What do you mean this Chapter ends with a Cliffhanger?
Wise Beyond Her Years
Preread, Edited, and Reviewed By
Batty Gloom, Illustrious Q, Obselescence, El Oso
Fangwarden, Kohta Izumi, Applejack-fan, Kirk Heller
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Chapter 6
What do you mean this Chapter ends with a Cliffhanger?
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“Oh... my...”
Fluttershy took an anxious step back as she and Rarity stood on the front step of the library. They had knocked, gotten no answer, and opened the door to find the library was filled to the brim with tangled, crisscrossing yarn. Through the front door they couldn’t see any sign of furniture or books, just a dark tunnel through the yarn that wound into the library’s depths.
“I knew it,” Rarity said, shaking her head. “I knew this had to be the reason why Hoity Toity was in a fuss about a yarn shortage in Canterlot. We should have known better to just head off without a few of us staying behind to help Spike keep Twilight from going overboard.”
“Do you think they’re still in there?”
Rarity lit her horn and took a few determined steps into the library. “There’s only one way to find out.”
Fluttershy followed a few steps behind, the pair beginning to navigate the labyrinth the library tree had become. Tunnels in the yarn wove around, branching off at odd angles with bits of paper sticking out like fossils of a long forgotten time. It was like an insect nest, with passages going in all directions. Even knowing the layout of the library by memory, it took a few minutes for Fluttershy and Rarity to even get their bearings. A large S bend of a tunnel took them to the basement staircase, and they descended down and checked the lower floor first. When they could find neither Spike nor Twilight, they returned to the ground floor and continued to work their way to the bedroom.
All the while they called out the names of their friends, hoping to hear some reply.
The tight tunnels were claustrophobic, some so narrow only a single pony could pass through at once. The heat inside the library made it worse. With so much yarn about, Fluttershy and Rarity were soon sweating as the temperature in the yarn insulated tunnels rose by their mere presence alone.
They finally made their way to the second story bedroom, their manes and coats dotted with tiny, trailing fibers of yarn as they reached the bedroom door. They pushed it open and finally found a respite from the narrow tunnels. The yarn opened up, now only covering the walls as they reached the heart of the maze.
“I’m going to need an army of lint rollers to get all this off,” Rarity fussed, before turning the light from her horn across the room, letting it glow like a lantern. For the first time since entering the library, the pair was able to see a piece of furniture. Twilight’s bed had been spared from the yarn, though the rest of the bedroom was completely covered. The only exception was a little something that waved and moved as it stuck out from the yarn.
It was a little purple claw.
“Oh my gosh! Spike!” Fluttershy said, quickly rushing across the room. Rarity followed a few steps behind, the pair reaching the place where Spike’s claw stuck out from the yarn. Working as a team, the pair tried to free him from his fabric prison. Rarity spread the threads of the yarn apart while Fluttershy pulled. And, finally, the yarn gave up its prisoner and Spike popped free, he and Fluttershy crashing to the bed.
“Spike! Are you alright?” Rarity asked, quickly moving over to the bed as Spike sat up. He took a few moments to cough up some bits of lint before nodding his head wearily.
“Yeah, I’m alright.”
“What happened?”
“I was trying to get to some of the gemstones I keep in the dresser, but I got stuck trying to reach them. With the kitchen covered it was either that, or I had to find my way out and get something to eat in town.”
“Were you stuck like that long?” Fluttershy asked.
“A couple hours.”
“Why weren’t you trying to call for help?”
Spike began picking bits of lint off his scales and dropping them on a pile next to him on the bed. “Cause I didn’t think anyone would hear. Twilight flew off to get more yarn from Pasture Passover. She said something about getting it straight from the factory. She was going on about needing to add new stuff to the web after getting a letter from Rainbow Dash.”
“And might I ask where this letter is?”
Spike turned and pointed to a piece of paper strung up in the wall with a dozen connections coming off it. Rarity trotted over and read down the brief note before shaking her head. “I guess we shouldn’t have expected any less from her either.”
“What is it? Did something happen to Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked.
“Listen for yourself.” Rarity gingerly removed the page from the yarn that bound it to the wall before turning to face Fluttershy and clearing her throat. “‘Dear Twilight, I’m in jail.’”
Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hoof. “Oh my!”
“‘It wasn’t my fault though,’” Rarity continued reading. “‘I found a couple of zebras here in the city that I know are part of your conspiracy. They run a museum about the Manehatten Phantom, and I’m sure they are related to her. I can prove it too. I snuck into their place and stole a map that lead me to The Phantom’s lair. I actually found the Phantom’s lair. It was so awesome. There was so much cool stuff there. I even found a big old tooth that belongs to Discord. You know, that fang he is missing.”
“I didn't realize he was missing that tooth,” Spike said, tapping on one of his own fangs, imaging as if it wasn’t there. “I just thought he never grew it.”
“Knowing Discord, he probably has spare fangs for any number of inane reasons,” Rarity said before looking back down at the page and continuing to read. “‘But I got arrested by the Manehatten police. They’re charging me with a bunch of cooked up crimes. The stallion in charge of my case is a zebra, and I bet he’s in on the conspiracy too. I think they're taking credit for finding the lair when I was the one that found it. So, you got to get up here and bring some bail money before they do. Your Friend, Rainbow Dash.
P.S. Will you grab me a tofu dog from that cart on 5th and Wheel Street before you come bail me out? The food here stinks and I’m starving.’”
“What should we do? We can’t leave Rainbow Dash in jail, can we?”
“Well, judging by Rainbow’s letter, her time in jail may not be totally undeserved.” Rarity let her eyes glance over the letter again, slowly mulling over the situation before floating the page back to its place in the web. “Still, you’re right. One of us needs to go there and sort out the mess Rainbow’s made.
“So,” Rarity continued, “here’s what I propose we do. I am going to catch the next train to Manehatten. Hopefully, once I’m there, I’ll be able to speak with these zebra museum owners Rainbow mentioned. The simplest way to solve the situation will likely be convincing them to drop the charges, unless Rainbow did something idiotic like trying to run from the police.”
