Episode 14: "Squirk, King of the Seas Part 1"
…
One night off the coast of Mount Aris, a medium sized boat floated with colors from the Royal Equestrian Navy was out on patrol. Aboard, one of the ship's sailors looked out over the water, looking for any signs of trouble on or below the sea.
"All's well, Captain," The sailor reported as a white unicorn pony in a naval uniform walked towards the soldier. "Everything looks good out here so far. No sign of the sea creature."
Unconvinced, the captain looked out and down to the water below, using a spell to cast a light on the water.
"He's got to be around here somewhere," He declared and proceeded to cast a radar spell, giving him access to examine what was beneath the surface. "Remember that we are at war, sailor."
The captain looked around the area that they were in and found nothing. This left the sailor feeling and looking confused.
"Sir, I…I don't understand. Who is this sea creature we are looking for, and why's he been targeting random boats?"
"He's a dangerous one, lad," The captain answered. "A long time ago he was involved in a great conflict with the Lava demon and well…their conflict almost reshaped Equestria as we know it. Now, with Emperor Grogar revealed to be alive, this creature might have returned as well. We must stay vigilant."
Suddenly, the two ponies heard a yell from the crow's nest! "DORSAL FIN OFF THE STARBOARD BOW!" The lookout shouted as the captain ran over to the starboard bow and quickly turned on his magic, shining the light on a red dorsal fin sticking out of the water.
Seeing the dorsal fin preparing to make a turn, he yelled out to the helmsman!
"HARD TO STARBOARD!" He shouted and the sailor at the helm quickly turned the wheel to the left. "TO YOUR STATIONS, LADS!"
Heeding their captain's command, the sailors grabbed their weapons and prepared to throw them at the sea creature. But the dorsal fin continued to get closer and closer!
"As soon as he comes near!" The captain instructed, but before he could give the order the dorsal fin went under the water and under the ship. "Hold your fire!"
An eerie silence befell on the ship with each sailor aboard trying to figure out where the creature disappeared to.
"It's…it's gone," A sailor pony remarked. "It's gone."
Then, without warning, one of the sailor ponies cried out as tentacles began to grab at the ship.
"What in Equestria?!" The captain screamed! "It's pulling us down! ABANDON SHIP!"
Screaming, the sailor ponies began jumping into the water as the creature continued to pull the ship down!
Out on Mount Aris, the screams from the sailors were heard, and immediately the hippogriff forces were alerted and sent out to the area.
"Was this where the screams were heard?" Skybeak called to one of his air soldiers as they flew over the area.
"Yes sir," The hippogriff soldier replied. "This was where the ship went down."
"Go down there and see if there are any survivors! Hurry!" Skybeak ordered and several of the platoon transformed into seaponies and went beneath the surface. "The rest of you stay here and scour the surfaces."
So, the search was on for survivors and looking down at the water, Skybeak sighed heavily knowing that another of Equestria's most feared enemies had returned.
…
…
Meanwhile in Canterlot, Twilight and her friends were in the throne room as they addressed Optimus and several of the Maximals.
"We appreciate you all coming together on such short notice," She said, holding a scroll in her aura. "I just received this notice from Discord up on the moon."
Taking the scroll, Optimus read it quietly.
"Hmm, seems to me like Grogar is finally planning to make his move," The Maximal leader remarked. "And where he goes, Megatron and the Predacons are sure to follow."
"So wherever Megadork goes we go too, right?" Rattrap replied as he shrugged his shoulders. "Just like old times. Can't wait to blast those stinkin' preds to kingdom come!"
"Megatron cannot be underestimated, Rattrap," Rodimus Primal cautioned. "Ever since we arrived here, I've had a premonition that what happened in our first encounter with Megatron on this strange planet was meant to be followed up at some point."
"Um, no offense, Roddy," Rattrap remarked. "But do you even realize how many times we've had to follow up on Megatron and his bozos? Dude was as crazy as they come, and yet we managed to defeat him. It don't matter who he allies himself with."
"Shut up, Rattrap," Optimus ordered, looking briefly at him before refocusing on Twilight and her friends. "I can assure that we'll be at the ready when the time comes, Twilight. However, I can't guarantee an easy victory, especially not against Megatron."
