Despite the late hour, there were a decent number of cars parked outside The Stomach of the Sea when the two kids arrived. The converted-ship restaurant floated at the edge of the dock with lights and music pouring out from every window. It was adorned with strings of bright blue lightbulbs to give off an ocean wave vibe, along with a large decorative sign hanging above the entrance. Ruby and Topaz dismounted their bikes and headed up the gangplank to the front door.
Suddenly, a loud SNAP made Ruby jump. She turned and briefly saw a dark, shadowy figure disappear behind a nearby car.
"Topaz!" she cried in alarm.
"What is it, Ruby?" the young unicorn asked, turning to his little sister.
"I saw something over there." She pointed to the spot where she had seen the shadow vanish. "I think someone's following us."
"It was probably just a squirrel. Don't worry. If anyone jumps out at you, I'll protect you. Okay?"
Ruby thought for a moment. "Okay," she replied. "Thanks."
"No problem. Now come on. Hold my hand and let's get this over with." The little red dragon grabbed hold of her big brother's hand as he lead her inside the restaurant.
As they stepped through the doors, they were met with the smell of boiled lobster and salt water. The entire restaurant was covered with all kinds of ocean decor from navy flags to mounted sailfish to pictures of boats. There were even three octopus-shaped chandeliers hanging from the ceiling that, with the help of the lanterns on the wall, lit up the place quite nicely. The maitre de, a salmon-colored mare with light-purple hair wearing a false naval uniform, stood at the podium with a smile.
"Hello," she greeted with her eyes closed. "Welcome to The Stomach of the Sea. Table for..." She was cut off by the sight of the two unexpectedly young customers. "Um... Can I help you kids?" she inquired.
"Uh, yes! Hi," Topaz greeted the confused hostess. "We were wondering if we could talk to the owner of this place, please?" The hostess gave them a wary look.
"Okay.... Are your parents here with you?" she asked.
Topaz struggled to come up with a response. "Uh... well... y-yes, they are!" he blurted out nervously. "I-I mean, they're not here with us right now, but... they're waiting for us inside and they told us to meet them here."
Ruby nodded nervously in agreement. "Yeah and they're gonna be mad at us if we're late, so if you don't mind, we're just gonna go ahead and..."
The two kids tried to slip by, but the maitre de stopped them. "Right..." she said snidely, not believing their story for a second. "You know what? I will take you to the owner. You can wait with him while he makes sure you kids get to your parents safely."
The children cursed themselves internally for their failed plan as the pink mare escorted them to the back of the restaurant towards the manager's office. They were busted for sure now.
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When Topaz and Ruby were dropped off in the office in the back of the restaurant, that's where they met the manager and owner of the place: a tall, rotund, navy blue unicorn stallion with a black, curly handlebar mustache and a naval uniform similar to the hostess's, only more realistic and sophisticated-looking. The nameplate on his desk read Blue Bijou. Topaz recognized it as the name of the pony who had purchased the ship years ago. This was definitely the pony they needed to talk to.
"So," Mr. Bijou said, his voice thick with a French-like accent. "You children say you are 'ere to meet your parents?"
Ruby and Topaz both panicked. Mr. Bijou clearly didn't fully believe their story, so Topaz decided there was no use in telling the exact same lie twice. "W-Well... n-not exactly," he said quickly, trying to buy some time to come up with something believable. "But... trust me. They do know we're here!"
"Is zat so?" Mr. Bijou inquired suspiciously. "Well, perhaps I should call zem and let zem know you are 'ere." As he reached for his phone, Ruby got up in a panic and stopped him.
"Wait!" she exclaimed. "Before you do that, we really need to ask you about this boat."
"Oh really? What for?"
"Well, you see," Topaz began, "we're doing a school project and we need to know. What can you tell us about the history of this ship?"
"Yeah. We heard it used to be a pirate ship. Is that true?" Ruby asked.
The tall blue stallion hesitated for a moment, making the kids shake with suspense, before finally making up his mind. "Alright. I will tell you," he said with a chuckle, his expression softer and friendlier. Topaz and Ruby exhaled in relief as Blue Bijou stood up and began pacing around the room.
"Zis ship was once indeed home to a small band of fearsome pirates," he began, walking over to a portrait of the ship hanging on the wall. "She was known as ze Rogue Diamond and zis was her crew." He pointed to a small group of mares (and one dragon) standing in the portrait in front of the ship. Sure enough, the dragon and one of the mares among them were definitely the two kids' parents.
