My Little Pony Friendship is Magic The Movie: What If?

by SuperPinkBrony12

Part 16: Regroup and Rescue

As the zeppelin floated away over the horizon with Twilight onboard, her friends were left to process their shock and grief. How had it all ended like this?

Spike, for his part, was beside himself with grief! He kept sobbing over and over again, desperately shouting to the horzion! "Mom! Come back, please! Please, tell me this is all just a horrible nightmare! Please! I can't bare to be without you!" Alas, no amount of pleading or crying on his part could change the reality of the situation. He broke down into tears, burying his face into the sand! "It should've been me, not you!"

"It should've been all of us!" Rainbow Dash grumbled as she kicked at the ground in frustration. "We should've tried harder to talk her out of it instead of letting her throw herself away like that! After all we've been through together, this is how it ends?! This is just like the last time we let her put her own wishes ahead of ours and didn't push back! And this time, I don't think we'll be lucky enough for her to change her mind!"

"So what are we supposed to do in this situation?!" Applejack angrily complained. "Just sit around and feel sorry for ourselves?!"

Rainbow bitterly replied. "I don't know, but I hate feeling useless! I feel like we need to do something, anything!"

"You heard what Tempest said though," Fluttershy cautioned. "If we try to rescue Twilight at all, she'll just attack us. We barely escaped when the Storm King's army wasn't focused on us," She shuddered. "If she could catch up to us so quickly, who knows what else Tempest is capable of?"

Pinkie Pie could only sorrowfuly look at the ground and lament. "I hate this feeling. It's the worst feeling ever! Twilight's gone, and there's nothing we can do about it."

Rarity then confessed in a guilt ridden tone. "Much as it pains me to admit it, she was right about us. We weren't taking the trip as seriously as we should've. And we just kept brushing off her concerns until it was too late," She looked to the others very slowly. "Perhaps if we had talked to her sooner, perhaps if we'd made more of an effort to at least listen to her instead of ignoring her, maybe it wouldn't have had to get to the point where she felt she couldn't trust us."

Applejack grumbled. "Well that doesn't excuse the fact that she was tryin' to steal from the seaponies and from Queen Novo! Doesn't matter how she spins it, it was stealin' and it was wrong! Doin' that just made Queen Novo rightfully think she couldn't trust us at all!"

"But don't you see?" Rarity commented with concern. "It never would've come to that if we hadn't made Twilight feel so isolated and alone. She turned out to be right about Capper, and she had a point about not trusting the pirates."

The rainbow maned pegasus immediately snorted and swooped over, glaring at Rarity! "Don't go saying that! It's because they trusted us that the pirates ended up in trouble with Tempest in the first place! We should've stood our ground then and there and fought with them, rather than abadon them like Twilight did!"

"Yet we probably wouldn't have even met the pirates if we'd just left Klugetown instead of staying with Capper," Fluttershy pointed out. "Twilight was right not to trust him. He only wanted us so he could use us for his own benefit."

The brash speedster only growled in rely. "But because we didn't, we got our first real lead as to where we were going. And so what? We were supposed to act all mopey and feel sorry for ourselves? I for one refuse to feel that way! I have faith that we can win, just like we always do! Thinking about all we had to leave behind hurts, but what would hurt even more is if we came back to Ponyville with nothing to show for it!"

The pink party pony looked up rather slowly, hesitantly asking her rainbow maned friend. "Then, what were we supposed to do?"

"I..." Rainbow Dash began, only to find that she couldn't keep up the arguing any longer. She couldn't think of a convincing counter argument. She let out a groan and unhappily sighed. "I don't know about that either. I just know that this is unacceptable! It's up to us to save Twilight and make it up to her for unintentionally leaving her alone when she needed us most! That Storm King may be strong, but so are we! Somehow, someway, we're going to have to stop him and save everyone!" But her bravado faded as she added in a sorrowful tone. "I just wish I knew how."

---

Yet as the ponies and dragon continued to mope around on the beach, feeling sorry for themselves, a voice in the distance suddenly cried out! "Well I for one think these ponies shouldn't doubt themselves! I have seen for myself what they're capable of! I have seen how they can take anything the world might throw at them and not be broken!"

