//------------------------------// // Episode 5: Wetter Works // Story: My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic Season I // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// EPISODE FIVE Today it was raining in Unicornicopia. It was a nice calm and cheerful rain the Grand Ruler had conjured to give everything a nice wash down and water the fields and trees. He wouldn’t stop the shower for anything, not until it was properly time to do so. The best part was some alicorns who worked outdoors were given the day off. Lightning, unfortunately was not one of them and still had his duties to do as a community worker. As he dressed in his raingear, preparing to go out, Krysta was hovering by the window. “I hate the rain.” she grumbled. She didn’t really hate the rain all that much. It was just that she was small making the raindrops large enough to drench her down, and she especially hated it when her fairy wings got soaked and heavy, she couldn’t fly until they were dried. Lightning thought that was funny and teased “Ever thought of using an umbrella?” Krysta sighed and shook her head. “I don’t like umbrellas either. I get lost inside of them.” Lightning knew just what to do about that. All Krysta needed was an umbrella the right size. That’s when he gave her a playful little umbrella he got in a glass of punch with a piece of cherry and orange the last time he was at Cookie Dough’s. “I saved it just for you.” Krysta really loved it and twirled round and around with it. “Thanks a lot, but next time save me the fruit too?” Mysterious stood before Titan with an idea to propose. “My lord, I have plan that will not only gather you vast amounts of energy than our previous attempts, but perhaps it shall serve well in luring Starfleet into an area suitable for my battle requirements, giving me just the edge I need to destroy them for good.” “Interesting…!” Titan said “Very well, Mysterious, you may go, but be warned, my patience is beginning to wear out. I want to escape from this dark prison, and I want to escape soon, understand?” Mysterious bowed to his master. “You shall my lord Titan. You shall.” Several ponies walking out in the rain wearing rainwear and holding umbrellas in their gloves, many of the young fillies and colts couldn’t help but splash and kick in the puddles. Lightning and Krysta met up with Artie who was walking outdoors to gain inspiration for a rainy picture he wanted to paint, and Rhymey came skipping merrily. He seemed to be the happiest one in the rain among anyone as he sang… “It’s raining, it’s pouring. The old stallion’s snoring. He went to bed with a cold in his head And he didn’t get up in mo-ho-horning.” “You seem cheerful today.” Artie said. Rhymey nodded… “Yes… I guess. But I still brought my rainwear and umbrella. So I can be outside and not be a wet fella.” Even Professor Brain was in the park testing his new rain gauge. “Ahh, Satisfactory, most satisfactory…” he gleamed. “With enough of this water, I should be able to complete my newest experiment.” “What kind of experiment is that?” asked Krysta, but Brain thought it rather complicated for the others to understand just yet. “Can we lend you help in any way, Professor?” asked Lightning “I feel that… em… may not be necessary, my good yellow.” answered Brain, “But if I require assistance I shall inform you.” Then he went off to find a spot where it was raining harder to gather more water leaving the others in the park. The rain just felt so wonderful and warm even, a lot of the ponies passing by had smiles on their faces, but Krysta was still complaining a little. Even with her little umbrella, and her little poncho, she still found it hard to battle against the raindrops “Blech! Why does the rain always make things so hard for me?” Rhymey, approached her and recited form one of his recent poems. “While it’s hard on you with no doubt, There are things about the rain I must point out. The flowers and plants and even the trees They need the rain water to grow with ease. And though the rain may be drippy and wet There are still fun ways to have in it yet. You can splash in the puddles, catch drops on your tongue But the best part of all, you can sing a nice song.” Music began to play as Rhymey held his umbrella nicely, and even tap-danced as he splashed in the puddles and the others joined him too as they all sang a song about how much they liked the rain… (Skip to 0:47) As Rhymey sang, he began to tap dance along the sidewalk, off and on the curb, twirling his umbrella around, and even flipping. The other boys joined him in the dance. The boys made one big splash in the puddles for a finish, and Krysta