by G. M. Berrow
Twilight couldn’t believe Capper had withheld such important information from them, when he’d clearly known about the Hippogriffs all along. She shot him a disappointed look, folded her map, and turned to her friends. “Let’s go, everypony.”
“Wait!” The cat sprang to the doorway in a panic, blocking the ponies’ way. “You can’t make it there by yourselves! You need an airship—and lucky for you, I can get you a ride!”
Twilight narrowed her eyes and pushed past him. “I think we can get there on our own.…”
But when she opened the door, a big naked mole rat (thankfully not literally naked in his raggedy suit and top hat) stood waiting outside! He smiled, exposing his sickly yellow teeth. “Here’s Verko!” He laughed with a sneaky satisfaction. He leaned past Twilight and met Capper’s eyes. “These ponies better shoot rainbow lasers outta their eyes if they’re going to settle your debt, Capper!” He gestured to a gigantic cage on wheels behind him. “Let’s load ’em up!”
The ponies gasped in horror. Capper was going to sell them?! Applejack shook her head in disappointment, and Rarity had to fan herself with her hoof to get over the shock of it all. What a double-crossing, good-for-nothing feline scoundrel! All Capper did in reply was tug on his coat collar and laugh nervously. That confirmed his guilt.
Verko scampered in, his naked mole rat feet scratching against the floor. He had just begun to size up the ponies when a faint sparking sound came from outside. Clip, clop. Clip, clop. The sound of hooves followed, and a shadowy figure appeared in the outline of the doorway. “Silly little ponies…”
“Tempest!” Twilight gasped. Her worst fears were starting to come true! She and her friends were going to be captured, and they would never be able to save Equestria. Everypony was visibly shaken. Fluttershy cowered behind the others in fear.
“Trusting strangers, I see?” Tempest Shadow motioned at Capper and trotted in, raising a confident brow. “Big mistake. Big.”
“Huge!” Grubber added, following his master.
Verko, the salesmole, scrambled over to the new guests. Maybe he could make a quick bit off this strange pony, too! He took Tempest’s cheeks in his claws and squashed them around. “Scary broken horn! What tricks do you know, my little pony-wony?”
Tempest’s horn sparked menacingly.
Suddenly, she sent a shock of lightning at Verko! It was now or never. Twilight and her friends had to make good use of this moment of chaos.
“Go, go!” Twilight whispered as she opened the window with her magic. The ponies sprang into action. They were all out the window, map in tow, before Verko even hit the floor from Tempest’s stunning blast.
When Tempest saw Twilight fly out the window, she began to sizzle with rage. “Get her—now!” she called out to her Storm Guard, stomping her hoof on the ground.
Tempest didn’t understand what was happening. How could that little princess have escaped her grasp a second time?! Tempest had underestimated the purple pony, but one thing was for sure: Twilight Sparkle wouldn’t escape again. Tempest Shadow and the Storm King would make sure of that.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Aaaaaahhh!” the ponies screamed as they barreled through Klugetown. Who could have predicted that the giant wooden water-mill wheel would come loose when they all jumped on it outside Capper’s manor? They clutched tightly to the wheel’s surface as Rainbow Dash and Twilight tried to steer the makeshift craft out of harm’s way. It was no use!
The Storm Guard was hot on their hooves as the mill wheel rolled through streets and buildings, shattering everything in its path. Somepony had to stop this thing. “Jump!” Applejack cried out as soon as she spotted a jagged elevated walkway. The ponies leaped to the wooden planks and galloped across, the wheel now careening toward them!
“We have to get there!” Twilight Sparkle shouted, and pointed her hoof directly ahead of them. “To the docks!” Several walkways jutted out from the side of a tall building. Anchored to the highest port was one massive floating ship! It definitely wasn’t one of the Storm King’s fleet.
But it was in the process of leaving!
“Hurry!” Twilight urged as she soared behind her friends to make sure they were all safe. The ponies’ manes billowed behind them as they galloped as fast as their hooves would carry them to the airship.
