The Kingfisher, the schooner that Captain and crew have recently stolen, plows through the water. Captain had simply decided to give it a generic bird name. The crew goes about their business as usual, though Howler seems to be a little more on guard around Captain and Willow stays away from him as well. Captain’s grateful that Ebony had somehow managed to convince them not to tell the rest of the crew what happened.
They’re making their way from the coast of Equestria to Hayvana. One of Rose’s friends needs some cargo brought over, something from the Everfree Forest. Captain took the simply job after finding out that he needs more bits to pay for one of the new cannons. Now he leans against the helm watching waves wash across the deck. He sees a dark mass of clouds coming from, what he assumes is, the east. He sigh and goes back to watching the waves.
“Starry, are we still on the right course?” he whines. He waits a few seconds for some kind of reply, but none comes. He looks around and soon realizes that he and Howler, who is sitting on a crate behind him, are the only ones on deck. “Where are they?” he asks the diamond dog. Howler points to the hatch that leads into the hold of the ship. “You steer the ship, I’ll see what they’re doing.”
He trots toward the hatch, as he gets closer he begins to hear the crew talking. “What is it?” asks Smokey.
“No clue,” replies Twigs.
“You never have any clue,” Starry says. “But, I do believe I’ve seen these somewhere.”
“Maybe it’s for making tea, you all know how much those stuck up snobs like the stuff,” Arrel says.
“What was that?”
“Oh, uh… I just meant, uh… You’re not like them, you’re, uh… Oh, look at that over there, that has suddenly become far more interesting than this plant, I’ll go look at that instead.”
“Do you know what it is, Willow?” Ebony asks.
“Why do you think I would know?”
“You’re a deer.”
“And was a slave, I haven’t been taught much.”
“Alright, sorry for bringing it up.”
“What’s going on down here?” Captain asks. He walks over to the crate they had opened, which is filled with blue flowers of some sort. He goes over and pick one off the ground and puts it back into the crate. “Why did you open it?”
“One of the crates broke, so we had to put them into that one.” Twigs explains. Willow backs away from the captain.
“Right, looks like that’s done, now get back up on deck. A storm is coming and I want all hooves on deck.”
With the new ship they enter into the harbour without any problem. There is a cart waiting on the docks for them. Captain, Smokey, Arrel, and Howler unload the Kingfisher as Ebony collects the pay. Starry goes up to Ebony and takes a couple of the coins.
“What are you doing?” Ebony asks.
“Getting a room, we’re not sailing out into that hell,” she says gesturing to the black clouds as they approach the city. “And I’m not staying on that.” She points at the ship.
“Good point.” She hoofs over a couple of coins. “Give some to the rest of the crew,”
Starry goes around and gives out the coins. Willow quick accepts, not wanting to spend the night on the same ship as Captain. The rest also accept except for Howler. Captain goes over to Ebony, “So, we’re staying here for the night?”
“We’re not sailing into that.”
He looks over his shoulder at the storm, a crack of lightning flashes through the clouds. He sighs and looks back at his first-mate. “Fine, we’re leaving tomorrow though. I’ll be in my ship if you need me.”
“You think that’s a smart idea in a storm?”
“Why not, it floats.”
Ebony facehoofs, “Well, I’m getting a room.”
The next day, the storm is gone and the sun is shining down on the city. Twigs wakes with a yawn, the night hadn’t been a good one with howling winds and pounding rain. He rubs his eyes with his forehooves and curls back up in the bed. He tosses and turns trying to get comfortable in the small bed. Eventually he quits and gets up. I should go check on the ship, he thinks. He throws the door open and walks through, painfully knocking his head on the top of the door frame. I don’t remember it being so small. He walks back into the room, knocking his head once again, and goes to the mirror on the wall.
Instead of a small brown stallion, a very tall one with a long mane stares back. He stares at the reflection in confusion. “Are you a princess?” he asks.
Smokey jumps out of the way as another hoof comes down next to him. He run up next to the wall and hope no one decides to come over. This morning hasn’t been one of his favorites yet ,having woken up and found out that he’s now several inches tall. He scurries his way to the door and squeezes under it. He looks down toward the harbour, “I have to get to the ship or I’ll die out here,” he mumbles to himself. He hears soft purring coming from behind him. He turns and finds a cats staring at him licking it’s lips.
