//------------------------------// // Episode 8: Into the Light of Darkness // Story: My Brave Pony Starfleet Magic: Season VI // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// EPISODE EIGHT Today was the day Cheeriliee and Mykan’s school had their special volunteer day; when the students would volunteer around New Ponyville and help adult ponies in their jobs, and usually it was decided by grades what position they would have. The Cutiemark Crusaders were miraculously all tied at the same good grade level, at the top of the class. So they all got to share the same job and would be working with Dr. Penny Sillon, whom was delighted and didn’t mind as she needed some extra help that day anyway. The doctor had come to the schoolhouse earlier that day for another reason, not just to pick up the girls for their workday, but to administer simple Flu shots to the class. Even Cheerilee and Mykan were to have their shots, though the two of them were not exactly fond of needles. Still, they and their students had them, and so did the girls, but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon hated needles most of all and attempted to hide out of sight. “A typical reaction,” Penny said “I’ve dealt with this before.” Biffy Box, still as the naughty bullying pony he always was, tattled, “They’re over there, behind the curtains.  Diamond and Silver poked round from behind the curtains, “Hey!” Diamond snarled, “You little Tattletale!” added Silver. Biff just stuck out his tongue and blew them a raspberry. “That’s quite enough!” snapped Cheerilee. Diamond and Silver were forced to get their shots, and as expected they both threw such a fuss, wailing and crying in pain. “Girls… I haven’t done anything yet.” Penny said. The girls felt embarrassed, but finally got injection. “OUCH!!” cried Diamond. “AYE!!” wailed Silver. The crusaders sighed, and Biff laughed at the girls and mocked “What’s the matter, babies can’t stand a wittle needle?” he laughed some more. The girls were not impressed, and neither was Mykan, “Biffy Box, it’s no laughing matter.” he said. “And besides, it’s your turn.” said Penny.  Hearing those words made Biff freeze up on the spot and he wailed “No way! You’re not sticking me with that!” “Now, Biffy, it’s important to have your shots.” said Cheerliee “You don’t want to get sick, do you?” Biff still refused to cooperate and threw such a fit, throwing the desks and chairs, anything to not get his shot. “Biffy Box, stop this right now!” Mykan shouted. Biffy then dashed for the door, but the Crusaders blocked his way. “Hey, get out of my way!” he yelled at them and he tried to throw a chair at them, but Sweetie Belle and DD used their magic to levitate the chair, stopping it in midair. “Come on, Biffy. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.” said Applebloom. Biff still refused and tried to rush his way past, but Cheerilee and Mykan had taken enough and took him aside scolding him for his behaviour. “I think perhaps you better stay here with us today, Mr. Box.” said Cheeriliee. Mykan nodded in agreement. Biff had caused a lot of trouble ever since he first came. Apart from his recent bad attitude, he been caught stealing other student’s lunches, putting glue and water on the seats, trying to cheat on tests by looking over shoulders and all sorts of typical bullying. Finally, the teachers had had their fill and wrote to Biffy’s father to meet with them that day and talk about Biffy’s behaviour. “Ahem!” Mykan said to all the other students “Now that all of you have had your injections, Ms. Cheeriliee and I all hope you have a fun day. Tomorrow we shall go around and discuss anything special you may have learned.” The students cheered and all ran outside to await the arrival of their adult escorts. Penny decided to not give Biff his injection, knowing it was not proper unprofessional of her to enforce, and she figured it be best if Biffy learned the hard way the importance of medicine. “Well, come along girls.” She said to the Crusaders, and the girls followed her outside, but took a moment back to look at Biffy. They felt real sorry for him, but Biff stuck his tongue out at them. His teachers were not amused! The girls ignored it, and when they had gotten outside, Penny gave them all cute little nurse-caps, “With these, I hereby dub you four as my official deputy nurses for the day.” The girls liked the way their caps looked on them. “So what are we up today?” asked Scootaloo. Penny then motioned to the air-taxi she had hired to take them to New White Tail Village, “I have to give some injections to the school there, and I thought you girls could help me show the children there that it’s no so scary or bad to get a shot.” The girls suddenly looked a little frightened, and