Set Sail for Freedom

Chapters

Welcome to New Ornithia
True Colors
Taking Off
Home Sweet Home?

Welcome to New Ornithia

Outside of the castle, Princess Ocypete led Queen Novo, Princess Skystar, Captain Celaeno, and her crew to the vacant residence, that was near the castle, where they’ll be staying for the night, which is the guest room that she had mentioned. From the size, it appeared to have a single room. “This here is where you’ll be slumbering tonight,” Ocypete said to them. “So, make yourselves at home. Have a goodnight.”

She left back home, and they went inside the house to get some rest. The room is not too spacious, but it’s cramped and looked like it can fit 3-4 people. It also has three small beds linear to each other. It’s tight, especially for both hippogriffs. Queen Novo couldn’t find herself getting comfy with the small beds they had when she sat down and laid her back.

“Ugh, my back is gonna be jacked if I sleep like this,” the queen groaned.

She stood back up to see if she could do some adjustments until she accidentally bumped into Boyle. “Sorry, Your Highness,” the hook-handed pirate apologized. “I couldn’t take this here cramped space anymore.”

“That’s okay. The feeling is mutual.” Novo noticed that Boyle was carrying a couple of sheets of cloth, which she didn’t fully understand. “What are you doing with those?”

“I’m about to set up these hammocks fer us, but it’s hard to work with just one claw. So, could ye lend me a claw, please?”

“It’ll beat sleep inside of the equivalent of a sardine can. Sure, I’ll help.” The queen stepped outside with Boyle to set up their hammocks as Celaeno was struggling to get comfortable. Mullet was sitting up in his bed as he was having an equally hard time.

“Blast, ye reckon Ocypete would allow at least some of us to stay in the castle,” the captain complained.

“If ‘twas the castle everyone knew, we would’ve,” Mullet noted. “The castle here is….”

“Is a diet off-brand castle,” Lix Spittle stated. “I can’t be the only one who thought it was a backdrop to a play, been I?”

“I did look kind of… flat,” Celaeno commented.

“I may have seen some cutouts at my cousin’s play before,” Skystar spoke. “I kind of think they looked more appealing than the castle here.”

“You’re smarter than your mother gives you credit for kid,” Lix committed.

“You think so?”

“Let’s not be blunt here,” Mullet suggested, “Everyone here is likely struggling to use what they have to survive.”

“Yer right,” Celaeno commented. “But there’s something I don’t get about those yetis. Thar shouldn’t be any grub left up there, so why’re they staying around?”

“Ye’re tellin’ me. There could be more going on here than we’re being told.”

“So, you’re saying that… someone or something is feeding the yetis?” Skystar asked. “Why’d it do that?”

“Who knows,” Celaeno shrugged. “We have to wait ‘til mornin’ to get answers.” The captain tried lying down in her bed again, only to bonk her head against the wall. “Son of a b****…” Celaeno cussed, rubbing her bumped head. “…Anybody wanna use Boyle’s hammock?”

“Yep,” said Skystar.

“Aye,” the crew replied. They all got up and grabbed some sheets outside to see if they could tie them up and make hammocks.

It was going to be a long night, and the hippogriffs and pirates would have difficulty getting some sleep. Skystar was one of the last of them to fall asleep as she heard some footsteps. She only guessed there were some guards on night watch, similar to the guards back at Mount Aris. She didn’t quite know how things worked around here so she just went back to sleep.

The next day, Celaeno woke up first from her slumber. Still, in her resting position, she turned her head to both sides to see her mates and the hippogriffs sleeping. Wanting to give herself a few minutes more of rest, she was about to close her eyes again, until she smelled something strange. The odor was strong. “What was that smell?”

She got up from her hammock and left her spot to check where the scent was coming from. Roaming around for a bit, she found a group of avians serving bowls of soup to the villagers. Many of them being served didn’t seem so happy, as the soup itself didn’t look so appetizing.

“Cellie,” gasped a voice. The captain turned to see Ocypete was already up and helping to serve the stew. “Good morning. You want some breakfast?”

“Um… What are we havin’?” Celaeno asked.

“Well, food is hard to get down here, so we have to search everywhere what we can down here. We did manage to find a fair amount of edible mushrooms.”

“That’s… something. Is that what’s in this stew?”

Ocypete looked at the strew that was being warmed over a small fire. “I don’t remember, honestly.” One of the chefs handed a bowl over to Celaeno. She leaned her head near the bowl and gave a whiff only to get a stench. It was foul, and she let out a dry heave and a cough, knowing that she wasn’t going to enjoy eating this. “Once you have your first one, the next batch goes down easily.”

“...Petey, my matey, do you want to live like this for long?”

“Normally, I’d say no, but the others and I have no other choice. Those yetis above could yank us in half if they wanted to.”

“That’s why I’m going to make a plan with my crew to take care of those things.”

“Say that to the last guy when he tried to save the day,” said a voice. The pirate and the princess looked to see Madam Harpy walking toward them.

“Morning, Madam Harpy,” Ocypete said. “How’re you and your crew feeling?”

“Most of us are still tired from last night given our new guests. No offense.”

“None taken,” Celaeno responded. “My navigator, Boyle, thought of the idea of setting up hammocks to take a nap outside of the building. I gotta say it was much better than the bunks we were given.”

“I apologize, Cellie,” Ocypete sighed. “We’ve only got so much space that we can use for the village. Everything above ground is too dangerous.”

“Captain,” called a voice. The three avians turned to see the royal hippogriffs and the rest of Celaeno’s crew heading over to them. Princess Skystar sniffed the scent of the stew and didn’t know whether to make heads or tails of it. “What is this stuff?”

“Unclear,” Celaeno informed. “Lix, do ye feel that it’s salvageable?”

Lix Spittle took a peek at the stew and examined how it bubbled. “I’d say… it’d be lucky to be labeled as prison food,” Lix Spittle guessed.

Squabble decided to test this himself by getting a spoon and taking a sip of the stew, only to gag and drop his spoon. He let out several coughs as Mullet pulled him away from the pot. The first mate looked around the village seeing that other fellow avians weren’t enjoying their breakfast either. “There has to be somethin’ else fer these people to eat,” Mullet commented.

“My family is having us ration out our food,” Ocypete said. “It’s not easy living down here, you know.”

“I know how that feels,” Skystar commented.

Ocypete looked at her a little perplexed. “Excuse me?”

Skystar was about to speak up, only to have her mother speak up first. “Our kingdom had to retreat into hiding just like yours,” Novo explained. “It took a while for many of my citizens to recover and move home, but some had gotten used to the new kingdom. My sister stayed there to help keep track of it.”

“Oh, dear. The Storm King knows how to leave his mark.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

“No kidding,” Celaeno sighed, “and I’m glad that he’s gone.” Everyone couldn’t help but agree.

“We know he’s not coming back,” Ocypete noted, “but that still doesn’t mean we’re safe up there. How are we going to take care of those yetis?”

“There has to be a limit to them,” Novo said.

“Are there any other exits to New Ornithia?” Skystar asked. Novo looked down at her daughter as Ocypete spoke up.

“We’ve blocked most of the tunnels that the yetis that big can fit through,” the avian princess explained. “All the other holes can only fit us. It has a couple of drawbacks as we can’t fit too many supplies through.”

“Is that where you use the bigger tunnels?”

“Sometimes. After the last attempt, my father ordered the tunnels to be sealed permanently.”

“Then how did you build most of this here stuff?” Boyle questioned. “There ain’t no possible way you’ve brought down enough materials to construct all of this, even if it’s the bare minimum.”

“We still had to use the bigger tunnels. We just stopped when things got too dangerous.”

“Then you’ve got to take that risk,” Skystar proclaimed.

“Silence!” Novo ordered. She quickly turned back to Ocypete. “Maybe I should have a conversation with your parents. We should be able to come to an understanding and form a plan about it.”

“That sounds good. I’ll take you to them.” Ocypete led Novo away to her family while Skystar let out a frustrated sigh.

Madam Harpy looked at the hippogriff and raised an eyebrow. “Yer mother been like that, laddie?” she asked.

“Yes. She has been more open since the Storm King’s defeat but… she’s still having issues with me being free.”

“Yeah, didn’t she ground you aft you went with us to defeat him?” Celaeno asked.

“Yes.”

“I’d say it been worth it. He wasn’t going to avast if ye just kept hiding.”

“But it was also a risky move,” Mullet noted. “There were like 13 of us when we went to battle with the Storm King.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re siding with the royals.”

“I’m not sayin’ they’re wrong. We have t’ reckon about this afore we act.”

“Okay then. How ‘bout this here? We’ll sneak up to the surface, have a check on how those yetis act, and gather supplies from the deck if we can. Sounds good?”

“Sounds good to me,” Skystar commented. “I’ll go with you.”

Captain Celaeno and Mullet both faced each other in concern before responding to the princess. “Ehh, it might be best if we go, lad,” Mullet commented.

“You gotta be kidding me!”

“Princess, it’s one thing to go against orders,” Celaeno said firmly, “but it’d be another thing if we’re responsible for you feeding the fishes. We ain’t going to let that happen to yer li’l pretty self.” She then turned back to her crew. “Boyle, Lix, Squabble, keep an eye on the princess.”

“Aye-aye, cap’n,” they proclaimed with a salute as the captain and her first mate left them to get back to the surface. Skystar was unhappy knowing she was in a position similar she was to at home. Squabble could tell that the princess was frustrated and glanced towards Boyle, thinking of an idea.

Squabble quickly grabbed one of Boyle’s empty maps and pencil, much to the surprise of the navigator. “Hey, what’re you doing?” Boyle questioned. A couple of squawks quickly explained what he was thinking. “Make a map of this place? It would give us something to do if we weren’t told to watch the princess.”

“I won’t mind exploring,” Skystar commented. “It’ll give me something to do.”

“Okay, just stay close. And Squabble, if anything happens to her, I’ll blame you.” Squabble nodded. He hopped onto the princess’s back as he thought it would be the best way to keep an eye on her.

“Well then, let’s go.” Skystar followed the pirates throughout New Ornithia as Madam Harpy let them enjoy their fun.

Up on the surface, Celaeno and Mullet poked their heads out of the holes. They squinted their eyes since they had gone a while without sunlight. Once they can fully open them, they scan around clearly. They even turned towards themselves with their beaks touching, making them flinch in weirdness. As they scanned, they couldn’t see one yeti in sight.

“Aight, let’s stay on the safe side,” Mullet suggested. Celaeno nodded and the two carefully sneak out of the hole and quietly tiptoe their way back to the ship without making a noise, hoping they wouldn’t find any yetis that were awake.

They managed to make their way back to the dock, where they can see the ship was still intact. “Huh, they would’ve attacked the ship at least, right?” Celaeno whisperingly questioned.

“Possibly, but the only reason I think of is that they would do that is if there was meat on the ship,” Mullet commented quietly.

“Let’s see if there’s anything useful we can bring back to the hideout.” The two avians sprinted to their ship and quickly dashed onto the ramp and the deck before they were caught. They then opened the hatch door that leads to the hold of the ship and hurriedly climbed down. Within the hold, they both found two empty wooden crates.

“There,” Celaeno pointed at the crates. “Let’s fill them up.” Soon, they hastily filled them with essentials like food from the kitchen and utensils for cooking. As they load, Captain Celaeno noticed the chest that Queen Novo brought from Mount Aris. It was moderately big and would be difficult to carry back to the tunnels. “We could’ve brought the third claw along.” She sighed in frustration.

“We’ve at least gotten food from the ship afore they’d get ‘em,” Mullet said. “Let’s bring it aft, and then we could hopefully bring some of our weapons with us.” The two carried their loaded crates and were just about to make their way back when the captain saw something on the deck. Her face turned white.

“Mullet…” she shivered in a quiet and fearful tone. “Don’t… move…”

“Why?” She grabbed his head and twisted to where she was staring at. His jaw almost dropped. They saw one of the yetis had gotten on board and was searching for something. Celaeno and Mullet didn’t move a muscle, they were worried that one small creek could lead them to danger. The yeti inspected and stood up on its hind legs, scratching its head. The avians were a bit confused by this.

The confusion turned to fear once they saw it leaving to check the rest of the ship. Celaeno and Mullet quickly ran into another room to hide. They managed to get to the sleeping quarters and hide behind the changing curtains.

“Great. Not through with the first plan, and we need to improvise,” Celaeno grumbled quietly.

“Take it easy, Cap’n,” Mullet said, trying to calm her down.

“I can’t believe that the Storm King be managing to mess up our lives… even ‘til death.”

“Believe me, that meeting ain’t somethin’ I enjoy remembering either. What matters now is understandin’ what these yetis be doin’.” Mullet peeked out of their hiding spot, and while he couldn’t see any yetis come in, the sound of shuffling bits could be heard, which gave them a bad feeling.

“Are they looting our booty?”

“I believe so. That’s the least of our troubles now.” Mullet kept trying to think of an idea until Celaeno remembered something.

“Mullet, did we get that trap door installed afore we came here?”

The captain quickly figured out what her first mate was thinking. “Yeah, we did, but we don’t exactly know what’s below us. We’ll be fortunately lucky if we land on a cliff.”

Mullet quietly stepped over to where the trap door’s lever was. He pulled it, and the trap door was opened for Celaeno to peek down below them. They looked to be close enough to the cliffs to glide down. She looked back at the crates of food they had gathered.

“Aye, I’ll glide down onto that cliff, then ye throw the crates, and I’ll catch ‘em.”

“Is that really what you want to do? I’m worried that you might miss and…”

“It’s either that or ‘ave a long battle with a bunch of beasts who’re more intelligent than they look. Unless ye ‘ave a better idea.”

Mullet took a minute to think about their situation before responding. “Fine… Get ready.”

Celaeno smiled and nodded and leaped down from her ship towards the cliff. The feathers under her arms unfolded and helped her glide onto the cliff edge, which she was thankful that it was bigger when she landed on it. She looked up at the ship, where Mullet was looking down to see the captain giving a thumbs up.

Mullet soon tossed down the crates one at a time, which Celaeno managed to catch. Though the impact they had on her talons was a little more complicated than she was expecting. When they had them down, Mullet jumped through the trap door and glided down in a similar way to Celaeno.

They knew the yetis wouldn’t have a safe way of getting down the cliffs or even jump down from the airship, so they were likely in the clear. “Cap’n, I do admire yer quick thinking,” Mullet commented, “but how are we supposed to get back down?”

Celaeno was slightly concerned as she had only been focused on getting away from the yetis. Lucky for them, she saw a small passageway on the corner of the cliff. “There,” she pointed. “A small passageway. That’d be our way.”

Mullet agreed, knowing it was their only option. They picked up their crates and walked through the passageway, hoping that it is connected to the tunnels leading to New Ornithia.

Back underground, Skystar was with the rest of the crew exploring the tunnels of New Ornithia. The princess was venting her feelings about her mother to Squabble who was sitting on her back. “I mean, she’s been sitting in Seaquestria since that day, and then when I finally take care of the problem with you, I get grounded for it!” Skystar ranted.

Squabble squawked in agreement, having a feeling that she wasn’t wrong. Lix Spittle was more focused on making sure she and Boyle didn’t get them lost. She also helped him with the map since Boyle had a hook hand. “Arrrgh, I can’t believe these tunnels were heard fer so long,” Boyle commented.

“Could ye imagine if we explored these things while we were laddies?” Lix questioned. “Squabble wouldn’t need to get lost for too long.” An angry squawk could be heard, knowing that Squabble was also listening to their conversation.

Taking a minute to have a look, Princess Skystar noticed parts of these caves were rather spacious. “Did they say something about running out of space?” the hippogriff asked. Squabble thought for a moment, and so did the rest of the pirates.

“It could be a limited amount of resources,” Lix commented. “Thar is not any other open tunnels leading outside.” Squabble let out some squawks and other gargled words that Skystar couldn’t understand. “Aye, one fire around here, and folks’ heads will be grub for the piranhas.”

“Um… I don’t want to sound rude, but…. how do you able to understand Squabble with his random squabbles and gargles?” Skystar asked.

“Well, ehh… it’s complicated,” Boyle shrugged. “A simple answer be that it pays t’ know him fer a while.” Squabble nodded in confirmation as the pirates started hearing sloshing water.

Curious and concerned, they prepared themselves to protect Skystar. Boyle and Lix Spittle carefully sneak towards where the noise was coming from to find a large body of water. It looked like an underground lake.

“SQUAAAAAWWKK!!!” Squabble squawked, pointing to the lake. Boyle and Lix were puzzled until Lix noticed something from the distance.

“THERE!” Lix gasped. They spotted air bubbles from a distance, and it’s moving toward them. They’re about to stab whatever it is with a hook hand or a spoon until they saw who emerged from the lake. Captain Celaeno and Mullet resurfaced from the water, both gasping for air and holding their crates of food and utensils above their heads. “Cap’n, how on earth did ye get down here?”.

“We… had to improvise,” Celaeno panted. “The yetis ain’t wild animals.” The Captain took a minute to catch her breath before she continued. “They’re… presumably soldiers of the Storm King’s army.”

“Huh… They do look familiar,” Boyle commented.

“Same here,” Mullet commented. “We should’ve known. On the bright side, we manage to get more food fer everyone here.”

“Did y’all make good progress with the map?” Celaeno asked.

“Aye, cap’n.” Boyle grinned as he showed the sketches he had made. “Here it is.”

