The Grand Ruler was now or days busy calculating just which worlds housed the remaining three star stones. It has been one-thousand years since had originally hid them was a long time, and anything could’ve had happened to them. Already he had seen they were not in the original hiding places, but he had also sent messages to his many other Starfleet legions one other worlds he knew of and ordered them to seek out any information regarding the location of the stones, it would help make their search slightly easier, but it would take time to find them.

So many questions pondered Lightning and Friends minds about the stones, but there no point in researching as there were no records or information regarding them, as Grand Ruler had wanted to so evil ones would never guess of their existence. All they could do was wait, and wonder.

Lightning kept staring at himself in his mirror but still couldn’t feel or notice anything new about him since the power of the first stone worked its magic. “Take it easy, Lightning.” said Krysta “We’ll all know what’s changed about us soon enough.”

Lightning sighed, but knew she was right. “Come on, let’s go. Answers or not, we still have jobs to do in our normal lives.”

Meanwhile, Titans minions had taken their humiliation from the last battle rough, and had ever since been training hard to master their new powers, but it would take time. “This is intolerable!” snapped Mysterious “Here we are, forced to stay here and train while we could be avenging the fall of our master.”

“Isn’t there something we can do, maybe send a monster?” asked Rep-Stallion, but he suddenly remembered that ever since the battle before Titan was vanquished, their supply of monster dust was dangerously low. They only had dust left to make one or maybe two new monsters at the most. Even still their hopes were not high. “Every monster we ever sent ended up a miserable failure.” said Dementia.

The other others agreed with her, but suddenly Mysterious had an idea. “Wait, I think I know of a way.” The others gazed at him with interest and he softly whispered his idea for a whole new monster. None of them said anything, but snickered sinisterly.

Lightning had a long hard day of training, doing his community job helping others, and after sunset he was finishing up his last job at Yellow Hills-- doing odd jobs for the elderly; washing their windows, mowing their lawns, painting fences. Krysta helped him, but they both felt pretty tired after work and could hardly wait to get home.

The lampposts had lit, and the stars began to shimmer in the skies. “It’s so beautiful tonight.” Krysta said “Sure is.” agreed Lightning. “It’s almost romantic.” He had that same goofy expression on his face that Krysta only recognized when Lightning was thinking of something else, or rather someone else.

As they set off for home, Lightning could suddenly see Starla nearby with her telescope doing some astronomy. She liked to come out to open places so see whole other areas of the sky. Lightning saw her, and he got that warm feeling inside again just gazing at her under the moonlight. He was so wrapped up that he didn’t watch where he was going and bumped right into Rhymey, making him drop his shopping bags, breaking it and spilling everything.

The sounds had alerted Starla and she saw what was happening and she offered to help gather the groceries. She and Lightning reached for one of the cans of soup and their hands touched. Their eyes met, they giggled softly and then quickly scrambled about almost trying to ignore that, but both Krysta and Rhymey exchanged playful looks of disdain at the way they had acted.

They all helped Rhymey carry his groceries to his house down the lane. Rhymey thanked them all, and then Starla had to leave for her next destination for star gazing. “I’ll see you guys later. Bye Lightning…!” then she took off, but Lightning couldn’t stop gazing at her. Even when she went out of sight he was still standing there.

He was suddenly snapped out of his trance by Rhymey and Krysta snickering softly. “What?”

“Oh Lightning, are falling for me?” Krysta teased said pretending to be Starla.

Lightning felt embarrassed and a little. “That’s not how one addresses their superior officer, Rhymey.” But then again he just couldn’t blame “Okay, you got me. I really like Starla. I mean, she’s pretty, smart, brave, she’s very helpful-- Who wouldn’t like her.”

Lightning’s face went redder than ever, and his tail gave a big twitch “You mean… like… on a date?” he asked nervously. “Oh, I… I don’t think I can do that. I mean, I’m her superior and the code says no fraternizing when on duty, and…and… oh!”

Lightning still didn’t feel sure. “I don’t know if Starla would really want to.” he said as he headed for door to leave, but when he opened it he found standing there and was just about to knock. They both were startled at first and then smiled at one another. Starla had merely come because she forgotten a can of soup from Rhymey’s groceries was still in her pocket, and she overheard what Lightning had just said at the door and asked “I’d want to what?”

Lightning could feet his pulse racing and temperature rising. “Well… actually… I uh…um…! It’s nothing! I got to go. See ya! Bye!” and he quickly ran past her and down the road so fast.

