Canterlot City, California.
The previous day...
In a small market, where his mobile outlets sold objects such as vases, watches, and the like, Spike walked quietly among the people who looked and shopped in the area.
Suddenly, he saw something that caught his eye: an old mockup ship, with a gold alicorn decorating the figurehead.
Spike didn't know why, but there was something about that mockup that didn't stop him from looking at her.
"Spike!" a voice yelled, calling him "Spike? Where are you?"
Hearing the voice, Spike immediately headed to the place it came from. There he encountered his owner, Twilight Sparkle.
"Ah! So there you are, rascal!" Twilight said "Chasing cats again, huh?"
Suddenly, Twilight saw Spike bark at her, trying to tell her something.
"What's up, Spike?" asked Twilight "Have you seen anything interesting?"
Following her pet, Twilight arrived at the stall where the mockup of the ship was.
"Is it what you wanted to show me?" Twilight said to Spike, pointing at the mockup "Calm down. Good dog..."
Examining the mockup, Twilight realized that it looked very old, but very well done.
"You're right, Spike, it's beautiful..." Twilight said.
"Exactly, young lady!" said the salesman, noting Twilight's remark "A real cruiser!"
"I think it's a 'schooner', sir" Twilight corrected.
"That's what I said... and it's yours for $ 90!" said the salesman.
"Wow..." Twilight said, before turning to Spike "Why are you so interested in a mockup ship? You can't eat, Spike...!"
At that moment, feeling as if the mockup wanted to buy it, Twilight pulled out her wallet.
"I'll give you $ 50 for it" Twilight said, taking some money out of her wallet.
"Sold!" said the salesman, accepting payment "In my opinion, you get a bargain, young lady!"
At that moment, when Twilight picked up the mockup to take home, a mysterious woman stood next to her and spoke to the salesman.
"How much for the boat?"
"Too late, I'm afraid" said the salesman, pointing at Twilight.
"Okay, I'll buy it" said the woman to Twilight.
"Sorry, ma'am" Twilight said "I'm not interested in selling it".
"Wait..." said the woman, taking her wallet "I'm a collector: I'll give you ten times what it cost you!"
"Sorry, but it's not for sale!" Twilight said.
"Listen, young lady" said the woman, with a threatening tone "I warn you".
Faced with this situation, Spike angrily growls at the mystery woman.
"Hold it, boy... Cut it out, Spike!" Twilight said, calming her dog down.
And listening to Twilight, Spike calmed down.
"I'm so sorry" said Twilight to the mysterious woman "Have a nice day, ma'am".
Grunting in dissatisfaction, the mystery woman backed away from the stall, but for some strange reason, Twilight couldn't help but watch her leave.
"Wow, how weird. We are not the only ones interested in this old mockup. I'm beginning to think there's more here than meets the eye... " Twilight said, before looking at Spike "How about it, Spike?"
Spike barked twice, indicating that he was thinking the same as his owner.
At that moment, the salesman remembered something.
"I know someone at this market who knows a thing or two about boats..." said the salesman "Do you want me to introduce it to you?"
"Huh?" Twilight said "Yeah...! Thanks!"
"Follow me" said the salesman, leaving his post.
A few minutes later, Twilight, Spike, and the vendor arrived at the booth that belonged to an old retired sailor. Seeing the mockup that Twilight had bought, the sailor focused her attention in the object.
"I see you have bought The Alicorn..." said the man, examining the mockup "That's what it's called! Three masts, two decks, fifty guns... sadly famous!".
"The Alicorn?" Twilight asked, curious about the name of the boat.
"That's right" said the man, putting the mockup on the table and pulling out an old book from his collection "Take a look at this..."
Twilight picked up the book, reading its cover: "The Alicorn: A Legacy of Failures".
Then, Twilight began to read its content:
The Alicorn. Powerless ship of the fleet of Celestia XIV. Three masts, two decks, one hundred and fifty guns.
