//------------------------------//
// Episode 6: Art Attack 
// Story: My Brave Pony Starfleet Magic: Season III 
// by DakariKingMykan 
//------------------------------//


EPISODE SIX



The sun rose in the skies above New Manehattan to begin a new day, and Lightning stretched out of his hotel room bed and yawned. He wiggled his fingers and wiggled his toes, and crossed over to his mirror. Suddenly, he noticed his golden horn was pulsating and glittering in an unusual way; not like when sensing a heart shard, and he wasn’t trying to summon the uniforce either. “What’s going on?” he wondered as he grabbed his horn and softly tapped it trying to make the glowing stop, and it did. “Weird.”

Krysta, along her husband King Topaz, and Twink appeared through a small portal that popped up in the room. “Morning, Lightning.” Krysta said.  “Good morning, Admiral.” added Topaz, but Lightning didn’t seem to take notice of them. He just stood puzzled in front of his mirror and gazing at and feeling his horn. Krysta and Twink gazed at each other with concern, “Um… Admiral…?” Twink peeped. He still didn’t notice them. So Krysta fluttered right up to his ear. “…LIGHTNING!”

He jumped in shock and yelped, making the fairies wince and yelp to. “Oh! Krysta… Twink…  King Topaz. Sorry, I didn’t see you.”

“I’ll say.” said Topaz “Are you alright?”

Lightning nodded and explained about his horn, and the fairies were just as confused. “You sure you aren’t daydreaming?” asked Krysta. Lightning gazed at the mirror again, and as his horn wasn’t glowing anymore, he figured maybe he did daydream it. He didn’t have time to think of that now anyway. Today was a special day for his friend Artie, which was why he and all his friends were in New Manehattan.

Artie had won a prestigious citizens award for a special statue of Princess Twilight Sparkle. He spent many days and many nights carving it out beautiful marble, smoothing it, and painting it with a shiny glaze. He made it to commemorate the day Twilight got her wings back long after Nightmare Moon destroyed them and turned her back into a regular unicorn, and reclaimed her royal title. The statue stood in the town square of New Manehattan on a grand tour around United Equestria, and many pony and other creatures gazed at it with such astonishment, inspiration, and even comfort.

The awards ceremony was being held in New Manehattan and Twilight, being the inspiration of the statue, and princess in-training, was going to personally present Artie with his award along with Celestia and the Grand Ruler as well. 

Today was the big day. Their supreme majesties were due to arrive at noon and the dinner-party and awards ceremony would begin at sundown, black-tie of course, at the prestigious five-star hotel they were all staying at.

Lightning walked out onto the balcony and took a whiff of the fresh dawn air. He then looked out at the view, and he could see the town square from where he was and saw a lone figure standing by the Twilight statue, none other than the creator himself.

Artie was honored to be receiving such an honorable award for his art talents and gesture to Twilight, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t feeling nervous. He had received Starfleet awards and medals before for his services in the force, but this one was different and more special than all the rest of them. Somehow, looking at the beautiful statue he had made helped him to overcome it. He remembered how hard he worked on it, and all the heart and soul that went into it.

(Sort of like this)



All the carving smoothing, and glazing it to make it shine.

Lightning approached him quietly. “You really outdid yourself this time.” he said. Artie turned and smiled. “That’s what everyone says.” he looked back at the statue “… And I think they’re right.”

All the other ponies and Spike, who had also been up since the crack of dawn, gathered round, and each gave him their comments and encouragement of receiving the award. “Artie…” Twilight said “The fact that you made a statue of me at all is one of the best gestures of friendship I’ve ever received, and I hope nothing bad ever happens to it.”

“Oh, why, Twilight…” cried Rarity as she overdramatically flopped onto a bench “Just the very consideration of the very thought of even thinking about bringing so much as one little hint of defection to this elegant piece of craftsmanship would be a crime to end all crimes in the universe.”

The others all gawked in concern at her overdramatic act, but it was understandable. They all hoped nothing bad would ever come to the statue, but their hopes were about to be dashed!



Harkin was nearby, and hiding well out of sight so as not to be seen by patrols, and had been watching the ponies ever since they came to the statue. He decided that the statue of Twilight would be a perfect target in his plot to catch the next crystal heart shard that Sombra had detected in the area, and Harkin was planning to take an extra precaution.

He waited until the ponies had left, and with no one else watching, he sent the monster-crystal into the statue, and instead of the statue immediately turning into a monster, its appearance was slightly altered so it was now scowling angrily instead of smiling lovingly, and its violet eyes were black and red.