Starla blinked once and was most confused. “Is he okay.” she asked Krysta and Rhymey but they sulked in disappointment, and decided to tell her.

A few blocks away, Lightning was just pressing his head against a tree and feeling like a complete idiot. “Some brave pony I am, and all because of this.” He groaned to himself. “Oh! How can I face her again?”

He continued to sigh as he sat against the tree, but was startled again when Starla came up to him. “Lightning, are you feeling alright?” Starla asked.

Lightning felt his nerves rising again. “Who, me-- Uh, sure, why do you ask?”

Starla giggled nervously at the way he stammered, but she herself felt a bit nervous. She twiddled her fingers softly. “Look, I… I was wonder if… maybe-- Would you like to go out with me tomorrow when we’re off duty?”

Lightning felt so strange he couldn’t describe it, and he stammered worse than ever, but managed to say. “Yeah, sure-- I’d love to.”

Starla smiled and the two of them agreed to meet in the afternoon at Pinkie Parks, the biggest amusement park in the entire kingdom; the perfect place for a first date. Then Starla headed for off feeling all excited, and as for Lightning, he just sat where he was, completely still for a moment, and then he suddenly began to laugh softly and bashfully.

Krysta and Rhymey saw the whole thing from nearby and winked at one another. They told Starla about Lightning and talked her into asking him out herself, figuring it would help Lightning a great deal than putting more pressure on him.

The next day in the afternoon, Lightning went to the entrance of Pinkie Parks. A lot of it was colored in pink, but the rest of the area round the land seemed pretty normal; Fields of green grass with picnic-tables, a small pond where ducks and frogs.

Lightning felt very nervous. He had never been on a date before and hoped he wouldn’t mess things up or do anything stupid. Suddenly, Starla came along almost directly after Lightning did. “Hey, you made it.” he said to her. “Sure did.” Starla answered. They soon found they were staring into each other’s eyes again, and turned away giggling. Then they went into the park together under the watchful eyes of Rhymey and Krysta, who wanted to see everything.

“I still don’t think this is right.
Spying on our friends just isn’t polite.” said Rhymey.

“We’re not spying…” said Krysta “We’re making sure they’re having fun. Look at them.”

They watched as Lightning and Starla went on the rides, played some games, and even got some snacks from the concession-stands. They seemed to be both having a greater time than anyone, even some of the other dating couples. They even seemed to warming up more and more to each other.

“Oh, I see now, and I agree,
Our friends are getting along so nicely.” said Rhymey.

Krysta nodded in agreement “That’s what being close friends is all about.” She said, and she began to sing while at the same time, Starla and Lightning continued to enjoy their date…

Starla and Lightning had fun on the roller coaster the most, and they went through a horror-tunnel, and Lightning won Starla a giant stuffed-bear playing at the games. He got a big peck on the cheek for that, and blushed. He almost fainted too, and Starla just giggled.

Starla tried to repay the favor by wining Lightning something… but she wasn’t as good at the games as he was… Except for the archery game, and with her, it was a synch for her master skills with the bow.

By sundown, Starla and Lightning had gone away from the theme-park and were sitting by a bonfire in the outer fields. “Wow. What a day.” sighed Lightning. “Yeah, I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun. It’s more fun than star gazing” said Starla. “Thank you, Lightning.”

Lightning smiled, “Hey, you’re the one who asked me out.” Starla smiled back at him. The stars soon came out and they would have to be getting home soon, but they just didn’t seem to want to leave yet. This all felt so nice and soothing.

Starla felt a little embarrassed and blushed softly “Well, actually, I wanted to ask you out for some time but I was too nervous.”

“You… You were?” Lightning asked while blushing softly, and Starla innocently nodded while gazing deep into his eyes. “Rhymey and Krysta also told me you were embarrassed.”

Lightning felt his cheeks go really red now, but suddenly they both heard a small rustling coming from nearby, and it didn’t take much for them to know who it was. “Come on out, you guys.” Lightning called to them. The two came out from the shrubs.

“Besides, you didn’t even tell us not to tell her. So we didn’t really do anything wrong.” added Krysta. Lightning couldn’t really hold it against them and smiled. “Thanks, you guys. I appreciate it.”

Rhymey and Krysta smiled, but suddenly-- BOOM! Titan’s minions appeared in their regular forms. “Great! Just what we needed.” grumbled Lightning.

“Sorry to spoil the moment,” hissed Mysterious “But we have a little plan of our own to dispatch.”