“Great work, matey. Let’s give it a test, hopefully, it can also help us with this food we’ve brought.”

“Allow me,” Lix spoke. She quickly took one of the crates and carried it back to the village. Squabble and Skystar heard the conversation and saw the crew starting to head back to New Ornithia.

“Ugh… Can I help?” Skystar asked.

“No thanks, lad,” Celaeno responded. “I’ve got this.”

“But I wanna help. Maybe there’s some way we can take out those yetis.”

“That’s kind of you to offer, but like yer mother said: ye’re nah getting involved ‘til we know what we’re dealing with.” The pirate carried on as Skystar felt disappointed, feeling as if history was repeating itself.

Novo was sitting at a small table with Ocypete and the royal family; King Thaumas, Queen Ozomeme, Prince Aello, and Princess Zephyra. “…And I think we can agree that you can’t survive down here much longer,” Novo explained.

“Tell us something we don’t know,” Prince Aello grumbled.

“Silence, son!” King Thaumas ordered. The prince just crossed his arms in frustration. “Anyways, Your Majesty, you said you knew how it was to be forced out of your home.”

“I did, but…” Novo paused as she thought of something she didn’t like remembering. “All I’m saying is that being down here is becoming a temporary solution. What we need to do is figure out how to take care of the situation outside and how to rebuild it after the moment. My query to you and me is: what is keeping the yetis around here?”

“The most likely factor, in my theory, is that they’re hunting food,” Queen Ozomeme noted. “Though… they should be eating nothing but scraps by now.”

“What other reason could they be still up there?” Thaumas questioned.

“Maybe there’s something else going on,” Aello muttered.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Seriously? Any other pack of animals would just leave or perish because of a lack of food. Those yetis up there are still alive, possibly because they’re getting help from someone. And here we are, sitting with our thumbs up our butts, starving ourselves in a castle that smells like a rotting dilapidated outhouse in the middle of a desert!”

“Aello, that’s no proper and formal way to talk,” Queen Ozomeme stated firmly.

“Somebody had to say it, mother. Do you expect anybody to keep living like this?”

“He’s right,” Ocypete commented. “We’re wasting away.”

“But we’ve tried everything against the yetis,” Princess Zephyra noted. “It’s a matter of time before they come to kill us down here!”

“Zephyra, that’s not going to happen,” Thaumas said. “All entrances that can fit those monsters are sealed up.”

Princess Ocypete felt that things were going far. She heard a ‘psst’ and turned towards the front of the castle, seeing her friend, Celaeno, grabbing her attention. “Father, I’ll be right back,” Ocypete said. She left the table to join Celaeno outside of the castle. “Cellie, please tell me you have good news.”

The pirate captain took off her hat and rubbed the back of her head, figuring out how to put her words together. “…Kind of,” she spoke. She pointed the princess over to where Skystar and the crew helping to prepare the food they got from the ship into a proper meal.

“Oh, good. You found more food.”

“Yes, but… me first mate and I weren’t able to get any weaponry from the ship. Without those, we won’t have a reliable way of combating the yetis. And about those said yetis,… uhh… I hate to say this… they ain’t wild animals.” Celaeno began explaining what she and Mullet discovered during their supply run.

“Wait, they actually have sapience?”

“Apparently. ‘Tis kind of a supportin’ theory I have that somebody is workin’ with ‘em.”

Ocypete cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Do you mean that somebody here is helping them?”

“It’s a long shot. I mean it won’t be the first surprise.” Then the captain began feeling suspicious. “Where’s Madam Harpy?”

“…I don’t know. Last time I saw her, she…”. Their conversation was interrupted by the sounds of screaming, followed by crunching wood. The captain and princess quickly sprinted to where the noise was and found some of the yetis had broken in.

“Shiver me timbers!” Celaeno gasped. While there weren’t that many, they were still causing destruction. Celaeno quickly pulled Ocypete back before either of them could be spotted. “Get back t’ the castle ‘n warn yer family,” she ordered. “I’ll see if me and my crew can kick their asses out.”

“Cellie, they’re enormous! They’ll…”

“Go!” Celaeno forcefully shoved Ocypete back before she was punched by one of the yetis, knocking her to the soil. She quickly recovered and tried slashing at her opponent with her sword, only to see the yeti block her attack with a similar weapon. Celaeno looked at the sword the yeti held. “Hey, that’s mine!”

The yeti didn’t respond and just kept attempting to slice the pirate in half. Celaeno dodged every swing before blocking the blade and delivering a headbutt to her opponent. When the other yetis noticed her fighting back, they quickly ganged up on Celaeno and started overwhelming her.

“Blast ye!”

Skystar and the rest of the pirates had heard what was going on and rushed to the scene. Mullet quickly jumped into action by pouncing on one of the yetis and taking one of their swords away as Boyle used his hook hand to pull one of the yetis back.

Skystar was wanting to help, but Lix Spittle held her back. “Easy there,” she said. “We’re keeping ye out of trouble.”

“But I want to help.” Skystar had turned around and didn’t see a yeti about to tackle her. Luckily, Squabble jumped onto the creature and started pecking at its forehead like a woodpecker. Lix joined in the fight as Skystar thought it was a good idea to get back to the castle.

Along the way, she saw three avians in a predicament. A mother was helping her son rescue his father, who had gotten stuck under some debris. Worried about their safety, the hippogriff princess flew down and tried to help lift the debris off the father. Her assistance worked. “Thank you so much,” the mother complimented.

“You’re welcome,” Skystar replied. “Now hurry, get to safety!”

The family made a run to safety. Skystar was about to follow them until she felt something grab her tail. Looking back, she saw she was caught by one of the yetis, who was holding a spear.

Just before it could make the princess into a kebab, somebody rang up from behind and sliced the spear’s handle in half. The spearhead went flying into a wall as Skystar saw who rescued her: Madam Harpy.

One of Harpy’s crewmates decked the yeti in the face, knocking it unconscious onto the ground. Madam Harpy faced the hippogriff. “What are you standing here fer?” She questioned, “Get to the castle!”

Skystar didn’t say anything and just flew away as Harpy and her pirates saw the chaos ensuing. She looked at the other pirates and simply nodded, they knew what to do.

The fight carried on as the avians were quickly getting the upper hand. Most of the yetis began retreating, though a couple of them were either caught or knocked out unconsciously. Those that didn’t escape were quickly tied up with a rope.

Celaeno looked around and saw the chaos had stopped. She placed her sword back onto her baldric, and she and her crew were able to catch their breath. “Boyle, did you see any other tunnels while you were exploring?”

“We were wandering around the tunnels fer a while,” Boyle explained. “We had t’ get at least half of it.” He handed the map over to the captain, who she scanned at it herself. There was a marking for where New Orinithia was and the flooded tunnel. Most other markings were to show where dead ends were at.

“Maybe these guys are finally breaking through the blocked tunnels.” She rolled up the map and tucked it away before she looked around at the damage that was caused.

Mullet stood over with Lix and Squabble, saying what needed to be said. “Those monsters are going to get us whether we’re hiding or not,” he said. “Cap’n, any plans?”

Celaeno thought for a moment before she looked over to Madam Harpy and her crew, who were helping any avians that were injured during the attack. “Aye. Let’s talk about it… privately,” Celaeno suggested.

“Huh?”

“I have a feeling that someone here can’t be trusted. Where the hippogriffs at?”

“I think they were heading to the castle.” Squabble then drew everyone’s attention to the avians that were heading towards the castle. Many of them looked to be angry and were grumbling about the royals.

They started swarming around the castle, where the guards were struggling to keep them at bay. King Thaumas walked onto the castle’s balcony with Queen Ozomeme and Princess Ocypete standing by his side. “Citizens, please, this is no time to panic!” Thaumas ordered.

“How are we supposed to calm down when those things have gotten into our hiding spot?” one of the avians questioned.

“My husband was almost crushed by what happened,” the rescued mother added. “If it wasn’t for that… other creature helping us, we wouldn’t see him again!”

All other avians tried talking over each other about how the kingdom was failing. Thaumas kept trying to raise his voice, but everyone kept talking over him. Seeing things were getting out of control, Queen Novo flew above the crowd and let out a loud shriek.

After everything went quiet, Novo spoke. “That’s enough. Is this how you get things done!? By quarreling each other!?” the hippogriff queen shouted. Once everybody went silent, Novo faced King Thaumas. “My apologies. You may resume.”

“Thank you,” the king said, giving a bow of respect. He cleared his throat before focusing back on the crowd. “Citizens, I know it looks like I’ve been a bad head, but you must comprehend that I want to protect the most important thing in my life, which is… my family. If anything were to happen to them… I don’t know if I could go on.” The crowd started murmuring amongst each other as they understood what the king was talking about. Novo couldn’t agree more about how crucial protecting the family was. “I wish this day wouldn’t come,” Thaumas continued, “But we will have to fight for our home, or die trying.” Those words were hard to swallow as he could hear several avians protesting against this idea.

Captain Celaeno saw things were getting ugly, and had to get the crowd’s attention. She looked at the buildings that were still standing that led to the castle, specifically the balcony the royals stood on. “Boyle, give me a boost,” the captain requested.

Boyle squatted down and held his hand and hook together to form a small step for Celaeno to step her peg leg on. Quickly being tossed into the air, Celaeno managed to catch some wind and glided onto one of the rooftops. She jumped and hovered over more buildings, heading towards the castle. As she was close, she grabbed a rope, twirled it like a lasso, and toss it to the pole sticking out of the dirt wall. Heading towards near the edge, she jumped off and swing towards the balcony until she landed perfectly, much to the royals’ surprise.

“Celaeno, what are you doing here?” Queen Ozomeme questioned.

“Raising this kingdom’s spirits,” Celaeno responded and gave a wink. She turned her attention to the crowd and spoke up. “My friends, I know what it’s like to be trapped and forced to do things against your will… No offense, Your Highness… We cannot stay here for long doing anything to our enemy currently conquering our land. You heard what His Majesty said: we have to fight back, and bring back what’s ours. My crew and I had a run-in with the Storm King, we were stuck making deliveries for him. Then one day, we had an encounter with a couple of ponies, one of which had a rainbow mane.”

“Did you say ponies?” Ocypete questioned quietly.

Skystar leaned closer to whisper to her. “Yep. Six of them,” the hippogriff explained. “They’re real fun.”

“With those ponies I’ve met, they gave us hope again. We got to do what we were best at. We’re buccaneers! We live for adventure, just like our founder, Black Beak. Would he sit and hide all day all night until those yetis leave? Of course not, all he would do is stand up, grab his mighty sword, and take those beasts down if it means taking back what was his! If it means taking back our motherland, Ornithia, then so be it, because we are avians, and we stand for Ornithia! Let’s bring it back! Who’s with us?” Celaeno drew her sword and held it up high as the crowd went quiet.

Everyone remembered the pirate that first discovered their home. Some clapping started to be heard, followed by the sound of cheering. Queen Novo, Princess Skystar, the royal avians, and Celaeno’s crew join in by clapping for the captain’s speech. Celaeno felt super proud as she felt that her home would return to its former glory.

Later that evening, the avians were preparing for the day tomorrow. Celaeno and her crew were having a chat with the royal family to form a plan. “We’re happy you’ve raised everyone’s spirits,” Ocypete said.

“Hey, from one creature to another,” Celaeno shrugged.

“Maybe when this is all over, I could help you guys have fun again,” Skystar suggested. The pirate captain chuckled as her friend spoke up.

“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to stand a chance,” Ocypete admitted.

“Listen here, we’re going to give everything we’ve got,” Celaeno said. “We won’t let anything happen to you either.” The princess smiled as Queen Novo took a peek outside. The avians were picking up pieces of scrap wood and metal or anything they could use for a weapon. Those that weren’t preparing for a fight were staying to help protect their families.

“How does it look?” King Thaumas asked.

“I’m not sure how it’ll go,” Novo admitted.

The king sighed as he looked at what the hippogriff could see. “I’m worried how many will live through this. I wish this didn’t happen. Why are those yetis still here? If they’re smart enough to use weapons and know that the Storm King is dead, what point do they still being here?”

“Someone else is likely pulling the strings. I hope they aren’t as bad as him.” Just even thinking about his name made Novo’s blood boil. “Let’s make sure your family is safe.”

“Of course. …I shall be joining the fight to retake our home.”

Novo was surprised by this. “You said you know what the risks are…”

“I know, but if that means protecting my family alive, I’ll gladly take those chances.”

The queen hippogriff slowly smiled, admiring the selflessness of Thaumas. “Your kingdom should be happy that you’re in charge.”

“I appreciate it. I’m also sure the hippogriffs feel the same about you.” Thaumas walked back to check with his family as Novo took a minute to think about what he had said. The king was just in time to see his family heading to where the beds were at. Ocypete was finishing up her conversation as they saw the king. “Ocypete, you should get to bed. Whatever happens tomorrow, I want you to be well rested.”

“Yes, father,” the princess responded. She looked towards Celaeno feeling concerned.

“Now, whatever those yetis have planned,” the captain said, “We’ll be ready for them. And whoever is pulling the strings.”

A smile returned on Ocypete’s face. “Thank you, Cellie.” She hugged her old friend, making Celaeno blush in surprise. After that, Ocypete left to rest as Thaumas went with her to ensure she was safe.

Celaeno rubbed her arm before looking to see Novo return at the same time as Thaumas. “Um… Ugh, Your Highness,” she said speaking to the king. “I might have a suspicion about who’d be doing this.”

“Who do you have in mind?” Thaumas asked.

“It might be a long shot… But it could be Madam Harpy.”

“....Madam Harpy?”

“It’s a long shot sir, but she’s the only one I could think of.”

“Then I suggest thinking about someone else before you start pointing fingers.”

“In her defense, we haven’t seen her since until we need help,” Skystar noted.

“She’s been helping to keep civilians alive ever since the Storm King attack! We’re desperate, and we’re going to take whatever we can.”

Celaeno and Skystar both would’ve spoken up if it wasn’t for Novo butting in, “We’re likely under a lot of stress for what’s about to happen,” the hippogriff queen guessed.

“You’re right. Celaeno, I suggest you should get plenty of rest too.”

“Y… yes, your highness,” the captain responded. King Thaumas just nodded and walked away as Celaeno focused her attention on the hippogriffs.

“Are you certain that Madam Harpy is responsible for this?” Novo questioned.

“She and her crew only show up when they show their heroic acts,” Celaeno commented. “But what could she gain from this if the Storm King’s…”

“Cap’n!” Mullet cried. He came running into the castle towards Celaeno and the hippogriffs. He looked to be frantic and out of breath.

“Mullet, what’s wrong?”

“It’s the yetis. They’ve escaped somehow!”

“What?!”

“How is that possible?” Novo spoke with concern.

“We don’t know,” Mullet replied. “Boyle, Lix, and Squabble have gone looking for them, but they need backup.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“Huh?” both avians exclaimed.

“We’ve come too far to lose right now.” She then turned to her daughter. “Skystar, stay here and be safe. Mullet, take us to where the rest of the crew is.”

“Aye-aye, Your Majesty.” Mullet bowed and did just that, leading Novo and Celaeno away from the castle. They were starting to run towards the tunnels that led to the flooded tunnels, with tracks of yetis’ footprints leading inside.

“You reckon they have an unknown entrance that they hid from Boyle?” Celaeno questioned.

“I don’t know,” Mullet guessed. “Boyle wouldn’t miss something like that.”

“They could let the one in charge know about the attack tomorrow,” Novo worried. They quickly followed the tracks until they reached a dead end. The yetis and pirates were nowhere to be seen. That’s when Celaeno pieced something together.

“Oh crap!” she gasped. “It’s a tra-!” Celaeno wouldn’t be able to finish as something struck her in the back of her head, knocking her unconscious.

True Colors

The pain from the head of Captain Celaeno was uncomfortable and ill. Her head and her body were knocked out cold, dozing with her belly down. She can hear herself groaning in agony, breathing slowly and softly. She couldn’t move. She also felt wet on her body, like there was water on the shallow floor. Slowly but steadily, she opened up her eyes, waking up from her unconscious slumber. Her eyes scattered as she saw nothing but darkness. She held her head with her claw and noticed that her pirate hat was gone when she rubbed her feathered head. She then noticed that her hat was in front of her. She grabbed it and wore it on her head while it was damped. She then pushed her body up with her arms to stand up and got her legs up to support. As she stands, she felt something pulling her back when she moved her right foot. Again, the surrounding was quite dark, so it was somewhat difficult to see things. She shook her right foot, only to hear the sounds of shackles clanging. Immediately, she learned that she was being held captive. She then heard more groaning from both sides. With her vision being cleared, she can recognize the figures. One by one, they got up. She can tell that it was her crewmates, and Queen Novo, who was also slowly getting up from her left.

“Where in the world are we?” Novo doubted.

Mullet faced Boyle, who was beside him. “Boyle, do you remember anything before we were knocked out?” the first mate questioned.

Boyle rubbed his head, which felt pretty bruised. “Beats me,” he admitted. “One minute, we chasing the yetis, we turn a corner… and BAM! And we’re here.” Squabble and Lix had the same experience.

“Princess Skystar’s still at the castle, right?” Celaeno asked.

“Yes, I hope so,” Novo muttered. The Queen and the pirates could hear some running water. “Did I hear running water? Where’s that coming from?”

“How should I know?” Lix questioned. “I can barely see a damn thing.”

