“This is so cool!” Smolder said with awe, leaning over the port-side of the flying ship.

“Yeah, I thought this would just be the same thing as flying, but it’s actually pretty nice!” Ember nodded. “I like being able to move fast without needing to flap your wings.”

Celaeno, still at the helm, rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. The comment Tempest made about her using her ship for tourists started to feel true.

Rainbow Dash watched the two dragons marvel at the speed of the ship. “Hey, thanks for doing me a solid,” she said, patting the parrot on the back.

“Well, it better be worth it,” Celaeno muttered, tapping her claw against the wheel.

“Trust me, I think it will be.”

Rainbow Dash flew over to the dragons. “What’d I tell ya? A ride on a real pirate ship is pretty awesome, huh?”

“Hell yeah!” Smolder cheered. “The view up here is great!”

“Yeah, plus Captain Celaeno seems pretty cool and tough. Thanks for inviting us…” Ember paused for a moment, her face clearly indicating she’s searching for a name. “...Rainbow Dash!”

Smolder leaned over the side of the ship. “Being a pirate would be so cool!” she gushed, eyes sparkling with fantastical imagination. “Sailing all over, getting into sword fights…”

“Aaaand, don’t forget…” Rainbow Dash zipped away, coming back with a chest, tossing it onto the deck and bucking it to open it up. “...the treasure!”

The dragons’ eyes immediately went wide, enticed by the pristine gold coins, but most importantly, the massive gemstones and diamonds buried among the gold.

Celaeno grimaced, gripping onto the helm as tight as her clenched teeth. She trusted Rainbow Dash, but she wasn’t exactly happy with the way the dragons were salivating…

Ember subconsciously let out a little shudder of greedy pleasure. It wasn’t just how big the gems were. There were the usual rubies and emeralds, but also the multicolored ammolites and jaspers. Much rarer gemstones, and much tastier, too.

With this new information, she looked at Celaeno differently. She was already impressed with the ship and her attitude, but to have this collection of gemstones…

Meanwhile, Celaeno definitely noticed the gaze that Ember was giving her and wasn’t sure if the hungry eyes being pointed in her direction was a good thing or not.

Ember clenched her fists, restraining herself enough to shut the treasure chest and wipe the drool from her lips.

“And you do this every day?” Smolder asked.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Awesooooome!” Smolder grinned, already planning a new career path.

As Rainbow Dash brought the treasure chest back below deck, Ember sidled up to Celaeno. “So…how do you find all those treasures?”

“Same way me and my crew have been doing it for years,” Celaeno shrugged. “Some old soul hundreds of years ago wanted to keep his treasure safe and hid it away, and we searched to unearth it and keep it for ourselves.”

“So there’s just all those delicious-er, valuable treasures just buried all over?”

“If you know where to look,” the parrot winked.

The white clouds started to darken as the ship journeyed on.

“So, Dash, you really convinced Captain Celaeno to be a pirate again?” Smolder asked.

Rainbow Dash smirked, already reliving the memory in her head. “Yeah, Equestria would’ve been doomed if I didn’t inspire those parrots with my singing!”

“It…was a pretty rousing song…” Celaeno quietly chuckled.

“Oh please no…” Ember preemptively covered up her ears.

Thankfully, Ember was spared a round of sky shanties as the ship made it to the Dragonlands.

Celaeno looked down over the pools of lava and pillars of smoke. “Alright, you two can just fly back home from here, can’t ya?”

“Actually, do you think you could come with us for a bit?” Ember asked. “There’s something we want to show you.”

Smolder’s head immediately turned. “We do?”

Celaeno peered over the side again, weighing the pros and cons and assessing the risks for a full two seconds. “Yeah, sure.”

Celaeno docked the ship by some nearby rocks before disembarking. “Alright, lead the way, Ember!”

As the dragons walked off, Rainbow Dash tapped Celaeno on the shoulder. “You sure your ship’s gonna be alright here?” she asked, watching the lava bubbling up and the very wooden planks the ship was made out of.

