Chapter 7: Ponies...IN SPAAACE!
To say that the mood was icy was to say that the sky was blue. No one and nopony felt like smiling as they picked up the pieces of the battle and scraped away the remains of the Guardian’s rampage.
When Rainbow had come back, nopony understood why she had come back empty-hooved at first. The haunted and horrified expression on her face spoke volumes to all of them. Applejack was the first to react, putting a hoof on her Pegasus friend’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, only to be shoved away as Rainbow stormed off with a growl.
Most of the others reacted to the news about the same --- disbelief, then denial, then horror, and finally sorrow. Fluttershy was inconsolable, and had curled up in a ball and cried herself to sleep on the steps of the castle. Rarity and Twilight (who had recovered and had been helping the others clean up) sat down in the grass in complete, stunned silence, never once saying a word. Rainbow had long since flown off to either hide in shame in her home or help in the repairs of Ponyville, also in shame. Applejack tried her best to put on a mask of determined strength, but Jim could see it was quickly failing.
Starlight and Tempest were equally devastated, but they had a far more pressing concern to deal with: Princess Celestia was wounded, and needed a doctor as soon as possible. With Tempest’s help, Starlight had managed to slow the blood flow and was using some of Rarity’s emergency thread to stitch up the wound the best she could, but she was no physician.
Tucker, Hendricks, and Spike had gone into Ponyville to get Nurse Redheart and Dr. Horse, while Spanner had flown off to report the day’s events to Captain Amelia, leaving Jim to coordinate what few cleanup efforts were being done at the castle. The Guardian had already been loaded up onto a cart, but that was about it. Nopony’s heart was in anything else.
So it was a pleasant and welcome surprise to see Luna and several contingents of Solar Guard Pegasi fly in from Canterlot, each of them ready to help in any way they could. Captain Bright Star took control immediately and ordered his troops to secure Ponyville and help in the clean-up effort, while Luna’s attention was drawn to her sister. In a flash she was at her side, her eyes wide with fear.
“Tia...oh Faust, what has--?” she stammered.
“It wasn’t the Guardian...” Celestia hissed through the pain. “It was...someone new.”
“His name’s Scroop,” Jim spoke up, getting the sisters’ attention as he approached. “He’s a Mantavor pirate I faced a few years back. He’s bad news.”
Celestia gestured with a wing to Jim and then to Luna. “Luna, this is Jim Hawkins. Mister Hawkins, meet Princess Luna, my sister and fellow diarch of Equestria.”
Jim bowed. “A pleasure, Your Highness.”
Luna eyed the human warily. “Likewise...” she murmured before looking back at Celestia. “Sister, what happened here? When I saw the Guardian’s ship heading here I feared the worst.”
“The Guardian attacked, and we managed to drive him away from Twilight,” Celestia replied. “Rainbow Dash and...Tempest Shadow, who was visiting, managed to use the beast’s own weapons against it, and they destroyed it.” She gestured towards the cart, which was being cautiously inspected by several Solar Guards. “The Guardian is no more.”
“That’s...that’s brilliant!” Luna breathed. “It means we’re free to use the map to--”
“No, sister, something else happened after the Guardian was defeated,” Celestia interjected, standing up on her hooves with great difficulty. Tempest and Starlight were at her side in an instant, helping their ruler up with concern in their eyes. “The Mantavor, Scroop, appeared. With a hostage --- Pinkie Pie.”
Luna’s eyes narrowed, and when she spoke next, her words had a dangerous, icy undertone. “Celestia...where is she?”
Celestia’s eyes fell, then she looked up at the sky. Luna, confused at first, followed her gaze. Then her eyes widened in realization.
“After shooting Celestia, he took the map, stole the Guardian’s ship, and kidnapped Pinkie as insurance,” Jim reported glumly. “Rainbow and one of my team tried to stop him, but...”
Luna closed her eyes and exhaled, her throat rumbling. It seemed like the air around them dropped several degrees, and when her eyes opened again, her pupils were slits and her fur had gone slightly darker. “Doth thou mean to tell Us...that some vagabond pirate scum has ponynapped one of Our most precious subjects...and has taken them into the depths of the Etherium, far beyond even Our reach?!”
“Luna!” Celestia shouted.
Luna blinked, and her eyes and fur returned to normal. She shook her head and took a step back. “I...apologize, Jim Hawkins. It is out of concern that I am angry, not because of you. Tell your team that they have our thanks for trying to save Lady Pie, but...” She looked up to the sky. “How are we to save her now? Without the map, we have no way of tracking them.”