“But Rainbow would never do anything like that,” Fluttershy said before meekly asking, “Right?”
Rarity flashed a smile. “In any case, Fluttershy, I need you to take down this web and do something with the yarn so Twilight won’t be able to use it again.”
Fluttershy turned her head, looking about the yarn choked walls before focusing back on Rarity. “But, won’t she be mad?”
“Yes, she might be a little bit perturbed, but she’s gone overboard and we need to reel her back before she starts covering the whole town in yarn. And I wouldn’t be too worried. If Twilight is as sleep deprived as I imagine, the shock of seeing her web disassembled in any manner should make her pass out for a few hours. It might just be what she needs to clear her head.”
“I don’t know.”
“Come now, Fluttershy, it really is for Twilight’s own good,” Rarity said with an encouraging smile. “Besides, we all know of your wonderful skill with a pair of knitting needles. Surely there must be some little project you’ve been cooking up since Celestia’s art show. Some burst of inspiration for something momentously wonderful you could make with all this lovely yarn.”
“Well... maybe there is something I’ve been wanting to do,” Fluttershy said, fiddling with her mane for a moment. “But, do I really have time to even get started? Couldn’t Twilight come back any minute?”
Rarity stepped up to Fluttershy and put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “I have faith that you’ll come up with something if she does. Now, I have to get going. If my memory serves, the next train to Manehatten leaves shortly, and I need to pack a few things. Spike, would you be a dear and walk with me to my boutique?”
“Sure,” he said, quickly falling in line behind Rarity as she began to walk towards the stairs. “Do you want me to come to Manehatten with you?”
“Thank you for the offer, but no. What I would like is if you would make use of the quills and paper I have at my boutique. I want you to write a letter telling Rainbow Dash and the Manehatten Police Department that I’m on my way. Then, while I’m heading for the train station, I’d like you to take it down to Pastel Pegasus Packages. I’ll give you the bits you need to send the letter same day delivery. After all, what point is a letter of introduction if it arrives after I do?
“And then,” she continued as they reached the front door and stepped out into the light of day, squinting their eyes from the sudden change in brightness. “Then I would like it if you stayed at my boutique. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing my favorite little dragon could get stuck in that tangle of yarn again.”
“Really? You’d let me just stay at the boutique while you're gone?”
“Yes, you are an honorable, trustworthy dragon after all. Who better to watch over my home and business?” Rarity asked as the pair continued to walk. “Still, do try not to eat all my gems. I know you have a bit of a sweet tooth sometimes.”
“I shall eat nary a one, my lady,” Spike said with a respectable bow, as if he was presenting himself to a princess of a far off land. “And should I break this oath, I shall work to replace each missing gem with two.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Now, we’d best pick up the pace. I do have a train to catch. What does one wear when they are going to bail a friend out of jail? Hmmm... I’m thinking a nice fashionable suit will be just the ticket. Something that speaks of professionalism and a cool, level head. About the exact opposite of how Rainbow’s conducting herself, I’m sure. Still, if I might ask, have you gotten letters from anypony else?”
“Applejack sent one. We haven’t heard anything from Pinkie Pie.”
Rarity shook her head. “With Rainbow in jail, I don’t even want to fathom what Pinkie Pie’s gotten herself into.”
~~~
“Row, row, row your boat gently across the ocean. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, isn’t life such a silly notion?”
The tiny rowboat, barely large enough for its single passenger and her bags, crept across the vast Andalusian Ocean with each push from its two oars. A makeshift sail, made of what looked like bedsheets and a overweight mare’s polka dot nightgown, hung limply on its old broom handle of a mast. There was no breeze at the moment to carry the tiny vessel forward, but its passenger, chef, navigator, and sun-hat wearing captain Pinkie Pie just kept rowing and singing to the amusement of any passing fish.
At least, until, Pinkie Pie stopped. She brought the oars of the boat in, spun around in her seat, and withdrew a spy glass from her saddlebags, which were nestled into the front of the boat. “Let’s see, where am I?”
Pinkie Pie spun around, using the broom handle mast to keep herself from tumbling into the salty water. The boat swayed with her motion, threatening to capsize yet never going over the edge. “Ah, it’s exactly as I thought!” Pinkie Pie said, lowering the spyglass from her eye.
“I have no idea where I am.”
Normally, such a prospect would terrify and panic a normal pony. However, Pinkie Pie’s smile didn’t falter. Once more she was back in her saddle bags, rummaging around. She replaced the spyglass next to her emergency confetti popper. Then, she withdrew a black box with golden embroidery, which hung on a loose, weathered string.
“Now what did that pony say?” She asked, holding the black box in her hoof. She sat down in the rowboat, facing the opposing seat. She pulled down her hat and let her voice get scruff as she spoke aloud. “Ah, you’re a pretty pink thing to be flitting about this old gutter of a bar.”
With a quick shift of her body, Pinkie Pie stood up, turned, and sat down in the seat she had just been facing. She then used her free hoof to flick the rim of her hat, pushing it back up as her voice returned to normal. “Oh, don’t be silly. This isn’t a gutter. Gutters are supposed to catch rainwater, and this place has a nice roof on it.”
Pinkie Pie changed back to the first seat and pushed her hat back down. “Ay, that be true, but a gutter is also where ponies like me go to wallow in past glory and tell old stories.”
“Oh, I love old stories! Hey, do you know one about a Captain Bermuda Bones?”
“I can say I know a tale or two about Captain Bones. Salty old thing he was. Never quite as good as I was though.”
Pinkie Pie giggled as though she was truly talking to another pony in the rowboat, not just herself. “You're silly. There haven’t been any real pirates in a hundred years.”
“A painful truth I’m all too aware of.” Pinkie Pie faked a long swig of some imaginary drink before wiping her mouth. “Not many come asking for stories about old Bones. If you don’t mind a curious... mind, what’s your interest in him?”
“I heard he’s the only pirate Captain Nephthys caught but never brought back to port.”
