Chrysalis left the ship, the changeling unsure as to what she was supposed to do. The afternoon sun was blazing down; the dockworkers who noticed her stopped and stared. The drone noticed that whenever she looked at the ones giving the stares that their attention would be quickly diverted back to their work, while she guessed that the ponies would be afraid of her she got the feeling that her close association with the Captain was the reason.

Trying her best to ignore the looks she was given, Chrysalis trotted into the town market area. The throngs of townsponies gave her space and curious glances, primarily being of the farming and dock-working ilk with the majority earth ponies she was treated as an oddity. She assumed that since she had spent most of time on the ship most didn’t know of her status.

This worked in her favour with the shopkeepers treating her with the same respect as their fellows. She found this out when she walked into a small toy store, the changeling deciding that maybe some children’s toys would be a good use for the money she was given. A bright green young mare with a red-and-white mane rushed over as she spotted Chrysalis.

“Good afternoon Miss!” the bubbly earth pony greeted as she approached Chrysalis with a smile on her face. “I’m Sunny Smiles, Qua- I mean Eviltopia’s resident toymaker, pleased to meet you!” Chrysalis wondered how Nigel would react when he found out the ‘Eviltopia’ had a toymaker. He would likely give her a high command rank going off his current record of acquiring an inner circle of misfits.

“Afternoon,” Chrysalis warily responded, the storekeeper’s lack of reaction to her appearance strange. She expected at least some apprehension from the pony.

“You’re that creature that’s friends with the Captain aren’t you?” the mare questioned with gleaming lime eyes.

“I am,” Chrysalis answered as she tilted her head sideways, “that doesn’t make you afraid of me?” At this the mare giggled, waving a forehoof in dismissal.

“Of course not, I mean the Captain’s pretty violent but he’s left me alone. Also, unlike the former mayor he so far hasn’t demanded a ‘protection insurance’ while claiming that if I don’t pay I might have my toy-making hooves broken.” The mare looked down at her front hooves with a twinge of fear before she faced Chrysalis again. “He’s not going to do that is he?” she whispered, a shake of the head from Chrysalis helping the toymaker to relax.

“No, Nig- I mean Captain Chalmers won’t do that,” the changeling answered as she looked around at the shelfs and piles of toys. The wares ranged from stuffed animal dolls, brightly-coloured balls, blocks to even small carts and wooden figures. “I was actually here because I was interested in looking for a few things.” At this the earth pony’s smile returned in full force, the shopkeeper noticing the large coin bag that her customer had around her neck.

“That’s great! Are they for your own children or someone else’s?” The mare’s eyes widened as she remembered a rumour that she had heard regarding the human. “Wait, I think I heard something about the Captain and a ‘changeling’ being together with some children of theirs-“

“We’re not ‘together’!” Chrysalis quickly stressed. “We’re just close friends and none of the children are either of ours in a blood-related sense, they’re adopted!”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know,” the toymaker apologised hoping that she hadn’t offended the changeling. There weren’t a high number of children in the town so every sale was needed.

“It’s… it’s okay,” Chrysalis’s reassured as she calmed down, “it’s just everyone seems to think that we’re only friends because of that, let’s just drop the issue.” The earth pony nodded in agreement, Chrysalis furrowing her brows in thought as she considered how to describe what she wanted. “Well, I’ve got ten-“

“Ten!?” the mare interrupted, “they must run you ragged!”

“They’re actually quite well behaved,” Chrysalis replied, “we are having trouble with one of them with attachment issues but they don’t fight or cry often.”

“I guess luck was on your side,” Smiles commented, “did you know what sort of toys you were after?” Chrysalis scanned the shelves and approached some loaded with stuffed dragon toys, each one nearly the size of a nymph in a variety of colours and shapes. The changeling gulped, she had never seen a dragon herself but had heard stories of entire hives wiped out by a single one. Luckily such attacks were rare, changeling cities really didn’t have much that a dragon could want.

“How much are these?” Chrysalis asked, Sunny Smiles humming as she appraised the toys.

“Well, normally I’d say fifty gold coins for each one, it is difficult to stich with just your mouth and hooves.” The mare giggled as she looked down at her hooves again. “I assume that you want ten of them however?” Chrysalis nodded her head in reply, Smiles calculating the figures in her head. “I’ll tell you what, how about you have all ten for four-hundred pieces of gold.” Chrysalis took a few moments to do the math; it worked out to about forty gold pieces a toy which was pretty fair.

“Okay, that’s a deal,” she happily answered as Smiles started to point towards the toys with a forehoof. Nigel had given her plenty of money so she was certain that she had enough to pay.

“Which ones do you want?” Smiles inquired, Chrysalis unable to decide.

“Just a mix I suppose,” Chrysalis replied, watching as the shopkeeper quickly bundled up the toys into four bags. After she had finished the mare gestured to the counter in the middle of the shop, Chrysalis following while concentrating hard.

With a tingle in her horn she felt the coin bag leave her neck, the money purse landing on the counter with a jingle. Drones weren’t very strong in magic, Chrysalis even less so. Levitation took a lot of effort and she rarely used it, even when she had been Sea Biscuit on-board the ship. Sunny Smiles waited for the bag to land before she started to count the money, pieces of gold moving from the purse into a steadily growing pile. It took a while but soon Chrysalis and Smiles had finished the task.

“Three-hundred-and-nighty-nine, four-hundred.” Smiles finished, a decent amount of money still remaining in the purse which Chrysalis lifted back around her neck. The mare swept all of the money into a wooden lock-box, the mare shutting the lid and locking it before stowing it under the counter.

“Would you like me to help you carry them back?” Smiles asked Chrysalis, “ I don’t really have much else to do and the children tend to come in the morning so I won’t lose and business. Also I would like to meet your little ones if that’s alright; fairly ironic that a pony dedicated to making toys has no children of her own.” Chrysalis considered the offer, it couldn’t do any harm.

“That would be nice thank you,” the changeling responded, the two lifting the bags onto their backs before leaving the store, Sunny Smiles locking the door behind them.

“…So that’s when Orthodox told us that he accidently set the timer on the bomb to ten minutes instead of ten hours. Well, considering that the bomb was made to destroy the city and it would take us at least twenty minutes to get out of it things did not look too good.”
Nigel was still sitting down telling the story to the nymphs, the young creatures all lying down on their stomachs enraptured by the tale. Unknown to Nigel, Sunflare had woken up just after he had started talking. The mare was still pretending to be asleep as she listened, trying to ignore the vacant feeling inside of her. A few chirps and chatters sounded put as the small creatures tried to ask questions but found that they were unable to form words. Nigel got the gist of it however.

“How did the four of us get out you ask?” the Captain guessed, the ten creatures all going quiet and nodding. “Well, the thing you have to remember is that while Orthodox is a good fighter he’s not that bright. As it turns out, he brought and activated the wrong bomb.” The nymphs giggled, they didn’t fully grasp much of the precise words that the big friendly creature used but they understood that the big creature’s friend, ‘Orthodox’, had done something stupid. Sunflare also didn’t comprehend much but while she listened to the story her missing horn was forgotten and that was something that she was thankful for.

“So, it turns out that the bomb that he had brought was a biological weapon, which means that it uses sickness as a weapon.” Chalmers started to question if it was wise to tell the children this, he doubted many parents had to try to explain the finer points of biological warfare.

He stopped; did he just refer to himself as a parent to the nymphs?

Doing what he always did to unwanted thoughts he pushed that one down into a very deep chasm in his mind and continued on.

“Well, the bomb activated and released its weapon into the air. We didn’t get sick because we were all wearing helmets remember?” The nymphs nodded, a few reaching out their fore-hooves to touch the helmet sitting on the ground next to them.

“The weapon that the bomb contained spread out all over the city, affecting almost every person with something called ‘Agent ZPHI-BS’ which stands for ‘Zombie Plague, Highly Infectious Beta Strain’. Now, what it did was turn everyone it hit into zombies within ten minutes, meaning that we just got out before the entire city turned. I won’t tell you what zombies are just yet, but let’s just say that after we got picked up and taken back we had to leave the planet for a while.”

Up on the bed Sunflare trembled, if the zombies that the human was talking about where the same as the ones that she knew of then the fact that the human seemed to be able to create them was terrifying. She tried to tell herself that maybe he was making the entire thing up as part of the story but it didn’t work, her working foreleg shook and the chain it was attached to jingled. She closed her eyes tighter as the sounds of the human getting up from his spot reached her ears, the unicorn trying to make it appear as if she was still asleep.

