//------------------------------// // Episode 7: My Little Sissy // Story: My Brave Pony Starfleet Magic: Season VII // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// EPISODE SEVEN One night, Applebloom was tossing and turning in bed having a nightmare! The skies above the farmlands were shrouded with dark clouds, and cold winds blowing across the fields. “Hello…!” Applebloom called out as she wandered through the spooky fields, “This ain’t funny! Somebody answer me!” Suddenly, she stopped, and she could see Applejack off in the distance. “Hey, Sis…” she called out as she raced over to her, but as she got closer, Applejack turned round, and she seemed rather creepy-looking. “What the…” cried Applebloom, and her big sister gave a huge hiss, revealing she had been turned into a Batling again. “No, sis…!” She then heard the sinister sounds of evil laughter, and Count Nightwing appeared along with Shade and Ebany, “Your sister is with us again.” Nightwing hissed, “And this time, no one has the power to bring her out of it, so say goodbye to your flesh and blood!” Applejack began to fly off to join a whole load of bat-hybrids, much to Applebloom’s horror. “No! Applejack, come back! Don’t leave me!” “Oh, she’s not the only one…” said Shade, and he motioned over to Big Mac and Granny Smith, whom had also been infected. “No!” cried Applebloom. “Yes…!” hissed Ebany, “And guess who else we’d like to add to the flock?” With that, a whole flock of bats sneered and glared at Applebloom, ready to take her into the clan. They charged right at her, and Applebloom had no place to go, and nothing she could do… except wake up… …And that’s just what happened as she snapped wide “Applebloom!” called Applejack as she came into her sister’s room with Big Mac, and he looked weary-eyed. “You alright…? You were yellin’ in your sleep?” he said groggily. Applebloom rubbed her eyes, “I was havin’ a nightmare. I’m okay now.” Her siblings sighed softly, “You take it easy, Applebloom. We don’t want anything happenin’ to you.” said Applejack. “Eeyup.” agreed Big Mac, and he and Applejack left Applebloom quietly sitting in her bed, and she felt pretty disturbed by her nightmare. “I’m not gonna let anythin’ happen to my family!” Meanwhile, in Nightwing’s dark lair, he was conjuring up a special spell, by unleashing some of his breath into a large flask. He snickered wickedly, “Excellent, with my enchanted breath, we can introduce a whole new way of infected the ponies. One whiff of my magical vampire breath will immediately trigger the mutations.” His minions were most intrigued, “But Sire…” asked Shade “How do you intend to carry the scent of your breath along the way?” Nightwing snickered, “Patience… everything will be revealed in due time.” Ebany liked the sound of this, “I look to seeing it, my lord; especially if it means well to our conquest.” Nightwing nodded, “I assure you, Ebany, it will.” The morning, when the rooster crowed, Applejack stretched out and yawned, “Good Mornin’ sunshine!” she called as she fit her hat on her head and hopped out of bed, only to feel the floor was weird beneath her feet. “Huh?” Instead of hardwood flooring, her room had inflatable mattresses all over the place. “Hey, sis…” Applebloom called as she opened the door to her room “You alright? I heard you wake up.” “Uh… yeah…” replied Applejack “Um… you wouldn’t happen to know why all these blow ups are all over my floor, do ya?” “Sure, I put ‘em there. Wouldn’t want ya to step on anythin’ sharp.” Applejack was most confused, and as she made her way to her bedroom door to step out into the hall, “Just a sec…” said Applebloom, and she quickly slapped onto her sister’s bare feet a pair of shoes with sponges tied to the bottoms. “Applebloom, what’s got into you?” “Oh, nothin’ really.” said Applebloom, “Just lookin’ out for ya, that’s all.” Then she sprinted off, leaving her sister more confused than ever. Then, when she got downstairs, she noticed all the furniture and the upholstery were all coated in plastic and pillows. Even Granny Smith was strapped into her rocking chair with a safety belt, much to her confusion. And even in the kitchen, Big Mac couldn’t seem to cook breakfast because the stove couldn’t start. Reason being: Applebloom cut off the main power supply. “Wouldn’t want my big bro burnin’ himself. We can just eat plain old breakfast cereal instead.” “Um… Eeyup… I guess…?” “Okay, Applebloom, What is all this about?” asked Applejack. Applebloom played innocent, “What do you mean? Can’t a fully look out for the safety of her family?” Applejack began to have her suspicion this was all connected with Applebloom’s nightmare. “If there’s somethin’ botherin’ you, just tell us. Then maybe we can try