I am Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?

As the crew returns with their loot nearly two hours later, Jack then says, "Time to put this city behind us lads and find another target..." then turns his head to look at the burning city while his crew gets the ship underway."

With Starlight's magic, Fluttershy and Nurse Redheart manage to stop the bleeding and bandage her wing as best they can when nurse Redheart sighs saying, "We need to get Twilight back to Ponyville General, we've stabilized her and have the bleeding under control..." then looks her body over, focusing on her shattered wing bones and continues, "but some of you need to stay here and do what you can to restore order and rescue those trapped in the city."

Rarity then nods saying, "I will stay because Twilight would want someone to organize things, Pinkie Pie could you go and help nurse Redheart take her to the hospital?"

Pinkie Pie nods her head as her hair lies flat, tears rolling down her face at Twilight's state and the attack on the city saying sadly, "Okay, no problem at all." then helps nurse Redheart carefully pick Twilight up and load her onto the train, then tell the Conductor to return to Ponyville with all haste.

The next morning, at Twilight's castle in Ponyville

Celestia and Luna sit at Twilight's friendship table, waiting for her and her friends to return from Manehattan when they hear the train whistle blare as the older sister looks at Spike and asks, "Spike, could you go see if that is them?"

With a nod, Spike says, "I sure will, Princess Celestia." and takes off running toward the train station. As he stops and looks around for the group that left with Twilight, he spots nurse Redheart and Pinkie Pie...with flat hair carrying somepony on a stretcher with a sheet over them and rushes towards them asking, "Holy Moly, what happened?!"

Nurse Redheart looks around at the ponies looking at them curiously and then shifts her attention to Spike and quietly says, "Follow us to the hospital and I will tell you, we must hurry or she may never fly again." She then hurries off as Pinkie follows her, with Spike just behind her.

They rush through the emergency entrance doors as nurse Redheart calls out for a doctor immediately, when the doctor hurries over, he pulls the sheet back to see who is injured and gasps at seeing Princess Twilight Sparkle lying unconscious on the stretcher with a crushed wing that is stained from blood loss and shouts, "Prepare OR1 for urgent surgery, we have a crushed wing here!"

Spike stands in the hallway, in shock at seeing Twilight so hurt as she is placed onto a rolling stretcher and wheeled down the hall. He slowly raises his arm towards Twilight as she is taken to the OR, and tears start rolling down his face as he sobs for his adopted sister's state. Remembering that Princesses Celestia and Luna are at Twilight's castle, he wipes his tears away and rushes out to doors to go inform them of her state.

Princess Celestia sighs as she rolls the tea around in her cup, not really hungry or thirsty when the front door is roughly pushed open, causing it to slam against the wall and startling her into dropping her cup. The cup falls to the floor as she looks at Spike with worry on his face as it shatters and asks, "Spike, what is the matter?"

He closes the door behind him and cries out as tears fall from his face, "Twilight is badly hurt! She was taken to the OR!"

Luna and Celestia both gasp and get up hastily, then race out the other door and head towards the hospital to go see what happened. Tears roll down Celestia's face as she blames herself thinking, 'Oh what have I done...'

The two hurry into the hospital and make their way to the observation room to watch the surgery, looking through the glass to see that the surgeon is working on her wing. They listen to him as he comments, "Her humerus suffered only a couple of fractures, but her radius suffered multiple breaks in five places, and her ulna bone in two. Good work on getting the bleeding under control and the bones somewhat reset, nurse Redheart. You have saved us precious time to save her wing, she has a good chance of flying again if everything goes smoothly. More suction please, I'm having trouble looking for bone fragments."

As Celestia and Luna watch the surgery press on for several hours, finally coming to an end late in the evening as the surgeon enters the room with a heavy sigh, removing his mask and saying, "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna...the surgery was a success. She won't be able to fly for several months, due to the cast. We will be prescribing her strong medication to deal with the pain, she should be monitored closely by an adult to insure that she doesn't abuse the medication. Once the cast sets, she will be able to go home but don't let her do any lifting of anything 20 pounds or more."

Celestia then nods and says, "I shall watch over her closely, I feel it is my responsibility to do so when her brother and sister-in-law are busy with the Crystal Empire, and her parents are in Van Hoover." She then looks to her sister and asks, "Sister, would you be able to inform the citizens that due to personal matters, day court is canceled for the time being?"

Luna nods her head saying, "I shall do so right away sister, please be sure to let me know when the others return as I tend to matters in Canterlot."

