Behind the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob chucked the last garbage bag into the dumpster with a mighty heave. He was dusting off his hands when he heard something behind him. The yellow sponge turned around a saw, what looked to be, some kind of portal appearing before his very eyes.
"Well, that's something you don't see every day." He said to himself.
SpongeBob walked closer to get a better look. He put a hand up to his chin, studying the peculiar sight. He looked around to see if there was anyone nearby. Realizing he was all by himself, SpongeBob slowly inched his hand closer to the portal opening. Before he could touch it, however, a mass of colorful creatures shot out of the portal and collided into the sea sponge. The creatures happened to be the Main 6 and Spike. They all lay in a pile, dazed.
"Ugh. That's got to take some getting used to." Twilight said dizzily.
"Speak for yourself." Rainbow flying up into the air.
Then she realize what happened to them. She looked all over herself; her back hooves were replaced with a large tailfin. Fins lined her back, sporting her cutie mark and her wings had become sleek and translucent.
"What the hay is going on?" She said in shocked confusion.
The Main 6 were quick to realize what was going on.
"The portal...changed us." Twilight said in awe.
"But, why? Why did it transform us into...What are we supposed ta be?" Applejack asked.
Twilight studied their new features. Then she looked around. The ground was nothing but sand and she could see coral and algae-covered rocks here and there.
"Well, it seems that we're underwater. So, we've taken on a more aquatic design. I guess we've become like sea ponies now." The alicorn, turned sea pony, explained.
"Is that where we are?" Fluttershy waved a hoof against the water. "I guess that explains how we are breathing underwater."
"These fins are simply divine." Rarity said with star-spangled eyes.
"Uh, girls? What's going on with me?" Spike asked. He hadn't been turned into a sea pony like the others.
He had small fins on his back and behind with spines protruding all over his small, round body. As fear slowly crept into him. Spike involuntarily, and rapidly, puffed up like a balloon. Pinkie and Twilight giggled in amusement.
"Mmm. Fmm." Twilight heard a muffled voice underneath her. She looked down and noticed she was laying on top of someone.
"Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry!" The purple sea pony gasped.
She leapt off of the sea sponge and pulled him back onto his feet.
"That's okay. No harm done." The sea sponge said happily. "And by the way, you wouldn't happened to be related to Mrs. Puff would you? She's a pufferfish just like you." He said to Spike.
"Umm...no. I have no idea who that is." Spike said in confusion. "But, who are you?"
"The name's SpongeBob. SpongeBob Squarepants." The sea sponge shook Twilight's hoof.
"Interesting name." Twilight said to herself. "It's very nice to meet you. I'm Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends; Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Spike."
"Howdy." Applejack greeted.
"It's super-duper nice to meet." Pinkie swam up to the SpongeBob excitedly.
"Hi." Fluttershy said quietly.
"Greetings, darling." Rarity said politely.
"Hello." Spike said.
"Fastest flyer in Equestria." Rainbow said confidently.
"Uh, 'xcuse me, Mr. Squarepants. Would ya mind tellin' us where we are?" Applejack politely asked.
The sponge gave a small gasp.
"Well, you're in Bikini Bottom, of course. Home of the Krusty Krab." Spongebob raised his arms to the restaurant behind him.
"I see." Twilight said. "What's with this place and it's weird names?"
"By the way, what's with the portal. Are you guys time-travelers something?" SpongeBob asked.
"No, we're from a different world. We were brought here on a friendship mission, to help with anything bad that might happen." The purple sea pony explained carefully.
"Oh, boy. I'm all for friendship." SpongeBob gave a wide grin. "But, I got to get back to work."
"Wait, you work here?" Rainbow asked.
"Sure do." The sponge confirmed.
Just then, a rotund, pink starfish walked up to them.
"Good morning, SpongeBob!" The starfish greeted.
"Morning, Patrick." SpongeBob greeted back. "Girls, this my best friend, Patrick. Patrick this Twilight and her friends."
"Hello." The Main 7 greeted.
"Hello, I'm Patrick." Patrick said.
"...We know that. SpongeBob already told us." Rarity said.
Patrick chuckled a little. "Heh, yeah."
"So, you here for your pre-lunch Krabby Patty?" SpongeBob asked his best friend.
"I'm getting two today. One for me and one for my friend." Patrick said.
"Oh. Have I met this friend?" SpongeBob asked playfully.
"You know me, SpongeBob." Patrick said in a fake voice, pushing his belly fat together to form a mouth.
The two laughed together at the joke.
"Enjoy, Patrick's tummy." SpongeBob waved his Patrick goodbye as the starfish made his way to the Krusty Krab's main entrance.
"Yup. You two definitely act like best friends." Applejack chuckled in amusement.
"He seems a bit...educationally challenged." Rarity admitted.