and help you.” “Nothing’s wrong with me, nothing at all.” Applebloom snapped, but this only confirmed everyone’s suspicions. Unfortunately, Applejack didn’t have much time to stick around to hear it. Much as she wanted to, she had training duty that day-- as a Starfleet officer, and one of the best, it was her assignment that day to help Rainbow Dash, Lightning, Buddy and Starla train new recruits at the academy in New Cloudsdale. She stepped out the front door, ready to fly off… “Wait a minute, sis!” cried Applebloom, and she swiftly dashed in circles around Applejack, putting on kneepads, elbow-pads, water wings, a lifejacket and life preserver, as well as a huge crash helmet. “There ya go, all safe now.” Applejack growled softly, “Applebloom…!” Her little sister just smiled goofily. Applejack struggled to spread out her wings, and even still it was hard for her to flutter with all the padding she had on. “I can’t fly like this!” “You don’t need to.” said Applebloom, and she whistled loudly calling forth the Pegasus air-taxi she had hired to take her to New Cloudsdale. “Okay, someone’s goin’ a little nutty here.” Applejack said to herself, and while she tried to protest to Applebloom again, her sister ushered her into the taxi “Go on, now… and make sure you come home safely.” She then signaled for the two pegasi to take off with Applejack in tow. “But Applebloom…!!” Applejack called as the taxi headed off into the sky. As the taxi flew out of sight, Applebloom felt very worried, already feeling her sister was in huge danger, but she reminded herself to check on Granny and Mac. The taxi was not able to fly as fast as Applejack could with her Starfleet speed, and Applejack tried and tried to shake all the paddings loose from herself, but they were so big and bulky it was hard to even wiggle. This meant that she was very late. Lightning and the others were there at New Cloudsdale-port waiting for her. “What is keeping her?!” Lightning grumbled impatiently “Classes should’ve begun half an hour ago.” “Easy honey,” said Starla “Though I am kind of worried myself. This isn’t like, Applejack to be late.” “Maybe I should’ve left with her together instead of coming here since dawn.” said Buddy. Easily, Rainbow Dash was the most annoyed. She was eager to train the new cadets and show off her moves and how to attack and fend off enemies. “If Applejack doesn’t show up in the next thirty seconds, I’M GOING TO LOSE IT!!” Just then, Applejack’s taxi finally arrived at the port, and Applejack fell out of the coach seat, still in all her paddings. Rainbow couldn’t help but burst out in hysterical laughter at the sight of Applejack and how silly she looked in all that gear. “Someone’s taken too many precautions today.” she laughed. Applejack was far from amused, and much as the others thought she looked silly, they resisted the urge to laugh at her and helped her up and out of all that gear. “Hoo…!” Applejack sighed as she stretched out “That’s much better. I need to brush up more on my escape maneuvers.” She explained to everyone about Applebloom, “She’s turned into a safety monster! I’d hate to think of what she’s doin’ with Granny and Big Mac now.” Indeed, Applebloom was going out of her mind! As Big Mac tried to do his chores on the farm, but everywhere he went, Applebloom was there and up to her crazy stunts. As Big Mac tried to buck apples down from the trees, he found all the trees were covered paddings, and big nets up above so the apples couldn’t fall. Then Applebloom popped up out of nowhere and placed a crash helmet on her brother’s head. Big Mac tried to plow the fields with the old pulling plow, but he suddenly felt the plow come loose, and it had…! Applebloom had cut the harnesses loose and reattached them to her own so she herself would do the plowing. Then she placed a helmet on Mac’s head again. Even Granny Smith; all she was doing was knitting in her chair like she usually did, when Applebloom came in and put big boxing gloves over Granny’s hands so she wouldn’t prick herself with the needles, but unfortunately it made it difficult for her to knit due to the gloves being so big and awkward. Even for Granny Smith, Applebloom put a helmet on her head. The other ponies all thought that sounded serious. “Sounds like she’s suffering from some sort of anxiety.” said Buddy “I’ve seen this before, and I think know what’s wrong with her.” Lightning cleared his throat, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we’re a bit behind schedule here.” “He’s right…” said Starla “I know how you feel about your sister, Applejack, but this can wait.” Applejack knew they were right. It wasn’t like Applebloom was hurting anyone or someone was dying, and it most indeed