Chapter Fourteen: Keelhaul Key
Upon arriving back at Cheerilee's abode, the group was quite relieved to find Princess Celestia there. On their journey back, Spike had received quite the scolding from Sweetie Belle about not asking Celestia for Twilight's Element.
"Sister, I have returned and all is well back in the village. Have you checked up on Canterlot?" The Princess nodded.
"Yes, Shining Armor had gotten things in better order than I could have hoped. You and your brother are quite astounding Unicorns." Twilight blushed modestly at the compliment.
"Well, you should really be heading back to the castle, though, Princesses. I'd hate to keep you waiting, although I do enjoy your company!" The Princesses bowed and the remaining bowed in return.
"Farewell, Twilight Sparkle and Spike. I wish you both good luck on your mission." Princess Celestia nodded alongside her sister.
"Once Equestria is secure, we shall send backup to aid you on your quest. I would come myself but if Discord has also been set free, I must keep an eye on Canterlot. I shall do what I can, though."
"Thank you again, Princesses. Have a good trip back!" Once they had left, Spike turned back to Twilight.
"So the Element of Laughter is the last one we need?" Sweetie Belle pulled out her map, confirming Spike's statement.
"Now we just have to go get it from Pinkie!" She sighed, hoping it wouldn't be as difficult as Pinkie Pie made it seem it would be. "Ready to go?"
"Yep, let's do this!"
"Pinkie Pie? Oh, Pinkie Pie? Helloooo?" The group had sat at the door step of the bakery for quite some time now. According to the map, Pinkie's Element was still within the bakery, so they couldn't understand why she would have left it. Just as Spike turned to give up and leave, the door swung open.
"Helloooo!" she said in a sing-song manner. Spike turned on her, glaring.
"Pinkie, why haven't you been answering the door?" She giggled and ignored his question, pulling him inside the bakery. She shut the door on the others. "What are you doing?" She quickly put a hoof to his mouth, stopping him from speaking any further.
"They can't know about this! I finally came up with a plan so you can pay me back!" Spike shoved the hoof off of his mouth.
"Oh really? That's great, but can it wait? We're in a big-"
"Spike, you're going to Keelhaul Key to get me another berry! I already planned the trip for you and everything!" After zipping in and out of another room, she piled on bags of luggage and a list of things he would need. "The tickets are included!"
"Pinkie Pie! We don't have ti-"
"You better hurry if you don't want to miss your boat! Come on, there are enough tickets for everyone!" She scooted him out the door in front of the confused group. "Bye-bye, Spikey Wikey! I'll see ya soon!" The door quickly slammed shut before he could get in another word. The gust caused by the door blew the tickets off of the top of the stack. Sweetie Belle jumped into the air and caught them in her mouth.
"Boat tickets?" Scootaloo asked as Sweetie Belle spat them onto the ground. There were four, just as Pinkie had promised. Spike finally collapsed underneath the luggage.
"Yeah… we better get there now if… we ever want to get Pinkie's Element…"
The boat to Keelhaul Key was in much worse condition than the boat Spike and Twilight had taken to Rogueport. He hoped the ride there would be a much shorter one, though. As they were loading on their luggage, Spike noticed a familiar looking face.
"Cranky? What are you doing on a boat in Rogueport?" The donkey sighed, looking just about as unhappy as he did the day he arrived in Ponyville.
"Oh, Matilda bought us tickets for a trip to a tropical island off of the coast of Equestria… sadly, she was called away for some family business before we left and told me to come by myself. I probably shouldn't have, but she really wanted me to relax away from home." He looked solemnly out onto the ocean. Spike frowned, but Sweetie Belle pushed him along to their room.
"Not much of a room." she noted as she glanced at the four bunk beds crammed in such tight quarters. Scootaloo jumped up onto the top bunk.
"Not enough head room, either." she complained, knocking her head on the ceiling. "I'm definitely not going to hang out in this room for too long!"
The group continued to explore the ship. It wasn’t too long until they took off for Keelhaul Key. The group went to watch Rogueport as they sailed away, but Fluttershy decided not to go near the edge.
"Um, I think I'm going to stay inside our room, if that's alright. I'm not really too fond of the ocean…" She rushed inside before another word could be spoken. The fillies waved to the bystanders watching on the pier. Spike looked over at Cranky, who was standing by himself looking off at the crowd. He wanted to approach him but, not knowing what to say, stood by the fillies and waved at the crowd himself.
After a few days of sailing, the four were already sick of it.
"How much longer are we going to be stuck on here?" Scootaloo asked, doodling on the ceiling.
"Don't do that, Scootaloo! We don't live here?" Sweetie Belle scolded, reading through an extremely old magazine she had found underneath one of the beds. Fluttershy was attempting to nap, not moving around the ship that often as she soon discovered she easily became seasick. Spike had sprawled onto his own bed, examining the map even though he had a thousand times. He was hoping for any kind of distraction that would make the boat trip go by faster. So far, nothing seemed to be working as he had hoped.
"Ugh… I'm going to go see what's going on up on deck, alright guys?" The ponies gave small grunts of recognition and he left the room. The air was cool outside, but the breeze was inviting after being in the stuffy rooms inside the main cabin for so long. There were a few scattered pony sailors on deck, but it seemed to be fairly empty. After taking a walk down to the back part of the ship, Spike spotted Cranky staring off at the sun set.
"I figured you'd be here." he said as he stood by him at the railing. The donkey sighed.
"I knew I shouldn't have come as soon as I stepped foot onto the ship. Matilda… she wanted me to go so badly, though. I really just wish she was here." Spike frowned as he looked out at the water, not sure how to comfort the old mule.
