planted a small kiss on Silver’s cheek. “You missed.” He snarkily replied. Both ponies then shared a quick kiss. Silver then continued, “Don’t worry about our guest. I’ll keep an eye on her.” Angel Wings nodded and said, “Thanks. Oh, and one more thing.” She then leaned close to him and whispered, “I love you.” Silver returned the favor and whispered, “I love you too.”

“Good morning powder monkeys!” Perry enthusiastically called out to the others on the gun deck. The other sailors immediately snapped to attention, leaving Angel Wings feeling slightly awkward when she didn’t follow suit. It was actually rather odd to see Perry in a situation where he was in command of anything. Normally, he gave the impression that he was just some sort of laid back smart mouth. However, from what little she had seen here, mainly the encounter with Celaeno and what she was witnessing here, Perry was very capable of putting on a commanding front, and she couldn’t help but find him kind of intimidating.

Perry made his way up to Angel Wings, his face solid and stern and his stride leaving no doubt as to who was in charge. “I understand this is your first day on my gun deck, is it not?” Angel Wings nervously nodded yes. Perry then let out a surprisingly encouraging laugh as he continued, “Then I suggest you sit back and take notes. We’re gonna give you a crash course in cannonades!” He then immediately turned to some of the other sailors and shouted, “Ok boys! I want a demonstration shot ready in sixty seconds!” They immediately darted over to one of the cannons and began to work their magic.

Angel Wings was mesmerized by what she was witnessing. Within the sixty seconds Perry had allowed, the small group of sailors had opened the cannon’s breach, loaded a shot into the barrel, primed it, closed the breach, and finished the loading steps. One of the sailors, an earth pony, immediately stated, “Sir, cannon is loaded and ready sir!” Perry then lit his horn and set off the cannon. Angel Wings found herself collapsing to the deck, holding her hooves to her ears. After a few moments, Perry walked up to her and said, “Yeah, I forgot to mention that these girls can be loud.” “I couldn’t tell.” Angel Wings replied, her mild annoyance giving way to a sarcastic smirk.

Perry then pointed back towards the sailors working the gun. Angel Wings turned to see the sailors had taken a rod with a sponge at one end, dipped the sponge in a liquid, and were ramming it down the barrel. Perry then asked, “Know why they’re washing the barrel down?” “To keep the barrel clean?” She asked. Perry replied, “Partially, but mostly to extinguish any embers left after the explosion.” He then shot Angel Wings a mischievous smile and continued, “I hope you’re taking notes ‘cause there’ll be a test at the end of the day.” Angel Wings gulped at the prospect of a test; she’d barely passed the written test to get into the Wonderbolts’ reserves, and she hoped that Perry wouldn’t be as difficult as that was.

Of course Perry was going to test her. After a surprisingly long day of gun inspections, carrying ammunition, and drill after drill after drill after drill, Angel Wings ended her day with, of all things, a written exam and “Practical demonstration.” Now, she was just waiting for Perry to decide if she had done a good enough job. Unsurprisingly, she was now pretty nervous.

“Well…” Perry began, hardly smiling but certainly not angry. “I’d say you’re not exactly the best at ever working with cannons…” Angel Wings found herself slinking downwards, expecting him to start berating her. She was pleasantly surprised when he suddenly grew a small smile and finished, “But I’ve seen a lot worse.” He presented her test paper, with her exam, a solid B- written in red ink on the front. Angel Wings let out a deep breath and exclaim, “Oh, thank Celestia.” She then felt a hoof pat her on the back. Turning around, she saw one of the other sailors, a purple unicorn, who said, “Good job kid. And don’t worry, pencil horn here makes every new pony take his exam.” Perry immediately switched to commander mode and barked, “That’s Sir pencil horn to you Barricade.” “Sir, sorry sir.” Barricade replied.

Perry then said, “Besides, there’s only one I would never allow anywhere on my deck.” “Would that be Skibby?” Angel Wings asked. Perry let out a brief chuckle as he replied, “Not him. Or at least not alone.” He then began to walk towards the middle of the deck, specifically one of the beams that led up to the mast, and explained, “The pony in question has a name that starts in “S” and ends in “omers.”

