//------------------------------// // Act 5: I Trust You // Story: My Brave Pony Starfleet Humans STARPOPS // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// ACT FIVE After it got dark, Councillor Celestia announced that the late night campfire party had begun. Campers were allowed to stay out late, until midnight the latest, near bonfires or just hanging out after dark. If they chose to go to bed, they were allowed to. Though, many of the bands preferred to practice rather than chill out, and you could bet there were small arguments, but they didn't last too long. Flash Sentry decided to take a really long walk to cool his mind off. Meanwhile, the Rainbow Rocks and the Starfleet gang were all huddled around their own campfire away from all the noise. They were all quietly roasting marshmallows and hotdogs on sticks, while still deciding a name for their big group. They had to come up with a name by tomorrow afternoon and register their band group for the competition. "Pinkie Pals?" suggested Pinkie "Flower Power." said Buddy Rose. "Nah, I say "Rainbow and the Cool Clouds." said Rainbow "...Anyone object?" The only sound heard was the soft noise of the crickets and the fire. "Rainbow Dash, we don't want a name that circles around only you." said Rarity. "Well it's not like your ideas worked any better." snapped Rainbow. "All right, that's enough!" said Lightning "We're not going to get anywhere by arguing." The gang all agreed, and Lightning then noticed Starla was looking way up at the night sky. "Are you okay?" he asked her. "Yeah, I just like to look up at the stars." Lightning looked up at the stars with her. "I remember, you were always into astronomy, just like my Starla Shine..." Hearing him mention his wife made Starla feel a little grim as she looked down from the skies, and it showed, and the others could sense there was going to be a little hurt feelings in a few seconds. "Starla...?" She looked away from him, feeling shy and embarrassed. "Lightning... I really like you. I always have since we met. You do know that right?" He softly placed his hand on hers making her finally turn round to face. "Starla, I... I like you too... but... well..." "I know..." she said "You like me, but just not the same way." Lightning wasn't going to forgive himself for what he was about to do, but it had to be done. "You know we can't ever be a thing." Starla wiped a tear from her eye "I know... but..." she paused a minute. "If you weren't already married, and if you could choose... do you think, at least... maybe... we could have been?" Lightning honestly didn't know how to answer that, and yet, it was almost as he both he and Starla, even the others could tell what the answer was. "... I don't see why not." Lightning finally said. Starla felt a little happy, and they both looked up at the stars again. That's when Artie began to feel maybe he should confess to Sunset about his feelings for her. He even felt a nudge from Buddy Rose telling him to go for it, but again, he chickened out, much to everyone's frustration... except Sunset. She didn't want to admit it, but she was already well aware of Artie's feelings, and she thought he was a really sweet guy too, but as everyone else knew, she was too worried and unsure if she was willing to give it an honest try, mostly due to her own distraught feelings of her past evil deeds. "I hate to say it, but everyone's acting like a bunch of party-poopers here." said Pinkie. The others ignored that statement, and then thought more of what to call their new band. Lightning and Starla were still looking up at the stars, and everyone else looked up as well. "Wow! They're so beautiful." said Fluttershy. Rhymey held his girlfriend close and recited a small verse... "The shimmering glow of the stars above, They bring deep feelings of peace I have heard of. As the night sails on, and it'll soon be gone My feelings remain but for you, my love." "Aww!" the others said, and watched as the couple shared a kiss. Krysta wiped her eye with her wings "That was so pretty." she said. "Yeah, where do you come up with this stuff?" asked Spike. "Oh, it's nothing really, it's not hard, and it's really no real dread. When I think of Fluttershy and I look at a Star, it just Pops into my head." Lightning caught hold of those words deeply "Star... Pops..." he said aloud. "Lightning?" Starla said "What did you say?" He looked at her and replied "...Starpops." The others all began to happen upon the same feeling for that word. "Starpops." "That's it!" Buddy cried "It's perfect!" The others all agreed. "We found our group name!" said Starla. everyone agreed, and placed their hands on top of each other’s high over the fire and shouted "GO... STARPOPS!!" "Now we can sign up for the contest tomorrow." Pinkie cheered as she bounced for joy. "We'll show those monsters they can't beat us." said Rainbow. The Twins and Sunset, however looked nervous, and gestured for everyone to cool it. "What's got you guys in a knot?" asked Applejack, but then she and the others could see why...! The D-Man-Knights, and the Dazzlings were all standing right near their area, and all of them had sinister looks on their faces. "You know, it's really not nice to call other