While trouble stirs for our heroes from far in the ocean, a mysterious new figure appears to be arriving in Gryphonia... straight from Equestria. A female, no less... and she appears to be wearing a long, brown cloak that hides her appearance. The cloak itself, however, appears to be Druathican.

Mr. Good Cheers, the overweight gryphon bartender, was humming a cheerful tune while wiping a wine glass with a white rag, when the sound of the doors creaking caught his attention. "Ah... good timing, friend! I was about to close the shop, but I can make arrangements! Now, then... what can I do... for... you?" When he looked at the entrance, he stopped wiping the glass when he saw a hooded figure step into the tavern, while covering its face. From the body shape, it was clear that it was a female, and from the clopping of the hooves, it was clearly a form of Equine... perhaps a pony, horse, or zebra. By the looks of the cloak, however, it was clear that the figure was from Druathica. "Ah... Druathican, eh? I take it you're here for information, then?"

The hooded figure nodded her head before pulling out a picture of Pinkie Pie, and pointing at it, revealing her hands being covered in brown gloves.

Good Cheers looked at the picture, before humming to himself. "Ah, Misses Pie. A cheerful pony, and a valued employee, even though it was for one day. Yes, ma'am. I gave her some bits that could help her return to Equestria, where she came from... but if you're an enemy of hers, then you may as well surrender now... I sent my daughter with her to guard her, and she's a mercenary... like my son."

The figure merely placed the picture back in her cloak and turned to leave. "You don't seem like you're intending to harm her, though... I feel like there's more going on. Good luck, nonetheless... and please tell her I hope she's okay." Then the figure nodded her head before leaving the tavern.

When she was merely halfway towards the path to the dock, she turned towards an alleyway, and noticed a group of minotaurs who were walking her way. "Well, hello there, pretty lady!" He grinned and motioned for the other three of his group to surround her. They did without hesitation, while drawing daggers from their pockets. "You picked a bad time to get lost... so how about you hand us your bits, and we'll let ya leave here alive!"

The hooded figure merely shook her head before moving one of the minotaurs' knives out of her way, and walked past him... much to the group's disapproval. "Hey, bitch! We're talking to you!" The leader firmly stated before walking towards the hooded figure with his knife ready to strike.

As soon as he was within reach, however, he tripped over a root that instantly tied around his hooves. This, of course, made him angrier. "That's it! KILL HER!" he shouted, causing the three other minotaurs to charge at the hooded figure and lunge for her back.

When they were within reach, however, the figure quickly jumped high enough to glide over their heads without even risking a cut from their knives if they were aiming at her from overhead, and landed with a back-flip behind the central minotaur. Then, before he could even turn around, a pair of blades appeared from the figure's sleeves, and in the blink of an eye, the figure pierced both blades in the backs of the left and right minotaurs' necks before leaping on top of the central one's shoulders, and looking at him upside-down with, what appeared to be, a grin behind a black mask over her face. Then the last thing the minotaur could see was his own body a good distance away, while the world around him started spinning.

After the figure finished with the central one, she turned to the trapped minotaur who was still caught in the root... only this time, his arms were also caught in roots on each side, and his neck was soon caught in one that was stretched widely. The hooded figure slowly walked up to him while he continued to struggle and scream profane words to the figure for when he "manages to escape". Then, when the figure grew tired of him, she raised her right hand, and lifted the middle finger at him, which only made him roar in anger, before he started to choke, as the vine wrapped around his neck started to slide him forward, while the ones on his arms started to pull in opposite directions. Then the figure walked away while his roar became a scream, which soon became the sound of a crack... then the sound of liquid spewing.

Finally, the figure made it to the docks. After looking both ways, she noticed a group of guards rushing towards her; more than likely ready to either arrest her or interrogate her for the recent stunt performed. Without even giving them a chance to get close to her, she stretched both arms out and jumped from the edge of the island, while the guards rushed after her, only to find that she was no longer in sight.

"Ruby, make sure that Gilded is unable to fly out of the ship!" Justin called to his daughter while kicking one of the human-shaped water creatures known as "Sirens" away from Ruby, who was tying a rope around the lower half of the wall, which held most of the group in place.

With a nod, Ruby replied, "Don't worry, Daddy! The rope is triple-knotted, so there's no way they can easily break free!"

"Good... now, I need you to go inside, and make sure Marble and the others are okay! If their eyes glow green, then lock them in the room!"

Ruby looked at her dad confusedly, before retorting, "B-but... what if the sirens are inside?!"

