//------------------------------// // Episode 21: Illusion, and Confusion: Part 2 // Story: My Brave Pony Starfleet Magic: Season V // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// “Previously on Starfleet Magic…” While questioning the legitimacy of the blueprints, a map was discovered leading to two planets. The team decided to split into two groups and venture forth for more information. Upon arrival, the first discovers that the people of Tiamo fear dragons, but narrowly avoid trouble, only to run into two trouble-making men who intend to destroy Ping-Lo’s temple, and hold everyone prisoner. Meanwhile, the second group got into a misunderstanding with the people of Hedra who had lost the golden pinwheel, leaving our friends outcast and hopelessly drawing a blank. EPISODE TWENTY-ONE On Hedra, the villagers were still moping and feeling very distraught of their beloved pinwheel being stolen… While the ponies were all still out in the meadow, and still with not a clue of what to do about locating the so-called magic pinwheel. “I guess we didn’t think this as deeply as we thought.” said Applejack. “Well, in fairness, we were under supreme anxiousness for answers.” said Buddy Rose. Still, this didn’t help them get any clues of what to do. Suddenly, Fluttershy looked ahead at a patch of flowers, and thought she could see what looked like a small animal. She moved in a little closer, and moved the flowers open to reveal a little mole-like creature. It looks lost a little frightened. “Oh, hello…” she said sweetly to the little creature “Are you lost?” The little creature inched away from her. “Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you.” The creature then began to wail and whine, making Fluttershy wince. “Fluttershy!” called Buddy Rose as he and the others dashed over to her. The whining of the mole was very annoying, that they all covered their ears. “What’s got this critter troubled?!” shouted Applejack. “I was just trying to be friendly.” cried Fluttershy. Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet began to rumble softly, and it turned out they were standing on a camouflaged trapdoor, which opened wide and made them all fall through the ground, through a long tunnel slide. And they all crashed into a big pile on top of one another. After a small struggled, they pulled loosed and got onto their feet to discover they had fallen into some kind of subterranean city. The walls gleamed with shiny minerals that gave off glows as bright as sunshine. The houses were all made of stone, while others were dugouts and burrows. In the distant back of the villages was a large tower, obviously the home of royalty. “Wow! Check it out.” Buddy Rose exclaimed softly “Ay’ Carumbra!” cried Dyno “Look at this place.” “Even our mines don’t look nearly as cool as this.” added Myte. “I wonder if this is where that little mole I saw comes from.” Fluttershy wondered aloud. “Then I guess he wasn’t really very lost, was he?” said Applejack. “Let’s take a look around. Who knows what could be found.” said Rhymey. They were about to set off, when suddenly they were surrounded by many more mole-creatures, about their size; jumping out from all directions and pointing lances at them. “Intruders!” shouted one “What are you doing here?” “Our sentry outside warned us of intruders on Hedra.” said another. Rhymey stepped forth saying… “There’s no cause for alarm. We mean none of you any harm.” The moles saw the insignias on the ponies’ armors. “They are from Starfleet!” “They must’ve been sent by the Pixies and Trolls of Pinwheel Village.” “Whoa, now, hold your horses!” snapped Applejack “Nobody sent us here, certainly not them rude folk up there.” “You lie!” snarled a mole “You’ve come to take back the golden pinwheel.” The ponies all gasped at those words. “You stole the golden pinwheel?” asked Buddy Rose, but his question only further made the moles believe the ponies were hostile. “To the attack!” they all shouted. “No, no… please wait!” cried Fluttershy, but the moles already charged forth, and the ponies had no choice but to at least defend themselves while trying to convince the creatures otherwise. While back on Tiamo… Chang and Chin had marched everyone far in the field where no one would see them with a good view of the temple from afar, and had everyone locked up in a large cage; a very special one that with enchanted bars that not only rendered the ponies’ magic powers useless so they couldn’t transform or do any magic… “Do not try and touch the bars.” said Chang “They are highly energized, and will cause fatal harm.” Chin demonstrated by throwing a small rock at the bars, and it blew up in soft bang upon contact, making the others jump. “Sango not like this! Sango afraid…!” Her father held her close, comforting her, and then asked the two men “You will not harm us?” “If you behave yourselves, then we will have no need.” Chin said with a wicked