Pirates of the Alicorn: Legend of the Silver Spirit

It was nearing midnight when Princess Luna’s birthday party was at full swing, the celebration was so big it made both the Grand Galloping Gala and the Canterlot Wedding seem like a small picnic in the park. Ponies from all over Equestria, all dressed in their finest, came to Canterlot to celebrate their princess of the night, even Shining Armour and Princess Cadence came all the way from the Crystal Empire to join in the festivities. As each pony entered the Gala Hall they were all greeted with wondrous decorations provided by Pinkie Pie and the Canterlot decorators, balloons in all shades of blue and silver filled the ceiling while lengths of shining silver streamers dangled above the stage where the band was already playing soft melodies

“I gotta say Twi, you and your friends certainly went all out on this party,” Shining Armour said admiring the decorations.

“Only the best for Royalty,” Rarity said joining in the conversation. “But did we have to invite Prince Blueblood? He’s only been here an hour and he’s already made three ponies cry.”

“Well he IS Princess Celestia’s nephew,” Twilight said, though clearly not happy about it herself. “Besides if we didn’t invite him I’m sure he’d only try to find some way to make himself be the centre of attention.”

This was indeed true, in all the years the Mane Six have known Prince Blueblood he has been nothing more than a spoiled rich boy who was always full of himself and never shown any pony else a single once of respect. Rarity especially hated him because he has had the most experience with his lack of respect because during the first Gala she attended he expected Rarity to open the door for him and pay for his dinner, and that was just to name a few insults.

“I suppose your right,” Rarity grumbled, obviously still irritated. “So where exactly is Princess Luna? It is her party after all.”

“Princess Celestia said that she wanted to make an entrance,” Twilight answered. “I suppose she’s waiting until midnight so she could enter with as much drama as possible.”

Suddenly as though it were reacting to Twilight’s words the clock struck midnight, causing the band on stage to stop playing, when the final bell chimed the doors of the Gala Hall swung open and Princess Luna entered the room wearing a beautiful Sapphire-blue dress, as all eyes looked upon her in awe Luna couldn’t help but grin with glee.

“We cannot tell you all how much we appreciate you all being here,” she said with a teary eyed smile. “We thank you all for your presence here and we also like to thank our sister, Twilight and all our friends for making all this possible.”

“We were happy to do it Princess Luna,” Twilight said, slightly blushing.

“Indeed we were,” Princess Celestia added as she entered the room behind Luna, dressed in a majestic silver gown. “And might I say Luna, we will always treasure this moment.”

At those words Celestia levitated a silver chalice of drink from one of the buffet tables and raised it as if to make a toast.

“Happy Birthday Sister,” she stated with a smile.

As every pony else raised their glasses to toast their beloved princess of the night, Luna couldn’t but cry tears of joy, it had been a terribly long time since she has felt so loved. As the party continued and the music started up again, the Mane Six decided to mingle while Princess Luna greeted a few of the guests.

“This really is some swank party guys,” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “I just been talking to Spitfire and she said this is better than the Grand Galloping Gala”

“You two seem to be getting pretty close Rainbow,” Applejack said. “I should think that ya’ll be in the Wonderbolts by now.”

“Well she did say I’d have to spend more time at the academy but knowing my luck I’d probably be one by this time next year.” Rainbow dash said with a shrug.

“Well you certainly do deserve it darling,” Rarity said, patting her friend on the back.

“Especially after what happened in Ponyville last year,” Pinkie Pie added.

“I’m actually surprised they didn’t ask you to join there and then,” Applejack. “Especially after ya’ll show yer stuff at the academy a while back.”

“True,” Rainbow said smugly. “But I still have a lot to learn even I am THAT Awesome, which of course I am.”

At those words the Mane Six couldn’t help but giggle, Fluttershy however was just staring off in a daze.

“Are you ok Fluttershy?” Twilight asked snapping her back into reality. “You’ve been a lot more quite than usual.”

“Oh, um… well you see…” Fluttershy whispered.