“Excellent…” Harkin thought sinisterly “The warrior always plans his sneak attack wisely, and thanks to the enchanted spell I had asked Lord Sombra to cast, the statue will soon become a force to be reckoned with, and not even Starfleet will suspect how it is happening until it is too late.”

For now, he would have to continue to wait in hiding and then make his move when the time was right so things would be more in his favor. Yet deep down, he wondered how Starfleet would do against this plan of his, especially Lightning. “Ah, I must keep a clear mind.” Harkin thought to himself “Still… there is something very unusual about that one pony.”



All the rest of that morning, the ponies helped with last minute preparations for the festivities. No guests were due to arrive for a while, but already, Pinkie could hardly wait for the party as she giddily bounced about cheering “Party! Party! Party…”

“Take it easy there, sugar-cube.” Applejack said “Party’s not for some time yet.”

“Oh, let her go…” Buddy Rose said “It’s not every day you get invited to an awards ceremony, not to mention one so prestigious.”

The Spanish twins agreed and had spent the whole morning preparing the fireworks for when it got dark out. “Esso Bueno. We’re all set.” Dyno said. “Si, especially this one right here.” added Myte as he showed his brother a picture of what their best set of fireworks would do when it went up.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” said Rainbow.

“Yeah, let’s get to work.” added Lightning.

As they all worked and prepared everything, they broke out into a song and dance number singing “It’s a Brazzle Dazzle Day” 




…halfway through the song they all began to tap-dance, twirled, and leapt about as their labors finally were completed, and by the end of the song, the royal trumpet fanfare sounded, indicating the royal ones were arriving.

“Come on, everyone.” said Lightning and the others all followed him outdoors to meet and greet their majesties and escort them to their room.



Lightning and Twilight escorted their teachers to the royal suite at the top of the hotel, and carried all their bags for them. They were traveling surprisingly light and their bags were easy to carry, even for Spike. “Well, we are only staying for one night.” Celestia said “It’s not as if we were migrating or anything.”

“And it certainly was nice of Princess Luna and Goldwin to look after the palace and watch the children while we are here.” added Grand Ruler. He opened the doors to the balcony and took in some of the midday sunlight. It felt nice and warm. His wife joined him by his side and enjoyed the view and fresh air. It felt so nice to get out of the palace and be among other ponies and creatures for a change. Especially went it meant honor someone special.

“We’ll leave you two alone, now.” Twilight said, and she and the others bowed “See you at the ceremony.” Lightning said. Their teachers bowed back and the others left. Grand Ruler suddenly began to look at little down about Lightning. “You haven’t told him yet?” asked Celestia. Her husband shook his head “I’m not entirely sure yet, I need more proof. For now, it’s best not to alert him either.”

Celestia was worried about something else too, her mystery assassin. 

Earlier that morning, before she came to New Manhattan, she received a letter from the assassin, found it waiting in the royal flight carriage, and she still had it with her. It read:



You can run, but you can’t hide, Celestia!!
I’ll get you yet!



Celestia was doing her best to be brave, and also keep it a secret from Twilight and the others, but she was starting to think of telling them, but her husband advised against the idea until they learned more about this assassin, for fear of putting them in even more danger. In the meantime, they had to prepare for the award ceremony and gala.



Meanwhile, other passersby outdoors, gathered around the Twilight statue in the town square, not even noticing it had been altered. Suddenly, the statue’s eyes glowed magically, and everyone around it began to fell strange, weak, and they all collapsed in the streets, while the statue began to glow and flicker with a dark light that faded almost instantly.

Harkin saw everything and was snickering with glee. “It shouldn’t be long now, before the alarms sound.” he hissed “I’m waiting for you, Starfleet.”


(Music at 9:40)

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xm241z_thunderbirds-the-mighty-atom-3-4_shortfilms





With not much left to do except wait until the awards ceremony, everyone just decided to chill out and relax a bit, and Artie was practicing his acceptance speech by himself. “Ahem, ladies and gentlemen… er-- no, no, too boring.” He cleared his throat and tried putting more feeling into his words, but it sounded too angry. He decided it best to go for a fly over the city and clear his mind. “What’s the matter with me?” he kept wondering “I’ve received rewards and honors before. This one should be a snap.”

He suddenly snapped out of his trance when he his horn started to resonate. “Uh-oh, heart shard alert!” and he immediately soared downward near the town-square, and when he arrived he noticed a whole crowd of ponies lying passed out on the ground. “What in the name of the universe…?”  He could tell this was more than serious, and he ran to the nearest red-box on a lamppost and pulled the alarm. Those who were already outside heard the alarm and ran for shelter. Lightning and the all the others were already well on their way, and other patrolling officers landed near him to help with the unconscious ponies “Get these ponies to safety.” He ordered “I don’t how they were knocked out, but get them out of here.”

