Stealth
Rainbow Dash returned to her cloud home after an entertaining dinner with Applejack and Big Mac. She honestly had rarely heard Big Mac talk, and it was refreshing; even though everything that he said was farming related, and she couldn’t coax much more out of him about the rodeo.
She sighed and hung her head, finally accepting the possibility of having a crush on Big Macintosh.
She got ready for bed and climbed into the soft embrace of her cloud mattress, before reaching for her literature. When her grasping returned nothing she remembered that she had tucked it back under the mattress in Big Mac’s room.
Reluctantly she began searching for other things to occupy her time with. She felt as though she had taken too much time away from Daring Doo to adequately chime back into the story; plus, Daring Doo was on Captain Macintosh’s ship at the moment. She could attempt to continue on her unfinished novel, but it seemed unoriginal and vain in comparison to the story that she had been reading until this point.
“Ugh, I’m going to fly off some energy,” she told her tortoise, Tank, who acknowledged her with a slow blink before she took off out of her window.
Big Mac had a contented smile on his face as he walked back up to his room, glad to be home.
Dinner wasn’t too bad either.
He walked into his room, tossed his suitcase into the corner, and took in the familiar, soothing, summery scent of a fresh rain...
There was definitely something wrong with that.
“Applejack.” He called quietly across the hall to his sister.
“Yeah, Mac?”
“Why does mah room smell like a summer storm?” He asked as smoothly as he could manage.
“Oh, hehe.” She gave a nervous chuckle, not easing his mind at all. “There was a doozy of a storm, an’ it broke yer window, it soaked everythin, so Ah cleaned it up with some help from Rainbow.”
“Hmmm, alright. Thanks.” He said, hurrying back to his room.
Immediately, he dug underneath his mattress for his treasure, finally discovering it. He pulled the book out from its hiding spot, immediately scanning it for any issues with it, for any sign of being handled.
He wasn’t able to spot anything, so he dug out the additional chapters from the past week and began transferring them into their proper home, adding notes and editing mistakes wherever he saw that it needed them.
He continued into the night, writing by lamplight until all the chapters had been transferred.
The next morning, Rainbow Dash was soaring over Sweet Apple Acres, scanning for the telltale signs that her mark would be unguarded.
Sure enough, she found a large red splotch pulling a cart through the West Field. She focused on the splotch, her keen eyes picking out the definition of his muscles as he pulled against the load. Her wings ceased their fight for distance and speed and just soared as she enjoyed the sight.
“Augh!” she growled to her traitorous wings and eyes as they forgot the goal. “Come on, gotta get to his room without him noticing me.” She then banked hard, swooping down by the farmhouse without being spotted.
She floated over to the second-story window that looked out from Big Mac’s room. She tested the glass, and noticed that it was unlocked. She pushed open the window, quietly slipping into the room and onto the bed.
She reached a hoof underneath of the mattress and pulled out her prize. She leapt out of the window, and pulled it shut behind her. She looked at her spoils and snickered quietly to herself.
Before I even had a chance to offer any sort of special lodging for Daring Doo, the crew was already trying to place her in the bunks or hammocks near their own. She graciously accepted without any complaints.
This morning; however, we were preparing to shove off.
There were several ponies collecting assorted food items, herbs, and spices from the shore, while others tightened the riggings and pitched any leaks on the ship.
I had just finished hauling in the anchor, when Daring Doo came over to me.
“Hey, Captain Mac.” She said with a smug little smile, one that brought my lips into one as well. “Where you planning on setting sail to?”
“Ah already told ya, Ah ain’t tellin’ ya.” I said, firmly.
“Alright, but you said ‘South’ right?”
“Ya need a lift?”
“Yeah...” She said, blushing a little. “I would’ve just flown, but I should’ve expected to hurt my wings.”
“Heheh, sure ya can come with us. Where ya headed?”
“I was supposed to meet with a colleague of mine in Baltimare, that says he has a huge tip for me regarding an ancient civilization.” She shrugged, “You know, the usual business meeting stuff.”