“She’s been thinking about her colt-friend again,” Pinkie Pie giggled, cutting her off.

Needless to say, Fluttershy’s widened with embarrassment upon hearing this, clearly she was caught out.

“Is that true Fluttershy?” Twilight said with a soft look. “Have you been thinking about Big Rummy?”

“Well… yes,” Fluttershy answered softly. “It’s just that ever since that letter came this morning all I could think about was Rummy and all the time we spent together before the Golden Alicorn left… I miss him so much girls.”

Twilight then put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder to comfort her.

“We all do Fluttershy,” she said. “We miss all of them.”

“Remember that time T-Cog tried to ski off the back of the ship?” Rainbow Dash chuckled.

“Or the time Dripfang did those silly impressions during that big party when the Cutie Mark Crusaders got their Cutie Marks?” Pinkie Pie added.

As they all listened to the music being played by the grey cello player on stage, memories of their time aboard the Golden Alicorn began to fill the Mane Six’s heads, both the good and the bad, the fact that they even knew their swashbuckling friends to begin with was comfort enough, but the fact that they were coming back soon was that much better.

“What do you suppose those devilish rogues have been up to this past year?” Rarity asked.

“Knowing them it’ll probably something severely cool,” Rainbow dash replied.

“I suppose they’ll tell us as soon as they get here,” Twilight said with a smile.

“Ooh, I can’t wait!” Pinkie Pie tittered as she bounced around the rest of the Mane Six in her usual hyperactive way.

When the cello player finally finished her song, she was met with applause as a lime green Unciorn walked on stage.

“Please give it up for the wondrous talents of the lovely Octavia Melody!” he said as the grey earth pony took a bow and walked off stage. “Now our next performer is…”

Suddenly the announcer was cut off as the lights instantly went out, completely shrouding the room in black.

“What the…?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

All of a sudden another voice echoed throughout the room.

“Oh she’s pretty good for a wee lass,” it said. “But here come a few laddies who really kick ass!”

Suddenly all of the Mane Six’s eyes widened in shock, they knew that high-pitched voice of a Trottland Pegasus anywhere.

“While we live on the sea, far from everything, here are some jolly pirates who just love to sing!”

Suddenly the entire hall was once again illuminated and the stage was visible again, upon it were the faces of the bunch of swashbuckling pirates the Mane Six were proud to call friends, the faces of the Pirates of the Alicorn. They were all there, Jack, Shimmer, T-Cog, Dripfang, Gem La Stone, Slash, Big Rummy, even Marina in all her watery glory was on the stage playing and singing to her hearts content. Needless to say all those who knew these gallant rogues were glad to see them, even more so when they began to sing. As the song ended and the pirates bowed their heads, half the ponies in the room were in a state of complete shock, a good majority of them expecting to end up being robbed by these mangy pirates within the minute, the other half however simply clapped their hooves in applause, thus confusing the first half even more.

“What are they doing here?” Shining Armour said with a scowl as he walked up to Twilight with Princess Cadence, clearly he still didn’t trust the pirates despite what Twilight has told him about them.

“Hey, at least they’re not out robbing any pony,” Twilight said with a smile as she and the rest of the Mane Six went to greet their friends.

“That’s because everyone worth robbing is here!” Shining Armour replied.

But Twilight just ignored her brother and welcomed the crew with open hooves.

“Rummy!” Fluttershy screamed as she latterly tackled the gigantic earth pony off his hooves and squeezing him into a tear-filled hug, soaking his vest in the process. “I’ve missed you so much!”

As she and Rummy shared one long passionate kiss, every pony else in the group couldn’t help but look in confusion, luckily Celestia and Luna stepped onto the stage and began to speak.

“Ponies of Equestria,” Celestia announced. “Allow us to introduce the brave sailors who stood up against evil and saved Ponyville from its terrible clutches, please welcome Jack Silver and the Pirates of the Alicorn!”

At those words a good majority of the ponies in the room applauded, clearly their reputation proceeded them.