"He's not the sharpest clam in the sand, but that's what I love about him." SpongeBob said.
The Main 7 and SpongeBob heard a loud whirring sound coming from above. They looked up in confusion. High above, a giant airplane circled around the restaurant. As it neared the front end, the bottom cargo doors opened and a massive jar of tartar sauce plunged right for the Krusty Krab.
Down below, the manager of the burger joint was busy counting today's profit to notice the falling condiment jar.
"Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen..." He counted.
"Hey, Mr. Krabs, I thought we got our tartar sauce delivery on Thursday." SpongeBob and the others came through the front doors.
"You guys airlift your ingredients?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, I tried that once." Pinkie said.
The red crab looked up with a puzzled look.
"Tartar..." The jar smashed to the ground, shattering instantly. SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs, and the Krusty Krab were now covered in the creamy condiment.
"...sauce." Mr. Krabs croaked.
"Are you serious?!" Rarity screeched, pulling her red sofa out of nowhere and flopped onto it "Why must every mission ruin my mane."
"I think a better question is why somepony would just drop a jar of...tartar sauce is it?" Twilight said.
"Taste tangy." Pinkie licked the sauce off her front hoof.
"Bull's-eye!" A voice laughed from the plane.
"Plankton!" SpongeBob said, alarmed.
"So it's a food fight he wants, eh?" Mr. Krabs glared up at the airplane.
"Wait. Who's Plankton?" Spike asked.
"A rival restaurant owner. He's been trying to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula for years." The yellow sea sponge explained.
"What's so special about a special recipe?" Rainbow asked blandly.
"It be the backbone of this establishment. If Plankton gets his hands on it, it spells the end of the Krusty Krab. And it will bring his failing restaurant to success." The old crab explained further.
"What are we going to do?" Fluttershy asked.
"If he wants to play dirty, then I'm happy to oblige." Mr. Krabs growled.
High above, the airplane began to hone in on the Krusty Krab.
"Welcome to Air Plankton. Please put your seats back and tray tables up as we're now approaching our final destination." Plankton mocked.
In an instant, a trench encircled the restaurant. Sandbags, wooden stakes, and barbwire littered the area. An air raid siren went off as the chimney was replaced with a machine gun with Main 7 stood with SpongeBob and Patrick in military attire.
"We're not even here for five minutes and we're already in a war?!" Rarity asked in astoundment.
"I know, right? It's so awesome." Rainbow said eagerly.
"No it's not!" Rarity snapped back.
"Okay, Patrick, load the potatoes!" SpongeBob commanded.
"Mashed or scalloped, sir?" Patrick asked.
"No, Patrick. Raw." SpongeBob sneered.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Patrick dumped a bag of raw potatoes into the ammunition dock.
"Locked and loaded!" The starfish yelled.
"Can't we just talk these out peacefully with him?" The timid mare asked fearfully.
"Peace was never an option." SpongeBob said coldly.
Down below, Mr. Krabs, in his own military attire, peered into the safe where the secret formula was sitting amongst piles of cash.
"Don't worry, little formuler, you'll be safe in this...safe." Mr. Krabs locked the door and grabbed a speaker on his desk. "Fire!"
With the order given, SpongeBob shot at Plankton's plane with a barrage of raw spuds.
"Potatoes?!" Plankton cried.
Grabbing the controls, he swung the plane from side-to-side to avoid the storm of spuds.
"He's closing in!" SpongeBob yelled.
"I think we have a few minutes before he gets here." Patrick viewed through through one of the binocular's lenses.
"Yeah, we have all the time in the world." Pinkie viewed through the other.
"That's because you two are using the binoculars wrong." Rainbow said in a flat tone.
SpongeBob turned the binoculars around for the two.
"He's right on top of us!" Patrick and Pinkie held each other in a panic.
Potatoes zeroed I’m on the plane's propellers. But, all that accomplished was shredding them into fries. An unsuspecting civilian fish was on a leisurely walk when hundreds of fries rained down from above.
"Hey, it's raining fries!" He said whimsically.
"It's gonna take a lot more than potatoes to bring this baby down." Plankton taunted.
More potatoes splattered against the front end and tore through the wings, causing them to rip away from the main body.
"Or maybe not." Plankton said plainly.
The plane dropped to the ground in a tremendous explosion. Customers from inside the Krusty Krab gasped, then cheered in victory. SpongeBob and Patrick were jumping for joy.
"Well, that was short-lived." Rainbow said flatly.
"That's supposed to be a good thing." Applejack said, irritated.
"Wait a minute, guys, look! He's got a tank!" SpongeBob pointed at a large, green machine slowly parachuting down to the ground.
Inside, Plankton loaded a pickle into the cannon.
"Well, Krabs, you're certainly in a pickle now!" He joked cynically.
