1. The Tale of Espada Noche
Today
Dinky shivered a little at a stray breeze as she trotted. Winter would officially begin next week, but as Ponyville prepared for the advent of the season and the first snowfall, the weather patrol had arranged for the temperature to drop notably. It wasn’t too cold yet, but it was certainly nearing it; she had already taken to wearing a blue-and-green winter cape when she went outside, and it was nearly time for her to break out her hat as well.
Beside her, Pipsqueak seemed to take the breeze better, though he, too, was wearing winter clothing, in his case a long-tailed jacket that covered his flank, as well as a red kerchief around his neck, though the latter was actually something he tended to wear anyway.
“So what do you want to do today?” Dinky asked as the two reached the edges of Ponyville’s proper town and headed towards the Castle Tree, where they were meeting up with a good portion of the foals in Ponyville. On either side of the dirt road they walked down were white fences, marking the edge of various pony’s farms. The fields were cleared by now, of course, and had been since the Ingathering, the last harvest of the year.
Pipsqueak thought. “I dunno,” he said at length, his Trottinghamish accent not having faded in the slightest since Dinky had first met the colt. “We did superheroes last week, right?”
“And Mild West banditos the week before,” Dinky noted. “Snow’s almost here and we won’t be allowed to play outside all day ‘cause of the cold. We have to make today count.”
“Pirates!” Pipsqueak proclaimed with a hop.
Dinky considered that herself. They actually hadn’t played pirates since the summer, though Pipsqueak’s love for them hadn’t wavered any more than his accent. The unicorn filly frowned, however. “I don’t have any more water balloons,” she said, and shook her mane a little at another cool breeze that made her thankful for her winter cloak. “And it’s probably too cold for them, anyway…”
Pipsqueak’s ears flopped low in disappointment. “Oh, right…” he noted. His love of pirate games did not extend quite far enough to risk hypothermia. “Well, we don’t have to play Barbarneigh Corsairs attacking a fortress again. We could…go on a scavenger hunt!”
Dinky’s eyes grew wide, and a big grin broke out on her face. “Yeah!” she said. “We could get crews together – ”
“Make a treasure map – ”
“Follow all the clues – ”
“Have epic fights on the open sea – ”
“We went on a scavenger hunt a few weeks before you first moved here,” Dinky noted. “It was awesome!” She considered a few moments, then her face darkened as she looked down in defeat. “Oh, but it won’t work…”
Pipsqueak looked to Dinky. “Aw, why not?”
“Because scavenger hunts take forever to set up! By the time we’ve hidden the clues and made the maps and made the teams, the day will practically be over.”
Pipsqueak’s ears sagged again as he looked at the ground. “Aw, you’re right…” he noted. “Well…I’m sure we’ll think of something…”
The two foals stopped when they noticed a shadow in front of them, blocking the road. Looking up, they saw a pink-coated mare with a pink mane, wearing a brightly-feathered headdress with a mask that looked kind of like a crocodile’s face, and a cape made of brightly colored feathers.
“I hear you’re looking for treasure!” The mare said, her voice somehow high yet deep at the same time.
Dinky and Pipsqueak looked between each other, then back to the mare. “Pinkie Pie?” Pipsqueak asked. Neither foal was entirely surprised by the perpetually perky pink party pony appearing out of nowhere, but her choice of attire was more than a little strange, even for her.
“No!” Pinkie Pie objected mightily. She paused a moment, then lifted up her mask. “Well, okay, yeah. But play along!” She put the mask back on. “I am the ghost of Dread Cipactli! Many years ago, the pirate Espada Noche of Caballeria stole my treasure and hid it on the mythical Cutthroat Island!”
“Ooh! I know this story! Me da’ told me it!” Pipsqueak noted, hopping up and down. “Cipactli was this monster that lived in the Thousand Islands! He used to wake up every hundred years and sink ships and take all their treasure!”
Pinkie Pie lifted the mask off her face again, nodding. “Yup! He was a big greedy crocodile monster! Nothing at all like Gummy!” At that, she produced a small, pink-eyed, toothless alligator, wearing a tiny sweater and fuzzy hat. Gummy blinked one eye at a time at the two foals, but didn’t otherwise react to their presence.
“Why are you dressed like kee-pac-tee?” Dinky asked.
“Cipactli,” Pinkie corrected, then slid her mask back on and slid back into character – whatever that character was – as she tucked Gummy away under her feather cloak again. “And the reason why I am here is this! Espada Noche tracked me down to my island. He and his crew defeated me and took all my treasure, the plunder of a thousand ships! But Espada’s crew were just as greedy as he was, if not more! He feared that his crew would fight over the treasure and be driven apart and not be friends anymore if he ever tried to divide it amongst them, since each would want more than their fair share!”
“Actually me da’ said that it was ‘cause Espada Noche wanted all the treasure for himself,” Pipsqueak interrupted.
“Whatever!” ‘Cipactli’ said. “The point is, in the middle of the night, Espada Noche took the treasure in his ship, the Oro Jack, and sailed off into the sunset – alone!”
Dinky was pretty sure there was an inconsistency with the timing there. “Um – ” she began.
“He buried his treasure on the mysterious Cutthroat Island! When he reappeared, months later, all his crew wanted to know where he’d hidden the treasure. He didn’t tell anypony! But…he did have a map!”
“A map?” Dinky asked.