sneer. “Take a good long look at your precious temple, Ping-Lo. It is the last you will ever see of it.” Ping was very angry, “But why… why ae the two of you so greedy for a treasure that does not exist?” “Of course it exists!” snarled Chang “In any case, what is one old temple compared to gold and jewels worth a fortune? It is hidden somewhere under the temple, and rest assured, we shall find them.” Chin snickered “In exactly half an hour, it shall be midnight, and then… we destroy the temple.” “But why wait so long?” asked Pinkie. The others tried to hush her so as not to give the men any ideas, but the two men snickered. “There is a good reason why.” said Chang “Tonight at midnight, it will be exactly ten years since the Ten Days of Darkness came to a close, and tonight most of the people of Tiamo celebrate this night with fireworks.” It dawned on everyone. If the men waited until midnight, then most other people would be off celebrating or enjoying their own fireworks shows to notice the temple being blown to bits all that much. “We have brought our own fireworks as well.” said Chin “This will help to further distract anyone who might be watching nearby, and you all will be able to watch them as the temple falls.” Starla clenched her fists angrily and said “You two won’t get away with this!” “But we will…” said Chang “And then we will be rich beyond our wildest dreams.” “Come…” said Chin “We must prepare. Leave these fools to bask in the darkness.” Then they left, leaving the friends deeply concerned! Meanwhile, the mole people were still fighting at the others, but the ponies, while fighting to defend themselves; they made no attempt to hit back. One mole charged at Buddy Rose with his lance, but Buddy swerved and caught the lance, trying to hold it and the creature at bay “You’ve gotta believe us! We’re not here to hurt you!” “We believe no one!” shouted the mole, and he punched Buddy hard in the gut, but he didn’t feel much as the moles were not as strong as he was. The twins stood together as several moles surrounded them. The moles then charged forth, but the twins leapt up high at the least second causing the moles to crash into one another. “Listen to us, we’re not your enemy.” said Dyno. “We just want to know why you took the pinwheel.” added Myte. “So you can snatch it back and give it to those fool villagers! Forget it!” snarled a mole. Applejack swerved, dodged, and flipped out of the way of each attack, and then using her rope, she lassoed a whole gaggle of moles together. “This is getting’ us nowhere…” she said “We came here because we’re trying to deal with the Insecto Armada.” The moles gasped. “Insectos…?” “Did you say “The Insectos”?” Rhymey used his sword to parry the mole’s weapons, and some he even knocked out of their hands, but those pesky critters just kept right on coming at him and Fluttershy. “Please! We don’t want to fight you!” cried Fluttershy. “You can’t trick us!” snarled a mole. “Please don’t fuss! Just listen to us!” said Rhymey. He got tackled from behind, and out fell a blueprint of the Insectos spaceships, which the moles seemed to recognize at once. “Wait!” cried one of the moles, and he picked up the print and looked at it “Perhaps we should take them to the emperor. He will know what to decide for certain.” The other moles reluctantly agreed and ceased fighting. “Come with us, and don’t try anything.” said another mole. The ponies promised the moles they had nothing to worry about, and they all walked off with the moles leading them towards the grand palace. The palace looked even bigger up close than it did from afar. “How did you build all this?” asked Dyno. “Quiet!” snarled a mole “We refuse to answer you.” “Easy!” snapped Myte “He was only asking a question.” “Once we are certain you mean us no harm, we will answer anything you wish to know.” “I’m beginning to have second thoughts about these guys.” Applejack muttered to the others, some of them agreed with her. Soon they entered the palace, and were brought to the royal courtyard where his majesty, Emperor Digger sat waiting for them. He was a bigger and more muscular looking mole than the others, and he was gold and silver armor and a golden Laurel Wreath on his head. The ponies could also see, there, in his hands, he was clutching the golden pinwheel. The ponies said nothing, not wanting to make a scene, but they were forced by the other moles to bow to the Emperor. Digger was informed of the situation. “You are all representatives of Starfleet.” “Yes, we are.” said Buddy Rose. “And you’re trying to defeat the Insecto Armada…?” The very mention of the name made every mole shudder in fear. “Yes…” replied Buddy Rose “We’re trying to save our planet, and the many other worlds we defend throughout the cosmos.” Digger shut his eyes, and thought deeply. Fluttershy quivered nervously. The others felt a bit uneasy too, but then Digger smiled and said “An enemy of the