//------------------------------// // Final episode: Final Part: Come From the Light // Story: My Brave Pony Starfleet Magic: Season IV // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// Previously on Starfleet Magic…” After being transported to the future prematurely, the ponies tried to duke it out against Super Tnaig, but were ultimately unable to withstand the force of the future on their bodies. Even the Grand Celestial Ruler was no match for the powerful dragon-man, but the Dark King didn’t approve of the recklessness and destroyed his own minion right before everyone. Faced against unimaginable odds, the ponies tired their hardest but we’re less than no match for the Dark King. The Grand Ruler was sent back to the past, leaving the rest to suffer what may be their final curtain…! FINAL EPISODE The Dark King’s blast heads straight at the fallen ponies, when suddenly something emerged from the light overhead and whisked them all off at such speed, just in the nick of time. The blast missed and blew a huge crater in the ground, but the Dark King growled angrily. “You are just prolonging the inevitable! I WILL FIND YOU!!” The friends felt so weary, they didn’t realize what was going on, until they felt their weariness disappearing, and as their visions slowly regained, they looked up and saw the twins, and a transformed Ninja Cadance. “What’s happened?” Celestia groaned. “Shh, steady, Mother.” said Leilani “It’ll be all right.” They all gave everyone extra doses of the potion, and soon they could feel their strengths slowly returning, and they didn’t feel so weary anymore, and found they were sitting within a deep dark trench that would serve as a temporary haven. At the moment they couldn’t travel back in time to safety, and there wasn’t much point anyway Spike was really relieved to find his friends were all safe, especially Rarity, but still he couldn’t muster the courage to talk to her. “We haven’t much time.” said Castor “It will not be long before the Dark King finds us.” “And when he does, we’re goners.” said Rainbow “All our best attacks couldn’t even scratch him.” “He’s got to have some weakness, but what?” asked Lightning, but sadly not even the royal twins had the foggiest. The Dark King had never shown any signs of any weakness, except from the light, but even then their best shots were not enough to beat him. “You can’t hide from me forever!” the Dark King shouted. “You are lost in the darkness, with no way out.” Everyone felts shivers run through their spines, but Rarity suddenly remembered something Esroh Dab told her before he perished. “I’ll leave you with this advice, since you’re fighting for what’s right and it doesn’t matter to me anymore. Strike where the heart would be, both in and out...” “Yes, that might be it.” cried Rarity. The others all turned to gaze at her, and Rarity explained the theory, and that the only way to beat the Dark King was to strike him from inside as well as out… right where his heart would be if he had one. Not a single one of the other ponies or Spike had a more fretful look on their faces. “Go inside the Dark King?” Pinkie Pie rhetorically asked. “You scare me, Rarity.” said Rainbow. The royal twins realized the full risk involved. “Never has there been a longshot as great as this one.” said Castor “Could it work?” “I see no other alternative, and we never once considered it.” said Leilani. “I say we do It.” said Buddy Rose. “Count me in.” added Artie. “It’s all we can do. I’ll try it too.” said Rhymey. Soon, all the friends, Lightning, even Celestia were in full agreement. “But how can we pull this off?” asked Fluttershy. “Girl’s got a point.” said Applejack. “We can’t even get near the Dark King. He’ll crush us like freshly laid eggs.” “I don’t think so…” said Lightning “I’ve already got an idea. Do you all remember when we faced Fratello and Doomdroid?” Cadance remembered especially, and it made her feel a little sad, but she and the others remembered how Lightning managed to get absorbed, by coating himself in uniforce, the enemy’s energy absorption took him right inside. “I bet I can do it again.” Cadance tapped her hand on the ground in Morse code; “We’d have to get the Dark King to absorb energy, and once your inside, we’ll do what we can out here.” “We’re going to need backup though… and lots of it.” said Celestia. Her children nodded and they both knew where to get it. “Your future selves…” said Castor. The minute he said that, everyone immediately agreed. The royal twins used their magical telepathy to send a warning message across the darkness that would reach the lighted city where their allies were… but it would still take a while for them to get there as they would have to