could wait until later. Right now, their duties had to come first. Later that day, all Big Mac wanted to do was sit down to a nice quiet lunch; a big Dagwood sandwich and a huge chocolate milkshake he made himself. “Whoa! Careful, Big Mac!” cried Applebloom as she came in and snatched the lunch away. “Wouldn’t want you to choke on this or get a brain-freeze.” Before her brother could protest, and had replaced his lunch with a simple bowl of broth with nothing in it, and an ordinary glass of warm apple juice. “Eat hearty, bro.” and she went off. Mac was really getting frustrated, especially now with the loss of his lunch. Granny Smith was outside for her casual stroll, and she took one sniff of the air, “Ahh… Magnolias!” she sighed. A little butterfly came fluttering along and landed on her finger, “Well, hiya there…” said Granny to the little critter. She reached up to stroke the butterfly’s soft wings when Applebloom popped up and scared the butterfly away, “And stay away!” she scorned to it. “What in the name of hog’s feet!” cried Granny “What’cha tryin’ to do, give me a heart attack?!” “Nope, just lookin’ out for ya; wouldn’t want that big bug to bite you.” Granny was really growing concerned for her granddaughter’s behaviour, especially since she knew fully well that butterfliesdidn’t bite. However, Applebloom’s actions did not go unnoticed; Tree Hugger and DD were working in the garden while Buddy was away, and they had been watching Applebloom all morning. “I think someone’s chakra’s way unbalanced today.” said Tree Hugger. DD agreed, “I bet I know what’s got her so riled up…” and she decided to go over and talk to her friend. She walked across the path towards the Apple’s home. “Hey, Applebloom…” “Oh, hiya, DD…” DD hesitated a bit trying to find the words to say, “Um… is everything okay?” “Ah, sure… everything’s fine. My family’s safe, and I got nothin’ to fear.” said Applebloom, “But I do wish Applejack would hurry up and come home.” DD could already tell what was wrong with Applebloom by the sound of her voice. “You know, Applebloom, you don’t need to go so over-the-top. You can’t just protect your family from every single little thing there is.” Applebloom tried to deny her friend, “I don’t get what you’re talkin’ about.” “I think you do…” said DD. By this point, Applebloom was quivering, still trying to hide her true feelings, but to no avail. “Is it because Applejack was bitten by the bats?” Applebloom winced, and tears formed in her eyes, confirming everything. “Ever since that day, I haven’t felt the same… I could’ve lost my sister! I was just a baby when my folks died! I don’t wanna lose anyone else I love!” Her tears were falling sincerely now. “You think I don’t know how you feel?” asked DD, and she decided to tell her a story… Later that day, until about sundown, many ponies all around New Ponyville were all getting ready to go home to supper and get ready for bed, unaware of the imminent danger about to befall them… Nightwing and his goons were hiding in the nearby forest, and hanging from the many tree limbs were swarms of ordinary bats, all of which were under Nightwing’s hypnotic control. “It’s time…” Nightwing said, and he raised his amulet to wake the bats up and send them out, “Go, my children… serve me well, and fight for our cause.” The bats began to fly out through the forest in large groups; each one of them was infected with Nightwing’s cursed breath which they would release on the village as they flew past. “Wonderful…” said Shade “This is far easier than just biting individual ponies one-at-at-time.” Ebany snickered, “And soon, all of New Ponyville will be placed under our control.” Nightwing nodded, “Even if Starfleet detects the trouble… by then it will be too late to stop it.” And indeed, the swarm of bats had already flown clear into the village, much to the sudden horrors of all the ponies. “What’s going on?” “We’re being invaded!” Many of the ponies began to rush indoors, but many more were still outside when it began as the bat released the spores of breath all over the place. “What’s that smell?” “I feel… strange…!” The warning alarm sounded and the automatic air purification units activated at the lampposts, cleansing the air, but it was already too late as the ponies were already starting to mutate. Even the Starfleet sentries in the area began to transform into Batlings themselves. The bats even soared over New Sweet Apple Acres. “What’s goin’ on?” asked Applebloom. “Whoa!” cried Tree Hugger “I’m feelin’ major vibrations in my neck… and that only happens when trouble’s coming!” “Let’s head inside, quick!” yelled DD. The trio, along with all the other ponies began to race for their homes, but it was too late; the