The morning after our night in the cavern, we make sure that the four centuries are good and taught to the ropes they've conveniently provided for themselves. Of course they were given those items to make arrests and captures, but we found the kindness in our hearts to leave those to them. I've also melted down their weapons, rather the ones Amor elected not to take, just to make sure they don't come back after us with a vendetta and a means of carrying that out.

Mrs. Kalimba and Hestia goes into the forest of the valley below to cut some of the trees in a bid to make a cage for me to sit in. Once that's done, I pop a squat, they primitively tie together thatch, shaven bark, and use some of that rope we got off the watchers for my cage to get built. And as they come to a completion of that, I go about my part to look like the miserable drake who's bound for misfortune. At least that part isn't too hard, I can easily look like I don't want this because I truly don't want it.

Mrs. Kalimba makes sure that she casts the invisibility spell for herself. And after our run-through of the plan and it's alternatives, we make our slow march into town. By the time we get there, it's midday and there seems to to be a pending shift change taking place. The first thing we run into is another group of four. They also seem to be bringing in some rations for themselves, which is pretty useful for us because of how hungry we are.

The group halts as we approach, their squad leader appears to be a stocky fellow with hardly any patience for much other than himself. His first reaction isn't to greet us, but rather scream and bark as many entitled superiors do. "The hell are you lot doing here? You're supposed to be off in the mountains on watch detail!" He immediately takes notice of the cage, seeing me sitting just as quiet as can be. "A dragon, huh? Purple scales and green fins?" He really seems to emphasize that description.

"Yes sir." Amor speaks up in his disguise, trying to put a lot more bass into his voice. "Found this one wandering the forest. Seems the collar on his neck has him in a muttering state of confusion. We caught him after he got done humping a tree. If you think that's awkward, you should probably check in on that tree in about eleven months."

As ridiculous as that sounds, I try to keep my head down to not laugh at that. I take a deep breath and completely look to sell on that story by grabbing one of the bars of the cage, kissing against it. "Oh princess... you're the best. I crave you."

Amor stiffens while he tries not to break out into a full-throated cackle. "Yeah, he does that."

While Hestia squints in disgust over what's going on, the other guards snicker amongst themselves. The squad leader gives my pathetic display a smirk of superiority. "Primitive creatures acting just as they are. No matter, it's good you caught this one because we're in a sad state of affairs with that poor excuse of a town. The fleet's hovering above the square right now, the princess is in talks with the mayor over our housing matter. Seems the inns around here aren't enough to hold even one measly airship of centuries. Kinda sad if you ask me, a town so pathetic that it can't even ask some of the citizens to vacate a few buildings for us."

"Well that is pretty sad." Amor says as he starts to pull the cage along. "We'll be sure to wheel this one over to her as quickly as possible."

The squad leader cracks a smirk as he holds a hoof out to the disguised prince. "No need. We'll take this from here."

Hestia, already privy to the corruption that sometimes takes place, argues in defense of the capture. "But sir, this is our bounty! We're the one that found him like this, you would not believe the struggle I had to go through just to keep this creature off of─"

*click*

The stallion cuts her off, aiming a musket at her chin as he steps closer to her. "If you know what's good for you, you'll let me take this one in, and you'll get back to your post up on the mountain, where you belong."

"This isn't fair!" She argues once more. "We worked hard to get that dragon and you─"

The others in the squad quickly join along with their leader, aiming their weapons for both Amor and Hestia. The leader turns back with a grin. "You were saying?"

"I'm just saying that we did manage to capture him─"

The musket of the squad leader is levitated between the princess's legs. brushing firmly against her undercarriage. He reaches further in and makes a swiping motion, little to no resistance is made. The other centuries smile as they start to surround her. "Funny, we don't usually give females centuries out of town assignments. They're barely able to aim straight." He leans into the mare's ear. "Maybe you can convince us to not say anything about this?" He turns to his fellow centuries. "Hey boys, looks like we've have a friend on misplaced assignment. Why don't we escort her to town?"

The princess grimaces at first, but sheds that disgust as she makes her remark. "Sorry, but you may wanna talk with my friend. She's on assignment with me."

"What the─" The sound of three bodies falling to the ground grabs the stallion's attention. Mrs. Kalimba, fresh from clocking out the three other scouts, gives herself a running start before erupting into a flip, grabbing the stallion by his neck using her hindlegs and flinging him over her into the ground. "You... cheeky..." A stomp to his neck quickly puts the stallion unconscious.

The zebracorn shows her displeasure of the one she's taken down. "I don't like chauvinistic idjiots." She slowly kisses her teeth with a very emphatic turn away from the stallion.

Hestia clops her hooves in gleeful approval of her work, all while Amor nods with approval of the mare's style. "I'd figure as much from what you did to that one guy during my rescue."

"Uh, hello?" I call out to the other three. "Mind giving me some miniscule of credit while being locked away in this unconvincing cage? I'm already cringing at the idea of giving my dick splinters."

The prince offers me a little praise for my work. "I mean of course you have a huge part in it too, you've played your role quite well. Really nailed those ad-libs. You Equestrians are pretty resourceful and adaptable."

"Why thank you." I say as I lift the cage from over me, immediately looking to melt down the weapons they have. "Now to the current situation. Is it really who I think it is that they have at the center of town?"

"Being the fact that they keep accurately describe your appearance, it only makes sense that it is her." Hestia comments.

"Ugh... great. The last thing we need is an annoying princess with a newfound dragon fetish finding out her favorite toy is just passing through town."

"Actually, that could be to our advantage." Amor replies. "I say we play on that next, moving on to the second part of our plan. Let's try to convince them that we've passed on this town to make a move to the next. All we have to do is lure them away while we stake nearby. The airships will move on and we'll be left to ourselves."

"That's a good idea, except one thing." I bring up. "How do we grab the attention of three entire airships?"

