The sun rose early that morning, as it did this time of year. Yet, the start of the day was delayed, for when Spike and the Elements of Harmony found themselves on the docks of Port Royal, a stiff breeze was already ruffling the sails of the ships anchored at the docks, and the shadows of morning had long since been burned away by the sun’s rays. Prince Blueblood had bid them farewell from the mansion, forgetting to say Fluttershy's name correctly and instead calling her "Hootershy", a comment that almost had his face removed by a slap from Rarity. Spike had been able to prevent any further problems, and as such, they had arrived at the docks in a state of relative peace. A small storm was forming far off the coast, the grey clouds obscuring an otherwise pristine horizon. The smell of the salt was strongest along the docks, as the constant deposition and evaporation of the seawater left behind very noticeable salt markers.

As the seagulls cawed overhead, Spike leaned over slightly and scraped a bit at one of these depositions, flicking out his tongue to taste it off his talon. His tongue retreating, he made a slight sucking motion with one cheek, turning over the salt in his mouth. “The river’s a bit rapid today,” he muttered to himself. Port Royal had a river meandering behind it that dumped into the sea right on the far side of the fort and judging from the slightly bland and mildly muddy taste, that could only mean there had been a storm higher up in the hills a few days before. With such an influx of fresh water into the area, the fish in the harbor would likely be driven further out to sea, and the seabirds would follow suit. This could be taken as either a good or ill omen among the most superstitious sailor ponies, since they had an omen for pretty much everything that dealt with the sea. For those in the city, the greater degree of silence from a lack of birds would be good fortune, and something to be enjoyed.

“I still don’t see why we have to be leaving so early,” a voice called out, the whine in it breaking Spike out of his private thoughts. "I thought it would be more prudent for us to leave sometime in the early afternoon, rather than the morning." He turned to see Rarity and the others all dressed and ready to go, their luggage being brought up onto a ship named Broadside. Well, dressed and ready being rather gracious terms, in this case: each of them were corresponding to this sudden change of events typical of the way they always dealt with things.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were following the sailors hauling their things aboard, Dash questioning both the construction and defenses of the ship and Pinkie asking when they would reach a good place for a beach party. Fluttershy was sitting demurely by herself, taking in the sights and smells of the area, whether it was the spray of the salty water or the calls of the numerous shorebirds she could likely identify within mere moments. Twilight had her nose in a book, coincidentally labeled The Sea: A Beginning Sailor’s Guide to All Things Nautical and written by somepony who had likely rarely if ever traveled across it. Applejack was helping several sailors haul in supplies as best she could in the restrictive dress Blueblood had had fitted for her: she’d likely have it torn apart by day’s end, if only to move more freely. Rarity was watching the sailors with sharp eyes that would have put a falcon to shame, nearly leaping to her hooves every time it seemed one was going to drop some of her luggage. What did she expect? She had packed the most things out the all of them, and many that stuff was heavier than most would think possible.

Spike, meanwhile, was simply taking whatever Blueblood had provided him with, which admittedly wasn’t much. Still, the clothes on his back were nice and clean, and the prince had even had the courtesy to send with him a small map of the coastline around Port Royal, in case they needed to get back to a safe port as soon as possible. Walking over to where the others were gathered together, he sat down on a barrel of pickles.

“I hope you know the ship won’t be stable enough on this journey for most of your things to be of use,” Spike said softly, causing Rarity and Twilight to both look at him in surprise. Surely they hadn't thought travel by sea would be just like a carriage ride, or even like that of a train?

“By whatever do you mean, Spike?” Twilight asked, tucking a ribbon into her book before putting away in a small box, likely enchanted to be watertight. “Surely the seas won’t be that rough on this expedition? The weather doesn't seem so bad.”

“You never know, to be honest,” Spike said, gazing out at the horizon. “We’ll likely sail into a small storm in a few days, but other than that, how the ship handles in the sea is entirely up to the skill of the captain and their crew. If we have a good wind at our backs and a sleek bottomed-hull, we’ll have a relatively smooth trip. If we must fight the wind and the waves the whole way there... I don’t think you’ll like it.”

“Like it? I’m sure you’re just dramatizing things, Spike,” Rarity said. "A ship is still a ship, and the ocean is just an ocean. there isn't anything truly dangerous to worry about besides a rare storm or pirates now, is there?"