She smiles briefly and nods her head saying, "I will sister, you deserve to know everything."

The younger sister gives a brief smile back and then leaves to go deal with the urgent matter, hoping that it won't take too long so that she might be able to be there when Twilight wakes up.

The next morning

Twilight groans as she wakes up, opening her eyes slowly to find herself at home, in her own bed when she feels something heavy on her back. She gets up out of bed, gasping for breath at the pain she feels coming from her back, and remembers that her wing was badly injured by a chunk falling from the roof. She walks to the full-length mirror and looks herself over, turning to the side to see her wing in a cast, and sighs painfully saying, "Well there goes my flying privileges for a good while...but how did I get home?" She then hears a knock on her door and says, "Come in."

Celestia walks in with breakfast saying, "Good morning Twilight, did you sleep well?"

She is shocked to see her mentor Princess Celestia at her home, bringing her breakfast and says, "Wha-What are you doing here, Princess Celestia?"

The older princess chuckles lightly and says, "Why I'm taking care of you, isn't that obvious my faithful student? I have your morning medication to deal with the pain from your injured wing, be sure to take the two pills with one of the spinach, carrot, and rose petal sandwiches. I also brought you orange juice to drink."

Twilight takes the tray from her and sets it on the nightstand, grabbing the sandwich first and taking a good-sized bite from it. After chewing for a bit, she grabs the two pills and drops them into her mouth. Swallowing the food and medication in her mouth, she then puts the sandwich back onto the tray, then picks up the glass of orange juice, and takes a drink from it. She then puts the glass down and sits back on her bed, sighing as she asks, "So...two questions, how did I get home and how long am I grounded for?"

Celestia sits beside her saying, "As for the first, I brought you home because I was here with Luna waiting for your group to return to tell you all something from long ago but that will have to wait until they come back from Manehattan. For the second, unfortunately, you won't be able to fly for eleven months due to the severity of the injuries to your radius and ulna bones."

With a sigh, Twilight sits down and hangs her head saying, "Eleven months is quite a while, if I was Rainbow Dash and didn't have any Daring Do books to keep me entertained, I would probably be going insane about now."

She giggles lightly and then sighs asking, "Would you mind telling me what happened at Manehattan that caused you to be so badly injured?"

Twilight is about to start telling her when she feels a tingling coming from her rump and sighs saying, "Well, it looks like they got the job done..." She then takes a breath and says sadly, "I only wish that I could have helped more..." Twilight then begins to sob as she thinks back to what happened and starts telling her experience saying, "A few miles away from Manehattan, I saw a distant ship out in the harbor..."

Celestia listens in and pulls her student to her shoulder, then caresses her tenderly as she tells her about what Rainbow said, the flashes coming from the ship and the city. When she hears how she saved a mare and her colt before being struck by a chunk from the roof, she smiles with pride and says, "You did a very good deed saving them and evacuating the citizens Twilight, but there is nothing else you could have done in your state. I am positive that one of the others took your place in providing aid for the citizens, so don't be sad. You should be happy you got there when you did or things would have been much, much worse for them.

Curious, she lifts her head and asks, "Really, something worse could have happened? Did something similar happen long ago, Princess Celestia?"

She then smiles at her curious student and nods her head saying, "Indeed...but it is going to have to wait until the others come back, for there is something that I need to tell all of you, including my sister. Speaking of which, I should send a letter to inform her that they may be returning in a few hours. You should try to finish your breakfast, if you are still hungry I can make more for I shall be watching over you for a while until your wing is healed."

A few days later, in the evening

Twilight's adopted brother Spike helps his sister's former mentor Princess Celestia take care of Twilight by cooking for her, and bringing her books whenever she's not asleep due to the side effects of the medication she is on. Twilight is lying on a couch when he hears a knocking on the door when Twilight calls out to him sleepily, Spike, someone is at the door. Could you please go get it, I'm still drowsy from these stinking pills?"

He then puts down his comic and hurries toward the front door saying, "Sure thing, big sis." then answers the door to see Starlight Glimmer at the front saying, "Welcome back Starlight, are you here to check on Twilight?"

Starlight's face is filled with worry for her mentor as she nods her head saying, "I am, did she make it back in time?"

Spike smiles gently and opens the door wider saying, "Yes she did, she is on the couch right now resting. Come on in, I'm sure Princess Celestia will be anxious to hear about your journey to Manehattan. Twilight is on pain medication that causes her to suffer drowsy spells, so you will have to be patient and take your time speaking to her."

