My Little Spark: The Movie

by Real Solaris

On the Ship

Meanwhile, the Mane Six had just escaped the windmill of death and were rushing through the building they jumped into from the collapsing scaffolding the windmill destroyed. Twilight spots the docks, and she can see a ship docked close by.

“We have to get there!” She exclaims, pointing to the ship. It wouldn’t be there for long, as it looked like it was about to set sail. “To the docks! Hurry!”

Taking a left up a flight of stairs, they maneuver through various alleyways and streets, sometimes having to double back when they hit a dead end. Through some trial and error, the Mane Six find their way to the docks, but to their dismay, the ship they were headed to was already departing from the port.

Speeding ahead, Rainbow bites down on a rope dangling from the ship's side and swings back. She plants her hooves on the deck and clenches her teeth, holding the rope as it goes taut. Rarity, Applejack, and Spike quickly make their way onto the tightrope, praying to Faust not to lose their balance and fall.

“That's it,” Applejack says, pushing Rarity ahead when she hesitates for a moment. “Don't look down now!”

Fluttershy hovers close behind them, though her flight is a little shaky as she tries her hardest not to freak out and let her wings snap to her side. Spike is close behind Applejack, though compared to them, his balance is all over the place, and he nearly tips over multiple times.

“Yay! Tightroping!” Pinkie exclaims, jumping just behind Spike. With the sudden addition of weight and not being able to anticipate it, Rainbow is yanked over the edge. Spike manages to grab the rope as Rainbow pulls it back up, but Pinkie isn’t so lucky.

“Pinkie!” Twilight screams, diving off the dock. She pumps her wings hard, trying to gain enough speed to catch her friend. But as she watches Pinkie plummet closer and closer to the ground below, Twilight realizes that she isn’t going to make it. She was going to watch one of her closest friends splatter all across the rocks below, and she wasn’t able to save –

*BOOM*

The air around Twilight shakes as an electric blur blasts down the cliff side, the shockwave making her lose her balance and forcing her to level out to avoid hitting the ground herself. She watches the blur lessen at the bottom as it catches Pinkie, revealing Tionic holding the pink mare bridal style as he screeches to a halt. Whipping around, he boosts back up the cliff and pushes off the edge, making Twilight’s jaw drop as he soars through the sky and lands on the ship. Shaking away the shock, Twilight follows suit and quickly ascends to the ship.

Her landing wasn’t as graceful as Tionic’s, but before she could take a breather, a lasso wrapped around the purple alicorn and yanked her behind some crates on deck. Afraid she was being captured, Twilight gathers her mana to fling a spell at her would-be captors but calms down when she sees it’s just her friends. She sees Pinkie sitting next to Tionic, uncharacteristically still and staring straight ahead while Tionic holds a hand on the mare’s back.

“Pinkie!” Twilight exclaims, rushing over and pulling her into a tight hug, which snaps Pinkie out of it. “Are you alright?!”

“I’m fine!” Pinkie smiles, returning the hug. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief, happy that she hadn’t been traumatized by her near-death experience. She ends the hug but keeps her hooves on Twilight’s shoulders. “It wasn’t your fault that I fell; it was mine. You couldn’t have done anything to change that. Even so, I still have other great friends to count on in instances like that, like Tio!”

Tionic visibly twitches from the nickname; every muscle in his body tenses as his quills light up. Everyone looks at Tionic worriedly, wondering what made the Spark react like this. He nearly snaps, but when Pinkie hugs him, his powers fade away as he relaxes and slowly returns the gesture.

“I never leave anyone hanging,” Tionic says, composing himself before separating. Suddenly, a thought pops into his head, and a curious look crosses his face. “Wait, you consider me your friend?”

“Of course, silly!” Pinkie giggles, but her expression then falls. “You do want to be my friend… right?”

“!” Tionic’s heart nearly explodes from the guilt. Seeing a sad pony was not something for the faint of heart, and he didn’t want to see one of the happiest ponies in Equestria not happy. “Y-yes, of course I do!”

“Really?!” Pinkie’s happy demeanor instantly returns as Tionic nods in response. She opens her muzzle to say something else, but a claw is shoved into her mouth as Spike shushes her. He points to two bird-like silhouettes close by, most likely some of the crew of the ship they stowed away on.

“Did you hear something?” The tall one asks the gangly one. He gets a couple of squawks in response, and he shrugs.