“Wait there you lot,” Nigel said as he approached the bed. He looked down at the unicorn lying upon it; most of her body still covered by the sky-blue sheet that had been draped over her up to her neck. As he examined Sunflare Nigel noticed that, despite her attempts to appear asleep, the unicorn was awake. Deciding against ‘waking’ her, Chalmers returned to the nymphs and sat back down. “Right, so we had just left the planet and the ships above us were waiting for us to get clear so that they-“

Chalmers was interrupted by a knocking at the cabin door. Standing up once more he made his way over and unlatched the lock, opening it to allow access to a bag-laden Chrysalis and a green earth pony. The new mare was also carrying some bags on her back, the pony staring up at the Captain’s uncovered face with amazement as the human looked down at Chrysalis.

“Who’s this then Chrysalis, don’t tell me that you managed to make a friend in only an hour?” The mare quickly placed the brown cloth bags on the floor as she made to bow, Nigel halting her with a hand wave. “Forget about that stuff, I’m not an Emperor or anything like that,” he requested, the mare standing back up.

“Yes sir,” she responded in a sweet voice, “my name is Sunny Smiles and I’m the local toymaker.” The mare turned her body, showing the Captain her mark of a wooden pony figure with a brightly coloured ball next to it. “I’m here because Chrysalis bought some toys from my store and I offered to drop them off with her.” The Captain looked down at the bags, picking one up with a hand and peering inside.

“Well, aren’t these nice,” he commented as he shot the still seated nymphs a glance. The ten were all staring at the toymaker, the mare returning the gazes with a smile. Chrysalis took the initiative, carrying her bags over to the seated nymphs who got up as she approached. Placing the bags on the ground the nymphs dug in, six toys being extracted by them leaving four without. This was soon remedied as Nigel and Smiles brought the rest over, the toymaker watching the young creatures with joy as they fawned over her creations.

“Success,” Chalmers continued, hopefully their new playthings would amuse the children for a while. He turned to the pony beside him. “I must say Miss Smiles that you’re obviously very talented at what you do, you just made the rest of my day much easier.”

“Thank you,” Smiles answered, “I’m glad that you’re satisfied.” The mare looked around the large cabin decorated with expensive carpets and furnishings. “Your cabin is very beautiful, you must have-“ The toymaker trailed off as she laid eyes upon the bed at the back of the room, Nigel figuring out why she had stopped.

“I assume you heard about the fight earlier,” he commented, the mare nodding as she stared at the prone figure in the bed with pity.

“Is that her?” Smiles asked, the Captain stepping over nymphs as he made his way to the bed gesturing for Smiles to follow. The mare carefully followed him, dodging children left and right as they ran around the room with toys in their mouths. When she reached the sleeping unicorn she stared down, her eyes resting on the broken horn.

“She’s in bad shape but she’ll pull through,” the Captain continued, “after that I’m not too such what will happen to her.” Smiles swore that one of the knight’s eyes twitched as the human said this, the unicorn however appeared to continue sleeping. She decided to make something to cheer the pony up, she hoped that the Captain would let his enemy keep it. Smiles had an idea of what to make, however it would take a lot of time to finish.

“Oh, I hope she gets better,” she answered, “I’m sorry but I better get going Captain, I’ve got some things I need to do.”

“I understand,” the Captain replied, “you can certainly expect more business from us in the future Miss Smiles.” Both of them walked over, Chrysalis engrossed with a few of the nymphs as Chalmers opened the cabin door for their guest. Sunny Smiles gave on last wave to the nymphs before she left, the door shutting behind her. Chalmers turned back around to Chrysalis and watched her play with the children before addressing her.

“You weren’t gone for long,” he stated, Chrysalis looking up at him before she walked over to one of the bags that she had brought in.

“There wasn’t much that I had to do,” she replied before removing two paper bags with her mouth and magic. Seeing that the changeling was struggling with her levitation Chalmers approached and took hold of the floating package, Chrysalis offering the one in her mouth as well. The human took it from her jaws, looking inside both paper bags he saw two sandwiches, both cheese and tomato.

“I though you and Sunflare might be hungry,” Chrysalis said, “so I picked something up while I was out.” Chalmers smiled appreciatively at her.

“Not only do you babysit but you bring me sandwiches as well, thanks Chrissy.” While Chrysalis beamed with pride and lay down to continue watching her children Nigel walked over to the bed containing his prisoner. “Sunflare,” he called as he lightly tapped the unicorn’s shoulder with a finger. He knew that the mare was awake, however the pony tried to act like she was still asleep. “Come on,” Nigel continued, “Chrissy brought you some food.”

Sunflare’s nostrils twitched involuntary as the toasted sandwich was waved under her nose, her empty stomach letting out a rumble at the enticing smell. Her fear of the human however was too strong; Sunflare clinging onto the child-like idea that if she held her eyes shut he couldn’t hurt her anymore.

Nigel sighed at the unicorn’s terror, drops of sweat quickly covering her orange coat. He was used to his foes feeling fear as they faced him; however they rarely lived long enough to make him feel guilty about it. He was unsure why this particular mare made him regret his actions, especially considering that he had ordered the two ponies killed in the assault buried with not a single tear shed for them. Was it because he had taken such a strong-willed individual, a personality trait that he admired, and turned her into a terrified shell of her former self? He also had to admit that she’d make an ideal candidate for a lieutenant under his employ once she got over her fear and hate for him.

She needed to eat however, food would assist her body with its natural healing process and he would not have her waste away under his care. Changing his methods, the armour of his right hand retracted and he pulled the sheet down to her navel to allow him access to her stomach while preserving her dignity. Nigel questioned whether these equines even had a sense of decency; after all they didn’t even wear clothes that often. Still, erring on the side of caution couldn’t hurt and as he placed his bare palm on Sunflare’s belly he could feel her shiver underneath his touch.

Sunflare trembled as she felt the human’s claw on her belly, facing up to the ceiling with her limbs bound she was completely helpless. She had almost cried out when she felt the sheet slide down, thankfully it had stopped before it got too low. Was this going to be her fate, nothing but a thrall to the biped’s desires? A shiver ran down her spin as the claw started to move down. The unicorn was almost about to break down in tears before the hand moved up again, Sunflare realising that the human was merely rubbing her belly instead of taking advantage of her.

“I know you’re awake,” the Captain’s voice stated softly as the belly rub continued, “if you open your eyes you can have this sandwich that Chrissy brought you.” Sunflare still kept her eyes shut tight despite the offer of much desired food and the soothing effect of the belly rub. She found herself letting out half-moan half-whine at the rub much to her dread, now the Captain had proof that she was awake. “Sunflare,” he called her name again, his voice gentle, “keeping your eyes shut is not going to make me go away, open them up and I’ll give you some food.”

Sunflare tried to resist, she had always been stubborn after all but another pass of the sandwich under her nose broke her resolve. She cracked open an eye, the red iris looking out to spot a black armoured chest. Opening the other she slowly looked up, the impassive face of the Captain gazing back down at her. She looked away to the side, spotting instead the ten small creatures playing with stuffed toys and the larger one staring at her with worry.

“That’s good, we’re making good progress,” the human commented, bringing her attention back to him. He was holding out the partially un-wrapped sandwich with a claw that was pale pink, nothing like the metal that she had expected. That strange fleshy face was also there, Sunflare had originally passed it off as a trick of her mind since the hairless face was so benign. Remembering that she had no horn anymore and that her hooves were tied it looked like that the human was aiming to feed her, Sunflare would normally be offended but considering that she was tied to a bed with just a sheet covering her privates it wasn’t a major issue.

Sighing in resignation she opened her mouth, the sandwich carefully being moved towards her. With a bite she threw another piece of her dignity away, the great tasting sandwich doing nothing to cover that up. The stomach rub continued, Sunflare did admit that it felt good, really good but considering that the giver was the one who made her helpless she just felt confused.

She tried to advert her eyes from the Captain’s, focusing instead of staring at his armoured chest as she continued to eat. Each bite made her feel a little better, the taste of cheese and tomato reminding her of home. She wondered what her parents, both unicorn nobles serving in Platinum’s court, would think of their now worthless daughter. Soon the sandwich was finished, a mass of crumbs on her orange chest where they had dropped from her meal. She stayed silent as a claw holding a white cloth cleared them, being treated like a child really got to her.

She truly was useless.

Even though the food was gone the belly rub continued for a while, the Captain pausing only to pull up a metal stool which he sat down upon. Sunflare was a little surprised to find that the belly rub was becoming really enjoyable, it was close to one of the most pleasant feelings she had ever felt. A cough from the human snapped her out of her peaceful rest, reminding her just why she was here.

“Now, do you feel up to answering some questions for me? If you do I’ll try to get you something really nice for breakfast tomorrow.” Sunflare was tempted by the offer; she didn’t know how often she would be receiving food so every bit would help. Vowing to reveal nothing critical about her country to the Captain she nodded slowly. “Good,” the human responded as the relaxing rub continued, “now I already know your name, but you said something before about being tasked with taking my head. I can assume that the steadfast and noble Penny Pincher no doubt alerted the Princess to my intentions?”