"Well, I’m sure she just wanted you to have a fun time out here, so don't worry so much! I'm sure she's fine back in Equestria and will want to hear all about what happened when you get back?" The frown didn't leave the donkey's face.
"I suppose so." The air between them felt tense. Spike cleared his throat as he focused back on the water.
"Lovely sunset, isn't it?" he asked nonchalantly.
"Sure is." Feeling awkward still, Spike's attention suddenly shifted as he spotted a shadowy shape off in the distance.
"Hey, what's that?" He could tell the ship's sailors had taken notice of it as well by how they were running back and forth on the ship, taking and commanding orders. "Is that another ship?"
"Looks like it." Cranky replied, still with a monotone feel in his voice. The ship began approaching at a much faster speed than they were going. It was rapidly approaching their own ship. The clouds above them began to grow darker.
"What's going on?" Spike asked in alarm. Cranky remained silent, but appeared to look a bit more concerned. One of the sailors galloped up to them.
"I'm sorry, but we're asking all passengers to go inside immediately."
"What's going on?" The sailor shook his head.
"No need for alarm, we just need everyone to go inside." A clap of thunder sounded from the sky. Spike looked out at the ship again, which was quite visible by now. "Go!" The dragon and donkey rushed inside the main cabins. Cranky followed Spike as he rushed to his room. The ponies looked at him in alarm.
"What happened? Are we trapped in a storm?" Spike shrugged his shoulders.
"I-I think so, but… there's another ship out there! I think it might be… a ghost ship!"
"A ghost ship?" Fluttershy jumped up, hitting her head on the ceiling. She rubbed the bruise as she laid back down in her bed. "I-I think I'm going to stay in here…" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle jumped from their beds.
"We have to go out there! I've never seen a ghost ship before!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
"Yeah! Maybe we can get our Cutie Marks in expert ghost hunting!" Sweetie Belle said in matched excitement.
"That wouldn't really be fair to Apple Bloom, though." Scootaloo pointed out. The fillies mused together as Spike stood, waiting impatiently.
"You guys! Don't just stand around talking about things like that when we aren't even fighting ghosts! What am I saying? We don't even know if there are ghosts out there!" The boat suddenly shook as if hit by a massive wave, causing the group to stumble and fall over. Fluttershy clung to her bed.
"What was that?" Scootaloo asked. Spike rolled his eyes.
"I don't think there's time for questions! Let's go!"
The sailors on deck were in a panic as the ship, which was indeed a ghost ship, had placed a board across the two, sailors of the other ships boarding their own. One of the sailors held a broom against a ghost, swinging it at him, but the handle of the broom was quickly cut off by the ghost's sword.
"What do we do?" Spike asked, looking around at the chaos.
"Are you always going to ask that?" Sweetie Belle said in annoyance. Two of the ghostly pirates approached the group, swords wielded. The fillies and Spike backed up towards the door, but another pirate had appeared behind them. Cranky, who had come along with them, knocked them to the side.
"Run, kids! Get away!" He hind kicked one of the ghosts, who disappeared in a puff of smoke as he headed the other way. Lightning flashed in the sky and it began pouring rain. Spike looked around for a plan of action.
"Ahh, help!" Spike and Scootaloo turned to find Sweetie Belle had been locked in the arms of one of the ghost pirates.
"Hold on, I'm coming Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo kicked off of her back legs and leaped through the air, crashing into the ghost. It disappeared in a puff of smoke, freeing the young filly.
"Thanks, Scootaloo!" she said to her friend as they turned to face another set of ghost pirates that had circled them. Spike puffed out his chest and blew fire in a circle at the ghosts, causing them all to disappear.
"Hope the Princess didn't get THAT delivery!" Spike joked, not amusing the fillies. They headed in the direction Cranky had ran, taking on ghosts here and there on their way. Sweetie Belle rushed to the side of the ship, trying to push the plan off but almost falling through it.
"Be careful, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo cried out as she caught a hold of her friend, just in time. Spike hurried on, catching up to Cranky.
"What are we supposed to do?" he asked the donkey. He glared as three more ghosts approached them, darting at them and kicking them with his hind legs.
"We take care of them, that's what, kid!" He charged at the other ghosts on the deck, finally some of the sailors taking notice of his actions and following in pursuit. Before long, the ghosts were beginning to give up and retreat across the plank. The sailors cheered as the ghost ship hauled off, seeming to disappear into the ocean. As the ship lift, the sky began to clear as well. The fillies reunited with Spike and Cranky.
"What in Equestria was that?" Scootaloo asked as she flipped her dripping mane out of her face.
"I have no idea… but we stopped it! Hooray, right?" Spike asked with enthusiasm. Sweetie Belle squeezed the water out of her own mane, letting it drip onto the deck.
"I guess so… let's go back inside, though. Fluttershy is probably wondering what's going on and I have next to no explanation. Maybe we're in the Bermareda Triangle or something…" The fillies trotted off back to the cabin, soaking and shivering. Spike stayed behind to talk to Cranky.
"See what kind of an adventure that was? I'm sure Matilda would think that it's an awesome story!" Cranky's expression changed to a frown once again.
"I suppose I wouldn't want her here for something like that where she might get hurt… but it doesn't change the fact that I still miss her." Spike sighed.
"Well, maybe things will get better soon, alright?" The donkey nodded his head slightly at the dragon. "Well, I'm going to head back to the cabin then. I'll talk to you later, Cranky!" The donkey sighed, looking back at the ocean.
"I'll talk to you later, Spike." The dragon grimaced as he headed back inside, shaking off his wet scales before he opened the cabin doors. The sailors, meanwhile, were bringing reports to the captain about the tale of the ghost ship, still left utterly confused as to what events had just taken place on their ship.