“Eh, probably just the rats,” He says, gesturing for his companion to follow him. “If we find 'em, we'll eat 'em.”

“Rats?” Sonic repeats, annoyed he was being called that degrading name so many others gave him if they didn’t know what a hedgehog was. Rainbow puts a hoof on his shoulder. Sonic huffs indignantly and crosses his arms.

Capper is thrown roughly onto the deck, two burly Storm Guards right behind him to prevent any attempt at escaping. A shadow draws his attention upward, and his ears splay against his head when he sees who stands above him.

“Alright, cat... where are they going?” Tempest demands, her horn crackling. This makes Capper quickly stand up for fear of garnering Tempest’s wrath.

“Woah, woah, woah, no need for violence,” Capper says, hoping to diffuse the situation. He looks out on the horizon, looking for the mountain the Mane Seven and Co. mentioned. “They’re headed...”

The golden button on his coat catches a beam of light, reflecting into his eye. Looking down at it, he remembers the generosity Rarity displayed without asking for anything in return. At that moment, Capper knows what he must do, even if the repercussions would be drastic if Tempest found out.

“…they’re headed east! Yeah, to... to Black Skull Island,” He says hastily, pointing off toward said island. He chuckles nervously as he backs away from Tempest. “Glad I could be of service to His Majesty, the Storm King. I'll, uh, just be on my way – Yowl!”

The two guards close the gap between their shoulders, and Capper stops just before hitting the walls of muscles blocking his way.

“Only when I get my Princess,” Tempest says, then she trots over to her ship's gangplank. “Until then, your fate is still... up in the air.”

“Oh, you're gonna go in the skiff!” Grubber says, turning to follow Tempest. “Which is a boat! Specifically, an airboat!”

The Storm Guards shove Capper forward, and he reluctantly obliges as they follow close behind. He gulps, his ears flat against his head as he boards the ship.

On the ship, Applejack, Rainbow, and Sonic watch some of the crew moving crates and reorganizing, keeping an eye out in case something comes up. One of the crew lets out a belch and scratches his backside, making Rainbow gag and Sonic cringe.

“What d’ya think, Twilight?” Applejack asks, turning to the princess. “Should we ask ‘em to take us?”

“Last time we trusted somepony, they tried to sell us!” Twilight hisses, putting down the map she was looking over. “We can’t let them know we’re here.”

While they were trying to figure out what to do, Sonic noticed Tionic sitting alone between some crates out of the corner of his eye, staring out into the clouds above with a solemn look. He walks over to him, catching the Spark’s attention as he approaches.

“Hey, Tionic, are you alright?” Sonic wonders, sitting beside the Spark. “You don’t look like someone who just saved a life. What’s got you in a bundle?”

“It’s nothing, really,” Tionic forces a smile, but Sonic raises a doubtful brow. The Spark hesitates to speak, but after a few seconds, he sighs as he gives in. “It’s just… now that I’ve been discovered by another organization bent on world domination, I have to leave again once I get my rings back.”

“Leave Equus?” Sonic repeats, his brow going even further up his forehead. “Why would you want to do something like that? And what do you mean by ‘again’?”

Unbeknownst to them both, Twilight noticed the two of them chatting together. Despite hating the idea, she decided to get closer and eavesdrop on the pair, putting herself beside the crate Tionic sat against. Despite saving her and Pinkie’s lives and holding Tempest off while they escaped, she couldn’t find the ability to trust him yet.

“My powers have kept me running for well over a decade now,” Tionic starts, grimacing as old memories flow to the forefront of his mind. “It didn’t matter how hard I tried to hide them; someone would find out and try to take it for themselves, forcing me to flee to another world. And every time, I’ve thought, ‘Maybe I can make a life here,’ ‘Maybe it’ll be different this time!’ It’s always ended up with me fleeing and others getting hurt.”

He sighs, his ears drooping against his head. “I’ve never been able to interact with anyone, much less form any bond. I’ve just had myself, and if I’m being honest, you guys are the first ones I’ve talked to in years.”

Sonic’s eyes slam open in shock, blown away by the fact that he and the girls were the first ones Tionic had interacted with in so long. On the other side of the crate, Twilight covers her muzzle with her hooves, muffling the sudden gasp that nearly escaped her throat.

He’s been on the run for how long?! And he’s been doing all that while isolated and with no one to talk to?!

The purple alicorn’s heart pangs from the guilt and sorrow welling up inside - she just wanted to hug Tionic and never let go of him, to tell him that everything would be alright. But what comes next, she could never prepare for.