“Somers?” Angel Wings asked. She was more than familiar with Somers, having encountered him during the Raiders’ attack on the Wonderbolts’ base and the final battle against their frigate, and had certainly seen more than enough of his cruelty. “Yeah, that little bastard.” Perry remarked. “No matter what I tried to do with him, he’d either keep screwing up or he’d do something to piss me off on purpose.” He paused for a moment before he continued, “The only thing we had common was we met Silver at the same time.”

“So….” Angel Wings began, only to be interrupted from her train of thought when she heard Silver’s voice call out from behind her. “To answer your question….” He began. “It went down like this.”

The funny thing about a Pegasus growing up outside of Cloudsdale was that you met ponies of all shapes and sizes. For Old Silver, now an older teenager on the verge of adulthood, this meant that whenever they made port, some of the crew would jump ship, and others would come to fill the empty posts. Sometimes there were friendly ponies, such as his good friend Ishmael, who would show up, sail for a voyage or two, then disappear off for a while. Other times, there were ponies like Dashing Duke, a grouchy Pegasus who never had a friendly thing to say about any-pony.

Of course, today, as Silver was working the crane, lifting a crate of supplies, he noticed two ponies approaching the ship. One was a light brown unicorn stallion in a blue double breasted tunic not entirely unlike Nelson’s. He was certainly older than Silver, but still seemed younger than Nelson, and certainly younger than Wyvern (Then again, the only pony said to be close to Wyvern’s age outside of Princess Celestia was some mare in Ponyville). The other pony was a yellow Pegasus colt that seemed to be around Silver’s age. He wore a blue outfit and had a round blue sailor’s hat.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t his outfit that had captured Silver’s attention. This pony was looking at everyone and everything with a sense of superiority and disgust. All in all, Silver had a bad feeling about this pony.

“Mr. Silver!” Cap’n Black Watch called out. “A word in my cabin!” “Aye aye Cap’n!” Silver then turned to the pony next to him and said, “Cap’n needs a word with me.” The stallion replied, “Got it Mr. Silver.” He then took the rope from Silver and continued. “Don’t keep the Cap’n waiting.” Silver nodded and made his way to Black Watch’s cabin.

Silver opened the door to see Black Watch seated behind his desk, and the Pegasus from earlier was seated before him. Black Watch then rose from his chair and said “It seems that ponies seem to think of my ship as a potential school.” “I beg your pardon sir?” Silver asked. The other Pegasus colt then joined the conversation. “Fine lookin ship here.” He said with a thick country accent and noticeable contempt. “For a garbage barge.” He finished, followed by a fit of obnoxious laughter. Black Watch immediately shouted back, “This ship has been in my family for three generations, and I will not have you disrespect her!”

Black Watch refocused his attention back on Silver and began, “This young colt here is Mr. Silver.” He then turned towards the other colt and said, “Mr. Silver, this here is Mr. Somers. He will be joining the crew for the next voyage, and I expect you will help him acclimate to my command.” Silver pondered for a moment, taking a look at Somers. He gave him a very unpleasant glare, and Silver couldn’t help but notice what seemed to be a knife held by his hip. Still, Silver understood an order from his Cap’n, and had no intention of failing him. “I don’t plan to sir.” Silver replied as he took a small gulp, hoping he wasn’t biting off more than he could chew.

Silver brought Somers down to the quarters. “And this is where we sleep.” Silver said as he explained everything to his new shipmate. “Ah figured that.” Somers said as he gave Silver a “friendly pat” on the back, or rather a hard slap. Silver considered saying something about that, but figured it may have just been a miscommunication or may have just been some sort of act of endearment. “In that case...” Silver began. “Find a hammock that’s not bein’ used and set your stuff down.”

