After Spike had recovered his stamina from the night with the girls, he stepped out of his quarters to see Bonnie Anne waiting for him. He raised an eyebrow, "Bonnie? How long have you been out here? Were you spying on me last night?"

Bonnie shook her head, "No, I've only been here for a few minutes. I wanted to show you the map that you got when you took over the ship. The map is magical, and as I said, we'll need Morgan to translate since Valencian is a dead language."

Spike nodded, "Right, let's get everyone together to see where the map leads." Before walking towards the main deck. He believed that Bonnie was telling the truth about not spying on what happened last night, she would have been found out by the girls if she was.

As Spike walked to the deck, he assembled his crew and showed them the map. Morgan looked at the map first and said, "This map isn't easy to translate, but I can try my best..." before reading the map intently and translating, "If you're reading this, you're either a cunning pirate or a lucky punk. Either way, you must find my treasure by testing your skills. First, head to island with two palm trees, the next clue lies there."

Spike sighed, "I had a feeling there would be some sort of test. But where's the island the map is talking about?"

Twilight spoke up, "Captain, I believe I know where the island is. When we were leaving Puerto Mico, we saw a small island with nothing on it but two palm trees. I remember where it was, so perhaps that's the next place to go?"

Spike nodded, "That sounds about right, you know how to get there, so you're on the wheel."

As Twilight steered them into Tradewind Skyways, she docked them at a small island and as she helped lower the anchor, she said, "This is the place captain."

Spike stepped off his ship and looked around, the island did indeed only have two palm trees on it, nothing else. He thought for a moment before noticing there was something in one of the trees. He climbed the tree and came down with what looked like a lens. As he brought it down, he looked into it and could see into the sand, noticing that he was seeing right through it and the bottom of the island. He told the crew, "This is a magical crystal lens! These things are extremely rare..."

Suddenly, the map started glowing and Morgan took a look at it again and said, "There's new information!" taking her time to translate again, "It seems you've found my old crystal lens. Go to the old fortress behind Skull Mountain. That's where you'll need the lens most to pass my next test."

Spike smiled lightly, "Well then, let's get going." before steering the ship back to Skull Island, and as he stepped off the boat, a Hammerhead Shark walked up to them and asked, "You are the Black Rose Dragon, correct?"

Spike nodded, noticing that the shark in front of him was the head of security here on Skull Island, "I am, and you're Mordekai, aren't you?"

The shark nodded, "Indeed. I hate to pull you away from your treasure hunt, but Avery would like to speak to you. The recent events with the war between the Shark Clans have gained his attention, and he'd like to talk to you about it."

Spike nodded, "Tell Avery I'll be there." before looking to his crew saying, "It's not like anyone else knows how to find this treasure, even if they had the map. Avery's a good man, I have a feeling he has something important to tell me. You guys go get something to eat in the tavern, I'll come meet up with you when I'm done talking to Avery."

His crew nodded and headed over to the Kraken's Skull Tavern, while Spike headed up the stairs towards Avery's office. When he arrived, Avery smiled, "Spike! Or should I say Black Rose Dragon? Either way, I heard that you took Finn into custody and handed him over to the Threshers. Good on you, I should have listened to Mordekai when he told me not to trust him."

Spike nodded, "Yes, but that isn't what you had me come here for. What's up?"

Avery cleared his throat, "Yes, of course. We've been having a big problem with ships from the Valencian Navy causing illegal blockades and attacking fair traders, even going as far as to kidnap men and women to force them into their navy to regain numbers. How much do you know about the Pirate/Armada Wars?"

Spike sighed, "Enough to know that the Valencians are sore about the fact that their so-called perfect Armada was taken down by a kid who was only 12 years old."

Avery nodded, "Yes, that. The Valencians are getting ready to reignite a war that they lost over 20 years ago. I'd like your help, as well as the help of the HMS Pinafore, who I've heard have joined your crew."

Spike nodded, "Since you know who I really am, you know I can try to convince my mother to send in the Equestrian Navy to help. If you want me to, I'll gladly do whatever I can to help."

Avery smiled, "Thank you Spike, you have no idea how much you're doing for the people of Skull Island. Hopefully we can stop the Valencians from making the mistake of reigniting the war that their mechanical puppets lost."

Spike nodded and shook Avery's hand, "I'll get in contact with my mother as soon as I can. We'll show the Valencians that they lost the war, and they'll lose again if they try to finish what the Armada started." before walking back out of Avery's office and heading towards the tavern.

And so, Spike is on his first treasure hunt, but dark forces are attacking Skull Island. The Valencians are trying to finish what their Clockwork Armada started. Spike has agreed to help in the matter and has also agreed to get the Equestrian Navy involved as well. Will Spike be able to help stop a new Valencian War?

Next Chapter: The Treasure Hunt (Part 2) Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 54 Minutes