“Yes,” Sunflare squeaked out, receiving a quick ear scratch in return for her co-operation.

“Did she say what I intended to do?” was the next question.

“No,” Sunflare replied, finding it easier to talk, “all she said was that you had taken over the town. I was ordered to get it back and kill you. There are also rumours about a big creature attacking griffon ships, I’m guessing that it was you?” Sunflare found the will to look up at the Captain.

“Oh, they were just filthy slavers,” Chalmers answered with a wave of his hand, “the world is better off without them. Where do you think I got this fine Griffon battleship?” Sunflare decided to not remind him that she had no recollection of arriving on the ship, the human continuing on. “Next question, what’s this about a unicorn-pegasus war that looks set to happen?”

“The Pegasi are nothing but savages,” Sunflare retorted hotly. “They sit up in their clouds and depend on everyone else to grow food for them. They claim that since they make it rain that they deserve to be paid in food while forgetting that if it wasn’t for us… I mean the Unicorns then the Earth Ponies would not give them any food at all.” Chalmers caught the unicorn’s insinuation that she was not in fact a unicorn, the human reaching out to stroke an ear which caused Sunflare to shift uncomfortably.

“Do you not consider yourself a unicorn, Sunflare?” the human questioned, the mare lying on the bed letting out a small sniffle.

“I have no horn, so I’m not a Unicorn. I have no wings, so I’m not a Pegasus. I don’t even have strength or attachment to the ground, so I’m not even an Earth Pony. I’m the lowest of the low, nothing will change that.” Her horn stump tingled; almost feeling like her horn was still there. Sunflare knew that there was no chance for it to grow back, that much was clearly evidenced by records about serious unicorn criminals who had their horns removed as a punishment.

“You shouldn’t think that,” the Captain replied, waiting for a response that never came. Nigel sighed, it looked like that he wasn’t going to get any more information out of her tonight. Removing his hands from her stomach and head he pulled the sheet back up to her neck and loosened the chains a little, giving the knight a little more room to move. Sunflare used this to roll over onto her side, her cast resting on top of her other leg while she faced the wall. Standing up, Nigel made to walk over the Chrysalis before he was stopped by Sunflare.

“Human,” she softly called, “do you have something to help me sleep?” Chalmers deduced that she must have been having nightmares in her sleep, something expected considering. A needle extended from his right wrist as he leant over the mare and found a vein on her neck. He pushed it in, Sunflare wincing before her face relaxed and her eyes closed, the unicorn drifting off into a dreamless slumber. Nigel withdrew the needle and walked over to Chrysalis, dodging nymphs as he did so.

“Well, at least she’s talking,” Chalmers commented as he sat down next to Chrysalis, “that’s a start.”

The changeling next to him stared at the back of the sleeping pony, she did feel sorry for the mare and for some reason it hurt her to see just how badly the situation affected both Sunflare and Nigel. The Captain no longer made many jokes or paraded around like he was already King of the World, instead he was more restrained. Chrysalis tried to think of a way to cheer the human up, her eyes resting on Reflection dragging a blue dragon toy over to Chalmers. Maybe she wouldn’t have to do anything after all.

“What this?” Nigel questioned as he plucked to toy out of Reflection’s mouth, the nymph giggling as Chalmers held it over her head like the toy was flying. Chrysalis wondered just why Reflection in particular seemed so attached to the human, the changeling remembering that she was the first nymph to actually approach the biped. Nigel likewise seemed to enjoy her company over the others, prompting Chrysalis to wonder if the human had children. Actually, did humans even have children? Chrysalis went over what she knew about the Captain, surprisingly little was the answer.

“Nigel,” she started as the human returned the dragon to Reflection, the nymph bounding off to re-join her brethren, “Do you have any children, if humans have children?” The biped shrugged and leant back against the wall, continuing to watch the nymphs play.

“For starters humans are mammals, so everything works pretty much like ponies with some minor differences I assume.” One question was answered, the biped moving onto the next. “As for myself I do not have any children, due to certain changes I had performed on my by the ISA I am not fertile which means I can’t produce any offspring.” The human smiled a bit at this. “Good thing too,” he mumbled to himself, “I’d hate to think of what existence would be like with more of me running around.”

Suddenly things made a lot more sense to Chrysalis about the Captain’s attachment to the nymphs. Did he see them as some kind of proxy-children as he was incapable of producing his own? She glanced at the Captain and saw that he was observing the nymphs with happiness and a little pride. The Changeling took a deep breath as she prepared to ask her next question, she just had to know for sure.

“Nigel,” she started as the human looked at her, “do you consider the nymphs… your children?” This prompted the Captain to pause, the human appearing to think intensively about the question. Chrysalis waited for an answer, hoping that she hadn’t stepped over any bounds. After a few tense moments the Captain relaxed, a small amount of love transferring to the nymphs who stopped playing and ambled over to feed.

“I guess I do Chrissy,” Chalmers replied after a while, “I guess I do.”

No-more was said, it wasn’t needed to be expanded upon. Chrysalis simply nodded and laid her head upon her forelegs, the changeling wondering that if the human felt that way about the nymphs, then how did he feel towards her?

Morning Sparkle jolted awake as she felt something shake her shoulder, the unicorn stealthily gathering a spell in her horn.

“Morning,” the Captain’s voice spoke, “no more nap time, I want to go drink and I order you to attend.” The unicorn sleepily sighed as her magic died out, she was glad that she didn’t shoot her Captain in the face with a spell.

Considering what happened to the last unicorn to fire a spell at him it was a good decision.

“Give me one second,” the mare requested as she rolled over onto her stomach in the small bed so that she could get down. As her hooves hit the wooden floor a thought occurred to her, a slight breeze ruffling her mane.

“Nigel,” she questioned as she stared at the empty space behind the human that used to be her door, “what happened to my door?”

“Oh, I absorbed it,” the Captain answered with a shrug as he held up his right arm, his fabricator still glowing. “I thought that it looked fairly old so I decided to make you a new one, except much more fabulous. While emphasizing the word ‘fabulous’ he aimed his arm at the doorway, a blue glow in the shape of the previous door appearing. Bright blue beams shot out from the fabricator and connected with the outline, the beams quickly moving from the top to the roof before fading away.

A brand new door was in its place, the wood with a light sheen with no signs of wear. Opening it, Nigel stepped out if the small cabin and waited for Morning to follow. The mare exited behind him and shut the door, the unicorn staring at her new barrier.

“It doesn’t really look that ‘fabulous’,” she commented, Nigel removing a black L-shaped object from his hip.

“Oh, Sparkle, it is fabulous,” the human replied as he aimed the end of his hand held object at the door.

Morning dived to the ground and covered her ears as five rapid bangs rang out, crew members around the ship grabbing their weapons in the belief that they were under attack. As the sounds faded away Morning looked at the Captain, his weapon smoking slightly in his hand as he re-holstered it. Glancing at the door Morning saw that five large holes were rent in the wood, however it seemed that her door had halted whatever projectiles had made them. Looking into the holes she could see metal of some sort within the door.

“There,” Nigel continued, “your new door is fabulously bullet-proof. Welcome to the future of cabin-security.” The unicorn walked up to her door and pointed a hoof at the holes, each one the size of her hoof itself.

“Yes, but now my door has holes in the front of it, it looks worse than before.” Nigel kept his smug grin on for a few moments before he forced himself to look at the ruined front of the door.

“Crap, hold on.”

With another quick burst from his fabricator the door was fully repaired, every single hole gone. Morning dropped the issue; on the plus side she did have a new door even if it had taken a while. She wasn’t even going to into the fact that the Captain had dissolved her door to enter her room while she was sleeping, that topic would just cause some very unwanted questions to arise.

Without a word the Captain turned and headed for the gangplank leading to the dock, Morning following him eagerly. She knew that she should have learnt her lesson about copious consumption of alcohol form the pair’s previous drinking session but after the long day some booze would be welcome. They walked along the docks heading to the Saucy Mare, it was nearing the evening time and the bar was in full swing.

Every occupant of the tavern turned and stared as the First Mate and helmetless Captain entered, the two making their way to the bar. The crew and townsfolk soon went back to their drinks, deciding that it was best to not bother the Captain after what he had done before.

Sparkle and Nigel both fetched large muds of apple cider, the drink quickly becoming popular since it had been introduced to the town from the north a few months ago. Seats were made available for the two as the crew, all sitting at four large tables, made space for their leaders.

One drink quickly turned into many, night coming quickly as the ship’s crew drank their troubles away accompanied by drunken sea shanties and other such activities.

“They did what!?”

Princess Platinum glared down at the unicorn spy she had sent to keep an eye on Sunflare, the stallion shifting awkwardly in his heavy grey cloak.