“You’re going to get seasick,” Spike said in a slightly teasing tone, his smile a bit smug as he put it in as honest and blunt terms as he could. “In smooth sailing, you’ll be fine, but the rocking of the ship will get to you if the going gets rough. Other than that, there's no telling what we could encounter out there.” He had a hard stomach, both from his life and his heritage, but even he would feel a tad ill in truly terrible weather.

“Please Spike, I am a lady, and I believe I know what my body is capable of handling,” Rarity replied, her voice polite but the veiled implication leaving nothing to the imagination. She would do her best to be strong on that ship, even if she did find herself in a discomforting position.

“I agree with Rarity on this one, Spike,” Twilight said as the last of the luggage and supplies were loaded on board. “We’ve been in tougher situations than this, sometimes apart, other times at each other’s side. I’m sure we’ll do just fine out there, regardless of your advice.”

“Okay, okay, I give up trying to give you some advice,” Spike replied with a chuckle, raising his hands in mock-surrender even as he smiled. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

A sharp whistle blew, and a small, rather daft-looking stallion stood at the top of the ship’s boarding ramp. “We’re due to set sail!” he called out, his reedy little voice sounding rather like his whistle. Everypony who was not already on the ship quickly made way onto the boat, with Spike being the last to board. As two sailor ponies brought up the ramp, he took one last glance back at the city before heading off below decks with the rest of the Elements of Harmony, who had been given the biggest rooms they could afford to have in the ship. Naturally, the biggest rooms were the storerooms, but a few of the less-used rooms had been converted to hold just the ladies’ luggage. Rarity, naturally, took up the most space with her things, but even after all that, the rooms they had settled in were very roomy and comfortable.

Spike didn’t get a room: as much as both Blueblood and the captain had insisted upon it, Spike had instead opted to sleep in a hammock slung between two beams on the same floor as his friends. He had simply said he felt more comfortable in a place where, should something happen, he’d be much quicker to respond.

The captain’s first mate, a sour-looking old pony with his two front teeth missing, stopped by the dragon as he set up his hammock. “I don’t like it,” the old stallion said under his breath, leaning against a wall.

“Don’t like what, sir?” Spike asked, curious as to why the pony had chosen to speak to him now. It wasn’t like there was a lack of anything to do, since they were barely a few hundred yards out of the harbor. Most first mates did damn near the same amount of work supervising as the captain did in the Royal Navy. Maybe this one was close to retirement and was getting a little slack in his old age?

“Them lassies on board the ship,” the old pony said, jerking his head towards where Twilight and everypony else were unpacking what they could into their rooms. “Bad luck, you see. Never a good sign if mares are on a ship; there’ll be trouble, I’m tellin’ ya.”

“Well, I should think of them as good luck, to be honest,” Spike said, his voice cool and calm, but his heart feeling rather heavy as a very unusual feeling of protectiveness swept into his heart.

“Oh, do you now?” the old pony asked, crossing his arms and squinting up at the taller dragon. “Why do ya say that, stranger?”

“Firstly, they are my friends, so I would greatly appreciate if you didn’t treat them like some common dock wench. Secondly, and more importantly, they are the Elements of Harmony,” the dragon replied with a slightly smug smile, which grew in time with the realizing look on the old fellow’s face. “They were sent by Princess Celestia herself to oversee a possible end to all this business with the pirates, and if we’re lucky, secure a lasting peace with Queen Chrysalis.”

“Blimey, is that so?” the old codger asked, scratching his head at the clear confusion he was experiencing. “Princess Celestia’s representatives? Never thought I’d see the day she got involved this personally.”

“Indeed. They have names as well, sir, so I suggest you take the time to learn them, to make the trip more pleasant for all of us.”

Harrumphing and trudging off, the old stallion threw one last look over his shoulder at the young dragon. “I still stand by what I said. There’ll still be trouble with them on board. You’ll see.”

“Oh, of that, I have no doubt,” Spike chuckled to himself. The six mares were used to a good, dainty breakfast with much variety. A ship like this, even with all its extra rations fit enough for a royal, would likely make them think twice about ever travelling by way of ship in the same manner. Ocean travel was not the same as it was for a steamship on a large river; you had to cut frivolities to make sure the ship could better handle itself far from shore.

