“You all know who he’s looking for, right?” Twilight whispered.
“Of course!” Starlight quietly yelled.
“He just described Violet Rose, darling! In perfect detail, I might add.” Rarity added.
“We need to warn her.” Tempest said before looking around, only to see that Violet Rose is gone. “Wait… she’s gone.”
“Gone?!” Twilight exclaimed.
“She just disappeared.” Tempest replied.
“She’s probably somewhere safe by now. What are we gonna do?” Sunset Shimmer inquired.
“Well, we know what we’re not gonna do. We’re not gonna give her to him!” Rainbow Dash objected.
“You’re right, Rainbow. Who knows why this Spade guy wants her?” Twilight said.
“But what if he doesn’t leave until he gets her? What if something bad happens?” Fluttershy nervously asked.
“Maybe we should try negotiating with him. Just to see if there’s anything else that he wants?” Tempest suggested.
“That’s not a bad idea, Tempest.” Twilight replied.
“I guess it’s worth a shot.” Applejack added, nodding her head.
“Maybe we can hide Violet Rose until he leaves!” Pinkie Pie suggested… rather loudly.
“Pinkie!” Twilight hissed through gritted teeth.
Pinkie Pie paused before looking back at Spade and saying, “Oops.”
Tempest put a hoof over her face in frustration before whispering to Twilight, “Is your pink friend always this stupid?”
Twilight covered her face with her wigs in embarrassment and said nothing as she shook her head. Jackpot Spade raised an eyebrow and smiled wickedly.
“Violet Rose? So that’s her name!” He exclaimed before his expression turned into one of seriousness. “…So you do know her.”
“Well, maybe we do.” Rainbow Dash said. “But that doesn’t matter. There’s NO WAY any of us are gonna give her to the likes of YOU!”
“Eeyup!” Applejack added with her brow furrowed. “You ain’t getting’ her, partner.”
“Oh! Is that so?” Spade said mockingly.
“Yeah, that’s so!” Starlight added, stepping forward.
Spade’s own brow furrowed and he frowned at the group of mares before him.
“I said it once, I’ll say it again.” He growled. “I NEED this Violet Rose pony and I’m not leaving this pathetic little backwater town until I get my hooves on her. You lot might as well just calmly hand her over to me, unless you would rather make it difficult… for EVERYONE.”
“And why should any of us cower before you, scoundrel?” Rarity declared huffily.
“She’s right. There are hundreds of us and only one of you. You’re clearly outnumbered.” Sunset Shimmer added.
“Outnumbered?” Spade echoed before letting out a frightening chuckle. “You know, I was rather hoping you’d choose difficult.”
“Uh oh…” Tempest muttered with wide eyes.
The Pegasus then stomped his hoof on the ground and Sea Sponge and Star Fish almost evaporated right next to him.
“Captain?” They said, standing perfectly straight.
“Sponge, Fish… release the beast.” Spade said with a somewhat evil glare in his mismatched eyes.
“Yes, sir!” The stallions said.
“That can’t be good…” Fluttershy whispered to Twilight.
The two stallions gave a salute before going back up to the ship and down below deck. They came back a few minutes later, each of them holding a hornpipe of some kind. They blew into the pipes and to everypony’s confusion, they began to sing a rather repetitive tune.
“Jellylelly lellyjelly jellylelly lellyjelly! It's the Jellyfishing Song!
Jellylelly lellyjelly jellylelly lellyjelly! Everyone sing along!
Jellylelly lellyjelly jellylelly lellyjelly! It's the Jellyfishing Song!
Jellylelly lellyjelly jellylelly lellyjelly! Everyone sing along!
Jellylelly lellyjelly jellylelly lellyjelly! It's the Jellyfishing Song!
Jellylelly lellyjelly jellylelly lellyjelly! Everyone sing along!
Jellylelly lellyjelly jellylelly lellyjelly! It's the Jellyfishing Song!
Jellylelly lellyjelly jellylelly lellyjelly! Everyone sing along!”
“What is happening?” Tempest whispered to Twilight.
Twilight was about to answer when an unfamiliar voice shrieked,
“STOP IT! Please, stop that horrible sound!”
Before anypony knew what was going on, a thick green mist emerged from the nearby Everfree Forest followed by an enormous creature with green scales, deep purple eyes, the head of a pony, and a long fish tail with fins. Everypony gasped and backed away in terror at the sight; Twilight and Sunset’s eyes widened as they immediately recognized the creature as a siren.
“Is… is that A SIREN?!” Sunset Shimmer screamed.
“Th-that can’t be!” Twilight added. “I thought there were only three in Equestria!”