“They surrendered to the monster, my Princess,” the stallion replied with a wince as Platinum left her throne to stand over him.

“Why!?” she yelled out, her shout blowing back his hood revealing his black mane and grey coat. “Tell me Spyglass; just tell me how two-hundred soldiers led by one of my finest knights fail to kill one measly monster and a bunch of pirate low-lives!?” Spyglass swallowed a lump in his throat as he meet the blue-eyed gaze of his ruler with his own yellow irises.

“From what I saw the Monster seems to have somehow built black towers that can fire magic to cut and burn. After losing a few soldiers and being pinned down Lieutenant Hard Blow accepted the Monster’s terms of surrender to preserve the lives of herself and our troops.”

“And what of Knight Radiant Sunflare?” Princess Platinum asked with a dangerous edge to her voice. She couldn’t believe that Sunflare would surrender; the mare was far too stubborn for that. Spyglass braced himself, this next bit of news was certain to upset Platinum.

“She… she went and duelled the creature, I watched it from a hill with my invisibility. The Monster won and Knight Sunflare appears to have been killed.”

“What do you mean ‘appears to have been killed’? Sunflare was one of the highest trained swordsmares in my personal guard so how do you know?”

“The Monster has skin that was unable to be cut by her sword, Princess,” Spyglass answered. “I stopped watching after it kicked her into a wagon and broke off her horn.” The unicorn spy shuddered at the reminder of the image he had seen through his telescope, the sight of the bleeding horn stump still burnt in his mind. Platinum didn’t even blink; even if Sunflare had by some slim chance survived a hornless unicorn was of no use to her. There was one question she still had to ask.

“Did you enter the town and kill the Monster like you were supposed to if Sunflare failed?” Platinum leaned in dangerously, Spyglass sweating heavily under his cloak as the Princess glared into his eyes.

“Well, you see, I had used a lot of magic and I wouldn’t have had enough to sneak-“

Spyglass’s explanation was cut off as a platinum shoe connected firmly with his face, the spy losing a tooth as he collapsed to the ground stunned. With distain Platinum summoned Clover over, the assistant staring down at the spy with concern. The Princess’s temper was short and Platinum was known for taking her frustration out on those around her. As the ruler roughly wiped the small amount of blood off her shoe on Clover’s back the green unicorn tried hard not to make a noise.

“Spyglass,” Platinum coldly stated as she removed her now-clean shoe from Clover’s coat, “go back and kill the human before the morning or I’ll make sure that your death will be slow.” The spy struggled to stand, a few tears building in his eyes as he got to his hooves and rushed out the door.

“Simpleton,” Platinum muttered as she returned to her throne, Clover moving to stand beside it as she questioned why the Princess hadn’t been assassinated yet.

Spyglass panted as he prepared for one final teleport, the deck of the large battleship that he suspected was harbouring the Monster his target. The journey had been quick, the unicorn constantly teleporting only to pause for brief periods to rest. The moon was high in the sky, night having fallen long ago. He had only a few hours to finish his mission, failure was not an option. Platinum in his opinion was many deplorable things but when it came to threats she always followed through on them.

The unicorn looked once more to the red lights that marked the positions of the deadly magic weapons that had already proven their power. Scorch marks on the surrounding grass brought back the memories of the flying red beams, burning all that they touched. Taking multiple deep breaths Spyglass tightened his cloak and cast his invisibility spell, the golden dragon-head amulet he wore around his neck coursing with power as it took most of the strain of casting the two spells at once.

He faded from sight, hoping that it would be enough to evade the roving eyes of whatever intelligence controlled the death-towers. With a slight pop he teleported, luckily landing right on the deck of the ship which he had hoped for. As he reappeared, the strain of casting so many spells that night almost caused him to collapse onto the wooden boards, his invisibility flickering for a second. With alarm he noticed on of the towers turn to look at him, the unicorn struggling to strengthen the illusion.

He got it up just before the red light coming from the structure passed over him, the unicorn holding his breath as it thankfully didn’t see him. Taking a few moments to gather his bearings he looked around, spotting what he assumed to be the Captain’s cabin and the likely lair of the Monster had been sent to kill. Checking to make sure that his short, enchanted knife was still attached to his belt he approached the door.

Spyglass lowered his hood and placed an ear against the wood, picking up the sounds of a single occupant snoring softly. Finding the door locked, the unicorn risked dropping his invisibility for a brief second to cast a spell to pick the lock. The door swung open silently thanks to another spell cast on the hinges, Spyglass ducking inside before shutting it behind him. He kept his invisibility spell of to try and conserve his dwindling energy for the task ahead, he was shrouded in darkness and from the sounds of the snores he guessed that there was only one occupant.

Looking towards the snores he carefully made his way over to a bed with a figure hidden under the sheets. He withdrew his knife, the dull silver blade not glinting as he held it in his magic field above his head. Spyglass was relying on the Monster having some exposed joints or a weak spot that he could strike. Closing on the bed he noticed that the sleeping figure was not the monster, the unicorn stopping in shock when he recognised the pony within.

‘Sunflare?’ Spyglass thought as he noticed the orange unicorn secured to the bed with chains. ‘What has that evil Monster done to you!?’ He trembled as he saw her horn stump, there was almost nothing left. He dreaded to dwell on why the Monster had kept her alive, considering she wasn’t dear or eaten and that she was tied to a bed he guessed that it was for far more sinister purposes.

“I’ll come back for you,” he whispered to the sleeping knight, no-pony deserved to be let to that fate but he had a mission to complete. He started to step back but was stopped by the feeling of a cold metal object placed against the back of his head.

“Welcome to my parlour, said the spider to the fly.”

Spyglass froze at the soft male voice, his heart pounding as he recognized the voice of the monster. He had no doubt that a weapon was being held against his head, a series of strange noises chattering out from the corner of the room that he had walked past.

“Now you’ve gone and woken the children,” the Monster continued as the chirping grew louder as the patter of many tiny hooves drew closer. He flinched as small, hard muzzles rubbed against his legs and small bodies all jostled around him. Spyglass was sweating hard; he had little chance of winning now that the Monster was in control of the situation.

“Move the knife over to the right with the blade pointing directly up in the air; if you fail to comply I’ll splatter your brains all over the slumbering Miss Sunflare here and I’d hate to have to wake her in such a way.” Spyglass immediately obeyed, his only weapon yanked out of his magical grip leaving him defenceless aside from his hooves and horn.

He cursed at his mistakes; he didn’t even have enough magic left for an emergency teleport. “Good pony,” the Monster acknowledged, “now how about we move outside to avoid waking up any more people.” A prod of the weapon was the signal for Spyglass to move, the unicorn slowly making his way to the door through the many small beings running around his legs. “Stay here little ones and be quiet, move it unicorn,” the Monster ordered as he opened the door, Spyglass being pushed out into the cool air as the door shut behind him and the monster.

The pair made their way to the fore of the ship, Spyglass noticing that multiple red lights settled upon him but no red beams of death came. He was marched to the very end of the ship, the Monster stopping him just before the edge. Spyglass gulped as he stared down at the waves that were likely to soon become his watery grave. Spyglass felt the weapon leave the back of his head, the monster taking a few steps back.

“Turn around unicorn; I see that horn glow and you die.” Spyglass took a second to rotate on the spot, the spy coming to face the creature holding him captive. Before him stood the Monster, a furless face instead of black metal skin with a strange black object held in one claw. Spyglass noticed that the end barrel was round and had a hole in the middle, much like the weapons on top of the beam towers. “Now, you are going to tell me exactly why you tried to sneak in no doubt attempt to kill me. I’m guessing that this Princess Platinum was to blame?”

Spyglass was at first hesitant to answer the question, however as he ran his tongue over the battered left side of his mouth and tasted the remains of his own blood from the hit Platinum had dished out he started to change his mind. What did he owe that bitch anyway? It wasn’t like his country cared for him, it was pretty much Platinum’s personal playground and she used her power to torment the ones around her. Her treatment of close advisors such as most of the nobles and even her own assistant Clover the Clever was deplorable in his opinion.

“Yes, she ordered me to kill you before the morning. Either I killed you or she killed me.” Spyglass hoped that by mentioning the circumstances around the ‘agreement’ that he would maybe find some mercy or at least a quick death.

“That kind of ultimatum seems to be a recurring thing with Her Royal Highness,” the Monster commented as he maintained his weapon on Spyglass. “How did you infiltrate my town?” Spyglass gulped, he was fairly certain that he was going to die so he may as well tell the biped what he wanted to know.

“I used a teleportation spell and an invisibility spell-“

“I was under the impression that those kinds of magic took a lot of power and concentration to pull off,” the Monster interrupted, “how are you capable of doing two at once?”

