The day after attending the feast in their honor, our hero Pip awoke in his hotel room to the sight of Chrysalis combing her long, oily mane in the mirror.

“Ah, so the false hero is finally awake. Sheesh, I thought you had fallen into a food-induced coma.” She said, glancing back at him. Pip sat up on the edge of the bed and stretched

“Hey, its not easy being an adventurer, ok? To be honest, I’m shocked you’re awake already after eating a chicken whole last night. You nearly made the mayor faint!”

Chrysalis laughed and tossed the comb to Pip “I can’t help that I’m a voracious queen. Just be happy I chose to feed on pony food instead of feeding on you. You’re far more delectable than a chicken.”

Pip rolled his eyes, but couldn’t deny that he was indeed glad she hadn’t raped him in his sleep. He brushed his mane and got dressed for the day, wrapping his signature red scarf around his neck.

“By the way, false hero. Where do you plan on going next?”

Pip stood up and smiled, looking out the window and seeing the ocean in the distance

“Isnt it obvious, Chrysalis? Our next stop is the harbor. From there, we can charter a ship straight to the island of Thordongo, land of the changelings!” Pip stood heroically, believing he could take on any foe

“Heh.” Chrysalis scoffed. “Getting a little ahead of yourself, are we Pip? Do you honestly believe you can just barge right in to the changeling homeland, walk up the castle steps, and kill their queen? You couldn’t even handle Grandberrya yesterday!”

“Oh….. Well then, what do you suppose we should do?” Pip turned around and sulked a little, being reminded of his weakness

“In due time, my dear Pip. Lets focus on getting that boat, then I’ll tell you.” Chrysalis said as she changed back in to Luna, opening the bedroom door “You lead the way, mr Hero.”

Pip nodded and the duo made their way outside, crossing through the town gates and beginning their trip to the nearby harbor town of TransCelestan

The pair followed the dirt road connecting Manehatten to TransCelestan, passing through yet another forest on the island of Celesvania (why the capitol island of Celestia’s empire was so heavily forested shall forever remain a mystery), when a question entered Pips mind

“Hey, Chrysalis, I just realized-“ But as he looked behind him, Chrysalis was nowhere to be found

“Sweet Celestia, where did she run off to this time?!” Pip yelled in aggravation, but before he could begin his search, he heard an ear-piercing screech come from above, and as he looked up, a strange figure rammed into him, knocking him over

“Well, well. What do we have here? A savory little colt traveling alone?”

Pip looked up at the creature standing over him: it was certainly a mare, but in place of forehooves, she had large, feathery wings and a sharp beak, giving her the appearance of a fabled harpy. The harpy pony pinned Pip on his back with her foot, grinning

“Let go of me, I don’t want to fight!” Pip said, squirming weakly to fight against her pin

“Oh? Well if you don’t want to fight, then that means I can just go ahead and have my fun with you!” The harpy flapped her wings happily and sat on Pips lap, trying to undo his pants

“Curses, these wings make it hard to do anything easily. One moment, my little prey.” Pip took a deep breath as the harpy let go of his neck in order to remove his clothes. Thinking quickly, Pip raised his hoof and gave her a firm backhand, knocking the harpy to the ground and buying him enough time to draw his sword

“I said I never wanted to fight, so please leave me be!” Pip said, standing to his feet and pointing his sword as the bird who was rubbing her beak with a wing

“Sheesh, fine. I’m sure there are easier pickings in Manehatten.” The harpy sneered and stood back up, flapping her wings and flying off

As soon as the harpy had left Pips sight, he heard a familiar set of hooves walking behind him

“You know, Pippy. You’re lucky that my children are idiots. You know that, right?” Chrysalis said, taking a bite out of an apple she had found

“Why do you keep running off when I’m in trouble?” Pip sheathed his sword and dusted himself off, turning to face his travel companion

“I can sense when my children are near, Pippy. You can’t possibly expect me to help you out on your quest to kill me, can you?”

The changeling queen replied in her usual sarcastic manner, chewing on another bite of apple “Besides, you seem to be getting better at this whole ‘hero’ thing. Not much better, but a tad bit.”

Pip sighed and started walking along the road again, on his way to TransCelestan with Chrysalis following close behind him, still disguised as Luna

After the fight with the harpy, their trip was short and peaceful, and in what felt like no time at all, the duo arrived at the docks of TransCelestan. The smell of fish and the ocean filled the air as ponies of all types were attending their fish market stalls, and out at sea in their ships.

“Can’t be too hard to find a galley that can take us across the ocean” Pip said, taking in a deep breath of the fresh ocean air

“Yes, just make sure you find a good ship. We will need it where I’m taking us. And make it quick, fish make me feel sick.” Luna left Pip at the docks to search for a ship, going into the local pub

Searching every pier at the harbor, Pip saw ships of all shapes, sizes, and quality, yet he had realized one very inconvenient problem: he was completely broke, and knew no captain would ferry him and Luna for free.

Looking around, he sat on the edge of a pier to think about how he could make some quick bits in this town, when suddenly his vision went entirely black in his right eye, and he felt a strange cloth cap being put on his head

“Surprise Pippy!”

“Ah!” Pip jumped in fear, falling into the water. Immediately after, he heard the sound of a familiar mare laughing at him

“Hahaha! Oh, Pip. That was hysterical!”

Pip climbed back on to the pier and shook off the water, seeing Luna dressed as a pirate captain now

“What did you do to me, Luna? I can’t see anything out of my right eye!”

Chrysalis chuckled and flipped Pips eye patch up so he could see now

“Come on, can’t you take a joke? I put an eye patch and a bandanna on ya. And I must say, you really can pull off the soaked pirate look.”

“Where did you get these things from?”

“Oh, remember when I went into the pub? Well, let’s just say I used my womanly talents and obtained some bits and the deed to a ship.” Chrysalis posed like Pip usually did after accomplishing a heroic task, and Pip looked grossed out

“Eww, ok, forget I ever asked. But which ship do we take?”

“Enough questions, matey! Follow yer captain!” Chrysalis attached a hook to her hoof (which honestly just made walking much more difficult) and lead Pip to a large galley like he had been searching for. She pulled the docking plank up, and stood at the wheel
“Avast me matey, rig the sails, or I’ll have ye walk the plank!”

“Luna, you sound absolutely ridiculous. I’m pretty sure no pirate has ever talked like that.” Pip rolled his eyes and prepared the sail so they could begin their trip. Chrysalis tossed a mop and bucket at him.

“Enough ye cabin boy, swap the deck while I guide The Rusty Spoon!” Chrysalis held on to the wheel and a breeze caught the sail, the ship beginning to move

“You named your ship ‘The Rusty Spoon’?” Pip looked up at his captain, pushing the mop like she ordered him to do in fear that Chrysalis had gone off the deep end.

“Yar, tis horrifying, be it not? Ye could get tetanus! And then who will ye cry to?”

“This is going to be a long ride, I can already tell.”

“Worry not, lad. Yer captain be here to make sure we get there right as rain!” Chrysalis yelled out, and jammed a peg leg in between the spokes on the ships wheel in order to keep it from turning “There we go, now we be sailin’ on cruise control!”

Author's Note

I just had to dress Pip as a pirate, can you blame me? xD