//------------------------------// // Time to Be Awesome // Story: My Little Pony: An Epic Adventure // by CJ Esmerio //------------------------------// A pair of Storm Creatures tossed Capper onto the floor of the dock, and the cat looked up to find a scowling Tempest, with a frowning Grubber nearby. "Now, then… tell me where they were headed." Tempest's horn started to shoot out a few sparks of power, and Capper immediately stood up straight, holding up his arms in defense. "Okay, alright, there's no need for violence!" However, before he told them that they were heading to Mt. Aris, one of the newly-placed gold buttons on his left collar flap shined brightly, and Capper remembered what Rarity had said to him. After all that you've done for us? Consider it a thank-you. Tempest started to show signs of growing impatient with Capper, who replied, "They were heading east! Yeah, to Black Skull Island… now, then, I'm so glad that I was able to help y'all out, so if that's everything, I'll just be on my way-" However, the two Storm Creatures blocked his exit path, and a smirking Tempest said, "When I get my princess. But until then, your fate is still up in the air." Grubber nodded, in agreement, and he cried, "Oh, yeah, you're gonna go in a skiff… which is a boat - specifically, an airboat." He erupted into a fit of laughter while the Storm Creatures shoved a saddened Capper in the direction of Tempest's airship, which she was now entering, along with a smiling Grubber. "We make a great team, you know that? I mean, cuz I loved it when you said 'up in the air', and then I told him…" As the ship they'd boarded on made its way to wherever it was designated to go, Twilight was quietly studying the map while Casey had a somber expression on his face. "You okay, Casey?" wondered Pinkie, and the young pony nodded his head. "I'm just a little worried about Starlight," replied Casey. "Back in Canterlot, I told her to go someplace safe, and I'm hoping that she made it there without anything bad happening to her." Placing one of her front hooves on his shoulders, Pinkie gave him a smile, and she said, "Don't worry, we all know that Starlight's one reaaaallllyy powerful and reeaalllyy magical pony. I'm sure she safely got to that safe place of yours safely." Casey let out a chuckle, and replied, "Thank you, Pinkie… heh, you sure know how to find a way to put a smile on my face." "Well, that's what I do," said the pink and happy Earth Pony. "I mean, aside from throwing parties… baking pies… selling Friendship journals… telling the Pillars about the Elements of Harmony… switching places with my human self from time to time…" Before Casey could give a response to all that, he noticed that a box in front of them was being lifted up, and he gave a small gulp. "This… can't be good…" The group of friends found themselves looking up at a very large and scowling green parrot, who was accompanied by three more birds of the same species. "Hey, Captain!" cried Mullet, a green and eye-patch wearing parrot that was also the first mate. "Looks like we got ourselves some stowaways… what do you think we do with them?" Twilight's nervous feelings grew as she watched a white-feathered bird make her way towards them, and she looked down at her crystal peg leg, hoping that it wouldn't be used on them as a weapon in any way. "Well, now, let's see here," replied Captain Celaeno, who was now looking through a huge manual-like book that had the Storm King's insignia on the cover. "By order of the Storm King, it says that we're supposed to…" Then, after swiftly closing the book, a smirk appeared on her face as she added, "Toss them overboard." The group of friends immediately became worried after hearing that, and as the parrot crew came closer towards them, Twilight was starting to feel like she'd lost her chance to save Equestria from- FWEEEEEEEE! "All right, you heard the whistle! That's lunch!" yelled Captain Celaeno, much to the ponies' surprise. "Say what now?" Meanwhile... As he munched on a cucumber sandwhich, Discord let out a sigh of happiness while Beck's own stomach began to growl. This would've been the time when Twilight brought me some lunch, thought the Earth Pony. And this day feels really long, for some reason. "Oh, Celestia, where are my manners?" Suddenly, Beck found himself looking at a cucumber sandwhich in his hooves, and the draconequs added, "There you go, enjoy!" Then, Discord resumed with consuming his meal, but stopped again when he noticed that Beck was not eating. "Problem?" "Uh… this isn't filled with some kind of poison or anything, right?" "Moi?" said Discord, letting out a fake gasp of shock. "What ever would make you come up with that kind of accusation?" Beck just looked at the draconequs as if it was clearly obvious. "Well, I'm pretty you'd do it because you hate me for what I did-" Suddenly, the Earth Pony was interrupted by the sounds of laughter coming out of Discord's mouth, and once he'd finished, the draconequs began shaking his head. "Oh, sweet Celestia… you poor, unfortunate soul… I don't hate you! Do you think we'd be having this conversation right now if I did?" Beck began to feel nervous as he replied, "I'm honestly a little afraid to answer that." "Oh, for goodness sake," muttered the draconequs. "I can assure you that