“It’s kinda funny though. Pinkie is the only one who has considered me a real friend in my nineteen years of life. Ironic that I get something I’ve always wanted only to have it taken away soon after.”

Twilight’s eyes shrink to pinpricks as the dams burst, all of the pent-up emotion flowing freely from her eyes. She barely chokes back a sob, managing to avoid drawing attention and risking exposing herself to the speedsters. Hearing about Tionic’s past changed her view of him, and she regretted ever thinking he had some ulterior motive.

“But, after all of this?” Tionic lays his head back and closes his eyes. “And what’s happened today? I can’t help but wonder, ‘What if my mom was wrong?’ Maybe I could have a life here. Maybe… maybe I don’t have to-!”

Suddenly, one of the crates keeping them out of sight is removed by one of the crew, and everyone is instantly on guard.

‘Crap!’ Tionic thinks, quickly standing and getting in a defensive stance. ‘They must’ve snuck up on us while I was talking to Sonic! I was too focused on the conversation, and that bird walked over without me realizing!’

“Hey, guys,” The burly green bird calls out, grinning as his co-workers walk over. “Come check this out.”

“Looks like a pack of stowaways,” Says another green bird, but a little smaller and wearing an eyepatch on his right eye.

“What’re we supposed to do with ‘em?” Wonders a chubby pink bird, scratching her chin with a fork. The gangly bird pops his head out from between some crates, his blue tongue hanging out of his metal beak as he squawks. His eyes don’t align properly, like Derpy’s, but one still focuses on the group.

“I say we tie ‘em up,” Applejack cringes.

“We cut their wings off!” Rainbow freezes, and Sonic growls as he stands between the crew and his wife.

“No, we pluck their feathers and quills!” Twilight reels back, and Sonic and Tionic instinctively place a hand on their quills, growling at them and daring the birds to see what would happen if they tried.

“We scar them!” Rarity screeches in horror.

“Emotionally!” Fluttershy whimpers, shrinking back even further as her hair wraps around her.

“Wait, wait, what say the book,” says the bird with the eyepatch, turning around. “Captain Celaeno?”

Another bird walks up to the group, most likely the captain. She stands taller than everyone, and she has a slight height advantage over Tionic, though only by an inch or two. One noticeable feature about her is the wooden peg leg that replaces her left leg from the knee down and the squeaky ankle brace on her right. She holds a binder with the Storm King emblem on the front, full of papers and tabs.

“The Storm King’s rule book says…” Celaeno opens the binder, flipping through the pages until she finds the page she was looking for. “Throw them overboard.”

The eyepatch bird pulls a rope hanging nearby, and a gangplank extends from the ship's edge. Tionic shudders, his quills raising in fear and making his head seem much bigger.

“W-wait, wait, wait, i-isn’t this a little much?” He stammers, hoping to reason with the birds as they herd them closer to the gangplank. “I-I mean, we’re thousands of feet in the air; throwing us overboard would mean certain death when we hit the ground!”

“That’s the idea,” chuckles the burly bird, sending a shiver down Tionic’s spine. As they’re about to push them off and send them plummeting to their doom, a whistle placed atop a clock hung on the mast lets out a long, low toot that stops the crew in their tracks.

“Alright, that’s lunch!” Captain Celaeno shouts, and before they could even process what happened, everyone was below deck and seated at a long table, bowls of brown mush with seeds placed before them.

“Excuse me, what?!” Tionic shouts, confused by the insane turn of events. One second, they were about to go overboard; the next, they were eating lunch (if it could even be called that) with their would-be captors.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up,” Sonic says, holding his hands up. “You were about to toss us overboard, and you stopped for a lunch break?!”

“Storm King only allows for one break a day for a meal,” Captain Celaeno explains, poking at her ‘food’ with a spoon. “Then it’s back to hauling goods with no pay or compensation.”

“Sweet Faust, the way you’re being treated breaks so many union and labor laws; I don’t even know where to begin,” Tionic groans, rubbing his forehead. He pokes the bowl of sludge in front of him, and it jiggles in the bowl. “And this so-called ‘food’ your employer is feeding you would have OSHA raining hell on them and shut down the company and any other branches they run faster than they could say ‘Supercalifragilisticexpealydocious.’”

“Yeah, but I don’t think they want to deal with the legal issues that would come with a tyrannical tyrant bent on world domination,” The burly bird, Boyle, points out. “So we’re stuck doing this for the rest of our lives.”