Pinkie Pie laughed in the gruff voice. “Ay, his greatest and last act that was. Still can’t quite compare to my own. Why, I’ve done things that would turn that pretty pink mane of yours white with fear.”
“Oh? Did you tangle with a skeleton crew of ghost pirates?” Pinkie Pie asked, jumping up on her seat. She waved her forehoof around as if wielding a sword. “Did you have a ship battle in the middle of a whirlpool? Did you come back from the edge of the world by flipping an entire pirate ship upside down?”
Pinkie Pie remained silent for a few brief seconds, faked another drink from the imaginary mug, and then let a smile return to her face. “You, love, are just my kind of crazy. Though you missed the part where I found the fountain of youth. Not all it’s cracked up to be, though. It has a whole nasty business where you have to steal away somepony else’s youth. It was too much trouble in this pirate’s honest opinion. That’s why I found my key to a long life of freedom on the seas a much simpler way. A way that involved a beautiful mare. A beautiful, beautiful mare as wild as the ocean.” Pinkie Pie began to bring the imaginary mug back to her lips again. “A beautiful mare I have not seen in a very long time.
“I’ll tell ya the story, if ya like.”
“That sounds super cool, but the only story I really want to hear is Captain Bermuda Bones’.”
“Really? I mean, it’s a grand old tale.” Pinkie Pie began to sit up in the seat, waving the imaginary mug about, even as its contents splattered across the pony on the other side of the rowboat. “Why, you’ll be telling all your friends of my harrowing exploits. Then they’d all be telling everypony else of pony, the stallion, the legend that is the famous Captain—”
“No, it’s okay. I just really need to know about Bermuda Bones,” Pinkie Pie said, shaking her mane to get rid of the splattered drink that wasn’t even really there.
Pinkie Pie faked another long swig of the strong brew, whose odor still lingered freshly in her memories. “Love, you are a torturous sort, taking the wind out of a pirate’s sails like that. Why you want to hear about old Bones anyway?”
“I want to find his ship.”
“For the treasure?”
“Nope, to find out more about Captain Nephthys.”
“Isn’t trying to find Captain Bones a bit of a round about way to learn something about Nephthys? Not to point hooves, the round about way’s served me more than a few times, but even this seems a bit indirect when that old ship of hers, the Lunar Wind, is moored just down the dock.” Pinkie Pie shook her head and faked another drink, sighing in the gruff voice. “Greatest sin I ever did see, turning one of the finest ships on the ocean into a museum. Poor girl hasn’t had her sail flown in decades. To be kept young, but to be unable to do what’s in your heart.” Pinkie Pie had another drink. “It’s the surest way to break a spirit.”
“Yeah, it is kind of sad. Still, Twilight told me to just go where I thought was best, and I thought the best way to find out about a captain was to try and learn about her through the pirates she hunted. And the only pirate ship that wasn’t sunk or commandeered was Beremuda Bones’ Grey Griffin.”
“Ay, another bitter truth in this world. The old Grey Griffin was never found. Captain Nephthys never marked down where old Bones ran his ship ashore, and no one’s had the luck of tripping across the old ship and the treasure she carried. Real shame, old Bones has something of mine. Won it off me in a crooked card game where Bones had the zebra dealer in his pocket. Still, would you say your interest in the Grey Griffin is a purely... academic one?”
Pinkie Pie nodded her head. “Yep!”
“Ah, then lass... how about we make us an old pirate deal?” With a snap of her hoof, Pinkie Pie pretended to take the black box off a belt. She held it in the air in front of her, letting it twirl and spin of its own accord. “See, I got this special little trinket that will help you get where you’re going. You’ll get the answer’s you want, but, in return, I want all the treasure you can find.”
“Twenty-eighty split of any treasure, that’s more than generous for you lending me just a little thing on a string,” Pinkie Pie said, leaning in to glare at the pony on the other side of the row boat.
Pinkie Pie leaned in as well, grinning like a mad pony with anticipation. “Fifty-fifty. Trust me, this little thing is a lot more than it looks.”
“Thirty-seventy”
“Forty-sixty and if there is anything sapphire studded, I get to keep it.”
“Thirty five-sixty five, you get the sapphire studded stuff, and you buy me the biggest lollipop we can find.”
“Ya drive a hard bargain, but it’s a deal.” Pinkie Pie said in the gruff voice, sticking out her leg to shake hooves with the pony on the other side of the boat. Of course, there was no other pony there, but Pinkie Pie waved her hoof up and down in the air all the same. “Now, my pretty pink pony, I just have one question... what is it you want most in the world?”
PInkie Pie ended her one pony show, tipping her hat brim back up before she focused in on the little black box the old pony had given her. She cracked it open, seeing a compass needle spinning inside. “What I really want is...” She watched the needle spin and spin before the little red arrow pointed forward and to the right. Pinkie Pie tried moving her hoof a little and saw the arrow shifting quickly to compensate. She then giggled, and began digging in her bags again.
“Guess that’s what I get for thinking about that giant lollipop. It was so good!” She said, tossing up a few bits of candy from her bags. She caught them on her tongue and chomped them down. A swallow and satisfied sigh later, she focused back on the compass. She watched the arrow spin, her eyes moving with it before it pointed directly to her right.
It was pointing directly at a spout of water just a few hundred feet away from her boat. The first spout of water was followed by a second, and then the water to her right began to well up like a mountain. Pinkie Pie’s smile widened, and she quickly began packing away all her things as the bulge in the water’s surface continued to grow.
Battening down her broom handle mast in the last moments, the surface of the water broke apart as a large whale surfaced, its mouth opened wide. It called out with its whale song, and, as its looming form drew closer, Pinkie Pie could only raise her hooves into the air and shout.
“Yes! This is exactly what I wanted!”
~~~
Pinkie Pie pulled her rowboat up onto the shore just a few hours later. The trip had been delightful, and she quickly looked back to wave at the creature that had chauffeured her to the island. The whale hadn’t meant to eat her. It was just an honest misunderstanding. Still, the whale had known where the island was and gladly carried Pinkie Pie the whole way in his mouth in exchange for a few sweet treats.