“YES SIR!!” the soldiers all shouted as they all worked hard to get the civilians out of the way. 

Artie decided to try and figure out what was going on before his friends arrived, and followed his horn’s guidance to where the heart shard would be. As he got closer he came across more unconscious ponies lying in the streets. All of them seemed to be huddled around his statue of Twilight, only he suddenly noticed, “Wait a minute. Wait, that isn’t my statue-- it’s scowling. It’s supposed to be smiling. I’ll bet Sombra and his goons are behind this.”

“Starfleet Magic!” Once he transformed into super armor. He scanned the statue with his visor and detected evil energies emitting from it. “Aha! I knew it!” He hated what he was about to do, but knew it had to be done. From his horn he fired many blasts at the statue, blowing it to pieces, but in burst of black smoke appeared a monstrous evil version of the Twilight Statue. It growled and hissed at Artie angrily.

“Ah! My beautiful statue!” cried Artie, but now was not the time to be sentimental. He had to fight. So he leapt toward Dark Twilight ready to attack, but the monster just swerved out of the way and struck him hard knocking him to the ground.

Artie leapt up onto his feet and charged at Dark Twilight again, punching and kicking, but Dark Twilight managed to block his every move. They met in a fist-lock. “You give up…?” Artie sneered, and he got kicked hard in the chest and was sent rolling along the ground “Guess not!”

Dark Twilight’s horn began to glow, and she fired a swarm of projectiles at Artie, knocking him down again. Artie groaned and moaned as he struggled to get up to his feet, and then he heard the sound of laughing as Harkin approached him. “You’ll have to do much better than that, young fighter.” he hissed “My monster has been absorbing the energies of every pony and creature here, especially the unicorns and whatever magic they possess.”

That explained why all the ponies were found collapsed, and now Dark Twilight was possessed the power of at least a-hundred ponies. Artie really didn’t stand much of a chance alone, but he stood tall and fierce and knew he had to keep going.

“SUPER STAFF”

“Are you still trying?” snapped Harkin “You’ve got guts. I like that.” and he allowed his monster to deal with Artie and keep him busy while he went to get the heart shard, and he knew where it was too, right beneath the statue’s pedestal.

“RED RAYS”

He blasted the rock to bits, and the heart shard was there. He wasted no time and just took it. “Sombra will be pleased when I give him this.”

“Think again!” shouted a voice. Harkin looked up and saw Lightning, Twilight, and all the others, in their super armor. “Drop the shard, bud!” snarled Rainbow.

Harkin chuckled and held it out for them to see. “You want it? Come and get it if you can!”

Rather than waste time arguing with him, Lightning told the others to go and help Artie, and he wouldn’t and he would deal with Harkin, much to Harkin’s hopes and delight. “It’s been a while, admiral.”

Lightning stood ready “Your suaveness doesn’t get to me this time. Let’s do this…!”

Harkin stood ready too, still holding the shard in his left hand, and the two brawled hard, punching and kicking more fiercely than when they first met. Even with one free hand, Harkin still proved to be a very swift fighter.

As for his monster, Dark Twilight blasted Artie hard again, knocking back hard. The others huddled around him. “Artie!” cried Twilight, and then she gazed at her evil double. Spike gazed back and forth and back and forth between the two Twilights. “Really catches a likeness.” He said.

“Get her!” shouted Starla.

The monster growled fiercely as all of the fighters came at her, and one by one she dodged or blocked their attacks, and struck them back hard. Even Krysta tried to lift the evil statue up, only to get backhanded hard into barrel of water, and Krysta hated it when she got soaked. “Ugh! Get me out!” she yelled.

Rhymey drew out his sword and fought against the evil statue, but the statue managed to parry his every swing of the blade with her arms alone, as they were solid and strong. Fluttershy dashed into help him, but even the two of them working together wasn’t good enough as the statue grabbed Fluttershy by the tail and swung her around and around, hitting all her friends that circled around them, and knocking them all down.

Fluttershy herself felt more dizzy than hurt. “Did we win…?” she groaned groggily.

Rhymey got up and rubbed his head.

“Hits and blasts, we’ve taken plenty
But that monster fights as if she is many.”

Artie explained to them how Dark Twilight was doing that, and the others were all shocked. “How in world can we beat something with that much power?” asked Rarity.

