Pirates of the Alicorn: Legend of the Silver Spirit

As the thief ran down the halls of the castle both the pirates and the castle guards along with the Mane Six weren’t that far behind, however while the thief was able to gallop with great haste it was still no match for the amount of speed Marina was traveling since she literally washed through the halls as a wave of water.

“Get back here!” she screamed.

And Marina almost had him, with one more gush of water she would have swallowed the thief up and carried him in a current of water straight back towards the Gala Hall, unfortunately the thief had a trick up his sleeve, before Marina could even reach him he began to glow with a strange red aura, an aura that seemed to be generating a large amount of heat.

“What the…?” Marina puzzled.

And before she even knew what was happening Marina’s entire body began to bubble, she was literally begging to boil.

“AH!!!” she screamed as she collapsed into a steaming puddle, only just managing to reform herself as she slumped into the wall of the hallway in agony.

“Marina, are you ok?” Rainbow Dash said as she caught up to her.

“Don’t touch me!!!” Marina snapped quickly before Rainbow Dash could lay a hoof on her. “That Unicorn’s somehow generating heat, if you touch me you’ll scald yourself.”

Seeing the steam still coming from Marina’s still bubbling body, Rainbow dash realised she was right.

“Some pony get some ice or something!” she screamed as T-cog and Dripfang flew up to her with a two of the castle guards.

“Look after her lads,” T-cog instructed the guards who gave a nod in response. “Let’s get this filth!”

Instantly Dripfang and T-Cog instantly flew down the halls with Rainbow Dash taking the lead, out of all the Pegasus giving chase, they were the fastest. As all three  of them disappeared around the corner to catch the thief, the other pirates and guards finally managed to catch up to where the guards were trying to escort Marina to the infirmary without touching her. Suddenly a bunch of screams echoed through the halls and Rainbow Dash, T-Cog and Dripfang began to fly straight back.

“The wacko set the bloody place of fire!!!” Dripfang screamed.

As the three flew past the pirates and the guards in a state of panic every pony else looked back in horror and saw that he was right, as though it were chasing after them, huge curtains of scorching red flames were engulfing the hallway and coming straight towards the group.

“RUN!!!” Shimmer screamed.

In an instant every pony began running at full speed back down the hall, each of them fearing for their lives. Only Jack seemed to be the only one standing his ground.

“What are you doing!?!” Twilight asked fearfully as she and Shimmer ran back towards him.

“Chasing down a thief!” Jack said sternly as he quickly pulled up his sleeve and produced a golden gauntlet on his hoof.

Suddenly a long sword burst out of the gauntlet and Jack instantly swung downward, as though by magic a massive gust of air blasted its way from the tip of the blade and sliced through the flames, instantly extinguishing them in the process and leaving Twilight and Shimmer baffled.

“The Element of Hope?” Twilight said, instantly realising what was on Jack’s hoof.

“Never leave the ship without it.” Jack smirked. “Now come on!”

As the thief quickly hid inside one of the rooms of the castle to catch his breath, he couldn’t help but sigh in relief, however the thought of Jack Silver’s presence here still raced through his mind, however he really didn’t have time to dwell on it since he still needed to escape.

“Where the hell is she!?!” he snapped. “She should have been here by now!”

“Expecting someone else are we?” said a stern voice behind him.

The thief then turned and saw the angry looks of Jack Silver, Shimmer and Twilight standing in the doorway, their eyes blazing with determination.

“You… you stay away from me Silver!” the thief whimpered as he slowly backed towards the open window. “I’m… I’m warning you!”

“You seem to know me well enough to fear me kiddo,” Jack growled as he slowly edged his way towards him. “And yet I can also see the hate in your eyes despite that cloak of yours, have I wronged you in the past?”

“Wronged me!?!” the thief snapped in anger. “Have you truly forgotten what you did to me all those years ago!?! Perhaps old age really has gotten the better of you, no wonder you’re hanging around with a bunch of stuck-up royalty!”

AT those words Twilight couldn’t help but feel a little insulted, but Shimmer simply held up her hoof before she could respond.

“Whatever issues you have with my father will be settled in time,” she said to the thief. “But during this point in time you will fork over whatever it is you stole and after that you will pay for what you have done to my crewmembers, you may have known Jack Silver many years ago but I Captain the Golden Alicorn now and as Captain I command that you do as I say or face our wrath!”

Needless to say Jack and twilight were impressed with what Shimmer just said, clearly she has become quite skilled in becoming a leader.

“Nicely done,” Twilight whispered.

“Thank you,” shimmer replied smugly, though still trying to hold back a blush.

