Part 3: More Crewmates and making (And saving) new friends... (And making enemies as well...)
Grape Vine and Quartermane, even as they ran through the docks, past wooden crates and barrels, (Nearly bumping into several other ponies along the way and in one case knocking a cyan furred pegasus with a golden mane into the water causing her to curse quite severely at them.) could still hear the increasingly loud screams of a male voice shouting "Help me, somepony!"
This urged the twosome, now joined by another crewmate who heard the exact same shouts, a dark blue furred pegasus with a silvery mane (Went by the name of Night Glider if Grape had heard correctly) to only run ever the more faster. Eventually, the group came across some big burly stallions beating up a mainly grey furred griffin who'd they cornered.
"Hey, you there! Yeah, I'm talking to you, ya jerks!" Night shouted, catching the stallion's attentions and causing them to face the threesome. There were at least five of them, all of a tough looking sort.
"Well... T-They're certainly b-big..." Grape stammered out nervously and swallowed hard causing the stallions to chuckle. Grape seemed to have conviently forgotten about his pistols.
"Don't worry, we can take 'em." Target stated, loading her buckshot and aiming it directly at the stallions. "Now, I have to ask, what the Tartarus do you think you're doing to that poor griffin?" She snarled.
The stallion who seemed to be the leader of the group spoke up.
"What does it look like? Teaching this birdbrain a lesson, and by that we mean giving him a good solid thrashing. What do you care anyways? He's an inferior species!" The stallion scoffed and Target could only roll her eyes behind her sunglasses.
"Funny, I was thinking the same thing 'bout you." She stated dryly. The griffin gasped, he wasn't used to ponies sticking up for him like this, all they really did most of the time was shout racist insults at him and tell him to go back to the cotton fields in the South.
"Y-You want to shoot ME? Shoot him, that's all these griffins are really good for anyway, that and slave work." The lead stallion growled in a menacing tone.
"Funny, I once shot a sheriff in Africa who thought the same as you. Didn't shoot the deputy though, he was smarter." Target retorted.
"A-And I once met a griffin who could make some real good fine acoustic blues down in Jacksonville, Curtis something or other." Grape stated although he did it nervously, but his rage was beginning to overtake that. He had a real problem with bigots, and was beginning to reach for one of his newly gained Colts. At this, the five stallions seemed to look as if they were to going to explode with rage. A southerner, like them, taking a griffin's side? This was surely the last straw!
"Alright, that's it! Time for a thrashing of your own, traitor!" The lead stallion roared and pounced but was bucked backwards by Night Glider while Target fired her buckshot in the air causing the other stallions to scatter like flies. She turned to their leader, and smirked.
"Seems your boys have all flown the coop, best you do the same because the next shot won't be in the air. Actually, it will but it won't be going up in the air if you catch my drift." Target threatened and the stallion got her message and ran off while Grape helped the unknown griffin up.
"T-Thanks." He said.
"Sure, no problem. What's your name anyways?" Grape asked in reply.
"Gallant ." The now named griffin responded and Target's eyes widened in recognition.
Back at the Moby Dick...
"Wait, so you're saying he's one of ours? A fellow crewmate I mean?" Grape Vine asked in shock once Target had finished explaining. Apparently, he was another of the crew Captain Rainbow Blaze had chosen personally. Grape didn't know why, but the idea of his master picking out crewmembers without telling anypony else just rubbed him the wrong way for some reason. Maybe it was because this was Fancy's voyage, not his. Grape sighed in frustration and thought to himself.
"Agh, maybe I'm just being paranoid about all this." Grape mused to himself. "I mean, he is the CAPTAIN, so I suppose he does have the right to choose some crewmen, and besides Master probably consulted Mr. Fancy on who he chose. I can't see him not doing that. Yeah, that's right. Just me being paranoid."
Quartermane's voice brought him squarely back to reality.
"Yeah, I was wondering if he was late or something. Like he forgot his watch was set to the wrong time." Target smirked in a amused way, and Grape groaned. It seemed word of that prank his master had played on him was already making rounds.
"Must you bring that up? Wasn't very funny at all." Grape grumbled to himself as Gallant looked confused.
"Something I missed?" He asked and Grape shot him a dirty look that said all over his face in big bold letters "Don't ask."
Then there was a very loud shout, but this time not one of fear but one of pure unbridled rage.