“I think I’m starting to get a look at something,” Celaeno said. “Let me observe.”

She squinted her eyes to get her vision clear, even though it was dark. As Captain Celaeno observed their surroundings, she paid her attention to the ceiling, where giant rocks are blocking the way. She can tell that they’re way down underground from the base of New Ornithia. She looked behind her to see shackles glued to one spot of the dirt wall anchoring them in place. The same goes for the others. Finally, Captain Celaeno turned her direction to where the running water was heard echoing. There it is, she spotted it, a stream of fresh water flowing down from the gap between the rocks like a waterfall in a rainforest.

Celaeno’s beak hung open as she knew what was going to happen. “S***!” she proclaimed. “We need to escape!” she proclaimed.

“What’s wrong?” Mullet asked.

“We’re in an enclosed space… and water’s slowly filling up the room. We be feedin’ the fishes!” This nearly sent the pirates into a panic. Boyle tried tugging on his chain to break them loose, while Squabble tried banging his beak on them to break them. As the pirates tried their best to break free, Queen Novo glimpsed towards her neck only to find out that her pearl shard necklace was gone.

“MY SHARD!” Queen Novo gasped. “WHERE’D MY SHARD GO!?”

“Seriously!?” Celaeno blurted. “Why the Tartarus are you so focused on a piece of jewelry!?”

“That’s no ordinary accessory. It’s the only way to help!” The queen searched around for the fallen necklace. She still can’t see it. Luckily, she saw it floating in shallow water, but it was a few inches away from her. It looks like someone attempted to snatch it from her, only to be dropped by accident. Feeling relieved, Novo was about to get it back, until she was been pulled back by the heavy shackles. “Oh my goodness… GIVE ME A BREAK!”

The water level is increasing. It has quickly reached their shin level and has fully submerged their feet. It was still rising! Judging by the rubble breaking free from the hole it came out of, the stream of water was flowing in rapidly. Queen Novo tried her hardest to reach for her pearl shard with her arm as the pirates kept attempting to break free from the chains.

“Tell me! How can a small piece of shard could help us from not drowning?”

“I’ll explain it… once… I…get it!” She grunted as she kept pushing her body to reach for the shard. “Help me get more length!”

“The best way to do that… would be for these chains to be busted,” Mullet shouted. He looked to the anchored part in the wall. “I think our only hope… is to break that anchor out of the wall.”

“I… I don’t see what else we can do,” Celaeno sighed. “Everyone! Grab a hold of the chain.” The crew listened, and they grasped the chains firmly with both claws, as did Novo, who knew this was their only option now. “On three! 1… 2… 3… PULL!” Everyone pulled their hardest on the chain with as much energy and force as they can create, but the anchor in the wall wouldn’t budge. “Come on, ye hearties, PULL!”

“I’m pulling,” Boyle groaned. Despite their best efforts, the chains were too strong to break free, and the water level was up to their hips and, worse, rising faster than before. Squabble was going under panic mode at this point. He was then stopped by a smack on his face by Mullet.

“Get a hold of yourself!” Mullet cried. “This ain’t no time to panic!!!”

“He has the right to do that,” Lix exclaimed, “WE’RE F***ED!!!”

The water was coming in rapidly now as everyone was at a loss except for Celaeno. “Come on,” the captain groaned, “My people and Ocypete could be in danger right now! Princess Skystar could be too!”

The mention of Skystar made time stop for Queen Novo. She recalled something… tragic. She remembered losing one of the most important figures in her life, making her eyes water. Novo couldn’t let something like that happen to her daughter. Her eyes were filled with flames, and her teeth ground with fury. With all of her strength, she released her deafening scream of fury and melancholy, in which Captain Celaeno and her crew covered their ears. She immediately, with her now-buffed arms, yanked the anchor right out of the wall, making it splash into the water. Their jaws dropped after seeing it in action. Celaeno broke out of this state the moment she noticed they started floating towards the ceiling of the cavern.

“Um… Your Majesty, great job and everything but…. could you show us how that shard can save us now?” Celaeno cried. Novo didn’t waste any time and took a deep breath before diving underwater. The pirates did the same as they were all chained together.

While she was fairly inexperienced swimming as a hippogriff, Novo managed to grab her shard, which quickly gave off a pink glow. It engulfed her and Celaeno’s crew. Captain Celaeno blinked her eyes repeatedly since she wasn’t expecting a bright flash. When she glared at where Queen Novo was, she was shocked to see a Seapony in front of her. Novo was also providing some light thanks to her bang giving off a glow. The queen saw her and grinned.

“You don’t have to hold your breath,” Novo stated, “We’re good.”

Celaeno was confused until she opened her mouth and breathed in water normally like air. She didn’t feel like she was drowning in any way. That’s a weird feeling. She turned around and was shocked to see her crew had their bodies changed. They all lost their beaks, all of which had been replaced by muzzles similar to that of a seapony, just a little thinner than the average pony. Their claws were also unique compared to a seapony, as they still have the same functions as their talons, they appeared to be webbed, and the feathers on their heads looked to be more like fins. And the most obvious change would be their legs now being a tail with fins on the end matching the color of their original tails.

“Well, blow me down,” Celaeno gasped.

“Now I see why it’s important to you,” Lix commented.

“That’d explain that light Skystar flashed when she flew out of the water when we first met her,” Boyle commented.

Mullet took a peek at the chains that were still on them. Since they weren’t built for sea creatures, they slipped off easily. “Welp, that solves one problem,” he commented, “But how do we get out?”

Novo swam over to the rock barricade. There weren’t any leaks and all the stones were practically locked together. She felt something bump into her back. Looking back, she saw them trying to get used to their new bodies, with Squabble being the one to bump into her.

“I kinda wish there was a better time I could give you all swimming lessons,” the Queen muttered. She helped get those newbies into upright positions and had them group up to explain what she found. “Okay, so we barely broke those chains, and we have no idea how thick this rockslide is.”

“Ye don’t reckon you’d try that sudden strength ye used a moment ago?” Lix questioned.

“I ain’t planning on breaking my arm today.” Celaeno thought about their predicament until she peeked out of the hole the water was coming out of.

“Think we could escape through there?” Captain Celaeno asked. Queen Novo and the pirates swam up to the hole, which seemed to be big enough to fit them.

“Maybe we should go single file just in case,” Mullet suggested. “It could get thinner along the way.”

“It’s the only option we have. Who wants to go first?” The pirates all thought for a moment as Novo couldn’t wait.

“Your kind is in danger… and so is my daughter,” Novo declared.

“We know. It’s our only chance so…”

“So, you go first!”

“Alright… Might as well go for it.” Celaeno led the way with Novo following shortly behind then the rest of the crew went through the opening. As they swam along, Celaeno turned back at Novo, wanting to ask something. “So… what gave you that sudden boost in strength?” the avian asked.

Novo wasn’t wanting to answer this but…. They were in an uncertain position and she felt like she had to get this weight off her shoulders. “You have to understand that I worry about Skystar,” Novo explained. “I’ve felt like that since… I lost Waverider…, my one true love.”

Celaeno could tell this was going to be a tragic story. “W… What happened to him?”

Novo sighed as they looked through the tunnel. They had no idea where it went, but it was giving them plenty of space and the tunnel looked to go on for miles. “It’d help pass the time and…. To let a couple of things out.” The Queen thought back to the day when he attacked.

Back before Seaquestria was founded, Mount Aris was ruled by me and my beloved husband, King Waverider. He took his role seriously but would let his true self shine when it came to our daughter Skystar.

He enjoyed exploring the seashore with us. I remember how optimistic Skystar looked when we collected seashells by the seashore. We enjoyed our flights up to the summit of Mount Aris. It was one of the best moments I could ever wish for.

However, everything changed when the Storm King attacked. We lost several of our soldiers during his invasion, while Waverider and I made sure the citizens were safe. We almost had them all to the future Sequestria when we were pinned to a corner. We had no way to get to safety until… Waverider grabbed a dropped spear and I remembered the last thing he said to me.

“Novo, take care of Skystar for us. Make her future bright.” Before I knew it, he charged at the yetis and held them off for us to escape. I made sure Skystar could get away before I went out to help him, but I have witnessed… his final destiny.

The Storm King had used an orb that turned him into obsidian. We only had a chance to look at each other one last time before he was fully turned into a statue, and… got shattered by him.

Novo halted when she got to that part of the story. She sank to the bottom and could feel herself crying. Captain Celaeno stopped beside her and glanced straight down the tunnel to see a glow coming from the end of it. She can tell that they were near the end of the tunnel. “Y’all go first,” the captain told her crew, “I’ll be lifting her spirits.”

“Aye aye,” the pirates proclaimed with a salute. They swam away as Celaeno sat down with the sad queen.

“I couldn’t imagine how horrifying that would’ve been…”

“You have no idea,” Novo sighed with her flippers covering her melancholic eyes. “I couldn’t bear something like this if that happened to my precious daughter as well. I promised Waverider to look after her, but… the feeling of pushing her away… I caused her to run away… from me… to Canterlot. If you weren’t with her… She would’ve just… He could have…”

Celaeno placed her webbed flippers on her right shoulder. “Now there. She’s going to be fine. We’re here to save her and my kind. Besides, I’ve got the same feeling as you about my mate, Ocypete.”

“I understand. She was your childhood friend.”

“Aye. However… I’ve had a feeling it’s been more than just that. I… I’ve only thought about her when we were on our adventures, but… I’ve had a softer spot right here in my heart growing for her.”

“Ohee…. You…. You haven’t told her yet, have you?”

“Well… uhhh… telling somebody that you start loving them while you’re making an effort to fight off some beasts that trapped them underground. I’m feeling uneasy if she’s okay.”

Both Captain Celaeno and Queen Novo were feeling their fear building up within their chests until Mullet swam back to them. “Cap’n, we’ve found the exit, right at the end,” he announced, “Although, we need a bit of help to get back onto dry land.”

They were confused until they followed the first mate. They resurfaced right beside the rest of Celaeno’s crew, who were looking up to where the islands of Ornithia were at. The environment was foggy, so they only noticed the silhouettes of the islands. While it was high tide at the moment, they weren’t high enough to climb onto the top safely.

“Don’t worry, I got this,” Novo proclaimed. She used her shard again and turned herself back into her original form. After that, she picked up Celaeno by the flippers and lifted her to the peak of the island. When they arrived, they landed, and once again, using her shard, she turned Celaeno back to her avian self. Both of them checked their surroundings to make sure the coast was clear. They also noticed that the sun was starting to rise. “Boy, how long were we down there?” Celaeno questioned.

“Too long, perhaps,” Novo guessed. “Those yetis are going to be attacking your kind underground at any moment. We need a plan before their lives will be claimed.”

Back in New Ornithia, Princess Skystar was fast asleep, almost snoring. Because of the boredom she felt, she was tired, and that was why she fell asleep. Although, her sleep was been disturbed when she felt her shoulder being rubbed by someone, waking her up in a second. “Huh? What?” the princess gasped while holding her head. She turned around and noticed Princess Ocypete standing beside her. “What is it?”

“I apologize for disturbing you,” she apologized, “but have you seen Celaeno and company?”

“They were out to check on the yetis last night.” Skystar yawned after that. “I think I fell asleep while I was waiting for them.”

“…Well, I can’t find them anywhere. That’s the problem.”

“So… they’re not back yet?”

“I’m afraid not. I’ve asked my father already if he had seen them before and he’s got the same story. Still no sign of them.” Skystar felt her heart sink. “Don’t worry, he said he’ll have our citizens go on a lookout for them.” The young hippogriff sighed as she couldn’t help but worry.

Princess Ocypete led her to where the rest of her family would be hiding. King Thaumas was wearing his armor and checking on his family before leaving for battle. Queen Ozomeme soon noticed her daughter and Skystar walking in. “Ocypete, there you are. Have you found Celaeno yet?” Ozomeme asked.

“Sadly no,” the princess sighed. She was about to explain it to them when they saw Madame Harpy coming in. She looked rather beat up as she groaned in pain. The royal family was shocked.

“Madame Harpy, what’s the matter?” Thaumas asked.

“It was those damn yetis,” she groaned. She stumbled a bit before the king ran up and caught her by the arms “They got Cap’n Celaeno and company… including Queen Novo. I ain’t sure where they are right now, but I hope they’re alive.”

This was rather shocking to the royals and gut-wrenching to Ocypete and Skystar. Thaumas took a deep breath before he carried Harpy over to Ozomeme. “Honey, make sure she fully recovers,” the king ordered. “I feel we might need all of the aid we can get.”

“Yes, I will,” Ozomeme responded. She assisted Madame Harpy as the king takes a step outside of the castle gate.

He glanced over all of the avians that were willing to patriotically fight back for their country. “Citizens of Orinithia,” he declared, “I see that all of you have prepared yourselves for the worse to come. And I’m proud of all of you for standing up for the sake of our kingdom. For too long, we have been living under the fear of their occupation of our lands, and we cannot let them take over as long as they want. I cannot let my family suffer from this, and I cannot let YOUR families suffer too. This will be our sacrifice, for the sake of Ornithia. I fear that many of you might not make it, but if those monsters out there are being taken care of, no citizen will die in vain. And I promise, those who will sacrifice themselves, your names will be written in history, and they shall never be forgotten, and you’ll be praised by the future generation of avians for the bravery you’ve shown. My fellow citizens, it’s time to bring them down once and for all!” They cheered as they raised their weapons, shields, and flags in pride. “United we fight!” The cheers were getting louder after he shouted the phrase out.

As they cheered, Skystar sat down by the window thinking about her mother. “Don’t you worry, I’m sure your mother’s okay,” Ocypete said, trying to cheer her up. “We’re going to find her and yer buddies. We promise.”

“I hope so,” Skystar sighed. “I don’t know what’ll I do if she’s gone forever…”

Madame Harpy is trying to make herself comfortable as Queen Ozomeme wrapped her injured parts around with bandages. “Madame Harpy, is there anything useful you can tell about Queen Novo, Captain Celaeno, and her mateys’ last whereabouts?” Ozomeme questioned.

“It just… happened so far,” she groaned. “Last time I saw them, they were heading into the tunnels. I was knocked out, and I found that they were gone when I opened my eyes.”

“Oh, dear. What do you think they’re going to do to them?”

“I have no idea. But I hope things go according to plan.” Madame Harpy grinned as she helped tend to her injuries.

Prince Aello slammed his fist onto the table in rage. “We should be out there helping our dad,” he declared. “Who knows what other tricks they have? What’s next? A giant bomb that makes portals that sends you to the Storm King’s castle.”

“He has a castle?” Skystar gasped.

“I don’t know. I mean, they keep pulling new stuff out of nowhere. For real, do they have a spy around here or what?”

“That’s what my mother and Captain Celaeno have said,” Skystar cried. She faced Madame Harpy, still on the bed with her bandages on, who didn’t pay much attention to them. Skystar felt that she could trick them into a trap if she was the traitor.

“What’s up with that suspicious look you’re giving?” Prince Aello asked.

“…No reason.” Princess Ocypete looked back at the conversation at the table before she looked outside at her subjects heading off to battle.

Back above ground, Novo and the buccaneers had made it back to their ship. It was still intact, but sadly, the sails on the mast were ripped into shreds. Captain Celaeno wasn’t pleased with this. “Welp… there goes the idea of flying for help,” she sighed.

It means they have to use what they have because they don’t have to get more

“It’s doubtful we’d be able to get anybody else in time,” Queen Novo said. “Our current gear is what we have, and we don’t have to get more.”

“What gear?” Lix questioned. “They took all of the weapons and the booty we had.”

“Not quite,” Celaeno commented. “Mullet, did we get that secret compartment installed?”

“Aye. We did,” Mullet confirmed. “Right this way.” He led the crew down below deck and took them into the sleeping area, where they opened a small compartment on the floor. It contained a few items, such as a spare peg leg, two swords, and the chest that Novo brought from Mount Aris.

“So that’s where you put it,” Queen Novo commented.

“We had to scuttle a couple of items to make it fit,” Celaeno noted. “I be curious though, what’s in it?” Novo answered the question by opening the chest up to reveal a set of shiny high-quality colorful steel armor and a spear. “Dang, you came prepared.”

“I’ve felt that I was being overcautious. It’s one of those few times that I am glad I was wrong.” Queen Novo smirked as she carefully put on her armor. Captain Celaeno then took notice of the two swords lying down beside the queen’s chest and grabbed both weapons.

“Here, take this,” the captain said to her first mate, giving the second sword to him as she faced the rest of her crew. “Alrighty then, listen up. If we’re going to save Ornithia, we gotta play smart. If we go for it without planning, then it’s over for all. Those yetis over there ain’t dumb. Any ideas?”

“The only thing I reckon about, Cap’n,” Mullet suggested, “is a distraction. Once it’s made, they’ll be distracted and we’ll make our move.”

“I like the way yer thinkin’. But if we’re gonna do that, then how?” They slowly turned towards Squabble, who knew what they were thinking. He quickly grabbed his pair of bongos and squawked in reply. “You read me mind.”

“Now that’s one thing,” Novo commented, “But what about the attack.”

“We might not have enough power in physical strength,” Mullet replied, “but as what Cap’n has said: gotta play smart, brains over brains. If only there was a way… to burn their eyes or somethin’.”

Immediately, Captain Celaeno turned her lightbulb on with a snap and turned her attention to Lix Spittle. “Lix, do you still have those spices back in the kitchen?”