there's no type of poison whatsoever in your cucumber sandwhich. Savvy?" Taking another look at what he was holding, Beck decided that he was probably overreacting a bit, so to Discord's pleasure, the former villain began to take a bite of the cucumber sandwhich… BOOM! "I never said that it wouldn't blow up," said a smirking Discord. As for Beck, he let out a sigh, and began to clean himself up. "I blame myself for not anticipating that… hey, this is really good, by the way." Discord continued to chuckle as he replied, "Glad you think so, but I'm betting that Twilight and the others are probably dining on something way better." Inside of the ship's mess deck, everyone had taken a seat at the main table, but only a few of the ponies were eating what the parrots called their lunch, which was actually a bowl full of sloppy gruel. "I think I just lost my appetite," moaned Casey, pushing the bowl in front of him away. Rainbow, who was sitting at the back end of the table, shook her head as she cried, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! So, you were about to toss us overboard, but then chose to stop for a lunch break?" From her spot on the far left corner of the table, Twilight gave Rainbow a look that meant "will you please be quiet?", even though the pegasus had no idea what she did wrong. "The Storm King only allows us one break a day for meals," explained Boyle, a muscular green-colored parrot that had been the first one to find the ponies. "And then, it's back to hauling goods." Realizing what he meant, Spike said, "So, then, you're all delivery guys?" A non-amused Capt. Celaeno tugged at the collar of her bland, grey-colored uniform that bore the Storm King's insignia. "And gals… these uniforms aren't exactly doing us any favors." "Then, can you deliver us to Mt. Aris?" asked a hopeful Twilight, using her magic to help show Celaeno the map, but the alicorn's smile went away after seeing the crew's captain shake her head. "I'm sorry, but we have to do what the Storm King says, or we suffer his wrath." Twilight sighed, in disappointment, and muttered, "Right… still going overboard." "Eh, it's nothing personal," said Lix Spittle, another female parrot crew member. "Pudding?" Rarity's face lighted up after hearing her say that. "There's pudding?" Unfortunately, it just turned out to be another bowl of gruel, which made Rarity let out a small groan. "Ohhh…" "But, you weren't always delivery birds, were you?" questioned Rainbow, who was feeling like there was something missing here. "What about beforethe Storm King?" A sighing Celaeno got up from her seat to walk towards a nearby black flag that was covered up by a poster of the Storm King, and replied, "Yeah… we used to be much more adventurous." Then, she lifted up the poster, and revealed what was on the flag - a skull, along with a pair of crossbones. "Ooh, I met that guy in the desert!" said Pinkie, pointing a hoof at the skull, and the captain lowered the poster back down, re-covering the flag before she went back to her seat. As for Rainbow, her face was starting to light up with excitement, having realized what the symbol meant. "Whoa! So, you used to be… pirates?" "Um, we prefer the term swash-buckling treasure hunters," said a sheepish Mullet, whose smile quickly faded away as he resumed eating the meal in front of him. "So, like I said, pirates…" replied Rainbow, and another parrot pirate squaked in agreement, which then gave the young Pegasus an idea. After pounding her hoof on the table, she said, "You birds have a choice to make. You can let some boring and old Storm King tell you how to live your lives, or…" Whoosh! Flying towards the poster, Rainbow tore it down, and as it fell to the floor, she pointed at the pirate flag symbol. "You can be awesome again!" Oh, no, please not now, thought Twilight, knowing exactly what was about to happen. "Rainbow Dash, this really isn't a good time for a-" I know the world can get you down Rainbow was now standing on top of the far end of the table, and Twilight face-hoofed herself, knowing that it was too late. "- song." And so, the courageous Pegasus began to sing something that would hopefully lift up the pirates' spirits. Things don't work out quite the way that you thought Feeling like all your best days are done Your fears and doubts are all you've got As she walked across the table, Rainbow then pounced on top of a small barrel-cup filled with water before leaping towards a curtain that was behind Celaeno while Twilight now had an eyelids closed-halfway expression since the water from the barrel had splashed all over her face. But there's a light shining deep inside Beneath those fears and doubts, so just squash 'em Rainbow removed the curtain that had shown the Storm King's insignia, and it revealed a wall of memories that showcased the pirates' achievments, as well as a hanging portrait of Capt. Celaeno that had her looking like an actual pirate captain. And let it shine for all the world to see That it is time, yeah, time to be awesome! Then, Spike and everypony else except for Twilight joined in on the fun, but while most of the crew's spirits were now being raised, the alicorn princess walked away to one of the room's unoccupied corners, choosing to continue observing the map rather than participate in Rainbow's motivational song. [Spike, Ponies] Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome! It's time to be so awesome! Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome! It's time to be so awesome! However, even though she was singing, Capt. Celaeno did not yet look exactly happy. You've no idea how hard it's been This dull routine we've been forced to do Tossing her bowl of gruel away, the white-feathered parrot walked over to the portrait of herself, and as she found herself admiring it again, Rainbow - after giving Celaeno her old pirate hat - knew exactly what to say to her. Don't let them rob you of who you are Be awesome, it's all up to you! To Rainbow's pleasure, Capt. Celaeno removed the faded bandana that she had been wearing, and replaced it with her pirate captain's hat. I feel the light stirring deep inside It's like a tale still yet to be told! [Rainbow Dash and Captain Celaeno] And now it's time to break the shackles free And start living like the brave and the bold! In just a matter of seconds, all of the pirates had ditched their Storm King uniforms for their own treasure hunter outfits, and even allowed the others to dress themselves up, as well. However, Twilight was still hesitating in joining them, but that all changed when Casey - who had an eye patch over one of his eyes - placed a pirate hat on top of her head, along with giving her a pleading look that resulted in the alicorn having a smile on her own face. [All] It's time to be awesome! Let loose, be true, so awesome! It's time to be awesome! Go big, be you, so awesome! Then, everyone went out to the top deck, and the song continued on, with Rainbow tossing the Storm King's rule book overboard before having a sword-fight with Celaeno, Spike using the larger barrels as a drum set, and Lix helping Twilight out with the map of the hippogriffs, despite Pinkie choosing to quickly add some art to it, while everyone else either sang or danced along. [Mullet] We used to soar through the clouds in the skies [Lix Spittle] Elaborate schemes we would love to devise [Boyle] We rescued our treasure and stored it away [Captain Celaeno] Saving those gemstones for a rainy day [All] We see that light filling up our skies [Rainbow Dash] So take the Storm King's orders and toss 'em [All] 'Cause it's the time to let our colors fly [Captain Celaeno] Hey, scallywags, it's time to be awesome! [All] Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! A few moments later, the ship was now cleaned up, its bright and colorful flags had been raised, and all of the pirates now felt like their regular selves again. "I knew you had it in you!" said Rainbow, who was flying nearby Capt. Celaeno. "Yeah, I guess so, little pony," replied the white-feathered bird, while standing at her rightful place by the ship's steering wheel. Even Twilight, to Casey's relief, was starting to feel a little better about their situation… but that all changed in a matter of seconds after Celaeno said, "So, now that you and your friends know what's awesome about us, what exactly is so awesome about you?" After hearing those words, a smirk appeared on Rainbow's face, and she replied, "Oh, I'll show you exactly what makes me awesome… Applejack, hold my cider!" Whoosh! Then, the Pegasus took off soaring into the sky while a confused Applejack said, "You, er, weren't drinkin' any cider, Rainbow." As she watched her friend fly higher up, an excited Pinkie cried, "Rainboom, rainboom, rainboom!" What?! thought Twilight and Casey, with both of them realizing what this would result in. "No, no, no, no…" BOOM! But it was too late, so once the Pegasus had performed her famous Sonic Rainboom, Twilight hung her head down, groaning, while Casey said, "Oh, please don't spin-" "Aw, yeah! Ha-ha-ha!" cried an excited and gleeful Rainbow, and in a circular motion, she flew all around the ship, creating a rainbow spiral of colors, as well as loud explosions, which brightened up the entire part of the sky surrounding the ship. The young couple shared the same look of worry with each other, and as Rainbow continued to have her fun, they both hoped that this wouldn't turn out badly for all of them. Several miles away, on the top deck of Tempest's ship, Grubber was about to consume yet another slice of sponge cake, but he was caught off-guard by the sound of a far-away explosion. "Huh?" "Oh, no…" whispered Starlight, who was currently in the grasp of a Storm Creature since her frozen hind-legs deprived her of walking. "Whoa, look at that rainbow!" cried Grubber, now admiring the colorful sight of exploding colors. "That's so cool!" As for Tempest, the dark purple unicorn let out a chuckle, and said, "Yes, of them to alert us! But I find it just a bit funny that they don't seem to be heading in the direction of Black Skull Island." She looked over at a nearby Capper, who sheepishly began rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, um, do you mean, like, ha-ha funny, or something like…" Suddenly, Grubber felt himself being knocked away by Tempest from the ship's steering wheel, and she quickly changed course, heading in the direction of the rainbow-surrounded ship as fast as possible. Think, Starlight, think! thought the half-frozen unicorn, hoping that Twilight and the others wouldn't end up being caught.