assimilate a lot of fighters and power. The Dark King was really getting angry “Come out!” he thundered “You can’t escape from me!” He sounded close, very close! “Do you think we can hold out until the others get here?” asked Dyno. “No, defiantly not.” said Myte. Their power levels were only nearing fifty percent. That wouldn’t get them very far, so Celestia decided to transfer some of her energy to theirs to boost them back up. “But your majesty, you’ll become even weaker!” said Artie. “I realize that.” said Celestia “But we have no other choice.” Cadance walked up to her aunt gesturing that she would stay behind and keep her safe. “I will too. My power’s still full.” said Spike. Celestia smiled thankfully at them both. “All right, stand together ponies.” The ponies did as they were told, and she magically transferred every bit of energy she could spare to them all, restoring their powers to near full, but as expected, Celestia nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Cadance caught her. “Mother!” cried Castor. “I’m… alright.” Celestia groaned softly “Really, I’m fine. I just need to rest.” Her children vowed to stay and protect her as well, and the others all exchanged looks of determination, and they all leapt out of the trench, onto the main ground. “Hey!” shouted Lightning. At once, the Dark King turned and saw them all standing there. He could see for himself that their power had been restored, and he laughed. “You are far more resourceful than I ever thought, but if you are still confident you can win, you are more foolish than you are courageous.” “You just never get tired of being wrong.” said Lightning “Go guys!” The others all transformed into their battle suits, except for Lightning, as he needed to conserve power. “All right, you all know what to do?” Lightning asked. “YES SIR!” everyone hollered. “Let’s do it!” shouted Lightning, and everyone scattered about. “Insignificant creatures!” the Dark King growled, and he swung his enormous arms. The friends could hardly duck down to avoid them. Next, the Dark King fired two gigantic red beams from his monstrous eyes and out from the palms of his hands. The beams trailed all along the ground. The beams were so big and moving so fast, they were even harder to avoid. Several of the friends got hit, and suffered a huge deal of damage, but they knew they had to keep trying. Many of the ponies tried to avoid the beams by taking to the skies, but the swirling darkness and occasional lightning bolts made it nearly impossible to concentrate. Many of them got hit and nearly tumbled out of control, and those that didn’t fired their powers at the Dark King, preferably at his eyes, which of course did nothing at all to him. “Fools!” he shouted at them, and he then controlled the sky darkness to shoot them all down. The friends in the trench saw everything. “They’re getting creamed out there!” cried Spike. He was very tempted to go out there and help them, but Cadance held him back and shook her head at him. The royal twins were just as worried, and didn’t know how much longer they could wait, especially keeping in mind that the potion they gave the others wouldn’t last too long. Lightning got hit, but still made no attempt to transform or attack back. “Come on, use your absorption power!” he groaned softly to himself. The Dark King glared at Lightning “What’s wrong, little pony? You haven’t transformed yet, so perhaps you’ve come to your senses.” Lightning didn’t respond to that and just glared angrily at him. “No? Well, perhaps I can persuade you.” he fired a blast at Lightning; he dodged it, just barely, but the blast continued on until it hit near the trench where the others were hiding, sending rocks falling all over them. They tried their hardest not to yelp so loud, but the Dark King could hear them. “So, that is where you’ve been hiding.” he then used hi magic to blast away the rock, exposing the hidden party. “No!” shouted Lightning. “I told you, you cannot escape your fate!” he charged up to strike at them again, but Cadance quickly used her ninja powers to whisk them all away in the puff of smoke. “Where’d they go?” cried Starla. The Dark King growled and gazed all around him. Finally, he unleashed a power wave of darkness that spread across the land, blowing all the other ponies down again, and forcing their friends out of hiding. “As I was saying; you cannot escape your fate. Here in the darkness, I rule all. You can never hide from me. Why not make it easier and accept the inevitable?” “Because, we believe!” snapped Lightning. “We believe that no matter how much the odds are against us, we can win!” Starla stood by her husband’s side and agreed with him completely. “You may