“A map!” Pipsqueak exclaimed, hopping up again. He had made his way over to a white fence that surrounded the nearby farm field, and deftly hopped up on top of it, holding one hoof high for dramatic emphasis. “The most famous treasure map ever! Leading to the most famous treasure ever!”
“That’s right!” ‘Cipactli’ exclaimed, joining him on the fence and holding up her other hoof. “Espada Noche had hidden his treasure somewhere in the Thousand Islands, with only his one map leading to the island. But not long after, the pirate was finally captured and brought back to Caballeria for trial!
“Before they did anything, though, the Caballeros wanted to know what Espada Noche had done with his map and all the treasure of Cipactli! But the map was gone! Espada Noche had split it into three parts and sent the map to parts unknown! It is said that he laughed all the way to the gallows, saying that nopony would ever find his treasure!”
Dinky looked to Pipsqueak for confirmation, and the colt nodded as he hopped back down from the fence. “Me da’ always said that finding the pieces of the map and putting it together would be an adventure itself!”
“Aha!” Pinkie exclaimed, darting off to a nearby rock and lifting it up, taking out two items, then returning, hoofing one over to each foal.
Dinky took the item offered to her with widened eyes, considering what Pinkie had just been telling her and Pipsqueak. The item given to her was a folded piece of…something, Dinky couldn’t tell if it was cloth or paper. There were several stains on it; she recoiled slightly at one stain – one red stain. Pinkie was known to get really into some of her roles…
“That’s just tomato sauce,” Pinkie explained, apparently reading Dinky’s mind.
“Oh.” Dinky breathed out a sigh of relief, them hurriedly opened the piece of paper. She found herself looking at what looked like a third of a map…of Ponyville. Specifically, its north and east sections, as well as the surrounding farmland and countryside. Across it were marks and notations about various locations and things to do one you reached them, some of them complete, some of them half-finished as they referred to locations outside of the part of the map that Dinky held
Glancing over at Pipsqueak, she saw that the item he’d been handed was a piece of wood, looking like it had come from a plank from a barrel. It, too, contained a partial map of Ponyville carved into its surface, in his case most of the southern parts. It was similarly marked with directions, some of them complete, others only half-complete. Leaning over and holding her partial map next to Pipsqueak’s, the two saw that the two pieces each joined together to create a more complete picture, though the final third of the map was still missing.
Dinky looked back to Pinkie, who had her mask up again and was nuzzling Gummy, who responded by blinking one eye at a time in his usual fashion. “This isn’t Espada Noche’s treasure map,” Dinky reasoned, guessing that the legendary pirate probably hadn’t sailed to land-locked, deep inland Ponyville to bury his treasure.
Pinkie giggled. “Of course not, silly!” she said, tucking the sedate alligator away again. Dinky thought she saw Gummy open his mouth and clamp down on Pinkie’s mane, but the mare didn’t seem to notice. “That’s just to set the mood for the treasure hunt!” she nodded sagely. “I always keep hidden treasure in Ponyville, in case of treasure hunt emergencies.”
Dinky and Pipsqueak looked at each other. Both knew that Pinkie lived in a loft apartment over Sugar Cube Corner – she couldn’t, realistically, make that much in the way of bits, and so whatever treasure had been hidden probably wasn’t a whole lot. At most, it was a few bits and some chocolate or something.
But…
“This is great, Pinkie!” Dinky exclaimed. “We can go on a treasure hunt today! It’s the perfect way to end the season!”
“Yup!” Pinkie proudly exclaimed. “My tail was a-twitchin’ and my leg was a-hitchin’ and my mane was all frazzle-dazzled – more than usual – and I just knew that somepony in Ponyville needed help setting up a treasure hunt! Oh, but my break’s almost done; I gotta get back to Sugar Cube Corner.” Pinkie hopped past them, heading back towards town. She looked over her shoulder as she hopped. “Tell me how it went, though!” She pulled her mask back down. “Cipactli wants to know…!”
Pipsqueak and Dinky waved her goodbye, then looked down at their respective maps, then to each other. “Wait, who has the third piece?” Pipsqueak asked, as he turned his map around in his hooves, and checked the back. “We only have two pieces of the map! Oh, no, did she forget?”
Dinky thought a moment, then shook her head. “If I know Pinkie, then the third piece is somewhere already. We’ll probably find it while hunting for the treasure.” She looked over her own map. “You know, it looks like this part by itself could lead to a whole lot of adventure already.” She looked to Pipsqueak. “We could divide into teams! Two teams, each looking for the treasure.”
“And we could try to spy on each other!” Pipsqueak said. “Try to get a hold of each other’s maps so that we can do the parts that are only half-done on one alone.”
Dinky considered, tapping her hoof to her mouth. “Mmn, maybe not steal,” Dinky said. “it won’t be any fun for a team if their map gets stolen. But spying, or making copies, or trading back-and-forth, sounds okay!”
Pipsqueak nodded. “Fair enough. But whoever gets to the treasure first gets the largest share! Um…say, two-thirds?”
“Of course!” Dinky agreed. There had to be a prize for coming in first, but there had to be a consolation prize, too. She grinned, holding out a hoof. “May the best pirate win!”
Pipsqueak reached out his own hoof, tapping it to Dinky’s. “Right!”
---
My little pony, my little pony…
Yo-ho, yo-ho…
My little pony –
We’re all ready so let’s go and see
My little pony –
Just what’s ahead for you and for me
Stormy weather, lots to share
We’ll search the seas, with love and care
Finding treasure, it’s an easy feat
With friends to make your crew complete!
