Upwards, my gaze was fixated upon the clarity of the sunbeams peering through the mantling layers of white fluffs of clouds. Centered in my sight were a flock of birds, straying within the skies. Peering through a hole within the blankets of the clouds, the sun brazened itself proudly.

The vastness of the sea stretched as far as my eyes could see, waves cascading and dissipating, as the cries of seagulls could be heard frequently.

Islands, obscured by the distance and mist, were adrift among the sea. Containing either prairies, dense foliage, or simply pallid soil, these islands were various. The reasoning behind the existence of these islands?

Well... Equestria just divided itself into tiny pieces and began straying itself into sea. Confusion, but that's the most concise way to elaborate. This is also why I'm on a boat--to get to Canterlot, which was formerly available to me through ground, which is now somewhere, lost at sea.

I looked upon my surroundings. The flooring consisted of creaky boards of refined red lumber. Much of the flooring is commendably enough, polished and let out a faint luster. Its red surface reflecting even my figure as I gazed down upon it.

Upon the flooring were crates, barrels, fishing equipment, and a menagerie of other equipment... such as cannons. At the rear of the ship stood the boat's wheel. Steering said wheel was not the captain, as he had things to discuss down in the interior of the boat, but a pony clad in ragged clothing and wearing a brown bandanna--that was equally torn as was his clothes.

Speaking of ponies--they were everywhere. To the left, I could see a pony hanging loosely by a piece of rope tied to the sails' post. Idly speaking about with each other next to that pony were even more ponies. To the right, I could spot a pony viewing about the horizong around through a spyglass.

'Ugh,' I mentally dismissed as I began pacing about in impatience.

Just directly behind me yonder was a large pole spanning several feet skywards. Branching, there were protrusions of this pole, spreading left to right. Suspending by these protrusions were large sails.

Railings encompassed the edges of the surface of the ship. They were spiral in design, and as with the floor, they were also spotless enough, casting a dull shine. These ponies must really like their ship, huh?

Suddenly, ahead of me, I heard shuffling of hoofsteps coming from a staircase leading downwards into the ship's lower levels. Emerging from it was a pony.

I stood, devoid of emotion like that of a statue, as a pony, the authorizing figure no doubt considering he donned a captain's hat and a complimenting suit laced with silver-like thread and golden adornments.

Much alike with my visage, he was stoic; his face seemingly neutral for what I can presume to have been days by now. Clearing his throat, he began to speak to me, "Bug queen-" he began to spoke, irking ire within me.

"It's Queen Chrysalis, cur." I hissed a bit as I stiffened my footing. "How many times do I have to say that?"

"You're lucky that we're accommodating you-" Suddenly, he abruptly stopped as he glanced over my side. Curious on what he has spotted, I swiveled my head as well, spotting a rather nauseous red-maned changeling queen. I shrugged her off as I stared back at the captain who was also now staring back at me once more. "You're lucky that we're accommodating the both of you," he finished, his demeanor remaining emotionless.

"And you're lucky that we-" I turned to face Red, that damned changeling queen, as I heard a thumping noise from behind me. Fixating my gaze on her, I was somewhat disappointed, but at the same time not surprised, as I saw her slumped on the ground. Her breathing faint as her mouth hung loosely open. "And you're lucky that I did not decided to avoid killing you the first time I've found you."

"Enough squandering of our times, I've something to tell you, and I presume it to be critical to you," he answered sternly, his piercing gaze attesting to his words.

"And that is... ?"

"Normally, Canterlot would be around here according to our calculations." He shrugged his head. "As you can see, Canterlot is nowhere to be found within our proximity."

"Dammit... It strayed off farther than you idiots anticipated?" I snarled.

"I'm afraid that our mutual goal, find Canterlot, will have to be delayed." With not another word muttered out, he turned around, heading towards the staircase once more. As he descended, his figure vanished from my sight.

"You know what, Chrysalis?" Scarlet muttered out, her mouth in some sort of perpetual grimaced as she wobbled a bit not due to the waves smashing about against the boat we were in, but due to the disorientation her little head was experiencing, "I never thought that I'd be the one that gets seasick easily... But considering the fact that I swear that my head feels light and my sense of orientation effectively-"

"Red," I called out to her. "Can you just please shut up? I too am tired of being on this boat for we've been here for an entire day and I'm already getting sick of the ocean's scent."

Red sighed somewhat depressingly as she staggered her way towards me, closing the distance between me and her with pensive steps, all the while swaying from left to right unsteadily. "Ugh- you know, this is the first time I've been on a boat... that's actually sailing."

I arched an eyebrow of curiosity. "And by whatever does that last part of your sentence mean?"

"Oh," she looked rather palely at me as she attempted to smirk. "You know, me being a mercenary and whatnot, I had to infiltrate boats time to time. You know... burn whatever trade goods my target had."

"I see... " I shook my head subtly as I turned from her, setting my gaze upon the mast. "I don't get it," without bothering to face her, I spoke, "You, of all changeling queens, decided to make your hive a mercenary group instead of... a hive."

"Pft. As if I play by the rules." I heard her steps coming towards me. Responding accordingly, I turned around to face her. She stood, mere feet away, her seasickness apparently drowned out by an overly cocky grin on her face.