was actually starting to feel better, at least until she got hit by a huge drop right in her face. “Ugh! Plech!” she spluttered. She wasn’t all that wet and her wings didn’t get hit. The boys chuckled softly. Meanwhile, there was Bluesville. It wasn’t called that because anyone was sad or weepy. Just for the color blue for it was also the home of the main-waterworks; the very source of all the clear drinking water for the entire kingdom. Technicians and workers helped keep the place shining bright, and made sure nothing bad happened to the water. What no one noticed was Mysterious, being a shadow creature, could slink about the place while hiding in dark places, and even under the doors without being seen. He peeked up from the floor, and then he saw the main power-switch that controlled all the power in the building, and he slinked along the wall and turned it off which turned out all the lights, making it pitch black, and impossible to see inside for all the technicians, and when the emergency lights came on, the technicians were all tied up and gaged with dark wraps, and Mysterious was in control of things now. He snickered sinisterly as he gazed upon the large tanks of water “And now to work.” and using his shadow-magic he conjured a small vortex causing the water to flow into the vortex, instead of passing through the rest of the works to supply the kingdom. He would transfer the water straight to Titan and use it to convert and harness more power and energy. “So much power, so little time.” he said to himself. Then he began to ponder way to maybe lure Lightning and friends to him. And as he knew it was raining outside, he got a nasty idea. The rain continued to fall, and Lightning and friends went to Cookie Dough’s for their lunch. Professor Brain was there, and offered them to sit with him. Krysta finally dried off her long blonde hair on a napkin. “Cheer up, Krysta. It won’t rain forever.” said Artie. “Artie is right, my dear.” added Brain “We should all be patient as we can be and make the most of things.” He said all this while he scribbled a formula onto his own napkin for his experiment. “Ah, yes.” He almost seemed in rather a hurry to finish his lunch, and for good reason. He was planning to head to the waterworks in Bluesville as he required some help from the technicians there for the final piece of his puzzle. “Boy, he sure does burry himself in his work.” Lightning whispered to the others who agreed with him. Suddenly, it began to grow darker outside; much, much darker. “What’s happening?” asked Artie. “Curious! Moist curious.” muttered Brain “It shouldn’t be getting dark at this hour.” The gang headed outside, and noticed the clouds were getting darker, and thunder and lightning began to strike. This was very abnormal, for the Grand Ruler never allowed this type of weather, at least not in this particular manner. Rhymey felt a shiver crawl down his back… “I feel that something is not right, Just who or what has turned out the light? Everything’s nearly dark as night.” Lightning and Krysta had a good idea what was going on, but the warning alarms hadn’t sounded yet, so it wasn’t confirmed if it was Titan or not. Still, the gang agreed to investigate. “But where do we start looking?” Brain had an idea, and it involved his experiment. “I thought you said it was incomplete?” said Krysta. “It is…” answered Brain, “But in desperate times… uh, such as now-- will force us to take drastic measures.” Reaching into the pocket of his raincoat, he pulled out a small object. “This, my dear friends, is my latest invention; The Elemental Radar Receptor in Finding Interesting Characters--Terrific, for short.” The others all blinked in confusion, until Brain explained it was a radar tracking device that could detect elements, and other sources of energy and magic. It was still in development, and hadn’t been tested yet, but if it worked, it would allow them to find the source of the reason why the sky was growing dark. “Well, why did you want water for it?” asked Artie. “My dear fellow…” said Brain “Such a delicate device like this should be made stronger to withstand damage. It was my hope of making a coating to make it water-resistant.” “So as long as we don’t get it wet it’ll be fine?” Lightning asked. “Correct!” The rest of the gang felt they had just had a big waste of time, but they headed off nonetheless Krysta could hardly keep her umbrella up, and was starting to get wet again; at least her wings were different and could work in the rain. “How much further, Brain…?” she asked. The signal seemed to be coming from Bluesville. “Ah ha! Satisfactory…! Most Satisfactory...” Brain simple