"Knowing Zenobia, she'll probably divert all of her attention to the source." Proposes the pegasus princess.

"But how do we get them to bite on the lure?" I ask.

"That part is easy." Mrs. Kalimba says as she picks up some of the stallion's supplies, also robbing the others and him of their rations. She drags a pencil from one of his pockets and makes a note on some parchment found on the squad leader. "Let's give these ponies something to report back on. When they wake up, they'll see where we're going, and they would be wise to move on it."

"Won't that give us away?" I ask her as I go back to melting another musket down.

The princess takes notice of my flames. "Not if we do this right." She says as she immediately takes off the belt of one of the other subordinates. "Hey, how sharp are your claws?"

I pause on my work to answer her question. "I usually keep them blunted and filed down, you know for 'friendly appearances', shaking hooves, signing papers, administrative stuff like that."

She grabs my right claw and runs the metallic belt loop against it, getting a shaven bit of metal from the close interaction. I look at her while she proceeds to borrow my claw without asking me. It takes her a while before she notices that I'm not exactly pleased with nor privy to the method. "Don't mind me. Just looking to get some science done."

An invisible light bulb goes off over Amor's head as he quickly complies with her actions. "Let me go get a little kindling."

"Bring back some sturdy branches while you're at it." She says before turning back to me. "Nice fire you go there. Hope I can borrow some for later?"

"Why?"

"Oh, you'll see."

Later at Canterlot Castle...

Morning has broken over the city yet again, but this time carries an air of uncertainty with many in the castle. Rumors begin to spread of the princess' search for a replacement to claim the prime ambassador seat. For many, the situation already screams ill-fortune for the ones who've already departed for Ponyland, being that the contingent hasn't been in contact for the better part of a week now.

Gallus is another who doesn't fall deaf to the rumblings, he in fact spreads the rumor to his other friends as they make their way to the throne room. The party of seven are escorted by the griffon guard to the royal throne room, where they are greeted with a silence. Ocellus is the first to break the tension with her voice. "Your highness, we came as soon as you summoned us."

"Thank you all." The princess answers, but keeping a curious eye to yet another griffon that seems out of the elemental group. "Gabby, what you doing here?"

"I know that you made a call for explicitly for the element bearers, but I stay with Spike. Me, Smolder, and Ocellus all share the house with him."

Twilight's ears flick with surprise. "How do you all share a house with Spike?" After prompting the question, she realizes that now is a bad time to start that line of questioning. Instead, she brings her focus back to the more pressing matter that's in need of discussion. "Nevermind, I don't need to know. Let's just stay on the present situation."

Silverstream speaks out next. "So what about Spike, is everything alright?"

"She sent him to Ponyland." Smolder informs the hippogriff.

"Ponyland? I've never been there before." Sandbar comments. "Haven't heard much of it either."

"Yona not hear of Ponyland. Is it some offshoot of Ponyville, bad branding?" The yak questions.

Smolder expedites the reason for concern. "The problem is that Ponyland has a history of poaching dragons for wares."

"What!?" Sandbar's jaw falls as he looks over to the princess. "You sent Spike there!?"

"It's literally if Klugetown was it's own country." Silverstream adds.

The earth pony inquires the hippogriff. "Wait, you've heard of them?"

"I mean we've been told of them. From what I remember what my cousin mentioned, it's like they have a bunch of fishing boats that sometimes capture a hippogriff or two. Whoever's caught don't really ever see the shores of Mt. Aris again."

"That's no good." Yona mulls with worry set in her voice.

Silverstream tries to inject a bit of hope to the situation. "Now that's not for saying that they get poached themselves, but we don't ever hear much of an after-story."

"Well in the case of dragons, there is no after-story." Smolder emphasizes.

"And knowing our circumstances right now, you probably have some bad news." Ocellus heavily turns her head, seeing how all of them have been gathered.

Everyone awaits the princess' answer. She gives a quiet response with hardly any optimism to be found. "...Unfortunately."

The first thing the changeling does is check in on her dragon herdmate. "Smolder─"

"I'm... calm." The dragon answers with a shaky voice, but her resolve stands firm as she makes her request to the princess. "Give it to us straight."

The high princess wastes no time explaining the situation. "Spike and his escort, a total of forty-one service workers, specialists, and aeronautical engineers, have been missing in action for the past five days... going on six."

"You're telling us there's forty of us that's never coming back?" Gallus draws a deep breath of sympathetic grief for his fellow guards and specialists. "That's not a good look, your highness."

"They could be safe, but it's not certain right now. I had a transmission orb sent with them but that's not responding. And of course, we confiscated their phones to prevent inquiry into the matters of our technology since it's an already stressed avenue of trade that wouldn't yet be viable for larger scale. Not like having them keep their phones for contact would serve much use over on that side of the globe, not with the lack of transmission towers or signal relays throughout the countryside."

"So what you're saying is that you don't know whether or not Spike is... gone?" Gabby asks, her legs starting to shake as she imagines the possibilities.

"Not just Spike." Chimes in a male voice. A unicorn stallion appears from behind the throne, giving additional details to the deployment. "Kali's gone with him too. And apparently the only thing they have to recover this situation is an unlikely source of assistance. So as of the moment, big bro is on his way to Ponyland to possibly intercept, maybe retrieve."

"Wait, the former captain's active again?" Gallus questions the stallion.

"If you can call it that." He answers. "And plus Celestia's made it known that she's there to make sure that he doesn't get too involved. So don't expect him to make landfall and cause a scene."

Twilight grumbles to herself. "We're already at a steep precipice, we don't need to instill any further veins of conflict."

"What if they've already done that?" Ocellus questions. "What's to stop them from making any threatening gestures, much less putting their lives in danger?

