Pirates of the Alicorn: Legend of the Silver Spirit

It was utter panic, as soon as word spread that Pirates have been spotted in their town every pony began to hurry their foals off the street and lock themselves inside, however there was one group who still remained outside, and were now at this point hiding under one of the piers and listening to two members of the Prance Police.

“Any sign of zem?” one asked.

“Nozing yet sir.” the other answered.

“Well keep looking, we cannot let zem escape!”

And with that the group heard the two officers leave, thus allowing them to sigh in relief.

“Well this is just peachy isn’t it?” Dripfang moaned. “First that bloody bird blows our cover, then the same bird knocks our former captain senseless and causes half of us to be sent one side of town, while the other half is probably on the opposite side!”

Suddenly Dripfang felt himself chocking as Gem suddenly wrapped her leg around his throat to shut him up.

“Will you be quiet!” she snapped. “We don’t to draw any MORE attention than we already have.”

“What do we do now?” Rainbow dash asked.

“We have to get out of site,” Gem instructed, letting go of Dripfang. “We can’t stay under this pier forever.”

“Any ideas?” Rarity asked.

“The Police may know our faces, but ze public doesn’t,” Gem explained. “As long as we keep to our disguises zen we should to be able to make it zere.”

“Make it where?” Big Rummy asked.

“I’ll explain later, let’s go” Gem said as she quickly put on another wig and ran out from under the pier.

Following her example, Dripfang used his abilities to change into another Unicorn and followed Gem, the others doing the same second later. After about half an hour of running between building and avoiding the Police, the group finally made it to what appeared to be an old wooden building covered in cracks and mould, clearly this was more run-down are of Prance.

“Zis was once my favourite tavern when I was a teenager,” Gem explained. “Zis is where I first met Captain Jack, we should be safe here.”

“Well then let’s hurry up and get inside.” Dripfang said as he quickly made his way towards the door

When everyone made it into the tavern, the smell of old wood filled their nostrils, it was no secret that this place was old, in fact one would say that I could have been built over a hundred years ago. Either way, the group was relieved to be inside, especially since no pony even turned their heads towards them, they were all too busy talking amongst themselves to even notice.

“Why don’t you all find a table, I’ll buy us some drinks” Gem said.

“Thanks,” Dripfang sighed. “I could use one”

As Gem walked over to the bar to get drinks Dripfang led the rest of the group towards a table closest to the window so that they could keep an eye out for any of the Prance Police, thought each and every one of them were still on edge, only Pinkie Pie seemed to keep her cheerful attitude.

“Isn’t this exciting” she said, keeping her smile. “It’s just like playing a massive game of Hide-and-Seek, isn’t it?”

Hearing this a few members of the group could only groan, Rocky however giggled in response. Dripfang of the other hand had something entirely different to say

“Maybe,” he said.  “But there is one major difference though, if we get caught in this game then we might as well just tie our own hanging ropes,”

It may have been hard to hear but none the less Pinkie kept her smile, However Rarity had other things to say.

“Oh really Dripfang, what is the matter with you?” she said sternly. “Everyone is already scared enough as it is, and we don’t need you to add o it.”

“Well forgive me for saying it like it is.” Dripfang snapped.

The argument would have escalated from their but it was thankfully interrupted by Gem return with a tray with seven glasses of Cider.

“So what’s the plan Miss Gem?” Rocky asked, gnawing on his own paw. “Any ideas as to how we’re going to find Mr Jack and the others?”

“None I can zink of as yet,” Gem said taking a gulp of cider. “I suppose ze best we can do at zis point is to lay low until ze heat dies down.”

“Well it’s not a plan I’m happy with but what other choice do we have?” Dripfang admitted. “Besides Jack and Shimmer will know what to do, they always do.”

“And so will Twilight and Luna,” Rainbow Dash added. “Add those four big brains together and I’m sure they’ll find us.”

“Well here’s to hoping” Rarity said raising her glass of Cider.

And with that they all clanked their glasses together and took a drink.

“I wonder all this fuss is about,” Rainbow Dash said putting down her glass. “It’s almost like there’s a party going or something.”

This was indeed true, from the looks of things the entire tavern were filled with ponies and judging from their faces and the bits of conversation the group had managed to overhear, every pony in the tavern did to be gathering for something. Suddenly the bartender spoke up, he was another Unicorn with a chestnut brown coat and a silver mane, who began to ring the bell above the bar and speak to the crowd.