“We have to keep on trying.” cried Twilight 

“Try and scan for find her weakness!” added Starla as she used her visor to scout the creature. Her power and speed were incredible, but no signs of any natural weakness. “We’ll then, we’ll just have to find it ourselves.” hollered Rainbow as she dashed for straight at the monster, who blocked her and punched her back with hit’s hands and two engaged in a struggle, but the statue was much stronger than Rainbow, alone, and forced her back hard into a lamppost. “Oh! Ow! Oh, boy, I tell you what… ow!”

As the monster continued to fight with the others, Lightning was still pushing himself to fight harder and swifter. “You’re not getting away with that shard, Harkin!” he growled as he continued to throw his fists and feet, and he managed to land a hit on Harkin’s face, but still he wouldn’t drop the shard, proving his determination.

Lightning grabbed onto the shard in attempt to yank it away from him. The two fighters pulled and tugged hard, and the both of them flew backwards and the shard landed on the ground. “You win…” Harkin said “… There are other shards I can take.”

Lightning wasn’t sure if he was being sincere; a powerful warrior like Harkin just giving in like that? He had to be faking, and just as Lightning thought, the minute he went for the shard, Harkin zipped forth and kicked him hard to the ground. Harkin laughed as he scooped up the shard “One of the warrior’s true methods: Fool the mind, and the battle is yours. We’ll meet again, and next time… it will be for higher stakes than just a mere treasure. Until then, admiral…!” then he vanished with the shard in hand. “Gah…!” Lightning roared as he angrily slammed his fist into the ground. “I saw it right there and I let it happen anyway!” he muttered under his breath.

“Lightning!” shouted a voice which helped him snap to his senses. Lightning looked before him and saw Grand Ruler and Queen Celestia, they had been busy helping to evacuate the unconscious ponies from the streets and raise the force fields around the buildings.

They saw what happened, but now wasn’t the time to worry about it. “Lightning, your friends need you.” Grand Ruler said. “Go along now.” added Celestia.

Lightning got up, nodded respectfully and dashed off to join his teammates, who had been fighting Dark Twilight still trying to find her weakness, but it was hard to concentrate and fight at the same time, even Twilight herself got bashed and shoved hard by her evil doppelganger.

Twilight prepared to fire magic from her horn but was quickly blasted hard by her doppelganger and slammed hard into a wall. “Twilight…!” shouted Dyno “Get out of there, Chica!” cried Myte.

Just as the statue was ready to strike Twilight down, Lightning came in by surprise and kicked the evil Twilight hard and sending it skidding along the ground. “You okay, Twilight…?” he asked as he helped her up. “I’m fine. Thanks.” she answered as the others huddled with them.

“You came not a moment too soon.” said Applejack.

“We can’t seem to figure out her weakness.” added Buddy Rose.

“I think maybe I do now.” said Artie “She’s absorbed the energies of civilians and fights like many. So, instead of attacking her one at a time, let’s attack her at all once.”

“Right it just may work.” Lightning said, and they all spread out.

Dark Twilight got up but couldn’t see any of the fighters anywhere. Then, suddenly “GO!” at the sound of Lightning shout, they all leapt out from different areas and attacked all at once, sending Dark Twilight soaring up high and crashing down. “Get her!” shouted Lightning, and in several groups of two or three, from all angles the statue was attacked; punched, kicked, slashed at, blasted. Twilight even got to pay her back for knocking her into the wall, and Krysta paid her back for throwing her in the water. “Paybacks are always sweet.” Krysta said with a smug, and for once, Twilight had to agree, and they both slapped a high five, or rather Twilight just held her index finger up and let Krysta slap it.

The statue was starting to look weak. “Here’s our chance.” said Lightning “Group formation!”

All members of the team stood in line. Twilight and friends called upon the power of harmony within their bodies, and Lightning and friends charged up their finisher moves. The statue was still charging at them. 

“It’s all over for you…!” growled Lightning. “Ready… Fire…!”

“HARMONY BEAM” Twilight shouted as she and her friends unleashed their power, and Lightning and friends each fired their attacks.

“GALACTIC PROJECTILE”

“WHIPLASH-STRIKE”

“ARTFUL ATTACK SPIN”

“THRASH SLASH”

“BOOM-BOOM FLARE”

“UNIFORCE”

(Skip to 4:00)




Sparks, explosions, and lightning jolts struck Dark Twilight hard and she roared furiously as she continued flare up. The she fell over and exploded! When the smoke had cleared the dark crystal was seen hovering in midair… and it shattered? Sadly, Artie’s statue had not reappeared seeing as how Artie had already destroyed it in the first place.

The team suddenly heard the sound of soft clapping; Grand Ruler and the Queen applauded the teams for destroying the monster. “Well done, Starfleet. Once again, you have stopped another one of Sombra’s evil beasts.” said Grand Ruler.