Somers began to strut down the hall until he made his way to one of the hammocks. Unfortunately, this hammock had a book on it, symbolizing that it was taken. “This looks like the perfect spot.” Somers said as he casually swept the book to the deck floor and plopped himself on the hammock. Silver made his way to Somers and, mustering enough strength to protest, “That’s my hammock.” Somers simply shrugged and said, “Not anymore.” However, rather than back down, Silver decided to take a page from his sister’s book and walked up to Somers and defiantly said, “That is my bunk, and I would appreciate it if you took another one.”

Somers rose from the hammock, stared Silver in the eyes, and growled, “Are you threatenin’ me boy?” As his wing began to slowly reach for the knife, he heard a low gravelly voice call out from behind him, “What’s goin’ on ‘ere?” Silver and Somers turned to see Wyvern and Flint entering the crew quarters. Silver immediately reported, “Somers here tried to steal my bed!” Flint immediately asked, “Is this true?” Somers lied, “Nah. He pushed me out of the hammock!” Wyvern walked right up to him and warned, “Boy, you best not lie to any-pony on this ship.”

Realizing he’d been caught, Somers growled and stomped away. Silvers straightened his coat and asked, “What’s with that guy anyway?” Flint replied, “Well you didn’t hear it from me….” He then cautiously looked around before continuing, “That little brat was kicked out of the Royal Academy.” “As well as every other boarding school and academy this side of Equestria.” Wyvern added. “Wow.” Silver dryly remarked. “He seems like a real barrel o’ laughs.” Flint rested a hoof on Silver’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry too much lad. I doubt we’ll have to worry about him for more than one voyage.”

Silver simply sighed and replied, “I bloody well hope so.”

Silver and Somers were mopping the gun deck as the latter began to grumble, “This ain’t fair. Ah’m far too important to be doin’ somethin’ so menial.” “Oi!” Silver called out to Somers. “We all gotta do our part, so stop yappin’!” Both colts continued to mop the deck as other ponies began to gather on the deck.

Then, they heard an unfamiliar voice shout, “Alright now powder monkeys! Form up!” All of the other ponies began to line up, forming a straight line. It was at this point that Silver could clearly see that the pony shouting was the unicorn that had joined the same time as Somers. The unicorn then began to speak, “I don’t know what kind operation Black Watch used to run, but now that I’m here you will work these cannons as well as any gun crew in the Equestrian Navy. Am I clear?” “Sir, Yes Sir!” The others chanted back. “Very good.” The unicorn replied. “Now then, let’s start with…”

At that moment, a massive jolt shook the ship, rocking it and forcing several ponies, including Silver and Somers, to the deck. Unfortunately, when Somers began to rise, he placed one of his hooves on Silver’s back, specifically right on top of one of his wing stumps. “Wait a minute.” Somers said as he realized what he had just touched. He turned to Silver and demanded, “Take off your jacket.” “My…” Silver began before he realized what he had said. Rather than complying, Silver buttoned his jacket up defiantly. “No.” He firmly said.

“Boy, Ah didn’t ask.” Somers coldly said before he charged Silver and proceeded to rip his jacket off. “Well I’ll be a donkey’s uncle.” Somers said as he saw Silver’s wing stumps. As Silver began to sheepishly back away, Somers called out, “Wow, Ah thought you were an earth pony, but with those wings you’re just a stumpy little Pegasus.”

“What did you just call me?” Silver angrily asked. Of course Somers just had to use that name. “Stumpy?” Somers replied. “Oh, so you don’t like it, do ya?” For a few moments, no one moved until Somers continued, “Well get used to it Stumpy.” Now, if it were any other name, Silver would just brush it off. Of course, this wasn’t any other name. It was also now that Silver realized that Somers, being a yellow Pegasus with an orange mane, was essentially the stallion version of Spitfire. Now that Silver saw it, he couldn’t un-see it, and within a few seconds, lost all control.