people monsters." Blaze said in a sarcastic, yet wicked tone. Rainbow felt especially nervous. "Uh... well... you see I... uh...." "Yeah, I'd be tongue-tied too if I were in your place." said Adagio. "I bet you guys don't even have a song yet." added Aria. The gang all gawked in realization. They had their name, but they hadn't come up with an official song yet; a very vital part to their plan. "We'll take your ssssilence as a yesss!" hissed Scales. His hissing really creeped the gang out, especially Fluttershy. Lightning stood tall and saw firmly but softly "We will have a song. Just you wait." Blaze approached Lightning, almost in a threatening manner, and stared him dead in the eyes. Lightning could practically see the demonic evil behind those wicked pupils. "You're quite the one with attitude." Blaze said "One would say that you're... different... from the others." Lightning remained as solid as ice, and didn't even blink his eyes. "We'll be there, tomorrow." he said. The other enemies snickered softly. "Good luck. You will need it." said Blaze as he turned to leave as he silently muttered "Not that it'll do you any good anyway." The evil gang had gone away, and Lightning clenched his fists angrily. "What are we going to do?" asked Fluttershy. "What can we do?" cried Rarity "How can we possibly come up with a new song by tomorrow night?" "Even if we come up with something, we'll have to rehearse it all and get it right." said Buddy. This made Lightning snap back into reality. "That's right!" he said as he sagged down onto his seat. "We can't just come up with any song. To counter the spell they've cast, we need to come up with something really positive, and heart-warming." "I've written one..." Fluttershy said as he held up her notebook from her backpack "Maybe... if you'd like... we could do it?" The gang looked over her song, and thought it was actually pretty good, at least something for the Rainbow Rocks to play. "We still need another song..." said Dyno. Myte nodded and added "One that the entire group can do together, in case the first song isn't enough." "Something really heart-warming that it makes you want to burst out into joy." said Krysta. "Yeah, but, what sort of song could that be?" Spike wondered aloud. Applejack sighed "It's a dang pity Twilight Sparkle ain't here. She'd be able to come up with somethin' great I bet." Hearing that, and remembering the lie he told about Twilight being sick made Lightning look a little down, as well as Krysta and Spike. The others just assumed they were feeling bad, believing Twilight was really sick. "I'm sure she'll get better soon." said Rarity. "Of course she will." said Pinkie "There's no one like Twilight Sparkle. Well, except maybe the other one that we all knew." She referred to the actual human Twilight Sparkle, whom Lightning remembered as well, and it only made him feel more down remembering the Twilight Sparkle he once knew. Hours later, aboard the International Space Station. Celesto was all ready for bed, and strapping himself down so he wouldn't float about in the weightlessness. He paused a minute and looked a picture, of he and Celestia at their wedding day, and what a beautiful bride she was. "Goodnight, darling." he whispered "I'll be home soon. I promise." He then gazed out the view port at the Earth below. Celestia was getting ready for bed herself, long after she ordered all the campers to adjourn to their bunks. Though she was under the Demonites and Siren's curse, she still thought of her husband, and wondered if he was looking down at her from the stars. "Sleep tight, my love." she said softly. Her younger sister, Luna felt sorry for her having to endure this long separation. "You must be brave, sister. He will be alright." Her sister turned and smiled sadly. Then they each slipped into their respective beds and turned out the lights. It was very quiet at the camp with everyone in bed. No one was allowed to leave their bunks and wander off after hours. In one of the boy's bunks, Flash was tossing and turning in his sleep. He was having a nightmare. It was the same nightmare he had been having for the past two years! There he was, in the dark, all alone, and then suddenly he was surrounded by ruins and scorched Earth everywhere. The entire island was one massive land of destruction and chaos. He then saw himself carrying a diamond-studded sword, which he would drop in shock, and then he would notice his flesh was mutating-- changing into his original alien state-- and a voice was calling out to him "You cannot deny what you are. Do not reject your power!" Flash would continue transforming, and then find himself acting evil and vile as he destroyed more lands, killing innocent beings, and one of them was Twilight! She would beg him for mercy, he would then raise his sword ready for the kill... he would strike...! ...and then he would wake up in shock. He felt hot and sweaty, and needed some air. So he left his bed and quietly, so as not to wake his fellow campers, he walked out onto the deck. His head ached a little from the nightmare. "Why does this keep happening to me?" he wondered silently. For the past two years, he lived as an orphan at a shelter in town while going through