Penny knew why, she had been hearing tales of the rude people in the village, not to mention the dangers emitting from the mountain near the woods. “Don’t worry girls, we won’t be going anywhere near the mountain.” Penny assured them, and she also pulled out a signed order that she and the girls were to be treated with respect and fairness. No pony or other creature in the village was permitted to give them a rough time, or at least deny them entry or permission to dine at the café’s for their lunch, things like that. “Well, if you’re sure…” said Sweetie. Soon, they were on their way, and the made it to their destination in only a few minutes. As expected, many of the ponies and creatures who knew the girls were supporters of Starfleet, and Penny and DD were space alicorns, they were given snorts and the cold shoulder. Some even wanted to run them out of town, but Penny showed them her signed order, and seeing as she was here to give the school children their injections, she was given no trouble. Then they made it to the school where the children were already lined up and ready for their injections. The teacher didn’t seem too thrilled that they were there and kept given them bad looks, but the children all seemed nicer. Some didn’t seem too scared at all to get their shots, but others were quivering and nervous, and they wanted to run. “I don’t want to get my shot!” “It’s going to hurt!” The crusaders could see this was very serious. “Girls, I think we need to give them the Brave Song.” suggested DD. The girls all agreed, and began to sing to the students a special song they used to help themselves feel less afraid about things, while Penny gave each student their injection.   [AppleBloom] If there’s something that you’re really scared to do [Sweetie Belle] Like getting a shot or going into dark places too. [Scootaloo] Well here’s some advice that will help you out a lot [DD] If you know what’s really there, you’ll see just how scary it’s not [All] So don’t be afraid, and you will see Don’t be afraid, believe you me If you conquer all your fears, You’ll see how just cool life can be. Don’t be afraid, it’s all in your head Don’t be a afraid, put that fear to bed It’s time dry those fearful tears You can be so big and brave instead! As the girls sang and danced, the students got into the beat, and it made it so much easier for Penny to give them their injections. The Students were getting so into the song they hardly felt even a sting from the needle. [AppleBloom] Now what often scares you is things you don’t understand [Sweetie Belle] But we know a secret that will make life seem so grand [Scootaloo] If you ask questions and talk with those whom you love [DD] You can find out more… and soon there’s nothing so be scared of [All] So don’t be afraid, and you will see Don’t be afraid, believe you me If you conquer all your fears, You’ll see how just cool life can be. Don’t be afraid, it’s all in your head Don’t be a afraid, put that fear to bed It’s time dry those fearful tears You can be so big and brave instead! You can be so big and brave instead! The students were really enjoying singing and dancing, until the teacher shouted at them to get back into class, “I think you’ve had enough of those ponies and their ways for one day.” she sneered. Penny and the girls were outraged at her tone of voice, and the students were all disappointed and marched glumly back inside their schoolhouse. “Thank you very much,” Lippy Sync said to Penny “I don’t think I’m scared to get my shots anymore.” Penny smiled at him, but the teacher ordered him inside or she would keep him after school. Then as soon as he walked inside, the teacher snorted at the girls and Penny before slamming the door shut. “Humph!” grunted Scootaloo “A simple thank you too hard to ask?” “She’s even grouchier than Rarity is when she misplaces her sewing threads.” added Sweetie Belle. Penny, although outraged by the teacher’s attitude, decided to treat her little helpers to lunch. At the Café, the Minotaur Manager, Burly Joe, gave them no trouble at all, as he was one of few in the village whom had nothing against Starfleet and their supporters, which earned him disdain of his workers and many of his customers whom were against. “I’m sorry, it happens.” said Joe “You’d think some around here would learn to get over themselves.” “Well, thank you very much.” Penny said as she paid for the food. She and the girls decided to eat outside, away from scorning creatures, almost like having a picnic. “I’m very proud of you girls; the way you helped the other students be brave...” Penny said. The girls smiled proudly, and Applebloom said “It’s what we do. We help others.” “Yeah,” added Sweetie as she stroked the picture of her cutiemark on her blouse, “It’s what we got these for.” The others all patted the pictures on their clothes, “Even though mine’s not a real one, it still means the same.” said DD. Then the girls put their hands together and did their cheer, “THE CUTIEMARK CRUSADERS!!” They did their special jump, and when they hit the ground, BOOM, the sound of a loud explosion came, and that fiery monsters appeared at the peak of the haunted mountain, followed by screaming as several ponies came running into the village from near the mountain, obviously frightened. Then, suddenly, four ponies came in carrying a passed out griffon. “Help, we need medical help here!” Penny saw this as her calling. “Let’s go, girls.”  