“Those that melt yer beak?” The captain nodded. “Aye! One spicy blinding blend, coming right up.” Lix Spittle rushed towards the kitchen to get started on making her ‘special’ blend.

“What about me?” Boyle asked.

“You… will be teaming with her,” Celaeno explained, pointing at Queen Novo. “Be sure to watch her back.” Boyle gave a salute.

“So, I guess we’re going on the front lines of the attack, aren’t we?” Mullet guessed.

“You bet, matey. We should be all set. Let’s see if we can get back to New Ornithia in time. Hopefully everyone there is still safe.”

They quickly set off to the underground kingdom as Queen Novo flew above to check if they were safe, which was far from the case. A couple of yetis, armed with swords and spears, were ready. Novo quickly flew back down before she was spotted. She landed in front of the crew to explain the situation.

“An army of yetis are fully equipped with spears and swords,” she reported. “And they’re ready to attack.”

“Alright, this is the part where we split up,” Celaeno noted. “Now go!” The crew did so, just as the avians back at New Ornithia meanwhile arrived at the surface. Almost all of them squinted as sunlight contacted their eyes. It felt like they haven’t seen sunlight in years or longer than that. King Thaumas groaned as his eyes took a minute to adjust before examining his surroundings.

“Stay sharp, men,” he warned, “They could be anywhere, and might make their ambush.”

He and the army kept their eyes out with their weapons drawn out to defend themselves. Around the corner far away from them, there came Captain Celaeno and Mullet, which they didn’t see them. The two saw them and were about to approach them stealthily when suddenly, they were being yanked away out by a yeti. They quickly recovered and a yeti was attempting to stab Captain Celaeno with its spear. She was able to roll away before getting impaled and immediately grabbed her sword from her baldric and held it in front.

“It ain’t easy,” she grumbled to herself. She and her first mate made their combat to a lone yeti, who was determined to keep them where they were.

Meanwhile, King Thaumas and his artillery could hear the ensuing battle from the clashing blades from there. They were about to investigate, not when more yetis sprung out in front of them from the bushes. Queen Novo was flying overhead, with Boyle riding on her back, seeing the circumstance.

“Do those things breed like rabbits?” Boyle inquired.

“The Storm King always seems to have the upper hand,” Novo commented. “Be careful if they have those orbs. They’ll turn you into obsidian.” The queen then noticed another avian far away from the group holding a pistol. Instead of aiming it at one of the yetis, he pointed it right towards King Thaumas. Novo was shocked as she knew what was going to happen. “Boyle, hold on tight.” She hurled her spear and instantly flew down straight toward the armed avian.

The spear landed right in front of him, almost at the tip of the beak, and fired his gun upward in fright. The bullet thankfully missed the targets, but the shot was heard by everyone.

“Hold on, since when did they have firearms?” King Thaumas inquired.

The shooter tried to reload his gun, but wouldn’t have time as Boyle jumped off Novo’s back and tackled him to the ground, dropping the gun onto the ground, with Queen Novi landing nearby to retrieve her spear. She stared at him with crossed brows as she approached him slowly. “I saw you from afar,” she spoke, “do you take pride in attempting to assassinate your king?” Novo questioned.

“Hey, a buccaneer’s got to make a good profit somehow,” the assassin groaned. Boyle slammed the shooter’s head against the ground in anger.

“Professionals have standards, ye scurvy dog!” Boyle started with fury. “Ye workin’ alone?”

“…I ain’t no snitch.” The queen wasn’t liking the attitude of this avian.

“Wise guy…” She hastily picked him up by his leg and carried him over to King Thaumus and his army, tossing the shooter on the ground, and landing in front of them.

King Thaumas gasped when he saw Queen Novo coming out from the bushes. “Your Excellency, you’re alive!” he said in amazement. “What…?”

“Celaeno and her crew?” the hippogriff finished, “Alive and well. They’re keeping those yetis at bay right now. And… this little boy here has made his attempt to shoot you in the head. I have a big feeling that this ain’t the only traitor that’s on their side.”

King Thaumas took a glimpse at the assassin as the artillery saw Captain Celaeno and Mullet in front, struggling to resist an army of multitudes. The yetis were taken by surprise when the avians assisted the pirates. The late Storm King’s troopers did their best, but Ornithia’s combatants overwhelmed them.

“There’s much more than just them, Your Majesty” Novo commented. “There’s no doubt that Madame Harpy is going to do something sinister.” King Thaumas was feeling worried. “Where’s she?”

“She’s in the castle with your daughter and my family!” he cried.

“Ah, nuts…” Novo took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “Captain!” she called out to Captain Celaeno. “We need to go back down quick!”

“I heard ya,” the captain reacted. “Mullet, Boyle!” The two said crew mates joined up with her. Then a scream of pain was heard. They turned to catch a glimpse of another muscular avian holding his head in pain with powder. Squabble and Lix Spittle quickly joined in with their captain, with him playing with his bongos, while the other had a big bag of chili powder.

“I be glad ye made that plan,” Lix Spittle confirmed with a smile. “These spicy bombs work like a functionin’ cannon.”

“Way t’ go, matey!” Celaeno affirmatively exclaimed. “Now then, let’s go back down underground quick! Queen Novo needs us.”

“Aye aye!” They exclaimed with a salute.

“Good luck,” King Thaumas said, “We’ll be on guard for any more traitors.”

“Stay safe, Your Highness.” Celaeno then gave wide smile and a confident salute as Boyle gave her a pistol belonging to the assassin that have attempted to kill the king.

“Here. This’ll come in handy,” he said. Celaeno smiled as they headed back down to New Ornithia, hoping there was still some time left.

Back in the small castle, Princess Skystar was getting anxious, having butterflies in her stomach. “Maybe we should check on them.”

“No,” Queen Ozomeme shouted. “We’re not getting out of this palace until they return.”

“Mother, this is insane,” Prince Aello stated. “We’re here sitting down like ducks in the castle.”

“We have to do something,” Ocypete admitted, “I mean… Skystar’s right, we must check on them..”

“But what if we end up like them?” Princess Zephyra cried. Skystar didn’t like to think about her mother suffering any kind of fate… She was struggling to keep up hope, with her head down, covering it with her arms, while inhaling and exhaling deeply. Suddenly, she heard some noise coming from outside. Out of curiosity, the hippogriff poked her head out of the castle’s open window to see six familiar figures coming in, an armored queen and five pirates. Right away, she recognized them, with a surprised gasp.

“THEY’RE HERE!” she cheered. “COME AND LOOK! THEY’RE ALIVE!!!”

The royals were confused by what she meant and went to look out the window, only to see Queen Novo, Captain Celaeno, and her crew heading towards the castle. “Oh my goodness,” Ocypete gasped, “They’re here!”

“What!?” Madame Harpy gasped. She glanced at the said figures Skystar was talking about, and…became frustrated.

“Oh, thank the spirits! There’s still hope for us.” She then turned to Madam Harpy, who has a very angry face. “Madam Harpy, would it be so kind if you and Cellie could…”

In a split second, she pulled out a pistol, and pointed eighth in front of Ocypete’s beak and at the royals, making her pause her sentence and held their claws up in the air. More butterflies filled their stomachs as she steadily pointed her pistol at them. They could see her breathing in and out in anger.

“Madam Harpy, what is the meaning of this!?” Queen Ozomeme shouted.

“This was supposed to be a simple trick that’d get us rich right away for the rest of our lives, but no, your friends had to kill off the Storm King,” Madame Harpy retorted. “Now thanks to that, we have no fortune!” She sounded to have a mixture of sarcasm and frustration.

“What are you saying?”

“What do you think, motherf***er? I was planning on helping to break this place down until he comes back and makes another fortress. He’d give me and my crew riches beyond our dreams… and those dreams are gone, and it’s all thanks to your Celaeno… and you.” Madame Harpy ran in front of her and pointed her pistol at Skystar, touching the bridge of the beak, making Skystar shiver more. Her life was in grave danger, fearing that she’ll have a few seconds to die. Tears were already flowing out of her eyes. “You were the one who helped her kill him!”

“Please… please don’t shoot me,” the hippogriff begged with flowing tears. “I still have more to live with! I can’t die early!!!”

“Walk your a** outside, b****! Listen to what I say.” She then grabbed Skystar’s hair and yanked her towards the royals, and they went outside with their claws up while Madam Harpy kept her pistol pointing at them.

Queen Novo and Captain Celaeno had split up from the crew to check on the castle. The moment they saw Princess Skystar, Princess Ocypete, and the others walking outside with Madame Harpy holding a gun, they immediately jumped into action. They stood in front of her.

Princess Skystar and the rest felt relieved that they arrived in time. “…Madame Harpy, let’s have a proper conversation, shall we?” Novo said calmly.

“Okay, then listen up, a**hole,” Harpy said, pointing the gun at her forehead. “I’m expecting gold bars, gemstones, bits, and any other valuable items you can get your claws on. You know what, hold that for a moment, how the f*** are you still alive!? That cave-in was unbreakable in the amount of time you had I think it’s still up.”

“Our friend here had a little trick up her sleeve,” Celaeno remarked, giving her a pat on the queen’s back. “Now then, put that li’l pistol of yours down. Tell me, girl, what is your endgame?”

“I was supposed to retire anywhere I wanted. And you… Captain Celaeno… you just had to be #1 and slaughter the Storm King for good!”

“Actually, his commander grew a heart,” Skystar corrected, “So really…” She was silenced when Harpy fired her pistol into the air. The loud bang echoed around the underground kingdom. More panicked screams were heard as Madame Harpy’s crew were launching their attack.

Celaeno’s crew wouldn’t go down without a fight and did their best to help protect the civilians. Mullet was in the middle of a fight with one of Harpy’s crew mates. He blocked the enemy’s blade with his own as Celaeno instinctively ran over and helped her first mate.

The captain faced Novo, who was in a state of shock from what just happened. While she was like this, Harpy grabbed hold of Ocypete and kept her gun pointed at her.

“Novo, save them and Petey!” Celaeno cried.

Snapping back to reality, Novo turned back to Madam Harpy before taking off. Seeing the queen trying to pounce at her, Harpy aimed her pistol towards Novo and fired. However, instead of piercing her skin, Novo dodged the bullet and gave Harpy a good hard punch in the face.

This caused her to drop the gun and run to safety. Despite being down, she was refusing to go down without a fight, and the same could be said for her crew. Sword clashed, bullets fired, residents panicked, and all hell broke loose in New Ornithia. Celaeno and her crew were doing their best to fight them off as Queen Novo flew away with the royals.

“Is anyone alright?” the hippogriff queen asked. She checked to make sure they were at a safe point before she was suddenly hugged by Skystar. Novo embraced her daughter as both were relieved they were both okay.

“Listen, I’m happy that both of you are okay,” Queen Ozomeme admitted, “But how are we supposed to get out of here alive?”

Novo examined her surrounding area with Celaeno and Harpy’s crew seeming to hold equal ground. “Hmm, it doesn’t look like it’ll be easy.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Prince Aello questioned.

“Maybe we could make some sort of distraction?” Skystar suggested. Novo searched for a distraction when she saw Squabble jumping back from a big avian trying to punch him.

“Just… Stop… Moving!” the muscular avian growled. Squabble was laughing as he made his foe more frustrated to the point where he tried punching him into the ground. Squabble took this open and pecked him on the head and knocked him out.

“Psst, Squabble,” whispered a voice. He turned around and noticed Queen Novo waving at him, signaling him to come close. And so he did. When he arrived, he saw Queen Novo standing, feeling relieved that he arrived in time. Not just that, he also noticed Princess Skystar and the avian royal family were with her too. “Here,” she whispered, gesturing him to come close. “You have those bongos with you, right?” Squabble quietly squawked yes. “We need a distraction, so we can escape. Can you do it?”

The pirate nodded, accepting her request, took his bongos off his back, and came out from the hiding spot while drumming a beat. This grabbed the attention of Madam Harpy’s crew, who slowly followed Squabble’s music.

The royals took this chance to escape and quickly headed off to the surface. Celaeno’s crew still had a few pirates to deal with, some of which could see the royals escaping. During the chaos, they were nearly pounced on by some crew members.

It got to the point where Madam Harpy had lost her patience and had her crewmates start breaking apart some of the bases of the buildings, causing them to tip over. This forced the royals to run in different directions as the buildings collapsed to the ground. Dust filled up the caves, it was so thick that it blocked the view of anyone nearby. After a big cloud was formed, things quieted down. It took a moment for it to clear before everyone could see again. Queen Novo and Princess Skystar both used their wings to help fan the dust away so they can see the damage. A whole square had been smashed to the ground.

“Skystar, are you okay?” Novo asked.

“I’m okay, mom,” Skystar responded.

As they were recovering, Captain Celaeno ran over to them while panting.

“I apologize that you had to fend for yerselves,” the captain apologized. “Everything was happening at once and I was doing me best and…”

“Nobody blames you, Celaeno” Queen Ozomeme interrupted. “We should’ve heeded your warning about Madame Harpy.” The Queen quickly started checking on her children as King Thaumas came running in.

“What’s going on here?” he gasped.

“It’s Madam Harpy, she tried to crush us with those buildings,” Novo explained. “Though she’s gone quiet as of now, which is suspicious.” This was worrying to the king, who quickly ran over to his wife, who was helping their children to recover. Prince Aello was alright, and so does Princess Zephyra, and Princess Ocypete… was not here. Nowhere.

“Where is Ocypete?” King Thaumas doubted.

“I don’t know,” Ozomeme responded. The royal quickly started digging through the rubble as panic was starting to settle in. “She’s… She’s nowhere in the rubble.”

“Then where could she be?”

Captain Celaeno was just as worried about this as the royals. “Your Highness, did you see anybody like her crew passing by you on the way down here?” the captain questioned.

“Of course, not. I would’ve seen somebody.”

Mullet approached the worried Celaeno. “Maybe they found another tunnel, cap’n,” Mullet suggested. “They must’ve made them before us.”

“...Yeah, you could be right,” Celaeno commented. “She has got plenty of tricks up her sleeve. Your Majesty, what’s the situation above ground?”

“We seemed to have taken all of the yetis out,” Thaumas explained. “It seems that some traitors had just vanished.”

“What do you think they’re planning?” Novo questioned.

“I have no idea,” Celaeno noted. She then heard something very faint. A muffled scream came from afar.

“What was that?” Princess Zephyra doubted. “I heard that.”

“Yeah, I heard that too,” Pince Aello added.

“That sounds like Petey! We should follow that voice.” She, together with Queen Novo, Princess Skystar, and the royal family, wandered around, keeping an ear out to see if she could hear it again. The noise was getting louder and louder, indicating that they were close, only to be headed towards the tunnel, where she could swear she heard muffled screaming. “I think she’s in here! Princess Ocypete could be there. Mateys!” Mullet and the rest of the crew quickly up to join in with the search as King Thaumas took a deep breath. “We’re going deep down.”

“We’re coming with you,” he proclaimed.

“Are you sure about that, Your Highness?”

“The entire reason I kept them away from the conflict. Now that she’s in danger, I’m going to do everything to get her back to safety.”

“Thaumas, you’re not going alone,” Ozomeme stated.

“What?”

“The more the merrier I say,” Celaeno said.

“Honey, I’m not allowing this,” Thaumas stated. “You might be killed down there!”

“I understand that you want us to be safe, but our daughter is in danger. Either we lose her by doing nothing, or I will sacrifice myself for the sake of her.”

“That’s what I said,” Prince Aello stated. He stepped forward to join his mother as he looked back at Princess Zephyra. She stepped forward as she was also wanting her sister’s safety.

“We’re not going to do most of the combat, are we?” Zephyra asked.

“Just leave that to us,” Celaeno said. “Now, hurry! We’re burning daylight!” The pirate quickly ran into the caves with the royal family following shortly behind. Skystar faced her mother, who knew what her daughter was thinking by the look on her face.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Queen Novo said, “and…”

“Do we want to leave those crooks alone to get away from their crimes?” Skystar asked. The queen had a feeling she wasn’t going to be able to talk her daughter out of it.

“We’ll see how we can help. Stay close to me.” Skystar held her claw, and followed after the avians, hoping that they would need help.

Taking Off

With Boyle leading the way, holding a lighted torch he made midway, Captain Celaeno and company crawled their way into the tunnel to search for Princess Ocypete. Since he had mapped the location before, he was the one leading them. Behind him and Captain Celaeno, followed her crewmates and the avian royal family. Queen Novo and Princess Skystar were also following behind them, holding each other’s claws to stick together. The atmosphere within the tunnel was shady and eerie with the scent of eroded rocks and freshwater spreading through the air. Once again, they don’t have enough time to be distracted, since Celaeno knew that her old-time friend was in grave danger, and was wanting to save her.

“Do ye see anything unfamiliar?” the captain asked.

“Nothin’,” Boyle replied. “Nothin’ but rocky walls. It be impossible to find somethin’ unusual.”

“Keep searching,” Mullet suggested. “Thar has to be somethin’ out of the ordinary.”

“Like what?” Lix Spittle added.

“There!” Queen Ozomeme exclaimed with her index finger pointing straight. They all turned to where she was pointing, and there, they could see a trail. “Those tracks… they could be hers!”