“I… I use an amulet to help me, without it I can’t even teleport more than forty yards.” Spyglass struggled to reveal his secret; the amulet was his most powerful tool. His heart sank as the Monster reached out with a claw for the amulet, Spyglass lifting his head back to allow the creature to remove the necklace. As soon as it was gone he felt whatever magic he had left plummet, the unicorn fighting to stay upright. The monster observed the amulet before he stored it in his armour.

“Your co-operation has been noted, now about that horn...”

Spyglass didn’t have time to scream before he was pushed to the ground and a claw clasped around his mouth. He almost sobbed as he felt an armoured knee in his back holding him down, images of Sunflare’s broken horn running though his mind as a strange and threatening sound was audible from above him.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t have you using any magic now can I?” The Monster informed. Spyglass tried to struggle but it was in vain, his legs were trapped under his body and he had hardly any magic left to use. He merely clasped his eyes shut and waited for the pain to arrive when his horn was removed.

He shook as something sticky was wrapped around his horn, the strange tearing sound continuing as the substance soon covered the entire horn multiple times. He felt his magic cut off as the material covered the horn, whatever it was it seemed to eliminate magic. It seemed like ages before the sound stopped and the weight on his back was lessened.

“Ah, duct tape, what can’t you be used for?” the Monster muttered to himself before addressing Spyglass. “Now, unicorn,” he continued as the metal weapon was placed once again against the back of Spyglass’s head, “cast a teleportation spell and you live, fail and I’ll shoot you right here.”

Spyglass panicked, he didn’t have any magic left for a teleportation spell but he would have to try anyway. Straining himself to the max he tried to gather up the magic needed to perform the spell but he found that no magic was able to be gathered in his horn, no matter how hard he tried nothing was working.

“I can’t do it!” he tried to shout out around the claw clamped over his mouth, “Please, I can’t do it, don’t kill me!” The Monster didn’t seem to budge at his muffled cries, the weapon he held pressing down harder.

“Well, guess you didn’t want it enough,” he observed cheerily, Spyglass giving it one final try with all of his strength. He almost felt the magic come together in his horn but once again it fell short, this time however the effort of trying combined with his drained energy won over him, the unicorn’s eyes rolling into the back of his skull as he blacked out.

Nigel continued to hold his pistol against the unicorn, the pony well and truly out of it. It appeared as if his duct tape idea had worked, Chalmers was still surprised that wrapping the would-be assassin’s horn in tape would stop magic from building up. He put it down to the horn seeming to be a conductor of sorts, disrupting that halted the magic and meant that for now the unicorn was magic-less. Telling the unicorn that he would die if he didn’t cast a spell was just a test; Nigel still figured that the pony could be useful for information. Further interrogations would have to wait however; he may have overdone the scares a little.

He glanced around his ship, aside from a few defence turrets focusing on the unicorn at his feet no-one had seemed to notice. Well, the nymphs had but Nigel hoped that they hadn’t woken Chrissy. Looking down at the unicorn he tried to figure out what to do with the pony, he would have to keep an eye on him to actually make sure that his duct tape had worked and that the stallion was not really a master trickster.

His right arm was re-covered in armour, his fabricator producing two sets of metal cuffs next to the pony. They completed in ten seconds, Chalmers bending down and placing the cuffs around the unicorn’s legs where the hoof joined the actual leg, fetlocks he believed they were called. The magnetic clamps of the cuffs joined together, holding the front and hind legs together in pairs. Satisfied that his prisoner was going nowhere Nigel picked the unicorn up, carrying the pony all the way back to the cabin.

AS Nigel opened the door he noticed that not a single nymph rushed over to meet him. With the moon shining in he saw why, the creatures had already returned to their sleeping area nest to the corner he had been resting up against before the unicorn had made his entrance. The changelings all watched him with curious chitters as he deposited the unicorn against the wall and frisked the pony, making sure that no more weapons were concealed under the grey cloak. The only things he found was a small bag of gold that he let the pony keep and a set of keys wrapped in string, most likely to prevent them from jingling in the cloak pocket.

With the search completed Chalmers grabbed a spare pillow from the floor and put it between the unicorn’s head and the ground. Everything was looking good, Nigel sitting back down against the wall with his sidearm in hand and resting against the pony’s chest. He was swarmed by nymphs, the creatures jostling for positions leaning up against his legs and body. Three of them, Chalmers unable to see their nametags, instead chose to snuggle against the grey cloak worn by the unicorn. The Captain briefly considered forcing them to move away but after some consideration decided that the unicorn would likely be the one who would receive the biggest shock in the morning.

His job complete, Nigel settled in for the rest of the night. He picked a random nymph next to him and began to rub its head, the youngster chirping in happiness before it was soon replaced by light breathing. The cabin once again was quiet save for Sunflare’s snores and the breathing from Chrysalis, the unicorn assassin and the ten nymphs. Chalmers didn’t plan on sleeping, instead focusing on keeping his weapon trained on the unicorn and planning a small visit to a certain Princess that seemed so keen to piss him off.

When Chrysalis woke up she felt slightly different, the changeling yawning and opening her eyes, sitting on up the bed she could hear the sounds of nymphs at play and the cabin door closing. Heavy footsteps walked over towards the bed containing Sunflare, Chrysalis looking towards the sound and spotting Nigel with a few trays in hand sitting down on his metal seat next to the still-sleeping unicorn.
“Good Morning,” Chrysalis greeted, Nigel not looking towards her as he focused on waking Sunflare.

“Morning,” the Captain returned as he shook Sunflare lightly. With a groan the unicorn knight returned to wakefulness, the mare rolling over to sullenly look at the human that had awoken her.

“What?” she mumbled out, still evidently feeling depressed about her circumstances. Chalmers removed the top of the wooden try, revealing a stack of warm buttered pancakes lightly drizzled with honey. The mare chained to the bed perked up as the smell of the breakfast hit her nose, her mood improving slightly as she sat up as far as she could. The Captain with a hand extended the chain holding her good foreleg, allowing her to sit up all the way in the bed. The Captain placed the tray down on her sheet-covered lap, Sunflare immediately beginning to eat the pancakes by leaning her head down and taking bites.

With no help seemingly needed the Chalmers left her alone, getting up with two more trays as he turned to face Chrysalis.

“I had the weirdest dream last night,” Chrysalis said as she brushed her teal mane out of her eyes, “There was this one unico…”
The changeling trailed off with her hoof raised up to her mane, a mane that she had not gone to bed with.

“Uh, Chrissy,” Nigel started in shock as he stared at her, “do you feel okay?” Without a word that changeling hastily clambered off the bed and rushed to a door on the left wall. Opening it revealed the cabin’s small bathroom, a full length mirror on the door swinging out. Chrysalis stood and stared at her reflection, her mouth open in surprise.

She had somehow grown a full, silky, teal-coloured mane overnight, the hair falling down her neck to rest around her shoulders. Her tail was now completely teal; it also was long and luscious. The biggest change she could see however were her eyes.

Gone were the solid blue orbs that every normal changeling drone possessed, in their place were large, bright green irises the size of pony eyes. Chrysalis blinked a few times, however the new changes refused to go away. Thinking quickly, she gathered her magic and transformed into Sea Biscuit then back again, however instead of returning to normal Chrysalis like she wanted this new form remained. Taking a few deep breaths she forced herself to calm down.

Okay, so she now looked like a high-up hive noble or princess, things could be worse. She carefully examined her new features, Chalmers, Sunflare and the nymphs all watching in silence as Chrysalis went over her eyes, tail and mane. All seemed to work normally, there was no pain and she did have to admit that she did look more beautiful than before without the bland looks of a drone. Sighing as she shut the bathroom door closed, she turned to look towards the Captain.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” she explained as she collapsed onto her rump and held her forehooves in front of her face, “am I even me anymore?” Chalmers placed the two trays he was carrying back down on his seat, the human walking over the changeling and crouching down.

“Hey,” he comforted as he patted her on the back with an un-armoured hand, “you’ll always be Chrissy to me, plus you do have a pair of incredibly stunning eyes now.” Chrysalis blushed a little bit at the complement, the changeling remembering her first embarrassed questions and pestering of the human. She felt a stream of that warm and comforting love transfer from him to her, the nymphs all running over to examine her while they tried to also acquire some nourishment. It was readily provided, it seemed like everyone would be getting a good breakfast today.

“Thanks,” Chrysalis replied with a smile. She supposed that it wasn’t so bad after all. “I’d still like to know why it’s happening though; I think I’ve turned into a noble.” Chalmers shrugged, Sunflare had already lost interest and had gone back to her pancakes.

“Once again, you’d know more about it than I would,” he human responded, “if you don’t know then I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Do you remember when you started to notice changes?” Chrysalis rubbed her chin with a hoof, going back through her mind to when she had noticed he first teal hair in her tail.

“I think it started the day after we got the nymphs, I remember waking up and finding a teal hair in my tail. Every time I go to sleep something new happens.”