“Welcome Jack,” Luna said with a smile “You and your crew honour us with your presence.”

“Thank you Princess Luna,” Jack said as he kissed her fore hoof. “However as you already know, this no longer MY crew, allow me to re-introduce my daughter… Captain Shimmering Silver.”

At those words Shimmer stepped forward and bowed her head in respect for the two princesses.

“I’m honoured to officially meet you at last your highnesses,” she said. “I see you received our gift.”

Luna then looked down at her dress and gazed upon the broach holding it up, which was in fact the Moonlight Pendant.

“We certainly did,” Luna said with a smile. “And we are glad to receive such a beautiful gift.”

“Oh that was but a small token your nibs,” Jack said with a grin. “The real present was far too big to send with a letter.”

“Bring it in boys!” Shimmer called.

Instantly upon Shimmer’s words several other pirates appeared from behind the crowd and began rolling a dozen hulking barrels towards the stage, after they finished at least twelve barrels were lined up across the floor.

“This here is the some of the finest bubbly ever to be created in the world.” Jack explained as he had T-cog crack open on of the barrels with his hook and dipped a glass from the buffet table into it. “It may have cost us a great deal of swag but we figured that a birthday for royalty deserved some of the finest drink for the occasion.”

And with glass he took a huge gulp of the liquid and cheerfully giggled.

“Ah, sweet and tangy!”

Needless to say most of the ponies stood in awe at the bulking barrels, however none were more so than Luna who began to tear up again.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” she said, losing the royal we due to being so emotional. “Thank you Jack Silver, thank you all.”

At those words, every pirate simply smiled, Celestia then spoke again.

“Friends, we have been blessed by the arrival of such wonderful allies,” she announced to the crowd. “So let us welcome them and enjoy the rest of the night!”

Upon finishing her speech both Celestia and Luna stepped off the stage and took a glass of the Champaign the pirates brought and sipped it, the taste was unbelievable, not even the royal vineyards could have produced something like this. Following their princess’s example everyone else sampled this strange new drink, needless to say they found it just as delightful as Luna and Celestia did.

“I say, this stuff is just incredible,” Cadence said taking a sip.

“They may be pirates but they certainly have good taste,” Shining Armour added.

As every pony else enjoyed the delicious beverage, the Pirates decided to catch up with their former shipmates.

“I can’t believe you guys are here,” Twilight said, squeezing Shimmer into a hug. “Although you could have used the front door.”

“Hey we never used to use the front door before,” Shimmer said with a shrug.

“Yeah, so why start now?” Slash laughed. “So where are Spike and the girls? I would have thought they’d be a big part of this.”

“Well the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike are all asleep in their rooms,” Twilight explained. “They wanted to be up for this but the poor things were too exhausted from all the decorating.”

“So you are the ones responsible for this eh?” Dripfang smirked between his pointed teeth. “I must say I haven’t seen an event like this since your brother’s wedding.”

“Yeah, you might not want to tell them you were part of the first batch of Changelings that crashed that wedding,” Rainbow Dash said. “Cadence and Shining Armour may be a little ticked off if you did, heck their not so happy with changelings right now, telling might just put salt in the wound.”

“Hey no arguments there,” Dripfang reassured her. “I’m just here to enjoy the party with my friends.”

“And speaking of which,” Jack said. “Allow me to introduce our new navigator.”

At those words, Jack called over one of the Diamond Dogs that came in with the Champagne, he was a tall fellow who stood up at least a foot above every pony else, even Big Rummy could only just be at eye-level with him if he tilted his head up, he had dark grey fur with lighter grey markings around his underside and his eyes, the latter resembling what looked like a burgers mask, he also wore a tatty brown vest jacket with a matching fedora hat, however what fascinated every pony most of all was the way the dog acted, while Big Rummy acted a little clueless at times, this Diamond Dog seemed… crazy, Every other second he’d quickly turn his head, giggled to himself for no good reason and at one point Twilight could have sworn she saw him swallow one of his own loose teeth.