Captain Celaeno got close to the tracks and knelt on one knee to examine them closely. From the 8 strokes marked across the dirt soil, she could tell that somebody has used its clawed feet to slow down from someone’s dragging it. She sensed that Ocypete could be dragged by Madame Harpy or one of her crew members. She then turned her head in the direction of the tracks, noticing that they went deep straight toward the darkness.

“Ye might be right,” Celaeno commented, “who knows who else would make these.” She stood up and turned to Boyle. “Give me yer torch, I’ll lead the way this time.” He did hand over the torch to the captain and led the way, following the tracks while looking down and observing them. It went on for a long while like it was endless. They kept following the tracks, until… without looking, Captain Celaeno bumped her head on the wall. “Ow… again!” In front of them is just a rocky wall. They noticed that the tracks have went through it, and not a narrow gap was visible through their naked eyes. They were puzzled. “What? A dead-end?”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Skystar commented. “How could they just walk through a wall like they’re ghosts?”

“They must’ve baited us,” Queen Novo hypothesized. Squabble then, with a warcry, ran towards the wall and tried pushing against it. He can’t move it and began pecking it with frustration. As he pecked, a light thud was heard. This got Queen Novo thinking. “Squabble, would it be so kind if you keep pecking every unit of that barrier?” The metal-beaked pirate let out a salute and did as she requested. When he pecked every section, it made a solid thud, but as he hit the center, a perfectly-cut plane sank in, making it the shape of the square. It seemed to be like a pushbutton.

Suddenly, the forceful rumbling was being felt as the dead end slowly opened its hidden hatch sideward. When the hatch was unhatched, it revealed a mysterious treasure passageway. Everyone at the moment was surprised by this, even King Thaumas cannot believe it in his eyes. The path leading inside was pitch-black. Nothing but a dark void. Not only that, the tracks continued straight through the passageway, which now makes sense.

Captain Celaeno stepped inside first with the lighted torch, facing the long path with no fear. “Surely this would be the way to rescuing Ocypete,” the captain muttered. “There’s a lot of mysteries they haven’t told us yet.” Then, with no time wasted, they scooted down the tunnel, continuing their search for Ocypete.

As they were pacing fast, they heard muffled screaming from the distance, followed by another voice.

“Shut up, ya twat!” exclaimed a voice.

“I told you we should’ve shot the hippogriff and that crew in their faces,” another voice said, followed by a hard slap on the face.

“It would’ve been impossible to escape that cave,” a familiar-sounding voice said.

Celaeno drew her sword as she knew who that voice belongs to. “Madame Harpy,” she muttered and then gave her group a gesture. “Stay… low…”

Proceeding with caution, they stealthily sneaked their way through the tunnel. Around the corner, an opening was visible in front of them. Then they carefully sprinted their way to the opening. After they made it, they came across a cliff, a few feet from the edge to their feet. Looking down, they saw a giant airship sitting in a big pool of water. In front of the ship is an enormous passageway, big enough to fit. On that said ship, there were a group of pirates making commotions, and surrounding them is a female tied up on the main mast with a rag on her beak. Captain Celaeno immediately recognized that it was Princess Ocypete, and she was in trouble. She kept wriggling her way out while muffling screaming horrifically for help as the pirates were giving them a tease, most in a seductive way.

The avians and hippogriffs stood back to make sure they weren’t been seen by them. As they watched, they could see Madame Harpy getting her ship prepared for departure. She was conversing with her black first mate who was hunched over.

“I told you, Cap’n, this would happen,” the first mate stated to her.

“We’ll sell ‘er for a boatload of bits, and we be set for life,” Harpy retorted. “Hoist the sails! Make sure it is enough to not rip them on the ceiling!”

“Aye aye, cap’n,” he saluted, and quickly headed towards the masts to raise the sails.

Madame Harpy then noticed her crewmates were still teasing the captive Princess Ocypete, once again… seductive. She then blew her whistle loudly to get their attention. They stopped after the whistle was heard.

“That’s enough, ye creeps!” she distorted. “Leave her alone, I’ll take care of her later. Prepare yourselves, because we’re about to take off.” She sounded like she was at the end of her ropes as the ship slowly started sailing away.

“Crap!” Celaeno cried. “We need to get on that ship quick!”

“On it!” Skystar cried. Before anyone could stop her, Skystar picked up Captain Celaeno and Mullet, making her struggle a little bit, and flew them onto the ship. They wanted to convince her to stay because they don’t her to be injured from danger, but Skystar was already near the deck, so Captain Celaeno took action. On midair, they both jumped off Skystar and Captain Celaeno kicked Madame Harpy with much strength in the face with her peg leg, knocking the captain away from the helm. Princess Skystar was about to go for Ocypete, but she only narrowly missed getting shot out of the air, making her shriek fright.

Out of fear, the princess hippogriff quickly flew back to safety while Celaeno and Mullet were quickly finding themselves overwhelmed. Queen Novo flew to help protect her daughter,

“We need to help them!” King Thaumas commented. “Boyle, let me feel that muscle.” Boyle gave a flex of his arm to demonstrate as he didn’t fully understand why he was being asked this. He then touched it. “Not bad.”

On the ship, Captain Celaeno and Mullet were pushed back toward the edge of the deck. “I know that princess is trying to help,” Mullet commented, “but she could’ve thought this through.” Mullet was pushed off of the deck and fell into the water, leaving Celaeno at gunpoint.

“You couldn’t help but play hero, could ya, wise guy?” Madame Harpy asked. She looked back to see her crewmates carrying Ocypete below deck. She heard Celaeno growl, which made her laugh evilly. They both heard more bullets as Novo and Skystar dove into the water, presumably by being shot.

“You’re f***ing sadistic. You know that, right?”

“Eh, if it gets us what we need, I don’t care if I’ve got gangrene on my toes or beak. It’ll be better knowing that I’ll be treasure hunting without worrying about you ever spoiling the fun.” Harpy smiled as she was just about to pull the trigger on her pistol, when a spear struck it, knocking the weapon out of her talons. They looked to see where it came from and saw the royal family gliding toward them.

“Attack!” King Thaumas yelled.

“Get ‘em!” Prince Aello roared.

“We’re gonna f***ing die!” Princess Zephyra cried.

“Language!” Queen Ozomeme warned.

Before any of the crew could react, the royals were on the deck and quickly knocked a few in style. Celaeno took this opportunity of shock to punch Harpy and strike her with her sword before Madame blocked it with her blade, locking the two in a sword fight.

Thaumas helped take out Harpy’s mates and take their weapons so he could give them to his family for their protection. Prince Aello gazed at the sword he was given and grinned with excitement.

“I’ve always been waiting for something like that,” he muttered. The prince turned to see Zephyra looking nervous with the blade she was given.

“I’m not feeling too confident about this,” Zephyra admitted.

“Come on, Zephyra!” the prince shouted. “Our sister is in danger, and we all cannot stand around to watch her die, and… WATCH YOUR LEFT!!!” Princess Zephyra turned her left and saw one of Harpy’s crew beside her about to strike her head with a green glass bottle. So, Prince Aello quickly pushed her forcefully to the side, sliced the bottle in half with his sword, and head-butted the pirate away. “Let’s hold each other’s back.” Zephyra nodded as they both stayed on their guard as took on many pirates as they could.

Queen Ozomeme was going all out, punching buccaneers, knocking them out, and taking their weapons. Thaumas was amazed at his wife’s streak of attacks. The king soon came across Captain Celaeno, who was still in a sword fight with Madame Harpy.

“I need some help over here?” Celaeno asked.

“Gladly,” Thaumas commented. He swept Harpy’s feet, making her fall back as Celaeno held her sword to her throat. “Now then, Madame Harpy. You got one chance. Surrender and hand over my daughter, or suffer the punishments.”

Harpy glanced up at the captain and king and… smiled. This was puzzling to them until they heard a click behind them. One of the crew was holding a gun, aiming right at King Thaumas’s head. Celaeno acted quickly just as the trigger was pulled. The bullet would have pierced the captain’s skin if it wasn’t for someone leaping out of the water and catching the projectile. Queen Novo had returned from being underwater and tackled the armed pirate as Madame Harpy quickly got up.

“Raise the sails!” Madame Harpy ordered. She searched for a weapon as Celaeno made a mad dash for the door leading below deck. Harpy was about to follow her if it wasn’t for King Thaumas stopping her. Despite this, she looked calm.

Celaeno quickly searched around the ship for Ocypete. She inspected the poop deck, but she was not there; she inspect the quarterdeck, but she was not there either; then at the figurehead, forepeak, and the fo’c’sle, and she was not in those places too. Captain Celaeno hasn’t given up yet and kept on searching. She went down to the hull of the ship, then reached towards the gun deck where cannons were stored. There, she finally found her, tied up and leaning against the wall.

Ocypete was shocked to see her childhood friend run over to her. “Petey!” Celaeno exclaimed with relief. “I’m so glad you’re okay! Hold on, I’ll get you out in a jiffy.” She removed the rag from her beak so she won’t muffle again. She was about to cut the ropes when the princess spoke up.

“Cellie, stop,” Ocypete begged.

“…What? What’s wrong?” the captain asked.

“It… It’s you…!”. Ocypete was struggling to make eye contact. “You’ve served the Storm King, haven’t you!?”

Captain Celaeno thought she wouldn’t have to mention this to anyone about him. “Uh… How did you know about that?” she asked.

Ocypete seemed nearly heartbroken. “How could you do something like that?”

“I… It’s not what it sounds like. Who even told you about that?”

“Madame Harpy did. I didn’t want to believe her but… she showed me a photo.” Ocypete looked over to a photo that looked like it was set up just for Celaeno. The photo showed the Storm King smiling while he stood in between Captain Celaeno and Mullet, who were miserable while in their delivery uniforms. The captain remembered that day, and it was the most uncomforting moment she has ever felt.

She sighed before she thought about what to say. “Petey, I didn’t want to do anything for that psycho. He threatened me and my friends, and I even lost some of my crew in the process. There were only five of us left after he put us under his control. I would’ve flown us back here if there was a chance that he would follow us.”

“We could’ve helped you fight him off.”

“Like how the kingdom fell apart from the inside? He could’ve turned you and your family into statues and shattered you into pieces! I didn’t know he could do that before today. I don’t want to think about what’d happen after that or even if I was responsible for your fate!” Captain Celaeno looked like she was about to cry just thinking about that. “I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”

“Cellie, it’s okay. If he’s gone now, you don’t have to fear him.”

“Whereas he’s still got goons like Madame Harpy doing his work beyond the grave. He’ll never stop until he’s got all of Equestria and beyond under his claw!” Celaeno started wiping her tears of fear away.

Ocypete was concerned about why her old friend was having waterworks. “Cellie, we’re going to get through this. Why are you crying?”

“Because I’m afraid of what would’ve happened to you. I could’ve saved you and the kingdom but…. I was too scared of the Storm King getting you.”

She took a moment to regain herself before Ocypete spoke again. “Is this something to do more than just friendship?” the princess asked.

She blushed as she felt that her old friend was picking up on something. “…You could say that.”

She used her sword to slash the ropes, so Ocypete could be free. As soon as the princess was free, she held onto the captain’s claw, making her blush in the process. The captain scratched the back of her head as she wasn’t sure what to say. Ocypete was about to say something until she saw another pirate at the exit of the room aiming a pistol at them.

“CELLIE, BEHIND YOU!” The pirate captain turned behind her only having enough time to see the gun before the trigger was pulled. The bullet would’ve pierced her if it wasn’t for Princess Skystar flying in out of nowhere and pushing both avians out of the way of the bullet. The pirate who fired it was confused, and then he saw Mullet, Boyle, Lix Spittle, and Squabble climbing through the gunports.

The pirate was about to shoot at them if it wasn’t for Captain Celaeno firing the gun she had picked up and shooting the gun out of the avian’s hands. Boyle and Squabble tackled him to the floor, giving Celaeno and the others time to think of a plan.

“Glad y’all made it on board,” the captain said.

“You may want to think of something fast,” Lix Spittle noted. “This ship is beginning to take off.” She took a peek out the window to see they were now heading outside of the cave and rising.

“Okay, so we have two options,” Celaeno noted. “A; we take control of the ship, meaning that we’ll have to take care of all of Harpy’s crew. Or B; we cut the sails, leaving this ship immobilized.”

“Neither one sounds easy,” Mullet commented.

“I propose we go for cutting the sails,” Skystar suggested. “I could use my shard to help you get back to the islands.”

“And how does that work?” Ocypete asked.

“She’ll explain later,” Celaeno said. “Right now, we’ve gotta ground this ship.” The captain looked toward Skystar. “Laddie, I’m not feeling comfortable asking you this, but… can you help us get those sails down?”

“I’ll do my best,” the hippogriff princess proclaimed.

“Okay. Let’s hope that fate is on our side.” They were about to leave, but they had to knock out the armed pirate, which Boyle and Squabble had an easy time with.

They carefully made their way above deck to see that things had started to turn south. Queen Novo had been captured and was being tied to the bowsprit of the ship like they were using her as a figurehead. “Is this some kind of sick joke to you?” the queen blurted.

She tried to look back at what was happening with the royal avians, who were slowly losing their ground. King Thaumas was thrown off his feet and disarmed as the rest of his family was taken down as well. The four of them were rounded up and forced into the main deck as Madame Harpy approached them.

“I had a feeling you’d go down at some point,” Madame Harpy scoffed.

“You enjoy being the worst kind of my kind, aren’t you?” King Thaumas questioned.

“Eh, whatever gets me more treasure in the end.”

“You thought that we’re gonna give you wealth from us and our citizens, huh?”

“If you wanna survive, then yes.” She glanced over to the ship’s plank as the ship goes higher in the air. Captain Celaeno was watching from inside the hull, knowing what was going to happen.

“Not good, we need to act now!” Celaeno cried quietly with Skystar, Ocypete, and her crew.

“I can fly up and cut the sails,” Skystar proclaimed. “Can I borrow your sword?”

“Not until we know what to do.”

Skystar thought for a moment before she looked down at her pearl shard. “Hey, random question; how good can these sails hold water?”

“What kind of question is that?” Mullet asked. The hippogriff showed off her shard, which intrigued the captain.

“Go ahead kid, what do you have in mind?”

They would form their plan fast as the royal family would have their arms tied behind their backs as Harpy had them walk the plank. “So, any last words?” Madame Harpy demanded.

“Indeed,” Queen Ozomeme spoke, “We regret every second… we thought you were a so-called hero for Orithinia.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Thaumas sighed. He looked down at the sea, which looked to be getting further away as the ship was still ascending.

“Well…?” Harpy said, “We’re waiting.” She didn’t seem at all phased by what was said to her, instead sounding impatient for the show to get on the road.

Suddenly, the cabin door burst open as Skystar flew out with Ocypete riding on her back holding a sword. This was a shock to the pirates, but even more so when Celaeno’s crew burst out and started beating up Harpy’s gang.

“Give me a f***ing break,” Madame Harpy groaned. She drew her pistol and fired at Captain Celaeno, who dodged and fired back with the gun that she had picked up. Both captains kept firing and dodging as the two princesses were flying up to the sails. Ocypete stabbed the blade through the cloth material, slicing it apart and making the ship lose its altitude.

However, the ship started tilting to one side, making everyone on board start losing their footing. “Oh, dear… This might not work out as we thought,” Ocypete commented.

“It’s still better than nothing,” Skystar noted. “Come on, let’s help my mom.” They flew down to help untie Novo from the ship’s bowsprit.

Everyone else was trying to grab onto something or were sliding toward the edge. “This is a bad idea,” Mullet cried. He grabbed hold of Boyle, who had dug his hook into the deck for support. They saw the royals sliding towards them and they grabbed hold of Princess Zephyra and Prince Aello.

“What are you doing!?” Aello asked.

“I feel like we’re making this up as we go,” Boyle admitted. “Say, how do you two feel about swimming?”

“...Why do you ask?” Zephyra questioned. They saw King Thaumas and Queen Ozomeme slide towards them, catching onto Boyle, who slid back with his hook eating through some of the deck.

Captain Celaeno and Madame Harpy wouldn’t have anybody to catch onto and now hung onto the edge of the ship. Both dropped their weapons which fell into the sea. “You aren’t really good at keeping a hold of your weapons,” Harpy insulted.

“You’re the one to talk, ye c***” Celaeno retorted. “You’ve got a whole crew and have been losing to five strong and intelligent avians and two royal hippogriffs. Speaking of which…” Celaeno was swept up by a freed Novo. The two of them flew alongside Skystar and Ocypete, the latter of which looked down at the crew and royals holding on.

“Okay, Star,” Ocypete said, “Now would be a good time for that plan of yours to be put into action.”

“Roger that!” The two hippogriffs dove down to Celaeno’s crew and the royals just as the ship was about to crash into the sea.

“Alright Petey,” Celaeno said, “Brace yourself!” Novo and Skystar used the magic of their pearl shards to affect the avians. The crew and royals quickly turned into their aquatic forms, much to Ocypete and her family’s surprise.

The ship crashed into the sea and the sails were ripped off. Madame Harpy and her team stared at the destruction as they floated about in the water. Before she could curse at the ones who ruined their plans, one of the avians was pulled underwater. And then another one was pulled, and another, and another. They began panicking as one avian at the time was getting pulled down underwater. Confused, Harpy took a deep breath before taking a peek at what was going on. She didn’t have any time to react before Celaeno and Skystar swept her up into the bits of the sail and used the shard to make sure the crude captain could breathe underwater.