Everyone lifted their heads and looked off in the direction the voice appeared to be coming from. Rarity then squinted, looking towards the horzion. "Is that who I think it is?" She asked in a tone of voice that sounded more disappointed than outright shocked or surprised.

Sure enough, who should emerge suddenly from behind a rock but Capper Dapperpaws in all his glory? He seemed to be none the worse for wear despite all he must've been through. Even his red jacket appeared to be untarnished, and there was not a scratch, bruise, or cut anywhere on his body.

The ponies and Spike all frowned upon seeing Capper, they still hadn't forgotten what he'd tried to do to them back in Klugetown. The wound still stung.

Capper, unbothered by the harsh glares he was receiving, just continued walking towards the friends, all the while continuing to sing their praises without end. "These ponies and their little dragon have been to the ends of the world and back, surviving hostile encounters and an enemy hot on their heels! All the while, they refused to let the world get them down! And speaking personally," He brushed a claw against his whiskers. "I have seen how their kindness and generosity can inspire honesty and loyalty in others, the good kind of honesty and loyalty at that. Their laughter even in the face of great darkness is a kind of magic others would give anything to have."

Rarity snorted as she eyed Capper. "Well, look what the cat dragged in: Himself," She humphed and swished her tail. "I'm wise to your charms and bewitching good looks, Capper. Your silver tongued ways won't work on me this time."

The cat just replied in a sincere tone, dropping his act of praise. "Ok, look, I know I messed up back in Klugetown. I took advantage of you ponies, just so I could settle a debt."

"That's putting it mildly!" Spike complained in a bitter tone of voice. "Why have you come crawling back now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Capper pointed out. "I'm here to apologize. And this time, I mean it when I say that I want to help you however I can. I know you think you can't trust me, and you'd be right," But in a sly tone of voice he confessed. "However, I think you should know that it was thanks to me that Tempest didn't immediately come after you. I could've easily ratted you out to her to save my own fur, but I didn't. I lied to her and told her you were going west, not east. And she fell for it."

Rainbow Dash blushed. "Yeah, well maybe that would've worked if I hadn't accidentally revealed our location," Then she asked. "But then, how did you survive? Last I remember, you were onboard the pirate ship as Tempest was threatening to destroy it."

A sharp, shrill voice then called out in a squawk. "Isn't it obvious, mateys? He be with us now! The kitty cat's opted to throw his lot in with us, seeing as we're in the same situation."

Within seconds, Captain Celaeno and her crew came swooping down from above. In contrast to Capper, they looked worn and battered. Their outfits were torn and tattered in places. Still, they seemed to be unharmed.

"No way!" Rainbow exclaimed in disbelief! "I thought for sure Tempest had done something horrible to you!"

Captain Celaeno unhappily sighed. "Well, she did. She didn't hurt us directly, but she made good on her vow to tear our ship apart. Wasn't anything left even for salvage, the destruction was quite thorough. We were lucky to escape with our lives," A smile slowly spread across her face as she optimistically proclaimed. "Still, we've only lost a ship, not the war. And after what Tempest did, you can be darn sure we be lookin' to settle the score!"

Another pirate proudly proclaimed! "You got our arrgh back for us, gave us a reason to feel hopeful about the future again! The least we can do in return is help you in your time of need, maties. So we be onboard with ye. Just, not with our ship."

"Figured it couldn't hurt to run with them for a while," Capper explained to the ponies and dragon. "Beats going back to Klugetown. If you thought Verto was mean before, I can't imagine his mood will be any better after he recovers from what Tempest did to him. Klugetown's going to be a mess. And it's a mess I want no part of."

"So he's one of us, now: Honorary crew," Captain Cealeno chipperly chimed in. "And together, we're going to take the fight to the Storm King! We'll fight to the last breath if need be! But we're not going down without a fight!"

Pinkie Pie began to smile again. "Ooh, I'm liking this! With you guys on our side, we have a chance!"

Applejack wasn't so convinced. "I don't know about that. A couple of pirates and a double dealin' cat is hardly the kind of army I think Twilight had in mind when we set out on this journey."

"Well, I'm sure I could convince Discord to help us out," Fluttershy spoke up. "He might not lend us much help, but any help at all would make a difference."