scent of the vampire breath had already leaked down, and everyone smelled it… including Applebloom, and she, too, began to mutate. Nightwing could only laugh maliciously as the entire village began to transform. While all that, because of Applejack’s late arrival, training schedules had to be changed and reorganized. So, Lightning and his team worked later than originally intended, but now they were on their way back… …And as they were so very far from New Ponyville and up in the skies, they never heard the alarms. “Man, that was awesome.” said Rainbow “Those cadets really showed potential, especially the flyers… thanks to my Wonderbolt coaching.” “Well…” said Lightning “I guess apart from our little delay, we had a successful session. I think we can head home in peace.” Applejack stopped dead in her tracks, suddenly remembering Applebloom and the way she had been behaving. She felt almost discouraged to go home and be subjected to her sister’s overly obsessive care. “Come on…” said Buddy “We’ll both go back and see if we can sort Applebloom out.” Applejack sighed, but smiled, “Alright, I’m game.” As they all neared New Ponyville… “Wait! Stop!” cried Starla, and suddenly everyone could hear through the droid. “That sounds like the atmosphere alarm.” said Rainbow. “It just came on…” said Starla, and she scanned the area below through her droid’s visor. “What’s goin’ on?” asked Applejack. Starla continued to scan, “There’s definitely some kind of substance in the air.” The readout finally came in “…It’s bat breath?” “Bat Breath?” asked Buddy. “Wait…!” snapped Starla “I’m scanning strong hints of magic in it as well. It’s a powerful mutagen; it affects anyone that inhales it!” The real Starla would be okay, because she was inside where it was safer to breathe, Lightning clenched his fists. He didn’t have to guess twice to figure who was behind all this! “Respirators on…” he said “…We’re going in!” The others agreed, and activated their masks, but Starla’s droid didn’t need one... it was a droid, it didn’t breathe! It was almost completely dark by the second the fighters, all transformed, landed in town, and the whole place seemed all but deserted. Hardly any of the homes had their lights on inside. “Where is everyone?” asked Buddy. “Something’s not right here.” said Rainbow. Suddenly, there was the sound of laughing, and everyone looked up onto a rooftop and saw Nightwing and his minions staring down at them all. “Welcome…” Nightwing hissed “…To the opening night of Bat-Town!” “What are you talking about?” asked Rainbow “This is New Ponyville, and always will be.” “Not anymore…” said Shade. “…And here’s why…” added Ebany, and she and Shade began to chirp like the bats they were. The ultra-sonic sound was unbearable to the ponies and they covered their ears, but that was the least of their problems… When the chirping stopped, the fighters turned round, and there stood practically half of all the citizens of New Ponyville, all turned into bat-hybrids. “Well, what do you think of my bat army?” taunted Nightwing. The army of Batlings hissed and snarled at the fighters, and among them were a few familiar looking faces, much to Applejack and Buddy’s horrors. “Applebloom… Big Mac… Granny?!” cried Applejack. “Tree Hugger…! DD… No!” cried Buddy, but indeed, all their relatives had been affected as well, along with a huge swarm of other ponies, including Starfleet sentries that came to the frontline. “Whoa! We are way outnumbered here!” grumbled Rainbow. “Gee, what was your first clue?” said Starla. Nightwing cackled wickedly, “Those breathing masks may protect you from my magic breath, but I very much doubt they’ll save you from my army. There’s already far more bats than you could possibly heal at once.” Lightning growled as he clenched his fists, “He’s right. We’ve faced the Batlings before, but never this many at once. Even if we could try to heal some of them at once, I’m sure their comrades would bail them out!” Nightwing snickered “Make it easier on yourselves and surrender peaceably, and together we shall all reign dominance over this land, just as me and my people did so long ago!” “Never!” shouted Buddy “We might be outnumbered but we’ve faced bigger armies than this before…” “He’s right…” agreed Lightning “Sometimes, Count Nightwing, you’ll find that bigger numbers doesn’t guarantee you victory… not when dealing with Starfleet.” “Oh well…” snapped Nightwing, and he raised his amulet high, “Seize them, my army!” The bat army charged forth… Buddy and Starla nodded at one another… “STAR SHOWER” “LEAF SWARM” The barrage of leaves and stars shrouded at the army stunning them softly, allowing Lightning to leap up high and trap a good amount of batlings within Uniforce