“What is going on?!” Harpy questioned, “Wha…. What happened to my legs?! Am I a fish?” She wouldn’t be able to have an answer to her confusion until she felt herself getting pulled out of the water.

After a few moments, she was released from the sail and was attached to a chain before being hung up like a fish that was just caught. Celaeno ran out of the water from her hat before looking at Harpy, who had an upside-down perspective of the world now. “Didn’t think this is how our fishing trip would go,” Celaeno joked.

“What did you do to me?” Harpy tried to get a good look at herself, but she could only get a good look at her finned talons. “What kind of black magic is this!?”

“Pearl magic,” Skystar answered. She demonstrated what she meant by changing into a seapony real quick before changing back to a hippogriff.

“Aye, it’s a bit weird at first,” Celaeno admitted, “But it comes in real handy when you don’t wanna drown.” Skystar soon flew away to help gather up the rest of Harpy’s crew, who had also been affected by the pearl’s magic. Celaeno’s crew helped capture Madame Harpy’s team, Princess Skystar and Queen Novo carried them up to the island, and the royal family helped chain them up, most of them in a similar way to their captain.

“This was a weird experience,” Queen Ozomeme admitted. She had been changed back into her avian form.

“I agree,” Thaumas noted. “Though, I am curious to see how they used those shards to hide from the Storm King.”

Queen Novo flew up with another goon, overhearing the conversation between the king and queen. “We have an underwater kingdom known as Seaquestria,” she explained. “Most seaponies moved there permanently, including my sister.”

“Oh, you have other relatives?”

“Yes. My sister lives in Seaquestria to watch over the seaponies. Her husband, Skybeak, lives…”

“Ahoy, up there!” Boyle called from the ocean. “You coming?”

Queen Novo glimpsed down to see the pirates were still waiting on her. “I’ll explain more later.” She flew down to get more pirates as Thaumas and Ozomeme were quite curious about what Seaquestria was like.

After all of Harpy’s crew was captured, they were locked away until the royal family knew what to do with them. For the time being, the avians have released themselves from the underground and were now cleaning up the remnants of the old Orithinia. Meanwhile, Captain Celaeno and Princess Ocypete roamed around for the trip down memory lane.

“I’m glad that’s over,” the princess commented. “Thanks for saving Ornithia.”

“Don’t thank me,” she said, “you should thank yourself as well for helping us too.” Ocypete smiled.

“Whoa! Cellie look at that!” Ocypete cried. The two avians peeked at the remains of a statue modeled after Blackbeak. It had seen better days as the statue had broken off its base and one of his arms was missing.

“Ugh, such a disgrace,” Celaeno groaned. “Who’s gonna fix that?”

“We could put him up temporarily, but we’d be replacing it with a new one soon as we had a good budget.”

“Great. Is it the yeti or time that did this?” Princess Ocypete

“I’m gonna guess time.” As they kept roving around, Princess Ocypete saw a place familiar to her and Celaeno. She pointed to an old-looking airship, which had crashed years ago, with the hull having a wide open hole. They recognized the place and came near it. They peeked inside, and there, they saw colorful blankets, a tiny chest, and two wooden toy swords.

“Oh my, this was our old hangout place.”

“Yeah, you’re right! I remember this.” Celaeno and Ocypete bent down to get inside the ship to get a look at the tiny chest. “Wonder what’s in here.” She opened it to reveal photos of two young avians. The captain chuckled as she showed them to the princess, who beamed when she looked at the images

They showed Celaeno and Ocypete their childhood and youth days. One pic showed the two of them dressed up in shining dresses, another showed them playing pirates on the very broken ship the chest came out of. “Cellie, we were both so cute,” the princess cooed.

“Aye. I still recall wearing ourselves out, looking for treasure,” Celaeno added with a chuckle. “Such a fun moment.” Both of them sat down in their old place, taking a trip down memory lane.

“I wish we could go back to those times. I missed you so much, Cellie. It didn’t feel the same without you.”

“The feeling’s mutual. I was so focused on making sure the ship and my crew were fully set in case something dire happened. One of the Storm King’s goons has wrecked our old one.”

“Ooh, sorry to hear about that.”

“It’s not so bad. The next ship just needs a new sail and that goon is redeeming herself. More importantly, I’m glad you managed to be safe.” Celaeno held onto Ocypete’s talon, who returned the gesture by resting her head on the captain’s shoulder.

“I never knew we’d have certain feelings for each other.” Celaeno could only give a nervous chuckle as she rubbed the back of her head. “Did any of your crew members know about this?”

“Yeah. I can’t keep a secret on a ship of five. I mostly vented to my first mate, Mullet, with what I would do when I actually told you. Guess I don’t have to worry about that now.” Ocypete laughed at this as they continued their chat. “So what did you think about being a seabird a moment ago?”

“It felt…. pretty strange. Having one tail instead of legs and being able to breathe underwater. It was quite an experience. Kind of wish I could’ve experienced it longer.”

“Maybe we could ask Queen Novo or Princess Skystar if we could go for a swim again.”

“Speaking of which, where are they? I thought we got all of Madame Harpy’s crew.”

“Well, she said they had some more fishing to do.” Ocypete was confused until Celaeno took her out of their hangout and headed off to where her ship was. There, Mullet and Boyle were fixing the ship’s sails, and Squabble and Lix Spittle carried their stolen treasure back onto the ship.

At the edge of the cliff, they saw Queen Novo and Princess Skystar carrying bits of treasure out of the sea. When they placed it down, they saw Celaeno and Ocypete gazing at them. “Hi, girls,” Skystar said. “How are you doing?”

“We found our old clubhouse and Blackbeak’s statue,” Ocypete explained. “It’s going to have to be rebuilt. What are you doing with all of that treasure?”

“These are from Madame Harpy’s ship,” Novo explained. “Some of them is from Celaeno’s and we’re returning it to where it belongs. Anything that she doesn’t own will go to other owners to have rebuilt Orithinia.”

“Yeah, this place is going to need more than the citizens to get back to normal,” Celaeno commented.

“We’ll alert Princess Twilight of Equestria about this. We should be able to get some more workers and supplies to speed up the rebuild.”

“That’ll be perfect,” Ocypete said. “Thanks for that.”

“We told your family about it and we’ll be doing it once we’re back at Mount Aris.”

“You know, once we have a new sail, we could help deliver those said goods,” Celaeno noted.

“Oh, thank you Cellie,” Ocypete said. The princess looked around the kingdom to see plenty of individuals working to clean up the ruined kingdom. “Did… the hippogriffs struggle when they returned to their original kingdom?”

Novo sighed as she explained. “The events did leave a lasting scar on us,” the queen explained. “Some were harder to heal than others but… with time they managed to recover.”

Princess Ocypete felt concerned with how long that time would take. “Don’t ya worry, we’ll get through it,” Celaeno said. “We took out the root of the problem, and we’re now on the next step to recovery of our former glory. We’re going to get better than before.”

Ocypete felt much better and hugged her old friend. Celaeno’s beak suddenly started glowing, as did Novo and Skystar’s. “Aw, does that mean the mission’s over?” Skystar asked.

“I take that as a yes.,” Novo commented.

“...Um, how and why are your beaks glowing?” Ocypete asked.

“It’s complicated to explain,” Celaeno admitted. “But, we do have to get them home. Their kingdom is probably worrying about them.”

“I guess you’re right. Just… promise me you’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“I promise.” Mullet jumped down from where he was repairing the ship and glided down beside the captain.

“Cap’n, everything be now spic and span, and we should be ready to go,” he proclaimed. “I’d recommend we go slower than usual in case those sails up there feel like ripping.”

“Very well, I’ll add that to the list of things to ask Princess Twilight,” Queen Novo commented. They loaded up the last of the treasure and prepared for taking off.

“Petey, my matey,” Celaeno said, “I’ll see you again. Take care.”

“You too, Cellie,” Ocypete exclaimed. “Farewell, my friend!”

“Farewell!” she exclaimed back while hopping onboard her airship. Soon, the ship sailed its way back home, waving goodbye, making it a priority to get the parts needed to rebuild the kingdoms after the infamous king’s destruction.

Along the way home, Skystar had a question. “So… Captain, what happens now to Madame Harpy and her crew?” she asked.

“They’re keeping them locked up until they can be useful,” Celaeno explained. “Probably should’ve left Petey and her family with a pearl shard.”

“What do you say that?”

Back underground, King Thaumas was joined by his wife, looking down at the captured seaponies, who were stuck in the area their ship was in, which was now blocked with debris to prevent that from escaping. “It’s like a giant fish bowl,” Ozomeme commented.

“Maybe they’ll know what it’s like to be trapped,” the king chuckled. The pirates were failing to find any of it funny, especially Madame Harpy. She growled as she kept on thinking of some way to break out for revenge.

Author's Note

This one almost got away from me but I think I pulled it off. Captain Celaeno is a character that has a lot of potential for stories due to her being a pirate. I was also curious to try and develop her crew since they didn’t really do much in the movie.

The idea I had for this story was a perfect fit for Novo and Skystar, since they as well as the avians were forced into hiding thanks to the storm king. It’s a simple case of history repeating itself.

I kind of wanted to try and work on Skystar’s personality and try to make her a little more socially awkward compared to her cousin Silverstream. It’s not much and I don’t think I touched upon it too much in the story, though if I write about her again, I’m hoping to work on it more.

As for Queen Novo, I’m happy to dive more into her past and explain past events, such as why she’s so protective of Skystar. I found a theory I liked about the hippogriff king dying protecting the hippogriffs from the storm king. The name Waverider is the best name I found, so I figured "Why not go for it?"

As for the avians, I’m excited to talk about them. Let’s start with Madame Harpy.

I found out that she was in the drafts for the MLP movie until she was switched out for Celaeno. I felt this would be the perfect basis for an envious rival since I don’t think too many people know about Harpy.

Last but not least, there’s the royal family. I tried to give them some character without them taking up too much attention and cluttering up the story. I put most of the focus on Ocypete since she had the most chemistry in the original comic. I could help but build the relationship between the captain and the princess, which I wish to develop more in the future.

Honestly, I wasn’t too sure how I could’ve made the wedding story work for this, but I think it could best be saved for another. Who knows? Still, I’m happy with how this story turned out, just got one more rewrite to go.

Home Sweet Home?

Since the Storm King has defeated and met his final destination, Hippogriffia, together with Seaquestria, have been living in harmony for a long time. Now that they’re free from hiding, it was time for them to rebuild what was been destroyed. It was all thanks to the daughter of Queen Novo, Princess Skystar, who has helped Twilight’s friends to save Equestria by leaving her mother without her notice. With her help, they finally defeated the Storm King. Since then, Queen Novo, who has already grounded her daughter for that, has been implementing on making her home more harmonious and amicable, while at the same time making foreign relations with other kingdoms, including Equestria, to establish their formal camaraderie.

Sometimes, for the queen, it is excellent for her to be out of her kingdom since that’s not the first time she has ever gone out, she even had that one adventure when she was being transformed into a changeling and together with other leaders and was searching for another magical geode. Well, she’s going to have another adventure… on purpose.

It was a beautiful morning, and everygriff was having a very enjoyable time of their moment from strolling in the park and having picnics on sandy beaches. As they were having their time, a light yellow blur flashed past them. It’s Princess Skystar, she was heading back towards her castle in a flash while carrying out a brown bag full of mail, which they’re from her cousin, Silverstream. She landed in front of the entrance after she arrived, and runs through the open gate to find her mother. Speaking of her mother, Queen Novo was in the dining room drinking her cup of hot brewed tea while gazing out of the window to view the nice environment of her kingdom. As she took another sip of tea, she heard the door open to see Skystar coming in with a bag of mail.

“Good morning, mom,” the young princess proclaimed. “I got mail for us.”

“Ah, good. Who’s it from?” the queen asked, and continues to drink her tea.

“From my cousin, Silverstream.”

“Ooh! I see she’s been having a nice time there. What has she written for us?”

“Let me see.” Skystar then grabbed one envelope from the bag and ripped the seal open to reveal a personal letter from her cousin. She unfolded it and read it. “Here it is. This one here’s about a pool party she and her friends had last month. All of her pals have said that they’re having a blast, the best time they had.” Skystar smiled as she read it. “And she also has a list of what other creatures turn into when they use the pearl shard.”

She gave the letter to her mother for her to read for herself. Queen Novo was amazed to find out about the list Silverstream has written about those creatures that have been shapeshifted when a pearl shard was used. “I’m amazed! Dragons became sharks, yaks became walruses. Neat.”

Skystar grabbed another letter, and once again, ripped the seal off and took it off. “Ooh, there’s another one about this unique magical map that summons her professors on various missions beyond Equestria!”

“Mmmm… interesting.” As Novo began to wonder how a map like that would work, General Seaspray approached them.

“Pardon me for the disturbance, Your Highness,” he proclaimed, “But we have visitors that have arrived here.”

“Visitors, huh? Who’re they exactly?”

“Let’s just say… a gang of pirates… friendly ones to be precise. They called themselves avians, and they seemed to know Princess Skystar really well.” Novo was a bit puzzled until he turned to his back. “You may now enter, madam.”

Entering their dining room is one female avian pirate. She has a maroon tricorn hat with a bright light red feather, a beauty mark, and long green feather hair that matches her tail. She also wears a golden and brown dress with a green baldric around her waist with a silver sharp sword. Princess Skystar quickly recognized who this pirate was. She identified her as Captain Celaeno.

“Captain Celaeno!” she cheerfully gasped.

The pirate captain smiled as the young hippogriff flew over to her. “Ahoy, princess! I see you’re having a blessed morning today.”

“Wow! I haven’t seen you in ages! How are you today and your crew?”

“Better than a slice of fresh pineapple, laddie. And… we got ourselves a new ship. My mateys including Mullet are on deck right now. Wanna see?”

“YES, PLEASE!” Skystar nodded with excitement and came after the captain towards where her ship was docked.

The airship belonging to the avian pirates had a nice polished brown color to it with a golden lining. The big sail waving above the ship had the front shape like a bird’s beak. The crew members were tying down the sail as Skystar flew onto the deck with Celaeno soon joining her.

“Wow! This looks incredible!” the hippogriff commented with awe.

“Yep. We’ve tried to get it to look as close to the original as possible,” Celaeno informed. “Wait until you see the sail unfold. Until then, I’ll show you the below deck. Lix has been enjoying her new kitchen.”

“Um, that won’t be necessary, Captain,” Novo said. She quickly flew onto the deck right beside Skystar. “We’re… kinda busy at the moment.”

“I’m not,” Skystar spoke. She quickly turned to face Captain Celaeno. “I never truly got to know your crew before. We were busy planning on taking care of…… you know who.”

“I know what you’re talking about,” Celaeno added. “He deserved that fate. Now, how about I properly introduce you to my crew?” Skystar nodded with excitement as she followed her down below deck. Novo followed them and eventually found a total of five avians, including Captain Celaeno. “Princess, I’m sure you’ve remembered my crew; my first mate Mullet, our navigator Boyle, our chef Lix Spittle, …and Squabble.” He squawked when his name was mentioned.

Skystar looked at the last pirate mentioned. “Okay? What does he do?” the princess asked.

“He’s the buccaneer who loves to lighten a sad mood. He’s also good with medical assistance, believe it or not.” Squabble gave a thumbs up in confirmation. “They’re all a great crew, one I don’t know where I would be without them.”

“Ahem,” called a voice. Skystar and the pirates looked towards the stairs to see Novo walking towards them. “Skystar, I demand you off of this ship immediately!”

“These pirates you’ve seen in front of you are friendly, mother,” Skystar stated. “They’ve helped us defeat the Storm King.”

“Nice to know, but I’d appreciate it if you listened to me.” Novo grabbed a hold of Skystar’s claw and began to pull towards the stairs to exit the ship.

“Your Highness,” Mullet said, “If this has to do with our sudden arrival, we need to do some maintenance on this ship.”

“If it’s emergency repairs,” Novo said, “Then I understand that. Now, I’ve to deal with a daughter who has problems listening to orders.” The queen looked toward the princess, who was starting to feel frustrated.

“Mom, I just wanted to communicate with them. Again, they’re the ones who helped defeat the king who sent us into hiding,” Skystar stated.

“You ran away with them straight into danger. What if you got hit by one of those destructive orbs?”

“But I didn’t and we don’t have to worry about him ever again.”

Mullet leaned closer to the captain of the ship. “Should we say something?” he whispered.

“Best to stay out of the way,” Celaeno responded. “This seems to be a family issue.”

Skystar had another detail to point out. “If he were still out there, we’d still be hiding in Seaquestria.”

“Where it would be safe,” Novo stated.

“But he might still be out there, and Equestria would be under his fist. What would he do if he eventually found a way to take over Seaquestria?” Skystar’s voice sounded like it was breaking, so Celaeno decided to step in.

“ALRIGHT! How about we have this conversation on shore?” the captain suggested. Both hippogriffs took a minute to catch their breath.

“Let’s get off the ship,” Novo said. She then headed towards the stairs and stepped down together with Skystar and Celaeno.

“Is your mother consistently like this?” Celaeno whispered.

“Only when I do something like this,” Skystar sighed. “I get bored there. There’s only so much I can do. I want to do something new.” Celaeno was about to give her input on this until her beak inexplicably started glowing. The same thing appeared to be happening with Skystar and Novo.

“What’s happening!?” Novo cried.