“Actually...” Twilight said, speaking for the first time as she stood up, a plan beginning to form in her head. “We still have a chance.” With a flash of light, she disappeared for a moment, before reappearing, this time with a runed sphere floating in her magic aura. “We had a second map.”
Celestia’s eyes widened and she smiled. “My faithful student...you are a marvel.”
“Don’t celebrate just yet,” Jim said, grabbing the map out of the air. “We may have a means to track them, but we don’t have a means to follow them. Our ship, the Legacy, is heavily damaged. If it’s actually gone so far as to land near the town, that means it’s in no condition to fly, much less fight. And I don’t know about you, but you ponies don’t seem like you’ve invented solar sails or Etherium ships.” He looked at Celestia. “Unless you have?”
Celestia shook her head. “We have not...not yet. It had been my plan, but not for a long while still.”
Twilight’s face fell. “Then...we can’t save Pinkie...?”
Jim knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder. “Twilight, listen to me, I swear to you, we will rescue Pinkie. We will find a way. We just need to regroup and consider our options right now, and try to come up with a plan.” He glanced around him, noticing how the rest of Twilight’s friends had surrounded them, looking at him with hopeful gazes. Even Fluttershy had awoken from her tear-induced slumber to listen. “That’s a promise to all of you, too. On my honor as an officer of His Majesty’s Imperial Navy, I won’t rest until Scroop is brought to justice and Pinkie is brought back to Equestria safe and sound.”
Before he could stand up he was engulfed in three tight embraces from Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight, nearly tackling him to the ground. Despite the situation, Starlight found herself snickering and quickly joined in on the hug, motioning for Tempest and Applejack to join in too. Applejack smirked but shook her head, while Tempest quickly shuffled back to Celestia and made a show of “helping her walk” (much to Celestia’s amusement).
Jim smiled at the mares and hugged back the best he could, which made quite the tangle of limbs as he tried to free his arms. Rarity pulled back from her embrace and poked him in the chest with a hoof. “You best keep that promise, dear, or I Pinkie Promise you, you will not like what I will do to you while angry.”
“Oh, lay off, Rares,” Applejack interjected, helping Jim to his feet after the pile of mares got off him. “Let the man work.”
“Well, Mister Hawkins, where to next?” Celestia asked, and all eyes turned to him.
Jim straightened his tunic, painfully aware of how dirty it was. “First I need to report back to my captain. She’ll be able to give us some advice on how to catch Scroop, since she’s been hunting pirates longer than I have. That, and I want to make sure my crew is safe.”
Luna nodded. “A wise course of action. We shall handle matters here and get Lady Dash up to speed.” At Celestia’s giggle at the unintended pun, Luna rolled her eyes. “And I shall get Sunbutt over here to a physician.”
“Hey!” Celestia objected. “Only Discord has the ability to call me that and get away with it. And besides, at least I don’t have a full moon.”
Luna lowered her head and groaned in frustration, much to the merriment of the mares. Jim looked at Tempest in confusion, and the disabled Unicorn only shrugged in response.
The galleon crept closer to the planet, its black solar sails only halfway unfurled --- just enough to give them speed, but also enough for them to move undetected. The pirate crew onboard looked at the system in wonder, marvelling at the small moon and sun revolving around it as if by magic. Such a sight was rare in the Etherium, and even pirates like them could appreciate the beauty of it.
Their captain on the quarterdeck, even more so. He gave a small smirk as he watched the sun and moon shift positions just slightly. Wherever Jimbo had found himself, it was certainly a crazy place.
“Mister Onus!” he called, emphasizing his R’s as he looked up to the crow’s nest. “What be makin’ ya look so consternated?”
“Ship pieces, captaaaain!” the short Optoc yelled down, plucking one of his eyes from the spyglass he held. “Imperial be my guess by the solar sail configuration.”
“Damn...” Silver muttered as he shifted the ship’s wheel to the left slightly. “Meltdown, what’d ya think?”
A tall, fat Repton with a gold earring and brown vest stepped up. Meltdown was Silver’s second-in-command, being one of the few surviving members of Silver’s doomed Treasure Planet crew. Only he and Onus elected to stay with their captain, while the others went their separate ways. He wasn’t smart by any means, but he was loyal and a good shot with a musket. “Dunna, cap’n. Methinks Legacy got hit good. Big fight.”
“Sir, I’m tracking an Etherium-drive trail exiting the sector,” said Brock, Silver’s navigator. Brock was a Macriki, a strange, eel-like species with eyes in their mouths. To this day Silver didn’t even try to understand how that worked. “They left several hours ago, and did so in a hurry.”