Celaeno gave the hull of the ship a hearty slap. “Ahhh, she’ll be fine! It’ll take more than a little lava to take this baby down!”

It was a short, but heated trek through the Dragonlands, snaking around rivers of lava and piles of rocks, until Ember and Smolder arrived at a series of caves on the side of a mountain.

Smolder quickly figured out what Ember’s intentions were. “Ember? Is this…really a good idea?”

“It’ll be fine!” Ember nonchalantly waved off Smolder’s concerns. “It’s only fair, after all.”

Celaeno cocked her head to the side. “What’s only fair?”

Ember motioned Celaeno into one of the caves. “Well, you were nice enough to show us your treasure…”

Celaeno entered the cave, and as the inside lit up, so did her eyes.

“...I figure you’d wanna take a look at mine.”

Ember’s personal dragon hoard was a pile of gemstones, far more than the parrot could fit in all her treasure chests. All those precious gems, just sitting there…and presumably much more in the caves nearby.

“Hhhhk…” Celaeno was speechless, drooling from her beak as she stared, almost unblinking, at the colorful array of gems in front of her.

“So?” Dash smugly elbowed the parrot’s side. “Was it worth it or what?”

Celaeno remained unresponsive, but Rainbow noticed she had an increased rate of breathing, a heavy blush, and a gradual rubbing of her inner thighs.

“...Ooookay, I think I’ll just let you get this out of your system before I ask for a ride home…”

Ordinarily, Feather Bangs would be going off galavanting somewhere in Equestria, trying out some more pick up lines and trying to connect with the rest of the NCN ladies, but today, he was planning on taking things easy.

He still had plenty of time to meet the rest of the contestants, and a day off made sure that he’d have a mental break to keep his mind fresh and get him back to the top of his game.

…And also getting laid out by Tempest yesterday made his entire body sore.

There were no major injuries after being flipped over, but putting too much pressure on a tender spot by stepping wrong made him wince.

So today was just a rest day. A very lonely rest day spent idly walking around the streets of Ponyville, no one to talk to…

At least the day was still beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the gals that he’d met so far. Though it still didn’t make his problem of picking a lover any easier. Getting the likes of Captain Celaeno, Dragon Lord Ember, and even Princess Twilight to swoon over him was nice, but even choosing between those three felt like an impossible choice.

Though he still hadn’t made it through everyone yet. Maybe tomorrow, he could try his luck with-

“Heeeey, I recognize you!”

Feather Bangs whipped his head around to see a hippogriff rapidly approaching him. Though caught completely off-guard, he tried to turn on the charm. “Um, hey, I-”

“Yeah yeah!” Silverstream pointed and grinned. “You’re the stallion that’s hitting on all the girls for No Clop November!”

Feather Bangs rapidly blinked. “Wait, how did you know-”

“Oooh, how about you hit on me next? No one’s flirted with me yet!”

“I…Well, okay, but-”

“I’m Silverstream, but you probably knew that already! But did you know that I can turn into a seapony? So you won’t have any problem getting me wet!”

“Oh that’s cool? I-”

“So, I know you’re new to the whole No Clop thing, and I gotta tell you it is like TOTALLY worth going through to the end! There’s so much sex and it’s soooooo good!”

“Silverstream-”

“And I bet that you’d be amazing at the orgy because you just have tons of girls all over you!”

“That’s not exactly-”

“Oh! We should totally bang at the orgy! It’ll be super fun! Whaddya think?”

“That sounds great, but-”

“Awesome! Then it’s a date!” Silverstream picked up Feather Bangs’s tender hoof and started shaking it before skipping away.

Feather Bangs stood in place, still stunned as Silverstream walked away. He was…fairly certain that a conversation just took place. A very rapid, one-sided conversation. But it looked like the hippogriff was walking away happy, at least.

“Huh…I’m better at this than I thought.”

Author's Note

You are not immune to imitating Scrooge McDuck.