It was exactly what she had wanted most in the world when she set out in her little rowboat, to meet a nice whale that would take her where she needed to go and would come back to take her home. The compass really had delivered on the promises of the pony at the bar.
“Thank you!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she continued to wave her hooves. “Wait, I mean... Waaaaooooooooooooo, Wowowowowowoooooooo, whhhhhhhhoooooooooooOOOOOOOOO.”
From the distance, the whale sung back a few notes before diving beneath the surface. A splash of his tale was the last thing Pinkie Pie saw, and she smiled contently at successfully making a new friend. Still, she’d throw Walter the Whale a “you’re my new friend” party later. Right now, she was a mare on a mission.
“Okay, Mr. Uncharted Island,” she said, turning to face the thick jungle that bordered the beach. “I know you know about Captain Bermuda Bones. So why don’t we just make this easier on everypony. Just tell me where to find the boat.”
The trees and underbrush stayed silent.
“Not talking, huh? Well then, you asked for it.” Pinkie Pie withdrew her bags from her rowboat and slapped them on her back. She tied the compass around her neck before shooting a glare at the jungle. “Last chance. You going to tell me what I want to know?”
The trees and underbrush stayed silent.
“All right, then this interrogation is about to get invasive!” Snapping open the compass, Pinkie Pie waited for the red arrow to stabilize. Then, with a high-hoofed march, she tromped into the forest. She purposefully stomped on bushes, snapped branches, and shot dirty glares at every tree, as if playfully expecting the forest to yield its secrets to avoid her physical abuse.
~~~
“Do I need to break out my Apple-Fu on you, because I will.”
Pinkie Pie bared her teeth at the jungle trees. She had been walking for about a half hour, following the little red arrow on the compass. Despite her brutal interrogation techniques, the jungle still hadn’t given up its secret. And now a single, great, ancient tree stood in her path. It was a stout column in a line of brush and vines that climbed all the way to the canopy. A part of the forest Pinkie Pie knew hid a secret.
“Last warning,” she said, rising up on her hind hooves and waiving her forelegs menacingly. “You should know, I learned from the very best. No pony bucks a tree like Applejack, and me and the girls have been helping her every applebuck season since she went a little coco in the loco. My hooves are certified green belt tree bucking machines. Yeeeeah! Watcha! Hiiiiiiyyyyyyaaa!”
Pinkie Pie swung her forelegs in the air a few times. Then, after planting her forehooves in the jungle’s soft dirt, she bucked the obstructing tree hard. Its leaves quaked, and a few birds which had been sitting in the branches above began to shout as they took skyward. Then came the groaning of wood and the shifting of dirt. Pinkie Pie, from a childhood spent on a rock farm, knew the sound and knew what it meant. She backpedaled quickly, as the ground around the tree gave way. The whole, ancient tree began to fall away, tumbling down the deep cliff face it had been growing on precariously. It dragged with it vines, underbrush, and a few cart loads of dirt, clearing a great hole in the wall of vegetation Pinkie had been facing.
“Whoopsie, maybe I need to get my hooves recertified as blue belt tree bucking machines,” Pinkie Pie said to herself as she went up to the hole where the tree once stood. She craned her neck over the edge, looking down the cliff to the small, sequestered cove. Despite feeling a bit sorry for the tree she had uprooted so suddenly, her eyes lit up. For sheltered in the cove was an old ship. And though weather and time had taken their toll, the ship’s fallen figurehead, a metallic, roaring griffin, told Pinkie Pie all she needed to know.
She had found the Grey Griffin.
Not wasting a moment, Pinkie Pie plucked vines from the nearby underbrush, tied them into a rope, and threw it over the edge of the cliff. She then rappelled down, her hooves landing on the soft sand of the cove within seconds of beginning her descent.
“Whoa, this would be an awesome place to have a party,” Pinkie Pie said as she took in the sight of the ship. Large chunks of the ship’s wood was missing. The mast had fallen. The only parts that seemed to have any true luck enduring the elements were metal parts of the ship: the nails, the hull’s copper plating, and the metal figurehead. Still, there was more there than she had expected.
“Alright, Bermuda Bones, what happened to you?” Pinkie Pie asked, climbing up one of the fallen masts to reach what little remained of the deck. Every step Pinkie Pie took on the ship caused the aged wood to groan, and a few boards even gave way under the strain. Still, with her Pinkie Sense warning she was about to fall, Pinkie was able to make her way across the ship and into what remained of its lower decks.
“Let’s see, old kegs, old crates, old chests with...” Pinkie Pie cracked open a chest with a hopeful look in her eye, only for her expression to fall. “ ...nothing but rank seawater and a crabby crustacean inside. Shoot, I thought I’d find a lot more than some old ship when I went looking for Bermuda Bones’ old ship.” She shook her head and continued to jump down through a hole, landing in the sand that had overtaken the ship’s lowest deck. “Maybe my intuition was wrong on this one? Or maybe I read my Pinkie Sense wrong? Or maybe...”
Pinkie Pie trailed off, coming to a stop mid step. Her eyes focused into a gloomy corner of the old ship, and then a smile spread onto her face. “Or maybe I’m just being an Impatient McRestless Pants, because I see something shiny!”
She leapt into the air and dove into the sand, hooves digging like a dog searching for an old bone. With less than a minute of feverish work, she unearthed her prize and held it above her head triumphantly. The golden bits glinted in the column of sunlight that shone through the holes in the vessel. And Pinkie Pie could only smile as she brought the treasure back down to give it a closer inspection.
“A gold and sapphire studded Strombus Gigas, better known as a queen conch shell. Now this is a pirate’s treasure! Oh, wait, is that...? It is!”
Pinkie Pie’s smile broadened as she gazed at the small hole at the spiraling end of the shell. In a flash, she had raced back up to the deck of the ship. She climbed to the very highest point she could find, the splintered railing on the ship’s starboard side. She looked out across the cove, to the gap in the cliffs that lead out to open water. It was a serene scene, quiet and peaceful with only the sound of waves against the shore.