Rainbow Dash, in a moment of quick thinking, flew ahead and grabbed the mooring rope with her teeth. She pulled it taut enough for Rarity, Applejack, and Spike to carefully tightrope across.
Fluttershy flew above, spotting and encouraging them. “That’s it! Don’t look down now.”
“YAY!” squealed Pinkie Pie as she took an enthusiastic leap onto the rope. The weight caused the rope to buckle. Spike began to lose his footing, and disaster struck. Spike and most of the ponies managed to grab hold of the rope, but Pinkie Pie wasn’t so lucky. The pink pony wailed in despair as she plummeted down, heading right in the direction of some very craggy-looking rocks!
“Pinkie!” Twilight cried out as she darted to the other pony’s rescue. She reached her friend with just a second to spare and carried her back up to safety on the deck of the ship with the others.
Almost immediately, Pinkie popped up and excitedly thrust her hoof into the air. “Best. Escape plan. Ever!” Twilight started to protest, but suddenly she and Pinkie found themselves lassoed and dragged away.
Applejack had pulled them behind a wall of cargo. “Shhhh!”
“Hey, did you hear somethin’?” one big shadowy figure said to his buddy, who just squawked in reply. From their outlines, they looked like large… birds? Perhaps they were Griffon sailors! Twilight felt a twinge of hope. She knew the Griffon Kingdom—maybe these Griffon strangers would know some of her friends and help deliver her to Mount Aris as an act of goodwill and friendship to Equestria. What a stroke of luck landing on this ship had been!
They were already heading in the right direction. It should be no problem finding the Queen of the Hippogriffs. After they got her help, all this would be over soon. Twilight could just feel it.
“Okay!” Capper wailed as the Storm Creatures threw him onto the dock by Tempest’s airship. Being taken prisoner by the Storm Guard was not something that had been in his plans today. “No need for violence! The ponies are headed to…” Capper almost told the truth and hesitated, thinking of how the kind ponies had mended his coat and called him “friend.” They didn’t deserve to be given up so easily again.
Tempest Shadow bore over him, tapping her hoof impatiently. “Well?”
“They’re headed east! Yeah… to Black Skull Island.” Capper nodded with his signature cool-cat confidence. “So glad I could be of service! I’ll just be on my way—”
Tempest stepped in front of Capper, blocking his path. “When I get my princess. Until then, your fate is still… up in the air.” Capper’s face fell. This couldn’t be happening.
“Ohhhh! You’re gonna go in a skiff!” Grubber laughed in delight. “Which is a boat—specifically, an airboat.” The squat creature motioned to the warriors. Once their captive was tied up and safe inside, Tempest took the helm. Time was running out before the Storm King’s arrival.
And Tempest could not afford to fail him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
As the airship soared through the misty clouds, Twilight studied the map she’d taken from Capper’s place. Judging by the landmarks in the illustration, Twilight was fairly confident they were heading in the direction of Mount Aris, but they needed to be sure. There was only one way to find out where this ship was actually going. They would have to talk to somecreature.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash peered out from behind a wooden crate to assess their situation. The crew members of the airship kind of looked like giant birds—but they definitely weren’t Griffons. They wore black uniforms and grumpy expressions as they waddled back and forth across the deck with their boxes of mysterious cargo.
“What do ya think, Twilight?” Applejack asked. “Should we just… ask
’em to take us?”
Twilight bit her lip, unsure. “The last time we trusted someone, he tried to sell us!” The other ponies nodded, considering this. None of them could quite believe they’d almost been caged and sold as goods.
Suddenly, their hiding place started to shift. A box was lifted, and the ponies were seen! Staring straight back at them was a gigantic green parrot with a scowl on his face. “Hey, Captain Celaeno!” shouted one of the birds. “We supposed to be shipping livestock today?”
A white-feathered bird with a crystal peg leg hobbled forward and sighed. “No, Boyle… looks like we have stowaways.” She appeared to be more inconvenienced by the discovery than upset. Boyle and Captain Celaeno looked to each other for an answer, but they both came up short. The latter whipped out a huge book and began to leaf through it. She had clearly been through this routine before.