“Get ready, punks!” snickered Rep-Stallion. He licked his scythe once. “You’re about to deal with one of the fiercest types of monsters we’ve ever dished out.” added Dementia. The others all stood together, and then watched as the minions each cast their monster-dusts on three objects; the tree, a rock, and the bonfire itself. “What’s going on?” asked Starla, and then they all saw the three forces merge into one ferocious beast! Sure enough, the monster appeared as fused form of rock, tree parts like roots and vines, and glowing hotspots in between almost like lava. The minions could hardly decide what to even call it; but agreed to call it Fusor!

“Come on, guys!” snapped Lightning, and then he and others transformed “STARFLEET MAGIC!!” and quickly scanned Fusor with their visors, and as they expected and feared, his power levels were way high! This wasn’t going to be like most of the monsters they had faced before. “Good luck with this one chumps.” Rep-Stallion mocked, and then he and his comrades vanished and left them at the mercy of Fusor.

Rhymey then leapt high up and over, ready to strike the monster, but he got punched aside. “Ow! Wow!” He wasn’t hurt too much, but that punch was very strong, and so burning to the touch that his armor was slightly scorched.

The others were shocked, but didn’t let it scare them. Starla went up next, “STARLIGHT ARROW!” Her arrow struck the monster hard in his its chest, but Fusor didn’t so much as even flinch.

Krysta couldn’t even get close to the beast to try and attack it herself with her strength, and nearly got batted away. “The three elements are making him too strong.” The monster held out its arms and long strong vines shot out ensnaring Starla.

“Starla!” cried Lightning. He angrily charged at the monster shouting, “Okay, you, let her go right now!” The monster glared at Lightning and stomped its foot, shaking the ground hard and causing Lightning to fall. “Whoa! Ugh! Okay, I didn’t see that coming.”

Krysta angrily flew forward and used her powers to pick up and throw huge rocks, which were but all she was make it angry. “Uh oh!” squeaked Krysta as she watched the monster draw in a huge breath and blew out a huge burst of flames Krysta barely evaded. “Oh, sure, it just has to breathe fire too!” she grumbled.

Starla was still bound in the monster’s vines, and the more Starla struggled to break free, the tighter the grip felt. “I can… hardly… breathe!” she groaned. Rhymey dashed over and tried to slash the vines with his sword, but CLANG! The vines were like steel, and the words got badly dented and scratched, nearly devastating Rhymey.

Nevertheless, he continued to try and free Starla by pulling on the vines with his own strength, but they were just as strong as ever, and even sizzling to the touch. Rhymey could almost feel the burn through his gloves!

Lightning tried to charge the monsters again, only to have it stomp its foot and knock him down again. Then it tried to roast him with its flames, but Lightning rolled out of the way. “This is nuts!” he growled, then he too was ensnared by vines from the monster’s other arm. “And this is getting bad!” he cried.

“No! Lightning!” cried Krysta. Now only she and Rhymey were still free, but left with hardly any options. Rhymey couldn’t break the vines, and Krysta didn’t stand a chance from the start. Starla couldn’t last much longer under the strain, and Lightning was starting to feel the burn. “It can’t… end like this!” he growled.

From within Titan’s lair, the minions were watching the battle and laughing with glee. “I can’t believe it! We’re really going to do It.” cried Rep-Stallion. “Perhaps we won’t need to master our new given powers after all.” added Dementia. “When the monster has succeeded and our enemies are defeated, then I will agree.”

Lightning could barely breathe and could feel the burning eating away at the suit under his armor. “No!” he suddenly shouted. He tried and tried with all his might but it seemed as if he couldn’t’ break free. Still he kept trying. Starla and Rhymey continued to struggle too, and Krysta was still not willing to give up, even though she didn’t stand too much of a chance. The monster had them all in its sights and drew in a huge breath for a great big fiery breath. “No!” cried Starla “He’s… going to… roast us alive!”

“Yes!” Lightning said deeply, “WE CAN!” that’s when he began to feel the burn. Not from the monster’s grip, but rather from within his own body. Starla felt it too, so did Rhymey, and Krysta.

The minions watched in confusion and starting to lose patience, “What’s taking so long?” snarled Dementia.

Mysterious said nothing and stood there were a puzzled expression on his face and muttered “It cannot be!”

Lightning struggled hard, and all of a sudden he burst through the vines using his own brute-strength! Rhymey, however, was still in the way as the monster blew his fiery breath, and he didn’t dodge in time and got hit hard, but strangely he didn’t feel the flames all that much and suffered hardly any damage.

The gang were puzzled at first, but had never felt anything like it. They suddenly felt so much stronger, and Lightning realized. “It’s the power of the star stone!” cried Lightning “I guess it finally kicked in.”