I’m light grey and the size of a mouse.
“Nice kitty,” he says with a nervous smile.
Willow paces the hold of Kingfisher. Something is wrong and she needs to find out why. Howler sits in the shadows, polishing his katana. She stops her pacing when a loud crash comes from above, a few moments later a giant Twigs tumbles down into the hold. She jumps but stops herself from screaming. He slowly lifts himself up to his hooves, a noticeable bump has formed on his forehead.
“Something is weird, I think I became a princess,” he says, Willow just shakes her head. A scream is heard from above, seconds later a toy comes running down into the hold followed by a cat.
“Kill it, kill it, kill it,” Smokey shouts. Twigs steps in front of the cat. The cat stop and looks up at the massive stallion after a second in runs away. “Thanks.”
“What happened to you?” Twigs asks.
“What happened to you?” Smokey asks. They both look at Howler and Willow. “What’s wrong with you guys.” Willow quickly shakes her head and Howler shrugs. “So, nothing is wrong if you two?” Howler shrugs and Willow shakes her head.
It’s at this moment that Arrel comes blasting into the ship and crashes into the floor. He takes to the air again and flies straight into a wall, then the ceiling, then a cannon and then a support beam which is where he stops. Willow looks down at the pegasus as one of his wings twitch slightly. “Are you okay?” she asks in a very deep voice. Twigs and Smokey immediately start laughing at her. “Stop it, it’s not funny.”
“So we’re all messed up one way or another,” Arrel says.
They hear hoofsteps and look toward the entrance. Captain walks up to them, “What’s going on here, why are you all making a racket? Wait, why is he a princess?” he asks pointing to Twigs. Everyone breaks down into a fit of laughter, even Howler is trying hold back some giggles. “What’s so funny.” Howler points at him.
Captain draws his sword and looks at his reflection in it. He has a red mane, that’s good. He has hot-pink fur, not good. He stares at his reflection with his mouth wide open. “Well, buck,” he manages to says. “Anyone know where the smart ones are, like Ebony and Starry?” Everyone shakes their head, unable to speak through their fit of laughter and giggles. “I’ll go look for them.”
Ebony wakes, with a smile. It’s wasn’t a very good night, but at least she didn’t wake up with Rose trying to cuddle her. Wonder if Captain is still alive in his ship, she thinks. She yawns and curls up into a ball. A petty storm can’t kill him. She rolls over and pulls the covers over her head. He can’t die, he’s just so… noble, honorable? I think those are the right words. She rolls over again and falls out of the bed. Ow, right, time to get up. She untangles herself from the covers. A burst of green fire surrounds her and she open the door. She walk down the stair to the lobby and everyone stops what they’re doing.
They all stare at her in fear and shock. She backs away slowly, unnerved by the stares and the thick silence. Eventually somepony breaks the silence, “Changeling!” Panic ensues, everypony drops whatever they were doing and either run for the door or toward the stairs as they draw swords and pistols. Ebony runs back into the room and slams the door behind her. She finds a mirror hanging on the wall. Green fire surrounds her once again, but when they die out a changeling stares back. Why can’t I change!? A bang at the door draws her attention she throws the window open and flies out.
Ponies on the streets begin screaming and pointing up at her. Soldiers come and fill the streets, unicorns begin firing magic bolts at her. She evades them and heads for the harbour. Pegasi fly up from the streets as the unicorns fire another volley of magic. She tries her best to evade them all, but one burns her insect-like wing. She crashes into the ground in an alleyway, slides into a wall. She is flanked by three walls and the only passage out is where the pegasi land.
“You die here, monster.” He lunges at her, he only makes it a few steps before he falls to the ground with a sword sticking out of his back. They turn around as Captain punches two of them across the clearing and into the wall next to Ebony. He is wearing a brown cloak. One of the pegasi strikes at him. He deflects the blade with his horseshoe and crushes him into a wall, sending a spiderweb of cracks along the bricks. Another lunges at him, Captain jumps forward and pull his cutlass out of the body, but instead of fighting he sheaths his sword. Captain turns and tackles Ebony through the walls.