It was a peace Pinkie Pie promptly broke. She brought the golden conch to her mouth, closed her lips around the small hole at the end of the spiral. She then blew on it, causing the conch to give up a single tone, a note that echoed across the surround cliffs. A note that seemed to overtake all other sounds, until it was the only thing to be heard. It was a sound that seemed to expect something, seemed to demand something, seemed to call for something.
Pinkie blew on the conch for as long as her lungs would allow before catching her breath and blowing on it once more for good measure. Only then did she lower the conch to look out at the ocean. She expected something to happen. Maybe the skeletons of the pirates would rise from the beach and then she could ask them what they knew of Captain Nephthys. Or, maybe, the conch was destined to summon ghosts.
But nothing happened. No skeletons popped out of the beach like daisies. No grim, giggling ghosts came out to socialize. The cove returned to what it was, a peaceful scene with nothing out of the ordinary.
Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but pout and glare down at the conch shell. “You are a horrible pirate treasure, you know that?” She said to the conch, as if expecting it to reply as she turned to climb down the ship’s mast and return to the beach. “Sure, you're probably worth a lot of bits, but you aren’t following the rules of pirate treasure. Pirate treasure is made up of gold coins, jewelry, and cool magic things. You aren’t a gold coin, you're too big to be on a necklace, and you're too small to be a hat. That means you're supposed to be magical. What kind of pirate treasure are—”
Pinkie Pie leapt down from the deck of the ship, expecting her hooves to touch soft, dry sand. Instead, she splashed down into knee deep ocean water. The cove was flooding, the water level rising quickly. Pinkie Pie looked around for just a moment, then smiled and nodded at the conch. “That’s more like it,” she said as she climbed back up to the ship’s deck.
The ocean beyond the cliffs turned violent. Waves crashed against the entrance to the cove with such force and frequency that the water driven in never had a chance to flow back out. Inch by inch, foot by foot the water level rose. It crested over the ship’s deck, wetting Pinkie’s hooves and forcing her to higher ground. Soon, only the starboard corner of the ship’s rear deck remained above water, and there Pinkie Pie stood with the conch still in hoof.
“Who calls upon the sea ponies?”
The water near Pinkie bubbled, and slowly, from the depths, an equine figure began to rise. Her features were regal, not unlike Princess Celestia, though her face was more pointed, like the face of a seahorse. A mane of aqua blue, fringed with white, flowed from her scalp and down her back like a cascading waterfall and complementing her lighter blue coat. She rose out of the water until her torso was exposed, though it was easy for Pinkie Pie to see the mare’s large fish tail swishing back and forth beneath the water.
Yet, despite the beauty of the sea pony, there was a coldness in her eyes. She held a trident firmly in her right forehoof as her fin like wings spread, making her look equally more daunting and more beautiful. She was joined by other sea ponies, who were more average in size, but no less threatening with the spears they carried.
“Oh, that would be me, Pinkie Pie!” she replied, waving happily. “What’s your name?”
“Queen Oceania.”
“Oh, a queen! Equestria only has princesses. Though, I guess they really are more like queens. But I guess Queen Celestia just doesn’t roll of the tongue like Princess Celestia does. I think it’s the extra syllable that makes a difference. Prin-cess, Queen, Prin-cess, Queen, Prin-cess, Que—”
The sharpened edges of Queen Oceania’s trident sank into the deck mere inches away from Pinkie Pie’s hooves, cutting off Pinkie’s babbling and forcing her to look into her own startled reflection in the trident’s polished metal.
“I don’t know what fairytales of the sea ponies still roam the dry land, but we are not the playful sprites of the ocean who sing songs and play with bubbles all day. And I do not take kindly to being summoned without reason.” The queen glared down at Pinkie Pie around the edges of her trident’s prongs. “How did you even get to this island? My patrols would have noted the approach of a ship.”
“Oh, I met a nice whale who brought me here. His name is Walter,” Pinkie Pie answered, bouncing out from behind the trident, wearing her characteristically unrelenting smile.
“So you are a treasure hunter, seeking to raid the husk of this old ship?”
Pinkie Pie shook her head as she used one hoof to dig around in her saddlebags. “Nope. I was just hoping to find someone.”
The queen looked back at some of her sea pony guards, who could only shrug their shoulders. “Who did you expect to find upon a deserted island?” the queen asked as she turned back to Pinkie Pie while dislodging her trident from the deck.
“Well, maybe pirate ghosts. I don’t know. I just knew I’d find somepony, and I found you. And... AH HA!” Pinkie Pie withdrew a notepad and pencil from her saddlebags, holding them out triumphantly as if she had just discovered some great secret to the world. She then leapt up to the guard rail of the quarter deck, took a seat, held the notepad in one hoof, and kept the pencil in her mouth.
“Okay, Queen, I need the truth and nothing but the truth. I have questions and you're going to answer them. I want a story, and you're going to tell me one about a pirate named Bermuda Bones and the pirate hunter Nephthys. I want to know what happened. How did the Grey Griffin get stuck here? Why didn’t Captain Nephthys try to take Bermuda Bones into custody? What is the best jolly roger you’ve ever seen? Who would win in a fight between a shark with nothing to lose and a pod of dolphins looking for trouble?
“I need answers, and don’t sugar coat it. I work in a bakery, I know when something has too much sugar in it.”
“I knew the land dwellers would drive themselves insane in time,” Queen Oceania whispered with a shake of her head. Still, after looking down at Pinkie Pie for a moment, the queen nodded. “Very well, but on one condition. I will give you this story if you will give me the conch shell. Is that agreeable?”
Pinkie Pie eyed the queen for a moment, but then nodded her head once. “I’ll talk to the DA about drawing up this deal. But until then, I want you to sing like a bird. What happened?”
“I will not sing,” Queen Oceania said firmly, finding no amusement in Pinkie Pie’s behavior. “But I will tell you the story, though there is little to it. Bermuda Bones won the very treasure you carry in a card game. He brought it here in hopes of entrapping me, and he suffered the wrath of the ocean for his insolence. I then thanked Nephthys for her aid and offered her one favor she claimed a few years later. The End.”