“So it may be the nymphs then,” Nigel replied as he alternated giving each one an ear scratch, “is it possible that being the only adult changeling could have some sort of an effect?” Chrysalis sighed as she herself received a scratch behind her ear, her new tail staring to swish behind her at the pleasant feeling.

“I don’t know, I wish I did but I’m just a drone. Anything like that would be something that queens know and no-body else except from scholars I guess.” Chalmers merely hummed in thought at her answer, the sound of a shifting body drawing the pair’s attention to the wall. Chrysalis’s eyes widened as she saw a grey unicorn in a cloak slightly darker than the pony’s coat slumped against the wall with metal binds around his legs.

She remembered that Morning Sparkle and the Captain had been drinking last night again; first it was just lipstick on Nigel’s chest and face, now they had appeared to have abducted a random stallion. Chrysalis made a note to remember to not go drinking heavily with the two, who knows what might happen.

“Nigel,” she questioned as she pointed a hoof at the waking unicorn, “why is there a stallion tied up in the cabin?”

“Oh that,” Nigel answered with a wave of his hand, “he tried to sneak in and kill me last night. He forgot to check his surroundings however and went straight over the Sunflare thinking she was me. A little ‘persuading’ later,” the human pulled a black object from his hip and pointed it at the prisoner, “and he was talking fairly easily.”

“Spyglass…”

The soft word from Sunflare focused attention on her, the knight having finished her pancakes. She glanced at Nigel warily as he stood up and moved towards her, the human pulling out a white cloth and wiping her mouth to get rid of any pancake remains much to her displeasure.

“Do you know this ‘Spyglass’ then Sunflare?” Nigel inquired, rolling his eyes at the stallion’s apparent name. Sunflare shifted in the bed, stretching her free foreleg out to the side. It felt good to have that small amount of freedom, maybe answering the question would convince the human to let her leg remain unchained?

“I do,” she replied hesitantly, “he’s an agent who works for Platinum and during my duties I’ve seen him around the castle sometimes.” Chalmers gave her a quick pat on the head in thanks before he grabbed a tray and crouched down next to the unicorn who was just opening his eyes.

Spyglass woke up from his sleep to find himself looking directly down the barrel of the Monster’s weapon, the wielder also holding a wooden tray in his other claw. A mass of small black equine-bugs gathered around the Monster to stare at him, Spyglass feeling very uncomfortable under the gazes. A larger version of the insects was sitting on the floor watching him with concern as she ran a hole-covered hoof through her teal hair. Spyglass also spotted Sunflare looking at him from her position chained up in the bed, the unicorn mentally promising to free her.

“So, Spyglass I believe,” the Monster jolted him out of his thoughts, “what should we do with you hmmm? You’ve managed to infiltrate my base and I don’t like people infiltrating my things, do you have a suggestion?” Spyglass gulped as the Monster’s weapon was pushed against his forehead, the unicorn trying to move back but finding that he was against a wall and his legs were locked in some sort of metal hoofcuffs.

“You could let me go and I never return to Platinum again?” he offered hopefully, the Monster shaking his head at this.

“Not going to happen, I however do have an idea, at least for the moment.” The Captain whipped the top off the tray to display the pancakes within. The small bugs all sniffed the air at the smell that wafted up, the creatures leaning forward towards the tray as it was placed under the surprised unicorn’s muzzle. “What’s going to happen is that you’re going to provide me with detailed descriptions of the Princess’s whereabouts and guards and then I’ll let you live and eat.” The metal weapon was tapped against the side of Spyglass’s head, “so what do you say?”

The unicorn gulped and nodded his head quickly, the human moving an arm forward with a bright screen lighting up.
“A wise choice, now, about that castle location…”

Morning knocked on the Captain’s cabin door twice before entering, the human saying that she was always welcome. It was supposed to be Chrysalis’s cabin but the human slept in their every night so Morning just walked right in only to stop, frozen as she observed the Captain feed a stallion a pancake while rubbing him on the head as Chrysalis sat and watched, the changeling sporting a full head of teal mane with some of the most beautiful eyes that Morning had ever seen.

The First Mate questioned just how much had she drunk the night before, the occupants of the room noticing her as the Captain nodded politely to her.

“Good Morning… Morning,” Nigel greeted as the stallion looked at her with an ashamed look, “did you sleep well?”

“I did,” the mare replied as she trotted up to the stallion and stared down at him, “did we… did we do anything really extreme last night?” Chalmers picked up another pancake, the unicorn prisoner hesitating before taking a bite while the head rub continued.

“Nah, all we did was drink then we went to bed,” was all the human replied as nymphs circled another covered tray by his side.

“Then why are you feeding pancakes to a stallion in hoofcuffs with his horn covered in silver ribbon?” Morning pointed a hoof towards the changeling, “And why does Chrysalis suddenly have a mane and eyes like a pony?”

“Good Morning to you too,” the changeling grumbled out as she crossed her forelegs in front of her chest. Morning rolled her eyes at Chrysalis’s reaction as the Captain faced her.

“Well, Chrysalis is going through some changes at the moment, no one knows why so we’re just going to try to wait them out. As for Spyglass here,” the stallion gazed at Morning with pleading yellow eyes, “he tried to sneak in and kill me last night. As you can tell he wasn’t too successful.” As Morning heard this her eyes narrowed, she was getting pretty sick of these constant attempts on her Captain’s life.

“Is that so?” she asked with a dangerous undercurrent, “that explains the hoofcuffs but not the ribbon and the fact that you’re feeding him like a foal.”

“The ‘ribbon’ is actually duct tape, and it’s around his horn because it stops magic,” Morning was about to question just why Nigel thought that wrapping this ‘tape’ around a unicorn’s horn would stop their magic but decided that it wasn’t worth the trouble. “About the food,” Nigel resumed as the last bite of breakfast was eaten by the stallion, “I offered it in exchange for information about Platinum, I’m feeding him because I didn’t want to un-cuff him but also because it’s fun!” Chalmers wiped his hands and Spyglass’s face with a cloth before using both hands to hold the unicorn’s head and scratch behind both ears vigorously. “Who’s a good pony? Who’s a good pony? You are!”

Spyglass’s legs kicked in their cuffs as he groaned with relaxation, a befuddled Morning watching the Captain treat the unicorn like a pet dog. The stallion didn’t seem to mind, an ear scratch must be a very powerful thing. The human stood up, his hands leaving the unicorn’s head as they reached for his helmet. Spyglass almost seemed disappointed that the scratching had stopped, however when he noticed the judgemental gazes of Chrysalis, Morning and Sunflare on him he smiled sheepishly and tucked himself into an embarrassed ball.

“Where are you going Nigel?” Chrysalis inquired as the Captain put his helmet on, leaning down to remove the cover from the final tray of pancakes. He did nothing as the nymphs all dived into the food, the pancakes evidently more enjoyable than apples as they were quickly devoured. The human stood up and flung his arms out to his sides. Two compartments popped out the sides of his hips, two black handguns resting in their holsters.

“Oh, nowhere important,” he casually replied as he stroked the grip of his weapons, “I’m just going to pop over to the neighbours to have a brief chat about their apparent problem with me. Morning you’re in charge, hold the fort will you?” With that Nigel left the cabin and everyone behind. Morning stared at the closed door before looking towards the still-cowering Spyglass then back to the door.

“This is not going to end well, is it?” she muttered as she shook her head, the mare looking down as a honey-covered muzzle nuzzled her cutie-mark of a rising sun. The nymph, according to its tag named Holey, transferred most of the sticky substance to Morning’s flank before it gazed back up with wide-blue eyes and chirped. Morning sighed and looked around for something to wipe away the honey with as the nymph ran off to jump on Spyglass like the rest of the small creatures.

‘Once again, I just have to stop drinking if stuff like this happens all the time.’

Platinum was fuming in her silver throne while resting on a purple cushion, it was nearly midday and Spyglass had not returned from his mission which meant that he was either dead or that the coward had fled for his life. The Princess chewed a chocolate heart while glaring at all of the nobles cowering at the sides of the throne room. She had ordered them all to stand there during the day and make her feel better, the constant steam of compliments about her majestic appearance helping her forget the failures of her peons.

Clover was in her usual spot with the red box of treats on her back, the unicorn’s green coat having been awarded a few new bruises since dawn had broken. The Princess had ordered her to wear nothing to court, both to show off what happened to ponies that irked Platinum and also as a form of punishment. While normally clothing was optional in pony society being present in the Royal Court without some form of covering was a high cause for shame.

With a swallow the chocolate was sunk into the depths of Platinum’s gullet, the unicorn levitating another piece to her mouth as a noblemare praised the ruler’s hair. The soon-to-be-devoured chocolate never made it however, loud thumps sounding from the main throne room doors interrupting the Princess’s snacking.

