That afternoon, Slipp and Blaggut met up at Sugar Cube Corner. They sat together at a little table outside.

"Wot 'ave you been up to all day, Captain?" Blaggut asked.

Slipp waved airily as if it were no big thing. "Oh, they made me 'ead cook. I'm in charge of all the kitchens. Did yer taste my skilly an' duff?"

"Aye, Cap'n. It was 'orrible. Yew make a better Cap'n than a cook. Those cupcakes was nice, though. Did y'make them?"

Slipp was no stranger to fibbing. "Baked 'em meself," he lied glibly. "It was that pink pony who made the skilly an' duff; she ignored me instructions."

Blaggut leaned close to Slipp's ear and whispered, "Cap'n, we don't 'ave to go 'untin' fer booty tonight, so don't you worry about that black shadder we saw."

Slipp felt the hairs on his nape rise with fear. "Shurrup, y'fool. Shut yer mouth! I tol' you never to mention that black shadow again long as you live. It didn't 'appen, d'ye hear me? There's no such thing as black shadows. Any'ow, why don't we 'ave to go lookin' fer booty tonight?"

"Cause I got this." Blaggut took a diamond out of his pocket and plunked it down on the table.

Slipp's eyes went wide. "Great seasons, where did you get that thing?"

"Miss Rarity gave it to me as a reward for helping her today. I dug up a whole bunch of diamonds for her. Somehow, she could tell exactly where they were buried. It was the most amazing thing I ever seen, Captain! Anyhow, she brought most of the diamonds back to her house to sew 'em onto dresses, but she let me keep one. And now I'm giving it to you, Captain, so you can get your treasure without stealing anything or hurting anypony!" Blaggut leaned back in his chair, very pleased with himself.

Slipp snatched the diamond and rubbed it between his paws. "I want more," he said.

"More, Captain?"

"Aye, you heard me. One diamond ain't enough!"

"Well, maybe when Miss Rairty's done making her dresses she'll have one or two extra diamonds left over…"

Slipp had a wild look in his eyes. "I don't want the extra diamonds left over, I want 'em all! The lot!" He looked around to make sure nopony was listening to them. Then he leaned over and whispered to Blaggut, "Tonight, we're going to sneak into this Rarity's house and steal every last one of those gems."

"But that ain't right, Captain. You're not even paying for those."

"Pirates don't have to pay. I warned you what would happen if you went soft on me."

Just then Pinkie Pie came out of the restaurant, followed by Twilight Sparkle. "C'mon, Slippy ol' rat, back to work!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Lots of sticky pots t'be washed; I've been making honey pudding an' maple toffee apples!"

Blaggut stared nonplussed at his companion. "But Cap'n, I thought you said you was the cook in charge?"

Pinkie Pie laughed so hard she fell down. "Hahaha! Slipp in charge, that's a good one!"

"You better do what she says, Slipp," said Twilight. "If you don't, you won't get a chance to do your bit at the concert this evening."

"Concert?" said Blaggut. "That means singin', right? I like singin'!"

"There's going to be a party tonight at Applejack's farm, Sweet Apple Acres," Twilight explained. "And we're going to have a concert. Everypony in town will be there, and Princess Celestia, our ruler, is coming to judge the contest."

"What contest?" Blaggut asked.

"There's gonna be a prize for whoever gives the best performance, a silver cup donated by Celestia," said Twilight.

"This is perfect," Slipp told Blaggut. He was thinking they could break into Rarity's house while everypony was at the concert. But Blaggut misunderstood him.

"Aye, Captain, we could take part in the concert! Maybe we'll win the silver cup!"

Slipp scowled at him. "We don't know any songs!"

"Sure we do, Captain, we could sing 'The Slaughter of the Crew of the Rusty Chain'! That's a good un!"

"Sounds good to me," said Twilight. "Since you're our guests, we'll put you down to sing first."