domes. “Hey! You can’t do that!” snarled Ebany. “Sure he can…” teased Rainbow “Just like I can do THIS…!” and with that, she sped right towards the Bat Lords, forcing them to zip up and out of the way. “Oh, no you don’t!” sneered Rainbow, and she charged up after them, preferably at Nightwing to get his Amulet; feeling that if she could get it from him, she could reverse the curse on all the other ponies, “Give me that…!” Nightwing swerved and dodged her every lunge at him, and he kicked her hard and down to the ground. “RD…!” cried Applejack. Rainbow wasn’t hurt, but Nightwing taunted her, “Silly pony, have you forgotten that my power increases with each and every victim I infect?” The fighters all winced and realized the army had boosted his strength immensely. “Yes, take a good look…” hissed Shade “For soon every creature on this entire planet will be one of us.” Ebany nodded, “Then you can all experience what it feels like to have your lands taken from you, and your lives changed forever.” “Trust us we already know how that feels.” said Lightning, “Some of us even more than you know…” He shut his eyes tight and put a hand over his heart remembering his home planet. He quickly snapped himself back into reality, and began to power himself up, enveloped in the uniforce, but he didn’t go Enticorn as he couldn’t risk hurting all the civilians. “What’s this?!” snapped Nightwing. “Ha!” scoffed Lightning “We fighters also get stronger all the time, Nightwing.” Shade and Ebany hissed and prepared to defend their count, but Nightwing called them off, “This I must see for myself.” he said as he prepared to face Lightning one-on-one. “I’ll deal with him…” Lightning said to his friends, “The rest of you try to help the civilians.” The others agreed, and Lightning flew up into the sky where Nightwing was waiting for him. “Ready when you are, chump.” Nightwing snickered, “Let’s go…” and he swiftly zipped forward to attack him, punching him hard in the face, “Take that!” Despite being hit directly, Lightning didn’t feel much pain, and countered by kicking Nightwing hard in his gut. The two of them both flew back hard, Lightning rubbing his face and Nightwing holding his stomach. Neither of them was really hurt… “Impressive.” hissed Nightwing “Perhaps I underestimated you… your power is unlike that of other creatures I’ve absorbed from. I must have it to achieve my goal!” Lightning growled, not willing to let him succeed. While they continued to brawl up above, the others still had the army of civilians as well as Shade and Ebany to deal with. “Coming at you!” shouted Shade. “Let’s go!” added Ebany. Behind them rushed a whole swarm of the batlings of New Ponyville, including applejack and Buddy’s relatives. “Come on, y’all… snap out of it.” said Applejack, but the bats charged right at her and began to attack, even though none of them were skilled fighters like she was. Even Granny Smith was fighting fiercely; her old age didn’t seem to slow her down a bit thanks to the Bat DNA inside her… though her dentures still fell out. Unable to bring herself to fight her own family, Applejack was forced to serve and doge their every attack. “Applejack, you can’t just keep dodging!” Buddy called to her “You’ve got to try and detain them. It’s the only way to hold them back!” He demonstrated his own courage by using his telekinesis to levitate a whole load of ponies up high, including Tree Hugger and DD, his own family. At least he wasn’t trying to hurt them. “You better do as he says.” said Starla. Applejack reluctantly agreed, and grabbed her rope, just as her family charged at her again. “Time to rope me some rustlers.” she said, and skillfully lassoed all three of them together, and bound them tightly. “YE-HAW…! Now, I got’cha!” but her gloating was short-lived was Shade grabbed her from behind. “And now I’ve got you!” he hissed in her ear. Ebany landed near them and prepared to bite her and turn her into a bat, again. “Oh, no you don’t…!” sneered Starla, and she leapt over and kicked the two bats in the side, sending them skidding along the road. “Thanks a bundle.” said Applejack. Starla smiled at her. “Uh… guys…” Rainbow called out “I think things are about to get even uglier.” There were still many batlings, and now the frontline Starfleet sentries stood ready to fight. “Oh boy…” said Buddy. Ebany and Shade snickered as the got up, eager to watch the fight. While way up high, Nightwing and Lightning had been brawling hard; punching and kicking furiously, and hitting each other several times. “Now, try this…!” thundered Nightwing as he unleashed a wave of powerful magic from his amulet. “HIYA…!” Lightning shouted as he unleashed a strong blast of the uniforce, striking the magic