have conquered nearly every inch of this universe, and you claim the dark is completely invincible, but as long as there remains hope, and a speck of light, the dark will never rule over all.” Every single pony and Spike agreed. “Very charming and very ineffectual….” the Dark King sneered “…But actions will always speak greater than words, and my actions are about to silence you and the last of the light forever!” At that instant, he fire a single shot from his eyes at Lightning and Starla. They dodged it, but the ray ricocheted off the ground and headed straight for Castor… zapping him clean through the heart! Everyone gasped and some of the girls shrieked as Castor fell to his death on the ground, exploding in a ball of flames, leaving behind only his charred robe, and a few feathers “BROTHER!!!” Leilani screamed as she dashed to her brother’s remains, but there was defiantly no hope. She fell to her knees, letting her tears fall to the ground. The other ponies were devastated beyond belief, but easily none were as hurt as Celestia. Her eyes were bulged open really wide as her body shook with fury, sadness, and an extreme blow to her heart. “No! My only son…!” she peeped. Then she let out a ferocious scream and charged straight for the Dark King. “No! Don’t…!” screamed Rarity, but Celestia was so furious she almost didn’t care. “YOU!!” she shouted as she summoned up all the magic she unleash and fired it straight at the Dark King, but naturally it was nowhere near as strong as the blast he fired in response, hitting her really hard and causing her to drop down. “She’s falling!” cried Fluttershy. Spike and Rarity quickly flew up and grabbed her, but the Dark King zapped them all again, and they all crashed to the ground. “Dios Mio!” cried the Spanish twins, as they and everyone ran over to their fallen friends. Spike and Rarity weren’t as hurt as Celestia was, she looked all bruised and battered, her clothes were tattered, and her crown was dented. Her vital signs were low, but she was still alive. “Mother!” cried Leilani “No, please! I can’t lose you too!” Celestia’s vital signs began to drop more, along with everyone else’s. “Oh, no!” cried Buddy Rose as he felt weaker. “I think the potion’s worn off.” “I feel… heavy like a rock.” groaned Artie The Dark King laughed at this painful moment “If you can no longer stand the pain, then allow me… to put you out of your misery!” “LOOK OUT!!” shouted Spike, but suddenly they were all teleported by a bright light to another section of the field, causing the blast to miss. “What?!” snarled the Dark King, followed by a battle brigade of many ponies yelling “CHARGE!!” as they came rushing across the field, at the head of the team were many of the ponies’ future selves, including Cadance, and future Princess Luna. The friends then gazed up and realized who saved him. It was Grand Ruler, or rather his future self. There could be no mistake. He gazed proudly down at them all and nodded, and his eyes fell upon Celestia, and then used his advanced magic to revive her and the rest of the team back to full power. Celestia felt perfect now, but it felt somewhat strange as she gazed back at the future version of her husband, but now was no time to talk or have heartwarming moments. Grand Ruler stood and gazed back at the Dark King “So, you finally decide to come out from hiding.” the Dark King hissed. Future Grand Ruler clenched his fists furiously “How could we not?” he sneered deeply “For many dark moons, we have suffered from your wrath and darkness. We’ve seen you destroy many races, and conquer worlds as the light faded away… but now… You destroy my son… AND YOU WILL PAY FOR IT!! HE WILL BE AVENEGED!!” The entire army thundered in determination, and the friends got to their feet and agreed. “I’ve had just about enough of all this!” the Dark King shouted. The darkness all around him began to go crazy and wild. “It is time for me to do that which I should have long ago!!” “We won’t allow you to do so!” shouted Lightning, and all his friends stood by his side. Lightning finally decided to transform, and he went Enticorn, right in front of everyone. The future ponies gazed in awe at the sight of him. He then thought back to everyone and everything he was fighting for, and those he had fought for who were no longer physically with him; namely his family, Twilight, and now Castor… who fought valiantly to ensure that he and his friends would live a better life… once the darkness was silenced! “And now-- past, present and future alike-- In the name of all those we are sworn to protect, determined to avenge… WE FIGHT TO THE END!!” The army hollered together in full agreement, but the Dark King was not impressed, and