As he finished packing what little he now owned under his sleeping place, Spike walked off, leaving his hammock swaying freely where he had fastened it. Time to go see what this ship had to offer, and just how “good” it really was. With Blueblood proclaiming it as such, there was no telling what corners might have been cut. Hopefully nothing important…

Inside one of the two rooms set aside for just them, Fluttershy, Applejack and Twilight took time arranging what few things they decided needed to be unpacked. The other three were in the room immediately next to theirs, and since each “group” were technically bunking together, it was best that they help one another make it feel a bit more like home.

“Twilight, Applejack, can I ask you two something?” the quiet pegasus said, her voice barely carrying through the room. Even with the splashing of the seawater against the hull, the thick wooden planks seemed to do a rather marvelous job of keeping the noise of the sea out of the ship’s interior.

“Sure thing sugarcube; go right ahead,” Applejack said as she pushed a small box underneath one of the beds. She never told anyone what was in it, but then again, they were respectful of her privacy, and did not ask.

“Well, there’s something I’ve wanted to talk to somepony about, but I... I... I-,” she trailed off softly, making a small squeaking noise at the end of her sentence.

“You’ve been too afraid to tell anypony, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, done with finally sorting her incredibly few books (a rare feat from her, to be sure) on her small bookshelf, her horn lighting slightly to enchant them to stay in position despite the ship’s rocking. “Why? Did somepony say something to you that made you feel... uncomfortable?” Her eyes narrowed. “Did Blueblood say something again to you that you didn’t like?” That "Hootershy" comment had really gotten under her nerves; she'd have to write to Celestia about that incident. Only with Spike's intervention had Blueblood been able to save himself from having his lower lip pulled up and over his entire face by an enraged Rarity.

Applejack cracked her knuckles at that. “Why, that low-life, scum-sucking turd of a-,”

“No!’ Fluttershy cried out, her voice causing the two other mares to stop their evident mental processes on nasty things to do to Blueblood. “No, n-no, Prince Blueblood never said anything to make me f-feel uncomfortable. I just... I just didn’t know who to talk to about this.”

“Then, if it ain’t about Blueblood being a scumbag, then... what could it be about?” Twilight asked, unsure as to what exactly her friend was getting at.

“Twilight, I know you don’t h-have much experience in this, so maybe it’s best Applejack tells me,” the pegasus said softly. She hated awkward situations, she really did, but she needed to talk about this now.

“Experience? I have plenty of experience in... things!” Twilight said, confusion blossoming within her.

“Fluttershy, is this about some stallion you’ve met?” Applejack asked softly. “Seems to me that might be what this whole big deal is about, if you say Twilight ain’t really got any experience on the subject.”

“I... you... sure, but... ohhh,” Twilight said, realizing the truth after feeling entirely embarrassed with herself. “Is that why you want to ask us?”

Fluttershy merely nodded silently, the purple unicorn’s scrambled response almost making her crawl under her bed. “I d-didn’t want to be rude in asking it, but... but I just had to ask somepony who knows about it. I-I’m sorry, Twilight.”

“Fluttershy, it’s fine; really, it is,” Twilight said, plopping herself down on her own bed. “It is true, at any rate; I don’t exactly have the best track record with members of the opposite sex.”

“Can’t say the same for myself,” Applejack said, blowing an errant bit of her mane out of her eyes. She never did like it all done up into three-foot high towers on the top of her head like other noble mares of Equestria. “I’ve had everypony from farmhands to apple tycoons after me. Big Macintosh usually sets them out straight for me so I don’t have to deal with them all the time.”

“No, no, it’s not about… that,” Fluttershy said. “It’s about Spike.”

“What about him?” Twilight asked.

“He…” she trailed off, causing no small amount of patience-testing of her two friends. Fluttershy was notorious amongst themselves for being not only incredibly hard to be open with, but very shy around anypony outside her circle of friends.

“Well, what about Spike?” Applejack echoed. “Is this about you and Rarity walkin’ in on him workin’ out?”

“You did what?” Twilight asked, her bewilderment clear.

“No, not that,” the pegasus muttered. “I just… oh, I feel so terrible!”

“Terrible? About what?”

“What happened to him! What he went through, all these years, and for us to just happen to be there when he turns back up again… it’s awful?”

“Why is it awful we were around when he was freed?”

“We weren’t there when he went away!” she replied. “It’s not fair to him, for us to not be there when he goes off to live his own life. What if what happened to him is our fault for not doing that?”

