My Little Pony Friendship is Magic The Movie: What If?

by SuperPinkBrony12

Part 10: Going Overboard

Miles and miles away from the pirate ship, the zeppelin belonging to the Storm King's army was also traveling across the skies. Grubber was currently at the wheel, keeping an eye out for anything that might look suspicious.

Suddenly, a loud roar split the air! Seconds later, a massive shockwave swept across the sky, causing the zeppelin to give a sudden shudder! To say that Grubber was scared out of his wits would be an understatement! It took every ounce of strength he had not to let go of the wheel.

Tempest emerged into the cockpit but a moment later. She too had heard the roar and felt the vibrations from the shockwave as it had traveled across the sky. "What was that?!" She asked Grubber.

Grubber could only shrug his claws. "Probably some turbulence," He then nervously declared. "I think maybe it's a sign that we should turn back. We've been following Capper's directions for at least an hour now, and we haven't found anything. I think those ponies gave us the slip."

Tempest shook her head from side to side. "We're not turning back, Grubber! I promised the Storm King I'd capture all the princesses, and that's what I'm going to do! You know as well as I do that the Storm King doesn't tolerate failure."

The little hedgehog sighed. "Knew you'd say that, Tempest," Then, in the distance, his eyes spotted something they hadn't seen before. "Say, was that airship there a moment ago?"

"What?!" Tempest exclaimed in surprise! She hastily grabbed a pair of binoculars and used them to peer off in the direction Grubber had been looking. She soon spotted an airship with a pirate flag flying from the mast, and when the hornless unicorn looked closer, she could see not only pirates but also the very ponies she'd been pursuing. There they were, all on the deck of the airship. A gasp escaped her lips! "That's them! That's the ponies! And they're headed east!"

"So the cat was lying," Grubber realized. "I knew we couldn't trust him. Guy's as shifty as they come," And then he asked Tempest. "What should we do with him? Throw him overboard?"

The hornless unicorn mare again shook her head. "No, not yet at least. He might still be useful to us in helping to get the ponies to surrender," She turned and trotted away. "I'm putting together a boarding party. Don't let that pirate ship get away whatever you do!"

Grubber gave a salute. "Yes ma'am, I'm on it!" And he pulled on some levers, increasing the zepplein's forward speed.

---

Onboard the pirate ship, everything seemed peaceful. Even Twilight appeared to be satisfied that the pirates were helping her and her friends, at least for now.

Suddenly, the peacefulness of the voyage was broken up! One of the pirates happened to look through a telescope lens, and what they saw caused them to squawk in horror! "Captain, we've got company!"

"What?!" Captain Celaeno exclaimed in horror as she turned to look off to her left side. She soon spotted the source of the distress, a zeppelin with the Storm King's logo painted on it. And it was gaining fast! "Impossible! How did they find us?!"

Rainbow Dash gulped. "Guess clearing up the clouds with that sonic rainboom wasn't such a good idea." She adopted a sheepish, innocent expression, and did her best to ignore the harsh glares she was getting from not only Twilight but also Applejack and Rarity.

Fluttershy shuddered with fright. "What are we gonna do?!" She asked in desperation.

Applejack put her hooves together quite firmly! "They're not takin' us without a fight! No way are they gettin' to Twilight! Not without goin' through the rest of us first!"

Rainbow Dash happily exclaimed! "Aw yeah! Now we're talking! We'll teach those creeps a lesson they'll never forget!"

But Captain Celaeno turned to the ponies and hastily told them. "No! You're all gonna stay below deck. We'll handle this."

Pinkie Pie wasn't so convinced. "But those guys are nasty, they don't give up! You won't stand a chance without us!"

Captain Celaeno refused to be persuaded otherwise as she hastily ushered the ponies and dragon down into the cargo hold. "You helped inspired us, now it's our turn to help you. If worse comes to worse, we'll buy time for you to escape." Once they were all inside the cargo hold and hidden amongst the many barrels and crates, the captain quickly shut the door, casting the cargo hold into darkness. Then she returned to the main deck and stood at attention with her crewmates, ready to greet their unwelcome guests.

---

The zeppelin quickly bore down on the pirates. It drifted closer and closer, until finally it was right besides the pirates' ship. Within seconds a large plank was extended right onto the airship's main deck. Tempest, Grubber, and the Storm King's army all departed, strolling right onto the deck without fanfare. Capper, his hands still bound with chains and held at spear point, was ushered onto the ship as well.

Captain Celaeno stood at attention, all her crewmates currently had their weapons tucked into their sides. They would not attack unless given a reason to.

Tempest quickly cleared her throat, commanding the attention of all onboard. "Greetings, Captain Celaeno. Apologies for the sudden nature of my visit, but it's come to my attention that you might be harboring enemies of the Storm King," Her eyes narrowed. "We can't have that."

The captain quickly replied. "You must be mistaken, Commander Tempest. My crew and I are the only creatures onboard this ship. The rest is all merchandise," She hastily held out a plushie of the Storm King. "And I think the Storm King would like to have these delivered without any further delay."

Tempest coldly responded. "Well then, what's with the pirate outfits? I thought you'd put those away."

Captain Celaeno's tone of voice did not change as she answered. "Just felt like breaking them out to inspire the crew. You know how it is. Every now and then, you get the urge to go back to your roots."

"I see," The hornless unicorn remarked in an indifferent tone of voice. "I take it you'll have no objections if I conduct my own search of your vessel: Just to be sure?"