Justin punched one of the sirens in the face that tried gripping him by the neck before turning towards Ruby. "Then call me... and I'll rush in there, and keep them away from you!"

"But... I'm scared..." Ruby stuttered, as a siren inched closer to her from behind... only to find an arrow in its forehead; shot by none other than Justin, himself.

"I know, Ruby... but don't listen to your fears! I... I know what you're afraid of, and it isn't true!" She looked up at him with wide eyes, while he gave her, despite the siren screeching in his face, a comforting smile, as he held the siren by the neck, as if ignoring the chaos around them. "I will never leave you... that's a promise!"

A few tears fell from Ruby's eyes, while a weak smile formed on her face. Then, with a nod, she turned towards the door to the main lobby, and ran inside; slamming the door behind her in the process... while a small group of sirens bumped into the door and hissed.

Inside the ship, Ruby ran from the door that was pounded with the sound of ominous shrieks outside, and towards the hallway that lead to the Navigation Room.

After making it to the door that led to the Navigation Room, Ruby paced her right ear on the door in high hopes of hearing something inside. When she didn't hear anything, however, she started to feel nervous. "H-hello? Zula... Limestone... Marble? Are... are you alright?!"

Before she could get an answer, however, the door swung open, and in the blink of an eye, Limestone picked Ruby up and pulled her inside before closing the door. Once inside, she gently placed Ruby on the ground again and turned towards Zula, who was now placing green powder inside Marble's open chest. Just the sight of it caused Ruby's face to turn green and her to turn away from the scene quickly.

Limestone sighed before saying, "S-sorry, Ruby... but it isn't safe out there, now! We have to stay in here, so that nothing bad happens to you."

Ruby was about to respond, when the sound of a low moaning noise caught both of their attention. Turning towards Zula and Marble, both of their eyes widened at the sight before them.

When the Sirens started pounding at the door, Justin was quick to react. Taking both of his swords, he quickly impaled the three Sirens in the red orbs; causing the three to screech loudly before melting into a puddle of salty water on the ground. A forth one ran up to him and was about to bite into his neck, but before it could even reach him, he sheathed his left sword and gripped it by the throat which, surprisingly, felt more like gelatin than water, only more solid. As the Siren made gagging noises, Justin glared at it before raising his sword up to its chest and growling, "Stay away from my daughter, you bitch!" Then, after the Siren attempted to bite his hand, he quickly plunged his sword into its chest which, in turn, caused the glowing red orb inside it to disappear like the other two. Shortly following that, the Siren's entire body melted into a puddle like the others.

At that moment, the shrieking noises the other Sirens made ceased, and was replaced by silence. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of the rain that was pouring at this point. Justin drew his other sword and turned around to face the massive swarm of Sirens. There were presumably thousands of them staring at him; most of which were walking on top of the water below the ship. Their expressions showed mixtures of shock, confusion, and anger... but Justin didn't care. He raised his swords up defensively and said a silent prayer in his mind. He knew he was strong... but even so, he also knew he couldn't handle this level of danger. Even so, he didn't care about his own safety, though... for he had a far more greater purpose for doing what he was planning to do.

He looked at the crew that was still dazed and tied up onto the walls. He gave the crew a quick smile before turning back to the Sirens. Then he shouted to the swarm, "If you want something to eat so badly, then why don't you try hunting it instead, you cowards?! I can at least give you all a run for your money, if you'd like! Eh, but I'm pretty sure you all couldn't handle me, anyways! After all, I'm far more capable of fighting than all of you put together, and I'm willing to put that to the test by giving you all a challenge! Why would I challenge you all, you might ask?! Well, it's simple, really... I don't think you can win! Well... there's that, plus the fact that I think you're all a bunch of sluts!" He smiled when he noticed that the swarm was now glaring even darker at him before he put his left sword away. Then he chuckled, raised his middle finger up in the air, and shouted, "SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! COME AND GET ME, YOU BASTARDS!"

At that statement, the entirety of the Siren army charged after Justin, who in turn, jumped up on the railing and drew his left sword again; flicking the blades together in a taunting manner to get the Sirens' attention. Then, after activating his Sapphire Ring, he dove head-first into the water with an air bubble surrounding him.

"Marble! You're... you're alive?!" Limestone cried out when she saw her sister's eyes open.

Marble lightly chuckled before turning to Zula. "Yeah... so, how much ribs did I lose, Doc?"

Zula chuckled before replying, "Do not worry, Miss Marble. Your ribs were welded back together with the green powder... and along with that, the rest of your body."

