//------------------------------//
// Operation RESCUE 
// Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Storm of Friendship 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

Just outside the gates of Canterlot, Capper and the ponies were finalizing their rescue plan for Shining Armor. The stallions were all hooked up to a giant cake, and Capper was posing as a chef. Inside the cake, Spike, Princess Skystar, and the pirates remained silent as they had been instructed to do.

"Alright, y'all ready to do this thing?" Capper questioned the ponies. "We're straight on what to do, right?"

"Is there really no better way to go about this?" Fancy Pants grumbled. "I don't like having to pose as a slave."

"I'm worried about whether this is actually gonna work," Big Mac commented with a gulp. "Ya sure they won't see through our ruse, Capper?"

Capper grinned. "Never knew a baddy yet who turned down free cake. Just act your part and all be will. Remember, don't make a move until I give you the signal. Now let's go."

The stallions reluctantly trotted forward with Capper leading the way, a piece of paper held firmly in his paws. Soon the group reached the gates of Canterlot, and sure enough two Storm Guards blocked their way.

"Halt!" One of the Storm Guards shouted. "What's the meaning of this, Capper? You've got some nerve showing up here after deposing Verto back in Klugetown. The Storm King doesn't take lightly to back stabbers like you."

Capper simply replied by saying. "Well you tell the Storm King I send my sincerest apologies, but I was tired of Verto always breathing down my neck. A cat's gotta be able to fend for himself sometimes you know," Then he cleared his throat and changed the subject. "But if it's any consolation, I thought I'd take over the delivery of the cake for his victory celebration."

"Funny, I don't remember there being anything about cake," The other Storm Guard remarked as he gazed at the ponies. "What are you planning, Capper?! Is this another trick?!"

Capper waved his paws. "Oh it's no trick, I assure you. The Storm King's gonna be awfully upset if his cake doesn't arrive soon. And I'll be sure to tell him just who it was that held me up," A fiendish grin crossed the cat's face. "You'll be lucky if he decides to just skin you alive. I hear the last guard who got on his bad side couldn't wake straight for a whole month. His badness sure is scary when he gets mad."

A cold sweat seemed to work its way down the bodies of the two Storm Guards. A moment later they raised their spears and allowed the cake to pass through.

Once they were safely out of earshot of the guards, the group breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, we got past them," Spike whispered from inside the cake. "Now what?"

"We head for the palace of course," Capper declared. "After all, where better for an evil genius like the Storm King to keep his prisoners than a castle? Now pipe down or you'll blow our cover."

The group continued along without a word, trying their best not to take notice of the many Storm Guards that were posted all around Canterlot, or the countless prisoners that they were guarding.





Having left the palace, Grubber was moping around and feeling sorry for himself. "Can't believe Tempest is actually going through with all this. I'd hoped the chase after the prince would get her to realize there's better things in life than worrying about a broken horn," He complained. "But now she's gonna get all the credit, all the cudos, all the 'job well done''s. And I'm gonna go back to being the punching bag. Guess that's what I get for not reading the fine print of the contract."

While he was wandering about in his unhappy state, the little hedgehog happened to spot a gigantic cake being carted past by the same ponies Tempest had been chasing the past few days. And Capper was the one escorting them along. Now Grubber was by no means the brightest bulb of the bunch but even he found it odd that so many enemies of the Storm King were strolling past with no signs of resistance. Even if they were delivering a cake, something didn't seem quite right to the hedgehog. Plus, he was getting kind of hungry. "Well, I suppose a little taste test won't hurt," He told himself as he approached the cake. "I mean after all, someone's gotta make sure it's not poisoned. Better a guy like me than the big man himself."

Capper took notice of the approaching Grubber, but he didn't say anything. He was too afraid of what might happen if he tried to shoo away one of the Storm King's top underlings. In his mind, however, he was pleading. "Please go away, Grubber! You're gonna ruin everything!"

Grubber not so subtlely climbed up onto the cart and ran a paw along the surface of the cake, taking a few bites of the frosting. "Mmm, not bad. My compliments to the chef," He declared. "Maybe a few quick nibbles won't hurt anything." And he proceeded to dig into the cake with his claws.

All of a sudden, the hedgehog saw something through a hole that he'd made in the cake. It looked like an eye and it appeared to be watching him. "Hey, wait a minute here," Grubber began and started to claw at the hole until it expanded. The eye was attached to an entire parrot, and not just parrot either. It was Captain Celeano, still dressed in her pirate attire. "Guards! Guards!" Grubber barked out and that was all he was able to get out before he was quickly snatched up!

"Would you keep your voice down?!" Gus bellowed. "This is just a figment of your imagination! There's nothing to see here!" But Grubber kept squirming about, trying desperately to scream out a warning.