“Probably the bastards that got the Legacy,” Silver muttered. “Right then, here’s the plan, lads. We’re headin’ down there by longboat. We’ll see what we need t’see, and then head back if there ain’t any survivors.”
“Why should we care if anybody survived?” a brutish Densadron pirate growled from the main deck. Several others nodded. “We’re pirates! We don’t care about no one, unless they’ve got goods we can acquire!”
“Because down there’s a boy that I’m quite fond of, and if any of ya’s want to remain onboard MY ship, I suggest ya be startin’ to get real fond of him too by lookin’ for him and his mates! Now hop to it, or I start haulin’ yer worthless hides overboard!” Silver answered with a roll of his natural eye. His cybernetic one, meanwhile, flashed red and shone a laser at the Densadron’s head. The threat was clear.
Meltdown gave a sadistic grin while Onus giggled gleefully in the crow’s nest. There was a reason they stuck by Silver, after all.
The crew gulped, knowing better than to anger one of the Etherium’s most notorious pirate captains, and immediately went to work. Silver handed the wheel over to Meltdown and made his way down to the main deck, intending on boarding one of the longboats heading down.
No worries, lad, I’m on me way. Still got some fight in these wee old metal bones, after all.
Jim’s return to the Legacy was a somber one. Many of the crew were happy to see him again, but there were a few new scars, and some missing faces. They tried to hide it, but Jim noticed. The Guardian had done a number on them, and even though he was gone now, the damages he caused would be felt for a while.
Still, Jim put on a smile as he, Tucker, and Hendricks greeted their fellow crewmates once more. An Imperial crew was nothing if not a sturdy lot, and their captain made sure of that.
Said captain was currently making her way towards the three of them as they disengaged from the rest of the crew, her husband and Spanner hot on her heels. “Mister Hawkins!” she called. “It is delightful to see you hearty and well. Pray tell, how went your scouting trip?”
“It was...quite eventful, captain,” Jim reported. “Ran into some wolves made up of living wood, then a giant worm, and then magical ponies.”
“Ah, so Mister Spanner was indeed telling the truth, then,” Amelia said with a nod. “This is certainly a strange little planet.”
“You don’t know the half of it, ma’am,” Hendricks muttered.
“I’m sure I don’t, judging by what Mister Spanner has told me,” Amelia agreed. “Which means that you three can fill us in on the half we don’t know immediately. My state room, if you please.”
The three of them nodded and followed the captain to the ship’s forecastle. As they went, Delbert patted Jim’s shoulder with a smile and a sigh of relief, to which Jim smiled back. Both of them knew that nothing more needed to be said.
Once inside the captain’s state room, she closed the door and stepped behind her desk. Jim was about to continue his report when Amelia raised her hand and shook her head. “You need not regale me about the wolves or the giant worm, those can wait for later. What I want to know is the situation in the town and the...ponies, and with that ship that broke through the atmosphere an hour ago. And please, spare no detail.”
Jim nodded and began giving his report, with Hendricks, Tucker, and Spanner offering their own sides of the story to fill in any gaps. He told her of his team’s meeting with the ponies, and their meeting with Celestia. He told her about Flint’s incursion into Equestria (with Delbert interjecting to ask several historical questions on that point), and about the maps. He finally ended his report with the battle against the Guardian and Scroop’s appearance, as well as the kidnapping of Pinkie Pie and his acquiring of one of the maps. Throughout it all, Amelia stayed silent, listening intently with a calm face.
Once his report was finished, Jim and his team stood and waited for the information to sink in for the captain and the professor. Husband and wife eyed one another for a moment before Amelia rapped her fingers on her desk in thought. “So...that scoundrel Scroop has resurfaced, has he? Mighty tough bastard to kill, he is. I suppose it can’t be helped. I’m afraid, however, that there isn’t much I can do to help. We simply don’t have the ability to lead a rescue mission at this time.”
“Isn’t there some way of fixing the engines so that we can fly again?” Tucker asked.
“No. This Guardian of yours was highly efficient. It’s not even the engines that are truly damaged beyond repair, but rather the hull, the sails themselves, and our thrusters. Without them, an engine can only get you so far,” Amelia replied. “For the time being, it’s an all-hands-on-deck situation. Every member of this crew must pull their weight if we’re to reach the Etherium again.”