"Nopony or nocreature is asking you for an easy victory, big guy," Rainbow Dash replied while hovering in front of Optimus. "I mean, you're here to provide us with support, not to do all the dirty work by yourselves. Equestria is our home after all, so of course we have to defend it."
"If this war of yours involves Megatron and the Predacons," Optimus declared to Rainbow Dash in a firm voice. "Then it's personal for us too, just like the Beast Wars."
"Optimus has a point," Rodimus nodded, walking over to Optimus. "If I know my brother, he's more than willing to lay down his life for a friend, including creatures of different types such as yourselves. You shouldn't underestimate him, just as you shouldn't underestimate Megatron."
Just then, Optimus' radio came on and he tapped into the system.
"Optimus Primal here," He announced, turning his back on the group for a brief moment. "Come in."
"What's he doing?" Fluttershy wondered with a confused expression on her face.
"I'm not sure," Applejack muttered in a quiet voice. "I reckon it's how these here bots communicate with each other. Ain't like anythin' I've seen before, that's for sure."
Everyone waited for Optimus to finish his communication while Cheetor and Rodimus went to Optimus' side. "Right, I'll let them know," The Maximal leader nodded. "Optimus out."
"Optimus, what is it?" The young Maximal scout asked. "What's going on, big bot?"
"Rhinox reported that there are strange flying creatures coming towards our position," Optimus answered. "For one thing, they aren't Predacons, or Silverbolt and the other Maximal flyers."
Having overheard this, Twilight spoke up. "Optimus," She asked. "I think I may have an understanding of what those flyers are."
"Twilight, darling," Rarity gasped. "Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop on others, especially when it's royalty doing it?"
But the supreme princess silenced her friend and walked off her throne towards Optimus and his fellow Maximals.
"There are several types of creatures in Equestria that can fly," She explained. "Including pegasus ponies. Did Rhinox report on what the creatures looked like?"
"Supposedly, they were bird-like creatures." Optimus replied.
"Then they're either hippogriffs or griffons." Twilight concluded.
"Hippogriffs?" Rattrap huffed, placing his hands on his hips. "Are you talking about hippos that can fly?"
"We thought the same thing when we first heard about the Hippogriffs," Pinkie Pie told Rattrap. "Although there's an actual hippo queen out there somewhere."
Rattrap just rolled his eyes.
"Now I've seen everything."
…
Suddenly, the doors of the throne room flung open and in stepped General Seaspray and his flying platoon.
"Princess Twilight," He panted, quickly bowing to her. "Thank Equestria you're here! There's been an attack!"
"Is it Grogar?!" Twilight asked.
"No, it's coming from underneath the ocean by Mount Aris," Seaspray confirmed. "The sea creature of legend has returned."
"Is it a bunyip?" Applejack asked. "Rarity, Pinkie and I remember one that ruined a boat trip we participated in a few years back. Can't imagine what they'd be doin' out near Mount Aris though."
"It is no bunyip, Princess Applejack," Seaspray explained. "This creature has a red shark-like fin, and squid like tentacles. It attacked one of your naval ships, dragging it down into the sea. Fortunately, we hippogriffs were able to rescue the survivors in the nick of time."
This made Twilight turn sharply to Seaspray.
"When did this happen?!" She firmly demanded. "There's only one sea monster I know of that matches that description."
"Who is it, Twilight?" Rarity asked.
"Squirk, king of the Equestrian seas." Twilight quietly answered, causing all of her friends to gasp!
…
Back on the moon, Grogar stood on a platform in the courtyard where his legions of donkey soldiers and newly created Predacons stood at attention. Megatron and Sombra also stood on the platform.
"All present and accounted for, royalty." Inferno reported, much to Megatron's irritation.
"Thank you, sub-commander," Grogar replied as Terrorsaur tapped on drums in a military style for several moments. "As of this moment, we will begin launching the first phase of our attack on Equestria. You are all purposed to restore me to the throne that was taken from me thousands of years ago. This…is our target."
Activating the powers of his bewitching bell, Grogar produced a picture of King Vorak and Scorpan for his army to see.