“Guards!” she ordered harshly, the two iron-armoured unicorns standing with their backs to the white stone walls saluting her. “Find out what that racket is!” The thumps stopped as the stallions opened a door and walked out, the heavy wooden barrier shutting as the only guards in the room left. The nobles all turned and muttered as Platinum waited for her guards to return, two more thumps audible before all was silent. Platinum huffed as silence reigned, as long as the noises stopped that was all that mattered. At least her soldiers proved to be good at something for once. She glared at her nobles, the ponies cowering under her stare. “I didn’t say for you to stop!”

“I, uh, really think that your coat shines like the sun,” a nervous young mare commented.

“Your eyes are like that of a Goddess,” an elderly stallion offered hopefully.

“You’re really pretty Princess,” a young colt standing next to a bowing mare squeaked out, earning a distasteful look from the ruler although she didn’t insult the child for his lack of imagination.

“I could spend all day just gutting you and making pictures with your entrails,” a muffled male voice rang out, the Princess doing a double take at the disturbing compliment.

‘Wait... what!?’

Platinum didn’t even have time to ask just which stallion was looking for a gelding before the throne room doors exploded inwards, one of them coming off the hinges to crash down upon the floor. Nobles screamed and huddled to the walls and floor as the dust from the shattered doors cleared to reveal a huge, coal-black bipedal monster with glowing red eyes and one hind leg out stretched, a leg which had apparently been used to boot the doors open. Behind the creature was a pile of knocked-out guards, the mares and stallions all with large dents in their helmets. The Monster lowered the leg as nobles, Platinum and Clover gazed at it in terror.

“I’ve come to file a complaint,” the creature informed as he started to stride into the room along the purple carpet on the floor. “I tried to phone your head office but someone called ‘Barbra’ told me that I would have to come to you directly.” Platinum got over the shock of the violent entry, her eyes narrowing in disgust as she viewed the source of her most recent troubles.

“Oh, so the Monster that thinks that it can take towns from me and get away with it has finally shown up, you’re filthier then I imagined,” Platinum insulted, hoping to occupy the monster long enough for more guards to arrive. The creature chuckled as it continued to advance slowly, making sure to look at every single noble gazing at it fearfully.

“And you’re just as annoying and bitchy as I’ve been told,” he retorted, Platinum turning red with rage. “Pleasantries aside, may I enquire as to why you’re so desperate for me to die? I assure you that I offer some rather generous surrender packages, for instance give up now and I’ll let you keep this castle.” The Princess spluttered at the bold demands as the nobility watched on.

“My surrender!? The nerve of you beast! I shall never surrender to you!” The Monster tittered at this, getting closer and closer to the Princess.

“What a shame, I guess it’s war then. It’s never fun when the enemy leader is a complete moron however.”

“Stop it!” Platinum screeched, causing ponies to flatten ears and the biped to actually stop walking. “I am Princess Platinum Evergleam, ruler of Equestria! I will not be insulted by such a foul creature!”

“I wouldn’t have to insult you,” the Monster continued as he resumed walking, “if you just gave me what I want.”

“And what do you want beast, aside from my country and to make my life a living Tartarus!?” Platinum had lost all of her patience long ago.

“Simple, I require your females in order to use their ovaries to power my super death-rays and starships, allowing me to travel to the Quabeck Sector to free the Rebekinicinas from the tyranny of the evil McDonalds Federation. Only through this can the nine Holy Clogs of Endless Discounts be acquired and used to purchase plutonium fuel cells at a third of the retail price, meaning that my time-traveling eighteen-wheeler can finally be used to transport grain in the seventeenth century Spain.”

The Princess and everyone else were stunned into shocked silence, the Monster rubbing his hands together in glee.

“I know, my plan is truly a masterpiece to behold,” the creature gloated as he reached within three metres of foot of the throne. Platinum snapped out of her trance when she realised just how close the Monster was. She knew no combat magic; she never needed to as she had guards to do that for her. Her guards were useless now however, Platinum saw only one option left.

“Clover! Protect your Princess now!” the ruler ordered, the green unicorn finding herself removed from hiding behind the throne to be thrown at the approaching monster by Platinum’s blue magic. Clover shut her eyes as she sailed through the air, waiting for the creature to end her. Expecting this grim fate she was surprised to find that instead of crashing against the creature or being eaten she was caught in a pair of strong metal arms, her light halted without any major damage being done.

Slowly opening her eyes, Clover glanced up into the two baleful crimson orbs of the creature as they seemed to burn into her soul. She gulped, the Monster staring at her for a few moments before looking back towards Platinum.

“You misunderstand,” he said as he gently placed Clover on the rug behind him, “I need more than one set of ovaries, that’s barely enough to power a toaster let alone an Oprah-class Battlecruiser-“

“Enough!” Platinum yelled, “I can’t take anymore silliness beast! What. Do. You. Want!”

The Monster darted forwards and grabbed the startled Princess around the throat with one claw, the other reaching to his head as he pinned the unicorn her own throne while everyone watched. Platinum tried to struggle but to avail, her horn lighting up in preparation to try to use her levitation to push the creature off in a last ditch effort to survive. The claw around her neck tightened and cut off her air, the magic dying out as Platinum re-assessed her options.

The Monster removed what turned out to be a helmet, Platinum gazing up into uncaring eyes surrounded by a furless face. She tried to kick out with her hind legs as she noticed the rather sharp front set of teeth that the creature showed as it grinned at her. The silver hooves just bounced off the Monster’s armour, ineffective against the black plates.

“You know Platinum,” the creature stated, his smooth voice able to be heard by everyone in the room, “I could easily kill you right now with just a clench of my hand. You would be dead and your crown would be mine for the taking. None of your subjects will make a move on me considering how easily I neutralised your guards. Then I have a large base to take over the rest of this little planet and no-one could stop me.” Platinum found the hand around her neck relaxing, the biped’s grin widening.

“That would spoil all the fun though,” the Monster continued, “I like my conquests how I like my romancing. The initial chase, the anticipated build-up and then the big bang at the finish followed by the cuddling of the spoils,” the Monster smiled as Platinum started to sweat. “I’m going to take my time ravaging your country and the real question is not why I’m doing it,” he leaned in closer to the unicorn. “No, the real question is do you want to stop me from doing it?”

“You’re… you’re crazy,” Platinum breathed, the unicorn panicking when she noticed a dangerous glint in the creature’s eyes.

“I am, and I’ll even prove it to you.”

Platinum’s eyes widened and her spine tingled as the biped locked her in a passionate kiss as the entire Equestrian nobility stared at their ruler and the Monster. The Princess had no clue what to do as the Monster’s strangely normal tongue explored her royal mouth as a hand stroked her mane. Her hind legs ceased kicking, this experience alien for the ruler in more ways than one. Platinum was shocked that she actually found herself enjoying the attention; no-one had been game enough to just outright kiss her before. Her limbs went limp as the kiss continued, the unicorn unwittingly letting out a small moan which Clover overheard.

Upon hearing the noise of enjoyment from his ‘victim’ the biped pulled away, Platinum moving her head forward in order to prolong the contact for as long as possible. The Monster withdrew completely out of her reach with a large smile on his face, letting go of Platinum to wipe the trail of saliva connecting his mouth to the unicorn’s away before replacing his helmet.

“I’d love to stay and show you just how crazy I can be and from the looks of it so would you but I’m afraid that I have prisoners to interrogate, bases to build and children to feed so I have to depart.” The creature walked around Clover and past the shocked nobility towards the doors. He turned back to Platinum, giving her a wave goodbye as he walked out. “After I take over your planet we should do coffee. Oh, and keep sending ponies out to kill me, they are proving to be oodles of fun!”

The biped left leaving behind unconscious guards, high amounts of property damage, stunned nobles, a flabbergasted advisor and a panting Princess who sported a furious blush. No-one moved or said anything for ages until one of the guards stirred.

The armoured mare groaned, removed her helmet and rubbed the bump caused by an armoured fist colliding with her helmet. She winced, looking towards the throne room doors to find them smashed in, the nobles all staring at the throne in shock. More specifically, they were staring at the Princess who was currently posed in a most un-ladylike manner. The unicorn’s hind legs were sprawled over the edge of the throne, the ruler appearing paralysed with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. The guard took this all in, the mare saying the only thing that she could think of.

“What did I miss?”

Nigel descended from the sky as his jetpack powered down, the human aiming to land at the base of the large black tower that extended into the sky in the middle of his town. The building looked like a rectangular sky-scraper, the last bit of the top still being worked on by the solitary drone.

Townsponies that had gathered around the town darted back to give the Captain room as he set down in front of a large metal door four times the size of him. The grey metal barrier had no visible seems or method of entry, Chalmers checking his wrist computer and frowning.