The crusaders bolted upright and followed her. The poor griffon wasn’t physically hurt at all, but definitely in a state of shock. Penny came rushing in and asked what the story was, but already she got skepticism from all the ponies that mistrusted her. “What’s the story on this?” Penny demanded “Look, I want to help.” Another moment of silence followed, and one of the ponies spoke up, “he was hanging out with us, and then we passed by the mountain and he starting shaking and he fell over.” The others ponies still remained skeptical, but Penny had seen these sorts of symptoms before. “Girls, my bag.” said Penny. The girls handed her medical bag, and she got straight to work. “He’s having a small seizure. Quick, turn him on his side, and keep well back, let it run its course.” As everyone stepped back and Penny continued to examine the patient the girls got separated from her by the backing crowds. A small gust of wind began to blow, and it blew the girl’s caps off their heads. “Our caps!” cried Scootaloo, “We gotta get ‘em!” added Applebloom, and she and Scootaloo ran off after the caps. “Wait!” called DD “We shouldn’t run off!” “Too late now.” said Sweetie, and she dash off to catch up with the others. DD wanted to at least make sure Penny would know where they were, but lost her within the crowds and feeling since they were just catching the caps and that wasn’t too bad, she ran off with her friends. The caps blew on and on, and were too far off for Sweetie or DD to hit them with their magic to hold them still. “Stop…!”  Sweetie at the caps, and sure enough the caps stopped near a tree, very close to the foot of the haunted mountain. One of the caps got snagged on a thick branch. The girls were ever so relieved to get their caps back, but when Applebloom reached for her cap on the branch, the branch shifted like a level, and the girls suddenly found themselves bathed in a soft light. “What’s going on?” cried Scootaloo, and before either one of them could say anything or even shout out, the girls had vanished. They found themselves surrounded by swirling colors of light, a powerful transport vortex, and then reappeared in a very dark and spooky room. Very little of the room was illuminated. “What was that?” asked Scootaloo. “Where are we?” added Sweetie. Applebloom sniffed the air and covered her nose “Eww, and what in tarnation is that smell?” The others smelled it too and were just as grossed out, but the number one questioned they wanted to know was where they were. Sweetie and DD used their horns to add more light. “I think we’re in somebody’s house.” “Who in their right mind would want live in an old dump like this?” wondered Scootaloo. “Let’s look around a bit.” suggested Sweetie. “You sure that’s a good idea?” asked Applebloom “It ain’t polite to snoop around someone’s home.” “Well we can’t stay here either.” said DD “We have to figure out where we are and get back to Dr. Penny.” So the girls set off through the dark house. It was dark because the windows were all boarded up, or covered with very thick curtains. The house looked very old and big, almost like a mansion, but very unity as well. Piles of dust gathered in corners, cobwebs on old bits of beat up furniture, and that awful smell continued to grow stronger as they crept forth. “What is making that smell?” groaned Sweetie. Then suddenly she stepped in something squishy. She looked down and noticed she had stepped on a half-eaten sandwich next to an empty cup of coffee. “Eww!” she groaned as she shook the mess from her shoe. Then she and the others noticed bits of foods and drinks scattered about; bags of takeout, discarded sandwiches and milkshakes, Scootaloo recognized the end piece of a burger she had eaten a couple of days ago. The girls suddenly got a good idea whose house they were in, and they got their ultimate answer when they heard doors slamming open, and there he was; the strange black pony, dressed in his rags and wearing his black goggles, and he looked infuriated as he gazed at the fillies. “What are you doing here?!” he sneered