prepared to blast everyone with his strong magic, but this time, due to their being so many ponies on call, many of the groups were able to conjure magical blasts large enough to actually counter the darkness. Lightning’s friends were then aided by their future selves. They all found it very awkward yet somewhat exciting to be with their own selves. The two Raritys couldn’t stop complimenting one another, but they were both snapped back into concentration by the others. The Dark King continued to unleash his darkness, while the army counter back with their power. The fight actually seemed equal, until the Dark King decided… “I will not stand for this, I need more darkness!” The planet, the galaxy, practically nearly every inch of the universe was coated in his darkness, which he began to absorb, causing his body to expand slowly, and immensely increase his power. Many of the ponies began to panic, fearing their powers wouldn’t be able to hold out any longer, but Lightning saw this as his chance. “This is it! I’m going in!” All his friends nodded at him, wishing him good luck. He then cast one last look at Starla, and her future self who gazed back at him with deep love in her eyes, having not seen her husband in ages since he died. Then Lightning flew up, up, way up towards the dark energy swirls, and coated himself in the light energy around his body, and it worked as he got sucked into the darkness, straight into the Dark King himself. Inside the Dark King himself, it was exactly as Lightning expected, all dark, extremely dark, mixed with cosmic forces and lightning bolts. “Okay, I’ve got to find the area where the heart would be.” So he flew off, not really knowing what direction he was going and just relying on common sense from his entry point. Alas, it was no use, it was too dark, too dangerous, and very confusion to find anything… not even which way was up and which way was down. The Dark King, well aware of Lightning’s intrusion, remained unfazed by this. “You don’t seriously expect your little scheme to work, do you?” he hissed, and the magic inside him began to go crazy, shooting at Lightning from many angles, forcing him to swerve and dodge, but he got hit several times. “Lightning!” the two Starlas cried out. The Dark King glared at all the ponies surrounding him. “Your plan was futile from the very start, as well as your hopes and faith. Now your friend will pay the price. Soon, my inner energies will consume him completely, and he shall be gone forever!” The ponies all whimpered in worry. “As for all of you, I am about ensuring you will be there to greet him on the other side!” “That is not going to happen!” Future Grand Ruler shouted. “I beg to differ!” the Dark King yelled, and just his thunderous voice alone made the grounds tremble and quake, and the lightning from the skies went crazy that they struck the ground, killing a few of the future soldiers, and wounding many others, even some of the future friends. “Are you okay? Can you hear what I say?” cried Rhymey and he helped his future-self get up. “I am alright, but what can we do? There has to be a way for us to pull through.” “He’s right…” said Future Fluttershy “There must be a way to help Lightning find the Dark King’s soft spot.” She sounded much braver than her past self, to which Fluttershy admired, and she actually had an idea “Maybe we can send Lightning a message, or guide him?” Everyone took an immediate shine to the idea. “You’re a genius.” said Applejack. “Ride on, girl.” agreed her future-self. Fluttershy blushed softly. “Wait, how are we going to pull this off?” asked Pinkie Pie. Her future-self scratched her head “I don’t know, but we better think fast. I don’t know how much longer Lightning can last in there.” Lightning continued to swerve and dodge the bolts and energies that shot at him, and he was getting little tired. “That’s it…” he growled “Let’s match power with power!” and he summoned up a small burst of his power and fired a large blast back at the energies, shoving them back, and resulting in a large, bright explosion… which the Dark King only slightly felt. “Hey, look at that!” cried Dyno. Everyone looked up and saw a very small but clear speck of light flashing on the Dark King’s massive chest. “Lightning, it has to be him.” said Myte. The future twins agreed, and suddenly cried “ESSO ES!” They had an idea, which everyone could sense immediately; to guide Lightning to soft spot of the Dark King by shining light in the area. “It is very risky.” said Princess Luna “But I believe it is our only chance.” “SILENCE!!” the Dark King shouted, and he fired more darkness everywhere, wounding more ponies, and a couple more soldiers were killed in the line