He aimed the cannon right at SpongeBob and the others. Once he was locked on, Plankton fired the massive pickle. It zeroed in on our heroes. They all gasped.
"Take cover!" Twilight screamed.
They all jumped from the roof just as the pickled slammed into the sandbags and exploded. They all landed inside the trench. SpongeBob and Patrick founded themselves in the wall. Pickle pieces pelted the ground around them.
"Oh, this is degrading." Rarity whined.
More pickle slices rained down on the fish civilian.
"Hey, it's raining pickles!" He said. A large shadow casted over him. "Now it's raining..."
Plankton's tank landed right on top of him.
"...tanks." The fish groaned in pain.
"You're welcome." Plankton said sarcastically as he drove the machine forward.
Back at the trench, Twilight and Rainbow pulled Patrick from the hole.
"You okay, Patrick?" Spike asked in concern.
"Finland." The starfish groaned.
SpongeBob popped out of the hole soon after. The nine friends peered over the wall. They shrieked and ducked for cover as more pickles rocketed passed them. A telephone sat close by them, SpongeBob quickly turned the handle.
"Your order, sir!" He said.
"I'll have two Krabby Patties-extra ketchup, extra mustard, and hold the mayo." A squirrel in a white suit said. her name was Sandy.
SpongeBob realized he was talking through the drive thru speaker.
"Wrong channel!" He turned the handle again. "Your order, sir?"
"Extra ketchup! Extra mustard! Hold the mayo! Mr. Krabs ordered authoritatively.
"Yes, sir!" SpongeBob saluted.
He appeared over the wall with a giant, ketchup bottle-shaped cannon in his hand.
"Extra ketchup! Extra mustard!" SpongeBob repeated.
"Hold the mayo." Patrick heaved, struggling to hold up a giant jar of mayonnaise.
The Main 6 and Spike stood there in bewilderment.
"Where do you get these things?" Twilight asked in utter confusion.
"Unleash the condiments!" Mr. Krabs ordered.
"With relish." SpongeBob replied. he gave a war cry and shot rounds of ketchup and mustard at the armored tank.
It became apparent, however, that it had no effect on Plankton's tank.
"Uh, guys. I don't think this is working." Spike said.
"Ya think." Rainbow said, exasperated.
Suddenly, SpongeBob ran out of ammo and the ketchup sputtered to a stop.
"Excuse me." He joked. He, Patrick, and Pinkie shared a good laugh.
"This is not the time for immature jokes!" Twilight warned.
SpongeBob reloaded and continued shooting more ketchup and mustard at Plankton.
"Hello? Hello?" Sandy called through the drive-thru window.
Meanwhile, Mr. Krabs was studying a map on the bunker wall.
"Guess ya'll don't want my money." Sandy's voice could be heard through the speaker.
"Money?" Mr. Krabs stopped what he was doing.
As quickly as he could, he raced to the drive-thru window, grabbed Sandy's money, and handing her the bagged meal.
"Thank you, come again." He said before racing away.
Sandy sat there in her vehicle, confused.
Back at the battle, SpongeBob continued to shoot red and yellow condiments at the incoming tank, all the while he and the others ducked to avoiding incoming pickles.
"We have to do somethin'. We can't leave SpongeBob to do all the work." Applejack said.
"But, what can we do?" Twilight asked. "It's not like we carry around weapons as wacky as this." She pointed at the ketchup gun.
Pinkie then threw a cupcake right at the tank. The sugary treat plastered itself against the front.
"Can I have that back please?" Pinkie cried out.
"Oh, for Celestia's sake." Rainbow face-hoofed.
"I can't hold the mayo any longer." Patrick wheezed, before throwing the hulking jar through the air.
It landed right in Plankton's path, shattering on contact with the ground.
"Mayo? Well, it's going to take a lot more than mayo to stop..." Plankton rammed into the mountain of creamy mayo causing a large explosion, sending mayo and tank pieces everywhere.
"Oh, my." Fluttershy whispered, just as a wave of mayonnaise splashed into them.
Rarity teetered over onto her fainting couch.
"Why! Why-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y!" She cried into the pillows, staining them with the pure white condiment.
Just then, the ground began to shake and rumble.
"Now what?" SpongeBob winced.
From the pile of mayonnaise, a ginormous, plankton-themed robot emerged. Plankton laughed maniacally down at the puny creatures. The robot's shadow loomed over them as the stood, slack-jawed.
"Uh, I just remembered I don't work for Mr. Krabs!" Patrick handed SpongeBob his hat before running for his life.
"Coward." Rainbow growled.
"But, the smart thing to do." Twilight squealed.
SpongeBob and the Main 7 ran, or in the Main 7's case swam, for their lives for the Krusty Krab as the robot stomped toward them.
"Robot! Robot! Robot! Giant robot!" SpongeBob yelled.