in a hissing voice as he slowly crept forth. The girls were so frightened they could hardly speak, and quivered with fear as he approached them, but suddenly he tripped on a food bag and fell over, flat on the floor. “Run!” cried DD and the girls all ran past the stranger and through the doors he came through running deeper into the house. The stranger growled as he looked round behind them, and he immediately gave chase, running into what was obviously the main foyer of the very large mansion, and he ran into another room. The girls were hiding behind the large drapes of a covered window, and while they would have felt relieved to have outwitted the stranger, what they were seeing made them speechless. They gazed out the window and realized they were in a mansion atop the Haunted Mountain. “I’d still like to know how in tarnation we got up here?” asked Applebloom. “Well, one thing’s for sure, we can’t go down that way.” said Scootaloo. “Shhh, quiet!” cried DD “He’ll hear us.” “AHA!!” the stranger shouted, knowing where they were, and he began to charge forth. “Run!” cried Sweetie and the girls made it out causing the strange to crash into the drapes and getting tangled in them. “Quick, up the stairs!” suggested Scootaloo. Up the stairs they bounded, and just ran to the end of the hallway into a huge room. Panting heavily, their littles hearts beating with fear, the girls looked around and realized, as Applebloom pointed out, “Oh, no! I think we’re in his bedroom!”  The bedroom was just as dark and as spooky as the rest of the house, the furniture was all beat-up and worn, and more bags and boxes of discarded foods taking from other creature’s trashcans, making the girls feel more concerned than sick.  “How can someone live like this?” groaned Scootaloo. “Who would ever want to?” added DD. Sweetie and Applebloom then noticed some more stuff in the corner of the room; an old desk, rusted and beat-up sewing machines, shredding remains of fabrics and measurements. Beside the desk were old-style pony mannequins and fitting dummies, back when ponies didn’t have human-like bodies; also old and beaten-up. “Wow, this place looks worse than when Rarity has a fit because she can’t come up with any ideas.” said Sweetie, “Hey; this guy’s must’ve been a fashion designer too.” Applebloom then noticed on the wall old magazine clippings from several years back. “I was just in pony preschool when this came out.” she said. She opened one of the magazines and out fell a picture, of the black pony, and an older unicorn mare standing next to him; most likely his mother, whom was the actual fashion designer. “Hey, does it say what his name is?” asked DD, “I can’t tell. The writtin’s all burry.” replied Applebloom, “But ya know what, he looks almost like… I know him from somewhere.” The girls all took a good look at the pony and realized he did look familiar. “Come to think of it, his voice sounds familiar also.” The girls thought this all to be really peculiar, but suddenly they heard footsteps racing towards the bedroom doors and the pony burst right in. He glared at the girls furiously and the girls all huddled together against the wall, “How dare you intrude on my solitude!” the stranger sneered. The girls stayed huddled as the backed against the wall as he got closer and closer, too scared to speak or ask him anything, and they began to scoot along the walls. “Stop!” the strange cried, but the girls didn’t stop scooting, “No, go no further! No!” Suddenly, the girls walked into a large mirror on the wall, and Sweetie Belle’s arm hit a candle-holder on the wall, shifting it like a switch, and the girls fell magically through the glass of the mirror and were gone. “A’RGH!!!” shouted the stranger, and he continued to roar and shout in frustration, almost going into a huge fit! The girls found themselves back in the village once again, almost in exactly the same spot they were before their caps blew away. All of them seemed pretty scared and shocked. “That was all real, wasn’t it?” said Scootaloo, and the others all agreed. “We were really up there.” Sweetie said as she pointed up at the mountain. The girls didn’t know what they were feeling-- a mixture of emotions-- concerned, afraid, astonished, but also very curious to a great many things; who that pony was, why he lived way up on the mountain, why was he living in such a mess, why he was slinking around at night stealing food from other creatures’ garbage, but most importantly: why did he seem so familiar to them despite they had never met him before? Dr. Penny came up them, having finally finished her work, “I’m sorry, girls, I didn’t mean to take so long, but I finally got that griffon better again, but I couldn’t tell if he was grateful or not.” The girls