I chuckled at her definition of “usual” and answered. “Alright, Ah’ll go tell Schatzi ta set a course fer Baltimare.” I agreed as I turned to go find the helmsdog.
About an hour later, we had located the direction that we needed to head out in, and were now working with the rising tide. As the water would raise the ship, ponies and dogs would pull on the riggings, slowly getting into open water. The ponies were lifted to the ship, and the dogs pulled themselves up when the seabed finally dropped out from under the hull.
“Woah, the ponies were ‘lifted’?” Rainbow Dash pondered aloud, trying to imagine the process taking place. “Like they were pulled out? How embarrassing! I would hate to not be able to fly.”
With that conviction, once again, solidly planted into her beliefs, she returned to her reading.
The, now receding, tide carried us out into deeper waters, where we were able to find our heading and test out the new mast.
“Hoist the sails, Ah wanna see what she kin do.” I commanded to the crew moments before they scrambled to follow my directions.
I ambled over to the helm and Schatzi left the direction of the ship in my hooves as she went to sniff out Sea Dog.
Over the past couple of days, I had begun to notice the way they interacted. He seemed happier around her, which was an unexpected jump in demeanor, and she always wanted to be by his side. The already friendly and happy black lab seemed to gather a sense of contentment whenever the shepherd was around him. Her already protective nature seemed to not allow her to leave his side whenever he was around.
I shook the thoughts and scanned the horizon, while lightly adjusting the wheel in my hooves to accommodate a new crosswind.
I looked over my crew and couldn’t help but smile. There was a sense of calm, of cheer, and of joy as they all scurried about. The air was filled with the camaraderie of shipmates, only fouled by the tang of booze emanating from Grog as he stumbled over to the bulwarks. I continued to watch, fearing that we would lose him, but I quit watching as he lost his breakfast.
Daring Doo continued pestering me about paying her passage aboard the ship, until I agreed to allow her to work with Cookie below decks and try to keep him from eating too much of our supplies, as apparently he had been doing so.
Just as she was begrudgingly descending below decks, some of the crew stopped in their tracks. All the dogs’ ears had perked, and begun to swivel in search of whatever they had heard.
Time seemed to slow down, thoughts and sounds became muffled, and the entire crew seemed to feel it too.
Then I heard it.
A sound like distant thunder rolled over the waves, causing each of the crew members to stop what they were doing. Mere seconds later, the sound rang out again.
“Cannons…” Sea Dog whispered, and I realized how underprepared we were.
“Oooh,” Rainbow Dash squirmed, “It’s getting good!”
“Pointer!” I shouted at the dog in the crow’s nest.
“Aye cap’n.” He responded with a salute.
“Do ya see the fight?” He scanned the horizon, his spyglass scouring the surrounding ocean, then he found it.
“Arg…” I heard him mutter to himself, before he turned to me. “Cap’n there be two ships duking it out. An’…” He took a deep breath. “One of ‘em be tha Swiftwing.”
The few in the crew that had been sailors before began to shudder.
“Sea Dog, tell me ‘bout the Swiftwing.” The cheery lab came over to me with his tail between his legs.
“Aye, Cap’n.” He sighed. “The Swiftwing is tha fastest ship o’ pirates under Luna’s moon.” He shook his head. “They’ve sank almost as many ships as The Flying Crab, and they do it for fun.
“Their Captain, Black Swiftwing, be a ruthless griffon, a drop out of the Northern Griffon Navy, taking his crew, his ship and his spoils with ‘im.”
As I processed the new information, I could feel the anxiousness of the crew grow as the sounds of the distant battle rang out.
I thought through everything that I had been told, and finally an idea dawned on me.
“Smoky Mirror.” I called to the ex-illusionist. She galloped over to me. “Have ya tried anything that Ah asked ya to?”
“Uh, not really.” She responded with a sheepish smile, “But I can now if you want.”
“Git Darin’ Doo from the kitchen, and git back here.” I told her before she rushed off to do what I asked.
I looked around at the other crew members, who were all looking at me with a look of expectation. I simply clenched my jaw and began to give orders.
