An Island, Two Mares and a Bottle of Rum

Chapter Sixteen

Do You Have a Plan, Lyra? Indeed, I Do Have a Plan!

***

"So, here's the plan."

The four mares sat in the small stateroom, Vinyl and Octavia expecting an elaboration from the mint unicorn, who still smelled heavily of sweat, despite having spent ten minutes in the shower with Bon-Bon. Vinyl assumed that they hadn't exactly been cleaning themselves.

"We have to neutralise the crew in order to achieve control over the ship," Lyra carried on, drawing a circle on a dirty piece of paper.

"And that diagram shows?" Vinyl wondered, not very knowledgeable in the field of figures and charts.

Lyra nodded. "Absolutely nothing." She drew a smaller circle nearby. "I just love drawing circles. Besides," the unicorn smirked, "every good plan should have a diagram or two."

She really knows her shit well, Vinyl mused. Not only one diagram - but two! The plan looked more and more promising to her.

"I am astonished by your diligence," Octavia said with a frown. Is this her first plan ever?

"Your sarcasm was so funny that I forgot to laugh," Lyra retorted grimly, visibly offended by such a vote of no confidence to her plan.

Vinyl glanced at her marefriend, then at the mint unicorn in worry. Mutual hatred could hinder a possible foursome, and that was a repercussion with which she could not put up. Nothing can hinder a foursome.

"Tavi, come on," Vinyl tried to play the voice of reason, slightly getting used to this new role. Not that she liked it, of course; but foursomes demanded urgent measures, and if that meant being the voice of reason, so be it. "If we want to seize this baby, we need to cooperate," the white unicorn said, her voice blooming with determination.

Octavia groaned in displeasure. "Vinyl, when you say 'seize this baby', I sense a distubingly high level of failure coming ahead." And she did; in fact, she hadn't agreed to anything yet. But Vinyl seemed so eager to participate in this dangerous and, to be honest, plainly idiotic, affair... For what possible reason, she couldn't deduce.

The DJ pouted. "Come on, Tavi, you know, I've managed to seize this baby pretty well," she retorted, pointing her hoof at the grey cellist, a smirk forming upon her lips, the one smirk Octavia could never resist. The grey mare leaned in and rested her head atop Vinyl's shoulder.

"That's sweet," she said, nuzzling her marefriend's soft fur gently. With a sigh, she admitted defeat. "All right, let's hear what Lyra has to say."

And Lyra had something to say, indeed. "You two gonna make out now?" she asked with a hint of hope in her voice, eyeing the two musical mares resting against each other peacefully.

"Why, I think that can-" Vinyl began, but, as expected, Octavia's hoof, the Saviour of Sanity, as the cellist liked to call it in her mind, pierced the air, connecting to the DJ's muzzle.

"-be arranged," the unicorn finished, rubbing her lips. Surprisingly enough, Bon-Bon immediately copied the motion, striking Lyra's mouth in the same righteous fashion. Octavia and Vinyl exchanged confused looks.

The mint unicorn rubbed her cheek. "What was that for, honey?" she wailed, casting a mild glare at her marefriend.

Bon-Bon shrugged and gave the unicorn an apologetic smile, nuzzling the stricken cheek. "Lyra, you know you deserved it." She exhaled. "You were being OOC. Again."

Vinyl blinked. 'OOC'? What's that mean? She glanced at Octavia, who seemed to be lost in contemplation, stroking her chin.

"Hmm, I like the way Bon-Bon thinks," she said finally, loud enough for Vinyl to hear, but not too loud, lest she be overheard by the pony in question or her marefriend.

Yes! Vinyl considered it a small victory; another step towards the glorious Foursome Summit, the place where all righteous souls could find salvation. The DJ considered establishing a new religion as soon as they've returned from this adventure of theirs. Well, at least she considered it an adventure. She had got exciting experiences, like meeting up with pirates, dropping a real bass, and rutting Octavia. If that couldn't qualify as an adventure, then she didn't know what could.

"Ahem, so." Lyra cleared her throat audibly, drawing the mares' attention. "The plan." She drew another circle, much to Vinyl's foalish delight and Octavia's displeased grunts. "In order to seize the ship, we need to disable the crew." She held a thoughful pause. "It sounded more elaborate in my head when I planned it," she admitted with a wistful sigh. Bon-Bon placed her hoof atop her mare's shoulder in a show of compassion.

"Ha!" Octavia exclaimed, pressing her hoof against the ground. "One more reason why your plotting is faulty." She turned to Vinyl for support, but the white unicorn just shook her head disapprovingly.

"Tavi, you can't attack ponies like that," the DJ reasoned. Besides, her 'plotting' is nice... "What are you, in heat?"

The cellist's face turned red as Lyra and Bon-Bon tried to suppress their respective snickers. "Vinyl!" she exclaimed, coughing fervently due to all the embarrassment she'd had to experience. The white unicorn just chuckled in what seemed to the cellist a menacing manner. She sighed. "All right, all right." The mare looked at Lyra. "How do you plan to 'disable' the crew, anyway?"

Lyra's face broke into a grin, making Octavia's blood freeze in her veins. "Well, you see," the mint unicorn began slowly, an idea crawling into her mind. "Although the crew consists of strong, muscular stallions who know hoof-to-hoof combat, we still have one advantage."

Octavia gulped. "And that is?"

Lyra grinned and spared the three mares a long gaze.

"We are all mares."