Pirating

This is a short work of erotic fiction containing furry, or anthropomorphic, characters, which are animals that either demonstrate human intelligence or walk on two legs, for the purposes of these tales. It is a thriving and growing fandom in which creators are prevalent in art and writing especially.

*****

"Bring her up a point Tanno."

"Aye Am."

The great bull grunted as he put his bulk into turning the heavy ship's wheel, pushing the sleek pirate frigate closer into the wind. Every stitch of canvas was set, even the Royals for one of their few journeys up the rigging. This convoy would not get away.

The pirate captain had her eye glued to the telescope, watching her quarry grow inexorably larger in the glass. She could sense their fear, the uncertainty as the captains of the three sturdy transports tried everything in their power to escape. They had no chance though; their squat hulls were no match for the manoeuvrability of the pirate vessel. Their time was drawing closer.

She smiled a feral smile of contentment. A rich prize for the taking. Something gnawed at the back of her mind though, and it dampened her sense of triumph. Something about the middle transport...

"Prepare to tack; I want to take them to leeward."

"Am?"

The bull's question had a world of meaning hidden in the simple syllable.

"Did you not hear me?"

The words came out soft, almost deferential, but her eyes blazed, making everyone on the quarterdeck shiver. Amethyst's anger was most to be feared when she was being polite, and doubly when she was speaking quietly. The crew busied themselves preparing for the manoeuvre.

All the while the mare kept her eyes glued to the middle transport. It looked just like the other three, down to the slightly tattered sails and air of disrepair common to merchantmen in these parts. Soon she would know...soon...

"All hands prepare to come about."

"Let go and heave!"

The wheel creaked under the strain, and the canvas fluttered and groaned as the big powerful ship hauled over and settled on a new tack. They were still aiming for the group of transports, but now set to approach from the leeward before a final tack to run down on the prize.

Run, rabbit, run...

Then she clasped her telescope tightly, fingers clenching white as she watched and waited.

The middle transport saw her manoeuvre and almost instantaneously shortened his own sails to make a matching manoeuvre. When it was completed, the transport would now be between the pirate ship and its compatriots, screening them from the pirate's cannon. Admirable self-sacrifice, she thought with a touch of irony.

Except... the way the manoeuvre was done, everything about it was too good. The reaction was too fast, the movement too crisp for a simple private merchant ship. Her captain was too good as well, his crew too well drilled and too brave...unless...

Then she saw him. On the quarterdeck of the nearest transport, her opposite number stood watching her. A sudden gust of wind on the new tack carried his hat away, and the captain snatched at it but failed to grasp the flying fabric. She caught a brief glimpse of his face, curly horns glistening in the sun, the face of a weather-beaten ram, but it was enough. She knew. A naval officer, familiar from the bars and brothels of Port Austin. This was no ordinary transport.

"All hands prepare to come about. Run out all cannon to starboard, set new course South South West a quarter West Tanno and be lively!"

There was mass confusion on deck as the crew realised they were preparing to run away instead of attack, and more than a few stunned glances were directed towards the mare, still watching the transport and swearing under her breath. They were too good a crew to argue though, not in the middle of action. They did their jobs flawlessly, hauling the straining frigate around onto an opposite tack, ready to fly downwind away from the lucrative prize they had almost had in their grasp.

"Deck there! Strange sail bearing Nor nor east!"

She smiled a knowing smile. Not quite Captain Martelle. Nice trap, but not quite.

The pirate ship settled on its course, bucking into the rolling waves under a blue sky. Amethyst permitted herself a small frown.

They were too good to argue in the heat of action. They would recover soon enough though. She wondered who would be the one to make his move.

*

Much to her disappointment it hadn't taken long. They were heading back for their base at Dukes' Harbour, and the mutterings had begun almost as soon as the transports were out of sight. She was not surprised by the most vocal opponent; a little disappointed but not surprised.

"Cowardice!"

The muttering stopped, replaced by a collective intake of breath.

"What was that Gabriel?"

"Cowardice! What other explanation do you have?"

"I do not share my thoughts with a mere seaman Gabriel, even a stallion as handsome as you."

The chuckles began now, making the hot headed young stallion burn with indignation. She saw him struggling for composure and failing, and decided to stoke the fires if he pushed her, judging her words like the fall of shot from a cannon. She needed him under control one way or another.

