Adventures were something the Mane 6 were getting accustomed to each time the Unity Crystals summoned them... but this adventure reunited them with a few of their Muppet pals for an adventure so big, they needed to travel the ocean to find a treasure and protect it from thieving pirates...

...and one snow leopard and rascally rabbit in disguise.

Of course, our heroes had no idea that Allura and Twitch were there in plain sight, but Sunny and Misty were getting worried about what Uliana might be thinking.

But we can get further into that later-- right now, we have to proceed with the story where we left off.

XXXXXXXX

Mr. Arrow blew on his whistle long and hard, getting everybody's attention. “Roll call!”

Once everyone had gathered around, Mr. Arrow quickly sifted through a list in his hands. "Sunny Starscout."

Sunny saluted optimistically. “Right here, Mr. Arrow!”

“Hitch Trailblazer?”

Hitch stood up straight. “Aye-aye, sir.”

“Misty Brightdawn.”

Misty raised her hoof at this. “Here!”

“Zipp Storm.”

Zipp unfolded her wings with a smile. “Right here.”

“Pipp Petals.”

Pipp tossed her mane a bit. “Here and ready to shine, sir!”

“Izzy Moonbow.”

“Aye, aye, captain!” Izzy chuckled happily. “Uh, I'm the captain, Izzy,” Captaun Smollet corrected, causing Izzy to chuckle a bit nervously as Mr. Arrow resumed the roll call. "Harmony Oceanside. Lovely name by the way."

Harmony blushed heavily at this. "Here. And thank you."

“Lotus Sunrise?”

Lotus sat up straight at this. “Right here.”

Then things started to get weird as the roll call continued.

“Long John Silver?”

“Aye-aye, sir!”

“Uliana?”

Uliana smirked up at him. “Here, sir.”

Each of the names after Uliana seemed to get weirder and weirder, honestly grossing some of the ponies out with their appearancss. "Short Stack Stevens."

"Aye."

"One-Eyed Jack."

"Aye."

"Black-Eyed Pea."

"Here."

"Walleye Pike."

"Aye."

“Polly Lobster.”

Polly squawked and whistled at this.

“Shivers?”

The purple squirrel chittered with a small salute to show he was there.

"Mad Monty."

"Aye."

"Sweetums."

“...aye.” said the furry monster from behind the group, which startled them all. “Oh,” Sunny said with a nod. “You’re the helmsman?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Sweetums nodded before Mr. Arrow resumed the roll call. “Old Tom.”

“Aye aye.”

The bandaged mummy let out a wheeze. “Aye.”

“Dead Tom.”

One of the pirates held up a skeleton with two eye patches on it. "Aye, aye."

The ponies stared in horror. Smollet whimpered and shuddered. "Cool." Gonzo whispered, causing Zipp to look at him strangely. "What is it with you obsessing over the most graphic and deadly things?"

“I'm not obsessive. I just simply appreciate the craft.”

Mr. Arrow and Smollet exchanged unnerved glances before Mr. Arrow continued. “Clueless Morgan?”

The goat pirate looked confused at this. “Huh?”

"Headless Bill."

There was no reply. "Headless Bill?" Mr. Arrow called out again. Hitch started to get a sinking feeling. If Dead Tom was actually dead, then... there was only one explanation. “Please don't let this be true... please don't let this be true...”

The group leaned to the other side of deck and saw, to their absolute bewilderment and horror, one of the pirates was indeed headless and it saluted at them respectfully.

Pipp held a hoof to her mouth to keep from vomiting. “To be honest,” Zipp whispered, “I'm starting to sympathize more with Dead Tom.”

“H-How... how is he still alive?” Lotus whimpered while Captain Smollet shook his head dejectedly ans Mr. Arrow went back to the roll call. "Big Fat Ugly Bug-Face Baby-Eating O'Brian."

Sunny and Captain Smollet looked at the list, and the name was there in bold lettering... just as a pretty young woman spoke in a deep, gruff voice. “Aye.”

