//------------------------------//
// Part 14: Back to the Surface 
// Story: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic The Movie: What If? 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

Queen Novo's curtesy extended only as far as enabling the ponies and dragon to return to the surface unimpeded. Once they had reached the shores on the other side of the beach from where the stairs to Mount Aris were, the air bubbles surrounding them disappeared. They all reluctantly waded through the shallow waters and onto the beach, all of them still dripping wet for the time being.

"Are you all alright? Are we all okay?" Twilight asked the others. At the very least, she still had her concerns about them despite what she had put them through.

Applejack looked back to the others and slowly nodded. "I... think so, more or less."

Twilight breathed a small sigh of relief. "Good." She wanted to say more, but couldn't bring herself to find the words. She was at a loss as to what she could or should say. Tensions were high.

Applejack reluctantly took it upon herself to break the ice. She turned to the alicorn and began to question her. "Listen, sugarcube... about what happened back there... down in Seaquestria..." But any courage she might have had left her. She trailed off, unable to continue.

Rarity seemed to step in to fill the void left by Applejack. With eyes narrowed and glaring, she looked at Twilight and bitterly scolded her not unlike the way a mother would scold a disobedient child. "Twilight, just what in the name of Celestia were you thinking?!"

Fluttershy gasped! "Rarity!"

But Rarity only shook her head and gave a humph. She was not about to be deterred. "No, this has gone on for long enough! A certain somepony is causing us trouble and deserves to be called out for it!" She continued to glare at Twilight. "Since when did you think it was okay to steal from the seaponies?! From their queen, no less?!"

Twilight bitterly replied. "I wasn't stealing! I only wanted the Pearl of Transformation so I could study it and hopefully copy its magical powers. Then I would've returned it to its resting place."

"And you thought we wouldn't find out? That even Queen Novo wouldn't suspect anything?" Rarity angrily remarked. "Surely, you don't take us for fools, Twilight! You had the nerve to use us as a distraction!"

The young alicorn grumpily responded by saying. "I wasn't expecting it to work so well. Had I known, I wouldn't have bothered with it. I would've just talked to Novo myself."

Rainbow Dash then jumped in! "Yeah?! Well maybe you should've done that in the first place! Seems to me like you're the reason we're in this mess to begin with! What?! You think just because the Storm King wants your magic that that makes you special?!"

"I never said that!" Twilight humped in reply. "And for the record, I gave you all the chance to walk away from this. You all refused, you insisted on coming with me. But it seems to me like you haven't been taking this journey seriously. Making friends with con artists and pirates? Singing songs and expecting everything to magically work out? In case you haven't noticed, this isn't Equestria. We can't be doing what we usually do and expect everything to be okay."

Pinkie Pie growled as she trotted up to Twilight. "But Twilight, we've been outside Equestria many times before and made many friends. And we never had to stop being ourselves to do so. Don't you see? We were doing just fine. Maybe Capper didn't work out, but the pirates and the seaponies were. We were winning them over, we were gaining the allies we were supposed to be making."

"It's not enough! And all we did with the pirates is put them in harm's way," Twilight swished her tail as her own eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry you all got in trouble because of me. But everything we'd been through, everything we'd scarificed, all the friends and family we had to leave behind, I couldn't let it all be for nothing! A few mere soldiers wasn't enough! For Queen Novo to just brush us off like that: What else was I supposed to do?!"

"How about trusting your friends?!" Pinkie argued. "You know, instead of lying to us and constantly ruining everything we worked for!"

Those words seemed to stir at something deep inside the alicorn princess. One look into Pinkie's eyes, and any will she had to continue the argument melted. She seemed to realize the error of her ways. Her tone of voice and overall posture became sorrowful, filled with regret. "Perhaps my judgement was... clouded," She reluctantly admitted as she turned away from her friends in shame. "I did what I thought was right. But I see now that I was wrong. I can't change the past, though, even if I wish I could." She sighed deeply.