“So, you’re delivery guys?” Rainbow wonders.

“And gals,” Captain Celaeno sighs, pulling at her uniform. “These uniforms aren’t doing us any favors.”

“Then can you deliver us to Mount Aris?” Twilight asks, hopeful that this turn of events could benefit them.

“Sorry,” Captain Celaeno shakes her head, rolling her eyes. “We do what the Storm King orders… or suffer his wrath.”

“Sooooo...” Sonic drawls. “Still going overboard then?”

“It’s nothing personal,” Shrugs the chubby pink bird; her name is Lix Spittle. “Pudding?”

“There’s pudding?” Rarity is hopeful that there’s some actual food on the ship, but she’s sorely disappointed and disgusted when it turns out to be more sludge. There’s a moment of silence as the birds go back to eating, and the Mane Seven and Co. are left to look around the room they’re in. Then, something behind a Storm King poster catches Tionic’s eye, and he speaks up.

“Were you always delivery birds?” He wonders, eyeing the clothen material behind the poster. “What about before the Storm King?”

“We used to be much more adventurous,” Captain Celaeno sighs, pulling back the poster to reveal a tattered black flag with a skull and crossbones in the middle.

“OOO, I met that guy in the desert!” Pinkie exclaims.

“Woah,” Rainbow stares in awe. “You used to be… pirates?!”

“Um, we prefer the term ‘swash-buckling treasure hunters,’” The eyepatches bird, Mullet, says.

“So, pirates,” Sonic summarizes, then chuckles. “Heh, you guys kinda remind me of the Babylon Rouges. They’re a trio of birds like you, except you’re not as ego-driven as them or causing mayhem with two sets of gems from two different dimensions.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Captain Celaeno smiles. “Thanks, Blue, but we can’t go back to that life now. Like I said earlier, if we don’t follow the Storm King’s orders-”

“-you face his wrath, yeah, we get it,” Rainbow groans before getting smacked upside the head by Sonic. Rubbing the back of her head, she looks around the table at the crew, and a thought pops into her head.

“You birds have a choice to make,” She says, pounding a hoof on the table. “You can let some cloven-hooved king tell you how to live your lives,” She hovers over to the Storm King poster and rips it off the wall, gesturing to the skull and crossbones. “Or, you could be awesome again!”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding!” Tionic groans, gripping his face as he finally voices his annoyance with the Heart Songs. Twilight was about to stop Rainbow from continuing, but she pauses when she hears Tionic groan, looking back at him in confusion. “I know you guys like to sing, but this is the third one this week!”

Rainbow either didn’t hear him, or she just didn’t say anything and kept singing.

She jumps on a wooden mug, splashing Twilight in the process. Tionic chuckles and offers her a napkin. Rainbow then pulls back a tarp to reveal a portrait of Captain Celaeno hanging there, a few shelves of treasure next to it, and a map stuck to the wall with a dagger. A chest and trunk lie on the floor, filled with whatever pirate-related stuff there could be.

The Mane Six join in on the song, flinging the bowls that had magically been emptied away. Tionic and Twilight don’t join in, but walk away in annoyance.

Captain Celaeno joins in, and she swipes away her ‘food’ as well.

She gets out of her seat and approaches the wall of pirate stuff, eyeing her portrait in the middle.

Rainbow Dash pops up beside her, holding the same hat she wore in the picture and presenting it to the captain.

Captain Celaeno holds the hat close, reminiscing about the years of freedom she and her crew once had.

She rips off the bandana and puts her hat back on, once again assuming the role of a pirate captain.

Rainbow Dash and Captain Celaeno join in together in song, and the rest of the crew toss their bandanas in the air.

The chest is opened to reveal outfits stuffed inside, and each of the crew grabs their respective items.

Boyle reconnects a metal claw to his arm, fully completing his look.

Squabble puts on his yellow and orange inner tube, and the rest of the crew put on their outfits, finally looking like a true pirate crew.

Captain Celaeno kicks open the door to the deck and bound out, followed by the Mane Six. Rainbow, Sonic, and Rarity each have pirate hats on, Pinkie wears a pink bandanna with purple spots on it, Applejack has an eye patch, and Fluttershy has a blue and white striped cloth wrapped around the base of her mane. Spike… well, Spike isn’t wearing anything, but he has a yellow feather in his claw.