She turned to Spanner. “You have engineering experience, do you not?” At Spanner’s nod, she continued, “I want you below deck in five minutes. You are to report to Mister Gibbs for repair duty. Dismissed, Mister Spanner.”
Spanner saluted with a flatulent honk and waved at his team before exiting the room.
“Darling, surely there’s something we can do?” Delbert asked in a low voice.
“We can provide aid to the Equestrians in rebuilding their homes, once we’re finished fixing our ship,” Amelia allowed. “As for their missing friend, I’m afraid that, for the time being, they’re on their own. Scroop’s got too large of a head start on us. Even if we were to rush repairs and be up in the Etherium within three days, he could be anywhere within the galaxy.”
“But Pinkie might not have that time!” Jim insisted. “Not to mention whatever has Princess Celestia scared. She’s a powerful being with even more powerful magic at the tip of her horn, captain, and yet she’s scared of whatever Flint has done with his trove. What if he hid something else there, something that a thug like Scroop would love to get his claws on?”
“Then he shall find the Imperial Navy biting at his heels, and we’ll hunt him down until he’s nothing more than a grease stain floating through the Etherium like chaff in the wind.”
“We can’t just do nothing, though. Not while a friend of ours is out there alone and in the hands of a pirate,” Hendricks said, surprising Jim. Out of all of them, Hendricks liked the Equestrians the least, or seemed to. To have him consider Pinkie a friend was extraordinary. “I’d chase after him in a bloody longboat if I have to.”
Heh, go Hendricks, go, Jim thought with a wry smirk.
Amelia sighed and stood up, her hands pressed against the desk. “I admire your determination, Mister Hendricks, but--”
The door opened and BEN poked his head in. “Ah, heheheh, hi! Just wanted to report a teeny-tiny-little-itsy-bitsy-weeny-whiny problem, captain.”
Amelia rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mister BEN?”
“Well, maybe not that much of a teeny-tiny-itsy-bitsy--”
“Get on with it!” everyone yelled at him.
He immediately fell onto his knees and hugged Jim’s legs. “It’s not my fault they found us, I swear! Oh gods above, they’re here to take me away! Don’t let them turn me into scrap, Jimmy! I’m too young and huggable to dieeee!” he squealed, crying oily tears.
“BEN, just tell us what’s going...” Shouting erupted from the main deck, as well as several jeers and the roars of multiple Etherium-drive engines. Jim blinked and finished, “...on?”
“Captain...” Graven’s unsure voice rumbled from the doorway. “We have company, and they’re not exactly the friendly sort.”
Narrowing her eyes, Amelia stepped out of her state room and onto the quarterdeck. What she saw caused her to hiss aggressively and flick her ears back. Jim and the others followed her outside and dropped their jaws.
Three longboats with black sails were encircling their ship, each full of jeering, laughing pirates of all shapes, sizes, and species, each bearing a weapon of some sort. However, to everyone’s shock, the pirates weren’t making a move. Rather, they simply floated around the ship, weapons drawn, but not attacking. They seemed to be waiting for something, or someone.
“I see ‘im, captaaaain!” came a high-pitched voice that Jim, Amelia, and Delbert knew all too-well.
“Was that...” Jim began.
“Mister Onus?” Amelia finished.
“Ahoy there, lad!” came a jovial, boisterous voice. The pirates on one of the longboats parted to let a large, one-legged cyborg through. He smiled and tipped his tricorn hat at Jim and the group, waving his metal hand at them. “Lovely day for a reunion, eh?”
“Silver!” Amelia hissed, drawing a hidden pistol from her coat and pointing it at him. The pirates reacted accordingly, aiming every single musket her. This, in turn, led to all of the Legacy’s crewmen pointing their muskets at the pirates. Interestingly, Silver hadn’t lost his smile, nor had he drawn from his own myriad of weapons he had hidden over his body.
“Aye, that be me. ‘Tis a fine sight to see yer wonderful and efficacious face again, Cap’n Amelia!” Silver laughed. “But there be no needin’ for any of this funny business. I can see yer in enough trouble as it is. Got yer distress call, by the way.”
“We weren’t sending that to you!” Amelia growled.
“Well, ya got me anyway,” Silver rebutted with an innocent shrug. “Not like ya got much of a choice in who yer friends are.”
“What do you want, Silver?” Jim asked. “We’re a little busy right now.”
“Aye, I can see that, lad. Fancy meetin’ you lot here on this strange little planet. Talkin’ horses, lad? What nonsense have ya gotten up to this time?”
“It’s...complicated,” Jim replied.