Silver immediately leapt onto Somers and began to pummel him. “Don’t you DARE call me that damned name!” “Fat chance Stumpy!” Somers replied back before he kicked Silver right in the “Chain Shot.” As Silver recoiled in pain, both he and Somers heard a now familiar voice ask, “Ok, what in the Tartarus is going on with you two?” Before either of them could react, he continued, “Scratch that, because I saw and heard everything.” He then turned to Somers and said, “By the way, that was a low blow kid.” He then turned to the other ponies and began to explain, “That’s another thing, I don’t want to see either hazing OR fighting on my deck. Am I clear?” Silver and the others immediately replied, “Sir, yes sir!”

“What’s with all the commotion?” Flint asked as he entered the gun deck. It was at this moment that he noticed Silver was starting to tear up as well as covering his crotch. Turning to the unicorn, Flint asked, “Ok, what happened?” The unicorn whispered something in his ear, and Flint let out an angry sigh. He walked up to Somers and said, “You, Cap’n’s quarters, now!” “What?” Somers asked. “But Stumpy here attacked me!” “NOW!” Flint shouted. Somers screamed in fear as he ran out of the room. Flint then turned his attention to Silver and said, “I’ll be having a word with you later.” Silver gulped and nervously replied, “Yes sir.”

As Flint left, the unicorn made his way up to Silver and said, “That was pretty cool though.” Silver simply replied, “Thank you sir.” “Don’t mention it.” The unicorn replied. He then began to turn to resume his duties, but stopped and said, “By the way, the name’s Perry.” “Old Silver.” Silver replied as he picked up his mop and resumed his duties.

Neither would really interact much for the next few months, but….

“That was pretty nice of you Mr. Perry.” Angel Wings remarked. “Yeah, that kid gave me a bad vibe the moment I saw him.” Perry replied. Silver then continued, “Still, we didn’t interact too much afterwards, at least until the mutiny.” “I remember you told me about the mutiny.” Angel Wings said as she shuddered. “I can’t believe Somers was so cruel that he would…” She couldn’t even bring herself to finish that sentence. Silver then began, “Well, the really interesting part was just after the Mutiny, before we made port. You see……”

Silver, Flint, and the others, or rather the only remaining loyalists, were sitting in the galley, not saying anything. After all, it had been an absolutely horrible last few hours. Somers had staged a mutiny, and in the process he had murdered Cap’n Black Watch. Though most of the others simply sat in sorrowful silence, Silver could barely contain the pain of losing one of the most important ponies in his life. Where there was once the strong dark blue stallion, now all there was left was his Glengarry. It was thanks to this particular hat that Silver owed his very name, and now he realized that other than his memories, this was all that was left of Cap’n Black Watch.

Then Perry started speaking. “Well, I’d say other than that discipline incident, today has been pretty fruitful.” No one said anything as Silver began to tremble with rage. After all they had just suffered, Perry broke the silence with a joke. The gunnery officer continued, “Wow, this place is quieter than a coffee house. Come on boys, why the long faces?” Again, no one said anything, and Silver continued to struggle to keep himself calm. Besides, Perry had been a professional officer in the Equestrian Navy, so he’d know to never cross the line with this kind of humor, or at least know when to stop.

Then he said, “Well, I guess the Cap’n knows what it’s like to have one heck of a close shave.”

In less than a second, Silver turned to Perry, eyes bleeding tears and anger oozing from his broken voice, and shouted with uncontrollable fury, “ SHUT YOUR FUCKING GOB PERRY!” He then stormed out of the galley, pushing several tables and even Nelson out of the way, too upset to really care. The moment Silver was out of sight, Wyvern made his way up to Perry and pinned him against the wall. “Ouch.” Perry complained, “What was that for?” Flint then made his way up to the two and quietly yet furiously said, “You are one wise crack away from gettin’ you arse beaten to a bloody pulp boy!” Perry realized that he was in serious trouble, but also saw that now both Flint and Wyvern were starting to tear up as well.

Wyvern then harshly said, “Cap’n Black Watch meant more to that boy than he did to all of us combined, so you better make it up to him before we make port, or so help me I’m…” He then dropped the Pegasus and returned to his seat, picking up a bottle of whiskey. Flint then simply ordered, “Fix this!” Perry gulped and began to walk to the stairwell, hoping he could find Silver.