"Hey, you there!" A pegasus, one that Grape recognized as the one he knocked in the river earlier was trotting up to them, soaked and quite, quite furious.
"Another thing I missed I presume?" Gallant asked even as the newcomer began tearing into poor Grape Vine, who couldn't get in a word in edgewise as the pegasus ranted and raced in fury for a good several minutes.
"Should we... help?" Gallant asked nervously.
"And get in the middle of THAT? No way." Night Glider responded in a equally nervous tone.
"...And now for all I know I might bare mutant children you asshole, all thanks to you knocking me into the Faust-Be-Damned East River!" The still unnamed pegasus roared, finally reaching the end of her rant.
"Now, now Lightning, it was a accident. We were in a hurry."
Lightning scoffed.
"Oh yeah, I'm quite su-"
Grape then picked up on the fact that Target called this pegasus by her given name. In a panic, he realized this could only mean one thing.
"D-Don't tell m-me..." He stuttered out nervously as Lighning smirked in a almost predatory way. "She's one of ours?"
Target began to nod, but then there was the sound of a loud explosion with several loud cackles from somewhere nearby causing her to groan and rub her temples.
"...The Blast Sisters, more of our "Crew". Must be testing some of their infamous explosives." She muttered to herself in distaste, and caused Grape to let out a small squeak of shock and faint once again.
Elsewhere...
In another area of the docks nearby, Fancy was sighing to himself and running his temples as both Sudoku and Twilight looked at the burning blaze of crates nearby and gaped in shock, with two twin sisters standing nearby them and grinning without a ounce of shame.
"Was that really needed, ma'ams?" Fancy asked them both as he tried to keep his famous manners that he had become known for over the years even though he was just obviously exasperated by what had just happened.
"Weeeeelll... No, not really but it sure was fun!" The first of the Blast Sisters answered with a possibly mad cackle, but her twin was inclined to disagree and smacked her on the back of her head.
"Of COURSE it was needed, you numbskull! We needed to see if this batch worked as it was intended to!" The second answered before trotting up to Twilight, who looked understandably nervous, and handed her a card before whispering in her ear.
"Custom made stuff of course, if ya ever need to blow something up and blow it up good, we're your gals!" She said and added almost as if as a afterthought "Accept no substitutions."
As the Blast Sisters left, another pony came up. The first thing Twilight noticed about him was his size. There was no getting around it. This pony was BIG. He was pure white, covered in muscle and had two tiny wings.
"Hey, you're our guide right?" The stallion asked. When Twilight began to nod, next thing she saw was a mass of white as the stallion excitedly hugged her exclaiming "Yeah! You're awesome!" with Twilight squeaking out "...Help me."
Fancy sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Bulk, remember to restrain yourself." He reminded, and the newly named stallion let Twilight go at last blushing as he did so.
"...Er, sorry. I tend to do that. Ponies call me Bulk. Bulk Biceps." He said, shaking Twilight's hoof with his own.
"Nice... grip. And yeah, I can see why they do." She answered nervously and as Bulk walked off Twilight turned to Sudoku.
"Hey, you're a licenced therapist right?" She asked and when Sudoku nodded Twilight replied wearily "Good, I think I may need one by the end of this trip."
"Yeah, me too." Sudoku agreed.
Twilight was then too stunned to speak then, as she was watching military type vehicles get loaded up into the Moby Dick via a big ramp. Sudoku then voiced his thoughts.
"W-What's with all the heavy hardware? I highly doubt we're going to be making landfall anytime soon. Neighlantis is underwater, remember?" He reminded, only for Rainbow Blaze to chuckle at Sudoku's words.
"Can never be too careful. Got to be prepared for anything down there." He answered simply but still provides no answers. "Yeah... Anything." He mused sadly, thinking once more of the Kraken and The list crew of the late Barracuda.
Just then a pegasus mare with a amber coat and a almost coal black mane walked up to him and saluted.
"What is it, crewman?" Rainbow asked gruffly. Twilight frowned at the Captain not even acknowledging this pony's name. It seemed too cold and impersonal for her taste. Fancy noticed her unhappiness and put a good on her shoulder to reassure his niece.
"Don't you worry none, this is usual for him. Rainbow has always had trouble letting other ponies in after the... Incident." Fancy whispered kindly with a hint of sadness in his tone. Somehow, Twilight wasn't reassured.