The thief however just laughed, as the wheezy cackle imitated in their ears Jack’s eyes suddenly widened, he had heard that laugh before.

“Oh this is just rich!” the thief sniggered. “Daddy’s little girl is now all grown up and taking command, but then again I shouldn’t be too surprised, after all you were just demanding when you were only a filly.”

At those words Twilight and Shimmer’s eyebrows raised in confusion, Jack however seemed to have a look of fear.

“Who are you?” he asked nervously.

Hearing this, the thief put on another wicked smile.

“So you really have forgotten me,” he said. “Oh Jack how could you possibly forget the great times we had? After all I still remember you, how could I possibly forget the one who did THIS to me!?!”

Suddenly the thief quickly lowered his hood and revealed his face, causing every pony in the room to gasp in shock. The thief revealed himself to be a light-red stallion with a golden mane, however the right side of it seemed to be missing along with a chuck of his right ear, he was also missing small chunks of the right side of his face which looked like they were burnt off with a burning sword, that would also explain the glassy look in the stallion’s right eye which had obviously lost to ability to see due to the scarring around it.

“But… but this is impossible!” Jack stuttered in fear.

“So you DO remember me,” the stallion chuckled. “Well it’s nice to know I have made some impression on you Jack, I would love to stay and chat but I...”

Suddenly the stallion was cut off by the sound of smashing glass as another pony burst through the window with a gust of wind and the force of it sent Jack, Shimmer and Twilight crashing into the nearby wall, slightly knocking them into a daze in the process. The pony revealed to be a lime-green Pegasus mare with a dark green mane and lavender eyes, she also wore think black glasses and a light grey fedora hat.

“Well, it’s about time!” the thief snapped.

“Sorry darling,” the Pegasus said nervously “It wasn’t easy knocking out…”

“Never mind excuses, just get me out of here!!!” the thief screamed at her.

Not wanting to anger the Unicorn any further, the Pegasus quickly flew down towards him and picked him up with her fore-hooves. The two then quickly soared out the broken window, instantly disappearing into the clouds, when Jack Shimmer and Twilight finally managed to stand up again, they quickly ran up to the window, however the thief and his accomplice were already long gone. Suddenly Twilight and Shimmer looked towards Jack with a confused glare.

“Jack,” Twilight said sternly. “Who was that?”

The next morning the entire castle was in utter disarray, in just a single hour one thief had managed to ruin Luna’s entire party and destroy a good chunk of the castle all for the sake of a few scrolls. While most of the guests decided to go home, Shining Armour and Princess Cadence stayed behind to enquire about what happened the previous night. While Big Rummy and Marina stayed in the infirmary and Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were told to stay in their rooms, every pony else gathered in the throne room, when Shining Armour, the Mane Six, the pirates and all three princesses were gathered all eyes turned towards Jack, even his own crew seemed to glare at him with anticipation.

“I think we deserve an explanation Jack Silver,” Luna stated, clearly still upset from what happened the previous night. “Who was that Stallion who stole the Crystal Scrolls?”

“You two did seem to know each other Jack,” Twilight added.

“That’s because they do,” T-Cog said. “He used to be a member of the crew.”

At those words everyone’s eyes widened with shock, it was at that moment Jack knew he had to come clean.

“His name is Heatwave,” Jack explained. “And yes he was a member of the crew once, he joined the crew over twenty years ago after I saved him from a Hydra. However even back then he was a bit of a loose cannon.”

“Loose cannon?” T-Cog laughed. “The lad literally burnt down his hammock during the first week he was on the ship.”

As every pony listened to Jack’s story they couldn’t help but feel nervous, there obviously some terrible history between the two stallions.

“About a year after he joined up I sent him with a shore party to rob a settlement in Trottingham but while he was there he found a wanted poster with my image on it, after seeing how much reward money I would go for he snuck away from the shore party and tried to turn me in exchange for both the reward and amnesty for his crimes, after all back then he had a bounty of his head almost as big as mine. I was lucky to have discovered Heatwave’s plan and confront him before he led a few castle guards to the ship.”

At those words every pony felt a little uneasy.

“What happened?” Applejack asked nervously.

“After I confronted him he attacked me,” Jack sighed. “As you probably would have guest from last night Heatwave specialises in fire-based magic, probably due to the fact he grew up to become a pyromaniac after being born into a poor family. Anyway after he attacked me he tried to burn me enough so that I wouldn’t be able to move.”

Jack then sighed again, this part of the story in particular he wasn’t too fond of.

“Needless to say it didn’t turn out so well for him,” he continued. “That scaring on the right side of his face… that was the result of me using my magic to turn his own fire against him. After that me and the crew escaped and never returned to Trottingham again.”