said. “The signal is getting stronger in detecting abnormal activity within this village. Follow me.” Bluesville sure had a lot of ponds, rivers, and lakes, and was even near the ocean itself as it was the water source of the kingdom, but suddenly, the radar shorted out. “Oh, dear, I was afraid this would happen.” said Brain “The air is positively dripping with moisture. There is nothing more I can do at this point.” “Where do we look now?” asked Artie. Krysta then noticed Lightning was looking away from the group. “What wrong, Lightning…?” she asked, and then she saw it too. Lightning was staring at the waterworks building, exactly where brain wanted to go in first place. Yet, the water wasn’t flowing very well, as if it were being blocked. The clouds above the building were darker, and stormier than anywhere else. “Curious! Most curious.” said Brain. “If the trouble isn’t there, I don’t know where it could be.” said Lightning, and they all headed inside, where they found it was dark, and pretty much deserted. At least the emergency lights were on. “Hello…?” Artie called out. “Is there anyone at all? Please answer our call!” added Rhymey. As they trekked deeper, they found some of the guards, literally, laying down on the job. Krysta could recognize that their rest was not natural. “Their magic and energy must’ve been drained.” The sound of sinister snickers followed that statement. “You are correct, young fairy.” “That voice!” snapped Lightning “Come on out, Mysterious! We know it’s you.” “Do you now?” Mysterious hissed as he appeared before the intake tanks, “And do you also know why I lured you and your little colleagues here for, Lightning?” Lightning gritted his growled angrily, but before he could say anything, Mysterious merely stepped aside revealing his vortex taking all the water away. “Even if I fail to capture you, I believe Lord Titan will find all this water as valuable as I have.” “Huh?” the others all wondered. “Oh, yes…” replied Mysterious “For you haven’t yet seen the type of monsters that I am able to create.” and he threw the magic dust into the tank. The water began to bubble and stir and it began to rise up and take the shape of monster with many watery tentacles-- A monster that was actually made of water. “Incredible!” remarked Brain. “Now’s not the time for that, Professor.” snapped Lightning “We got work to do.” The others agreed. “STARFLEET MAGIC!!” Lightning: “Power of Believing!” Artie: “Power of Art!” Rhymey: “I summon within, the Power of Wind!” Brain, though not a fighter, having no armor, and knowing fully well that civilians were forbidden to enter battles unless of extreme emergency, he promised to find some way to help out. He usually always did… “WARD SWORD!” shouted Rhymey. “SUPER STAFF!” shouted Artie, and he summoned forth a long staff he wielded like a pro. “Not bad for a mild mannered artist.” Mysterious was not amused. “Seize them Vapourizer!” he commanded, and the monsters breathed out a thick cloud of fog. “Look out!” cried Krysta, and before long the whole place was coated in a fog so think everyone was lost and couldn’t see where anyone or anything was. “Oh, my!” cried Brain “My spectacles are steamed up. I can’t see a thing!” Mysterious laughed triumphantly, until he found himself consumed in the fog. “I… I can’t see!” he growled. “It looks like you didn’t think this through, Mysterious.” Lightning said “Now we’re all lost in here, but my team has the better advantage.” With that, he Artie and Rhymey activated their visors’ infrared vision to help them see through the mist. The monster, however, was able to see them through the mist as well and squirt powerful pulses of water at the gang. Even Krysta got hit and was totally drenched. “Pah…! Ack…! I told you I hated this kind of water!” she groaned as she tried to shake herself dry. Rhymey could see someone Mysterious through his visor and lunged at him with his sword, but Mysterious quickly evaded the attack, and again, and again each time Rhymey swung at him. “Fool! The darkness here give me the edge I need to outmaneuver your every move.” he mocked. Artie slowly crept up behind hoping to catch Mysterious off guard, but Mysterious knew he was there and swerved out of the way causing Artie to miss. “This is getting us nowhere.” called Lightning as he stumbled around trying to find his way through the fog. “I say, this is most confusing!” cried Brain. Artie had an idea, and began to spin and wave his spear around, propeller to blow the fog away. “That did it!” he cried for joy, but as the lifted, he and Rhymey saw the monster gazing fright at them from his tank. The monster fired more water pulses