“Well then, let’s try to un-complicate things then, shall we?” Silver suggested. “Tell ya what, I’ll have my boys stand down if you lot do so as well, and we can discuss things in private like civilized people. Me crew will help protect yer ship, and in return ya can tell me what’s been happenin’ ‘round here.”
Jim glanced at Amelia and nodded to her. “It’s alright, captain. He won’t hurt us.”
“He’s a pirate,” Amelia spat. “They exist to hurt others.”
“Now, that’s just hurtful,” Silver called out. “I’ll have ya know I’m a galaxy-renowned cook and I donate to orphanages.”
“He won’t hurt us because I’m here,” Jim confessed. He looked up at Silver and winked. “I know he won’t.”
Delbert put a hand on his wife’s outstretched arm. “Amelia, listen to Jim,” he said. “I know that this is going to feel uncomfortable, but we don’t have a choice. Shooting at them will only make the situation worse.”
Amelia looked between her husband and Jim, then back at Silver, then back at Jim. With a long sigh of resignation, she lowered her pistol and holstered it once more, motioning for her crew to do the same. With great reluctance, they followed her orders and put aside their weapons. To their shock, the pirates did the same, although they still laughed and taunted the Legacy crew under their breath.
Silver lowered a gangplank from his longboat and stepped aboard the Legacy with a large, toothy grin. “Now then,” he said jovially. “Anyone want to tell me what’s become of my former ship?”
“So, Scroop stole the bucket instead of kickin’ it, eh?” Silver said with a chuckle. “Ha, knew we hadn’t seen the last of ‘im.”
“Yeah, and unless we don’t catch up to him soon, Pinkie’s life is in danger,” Jim said.
SIlver hummed and sipped at the rum on his glass before setting it down on Amelia’s desk. “Aye, that’s good stuff. Now then, it seems to little ol’ me that what ya need is a ship and crew willin’ to ferry ya to Crescentia Spaceport. Sound about right?”
Jim and Amelia eyed each other before turning back to Silver. “Yeeeeah?” Jim answered slowly.
Silver immediately let out a full-bellied laugh and slapped his thigh. “Oh, heheh, oh that’s lovely! I knew comin’ here was a great idea! Beats robbin’ the same merchant vessels every other week.”
Amelia hissed at him, which only made Silver laugh even harder.
“Come on Silver, this is serious,” Jim implored.
“Oh, I know that, lad, I’m just joshin’ with ya,” the cyborg replied, wiping a tear from his eye. “It’s just, hoohoo, it’s just ridiculous, is all. Here we are on a planet full of magical talkin’ horses--”
“Ponies,” Tucker, Hendricks, and Jim all interjected.
“Ponies,” Silver corrected. “And fairy tale castles, and rainbows and hearts and sunshine and flowers, and this was the planet that laid ya low. Ya survived an entire planet explodin’ but the minute ya step into this little girl’s playground yer ship just goes ker-plunk. And not only that, but ya’ve actually resorted to askin’ one of the pirates ya hate the most to ferry ya back to Imperial space like a bunch of galactic hitchhikers, bah-hahaha!”
“Isn’t that what you were intending to do from the start, though?” asked Tucker.
“Oh, aye, but it ain’t makin’ it less funny,” Silver said, putting his metal hand on his chest to wheeze out his last few laughs. “Hoowee, haven’t had a good one like that in a while.”
“I fail to see the humor in rescuing a young lady from a monster like Scroop,” Amelia growled.
Silver’s smile faltered somewhat, and he focused his cybernetic eye on her. “Aye, nor do I, cap’n. I never did. These people --- ponies --- on this planet...they ain’t got any stake in this galaxy. Pickin’ on ‘em ain’t right, no ma’am. No self-respectin’ pirate would even try. We may be scoundrels, but we’ve got a code of our own, y’see?”
“Didn’t stop Flint,” Hendricks countered.
Silver shook his head. “Flint was a rogue, even fought and killed other pirates. He was a true pirate with no scruples and no regulation.”
Amelia scoffed. “You’re telling us you scoundrels have a system of rules and governing?”
“Not as much as ya may be thinkin’, but yes, we do,” Silver replied nonchalantly. “It’s more of a book of guidelines, but the Code is real as this ship. Those who keep to the code are given territory that they operate in, and we leave ‘em alone. Those who don’t, like Flint, are fair game for other pirates, and we even sell out a few of the rogues to you Imperials to keep ya off our backs.”
“You’d betray your own kind?” Delbert asked.