"Trust me, they've done that much as it is." The high princess informs the group, not wanting to go too far into detail on what was reported. "On top of the situation, the last transmission I had with Spike himself was with one of the princesses their way, and to say that she's... interested, is an understatement."

The stallion doesn't mince words like the princess, giving a blunt account of what took place. "She fucked Spike in front of Twilight over the transmission orb. Yeah, that's a thing."

Smolder sparks smoke in her expressions. "WHAT!?"

"He seriously cheated!?" Ocellus stares slack-jawed.

"On all of us?" Gabby turns her eyes downward. "Seriously?"

The stallion makes a snide remark over the three creatures expressing their disappointment. "I see my guy was winning up till now."

"In short, that exchange looks very much nonconsensual in my eyes." Twilight adds. "He was last seen wearing a collar on his neck, and the magic signature seemed to match that of the princess who he was... ahem... entertaining."

The notion of hypnosis stirs indignation in the changeling, she screams at the princess her demand. "Tell me where they are!"

"I don't know who that bitch think she is, but she's about to find out that fucking with my dragon is about to go over as well as she's about to cook!" Smolder says with fire sparking from her words.

Stanton tries to reason with the vengeful pair. "I know you ladies wanna go after your guy and chew him up and spit him back out for a bit. But with you being what you two are, we can't afford to play that risk anymore than what's already been played."

"So you're just telling us to expect the worst, if it should be the case." Gallus summarizes.

Twilight then adds. "Nondis and I had a conversation last night. He doesn't believe that this situation is favorable for a recovery effort. So if he finds anything, he'll let me know personally. And Celestia will do all that she can to ensure that this remains civil."

"With all due respect, your highness, but I'm sure if Spike is even alive right now, the last thing that's on his mind is for everything to remain civil." Ocellus announces. "And if it's been five days, if they already have a hold of him, with one of the princesses sinking her fangs in him, he's not coming out of this unscathed!"

Gallus also speaks up. "I'm sorry to add on your majesty, but on behalf of all the guards, I'm going to have to ask that you release the names of all of the ones who are considered M.I.A.. Keeping this internal is only going to cause even more of a national outcry throughout the realm. Rumors are already spreading, and we can't afford that news to break before a public conference is held to the public."

"She intends to do just that." Stanton informs the griffon. "The only thing wanted to do is let you all know what's going on first since Spike is your friend." He looks to the trio of creatures. "For a good number of you, his bed buddies."

Ocellus looks towards the stallion, knowing what he truly is and overcoming any personal grievances to seek his perspective. "Mr. Stanton, given your experience, what do you feel are the chances of anyone making it back alive from this?"

"If they have friends on the inside, a quarter's chance. If not... less than five percent." He answers with a hoof to his chin. "For his sake, I hope his dick game is somehow good enough to stir some second thoughts in whatever princess' guts he's been rearranging. If not, I don't know what to tell you."

Sandbar, silent for most of the discussion, brings up a fair question. "Your majesty, if all else fails, do you think this will possibly lead to war?"

"That depends on Ponyland at this point." She answers. "I just pray that it doesn't come to that."

Meanwhile in Hayfling...

"Are you sure that you saw the dragon I specified!?"

The guard who's made his attempt to entertain himself at the expense of a young mare stands cowering before yet another, though with good reason that he would since it's none other than the high princess of the empire. Many already know of her short temper and crass nature, but only a select few have been ever suffered her wrath and lived to tell their perspective of failure.

With that in mind, the stallion appears on edge as he answers her question. "Your highness, he passed right by our checkpoint!" Little does he realize that his voice was far too enunciated for the princess' waning patience.

"Don't you dare fucking raise your puny voice at me, you limp-dicked shit!" Her vulgarities combined with her shrill voice causes many to duck for cover, but her maids appear quite used to the sound, hardly giving any reaction. "Are you sure they are headed in that direction!?"

"I'd swear my life on it." He says with a much more subdued volume.

"You'd better be fucking sure!" Her volume remains the same. "If not, you best be counting the hours you'd still have a penis, much less your life!"

The stallion bumbles around as he reaches inside of his saddlebags, feeling around for a note with instructions about going to their next location. "Here's what was left behind." The princess snatches the note and quickly skims through it's contents.

Dear Friendship Representative,

While it has come to the attention of our subsidiary extraction force that Ponyland has issued airships in the general area. We have relocated our point of contact to the town of Foalsom. Since the shoreline would probably be heavily watched, it is advised that you reach the extraction point by means of the river. We apologize for this inconvenience and hope to see you well.

With regards,
Sgt. Mayfair

"Fuck." The mare curses under her breath as she rises from her seat, pacing about as she ponders aloud. "So according to this, it seems that they're looking to steal a boat and head south through the river. Turning their way through the reservoir, navigating the icefloe, and making a safe landing at Foalsom, where they'll board some other vessel to make their escape."

"Yes, your highness." The cowering century confirms.

The princess skims the note once more, her eyes being drawn to the words 'Dear Friendship Representative'. Her pace slows as she continues to look at any possible alternatives. "If I'm any part smart, I'd see this as a ruse."

"How so, your majesty?" The stallion asks.

"Why would they travel south to go to Foalsom? The icefloe isn't too terribly bad at this time of year. If anything, they would go north and make their way along the shore, it's barely defended, not nearly as fortified as these instructions make it out to be." She tosses the note. "It seems to me that this is a diversionary tactic, but we also can't rule out that it may be legitimate."

"So what do you suggest, your highness?" He asks once more.

The princess carefully ponders the situation dealing with the town. Being that there's too little accommodation for her forces to occupy a residency, she elects to keep that limitation in mind. "We send two-thirds of our forces to bite on the bait. Keep the third that's already stationed here. Move all airships to the southern fjord of the Purple Mountains. I stay behind with the remnants and keep a hold on the town to monitor any further maneuvers they may have. From there, we bait them out and await their return in about five hours. That should buy us enough time to smoke them out."