hardly responded and were still deep in thought of what happened. “Girls…?” They finally snapped out of their trance. “Oh, Dr. Penny…” said DD. “Hey, what happened to your caps?” Penny asked. The girls had nearly forgotten about them. “They blew off our heads.” said Applebloom. They looked back towards the distance where the caps were last seen, but they were gone; most likely blown away. “We’re sorry, Dr. Penny.” said Scootaloo. Penny just smiled, “…It’s okay, girls.” then she heard the town clock chime three. “Oh, my, I lost track of the time. We better get you girls home.” The girl wanted to tell Penny about what happened, but were hardly sure if they understood it all too much themselves, and were still pretty scared about it. On the way back home, the girls decided to keep what they had learned to themselves until they were absolutely sure about what they saw and experienced. *Mykan’s POV* Meanwhile, at School, Biffy Box’s father, Big Chump; a big burly unicorn pony, blue like his son, with a wrestlers champion belt as a cuitemark was giving me Cheerilee a rough time ever since he had arrived to talk about his son. “So, you guys think it’s funny to give my boy low grades and keep him after school so much, huh?” he sounded more like he was trying to make a threat. Cheerilee went over a long list of the naughty things Biff had done to terrorize and bully the other students, “To be frank, if your son does not start to show improvement and respect, I’m afraid we will have to expel him.” Chump rolled his eyes, “Surprise-Surprise, he’s not good enough for you so you kick him out.” “Pardon me…” I said “But I don’t think you’ve been listening to a word we’ve been saying.” “Sure I have; you’re a bunch of wimpy lazy teachers who can’t handle one student so you decide to dump him.” “Hey, good one, pop.” said Biff, and his father smirked at him, but Cheerilee and I were more infuriated than ever. It became obvious to us that Chump was just as bad as his son and no improvement or agreements were insight. “Well then, I’m afraid we have no choice.” said Cheerliee, and she stamped a paper on her desk “I’m sorry, Biffy Box, but I’m afraid you’re expelled.” Biffy didn’t seem to mind at all, but his father was really ticked, “You expel my son just for being a boy? What, can no one have a little bit of fun anymore?” I sighed and said, “Mr. Chump, we have tried to be patient with you and you’re son, and while this may look unprofessional in my job, I’m not going to standby and keep quiet about it… Your son is a juvenile, disrespectful delinquent, and we refuse to allow him to terrorize our students and give us a hard time!!” I panted heavily having gotten all that off my chest, and Cheerilie though she agreed with me, thought I went a bit overboard. Safe to say, Biffy and Chump were outraged at what I had just said, but Cheerilee insisting they leave at once. Chump looked ready for a big fight, “I wouldn’t try anything.” I warned him “As an auxiliary Starfleet member I can arrest you on charges.” Realizing his spot, Chump and Biffy decided to leave. “This isn’t over.” Chump said, and his son blew us both a raspberry, then they headed out the door. No sooner had they arrived did Lightning, Starla and Krysta come into the school, having just past the two gruff ponies. “I take it there were problems?” Lightning asked. Cheerilee and I gave him a straight look. “I’ve never met such ponies before.” said Cheerilee “I’ve also never had to expel anyone before.”  “It had to be done.” I said, “If they don’t wish to see reason, by all means they don’t belong here. Anyway, what brings you guys here?” “We came here to see you, Mykan.” said Starla. “Me?” “Yeah,” said Krysta “We found out something you may find a little strange, and we decided to share it with you first.” Cheerilee and I gawked at one another, and Lightning opened a briefcase he had bought with them. Inside was a small computer unit. He explained about the voice Rarity had recorded from New White Tail Village, by the Haunted Mountain, “Well, we finally found a match for the voice, and… just look and listen.” He typed into the controls and the voice began to play in a normal tone, and I was instantly astonished, “That… that sounds like me?” “There’s more…” Starla said as she used the controls and showed everyone the name of the creature it belonged to; “Mykan Stevens” Cheerliee gawked at the name, and I… I was a near loss of words and feelings, “I… but… how can this be? That can’t be me!” “We know it isn’t you.” said Lightning “Mykan, do you remember when you first arrived here, and how I showed you that every human in your world has a pony, or other type of creature of them living here in this world? …Well, it seems we just found yours.” I felt so strange, overwhelmed with astonishment and shock that I had to sit down. “You’re telling me, that guy is like me, but he’s not me?” “Well, sort of.” said Krysta “We know that ponies and other creatures here have human or other animal counterparts of them in your world, and vice-versa, but the thing is… they don’t have all of the exact same things in common.” She had a point; we all thought back to and compared humans to their ponies. Here in United Equestria, Celestia was Queen of the entire planet, but her human counterpart was merely a High School Principal. That wasn’t really the same.  