The eagle and frog went slackjawed, along with the ponies. "Oh, that's... that's just insulting..." Harmony muttered, feeling sick at her stomach. “Who gives their child that kind of name? A sicko?” Sunny asked in disgust. Mr. Arrow cleared his throat and, once again, went back to the roll call list. “Angel Marie.”

“Aye aye,” an ogre-like creature said out loud. Persephone put a hoof to her face and slowly shook her head. “This cannot be happening right now...”

Captain Smollet nodded his head emotionlessly, trying to make sense of the situation. He turned to Mr. Arrow, who was frowning at him and then, he turned to Gonzo, Rizzo, Jim, and the ponies. "Ladies? Gentleman? May I see you in my cabin... immediately?"

The group looked amongst themselves and somehow, they knew where this was going. Izzy was the most fearful, her ears pinning against her head. “We’re so gonna walk the plank for this...”

“Come on, Izzy. This is Kermit, er... um, Captain Smollet we're talking about, ”Zipp assured. “I'm sure it won't be that bad.”

XXXXXXXX

“Who hired this crew?!” Captain Smollet demanded, causing Persephone to whimper out of fear. “This is undoubtedly the seediest bunch of cutthroats, villains, and scoundrels I have ever seen! So, who hired them?!”

The captain was breathing like mad, trying to catch his breath.

The group of friends around the table had varying degrees of shock and dread on their faces. They all silently pointed their fingers and hooves to Trelawny at the end of the table.

The squire retaliated by pointing an accusatory finger at his left pointer finger. “Your finger hired the crew?” Smollet asked incredulously. “No, that’s silly. The man who lives in my finger hired the crew, Mr. Bimbo,” Squire Trelawney said before he put his finger up to his ear. “What? Aah. Yeah, he relied heavily on the advice from our excellent cook, Long John Silver, and his friend, Uliana.”

Captain Smollett sat down wearily and turned to Mr. Arrow, who didn't have much of a response. “A cook… and a guy who lives in a bear’s finger?”

“Exactly!” the squire said happily. Mr. Arrow groaned and put a hand to his eyes as Captain Smollett let out a weak groan. “I'm starting to worry about this voyage.”

“Yep…” Pipp sighed. “We’re in for the long haul on this one.”

Persephone, who remained silent all this time, decided to speak up. “Come on, sir. Not all of them are bad. I mean… our friends here are totally fine.”

“Well, yeah. I don't have a problem with them, Persephone,” Captain Smollett told his young assistant. “The rest outside I do have a problem with.”

“I’m sure we can keep an eye on them,” Harmony volunteered. “Right, everypony?”

“...say what now?” Hitch blinked. “Thank you, Harmony. And on another note,” Captain Smollett said, turning to Jim. “Uh, Jim, I know Billy Bones gave you the treasure map, but I hope you'll give it to me for safekeeping.”

Jim simply tucked the map into his jacket, completely out of anyone's sight. “I’ll be careful with it, sir.”

Suddenly, there came a knock at the door, and in came Long John Silver and Uliana, the latter pulling a cart with alcoholic beverages on it. “Begging your pardon, ladies and gentlemen,” Long John said as he interrupted their conversation. “I've come with a bit of a treat for you. Tis my very own best brandy, laid down by the brothers of Buckfast Abbey, vintage 1737, to toast to a prosperous voyage.”

“It’s our treat to all of you,” Uliana said with a smirk... something that made Sunny begin to shudder. “Please… enjoy yourselves.”

“Oh, spiffy!” Squire Trelawney began to pour himself some brandy, just as a whiff of it caught Zipp’s nose, causing her to gag. “Man… whatever’s in this stuff, I’m not sure I want any part of it.”

“I'm sorry, Mr. Silver,” Captain Smollett said to the cook and Uliana firmly, “but I'm not going to allow drinking on this voyage.”

“You heard ‘em, squire,” Misty said, tossing the brandy in the glass out the window. “Rules are rules!”

“Oh, but sir,” Uliana protested with a sly grin on her face, “it’s a tradition for the officers and their… closest allies to toast to the success of a voyage.”