Marble nodded her head before slowly sitting back up. Sure enough, she felt healthy again, but at the same time, her cheeks turned red when she looked down and noticed that she was shirtless... and she wasn't wearing a bra. Letting out a nervous shriek, she covered her chest with both arms and scooted into a corner... only to notice the red glows coming from the sea. "What the buck is goin' on?!"

Before anyone could respond, the door quickly opened up, and in ran Gilded Blade; now no longer under the "Curse of the Siren's Song". When he stepped in, he looked around and asked, "Is Ruby in here?!"

His cheeks instantly turned red when he saw Marble turn around. Then, in the blink of an eye, he turned his head around, ran back outside of the room, and gasped. "S-sorry! I didn't m-mean to..."

"Mr. Gilded?" Ruby asked after closing the door behind her.

Gilded looked back up to her and his eyes widened. "Oh, thank goodness, you're okay! Have you seen your father anywhere?"

Ruby's eyes widened. "He was outside with you all! What happened?!"

Gilded's jaw dropped before he quickly turned around. "Oh, no... don't tell me... he's the one who's making the Sirens swim away?!"

"WHAT?!" Ruby screamed before dashing through the hallway. Gilded followed her the whole way with a worried expression on his face.

"Damn it, Justin! Why can't you ever just sit back and not do something crazy like this?!"

From under the water, Justin continued to swim at a blurring speed (thanks to the powers of his rings). As he swam, he continuously checked backwards and noticed that the Sirens were no longer focused on the ship.

"That's right, assholes! Get the hell away from my ship!" he thought as he made a sudden stop and increased the size of the bubble he was surrounded by. When the bubble was a decent size, he stood at the lower half of the bubble like it was a flat surface and braced for impact.

Then, one by one, the Sirens started pouring in; allowing him enough time to quickly slice through the Sirens that entered. Each time one would fall, however, two or more would soon take its place. It would only be a matter of time before Justin would have to think up a different strategy.

Before long, he stood in the center while the entire area around him in a perfect circle was swarmed with Sirens stalking their prey. Justin sighed before flicking the blades together in a crossed-out pattern; sending sparks between both blades. "Come on, then! Why'd you stop, huh?! I'm waiting!"

The Sirens started moving closer and closer to him. Then, in unison, the entire swarm ran up to him (some even leaped into the air) to finish Justin off.

... At the last second, though, a loud horn-like sound blared through the air; causing the Sirens to instantly vaporize. Justin tilted his head in confusion before turning around, and noticing a massive-looking submarine that, shortly after he turned his head around, flashed several massive lights towards him; causing him to cover his eyes with his left arm. Then he heard the sound of the Sirens' screeches in the distance. Looking back, he gasped when he saw the red orbs were now headed away from him, but were now headed back towards the S.S. Atlantis again!

Before Justin could take more than a few steps forward, however, he heard the sound of someone stepping closer to him. When the hoof steps stopped (after eight steps) another sound caused Justin to feel nervous... the sound of a gun's safety clicking off.

After a brief moment of silence, a low-pitched gruff male's voice growled, "Don't move!" Then a few more hoof steps came, before the male added, "State your business here!"

Justin gulped before replying, "I'm with the S.S. Atlantis! The Sirens are after them!"

Then he heard the man gasp. "Alright, then... we'll put you under custody until we receive verification from anyone else on board! Come with me, though! Quickly!"

With a nod, Justin turned around... only to find the entrance to the new, massive submarine open... from the bottom. Getting a better look at it, he noticed that it was perhaps larger than five of the Airships from Gryphonia... and those alone could carry hundreds of people at a time! Not wanting to argue, Justin quickly stepped into the doorway which, surprisingly, was dry on the other side, despite being opened underwater. "Wow... magic sure is nice to have, now that I think about it..." Justin murmured to himself as the door closed behind him.

"Damn it! There's too many of them! Where in the name of Tartarus did Justin go?!" Gilded grunted as he held another table amongst the stack of five that covered the entrance to the main room. Behind him, the rest of the group were gathering the tables and chairs from the dining area, and carrying them to add to the barricade.

Gilda retorted with clenched teeth, "Don't know... but I've got a guess... though it ain't a good one, if that's what you're wondering!"

Swift rolled his eyes as he carried the same table Gilda was carrying on the opposite end before replying, "Oh, I'm sure he's fine! He probably went to get help, that's all!"

Stealth sighed while he carried a chair; not wanting to cut into their conversation. Instead, however, he was having a separate conversation with Ruby, who was carrying a chair beside him. "Don't sweat it, mate. I'm sure your father's alright!"

Ruby gulped nervously before turning towards the confident Fox. "H-how do you know that, though, Mr. Stealth?"