She sighs as she thinks back to the days they spent there helping the citizens clean up and do some repairs saying, "I sure hope that we won't have to go through that experience again." then starts to walk in to rest for a bit.

Rarity is the first to stop and ask Spike, "How is Twilight Spikey, is she ever going to be able to fly again darling?"

Celestia enters the room with a gentle smile on her face as she stands there just past the entryway and says, "Welcome back from your journey my little ponies. Twilight will be able to fly again, but not for nearly a year until her wing fully heals."

Twilight hears several ponies talking in the map room and lifts her head off the pillow it was on, then turns her head to look through the doorway and calls out, "Spike, who is it?"

Spike heads over to the study where Twilight is relaxing and stops just inside the door and says, "It is just the others that went to Manehattan with you Twilight, they are back to check on you."

The princess looks at the group and smiles before heading toward the study and pokes her head in the room and asks, "Twilight, are you feeling up for hearing a story about my past, or do you want to rest a bit more?"

Twilight looks up at her drowsily and then does her best to eagerly nod her head saying, "Although I am tired Princess Celestia, I would rather hear the story if it is about the Black Pearl."

Celestia smiles and sighs, then lets out a chuckle saying, "I had a feeling that you would choose the story. Though I need to inform my sister to come because she too wants to hear this story, so I need to find a fast pony to race up to Canterlot to deliver a message to Luna for me." She then heads to the door and looks at Rainbow Dash saying, "Rainbow Dash, I have an important task for you. Being the fastest pony in Ponyville, will you race to Canterlot, find my sister, and please tell her that if she is ready to hear my story, I am ready to share my tale at Twilight's castle inside the study."

Rainbow cheers up instantly at the task only she can do and salutes the princess with her hand saying, "On it ma'am, I'll be back before you can count to twenty!" then races out through the front door and takes off into the sky like a shot.

Luna is in the throne room when the doors open to let in Rainbow Dash and greets her saying, "Welcome to Canterlot, Rainbow Dash. What brings you here today?"

She looks at Luna and hurries toward her saying, "I come here with a message from your sister, Princess Celestia. She told me to tell you that if you are ready to hear her story, she will be inside the study at Twilight's castle."

The princess gets up from the throne and jogs towards Rainbow Dash saying, "Alright then, we shall teleport there right away." She then looks to the two guards in the room and says, "One of you please inform the guards outside that I have gone to deal with important business, and that I will be back once I am done." She continues to head toward Rainbow in a hurry and charges her horn, then stands beside her and casts the spell.

Rainbow finds herself just outside of Twilight's home when she sees Princess Luna hurry inside the castle, then rushes after her wondering, 'Jeez, I wonder why she is in such a hurry to hear a story from Princess Celestia?'

Celestia sits at the back of the study as she watches her sister join them in the room, followed by Rainbow Dash and uses her magic to pull the doors closed saying, "Alright everypony, gather around and get comfortable. This story takes place some 600-700 years after my sister was banished to the moon..." She then watches them take a spot nearby and then begins the story by saying, "It all began around three centuries ago, I was on the Canterlot Castle throne room's balcony setting the moon and just starting to raise the sun to start a new day when all of a sudden there was a green flash that raced across the sky for just a split second...visible to any creature of the planet that would happen to notice it. When that happened, I was greatly irritated by whatever pony caused it and ruined my beautiful sunrise, so I sent a few ponies to investigate but were unable to find anything in the end. Nothing else related to this story happened until a couple of days after the flash when I was listening to petitioners silently praying for something to come along and save me from my boredom when suddenly, a courier rushed into the room with a scroll sticking out of their pocket. When I asked them for their report, they told me it was a report from Baltimare. They continued on to tell me of a large warship belonging to no known nation in Equis, that the ship had not yet reached the harbor and it flew a white flag. The courier then handed the scroll over to me saying there was further details inside, so I took it and read it over. I read it twice to ensure I wasn't reading things wrong. Hmm, I wonder if I still have it..."

She then closes her eyes and summons her chest of keepsakes in front of her, then pops open the lid and rummages around for it. She grins as she succeeds saying, "Aha, there it is." and grabs it with her hand, then pulls it out and hands it to Twilight first with a wink and says, "Be careful when opening it, it might be rather brittle from age."

