• Published 19th Sep 2020
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 12 - twilightsparkle3562

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Episode 26: "Depth Charge, the Destroyer"

Author's Note:

Episode Summary: Depth Charge's leadership skills are brought into question by Queen Novo after he ruthlessly destroys several Pirhanacon ships near Mount Aris.

Cast:

Uzo Aduba as Queen Novo

Kristin Chenoweth as Princess Skystar

Christopher Gaze as General Seaspray/Hippogriff #2

Brian Dobson as Sky Beak/Hippogriff #1

Doc Harris as Groga

Martin Short as Lieutenant Bray

Alvin Sanders as King Sombra

Campbell Scott as Rampage

David Kaye as Megatron/Snap Trap

David Soblov as Depth Charge

Tara Strong as Princess Twilight Sparkle

Cathy Wesluck as Spike

..

"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" Season 12, Episode 26

"Depth Charge the Destroyer"

Written by Jeff Snyder (TwilightSparkle3562)

Edited by SuperPinkBrony12

Ever since their land home had been attacked by Squirk and the Pirhanacons, the hippogriffs and seaponies had been on high alert. A small ship was now watching them on shore. On board that ship was it's commanding officer, Rampage, waiting along with the Pirhanacons for the moment when they would launch another, far more deadly assault.

Gathering her officers together in a conference room, Queen Novo felt that something needed to be done. She'd now placed the security and training of her forces into the hands of Depth Charge, the rogue Maximal. "Is everyone present?" She asked, sitting at the end of a long table. "Where's Depth Charge?"

"He should be along, your majesty." General Seaspray remarked, and a few moments later Depth Charge made his way into the room.

"You rang, your majesty?" Depth Charge asked in a sarcastic tone, much to Novo's irritation. "I'd thought you'd like to know that…"

"-Let me begin the meeting, Depth Charge," Novo interrupted in a commanding tone. "Then you will have your report to give me. So long as you're in my kingdom you will answer to me."

"Okay," Depth Charge seemed to agree, and Queen Novo gave him a hard stare as she addressed her generals. "Go ahead."

Ignoring the arrogance that Depth Charge was giving her, Queen Novo began the meeting. "Now then," She began. "For the past few weeks, it's come to my attention that some of Grogar's minions have been watching our every move. There has only been one ship watching us that I'm aware of, so I propose we give the ship a chance to surrender and leave or else…"

Suddenly, the sounds of screeching were heard as Depth Charge scratched his fingers on a chalkboard in the back of the room. Novo glared at Depth Charge upon being interrupted like this.

"Sorry," The Maximal apologized, making his way over to the long table. "But perhaps you've forgotten that there is a criminal aboard that ship from my home planet. "The rest of whoever is on board are yours, but Rampage is mine and mine alone!"

"I don't want any bloodshed, Depth Charge," Novo protested, trying to ignore Depth Charge's interruption. "I want prisoners to interrogate to learn just what else Grogar has in store for us. According to our latest intelligence report, Grogar is preparing to send a fleet of ships here in three days time. We can't afford to let them keep getting away with stuff like this or they'll think we're pushovers."

"Grogar has a fleet?" Depth Charge scoffed, sitting down at the end of the table. "Who knew that a creature from outer space could have his own fleet of ships? Whatever the case, I can assure you, your majesty, that your troops will annihilate anyone who comes our way. They are highly trained thanks to yours truly."

"Of course Grogar has a fleet, Depth Charge," Queen Novo snarled. "And I can promise you that he will use that fleet to wipe us out much like the Storm King tried to. Now be quiet and stop interrupting me!"

"Whatever." Depth Charge shrugged.

Grunting in disgust, Novo returned to her briefing. "To this end," She continued, looking down at a map on the table. "I want each of your soldiers to block any possible escape that Grogar's ship might take. I want guns drawn on all of them to send a message. No one fires until or unless they are fired upon. Given that it is only one ship, it's highly unlikely that they will fire."

Depth Charge could only look up at the ceiling in disgust. In his mind, he had his own plans to destroy the ship that included his sworn enemy, Protoform X.

"This is a joke," Depth Charge muttered to himself. "Protoform X won't surrender that easily. He never does."

But Novo overheard. "All will surrender, Depth Charge," She tried to reassure him. "At least, if I have anything to say about it."