"Silver Spanner sent me. She requested... No, sorry, she demanded your help on the final checks for the Moby's escape pods. She was very... adamant about that." The new pegasus explained in a hurried voice to Rainbow who nodded in turn.
"Can never be too careful." He repeated in a tone of voice in which one could only barely hear the sadness in his tone before trotting off. As he did so, Fancy, Sudoku, and Twilight all gave his form a look of pity.
"Poor guy..." Sudoku said sadly.
Later...
It was time. Inside the Moby Dick's cockpit with ponies at the controls all around and the waters of the East River in front of them, Rainbow Blaze smirked from his captain's chair.
"Take us out Mr. Gallant."
Well, and we're off! Time to take the journey of the century as INGEN Hunter once said. We've met more crewmates, (although still not all of them yet) and even saved one's life from some bigoted ponies. If anyone has any questions about that, I am trying to make this version of the 1930s as realistic as possible, and that unfortunately means 1930s values.(Sorry bout this by the way, Gallant)
Now, on two completely unrelated notes, I finished watching Jessica Jones (Never knew David Tennant could be so terrifying) and I now have a question for you. Do any of you listen to music while you write. Some might say it would distract you, but not in my case. Anyone else similar to me in that aspect?
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What the heck is with mistreating the griffins and considering than as nothing more than slave labor?
Also, more.
Ponies these day's
griffins have feelings too. I loved the reference to the song "I Shot the Sheriff".Can't wait to meet more of the crew and to see what happens on this adventure!
I do believe you mean, gasped
Ahhhh this makes me happy as a clam, hahahaha, nicely done man, nicely done!
A dang good chapter, nice to see more of the crew for this glorious little expedition of there's, good work.
7447908 Yeah, my half musically oriented mind couldn't resist. There's another song reference in there as well, namely to the "Ballad of Curtis Loew" by Lynyrd Skynyrd made by Grape Vine.
7447777 Trust me, there will be more. And sorry about Gallant and the anti-griffin bigotry, like I said I am trying to keep things as close to the actual 1930s where possible.
7447948 Didn't the civil war end in the 1800s though? Also, this is F
kmothering Equestria! Wouldn't they be peaceful towards their neighbors?
7447961 Ponies, like people can still harbor prejudice can't they? Besides, this is a ponified version of Earth, not Equestria. Think of it as the human world, but with ponies.
7447961 Just because the civil war ended doesn't mean racial tensions disappeared.
7447973 I thought not...
7447970 Ohhhh, that makes sense...
7448012 Honestly prefer the Eric Clapton version myself but good job on getting the musical reference!
Did you get the other one as well?
7448022 Ah, my bad. The married thing was to get around your name, as a character called SudokuBrony would have just sounded awkward and a bit odd in my mind.
7448025 No.
7448036 Just look up Curtis Loew and you should get it.
7448047
7448053 Yep, that's the one. The blues were just beginning to emerge around this time so I figured it a appropriate reference.
severely
gasped.
gasped. While gasp is a good word to express shock, I'd recommend something like 'and their jaws agape in shock'
without an ounce.
this phrase sounded off so maybe use this 'tried to remain calm' or 'tried to maintain the manners he was known for'
So the griffins are the 'black slaves' in this story? I suppose you must have felt that using zebras to fill in that role is overdone at this point.
I love the Blast Sisters, they remind me so much of Vinny from Atlantis but with some of Audrey added to the mix. Wonder if they're from Detroit(or Detrot) too?
7448129 Ah, thanks for the tips. I'll get around to correcting them.
7448129 Yeah, just wanted to try something different instead of Zebras.
Ah yes since I watch more of the re-enact version of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, most of the racist element were either tone down or remove.
Though I'm kinda questioning why you choose the Griffins as the counterparts for the Afro-Americans instead of the Zebras.
7448835 See my comment to Not so new Brony below for the answer about the griffin and zebra thing. And believe me, if you thought 20,000 Leagues had these issues, just re-read Five Weeks in a Balloon. It's still a good book, but some of the phrasing used to describe the Africans can be downright embarrassing at times.
Awesome chapter!!!!!!! Can't wait till me!! XP
Small thing my guys name is Gallants.
This music always comes to my head whenever I'm reading the 3rd and 4th chapters