Into That Wild Blue Yonder

by CptBrony

Out in the Field

The following days of travel were easy for Colm and the young man. They had gotten unbelievably lucky with the dragons, not getting roasted like pigs, and they were in high spirits. It was a good day to be alive.

They finally found what they had been hoping to come across, too; a major coastal city, with ports, trade, and all manner of inhabitants. They needed to cross the ocean in order to get to Equestria so they could meet Celestia and the young man could go home, and it was either this or find a way to walk on water. With no options, they took it in stride and waltzed into the city.

The instant they hit the streets, they knew they weren’t the kinds of guys who typically hung out here. The people on the street were varied, but only to an extent. You had the rich guys, riding in chariots through the filthy streets to do their business, and the vagrants wandering about looking for handouts. There were sailors and pirates all over, too, either drunkenly trying to duke it out with a lamp post or trying to pickpocket every drunken sailor who walks by.

“I’m not so sure about this,” Colm said.

“Well, neither am I,” the young man said. “But we have to work with what we’ve got.”

They had no idea where to even start. They didn’t want to start just asking questions on the street: that was a great way to get robbed. They had to go somewhere where people actually did legitimate business. They needed to find a shipping company or cruise line.

“Do ya think a cruise line would EVER come here?” Colm asked rhetorically.

“Shipping line it is,” the young man said.

The best place to start looking would probably be by the docks. The duo kept on walking through the streets, holding their bags close to avoid getting robbed. They could tell that the local thieves were eying them, but they made sure to look like they wouldn’t be victims to discourage them from trying.

After maybe twenty minutes of walking, they made it to the ports where cargo was being loaded onto and off of the ships. They were all old style ships, the most advanced looking kind of like the Titanic, just not as big. A lot were old-style, wooden sailing ships, and there were cutlasses everywhere. The young man felt uneasy about being around so many blades.

“How do we do this?” Colm asked.

“Well, I can’t read half of these signs,” the young man said. They were some of the most poorly scrawled signs he’d ever seen. “Most of these are probably warehouses, and they won’t exactly welcome us inside with the cargo.”

“Why not?” Colm asked.

“You’re transporting massive amounts of food in a city where half of the residents are in poverty,” the young man said. “Or maybe you’re transporting goods of value or contraband, and two random dudes from the street ask ‘Can I come inside?’ Why do you think?”

“Ah, alright, alright, Ah get it,” Colm said. “Let’s just ask, then.”

“Might as well,” the young man said. He looked around. Half of these characters around him were griffons, some were ponies, and there were even some cat-people or something. They definitely seemed the sketchiest.

“I’ll take the lead,” Colm said. He had read the young man’s mind on that one.

Colm took the front as they forayed into the ports to find a pony to talk to. There was a good chance that their actions with the griffons were known by now, so they weren’t too intent on talking to any griffons who may hand them over for a coin or two. Of course, they would probably get more than that for turning in deserters.

Colm picked a random stallion and hailed him. The stallion looked over curiously, then set down what he was carrying and walked over.

“Hello there,” Colm said.

“Aye, greetin’s,” the stallion said. “What brings ya here? Most ponies don’t come by here lest they be working.”

“We’re looking for transport across the ocean,” Colm said. The stallion nodded slowly. “We need to find the owner of a ship so we can negotiate passage.”

“Well, this ship ain’t takin’ passengers,” the stallion said. “But the offices are down that way if ya need some help.” The stallion pointed them to a building three docks up. “Someone there may help ya out.”

“Thank you,” Colm said. He and the young man walked in that direction.

“That was easier than expected,” the young man said.

“We were dealing with griffons for a while,” Colm said. “They’re famous for being greedy little turds. It’s nice to talk to a pony again.”

The pair walked to the office building and entered slowly. The building was surprisingly lean inside for where it was, with white tile floors and walls painted an easy shade of gray. Several desks with secretaries lined each side of the room, and there were two elevators and a staircase at the end of the room to go to the offices.

“Pick one and give it a go,” the young man said. Almost all the secretaries were ponies. Colm picked one at random and started talking.

“Hello,” Colm said as he walked up to the desk. The mare behind it looked up and smiled.

“Hello,” she said. How was it that basic courtesy seemed to great after spending time with griffons? “How can I help you?”

“My friend and I are looking for transport across the ocean to Equestria,” Colm said, leaning onto the desk. “We were wondering if any of the fine business owners here would talk to us about getting passage.”

The secretary smiled and leaned forward. “Well, there are a couple of stallions you may want to talk to about that,” she said. “Mr. Goodhooves and Mr. Cringle, both on the third floor. They own the ironclads you probably saw out there.”

“Well, that sounds perfect,” Colm said. “Ah don’t suppose you might be able to get us to see them?”

“I certainly can,” the secretary said with a wink and a grin. The young man rolled his eyes. “They’ll only see one of you at a time, though.”

“Buddy, why don’t you take the lead now,” Colm said. “Thanks for letting us see them, miss...?”

“Daisy,” the secretary said.

“Daisy,” Colm said. “Now, Ah don’t suppose you could arrange for me ta see you again later?”

The young man shook his head and walked over to the elevator. He didn’t particularly care to hear Colm trying to get personal with a secretary right now. Thankfully, the elevator was already at the first floor, so the young man just hopped on when the door opened. As the door closed, he saw Colm laughing with the secretary mare.

The young man rode the elevator to the third floor. When he got off, it was more of the same white tile and gray walls, well kept and clean. A stark contrast with outside. There were multiple doors in a small hallway when he got off the elevator, the first two in front of him being for Cringle and Goodhooves.