Insectos is a friend of mine.” The ponies smiled in delight and relief. “Please, let me see the blueprints you have brought.” The gang handed him all the prints they had brought, and he looked them over thoroughly and confirmed they were legitimate. “These prints are details of the armada’s coatings of each ship. Power thick alloys surround each ship to deflect the teleportation energies of space, and make the ship extremely powerful against most opposing attack powers.” “How do you know all this?” asked Applejack. Digger gazed at her deeply and answered “Because our ancestors supplied those evil beings with the alloys we mole dug up.” He explained how a few centuries back, an army of Insectos raided on Hedra, in search of precious metals to help redesign their monstrous battleships, promising not to harm anyone if these conditions were met. Not wishing for much trouble and pain, the moles gave in and supplied all the metals they could, only to realize the Insectos were as crooked as they were devious; they did not keep their word, and using their malicious powers and technologies, they caused massive rockslides and avalanches that hurt many of the moles. Thankfully, no one was killed. “In the midst of the chaos…” Digger said as he held up the pinwheel “…the royal family trinket was lost.” “You mean the golden pinwheel belongs to you?” asked Fluttershy. Digger nodded and explained that it was created even more centuries back, and passed down in the royal family from generation to generation, as a symbol of how their belief in peace and justice made the world go round, just like a spinning pinwheel. “Our people searched and searched, but never found it, until it was discovered it had been found by the pixies and trolls of the over-world. They seemed too had fallen under some crazy impression that the pinwheel held magic qualities that brought forth the rains, and calmness, and made their gardens grow. We tried to convince them of otherwise, and that it was nothing more but an ordinary golden trinket that had no powers, but they refused to believe us, and rudely cast us out.” “We know that feeling too well.” Dyno murmured. Myte then asked “So you decided to steal it?” Digger nodded “We moles are a peaceful race, but will fight to defend ourselves. Not wishing to start a war, we calmly and silently took the pinwheel back. We wish for those over-worlders to realize they have been acting foolish, and only then perhaps would they relinquish any and all ties to this pinwheel so that I may keep it here where it rightfully belongs.” The gang even activated their visors to scan him, just to be safe, and sure enough he was telling to total truth. “We realize your reasons for what you have done, But that still doesn’t make it right in the long run.” said Rhymey Digger held his head in shame “We, too, realized this, but we just saw no other way. Those stubborn over-worlders need to realize the truth and we felt this was the only way.” The ponies now realized that even if they were to give the pinwheel back, that wouldn’t do much. The pixies and trolls would act foolishly under false pretenses, and perhaps they would from an angry mob and declare war on the moles. “We can’t let that happen.” cried Fluttershy. “I got an idea…” said Buddy Rose, and he huddled everyone close and whispered his idea. Everyone felt it probably would work, but they would have to wait until sundown to put into action. Meanwhile, it was getting close to midnight, and the gang were still trapped in their cage. Starla could look up at the stars and tell the time by their potions and the planet’s rotation “Just ten more minutes, then it’ll all be over.” Sango had tears in her eyes as she held her father, and her father felt ashamed, both of them could not bear the thought that soon their beloved temple would be no more. Even though they said nothing, and didn’t even hint it, Spike could partially feel that they were secretly blaming him for all this, and this made him feel both guilty and determined not to let it happen. Then, he suddenly realized that although the bars of the cage were highly energized, they were still just metal, and that the anti-magic force didn’t have any effect on his fiery breath as that was natural, not magical. He walked up closer to the bars. “Spike, whatever are you doing?” asked Rarity. “Yes, what are you doing?” added Ping. “Just stand back…” Spike said “I hope this works.” He waited until everyone backed away, and then he drew in a huge breathe and unleashed his flames as hard as he could. The bars turned red with searing heat. He blew more fire, and the bars got brighter and hotter. Panting heavily, but undeterred he drew in one final, really deep breath and gave it all he had. The bars melted away making a huge hole large enough for everyone to escape. Pinkie leapt out first “Wee! We’re free! We’re free!” she cried. Rainbow dashed out, tackling her to the ground covering