“Apparently NOT.” Spike added, trying to hide behind Twilight’s tail.
“Hold up, you battled sirens?” Tempest asked with wide eyes.
“You failed to mention that during a few of our lessons.” Starlight added.
“Long story.” The Alicorn muttered, not turning her attention away from the pony-fish creature.
“Oh please, stop it! It’s makin’ my ears ri—” The siren began before she noticed the crowds of ponies. “Oh. I didn’t know there was an audience…”
Captain Spade scrunched his nose and cleared his throat rather loudly, which made the siren turn her head in his direction; she smiled before lowering her head down to his level.
“Captain Jackpot Spade. So sorry I didn’t see you there, darlin’.” She said slyly. “You need me?”
“Hello, Andante.” Spade replied slyly. “And yes, I do need you.”
“Name it and it’ll be done.”
“Andante?” Tempest whispered.
“I need you to round up all of these ponies and dragons and griffons and… and yaks… and whatever else there is within the borders of this castle, and do not let anypony or any creature escape.” Spade said, glaring at Twilight.
“…As you wish, Captain.” The siren, now dubbed as Andante, said before clearing her throat and looking back at the crowds of ponies with a wicked smile on her face. “Hello, ponies of Ponyville! Allow me to give ya’ll a performance you’ll NEVER forget.”
“Okay, everypony; follow my lead…” Pinkie Pie said before running away and screaming at the top of her lungs; everyone else followed suit.
Andante watched with a bored look on her face as the crowds scatter like tiny little ants; she rolled her eyes.
“Here we go again. Always wantin’ to do it the hard way…” She sighed before making her next move.
She turned her attention to Princess Twilight (who was frozen in terror), the red gem in her chest glowed, and she began to sing. Her hypnotic spell was drawing the Princess towards her and she was helpless to stop it. Sunset looked and gasped in horror.
“Twilight, no!” She screamed, holding her friend back as best she could.
Spike aided Sunset, flying into the air, climbing onto Twilight’s back, and reaching up to cover her ears with his little claws.
“Twilight, stop! Don’t listen to her!” Spike called.
“Remember the Dazzlings at the Battle of the Bands? If you don’t listen, she can’t control you!” Sunset yelled, trying to use her magic to pull her friend and teacher away from the siren.
“Dazzlings? Battle of the Bands?” Tempest asked, more confused than ever.
“Hey, I’m just as confused as you are if it makes you feel any better.” Starlight said.
The siren’s singing grew stronger and it proved too powerful for Twilight and her six dearest friends to resist. She mindlessly pulled away from Starlight, Sunset, and Tempest and they all wandered towards the siren, Captain Spade smiling all the while.
“That’s it…” He muttered as the rest of Ponyville fell helpless to Andante’s song.
“I don’t think so!” Tempest yelled before jumping up and attempting to kick the siren as hard as she could, but she was immediately smacked away by Andante’s massive tail.
“Tempest!” Starlight and Sunset screamed as they ran over to her aid.
“Nice move.” Crab Claws chuckled with a smirk.
“Are you okay?” Starlight asked, holding out her hoof which Tempest took.
“I’m fine. We need to get out of here. Grab anypony else you can find who isn’t under Andante’s influence and make a run for it! Quick! I can handle Spade.” Tempest said before running towards the Pegasus pirate; Spade rolled his eyes.
“Some ponies never learn, do they? Crab Claws? Grab that wanna-be unicorn and send her to the brig.” He calmly commanded.
“Yes, sir.” Crab Claws said before turning back to Tempest who was charging at full speed.
“Uh, Mr. Crab Claws? She looks pretty mad.” Star Fish said, his chubby legs shaking.
“Yeah, she really looks like she wants to hurt us.” Sea Sponge added.
“Oh no, Sea Sponge, Star Fish; you’re not fighting her. I need you two to go into town to commandeer some much needed supplies and food. I’m starving.” Spade said before spreading his wings and flying up into the air.
“Yes, Captain! Right away!” Sea Sponge and Star Fish said before eagerly running off towards town.
“And be QUICK ABOUT IT!” Spade yelled.
“Come and get me, missy. You’re outmatched.” Crab Claws said confidently.
“That’s what you think.” Tempest muttered before her broken horn started to glow and spark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Wow. Princess Twilight sure picked the wrong day to throw a party. It was pretty awesome to meet the Applewood Vampires, though.” Violet Rose said to herself before trotting into the Sugarcube Corner bakery, only to find that it was empty. “Hello! Mr. Cake? Mrs. Cake? Pound, Pumpkin? …Huh. Where is everypony?”
She looked around the vacant sweet shop before her ears perked up; she heard the sound of air whistling as if someone or something was running or flying through the air very fast.