Twilight takes it with her magic, then begins to unroll it slowly with her hands. When she finishes opening it, she reads through it as her eyes get bigger and bigger saying, "Wait a minute...don't tell me that the ship in this report is..."

Celestia nods her head quickly and cuts Twilight off saying, "It is indeed." then continues on with the story saying, "I was excited to have something to pull me from the boring routine, then my curiosity was piqued when I learned it was a heavily damaged three-masted ship which had one dragging in the water off the port side and had a hull colored completely black. For those of you who don't know, when you are on the ship and facing the front of it, the left is called the Port, the front is called the Bow, the right side is called the Starboard, and the rear of the ship is called the Stern. Now back to the story... With my curiosity piqued, I decided to get away from the palace for a little while and investigate it myself. After I had the guards prepare a chariot, I went to change my attire to be more presentable. Thinking there may be wounded on board, I had a few healers accompany me on the journey there. I arrived there a bit over an hour later and made my way to the front of the docks to wait for the ship's arrival. When the ship finally docked, the captain left the ship and made their way up the dock to the wharf. The captain then greeted us and asked if we understood them, which I promptly told them that all ponies there, including myself did. I then asked them who and what they were, and where they came from."

Twilight hands the scroll to Starlight carefully and listens to what Celestia says, hearing, "So the captain said that the whole crew including him were human males, and came from another world called Earth. He then asked if I was royalty, which I told him I was and introduced myself while also telling him I was the ruling princess. I then informed him that he was in Horseshoe Bay in the port town of Baltimare, and then asked him to introduce himself and his friend that came with him. He then introduced himself as Captain Jack Sparrow and his friend as first mate Joshamee Gibbs, who was only there to relay orders to the crew. After that, he asked if his crew could receive treatment for their injuries, which I agreed and asked him to send them ashore to receive treatment. Once he relayed his orders to his first mate, I asked him what kind of vessel his ship was and what happened to leave it in such a state. He told me that it was originally an East Indiaman Galleon employed by the East India Trading Company named the Wicked Wench. Since that time he had changed the ship and rechristened her The Black Pearl."

Luna listens along with the others intently for awhile as she hears about how her sister opened up for a complete stranger, telling her about what happened with her sister saying, "I am shocked you opened up so easily to somebody you did not know dear sister. Why did you let him continue to hold you like that?"

She lets out a half chuckle and says, "Well, at the time, I was deeply hurt at losing you and was missing you greatly...so when he placed his arm around me and pulled me closer, it just felt so...nice to be held that I couldn't help but break down and tell him everything." She feels heat rising in her cheeks and forces it to go away, then continues the story saying, "Well after I told him what happened 600 years ago, he then asked if there was a way to get them to work again which brought me out of my grief as I began to think of where we could look for any way to bring them back. So, after saying that there might be a way, and that we would have to search through the old library, he gave me some conditions to agree to for his help."

Rarity rolls her eyes saying, "Really, he wanted something in return for helping you? How outlandishly rude of him, to prey upon one's weakness like that!"

Rainbow Dash then says, "Yeah, please tell me you refused his help..."

Luna then asks curiously, "What were his conditions sister?"

The blush rises to her cheeks and she looks away sheepishly saying, "Well...his first condition was that all repairs to the ship, current and future were to be paid by whomever ruled Equestria at the time. The second condition was that all costs for the crews current and future treatments were also to be paid for by whoever ruled Equestria at the time." She then fidgets a little and continues, "With how desperate I was to get my sister back, I didn't think it over that long and..." then she turns to look at them out of the corner of her eye with a wincing grin adding, "Growled softly and accepted the deal with a handshake."

Rarity is the first to react by facehooving herself saying, "Oh good heavens, darling..."

After seeing their disapproving reactions and giving them a few moments, Celestia continues her tale and tells them how they both went to the old castle to begin their search. She then says, "After we got there, I heard him toss a book onto the floor and scolded him for it because of its age. He then asked me my age, which at first angered me. However, after a moment, I then told him I was 800, which prompted him to look at me with wide eyes and complimented me by asking me to lead him to our fountain of youth because I did not look it."

Luna continues to listen to the story, finding how she acted toward the stranger rather curious as her sister tells about how she found nothing until Jack discovered a book called The Theories of Harmony and comments, "Hmm, I don't recall ever reading that book. Perhaps it would be wise to relocate the books from the old library into our new one?"