“Oh, very true,” Squire Trelawney filled his glass. Livesey and Beaker filled up their glass for the sweet, burning taste of the vintage, liquid courage. “No. We must set an example for this questionable crew,” the captain said firmly. “There will be no consumption of alcohol of any kind.”

“Yeah,” Sunny said. “We ponies don’t consume that sort of stuff, and… I really don’t think Jim is of that kind of age yet.”

“Oh, sir, but I can vouch for this crew myself,” Long John spoke. “You can sail to heaven and back with these men.”

Squire Trelawny, Livesey, and Beaker poured more alcohol into their glasses. “Well,” Captain Smollett said, “I'm afraid I must disagree with you.”

“Oh…” the half-wit bear squire threw the hard drink through the open window again, causing a female voice to scream from outside. “You wanna knock it off with the booze?” a male rat asked from outside. “It's peelin' paint off of the shuffleboard court.”

“Oops!” Lotus yelped. “Sorry!”

“Sheesh… come on girls,” said the male rat, and the three rats walked off. “And that’s that,” Captain Smollett finished his statement sternly. “This conversation is finished.”

“Captain’s orders,” Persephone said. Uliana growled, but Long John Silver spoke first. “We understand, sir,” he said, putting the glasses back in the chest he brought. “We shall tend to our duty and see to it that every drop of alcohol is thrown overboard.”

While he was polite in standing down from the captain's word, the ponies, primarily, picked up on the drop of anger and frustration hidden deep within Silver's sincere words. “Come on, Jim,” Long John beckoned. “Don’t bother captain.”

“You can go if you want to, Jim,” Captain Smollett spoke. Jim, deciding to follow Silver, made his way out of the cabin. Uliana was the last to follow out. She flashed a quick glare at the ponies.

She was going to make those ponies fall. One way or another.

Gonzo and Rizzo walked toward the door to follow them, and the cabin door slammed shut on them, surprising the ponies a bit. “Oh, well,” Rizzo spoke indignantly. “I guess the human beings wanna hang out together, don't wanna spend time with a rat, ponies, and a… uh…”

“Alien/whatever,” Gonzo responded. “Yeah,” Rizzo nodded with a huff. “Hey, don’t be like that, you two,” Zipp scolded softly. “Yeah,” Sunny nodded. “If Jim wants to hang with John Silver, he's free to do so.”

“Well, we were his friends first,” Rizzo huffed. “Shouldn’t he be hanging out with us?”

“Of course we’re his friends,” Harmony said. “But, there's a lot of other people on this ship. Doesn't hurt to talk to them, too.”

“The girls are right,” Lotus agreed. “They might not be so "seedy" as you think.”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” Captain Smollett told the ponies.

XXXXXXXX

Nightfall had come, coloring the sky a pitch black with bright stars sprinkled about. The hustle and bustle on the ship slowly died down to make way for a more calming atmosphere. The gentle rocking of the ship caused most of the crew nod off into a deep slumber. A few stayed awake, feeling soothed by the motherly swaying of the boat.

On the main deck, a band was playing slow jazz while the rats were spending their romantic night with their significant other ones. Some the crew members were just passing the time, carving wooden blocks, or messing with unused rope.

A photographer rat came up to a couple at a bar stand. “Say cheese.”

“Cheese!” the couple said cheerfully. The camera flashed, taking a picture of them. “Oh, that's great,” The photographer said. "Cute couple."

The rat couple left the bar with their drinks. Some rat couples were dancing around the main deck, turning it into a dance floor. One male rat began kissing his significant other's neck. "Stop it," the lady rat laughed. “Wheeee!!!” Izzy spun around like a ballerina. “Now this is how you have some fun!”

Some other rat couples sat on barrels or railings, simply enjoying the scenery and the band.

"I never felt like this before."

"Denise, what I'm trying to say-"

"Yes?"

"What I'm trying to say is-"

"Yes?"

"What I mean to say is, I--"

"Yes?"