You have my little ponies –
Yo-ho a pirate’s life for me!
---
The tavern was called the Admiral Bent Bow, and it lay almost exactly on the border between Caballeria and Garanhã, two of Equestria's southern neighbors. Specifically on the Caballero side, though all the locals spoke Equestrian because Dinky didn’t actually speak Caballero. It lay near none of the major southern ports of either country, though there was a small village nearby with a modest dock, not quite big enough for a full man-o’-war, but a comfortable enough port for the schooner that Dinky Doo, former captain of the Royal Equestrian Army, had sailed in on
Dinky had inquired in the town as to the location of the Admiral Bent Bow and, having learned of it, made her way up to it with determination. She found it to be a small place in a state of disrepair, with little to recommend it save two things: its broad, commanding view of both the surrounding countryside and the Southern Sea; and its isolation from other ports-of-call along the coast, making it the perfect place for clandestine meetings.
Dinky looked very different from the mare that had been taken captive by Barbarneigh Corsairs ten years ago –
– no, wait, ten years was too long a time. Dinky stopped and thought a moment.
Dinky looked very different from the mare that had been taken captive by Barbarneigh Corsairs three years ago. She wore a white, loose shirt under a long seafaring coat, a tricorner hat with a feather in it on her head, and a sword slung across her back. The slave markets of Zebrica had left a hardened look in her eyes from all the mean things the slavers had made her do, like cook and clean and carry their stuff around. But she had escaped one night, not too long ago, from her cruel zebra master. In fact, she had done better than escape: she had managed to steal something very precious from her former master. Finding secret passage from Zebrica to the coast of Caballeria hadn’t been easy, but she’d managed thanks to some nice zebras she’d met – Dinky was sure there were nice zebras and that they’d help an escaped slave. But she couldn’t return to Equestria – not yet.
Entering the Admiral Bent Bow, she found it to be subdued compared to many of the taverns and pubs that dotted the Southern Sea’s coast. Nevertheless, the place was full of scurvy-sea dogs, ponies from all across the continent that had made their living by the bounty of the sea, on trade or, just as often, the piracy of such trade. Some of them were probably even slavers. But not the ponies Dinky was looking for – after all, they had been slaves themselves. She found them easily enough.
“Hey guys!”
Their friends all looked up from where they were sitting as Dinky and Pipsqueak – whom Dinky had been ignoring in her fantasy, since they’d agreed to give each team half an hour to get started before they would begin competing – arrived at the Castle Tree. For some reason, none of their friends looked very happy. Dinky frowned, forgetting the pirate stuff for a moment and instead focusing on the here and now, the here specifically being under the Castle Tree and not, in fact, somewhere along the Caballero coast; and the now being a Saturday afternoon today, and not back in the days of the Barbarneigh Corsairs. She also wasn’t really dressed like a pirate, just in her winter cloak, and her ‘sword’ was just a conveniently-sized tree branch she’d found.
Dinky found less foals than she was expecting under the boughs of the Castle Tree – only eight, not including Pipsqueak and herself, all wearing winter cloaks or coats to protect against the mild chill in the air. A bigger concern to Dinky, however, was that her friends had for some reason divided into two groups: Scootaloo, Snails, Twist, and Featherweight sitting in the eastern half of the Castle Tree, and Rumble, Applebloom, Snips, and Bee Bop in the western half.
Dinky looked to Pipsqueak, who shrugged, not knowing why they were split into two anymore than she did. “I’ll take this lot,” Pipsqueak said, nodding his head towards Rumble’s group.
Dinky nodded, heading over to the eastern half and looking at the ponies there. “What’s going on?” She asked when she reached them, head tilting to the side.
“Snips is a big dumb stinker, that’s what!” Snails exclaimed. He was in the rough center of the group of four, and looked like he had been pacing around in circles, stomping at the ground in annoyance while the other foals had been alternating between being close to him to try and calm him down and hanging back to give the young colt space to stew.
Dinky raised an eyebrow, looking to the other ponies. Snips and Snails were normally inseparable friends, and Dinky wasn’t sure if she’d ever heard about them getting into a fight. “What happened?”
“Don’t know,” Twist said. Her lisp had been getting better over the past few months, as she made a deliberate effort to try and drop it, but it was still fairly pronounced. “He’th – he’s – not telling us.”
“Something to do with not everypony being here,” Featherweight provided. “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are having a tea party. Alula and Firelock and Sweetie Belle are there.”
Dinky remembered Diamond Tiara talking about how she wanted to have a tea party to welcome in the winter. She’d actually invited Dinky, but Dinky had declined as politely as possible, though promised to come to the next one. The unicorn foal looked back to Snails. “What’s this have to do with you and Snips?” she asked. She found it unlikely that Diamond Tiara would have invited Snips or Snails anyway, but neither of the two unicorn colts had ever shown any interest to going to any of Diamond Tiara’s tea parties before, so she wasn’t sure how it could be involved.
Snails looked at Dinky, then away and over towards the other group of foals, who had clustered around Snips, who looked equally angry with Snails. “Doesn’t matter,” Snails said. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
Dinky winced, even as she scratched an errant itch on her flank. She hated it when her friends fought with each other, and it wasn’t always easy, keeping her muzzle out of their business. Still, looking Snails over, she could tell that her fellow foal just wanted to stew for a little bit, and probably wouldn’t appreciate any of his friends trying to pry into whatever was making him so upset. “Well…” she ventured, “can you tell us later? We only want to help.”