“Sugar, you can’t be thinkin’ like that,” Applejack said, scooting over and placing a reassuring hand on her friend’s shoulder. “What happened to Spike was bad luck, ya see. Ain’t much we coulda done to prevent it.”

“But we could have, if we’d known what was going on out there, out here,” the pegasus said, motioning towards the wall, out where the ocean gurgled and sloshed peacefully. “We oversee large parts of Equestria, aren’t we? Whatever causes those ponies to go pirate, we could have done something to prevent it, I’m sure of it!”

“Like what?” Twilight asked. “Fluttershy, not everything someone does is logical. Some ponies go into piracy because that’s all they knew growing up. Some go because it pays well in the short run, and that’s all they can think of. Other just… they do it because they can. Whether or not we do something about it would make much of a difference, and besides, isn’t that what we’ve set out to do now? Hope to change things, make a difference for the better, for our citizens and our country?”

“Yes, but we could have done something sooner!” Fluttershy countered. “Then Spike wouldn’t have had to go through with all the horrible things that happened to him!”

“Sugar, I don’t think Spike would blame ya at all fer what happened to him,” Applejack said. “What happened out there happened, and there’s no way fer ya to change that. This ain’t on you, you can’t hold onto this.”

“I know, I know,” the pegasus muttered softly. “I just… it’s tearing me up inside, knowing what happened to him out there.”

“Then talk to him about it,” Twilight said. “He’s back in our lives, hopefully for good, as after this I can’t see him wanting to go out to sea anytime soon.”

“What do I say?”

“Exactly what’s on your mind,” Applejack said. “Tell him what you’re feeling.”

“Self-pity?”

“No, anger at what happened to him, and yes, maybe a bit of guilt thrown in,” the mare said with a shrug.

The other two stared at her.

“What?” she replied. “I ain’t the Element of Honoesty fer nothing.”

“So just… talk to him, when I can,” Fluttershy repeated.

Exactly,” Twilight replied.

“What if he doesn’t want to talk to me about it?”

“I doubt that’ll be the case,” Twilight said. “He’s always been there for us, and even after all this time, and all the pain and trouble he’s gone through, he still came back to us, expecting us to still be his friends. Do you know how hard it is for anypony, or dragon in this instance, to be able to just forgive years’ worth of toil and pain, knowing his friends weren’t coming to look for him? He said it himself at the picnic; ‘the thought of you six kept me going through most of my troubles’. I mean, who can honestly say they’d think that same way after all the terrible things he’s been subjected to?” The mare did have a point; forgiveness was not a common trait among dragons, and to be as forgiving as Spike had been in them not even bothering to try and find them, it could only mean he truly valued them.

“Then... what should I do?” the poor pegasus asked, her feelings mixed up like a bunch of fruit thrown into a blender. It was so hard to just sort through every little thing she felt; happy at his return, surprised that he wanted to help them, anxious with talking to him about how guilty she felt, sad at what he’d went through…

“What we all will do, dear,” a voice said from the doorway. “We will each seek out Spike feels and talk with him about what he has gone through.”

The three mares turned to see Rarity standing in the doorway, a rather knowing but still polite smile gracing her lips. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were right behind her, quietly snickering at the looks on their three friend’s faces.

“You... you heard everything?” Twilight asked, looking past the other pegasus at her other two friends.

“Yes, Twilight, Rarity knows about what we all are feeling,” Rainbow Dash said, gently nudging Rarity to enter the room. “With all Spike’s gone through, we need to be there for him, to support him getting better. There’s no way he isn’t hurting, but we need to get some answers. Besides, Pinkie and I had the same kind of discussion with Rarity here just a few minutes ago. You'd have thought she was going to have a heart attack, judging from the look on her face when I guessed what she was talking about!”

Fluttershy looked absolutely horrified at her friends. “You... you all are worried about Spike? I thought... I thought it was just me, I-,”

“Fluttershy, just because we want to talk with him doesn’t mean we’re going to interrogate him about what happened,” Rarity said softly, sitting down next to her demure friend and clasping her free hand. “What he went through was dreadful, yes, and while we may never get the whole story of it all, what he chooses to confide in us, will be what we shall accept. After all, we are his friends, but being friends will only take us so far, and we must respect that.”

Meanwhile...