of fire. “How quickly we forget, your power is nothing compared to mine. Allow me to show you!” He prepared to fire an ultra-force, which would be sure to destroy everyone in one thunderous blast, when suddenly he winced. “What… what is this?!” he groaned as he felt very strange. “What’s happening to him?” asked Buddy Rose. “It looks like he’s getting weak.” said his future self. No one could understand what was happening, until Ninja Cadance gazed up at the skies, and then she motioned to her future self to look up. Future Cadance looked up and cried “Up there!” Everyone gazed up, and could see Grand Ruler Celesto, the real one from the past. “Greetings, Dark King. I have returned.” he said. “Of course!” cried Future Grand Ruler “Since I played a vital role in the creation of the Dark King, by removing myself from the past, the future is shifting and the Dark King is getting weaker.” The Dark King tried to send Grand Ruler back to the past, but this time magic didn’t work. “What’s this?!” the Dark King snarled. Grand Ruler smirked at him and revealed that after returning to the future, he had taken a special pill developed by Professor Brain in the past, making him impervious to time magic. It would wear off soon. “This cannot be!” The Dark King shouted. Grand Ruler landed by his future-self. “Oh, but it is. And now it is finally time for you to see the light!” The two rulers gazed at each other and nodded, and held hands. Their golden horns began to glow brightly, and the fired the most powerful beam of Uniforce they could throw directly at the Dark King’s chest. Not only did it actually damage him, due to his weakening state, but Lightning could see the glow from where he was inside… “Hey, what’s that?” he wondered, and suddenly he could hear his master calling out to him. “Lightning, if you can hear this; go to the light! Go to the light!” Lightning, trusting in his mentor’s words, headed straight to the area where the light was, and suddenly he found what he was looking for. There, before him, in place of an actual heart, was a large swirling orb of pure dark energy where all the lightning and forces were emitting from. This was it, the one weak point. Even still, the Dark King was not willing to let this happen. “I must… absorb… more darkness!” he growled softly, and he began to do just so, increasing his power and strength again. “Oh, no…! He’s growing!” cried Artie. “We’ve got to finish him off, now while we have the chance!” added his future self. Everyone agreed, and Rarity reminded everyone “We have to strike the core both inside and outside at the same time.” Her future-self nodded “It won’t be easy, but at this point we haven’t much to lose-- apart from our lives.” “Oh, that’s comforting.” Rainbow sneered, but her future-self looked pumped up and ready. “Let’s put this big bully down once and for all.” Everyone agreed, and the present friends transformed again. “MEGA MODE ACTIVATE!!” “VALKYRIA!!” The future ponies awed in amazement at how their former selves looked. Then, everyone stood ready. Lightning could sense they were ready, and he prepared to fire. “No!!” The Dark King shouted, and he continued to absorb more darkness into him, causing his inner energies to go wild and blast at Lightning really hard, throwing him off. “No, Lightning!” screamed Starla. “Come on, be strong! Fight it!” cried Future Starla. As if that weren’t enough, the darkness in the skies went just as crazy and began to shoot bolts, and waves at everyone deadlier than ever, and throwing them off balance. “It’s no good! The Dark King is still too strong!” cried Leilani “He gets stronger faster than he weakens! The darkness just keeps giving him more power.” This really seemed it! Nobody had any plans or ideas, and the darkness continued to grow stronger as the Dark King gained more power. Inside him, Lightning was really starting to lose his edge as he got hit more times than he was able to dodge. “YOU ARE DOOMED!!” the Dark King shouted, and more darkness rained down on everyone, one of the bolts even struck Rarity’s future-self hard! The real Rarity shrieked, and Spike was livid. “NO!!!” Future Rarity collapsed, and Spike caught her in his knightly arms “Rarity!” The real Rarity could hardly believe this. “No! No!” as she dashed over to her future-self, but there was no hope. Future Rarity was dying, and she couldn’t be saved. “I’m… sorry…” she peeped “It’s up to… all of… you now.” “No, don’t say that!” cried Spike “Just hang in there.” Future Rarity softly smiled up at Spike as she felt tears rolling down her cheek. She looked right up at him. “Spike…” she whispered “I want you… to know… ” Spike gazed down at her in near surprise. “Spike… I… love… you. I…always… have… Spike…!” Then