Celestia smiles and nods her head saying, "I think that would be a good idea, perhaps we could do that after this story ends." She then tells them what the captain said and what she discovered in the book when she adds, "He then said if I considered us friends I could just call him Jack, so I then told him he could do the same when not in a formal setting. A little while later, he said he found something rather disturbing hidden inside a brick, when I looked at what it was, it looked far older than I was and was there even before our parents were born. Once I took a closer look at it, I noticed the ink was a strange reddish color and nervously asked if the ink was actually blood. He confirmed it so I began to read it, though he asked me something which I didn't really hear and told him to go ahead. The reason I didn't really listen to him was because of the prophecy that was written on the pages in the form of a lullaby, I wonder if I remember what it said."

She then thinks a moment before singing in a low, soft, and eerie tone, "Heroes vanish into thin air, the gift is taken to keep safe. One who cant figure plain truth, forcing the other to give a sad fate. Oh poor victor suffers from the grief, to raise hope she creates heroes. The lone savior, clever soul, hunts for coin and gold. They'll come with green flash of light, but suffer in pain...deep, deep, pain. A ship appears black as night, with no nation to be seen. This one soul may choose their fate, choosing well avoids a grisly and dark fate. Oh poor creatures suffer from great fright, dark shades are revealed by night's light. The one redeemed, fights their love, gains faith love and cheers. Foes run from the ghost, shades loosed to sea, they sail to claim what's...held...most...dear." With a curious look, and wanting to know what they think the prophecy's about, she asks, "Let's see what you all think the prophecy was talking about, any of you care to tell me what your opinions are?"

Twilight spends a moment or two as the others stay silent, thinking it over before saying, "That first part...sounds like when Star Swirl the bearded and the others disappeared. My mind is a bit fuzzy, but it seems like the part after that talks about the elements and your sister."

Starlight catches on to her thinking and the puzzle becomes a little clearer saying, "Yeah, after they disappeared, didn't you and your sister take the elements of harmony to protect Equestria with them?"

Celestia smiles and nods her head, already knowing most of what the prophecy talks about and says, "That is correct Twilight. We did indeed take the elements for protection. What else can you figure out?"

Starlight then thinks a bit more on it and says, "Well, after your sister transformed, you banished her. So as you felt the sadness of her absence, you created new heroes to cheer the ponies up."

Rainbow catches the hint and beams a wide smile saying, "That's right, you created the wonderbolts for that purpose!"

Twilight figures out the next piece and says, "The part after that talks about the captain that arrived shortly after that flash you saw on board the Black Pearl. As for the rest of it, I can't figure it out."

The princess smiles and nods her head saying, "It is quite alright, perhaps you will have a better idea after hearing the rest of the story." Taking another breath, she adjusts her position in her chair and resumes the story, "After reading over the prophecy again, I went back to the first book when he suggested we have found enough to formulate a plan. He then politely asked if we could return to the tour of Equestria, and requested a tour of Canterlot as well. However, I was not really wanting to do that at the time."

Celestia takes a moment before telling them about what happened during that time and how she received a letter from the King of the Griffon Empire declaring war on Equestria, in which she came up with the thought to ask the captain for his help. With irritation rising in her voice, she then huffs and says, "As I approached his room, I could hear rather...intimate sounds coming from inside. So when I opened the door, I found him in the room with another one of my maids. I then scolded him and asked what he would do if they would become with foal, which he told me he would never permit himself to be foolish enough to beget a child. I then warned him about mares being naturally drawn towards bearing children. Immediately after that, I got back to the reason I went there in the first place and asked him for his services to deal with the threat at sea from the Griffon Empire while I assembled an army to handle them on land. When he asked for something in return for his services, I offered him 2,000 bits if he could get them to surrender or call off the war."

Luna then listens to her sister continue on as the others gasp at hearing what the captain did while indecent, but notices the blush on her cheek when she hears her talk about how he told her what the ship meant to him. The blush deepened a little further when her sister talked about how he had tempted her to get away from the castle for awhile. A sly smirk comes to Luna's face as she considers where their friendship was leading, which slowly grows into a grin when she hears about how she flirted back. When she hears about their interaction in the cabin, Luna can't stop herself from chuckling while saying, "I had a...feeling that something...might happen between you two."

Celestia turns away as her face blushes further in embarrassment at her sister's words when she hears her say, "Never in a thousand years did I think that you, of all ponies, would become romantically involved with a pirate!" followed shortly by her giggles, causing her face to slowly become beet red and stammers saying, "A-Anyway...le-let's get back to the st-story..."