My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Storm of Friendship

by SuperPinkBrony12

Join The Crew

Unfortunately for the captured ponies and dragon, the "meal" the pirates offered consisted of bird seed and some kind of gravy like substance. The birds dug in without hesitation but not one of their captors would even touch the stuff on their plate.

"So what, you were about to throw us overboard and you stopped for a meal break?" Soarin questioned the pirates.

The pirates nodded and one of them even said. "Storm King only offers one meal break a day, we're sure as heck not gonna miss it. If he's got a problem with that, then maybe that lousy cheepskate oughta pay us better. I swear, it's like he takes all the good stuff for himself and dumps whatever he doesn't need on us."

"Storm King doesn't pay much, does he?" Soarin remarked, and the pirates all nodded. "So, what are a bunch of pirates like you doing taking orders from a guy like him?"

"I don't think you understand," Captain Celaeno sighed and hung her head. "We used to be pirates, before he came along and ruined everything."

"You mean the Storm King, don't you?" Shining questioned. "Coincidentally, we're on the run from his forces, including Commander Tempest."

"You're lucky, Storm King only uses Tempest for those he deems the biggest threat to him," Celaeno sighed again. "I can still remember the day we were unlucky enough to run into him. He just strolled aboard our ship like it was no big deal, effortlessly defeated the best of us, and forced us into a contract. And the way he spoke, it was like one moment he was the greatest clown who ever lived and the next he seemed ready to claw his way down your throat and tear out your very soul," She shuddered and her feathers rustled ever so slightly. "Now we deliver his merchandise, and he doesn't have to pluck our feathers. I hate him!" She coldly choked out, slamming her claws down on the table.

One of the other pirates spoke softly to the captain. "Easy there, Captain. You're gonna scare the prisoners. Normally I'd be all for it, but since we're gonna throw 'em overboard anyways after break time's done, why waste the effort?"

"Wait a minute! You hate working for the Storm King, and yet you're gonna follow his rules and toss us overboard?!" Spike exclaimed. "That doesn't even begin to make sense."

"It's nothing personal, kid, that's just business. You don't try to reason with a guy like the Storm King, unless you're looking to get smacked down hard," Another pirate declared in a bitter tone of voice. "Like it or not, we do what he says. We mind our own business and the Storm King minds his. That's the way things work."

Soarin, however, kept on pressing. "But what about that flag in the cargo hold? What about before you met the Storm King? You said you used to be pirates, but you seem way too friendly for that to be the case."

"We much prefer the term 'Swashbuckling Adventurers'," Captain Celaeno commented. "We were really pirates in name only. We robbed and pillaged only from those who'd already stolen from others. We kept only what we needed to get by, the rest we always donated to worthy causes. Apparently that didn't sit right with the Storm King, he told us we were wasting our time with the 'Good Guys Routine' as he put it."

Soarin commented boldly in reply. "Well you know what? If you really hate the Storm King so much then maybe it's time you did something about it! You've got a choice to make. You could let some cloven-hoofed Storm King tell you how to live your lives, or..." With a swoosh he jumped up on the table and proclaimed. "You could be awesome again! We happen to be in need of transport to Mount Aris, to find Queen Novo. Then we're gonna go back to our homeland and kick the Storm King's sorry butt!"

"Uh, Soarin, maybe we shouldn't be telling them all this." Shining nervously whispered in vain.

"So what's it gonna be? Are you gonna stand up for yourselves? Or keep slaving away for that good for nothing Storm King?" Soarin questioned. "If you keep working for the Storm King, then you're gonna have to stop complaining about how much you hate him. And you're gonna have to look yourselves in the mirror every day and ask how you can keep working for someone who treats you like dirt."

Celaeno's raspberry eyes started to rise, and her ears began to perk up. "Little pony, what are you suggesting?"

The Wonderbolt Co-Captain merely flashed a grin. "Perhaps you'll get the point if I sing." And that's just what he did, and it sounded something like this:

I know the world can get you down,

Things don't work out quite the way that you thought.

Now you're feeling like all your best days are done,

Your fears and doubts are all that you've got.

But there's a light shining deep inside,

Beneath those fears and doubts, so squash 'em!

Now let it shine for all the world to see,

'Cause it is time, yeah, time to be awesome!

The crew started to join in, and even Soarin's friends couldn't resist clapping and chanting:

Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome!

It's time to be so awesome!

Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome!

Yeah, it's time to be so awesome!

Rising from her seat at the table, Captain Celeano began to sing:

You've no idea how hard it's been,

This dull routine we've been forced to do.