and sending it back towards Nightwing, forcing him to zip way up higher, avoiding the explosion. He glared at Lightning, and Lightning glared at him with his capture blaster, “FIRE…!” and he blasted at the evil battling trying to capture him, but the amulet protected Nightwing from the power and deflected the blast way up into the darkening night sky. KAPOW!! A big explosion… “Nice try, but all for naught…!” hissed Nightwing. Outraged, Lightning made his gun disappear, “This isn’t over yet!” “We actually agree on something!” growled Nightwing, but just as he was about to unleash his next attack, the brightness of the full moon began shine down on everyone! Nightwing suddenly gasped, and clutched his head, “No… not now!” he groaned. Shade and Ebany began to act the same way, and at the same time, all the infected ponies began to groan and shriek as the mutation seemed to be wearing off! “What’s happening?” asked Buddy. Before any of the other fighters could ask or say anything, all the infected ponies had reverted back to their normal selves, while the Bat Lords were groaning and moaning almost painfully. “Let’s… get out of here!” growled Shade. “Hurry!” cried Ebany. Nightwing reluctantly agreed, “Until… next time… Starfleet…!” and managed to activate his amulet to teleport himself and his minions away. “Hey!” Lightning shouted, but the bat lords were already gone, much to his outrage, and confusion at the same time. “What was with them?” he wondered “They were doing so well, and then suddenly they just looked so weak.” The bat lords had reappeared in a dark forest clearing, but the moonlight still shone down on them from above, and the three of them began to grow weaker and weaker. “No…!! This can’t be happening!” cried Nightwing. Next, either he wasn’t thinking clearly, or it was part of his plan, he took his amulet and tossed it far into the darkness planning to get it back later. Suddenly, in a bright flash of light, he and his two minions had transformed. All three of them were concealed by the darkness of the forest, but each of them seemed to take on the form of three Earth Ponies. All three of them seemed to speak in southern accents like Applejack, yet all three of them seemed lost and confused, unable to remember the events that just occurred. “What happened?” asked one of the males. “How are we free? We sealed ourselves up!” said the other male “And what the hay are we doin’ in this here forest.” The female felt worried, “I bet my soul that those batty varmints have been up to their old tricks again. We can’t let ‘em terrorize the ponies anymore!” The first male agreed, “We’ve gotta try and seal ourselves up again! It’s the only way.” But then he noticed, “Hey, where’s the amulet?” The other two didn’t know. Suddenly, thick clouds began to cover the moon…! At the same time, the three ponies gasped and clutched their heads. They moaned and groaned as they felt themselves losing control again, and they transformed back into the three bat lords. Nightwing growled, and he raised his hand to magically raise the amulet from where he threw it and grasped it. “I will never allow those fools to silence me!” Shade and Ebany agreed. Now the three of them were more determined than ever to complete their plans and take over United Equestria. Meanwhile, the vampire breath had worn off in the air, and the civilians were all returned to normal, but they hadn’t a single recollection of what happened. Many of them were being escorted home by the sentries while others who lived nearby went home by themselves. The only ones left were Buddy and Applejack’s respective relatives. “What’s happened?” asked DD. “Like… one minute I was at the garden,” said Tree Hugger. Buddy smiled and hugged his wife and his cousin softly, “I’m so glad you two are safe.” As confused as the girls were, they hugged him back. “Dag nabit!” groaned Granny Smith “How late is it? And what are doin’ a-way out here?” “Look…” cried Big Mac, and that’s when Applejack and the others came over. “Are you all okay?” asked Starla. Applebloom rubbed her head, “I think so… but what happened?” Applejack had tears in her eyes and she embraced her sister, “Oh, Applebloom…! Don’t you go scarin’ me like again!” Applebloom was confused, so were Granny and Mac when Applejack hugged them dearly. The others all smiled, and Rainbow wiped a tear from here eye, “I just love these sentiment moments.” Lightning and the others escorted the two families back to New Apple Acres, and told them what had happened! “I can’t believe them vat varmints got us!” snarled Granny “When I get my hands on them, I’ll just--” “Uh, easy there, Granny…” said Lightning “Don’t go throwing yourself out of whack.” “Yeah, best to leave the