"King Vorak, ruler of the centaur and gargoyle kingdom," He announced. "Father of our comrade, Lord Tirek, who didn't have the audacity to attend this sendoff."
Hiding up in his quarters, Tirek looked out a window with a disgusted look on his face. He wanted to be the one to bring down his father, and now he was being denied that honor. Hearing a knock on the door, Tirek didn't even bother to answer it. The door opened to reveal Chrysalis and Cozy Glow on the other side.
"Look at him down there," Tirek muttered. "Stealing the opportunity that was meant to be mine. I should be the one to kill my father, not Grogar."
"It is what it is, Tirek," Chrysalis coldly remarked. "Remember that Grogar does have that bear of his that he'll sic on us if we show signs of insubordination."
"Yeah, that mean old bear!" Cozy Glow added. "Please don't put us at risk, Tirek! I don't wanna become a snack for that overgrow sack of fur!"
"Why does this concern either of you?" Tirek implied turning around to face his girlfriend and his daughter figure. "Vorak is my father, not yours."
"Because we care about you," Chrysalis whispered, flying over to Tirek and hugging him. "And I love you."
Letting his guard down slightly, Tirek embraced his comrades. But then suddenly, they saw Lockdown running into the courtyard, interrupting Grogar's speech to his army!
"What is the meaning of this, Lockdown?!" Grogar demanded as the Predacon bounty hunter bowed to him. "How dare you interrupt me before we are to launch our attack!"
"There is a…far more pressing issue, my master!" Lockdown panted. "A great creature of the seas has returned!"
Standing amongst the army, Lavan scowled at what he was about to hear. "Is it Squirk?" He cried out, catching Grogar's attention. "Is it him?!"
"Silence, Lavan!" Grogar demanded. "Get back to your place in line!"
But Lavan didn't care as he walked towards Lockdown. Grabbing Lockdown's throat, he picked up the Predacon bounty hunter and put him to his face. "Is this my rival from so long ago?" He whispered to Lockdown.
"Lavan, didn't you hear our emperor?" Sombra snorted. "Return to your place in line!"
Snarling quietly, the lava demon dropped Lockdown on the ground.
"What do we do now, royalty?" Inferno asked. "Do we still carry out the attack on Vorak?"
"Not now," Grogar replied, turning around to Inferno. "We shall wait until the king of the Equestrian Seas is added to our ranks."
Lavan scowled at hearing this declaration from Grogar. After over a thousand years, his most despised rival was about to make his return.
…
…
Back in Canterlot, Twilight paced back and forth, trying to absorb the fact that the King of the Equestrian Seas had returned.
"Squirk?" Pinkie Pie wondered. "Since when have we heard of a guy named Squirk?"
"Squirk used to be one of our own," Skybeak explained, causing Twilight to stop pacing back and forth. "A hippogriff/seapony, until Queen Novo's great grandparents banished him from Seaquestria for crimes against the crown."
"He used to be one of your kind?" Twilight pondered. "I…I remember learning about him in the School of Magic when I was a filly, but…I thought he disappeared forever."
"He was one of our best generals," Skybeak explained. "Until he became obsessed with creating a new form meant to make us stronger, at least in his mind. He wanted our undersea forms to either be a shark or a squid because in his mind, we were stronger that way."
"And he was refused the chance for his so-called vision to be carried out?" Applejack questioned. "And that's why he turned to crime?"
"Sheesh, sounds twisted," Rattrap shuddered. "So, what? Do we grab a harpoon and…uh…hunt him down? We don't have Depth Charge to help us with sea based missions."
Just then, another communication came into Optimus' feed. "Optimus here, come in,"He declared, his back once again briefly turned away from the group. "What is it, Rhinox? Right. Optimus out," Turning off his feed, Optimus turned to Twilight and the others. "Just got word from Rhinox," He announced to the Maximals. "There are stasis pods in the water by a large mountain."
Skybeak's eyes dropped upon hearing this! "That's Mount Aris!" He cried before a look of confusion crossed his face. "Um…what is a stasis pod?"