"Your majesty, your wisdom is beyond words." He says with a bow.

She closes in the distance between the stallion and herself, bearing down a stern frown at his direction. He trembles as her shadow looms over him. "I suppose your diligence is worthy of some compensation. You'll serve by me tonight, go and await my further instructions. You'll receive what is due in time."

The stallion nods and trots away, grinning at the prospect of receiving an award from the princess.

After he exits the room, the head maid offers praises to her princess. "A brilliant plan, your highness."

The mare scoffs in reply. "My idiot brother takes a lot of fucking credit he doesn't deserve. He's good at chess and hunting, but not so much as actual planning and strategy. I've never seen such an instance of failing upwards. Someone needs to tell that dickhead that being able to win at chess doesn't make you a master at tactics."

"At least your brother is a gifted fighter, your highness." The maid replies.

"Xerxes can swing a sword and cast a few spells, oh the wonders that seem to attract my father's attention."

"Well put it this way, your highness, if you are successful in your gambit, you may even supersede him in the imperial line."

Zenobia glares towards her maid. "You do realize that my father was talking out of the crack of his ass, right?"

"Forgive me for rebutting, but I don't believe he is taking this lightly." She says as the princess summons a bottle of vodka from the local distillery, popping the cork and quickly downing a fifth of the bottle. "Think of it this way, with you separate from your brother, you alone will achieve the glory he longs for. You will establish yourself as a credible ruler─"

"Oh fuck off, I've done that already!" She hollers in frustration. "The only thing my father wants to see is his precious sons fight until one comes up as a definitive heir for the throne! He already groups my accomplishments and dumps Xerxes' name on it all, that's about as far as my favor goes."

"That would soon change, your highness." The maid argues. "But not just that, you will officially gain further favor with the church. And getting high marks from the clergy means a world of difference. Imagine your position, the first born of the purebloods finally getting her due recognition."

"Does it really fucking matter these days? Almost half of the entire empire has heard of me in every situation, what glorification would there be if I were to assume the first rank?" The princess assumes her lips to the bottle once more, taking in more of the liquor.

"Your highness, the throne itself."

Her lips separate from the bottle with an audible plop. "A musty, crusty, dusty seat my father probably sharted in over the decades. What fun it is to assume such an otherwise worthless chair."

"With your pet dragon, of course."

"I suppose that would be an interesting look of power and authority." She sits herself upon her bed as she lays, thinking of the creature who's bed skills subdued her beyond all others. Parts of her start to run warm of the memories of his presence. "Princess Zenobia, tamer of dragons, high princess of the realm. I would probably be feared if I wasn't seen as anything but a joke in the eyes of the masses, no thanks to my father's part in shaping my image. Strange that a dragon of all creatures would better understand me than my own family ever would. I miss that scaly fuck and his touch."

"This is a chance to refresh that. Not even the emperors before have ever been so ambitious to relinquish the throne to that without male key." The maid sits beside the inebriated princess. "Imagine the influence, the power, the respect you'll command."

"The only thing I want to imagine is my pet raking my back with his claws and sinking those teeth into my neck again. I'm throbbing at the thought of him, fuck I need his dick in me right about now. Like how fucking dare he just leaves me like this after days of offering me the most back-breaking sex conceivable. He single-hoofedly ruined my being able to masturbate! Like how the fuck do I go from wanting to entertain myself and getting dicked by a dragon for fun, to damn-near loving the thought of dying on that rugged shaft of his!? THAT'S WHAT THE FUCK I WANT TO IMAGINE RIGHT NOW!" She goes on to nurse the bottle, taking small gradual sips with every other breath she takes. "But no, you want me to imagine power and influence, as if my noble-blood brothers won't stop at nothing to exterminate me."

"Your majesty, no one would dare to overwhelm you."

"His name is Xerxes, by the way." She moans. "Same mom, same trauma, same shitty voice yelling at us for years on end until her rotting breath ceased to be had, and you don't think he would look chance in the eye to put a pellet in my head over the throne, you're absurd."

"Even he would be lesser than you just by the good Doctor's word." The maid reassures. "To defy you would be to defy the Doctor himself."

The drunken mare looks over to her nightstand, seeing a scroll rolled with a set of unlit candles on either side. She closes her eyes as another doubt runs through her mind. "Let's somehow entertain this thought of me becoming the head seat. Say that I inherit the throne, does my ascension grow a divide within the clergy who's more loyal to my brothers, to tradition?"

"Your majesty, the Doctor himself has praised you. What division would there ever be? Traditionalists would be silenced at the mention of his breath! You would be, by default, more powerful than your own father."

The mare gives a tired blink before lazily turning her head to her maid. "Say that shit one more time."

The maid repeats herself. "The Doctor's word would make you more powerful than the likes of your own father."

The princess sits up in her bed, slightly off balance from the liquor impairing her motor functions. "Mmm... I thought you said that, just didn't process completely." Her eyes jump open as the idea starts to take root in her drunken mind. "Holy hell, that's why he took credit! My father took credit from me because he knows what I did could upstage him! FUCKING BASTARD!"

The maid mutters a comment as she watches the princess jump back up to her hooves, experiencing almost a second wind of sobriety despite the flushed cheeks and obvious smell of alcohol. "And thus she lives again."

She looks to the scroll on the nightstand, finding confidence in herself. "To hell with my brothers, I'll supersede my father and get what the fuck I'm deserved! Not a fucking moment more will he use me to gain credit for my work! I'll use my position in the church, have the clergy overrule him, and then I'll be the Doctor's own anointed Empress! And there won't be a damn soul in my way!" She guzzles the remnants of the bottle, down to the last drop before tossing it to the floor. "Get my fucking pet right now, this instant! I want to see his scaly ass here by midnight! I've got a lot of excitement to work off, and capturing him gives me a proper dick appointment!"