“Don’t ask me,” Celaeno cried. “I swear, my crew and I didn’t pick up any treasure that has any kind of stupid curse.”

Skystar was just as confused as they were until she remembered something from her cousin. “I think I know what’s happening,” she proclaimed. “Silverstream told me about this. Whenever some part of a creature’s body begins to glow, it means they’re called to do a friendship mission!”

The Queen and the pirate looked at each other as if they didn’t fully understand this. “What’s she talkin’ about?” Celaeno asked.

“I remember getting letters about my niece going to several parts of Equestria,” Novo responded. “Perhaps, she would know something about this.”

“Well, I’ll do it, as long as it can get this glowing on my beak to stop. It’s going to give me a headache.”

“Then let’s go find Silverstream, she's in Ponyville!” Skystar proclaimed. She quickly flew to the train station with Novo and Celaeno having to check one or two things before they left.

“I’ll tell Seaspray that I’ll be gone for a couple of hours,” Novo proclaimed.

“And I’ll inform Mullet to be in charge of the ship until I get back,” Celaeno added. Both walked away to do these tasks as Skystar waited excitedly at the train station.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Silverstream was wandering around town with some of the other hippogriffs, specifically Gleaming Pearl, Sunshine, Kelpie, and Coral. “So, how have you enjoyed Ponyville so far?” Silverstream asked.

“It’s great, I gonna admit,” Sunshine commented. “Aside from most ponies overreacting to tiny things.”

“I’d love to move here when I’m older. What about you guys?”

“If I have free time, I’d like to check out Canterlot with Pyther,” Coral added. “Or maybe… visiting Diamond Shine’s home.”

“Yeah, I’ve been curious about that,” Gleaming Pearl commented. “Is it entirely made of crystals?”

“From what I’ve seen, yes,” Silverstream confirmed. “Have you guys seen Deep Sea? I’ve been trying to get to know him more but he’s never around when I want to talk with him.”

“He’s not a social creature,” Coral stated. “The only one he wants to be around is Timber Sparks. Kelpie, do you have anything to say about that?” There was no response from him. They turned as they saw him appear to be standing still. Judging by his affectionate face and his aroused wide-open wings, he looks like he was daydreaming. “Kelpie? Kelpie?”

“What’s the matter with him?” Sunshine said.

“Did he get stung by a bee?” Gleaming Pearl added.

“What’s wrong, Kelpie?” Silverstream doubted.

“S… S… S… Skystar,” he muttered with love-struck eyes. Confused, they turned around. To their surprise, they saw Princess Skystar coming in from the train station. Silverstream was ecstatic when she saw her cousin.

“Silverstream!” the princess cried with glee.

“Skystar!” Silverstream cried.

They ran over and hugged each other tightly. “It’s so good to see you again!”

“I’m glad to see you too. How’ve you been lately?”

“Doing fantastic!”

As the two cousins chatted about how they’ve been since they last met, Queen Novo, along with Captain Celaeno, walked over to them. Silverstream then noticed her, which made her happier.

“Aunt Novo!” Silverstream exclaimed, giving her a royal bow first before hugging her. When the hippogriff pupils also noticed the queen arriving here, they gave her a bow too to show respect.

“Hello, Silverstream. How’s your day at school?” Queen Novo said with a smile.

“Pretty average.” She turned back to her hippogriff friends. “They’re having it good too.” They nodded and noticed the pirate captain standing beside the queen, feeling puzzled about who she is and why she was here with her.

“Um… Silverstream, who is that?” Sunshine asked, pointing at the captain.

“Uhh… I have no idea.”

Celaeno heard the question and held out a claw to the junior year hippogriff. “My name’s Captain Celaeno,” the pirate explained, “and I’m here on business with the queen and princess of Mount Aris.”

“Something… strange happened a while ago,” Novo explained. “Her crew were stopping by to check on their ship when suddenly… our beaks started glowing.”

“Hey, that’s like what happened to Silverstream before,” Coral explained. “Her beak glows whenever something in Equestria or anywhere needs her or her friends.”

“That’s right!” Silverstream said to Coral, then turns back to her aunt and cousin. “I’ll show you that map that does that.”

“Please do,” Novo requested. “I have a feeling that this glowing thing will happen again until we take care of whatever this supernatural force wants us to do.”

Silverstream nodded and led Captain Celaeno, Queen Novo, and Princess Skystar towards the crystal treehouse. The rest of the hippogriffs stayed behind as they weren’t sure if it was a good idea to get involved with what looked like business. Gleaming Pearl then noticed Kelpie still in his state of daydreaming and smacked him in the face to awaken him.

After a short walk, with Silverstream asking her aunt and cousin how they’ve been and learning more about the pirates, Celaeno and the hippogriffs made it to the Treehouse of Harmony. The captain was amazed at how grand and glamorous it was, and she thought that it was like she was in a land of fairy tales. It’s like the first time in her life seeing this gorgeous treasure. As they came inside the treehouse, they could see the giant holographic map was activated. Once again, their jaws dropped seeing how grand it is.

“Blow me down!” Captain Celaeno exclaimed.

“This is HUGE!!!” Princess Skystar added.

“I’m impressed!” Queen Novo also exclaimed.

“I know, right,” Silverstream said happily. “This is a very grand map. Anyways, your beaks glow for a good reason. You can tell by your silhouettes circling that specific location. Right there.” She then pointed at the three silhouettes circling.

They got a closer look at the location. It looked to be a collection of islands and cliffs. The hippogriffs were confounded about what this could be. “What is that place?” Skystar asked.

“Numerous islands and cliffs I see,” Queen Novo guessed, “this looks like it came out of a motion picture.”

Captain Celaeno got a closer look as well, but her eyes became wide open, and released a gasp as she recognized the place. “Ornithia!” the captain gasped.

“Ornithia?” Skystar questioned.

“My motherland. Born and raised into the avian tribe you see right now.” The captain placed her talons on her hips and looked proud.

Novo just nodded and looked toward her niece. “Silverstream, please explain how this map works?” the queen requested.

“Oh, it’s simple,” Silverstream responded. “Every time this map calls for creatures like you, it means that you have a mission to accomplish, and by mission, I mean helping other creatures in need.”

Looking at the group of islands and cliffs, Celaeno started to get excited. “So, you’re saying that we’re supposed to go to my home?” she asked to make sure.

“Yep, that’s how it works.”

“YES!!!” Celaeno cheered as she gave a fist pump in excitement. “My crew is gonna love that when they hear it! Come on, princess, the sooner we get back to Mount Aris, the sooner you get to see my home!”

“Okay!” Skystar replied. She and the captain raced out of the treehouse, both excited about where they were going.

Novo watched them running off, feeling concerned about what was going on. The queen turned to her niece to ask her something. “Silverstream, when the map calls for someone, can only those who are called go?” she asked.

“Well, for us, our professors would usually travel with me and my friends when we went on friendship missions to accompany us,” Silverstream explained, “But they didn’t do anything.”

“Ohh… Right then.” The Queen looked and could hardly see Celaeno and Skystar run back to Ponyville. “I better get going. Thanks for helping us Silverstream.” Novo quickly flew off with her niece waving goodbye.

“Bye, Aunt Novo,” she called, waving to the hippogriff Queen who flew away.

When they got back to Mount Aris, Celaeno quickly hopped onto the ship with a very cheery smile and gave a loud whistle to call her crewmates down. “Mateys,” the captain called. “I got good news! Pack ye coffers and hoist the sail, cos we’re heading back to Ornithia!”

Her crewmates cheered as they heard the news much to their delight. Captain Celaeno then quickly went back down from the ship to pick up Queen Novo and Princess Skystar while the crew wasted no time getting their ship back into the air. “We’re seriously heading home?” Mullet questioned.

“Hey, I’m not gonna complain about it,” Lix Spittle stated. “I haven’t been back home in years. Boyle, what do you think?”

“I’ll be jolly to get back home and see our old chums again,” the avian with a hook hand spoke.

“You’re right,” Mullet commented. He looked towards the flank of the ship, where he saw their captain walking back on board with Queen Novo and a few guards following her. The first mate stepped over in front of the queen to explain this concern. “My apologies, Your Majesty, but I’m afraid your guards can’t come with us.”

“Why not?” Novo complained, “They’ll be the ones to protect us from danger.”

“There’s so much room on this ship,” Captain Celaeno noted. “We had parts of it modified to fit only the five of us. The rest of it was for booties and doubloons we’ve found.”

“So, you’re saying that only my daughter and I can go with you.”

“I'm afraid so. Sorry about it, you know this trip was sprung on us.” Novo had to admit, she was right.

“Very well. Let me grab something real quick before we go.” Novo and her guards walked off the ship as Celaeno went to check on how the princess was doing.

Skystar was below deck with Squabble, who helped her get comfy on the hammocks, which looked bigger than a normal one. “Are these hammock bed hybrids?” the hippogriff princess asked. Squabble nodded as he leaped into one of the accompanying hammocks.

The captain walked in and could see the princess lying down. “Enjoying yourself, lass?” Celaeno chuckled.

“Yeah, this is comfy.”

“Glad you’re enjoying it. It’s gonna be a long trip, but it’ll be worth it.” The captain then looked back to the stairs to see Novo walking down with Boyle helping carry a chest.

“What did you pack in here, Your Highness?” Boyle questioned.

“Something to be used in an emergency,” the hippogriff queen said.

“You probably won’t need that,” Celaeno said. “We have a couple of bad eggs at home, but it’s nothing that’ll be out of our control. Alright, Boyle, set sail to Ornithia.”

“Aye-aye, cap’n.” the ship’s navigator responded with a salute. He placed down the queen’s cargo and went to do her orders. “ALL CLAWS ON DECK!” In a matter of minutes, the pirates’ airship was in the air and started sailing towards Ornithia. Novo and Skystar hopped onto the deck, waving goodbye to the hippogriffs and seaponies as they would be gone for a while.

After sailing for a while, Skystar was starting to get a little bored. She looked towards Squabble, who was swabbing the deck. The avian with a metal looked at the princess, concerned. He squawked a little bit, and despite not fully understanding what he said, Skystar understood that he was asking what was wrong?

“Nothing, I’m just feeling bored,” the princess muttered. “What do you pirates do for fun here?” Squabble thought for a moment before he had an idea. He led Skystar down below deck where he showed her a couple of instruments. She held up a set of bongos and slammed his head atop them, making a beat.

He passed the bongos over to Skystar, who happily tried drumming a beat with her talons. “So, you often play music while waiting for your destination?” Squabble nodded in confirmation. “I like it,” Skystar giggled as she played a couple more beats. Boyle was nearby and heard the sound of the bongos and walked in to investigate.

“Squabble,” Boyle called, “You didn’t say you were having band practice…” He paused when he noticed Skystar playing with the bongos before she noticed the pirate behind her. “Oh, ahoy, princess. Trying to have fun, eh?”

“Yeah. It gets kind of boring up here.”

“Time flies faster when you help keep the ship running. Though, that does help make things more entertaining.”

“What else do you do for fun?”

“Depending on the types of ships that pass by, we jump aboard and… borrow a couple of things.” Skystar tilted her head in confusion. “Hey, we’re not those kinds of buccaneers. We have standards, just ask our cap’n.”

“Um, right. What other games do you guys have?”

He then took a quick look around and notice a dart board nearby with 10 darts punctured on each segment, including a bullseye. “How are you with darts?” Boyle pointed over to a nearby dart board, which Squabble was excited to try out ut with Princess Skystar.

“I’ve seen some of our guards at Mount Aris play that before,” Skystar noted. “I’m up for trying new things.” Boyle and Squabble were happy they had somebody to play with now.

At the helm of the ship, Captain Celaeno peeked through her telescope to see how close they were to Ornithia. She was a little disappointed when she couldn’t find any of the islands.

“Captain?” asked a voice. Celaeno put her telescope down to look at Queen Novo, who walked up beside her. “How close are we to our destination?” the hippogriff asked.

“Not fer a couple of hours.”

“I see. Tell me, what was your hometown like for you and your crew?”

The captain managed to regain her smile. “Aye, it was a blast. My hearties and I had the hearts of adventurers even when we were young laddies. Kind of wish that all our mateys could be with us on our adventures, like Ocypete.”

“Who?”

“Ocypete, she’s the princess of Ornithia like your daughter. I was damn lucky to be close with her since my family used to be servants for the royals. During free time, Ocypete and I would play pretend for hours. Sometimes, my parents had to come to get us, because when we passed out from exhaustion, we slept like logs in the evening.”

“Wow. You two do sound very close. I’m sure she’ll be pleased to see you again.”

“I wonder how much she has changed. I’ve been away from Ornithia fer years since my ship was taken over by…” Celaeno paused as she didn’t like remembering an infamous king. She was partly thankful when she was interrupted by something crashing below deck. “What the?”

“I’ll check it out.” Novo walked away from the helm and made her way below deck to see Skystar and the pirate cleaning up some spilled pots.

“I’m so sorry,” Skystar apologized. “It was an accident.”

“It’s alright, princess,” Boyle responded, “It’s better than a window or an eye.”

“What’s going on here?” Novo questioned. Skystar and the pirates looked towards the queen, with the hippogriff looking apologetic.

“We were just playing darts, mom,” Skystar explained. “It was getting kind of boring on the ship.”

“It was my suggestion,” Boyle stated. “She… uhhh… needs more work.”

“Understood,” Novo said flatly. She looked at Skystar and simply requested to talk with her outside. The mother and daughter left Boyle and Squabble to clean up the mess from the princess’s misfired dart. “Skystar, we’re guests on the ship. The captain would appreciate it if we didn’t make a mess.”

“It was only an accident,” Skystar stated. “Besides, it was a game they suggested. Why are you still treating me like a fledgling?”

“Skystar, we’re heading to a kingdom we know nothing about.”

“We know it has creatures who help take care of a king who sent us into hiding. You know that…”

“We don’t know how different their home is. It’s best if we stay on the safe side.” The princess groaned as her mother went to rejoin the captain. Skystar went back to clean up her mess, frustrated with her mother.

Boyle and Squabble were nearly finished as the annoyed princess walked in. “Sorry to disturb you for a while, but… have you ever had to deal with overbearing parents?” she asked. The two pirates looked at each other having a feeling they knew how the conversation went. Squabble tried to give his sympathy, but he and Skystar had a language barrier.

Thankfully, Boyle was able to translate. “We were mates with another princess at home,” he explained. “She was kind o’ such as yerself.”

“Oh?”

“Aye. You could ask Mullet or the captain more about her if you want. She’ll likely be very different when we get there.” Skystar got excited that she would be meeting another princess, shortly before she noticed Squabble bringing over a red scarf with white spots on it and an eye patch.

“What’s this for?”

Boyle quickly translated what Squabble squawked. “You’re traveling with us and we have helped each other before,” he explained. “So, he thinks you should be like a pirate.” The excitement started to shine inside of Skystar’s eyes as she was excited to get a new look.

A little later that evening, Captain Celaeno was excited as she knew they were getting close to her homeland. Still using her spyglass, she kept an eye out for their destination. As she was doing that, Mullet approached the captain. He cleared his throat to get her attention, and she turned around to see him standing behind them.

“Cap’n,” he said, “Li’l Lix has prepared grub fer us.”

“Mighty well,” the captain responded. “I’ll help ye lower the sail once I inform the queen.” Mullet saluted and got to his position while Celaeno folded her spyglass and kept it onto her baldric and relayed the information to Queen Novo, who shortly went below deck to join the rest of the crew for dinner.

When she found the rest of the pirates, she was surprised to see what Skystar was wearing. She now had the scarf tied over her mane, along with the eyepatch over her left eye, and a hook hand over her left talon and blue vest. Novo was surprised by what she saw.

“Skystar, what are you wearing?” the queen asked.

“Squabble here thought it would be fun if I dressed the part of a pirate,” Skystar explained with the said avian giving a thumbs up.

Novo was about to speak up if it wasn’t for the ‘SPLAT’ of Lix pouring stew into the bowls. “Ay, let yer kid have her fun,” Lix said. “We’re pirates. Adventure be a part o’ our life” Novo just sighed, sitting across from her daughter while Celaeno and Mullet walked in.

“So, how are ye doin’ on the ship so far?” Celaeno asked.

“It was kind of boring after a while,” Skystar admitted. “Though, I did enjoy some of the games you all had on here.”

“Sorry, you can’t join us in most of our usual activities,” Boyle said. “No ship raids or islands to explore…”

“Raids?” Novo questioned.

“Relax, we’re not those kinds of pirates. We did what we usually did while we’re not performing maintenance on deck.”

“Yeah, playing cards do pass the time,” Skystar noted. “I hope Squabble can instruct me how to have a good poker face.” She looked at the pirate with a metal beak who had a victorious smirk on his face.

“Right then,” Novo commented. “Anyways, I was hoping the rest of you could tell me more about Ornithia. I heard most of it from your captain’s point of view, but what about the rest of you?”

“Allow me,” Mullet said, raising his arm first and the queen allowed him to speak first, much to Squabble’s annoyance, knowing he was going to wait his turn. “Ornithia was a kingdom that held itself on its sense of adventurin’. We’re not the only sailors who live there, there are all sorts of airships, though not all fer pirates like us. There are ones that transport passengers and cargo to various islands.”

“But you’re birds,” Skystar commented. “Can’t you fly like them?”

“That’s the thing. Avians like us can’t fly like hippogriffs, we can only glide at best. Wit’ various villages of our kingdom built on top of cliffs, we rely on airships fer transport.”