Grand Ruler Celesto in United Equestria was also Co-ruler of United Equestria, commander-in-chief of Starfleet, and an extremely powerful being, while his human counterpart, Celesto Grandruler, was a retired astronaut, and wealthy businessman. Again, they had some similarities, but not totally the same. Lightning even remembered the brief moment when he met his own human counterpart. Lightning himself was a Commander and brave fighter, while his counterpart, also a brave explorer and ally of justice, but a mere high school teacher. Very similar in many ways, but they were still not totally the same. “Some creatures have many similarities with their human counterparts, or vice-versa and some don’t.” Lightning said. He even pulled up a file of my pony self, recorded from our last trip to the human world. As a human I was just about 19 years old, peach colored skin, short brown hair, and 5 feet 10 inches tall, yet as a pony, I was an Earth Pony, my coat color was black and my mane and were dark brown; a very heavy difference right there. In my world, I was a science prodigy, and former astronaut; not to mention the very first human to ever explore United Equestria, and now, in United Equestria I was a school teacher and an axillary Starfleet member. Yet, it seemed my pony counterpart was no kind creature, living isolated on a mountain top and scaring people away; extremely different. A moment of silence followed. We now knew I had a pony counterpart, and where he came from, and we also knew from what happened that he and I were different in many ways. “But, why is he doing all this? Frightening people away from the mountain?” I asked. “That we don’t know yet,” said Starla “But we’re starting to feel that he may be hostile. We just have no real proof yet.” Lightning nodded “If all he’s doing is scaring others away and not actually hurting them or making plans to, that’s not breaking the law, but… we’re more concerned about his motives than his actions.” “Well, couldn’t you confront him?” suggested Cheerliee “Maybe talk with him, ask about his reasons?” Krysta shook her head “From the way he’s acting, I don’t think he’d be interested in any of that. Whatever reason he has for keeping people away from his mountain it must be something big.” “Well, at least we now have a small lead of the mystery.” Lightning said “But, just the same, it could be dangerous. I’m going to order that no one goes near that mountain without written authority from officials.” Everyone complied with the idea, but still, to me this was both incredible and somewhat frightening. So much that I didn’t sleep very well that night. My mind was a boggle of questions regarding my pony counterpart, and despite the warnings and Lightning’s order, I couldn’t help but think what I would give to meet the guy face-to-face… just once. *POV Ends* Mykan wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep… Each of the Cutiemark Crusaders, though they still got home safely, and on time and went about their normal days, they still hadn’t told anyone about their adventure and discoveries that day, and the number one thing they were all thinking of that kept awake: what was that pony thinking or up to now? Back at the mountain, Mykan was lying on his bed, feeling exhausted and frustrated, and his stomach growled in hunger as he hadn’t eaten yet, but he was too concerned of something else to care. “Those girls!” he said to himself, “They’ve discovered my secret. What if they tell others? What if more find out? They could come back!” He flopped down onto his bed not know what else to think, feel or do! (Promo) In our next episode: Cadance and Shining Armor prepare for the procedure that can create a child for them, or ultimately destroy them.  Meanwhile, Artie is having a bit of trouble with one of his creations, and his friends grow concerned of him, but not as concerned when United Equestria suddenly begins to lose its color and the inhabitants are placed in terrible danger from it. Can our friends overcome their fears and troubles and gain the color in their lives back? Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!” (Next Episode: “Color You Surprised”)