The young man decided on Goodhooves for his first try because he had a nice name. Of course, it was probably ironic. You don’t get high in business by being a nice guy. The young man knocked on the door and waited.

“Come in,” a voice said.

The young man opened the door and walked into an office space totally different from what was outside. The room had a very Japanese feel, with paper room dividers, bonsai trees, and other culturally Japanese decorations. Goodhooves himself wore a Kimono at his desk.

“Hello,” the young man said.

Goodhooves look up and startled. “Daisy didn’t say a human was coming up,” he said with a chuckle. “What can I do for you?”

“My friend Colm and I are looking for passage to Equestria,” the young man explained. “We don’t see any cruise ships around, so we figured a cargo ship would be the next best bet.”

“Ha, I understand,” Goodhooves said. “Please, sit.”

The young man sat. “We are prepared to pay, of course,” he said.

“I’m afraid that I can’t take that money, actually,” Goodhooves said. The young man made a face. “Now, now, no worries. I can’t take the money because I am not certified for that business in Equestria. It’s unavoidable in legitimate business.”

“I see,” the young man said.

“However, if I were to simply hire you for a single voyage, I could take you across,” Goodhooves said. The young man perked up. “Based on that gi, I’d say you know how to fight.”

“I do,” the young man said.

“See, my ships are constantly besieged by pirates. Price of business here, sorry to say,” Goodhooves explained. “I need good fighters on my ships to protect my cargo. I also need them to protect my cargo while it is still on land.”

“Still on land?’ the young man asked.

“Pirates attack my ships and they sneak through ports and shipyards to steal,” Goodhooves lamented. “If you and your friend are fighters, I could hire you to keep an eye on my cargo here and on the voyage to Manehattan.”

“Sounds like a good deal to me,” the young man said. “Food and transport to Equestria in exchange for cargo protection?”

“Sums it up nice,” Goodhooves said.

“Alright,” the young man said. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

They shook on it and the young man made his way downstairs to tell Colm the good news. He hadn’t even had to really negotiate or go see the other guy for a better deal. With how well that went, and with Colm getting his groove on downstairs, things seemed to be going pretty well. Almost too well.

The young man took the elevator down and, when he stepped off, was greeted with the sight of Colm tickling the secretary Daisy down her neck. As he walked up, he cleared his throat rather loudly, distracting the two of them and attracting all kinds of attention to what they were doing.

“Colm, we got what we came for, but it’ll be some days before we depart,” he said. “Let’s go find a place to stay, preferably nearby. Miss, would you happen to know of any place?”

“Just down the street, the Foc’s’le is a nice building. Just across from mine,” the secretary added with a wink at Colm. The young man sighed internally. “Tell them you work for Goodhooves. You’ll get a killer rate.”

“Sweet, thank you, honey cakes,” Colm said.

“Oh, stop,” Daisy said.

“Please, do,” the young man added.

“Here’s my building and apartment number,” Daisy said, handing Colm a little note. “I get off at seven.”

“Sounds like you’ll get off every hour after seven to me,” Colm said.

“Okay!” the young man said, grabbing Colm by his mane. “Let’s go rent a place! Thank you for the help.”

“I’ll see you later,” Colm said with a wink.

The young man yanked Colm out of the building and they started walking. As they walked, he couldn’t contain his laughter as it started seeping through the cracks of his previously serious demeanor. Colm just had this stupid grin on his face like he had found his princess.

“Seriously, dude?” the young man asked. “You said that?”

“I’m clever when Ah want to be,” Colm said.

“That wasn’t even remotely clever,” the young man said. “Being clever in such pursuits involves subtlety, being smooth. That was like throwing an innuendous grenade into a room full of bored mares.”

“Hey, she wanted me,” Colm said. “She wasn’t just bored.”

“Hey, you do you,” the young man said.

“Or her,” Colm replied. The young man chuckled.

“You really think so?” the young man said.

“Dang right,” Colm said. “She said she has an itch. She scratches it on her own, but she said it’s nothing like when a stallion like mahself scratches it for her.”

“An itch?” the young man said.

“Takes over the whole area, she said,” Colm said. The young man held in his laughter.

“Did she also say it’s a burning need?” he asked.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” Colm replied.

The young man couldn’t hold it and exploded into laughter in the middle of the street. Ponies and griffons around them looked in their direction to see what was so funny. Colm just stared at his friend, confused.

“Colm,” the young man tried to say, practically dying of laughter. “That- that isn’t an itch you wanna scratch, buddy!”

“What?” Colm asked. “Why?”

“Let’s just say this,” the young man said, recovering. “If you scratch that particular itch, you may start to feel it yourself. And there is no getting rid of it.”

“What do you mean? I don’t think-“ Then, it hit Colm. “Oh. Ooohhh.”

The young man patted him on the back. “Better luck next time,” he said. “Maybe try again when we aren’t in a sailor’s town.”

“Well… I kinda promised you might come along…” Colm said.

“Colm, what the f-“

The conversation about ended there, mostly just continuing with the young man berating Colm for trying to include him in his coastal sexcapades without telling him. When they arrived at the Foc’s’le, they rented a room with what money they still had to get ready for work the next day. They had it easy up to now, but all that was about to change; they should have looked more into the job they were taking.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

The pony on the left, why is the area around his mouth discolored?

[terrycloth]

He didn't mention that the next stop in Manehattan is ten years from now.

[CptBrony]

8133306
Nor did the young man think to ask what sort of cargo Mr. Goodhooves ships...