The team acknowledged this, “But Artie’s statue… it’s been destroyed.” Spike pointed out.

“Tragic and sorrow!” cried Rarity “All the time we wished, and we hoped nothing would happen to its glorious stature…. It’s magnificent beauty… but, but-- Oh... of all the worst things, this is THE…WORST…POSSIBLE…THING…!”

Everyone was staring at her again awkwardly again. “Um, you do realize you’ve been saying that a lot?” Krysta said.

Still, Lightning was still feeling a bit bad too for letting Harkin get away with another heart shard. “You did your best, Lightning.” Twilight said “It’s not a total loss.”

As for Artie, he seemed to take the destruction of the statue pretty well. “The important thing is we’re all safe, and that means more to me than any piece of art anyone can have.”

Everyone felt their spirits rising again. “But… what’ll we celebrate about now?” asked Pinkie “The statue’s gone! Artie can’t receive his award! THE PARTY WILL BE CANCELED!”

Celestia chuckled “Don’t worry, Pinkie. The festivities aren’t cancelled.”

Pinkie froze where she was, “They’re not…?”

“They’re not?” most of the others repeated.

“Of course not…” replied Celestia “The award is for a gesture of friendship, and it doesn’t matter if the statue is intact or not.”

“Besides…” Artie said “I think you’re all going to be very, very surprised.”



That night, long after the streets were cleaned, and many of the unconscious ponies were revived. The awards ceremony proceeded as schedule.  There was dinner, there was dancing, and what was even more surprising was the actual statue of Twilight, fully intact, smiling, and just as beautiful as ever.

When asked how, Artie explained the whole ordeal and that statue they had destroyed was only a cheap copy…

His statue of Twilight was so incredibly beautiful, and considerably more priceless above all his other art creations. As honored as he was that the art authorities wanting the statue to go on tour, he just didn’t trust others handling a valuable piece of craftsmanship like that, not to mention he had a feeling it would probably be used for evil by the enemy, or inadvertently damaged in battles. So using his masterful art skills he created an imitation of the statue and let it go on tour, while he kept the real one safe and locked up in the giant closet at his house in New Ponyville, which he asked Krysta and her husband to teleport to the ceremony at once.

“Artie, you’re pretty slick.” Lightning said.

Artie chuckled “Well, it doesn’t hurt to be a little over-protective of one’s treasure sometimes.”

Soon, the award was being announced. The Grand Ruler and Queen gave their speeches, and Celestia took pride in announcing the one to give the award away. “Ladies and Gentlemen… presenting the award is none other than my faithful student, and the inspiration of this glorious statue, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight came out on stage dressed in her royal garbs, and everyone applauded, and some whistled to her. Twilight took the stage and made her speech. “It gives great pride to present this award to the pony who created this wonderful statue of me, not for fame and glory, but as a gesture of kindness, friendship, and a token of appreciation, and not only that, but what gives me greater pride and honor is that he was willing to even destroy his own masterpiece for the safety and the protection of others and to help save his planet from certain disasters inflicted by our enemies… and now, I take great pride and honor of presenting this platinum platted plaque, to the creator of this statue, Starfleet officer HV7J: Captain Artie Bristles.”

The crowds cheered louder than ever as Artie got up from his seat at this table and made his way to the stage to take the plaque. He bowed to Twilight and their supreme majesties, and Twilight gave him the traditional and friendly peck on the cheek.

Artie took the podium and made his speech…

“To receive an award as prestigious as this, there are many things that can be said, but what I wish to say most is Thank You. Thank you everyone for letting me have this honor, and also, thank you to my friends and my fellow officers. No matter how beautiful or priceless a masterpiece may be, it can never amount to or compare to the real things. To me, the greatest piece of art is that of which we all share that binds us together through good times, and helps us through bad times. Our respect, our caring, and our deep feelings for one another is truly the greatest art of all, even if sometimes it seems it isn’t.”

Everyone applauded and cheered for him, and Artie saluted to the crowd.

Celestia and Grand Ruler were extremely pleased with how everything went, yet they were both still worried about the mystery killer who was out for Celestia’s head, as well as Grand Ruler still unsure if Lightning was who he thought he was, or if he should tell him.

This would all still need more time and more thought.


(Promo)



In our next episode, trouble occurs in the Crystal Empire by a mysterious traitor. Lightning, Starla, and Twilight are sent to investigate, and Lightning begins to have suspicions in Shining Armor’s behaviour; a very serious suspicion in his friend losing his entire kingdom and possibly much more than that, and forces Lightning to do something he is unsure of.

Is the traitor who we think it is? What will become of the Crystal Empire?

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

(Next Episode: “Reason for Treason!”)