In 1698, she left Port Royal for Europe, when she was attacked on the high seas by the pirate "Nightmare Moon".
When they were boarded, the captain abandoned her crew and blew up her own ship. This act of cowardice would bring disgrace to the captain's descendants for generations.
Then when she turned the next page, Twilight saw an old photograph of a sailor woman, with her name on it:
The Captain of the Alicorn:
Elizabeth Shimmer
After finishing reading the book, Twilight began to have a lot of questions.
"Did she sink her own ship? Why?" Twilight asked, intrigued "Why would she send The Alicorn to the bottom of the sea? That information is not in the book..."
"History is never really in the past..." said the man "It is carried in the blood".
At that moment, Twilight noticed something on the page, next to Elizabeth Shimmer's photograph: a drawing showing a ship's mast, indicating that it could be turned sideways.
"What a strange drawing..." Twilight said to herself "There seems to be..."
Then, seeing her mockup of The Alicorn, Twilight had a hunch.
"I'll take it..." said Twilight, paying for the book and taking her mockup of The Alicorn "Thank you, gentlemen. Have a good day!"
A few minutes later, it was revealed that Twilight and Spike were not coming home, but were in an alley, with the book open and with the mockup of The Alicorn in Twilight's hands.
"According to this..." said Twilight, examining the drawing in the book "It seems that the masts can be moved".
Careful not to break the mockup, Twilight slowly turned the masts, until she realized that she saw some lines that showed the drawing of an alicorn in the candles of the mockup.
Suddenly, a secret compartment in the stern of the mockup was opened, revealing a small elongated chest.
"Huh?" Twilight said "There's something inside the mockup..."
After pulling out the small chest, Twilight couldn't help but laugh a bit.
"Ha ha! Well done, Spike!" Twilight said to her dog "So that's what you noticed, huh?"
Spike barked happily in response to his owner's words.
At that moment, Twilight opened the small chest, examining its contents.
"Some kind of... rolled document" Twilight said "A scroll!"
Carefully, Twilight opened the scroll, discovering that she had written something: a small drawing of an alicorn at the top, the numbers "51" and "3" at the bottom, and ... a kind of poem in the center.
The poem read the following:
"Three sisters united, three Alicorns together
traveling to the midday sun will speak..."
After watching the poem read, Twilight could only ask herself this question:
"What kind of tale is this !?"
Meanwhile, while Twilight kept the scroll in her wallet and put the small chest in the secret behavior of the mockup of The Alicorn, she did not realize that the mysterious woman who wanted to buy the model was walking through the entrance of the alley, in the company of two men that looked like thugs.
At that moment, the mysterious woman stopped, along with her thugs, when she saw Twilight in the alley, with the mockup of The Alicorn in her hands.
"It's her!" the woman whispered, pointing at Twilight.
At that moment, silently, the thugs pushed Twilight from behind, forcing her to drop the mockup of The Alicorn, and hand it over to her boss.
When Twilight recovered from the push, she was surprised to see the mystery woman... escaping with the mockup of The Alicorn!
"THIEVES!" Twilight yelled, getting up off the ground "GIVE THAT BACK!!"
Twilight and Spike started chasing the robbers.
"Come back here!" Twilight yelled.
Suddenly, a group of thugs, who worked for the mystery woman, appeared out of nowhere and they started attacking Twilight.
Unfortunately, none of the bullies knew that Twilight knew self defense techniques and, with a little help from Spike, she was able to defeat them.
"Shit, that woman has long been gone with the mockup" Twilight said, recovering from the fight.
At that moment, Spike barked at Twilight, showing an object he had found on the ground: the mystery woman's wallet.
With the wallet in her hand, Twilight had an idea to retrieve her model of The Alicorn.
"Spike! It's up to you" Twilight said, holding the wallet towards her dog's muzzle "Come on!"
And following the scent of the mysterious woman in the wallet, Spike began to guide Twilight... towards what would be an adventure that would change their lives forever.