It was at that moment every pony gasped in shock.

“Whoa,” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“Shiver me Timbers,” Dripfang added.

“What happened to him after that?” Cadence asked.

“Just what one would expect,” Jack answered. “The Trottingham guards heard the commotion, came running, I only just managed to escape before they spotted me and Heatwave was arrested there and then. No doubt without me as a bargaining chip, Heatwave had no chance against the justice system and probably spent the next twenty years in Trottingham Prison, although how he escaped and who that Pegasus was is beyond me.”

“I think I might be able to shed some light on that subject,” Celestia said, much to everyone’s surprise.

“What do you mean?” Jack asked.

At those words Celestia levitated a scrolled up piece of paper and lowered it onto a nearby table, when she unrolled it the paper revealed to be a wanted poster with the images of two ponies on it.

“After Twilight told me what the intruders looked like, I took the liberty of looking over the wanted posters of any criminals on the run, and these two seemed to match the description.”

As every pony examined the poster, Twilight, Shimmer and Jack instantly recognised the ponies upon it.

“Yep,” Jack sighed. “That’s Heatwave alright.”

“But who’s ze other one?” Gem enquired.

“Her name is Fedora Green,” Celestia explained. “As I understand it she used to be a reporter for the Trottingham Newspaper who used to visit this Heatwave while he was in prison, no pony knows why but about a month ago she helped Heatwave escape and they’ve been on the run ever since.”

“And now for some reason they took it upon themselves to steal the Crystal Scrolls,” Luna added.

“But what are the Crystal Scrolls?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah and why are they so important?” Rainbow Dash added.

“When I became the ruler of the Crystal Empire, me and Shining Armour discovered several old scrolls hidden in the archives.” Cadence explained.

“We didn’t know what they were so we sent them here so that the Canterlot scholars would be able to decipher them.” Shining Armour added.

“Now we might never know what secrets they contain with them being in the hooves of this Heatwave,” Celestia stated. “Whatever it was he must have known enough about them to try and steal them, but for what purpose.”

Suddenly Jack’s face lit up and a smile appeared on his face.

“Maybe we can find out with these,” he said.

At those words, Jack levitated two more scrolls out of his coat pocket and placed them on the table.

“During the commotion last night, these managed to fall out of Heatwave’s pocket,” Jack explained. “Luckily I managed to swipe them up during the chase otherwise the idiot probably would have burnt them up without realising what he was doing. Perhaps now we can figure out what Heatwave was after.”

Upon peering at the scrolls every pony saw that the symbols upon them seemed to be in some kind of weird language, one that was clearly not of Equestrian origin.

“We tried comparing them to every other language in our history books but none of them seem to match what’s written here,” Celestia explained.

“That’s because all the books that had this language in them have been lost to sands of time,” jack said with a serious look in his eye. “Shipmates, don’t you recognise these symbols?”

At first no pony knew what Jack was talking about, but when the Mane Six and the pirate crew looked closer at the scrolls they saw that the symbols upon did seem familiar, suddenly they realise where they’ve seen them before.

“Is that what I think it is?” Rarity exclaimed.

“The language of the Changelings,” Slash said answering her questions.

And that’s exactly what is was, the very same language that the Mane Six saw while traveling with the Pirates of the Alicorn in search for the Element of Hope a year ago.

“Dripfang can you read it?” Shimmer asked.

“I can try,” Dripfang said studying the parchment. “Some of these symbols are a little smudged but as far I as can tell both of these scrolls say the exact same thing.”

Turning the one of the scrolls towards him Dripfang began to read them allowed.

Know all who read this that there is more to our world that our history records, I Starswirl the Bearded have entrusted my greatest secret to be imprinted on these scrolls in hopes that they will be safe from the clutches of those who seek to abuse it’s power. While these scrolls shall remain safe within the halls of the Empire of the Crystal Ponies I fear that my life might be reaching its end, should anyone discover the hidden enigma I have placed here I pray that they shall use it for harmony rather than chaos. It is a secret that only a flicker of light can reveal within the darkness, one that even the earth and sky can appreciate. May those who read this scroll be happy in this world and the next.

Regards

Starswirl the Bearded.

When Dripfang finally finished reading, every pony was astounded.

“A… hidden message from Starswirl the Bearded?” Twilight said, almost ready to faint out of pure overexcitement.

“Incredible,” Celestia added.

“But what secret is he talking about?” Shining Armour puzzled. “And why would he write it in Changeling language.”