“What’s that whistling noise?” She asked herself.
“Look out!” A voice screamed.
She turned around, only to see two earth pony stallions she had never seen before run into the shop at top speed and crash into her as well as the front desk.
“Ow…” Violet whined as cupcakes, cookies, and other assorted treats started to rain down on her and the ponies who bumped into her. “What’s the big idea?”
“Oh, sorry about that.” One pony said as he attempted to stand up.
The stallions looked at themselves and saw what they and Violet were covered in; they were coated from top to bottom in various treats and sweets along with mushy pie filling, sticky cake frosting, and assorted nuts and sprinkles. Violet grimaced as she tried to shake the unpleasantness off of her body.
“Ew! This is disgusting! It’ll take weeks for me to get clean.” She whined.
“Not if you lick yourself.” The other pony said said before he started to lick some sprinkle-covered frosting off of his right hoof.
“Okay, dude? That’s just gross.” Violet said before shaking her body free of any baked good remains.
“Mmmmm, not bad. Is this butter cream?” The pink earth pony asked before getting a good look at the pony before him. “Sea Sponge?”
“Yeah, Star Fish?” The yellow stallion said before looking over at Violet; their eyes widened at her.
“Uh, why are you two looking at me like that?” Violet asked.
“Are you Violet Rose?” Sea Sponge asked, slowly walking towards the young mare.
“W-wait, how do you know my name? W-who are you?” Violet nervously asked, baking away from the ponies in fear.
“…It’s you!” The stallions yelled as they grabbed Violet and lifted her off the ground.
“What’s me? What are you…?” Violet asked before Sea Sponge and Star Fish ran out of the sweet shop as fast as they could, the young mare screaming all the while.
“We got her, we finally have her! Can you believe it, Star Fish?!” Sea Sponge excitedly said.
“I know, Sea Sponge! The Captain’s gonna so happy with us! Maybe he’ll give us a reward!” Star Fish added, just as excited.
“Like movie passes!”
“Or an oversized coffee mug!”
“What are you two doing?! Let me go!” Violet begged as she attempted to free herself.
“No! We’re taking you back to the Captain!” Sea Sponge said.
“And he ain’t leaving without you!” Star Fish added.
Then Violet thought of something. “Hold up, didn’t you guys need something at Sugarcube Corner?”
Sea Sponge and Star Fish suddenly stopped dead in their tracks when they heard the young mare; their eyes widened as they looked at each other.
“FOOD!!” They screamed before running back towards Sugarcube Corner.
When they made at back to the little sweet shop, Sea Sponge and Star Fish were either too scared or too stupid to leave Violet sitting right outside the door as they were inside, gathering up as many sweets as they could carry. This gave Violet the chance to sneak away, just like she did back at the party. She quietly tiptoed away from the bakery and the two crazy stallions and until she thought she was far enough, Violet ran as fast as her legs could go. She didn’t know where she was going, all she knew was that she had to leave and FAST; but as she was running, she’d been doing a little thinking.
‘What in the hay did those guys want with me? Who’s this “Captain” guy? What is going on today? What’s wrong with me? Is it something I’m doing?’
Violet was snapped out of her thoughts when she looked up to see that she was running towards Princess Twilight’s castle… and the siren, Andante. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in terror at the sight.
“What the hay is THAT THING?!” She screamed aloud.
The creature turned her head and saw Violet running; she smirked.
“Looks like I missed one.” The creature said to herself as her red crystal glowed.
“I’ve been forced to come to a party by a deranged pink stalker, I had to talk to Princess Twilight again, two random ponies attempted to kidnap me, and now I’ve been spotted by a gigantic pony-fish hybrid thing. It’s official; today is NOT my day. I just hope this thing isn’t too angry… or hungry.” Violet muttered before running away from Andante.
“Where do you think you’re going, missy?” Andante asked, trying to block Violet’s path with her hooves and tail; she glared at the young mare as she raised her hoof over her head. “You need to get back in line. Now come over here like a good little filly and join the others.”
Violet screamed, covering her face with her hooves and preparing for the blow. But just as the enormous hoof was about to strike, two blurred figures swooped down, snatched Violet off of the ground, and whisked her away. Violet continued to scream before she landed onto a hard surface, it felt like wood. Andante looked up in shock to see another airship flying away from her at top speed. At the wheel were three figures she didn’t recognize and they all appeared to be yelling and making fun of her.
“Nice try, fish-face!” One voice called.
“Better luck next time!” Another voice added.
“In your face!” A third voice shouted before blowing a raspberry.
As she watched the ship disappear into the ink-black clouds, Andante winced and growled under her breath.