It seemed like the construction was behind schedule, the Captain pursing his lips in thought. A quick check of his energy and matter supplies confirmed that he had enough for his next plan, the fabricator moving out of its housing as Nigel pointed his right arm at the ground.

An outline of a rectangular body with a set of six limbs below it appeared on the ground, two large disks each the size of pony attached to either side of the rectangle. Blue lines shot out of the fabricator as they traced the outline, starting from the bottom up.
The six underhanging limbs turned into metal arms with claws and numerous tools, the rectangular body gained a dome at the front covered with lenses and sensors while the two disks were actually hollow, two high-powered rotor blades with three blades each siting within them.

It only took three minutes to create, this time everything went faster due to the ready availability of surplus energy and building materials provided by the generation plants.

Ponies watching stepped back as the machine solidified and heavy whirring sound droned out as the twin rotors started up, the machine lifting off the ground as its limbs dangled and rotated. It faced Chalmers and scanned him with a blue beam, the machine beeping as its AI recognised an authorised command-giver. It hovered in place and awaited orders, ignoring the creatures moving around it that had been marked as non-hostile on its systems.

Nigel entered in his desired command for the ‘Spinner’ drone to assist its ground-based counterpart in finishing the tower, the drone flying off to carry out its orders as the surrounding equines followed the flying machine with their eyes.

Chalmers ignored the attention paid to his creation; he couldn’t wait until he could start building actual combat drones. His tower was not yet completed and did not look like it would be until later that night so any military creations would have to wait. Checking the time, the sun starting to dip below the horizon Nigel realised just how much of the day he had spent away. He turned and quickly made his way to the ship as ponies gave him plenty of room on the road.

As he approached the cabin door he heard the scratching of multiple hooves on the door, Nigel opening the door to be met with a tide of small hungry changelings all chattering at him as he pushed them way gently to walk in. Shutting the door behind him he looked around the cabin with surprise.

It was a complete mess.

Linen and pillows were strewn around the area, the wooden floor boards looked soaked and Spyglass was on the bed still cuffed, a red hoofmark imprinted on the unicorn’s forehead as he slept. Nigel glanced over at Sunflare, seeing that the knight was also asleep but with a notable lack of hoofmarks. There was no sign of Morning or Chrysalis, Nigel assuming that the First Mate was either in town or in her cabin. That still didn’t explain the absence Chrysalis, Nigel however had to deal with ten hungry nymphs so he would have to look for her later.

Sitting down against the wall the changelings crowded around him for their feeding, Chalmers soon finding himself trapped under linen, cushion and nymph alike. Dragon toys were also added to the pile as the young beings played while eating. Chalmers was so caught up watching them that the bathroom door opening nearly made him reach for his gun. A very ragged Chrysalis emerged, that changeling visibly exhausted as she glared at him.

“Nigel,” she began with a stressed tone in her voice, “never feed the nymphs pancakes or anything else solid again.” Nigel was confused at this request.

“Why, did the sugar in the honey cause them to go hyper?” he asked, Chrysalis shaking her head as she stood in front of the seated Captain.

“No, what do you think happens when nymphs eat solid food?” Nigel shrugged, not bothering to remind Chrysalis that once again his knowledge on changelings was limited.

“They gain the ability to shoot lasers from their eyes?” he replied with a shrug, Chrysalis not appearing too amused.

“No Nigel,” she lectured, “what happened was what happens with every other living thing, it came out the other end.” Chalmers hastily glanced down at the nymphs all lying on him in alarm. “I wouldn’t be worried about that,” Chrysalis continued, “I can assure you that every single one expelled everything already, I spent most of the day cleaning it up and we’re lucky that the local herbalist had lots of lavender incense in stock.”

Nigel sniffed the air, now that Chrysalis mentioned it he could detect the faint scent of lavender in the air. He pointed a hand at the sleeping Spyglass, Chrysalis’s eyes following the finger.

“What about him, did he try to escape?” Chrysalis scoffed, rolling her new eyes at the question.

“Spyglass? No, he started freaking out when the nymphs began to stink up the cabin, rambling on about how we were trying to kill him with the smell. He wouldn’t calm down so I had to knock him out, it took a few tries but he’s been asleep for a while.” Nigel chuckled at the information, maybe the spy would be hilarious to have around after all.

“So did Sunflare behave?” he asked, Chrysalis nodding her head as she sat down next to the Captain.

“She did, she was a little sullen but she’s talking more often now. I think she’s getting better, lots of her bruises are starting to heal and she’s been eating well.” Chrysalis sighed and rested her head against Nigel’s side, the nymphs on and around the human yawning as they started to fall asleep. “How was your day, did you fight Platinum?”

Nigel decided that informing her that he had confronted the Princess only to walk away after snogging the unicorn would not be in his best interests, instead he thought up of a convincing lie.

“No, she was visiting another town so I got her advisor instead. I didn’t really feel like killing a patsy so I just caused some damage, knocked out some guards ad left.” Chrysalis didn’t buy it, she was close enough to the human to smell the scent of another mare on him but she let it slide, the changeling burying the envy inside as she hummed in fake agreement. Chalmers gestured towards the small changelings upon him. “I guess it’s an early night for all of us, goodnight Chrissy.”

“I could use it,” the changeling replied, “goodnight.”

Chrysalis awoke in a sweat, the cabin dark as snores rasped out from the many sleepers around the room. Her dream had been more like a nightmare; all she could remember was something about being marooned on an island all by herself as a fleet of ships sailed away. Chrysalis remembered some of the drones back at the hive discussing dreams, the common belief being that dreams were omens of sorts. She hoped that it was not true.

She was still against the Captain, the changeling able to clearly see the human’s face with her new eyes retaining her enhanced night-vision, Chalmers fast asleep with his head resting against the wall.

The changeling’s nose twitched, still able to smell the mare on her Captain. Despite her better judgement she found her nose heading towards the human’s mouth, the scent getting stronger. She stopped inches away, her eyes narrowing as she found that the smell was focused around Nigel’s mouth. Now that she looked closer she could see the faint marks of silver lipstick around his mouth.

‘So he has kissed another mare!’ the changeling fumed, ‘I bet she was just a street harlot with no morals trying to take advantage of him!’

Chalmers showed no signs of waking up, Chrysalis holding her face near his as she continued to stare at him.

Maybe he’d want her to get rid of the no doubt foul taste of the other mare. Yes, that was definably what Nigel would want her to do. A part of Chrysalis questioned just who was she trying to deceive and whether what she was about to do was morally right. The changeling knew that the human didn’t have any romantic feelings towards her, something that pained her so she ignored that voice and kissed the sleeping human anyway.

Her lips made contact with his, Chrysalis content to linger there for a while. The human’s mouth opened a little in an attempt to draw in more air, Chrysalis breathing out as she took advantage of the opening to slip her tongue in. Her heart nearly melted, Chrysalis knew that what she was doing was very wrong and a huge betrayal of trust but she didn’t care. For some reason ever since she had started to change strange feelings had started to cloud her mind, drawing her attention to the Captain more often than usual.

She had debated talking to him about it, maybe she was sick and something was wrong with her? Chrysalis hadn’t worked up the courage however, for the last couple of nights loneliness had been a recurring theme in her dreams and she figured that she would have to grab every chance to prevent it from becoming true.

She was broken out of the kiss, quickly and guiltily withdrawing her roving tongue form the Captain’s mouth as the biped appeared to wake up. Afraid that she had been caught, Chrysalis prepared to apologise franticly in the hopes of preserving her most cherished friendship that had evolved into something else for her.

“Why do I have to choose between the soup or the salad?” Nigel mumbled, Chrysalis breathing a sigh of relief when she realised that the human was just talking in his sleep. “Why can’t I have both? Are you an entrée bigot or something?”

‘Okay,’ Chrysalis thought as Chalmers continued to mutter, ‘that’s a strange thing to say.’

The changeling stared, Nigel appearing to return to his silent state after his strange sentences. She couldn’t begin to imagine just what was laying out in the human’s dreams. Risking detection once more she leant in to give him a quick peck on the lips, Chrysalis using the idea that it would help him sleep better as an excuse.

Her head returned to Nigel’s side, the changeling managing to retrain the urge to continue on. Her body kept on urging her on while her mind chastised her for using her friend for her own selfish desires, maybe some sleep would do her some good.

“I hope everything works out,” Chrysalis muttered to herself before giving a final look towards Nigel, “I love you for some reason but you’re never going to love me back, I guess I’ll just have to live with us being friends.” Nigel sucked in a quick breath of air, Chrysalis wondering if he had heard what she had said.

“Alright, who ordered the soufflé this late? Raise your hand so I know who to stab you…” Chalmers trailed off towards the end of his sleepy sentence, Chrysalis rolling her eyes before closing them.

‘Well, I should of known that an answer to that would not come so easy.’