“This is incredible!” Krysta said “I feel like I could move a whole mountain over my head.”

Rhymey gripped his sword tightly, and it magically repaired itself. It now looked shiner and sharper than ever. He couldn’t even feel the magic inside of him soaring.

It was about to stomp its huge feet to make the ground shake. But the unicorns leapt up high at the last moment to avoid the tremors. Starla hovered over the monster, and decided to try her one of her newest attacks she had trained for. “PULSAR LASER” and she fired a humungous blast from her horn right at Fusor, damaging him hard.

Rhymey then, with fast speed, shot straight at the monster and began to slash, slice, and thrash at the monster, damaging him further!

Lightning and Krysta leapt in and managed punch and kick the living daylights out of the beast and in one double-team punch sent it soaring thirty feet up in the air. “Wow! I didn’t even feel a thing from recoil!” cried Krysta.

Suddenly, the Rainbow Rod appeared before Lightning and was glowing brightly along with Starla’s bow and Rhymey’s sword. “What’s happening now?” asked Starla. Then suddenly, they could all hear the voice of the Grand Ruler giving them all a telepathic message.

“Ponies, just as the power of the star stone combined with your training not only increase your power, but the power of your weapons as well. Starla, Rhymey, you have now unlocked the ability to finishing-moves. Use them wisely.”

Sure enough, Starla and Rhymey’s weapons now came with “Capture” and “Destroy” functions. They set the weapons on “Destroy”

The monster charged forth, but Rhymey gripped his sword tight, and the blade began to glow and flare with power as he waved it softly. “THRASH SLASH” he shouted and slashed right at the beast.

“My turn!” snapped Starla, and she magically conjured a super powerful arrow-- much stronger than normal-- and set in the bow. “GALACTIC PROJECTILE” and fired the arrow-- watching it turn into a small burning comet-like projectile, and going skewering right through the monster.

Lightning added the last bit of power and fired at Fusor, finally defeating it and making it explode. The friends all cheered for joy over their victory, and Lightning looked up at the sky knowing Titan’s minions were watching. “You lose again!”

The minions were outraged and shocked. “No! It’s impossible!” snarled Dementia. “They beat us again, and that was the best monster we ever made!” growled Rep-Stallion. Mysterious clenched his fists furiously “Somehow those pests are become stronger as we are. We must continue our training, and learn the secret of their new abilities as well. When the time comes, we attack!”

He cast another look at Lightning’s smug face, and then angrily blasted the viewing image to pieces.

Without much damage done to the fields, and the park now safe, the gang all decided to head home Lightning offered to walk Starla back, and she accepted. Rhymey and Krysta followed because they had to head in the same direction.

As for the date, with the exception of the battle, Starla had a great time, and so did Lightning.

Lightning stuttered and stammered a bit again, but he managed to ask “Do you think you might want to… you know… go out again sometime?”

Starla smiled at him and answered “Sure, I’d love to. As long as we don’t have to fight another monster.” and she pecked him on the cheek before heading inside up to her apartment. Lightning just stood there with his cheeks all red. Krysta and Rhymey giggled, and Rhymey teased him again with that same line.

Krysta even joined in the teasing. “Lightning’s got a mare-friend. Lightning’s got a mare-friend.”

Lightning just ignored them. So much had happened that day. He had good workout, went on a date with Starla, but most importantly, the star stone was starting to work its magic, and saved them all. He only hoped they would be able to find the other three stones and soon.

“Our new strengths given to us by the star stones have helped us extremely, but the bad news is that Titan’s minions will no doubt attempt to get stronger. It only makes it all the more important we keep to our training and be on guard.

Apart from this, my day with Starla was rather peaceful, despite the incident, and that friends can always help one another, even if at times it looks as if they shouldn’t. I feel grateful to have such wonderful friends and knowing that I can always count on them to help me when I need it, just as they can always count on me. It fills me with a joy and feelings that magic cannot bring you.”

After that, he hopped into bed, and turned out the lights and dreamt of all the adventures he would have another day.

In our next episode, Professor Brain is at it again and has invented a new invisibility formula, but Dementia has rather an exact plot as well to lure the ponies into a difficult battle. For how can you fight a monster you can’t even see?

How will the Professor’s new formula turn out, and is there a way to defeat what you can’t see?

Don’t miss the next exicint episode of “Starfleet Magic”

(Next Episode: “To See or Not to See”)

My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic Season I

by DakariKingMykan

Episode 13: Three to One