"I'll prepare the incense, your highness." The maid gives a bow before dismissing herself, leaving the impassioned princess to her thoughts. Zenobia proudly looks herself in the mirror, imagining the golden laurels of her father being sat upon her head. She begins to laugh at the imaginary coronation, the faux silhouette of a dragon standing behind her with his collar glowing and a blank smile on his face. The sight of his claws landing upon her shoulder drives her to a maddening cackle, all points of reality broken in her mind, albeit for just a moment. Her ears a brimming red, her cheeks the same, she recovers with a deep breath, and a tail swishing with anticipation.

"Oh... I could use a good warmup before my pet gets here. Guess I better go give that limp-dick shit his reward now."

Night has fallen over the industrial hamlet of Hayfling. The party of four sit idle and watch quietly as the three airships start to maneuver away from the small town. Relief falls on their shoulders while they watch from the trees of the forest. The two imperials celebrate amongst themselves, meanwhile Mrs. Kalimba is a lot more on guard than either of us. I'm just happy that we can make our way through without having to deal with a lot of conflict. However, I know that some of our maneuvers are going to require a lot more than keeping quiet.

Can't really tell that to Amor right now. "Aaaaaand the airships. Are. Gone."

"Wow... I can't believe that worked." I comment.

Hestia appears quite proud that the plan's been successful. To be honest, a lot of that plan wouldn't happen without her. I remember how much I was sweating when she volunteered to simply waltz into town as herself to rent a small boat. Turns out that risk was well played, because no one suspected anything other than the princess looking to take a quiet fishing trip down the river. "Well, guess that makes this a free walk through town." I don't blame her for riding on her high of success, I just wish that she could afford to do more of it.

"Pretty impressive set of dummies you made, Hestia." I guess I'll let Amor keep feeding her pride a bit.

And boy is she feeding on it. "C'mon, you know I'm a mind of arts and crafts. Why would you even think less of me?"

I do give credit to where credit is due. "Well I know there's a wooden boat you paid for with a fake party of three floating down the fjord."

"Complete with well-timed fire bursts from our faux dragon." She gives me a wink.

Elsewhere...

A trio of airships slowly trail down a small boat drifting gently down the river. They travel in a tight formation, moving slow as to not collide with one another or the varying mountains on either side of the fjord. The captain of the ship leading the formation looks through a looking glass, seeing down to the figures on the boat. The taller of them occasionally spews greenish flames.

The captain makes note of the situation. "I've never seen a dragon breathe green fire."

"We've also never seen this dragon breathe fire period, sir." His lieutenant calls out.

"I guess so." He mutters. "Keep up our pursuit. Tell one of the ships behind us to slowly pull out from formation and make their way to the fork. We'll cut them off at the confluence before they can think to turn around."

"Yes sir."

"Oh yeah, Hestia. What was that strange mixture you stirred up earlier after your trip through town?" Asks the young prince.

"Copper sulfate, it makes the fire green." She explains. "Since the metals on the belts of our uniforms are mostly comprised of copper, I just went to town to buy some sulfur saying that I wanted to make sure to avoid insects."

"Sulfur is a pretty good insect repellant." I comment. "It's a good reason why you don't run into many bugs in the Dragon Lands. But now I have to ask this, where did you find the excess gunpowder?"

"Well duh, I'm a whole princess, remember? You wouldn't think I didn't sneak on one of those airships for some usable goods, did you? There's plenty of gunpowder for the cannons, all I had to do was pay the troops a visit of good-will."

The young prince comments to his sister. "You've always been the creative mind to check off a list as you go about being bad."

"And you've always ditched your lessons by tailing behind Adelphos, him and his chronic girl-chasing, I'm willing to bet that father saw a kindred spirit in him before he died."

"I guess I have been the hopeless romantic." He says with a sigh. "To think I go about my own journey to chase after the mare of my dreams, only to be sent back to this nightmare of a country."

"Hey, at least it's one of the countries of all time." Mrs. Kalimba replies with a hapless shrug.

"Ah yes, a cheap certificate for participation, we love it." The prince says as he stands up, getting ready to make a march for the docks. But the zebracorn's magic holds firm to his tail, causing him to wince a bit from the pain. "Hey, why can't we go on now?"

"Our time is not yet upon us."

The prince argues against her. "Seriously, it's a sleepy town of a bunch of port workers and ferrymares. The local pub closes at 10 at night, there's no jig music played past 9:30 because of noise ordinance, and the only ones who travel at this hour are those looking to commit extramarital affairs. Believe me, no centuries are even remotely interested in doing anything other than taking their showers and going to sleep, this place is that boring."

Mrs. Kalimba hums a retort. "Sounds like a good place to call home."

"I'd rather be in the thick of Canterlot's night life." The prince responds.

"Not something I'd wish on anyone." She answers back as she pulls out a spyglass, lovingly pilfered from the squad leader we ran into earlier. She scans the city until something catches her attention. She levitates the item towards me for me to take a gander. "And besides... we are not the only ones wide awake."

She points her hoof in the direction I'm supposed to be looking into. I see a few windows with light, some with silhouettes, but one with a familiar build. The drafty wind lifts the curtains momentarily, revealing the owner of that familiar figure I've been hands-on with less than a week ago. "Ugh, she's here?"

"Seems she's doing a little more than keeping an eye out." The zebracorn notes. "At least someone's keeping her entertained."

I don't even get the chance to notice that Hestia pulls out another spyglass she's appropriated, looking in the same window I'm staring into. She chokes back a gag before planting the item into Amore's chest. He takes a turn to see what it is that's got her so reviled, only to groan in disgust himself. It seems that she has a stallion keeping her company, his hooves tied to the bedpost. She seems to be wearing a stern face, the one I've grown used to seeing outside of the bedroom. "Poor fool. He'll be needing a medic by the hour's end." Amor comments.