“My friends, I propose a toast,” he announced. “Raise your glasses for ze biggest name in all of Prance, with a bounty of 54,000 Bits… “

“To Gem La Stone!!!” the crowd screamed, raising their glass and finishing the bartender’s sentence.

Needless to say the group was shocked to hear those words, but none more so than Gem herself, in fact she was so surprise she ended up spitting out her drink in Big Rummy’s face.

“Wha… what did he just say!?!” she said with a stutter.

She then quickly turned towards the bar, still trying to keep her wig from falling off from the shock, then she saw it, as the bartender pull a small cord from behind the bar it opened up a small set of curtains to reveal none other than Gem’s wanted poster, one that was blown up so big the whole bar could see it.

“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash said, her eyes widening in surprise.

“I have to admit, I did NOT see this one coming.” Dripfang added.

It was indeed quite the shock; however the group decided to keep listening anyway just to see where this situation goes, after a few moments the bartender spoke again.

“It was fifteen years ago to zis day that our dear Gem left our shores and made a life for herself on the sea, and wherever she is now, I hope she knows that we miss her and zat we all wish her another happy year!

“CHEERS!!!” the crowd roared.

And before the group knew it, they ended up picking up bits of conversations between the members of the crowd.

“I heard she and her whole crew saved Equestria from an army of demons.” one pony said.

“I heard it was a crew of Cannibals.” Said another.

No matter where they listened in the group picked up nothing but good things from the entire crowd of ponies in the tavern, however suddenly one of the stallions spoke out, and this one did not have such nice things to say.

“Who cares what ze stories say!?!” he snapped, causing the crowd to quiet down a bit. “Ze fact is that she has become a felon! Honestly, have you fools no shame!”

“Oh give it a rest, you old fart!” The bartender snapped back. “Haven’t you ever noticed zat ze only one in zis bar who zinks zat way about her is you? And just to point somezing out, if ponies like you never made fun of her to start wiz, zen Gem never would have run away to sea. But what’s done is done and ze fact is zat she is finally having fun out zere, and it looks like she’s made some wonderful friends as well.”

“You call zose thugs friends!?!” the old stallion retorted “Zey are criminals! Face the facts Splash Down, our town gave birth to a no-good…”

But the old fool couldn’t even finish his sentence because before he could get another word in, the bartender named Splash Down only needed to nod his head and two more Unicorns levitated the old stallion and threw him out of the tavern, much to the relief of every pony else.

“Some ponies never do change, do zey?” Splash Down said with a sigh.

“Indeed,” said one of the barmaids. “Zey all should be ashamed for what zey did to Gem.”

“But let’s not forget zat we weren’t any better.” Splash Down pointed out. “We mare not have directly tormented her but everyone in zis bar is as guilty as each other.”

“I suppose my jokes did have quiet ze impact on her.” The barmaid admitted. “If she was here right now I would tell her how sorry I truly was”

“We didn’t zink so at first but we were just as cruel as anyone else, weren’t we?”

“Remember when her sister came in asking about her when she left?  That had to be one of the most heart-breaking thing I’ve ever seen.”

“But after hearing what her sister has done on her journey on ze seas, she certainly cheered up quite a bit eh?”

Gem couldn’t believe it, after all this time, all these years, the ponies of Prance were actually sorry for making fun of her, most of them anyway. And best of all they actually missed her, could this mean that her family felt the same way? Her Mother and Father? Even her sister? The evry though brought tears to Gem’s eyes.

“Zey… zey miss me?” he said with a tearful smile. “They actually miss me.”

“And by the sound of it your sister misses you most of all,” Rarity pointed out.

“Whatever happened between you two anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well it was hard for me to talk about,” Gem explained, wiping away her tears. “Zough there were many zings I left behind zat I was happy to be rid of when I joined the crew, zere is one regret that plagues me even to zis day, my little sister may have been a brat but I cared for her so much. After all she was one of the few who never made fun of me due to my appearance.”

“I guess the feeling was mutual if she came in here asking for you,” Dripfang said, taking another sip of Cider.

“Aye, and she was only ten years old too.” Gem said with a sigh. “Zere is not a day that went by zat I don’t regret not saying goodbye to her, I may not have said it to any pony else but I could have at least given my sister a proper farewell.”

Gem’s words were indeed heart-breaking to hear, even Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but drop her smile upon hearing them.

“I’m so sorry Gem,” Rarity said placing a hoof on Gem’s shoulder, trying to comfort her.

“Oh don’t be silly,” Gem said trying to put on a smile. “It was my decision to run away with ze Golden Alicorn. But I guess in all honesty, I’m actually glad I came back here, even if only to here zose kind words.”