“But... that can’t be it.” Pinkie Pie shifted the pencil in her mouth, using her tongue and teeth to wag it disapprovingly at the queen. “You're holding out on me!”
“That is all you need to know,” the queen snapped back before holding out her forehoof, taking no notice that one of her guards was suddenly pulled below the surface of the water. “Now return the conch to me; no land walking creature is worthy to possess it.”
“No!” Pinkie Pie put a hoof on her saddlebags and leapt down from the quarterdeck’s guard rail. “I won’t give it back until you tell me the whole story.”
“The conch does not—”
In a flash Pinkie Pie drew out the conch, brought it to her lips, and blew. Its tone once more filled the cove, and the sea ponies covered their ear holes as if the sound it produced was much louder than it seemed. Even the queen drew back, trying to block out the sound with her hooves until finally Pinkie Pie lowered the conch from her lips. And, again, in the commotion a few more of the queen’s guards were pulled below the surface of the water, with nothing but bubbles marking their disappearance.
“Well, looks like old Pinkamena Diana Pie has the upper hoof now,” she said, gently bouncing the conch in her hoof. “So this is how it’s going to go down. You're going to tell me what I want to know, and we can all leave here with what we want. Keep trying to hassle me, and my good friend Detective Strombus Gigas is going to play a whole concert for you and your friends to enjoy.”
“Are you... the conch is not a creature with a name!” Queen Oceania snapped, raising her trident threateningly.
“Oh, you hear that, Detective Gigas? That sounded like lip. I think she needs to hear another song. I think we’ll call this one Good Cop, Bad Cop in E Minor.’”
Pinkie Pie brought the conch back to her lips and blew. The cove filled with the sound once more and the sea ponies cringed in pain. Some tried to seize Pinkie Pie. Some threw their spears while others leapt up into the shallow water of the ship’s deck. But Pinkie Pie remained an elusive target, holding the conch in her teeth and continuing to blow. She jumped, bounced, blocked, and otherwise dodged the assault of the queens’ guard, pausing her conch playing only to take a breath.
Other guards disappeared below the waves like others before them, the line of missing sea ponies forming a path pointed directly at the queen.
“Enough!” Queen Oceania finally called, waving her free hoof. “You shall have your story!”
Pinkie Pie cut off her playing, taking the conch away from her lips and quickly returning it to her saddle bags. “See? Isn’t the world so much better when we all work together? Now, why don’t you tell Detective Pie all about what happened. What happened to Bermuda Bones? Was Captain Nephthys involved? Where did all your guards go?”
“What are you talking about, my guards are...” The words in the queen’s mouth died as she saw the empty cove behind her. Except for the half dozen guards who had tried to seize Pinkie Pie and the conch, the rest of her escort were gone. “Where have they—”
“Get down!”
Pinkie Pie leapt from the side of the quarterdeck, grabbing the queen by the neck. The sudden additional weight made the queen fall to one side, and in turn let her dodge the incoming strike. From the water of the cove a grizzly, rusted hook surged out of the water, carrying with it a heavy metal chain. Had the queen not moved, the chain would have hooked her neck and dragged her beneath the water like the guards before. Instead, the hook dug into the rotted wood of the Grey Griffin.
“Whoa, that was a close one! That hook almost hooked you like a well... like a fish. Good thing my Pinkie Sense went off.”
“What hook? I can see nothing but your pink mane!”
“Oopsie, sorry.” Pinkie Pie released the queen’s neck, falling down to the quarterdeck before using her hoof to point to the hook in question. The shock in Queen Oceania’s eyes grew as she realized she had been saved by Pinkie Pie, but before she could vocalize a thank you, the chain connected to the hook snapped taut.
The chain on the hook rattled and clanked as the tension on it increased and decreased. It was the sound of something climbing hand over hand, something that soon pulled itself out of the water and stood upon the quarter deck. It was a minotaur skeleton, with the rags of a captain’s coat hanging from its shoulders. The long chains connected to the hook hung from its shoulders, eventually ending in a glowing, sickly-green lamp which hung where the skeleton’s heart should have been.
“Ah, Queen Oceania, I’ve waited a long time for you to answer the conch’s call,” the skeleton said as, with a sharp yank, it pulled the hook out from the rotten wood it had wedged itself in.
“Oh! My! Gosh! Are you Bermuda Bones!” Pinkie Pie said, her eyes filled with wonder. “I knew I’d meet ghost pirates on this trip!”
“Well, you haven’t yet. Ey, I may look the part but I am no ghost. You have to die first to turn into one of those, and I’ve been alive every day since I was left here. You remember that day, don’t you, Your Highness? The day you cursed this cove so that my ship was pushed back by the waves whenever it tried to head out for open water.
“The day you left me to die!” The eyeholes of Bermuda Bones’ skull flashed alive with green fire. He swung his arm back and forward, causing the hook and the chain to lash out like a whip. The queen, however, was on guard this time. She brought her trident up, and with it a wall of water rose up between her and Bermuda.
The hook was swept away, leaving Pinkie Pie looking on in amazement. “Wow! That was— whoa!”
“Take a deep breath.”
With that little warning, a pair of Queen Oceania’s guards had grabbed Pinkie Pie off the deck. Then, together with the queen, they all dove beneath the water. Pinkie Pie could feel the water racing past her mane, and she did all she could to hold on tight until she felt she and the sea ponies break the surface. She coughed from the little bit of seawater that had gotten in her mouth, then opened her eyes to see what was happening.
She and the sea ponies were currently riding on top of a wave conjured by Oceania. The wave was carrying them with great haste away from the cove, where Pinkie Pie could still see Bermuda Bones standing upon the deck of his old ship.
“Hey! You got my notes wet!” Pinkie Pie complained through the strands of her wet, straight-hanging mane.