her mouth and sneered “Will you keep it down! Do you want them to hear us?” Pinkie nervously shook her head. Ping and Sango felt relieved to be out of the cage and were very thankful towards Spike. “You have saved us…” said Ping “My daughter and I will forever be grateful.” “But what will you do about the temple?” asked Sango. “Don’t worry, I’ve already thought of a plan.” replied Spike “If it works, I guarantee Chang and Chin will get the living pants scared off them.” The others were very intrigued, and Starla allowed Spike to continue. “Meanwhile, I’m going to head back to town to alert General Mac and his party, we may need backup.” “We’ll stay here and keep Spike covered.” said Artie. Everyone agreed and Starla flew off. Rarity led Ping and Sango away and promised to watch other them. “So what exactly is your plan?” asked Rainbow. “Listen closely…” Spike said and he huddled everyone together to explain. A few minutes later, Chang and Chin had a few boxes of fireworks near them as the stood on the hill a good distance from the temple. Neither of them knew, nor could they see in the dark that their hostages had escaped. “All is ready, Chang.” said Chin. “Good, Chin, good…” said Chang. The two men readied their bazookas, setting them on enough power to really cause some damage. “Only five more minutes to go, and then the temple will be blown to pieces!” said Chang. Neither of them knew that Spike was hiding directly behind them in the shrubs and he grabbed a stick with a sharp pointy end on it. Spike could hardly resist giggling, but held it in for what he was about to do, and then he jabbed Chang with the stick. “Ow!” he shouted causing him to drop his bazooka and it fired just past Chin, nearly missing him and frightening him deeply. The blast soared clear off into the sky and exploded harmlessly in the distance. “Are you insane?! You nearly shot me!” shouted Chin. “Me…?! Then how do you explain what poked me?” “Poked you?! It was not I who poked you!” “No… it was me!” Spike said as he leapt out through the bushes, and grabbed both their bazookas. “What is this?!” cried Chang. “He has escaped!” added Chin. Spike then threw both the guns up high, and blew his dragon fire at them, destroying them both in big explosions. The ground quivered a bit with the force of the blast, and shook the temple where the ponies were all inside. “Whoa!” cried Rainbow “Thank goodness that didn’t hit us.” “Hey, look at this.” said Pinkie, and she yanked on a huge cloth, pulling it off of a crate of TNT, with a remote-detonator attached to it. “Figures they’d try something like this.” said Artie “Luckily, I have a little idea…” He ran to the back of the temple and came back holding a huge box of fireworks he had found, and the others caught on to his idea. “…It’s time for a little artwork.” “Be quick, Artie.” said Rainbow. Artie then skillfully detached the remote bomb from the dynamite crate and placed it on the fireworks box instead. “Okay, hurry!” he said. The girls carried the crate of dynamite far away, out of the temple, and Artie placed the rigged box of fireworks outside in back and away from the temple. “I’m afraid those two crooks are in for a little artful surprise.” The two men were outraged, and Spike cheekily said “Looks like you won’t be able to destroy the temple now.” “That is what you are thinking.” sneered Chang. “You may have destroyed our weapons…” added Chin “But you have not stopped us yet. We have prepared a little backup.” “You see…” said Chang “We have planted dynamite inside the temple. In exactly one minute form now it will explode, and blow the temple to rubble.” “A pity you will not be around to see It.” hissed Chin, and he and Chang pulled out two small ray-guys. “We always carry spares.” Spike stood where he was, ready to take them on. The two men began to shoot at him, firing their rays at him mercilessly. Spike dodged each and every one, zipping from here to there, and he even taunted the two men. “Missed me… I’m over here… Oh, so close!” The men were growing furious and gave it all they hand, but in a swift motion, Spike snatched their guns out of their hands, and he popped them into his mouth and actually swallowed them, like the dragon he was. “Hmm, needs ketchup.” and he let out a burp “Excuse me.” The two men were outraged, but then they snickered. “Only ten more seconds.” said Chang, and he and Chin then counted backwards from five. At the count of zero, their bomb did explode, but far in the back of the temple, and fireworks went off like crazy. “What has happened?!” cried Chin. Spike smiled happily that his plan had worked. “We figured you two would have had a backup plan, so we came with one of our own.” “A-thousand curses on you!” growled Chang “You can your wretched Starfleet!” Just then, several rays of light shone on the two men, and they found themselves surrounded by the other ponies and General Mac pointing his lance at