“The Storm King’s rule book says…” Captain Celaeno read, then paused. She turned to the rest of her parrot crew and shouted, “Throw ’em overboard!”
Overboard? Twilight and her friends huddled together as they braced themselves to be seized. Fluttershy kept her eyes shut and whimpered in fear as the parrots closed in. With each step closer, the ponies felt more hopeless. They were doomed.…
FWEEEEEE! At the sound of the whistle, every crew member stopped what they were doing and began to trudge away. “All right, that’s lunch!” Captain Celaeno sighed. “C’mon, everybody; we get fifteen minutes! Scarf it down.”
At the mere mention of food, Rainbow Dash’s tummy began to rumble. It had been forever since the ponies last ate a meal, and as they were apparently not getting thrown overboard, she saw an opportunity. “Uh… can we have some food?”
“Food… food…” Captain Celaeno consulted her rule book. She slammed it shut and shrugged. “Eh, nothing here says you can’t.” The ponies cheered with excitement. Their fate had changed so quickly!
“Oh, thank goodness!” said Rarity, sighing with relief and silently wondering if the parrots usually had tea to go with the lunch. How delightful this was going to be!
But once seated at the long table on the mess deck, the ponies were presented with big slops of gruel. No sandwiches, no fresh apples, and certainly not a single drop of tea! “Oh, what a shame.” Rarity laughed uncomfortably, sizing up her hefty portion of gruel. “I just ate… several days ago!”
The birds calmly chomped down on their chow, seemingly having forgotten all about the stowaway thing. Everycreature was distracted. Actually, there was something off about the whole ship. As if it used to be meant for something else.
“So you were about to toss us overboard…” Rainbow Dash said through a hefty mouthful of gruel. She ignored the panicked look from Twilight. “And you stopped for a lunch break?!”
Boyle, the green parrot who had discovered the ponies, put down his fork and slumped sadly. “The Storm King only allows us one break a day for meals. Then it’s back to hauling goods.”
Spike perked up. “So you’re just delivery guys?”
“And gals,” Captain Celaeno said, tugging on her unflattering uniform emblazoned with the Storm King’s insignia. “These aren’t exactly doing us any favors.”
This is perfect, Twilight realized. If they were delivery birds, then they certainly could help out. What difference were a few little ponies instead of some cargo in the grand scheme of things? “Then, can you deliver us to Mount Aris?” she asked with a friendly smile.
“Sorry.” Captain Celaeno shook her head. “We do what the Storm King orders. Or we suffer his wrath.” She went back to eating her food and hating her life.
A moment of silence passed. “But what did you guys do before the Storm King?” Rainbow Dash pried. She knew there was more to this story, and she wasn’t giving up that easily. “What’s that?” She pointed her hoof at a black flag that had been covered up by a poster of the Storm King.
Mullet, the first-mate bird, pulled the poster back. Underneath was a flag bearing the symbol of the skull and crossbones! Rainbow Dash gasped. She knew what that meant. “Whoa! You used to be pirates?!”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The birds looked at one another sheepishly. “We prefer the term swashbuckling treasure hunters,” Mullet said with a sly smirk. He looked off into the distance, as though he was remembering his swashbuckling days gone by.
“So… pirates.” Rainbow Dash smiled in satisfaction. She sprang to her hooves and looked Captain Celaeno in her sad eyes. “The way I see it—you birds have a choice to make.”
“We do?” The birds were intrigued.
“What do you mean?” Boyle grunted.
Rainbow Dash flew over to the poster and gestured to it. “You can let some hoity-toity Storm King tell you how to live your lives or”—she ripped down the poster, letting the pirate flag fly free—“you can be awesome again!”
A murmur of whispers broke out among the bird shipmates. At first, Twilight was nervous that Rainbow Dash had offended their unlikely hosts, but it was quite the opposite. For the first time since the ponies had arrived on Captain Celaeno’s ship, the birds were smiling!
“The rainbow pony is right,” Captain Celaeno agreed as she stood up. “It’s time to be awesome!” She puffed her chest out with pride. “Come on, scalawags! Let’s show these little ponies how it’s done!” The parrots cheered and followed orders, marching out to the top deck with their leader.