“Your notes are the least of our concern,” the queen snapped before she cursed and turned her attention back to conjuring the wave they rode upon. “Bermuda Bones lives by the power of that cursed lantern, which has been fed the souls of his crew, any creature unlucky enough to wander close, and also the souls of my soldiers. He also showed no fear in facing me. I can only imagine he has all the power he needs.”
“All the power he needs to do what?”
“Look behind us.”
Pinkie Pie did just that, fishing out the spyglass from her bags and focusing on the cove. Bermuda Bones was standing at the helm of the Grey Griffin, the lantern in his skeletal chest glowing with a near blinding light. And it was a glow that seemed to be infecting the Grey Griffin. The old ship seemed to be putting itself back together, just barely. The fallen mast rose back into position. Trees from the island were ripped from their roots and used to fill the holes in the hull.
Then, just when the ship looked to be just barely seaworthy, the light from the lantern grew even brighter. Pinkie Pie and the sea ponies heard a minotaur roar from Bermuda Bones, and then, with Pinkie Pie’s jaw hanging slack in disbelief, the old pirate ship began to rise. Like a cloud floating into the sky, the Grey Griffin was given flight by the supernatural power of the lantern. It rose above the edges of the cliff, turned, and then began to fly after them as Bermuda Bones’ laughter filled the air.
“Well, you don’t see that everyday.”
“This is no game!” The queen snapped, her growing panic showing through the cracks in her royal composure. “That lantern was entrusted to us seven hundred years ago by a zebra of Savannah, and for good reason. It is a thing too evil for this world and too powerful for Tartarus. It was meant to stay lost on that island forever. I never imagined Bermuda Bones would find it. But now, if we don’t stop him, no soul in this world above or below the ocean will be safe. It will be another era of darkness, worse than even Discord’s reign.”
“Okay, then we’ll stop him,” Pinkie Pie said.
“It is not that easy. We would have to take the lantern from him, and to do that we would have to first bring down his ship.”
“Sure it’s that easy. We just need to find some help.” Pinkie Pie grabbed the compass around her neck, holding it with one hoof while the other gently touched on the lid. “And, to do that, I just need to want... the right thing.
“Yes, the thing I desire the most in this world is to find a captain who can get us a ship that he or she can then use to bring down the Grey Griffin who can then help us form a plan to get the lantern away from Bermuda Bones.
“Oh, and to never hang from a cliff, because being a cliff hanger isn’t fun.
“Or is it?” Pinkie Pie puzzled as the red arrow of the compass spun round and round.
=====================================================================
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Hm, Pinkie Jack Sparrow...
Me gusta.
Same goes for the rest of the chapter too.
CURSE YOU PEN STROKE!!!!
Also got the Pirates reference with the compass and Captain. This is going to get exciting.
Nice Pirates of the Caribbean you dropped.
Also... Leave to Pinkie to best a Queen...
~Skeeter The Lurker
Pinkie pie is best negotiator. Those poor seaponies never saw it coming.
Not nice.
XD
LOL, HA HA HA, XD,
, [insert internet abreviation to express utter hilarity].
Man, that chapter title is just... evil. You are already saying that what happens in it won't be resolved until next week. You evil, brilliant, genius.
You SON OF A...
Oh, Man. A homage to Pirates of the Caribbean?!
Not a subtle one at that.
Oh hey, Bones turned into Thresh
Pinkie... must you break the fourth wall every time?
Excellent chapter, as always.
Why is the chapter done?
Thank frag.
It took me twenty years of therapy to get that sound out of my head!
I'd repressed it, I was safe! I could lead an abnormal unlife free of care!
Then some bugger in my local ponythread linked it and now it will never stop!
*skulldesk*
*skulldesk*
*skulldesk*
...
I'm okay now.
Every one is talking about the Pirates of the Caribbean references, I'll go for the Finding Nemo Reference.
First Captain Sparrow, the compass, cold sea-ponies unlike the G1 counterparts and the evil lantern entrusted by a savannah zebra.
This by far the most random chapter I read in this story.
Then again with Pinkie Pie...
I didn't realize how much I wanted a pirate adventure starring Pinkie.
3361337
Best chapter so far.
Best Pinkie Pie I've read in a loooooooooooong time
Was expecting Discord to show up out of nowhere.
Now all we need are ninja zombies and we're all set
You have reignited my love love for Pinkie Pie! She is so in character, it's ridiculous, like this chapter, in the best way possible! Please continue!
Great!!
Hey Pinkie, that pirate you got the compass from didn't happen to look anything like this, did he?
derpicdn.net/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTMvMDIvMDgvMTdfNDhfNTRfNjc4XzIzNzEwNV9fVU5PUFRfX3NhZmVfcG9uaWZpZWRfcGlyYXRlc19vZl90aGVfY2FyaWJiZWFuX2FydGlzdF9wcmFua3NvbG90XzUwZjZhZWNlN2YxMjNiNjdkNjAwMDA2MF9qYWNrX3NwYXJyb3dfamFyX29mX2RpcnRfY2FwdGFpbl9qYWNrX3NwYXJyb3cucG5nLnBuZyJdXQ/237105__safe_ponified_artist-colon-squigybutt_jack%2Bsparrow_pirates%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bcaribbean_%2522captain%2522%2Bjack%2Bsparrow_captain%2Bjack%2Bsparrow_jar%2Bof%2Bdirt.png
I can also imagine this happening once Pinkie returns to port.
derpicdn.net/img/2012/9/2/88661/large.png
A cliffhanger, huh? Can't say I didn't see that coming.
3361437
Don't forget Baron von Pinkhausen
"A splash of his tale was the last thing Pinkie Pie saw, and she smiled contently at successfully making a new friend."
Mayhaps Walter was a bard of such power that his words became physical.
3361796
Oh I won't-- I won't
3361505 My thoughts exactly.
Fluttershy knitting powers activate!
An oath with built-in error handling? I approve.
Did Pinkie just negotiate a clue out of herself? Huh.
Wow, Pinkie. Just wow.
3361505 No kidding.
Ay yay yay Pinkie...