"So, what, then?" Rainbow questioned. From the way she said it, it was hard to tell if she was still upset or if she was sincerely at a loss as to what the next course of action should be. "We came all this way just to have the door slammed in our faces? What are we supposed to do now?"

Twilight slowly and solmenly answered. "We'll have to go back to our original plan, recruit some of our other allies. And if that doesn't work, we'll just have to hope the Elements of Harmony will be enough."

"Well, wherever you go, we'll go too!" The rainbow maned pegasus firmly insisted.

Twilight was surprised by such a statement. "Really? Even after everything that's happened since we started this journey, you still want to be with me?"

Everyone else nodded, and Fluttershy willingly expressed the group's sentiment. "We've been through too much together to let something like this tear us apart, Twilight. We may not approve of what you've done, but we're not going to abandon you because of it. We know you're sorry. All we want is for you to trust us, trust in the bonds we share to see us through."

The young alicorn couldn't stop herself from shedding a few tears. "Oh girls!" She exclaimed! "I don't deserve friends like you!"

Rarity waved a hoof. "Hogwash, Twilight. Friendship is all about second chances," She added. "I'm sorry we didn't listen to you back in Klugetown. You were right about Capper, much as it pains me to admit it. But we started this journey together, and one way or another we'll see it through together!"





However, it was at that moment that Spike (who had up to this point been unusually silent) nervously spoke up. "Um, girls?"

"What is it, Spike?" Twilight asked him, before she happened to get a good look at her surroundings. What she saw was enough to unnerve her. The Storm King's army had managed to catch up to her and her friends, forming a tight circle all around them.

And then, who should approach the ponies but Tempest Shadow herself in all her glory? Grubber was accompanying her. Yet surprisingly, where one would've expected her to be smiling with satisfaction, she seemed unusually reserved. "Sorry to interrupt such a... touching moment between friends," She spoke slowly and calmly. "But as you can clearly see, you're surrounded."

"So what?!" Rainbow Dash scoffed, shrugging off the attempted intimidation. "You think that scares us?! Well you're wrong! We don't scare easily!"

Tempest only replied. "So I've heard."

Twilight plucked up courage, eyeing the hornless unicorn with suspicion. "What do you want from me?"

Tempest blinked slowly. "Want? What I want is simple. And I'm willing to make a deal with you, if you're interested."

"You can forget it, freak!" Rainbow hollered! "Twilight doesn't make deals with the likes of you! If the Storm King wants her so badly, he'll have to come and get her himself! Twilight isn't interested in any deal you could offer!"

But the young alicorn pushed her rainbow maned friend aside and locked eyes with Tempest. "What's the deal?" She demanded of her pursuer.

The hornless unicorn laid bare her proposal. "You're the only one I need. The Storm King needs your magic, not the magic of your friends. So surrender and come back to Ponyville with me. Then, as long as your friends," She arched an eyebrow upward ever so slightly. "Don't try to interfere or mount any sort of rescue, they're free to go in peace. But if they do try to protect you, or if you decide not to accept my offer, then I'll be 'forced' to take drastic measures," She turned away slowly. "Go ahead, think it over for a little bit. Just don't take too long, I haven't got all day."

Just like that, a grim reality settled in for the group of seven. There was no easy way out of their current situation. One way or another, they were going to have to deal with Tempest and the Storm King's army.





Twilight and her friends quickly huddled close together. Now a new debate took hold of them: What their best course of action was given their situation.

Rainbow Dash, naturally, was the first to make her view known. "There's no way we're letting Tempest get her hooves on Twilight! Not a chance! If she wants a fight, she can have one! I say it's time we pay her back for what she did to the pirates!"

Applejack added her own sentiments. "She's tough, but together I think we can take her. And if we're lucky, a battle with her will show the Storm King we're not to be taken tightly. Might even be enough to make him reconsider his invasion of Equestria."