high school-- Not remembering that his mother, the evil Empress Saphirra, Queen of the Crystallites was destroyed by Starfleet. At first he thought the nightmares were just silly. Now, the more they kept recurring, it was like something inside him was trying to tell him something... ...Something treacherous! Sunset came along on her nightly rounds to make sure no one was sneaking off after dark. "Having another nightmare?" she asked. Still under the evil spell, Flash acted rather coldly towards her "None of your business. What are you doing out here anyway?" Sunset did her best to remain patient "I'm Junior Councillor, I'm finishing my rounds." "Then go do them someplace else and leave me alone." he sneered at her. Not wanting to cause trouble, or noise to disturb other campers, Sunset walked off. Right next to Flash's bunk was a guest bunk where all the guests stayed overnight. It was pretty much like all the other bunks, with rows of beds, and yet Lightning Spike and Krysta were the only ones there. Spike slept on of the other beds while Krysta slept on the pillow, but Lightning hadn't slept a wink and was standing at the window looking out at the darkness, still trying to come up with a song for the Starpops to sing at the contest the next day. Krysta opened her eyes and saw him, and she sighed and fluttered over to the window. "You should get some sleep." she said softly, hoping to not wake Spike up. "It's okay... I'm awake too." said Spike. He stretched out over the bed and yawned. The others chuckled softly by how doggy like he was behaving. Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Sunset just walked right in before they could answer, but it was her right as Junior Councillor anyway. "How come you guys are still up?" "How can I sleep at a time like this?" said Lightning "This whole song thing is keeping me awake. Besides, I'm used to stuff like this back at United Equestria." The friends all decided to go out to the deck for some air, to help them sleep better. Flash could see them, and pretty much hear their words, but they didn't see or hear him. "I'll bet it is hard for you..." said Sunset "Being a big commander, and having to look after so much. It must be nice that so many look up to you." "Yeah, it is..." said Lightning "But most of the time... the work just never seems to end, and you hardly get enough rest, but you have to do it... especially when so many lives depend on you." "I'm sorry." "No, no, don't be. I've gotten the hang of it, but it sure took me some time. Just like it took you time to win everyone's respect back." Sunset felt a little low "Not really everyone. There's still some out there who don't trust me, and they don't believe I've really reformed. Sometimes... I wonder if I really have." "Of course you have." said Krysta. "Yeah, I mean, we hardly remember the old you at all." added Spike. She smiled softly, but her sadness resumed "It doesn't really change all that. I can never erase who I was, and all the trouble I caused. It still amazes me that you all were willing to forgive me, and accept me. Some people still think that I'm just acting, or that I'm going to... cause another disruption." Tears of shame were starting to form in her eyes, and it really hurt Lightning to see her like this. "Someone once said to me... "Just because people expect something from you, doesn't mean it's guaranteed to happen." "Twilight..." Sunset said, and she wiped away her tears. "That sure sounds like her, but people still act like it will happen. Some don't even bother to accept the change in things." Lightning stood up and looked up at the stars. "Some changes are good. I know yours is... but that doesn't mean they're all good, especially for everyone." He let the grief from his heart do all the talking. "Some changes... they can change who you are, forever. How you think, how you feel, and how act towards other people and things. You try and replace all that you lost, but in the end you just can't, and deep down even though it's not your fault and you couldn't help what happened..." a small tear fell from his eye "...you still feel like it is." Sunset began to sense the deep sadness in his words, and was beginning to see the truth. "Twilight Sparkle... she doesn't have a cold, does she? That's not why she didn't come...?" Though it hurt her to say, Krysta felt the truth had to be told. "Twilight Sparkle has been dead for several months now." Sunset felt her blood turn cold. Over at his bunk, Flash heard it all, and his mouth slowly hung open in shock, and he suddenly slumped down onto the deck. "I can't believe it!" Sunset cried softly. "It's true." Spike said. "We just didn't have the heart to tell anyone of you because we didn't want you all to share our pain, especially right now." Sunset was speechless. "I remember it like it was yesterday..." Lightning said, and recapped the story... "Queen Celestia was being targeted by an evil assassin named Raven, who sought to kill her in act of revenge for her husband. Twilight went after her, though she had been warned many times not to; we didn't know how powerful she really was, and she proved to be much too strong to handle. I tried to get to her to stop but she wouldn't listen or