The normal quiet of the wind blowing the hull creaking was drowned out by the unmistakable sound of a pony crying his heart out. Silver was barely able to breathe as he let his sorrow pour out. He could barely see anything, simply just letting his emotions escape. How could Perry have been that seemingly cruel? After what they just went through, he was treating it like a great big joke. If anything, Silver knew that he didn’t even want to see him for the rest of the voyage, let alone hear his voice.

“Hey kid.” Perry’s voice calmly rang out from behind him. Silver turned to see none other than Perry, head held low in shame. “What do you want?” Silver angrily asked. Perry simply sighed and said, “I made a horrible mistake.” That was rather unexpected. Perry was usually the kind of pony who was either in officer mode or a light hearted jokester, but now he seemed like a defeated stallion. Silver could only ask, “Flint made you do this, Didn’t he?” “Yeah.” Perry replied before he continued, “He did, and then I remembered something.” “What is it?”

Perry made his way to the ship’s railing and began to explain, “Kid, the funny thing is that under this fancy coat, I’m nothing but a failure.” “Failure?” Silver asked. “Yeah.” Perry replied. “I did mention that I was dismissed from the Navy, right?” “You did.” Silver answered, wondering why the subject had been changed. Perry then pulled a piece of paper from his coat and handed it to Silver. He was amazed and saddened to see what it was.

It was a dishonorable discharge. Apparently, Perry had been accused of overstepping his authority, talking back to superiors, and various other small issues. “All in all, Princess Celestia said I couldn’t “take anything seriously.”” Perry then sighed as he continued, “Of course, my “wonderful sense of humor” only got worse. I worked for a few others, only to get my ass thrown off more than one ship. And the more it happened, the more I relied on quipping and poking fun of things to deal with it, because if I were to try and take things any more seriously then I’d…”

Now it was Perry’s turn to start choking back tears. “Then I met Cap’n Black Watch, and he gave me the chance to command cannons again.” As Perry started to cry, Silver realized something. “Your humor is a mask. Does that mean you joking about Black Watch is just you…” Perry began to talk again, but this time he was a broken mess. “He gave me a chance to command again. He gave me my life back, and that bastard just….” Silver then did something he didn’t expect he’d do.

He wrapped Perry in a close embrace. Perry returned the hug as he cried even harder, with Silver starting to let tears of his own fall. “I know the feelin’.” Silver said. “I ran away from home, and Black Watch gave me a new one.” “Guess he had a way with wayward souls, didn’t he?” Perry warmly asked. Silver simply shrugged and said, “It’s what kept me around. I don’t think there is anything I could do to repay him.” Perry then grew a small smile as he asked, “I thought you didn’t keep debts?”

If this were a few hours earlier, Silver would have slugged Perry or kicked him in the “chain shot.” However, now, he could only let out a simple laugh. And so both stallions just took the next few hours to catch their breath and let out as much of their grief as they could.

Angel Wings couldn’t help but feel her eyes start to water a bit. Even Silver was starting to sniffle a bit. “Yeah, we all lost somethin’ when Black Watch died.” Perry then finished, “So long story short, after that Silver helped me keep my sense of humor in check so we didn’t have a repeat of that little incident.” “I bet.” Angel Wings replied. “I would probably have just slugged you.” “Ooh, I bet you could.” Perry jokingly replied.

“Cap’n!” Nelson shouted from above. “I’ll be right there Mr. Nelson!” Silver replied. He then turned to the others and said, “Mr. Perry, my dear, I am needed elsewhere.” “Get moving sir.” Perry playfully quipped as he prodded Silver towards the stairwell. Angel Wings couldn’t help but giggle at the show before her.

Once Silver was gone, Perry returned his attention to Angel Wings and said, “So, I’m going to need you to perform one more drill on the cannons.” “You’re joking right?” She asked. Perry simply shot her a smile and replied in a deadpan voice, “Does it look like I’m joking?” Angel Wings simply sighed and said to herself, “Oh bother.”