"The vessel that holds our sparks, leaving us in a state of suspended animation until we are activated," Optimus explained. "If Megatron gets his evil hands on them he could turn them into Predacons, or even terminate them should he fail to convert them!"
"Then we must go to Mount Aris and investigate this immediately!" Twilight declared! "Optimus, contact Rhinox and have him meet us at Mount Aris in two hours! And bring all the other Maximals with you, we may need their help!"
"You got it!" Optimus firmly replied, turning on his prime jets and flying out of the throne room. "Maximals, move out!"
Turning into their beast modes, Rattrap, Rodimus and Cheetor all followed suit.
"I still don't get how they're able to do that." Rainbow Dash remarked as they left.
…
Back on the moon, Lockdown retreated into Grogar's secret laboratory and transforming into Discord, knew that he needed to work fast if Squirk was to be stopped.
"Squirk, Squirk, Squirk," He muttered, taking a book and flipping through the pages, trying to find a section on the sea creature. "Here it is! Squirk, the sea king of Equestria. A former hippogriff/seapony who tried to create a new sea form for the hippogriffs behind the backs of their leader. He was banished after his conspiracy against the crown was discovered."
Closing the book, Discord then proceeded to try and activate one of Grogar's used memory orbs.
"There's got to be something I can do to help Twilight and the others," He whispered, knowing that Grogar was lurking about. "Come on, Discord. Get this thing working! Twilight's depending on you!"
Throwing down his lion paw, Discord managed to get the orb working and found himself looking into the mind of Megatron, overseeing a collection of memories where strange pods were collected during the Beast Wars. Finally, he then proceeded to see Grogar sitting in front of his crystal ball in the throne room.
"Squirk?" He heard Grogar ask in the memory, showing Grogar talking into the crystal ball, containing the sea beast himself. "King Squirk, after all these years, you have returned."
"Thank you, my Emperor," Discord heard the sea king reply in a deep, evil voice. "For over a thousand years I have been hiding from the clutches of my kind, waiting for the moment to return."
Discord felt his eyes widen in shock upon hearing this!
"Squirk?! That wretched sea beast?!" He gasped. "How can that be?!"
"Where have you been hiding, my friend?" Grogar asked as the memory continued to play.
"In the depths of the sea, not far from those wretched hippogriffs," Squirk explained. "Then, I sensed you were still alive."
"Very good, my old friend," Grogar chuckled. "I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. Now, you said that there's something of great importance that you wanted to share with me?"
Watching carefully, Discord saw Squirk use one of his tentacles to show Grogar a strange vessel in the shape of a coffin.
"A stasis pod," Grogar laughed as an evil grin formed on his face. "Where did you find it?"
"A few weeks ago, my emperor," Squirk replied. "There were two of these."
Grogar then asked. "Are you certain?"
And Squirk replied with a nod. "I am very certain, my emperor. Neither the ponies or the hippogriffs know of their existence, and neither does it seem that their Maximal allies know either."
"Good. I shall bring them back to life and resurrect them as Predacons!" Grogar declared as Discord watched the ram walk over to his cauldron.
Chanting an incantation, Grogar casted a resurrection spell into the cauldron and out of the corner of his eye, the creature of chaos saw the pod next to Squirk start to glow yellow and open sharply, releasing a spirit that was inside of it.
"If Megatron's memories serve me right," Grogar laughed, walking back to his crystal ball. "Reprogramming the vessels in that stasis pod shall be a piece of cake."
Watching carefully, Discord saw what appeared to be a metal, crab like creature coming out of the pod.
"Vorak and his kingdom can wait," Grogar declared to his underwater ally. "I want to see how these new Predacons function!"
Turning the memory orb off, Discord turned his attention back to the books and began searching for a spell used to resurrect deceased souls. Selecting a book with a red covering, he opened it up. He worked fast to produce a cauldron similar to Grogar's. But then he realized something.
"Wait a minute," He whispered. "I need stasis pods! But where could they be?"
Suddenly, Discord remembered something! He had seen some strange pods just recently, stored in a guarded part of the castle!
…
…
Racing to Mount Aris with Skybeak and the others leading them, Twilight and the others arrived in the capital, where the hippogriff guard was already on high alert.