The two rats leaned in for a deep, passionate kiss. Meanwhile, at the bow of the ship, Jim, Harmony and Silver was watching the never-ending waters and the twinkling stars in the night sky. “I'm sorry your present didn't work out,” Harmony said sympathetically. “Oh, kids, Smollett sails by rules and laws. That's what bein' a captain's all about,” Long John took a deep inhale of the salty, sea air. “Me? I sails by the stars.”

“The stars?” Jim asked, confused. “North, Jim,” the cook reiterated. “Find me north out there among them stars.”

“Well, that’s easy,” Jim said as he brought out his compass. “Ah, yeah, but what if you don't have a compass?” Sliver took the compass and hung it over the ship's front, chuckling as he did so. Harmony let out a startled gasp at this, panic hung in her very being. “Long John, please don't drop it,” Jim pleaded, holding out his hand. “It was my father's. It's all I have of his. Please. Please.”

Upon realizing that Jim really held that compass dear, Long John did as he was told. “I'm sorry, lad. I were only foolin’,” he said before patting Jim’s back in sympathy. “How old were you when he died, then?”

“Seven,” Jim answered. “Harmony’s mother passed about two years ago.”

The cook turned to him with sympathetic eyes, then turned back to the stars. “I were eight when my father died at sea. First mate, he was.”

“Jim’s father was a first mate too!” Harmony said with a smile. The cook turned to them again. “Was he, now?”

The boy nodded feebly. “By the powers. What a coincidence,” the cook smiled, and Jim and Harmony smiled back. “"Now, Jim, that be Polaris, the North Star,” Long John pointed high into the sky to a specific star. “Even in the China sea, that's north.”

“North… Polaris,” Jim pointed at the same star that Long John pointed to. “So…” Harmony muttered, “...we must be heading southwest!”

“Smart as paint you are, kids. Smart as paint,” the one-legged cook said brightly. “Now, that gets old Long John to wonderin'. Why would we be sailin' southwest?”

Harmony and Jim glanced at the cook, unsure of what he was getting at. “The scuttlebutt among the crew is that, uh, we're sailing for buried treasure…” Long John leaned closer to Jim. “...and, uh, someone on board has a map.”

Jim looked away, refusing to meet's John's gaze. He remained undeterred, but deep down, he was growing worried.

Was the cook on to him? Did he know something he didn't? Was it that weird pony that told him? What and how did she know about the map?

“Of course, none of my concern, Jim. I'm just a ship's cook,” Long John said dismissively. “Such matters are best suited to Captain Smollett. He runs the ship, not I.”

“Come on, Long John. You could captain this ship,” Jim affirmed, leaning against the railing. “That I could, lad,” John said simply, but there was a slight, ominous edge to his tone. “Maybe someday I will.”

The cook began to chuckle. Jim joined in and their chuckling turned into a heart laugh. John wrapped a hand around the boy's back...

...but they were all unaware that Uliana and Shiver were watching their every move and listening to their entire conversation.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, the slow jazz began to come to a close, and the rat couples deciding to do other activities. “Moonlight swim?” one of the rats asked. “Okay,” his girlfriend agreed, and the two went on their way.

The band came to a slow stop, and they shared a small laugh as Izzy came up to them. “Can you guys do a pop song next?”

“Sorry, sweetheart. We don't do that genre,” the guitarist said. “Oh…” Izzy lowered her head a bit. “Shouldn't you youngin's be in bed by now?” one of the crew members asked. “No way! I can dance all day and all night,” the lavender unicorn said before she then let out a yawn. “Let’s hit the sack anyway, Izzy,” Zipp said, putting a hoof around her. “I've babysat you for long enough.”

And with that, the two ponies retired to their sleeping quarters for the night.

XXXXXXXX

In the cabin, Smollett was preparing for bed. His eyes fell upon a small picture of someone on the desk. Benjamina Gunn... a woman that had been the love of his life... at least once.

Captain Smollett grabbed the picture and held it, still hearing her angelic voice in his mind. “Oh, Smolly, my love for you is deeper than the deep, blue sea.”