fighting to us.” said Starla. Suddenly, Applejack remembered, and asked to Applebloom “Is this what you were all worried about and why you did all those crazy things for?” Her sister nodded, “I was real scared when you got bit the first time, and I was worried I’d lose you again. We lost Ma and Pa long ago, and I didn’t wanna lose anyone else I loved! I’m real sorry I was bein’ a pain… to all of you.” Her family couldn’t hold it against her, and came together in a group hug. Buddy knelt down to Applebloom, “I know exactly how you must feel. This happened to me and DD too.” “I know…” replied Applebloom, “DD told me everything.” Buddy looked at DD, and she nodded at him, and then she told everyone the same story she had told Applebloom earlier that day… “Years ago, back on Unicornicopia, when Buddy took me in after the death of my parents, I was really grateful, but at the same time, worried. Buddy was the only blood relative I had. It also didn’t help that he was a Starfleet fighter, and he was always putting himself in danger, and getting hurt, especially when Titan was breaking free. I used to get so scared because I didn’t want to lose him too, I did the exact same things Applebloom did.” Buddy sighed, “I still remember it all… You padded by boots, you plastic-wrapped everything, you even bundled me up in safety gear whenever I was about to leave the house… even if it was just to go to the market to get some milk.” The others all thought that funny, but embarrassing as well. DD went on explaining… “Buddy and I talked about it, and he told me… “I know you’re worried about me, but you can’t keep doing all this. I’m an officer and I need to be loyal to my duties.” He then made special arrangements, that if something would ever happen to him, I’d be put up with one of his friends, and they would look after me. So, even though I would always be okay if anything happened, I still felt really scared and worried, but I knew I couldn’t stop Buddy from living his life. So, whenever he went into battle, or if I was just feeling overly concerned, I played a special game. I would take a deck of cards, and I would flick them into a hat across from my bed, and I kept telling myself that if I made more cards go into the hat than I would miss, Buddy would come home safely to me. Of course, with my magic I had a pretty good shot.” She demonstrated by levitating a small clump of dirt, and she skillfully flung it into the air and sent it all the way over into a nearby pond. “But then one day, Unicornicopia was in big trouble. Titan’s minions sent their army of thousands of foot soldiers to attack.” Lightning, Starla, and Buddy remembered that well, “All of us weren’t there though.” said Lightning “We all headed to The Dark Planet for a showdown with the minions. For only with their defeat could the army be stopped.” Starla clenched her fists, “Walking straight into Titan’s domain like that, hardly anything could’ve been scarier.” Buddy nodded in agreement. “How many cards did you shoot, DD?” asked Applebloom. “None.” replied DD “I was so nervous with all the danger outside, I forgot to do it. The hours of danger seemed to last forever, and Buddy was away from a long time… I didn’t flick a single card. And you know what happened…?” Applebloom shook her head, and Buddy answered her, “The battle was over, and I came home just fine.” He then hugged DD softly, and everyone awed at the two, especially Applebloom. Applejack then said to her sister “It’s sweet of you to want to look out for us Applebloom, but it’s our job to worry about you. Not the other way around.” Big Mac nodded “You can’t keep babying us over every single thing, but you can be there to help us when we really need you. That’s what’s it’s all about.” Applebloom smiled, having found a bit of new confidence in her. “Can you just promise me one thing?” Everyone listened… “Can you beat those bats for what they did to all of us?” Everyone smiled and agreed to keep that promise. Just the same, they were all rather concerned; Nightwing was definitely getting stronger and more devious than ever, and who knew was vile scheme he would try next. All they could do was be on the lookout and fight him another day! (Promo) In our next episode: Lightning and Starla’s baby is well on its way, and everyone is so excited, but none as excited as Pinkie Pie, as she constantly pesters the couple wanting to give full support and help. When Sienna attacks their home, demanding the map fragment and legendary item Starfleet has, it could be a close call for all involved. Will Sienna succeed in her hunt, and will Lightning and Starla’s foal arrive safely Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!” (Next Episode: “It’s Coming, Baby!”)