Ch. 8: Boarding Call

Back on Celaeno's ship, Sonic and the captain were having a small duel to make sure the captain hadn't gotten too rusty.

"Yeah! Haha!" she laughed, blocking one of Sonic's blade.

"Nice!" said Rainbow.

"Not too shabby," said Sonic. "Your footwork could use some attention though. Let's see." Then he took a step to the right. "If I step here…" Then he swung and Celaeno blocked it, stepping as well. "Good. And now I step again…" Then he stepped to the left, swinging again with Celaeno stepping and blocking once more. "There ya go! Now we're talkin'!" Celaeno laughed a bit.

"You're good, Sonic, I'll give ya that," she said, sheathing her blade.

"Good nothing, I've been trained by the best pirate swordsman in the multiverse," said Sonic proudly, sheathing his katana and looking into the treasure chest nearby to see a large red gem.

"A Chaos Emerald," he said amazed, reaching for it. Mullet was suspicious and raised his uncovered eyebrow. "Sorry, it's just that, this gem is actually a power source from my universe. And if we're gonna beat the Storm King, I'm gonna need it."

"Ah heck, Mullet, let him take it. What's one ruby between friends?" asked Celaeno. Sonic smirked and grabbed it.

"Emerald actually, but whatever," he said. Just then, Squabble started squawking and ringing a bell. Sonic pulled out his binoculars and looked. "Ship off the port stern!" The others looked and saw a familiar sigil through the clouds.

"Storm Guards! Looks like they found ya!" said Celaeno. Then Sonic got a better look.

"That's Tempest's ship!" he yelled.

"Secure the rigging!" yelled Celaeno. "Lock down the cargo! Everyone, prepare to be boarded!"

"You guys, quick! Get below deck now!" yelled Boyle, lifting up a grate. Quickly, the team slid down into the cargo hold and hid.

"Ya think she saw my Sonic Rainboom?" asked Rainbow, nervously.

"Are you kidding me?!" asked Twilight. Then Sonic heard the front of Tempest's ship open and something fire out. Something connected to a long chain.

"Incoming harpoon!" he yelled and ducked. Then the harpoon shot through the ship's hull and knocked everyone around in the ship. Then it hooked into the hole and the ship started pulling itself toward the pirates on the chain, finally making contact, allowing Tempest, Grubber, and two Storm Creatures to jump to the deck, Grubber eating another piece of cake. Upon Seeing Tempest, Celaeno's eyes went wide in fear.

"Where is the pony princess?" asked Tempest as she walked along the deck.

"'Princess'?" asked Celaeno, lying as she grabbed a shipping order. "Princess, princess… Nope. All we're hauling is Storm King Merchandise." Squabble then squawked and held up a small bobblehead of the villain, jiggling it around.

"Sheesh," Sonic said quietly. "Ego check, your highness."

"You do realize that if you were to shelter fugitives, the Storm King would be quite… explosive," said Tempest in a threatening tone, making Celaeno gulp in worry. Twilight started freaking out.

"We have to get off this ship before they tell Tempest we're here!" she whispered loudly.

"Are you kidding?" Sonic whispered back. "We helped them get their spirit back! They're not gonna give us up!" Twilight wanted to believe her, but looking around, seeing Rarity deeply breathing in fear, Fluttershy shivering more than usual, Applejack putting her hat over her face and Pinkie falling into a crate, she was very worried. She looked around to try and find a way out and then saw a lever in the hold. She smirked.

"I've got this," she said. Back on deck, Tempest was getting impatient.

"Now, I'm gonna count to three, and if you don't tell me where they are, your ship is going down," she said. "One…"

Twilight started levitating rope and a tarp with the Storm King's face on it around. "Hold this," she told Sonic passing him the tarp.

"What are you doing?!" he asked. But instead of answering, Twilight just moved her magic around the lever.

"…Two…" said Tempest. Celaeno was getting antsy as she tightened the grip on her sword.

"Oh, this is inteeense…" said Grubber.

"Three!" said Tempest. Then just as she said that everyone heard a loud clank and the team's screaming receding. Tempest looked and saw the hatch to the hold, growing angry. "What?" Celaeno let out a relieved breath as she knew the others were safe. Safe being a relative term of course, as Twilight had opened a cargo drop lever and the team was currently plummeting down through the air with a cavalcade of junk following them.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake!" yelled Rarity.

"Twilight, if this is your plan, then please tell me there's more to it!" yelled Sonic. "I've already had enough face-plants over my career!" Pinkie was screaming as she fell onward, but it gradually devolved into jovial laughing. Down below, the team saw they were falling toward a large forest with a small river running through it, far too small and far away to land in.

"I can't look!" squeaked Fluttershy as she covered her face with her wings.

"YOU CAN FLY!" yelled Sonic angrily.

"Barely!" yelled Rainbow Dash. "We're going too fast even for me!" Rarity just kept screaming until she passed a mirror to check her reflection, but once it passed she got back to screaming. Then Twilight used her magic and pulled everyone together into a large crate, before looping a length of rope around it.

"What in the hay is she up to?" asked Applejack.

"Search me!" yelled Sonic. Then Twilight tied the tarp to the crate with the rope, before grabbing Spike and shooting his fire breath into the tarp, stopping them falling and allowing them to fly, barely missing the top of a tall pine tree. They all gave a sigh of relief as they collapsed in the crate.

"Thank goodness," said Rarity.

"Huh. MacGyver-style hot air balloon done in mid-air," said Sonic impressed. "Quick thinking, Twilight."

"Yahoo!" the princess cheered and laughed.

"That was fun! Can we do it again?" asked Pinkie.

"Maybe later," chuckled Sonic. "In the meantime… Rainbow Dash, get us going toward that mountain!"

"Aye-aye, captain!" said Rainbow, pushing the balloon through the air. "Next stop, Mount Aris!"

"We're home free!" cheered Twilight. Everyone cheered and laughed as they were on their way.

Back on the ship, the Storm Creatures had put Capper with Celaeno's crew and were working on destroying all the cargo. Then Grubber walked up with an elaborate cupcake in his claw.

"There's no ponies," he said. "But I found this. It's a… kind of a cupcake… with sprinkles… Oh yeah, and I found this, too." Then he showed Tempest the map to Mount Aris. Tempest took it and read it over.

"Wow, this is a real artist," said Grubber, looking it over again.

"Looks like they're heading to Mount Aris…" said Tempest, obviously directed to Capper.

"Really?" he said, stuttering and laughing nervously. "Mou- Mount Aris? I… Well, that's my mis—I didn't know that… Mount Ari… My bad, I didn't… That's my… I'm sorry, I'm very, very sorry."

"Now…" said Tempest handing the map back to Grubber and charging her horn. "About your betrayal…" Then she blasted the ship in several places, destroying it and sending it down into the ocean.