“Ah want sails at full. You, tighten the riggings. Pointer, raise a white flag.”
The ponies began to do as they were told, and I steered the wheel away from our heading, and away from the Swiftwing.
“Wait,” Rainbow Dash said, sitting up. “Is he running away? What a wimp, a real stallion would have attacked those pirates.” She reasoned with herself, attempting to get away from the ideas of Mac being flawlessly awesome.
For the first time since I had been captain of this ship, we were at full-sail, the hull slicing through the water powerfully. The creaking of the timbers was worrying, but not as much as the dangerous ship that may have spotted us.
“Cap’n, the Swiftwing sank the other ship.” Pointer informed me, his spyglass locked on the point in the horizon that marked the battle.
I was beginning to wonder where Daring Doo and Smoky Mirror were, when they came bursting out from below decks.
“What’s wrong, Captain?” Daring Doo yelled as she came up to me.
“Ah want you two to make a fog,” I explained to them. “One big enough ta hide tha ship, then make it move with us.”
They looked at each other, and Smoky Mirror rolled her eyes. “I will explain what’s going on, but first we need to get this done.”
They rushed off to the bow, and Daring Doo began using her basic weather training to explain how to make a fog, thick enough to hide the ship. Clouds of barometrically altered steam rolled up, quickly hiding them from view, and moving to the back of the ship.
Soon the entire deck was covered in a mist thick enough to hide the bow from the stern. The ship sailed in absolute silence. None of the sailors daring to make a sound louder than the creaking of the timbers, or the splashing of the wake trailing behind the ship.
Almost an hour passed, with myself watching the compass and keeping the ship on course.
“Pointer,” I said, just loud enough for him to hear me. “Can ya see ‘em?”
“Too much fog, Cap’n.” To be honest, I couldn’t see him.
“Smoky Mirror, could ya thin it out near the crow’s nest?”
“Aye-aye.” She said, with a salute. Immediately the fog began to thin, just enough to allow Pointer to see anything on the horizon.
After fifteen agonizing minutes as he scanned the sea, Pointer called down. “All clear Cap’n!”
Rainbow Dash let out a deep breath that she didn’t know she was holding, and in doing so became aware of the sweat building up on her brow, as the stress of the crew was getting to her.
“Calm down Rainbow,” She said, with a deep breath, “It’s just a book, and it’s not like he was ever in any danger. Although the fog thing was a pretty good idea.”
A resounding cheer went out from the crew as they all relaxed. Smoky Mirror dropped the fog spell, and soon enough we were speeding out of the dense cover, redirected towards Baltimare Harbor.
Rainbow Dash sighed, content with the chapter. She also commended herself on getting the book out of Big Mac’s room without him noticing.
She flew back to the Apple homestead, careful to watch the progress of the Apple family members. She, once again, climbed in the window of Big Mac’s room.
Sneaking onto his bed, then onto the floor, she was careful not to make a noise. She slipped the book underneath of the mattress, and then she heard it.
Light humming, and the clopping of tiny hooves against hardwood flooring echoed through her skull. She looked through the open door into the hallway to see the tiny form of the only Apple sibling that she had neglected to monitor.
Applebloom skipped down the hall, completely oblivious to the vibrantly-colored mare in her brother’s room. Rainbow Dash held her breath until the tiny filly had completely passed by the door. As the filly passed out of earshot, Rainbow dashed out of the window, sliding it shut behind her, and soaring into the distance, already planning her heist for the next morning.
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Good for you.
alittle short but i LOVE IT!! you should REALLY update more
SUCH A TRIUMPHANT RETURN!
Great chapter. Hope to see more soon.
Awesome! Can't wait to read more.
Great chapter!
Though three things:
energy," she told her tortoise, Tank, who acknowledged her with a slow blink before she took off out of her window.
underprepared
Applebloom
2051943 Thanks!
I often find it very difficult to distinguish flaws in my own work, as evidenced by the intense grammatical errors in my previous chapters.
So I am always appreciative of the assistance.