she expired. The real Rarity felt simply devastated, but at the same time she felt different from what was just heard. Spike gazed over at her. “Rarity…” Through her tears, Rarity gazed deeply at Spike and smiled lovingly at him while softly nodding her head, confirming her ultimate feelings for him. Spike could feel the warmness and light flowing through his dragon heart. …and his body began to glow brightly, and he began to rise up, up into the skies, to everyone’s astonishment, and the Dark King’s chagrin. “What’s this? What’s happening now?” he shouted, and he shielded his eyes from the blinding light. As soon as the light faded, everyone gazed at Spike… He was now a full-fledged dragon, three times the size of his Dragon Knight form. His body shimmered with gold and silver scales. His face and head, looked really handsome than frightful, and his entire body was coated in bright light, almost like Lightning’s Enticorn power. “Is that what I think it is?” cried Applejack. Celestia gazed right up and realized it had to be nothing else “The Majestic Dragon; The original and most powerful form of the Dragon Knight of old.” The Dark King glared at the dragon. “You honestly think one little trick will save you?” he shouted. Spike gazed deeply at his foe “I don’t think… I know.” his voiced sounded so deep and masculine. “I now see clearly. A dragon like any other being is not judged by how powerful he is, but by the strength of his heart.” he gazed down at Rarity and she nodded lovingly at him. He smiled at her and then turned back to face the Dark King. “Prepare to feel the wrath of my power, Dark King, and may the light lift your terror from this world!” Flapping his glowing wings strongly, he soared up high, and opened his huge mouth, unleashing a burst of light at the darkness, infecting it with light as the Dark King continued to absorb it into him, and absorbing light was really not good for him and weakened him severely. It even weakened out the dark magic inside him. Lightning couldn’t understand what was going on, but there was no doubt this was his chance. “Hey!” he called out to the others “I’ve got a clear shot, but hurry, I don’t know how long I can hold out.” With the Dark King still in state of shock and the dark magic temporarily ceased, the others readied themselves again and charged up what little magic they had. “No! This can’t be happening!” shouted the Dark King. “For the past!” cried Celestia. “For the future!” added the two Grand Rulers. “For Castor and Rarity!” said Leilani. “…And most importantly-- for us!” Lightning said, and he charged up his power Outside, everyone was all charged. “Ready?!” shouted Grand Ruler. “Aim!” added his future-self, and they both yelled. “…FIRE!!” All the magic combined into one colossal hyper beam that fired straight at the Dark King with such tremendous force. Lightning would feel it coming, and at the last second he fired his own magic. “ULTRA UNIFORCE” The two forces struck the core, causing it to overload in the light, bursting it like a balloon. The Dark King felt it and clutched his chest in pain. “I’m outta here!” cried Lightning, and he flew straight through the large hole that was made, just as the Dark King’s entire body began to brighten and vaporize as more light consumed him. “IMPOSSIBLE!! I CAN’T LOSE… NOT TO THE LIGHT!!!” his last words echoed as a huge burst of light erupted, so brightly everyone hit the dirt and covered their eyes. (Skip to 13:54) The light spread all across the planet, and proceeded to spread all over the universe, dispelling the evil darkness, and ending the age of terror the Dark King had ruled! After all had settled down, all the ponies began to awaken. Also to find they were no longer in the future. Leilani was the first to awaken, and used her magic to transport everyone and their future selves back to the past. “What happened?” asked Lightning. “It’s alright…” said Leilani “You’re all home now.” Everyone came to their senses, and realized they were home in their own time. No more darkness, no more monsters. “Spike…? Where is he?” cried Rarity. “Rarity…” said a voice. Everyone turned and looked round, and what they saw astounded them. It was Spike, but he didn’t look like his little self anymore. He was taller now, the same height as Rarity, his body was not pudgy, but rather slim like the ponies, and his arms were muscular. His head looked like a cross between and dragon and a little bit of a pony, and his voice was a little deeper. He also wore casual armor and clothes just like the others, but still with the same color as his old spacesuit. There was no doubt, his transformation trigger a dragon growth spurt. Rarity approached