"You demand obedience and yet you won't bring us into your confidence mare? Sounds convenient to me!"

"It is a truth of this life we lead Gabriel that information is more important than cannon or cutlass. It is why I do not tell anyone who does not need to know how I know things. Loose lips cannot reveal what they do not know. Suffice to say stallion, we were heading into a trap, and I disengaged to avoid it. There will be more transports...if we are still alive to take them, that is."

"We only have your word for it then!"

"Yes stallion. I have been the most successful pirate captain on the main for the last five years; I think my record speaks for itself. Have I not done enough to be trusted?"

The murmurings surrounded her, their caress like the touch of a lover. Her crew; all hers and she could feel their support and love in spite of their uncertainty. They knew her.

Alas, the beautiful stallion did not. A recent addition, from their last stop, he was headstrong, brave to a fault, but stubborn. She sighed a little inside; he was also prone to making her loins inflamed at awkward moments. A big Clydesdale, young but bulky with muscle, he was just the sort she might like to bed in the right circumstances. Unfortunately, he seemed to be trying to make that impossible, and force her hand to something drastic.

"I still don't believe it."

"Well stallion, it seems you are alone in your quest for justice here. I suggest you take another ship when we return to Duke's Harbour, if it pains you too much to be under my command. Or perhaps you despise being under a mare's command little pony? Is that the problem, can't handle the hit to your ego?"

She had pushed him too far, she realised, but her blood was up and she found she didn't care. Something about him got to her, and she could not back down. She doubted he could either.

The stallion emitted a snarling whinny, taking a step towards her before he was restrained by the crewmembers around him. His eyes were fixed on hers, two green gems twinkling with anger. Then he opened his muzzle.

"I challenge you to trial by combat captain!"

There was a collective drawing in of breath, then silence.

"What did you say stallion?"

"I said I challenge you to trial by combat. Do you accept? If you are not too afraid that is..."

She felt her Boatswain, the giant bull Tanno by her side whispering urgently in her ear.

"Am! Don't do it! Let me fight in your place...the law permits it."

Amethyst stared at the Clydesdale, his body flexing and chest heaving in fury. A thought formed, slowly, and she turned it over in her mind savouring the contours.

Yes...yes, not a bad solution...to many problems...

"Accepted, stallion! Give him a dagger, and let's get this done shall we?"

Complete pandemonium broke out, shouting, catcalls, and it took a loud bellow from Tanno before the crew quietened. Under the shouts and prodding of their officers, the crew parted to form a circle on the main deck, and the stallion was pushed into the middle, standing alone and friendless while a long dagger was forced into his hand. He eyed up the mare with respect now, if only grudging, as she took off her boat cloak and drew a long slender dagger from her scabbard. It made a loud singing sound as it came out, the metal glinting in the sun. Amethyst stood facing her opponent, sizing him up. She decided to talk a little, to see if she could unnerve him.

"You are a brave one Gabriel, to use the laws of the Brotherhood this way."

"We will see."

"No, I mean challenging a captain on the deck of her own ship. You did not think that many of my crew might willingly take my place, fighting for my honour and the honour of our ship?"

"Our ship?"

"Yes young stallion...our ship. This is a family, as you would have found if you were with us any longer. Alas...I think your time may be coming to an end."

The Clydesdale could not stop a small nicker emerging, though he fought for control. His impetuosity had got the better of him, and he never expected the mare to take up his challenge. As they circled slowly, he realised the trap he had fallen into. If he won...he would be challenged by the enraged crewmembers until he went down. If he lost...

"You will make a nice decoration, stallion, hanging from the yardarm as a warning to others not to cross Amethyst, the pirate mare."

His ears flattened slightly, and his eyes rolled in fear. What was done was done though, and after all, she was only a mare, not even a heavy breed. He knew he could take her.

Amethyst waited patiently for her opponent to come to the boil, while she watched, admiring his body. He did have a delectable one that was for certain. And such an inviting looking bulge...

The Clydesdale suddenly charged, lunging at Amethyst with his dagger, the attack perfectly timed and executed. He gasped as the mare moved at the last second, his blade only striking air, and he brought the dagger up just in time to parry a counterthrust aimed at his belly. A series of passes yielded more clangs as blade stuck blade. The two equines circled as the crowd yelled encouragement, their grunts and whinnies lost in the roar.