Well, once pony Jack Sparrow got involved this could only go great places.
And I really do hope Rainbow's legal troubles don't take up too much story. I know I should be more concerned about the imminent reign of the dark lantern, but somehow trouble seems to slide off of Pinkie when it sticks to the others, especially best spectrum. Besides, we can hardly switch the main plot to being one artifact of doom when there's a whole conspiracy to uncover!
3361397
Glad to know you're no longer in distress....
3361397 Such a lost opportunity for a Monty Python quote. "There'll be no singing while I'm around!"
Dash had saved Equestria at least twice, she's the element of loyalty and one of her best friends is a princess. HOW CAN THEY KEEP HER IN PRISON AND WHERE IS CELESTIA!!!!!
What kind of name for a chapter is that?! I mean honestly I would expect something like that from a Deadpool comic if I ever read one but-
...Ah.
Besides the previous chapters......BEST.CHAPTER.EVER!!!
Great job on the Captain--!!
"NONONONO!!! Don't say his name!!!!"
"If you say his name Pen Stroke might get sued for copy right infringement!" "If that happens, then he'll have to go to court to fight the charges! And-if-he-goes-to-court-to-fight-the-charges-then-he-might-end-up-facing-a-really-bad-Prosecutor-with-long-grey-hair-who-has-never-lost-a-case-because-he-rigs-them-to-win-which-would-cause-Pen-Stroke-to-have-to-fight-in-court-with-evidence-and-a-ghost-spirit-and-shout-stuff-like--!!
"Yeah, like that!" 
"Oh, ok." "Yeeeaah, that was a great part to." "Captain Sparrow Jack was really great stallion to talk to also." 
"
RR:"GAH!! P-Pinkie! W-why not??"
RR: "HOLD IT!"
RR: "N..no Pinkie I mean Hold it, wait, stop for a Fracking minute!" "I'm sorry, sorry, sorry that I almost said the captains name. Ok?" "Anyways I just wanted to say that I like the bit between you and the famous Pirate Captain 'that shall not be named' ok?"
RR:"...-_0.......
While that 4th wall breaking at the end along with the chapter title was kind of obnoxious, everything else made up for it. It was really funny! Favorite scene: Pinkie doing the interrogation.
Honestly when I started reading, I thought Rainbow's letter would start, end, and consist of "Dear Twilight, I'm in jail."
I'm noticing a trend here...
Pinkie, will you tell them what I think?
The zebras who were the only ones to remain safe during Discord's reign wanted to prevent anything like that from happening ever ever again so they worked together to keep the peace and hide all the powerful magical artifacts like the Alicorn Amulet and Bermuda Bones' lantern that they could, sometimes stealing them like The Phantom did and sometimes spreading word of good faith of the Princesses like Wise Word did but when they messed up they messed up big like Green Leaf which led to the rise of Sombra and who knows how many other times; so while Twilight is worried that they might be dangerous - because they totally could be if they wanted - they're actually working to keep Equestria and the whole world safe from trouble which makes me wonder how they would take the idea of meeting a reformed Discord, oh and they saved the Everfree because the rare gems inside it that whats-his-mane wanted to mine probably had some strange magic to them as well!
Or something like that. Fluttershy is best knitter.
3361397 it cant be that bad....
....Pinkie
But seriously, this chapter may be the greatest piece of writing I've seen this month. I love how you write Pinkie Pie.
Damn cliffhangers!! Bah. Well this chapter is a little too silly for my tastes, but it's countered by having Pinkine Pie be the main character. So it's not too bad, the way it would be if say...it centered around AppleJack.
Still it was enjoyable, and I hope to see the next chapter here soon! <3
Fandom Pinkie Pie is my least favourite of the mane six... This chapter reminds me why; in the show Pinkie breaks the 4th wall but still keeps it 'in character', the fandom breaks the 4th wall into our reality which just destroys my suspension of disbelief.
So, I see [Captain] Jack Sparrow as mysterious pirate pony, and Bermuda Bones seems to be based in part on Thresh from League. Or at least, an undead with a hook/chain and a lantern that eats souls is similar.
Pinkie Pie as Equestria's answer to Jack Sparrow...?
Let's face it: we all already knew this to be the case.
Some notes I took while reading this chapter:
- Only Pinkie Pie could do all that.
- I believe that, with some minor edits, this chapter could work as the plot for the next Monkey Island game.
- I lost count on how many references to comics, movies and other things you put in.
- I did not believe you. I thought you were just exaggerating with the whole "cliffhanger" thing.
I... umm.. I need more of this. Please? Pretty please?
Man, Pinkie's chapter went right the heck off the rails and into crazytown there.
Ergo, situation normal for Pinkie Pie.
Damn it Twilight, too much yarn!
Now picturing Discord as a shark, with new teeth lined up to replace the old as they fall out. Eugh.
Oh wow, Pinkie's reference to Pirates of the Carribean! Well played, Pen Stroke. Well played indeed. Such a silly notion! Also love her reenacting her meeting with Captain ____ just out of asking 'what did he say?' to herself. And man, does she ever like the sound of her own voice.
That shark would get the tar beaten out of it. Dolphins practice killing them.
Damn it, Pinkie, your influence makes even the chapter title break the fourth wall! Eager to see how this'll resolve itself!
Pinkie is best pirate ever. Of all time.
3361337
I was about to say... thresh made an appearance lol
3365881 Discord wouldn't care about a measly tooth, specially when he can probably regrow it at will.
You just put Captain Jack sparrow in a MLP fic... I fucking love you Pen Stroke!
3362340 Celestia wants Dash in prison so she can seduce the wild pegasus mare who has stolen her heart.
(And suddenly, 5,000 Dashlestia fics appear...)
This chapter
... It. Was. AWESOME!!!!
('nuff said
)
Now this is really starting to pick up the pace. Pinkie Pie was great. I await the moment where the subplots of the Mane Six come together, but it will surely take many chapters until then. The only thing I have to criticize about this chapter is the compass - reference or not, it is far too convenient and a rather sloppy plot device.