“Yeah!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “The day’s wasting away. You don’t want to spend it all in a bad mood, do you?”
Snails considered, mulling over what the two fillies had said and taking his time to do so, as he did with most things. At length, he nodded. “Okay. We can talk about it…later. Maybe.”
Dinky put on a smile, accepting the small victory even as she scratched again at her flank. It had been really itchy lately for some reason. “Alright then. Me and Pipsqueak have the best idea for what to do today! Pinkie Pie helped out.”
The four other foals all brightened up at that, even Snails. Whenever Ponyville’s premier pink party pony was involved, excitement was sure to follow. Her grin widening, Dinky used her magic to pull the third of the map she had from a pocket on the inside of her winter cloak, unfolding it and showing it to the four gathered ponies, who in her mind’s eye were once again back to being her former soldiers, as they once more found themselves in the Caballero tavern, the Admiral Bent Bow.
“This here,” said Captain Dinky to her former soldiers, who had fought with her three years ago against the Barbarneigh Corsairs to defend Neigh Orleans, “is a piece of the legendary treasure map of the pirate Espada Noche, hidden somewhere in the Thousand Islands! There’s supposed to be fabulous treasure at the end!”
The four former members of the Royal Equestrian Army crowded around the map that Dinky had laid out on the tavern’s scratched wooden table, reading it by the dim and flickering light of a fireplace and a small lantern that hung overhead. Dinky had spoken in hushed tones, for there was many a scallywag and buccaneer ne’er-do-well in the tavern – maybe even a spy for him. “But it’s a map of Ponyville,” Scootaloo pointed out.
“No, it’s a map of the Thousand Islands,” Dinky insisted of her former second-in-command, who’s ambitions had always run high, though she was a brave and true soldier when she had to be.
“I dunno…” Featherweight intoned. He had been the fort’s doctor before he had been taken by the Barbarneigh Corsairs. “I think I can see my house.”
“And that lookth like the town hall,” Twist, their gunner, insisted. Twist had the best aim of any of the foals in Ponyville, even the unicorns who’d learned how to make use of their telekinesis, like Dinky.
Dinky looked between the three of them, then rolled her eyes. They stung a little bit in the smoke of tavern caused by its poorly-maintained fireplace. “No, it’s a map of the Thousand Islands,” she insisted. “Because we’re all pirates. And this is our treasure map.”
The four looked at Dinky blankly, before Snails’ ears perked up, somehow seeing what Dinky was driving at before anypony else did. Snails had been the fortress’ entomologist. Not many forts had a need for entomologists, but Snails had been one anyway. “I get it! Like over the summer.” He looked down after a few moments when he remembered how that game had gone. “But I thought we were all captured.”
Dinky put a reassuring hoof on Snips’ shoulder. “We escaped!” she explained. “And I found this treasure map! Well, the ghost of Dread Kee-pac-til-lee gave it to me. Well…Pinkie Pie gave it to me. But the point is that we have it, and that’s why I called you all here!” She grinned as she leaned in conspiratorially. “We’ll find the treasure. We can use it to come back to Equestria as heroes!”
“We’re not in Equestria?” Featherweight asked.
“No, we’re in a tavern on the Caballero coast. I’m the army captain that I was when we played that the Barbarneigh Corsairs were attacking over the summer. Remember? When we first met Pipsqueak?”
“Ohh…” the four foals intoned, as everything came together before them and they fully caught up. Scootaloo was the fastest this time around, leaning in and glancing over to the other group of foals. “What about them?”
Dinky looked across the Caballero tavern. She did indeed see another crew of motley scallywags, all of them bearing a familiar bandana on their heads or about the necks, and brand on their flanks, that made their allegiance clear. Dinky’s eyes widened. “Them there,” she said in a hushed tone, leaning in, “are members of the crew of Hispaniola. The dreaded pirate ship, captained by the meanest, evilest pirate to ever cruise the Thousand Islands. The pirate that sacked Neigh Orleans even though we tried to fight him off, and then sold us all into slavery in Tapira and Zebrica. The King of the Pirates…Pipsqueak.”
Dinky’s flowery, overlong description had the desired effect; her friends were finally getting into their roles. When Pipsqueak glanced over at them, they actually all jumped a little as though the little colt really was a dread pirate. “Wait, but Snips is over there,” Snails pointed out. “But he was on our side when we played pirates.”
Dinky blinked. “Oh,” she said, considering. Right now, they had two teams of five each, and she didn’t want to disrupt the balance too much. “Well, um…hang on, maybe we can trade you over to Pipsqueak, or trade Snips over here – ”
Snails’ muzzle scrunched a little. “No,” he said, holding up a hoof as he turned back to the rest of the group. “I’m not talking to Snips right now. He’s a traitor! He joined Pipsqueak’s crew.”
Dinky blinked. “You sure?” she asked.
“I’m positive. I don’t want to be on the same crew as Snips.”
Dinky opened her mouth to ask once again what had happened to drive the two friends apart, but remembered that Snails hadn’t wanted to talk about it. A few minutes probably wasn’t enough to make him want to talk about it now. “Okay,” she accepted, moving on as she pointed once more to the map. “Well, this map, it’s not complete. It’s got two other parts. Pipsqueak has one of them, and we don’t know where the third part is. But we can get started on our parts of the map, and keep a weather-eye open for the third part. Maybe having two parts will be enough to find the treasure.”