After a minute of this, the stallion was beside himself in anger. Whenever he attacked, the infernal mare managed to dodge like a willo th' wisp and make him look foolish. He had enough of this play, and he could hear laughter starting to build amongst the crew. With a loud deep snarl he changed his grip for an overhand thrust, and lunged at the mare, now pinned against the railing. She would not be laughing now.

As the blade drove downwards through the air, Amethyst twisted sideways and brought up her hand, catching the stallion's wrist. Her fingers clamped tight, and Gabriel only had time for a startled nicker before he felt his wrist twisted up and around, the dagger flying from his grasp as he was thrown suddenly to the deck, followed by the crunch of a mare landing on his back. She pulled his arm back and up painfully, and he was about to struggle even in his agony to throw her off when he felt a dagger point at his neck. The Clydesdale suddenly stopped, dead still, his eyes wide with fear and ears flattened as a cheer broke out in the crowd.

"Not as good as you think you are stallion."

Her words were like a honeyed curse, and they made his body burn with shame, and something else. She sat on his lower back, her body touching his, and he could suddenly smell her, all of her, the scent of mare. One scent rose above all; the scent of mare in heat. She had bested him, and her body enjoyed the feel.

"I...I..."

"You know the rules, my little lawyer pony. You must, you invoked the challenge."

He would not beg. He must not beg, and yet for Gabriel, every fibre of his being wanted to beg.

"How?"

"The inhabitants of the five islands are experts in many forms of combat stallion. It isn't all about strength you know, brute force. Brute...like you, pretty pony..."

"Aghhhh!"

She twisted his arm a little more for effect, making him cry out in pain as his body writhed on the deck. Soon willing hands and paws found him, and he felt his wrists tied behind his back. The distressed stallion was quickly hauled upright, with the crew looking on him with undisguised scorn. He had failed, now it was time to pay the price. The pirate fraternity did not respect failure; it tended to get them all killed.

"Tanno!"

"Aye Am...with pleasure!"

The stallion felt himself pulled backwards, his body suddenly slammed against the base of the mainmast, its sturdy wooden bulk not making him feel comfortable. Far from it; he knew what this meant.

A length of rope slapped against his shoulder, and he felt a crude noose slipped round his neck and pulled tight. The rope burned his skin, but he wasn't hauled up to the yardarm just yet.

The mare approached him, her eyes sad but still shining. He looked magnificent, even now. His chest heaved, and his eyes blazed with defiance. She was firming in her choice, but she needed to test him a little more.

The dagger slid from her scabbard, and she stepped in close, feeling his hot breath on her chest, making her nipples harden to poke against the fabric of her shirt. She could smell him, fear and sweat foremost, but also the scent of young male in his prime, sheath and sex scents reaching her nostrils to savour. She grinned into his face, enjoying the sight of his eyes widening, but still he stared back defiantly.

Her dagger moved once, effortlessly slicing through his belt, and the terrified stallion felt his pants slip to his hooves, suddenly naked from the waist down. He shook all over, his mane twitching down his back as the mare bent forward to whisper in his ear.

"Might take a souvenir before you go Gabriel...let's see what we have here..."

His startled whinny drew more laughter and whistles, as he felt a paw cupping his orbs. They tried to withdraw into his body but the mare held on tight, playing and teasing, while her whispering continued.

"Hmmm....very nice Gabriel. Perhaps I should take them now, before we string you up. To speed you on your way, a true mercy to let you bleed into your end a gelding rather than dance at the end of a rope for hours as a stallion. A pity...you feel like you could be a good bed partner, a stallion worth my sex...such a waste..."

He felt a sudden crawling in his skin, as the point of a dagger traced a teasing line across his testicles, scraping the velvet skin of his scrotum, never quite drawing blood, but still hurting and terrifying the stallion. To his shame, he felt the stimulation having unwanted effects...his stallionhood had begun to erect under the caress of the mare, and even as he contemplated gelding and worse, he was mortified to feel his cock push free of its sheath, the long mottled stallion cock swelling in the air even as Amethyst teased his precious orbs with their impending doom.