Silver shrugged and chuckled. “I’m a pirate. I go where there’s profit, and some people pay a pretty penny to have a pirate’s hide as their office rug.”
Delbert blinked and made a face. “...Fair point.”
“Now then,” Silver said, standing up and downing the rest of his rum. “If we’re done discussin’ pirate politics, I’ve got places to be. If ya wanna chase after Scroop, we leave in an hour. Get whoever ya want to come with, and then let me know.” Without another word he trudged out of the state room, chuckling lightly once again.
Jim stepped up to the desk. “Ma’am, I volunteer to go after Scroop.”
“Of course you would,” Amelia sighed.
“Us too,” Tucker said, motioning to Hendricks and himself. Hendricks nodded in agreement.
“I can’t just send my entire crew after one pirate,” Amelia said. “We need people to repair the ship.”
“So ask the ponies to help,” Delbert suggested. “I’ve been studying their town from afar, and it seems they have a fairly competent grasp of metalworking and woodworking. And with the Unicorns’ magic, we could have this ship, uh, ship-shape in no time.”
Jim pointed at him and nodded. “See, there you go, now you can afford to lose us.”
“Please put it another way...” Hendricks muttered.
Amelia sighed again. “Very well, I probably wouldn’t be able to convince you three otherwise anyway. Let the ponies know what we’ve decided. I’ll see if I can set up a meeting between myself and this Princess Celestia so that we can come to some kind of mutual understanding and agreement. Dismissed.”
“Thank you, captain, you won’t regret this!” Jim said, saluting and exiting the room with his team in tow.
Delbert kissed his wife’s head and massaged her shoulders. “You’re doing the right thing, Amelia.”
Amelia grasped one of his hands and purred slightly. “I know, darling. I just pray he doesn’t get into too much trouble.”
“Oh please, it’s not like he’s saving the galaxy, just one pony. How hard can it be?”
“Soooo, what do you think?” Jim asked at last, crossing his arms and waiting for the ponies’ response.
He, Hendricks, and Tucker had arrived back in Ponyville by longboat and had quickly located Twilight and her friends and explained the situation to them. Twilight had initially been wary by the appearance of more pirates in Equestria, but after Jim’s assurances that these pirates were, for the time being, friendly to an extent, she decided to listen to what Jim was proposing.
Once he had finished, the result was instant. Rainbow shot into the air and was in Jim’s face with a look of smug determination. “I’m bucking IN!” she declared.
“As am I,” Rarity added, putting a hoof on her chest and smiling. “We’ve travelled with pirates before, and they were a fine group of individuals. If Jim says that these ones are willing to help, then so be it. Let’s go rescue Pinkie.”
“Now hold on, everypony,” Applejack cautioned. “These pirates ain’t nothin’ like what we’ve seen before. These ones see rougher an’ a mite scarier, even if this Silver fella seems like a good egg.”
“I agree, Applejack,” Twilight said, looking at Jim. “How can we be sure they can be trusted?”
“I don’t trust them at all,” Jim admitted. “But what choice do we have? This is our only way to rescue Pinkie, and we’ve only got one shot. Once Silver leaves, that’s it. We’ll be dooming her.”
“And we can’t have that,” Starlight said, stepping up. “Count me in.”
Spike crossed his claws over his chest and flapped up into the air. “Me too.”
“Me three,” Tempest said, much to everypony’s surprise. She turned to them and scowled. “Pinkie was the first pony to truly accept me back into Equestria. Despite all I did, she never once stopped believing that I had changed for the better, and worked tirelessly to make everypony else see it too. I...have to do this. I won’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t.”
Twilight smiled at her and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Then it’s decided,” she said, looking back to Jim and his team. “We’re all going. For Pinkie.”
“For Pinkie!” the mares, and Spike, cheered.
Jim grinned. Now this was a crew he could work with. “Alright then, pack whatever you need and head to the Legacy as soon as you’re ready. SIlver has his longboats waiting for us there.”
“We’re going into space!” Rainbow shouted, pumping her hooves in the air. “This is gonna be awesome!”
“It would be nice to see what the stars look like from up there,” Fluttershy admitted quietly with a shy smile.
“Oh! That reminds me!” Twilight cried, her eyes wide with realization. “Spike, grab my journals from my lab. I’m going to need documentation. Lots of documentation. Enough to fill a library! No, two! Maybe even three!”
Spike sighed, saluted, and left the castle throne room, muttering about “having enough books already” under his breath.
“Slow down there, Twilight,” Tucker said. “Jim said to take only what you need.”