“Well lad, what better way to hide a message than to write it in a way no pony understands?” T-Cog explained. “Whatever he was hiding obviously had to be of great importance if he wanted to go through much trouble.”

“But what secret could be so important?” Rarity puzzled. “And why would any pony go through some much trouble for a bunch of scrolls that no pony but a Changeling could understand.”

“No pony would,” Jack said calmly “Unless of course the legend was true.”

“W… what legend?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

At those words an excited grin spread across Jack Silver’s face

“The legend of the Silver Spirit,” he smirked.

At those words all but Princess Luna and Celestia looked at Jack in bewilderment.

“What the hay is the Silver Spirit?” Applejack asked.

“It is the name of a ship that is rumoured to possess the ability to travel between worlds,” Luna explained. “Similar to what Twilight Sparkle used to find her stolen crown in the Crystal Empire a while ago only on a much greater scale since it would be able to travel to more than one world and would be able to do so at any time.”

“As far as the legend goes, Starswirl the Bearded built the ship with the same kind of magic he used to create the mirror Twilight used and hidden it somewhere across the sea to avoid any pony else abusing its power,” Celestia added. “However this was way before Luna and I began our reign, before Equestria was even founded so naturally we regarded the legend as simply that, eventually the legend became so rare barley anyone knows about it.”

“And the only reason that I know about it is because it was in one of the many books I used for my research when I tried to find the seventh Element of Harmony.” Jack pointed out.

“And you believe that Starswirl the Bearded concealed where he hid the Silver Spirit on these scrolls?” Twilight asked, Jack giving her a nod in response. “Don’t you think that’s a little farfetched?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash added. “Are you sure that’s not just another one of your crazy theories?”

At those words Jack simply smiled and walked towards the table, suddenly out of nowhere Jack levitated Slash from where we was standing and squeezed him like a set of bagpipes, sending a gush of sapphire flames from his mouth directly at the scrolls.

“Hey what are you…” Twilight screamed in horror only to be silenced by Jack’s raised hoof.

Suddenly the flames dispersed and the scrolls revealed to be unharmed, in fact they looked better than they did before, they looked… new.

“A light that even earth can sky can appreciate,” Jack said repeating a section of Starswirl’s message. “While Unicorns may be able to use their horns for light, Earth ponies and Pegasus have to use other methods of illumination and I seriously doubt they had flashlights back when old Starswirl was around so what did they use?”

It was then they realised what Jack was talking about, while Unicorns always used their horns to create light, Earth Ponies and Pegasus had to use torches and any other source of fire. When everyone looked at the scrolls again they saw that they had changed, instead of the Changeling symbols they saw that the each scroll had an image of a map, both different from the other.

“Rocky,” Shimmer said calling him over “Do you know these?”

While most of the ponies in the room seemed a little confused as to why they asked the obviously insane Diamond Dog to inspect the maps, they were suddenly met with how amazingly accurate Rocky was checking every line and being as serious as he can with them.

“Oh yes, yes,” he giggled. “Yes I know both these places from Mr Jack’s books, this map shows the coast of the country of Zebrafrica, ooh and this one shows the centre of the country of Prance. They even have latitude and longitude coordinates written across them to indicate certain areas on where to go.”

“But what does it mean?” Cadence asked.

“How many of these scrolls were in the archives?” Jack replied.

“There were three,” Cadence answered.

At those words, Jack’s smile widened, seeing the confused look in every pony’s face he explained.

“Well as far as the legend goes Starswirl the Bearded made three keys and engraved a piece of information of each of them,” Jack explained. “Find all three and they will show the way to the Silver Spirit, obviously each map must be showing where he hid them all across the world.”

“That would explain his recorded global travels I read about in the history books,” Twilight pointed out. “But I thought he was studying new forms of magic during that time.”

“Well if the legend is true then that was just a ruse so that he should hide the Silver Spirit along with the three keys.” Shimmer stated.

“And now we have the means to find zem,” Gem said with a smile.

“Not exactly,” Twilight pointed out. “Heatwave still has the third map.”

“Does that mean he might come back for them once he finds the other two missing?” Fluttershy whimpered.

“No it doesn’t,” Jack said calmly. “Heatwave’s too much of a coward to stand up to me again, knowing him he’ll probably try to get his hooves on the third key before we do and then try to use it a bargaining chip just so he can stab us in the back later and steal the other two keys.”

“But how could he have possibly known about these maps?” Shining Armour asked. “They’ve been locked up in the Crystal Empire probably ever since Equestria was founded.”

“How far away is the Crystal Empire from Trottingham?” Jack simply asked.

“About two miles away from the icy boarder.” Cadence answered him. “Why?”