Soarin joined in as he encouraged:

Don't let them rob you of who you are,

Be awesome, it's all up to you.

The Captain continued to sing, her voice swelling with pride:

I feel a light stirring deep inside,

It's like a tale still yet to be told.

She and Soarin then sang together:

Well now it's time to break the shackles free,

And start living like the brave and the bold!

All onboard the ship started to sing in triumph:

It's time to be awesome!

Let loose and be true, so awesome!

It's time to be awesome!

Go big and be you, so awesome!

The rest of the crew started to sing as they donned their pirate gear, including hats, eyepatches, and hook hands:

We used to soar through the skies,

Elaborate schemes we loved to devise.

We rescued our treasure and stored it away,

Been saving those gemstones for a rainy day.

We see that light filling up our skies,

Soarin continued to sing as Captain Celeano heaved the heavy book detailing all of the Storm King's rules and brought it to the edge of the plank. He motioned for the captain to throw the book overboard as he sang:

So take the Storm King's orders and toss 'em!

All onboard sang:

Now is the time to let our colors fly.

And Captain Celeano then encouragingly sang:

Hey, scallywags, it's time to be awesome!

---

Before long, the pirates had officially brought out their old costumes and had turned the zeppelin back into a pirate ship. They even flung their old, dusty and torn flag from the crow's nest.

Captain Celeano then swooped down next to Soarin. "Thanks for the encouragement, pony," She said as she held out a claw. "All this time I was deceiving myself into thinking that working for the Storm King was a necessary evil, that I had no other choice. Maybe at one point that was true. But not anymore! I won't be a pawn in his game!"

"Hey, sometimes you just need a little bit of encouragement to be reminded of what you were always capable of. Happens to the best of us sometimes," Soarin politely replied as he returned the claw shake. "So, does this mean you'll take us to Mount Aris?"

Captain Celeano chuckled, adjusting her hat. "You kidding?! We could take you to the edge of the world if we wanted to. There's just one small problem though."

"And that would be?" Thunderlane questioned.

"To reach Mount Aris we'd have to cross through the heart of the Sea of Clouds," Captain Celeano explained to the ponies. "And at this time of year the clouds can be so thick it's almost impossible to see through 'em. Many a ship have gotten lost and never been heard from again."

Soarin merely grinned. "Not a problem, you leave those clouds to Thunderlane and I."

"Hope you're not pulling my wooden leg, little pony," Captain Celeano declared as she flew over to the steering wheel. "Alright, scallywags. Next stop, Mount Aris!"

As the ship began to adjust its course, Spike happened to notice Shining Armor slowly slinking his way back towards the captain's quarters. The little dragon was quite concerned about this. "What's the matter, Shining? Don't tell me you don't trust these pirates."

"Well they are pirates, Spike," Shining protested. "We don't know what kind of leverage the Storm King has over them. And after what happened with Capper, we really can't be too careful," Then he added. "But it's not that I don't trust them. For now it seems we share a common enemy. And as the old saying goes: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"Then how come you weren't really participating in the song? And why do you not want to be on deck with them?" Spike questioned.

Shining weakly replied. "My airsickness is acting up again. I though the spell I cast would last a lot longer than it did."

"Ah, I see, still ain't got your air legs yet." Spike teased.

The prince nodded. "But I'll make the most of my down time by planning out how to best approach Queen Novo. First impressions can go a long way when you're trying to gain an ally."

Author's Note:

As good as "Time to be Awesome" is, it does gloss through a very important change of heart for Captain Celeano and her crew. In real life it really isn't that simple for those in a bad situation to just turn their life around. Granted, the movie is not the only one aimed at kids that goes for that upbeat message and it's not wrong to teach them that you can change your life if you're the one who's unhappy with it.

I also want to change up Shining's role and give Captain Celeano a bigger presence than she got in the movie. The movie itself never gave Celeano a chance to stand out compared to her crewmates and the other allies. And Twilight's character was caught in a difficult middle ground between the token cynic and "The Only Sane One". (The movie tried to have her be both and ended up with her not really fitting fully into either.)

Comments

[Comickook]

Hello there. Thanks again for getting the next chapter up. Once more, you did a splendid job on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places. I particularly liked how Celeano explained the situation of herself and her crew to the stallions and Spike as well as Soarin's pep talk to Celeano and her crew (which, considering Soarin' CAN'T do a Sonic Rainboom, did NOT go as badly as Rainbow Dash's in the actual movie).

Now, I'll very certainly be looking forward to more of this, of course.