Mullet swings from a rope tied to the lookout, holding Rainbow in his grasp as she grins from ear to ear.

Twilight and Tionic are back over by the crates, with Twilight trying to draw the fastest way to Mt. Aris. He chuckles when Pinkie starts drawing on the map, and Lix plucks the feather Twilight was using out of her magical grasp to write something as well. Spike and Fluttershy sit on the other side of the map, watching the two draw.

Rainbow zips by, her namesake trailing behind her as deposits the hat she wore on Tionic’s head, which he doesn’t notice.

Boyle carries a chest out from storage and spins it across the deck, the front stopping just in front of Captain Celaeno and Rarity. The captain opens the chest, revealing the amount of treasure expected to be in a treasure chest.

Captain Celaeno pulls out a cyan gem the size of her talon, presenting it to Rarity as she marveled at the gem. Rarity wasn’t sure why, but the gem looked familiar, like she’d seen it many times before.

Sonic’s and Rainbow’s eyes widen in shock when they spot the gem, recognizing it and the power radiating off it instantly.

“How the heck did they get their talons on a Chaos Emerald?!” Rainbow hisses to Sonic. He shrugs, and without anyone noticing, he swipes the Cyan Emerald after Captain Celaeno puts it down, and quickly tucks it into his quills for safekeeping.

“That’ll come in handy later,” Sonic mutters and he and Rainbow join the others with the pirates at the bow of the ship.

Rainbow Dash flies up beside Captain Celaeno, and plucks the manual out of her talons…

…and tosses it overboard. Everyone joins in the next verse.

Captain Celaeno turns to her crew, raising a talon into the air as they cheer.

Spike drums on some of the crates, sounding pretty good for wooden boxes. Squabble joins in, but he uses his head to hit the crates before falling over, most likely from the concussion he gave himself.

“Come on!” Captain Celaeno exclaims, whirling the wheel around to change their course. “Let's show these little ponies how it's done!”

Her crew untied some ropes tied to the sides and pull, causing the metal casing of the balloon above to shift and open up. Massive, rainbow-colored wings open from the sides, and a plumage pops up on top, making the balloon look like an eagle spreading its wings and taking flight. Then, an opening in the clouds shines sunlight onto the wings, giving the ship more life and color as everyone gawks at the sight. Celaeno and her crew stand proud as they

“Awesome!” Rainbow exclaims, happy to see the delivery birds turned pirates get their mojo back. “I knew you had it in ya! And now for the finishing touch!”

She rockets high above the ship, going higher and higher until she believes she’s gone high enough. Whipping around, she dives back to the ship, using gravity to help her go faster.

“Rainboom! Rainboom! Rainboom! Rainboom!” Pinkie chants, grinning as she recognizes the stunt Rainbow was going to pull. This makes Tionic raise an eyebrow in confusion; Sonic’s jaw drops, and Twilight is sent into a tizzy.

As Rainbow gains more and more speed, a Mach cone appears in front of her, rainbow lights racing across it from the small shockwaves that come faster and faster as she descends.

“Rainboom? Wait, isn’t that…?” Tionic’s eyes shrink when he remembers. “Oh, Tartarus.”

“Nononononono!” Twilight exclaims, pulling on her mane as she sees the Mach cone sharpen further and stretch behind Rainbow.

“RAINBOW, STOP!” Sonic shouts in panic. “THAT’S GONNA ALERT-!”

*BOOM*

“-Tempest… damnit, Dash.”

A massive rainbow shockwave erupts from where she broke the sound barrier, expanding and pushing back the cloud cover around the ship. Rainbow streaks under the ship, her namesake trailing behind her as she pulls up to circle it.

“Aw, yeah!” She cackles, looking back to see the amazed looks on the pirates’ faces.

Somewhere nearby, Tempest’s ship was cruising along the clouds, oblivious that their target was only a few hundred meters away. Grubber is at the helm, about to chomp down on a cake, when a flash of rainbow light and a small boom makes him drop the cake. He looks around for the source, and his jaw drops when he spots a ship off the port side, a rainbow shockwave silhouetting it, pushing back the clouds as a rainbow trail wraps around it.

“Looka that rainbow! Looka that rainbow! Whoa, that's so cool!” Grubber exclaims, pointing to the spectacle. Everyone on board is in awe of the sight, and even Tempest takes a moment to admire the rings of color. But her astonishment lasts only a moment, as her military attitude quickly kicks back in.