“Girls, allow me to present our newest comrade, Rocky,” Jack said, presenting the Diamond Dog. “Rocky, this is Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, the friends we were telling you about.”

“Ooh they’re the ponies who helped you save Ponyville?” he asked in high-pitched voice.

Seeing Jack’s nod Rocky suddenly slid behind Pinkie Pie and started inspecting her hair.

“How does it stay up like that?” he asked the puzzled earth pony. “It’s so fluffy and it smells like candy,”

“Rocky!” Jack snapped as T-cog yanked on Rocky’s jacket with his hook, pulling him away from Pinkie Pie. “What have I said about boundaries?”

“Oops,” Rocky giggled. “Sorry Mr Jack.”

After T-Cog released the dog, everyone saw the disturbed look on the rest of the Mane Six’s faces.

“Sorry about that me dear,” T-Cog said, readjusting his hook. “He’s still in the early stages of recovery.”

“Recovery?” Applejack said with a raised eyebrow.

“As far as we can tell he used to be the alpha of his pack in Zebrafrica,” Dripfang explained. “That is until a rival challenged him to a fight.”

“The poor guy lost and the new alpha banished him from the pack.” Marina added. “He probably lost his mind afterward.”

Hearing this, the Mane Six couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor Diamond Dog who for some reason wasn’t paying attention to the conversation and was now starting to dunk his head into one of the Champaign barrels. As Shimmer and Dripfang tried to pry him away from the booze, the pirates continued their story.

“When we found him he was lying face down on the beach completely passed out.” Jack explained. “Probably would have died if we didn’t bring him aboard.”

“Will he be okay?” Fluttershy asked.

“Perhaps,” Jack answered. “Although it’s hard to tell, like T-cog said he’s still in the early stages of recovery, until then he’s still a little on the crazy side.”

“Oui, totally coo-coo,” Gem la Stone added, swirling her hoof around her head to show her point.

At those words, Twilight couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

“Is he safe?” she asked with concern.

“Oh yeah he’s fine,” Jack reassured her. “He may be bonkers but he’s harmless, if he wasn’t I wouldn’t let him anywhere near my ship yet alone my maps.”

Hearing this Twilight and the rest of the Mane Six sighed in relief

“Hey at least he doesn’t chew on the mast,” Slash joked.

“No that would be you after three mugs of rum and a dance off with a girl in Las Pegasus.” Gem snickered.

The rest pirates couldn’t help but laugh at Slash’s backfired joke, even the Mane Six couldn’t help but give out a small giggle. As the party continued into the night every pony was just too caught up in each other to notice anything else.

Had any of the party guests were paying any attention to what was happening outside the Gala hall, they would've seen an eerie figure dress in a black cloak sneaking through the garden and teleporting himself inside the castle, and whoever is it was had to be up to no good, especially when the trespasser has to dodge several of the guards to avoid being seen. After several minutes the figure found the room he was looking for, upon entering the castle library he instantly began to run across the room and skim a few of the shelves, trying to find something in particular that he seemed to desperately need.

“Where is it?” he growled in a deep raspy voice. “It has to be here somewhere, aha!”

Finally the figure found the shelf was looking for, it was an old area of the library that only just been recently used, evidently the castle cleaners hadn’t been paying much attention to this part of the library until a few days ago. After getting a small stepladder from the corner and climbing up to one of the high shelves, the figure began to examine several scrolls, throwing each one over his shoulder if it wasn’t what he wanted.

“Come on, come on, come on,” he whispered irritably as the large number of scrolls piled up behind him. “YES!”

Realising his mistake the figure covered his mouth in shock, thankfully no pony heard his cry of delight, as he read the scroll carefully with much anticipation a large toothy grin appeared on his face, the thief had found what he was looking for.

“Perfect,” he sniggered.