Twilight stared at him incredulously. “And what makes you think I don’t need my documentation? Don’t you dare impugn the honor of well-documented field notes!”
“This isn’t a field trip, Twilight,” Rairty chided.
“But I’m going into spaaaaace!” the lilac Princess of Eggheads whined and slumped in her chair. “Why did my first venture into space have to be because one of my friends was captured? Whyyyyyy...?”
Hendricks leaned in towards Rainbow and whispered, “Methinks she’s a little...” He twirled his finger around his right temple and made a two quick whistles. Rainbow giggled and nodded.
“Fine, two journals, but no more,” Jim said. “Rarity’s right, there’s more important things to be worried about right now. When this is over, I’ll take you up again and show you around, maybe even show you Montressor.”
Twilight’s eyes lit up, and she opened her mouth in a wide, adorable smile. “Really?!”
Jim laughed and nodded, and was instantly rammed by a lilac blur who squealed as she embraced him.
Silver sat in the longboat, tossing a platinum drubloon into the air over and over again as he waited for Jim to return. He knew the boy would. After all, this pony that was kidnapped seemed to have made an impression on him, and if he knew Jim liked he thought he did, the boy would go through hell or high water to save his friends, just like he did on Treasure Planet.
Silver had never been more proud of anyone or anything than on that day when Jim opened that portal to Crescentia. The memory still brought a smile to his worn and world-weary face.
“Captaaaain, we’ve go company!” Onus called from another longboat, pointing out over a nearby hill in the direction of the town.
Silver put the drubloon in his pocket and fished out his spyglass, following Onus’s keen gaze. As he focused, he saw Jim, Hendricks, and Tucker start down the hill, followed by what seemed to be a small herd of locals. Female locals.
Silver doubled over in laughter and called out, “Hey lads, looks like we’ll be entertainin’ some guests of the feminine kind soon. Best make yerselves presentable.” He went to the longboat’s controls and gripped the steering lever, pushing it forwards and down. The longboat surged forward to meet Jim’s group, followed close behind by the other two.
The longboats slowed down once they were within shouting distance of the group, and Silver leaned over and yelled, “Jimbo, when I told ya to bring whoever wanted to come, I didn’t expect ya to bring half the town!”
Jim waved at him as Silver’s longboat pulled up above them. “Silver, I’d like you to meet Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends. The pony who Scroop took, Pinkie Pie, is one of their closest friends, and they want to get her back.”
“No matter whose butt we have to kick to do it,” Rainbow added, punching her two fronts hooves together as she hovered in the air.
Silver snickered. “Oooh, I like her! Feisty thing, ain’t she?” He leaned over and tipped his hat at the mares and Spike. “Ahoy there, ladies! Fancy meetin’ ya on this day of days, and in such fair weather. Name’s John Silver, but ya can just call me Silver or Captain. And who might you lovely mares be?”
Rarity giggled. “Well, he certainly has manners,” she remarked. “My name is Rarity, Captain Silver. Fashionista and owner of the Carousel Boutique.”
“Name’s Applejack, but folks ‘round here call me AJ,” Applejack said, tipping her stetson.
“Rainbow Dash, Wonderbolt, fastest flyer in Equestria, weather control officer, and professional butt-kicker,” Rainbow boasted. Silver raised an eyebrow but grinned even more.
“I-I’m...Fluttershy...” Fluttershy whispered. At Silver’s shrug, she made a little squeak and whispered louder, “F-Fluttershy...”
“Ah, picked that one up that time,” Silver nodded. “Don’t worry little lady, I used to be that way when I was a wee lad meself.” He tipped his hat again. “Ahhh, good times.”
Fluttershy blushed and her her face behind her long pink mane, but smiled nonetheless.
Starlight stepped forward. “My name’s Starlight,” she said simply.
“Tempest Shadow, ex-warlord,” tempest said, giving a smirk towards him. Silver met her gaze and the two began studying one another. Silver had to admit, she certainly looked the part, and had the fire in her eyes to match. The scar was a nice touch, too.
“And I’m Spike!” the little Dragon said, puffing out his chest and pointing his thumb at himself. “Twilight’s number one assistant.”
“And I...” said Twilight, flaring out her wings to look as regal as possible. “...am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.”
Several of the pirates scoffed at this, only for Silver to silence them with a raised finger. “Interesting titles and names, ladies. Glad to make yer acquaintance.” He looked at Jim and smirked. “Quite the herd ya have here, lad.”
Every mare immediately blushed, and Fluttershy squeaked again and hid herself even further in her mane, her face as red as a beet.