The two tumble across the floor. Once they stop Captain draws his sword and blocks a strike from a pegasus that followed them. “Run!” Captain shouts, he gets his hindlegs under the pegasus and launches him into the ceiling. He gets to his hooves and rams his way through another wall, Ebony follows his path. He throws his cloak to her, she puts it on using her magic. The two run onto a crowded street and start heading for the harbour.
“So you decide to tell the city that you’re a changeling but not the crew?”
“I can’t change. By the way, I thought you didn’t like pink.”
“It’s a phase. Do you know where Starry is?”
“No, but I think she’s having more luck than us.”
Starry Night lets out a yawn as she stirs from her sleep. She opens her eyes and scowls at the few rays of light shining through the window. “Stupid sun,” she mumbles. She lets out another yawn and gets out of the bed. She goes over to the mirror and starts brushing her mane. It’s been a while since I last slept in Hayvana. Maybe I should go back to the pal-- No, he might try going after me. She growls at the few memories of the stallion that made her life the way it is.
A dark blue aura surrounds the door as she opens it with her magic. She trots through the lobby and onto the street. She looks up at the sky, a few small clouds linger in the sky. With a sigh she starts heading for the ship. I should leave before anypony recognizes me. The builds change little as she moves onward. After a couple of minutes she stops and looks around. I should be there by now. She shakes the thought from her head and continues on regardless.
Soon the builds become smaller and fewer in between. Small fields fill the spaces between the houses. She stops at the edge of Hayvana, a large jungle spreads out in front of her. This is odd, how did I end up here? She turns around and starts heading the way she came. How did I end up at the wrong side of the city. I haven’t been gone that long and I certainly know my way around cities like these. Perhaps I simply wasn’t paying attention. No, that can’t be it, I can usually navigate these areas without paying any attention at all. Surely, there must be some sort of--
Her thoughts are stop abruptly when her snout smacks into a tree. She rubs her snout and looks at the tree that towers above her. She hears the cry of a bird and looks around. Tall trees and thick foliage surround her, colorful birds fly overhead and beautiful flowers bloom from the bushes and trees around her. “How... why am I in the middle of the jungle?” She looks back the way she came, more trees. “What kind of bloody joke is th-- Joke, that's what it was, the plant was poison joke. What kind of blood idiot asks for a delivery of poison joke?!” She takes a few deep breaths to calm down. “It’s okay, I know what’s wrong, now I have to find an apothecary shop and get the…” She looks around again and sighs. “Of course, I probably won’t find any shops out here and since poison joke isn’t native to this area the ingredients for the antidote aren’t either.”
She feels something brush against her coat. She turns to find nothing behind her, but something brushes against her coat once again. She feels something climbing on her across her back, she turns her head as a large spider climbs toward her neck. She screams and takes off running further into the jungle. Torns and branches scratch at her coat as she weaves her way around trees and over rocks. She looks behind her to see if the demonic creature is following her. She lets out a sigh of relief once she realizes nothing is behind. She looks ahead of her once again only to run into a tree.
Starry tries to shake the stars out of her eyes. She rubs her snout with her foreleg, a warm liquid drips out of her nose. She looks back at her coat, little scratched and dirty but nothing too major. Bloody fabulous, now I’m really lost, bleeding and a spider is out there hunting me down, she thinks. She picks herself off the ground, a small snake slithers around her hoof. With another scream she jumps back and trips over a rock and rolls down a hill, stopping when she crashes into a bush.
“I want to be back on the ship…” She stumbles out of the bush and takes in her surroundings, more trees. She decides on a new plan, she picks a direction and goes the opposite way. Well, now I know how Captain feels everytime he goes anywhere.
After hours of walking she finds a small clearing and decides to take a break since her plan didn’t seem to be working yet. She levitates a fruit down from one of the trees and makes herself comfy on the grass. After having spent a couple of hours in the jungle, she’s beginning to find it quite beautiful, a few too many spiders and snakes but still quite nice. She puts her foreleg up to her nose again which is no longer bleeding. She finishes the fruit and looks skyward, watching the few clouds make their way across the sky.