Upon seeing the smile of Gem’s face, the group can easily tell that this has the happiest she has been since they had first arrived in Prance, suddenly Drip Fang said something no pony expected him to say.

“Take off the wig,” he said.

“Pardon?” Gem said, clearly surprised.

“Take off the wig,” Dripfang repeated. “Show these ponies who you are and say that you’re willing to forgive them.

Needless to say Gem was taken aback by this, could she really do such a thing and risk blowing her cover, after all what if there was a Police officer in this tavern?

“I…I don’t know if should,” she said nervously, “Besides aren’t we supposed to be lying low?”

“Gem, if you don’t do it now then you might not be able to get another chance.” Dripfang said calmly. “You heard it from their own mouths, if they saw you right now, then they would probably drop to their knees, begging for your forgiveness”

“Well I wouldn’t put it so dramatically but Dripfang does have a point,” Rarity said. “This may be your only chance.”

“And for all we know your family might be in that crowd.” Rummy added.

But those words only made Gem huff in amusement.

“I rather doubt zat,” she said. “They would never be caught dead in zis tavern, far you down-to-earth for zem.”

“Well either way, you gotta do this,” Rainbow Dash argued. “Come on Gem, I thought a pirate’s life was supposed to be FILLED with risks.”

At those words, Gem couldn’t argue any further, judging from the looks everyone was giving her, they were all telling her to take off her wig and announce her identity, even rummy and Rocky were giving her a serious face and they were the most clueless members of her crew. Finally she made her decision.

“Alright zen,” she said finishing her drink.

“You’re gonna do it?”  Rainbow Dash said with a smile.

“Oh have a better idea than just whipping off my wig,”

“What are you going to do?” rarity asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well it may surprise you to know zat I was quite the karaoke singer when I spent my nights drinking here.” Gem explained, much to Rummy’s easily caused confusion.

“Wasn’t that when you were drunk?” he asked scratching his head, causing Rocky to giggle.

“Be zat as it may, I do have quite the excellent singing voice,” Gem said with a now determined tone.

“Oh great, she’s going into Diva-Mode again.” Dripfang moaned.

“Just shut up and some pony give me a tune.” Gem said sternly.

“Oaky-Dokey-Lokey” Pinkie Pie said with a cheerful grin.

And with that Pinkie Pie reached into her wild, curly mane and pulled out what a appeared to be a medium size guitar that shouldn’t even been able to fit inside her mane to start with. Needless to say it got quite a few stares from the pirates despite being already familiar with the ways of Pinkie Pie.

“Okay seriously what the hay is this pony!?!” Dripfang whispered in Rainbow Dash’s ear.

“Just go with it.” Rainbow Dash whispered back. “Trust me, you’ll sleep a lot better if you don’t think about the things she does with her mane.”

Suddenly Pinkie Pie began to play the guitar, which in turn caused many of the ponies in the tavern to look towards the group with an expression of intrigue. In a matter of moments, Gem suddenly climbed up onto the table and began singing along with the tune Pinkie was play.

“Ze navy would never have a mare at sea,

Says dear sweet Marina,

But I went on ze lines of piracy,

Along ze coast of Equestria,

And now I sail all ze lost seas,

Says dear sweet Marina,

Now I have zose Navy Colts on zeir knees,

Along ze coast of Equestria,”

At that Moment, Gem ripped off her wig and presented her skunk-coloured mane to the crowd, which as expected caused them to widen their eyes in shock, however despite this gem kept singing to hear heart’s content, her friends helping her every time she sang the chorus of her song.

“So heave her up and away we go,

Says dear sweet Marina,

To Equestria, where the warm winds blow,

Along the coast of Equestria!

In Equestria I want to be,

Says dear sweet Marina,

With a cask of rum on a drinking spree,

Along ze coast of Equestria,

All zose adventures I do adore,

Says dear sweet Marina,

With every voyage to every shore,

Along ze coast of Equestria,

So heave her up and away we go,

Says dear sweet Marina,

To Equestria, where the warm winds blow,

Along the coast of Equestria!”

At this point, Gem had jumped onto the bar and he crowd of ponies were cheering their hearts, it was as if Gem was their long lost princess who had just returned to them, however despite their cheers, Gem continued to sing.

“When I was a young mare in my prime,

Says dear sweet Marina,

I kept all gentlecolts back for a time,

Along ze coast of Equestria,

Now I’ll never leave ze sea to settle down,

Says dear sweet Marina,

Cause I have a stallion in every town,

Along ze coast of Equestria,

So heave her up and away we go,

Says dear sweet Marina,

To Equestria, where the warm winds blow,

Along the coast of Equestria!”