"Transformers don't surrender," Depth Charge grumpily replied. "They fight to the death! Which is something I doubt you understand."

"Depth Charge, I give the orders around here. And I say we don't fight back unless we're forced to." Novo ordered, her disapproving glares locked onto him. "Do you understand?"

Depth Charge said nothing. He had his own idea and plans on how to handle the situation, plans that would ultimately backfire.

Once the briefing was over, Depth Charge made his way out of the castle feeling as if Queen Novo was still in denial about what they were facing.

"Wait, Depth Charge!" General Seaspray cried as he caught up to him. "I am sorry you disagree with our queen, but she has the final say in what we do. You must understand. She doesn't take kindly to having her authority unjustly be challenged by an outsider."

"Why did she even bring me here if she doesn't get the fact that Protoform X doesn't surrender that easily?" Depth Charge questioned with his back to Seaspray. "Why keep me around if she won't face the hard truth about who we're dealing with?"

"She brought you here to better prepare our troops in confronting the enemy off of our shores," Seaspray answered. "And you've been a big help in that regard."

"Yeah? Well, sometimes I feel like your queen has no backbone," Depth Charge sighed. "Just like Optimus Primal. In war, being soft gets you nowhere. Your enemies never show mercy to you, so why should you extend that kindness to them?" Sighing deeply again, Depth Charge transformed to his flight mode and returned to a battleship off the coast of Mount Aris.

"It's not about backbone," General Seaspray thought to himself. "It's about dignity and respect amongst our kind."

Once her generals were gone, Queen Novo went into her castle's dining room for her daily seaweed wrap while still trying to process why Depth Charge was so difficult to get along with.

"Mom?" A belonging to Princess Skystar called as she came in with her two clamshell friends. "I was just talking things over with Shelly and Sheldon about Depth Charge and…" But seeing her mother look upset, Skystar made her way to the table and sat down next to her. "Oh boy," She remarked, placing Shelly and Sheldon on the table. "He gave you a hard time again, didn't he?"

"Yes, my child," Queen Novo sighed while looking down at her seaweed wrap. "Personally, I don't understand it. Why would Princess Twilight recommend him to me if he is determined to give me such an attitude?"

"He has his reasons, I guess," Skystar suggested. "Give him time."

"I have given him time, Skystar," Novo sighed. "I've given him plenty of time but he just doesn't want to follow the rules. I'm losing my patience."

Skystar then proposed. "Can't you just ground him like you do to me?"

"I can't just ground anygriff, Skystar. You are different, you are my daughter," Novo pointed. "Depth Charge is just hired help as far as I'm concerned. Grounding an honored guest would do nothing."

Skystar couldn't help but sympathize for her mother. At the same time, though, she remembered that her mom had serious trusting issues when it came to outside help.

"Look, there's a lot at stake here, Skystar," Novo declared as she ate into her seaweed wrap. "Our dignity, our respect amongst our allies, you name it. And yet all he cares about is one of his own that he wants dead. Well, I'm not going to allow some rogue to put our reputation in jeopardy! I will not tolerate reckless behavior from anyone!"

The sounds of her mother's voice caused Skystar to feel chills down her back.

Meanwhile, aboard the other ship, Rampage walked into the captain's quarters and made his way over to a crystal ball. Inside the ball was Grogar, waiting for him.

"About time you got here, Rampage!" Grogar impatiently huffed. "I have intelligence for you that I think you'll very much want to know. The hippogriffs and seaponies are preparing to launch an attack against you, and you and the Pirhanacons must be prepared!"

"Ah yes, them," Rampage replied. "I can assure you that we're ready to make our move."

"Excellent!" Grogar smiled. "Squirk will be bringing my fleet to your position at dawn tomorrow. Do not fail me."

Immediately, Rampage felt something was wrong by this intelligence. "Forgive me for imploring," Rampage asked. "But did you say…at dawn?"

Grogar nodded. "Yes, I want Squirk there to ensure that everything runs smoothly."

"But what if they…?" Rampage began to ask.

"-They won't attack until their own forces are ready!" Grogar interrupted, slamming his hoofs down on the table of his throne room. "And we will attack them before that happens, understand?!"

"But, my emperor…" Rampage interrupted, only for Grogar to disappear before his eyes. "I don't understand you sometimes."