She spots something moving out of the corner of her eye. It’s too big to be a spider or snake, too big to even be a pony. She springs to her hooves as the creature growls at her. A manticore makes it’s way into the clearing. I could try running but I’m too tired and he probably knows his way around here better. Hiding isn’t an option, his senses and too keen. So fight. He’s big, I have to try avoiding anything he throws my way, Starry thinks. The manticore continues to growl as he begins to circle the unicorn. She charges a spell and faces the beast.
It roars and lunges at her with his large claws. She jumps back, narrowly avoiding a deadly strike, and fires a blast of magic hitting it directly on the chest. He rears with a mighty roar as smoke rises from the wound, he swipes at her again. She jumps back but not fast enough. Two claws rip into her shoulder and send her flying across the clearing. She shakily rises to her hooves and quickly fires another spell. She hits the beast in the eyes, it roars in pain and blindly swipes at her. She ducks under the paw but it turns around and hits her with its scorpion tail. She slams into the ground and gasps as the air is knocked out of her.
She looks back at the manticore as it regains its visibility. It crouches to the ground and prepares to pounce on her. She closes her eyes, she hears the beast pounce and slam into the ground a few hooves in front of her. She slowly opens her eyes, a green mare with a blonde mane stands between her and the manticore. Starry recognizes the pony as one of Arrel’s old crewmates, though she’s not wearing a uniform this time. She has the image of a beehive for a cutie mark. The manticore gets up and growls at the newcomer, Honey stands her ground. Starry looks over the other mare and realizes that she has no weapon. “W-what are yo--”
“Shut up.” The beast lunges again, the earth mare swiftly dodges to the side and delivers a solid blow to it’s chest. The beast stumbles to the ground, it struggles to get back up. Honey uses the opportunity and strikes a fatal blow to it’s throat and it slumps to the ground. She goes over to the unicorn. “What are you doing out here?”
“I-I got los--” She coughs out some more blood.
Honey starts laughing at her. “Y-you got lost, ar-aren’t you supposed to be the navigator or something?”
“Poison joke, it affected my sense of direction… Can you help me out?”
“Sure.” Starry tries get to her hooves but Honey simply picks her up onto her back and starts walking toward the city. “You alright back there?”
“Yeah… no, no I’m not. I need some medical attention.”
“Fine, I’ll bring you to your ship and get some medicine too.”
“Thanks.” They continue in silence, save for the occasional chirp or far-off roar. Starry breaks the silence eventually, “What are you doing out here?”
“I train out here, lucky for you. What kind of bucking idiot fights a manticore?”
“It was my only option.”
Honey chuckles a little. “Alright, how’s Arrel doing then?”
“He’s fine, he keeps asking me to send you guys some letters. I have to keep telling him it would look bad if you were to receive a letter from a traitor.” Honey laughs. “Have you forgiven him?”
“No, I just want to make sure he’s alive so I can punch him next time we meet.” They both start laughing which cause Starry to cough up some blood onto Honey. “You okay?”
“Not really.” She looks down at the blood spot, her eyes wander to the mare’s cutie mark. “Mind if I ask why your cutie mark is a beehive?”
“I’ll tell you if you answer a question for me.”
“That seems fair.”
“I used to be a bee farmer, I join the navy after my sister was killed by a pirate.”
“Oh…”
“Your turn, why are you a pirate?”
Starry looks at the scar on the left side of her barrel. “Looking for someone.”
“No, why are you a pirate? Why don’t you just go back to the palace?”
Starry stares at her in shock. “How did you--”
“Military remember, your ‘murder’ was pretty big news.”
“I didn’t go back to the palace because I don’t want him to find me.”
“You mean the--”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Starry looks away to find that they’re at the harbour.
“Where’s yours?”
“The one over there,” she says pointing it out with a shaky hoof. They walk onto the deck, a pink Captain meets them. They both break down into a fit of laughter, he scowls down at them.
“Willow, come here and look after Starry.”