Silver raised an eyebrow. “Was it somethin’ I said?”
“Erm, boss?” one of the pirates behind him said, tapping his shoulder and whispering something into his ear.
Silver’s smile turned sheepish and his eyes went wide. “Ack, my apologies, ladies. I meant no disrespect nor insult nor discourtesy.”
“It, ahem...it’s no problem,” Twilight murmured, still blushing hard.
Silver shook his head. Of course the planet full of pretty pink ponies was also a planet of prudes. “Ahem, right then, lad, we best be off now. Climb aboard!”
The pirates lowered their longboats and placed down gangplanks, allowing the the ponies and Jim’s team to climb on. Due to the longboats already having pirates onboard, some of them had to split off into different boats, with Jim, Tempest, Starlight, Twilight, and Spike boarding Silver’s. Once all of them were onboard, all three longboats took off immediately, shooting off into the upper atmosphere.
The only mare that didn’t scream was Rainbow. She instead was laughing and demanding even more speed, much to her friends’ dismay. Silver was more than happy to comply with the Wonderbolt.
Then, just as their ascent started, it ended. They began to float much slower through the air, and then the ponies realized they weren’t actually in the air anymore. Stars surrounded them, and a bluish-black expanse lay before them, peppered with a rainbow of nebulae and star clusters.
They were in the Etherium.
As Spike and the mares looked on in silent awe at what they were seeing, SIlver suddenly slapped his thigh and glanced at Jim. “Doh! Before I forget again, where’s that little Morphy, Jimbo? I haven’t seen ‘im in ages.”
Jim facepalmed. “Gah, I completely forgot. Morph, you can come on out now, the danger’s gone.”
But Morph didn’t show.
Jim blinked, then checked his pockets. “Morph? Where are you, buddy?”
Onboard Scroop’s ship, huddled in a corner of the cold and empty state room, Pinkie lay shivering as she stared at the bolted iron door. Her hooves gently nuzzled the little pink blob nestled near her fur, who was probably even more terrified than her. He had hitched a ride in her mane when the battle was taking place, not realizing what was happening before they had been tossed into the ship. Now they were both trapped.
Morph gave a little whimper, and Pinkie nuzzled him with her cheek.
“It’s okay, Morphy, we’re gonna be okay. Just keep smiling and giggling at the ghosties with me, okay?” she pleaded softly.
Morph could only nod as he looked out the window, watching as the stars of the Etherium zipped past them.
Next chapter, the ponies encounter a moon. No, not Luna's moon. And no, not Luna's moon, either. 
God bless! 
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I figured we hadn't seen the last of our favorite cyborg pirate after his getaway from the Legacy, although I do wonder what he's been up to till now...
And so the rescue begins!!! a new adventure awaits!!!
I understood that Pirates reference you snuck in there, you sneeky ,you!
Wonderful work as always. Keep it up!
o.o is Nightmare Moon gonna make more of an show?
NO, BAD DELBERT, YOU NEVER ASK THAT.
10947021
No, Nightmare Moon isn't going to appear. Besides, it wasn't even really her, since Luna has disguised herself as Nightmare Moon before in a convincing way using spells. This was more of a result of her raw magic projecting outwards from her anger.
10947050
aww, :C that's okey tho, :)
10947055
If you like Nightmare Moon, you'll love this one.
10947057
i don't really like her, but i love when she pops up and says "hello", and you know, shows that Luna is still cable of getting that pissed,
Pirates references being used aint rules, more like, guidelines?
I love this style of Silver. Up there with Megabyte, Lex Luthor, Dr Doom, and Ainz Oown Gaol?
10948255
Waiting 4 more
You know, Morphy could fit himself into the keyhole...
10952017
But it's on a carpet. ;O
Then again, the carpet is on a flying ship, so I guess it counts. :p
Okay, that's a really good line actually. XD
10954584
I wasn't talking about her spewing info at gunpoint. That part is perfectly understandable. XD
The thing is, she promised not to mention the map to anyone else, and yet her first instinct in your story, upon running into someone by accident, was to ramble about the map. Pony or no, that technically breaks the promise right there.
I get that it could happen. I'm just used to seeing Pinkie act smarter than that, especially in the later seasons.
update?
11280545
Not gonna be for a long, long while, unfortunately. This story is on hiatus until further notice.
That said, I have been giving it some thought recently, and I do still have some ideas going around in my head for it. It just isn't my primary focus right now.
I will return to it eventually though, I promise you that.
Update?