A Rose's Journey

by VioletRose13

Meeting Jackpot Spade

“What?! Storm clouds? Thunder? I ordered perfectly clear weather for today.” Princess Twilight exclaimed before glaring at her rainbow-haired friend. “Rainbow Dash, what is going on? Is this a prank?!”

“Uh, Twi? I don’t think those are storm clouds. And that wasn’t thunder.” Rainbow Dash said nervously. “That looks more like… like…”

“Thick cannon smoke?” Tempest finished as she gazed up at the sky with wide, terror-filled eyes. “Déjà vu…”

After a few seconds, a large airship with a pony skull and crossbones on the sides suddenly appeared from the clouds of ink black smoke. Everyone in town stared at the ship in terror, unsure of what was going to happen next. Violet blinked and gulped, gawking at the ship just like everypony else; she knew this couldn’t be good. She started to unconsciously back away from everypony else and the ship, trying to get as far away from the scene as possible.

When the ship finally landed, no pony dared to move. That was when an elderly Earth pony stallion departed from the ship, carrying a microphone and a set of magical speakers as he did so. Keeping his distance away from the group, the stallion activated the microphone, cleared his throat, and said in a deep craggily voice,

“Ahoy, ponies and creatures of Equestria! We mean you no harm… unless one of you foolishly attacks any of us first.”

‘Us?’ Princess Twilight thought, raising an eyebrow.

“Excuse me, sir?” Tempest said as she boldly stepped forward. “What is the meaning of this? Are you the captain of this ship?”

“Me? Oh, no, no, no, no. I’m not the captain.” The pony scoffed at Tempest’s accusation. “I’m merely the first mate; Crab Claws, at your service. But if you want to speak to the captain himself, he’ll need a proper introduction.”

“Introduction?” Tempest repeated before Crab Claws spoke again.

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” He announced into the microphone. “Put your hooves… and paws and claws together for… Captain Jackpot Spade!”

When the name was announced, nopony had appeared. After a long moment of awkward silence, all eyes shot back to the first mate in confusion.

“Ahem, I said Captain Jackpot Spade!”

A few more moments of silence passed; Tempest gave Crab Claws a smug look before he called out for two other ponies.

“Sea Sponge! Star Fish!” He yelled before two earth ponies (one pink and one yellow) ran up to him and gave him a nervous salute.

“Yes, Crab Claws?” They said in unison.

“Where is the captain?” Crab Claws asked through gritted teeth.

The pair of ponies awkwardly looked at each other before glancing upwards. Everypony else looked in the same direction to see a tan Pegasus stallion lying on a hammock near the top of the ship… and he appeared to be sound asleep. His head was hanging over the side of the hammock with a bottle of something in his hoof that was dangling on the same side; ponies could faintly hear him snoring.

“Is that a… a Pegasus?” Twilight asked, squinting her eyes at the sleeping pony.

“I think so.” Spike asked, hiding behind Twilight.

“Is he asleep?” Sunset asked.

“Ugh, not again.” Crab Claws groaned, putting a hoof over his face in frustration. “Sponge, Fish, wake him up.”

“How can we?” The pink pony, most likely Star Fish, asked.

“Yeah, he’s up in his special hammock.” The yellow pony, Sea Sponge, added.

“No need. I’m on it.” An orange dragon named Smolder said before flying up to the ship.

It was then that Smolder leaned in to the sleeping pony’s face, took a deep breath… and at the top of her lungs she screamed,

“HEY, WAKE UP!!”

The Pegasus immediately snapped himself awake. He was so surprised that he fell out of his hammock and fell down to the ship’s deck, but his clumsily flapped his wings to try and keep himself airborne before he swayed the wrong way, rolled down, and landed right at the hooves of Princess Twilight herself. Everypony gasped and backed away from the dizzy stallion as he shakily got back onto his own hooves; the moment he stood up, the Pegasus stared at the crowds before him with a look of confusion on his face.

“Um… this may sound like a peculiar request, but could somepony explain to me as t-to why I’m h-here?” He asked in a slurred voice.

“Please tell me this is a joke.” Tempest whispered to Twilight.

Twilight simply just shrugged her shoulders and smirked before the Pegasus suddenly said,

“Oh, no, no, no! Wait, wait, wait! It’s coming to me! I need just a quick moment to clear me head.”

He smiled, opened the bottle he was holding, put it to his muzzle, and he gulped down all of the liquid that was inside. When the bottle was completely empty, the Pegasus squeezed his eyes shut and threw the bottle away, causing it to shatter with a loud crash on contact with a nearby rock; everypony winced at the sound. He shivered a little as the questionable liquid slid down his throat, then he opened his eyes, revealing the irises to be mismatched. The right eye was a bright purple while the left was a neon green; it was very unsettling, especially with the sinister, gold-toothed grin that now adorned his face.

“Ah, much better.” He said as he straightened himself. “So sorry about that, fillies and gentlecolts. I do tend to lose my edge after a long nap.”

“Jackpot Spade, is it?” Tempest cleared her throat.

“Captain! Captain Jackpot Spade, if you please.” He said, holding his hoof in front of her face.

The unicorn glared at the Pegasus and said nothing, clearly annoyed with his behavior already.

“Uh, hi there. I’m the Princess of Friendship.” Twilight said, sheepishly stepping forward. “Not exactly sure what’s going on here, but I’m sure we can peacefully talk things out… right?”

Captain Spade’s eyes widened as he gazed at the Alicorn; he smiled again.

“Oh! What do we have here? One of the four reigning Alicorn Princesses has come to greet lil’ ol’ me?! Must be my lucky day…” He chuckled, inspecting the mare curiously.

“Captain Jackpot Spade, sir, what brings you here today? Is there something any of us Ponyville ponies can help you with?” Twilight asked nervously.

“Actually… there is.” Spade replied slyly.

“You need somepony to point you to the nearest bar or something?” Rainbow Dash muttered with a snicker.

“Rainbow Dash, quiet!” Twilight hissed.

“No, I don’t need a bar or even another drink. What I need… is a pony.”

Twilight and her friends all looked at each other in concern before turning back to the stallion before them.

“A… a pony?” Twilight repeated in a nervous tone.

“You heard me, Princess; I need a pony, but not just any pony, mind you.” Spade explained. “This pony is special. VERY special…”

“Oh yeah? How special? Who is this pony anyway?” Rainbow Dash scoffed before Fluttershy pulled her tail to shush her.

“Uh, what my friend Rainbow Dash means to say is that maybe you could tell us more about this pony you’re looking for.” Twilight tried to reason with the stranger. “Like what their name is, what they look like, etc. Maybe we could, um…”

“Maybe we could find them for you!” Pinkie Pie obliviously added with a grin.

“Pinkie, shut it!” Applejack hissed, trying to keep her pink friend under control.

“Well… I can certainly give you a description, if that’s what you want.” Spade said. “The pony I’m looking for is a young unicorn mare with a light orchid purple coat, a long curly brown mane and tail, and large eyes that’re as blue as the ocean. None of you would happen to know of such a mare… would you?”

Twilight glanced over at her friends and students, who were all giving her looks of concern.

“WOULD you?” Spade repeated, sounding much angrier.

“Uh… Can you excuse us for just a minute, Captain?” Twilight said before pulling her friends into a huddle.

Spade sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Comments

[Asolem2]

“Thick cannon smoke?” Tempest finished as she gazed up at the sky with wide, terror-filled eyes. “Déjà vu…”

Isn't it though