“Captain, I’m glad I managed to find you unoccupied before we were too far into our journey,” Spike said, glancing around the cabin they were sitting in. It was rather plain, with the only furnishings being those somepony with scant wealth would find useful. A set of pictures, a small writing desk, a few odd trinkets that likely were once owned by their parents or grandparents; it all felt rather cozy, something one would not expect to find on a ship like this.

“Well, my boy, it is a good thing you caught me when you did; I’m usually terribly busy, even more so when we pull into our next port,” the small captain said, puffing from a rather short pipe. Truth be told, the captain was only busy when he needed to be, or else he'd just be in his cabin, waiting for the time to pass until the next time he was needed.

“I’ve been meaning to ask: what is our first destination? I talked with Prince Blueblood before we left for the ship, and it seemed like we wouldn’t be trying to find Queen Chrysalis immediately,” the dragon said. Why the prince wanted them to take a few out-of-their-way detours escaped the dragon's logical side of his brain, but then again, the prince surely wasn't telling him everything. Why should he? Spike had agreed to the deal, but that didn't make him a friend. Blueblood likely saw Spike as nothing more than a tool, an expendable pawn in a larger struggle.

“Quite true, quite true,” the captain replied. “We have two more cities to stop in before we can truly begin our journey towards the Isle of the Changelings. Our first stop is the island city of Havana, where we will stock up on fruits and other goods. Don’t want an outbreak of scurvy on board our ships now, do we?”

“I guess not,” Spike agreed. “And the second city?”

“We’ll be stopping at Yankton to load up supplies of... another nature,” the captain said, his voice trying to sound mysterious but ending up sounding constipated. “Strictly secret, can’t tell anypony, hush-hush: you know, that sort of business.”
“Ah, I see,” the dragon replied. “Isn’t Yankton somewhat of a... dangerous place for sailing ships to go? What, with all the public displeasure over the need for sailors and the impressment that goes along with it?”

“Ah, you know about those malcontents, do you?” the captain replied, arching a thick, bushy eyebrow at the young dragon before him. “Well, it pains me to say it, but they just have to deal with what we need. We need sailors and soldiers to defend our trade fleets, and although the pay is better than what any might expect, it’s still back-breaking work. The whole lot of ponies who are most against this have never served aboard anything in their life; many have never seen what happens to ships when they come under attack by pirates. They don’t understand that trade keeps much of the coast running smoothly; how else would we trade with other countries? By railroad is too costly to build through the terrain we often have along this stretch of coastline, and we can’t make flying trains to just soar over the oceans, either.”

“I see your point, but my question remains the same,” Spike said. “What is the danger to this ship, and more importantly, to its passengers, should we stop in Yankton?”

“I don’t see why we would be in any danger,” the captain replied. “What fool would dare try to attack a ship of Their Majesty’s fleet in their own port? Things would have had to degrade very rapidly in the public’s eye for something like that to happen, even in a place like Yankton. Besides, if the Broadside were to stop in the city, it would likely give the public a morale boost, knowing that Celestia herself had sent the Elements of Harmony to help deal with the situation.” The fact that said Elements of Harmony were traveling on this ship was no secret, and it would likely spread to every corner of the coast long before the Broadside made port.

“Yes, well, with all the problems on the high seas these days, a bout of bad news would surely sour the public’s opinion of the those in charge around these parts, while a good bit of news would undoubtedly lift their spirits” the young dragon replied. “Which brings me to my second question; how likely do you think it will be for this ship to run into a group of pirates? I speak not for myself, but out of concern for... some of our passengers.”

“It is unlikely we will encounter any on our way to Havana and then Yankton, Mr. Spike,” the captain said, his little reedy voice starting to wear on the dragon’s nerves. “Those routes are some of the most patrolled in the area, and we haven't had a sighting of unregistered ships in those areas for weeks. Besides, this ship is one of the finest of the newer vessels launched. We’ll have a few surprises in store for any foolish pirate to try and cross our way.”

“Yes, well, it’s not regular every-day pirates I’m thinking of,” Spike said softly. “What of the Sea Wraith, or possibly the Phantom? They aren't exactly the most average of pirate ships.”