"Seems like they already have a sense of what's happening," Skybeak commented. "Novo needs to know of this at once!"
"Skybeak!" General Seaspray cried out as he flew over to Skybeak. "Our queen wants to know if there are any more survivors from this morning's attack."
"Nothing else was found," Skybeak sighed as Seaspray turned to Twilight and the others. "I've brought Princess Twilight and her friends here to help us!"
"Is Queen Novo expecting us?" Twilight implied and Seaspray nodded. "Take us to her."
"What do you want us to do, Twilight?" Optimus Primal asked.
"Optimus, you and your Maximals patrol the beaches for any signs of survivors or Squirk," Twilight ordered. "If you see anything, call!"
Saluting Twilight, Optimus and the Maximals made their way down to the beach to carry out her commands.
…
In her throne room, Queen Novo looked out the window with a very nervous expression upon her face.
"Queen Novo!" Twilight called as she and her friends arrived with Seaspray.
"Twilight, honey! Thank Celestia you and your friends are here!" Novo cried as she hugged Twilight.
"Has the sea creature appeared yet? Did you find any more survivors?" Twilight asked the queen.
"We've found nothing," Novo sighed. "I can't believe this, Squirk is back! This is worse than the Storm King."
"Right up there with him." Spike remarked.
"Where's Skystar?" Twilight asked, changing the subject.
"She's been placed in shelter, much to her protesting," Novo reluctantly sighed. "I can't take any chances with Squirk. He's a danger to our kingdom. I can't take another scare with Skystar, and I really don't wanna have to ground her again after the fact."
"What about all the seaponies? Have they been evacuated?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, Seaquestria is unoccupied," Novo sighed, turning her attention to Seaspray. "General, any hippogriffs willing to fight are to cover the borders to our kingdom."
"There's no need for that, your majesty, Optimus Primal and the Maximals already have the beach covered." Twilight declared, much to Novo's confusion.
"Optimus Who?" Novo questioned with confusion.
"It's a long story," Applejack answered. "Anyway, if you'd like, we can stay here and guard the throne room."
Relieved to hear this, Novo took up Applejack's offer. "I would like that very much." She replied and dismissed Seaspray from the throne room while Twilight and her friends remained behind.
…
Down on the beach, Optimus and the Maximals were looking out at the open sea offshore with their weapons drawn, preparing themselves for any potential strike against them.
"So far so good, Optimus," Rhinox remarked with his twin machine guns loaded. But then he asked. "Do you really think he'll come out here?"
"Perhaps," Optimus sighed, making sure his weapons were loaded. "But we can't make any predictions. The monster must have the stasis pods already under his custody."
"So, uh, why not just accept the fact that they're probably…Predacon property now?" Rattrap wondered. "If anything, they'll be answering to Megatron!"
In another part of the beach, Cheetor was standing with Rodimus, Skids and Mudflap when he suddenly took notice of a strange object sticking out from the rocks.
"Hey guys," Cheetor called out to them. "Take a look at this!"
"What is it, Cheetor?" Rodimus cried, looking down and seeing a stasis pod. "By the matrix! A stasis pod!"
"Eh, what?" Skids asked as he and Mudflap raced over to the pod as well. "What is that honky tonka thing?"
"This is a stasis pod, moose for brains!" Cheetor remarked and groaned. "We'd better hide it before someone finds it for themselves, particularly that monster beneath the sea!"
Acting fast, Rodimus and Cheetor each pulled on the stasis pod, lifting it up and out of the rocks!
"Hey, this here weighs a ton!" Mudflap grunted.
"Shut up and lift!" Rodimus ordered as they heaved it onto the beach. "Hurry! Hide it behind those dunes!" Taking the pod to a group of sand dunes, they placed it amongst the brush and returned to their posts.
"Optimus, are you there?" Cheetor called, talking into his radio as he resumed his position. "We found a stasis pod!"
"Is it damaged?" Optimus asked.
"It's pretty banged up," Cheetor replied. "But it should be okay, at least for now."
"Stay by the pod and await further orders," Optimus commanded. "Optimus out." Turning off his radio, he turned to Rhinox while Silverbolt and Blackarachnia looked on.