"Well I didn't need one, I turned out just fine." I point out. "What makes you say that?"

"Just... keep watching." He warns.

As the stallion wriggles on the bed, sporting an unmistakable erection, Zenobia walks over with two items. The first seems to be a small tube and a riding crop. "What is she going to do with those?"

Hestia mutters her response. "Just keep watching... that's if you can."

The stallion's sex is lifted, and it appears that the small tube is specifically aimed for it's opening. She watches sternly as the metal tube is slowly inserted... INTO HIS DICK? "Oh hell no!"

Even Amor resigns himself as 'satisfied' and stops watching. "Oh no, you'll probably need to see this for yourself, especially if she hasn't done it to you already."

That's, by far and away, the furthest thing from what we've done together.

I'll admit that there's some morbid curiosity that drives me to keep watching. So I placate to that interest and keep my eyes on the pair. It seems the tube is not fully inserted, but withdrawn slowly. The stallion writhes, I'm not exactly sure of what his sensations are at the moment, but they appear to be quite intense. She seems to mouth some instructions to him, but he seizes up instead. The tube that's slightly inserted spurts much like a geyser, his sex throbbing as a result. I see glimpses of his distressed reaction, as well as her angered expressions. He seems to mouth pleas, helpless in his position as the crop is introduced into the equation. The curtains flutter through the breeze, shading off what comes next. Even in the candlelight silhouette, I see the prominently standing erection swiftly struck by the crop.

I nearly drop the spyglass out of empathetic pain, grasping at myself in response. Amor then comments. "Sadly, that's what passes for pleasure in her eyes."

"Welcome to the Ponyland reality. Special edition: Zenobia." Hestia announces. "Granted he deserves it for what he tried to pull on me."

I shake my head, collapsing the spyglass. "We can't stay here, we gotta go now."

"But where else do we go?" Hestia questions. "The messenger in the waterway left this place as his last message to the world. Where else do we go from here?"

The young prince recalls his own account of that event. "That note, the one covered in blood, I'm sure there were more details on it. But I don't know if it's even legible at this point with the blood being dry." He says as he summons the aforementioned item, but also noticing that the letter is hard to part. "Figures, this is useless now. Only thing I can recall from it are the words 'Port of Hayfling' and 'ship'."

"But the airship done for." Mrs. Kalimba replies. "And the crew is in no better condition."

My eyes scout the town, trying to piece together what could be done. But so far, all I can see is a few ships in the harbor, including two that seems to carry freight, and one that appears to be a luxury liner. "...Hey Amor."

"Yes?"

I point towards the harbor. "I'm sure luxury yachts don't show up around here in these parts, do they?"

"Usually the wealthy would dock and make small supply runs, sometimes they pick up locally grown produce."

"But not this late in the evening, right?" The zebracorn inquires.

"Unless they're picking up some cute granddaughter of the village elder." Hestia beams her critical glare towards her brother. "What? Adelphos was the one that did stuff like that."

"Oh I'm sure he was the only one who did that here, just him and no one else." The princess comments sarcastically.

The young stallion sighs with a defeated tone. "Believe me, I tried."

The zebracorn grabs the spyglass from me and starts observing the quickest paths that lead from us to the docks. "What are the chances of us sneaking on that yacht?"

"We don't know who it belongs to." Hestia adds. "Much less who they're affiliated with. They could be some corporate entrepreneur looking to make a drug trade. This may be a small town, but don't think that won't happen here just because of it's quiet profile. If anything, that just further enhances it."

"Well we know one thing's for certain." Amor replies while turning over to me. "Your princess is still here, whipping some of her own guards into misshape."

"Hey, she is NOT my princess." I emphasize.

Mrs. Kalimba quietly routes our path, taking a mental note of each possible avenue to take for us to get to the docks without much interaction. "Either way, if we try to wait this out, we'll only end up with the airships over the town again. So we can just sit here and play amongst ourselves, or we take a chance and play as rat stowaways."

"Personally, I'd rather be a rat than a dragon these days. At least I don't have to imagine my kindred getting paraded as trophies on a flail." I say as I confirm our choice. "Let's get to that ship."

The zebracorn starts to weave her magic, looking to cast a mass invisibility spell. "That's a good call."

Our journey into the docks has come with some fairly close calls. None as close to completely compromise us, but there are some moments where a turn here or there has us running back around the corner due to a watch group trying to be thorough. Even for the reduced numbers of centuries, they are pretty sharp and perceptive. One wrong move, and you'd be better off surrendering as opposed to letting those muskets aim you down.

Sometimes our leader in stealth needs a break in the magic department, continuously casting an invisibility spell for thirty minutes over four beings is like going two hours without magic rest. And going through that can mean some extreme mental fatigue and physical exhaustion. She warns us that the rest of our time here will have to go without, unless she's expecting us to carry her along for the ride. Naturally, she'd tell us to go on without her if she's going to slow us down, but sadly she's also the only one carrying load, and she's definitely the one we can't afford to leave behind.

We don't make it out of our first day without her, not to mention us getting here.

She's not one for rest, even if she needs it. But even we all see that she's struggling to keep on all fours. "Over here." She whispers, signaling for us to move.

She's rubbing her horn, still experiencing the recoil of strenuous magic casting. Meanwhile, Amor is looking to rush things along so we can get her the rest she deserves. "Are we clear?"

Hestia functions as a second pair of eyes in her stead, her ears serving as a cautious warning measure. The moment they flick, she's on full alert. And she lets us know real quick that moving forward is a bad idea. "Wait."

We all duck down, lowering our heads beneath a nearby cargo crate. A pair of watchers on patrol pass by slowly, shining their lights down each and every alley. They aren't pleased with the assignment, as it is still rather brisk out near these waters. "Shitty ass dock detail. It's cold as fuck and there ain't even anything worth rummaging through here."