At the names of those two ships, the pipe dropped from the captain’s mouth and onto the floor. His somewhat jovial and rather calm disposition vanished, only to be replaced by one laced with fear and uncertainty. “I would rather live the rest of my life aboard a trawler than have to meet those ships on the high seas,” he muttered, picking his pipe back up. “Of the two, perhaps the Sea Wraith would be the lesser of two evils. I’ve have heard the captain to be a fair and rather honorable pirate, if such a thing exists. But as for the Phantom... I cannot fathom any fool who would dare and try to attack that that ship, or even look for it. She... she glides through the water like some unnatural beast, I have heard. Her hull is littered with the most foulest of the deep sea’s creatures, their magically petrified corpses donning it like some collection of unearthly trophies.”

“So I have heard; the stories, I mean,” Spike said, wondering if this captain had seen the Phantom with his own eyes. His own descriptions were not puffed up to impress; they seemed far too sincere, far too genuine, to be that of a boastful fellow.

“The stories do not do justice the terrible things that occur on that ship,” the captain whispered. “Devilish creatures, in the forms of mares, suck the very life out of you. Your mind becomes their plaything to do with as they will, and many a thing they do to it. Your body becomes nothing more than an extension of their desires, and many are cruel and twisted in that regard. They will drain you of much of your blood to make you weak and feed it back to you in a frothy soup, laughing as they do so. They will pull your mane from your head to keep you clean-shaven, if only so the lice don’t make you insane in their care. And the walls... the walls in the lower decks breathe in time with you, so that you feel like the weight of the ocean is pressing in on you at all times.”

“I’m sorry, but have you ever been on that ship?” the dragon asked. “You seem to be rather... invested in these stories. I've heard a few of the horror stories myself, from some of the relatively few survivors that are scattered along the coast.”

“Yes, once,” the captain said softly. “I was there for only a short amount of time, and it nearly drove me mad. The only thing that kept me sane was the thought of my wife, and my two young daughters. If not for them, I don’t know where I’d be now; dead, most likely.”

The two of them sat in silence for a few more minutes, the gentle rocking of the ship the only thing indicating they were even moving towards their first stop. “Well, it is time for me to return to the lower decks, sir,” Spike said, rising from the small chair he had been delegated. "I have some things to discuss with the Elements of Harmony, and I would hate to keep you preoccupied from your other duties."

“Oh, of course, of course,” the captain said softly, looking down at his pipe with an odd expression on his face. He seemed very subdued, as if the mere recollection of the horrors he had witnessed aboard the Phantom were making his brain sleepy and nonresponsive.

“Do not fret, sir; if we should come across either of the pirate ships you mentioned, I will do my best to make sure you get back to your family in one piece,” Spike said, bowing once more before leaving the captain to his thoughts. "This conflict has already cost too many families the lives of their kin."

Meanwhile...

“You are certain of this?” Chrysalis asked as she nursed her foal, little Cordulia making adorable squeaking noises as she did so. The little filly was hungry far less often than other ponies her age, but she made up for it by needing to feed on a larger amount of milk. Then again, changeling milk was only slightly more nutritious in some respects than that of other ponies, and unfortunately, the nutrients it gave in abundance were not dedicated to physical growth, but to development of one's magical aura. A queen's milk was laced with properties that would ensure her offspring would have magic far beyond that of any of her subjects, partly as a defense mechanism and partly to establish who was in charge when the foal became of age. Being stronger in magic was the usual sign of royalty among her kind, anyway, though such strength-focused dynastic succession often meant if a ruling family grew too weak, a strong family, noble or not, would be best suited to take their place.

“I am sure, my queen,” the changeling said, her eyes drawn to the little filly in her ruler’s arms. “Our spies have located where they will be heading next.”

For the lower castes of the changelings, the urge to breed was always strong, but the urge to raise their offspring, to nurture and help it grow, dominated all other thoughts at many points in their life. However, the sheer number of females born to every male meant so many females had to live without ever having children, something many found to be an utterly horrible fate. Even the implementation of herds and harems a few generations ago had done little to ebb the flow of tears from the mares who lived their entire lives without having a single foal. That had all changed after the failed invasion of Canterlot under Chrysalis all those years ago. After that rather stinging defeat, the queen had decreed there would be no more unhappiness in her kingdom, as the love of what few breeding males existed could not satisfy the needs of the entire populace. Her plan and the resulting ramifications had been swift, decisive, and so far incredibly successful, but the looming threat of it no longer being an option weighed heavily on the minds of all her subjects.
“Havana is lovely this time of year, but I doubt we’ll be able to get the Sea Wraith into a position favorable to us, as the area is heavily patrolled,” Chrysalis said softly as she stroked one of Cordulia’s cheeks with two fingers. “Has the captain reported back yet?”