Inside his office, Mr. Krabs stood behind the safe. He could here the massive steps from whatever was outside and SpongeBob's cries of panic. Sweat slid down his face, fear enveloping his entire crustaceous body. Suddenly, SpongeBob barged through the door.
"Mr. Krabs, Plankton's here and he's got a giant robot!" The sea sponge explained.
"Quick, boy, bar the door." Mr. Krabs ordered swiftly.
SpongeBob took action and lodge a chair against the doorknob.
"Got it." He exclaimed happily, only for a giant, robotic foot to crash through the wall.
Plankton laughed evilly, stepping closer to Mr. Krabs. Rainbow swam up and open the crushed door off SpongeBob.
"Are you going to be okay?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.
"I'm more worried about, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob gasped.
"I'll take one secret formula." Plankton requested. "To go."
Mr. Krabs gasped in fear. Rainbow dash swam up in front of him and raised her hooves in defense.
"You want the formula? You'll have to go through me." She challenged.
Not willing to leave their friend alone, The rest of the Main 7 swam up and join her.
"And me." Applejack added confidently
"Count me in." Pinkie said.
"And me, too." Twilight said firmly.
"Don't forget about me." Rarity chimed in.
"And me, as well." Fluttershy said as firmly as she could.
"And me." Spike puffed up his body.
Plankton stared at them for a second then laughed insanely.
"What? You think a group of pastel-colored seahorses and your pet pufferfish can stop me?" He mocked. "What are you going to do? Slap me with your tailfins? Oh, I'm so scared."
Plankton laughed even harder, the robot's hand reached for them. The main 7 stood there ground. Mr. Krabs closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable. But then, the machine stopped. Sparks danced around and the giant robot fell onto it's knee. The light on it's head turned dark, signifying only one thing.
"Oh, barnacles. I'm out of gas?" Plankton asked angrily. The light showed "E" for empty.
"That was close." Twilight said relief.
The other sea ponies breathed a collective sigh of relief. SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs, on the other hand, gave a heart laugh. Plankton walked down the reaching arm with a determined look.
"I'm not through yet. I've got something that will make you hand over that formula. Something you can't resist." Plankton pulled his wallet.
"Money!" Mr. Krabs gasped in shock.
"You're gonna try and bribe him?" Rainbow asked incredulously.
"Mr. Krabs does love money. It's like a blessing and a curse." SpongeBob said.
"Yes!" Plankton opened his wallet only to fin it was empty. "That's...that's...that's impossible!"
He looked all around inside his wallet, but there wasn't so much as a dime in there.
"Well, it was full of money just last week." Plankton stated. "And then I brought that airplane and built that tank."
The realization came to him. He had spent all his life savings for that one, final assault.
"Sounds to me like someone's just a wee bit broke!" Mr. Krabs said with a cynical grin.
"So, that's it. You got nothing left to throw at us?" Twilight asked Plankton.
Plankton gave a sad sigh.
"Well, Krabs, I guess you've won. I've spent every penny I've ever made trying to put you out of business." He lamented, fishing something out of his pocket. "Except this one. My last penny. Besides, what can i do with one measly cent anyway?"
"You could give it to me. Just a suggestion." Mr. Krabs offered.
"Here, take it." Plankton flipped the coin to his rival. Mr. Krabs caught it, dropped it into the safe, and locked it for good.
"You've taken everything else. Why not?" Plankton began to sob.
Mr. Krabs grabbed him by his antenna and walked out of the destroyed office room. SpongeBob and the Main 7 followed
"Well, Plankton, like a reheated Krabby Patty, you've been foiled again." The red crab dropped him to the floor.
Plankton sat there and gave a sad groan. The customers all looked down at him with amused smiles.
"I guess this means the secret formula is safe forever, right, Mr. Krabs?" SpongeBob said to his boss.
"It sure does, boy." Mr. Krabs patted SpongeBob's head. "And, uh, thanks for coming to my aid." He said to the Main 7.
"It was the right thing to do." Twilight smiled.
"Why don't you scurry along?" Mr. Krabs nudged Plankton forward before laughing. "Thanks for coming! Have a nice day."
The customers laughed, too, as Plankton slowly and sadly made his way to the front entrance. Despite all the he had done, Fluttershy couldn't but feel a little sorry for Plankton.
"Don't you girls think that was a little cruel?" Fluttershy asked.
"He ruined my main. He gets no sympathy from me." Rarity huffed.
"Ah would've done the same thing if that varmin tried to put me outta business." Applejack stated firmly.
"But, that's it? That battle barely lasted five minutes." Rainbow said. "The map summoned us just to be part of some epic-proportion food fight?"
"I have a feeling there's more to it than this." Twilight put a hoof to her chin. "I think we should keep an eye on Plankton."
"Whatever you say, Twi." The rainbow-maned sea pony said.
If only Twilight knew how right she was.
To be continued