"I'd rather you didn't!" Captain Celaeno protested. "You won't find anything, and I don't think the Storm King will appreciate you holding us up like this. We really, really need to get that merchandise delivered. We're already behind schedule as it is."

Tempest frowned, quickly realizing what the pirates were trying to do. "Alright, drop the act," She said as she stomped a hoof down. "I know you're helping the ponies and their little dragon. So you can either turn them over to me willingly, or I can capture them myself. It's your choice. Do you want me as an enemy, or an ally?"

The captain sternly replied. "You don't know what you're talking about! There are no ponies or other creatures on this ship, aside from you and your... associates," She hastily threw her claws up. "Please, we don't want any trouble! Leave us alone!"

---

Meanwhile, down in the cargo hold, an argument was breaking out amongst the ponies about what their next course of action should be.

Twilight was quickly searching amongst the crates and barrels for anything that could be of use, using her magic to pull various things toward her.

"Twilight, what do you think you're doing?!" Rainbow Dash bitterly snapped!

Twilight snapped back! "Getting us out of here! What's it look like I'm doing?!"

Rainbow immediately saw fit to protest! "So we're just gonna bail on the pirates like this?! I don't think so! We should stay and fight with them!"

"Remember how we trusted Capper back in Klugetown?!" Twilight grumbled as she rolled her eyes! "Look where that got us! We can't trust the pirates, or any creatures! We've wasted enough time here! Our goal is to find the hippogriffs! And we would be much further along if we hadn't wasted time trusting those who can't be trusted!"

Applejack now saw fit to speak up, asking her princess friend. "You really think those pirates are gonna betray us like Capper did?"

The young alicorn snorted. "I'm not sticking around to find out! Now all of you get over here!"

While this argument was unfolding below, back up on deck, Tempest had had just about enough of the pirates' feeble attempts to cover for the ponies. "Alright, listen up!" She growled as she looked at the pirates. "I'm gonna give you 'til the count of three to give up the ponies, or I'll tear this ship apart plank by plank until I find them."

"You're bluffing!" One of the pirates bellowed!

Tempest, however, quickly began to count. "One..." There was no reply. "Two..." Still, the pirates did nothing. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife! "Three!" But before the hornless unicorn could say or do anything else, there came the sudden sound of a crash, followed by frantic screaming!

As it turned out, Twilight had hastily thrown herself and all her friends out from the bottom of the ship's cargo hold! In their haste to leave, they had left behind the very map to Mount Aris they had obtained back in Kluge Town.

Grubber quickly grabbed it, and realized at once where the ponies were going when he saw a large, red circle drawn in crayon on the right side of the map. "Hey, they're heading to Mount Aris. They were going east all along."

Capper gulped as Tempest turned to him with narrowed eyes. "Oh, east!" He gave off a nervous laugh. "Uh... you ever get your west and your east mixed up? I mean... a cat can make a mistake, right? Right?!"

Tempest wasn't convinced! She began to seethe with fury, the stub on her forehead sparkling and crackling loudly and ominously as electricity surged out of it! Several of the bolts impacted the boards of the ship, leaving singe marks all over. "I see nothing but traitors on this ship!" She roared! "And there's only one thing to do with traitors!" She trotted forward very slowly.

Grubber hastily rushed up to Tempest and tried to get her attention by tugging on her tail. "T-Tempest, please! Calm down!"

"NO!" The hornless unicorn bellowed! She then shot off several bolts of lightning in rapid succession, which had the effect of ripping up plank after plank on the ship!

Captain Celaeno quickly realized what was happening and gave a sharp squawk! "Abandon ship, maties! Abandon ship!"

Capper quickly took advantage of the confusion to break free of his shackles! He then rushed to the pirates, shouting at them! "Wait, take me with you!"

As for Tempest, she only snapped out of her state of fury when she realized that staying on the pirate ship that was now falling apart would be a very poor course of action. She trotted back to the zeppelin, blowing the smoke from the stub where her horn should be. "Let's go to Mount Aris." She instructed to the others in a low tone of voice.

"But what about the traitors?!" Grubber nervously asked.

Tempest coldly replied. "They'll be of no use to anyone! Now they know what happens to those who get in my way. And if they show up again," She ominously declared. "It'll be the last mistake they'll ever make."

Grubber gulped, now regretting having asked.

Author's Note:

Once again, I wanted to ensure Grubber doesn't undercut the tensions during the scene where Tempest is making demands of the pirates. Aside from that, about the only thing that really needed to be addressed was Rainbow Dash not considering or realizing that her sonic rainboom drew Tempest towards the ponies.

Comments

[nightshroud96]

Haven't read this yet.
But kind of wonder if Spike is gonna be a sea dragon when they reach Sequestria or is he still a pufferfish?

[Max Stroberger]

Please don't let the Sea ponies be the only sea creatures that they encounter when they reach sequestria, let's see some Kelpies sea horses and some sirens too.

[Max Stroberger]

Tempest's former friends had better make some form of appearance too

[Skywalker215]

Hopefully you can address the issue of Twilight trying to steal the pearl by having her ask about it instead.

[Sparkle91]

11900651
Consider the fact that Liev Schreiber who played Sabretooth picked the movie because of his kids and then a year later he kills Spider-Man as Kingpin

[Comickook]

And, again, you make really good points in the author's notes. And, yes, the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are really well done.

Definitely looking forward to more of this.

[i_am_the_jam]

11900863
And don't forget an absent royal guard.

[cheerful9]

Looks good so far. I hope you will make some changes when the heroes will arrive at Mount Aris and have something else happen instead of Twilight trying to steal the pearl and arguing with her friends.