"What do you expect, these folks don't want trouble. What do you think this is, Cloud Castle?" The other speaks as they do the same towards our direction. "They don't do the underground stuff at night, they do it in the mix of day, where everything moves and hardly anyone bats an eye at what's checked. That's the smart way to do it."

"Yeah, I know. Just saying, it would be cool if we could find anything remotely interesting. You hear about that huge bust over in Foalsom with the midnight shipping op? Apparently they caught some group with over 700 thousand spurs worth of silver bars, a few blundies for firepower, and about 200 kilos of blue-j."

"Oof, blue joker? Heard that's some hard shit to get tweaked on. They're sure as hell getting put under the prison for that one."

The pair proceeds along their way and continues their walk onward. "Any further underground than what we already dig and they'll be getting cooked alive."

"Anything better than this cold."

They disappear further down the harbor, allowing us a chance to move. Amor goes on to share his sympathies with the watchers' perspective of the town. "See, I told you this place sucks."

Hestia shushes her brother as she drags him along. "You wanna get caught?"

As I'm about to follow the pair, I notice that our residential zebracorn is hardly moving after that exchange. She's not so much holding her head, but stunned out in silence. Seems there's a troubling thought wandering through her mind. I call to get her attention. "Mrs. Kalimba?"

She blinks, coming back to the present. "We can go now."

The other two takes notice of our hesitation and watches as we rejoin them. At last, we move forward. Along the way, I check back in on the zebracorn. "You feeling okay? Never known you to freeze up like that."

Now it's her ears that flicker. She quickly turns around, alerting everyone in the group with her sudden movement. Her eyes narrows as she looks back to see the occasional lamps illuminating the wharf. "We are being followed."

"Are you serious right now?" I whisper.

"No mistaking it." As she says that, Amor summons a spear for him to use. "This is nothing short of someone stalking our every move, not something I'm foreign to. We are being trailed by someone."

"How long you think they've they been at it?" Hestia asks.

"Since the alley."

Amor takes point, keeping his eyes peeled for anything else that might be around the area. "Spike, can you crawl a bit? I know it may be degrading, but your height's a bit of a disadvantage here."

"We'll try to keep you surrounded." Hestia adds as she takes to my side. "Hopefully they'll pay more attention to our uniforms than anything else." I do as they request, and gather on all fours. While it feels awkward to bear crawl the entire time, it's not exactly an uncomfortable measure by any means. I've done it before on trees when I was younger, so it doesn't bother me any.

However, what does bother me is the fact that one of these lamps seem to have a skull adorning it's post. And judging from the shape of it, I can already guess what it is. "What is that?"

"A hunter's mark." Amor answers quietly. "It's the mark of the general area of where a dragon was slain. It also doubles as a landmark for the locals, I won't bother telling you the name seeing you've been through enough."

"Then we should keep moving." Mrs. Kalimba warns.

As I close my eyes to the ghoulish image, I inwardly offer a prayer to the one who's flesh has probably been some years long gone. I know that dragons don't share a complete sense of family or closeness just because it's in our nature to be reclusive and stingy, but I can still offer the poor soul of the past the respect they're due.

We come close to the yacht now, but there's no bridge leading into the vessel. The door is shut, and the lights are off. It seems the owners of this vessel are either asleep or away. "Well, this doesn't look too shabby up close. Has a few marks and blemishes, but it should sail real smooth." Hestia comments as she flutters closer to the windows. "Strange, there's a bedroom in it, but no one in the bed."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to board the old fashion way." Amor says while glancing over to me. "Hey, after you lift us to the deck, maybe we could take it for an international spin. I'm sure they won't miss it much."

Hestia flutters down to the railing. "Guys! This thing is LOADED! It has a pool, a hot tub, an outdoor grill, and multiple bedrooms! It's like a floating house! These guys got taste!"

Mrs. Kalimba sighs, her mind not even on the amenities offered. "That may sound good, but this is where my skillset falls short. Riding on an airship is already nauseating enough, I'm sure I can attest to the fact that I, nor any of us, have the skill to be able to work something this size, much less sail it across an ocean. And if you do, you better have some motion sickness medicine on hoof."

"Just say please."

All of us jump at the additional voice that speaks out. Amor aims his spear in it's direction, only to see it's tip fall completely off of the shaft with hardly any resistance but the air. But thankfully, he didn't need to go for another weapon.

"Hi there."

The zebracorn gasps, genuine surprise and excitement warms the contours of her face as she rapidly embraces the alicorn standing before us. "Celestia!"

"Kali, girl! It is so good to see you!"

"Oh you would not believe the magnitude of relief I have in seeing your face."

In the meantime, Amor stares blankly at the place where the head of his spear used to be. As he's trying to put together that equation, Princess Hestia flies from the deck and approaches the alicorn, starstruck with awe. "Princess Celestia? THE Princess Celestia, the high ruler of Equestria herself?"

"Oh hardly!" She denies with a smile. "I am very much retired!"

The young prince snaps out of his daze, figuring that it's time to offer his respect, and also an apology for his threat. "It's an honor to meet with you, your highness. I apologize for raising arms against you in error."

The former princess rolls her eyes. "Some things never change, I guess."

While I'm relieved to know she's here to possibly help, I'm just as curious as to how she's even here, or why. "Okay, two questions, first is 'How did you get here?' Second is 'Did you even know we were here'?"

"Well I could answer your questions in reverse order, my dear Spike. You see, it has been brought to my attention by Twilight that she sent you here of all places. And while I didn't agree to this little excursion, I was... unhappily volunteered." She growls that last part with a lot of vengeance in tow.