Amethyst couldn't help smiling even as the stallion suddenly dropped his eyes, unable to meet her gaze any longer. She could smell the reason for his sudden shame, the scent of stallion cock, pungent and clear in her nostrils. She used her dagger as a finger to explore, the tip now slicing across his sheath, drawing pained nickers, then up the length of his pulsing stallionhood, the stallion suddenly bucking wildly and trying to break the grip of the many hands holding him. The razor sharp point slid up his shaft, digging in every now and then, before finding his broad flare. She couldn't resist a little fun, and gave a sudden jerk, rewarded with a cry of pain as her dagger nicked his sensitive flare, drawing blood.

The mare reached down with a finger, feeling for the patch of moisture at his flare, taking a drop on her fingerhoof and drawing it to her muzzle to taste. The metallic warm tang of stallion, blood and tangy precum mixed, made her shudder, and she locked eyes with the helpless pirate, taking in his appalled stare as he watched her, mesmerised. And yet he was still hard, achingly so. Her mind was made up. She bent forward to his muzzle, her lips brushing his, and suddenly they parted and she slid her tongue into his maw, kissing hungrily as the stallion returned the kiss with desperate ardour. He would do.

She broke the kiss and looked up to Tanno, the bull waiting to haul on the ropes, and shook her head slowly. He didn't look surprised, or even too disappointed. He just gave her a wink. The bull knew her too well, she reflected ruefully.

Now she spoke out loud, no longer whispering for him alone. His humiliation had to be public. It was the next step in breaking him.

"Well stallion, I find myself unwilling to kill you."

His gratitude was profound, but guarded, she was pleased to note. He was still a brave one. He did not yell out, or cry, or even say a word. He just watched her, even as the crowd groaned in disappointment. Eventually he found his voice.

"You...you will let me go?"

"I did not say that stallion. There is a third option, a lesser mercy, which you should know."

Gabriel looked unsure for a moment, before he realised what she meant.

"No!"

"Yes stallion. My personal slave, for a year and a day. You must agree to do so willingly though, and pledge your obedience. Otherwise...the yardarm and the dagger are waiting."

She teased him, letting her blade kiss the underside of his scrotum, feeling those big heavy equine orbs dancing and rolling in their bag seeking escape. There would be no escape for them...if she chose; his gelding would be a leisurely affair. She could see he knew it too, by the wild eyed look he gave, and the involuntary twitching in his cock.

"Choose stallion."

"I...I...will be your slave."

Cheers and catcalls greeted the stallion's choice, and a great deal of ribald banter. Gabriel hung his head, defeated for now, but a part of him was thankful for life. Another part also knew the deep dark secrets of his soul; how much he lusted after the mare, his captain, her beautiful body, and her unfathomable eyes. How much he had wanted to dive into those eyes, and more into her sex. Then the deepest darkest part of all; the part that knew how much being roughly handled by her turned him on.

Amethyst gripped the Clydesdale's mane, the soft black fur feeling so good on her hands. She pulled his head up to look into her eyes, and she saw it all in her new slave. His fear, his gratitude, and even his lust and shameful need. She smiled a long slow knowing smile that made him shiver. Then she gave a nod to her crew, and they released him.

"Now to learn your new role, slave."

She tugged on his mane, pulling the stallion towards her cabin and the start of his new life, or at least his fate for the next year and a day. Gabriel shuffled behind, head bowed as he tried to avoid having his mane pulled out by the roots, his steps hampered by the remains of his pants wrapped around his fetlocks. He was applauded all the way to the cabin door, embarrassment filling his mind at the terrible shame of his capitulation. He should have chosen death, but he had made his decision and now he had to live with it.

As Gabriel felt the great cabin around him, his eyes adjusted to the darkness and the new sights around him. The cabin was small by most standards, but by the standards of a Frigate it was unfathomably luxurious. He saw a soft large bed, a desk, a table, and two stubby cannon pointing towards ports on the stern. The captain's personal domain, and her refuge against the stresses of her role.

"Mistress! I was so worried!"

Amethyst threw down her cloak on the desk, and unbuckled her scabbard letting the dagger rest against it. She ran fingers through her mane, a gesture that brought a soothing calm to her senses. Then she smiled at the figure whose genuine concern never failed to touch her warmly.