Just then, the sounds of knocking were heard at the door to reveal Snaptrap standing in the doorway. "What do you want?" Rampage sighed, turning around to face the lead Pirhanacon.

"You wanted to see me, matey?" Snaptrap asked.

"Yes," Rampage replied while rising to his feet. "I wanted to brief you on the intelligence Grogar has just shared with me."

"And what did he say, matey?" Snaptrap curiously inquired.

"He has ordered us to wait until Squirk arrives with the rest of the fleet tomorrow. But knowing Depth Charge, an attack on us is imminent!" Rampage declared. "I want all hands at the ready in case anyone plans to attack us! Is that understood?!"

The sounds of fear in Rampage's voice made Snaptrap feel his own mortality was coming closer and closer. "Cap'n," He asked. "If I may ask you, you've been feeling rather…suspicious of late. Care to tell me what it is?"

Briefly looking away, Rampage took a moment to collect his thoughts before turning back to Snaptrap. "Tell me something, Snaptrap," Rampage asked, brandishing his gun. "Have you ever thought about…death?"

Snaptrap merely stood in shock at what Rampage had just asked of him. "Why do you ask me, matey?"

"Because…never mind," Rampage started to say, before running out of thoughts. "Return to your post and forget I said anything on the matter."

"If you say so, cap'n." Snaptrap replied in a confused tone before leaving Rampage alone.

Once Snaptrap was gone, Rampage felt his thoughts grow more and more like a burning fire inside of him. "He's coming for me," He thought to himself. "I have a feeling that Depth Charge will destroy me…once and for all."

Meanwhile, aboard a hippogriff ship, Depth Charge stood on the deck, looking through a telescope at the Pirhanacon ship. All he could think about was taking out Rampage and anyone else with him. He had been given a mission to find and capture Protoform X by any means necessary. A mission that he would carry out regardless of what anyone else thought.

"Depth Charge?" A male hippogriff reported. "We've…we've done what you told us to do. The guns are at the ready. We await your next command."

"Good." Depth Charge replied in a quiet tone. "As soon as the sun goes down, we make our move."

"Aye, sir." The hippogriff saluted.

And so Depth Charge stood on the deck, waiting for his chance to strike.

Night fell not long afterward, and Queen Novo retreated to the depths of Seaquestria with the thoughts of Depth Charge still deep in her mind. The way he behaved himself at her briefing had been unacceptable by any means. "Remind me to relieve him of command." She sighed to herself as she fell asleep.

But about an hour later, Novo suddenly opened her eyes as she began to smell a foul odor in her quarters. Getting up, she swam out to her throne room and let out a sharp gasp when she saw what was in front of her: A donkey soldier was lying on the floor of her throne room! But that wasn't all! Looking up to the surface, she saw several others floating in the water! Shocked and appalled, Novo began to growl in anger at what had just happened…Depth Charge had deliberately disobeyed her!

On the surface, the smoke from the cannons flowed out of the hippogriff ship as Depth Charge looked out amongst the devastation that he had caused. But his primary target was still missing. "Where are you?" He asked, seeing the donkey soldiers that had been left to their watery fate. "Protoform X, where are you?!"

But Depth Charge could not find any trace of his enemy. "He escaped! He escaped!" He cried, going back to the helm. "Circle again!"

"But Depth Charge!" A hippogriff soldier protested. "We've circled around three times already and…"

"-Silence! Do as you are told!" Depth Charge ordered, pointing his gun at the hippogriff's face. Nervously complying, the young hippogriff did as he was told, turning the ship back around to find Rampage. "I will find him. Protoform X will not escape me again!"

Meanwhile, on Mount Aris, some hippogriffs had been awakened by the sounds of the gunfire, including Princess Skystar. "What's going on?" She asked her uncle Sky Beak. "What's all that noise?"

"Apparently, gunfire was seen coming from Depth Charge's ship," Sky Beak answered. "We're trying to figure out just what has happened, it's all unfolding so fast."

A few moments later, however, Novo emerged from the water looking rather furious and indignant. The sight of her angry mother caused Skystar to tremble with fear.

"Novo, are you all right?" Sky Beak asked his sister-in-law as he approached her.

"He did this! And I specifically told him not to." Novo seethed with rage.

"Who?" Sky Beak asked even though he needn't have bothered doing so.

"Depth Charge," Novo answered as she grit her teeth. "He disobeyed me! Going behind my back like this! The traitorous scum! I should've seen this coming."