“What if it ithn’t?” Twist asked worriedly. “Or what if Pipthqueak – geh, Pipsqueak – gets to it first?”
“Well, we can’t steal each other’s maps, that wouldn’t be fair. But we can make copies, or spy on each other, or trade stuff we find out if we have to. First group to find the treasure gets two-thirds of it.” She stomped a hoof on the ground. “But if Pipsqueak gets to it first, it’ll just mean more treasure when he already has tons and tons! We need it to return to Equestria and make up for losing at Neigh Orleans! So we have to get to it first. Okay?”
The four members of Dinky’s crew looked between each other. “Okay,” Featherweight said at length for the group, fluttering his wings beneath his winter cloak. “This sounds like it could be fun!”
“But wait!” Twist exclaimed. “We need a th – a ship – don’t we?” She looked down at the map. “I mean, if this ith – is – supposed to be the Thousand Islands. Plus, it’ll get tiring walking everywhere. What’s gonna be our thip?”
Dinky considered, before looking to Scootaloo. Scootaloo looked back, breaking out into a wide grin as she rubbed her forehooves together, understanding clearly what Dinky was driving at. “We’ve got the fastest ship in the Thousand Islands already,” she said, getting up from the tavern’s table and indicating the other foals to follow. They did, stepping from the dim lights of the Admiral Bent Bow and out into the road. A quick trot brought them to the village nearby, and more specifically its small piers.
And there – in their minds’ eyes, anyway – they saw her: a two-masted schooner with a surprisingly shallow draft, her lower hull painted yellow while her deck was a more bright red, and her sails, triangular and trapezoidal in shape, slightly pink-tinged in the Cavallian style. Everything about her, from stem to stern, said one thing: I am fast.
The five ponies pointedly ignored that the ship was really just a wagon tied to a scooter sitting just outside the Castle Tree’s boughs. That wasn’t nearly as fun.
Scootaloo trotted up the pier and to the ship, pointing at the side of the schooner’s hull and reading off her name (which was in fact the brand name of the scooter, but again – not quite as fun). “Rosedust,” she said. “As long as we’re sailing her, nopony in all of the Thousand Islands will be able to beat us!”
Dinky looked at her crew, and smiled, holding forward the treasure map. “Okay!” she declared. “Let’s go get our treasure!”
---
Meanwhile, on the other side of Ponyville, in a very expensive and very well-appointed house, a young, pink-coated earth pony filly was all of three seconds away from having her first heart attack.
“Be careful!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed.
“I’m being careful!” Firelock countered, as her horn glowed green and she stared at the tea kettle, tongue clenched in her teeth as she concentrated.
Diamond Tiara watched Firelock very, very closely as the young unicorn, who had not too long ago earned her cutie mark, focused on one of the new spells she had learned even as Diamond Tiara herself kept a tight hoof on the jug of milk, supposing that milk would be as good as water at putting out a fire. The tea kettle was wrapped in a green effervescence that matched the glow of Firelock’s horn, and had been for the past few minutes without anything bursting into flame. That didn’t make Diamond Tiara feel very confident, however, as Firelock’s reputation as a firestarter was well-earned.
On the other hoof, Diamond Tiara did have to admit that Firelock had been getting better ever since she’d started taking fire safety lessons from Red Splasher, the town’s fire chief. The lessons had started not long after Firelock had earned her cutie mark and discovered her special talent of fireworks, two months ago. In spite of this, however, Diamond Tiara would never have invited the crass unicorn over to her house under normal circumstances.
However, she would, and did, invite the pony who was sitting next to Firelock, one reassuring hoof on her back. Alula was a pony with a coat the color of butter, while her mane, tail, and eyes were all purple. What was impressive about her, however, was the fact that she possessed both a unicorn’s horn and a pegasus’ wings. A rare true hybrid between the two tribes, the combination of appendages made Alula look like an alicorn princess, and the foals of Ponyville often treated her as such. Getting Alula to come to her tea party was very prestigious, Diamond Tiara knew, even if she didn’t quite know why.
Alula, unfortunately, was best friends with Firelock – Diamond Tiara wasn’t sure why, since Firelock never treated her like a princess the way everypony else did. When Diamond Tiara had asked Alula over, Alula had asked if Firelock could come too. Diamond Tiara had been forced to compromise, something she wasn’t used to, but something her father, Filthy Rich, said was an important skill to learn.
Rounding out the group was Sweetie Belle, a unicorn foal who’s big sister, Rarity, was one of the more refined and poised ponies in Ponyville; and, of course, Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara’s best friend and fellow member of Ponyville’s ‘upper crust.’
Diamond Tiara let out a squeak of worry when the aura around the tea kettle began to sparkle rather more than was typical for a unicorn’s aura. “Um…Firelock…?” Alula asked, wings rising in worry.
“My daddy will never forgive you if you set a room on fire while I’m in it!” Silver Spoon warned.
“Relax, that just means it’s done,” Firelock said with a grin, as the glow around her horn and around the tea kettle subsided. She was wearing a bright smile, even as she used a hoof to wipe some sweat from her brow – she was still a young unicorn, after all, and so even a basic heating spell took a lot more effort than it would once she grew up. “Told you we didn’t have to go back downstairs or bother one of your maids.”
