At the Castle of Friendship one afternoon, Twilight was heading to Spike's room, until she heard voices coming from inside.
“Quickly, Zapp! Use your lightning!”
“I'm all over it!”
“Marevelous, on your right!”
“Right!”
“Radiance, shield!”
“You got it!”
“Humdrum, cover me!”
“No problem Matterhorn!”
Twilight suddenly smiled, as she quietly opened the door and peeked inside. What she saw was Spike watching from a beanbag chair while eating from a bowl of rubies, as his action figures of the Power Ponies and Maneiac were acting out a fight scene all on their own. The Power Ponies action figures used their actual powers to defeat the Maneiac who was then tied together with Mistress Marevelous' lasso.
“Curse you, Power Ponies!” Maneiac declared.
“Way to go team!” Masked Matterhorn declared as the Power Ponies put their hooves in on a job well done.
“And once again Maretropolis is saved thanks to the Power Ponies!” Spike narrated.
The action figures turned to Spike and bowed to him, “How was that?” the action figure of Humdrum asked.
“Best performance yet. I can't wait for the next time, guys.” Spike said.
“Well, we're just chalk full of ideas.” Zapp replied.
“Until then.” Spike extended his claw out to his action figures, as the image of the Rat talisman appeared in his eyes. Suddenly magic was assimilated out of his Power Ponies and Maneiac action figures, and they suddenly became lifeless and fell on their sides.
“Having fun, Spike?” Twilight asked.
Spike looked to Twilight standing in his doorway, “Twilight, how long have you been there?”
“Just in time to see the finale. You really love using the power of the Rat talisman on your Power Ponies action figures?”
“It makes good entertainment. Especially since the talisman power gives them the actual powers of what the object represents.”
“Well, I'm glad you're using it more on these guys than that time you used it on your hoof-stitched Rarity doll so you can practice confessing...”
Spike held a claw up, “Ah-ah! Let's not bring that up!” he said with a blush, “So what's going on?”
“Well, you'll be happy to know me, you, and the girls have been invited on a yacht cruise for the weekend.”
Spike's eyes lit up, “What? Really?”
“Uh-huh.” Twilight nodded.
“That's great. Though who authorized it?” Spike wondered.
“The Luxe Deluxe crew gave us a free vacation should we attend. Probably because of all our statuses. Especially yours and mine.”
“Yours and mine?” Spike wondered.
“As Princess of Friendship I am considered a VIP, and with your reputation as the hero of the Crystal Empire, they obviously want us to help them bring in more ponies who'd want to see us.”
“Are we going to be asked to do Q&A panels or public appearances?” Spike asked.
“They just want us to be there. We don't have to do anything but have fun and relax.” the princess of friendship explained.
“Well, that's a relief,” Spike sighed, “I mean, what's the point of going on a vacation if it means not being able to relax?”
“Let's get to packing.” Twilight suggested, as the two began packing what they needed.
As Spike packed his essentials, he put his blow fish medium and potion spells Lo Pei taught him and the girls during their last visit to Canterlot on top, “You can never be too careful.” Spike told himself, while feeling relieved with Chi Magic spells on their side they can combat the Shadowkhan better than before.
As the weekend arrived, Spike, and the girls were at the Manehattan docks with many other pony tourists boarding a yacht. As Spike and the girls were carrying their luggage making sure to pack the essentials, Rarity once again went overboard with many suitcases and such.
“Gee, Rarity, ya sure ya packed enough?” Applejack asked the fashion pony rhetorically.
“Not even your sass will ruin my mood, Applejack.” Rarity replied not feeling insulted.
Once all the guests were onboard the ship sailed off away from the docks and out to sea. When the Ponyville crew was brought to their VIP room on board, they were amazed by the very size of it, complete with a bed for each of them.
“Awesome!” Rainbow cheered.
“Now this is how you treat guests.” Rarity said feeling astounded.
“I could sure get used to this.” Applejack admitted.
“It's very lovely.” Fluttershy added.
“Can you believe we're actually on a yacht?” Pinkie asked with a bright face, “This is so exciting!”
“Especially since there's so many activities on this cruise.” Spike put in.
“Fortunately, I mapped out everything.” Twilight said showing her friends a timetable of the activities.
“I could sure go for some shuffleboard.” Applejack admitted.
“Me too.” Rainbow agreed.
“An on-board petting zoo?” Fluttershy gushed.
“They got an all you can eat buffet!” Pinkie cheered.
“Even a spa!” Rarity said in joy, “And I can't wait until we pass into international waters.”
“Why's that?” Rainbow wondered.
“Tax free shopping!” Rarity said all giddy.
“Well, you all enjoy what you all want. I'll be at the pool.” Spike said.
“Let's all meet back up around dinner time.” Twilight said.
“Sure thing.” Applejack agreed, as did the others.
They left the room and went to explore the yacht, while unaware high above the sky was a Bat Khan watching them. It's sight transferred back to Shendu.
“So they think they can escape me by going across the sea, do they?” Shendu asked himself, “Well, not even high waters will stop me.” Shendu concentrated as shadows gathered all around, and appearing below him were another tribe of Shadowkhan.
This tribe had two sets of tentacles that can extend. They had greyish-blue skin and black suits. Their abdomen and tails were skin colored. They were more or less squid-like.
“Go forth and infiltrate that vessel, bring me my talismans, and the ponies allied with the dragon whelp who possesses my powers!” Shendu ordered. The Squid Khan sunk into the shadows and headed off.
“Enjoy your cruise, little Spike. It'll be the last one you ever take!” Shendu laughed to himself.