“Yeahhh!” Pinkie Pie cheered, bounding after them. The other ponies trotted out, grinning from ear to ear.
The birds got right to work restoring their ship to its former swashbuckling glory. They all sang and whistled as decks were swabbed, flags were flown, and chests of gems were unlocked and admired.
Back at the helm of her ship, Captain Celaeno placed a huge pirate hat with a pink plume on her head. She stood proudly, a mischievous smile on her beak. The clouds opened up to bluer skies as Celaeno steered the airship. “This is the life!”
“Awesome!” Rainbow Dash cheered, zipping and zooming underneath the sails and past the pirate crew. “And now for the finishing touch!”
“Rainboom, Rainboom, Rainboom!” Pinkie Pie started the chant. It wasn’t long before the other ponies and birds started chanting and clapping along in encouragement, too.
All except Twilight, who suddenly realized the implications of a gigantic signal showing their whereabouts. “Nonononono… no!” she cried out.
But it was too late. Rainbow Dash was already soaring into the sky with a huge smile on her face. Once she was far enough away, Rainbow Dash looped around and dove down at top speed. The Pegasus looped again around the airship, creating a rainbow spiral around the pirates. Everycreature watched in delighted wonder as the colorful pattern burst from every direction in a beautiful explosion. Captain Celaeno and her crew had never seen anything so spectacular before.
“Aw, yeah!” Rainbow Dash laughed. There was nothing more exhilarating than performing a Sonic Rainboom, especially after being cooped up for so long. “Woooo!” she shouted with unfettered glee.
Across the sky, Tempest Shadow also experienced something akin to happiness. Because the pretty picture in the sky was as good as a map for finding those little ponies.
“Change course from Black Skull Island to”—Tempest narrowed her eyes at Capper and pointed in the direction of the rainbow blast—“that way.”
Grubber put down his piece of cake, nodded, and motioned to the beasts. It was too slow for her. She pushed him aside and spun the steering wheel herself. The entire ship lurched, and Tempest snickered. She hoped the ponies were having a good time, because it would be their last.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
When the dark clouds began to roll in, Captain Celaeno knew. She sounded the alarm immediately. What was happening? Rainbow Dash and the other ponies looked to their new comrades for answers.
“Storm Guards!” Captain Celaeno squawked. “Looks like they found you!”
Twilight’s face contorted into anguish. “Tem
pest!”
“Secure the rigging!” Captain Celaeno ordered. “Everyone—prepare for lockdown!”
Applejack’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates. “Oh no!”
“Goodness!” Fluttershy whispered.
Boyle led Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Spike to a trapdoor. They galloped inside to hide. Luckily, the transfixed Twilight slipped in at the very last moment. As the hatch shut, the ponies held their breaths and looked at one another.
Rainbow Dash finally broke the silence. “You… think she saw my Rainboom?” Her cheeks blushed pink with embarrassment. She had just been trying to liven up the party, not ruin their whole adventure!
“Are you kidding me?!” Twilight retorted. She began to pace around the room, which was never a good sign. “This is bad. This is bad. This is very, very bad!”
Suddenly, the airship lurched as a harpoon above deck made contact and began to reel them in to the skiff. “Ahhh!” the ponies shouted as they all fell into a pile. They craned their necks to listen as Tempest Shadow and the Storm Creatures boarded the craft. A long series of murmurs followed.
“What are they saying?!” Pinkie Pie whispered. “Nice things?”
“They’re asking where I am!” Twilight exclaimed. She was already a ball of nerves. “Tempest is accusing them of sheltering fugitives and threatening them with the wrath of the Storm King.…” Twilight began to panic. “We have to get off this ship before they tell Tempest we’re here!”
Rainbow Dash scoffed. “We helped them get their mojo back. They’re not going to give us up!” Rarity and Applejack nodded in agreement, but it did nothing to calm Twilight. She was getting that twitchy look she sometimes had when she was trying to impress the other princesses. But all they could do was keep quiet and wait it out.