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. What was the point of having maids if you couldn’t get them to do stuff for you? She nevertheless poured the water of the tea kettle into a nearby waiting teapot, added the number of tea bags that Sweetie Belle had suggested, and poured out fresh tea for her guests, just like a good hostess was supposed to. “Sugar, anypony?” she asked after she set it down, pushing forward the sugar bowl.
Silver Spoon liked one lump, while Sweetie Belle liked three and Firelock, fairly surprisingly, didn’t like any. Diamond Tiara and Alula both had two. After mixing in milk and stirring, the five fillies sampled the latest batch of tea with gusto.
Silver Spoon winced. Sweetie Belle gagged slightly. Alula coughed, and even Diamond Tiara, who had made the tea, had to focus very carefully on not spitting it out. “Blugh!” she exclaimed, setting her teacup down and glaring at it. “Why’s it so bitter?!”
“Tastes fine to me,” Firelock said as she had another sip.
Diamond Tiara glared at her, while Sweetie Belle levitated the teapot over and opened it up, looking in. “Maybe five teabags is too much.”
“But we could barely taste the tea with just three!” Diamond Tiara objected, stomping a hoof on the ground. “Three is too few but five is too much and Firelock nearly burned down my room and the scones are all dry and barely anypony showed up…”
“Who else did you invite?” Alula asked, as she pushed her teacup between her hooves on the table, spinning it around absentmindedly like she might a pottery wheel. Alula liked pottery, and in fact the tea set that the five were using was one that she had made, with help from her mother.
Diamond Tiara pouted, crossing her front hooves over her chest. “Dinky Doo, and Tootsie Flute, and Rumble, and Shady Daze, and Truffle Shuffle, and Scootaloo, and – ”
“Scootaloo?” Silver Spoon asked, one eye narrowing. “Why her?”
Diamond Tiara blushed. She knew exactly why, but she sure as anything wasn’t going to say it. “It’s my tea party, I can invite anypony I want! But everypony was either busy or going to the Castle Tree. Everypony wanted one more chance before winter to get all dirty and covered in sap and mud, instead of spend time inside where it’s warm and have tea!”
“We don’t always get covered in mud and sap,” Firelock objected. “And it’s fun to go outside!”
“I don’t mind going outside,” Diamond Tiara said. “When it’s a picnic or for a nice trot through town – ”
“Or a scooter ride with Scootaloo…” Silver Spoon noted absentmindedly.
Diamond Tiara blushed furiously. “Sometimes I need to get places in a hurry, and Scootaloo’s really fast on her scooter!”
“Uh-huh…” Silver Spoon responded, as she looked down at her tea. She picked it up and poured it into the trash bin in Diamond Tiara’s room. “Well, might as well try for another pot…”
“We’ll need more water, though,” Alula noted. Diamond Tiara agreed to give the tea at least one more go, if only to turn the conversation away from Scootaloo and herself and whether or not Diamond Tiara has a crush on Scootaloo. They all left Diamond Tiara’s room, intent on going to the kitchen.
They almost immediately found their way blocked, however, by a large, dark figure, wearing a mask and cloak and looking down at them ominously with blue eyes that seemed to glow in the shadow that she cast over the five fillies.
“Daddy!” Diamond Tiara called. “Pinkie Pie broke in again!”
“No I didn’t!” Pinkie Pie objected.
“No she didn’t, honey!” Filthy Rich called from somewhere else in the house. “She knocked and I invited her in!”
“I was invited in,” Pinkie Pie confirmed, nodding as she lifted her mask to look down at Diamond Tiara seriously. “Your daddy said that he wasn’t comfortable with teleporting into his house after I threw him and your mommy a surprise anniversary party, and I told him that I didn’t know how to teleport and I’m pretty sure only unicorns can teleport anyway, and he said that just made him more uncomfortable and that I have to ask permission to come inside from now on. So I did, and then I’ve been waiting out here for you to come out of your room.”
Diamond Tiara wasn’t sure how she felt about all that, but then, that described many conversations with Pinkie Pie. She, like most of Ponyville, had learned to just roll with it.
“So why are you here?” Alula asked.
“And why are you dressed like that?” Silver Spoon added, looking Pinkie up and down. She was wearing a stone mask that looked kind of like a crocodile, and a feathered cape. “Are you getting ready for Nightmare Night already?”
“Silly Silver Spoon!” Pinkie chided, reaching into her cape and pulling out a notebook filled to the brim with notes and diagrams and the like. “I’ve been preparing for Nightmare Night since last year! But no, this isn’t for that.” She put the notebook away and took out a pocket watch. “But unfortunately I’m running low on time. The Cakes said I could take a longer break since today’s kind of slow but my extra time is almost up. So I gotta give you to the short version!”
Pinkie put the watch away, and pulled the mask down over her head. “Grr! I’m the monster Dread Cipactli! I was a menace across the Thousand Islands until I was defeated! But I had lots and lots and lots of treasure that the pirate Espada Noche found and stole! He hid it on an island somewhere so that all his friends in his crew wouldn’t fight over it!”
“Or he decided to keep it all for himself,” Diamond Tiara ventured.
Pinkie pulled up her crocodile mask. “Why does everypony think that? That wouldn’t be very nice!”
“You just said he was a pirate,” Diamond Tiara noted.