them. “Put your hands up, both of you!” The men knew that they were licked and had no choice but to go quietly. …more fireworks from all directions lit the skies as the celebrations began all over the planet, celebrating the tenth year since the Ten Days ended. Meanwhile… it was already close to sundown on Hedra, and all the villagers in Pinwheel Village were really growing concerned. There was still no sign of the magic pinwheel, which to them meant no rains for the gardens and no good weather for the planet’s climate. “What can we do?” cried a pixy. “There’s nothing we can do.” said a troll “We’re all doomed! Doomed I tell ya!” cried another troll. Suddenly, he felt a soft drop of water plop onto his nose, followed by another, and another… Everyone looked up, and saw rainclouds coming in from all over, and in almost no time, it started to rain. The creatures were surprised and could hardly understand it. To them, it was a miracle, but really they could not see through the clouds that it was Applejack and Fluttershy, as pegasi, they moved more clouds in to make more rain fall. After a little while, the others joined by their side and helped them to blow all the clouds away, making it clear just as the stars were starting to come out. “It’s… it’s a miracle!” cried a pixy. “It’s so magical!” added a troll. “No… it isn’t.” said a voice. The villagers turned and saw Digger and his army of moles standing together, and they could see Digger was holding the pinwheel. “…The magic pinwhee!” “Thieves…!” The creatures began to form an angry mob and charged at the moles, only to be halted when the ponies leapt down before the moles. “STOP!!” shouted Buddy Rose. “You again!” snarled the green troll. “They’re working with the moles.” said a Pixy. “I get it now…” said another “They were in cahoots with them all the time. They stole the magic pinwheel to try and mess up the planet.” “Hold your horses!” snapped Applejack “We did no such thing.” “We didn’t steal the pinwheel either…” added Fluttershy “Even though we knew where it was, we decided not to tell you for your own good.” The creatures were confused. “But the rain came back, because the pinwheel is here.” said a troll. “No!” snapped Dyno “We were the ones who brought the rain and made it go away. It’s just natural talent, but the weather would have brought the rains normally.” “Si!” said Myte “The pinwheel had nothing to do with anything. It has no magic!” “We tried to tell you and explain, But all you did treat us like a pain.” added Rhymey. The creatures were now starting to have mixed feelings, still trying to deny the truth. Digger then stepped forth and explained to them again “This pinwheel is just a golden trinket that belongs to me and my family. I understand how you may think it brought you all those things, but really, it had nothing to do with it.” Buddy Rose nodded “You all had the special abilities to make things go right yourselves all the time. You can water your own gardens, and enjoy the nice weather when it lasts. Sure bad storms may come, or it may not rain for days, but that doesn’t mean you’re doomed. All you have to do is try and believe in your own abilities, and then you’ll find there isn’t much you really can’t do.” The other ponies agreed, and the moles did as well. The pixies and the trolls were now no longer able to fight the truth backed up with all the evidence they had witnessed and been told. They all felt very silly, and ashamed for letting some mere object control them like a spell. They owed the ponies and Digger and his moles a world of apologies, but Digger could only smile and remark “Although I cannot condone such actions, I am still of a peaceful nature, and am I willing to forgive and accept, if you will forgive me for the way I had acted in taking the pinwheel.” “We forgive…” said a troll. “What’s rightfully yours is rightfully yours.” added a pixy. Everyone was starting to look more grim than grateful of things, but Fluttershy had an idea of how to make everything better for everyone… “Why don’t you all hold a Pinwheel festival every year on this day?” Rhymey agreed “Yes, you could all get together, and sing and play, A celebration of how you came together today.” The other ponies all agreed, and the moles, the pixies and the trolls just couldn’t refuse, and all shook hands with one another; the first step to all the making up they had to do. It was all agreed; the pinwheel would remained housed with Digger, as it rightfully belonged to him, but every year, the moles would bring the pinwheel to Pinwheel Village, like carry a torch to the big games, and once it was set, the Pinwheel Festival would begin, and everyone could just enjoy their time, playing, singing, dancing… …Who wouldn’t want that? The very first ceremony began that very night. The pinwheel was atop the tree, and the winds made it spin beautifully. Playful music began to sound as the traditional song began. The