The music then slowed down to a gentle rhythm and the cheers began to silence, this was the part of the song hat Gem felt deserved a softer melody.

“Oh ze times are hard and ze wage is low,

Says dear sweet Marina,

But we pirates all just roll and go,

Along ze coast of Equestria,”

Finally the music picked up again into its more up-beat tune and Gem jumped back onto her table, and she and the rest of her friends finished the song in their most powerful voices.

“So heave her up and away we go,

Says dear sweet Marina,

To Equestria, where the warm winds blow,

Along the coast of Equestria!”

When that final note echoed throughout the tavern, every pony cheered their hearts out for Gem’s return.

“By ze stars, it is really you!” One of the said threw the crowd. “Gem La Stone has returned to our shores at last!”

It was incredible, this was the first time in over fifteen years that Prance had felt like home, Upon seeing the crowd of ponies cheering for her and desperately trying to apologise for their behaviour, Gem couldn’t help but cry. However there was one pony in the crowd who stood out from everyone else, it was a pure white, Unicorn mare with a sapphire main and tail and amethyst eyes, Gem couldn’t be sure at first, but she felt like there was something familiar about her.

“Gem?” the mare said.

“Oui, and who are you?” Gem asked with a raised eyebrow. “You seem familiar.”

At those words, the mare couldn’t help but giggle a bit.

“I should,” she said. “But of course you wouldn’t recognise me straight way, since you haven’t seen me in fifteen years, so I will elaborate… a ten year old filly looking for her teenage sister in zis very tavern just after she left to sail ze sea.”

At those words, Gem’s eyes widened in shock as she climbed off the table and edged her way closer to the mare, as she looked upon  the mares Gem could now see the face of a filly she had known long ago.

“P…Pearl?” Gem stuttered.

“Welcome home Big Sis.” The mare said pulling Gem into a hug.

Needless to say, a lot of jaws dropped upon hearing those words, there were certainly going to be a LOT of talking after this.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Jack Silver’s group were hiding in another ally looking across the street towards what appeared to be a night club, since the sun was already set at this point it made sense hat they were already beginning to let ponies in.

“Here we are,” Jack told the group. “This is where she normally spends her free time, she and I go way back.”

“So this Le Fox is the contact of yours?” Luna asked. “Is she any good?”

“Any good?” Jack chuckled. “Ha! If there’s anything worth finding in this country, she’ll know about it.”

“You make her sound like quite the expert.” Twilight said.

“Oh she is,” Jack chuckled. “She’s so good at finding things, she can spot a tiny gem hidden in a huge pile of glass, I would have had her on the crew years ago but she turned me down on more than one occasion. In most cases I think it was just to tease me.”

“So how are we gonna get in?” Applejack asked. “It’s not like we can just waltz towards the front door.”

The group would have started planning a way in without getting noticed but then Fluttershy noticed something.

“Um, sorry to be a bother but… where’s T-Cog?” she said with her usual worried expression.

Everyone else then noticed he reason for Fluttershy’s concern, t-Cog was indeed gone, however he wasn’t out of every sights for long.

“Waltzing towards the front door.” Shimmer said, answering Fluttershy’s question.

And that’s exactly what was happening, without even giving it a second thought, T-Cog came out of hiding, walked up to the security guard and the line of ponies, and smash a veil of Celestia knows what onto the pavement, causing a cloud of  purple smoke to emerge from the remains and engulf the crowd. Had any pony else been on the street at the time, they would have seen T-Cog emerging of the smoke waving towards the rest of his group who just dropped their jaws at what they had just witness.

“What by my Sister was that?” Luna asked sternly as she and the rest of the group ran towards him.

“Just another one of my latest creations Lass,” T-Cog explained as he gestured towards the line of unconscious ponies. “One whiff of that gas and whoever is unlucky enough to smell it is knocked out for at least an hour. I used the same chemicals I put into my sleep darts, but this way, no pony will have any evidence that it was me that did it.

“Crude but effective, well done Cog,” Shimmer said, admiring the Shipwright’s idea. “Now come on, let’s get inside before some pony else walks by.

And with that the group quickly hurried into the club. It was quite the scene inside the building, had Pinkie Pie been with them, she would probably have had a spaz attack, it was as if the group have walked into a 1970’s Disco scene, the dance floor lit up with multi-coloured neon lights all of which was reflected by the hulking disco ball above it, and the bar was lit up with just as much gusto. When the group walked up to the bar, the young mare tending it instantly looked towards them as she dried off a cider glass.