"What in the name of Cybertron is a stasis pod doing here?" Blackarachnia remarked.
"Supposedly, it crashed here long ago. Perhaps even before we came here." Silverbolt guessed while shrugging his shoulders.
…
Up in the throne room, Twilight and her friends were overlooking the ocean for any sign of the sea king, Squirk.
"Come on, where are you?" Rainbow Dash whispered, her urge to fight growing and growing. "Where is that bad boy?"
"Supposedly coming in due time, darling." Rarity whispered back, looking out with a pair of opera glasses.
Just then, the doors opened to reveal Skystar on the other side, much to her mother's annoyance.
"Skystar!" Pinkie Pie cried, running over to hug her friend.
"Skystar, what are you doing here?! Novo spoke with a scowl upon her face. "You're supposed to be in hiding!"
"Mom, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving you up here all alone," Skystar pleaded. "Please let me help you! Shelly and Sheldon thought it was a good idea."
Novo looked down at her daughter's two shells with eyes on them and sighed, knowing that she didn't have the energy or the patience to protest.
"All right," She reluctantly sighed. "But if we ever live through this…"
"Queen Novo," Twilight interrupted in a firm voice. "Now is not the time for a mother/daughter squabble."
Delighted to hear this, Skystar joined Twilight's side as Rarity suddenly noticed a strange movement coming from underneath the ocean surface.
"Twilight, look!" Rarity cried, catching Twilight's attention. "There's something coming from underneath the ocean!"
Before anyone could move or say another word, a red dorsal shark fin slowly emerged from the water, followed by several tentacles.
"It's him!" Twilight whispered while charging her horn. "It's Squirk!"
As if on cue, the sea beast emerged from the water, its upper half was the body of a shark and its lower half had the tentacles of a squid.
On the beach, Optimus and the Maximals were stunned by what they saw in front of them. "Get back!" Optimus cried when he saw waves from Squirk's rising racing towards them on the shore!
"That must be him!" Rhinox cried out! "Shall we open fire, Optimus?!"
But Optimus said nothing, looking in awe at how strong the beast appeared. He was snapped out of it only when he heard his intercom link come on once more. Cheetor was on the other end.
"What is it, Cheetor?" He asked.
"Big Bot, there's something else coming towards our position!" Cheetor declared in an alarming tone. "Should we fire at it?"
"What do you see, Cheetor?!" Otpimus asked. But before he could get a response, he and the others saw a blast of fire hit the area where Cheetor and the others were at! "If I'm not mistaken…" Optimus cried out, activating his magnifying scanners and saw an all too familiar sight. "Rhinox, it's Rampage! He's back!"
"Impossible! Depth Charge destroyed him!" Rhinox shouted as one of Squirk's tentacles struck Rhinox, knocking him back while another tentacle began striking the side of Mount Aris, causing the Hippogriff's throne room to shudder and several of Twilight's friends to fall over!
"I AM SQUIRK!" The half shark, half squid creature roared. "AND I HAVE RETURNED AFTER OVER A THOUSAND YEARS!"
…
From up in his throne room, Grogar watched with interest as Squirk made his presence known, letting out a small sinister chuckle at the fight that was about to transpire on Mount Aris!
…
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All I can say is WOW and YIKES. Definitely a really good job on this appropriately nerve-wracking chapter. Love the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up in all the right places. And, yeah, I loved Rainbow and Optimus's both reassuring each other as well as the efforts to prepare for as much as possible, even if things still went wrong. And Grogar is channeling Megatron's memories on reprogramming those pods? Hoo-boy. And now, we are on to part two with the clash with the Predacons AND Squirk.
Squirk is now a sharktopus!
Nice that you managed to give Squirk a design change. Anyone else would've kept the G1 design.
Why was Luna listed in the cast list even though she wasn't in this chapter?
Did I somehow miss her when I was reading the chapter somehow?
Didn't expect Squirk to not actually be one of the enemies Luna and Celesita defeated a 1000 years ago unlike Lavan there. Seems pretty strange.
Uh... I thought Twilight never knew anything about hippogriffs until the Storm King's attack.