Stealth chuckled before replying, "Just an ol' intuition, mate. Gotta trust your instincts, after all! Especially when you're as tall as a filly, and practically a full-grown adult!"

With a sigh, Ruby nodded her head and smiled weakly. "Well... my instincts tell me that he's fine!"

Stealth hummed to himself before turning towards Ruby. "Ah, but are you sure it's your instincts... and not your mind?"

For a moment, Ruby was lost in thought. Then, with a far more confident smile, she nodded her head and replied, "I'm positive! Normally, Daddy would think these things through, so there really isn't anything to worry about!" A bang in the door made her jump before lightly chuckling. "W-well... maybe except for the huge army of Sirens outside the door."

Shortly following the bang on the door, a completely unexpected sound occurred... the sound of knocking.

The Sirens continuously tried to break through the metal door to the Main Room. Regardless of how many times they attempted, however, they only resulted in barely making a scratch. Amongst their furious attacking, however, the Sirens that weren't in the water were greeted with the sound of a massive ship's horn blowing behind them... followed by the appearance of a massive submarine with the word "Poseidon" written on it. The Sirens quickly turned around and hissed at the massive submarine, before raising their clawed hands over their eyes to block out the light.

Then, the upper half of the ship's outer frame lowered; revealing countless Ponies in it wearing blue camouflaged armor and black helmets with, what appeared to be, black gas masks over their faces with blue visors. Their helmets all appeared to be sound-proofed, so any sounds the Sirens would make was ineffective. On the left halves of the chest pieces of the Pony's armors, the letters "AA" were written in a brighter blue color, with the words "Atlantic Army" written below the letters in small writing. In every one of the soldiers' hands were rifles made of light blue and black metals. (The black metals were used for the handles and the triggers.)

In the center of the huge army, one Pegasus Pony stallion stood out from the rest. Instead of wearing a helmet, he wore a blue beret and a pair of light blue shades. Inside his beret, he wore earplugs, so even he was protected from the sounds the Sirens made. He had an orange coat, and from the bottom of the beret, his red and orange-streaked mane was slightly showing.

"LOOK ALIVE, MEN! ENSURE THAT THE PASSENGERS ARE UNHARMED! THEIR SAFETY IS THE TOP PRIORITY!" the stallion in the beret shouted.

The rest of the soldiers shouted, "SIR, YES SIR!" in unison before jumping from the Poseidon and onto the S.S. Atlantis; immediately firing their rifles into the chests of the Sirens, and mowing the swarm down quickly. In the matter of minutes, the entire swarm was no more. Any remaining made a quick retreat back into the ocean. With the ship no longer in danger, the soldier in the beret walked up to the door to the Main Entrance and gave it a few quick knocks.

From inside the S.S. Atlantis, the group tilted their heads in confusion at the strange knocking pattern. Due to the sound-proof capabilities that the door had, however, that was all they could hear from outside.

Maud Pie slowly made it into the Main Room with, surprisingly, a smile on her face. "Help has arrived." She said in her usual monotonous voice.

With the clear signal, the group quickly moved the barricade out of the way; leaving Maud standing in front of the entrance. After placing a key in the side of the door, she unlocked it and pressed the button on the left side of the door, which caused it to slide open.

The Pegasus stallion's eyebrows raised and his jaw dropped when he saw Maud standing there. Then a smile formed on his face while he stood in attention and saluted her, right as Pinkie, Marble, and Limestone entered the scene (after Pinkie gave Marble a heartwarming hug in a hopeful attempt to fix their sisterly relationship).

For a moment, the soldier stood there saluting Maud, which only built up the confusion the crew felt. After blinking once, Maud said, "At ease, Commander Fire Wing."

The soldier (now known as Fire Wing) nodded his head and lowered his right hand from his forehead. Then, his next statement caught everyone in there off guard.

"Glad to see we weren't too late, President Maud."

Author's Notes:

Holy crap, this took a while to update!

Please note that I'm half-asleep as of right now, so unfortunately, I was unable to proofread it, and quite frankly, about a month is way too long for an update on my biggest focused story! Please do accept my apologies, everypony! Life's been hitting me in weak areas lately, but I'm over it, now! (That, plus the fact that my laptop died... and I don't mean "Out-of-Power" Dead, either! I mean "Blue Screen of Death" Dead! )

Anyways, stay tuned, My Little Bronies! And remember... "No person is perfect... but that doesn't mean we all can't try to be, at least! And with the help of a friend, your trials of perfection can yield better results than if you were alone the whole time!"