ponies really wished they could have stayed for the party, but they really had to get back to United Equestria. “You all behave yourselves now.” Buddy Rose told them. The trolls and pixies promised. “If ever there is trouble again, we will work together and try to sort things out.” said Digger “As for the offer, perhaps one day we will consider and let Starfleet come and join us in our new world.” “You’re all right, the lot of ya.” said Applejack. They exchanged final farewells, and the ponies headed through a portal and zoomed off into space. Back on Tiamo, the other team was preparing to leave too. General Mac Speed and his team would deal with Change and Chin, and Ping and Sango were forever grateful to the team, especially to Spike. “Though it is still believed that dragons are bad luck…” Ping said “We believe you are the exception to those stories. Thank you for everything you and your friends have done.” “Thanks to you, our temple is safe, and we are safe.” added Sango. She and her father bowed thankfully to the team, and they bowed back. “We also want to thank you for everything you’ve done for us.” said Starla “Now we can head back and finish the Insectos for good.” “But will they not try and shoot you down upon your return?” asked Ping. “Oh, don’t worry about that…” said Artie “We’ve got a little trick we’ve been preparing for this.” After exchanging final goodbyes, the team was off. “Good luck, Starfleet.” Ping said. Sango blinked once “…And thank you, Spike.” The two teams met up on a moon orbiting another planet just outside their star-system. They could see United Equestria and the armada from where they were, and now they had to wait for the signal. The Stingars were minding their posts, when the warning alarms sounded. “What’s going on here?” said Stag. The Stingars buzzed at him in their language, which of course he understood… “The ponies… heading this way?! Prepare to intercept.” “Arming weapons.” said Slick. The soon had the ponies in their sights as they headed towards the planet, and opened fire with the ships lasers, hitting the team and blowing them into space dust. “Direct hit!” cried Stag. The bugs were all joyful, but then the warning alarm went off again, and more and more signs were showing up on the radar. “This… this can’t right!” cried Slick “According to this, the entire area is full of ponies.” Sure enough, ponies were everywhere, many identical copies of them, that’s exactly what they were. Grand Ruler Celesto and Queen Celestia were using their magic to portray fake puppets of the ponies, knowing the Insectos would spot them and get distracted long enough for the real team to slip right past them and enter the planet safely. They reported straight to their majesties upon arrival with the good news about the blueprints. “Well done, everyone.” Grand Ruler said “Thanks to the confirmation, we are now one step closer to ridding our world of the Insectos.” “We’re also very pleased that you were able to help the races of those planets avoid certain catastrophes.” said Celestia “Once again, you’ve proven that some situations can be solved without much violence, and friendship can help a great deal.” She and Grand Ruler bowed to the gang, and they bowed back. “May I please go and see Lightning?” asked Starla. “Of course…” Grand Ruler said “You’re all dismissed. Get plenty of rest. We have greater battles approaching us.” The team agreed, and they all headed off, while Starla made her way to Lightning’s room. He was still out of it, and still didn’t look anywhere near getting better yet. She softly walked over and sat on the bed near him. “Lightning…?” Of course she got no response. She softly creased his forehead, it felt a little warmer than usual, but only because of the life-support, and the constant placing warm damp clothes over his head from time to time. “I know you can hear me. I just wanted to let you know that we’re back, and we’re all safe.” She really didn’t know what else to day; it was all the same stuff. She hoped he’d come out of it soon, and at this point, she didn’t care if he was awake or not…! She lowered her lips onto his and kissed him deeply. His lips felt cold and dry due to lack of use, and it felt strange that he couldn’t return her kiss. Deep down inside his conscience, however… Lightning could almost feel the warmth of his wife reaching out to him. “Starla…” he said softly “I want to come out, but I don’t know how. Please… help me!” (Promo) In our next episode: Stag and Slick are sent in one last attempt to destroy the ponies before they figure out too much about the armada, and are given a special gift from Ladybird and Phoebe. Stag becomes uncontrollably wild with all this new power, and even turns against Slick, after he finally stands up to him. How will the team and Slick be able to deal with Stag this time? Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!” (Next Episode: “Big Bad Beetle”)