As bad luck would have it, Grubber's beginnings of a warning had attracted the attention of the Storm Guards. They quickly surrounded the cake and pointed their spears at Capper and the ponies. "Look's like the jig's up," Capper declared and gave a whistle. "Okay guys, time for Plan B. Let 'em have it!"

"Surprise, suckers!" Captain Celeano and her crew shouted as they emerged from the cake with their swords drawn! Spike and Princess Skystar emerged as well, leaving a dazed Grubber at the base of the now destroyed cake.

The ponies, meanwhile, broke free of their harnesses and joined the fray. Making use of their hooves, wings, horns, and whatever other means at their disposable, they drove the Storm Guards back and even knocked a few to the ground in the process.

Thunderlane even found an unusual approach to remove one of the guards from the fight. "Oh my, you seem awfully tense," He commented to the guard. "Maybe you wanna talk about it and rethink some life choices? We don't have to be enemies."

A short time later said guard had been reduced to tears, and Thunderlane was comforting him. "There there, it's okay. If you promise to stay out of the fight, I'll convince the others not to harm you. And next time, don't pledge yourself to the first guy who comes along and says he can give you what he wants."

"Thunderlane, you coming?" Soarin called.

Thunderlane nodded. "Just a sec," Then he turned to the Storm Guard and said to him. "Well, looks like our time here is done. But come see me again after this is over, okay?"

Meanwhile, Captain Celeano barked out to the ponies. "We'll hold the line here, we can take these guys! The rest of you get to the palace and stop the Storm King!"

"No, we're not leaving you behind again!" Soarin protested.

"We'll be fine, we've been in far worse scrapes than this!" Jack laughed. "These land lubbers are no match for us." And he proved his point by tossing a life preserver over one of the Storm Guards and knocking him down. The life preserver squeezed the Storm Guard so hard that it prevented him from doing anything but flailing about helplessly.

The ponies, Spike, Capper, and Princess Skystar reluctantly left the pirates and began their climb up the steps leading to Canterlot Castle. But they hadn't gotten far when more Storm Guards soon began to approach them, this time from behind.

It was Princess Skystar who took the lead this time. "Keep going, I'll hold 'em off!" She instructed and whipped out two shells, one was pink and the other was blue. "Shelly, Shelldon, attack!" She chucked the shells at the approaching Storm Guards, knocking them over and causing them to tumble down the stairs.

But even as the small remains of the rescue group reached the castle courtyard and prepared to storm the palace proper, more Storm Guards began to approach them.

"Where do these guys keep coming from?! It's like someone kicked over an ant's nest or something!" Soarin commented.

"Well we can't let them stop us!" Braeburn firmly declared. "Shinin' needs our help! We'll just have to force our way through!"

But Capper had a better idea as he looked down at Spike. "Say, you're a fire breathing dragon, right?" He asked.

Spike nodded. "Yeah but I don't see how that's going to..."

Before Spike could finish, Capper grabbed him, shook him up, and brandished him like a make-shift flamethrower. The Storm Guards quickly learned the hard way that their armor was many things but flame proof wasn't one of them. One unlucky Storm Guard received a blow square to the chest and fire enveloped him, the pain was too intense for him to get back up.





While the Storm King was busy fooling around with his staff, Shining Armor and Tempest happened to take notice of the scene unfolding while they were up on the balcony.

Tempest could hardly believe her eyes. "What?! But... how?!" She exclaimed, her strong opal eyes struggling to process what was going on.

Shining, meanwhile, found himself filled with a new sense of hope and determination. "My friends... they came back for me even after all that," He realized, and then he turned to Tempest with a grin on his face. "Do you see now, Tempest?" He asked her. "It's the magic of..."

But the Storm King interrupted. "-Yeah yeah yeah, friendship, and magic, and flowers. Blequh! I'm so done with the whole 'cute ponies' shtick!" And it was then that he too saw what was going on down below. Needless to say he was not pleased in the slightest. He growled at Tempest (who he had clutched in his right arm) and demanded. "What is the meaning of this, Tempest?! I thought things were under control!"

"B-but... b-but... they were, I swear!" Tempest stuttered. "I have no idea how this could've happened!"

The Storm King only sighed and shook his head, tossing both Tempest and Shining aside. "I should've known you'd find a way to louse this all up, Tempest. But I guess that's what I get for trusting a pony to take care of things. It's true what they say: 'If you want something evil done right, do it yourself.'," Then he turned to the ponies on the balcony with him and grinned. "Watch closely, you're about to find out why they call me the Storm King!" Raising his staff towards the sky, he cried out. "Give me the power to destroy my enemies and bring this land to its knees! Grant me the means by which I may wipe the slate clean and leave my mark!"

Storm clouds began to gather as the Storm King spoke, lightning crackled and thunder clapped. And then a massive funnel cloud began to reach down from the sky. In a matter of mere seconds a massive tornado had formed. The Storm King laughed. "Yes! At last, this ends!"