at them which they dodged, causing the shots to miss and actually crack the walls. Lightning was very annoyed with all this and began to charge straight for the tank, only to be halted by Mysterious. “Going somewhere?” he hissed. Lightning growled and tried to push Mysterious aside forgetting that he was a shadow, and couldn’t be touched as easily when surrounded by darkness. He passed right through him and hit the wall. “Ugh! Why is it I always hit my head first?” Mysterious moved in to capture him. “Relax, I am certain Lord Titan will make you feel better one he absorbs all your energy.” but Krysta, completely dry, swooped in and buzzed around Mysterious’ face. “Leave him alone!” she growled. Mysterious growled and grunted as he tried to swat her away, which gave Lightning a chance to break away. Artie and Rhymey attacked Vapourizer as best they could, but their weapons passed right through him, and their other attacks didn’t damage him at all. The monster was made of water, and that was to be expected. “There’s nothing more we can do. Our attacks just go right through.” The monster continued to fire more water pulses, which the boys dodged, and Mysterious finally managed to swat Krysta out of his way, sending her right into an open drum of water. She poked her head out, panting angrily and shouted “I CAN’T TAKE ANYMORE WATER!!” Mysterious now had Lightning backed up against the wall. “Now where were we…?” he asked, “Ah, yes, we were on our way back to Titan.” Lightning looked nervous but then grinned cheekily. “Let me get the lights first.” He said and the quickly reached to his right and flicked on the main power switch, which turned the lights back on. “Ah, Light!” cried Mysterious “I’m exposed, my powers won’t work properly! I’m vulnerable to attacks.” “Thanks for telling us your weakness.” said Lightning and he punched him hard across the face, sending him across to Artie who swatted him hard with his staff sending him over to Rhymey who gave him a good slash with his sword and sending him crashing into the wall. The boys stood together “Give it up, Mysterious! We’ve exposed you and your weakness to the light.” The room was getting brighter by the minute. “I’m… getting… weak…!” Mysterious groaned, and he decided to retreat before he became completely defenseless. “That’s one down and one to go.” said Artie. They turned back to face Vapourizer. The monster hissed and growled and was preparing itself for one final washout attack, when suddenly it began to shiver, much to the others confusion. Then, “Look…!” cried Artie, “The water… in the tank… it’s freezing.” The water was slowly turning into ice, and Vaporizer was beginning to freeze up, until it was nothing but a solid frozen statue. “Lightning…” Brain called out “This is your chance, try and finish it off now!” Lightning decided to trust him and got out the Rainbow Rod, and began to charge it! “Powers of the rainbow, heed my call I summon you now to make evil fall Let goodness and justice triumph in might I summon now… the rainbow’s light! …SPECTRUM STREAM!” The magic flew straight at the frozen monster, and vaporized it instantly and calmly rather than in an explosion. With the monster was gone. The power and systems were reenergized. The water was flowing normally again, and the other ponies who were attacked were waking up after a long rest. The best part of all-- since Mysterious had left, the dark clouds lifted, and it was raining normally again. That’s when Brain came towards the others, “Oh! That was a stupendous performance, Lightning. Bang on!” he complimented. “But, what happened?” asked Lightning. Brain explained that after the fog lifted away, and his glasses became clear so he could see what he was doing. He noticed the intake tanks where the monster was sitting had temperature controls, and he found the console, and turned the temperature below freezing. This way, the monster would freeze, be weakened, unable to move, and have a solid surface to strike. “Professor, you’re a genius.” said Artie. “And you saved all of us.” added Rhymey. Brain bowed thankfully. “Thank you, gentlemen…” “Uh… excuse me…?” called Krysta “But would someone mind helping me out of here!” She kept trying and trying to escape the water drum, but even her wings were so drenched, from being dipped in that much water, they didn’t work. The boys couldn’t help but laugh. “So… it seems our enemies managed to defeat us again.” Titan said “I am beginning to grow displeased of this.” “Poor Mysterious…” Rep-Stallion mocked. “Guess you got all wet and washed out.” added Dementia. Mysterious just clenched his fists and growled furiously. “However…” Titan said “You have fulfilled part of your promise. Thanks to you, Mysterious, all this energy you have given me has greatly increased my power and weakened the seal immensely. You have done well.” Mysterious bowed, “Thank you my lord.” and he cast a cheeky stare at the others, making them feel insulted now and determined to prove their worth more than ever the next time. The rain was starting to die down. Obviously, the Grand Ruler was busy clearing the skies after a good long day of showers. Brain Artie and Rhymey were stopping by Lightning’s place in White Village. They were about to knock on the door when they heard the sound a tiny little sneeze… “Ah… Ah… AH-CHOO!” And then another… “…AH-CHOO!” The second sneeze shook the roof a bit, causing a few puddles up on top to splash the others below. The door was open, and there was Penny looking after poor little Krysta, who had caught a small cold from being drenched so much. “I must say, I’ve never had a fairy for a patient before.” said Penny. “Lucky you…” Krysta groaned sarcastically. Her poor little nose was all red and clogged, and she was shivering even while in her little bed moved near the fireplace. Rhymey came over to see how Krysta as feeling and hoped she’d get well soon. “Thank you, Rhymey.” Krysta said with her nose still stuffed. And Artie came over to show Krysta a painting he made just for her, as a bit of a joke, but also because she inspired him. He pulled down the cloth to reveal a painting of what he called “Fairy in the Rain.” Everyone else couldn’t help but giggle at the joke, but Krysta didn’t think it was funny. “Oh! Take that away from me!” she groaned. “Just looking at all that water is enough to make me… eh… eh… AH-CHOO…! Sneeze!” The others held in the urge to giggle. For a tiny fairy, Krysta sure had a lot of air in her. “By the way Professor, How did your experiments go?” asked Lightning. Brain explained that he was certain that he had perfected the radar. Now it was water proof and would stand up to most impacts, or extreme temperatures. “Are you sure of that?” asked Artie. “Oh, quite certain, quite.” answered Brain, but Krysta suddenly sneezed again “…AH-AAAAHH-CHOO!!” Her sneeze was so strong it nearly shook the whole house, and the radar exploded right in Brain’s face. He really looked silly with all that soot in his face, his mane messed up, and his glasses dangling on one side of his head. “Well…” he muttered, “Now who’s a fool?” The others, even Krysta, couldn’t help but laugh. That night, before going to bed, Lightning wrote his report, and Krysta was still sneezing, in her bed, in her little house in the wall. “At this point we have all discovered the different types of monsters Titan’s minions send after us-- each with their own special abilities that will extreme require precision as well as our powers and abilities to defeat. Krysta’s cold seems to be improving…” At that point, Krysta let out another little sneeze from within her mouse-hole house. Lightning couldn't help but snicker softly, and then went back to his report. “…I have also come to understand that one cannot just change how someone thinks or feels when it comes to things they may or may not like, and that sometimes it is better to be understanding of others for their choices instead of badgering and forcing other beliefs on them. This makes me sometimes wonder about Titan… What does he truly believe in? What is it that drives him into attacking us mercilessly and all other that came before us? Nevertheless, the fight must continue if there is to be any hope of preservation for Unicornicopia, as well as the rest of the dimensional universe.” He signed his name, then sent the report through the magic mailbox slot which would send it all the way to Grand Ruler’s floating palace in the sky. After that, he hopped into bed, and turned out the lights and just before settling down, he could see a small speck of golden light traveling across the sky. Lightning could tell it was Grand Ruler, using his powers to get rid of all the rain clouds and letting the stars shine through. Then he snuggled down into bed and dreamt of all the adventures he would have another day. (Promo) In our next episode, Krysta is feeling a bit glum and Lightning tells his friends why leading to the story of how he and Krysta met. Meanwhile, Titan takes advantage of Krysta’s troubles and sends one of his puppets to set a trap for Lightning and his friends using Krysta as bait, and two new creatures appear in the midst of whole thing. Will Titan succeed in his plan, and who are these two new ponies? Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!” (Next Episode: “Double Trouble”)