Rarity nodded in agreement. "For once, I agree with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Much as I detest fighting and violence, I have no qualms when it comes to holding my own and protecting a friend. Tempest clearly doesn't know us well if she thinks we'll be intimidated by the likes of her."

Pinkie Pie smiled, beaming brightly! "It's funny, I think you're all right. No more running away! One way or another, we're settling this now! This should be fun!"

Even Fluttershy seemed to agree with the others. "I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this. But it looks like we're in for a fight, Twilight. I don't know why the Storm King wants your magic so badly or what he hopes to accomplish with it, but it can't be good. If the only way to prevent him from getting a hold of you is to fight, then fight we must. I just hope we can end it quickly and convince Tempest to back off."

"Looks like the girls have decided," Spike spoke up as he looked to Twilight. "So, what's the plan? Are we gonna let Tempest make the first move, or are we gonna try to catch her by surprise?"

But to the surprise of all, Twilight looked at her friends and said sadly to them. "I've put you through enough trouble and misery already, girls. I can't ask you to put yourselves in danger again because of me."

"Twilight!" Spike exclaimed in disbelief, throwing himself at her hooves! "Please, think about this! Don't throw your life away for our sakes!"

The young alicorn just used her magic to gently peel Spike away. "I'll be fine," She insisted even as her tone of voice betrayed her projected confidence. "This is what's best for all of us, for all of Equestria. You girls carry on without me. And you too, Spike. I'm sorry I have to leave you like this."

Rainbow Dash was now desperately protesting! "Twilight, come on! This isn't the right choice! Tempest can't be trusted! And who knows what the Storm King will do to you?!"

Twilight would hear nothing of such an argument. "Even if we did fight now, what would that accomplish? Nothing, that's what. Tempest would just keep pursuing us to the ends of the world, perhaps even beyond," She trotted forward. "At least this way you'll all be safe. It's the least I can do after I messed up so badly with the seaponies. No one else should have to get hurt because of me.

"Twilight, nooooooooooo!" Pinkie Pie screamed and desperately lunged forward, trying to grab hold of the alicorn princess and stop her! Alas, she only succeeded in grabbing thin air and falling into the sand.

Twilight cleared her throat, catching Tempest's attention. "Alright, Tempest," She let out an unhappy sigh, then grit her teeth. "You want me so badly? You can have me. But leave my friends alone!"

Tempest appeared to be surprised by the action taken by her target. "Really? You're giving yourself up now?"

"Yes," Twilight firmly nodded. "So you have to keep your end of the bargain: My friends are not to be harmed."

The hornless unicorn smiled ever so slowly and faintly. "Very well, just so long as they don't get any ideas about playing the hero. They're not to come after us or try to rescue you. If they do, the deal's off!" She then clapped her hooves and instructed. "Bring in the cage, boys! We have what we came for, it's time to go home."

Seconds later, the zeppelin displaying the Storm King's logo appeared overheard, the loud whir of its engines announcing its presence. Its bottom then opened up, and a huge, metal cage descended from it quite slowly. It was brought down to the beach via a long chain, and when it had landed, Tempest opened its door. "Come on, princess," She instructed to her captive. "We mustn't keep the Storm King waiting."

Twilight obeyed without hesitation, leaving everyone else shocked and surprised. One look into her eyes conveyed the seriousness, it seemed she had lost any will to fight or resist. And that look didn't fade even once the cage door was slammed shut behind her, the cage then slowly being lifted into the air and towards the zeppelin.

Twilight's friends could only watch in helplessness. None of them dared to make a move for fear that Tempest would retaliate. How had it ended like this?

Within a minute or so, the cage with the captive alicorn inside was hoisted up into the zeppelin. Tempest then turned her back to Twilight's friends as she, Grubber, and the Storm King's army all walked away.

Spike and the other ponies were thus left alone on the beach to try to process their shock, disbelief, and most of all despair. All they could do was watch as the zeppelin slowly floated away over the horizon, eventually disappearing from sight completely.

Just like that, the Storm King had won.