"Depth Charge did this?!" Sky Beak question. "Are you certain it's not one of our own?"

"Of course I'm certain, Sky Beak! You saw his behavior today during the briefing!" Novo snapped. "Get out there and bring him to me at once! Understand?! Quickly, before any more innocent lives are taken!"

With the reverberation of his sister-in-law's rage echoing in his mind, Sky Beak did as he was told and flew down to Depth Charge's ship.

Meanwhile, Depth Charge still could not find his enemy or the Pirhanacons for that matter. "No, it can't be! He escaped me!" Depth Charge growled. "Protoform X has escaped me yet again! Well, he won't get far. Not this time! I shall find him and…" But then suddenly, he heard the sounds of a hippogriff landing on the deck and Depth Charge turned around to see Sky Beak staring behind him.

"What do you want?" The Maximal snorted.

"Did you do this?" Sky Beak questioned with concern.

"And who wants to know?" Depth Charge inquired.

Without saying a word, Sky Beak gestured to Depth Charge to follow him back to Mount Aris.

"Keep searching until you find him, men. Do not let him escape!" Depth Charge ordered and then transformed into his flight mode to follow Sky Beak back to the castle.

A little while later, Sky Beak led Depth Charge into the throne room and there sat Queen Novo, seething with anger and fury over what had just happened.

"Your highness," Sky Beak declared, bowing to her. "I've brought Depth Charge as you requested."

Rising from her throne, the exhausted and angered hippogriff approached her officer and gestured for him to step aside. Stepping aside from her, Sky Beak watched as Novo approached the rogue Maximal. "Come here, you!" Novo roared, making a gesturing motion with her wing and Depth Charge complied, rolling his head in disgust. Then she turned to Sky Beak. "Stand guard here and don't let anygriff in until I say otherwise."

Saluting, Sky Beak stepped out and shut the doors behind him, leaving Depth Charge and Queen Novo alone.

"Well, what have you got to say for yourself, Depth Charge?" Novo asked. "You deliberately went behind my back!"

"So what if I did?" Depth Charge asked in reply, clearly unfazed by Novo's anger with his arms folded in front of him. "Your threat has been diminished, hasn't it?"

Novo said nothing as she turned her back to Depth Charge. "No it hasn't," She said quietly, letting out a deep sigh, before raising her voice. "In fact, you just made it a whole lot worse, Depth Charge, all because of your OWN SELFISH NEEDS!" Thundering, Novo turned around as the sounds of her voice echoed the throne room, mirroring her growing anger over what had just happened!

"Selfish needs?" Depth Charge remarked. "What are you talking about? I was simply carrying out your orders, right?"

"Wrong!" Novo snapped. "Your orders were not to fire until or unless fired upon! Because of your actions, Depth Charge, you put us at greater risk to Grogar than the Storm King ever could! Grogar will be sure to retaliate for your unauthorized strike, and we are not prepared for the war to come to our doorstep."

"I have to disagree with you, sweetheart," Depth Charge remarked, much to Novo's irritation. "I think your troops are more than ready to take on Grogar! They've proven themselves worthy in my book."

"Don't…call…me…sweetheart!" Novo snapped, stepping forward towards Depth Charge.

"Sorry," Depth Charge remarked again while shrugging his shoulders. "Shall I call you something else, your highness?"

"Don't ever call me anything else!" Novo cried angrily, turning back towards her throne. "In fact, there is something else we need to discuss. You left no survivors, Depth Charge. We needed prisoners to interrogate, which tends to work best when they're alive!"

"The ship sails as their commander commands!" Depth Charge countered.

"And its commander is to sail it as commanded!" Novo snapped back in a loud voice as she briefly rose from the throne, before sitting back down in it. "I'm beginning to think I was a fool for having you prepare my forces, Depth Charge. Clearly, you are not to be trusted after a reckless stunt like this."

"Perhaps you should have told Princess what's her name and her friends that I wasn't going to be of much help anyway," Depth Charge shrugged. "I helped you as a favor to her. I didn't need any help to hunt down Protoform X. And Princess what's her face should've realized that."

"That's Princess Twilight Sparkle to you!" Novo hissed in a loud, commanding voice. "Now you will suffer the consequences of your reckless actions."