“Yeah, cool of them to alert us to their location,” She grins. “Funny, though,” She turns to Capper, making him wring his paws. “They don't seem to be heading to Black Skull Island.”

“Like ‘ha ha’ funny or... haha...” He chuckles nervously. Tempest doesn’t wait for an answer, and she shoves Grubber off the helm, spinning the wheel hard left. She stops the spinning and shoves the throttle all the way. The ship takes a sweeping left as the back blast of the ship propels it forward and closes the distance.

Back on Celaeno’s ship, she and Rainbow are sword dueling with each other. Celaeno’s crew and four of the Mane Seven watch the two enjoying themselves, happy to see their captain and friend happy. The only ones who weren’t were Sonic, Twilight, and Tionic, who had various expressions of annoyance, dread, and caution, respectively.

“Nice!” Rainbow exclaims, ending the mock fight with a final clash of swords. She offers Celaeno a hoof bump, which she gladly returns. But the moment is cut short when a ringing bell catches everyone’s attention, and Squabble starts to squawk like crazy.

Looking up, they see him hanging from the rigging, frantically pointing off the starboard. Turning, they see the Storm King’s emblem glowing through the clouds, and soon after, Tempest’s ship plows through the clouds.

“Storm guards!” Celaeno growls. “Looks like they found you!”

“No, it’s Tempest!” Twilight exclaims, her eyes shrinking and her ears flopping against her head. Tionic stares at the incoming ship, a slight frown adorning his lips as tiny sparks of electricity emit from his quills.

“Secure the rigging!” Celaeno orders, and her crew gets to work. “Lock down the cargo! Everyone, prepare to be boarded!”

Boyle ushers the Mane Seven and Co. into the cargo hold, dropping the door once they all made it down. They all huddled together, with Sonic, Tionic, and Rainbow placing themselves between their friends and the entrance.

“You think she saw my Sonic Rainboom?” Rainbow grins sheepishly, scratching the back of her head.

“You think?!” Twilight, Sonic, and Tionic exclaim, and Sonic immediately whacks Rainbow upside the head for the second time that day.

“We’re having a talk when this is over, Ashley,” Sonic growls, making Rainbow freeze as her coat stood on end. Before the hedgehog could say anything else, a harpoon punctured the ship's side, presumably fired from Tempest’s airship. The resulting impact knocks everyone off their feet and hooves, throwing them against the wall and piling each other on top of one another.

On deck, Captain Celaeno watches as the Storm ship reels itself closer to her own, the dirty brown smog flowing around it once it stops, making the ship look even more menacing. She takes a defensive stance when Tempest, Grubber, and two Storm Guards jump to the deck, but the glare from Tempest makes her falter slightly.

"Where is the Princess?” Tempest demands, slowly trotting across the deck before Celaeno’s crew.

“‘Princess’?” Captain Celaeno repeats, walking over to a clipboard on one of the nearby crates. She traces a talon down the list of cargo the ship was carrying, looking for anything related to the query. “Prin-Cess, Prin-Cess... Nope. All we're hauling is Storm King merchandise.”

Squabble squawks, holding up a Storm King bobblehead as if to confirm what his captain said was true.

“You do realize that if you were to shelter fugitives, the Storm King would be quite....” Tempest pauses, letting the pressure increase as her horn crackles with mana. “Explosive.”

Captain Celaeno gulps, and her crew looks at her, hoping she would have a solution to this. Back in the hold, Twilight looks up through the cracks of the deck, slowly backing up as she listens in on the conversation being held above her.

"We have to get off this ship before they tell Tempest we're here!” Twilight hisses as she turns around, the urgency in her voice apparent.

“We helped them get their mojo back!” Rainbow hisses back, assuring the purple alicorn that there is nothing to worry about. “They're not gonna give us up!”

Twilight groans, and she looks around at her friends. Rarity is in full-on panic mode, breathing heavily as she looks around erratically. Spike lays a claw on her hoof, which calms Rarity down, though only slightly. Fluttershy lies behind a crate, shivering in fright, while Sonic pets her mane, hoping to alleviate some of the stress his wife’s childhood friend was experiencing. Applejack lies against another crate, sighing in defeat as she pulls her Stetson over her eyes. Tionic stares at the trapdoor, his gaze not leaving it as his powers occasionally spark across his body. Pinkie, as usual, isn’t fazed and is searching through an open-top crate filled with Storm King merch. She spots something buried below the merch, but upon reaching for it, she loses her balance and falls inside headfirst. “Whoa!”