---

Just then, however, a familiar youthful (childish you might say) voice spoke up. "If you guys are going after the Storm King, then count me in too!" Suddenly, up from the depths swam Princess Skystar! She lept out of the water, and transformed in mid-air! Her fins were replaced by claws, and two large wings extended out on either side of her body! She swooped down, perching atop a rock. "I am sooooooo going to be grounded for this, but I don't care. I think it's time someone taught that overgrown bully a lesson. And I'm just the hippogriff to do it!"

"All by yourself?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

The princess giggled. "Of course not, silly," She turned back towards the water and gave a whistle. "Okay, boys. Come on up!" In a matter of seconds, several seaponies emerged and transformed into hippogriffs, spears at the ready as they surrounded Skystar on all sides.

Even Pinkie Pie seemed to be in disbelief of this! "But... how?! I thought your mother wasn't willing to give us any support after what Twilight did."

Skystar flashed a mischevious grin. "Well it was thanks to that that Mother insisted on assigning some guards to 'protect' me: Her words, not mine. I think she just wanted to prevent me from going up to the surface again," She giggled. "It's a good thing I know how to outsmart her. She doesn't know my methods. And naturally, it didn't take much to convince the guards she assigned to me to come with me."

"Well, we're glad to have you with us!" Pinkie Pie cheerfully exclaimed as she rushed over and gave the hippogriff princess a hug. "One small thing really can make a big difference!"

Princess Skystar nodded as she returned the hug full force. "I'll say," She then boldly declared. "My mother might be afraid of the Storm King, but I'm not! I'm ready to pay him back for what he did to my family, what he did to all the hippogriffs! Mark my words: He'll rue the day he thought he could make the hippogriffs cower in fear!"

Spike blinked slowly. "So... that's it, then? This is the army we're assembling? We didn't make any other friends on our journey?"

Rarity replied. "Well, it may not be exactly what Twilight wanted, but I'd say we're doing quite well with ourselves. We're flush with friends," She then proclaimed. "And together, we'll rescue Twilight, defeat the Storm King, and bring peace to the world!"

The little dragon's spirits appeared to be lifted ever so slowly. "I... guess this could work," He looked up to the horizon. "Don't worry, Mom! We're going to save you no matter what it takes!"

Pinkie excitedly proclaimed! "Yeah!" But then the reality of the current situation hit her as she sheepishly added. "Just as soon as we think of a plan."

Capper grinned. "Well, lucky for me, I think I have just the idea in mind. And if I call in a few favors with some of Verto's associates, we should be able to get back to this 'Ponyville' of ours a lot sooner than Tempest might be expecting," He brought everyone close, and when they were all huddled together he whispered. "Now, here's what we're gonna do."

Author's Note:

It was confirmed that there were supposed to be hippogriff soliders who would take part in the battle in Canterlot along with Princess Skystar, Capper, and the pirates. But for whatever reason, they were cut, which thus means the journey to Mount Aris and all the time spent down in Seaquestria are mostly pointless. Spike even lampshades the fact that it's just these random creatures the ponies happened to befriend.

I also wanted Spike to have a more pronounced reaction to Twilight's capture due to the fact that I've written him as Twilight's adopted son within this rewrite universe.

And I wanted the rest of the mane six to at least acknowledge how they were inadvertently not helping Twilight, as well as they might not appear to have been as rattled by the invasion as she was.

Comments

[Comickook]

Not much I can say beyond the obvious stuff about how I can see your points made in the author's notes and that you did a wonderful job on the dialogue, characterizations and future chapter set-up.

REALLY looking forward to the climax and the epilogue.

[BlackMumba]

I appreciate that you had the mane 6 realize they messed up, too. Instead of Twilight taking all of the blame. Although, I wonder how Capper is going to get help from Verto (It's spelled Verko in the original movie).

[Okie Brony]

I'm loving this different take on "MLP:TM," especially the mother-son relationship between Spike and Twilight. I just want to point out that in the chapter's first sentence is at least the third occurrence of "zepplein" instead of "zeppelin."

Why did you change Verko's name?

[BlackMumba]

11905743
That's what I was wondering

[SuperPinkBrony12]

11905743 I always thought it was Verto. That goes to show you how forgettable he is, that I can't even remember his name correctly.