“So?” Pinkie asked, then pulled her mask back down. “Anyway! Espada Noche had a map leading to his treasure. The map was split into three parts! The dread pirate Pipsqueak already has one piece. Dinky Doo and her crew already have the second! But…”
Pinkie Pie trotted over to a potted plant in the hallway and lifted it up, revealing a piece of cloth. She trotted back to Diamond Tiara and pushed the cloth forward into the young filly’s hooves. “You have the third piece of the map! The most important piece!” She grinned brightly.
Diamond Tiara looked down at the map. It was a map of Ponyville, or a third of it, anyway – southern half. Various instructions and tasks were written or partially written all around the map, in a rough list. A certain part of the map drew Diamond Tiara’s attention more than any other, however – a big red X, near the middle of Ponyville.
The earth pony filly realized all her friends were crowding around her to see the map. Firelock spoke up first. “This looks like fun!”
“We even have the end of the map,” Sweetie Belle noted. “We could go straight for the treasure before Dinky or Pipsqueak!”
“But why would we?” Diamond Tiara objected. Sweetie and Firelock looked at her incredulously, and Diamond Tiara pressed on. “This isn’t Espada Noche’s map, even if Pinkie didn’t just make him up. There’s no way he hid the treasure here! For one thing it probably wouldn’t be written in Equestrian. So what treasure even is there?”
“We’ll never know if we don’t go and find out!” Firelock exclaimed. She pointed to the X on the map. “It’s near the post office. Only a few minutes trot from here!”
“It would be kind of fun,” Alula put in. “I mean…only for a little bit. If that’s okay.”
“There is treasure there,” Pinkie promised. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”
Diamond Tiara stared at Pinkie. “It isn’t gonna be something stupid like friendship, is it?”
Pinkie gasped, hooves at her cheeks. “Friendship isn’t a stupid treasure! It’s the best treasure!” At the earth pony filly’s continued deadpan look, Pinkie shrugged. “But also there’s real treasure, yes.”
“There and back in half an hour,” Sweetie said as she considered the location of the X.
Diamond Tiara considered. This was supposed to be her tea party…but admittedly, it hadn’t been going very well. Maybe this could be a good distraction. And Pinkie had promised that there was real treasure…
“Okay okay okay,” she relented, looking between her friends. “Everypony get your winter stuff, I guess. We’re going treasure hunting.”
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I. LOVE. Pirates.
My first book - my first real book - was Treasure Island, and to this day it's my favorite book, fiction or otherwise. While I have no problem re-reading books in general, Treasure Island is the only one that I will, as soon as I am finished reading it for the upteenth time, immediately turn back to page 1 and start reading for the upteenth-and-first. And, as much as I love a good science-fiction romp like Star Trek or tales of swords and sorcery like Conan the Barbarian, my first love will always be the stories of the high seas, grounded in reality or flights of fancy - the vast blue ocean in all its majesty and danger, the thought of hot tropical islands full of treasure and natives and traps most dire, a strong cutlass as your side, a dirk in your boot, and a brace of pistols...the song of sirens, the maw of a kraken, the sight of the Flying Dutchman and the luck of an albatross...the wind and the sea and the stars to guide you...bad food, brutal discipline, no women...
Okay, so I wouldn't want to live in those times. But read about them and watch them? Hell yes.
The point I'm trying to make is that you can expect me to put a lot of love into this fic. Because this isn't just a story about pirates and maps and buried treasure. This is a story about foals imagining being pirates, following a map, and finding buried treasure. It's a story about them having fun with my absolute favorite medium. And I intend to enjoy every minute of it, too.
...oh, and also, I positively immersed myself in fictional piratical lore and sailing lore for this. Treasure Island, Cutthroat Island, One Piece, Pirates of the Caribbean, Treasure Planet, Pirates of Dark Water, Master and Commander...keep a weather-eye open for references, me harteys! There will be many.
Okay, he much daw will I be exposed to with this story?
They're going to need keys for a chest aren't they?
4254183
Interestingly I've been to the pub which purports to be where Treasure Island was written.
I have a smile that refuses to go away. Curse you, RainbowDoubleDash!
whoa
Is this a Lunaverse story?
I just did something I almost never do. I gave a thumbs up to a story I'm not finished reading. Because I've already enjoyed what you've got up, obviously, but also because your comment on Pirate Love and the Joy Of Kids Pretending To Be Pirates has given me that much optimism about where this will lead, that I gave it my Mark Of Approval in advance. So, you know. Better live up to it or something bad will probably happen or something. Like... curses. Or something. Curses are piratey. We'll see. But only if you don't live up to that Mark Of Approval. So do it. But with your setup - Pirates and the Joy of Childhood - I don't think you should have a problem with my approval, judging by what you've already posted.
I wonder what Snips and Snails argument is about. You know I think we could do with more Snips, we've focused on Snails a lot we seem to have left his best (non sister) friend out in the dark a bit.
This is so very Pinkie
4254731
Yes, though it's gonna be so loosely in it that I almost considered not giving it the AU tag.
4254744
Depends on the foal.
This gunna be GOOD!
4255849
In the interest of fairness, I made a thread in the Quorum so as to put its canonicity up to a vote.
Oh awesome! I love Dinky and Pip! And the stories with the others foals are a whole lot of fun! Especially with a third faction in the works. Heheh.
Ooh, Pirates of Dark Water? You lucky duck, that show was AWESOME! I can't wait to see what reference's you make to it.
I give this story FIVE Rainbow Dashes.
Loving the story so far! Here's hoping the foals go to Treasure Island-like places, as opposed to Candle Cove-like places. :-D
Incidentally, everyone noticed what I did with the theme there, right? Or did you skip over it?