“Yes, your highness, but he said they will not be able to reach Havana in time for everything to go as planned,” the servant changeling said, her eyes not able to remove themselves from the sight of the queen’s little feeding filly. “He did say they could reach the dragon’s second destination ahead of time and be able lie in wait after they leave.”

“Then that is what they will do,” Chrysalis said, gently removing the filly from her large breast and burping her gently on her shoulder. The little filly made a keening noise and snuggled into her mother’s embrace. “We shall travel further out to sea: I don’t want this ship put in danger by that small storm on the horizon. With the weather we’ve been having, there is far too much chance it could develop into something much stronger.”

“Yes, my queen,” the changeling said, bowing once more before making motion to leave.

“Serena,” Chrysalis said softly, looking up at her subject with a curious expression. “I wish to ask you something.”

“Yes, your majesty?” Serena asked.

“Is it right for me to be doing this?” the queen asked, looking back down at her daughter. “Is it right for me to be so honorably meddling in the affairs of another kingdom, that I put my own in jeopardy? A kingdom that would gladly see me and our kind gone from their sight, far removed from the world as they know it? A kingdom where the majority of the subjects not only fear us, but despise us, for both out appearance and the way our society works?”

Serena was taken aback by the queen’s questions. It was highly unorthodox for Chrysalis to ask such a thing. She had always been decisive, eloquent, and incredibly self-sure of herself and her subjects. She was beautiful, smart, and utterly charismatic to those who knew her, but beyond all of that, she was still a mare, and now a mother. Was she questioning this because of her filly’s father? Was she asking this to just reassure herself of what needed to be done?

“Of course,” Serena replied. “You are our queen; we would follow you to the ends of the earth, no matter what your decision may be, or what the consequences your decisions will bring.”

“And what of our enemies? Would this make them our friends or keep them as our foes?” the queen asked softly as her daughter began to snore, her belly full of her mother's warm milk. "Only time will tell."

Meanwhile...

The city of Port Royal was famed for not only being a magnificent port city, but for one having some of the fastest travel to neighboring cities. The trains and carriages were some of the quickest in all the coast, and it showed just how prosperous one could be if they took full advantage of that. Perhaps that was why Sombra, former king of the Crystal Empire and eternal foe of all things good and free, used it to his advantage as often as he could.

Journeying to cities along the coast in secrecy was no problem for one as malevolent as he. All it took was a few bribes here, a few threats here, and voila: he could be almost anywhere along the coast in a matter of hours. No paperwork trail, no witnesses to his movements, and no reports of unusual activities in the cities he traveled to.

Stepping off the train amidst a cloudy sky, and rapped in a dark traveling cloak, he made his way to the meeting place of his subordinates. Yankton was by far the most profitable venture he had ever invested in. The city was sharply divided between the rich and poor, and the timing of his arrival could not have been better. The fools appealing for fairer wages and worker’s rights had no idea the very stallion “financing” their little protests would have had them all executed on the spot if he were in charge for simply being troublesome. He did not care if they had families to feed or if they had been injured in some accident and only sought restitution: all he cared about was the plans he had set in motion ever since his defeat at the hands of Princess Cadence and...

“Spike,” he hissed, the memory of his defeat still burned into the back of his retinas. That blasted dragon had been the one thing he had not counted on all those years ago. Who would have expected a dragon to assist in his defeat, mere weeks after his unholy return from ice and shadow? The stinging humiliation had ruined his plans then, but he had since grown to begrudgingly respect the small dragon for being so brave, even if it meant Sombra himself would need to learn patience when enacting a plan.

Since that day all those years ago, he had watched and waited for an opening through which his new set of plans could take hold. Surprisingly for him, that opening had coincided with the dragon just up and vanishing from Canterlot, something Sombra had been entirely gleeful about. But now he had reports of the dragon resurfacing, and even though he had no doubt the dragon would be difficult to deal with if he ever became trouble again, he had other problems entirely. His spies were disappearing as the plan was becoming more successful.

Something would have to be done; something likely... drastic.

Author's Note

He he he.... oh, what am I planning? Like I'll ever spell it out for you guys. Stay tuned to find out more!