Oh I can tell that reunion is gonna be fun when we get back. "Let me guess, you're gonna chew Twilight out when we get back?"

"As if I hadn't already started that on the way here." She says ever so sweetly.

"Well while you dish out that humble pie, I want you to save me a slice."

The mare giggles back at me. "Oh Spike, you know when it comes to sweet concoctions of the slice-able variety, I don't do sharing."

"HEY!" Now that's a voice that we can all be alerted to. The pair from earlier discovers the five of us. One already teleports away as the other makes a loud call. "SOUND THE ALARM! WE HAVE INTRUD─" But before he can finish his callout, the bladeless shaft of Amor's spear is promptly whacked into the back of the stallion's head. The aura doesn't appear to belong to Amor, as his horn is as dormant as the town's nightlife.

"AHEM!" And that voice pretty much answers the question of how Celestia managed to get herself 'unhappily volunteered'. "Really hate to interrupt the family reunion here, but get on the fucking boat!"

There's a stallion peering over the railing of the deck, seems rightfully impatient. Thankfully, I'm very acquainted to the owner of that voice. "You've saved my ass how many times now?" I greet as I fly onboard.

"Dude, at this point, you have a tab that's wide open." He comments.

"Again, as usual." I nod.

He goes about the business of levitating whoever can't fly up to the deck, starting with Mrs. Kalimba. "Hey there, partner in crime. See you're doing just fine in the specialist division."

"I take it you are not impressed." She chirps back at him.

*DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING*

He smirks back at her. "Nah, not with that. That's your ass."

"As if you would be any better, you idjiot!" Her accent comes out in full swing. "Mr. Run-in-with-guns-blazing, long time no speak!"

"That's the garrison bell!" Hestia says as she flies onto deck. "We need to go, like now!"

Celestia swoops in with Amor in tow. The cream-colored unicorn stallion glances to the pair of imperials. "I'll worry about asking about you two in a sec. But for now, welcome aboard our lovely abode on the water. You both will be paying rent."

"We'll pay whatever to get out of here!" Hestia calls out.

The stallion nods with agreement. "Sold. That'll be in spurs, please."

15 Minutes Later...

The watcher who fell victim to a headless spear holds an icepack against his head, another continues to check over him by checking if his eyes can track the movement of a hoof in front of his face. He has issues trying to focus, but is aware of what's going on.

The docks are swarming with the remaining forces, many just getting out of their beds. The others who are on watch await further instructions from their superiors, who are currently awaiting the princess' visit with disdain. They know the failure will not go over well, so they briskly cook up a plan to put in place a scapegoat. Their selected victim is none other than the one who's currently dealing with his concussion. They prop him up, give him a smelling salt, and have him brief the princess on the situation. He does so... alone.

She is far from pleased. "What! The FUCK! Do you mean they've escaped!?"

The watcher tries to inform her further. "Y-your highness, they─"

In her drunken and irrational state, she further lashes into the stallion and his failures. "You were here... essentially sleeping... while they made their leave! I don't fucking care if they knocked you out with an anvil, YOU WERE HERE!!!"

"Y-y-your m-majesty, i-it was an un-unexpected blow!" He argues in his own defense, trembling all the while. "I-I-I did at l-least c-call fffffor the alarm ...be-before it all went to black."

"Oh..." The princess slowly nods. She calmly walks by the stallion, speaking softly. "See that's quite useful, isn't it? To scream, for a bell, to be rung, while my precious pet─" Her magic briefly introduces a flintlock pistol to the stallion's aching head, bringing an end to not just the concussion, but his life. His legs seize for a moment as he falls, then gradually softens as a rattling exhale signifies the last bit of the stallion's existence fading from the world. Blood pools to the ground as the princess steps by the dead stallion. "DOES YOUR POOR HEAD HURT RIGHT FUCKING NOW!? NO!? WELL FUCKING GOOD THEN!?" She gives the body a swift kick before addressing the other superiors, who are mixed between relief and guilt for the impromptu execution. "I DON'T CARE WHO FUCKING DOES IT!!! SEND A MOTHERFUCKING TELEGRAM TO THE FLEET AND HAVE MY AIRSHIPS READY FOR MAXIMUM PURSUIT! BY! THE! HOUR'S! END!"

Another tries to reason with her. "Your highness, it probably won't be─"

She summons yet another pistol, blasting a pellet firmly into his right eye. He falls without further response as the others gasp over their fellow officer getting shown the way to the afterlife. Neither of them look to further reason with the intoxicated princess. Her emotions are considerably unstable as frustrated tears form from her eyes. "If you don't want to end up like those two useless fucks, GET ME MY SHIT WHEN I SAY IT SHOULD GET DONE!!!"

Each of the others salute, ignoring the blood around their hooves. "Yes, your majesty!" They dismiss themselves as Zenobia looks out to the horizon, seeing no trail of a ship in sight. She screams out to the night with a shrill, breaking voice.

"PEEEEEET!!!"

Author's Note

Well it's been a fun one, this year. Granted, I've had some significant health scares that almost brought me back to 2016 levels of bad, but I've managed to avoid a terrible bill in the process. Meanwhile, I've done up to 28(!) chapters in this year alone. I'm pretty shocked at my output, considering that I thought I would've lacked the energy to carry on with a sequel to "It's Complicated." For those who haven't read that story, I understand if the word count is intimidating, it is about eight years of work. But for those who managed to follow me over, I say thank you all for your service.

For those who helped me get my new laptop, I say thanks to you as well. For the ones who comment on my chapters, thank you as it does let me know that the characters make you feel something (good or bad). And for many, I appreciate you for what you've done in your own lives to make it this far, even if it may have not been much (or if you feel that way), just know that it contributes to someone else's good as much as it may to your own.

Keep fighting, keep on rolling, keep pushing, we'll make it through another year. I hope to see you all in the next one.

So long, 2023.