“Who are you ponies?” she said with a stern look in her eyes. “I’ve never seen you in here before.”

Apparently this was a town where bartender knew just about everypony, luckily Jack had a lot of practice when it came to these situations.

“We have just sailed in from Equestria Mademoiselle,” he said in his most charming  tone of voice. “We are here on business and decided to take a load off.”

“Oh, sailors eh?” the mare said, now putting on a charming smile.” Well you better be careful, rumour has it zat pirates are in town too.”

At those words, most of the group felt a lump in their throats, Jack however remained calm.

“So what are you all doing in zis part of town?” the mare asked curiously. “I would have zought you sailor types would prefer to spend your time on ze seafront club and taverns.”

“Oh we’re just looking for an old friend of mine who supposed to spend most of her time here,” Jack answered “Tell me Mademoiselle, do by any chance know anyone called Le Fox?”

A those words the mare could only laugh out loud.

“Le Fox?” she giggled. “Ha! Everypony knows Le Fox! She comes in here so often, she practically lives here!”

“So is she here right now?” Twilight asked intently.

“But of course,” the mare answered. “Take a look.”

The mare then pointed towards the neon lit dance floor, there the group saw the figure they were looking for, who at this point was dancing to her hearts content and catching the eye of most of the stallions and some of the mares. She looked like a Diamond Dog only a fair size smaller and fair more slender, she had orange fur, a long bushy tail and wore a deep purple vest and a black beret, if anything she looked like a dressed version of one of Fluttershy’s animals.

“So Le Fox, really is… a fox?” Fluttershy asked, clearly confused but at the same time excited to see a new animal.

“A Gem Fox to be more precise,” Jack explained. “It’s like a Diamond Dog only a lot more cunning, strong, fast and well known for being quite a traveller.”

“Although she is better known as being one of ze biggest jewel thieves in all of Prance” the mare behind the bar said with a slight laugh. “Ze Police may have placed a bounty on her but after so many failed attempts to catch her ze law simply gave up and leaves her alone, even many of ze bounty hunters have lost interest. If she’s a friend of yours zen I’d be careful, she has been known to pick her own mother’s pocket.”

And with that the mare walked off to attend her other customers.

“So we are seeking help from a jewel thief?” Luna said with a glare in Jack’s direction.

“If there’s anyone who knows Prance as well as any pony it’s Le Fox,” Jack said keeping his determined look. “You all wait here. I’ll be right back.”

At those words, Jack left the group at the bar and made his way towards the dance floor, after pushing through a small crowd of gawking Unicorns he managed to sneak up behind Le Fox who at this point had decided to take a break from dancing and have a drink.

“Still have everypony eating out of your paws eh Foxy?” he said with a smirk.

Hearing those words The Gem Fox’s ears perked up and a smiled etched its way across her face.

“Zere is only one stallion who would dare call me by zat nickname.” She said softly before turning to the old Unicorn. “Hello Jack.”

“Good to see you Foxy,” Jack said with a smile.

“Jack, how many times do I have to tell you call me zat?” Le Fox said with a flirtatious smirk. “It makes me feel so unprofessional.”

“Oh really?” Jack Chuckled “I always thought it was because you go gaga after seeing just one gem.”

At those words, Le Fox’s eyes practically popped out of these sockets as she when into a slight fit of excitement and pulled Jack’s face towards her hers.

“Did you say gems!?!” she squealed, suddenly realising her foolishness and releasing Jack’s face. “Pardon, I sometimes forget myself.”

Jack couldn’t help but laugh at this, every time some pony even mentions Gems, Le Fox goes crazy like a magpie to a shiny object. It was no secret that her Diamond Dog heritage is still there no matter how much she tries to be charming. However Jack needed to ask her something and her needed to do it now.

“Would I be able to make it up to you if I bought you another drink?” he said, trying to break the ice.

But Le Fox was all too familiar with Jack’s ways of thinking and decided to jump straight to the point.

“What do you what Jack?” She said.

Jack then sighed and fessed up.

“Me and my crew are in a spot of bother Foxy,” he explained. “The Police are after us and I need someone who knows the city better than anyone, in short Foxy, I need your help.”

Le Fox may have had her greedy side, but after seeing the desperation in Jack’s eyes, she knew she couldn’t ignore the pleas of a friend.

“Let’s talk.” She said.