let me! She wanted to protect Celestia, and defend her honour, and she just kept pushing me away... that's when I saw it happen! Raven struck her down without mercy, right before my eyes as a warning to others who got in her way... ...and Twilight was gone. She just died in my arms, and since then not a day or night has gone by that I don't think about it." Sunset held her hand over me mouth. Her eyes were wide and had tears falling out. Spike felt so low that his pointed ears sagged down, and he sighed sadly as a tear fell from his eye. "I wouldn't be the dragon, I am today if it wasn't for her... or in this case, a dog." "We came here because we have as much experience of this world as Twilight did." said Krysta. Sunset could still hardly believe it "Twilight..." she peeped "She helped me see the error of my ways. She was the first to accept me when I wanted to change. I owed her so much." "Well, now that you know..." Lightning said "We don't have to tell you to keep this to yourself. If the others find out, they'll be disheartened, and it'll make things hard for them to concentrate." Sunset agreed. "And you especially let Flash hear about this." said Krysta "All this shock and sadness could reawaken his alien powers, and then we'd be in worse trouble." Unbeknownst to them, Flash had heard everything. It was shocking enough to learn the truth about Lightning Krysta and Spike, and heartbreaking to learn that his sweet Twilight Sparkle was dead, but now...! "Alien? Me?" All this shock and mixture of feelings were indeed making his memories return. He was indeed a Crystallite, the spawn of Empress Sapphira. He once was extremely wicked, and tried to help his evil mother take over the world. Were it not for Lightning's interference, they would have. He shook his head trying to deny it, and went back inside, back to bed, hoping to shrug it all off. "I'm really glad you guys came now." said Sunset. "We are too." said Spike. Krysta nodded, and Lightning was especially pleased with Sunset for showing her redemption, and that she was like him in some ways. "I hope I can learn to be brave and strong like all of you someday." Sunset said. Lightning smiled and said "I think you're already braver than you think you are." Sunset smiled, and then she yawned. It was very late, and her shift was over. "I better get to bed, and so should you guys." The friends agreed, and bid each other good night. "Lightning...?" "Yes...?" "Thanks... for opening up to me." He smiled at her "You're alright Sunset Shimmer, and thank you for understanding." Then he walked back inside. "Gosh, she really is nice." said Spike. "Had it in her all the time." added Krysta. Lightning continued to watch from the window as Sunset walked back towards the main building where her quarters were. He was very sleepy, but in his mind, he began to sing. (This song below, in the same pitch as the one above) Sunset, you and I are quite a pair We both helped each other clear the air. It feels so strange and hard like stone You feel you're on your own But it doesn't have to be Because you can trust me. (You can trust me) Sunset, you've come a very hardened way (Hardened Way) It makes you feel sad and scared everyday (Everyday) When you shed a single tear and you're all fraught with fear You don't have to be in woe There's good in you, I know (There's in you I know) There was a time you were bad as can be Now it's past and I see you, as you see me There was a time you were bad as can be Now it's past and I see you, as you see me Sunset, some people just don't get you They don't know you as much as I do You have purified your soul You're really on a roll The best you'll all yet You're my friend, Sunset (My friend) Sunset (My friend) Sunset With such positive and warming thoughts in his mind, Lightning lay down quietly, and fell asleep. However, unbeknownst to him, and everyone else, someone else had been watching and overheard everything that was said in the conversation... ...Slick! He had slipped like the sludge he was, out of his special bunk that he shared with the others, and slithered his way back, totally unseen, and told the others everything. "It's all exactly as I heard it." he said. "Hmm... Well, that certainly explains a lot." said Blaze. "I knew it!" snapped Adagio "It is Equestria magic, or rather a new form of it." The others, however, seemed more interested about the part of Flash being revealed to be an alien demon. "Perhapssss, we could use thissss to our advantage?" suggested Scales. "Yeah..." said Boomer "If we can awaken his powers, maybe we can win him over to our side, for some extra power." "Ooh... I like that idea." said Aria. "I'm a little scared." cried Sonata. The other ignored her. "We won't even have to lift a finger to pull off such an act." said Blaze. "We won't?" asked Tempest. "The spell and all the negativity will do it for us." "And what about those troublemakers?" Tempest asked again. "They are still of little concern. Even if by some stroke of luck they manage to pull their scheme of, it will already be too late, for them." Adagio grinned wickedly "So... we wait." Blaze nodded "And then... we take, and then DESTROY, and all will as good as gone." They all shared an evil laugh.