Twilight sighs, then looks around the cargo hold, hoping to see if there was something she could use to escape. There are a lot of items lying around, but the coil of rope sitting on a box and the giant Storm King banner hanging from the ceiling catches her eye. She looks back at the crate Pinkie fell into, and her mind quickly formulates a plan. She grins, knowing just what to do. “I've got this!”

“Now, I'm going count to three, and if you don't tell me where they are, your ship is going down,” Tempest warns as she and two Storm Guards slowly move closer to Captain Celaeno. “One...”

In the cargo hold, Twilight grabs the spool of rope and the banner, handing it to Tionic. “Hold this!” She then dumps the crate's contents into a corner and places it in the middle of the room.

“What are you doing?” Tionic looks at the cloth and rope in his hands, attempting to figure out what Twilight was up to. He notices her magical aura surrounding the lever controlling the drop bay, and he sees everyone standing on top of the trapdoor. His pupils shrink to pinpricks, and his ears flop to his head as he realizes her plan. “Wait, don’t pull that -!”

“...two...”

"Oh, this is intense!” Grubber grins, his gaze flickering between the two groups as they face each other off. Captain Celaeno tightens her grip on her sword, ready to fight for her new friends’ safety. Dash had helped give them their mojo back after it was taken away from them years ago, and Celaeno was going to repay that favor by keeping Tempest and the Storm Guards at bay if she had too.

“Three!” Before she could act on her word, a series of fading screams erupted from below deck, drawing Tempest’s attention to the trapdoor behind her that led to the cargo bay. Celaeno sighed a silent breath of relief, her grip relaxing on her sword, relieved to know her new friends escaped.

“Oh, for Celestia's sake!!!” Rarity exclaims as she and everyone else plummet through the clouds. Everyone was screaming in fear, sans Twilight, Rainbow, and Sonic. He looks bored as he puts his hands behind his head and reclines in the air, utterly unfazed by the sudden turn of events. Rainbow snaps her wings open, straining to keep them straight as she drastically reduces her speed. Once she slows her descent enough to fly normally, Rainbow quickly dives down to her husband.

Seeing her dive at him, Sonic smirks, positioning himself before reaching for her hoof and latching onto it. Using his momentum, Sonic quickly swings around and grabs Rainbow’s other hoof, and just like when Tails carries him, he hangs beneath her, firmly gripping her hooves.

With the other members of the friend group, Pinkie’s screaming quickly turns to laughter, somehow finding pleasure in her plummet through the skies. “Whee!”

Fluttershy watches her friend worriedly before turning her gaze downwards. Seeing the ground fast approaching stops her from flapping her wings to stop her descent. Instead, her wings cover her eyes, and she tucks herself into a ball, her hair wrapping around her again. “I can't look!”

“YAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!” But Tionic is the most terrified, screaming like a little filly. He flails his arms and legs frantically as he spins uncontrollably, hoping to slow his descent enough to gain some semblance of direction and stop this spinning hell he was stuck in. With an intense amount of fear and emotion coursing through his mind, his powers bolt to life, leaving a trail of electricity behind him as he tumbles through the air. “IhatethisIhatethisIhatethisIHATETHIS!!!”

Rarity’s screaming stops when she notices a mirror falling beside her. She takes a moment to inspect herself before continuing her screaming, and Applejack, watching the whole thing as she holds onto her Stetson, rolls her eyes.

Seeing the ground getting closer, Twilight decides there’s no better time than now to enact her plan. Diving down, she ignites her magic and grabs everyone out of the sky with her magic, quickly pulling them closer to her as she flies over to the crate. Rainbow flies just to the side of it, keeping her speed even with the falling container as Twilight places her friends inside. Tionic quickly puts his back to the side wall and latches onto the edge, terror etched on his face.

"What in the hay is she up to?” Applejack wonders, watching Twilight grab the rope and the banner from before. Twilight folds all four corners of the banner to each other before wrapping the rope around it, creating a web of rope that holds tight.

“I don’t know, but I hope she hurries it up!” Tionic exclaims, gripping the edge hard enough to splinter the wood. He glances over the edge to see the ground fast approaching, and his grip tightens even more as he clenches his eyes shut. “‘Cause we’re gonna be pancakes in a few seconds!”