I bore dreary eyes into her as I furrowed my brows a bit. "We changelings... are predators. We are not predators for hire," I stated.

She scoffed a chuckle. "Like I said, I don't play by the rules."

I slacked a bit, deadpanning from her reply, letting out a soft breath escape from my mouth.

There was an eerie silence, the only sounds being the torrents of water smashing against each other in the midst of the ocean and the gusts of the sea breeze.

She stood, motionless and adamant, still casting that damning smirk at me. "Might I ask why that I bother you so much?"

My frown somewhat lightened, forming into a faint smile. I chuckled a bit, suppressing it with my hoof. "Really? Well... for one, you tried to kill us for the sake of monetary gain. Other than that, however..." I lowered my head a bit. "I don't really know. I guess I'm just offended that you're supposedly someone alike me."

"Hey!" she squealed out, visibly infuriated as she glared down dagger-like glances at me. "And what does that supposed to mean?"

I shut my eyes, turning my head away from her. "Oh. Well, nothing, really." I smirked as well this time, a bit too deviously. "I'm merely stating my discontent that you're supposedly equal to me in power... Speaking of power, have you recovered yet?"

"What? My strength?" She looked at her body, casting glances left and right. Craning her head towards her left leg, she muttered out in a cursing fashion, "It might not look like it, but when your friend shot me, it hurt like hell... and it also took much of my already depleted reserve of love for me to mend that wound quickly."

"That 'friend' of mine also got himself lost from my watch. He's probably dead by now." I shrugged, shaking my head profusely. "He's making this much more troublesome."

"And what is he making much more troublesome, really?" Red tilted her head to the left slightly, her squinted eyebrows indicating confusion. "I'm not even sure why you're 'friends' with someone who is wanted among everypony."

"I don't think we've vocally expressed this to each other, but our objective is to kill Celestia, claim the throne, and hopefully let me reign Equestria without impediment."

"I... " Red trailed off somewhat as she stared at me with an off expression. "I don't think he'll just so casually let you take control off the whole Equestria."

"That's where perhaps you're wrong." I laughed a bit--somewhat displaying my innate malice through my laughter that sounded much like cackling. "If you didn't notice, he's not from here. And he's made clear of this: he wants to go back to wherever he came from."

"Really now?" She returned her head to straight position, reverting it from its tilted posture. "And here I thought you'd be willing to entitle yourselves 'King and Queen of Equestria'."

I recoiled a bit, stricken off at the peculiarity of such notion. "Really. With him." I dismissed her with a single flail of my hoof. "Him... Are you seeing straight? Are you even thinking clearly?"

"Ah... I see. I understand," Red muttered, almost to herself as her words were only barely audible. "You're one of those types who conceal their warm side by feigning a cold, hostile disposition..." she continued to mutter to herself, adding more to my confusion.

"Uh." I gleamed hopelessly lost eyes at her. "I don't follow... Are you even listening to yourself right now?"

"Whatever." With a carefree trot, she made her way towards the staircase just ahead of me. Her steps were still shaky as she still slanted a bit to the sides a bit to close to falling as she trotted. "Come... on. I'd rather faint from getting drunk rather than from this damned seasickness..."

I opened my mouth to protest, but I stopped myself as I saw her descend into the interior of the ship. "Do they even store alcohol here... ?" I whispered to myself.

Sighing, I went after her, my steps more cautious than her sloppy movement as I began making my down through the steeping staircases.

I let out a hushed growl, muttering out curses under my breath. "Dammit. How'd I get stuck in all-" Something bumped against me, causing me to end my sentence abruptly with a quiet yelp.

Looking down at whatever has collided against me. Through the dimmed lighting of the staircase of the ship, I noticed that it was in fact Red--who has, for some reason, stopped walking and just stood there motionless.

I began to arch my brow, questioning her logic behind just standing in the middle of a rather confined staircase.

Before I could even vocally convey my bewilderment, she swiftly turned around, facing me sharply. I hung loose my jaw to speak of her sanity, but before I could even get out one word, she flung her head at mine, throwing be aback. She plucked at my mouth, bringing her lips to my own.

The warmness permeating from her body began to seep into my body through her lips. Utterly dazed at the accosting of my mouth, I pulled myself back, stepping away from her.

"What'd you-" I began to speak out furiously, intending on demanding an explanation for all that. Suddenly, it seemed as if my own question was answered as greenish light, manifest of love, began to swirl around her. These vaporous incarnations of love seeped into her body, wicked off from the atmosphere as she let out a satisfied sigh. "Oh," I deadpanned.

"Heh." She chuckled a bit as she began making herself way down once more. "Sorry about that. I wouldn't have been able to stand being powerless for another second," her words resonated through the darkened corridors as she continued descending, her hooves tapping lightly against the wooden surface being the only thing I could hear now. "I'll be off to get a drink now."

I grimaced lightly. "You're not getting away with what's mine." I hastened, sprinting downwards the staircase.

"Don't worry!" she yelled out at me as I sprinted, her words still echoing through the halls. "I'll keep this between ourselves, okay?"

Author's Notes:

Eh. In case you were wondering for what these two were up to.

No pre-readers for this one, so there might be a handful of mistakes.

Of course, that means that positions for pre-readers are open.

Please help. TT_TT