Smollett hugged the picture frame, as if he was hugging her. He let out a sorrowful sigh and turned to the open window, showing off the weaving waters and the sparkling night sky. He looked at the photo, then out into the sky. He had never been quite the same since the day he lost Benjamina... how he wished things had been different. How he wished he could've...

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

The captain quickly put the picture frame on the desk. “Come in!”

The door opened and in came Sunny with a dilapidated look on her face. “Um… Captain Smollett?” Sunny cleared her throat. “Am I interrupting anything?”

“Oh, no, you weren’t,” the captain said before clearing her throat. “What are doing here? I thought you had gone to sleep.”

“I couldn’t really sleep,” Sunny sighed. “I've been thinking about a lot of things, and I really need an outside opinion.”

Captain Smollett gestured for her to sit down, and then sat down next to her. “Well… what is it?”

“Well for starters, that Uliana pony really rubs me the wrong way,” Sunny started. “I really can't put my hoof on it, but I just can't help but think she's up to something.”

“Like a mutiny?”

“Maybe, but I don’t know for sure,” the earth pony/alicorn responded. “Regardless, I feel that she's going to do something that puts us all in danger. She'll probably some others of the crew involved. Like you said about them being villainous cutthroats, I really have a bad feeling about them.”

“I certainly agree with your concern, Sunny,” the captain said. “Unfortunately, I can't really do anything about it unless they end up doing something.”

Sunny sadly sighed, remembering her thoughts and worries that surfaced from back home. “There's also the fact that I might be the last alicorn left. Aside from Opaline, I’m the only alicorn ponies of this age have known. I just… I’. worried that, if something ever happened to me, all the progress, everything I did with and for my friends will become unraveled, and earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi will just go back to hating and fearing each other.”

Captain Smollett listened intently as Sunny continued speaking. “And, all the adventures and quests me and others have been through, we've been in pretty dangerous situations, I've always had this underlying fear of getting killed and, subsequently, everything just falls apart,” Sunny said, getting close to bursting into tears. “The three pony species being segregated again and loathing each other. What would happen to my friends? How will I ever forgive myself if something like that ever happened…”

Smollett was quiet for a minute, taking in all of what Sunny had said. It was a lot, to be sure. The captain cleared his throat before speaking. “That's a lot of emotional baggage. But, Sunny, in my experience, living through dangerous situations build a strong fortitude and brings friends closer together,” he said. “Even if you were to... snuff it, as some say nowadays, your friends would want to carry your legacy and continue with bettering the relationships of those ponies. I may not fully understand it, but seeing how close you are to your friends, that wouldn't let everything you've been through be for nothing.”

“But… what if the relations end without an alicorn?” Sunny asked. “And if I really am the only alicorn left?”

“Well, something tells me those relationships won't just break just because there's no alicorn,” Captain Smollett said, putting a hand on her back. “Like I said, if one day your life does come to an end, your legacy would still be continued. Such a large building of friendships and whatnot would be so fragile in the face of tragedy. There's always a chance another alicorn could be out there, but if there isn't, you shouldn't let that hang over your life.”

Sunny thought over the captain's words. Her friends would with her until the very. Smollett was right, even if she passed on, Hitch, Zipp, Pipp, Izzy, and Misty would still be there to keep the magic of friendship going. And there was no sense of being fixated on finding another alicorn. Maybe Equestria will still prosper without it.

Eventually, she let a smile through. “Thank you, captain… I really needed to hear that.”

“Well, I'm happy to help,” Captain Smollett told her with a smile. “Now, I think it’s time we get some rest. Big day tomorrow.”

“Agreed,” Sunny nodded and headed for the door. “Good night, Captain Smollett.”

“Good night, Sunny.”

Sunny exited the cabin, leaving the frog captain be himself. Sleep came much easier for Sunny that night. The reassurance of the captain, the cool air, and calming sway of the ship swiftly lolled her to sleep.

Author's Note

I had Indywriter's help with this chapter, and I could not thank them enough for being a loyal friend during these loyal friends.