him, still gazing at him. “Are you alright?” she asked. “I guess so, but its sure going to take me a bit to get used to this.” then he looked a little down, still feeling bad about future Rarity “I’m sorry she died.” he said to Rarity, but of course he was being sad over nothing really. Rarity herself was alive, so her future self wouldn’t really be gone. “Besides, you helped us all… more than you could ever believe. You’re really my hero… Spikey-Wikey.” The others could feel… it was coming! They watched eagerly… Spike and Rarity still felt a little shy around each other, but they remembered Future Rarity’s confession. “I guess, maybe we have been acting a little weird.” said Spike “I mean, it’s still kind of awkward that were different species and you being a little older than me.” Rarity final gave in to her feelings and gazed deeply in his eyes “Who gives a damn anymore?” and she grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss. Spike was at first shocked, but gave in and closed his eyes kissing her back. The two Applejacks wiped the tears from their eyes. The two Pinkie Pies leapt up in their firework joy. Both of them hollered “WEE-HOO… THIS IS JUST FANTASTIC!” The others cheered and wooed on the new couple. “Hey!” called a voice. Everyone could see Krysta, Shining Armor and Princess Luna, with the babies coming to greet everyone. Princess Luna felt strange seeing her future self, but it was a joy that everyone was back and well. Especially for Shining Armor “Does this mean I have two wives now?” he joked. “I don’t know…” said Lightning as he gazed at the two Starlas “It feels weird though.” “Not that weird.” the real Starla said. Her future self agreed, “Technically it's not cheating.” Celestia felt especially strange, now that she technically had two husbands. Still, Future Grand Ruler couldn’t have been more thankful. “Your efforts and courage helped destroy the Dark King, and his evil will never again terrorize the world.” The real Grand Ruler agreed with his other self. “Light and Darkness are two sides of the same coin. Both constantly are at struggle and battle, yet one cannot exist without the other. No matter how strong one force may seem to be, there will always be some form of the other force there waiting to strike back.” He gazed at all his friends, subjects, and future friends “We must all continue, however on the one path that is best for all.” Everyone agreed, and then it was time to say goodbye to the future friends. “Do you really have to leave?” asked Buddy Rose “We can’t stay. We don’t belong here in this age.” replied his future self. Future Starla gazed at all the others “The future has been saved, but now history will change, and travel a new course.” The ponies then gazed at the babies, preferably at Castor. It was now most comforting to know that Castor would live again. “Alas…” said Future Leilani “We will live, but we shan’t remember any of this, because it never will have happened.” Lightning approached her “Maybe that won’t be such a bad thing for you.” he said “Your life may not turn out so tragic like it did. Just look at us…” He referred to how they were now all much stronger and much wiser than ever. Celestia was alive and well, and Lightning learned to control his powers. These things would not disappear with the time change. Leilani smiled and said “Thank you.” Then, gazing down at her baby self, she softly touched her finger to the baby’s head. At once, her body disappeared into the baby’s body in a sparkling glow. Many of the other ponies touched their past counterparts and disappeared too, but future Starla took a moment to quickly kiss Lightning goodbye. “Sorry, I just had to.” Starla didn’t mind at all, neither did Lightning. Then Future Starla disappeared too. Only Future Grand Ruler was left, he gazed up Celestia with a love he thought he’d never feel again, and she smiled back at him. The real Grand Ruler stood by his wife’s side, and gazed at his future self. “I will take good care of her… for us.” His future-self nodded proudly “you did better than I did.” and he held out his hand. The two Rulers shook on it, and Future Grand Ruler disappeared as well. The space ponies would keep their enhanced strengths, but the Mega Mode Powers disappeared and were no longer functional. The powers did not truly exist yet in the currents time, nor had they they proper technology or magic resources to manufacture them. Then again, now that Lightning had full control of his Enticorn Powers, Spike could become the Majestic Dragon, and with the Valkyries of Harmony. ...The Mega Mode Powers was a sacrifice they were all willing to give up. The war was over, and once again the planet was at peace… for now!