Depth Charge merely shrugged his shoulders, thinking that his so-called punishment would not be as bad as Novo was making it out to be.

"As of this moment," Novo declared. "You are hereby relieved of your duties from Mount Aris, and you are also banished from both Mount Aris and Seaquestria! Go! And never show your face in my presence ever again."

"Fine," Depth Charge remarked, turning around to leave the throne room. "I didn't even want to be here anyway. Good luck, sweetheart. Good luck! You'll need it." Transforming into his flight mode, Depth Charge left the throne room and Queen Novo was left to deal with the fact that someone had gone behind her back.

The next morning, Twilight was awakened by the sounds of knocking on her bedroom door at an alarming rate. "All right, all right, I'm coming!" She yawned, throwing on her bathrobe and opening the door to see Spike with a panicked look on his face. Seeing him panicked made Twilight wake up easily. "Spike, what's going on?!"

"Twilight, Queen Novo reported that Depth Charge went rogue," Spike replied. "A ship of Grogar's forces was destroyed!"

Twilight was alarmed by the news as her eyes widened! "Did she say if there were any survivors?" She asked, following Spike into the hallway.

"No, Depth Charge basically destroyed the ship and left no survivors!" Spike shook his head as he somberly reported.

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing and immediately followed Spike into the throne room where the map was showing smoke billowing from Mount Aris, a sure sign of what had just happened. "And that was Grogar's only ship..." Twilight remarked.

"Not quite," Spike answered. "According to…"

"You don't have to relay everything to me," Twilight interrupted. "Have my friends come here at once so I can brief them on what is happening. This is bad news."

"Got it, Twilight!" Spike saluted.

"And Spike," Twilight called as he was about to step out of the throne room. "Notify Optimus Primal as well. He's gonna want to know about what happened!"

As Spike left to carry out her orders, all Twilight could do was sit down in her throne room in disgust, immediately regretting the mistake she had made in having Depth Charge help out the hippogriffs. Because of it she was now responsible for the unnecessary loss of life.

Elsewhere, miles away from Mount Aris, Rampage and the Pirhanacons found themselves washed up on the shore of a beach, struggling to regain consciousness after what had happened. A few moments later, a towering shadow came over them as the breath from the head of a red metallic dragon breathed down on Rampage.

Weakly opening his eyes, Rampage looked up and saw Megatron standing over him before falling back unconscious.

"So, this is what happens when Grogar disagrees with me?" Megatron remarked as he gestured to Inferno and the rest of the Predacons with him to pick up their comrades. "He puts my minions in harm's way! Well, he will soon regret this impertinence. As of this moment, I go alone! Yesss…."

Meanwhile, Grogar attempted to tap into his crystal ball's powers to contact Rampage but was unable to. "Treacherous fool!" He groaned, finally stepping back in frustration. "How dare he not respond to me right away!"

At that moment, the sounds of knocking on the doors were heard and Grogar cried out for whoever it was knocking to come in. Opening the doors, Grogar saw Sombra race into the throne room.

"My emperor! My emperor!" Sombra cried. "The ship! It's gone! Destroyed!"

"What?!" Grogar cried, immediately rising to his hind legs. "What do you mean, destroyed?! By whom?!"

"We don't know! It was attacked in the night, my emperor!" Sombra answered in a panicked voice. "No reports of any survivors!"

Angered, Grogar slammed his left foreleg, causing the throne room to reverberate! "The hippogriffs must be more clever than we thought," He said quietly, walking away from his crystal ball and back to his throne. "How else would they be able to attack so quickly?"

"It was that Maximal that they had helping them, my emperor!" Sombra declared. "The one called Depth Charge. I'm sure this was his doing."

Sombra watched as Grogar pondered this developing news. "So you say?" Grogar wondered as Lieutenant Bray came dashing into the throne room next. "What do you want, Bray?"

"My emperor," Bray cried, trying to gasp for air after all his running. "The former occupants of this castle…their spirits are crying out to you!"

Hearing this news, Grogar rose to his feet and left Sombra alone in the throne room.

"But my emperor…" Sombra cried.

"I won't be more than a moment, Sombra," Grogar said as he left the throne room. "This is far more urgent…"

All Sombra could do was watch and wonder what was happening as Grogar went to investigate with Lieutenant Bray. Very soon, the former inhabitants of Grogar's castle would make their return!

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