"Mom and Dad," Topaz whispered under his breath.
"Ze ship used to be a yacht zat belonged to ze Rich family. Zose pirates stole it right out from under zeir muzzles and, Ou la la, zey were not too 'appy about zat." Mr. Bijou paused to give a hearty laugh. "For years, ze Rogue Diamond pirates sailed all across Equestria, lead by ze dreaded Captain Rarity, robbing cargo ships and pillaging goods everywhere zey went and evading capture every time."
The kids were finding it hard to imagine their parents ever being cold-hearted thieves, especially their mother being a sea captain. Topaz wondered what could've driven them to become pirates and why they decided to give it up.
"Filthy Rich offered a mighty reward for zeir capture and for ze return of his yacht. At first, bounty 'unters from all over started going after zem in 'opes of collecting ze reward for zemselves. But as time went on, he eventually just stopped caring and bought a new one. One day, ze pirates decided to retire and turn zemselves in to ze Royal Guards. However, instead of being sentenced to prison as everypony expected, Princess Celestia pardoned zem for zeir crimes."
"Really? Why?" Topaz interrupted.
"Eh, beats me," Mr. Bijou shrugged. "Soon after zat, zey sold ze ship to me and I transformed it into ze five-star seafood shanty you see today."
"Wow!" Ruby exclaimed in amazement. "So why did they retire from being pirates?"
"No one knows. Zey just retired and nopony has 'eard from zem since. Except for Captain Rarity, who I 'ear has gone on to become a very successful fashion designer."
"Have you ever found anything... weird onboard this ship? Like a treasure map, maybe?"
Mr. Bijou laughed. "Unfortunately, no."
"Did they ever say anything to you about a treasure? Any clues to where it is?"
"My dear, I have explored every inch of zis boat many times and ze weirdest thing I have ever found is you two sneaking into my restaurant all by yourselves. And now, I really think it is time I got your parents over 'ere to pick you up."
Looking back at the portrait on the wall, Topaz got an idea. "Mr. Bijou, before you call our parents, would you mind if we got a closer look at that picture over there?"
The blue stallion thought for a moment. "I suppose not, but be very careful with it," he warned them.
"We will," Topaz promised.
Mr. Bijou pulled the picture off the wall and handed it to the young colt. Topaz and Ruby studied it closely, hoping that maybe something in it would give them a clue to where the treasure might be. When they didn't see anything on the front, they very carefully removed the picture from its frame to get a look at the back. On the back of the portrait, there was a part of a news article. An obituary full of ponies who had all died in a battle against the Rogue Diamond crew.
"Hey, wait a minute," Ruby said, snatching the picture out of her brother's hands. She couldn't believe her eyes. "It can't be!" she exclaimed.
"What is it, Ruby?" Topaz asked.
"That pony right there looks just like my teacher!" The young dragon girl pointed to a mug shot of a mare with a mocha brown coat, long bleach-blonde hair tied in a braid, and the numbers 00284 tattooed on her right cheek. She had a very serious expression on her face as if she were about to pick a fight.
"Your teacher?! Are you sure?" asked Topaz, making sure his sister wasn't just seeing things.
"Yes! That's definitely my teacher, Miss Goldenrod."
Topaz looked closer. There was no name under the picture. All it said was Unknown.
"But why would the paper say she was dead?" Topaz said, confused.
"I don't know," his sister admitted. "But maybe she knows something about the treasure."
"You think so?"
"It's worth a shot, isn't it?"
"Hmm, I guess so."
The kids slid the picture back into its frame, placed it back on the wall and then slowly made their way toward the door. "Well, thanks for all your help, Mr. Bijou," Topaz said as casually as possible. "We'll just be on our way home now."
"Not so fast," Mr. Bijou stopped them. "You two are not going anywhere until your parents arrive."
The kids thought fast to come up with a way to escape before he picked up the phone. "Well, what about that?" Ruby said quickly, pointing to the wall behind the mustachioed stallion. He turned around to see what she was pointing to, but nothing was there. When he turned back, they were gone.
Topaz and Ruby charged past the hostess and out of the restaurant as fast as possible. They quickly mounted their bikes and rode off down the street into the night again with the two adult ponies shouting after them.