Meanwhile the party continued in the Gala Hall, while Fluttershy and Big Rummy tried to get some “Alone time” the rest of the pirates and the Mane Six decided to mingle amongst the crowd, needless to say some ponies were quite fascinated to engage in a conversation with a Kelpie when Marina became part of the chatter. Dripfang however was having a little more trouble fitting in given the history between his old hive and the citizens of Canterlot, luckily no pony found out he was part of that invasion. Gem la Stone seemed to be more interested in the gowns of the ladies of the party and it sparked up quite the conversation with Rarity, Jack however seemed to be in deep conversation with Celestia.

“What do you suppose they’re talking about?” Twilight asked looking just out of earshot with Shimmer.

“Who knows,” Shimmer answered with a smile. “Father’s always been an admirer of all the Princesses, I suppose that’s why he enrolled at Celestia’s school went he was a child.”

“You know about that then,” Twilight asked her. “You know that this is the country your father came from.”

“There’s hardly anything we don’t share with each other Twilight,” Shimmer explained. “Ever since my mother died, Father was always honest with me, said he felt like it brought us that much closer.”

Twilight wondered whether she should enquire if Shimmer knew about Jack’s previous plan to turn himself in while they were on the voyage for the Element of Hope, but didn’t just in case she was still unaware of it. Luckily at that moment, Slash and Dripfang walked up to them, giving Twilight a chance to change the subject.

“Hey guys,” she said, suddenly noticing the evil grin across their faces. “What’s going on?”

“Oh nothing,” Slash smirked. “We only just gave some stuck up windbag what he deserved.”

“Oh no,” Shimmer said, face hoofing. “What did you do?”

“Hey he started it,” Slash quickly said trying to defend himself.

“You should have heard the smack he was talking about us,” Dripfang added. “He said… It’s bad enough that they let commoners into these events but now they are letting a bunch of bilge rats join in, honestly what is the world coming to?”

That last sentence Dripfang spoke with a perfect voice impression given his Changeling biology, needless to say Twilight knew that pompous voice anywhere.

“By Celestia what did you do to Prince Blueblood?” she asked in shock.

But before either Slash or Dripfang could answer, a loud ringing began to echo throughout the hall, suddenly a cloaked figure burst through the doors, followed by a number of the castle guards.

“Stop Thief!”  One of them screamed.

As it turns out, the figure who broke into the library was caught on the way out and tried to run for it, obviously not realising where he was going when he burst into the Gala Hall. As the figure stood in the centre of the room surrounded by guards, he tried his best to further hide his face from view.

“What is going here?” Celestia demanded.

“This thief broke into the Canterlot Archives and stole the Crystal Scrolls your highness,” one of the guards explained.

“Friend of yours Silver?” Shining Armour said eyeing Jack with a glare.

“Shining!” Twilight snapped.

“I assure you sir he’s not of my crew,” Jack said trying to reassure everyone within earshot.

Suddenly the figure spotted Jack and his crew within the crown and glared in anger.

“YOU!” he growled.

At those words every head in the room turned towards Jack

“You know me sir?” Jack said with a raised eyebrow.

But before Jack could get an answer the figure literally ignited his horn in a burst of flame and shot a massive flamethrower straight at a few of the guards to his left, luckily every pony managed to jump out of the way before anyone was hurt. As the figure ran towards the door, Jack became determined to find out what’s going on.

“Rummy!” Jack screamed. “The door!!!”

Instantly reacting, Big Rummy ran towards the door and stood his ground to block it before the thief could get through, however the thief simply ignited his horn again and sent him flying into the hallway outside, thankfully only his vest was slightly charred.

“Rummy, are you ok?” Fluttershy squealed as she ran up to him.

“Oh yeeeessss,” he said dizzily. “Thank you for assssking Mr Teapot.”

“By Celestia, he has a concussion,” Slash face palmed after examining his friends head.

“Oh that is it!” Jack growled. “No pony knocks around my family and gets away with it!”

“AFTER HIM BOYS!!!” Shimmer screamed.

Not ever feeling the need to argue, every pirate then instantly ran into the hall way with a great number of the castle guards, there was no way they were going to let some petty thief get away with what he’s done to their fellow shipmate.