“Why on the cliffs up so high?” Novo asked.

“We reckon it’s fer a few reasons. High tide, predators, but a few o’ ‘em thought it’s because of the kingdom’s founder; Black Beak.”

“Ooh, was he a king?” Skystar asked, curiously.

“Nah, he was one of the most famous… or infamous, depending which side you’re on, of all time,” Celaeno explained. “Legends say that he hides on top of one of many islands, hiding his precious booty around in his caves, and offering safety to other fellow mateys he deemed worthy.”

“He sounds… well…” Novo couldn’t think of any kind words to say given what she heard about the pirate.

“It’s okay, Black Beak had a lot of enemies. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have such a great home. I hope they still recognize us, especially Ocypete.”

“I’m sure that she’ll remember you,” Mullet said, reassuring the captain. “C’mon, dig in.”

“Please do,” Lix requested. “I’ve gone all out since our passengers are royals. I’ve also added those special sunflower seeds.” Squabble promptly dipped his beak into his stew.

“…Is your crew like this?” Novo asked. “Like… all the time?”

“It gets wild on a busy day,” Celaeno noted. She started enjoying the stew that Lix had prepared as they kept talking about Ornithia, making the hippogriffs excited to see what the said kingdom looked like. Most of the crew would finish quickly as they were so close to home and they thought it would’ve been a better fitting place to still than in the hammocks.

As they sailed for a few more miles, Skystar roamed around the ship, looking for something to do. “Uh, Boyle,” the princess pirate asked.

“Sorry, laddie,” Boyle apologized. “At this time of night, Cap’n requires us to put goodies on the deck below to avoid looting or falling overboard.” Boyle carried a couple of crates away as Skystar glanced around for someone else to talk to.

She stepped up behind Mullet, who peeked through the telescope at the bow of the ship, keeping an eye for their destination. The first mate placed down the telescope and noticed Skystar standing so close to him, which scared the heck out of him and Skystar. “Oh, pardon me, did I get too close?” Skystar asked.

“Not too close,” Mullet admitted, “Warn me next when you get close. Ye scared the heck out o’ me.”

“Right, sorry. Um, are we there yet?”

Mullet double-checked to see if there were any islands. It was getting dark and he could just make out a couple of cliffs. The pirate was confused. “Cap’n,” he called, “take a look at this!” Captain Celaeno hurriedly came over to her first mate and grabbed her telescope from her baldric to examine through. These cliffs looked familiar to her, but she couldn’t understand the situation.

“Ye don’t assume… that’s Ornithia, do you?” Celaeno questioned. Mullet shrugged as he was as confused as she was. “Go double-check with Boyle, I’ll see if there’s a place where we can dock the ship.”

Mullet left to find the ship’s navigator as Skystar followed Celaeno to the helm of the ship. “What’s wrong?” the hippogriff asked.

“Either we’ve gone off course or… hopefully, he wasn’t here.” Celaeno started steering the ship as Novo heard what she said.

“Who is… he?” the Queen questioned for clarification. Celaeno didn’t answer as they sailed closer to the islands just as the rest of her crew walked onto the deck.

“I know these maps like the aft of my head,” Boyle stated. “Do ye reckon some depth perception would make sure we’re goin’ starboard way?”

“Dunno,” Mullet said flatly. “Why don’t ye take a look fer yourself?” He handed Boyle the telescope so he could get a look at the islands, which confused him to no end.

“This…. This can’t be right.” He tossed the telescope aside, which Lix Spittle managed to catch so she and Squabble could get a look at the islands.

When the ship got closer, everyone could see what was on the islands. Some buildings were falling apart, many of them caked with dust, cobwebs, and rotting wood. The island looked like it hadn’t had life in years.

“I’ve hoped that it wouldn’t be like this,” Celaeno admitted, “but…” The captain couldn’t find her words as she looked toward Mullet, who seemed to know what she was feeling.

They eventually found a place to dock the ship. They parked it and released the giant wooden ramp to get themselves down from the ship. They all started roaming around the abandoned village to see if anybody was around. Novo stayed close to her daughter as they explore, the island felt like a ghost town just like Mount Aris, it was freakishly eerie.

“We weren’t gone that long, were we?” Lix Spittle questioned.

“It doesn’t take too long fer most creatures to destroy things ye love,” Mullet commented. He faced Celaeno, who kept one claw on her sword, in case they ran into anything dangerous.

“I’d have to ask Silverstream if that map is on the frits,” Novo commented. “I feel like we were sent here by mistake.”

“There had to be some reason we were called here,” Celaeno stated. “I mean, Hippogriffia was in a similar situation like this ‘til you know who kicked the bucket.”

“Yeah, I thought this felt familiar,” Skystar commented. She glimpsed around the broken and grimy buildings until… they all heard the sound of large footsteps scampering around the area, making them more defensive. “What was that?”

Celaeno drew her sword as she and the crew prepared themselves for the worst. “Remember that package I brought on the ship?” Novo asked. “I think it could be useful right now.”

“Don’t fly back to the ship.” Captain Celaeno warned. “We don’t know what’s out there, and it could most likely snap ye swab in half.” Everyone stood quietly and waited for the noises to acquire again. They heard more footsteps and the pirates guarded the royal hippogriffs.

“Are you sure we’ll be able to make it back to the ship?” Boyle asked.

“It’s not too far,” Mullet remarked, “But we don’t know what we’re dealing with…” The first mate was interrupted by the sound of growling. “SHITE!” He then drew his sword forward. “Where it at?”

They still hear the growlings. They kept glancing from one direction to another until Lix Spittle saw them from the distance. “THERE!” she pointed with a gasp out of her beak.

With the pirates’ swords drawn vertically in front of their faces, and Novo protecting Skystar defensively with her wings, they prepared themselves for the worst as tall quadruped beasts appeared out of thin air, coming towards them. They were covered with jet black fur, each one having razor-sharp claws and long protruding muzzles. These appeared to be some kind of yetis, ones that the avians and hippogriffs had never seen before.

The yetis only glared at its prey. The said prey remained on guard in case these monsters attacked. “Okay, they seem that they can’t fly,” Celaeno whispered to the queen. “Yer Highness, if ye keep as high as ye can, ye’d be able to get back onto the ship, and get whatever that’ll keep you and your daughter safe.” Novo nodded as she held onto Skystar’s claw.

The yetis all looked like they were going to pounce. The moment they did, Queen Novo and Princess Skystar quickly flew upwards and the pirates scattered to avoid getting mauled. They flew back to the ship, high above the ensuing conflict while the pirates did their best to keep the yetis distracted. They were quickly outmatched as Celaeno was pinned down by one of them, trying to use her sword to hold back a yeti’s fangs.

Boyle was able to help her out by smacking the remnants of a wooden pillar on its face. Celaeno got to a safe distance as they saw Squabble riding on the back of one of the yetis like a bucking bronco. He got in over his head and was thrown off through the broken window of a building that was hard to distinguish what it was built for. Squabble groaned as he rubbed his head as he saw he was about to get tackled by a yeti. Seeing this, Skystar dive-bombed without thinking straight into the side of the wild beast, helping to save him.

“Squabble, Are you alright?” the princess asked.

Squabble nodded in confirmation as he climbed out of the window. However, the yeti didn’t take much damage from being rammed into and stood right back up. She dropped her hook hand and scooped Squabble up to avoid them getting pounced on.

Novo quickly forgot to get her equipment and flew over to save her daughter. The two hippogriffs, and their passenger, flew high above the abandoned village. Squabble squawked as he pointed down to his crew.

“We won’t be able to help them if we get mauled by those beasts,” Novo stated. She looked for a safe place for them to land when all of a sudden, there was a loud ‘BANG!’

A cannonball shot out of nowhere, smacking one of the beasts right to its face so hard, that it fell off the edge of the cliff down to the sea. They were surprised to see that giant bullet coming out of nowhere. Where did it come from? They scanned around to see where it came from, and from the distance, they could see more avians running out and charging at the yetis with their battle cries. They were all wielding weapons, either blunt objects like clubs, sharp swords, or a small hand cannon that Skystar hadn’t seen before.

The hippogriffs and Celaeno’s crew managed to get away from the chaos and immediately found a hiding spot, which is right behind the torn-down building. “Who are those creatures?” Novo ventilated.

“Likely other pirates,” Celaeno guessed. The group heard somebody clearing their throat to get their attention and they turned around to see who made the noise. The avian getting their attention had a lanky frame and a dark purple coat. Her feathers were pink matching her beak and peg leg. Additionally, she wore a captain’s hat and a golden dress, showing she was a pirate, like Celaeno and her crew.

“I didn’t expect you to be here,” she commented.

“We’re actually happy to see someone,” Celaeno admitted. “Where did these yetis come from?”

“How should I know? My crew is risking their lives getting you to safety! Follow me!” The new unknown pirate led the crew and hippogriffs away from the chaos, with the armed avians following them. They arrived at an area where a small open hole was visible. The purple and pink pirate quickly slid down that hole, much to Novo’s shock.

“Should we trust her?” the queen asked.

The growls of the yetis getting closer made them look back to see how close they were getting. “Unless you have a better idea…” Celaeno proclaimed. “Down you go! Quickly!” Her crew quickly started to slide down the hole. First Mullet, then Boyle, then Lix Spittle, and finally Squabble and Princess Skystar together. The rest of the other avians pushed past Celaeno and Novo, who saw the yetis would be next. “HURRY!” she shouted as she slides down. Queen Novo then quickly joined in, just missing the yetis, who were agitated that their prey got away.

Celaeno and Novo slid down the dirt slide with high velocity. With big and little bumps on the way, and a hit in the face when there’s a turn. It is a long ride. They eventually reached their end point, coming to a stop on a flat surface. The captain jumped off onto her feet when she made it, and Queen Novo made it as well, but instead of jumping onto her hooves and claws, her body clashed with Celaeno, making them tumble to the earth face first. She got up first and lend a helping claw to the queen to get up as well.

“Ye alright, Your Majesty?” Captain Celaeno said.

“I’m fine,” she flatly replied, spat out a clump of dirt, dusting off the dirt with her wings. “That was a very disty slide.”

As they dusted themselves off, they then noticed their crew standing over them. “Cap’n, Your Majesty,” Mullet exclaimed. He held out his talon to help them both up. “Glad ye made it.”

“Is Skystar alright?” Novo asked.

“I’m right here,” the princess said. They looked over to the princess getting some dust brushed off her by Squabble, which made Novo feel relieved.

“I’m glad that you’re alright. Where are we exactly?”

“This… is New Ornithia,” said the purple and pink pirate. “What you’re looking at right now is the entrance, follow us.” The royals and Celaeno’s crew followed them down the tunnel until they came across an underground village. The visitors gasped at the sight of the patchwork of buildings and the avians wandering around, many of them looking to be on edge.

Some of them stopped to look at the hippogriffs, as well as Celaeno and her crew. The captain had several questions and she wanted answers. “Okay, first of all, who are you?” the captain questioned.

“Madam Harpy,” the unknown avian answered. “And I’m guessing you’re wondering why we’ve all moved down here?”

“I’ve had a couple of theories and that’s not what I was going to ask. Where are the royals?”

“The royals? Why’d you be…”

“Answer the question!”

“Cap’n,” Mullet requested, getting ready to hold her back. “You must understand, seeing our home… It’s a surprise for anybody. Not to mention, she was very close with the royal family.”

“Hmm, if you insist,” Madam Harpy responded. “Just letting you know, you might be disappointed.” She led the visitors to New Ornithia through the village. Captain Celaeno wasn’t interested in the conjoined home the avians were having to live in now, or the bakeries running on fumes, she was just concerned with the family she grew up with were doing.

Eventually, they came across a tiny castle, one that had very few guards standing outside. They saw the crowd approaching them with Madam Harpy at the front. “Ah, Ms. Harpy,” the guard said, “Did you figure out the sign of…” He paused once he saw Celaeno, who was examining the cheap-looking castle.

“Is that her?” the second guard questioned. “Captain Celaeno?”

“I mean… She has changed as she has grown up. Wait here.” The guard went back inside the castle, letting the pirates wait outside, some of them confused by the reactions the guards had.

“Are you certain that the royals will still remember you?” Novo questioned.

“If the guards remember me, there’s a big chance that the royal will too,” Celaeno guessed. They all listened carefully and heard some voices of excitement from inside the castle shortly followed by the sound of fast footsteps. The doors opened up and a gray avian wearing a tiara and a green and yellow dress had seen better days.

She seemed to be a princess, who looked at the pirate captain up and down. “Celaeno?” she asked, “Is that you?”

Celaeno took a moment to figure out who this was before she spoke. “Ocypete?” the captain asked.

“CELAENO!!!” Without warning, the princess squealed in delight, before giving Celaeno a tight hug, much to the pirate’s surprise. “Celaeno! I thought I’d never see you again!” Ocypete cheered. “It’s been a while since we last met.”

“Um…. I’m happy to see you too,” Celaeno wheezed. “Could you let me breathe?” The princess saw what was wrong and let go of her old friend, who had a big gasp before she spoke again. “Thank you. It’s… great to see you too.”

“The feeling’s mutual. It’s…. been a rough couple of years.”

“Yeah, I was hoping to address the elephant in the room; where did those yetis come from?”

“No one knows. They just showed up one day.”

“Is that why you’ve all retreated down into New Ornithia?” Mullet asked.

“Um… Yes,” Ocypete said. She looked past Celaeno and focused on her crew and the royal hippogriffs. “I’m sorry, Cellie, can you introduce me to your friends behind you.”

“Of course,” Celaeno said. “These four are my crew, my first mate Mullet, our navigator Boyle, our chef Lix Spittle, and Squabble. And we’ve been sent here with the representatives of Hippogriffia, Queen Novo and Princess Skystar, the two hippogriffs you see there.”

Ocypete noticed the hippogriffs, who stepped forward to introduce themselves to the avian. “It’s nice to meet you,” Novo commented. She and Ocypete shook talons. The princess did the same with Skystar.

“Um, hello,” the hippogriff princess said.

“Hello,” Ocypete said. “You must be the princess. Is something wrong?”

“Well… It’s just this place that kind of reminds me of home.”

“You’re not too far off,” Novo admitted. “This place is giving me a sense of déjà vu.”

“Were you in hiding from… the king too?”

“...What king?”

Ocypete felt a little concerned about answering this, but she managed to say the words; “The Storm King.”

“WHAT!?” both queen and pirate captain gasped.

“You heard about him?”

“Unfortunately, we’ve met,” Celaeno groaned. She looked towards Mullet, who felt just as uncomfortable as her.

“The less said about him, the better,” Novo stated sternly.

“Glad he’s gone,” Skystar spoke.

“Gone?” Madam Harpy questioned.

“Oh, he’s dead,” Celaeno stated. “No chance of him coming back.”

This was a shock to everyone who heard it. “That’s… great news!” Ocypete cheered. “You went off against the Storm King?!”

“We had a bit of help,” Celaeno noted, “But still, he’s gone for good.” Ocypete clapped her talons together in glee.

“Oh boy! We have to tell my family about this! Come on!” Without warning, the princess pulled Celaeno inside of the castle. The rest of her crew and the hippogriffs followed them while Harpy’s team stayed outside.

Inside, the little castle, the princess led her guests to the rest of the royal family. They were all standing in front of thrones and looked amazed when they saw Celaeno. “I don’t believe it,” the avian king gasped.

“It’s true, father. Cellie has returned,” Ocypete confirmed.

“I think it would be best if you gave your visitors an introduction?” Mullet suggested.

“Of course. Queen Novo, Princess Skystar, I’d like you to meet my family. My father; King Thaumas, my mother; Queen Ozomene, my brother; Prince Aello, and my sister; Princess Zephyra.”

Celaeno saw the familiar royals as she noticed they didn’t look that glorious since the last time she saw them. They looked to be filthier and their clothes had a couple of tears in them and while she didn’t want to say it, there was a bit of an odor that needed to be dealt with. “I know we don’t look that pleasant,” Queen Ozomeme admitted, “It’s been rough ever since we were forced into hiding.”

“We know how that feels,” Skystar commented.

“The Storm King is probably deep down in Tartarus right now,” Boyle said, “What’s stopping us from just taking the yetis outside?”

“There seems to be a never-ending number of them,” King Thaumas stated. “They’re a lot more clever than they look. We’re unable to think of a strategy that’d get rid of them without sacrificing any more of my civilians.”

“Pardon me, Your Highness,” Mullet spoke, “We’ve dealt with the Storm King’s forces before. If we can figure out how these yetis behave, we should be able to get rid of them.”

“That’s right. And then you won’t be able to get stuck down here anymore,” Celaeno added.

“We appreciate that,” Thaumas said, “But we’re not going to take any more risks now. We’re struggling with our meals as it is.”

“But if you stay down here, things are only going to get worse.”

“I know you’ve got plenty of experience, Celaeno, but as long as I’m king, I’m doing what’s best for Ornithia!” The avians swore the castle nearly shook from Thaumas raising his voice. Novo had plenty of experience with loud creatures, so she wasn’t too affected by this.

“How about we get settled, then we can work things out?” the hippogriff queen suggested.

“Good idea,” Ocypete commented. “Everyone, follow me. There are guest rooms here.” The princess guided her guests to where they could stay for the night all while they had different thoughts about the problems that Ornithia was facing.