ESPADA NOCHE!!
This can only mean one thing!
fc08.deviantart.net/fs26/f/2008/136/6/d/Bleach_by_NeoSlashott.jpg
Detergent crossover!
Great so far,
Looking forward to seeing pirat-y versions of ponyvills residents.
Incidentally, the Master & Commander Series are my favorite novels, so go whole hog on the nautical references.
4254183 That was also my first real book as well! I still have it too! But enough of those fond memories, I want to talk about the memories you are making with this story. They. Are. Great! This passes my checklist for an insta-fave, and while I don't know too much about the Lunaverse I see this as a well put together standalone. Granted a few things like at the end with the tea party you sort of lost me with, but I take every thing with a grain of salt. The idea of this whole escapade is enough for me to just smile nonstop.
Please keep writing! 
4256223
Yep, we noticed the Friendship is pirates or should that be Pirates are magic, song.
Ooh, Pirates!
I shall leave this one here.
4257455
I think this will always be my favorite piratey song:
That is also my favorite adaptation of Treasure Island, with Treasure Planet not far behind. Treasure Planet should have done much, much better than it did.
...I hate that recent BBC miniseries. Hate it with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns.
4258141
Well, given their love of showmanship, it'd make more sense to make the Luna Six the Gokaigers. After all, Trixie is probably wishing that she'd been named Captain Marvelous.
4257536
You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar! That's one of the best bits of music for getting into a piratey mood in my opinion.
This story is also adorably awesome so far, especially the way you kind of move between and blur that line between what is real and what is imagination. Very entertaining so far!
4258342
Check out our group. On our front page there's a list of Season 1 stories, Season 2 stories, side-stories, and fanfiction. Best place to start is S1E1, Longest Night, Longest Day.
You knew this was coming.
4258813
Bravo Sir.
ms-surface.ru/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/citizen_kane_clapping_2.gif
I concede to your mastery of the interwebs.
4256223
I didn't just notice it. In my mind, it was sung by the guy who does the SpongeBob SquarePants theme. It seemed appropriate.
In any case, this seems like it's going to be a great deal of fun. I look forward to it.
Also, nice job on combining Citizen Kane and G1 ponies in a single gag.
Drink up, me Bronies, YO HO!
s6.postimg.org/dd47s96ap/Pirate_Approved.jpg
Pirates of Dark Water!
Such a good show, so ahead of its time.
It's the interactions that really make this story, esp the adorable toy ships, I'm def following!
>>>It is said that he laughed all the way to the gallows, saying that nopony would ever find his treasure!”>>>
Pipsqueak was about to cheer... when he suddenly had a suspicion. He quickly galloped back home to check Equipedia... and galloped back again, pausing to catch his breath, "That's.. *pant*... just... *gasp*... One Piece...*choke*... again! I told you... *barf*... I don't like anime!"
(This has now become a running gag...)
4254323
Well they do have a map
To lead them to a hidden box
That's all locked up with locks
And buried deep away.
So they'll dig up the box
They know it's full of precious booty.
They'll bust open the locks
And then they'll say "Hooray!"
EVERYPONY NOW!
Yar-har, fiddle-de-dee!
Being a pirate is alright to be!
Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free!
You are a pirate!
Alternatively, since You Are A Pirate has already been done...
I spy a G3 reference!
This should be fun, hopefully there will be some Pirates of the Carribean references!
4258828
Um RDD, sir, It Think you made a mistake,
You say the tavern is on the boarder of Equestria and Caballeria and you say that it is a port town, on the southern sea. But according to the Lunaverse Map http://www.deviantart.com/art/Map-of-Equestria-Lunaverse-344097931 there IS no place where the Equestria/Caballeria boarder touches the southern sea.
maybe you mean the Garanha or Cavalia?
Also where on the Lunaverse Map are the Thousand Islands located? Sounds like a fun place to write about.
4317350
...Dinky didn't do well in geography class? Or maybe the borders were different 150 years ago? Or something...
4317356
its cool. I almost failed geo in middle school myself
But where are the thousand islands? Are they off the map, just unmarked, or did Pinky make them up?
4317394
Oh, they're a bunch of islands I've decided to add to the sea in between the Equestrian continent and its neighbors...
i58.tinypic.com/345kdjd.png
They're not on the big pretty map 'cause I only added them with this story. I just realized that there wasn't really a good enough islandy-place nearby for pirates to do pirate-type things.
4317416
Cuz every pre-technic world needs pirates, and pirates need islandy type places to do piratey type things.
4254264 All the d'aww? :D
This is gonna be great.
Why does the cover art have a picture of filly Lightning Dust?
4390135 I believe that filly's name is Bee Bop
HMS Silver Spoon's Butler is actual fastest ship in Thousand Islands. Gon' drop an entire Kraken on Dread Pirate Britishhooves.
This is fantastic,but the cards at the bottom do not open into a larger version.
4433770
Right click and hit "view image." Works on my computer, anyway.
You can also right click and select "copy image location" to get the URL, then just paste it into a new tab or window.
This is fantastic!
The pirate version of the theme is good too. At first I was imagining the LunaSix in pirate theme, but then I started to picture the foals. Then I got to thinking, it's become a bit of a thing to imagine the Future bearers of the Elements of Harmony, usually using some of the foals in Maneverse Ponyville. So I ask you, of the foals in the Lunaverse Ponyville, who would bear what Element?