Hearing the urgency in Tionic’s voice, Twilight kicks it up a notch and flies around the makeshift basket, tying the rope securely and ensuring it wouldn’t budge. She then hops into the crate and grabs Spike, squeezing his stomach hard and making green flames spew out of his mouth.

She directs the stream of fire into the empty cavity of the banner, the hot air quickly expanding it until it reaches its limit. The makeshift hot-air balloon generates enough heat difference and lift to quickly slow the descent, barely nicking the tip of a pine tree before leveling out. The balloon stabilizes, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

Seeing that the balloon was stable, Rainbow drops Sonic into the basket and lands next to him, who eyes Spike resting over the edge, panting from the immense amount of flame he wasn’t used to expending in such a short amount of time.

"Thank goodness,” Rarity sighs, happy that the nightmare was over.

"Phee-yew! Quick thinkin', Twilight!” Applejack compliments. “Ah wouldn’t have thought you would make a hot-air balloon midair, but you did it!”

“Yahoo! Ha, ha!” Twilight exclaims, reveling in her victory. Not only had they escaped Tempest, but they also managed a midair save and now, with their own mode of transportation, were well on their way to Mt. Aris.

“That was fun!” Pinkie exclaims, popping up between them. “Can we do it again?

“NO!”Tionic screams, making everyone jump and turn to him. They’re shocked to see Tionic crouched on the floor, trembling something fierce. His breathing is erratic and shaky, and his face is drained of almost all color. He still hasn’t let go of the edge of the makeshift basket, or what’s of it, anyway, since he crushed it with his bare hands.

“Whoa! Tionic, are you alright?!” Sonic exclaims, kneeling next to the pale Spark and putting a hand on his shoulder. “What happened to you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

“What makes you think I’m alright?!” Tionic exclaims, making everyone flinch. “I just had a near-death experience and almost became one with the earth! It doesn’t help that I don’t do well with heights, either!”

“You’re afraid of heights?!” Twilight exclaims, her ears flopping against her head in shame. “Oh geez, I’m so sorry! If I had known that, I wouldn’t have done that the way I did!”

“I-it’s alright,” Tionic stammers, slowly regaining his composure. “It was a good plan, I’ll give you that,” He sighs. “Just warn me next time, okay?!”

“I will,” Twilight nods, and turns to Rainbow. “Hey, Rainbow, think you can give us a push?”

“You got it!” She salutes, hopping out of the basket and maneuvering behind the basket to push. “Next stop, Mount Aris!”

Back on the ship, Storm Guards sift through crates and rooms, some even throwing a barrel or two like a certain gorilla. Tempest is staring down Capper, Celaeno, and her crew, slowly backing them to the port side. Grubber walks between them from the cargo hold, holding a cupcake and a piece of yellowed paper.

“There's no ponies,” He says, then looks at the baked good. “But I found this. It's a... kind of cupcake... with sprinkles... Oh, yeah, and I found this, too.”

He shows the paper to Tempest, which turns out to be the map Twilight was using to calculate a route to Mt. Aris.

Taking the map, she examines it before her eyes widen when she realizes what this is. Grubber, however, admires the pink drawing next to The mountain. “Wow, this is a real artist!”

“Looks like they're heading to Mount Aris,” Tempest calmly says, though there’s a cold edge to her voice, sending shivers down the ones she was cornering.

“Wait, really?” Capper says, attempting to feign innocence. It doesn’t work. “M-Mount Aris? I... huh, I guess my ears have degraded further than I thought. I-I’m sorry I gave false information... Mount Aris... My bad, I didn't... That's my bad, really. I'm sorry, I'm very, very sorry.”

“Now, about your betrayal...” Her horn lights up, crackling faster and faster as Capper, Celaeno, and her crew step back in fear of what is to come. Tempest releases the pent-up magic, letting it fly across the ship and destroy anything in its path with an explosion akin to a firework. Her magic rips through the ship, tearing through wood and metal like it was nothing and comprising the ship’s structural integrity when one bolt pierces the hull.

She, along with Grubber and the Storm Guards, quickly boarded their ship, disengaging from Celaeno’s ship and putting some distance between them. Capper and the pirates breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the worst was over – it wasn’t.

Tempest takes one last look at Capper and the pirates before a wicked smile crosses her face. Her gaze shifts up, and the pirates follow it, and to their horror, they realize what Tempest is looking at. She charges her mana for one last attack and fires the massive bolt at the balloon keeping the ship aloft. The last thing Capper and the pirates see is a wall of fire and color before everything goes black.