“Well he probably learnt about these scrolls when he and his new girlfriend snuck aboard the train over here and they have been planning the theft ever since.” Jack rationalised. “If they escaped from Trottingham a month ago then the timing would have been perfect, although how Heatwave knew what the scrolls were is beyond me, I don’t even know how he plans to read them yet alone use them.”

“Maybe that Pegasus can translate the writing,” Rainbow Dash stated. “Maybe she studied the Changelings after that swarm attacked Canterlot a while back, after all it was pretty big news throughout Equestria.”

“That is a possibility,” Dripfang said, giving it some thought. “Although she would have had to have been directly inside the hive if she did, after all it’s not like we Changelings just go around selling books.”

“Either way we can’t let Heatwave find whatever’s on these maps,” Jack said in a serious tone. “If the Silver Spirit really does exist then Heatwave would have the power to travel between worlds and who knows what kind of chaos he could get up to.”

“He’d probably try to find a world that would be easy to control and try to take over it,” Shimmer said in agreement.

“Or a world with an army he could use to attack Equestria,” Twilight added, remembering the last time such a thing happened when a mare named Sunset Shimmer took control of the human world while she was there.

“Or maybe he’s just trying to find the perfect escape,” T-Cog pointed out. “According to his wanted poster he put ten guards in the hospital after burning them with that magic of his. Maybe the coward is just trying to find the perfect hiding place.”

“Doubt he would go through so much trouble just for that Cog,” Slash stated.

“Perhaps he would,” Jack admitted. “Who knows what’s been going on in his head while he was in prison, either way we can’t let him find that ship.”

“Is this another treasure hunt?” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. “If it is then count me in.”

“Well that depends,” Jack answered. “I trust we have permission for such a quest from you Princess Celestia?

“Indeed you do,” Celestia said with a smile. “Although I doubt you wouldn’t have gone either way.”

Hearing this Jack then smiled and turned towards his daughter.

“What do you say Shimmer?” he said to her. “The Element of Hope was my greatest treasure hunt, what do you say we make the Silver Spirit yours?”

But Shimmer didn’t even need to say anything, she what she what the answer was going to be even before Jack even asked the question

“T-Cog, Slash," she said. "Both of you go check on Rummy and Marina and see if they’re ready to leave the infirmary,”

“Aye-Aye Captain,” the two said simultaneously before leaving the room.

“The rest of you go and have the ship ready to set sail as soon as possible, we cast off with the next tide!”

In an instant almost every single pirate left the room save for Jack and Shimmer.

“There are a few extra hammocks if you want them,” Shimmer said with a smile. “What do you say girls? Care for one more adventure?”

“Oh you know it!” Rainbow Dash said instantly.

“I’m in!” Applejack added.

“Me too,” Rarity declared.

“Me three!” Pinkie Pie giggled.

It was unanimous, at that moment Jack couldn’t help but beam at the smiling ponies, the Mane Six were all back in the crew, he then took the two maps and stuffed them in his pocket.

“Are you sure about this Twilight?” Shining Armour asked his sister before she left the room.

“Hey it’s not the first time I sailed with these guys,” Twilight reassured her BBBFF “Don’t worry Shining, I’ll be fine.”

As every pony left the room to prepare for the voyage only Shining Armour and the three Princesses were left.

“Not to question your judgement Princess Celestia, but do think it’s wise to trust those pirates with something as important as this?” Shining Armour asked. “Perhaps I can take a few of the royal guards and capture this Heatwave before he can even…”

Celestia however raised her hoof and silenced him

“While I know your skills as a Captain are great Shining Armour, you and Princess Cadence have your own duties in the Crystal Empire,” she said sternly. “Besides, the crew of the Golden Alicorn have the most experience in sailing the seas and discovering hidden treasures, therefore  I believe them to be the ideal ones for the job, admittedly not even the Equestrian navy can match the skills these pirates possess.”

Shining Armour may not have liked it but even he had to admit Celestia had a point. Suddenly Princess Luna spoke.

“Sister, I request permission to join the Golden Alicorn’s voyage” she stated much to everyone’s surprise. “I know this comes at a shock to you, but this Heatwave has insulted my honour by destroying my celebration and I do not wish for him to get away with stealing what might be the most important discovery …”

By Celestia places a hoof on Luna’s shoulder and she became silent, Luna then looked up to her older sister’s gentle face.

“Go Luna,” she said softly. “If it is truly what you desire then you have my permission to go, I can handle things here while you’re gone.”

“You… you mean it?” Luna asked.

With that Celestia simply nodded, Luna couldn’t believe it, she was actually going on a seafaring voyage.