//------------------------------// // Episode 15: Final Part: Brother's Grim // Story: My Brave Pony Starfleet Magic: Season VII // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// “Previously on Starfleet Magic…” As Lightning and his friends headed off into battle to beat Nightwing… Princess Cadance, defying orders to watch over the evacuated refugees, set off into the danger area in hopes of rescuing Flurry Heart. Meanwhile, Nightwing unleashed his cursed smog over the lands from the volcano, which slowly began to infect everything it touched, with both teams growing exhausted, it was anyone’s battle! EPISODE FIFTEEN At the refuge shelter… *Mykan’s POV* More and more refugees were being evacuated into the immense caves due to the impending black smoke covering over the villages and still advancing. Grand Ruler Celeso, Queen Celestia and Princess Luna had evacuated all of New Canterlot and surrounding areas as best they could. “We weren’t able to get everyone in time.” Celestia regretted to inform “The smog has infected more birds and others creatures that have gotten to many civilians and mutated them.” Princess Luna sighed “We were not prepared for this. Our only hope that now remains is that Nightwing will fall, and his curse will be undone.” I hated to hear those words and felt really worried about those who didn’t make it, and those who were still outside. “Can I help in any way?” I offered. “No, no, Mykan…” said Grand Ruler “It’s getting to be too dangerous to go out there with that smog spreading. We’re doing the best we can to save anyone who’s left, but as Princess Luna said… the rest is up to Lightning and the others now. We have to have to believe and hope that they will succeed.” Suddenly, Shining Armor rushed up to us all with an extreme look of worry on his face. “Shining Armor, where’s Cadance?” asked Celestia. “That’s what I’m worrying about.” replied her nephew-in-law “We’ve checked all over, and Cadance isn’t here.” “What?” snapped Grand ruler “What in the universe do you mean “She’s not here?” She was given strict orders to help take care of the refugees.” “I know, but we’ve checked all over and we can’t find her.” The three supreme alicorns looked very annoyed, feeling it obvious what had happened. “She must have gone to seek out Flurry Heart.” said Luna. “But how…?” asked Celestia “She was never told the location!” “That’s what I thought too.” I said “How could she know where to go?” *POV Ends* Starla still sat in her chair still controlling her droid, not hearing a thing as she much to enraptured in the ongoing battle. “Come on! Come on!” she groaned as she hammered the controls. The bats were proving to be merciless fighters, punching and kicking the fighters down, but the fighters still managed to get a few openings and attack the evil bats right back again. POW!! Shade was punched hard in the face! BOOT!! Ebany was kicked hard in the side! Nightwing himself battled as well, and he was faring far better; blocking their every attack with Flurry still strapped tightly to him. “Shoot them, my pet!” Nightwing snapped at her, and Flurry complied by blasting small blasts of magic at the fighters, making sparks and explosions fly. “OOH!! I can’t believe this!” groaned Rarity. “Keep fighting!” said Spike. “Now, take this!!” shouted Nightwing, and he and his minions huddled together, and using the amulet’s power they combined their magic to shoot a huge beam of energy at the team. “No you don’t…!” thundered Lightning, and his golden horn began to glow, and he conjured up a huge shield plate of uniforce to intercept the blast as hard as he could. “Krysta, Starla, go, now!” Lightning hollered. The girls nodded, and Krysta teleported the droid off. At that split second, the bats stopped firing their magic. “Oh, no…!” Nightwing growled as he noted that the amulet was glowing even weaker than ever. Lightning cast away his barrier, panting softly. “Are you all right?” asked Fluttershy “Just a little tuckered, that was a lot of power. I’m okay.” The barrier over head was starting to flicker slightly, indicating it was starting to wear off. The fighters were running out of time, especially with the smog spreading over the planet even more, and turning more creatures into bats. Many ponies tried to run for the hills as fast they could, others ran for the nearest shelters only to run into the infected animals, and to be either chased, or got bitten and mutated. Krysta warped Starla’s droid just outside the base of the spewing volcano. “I can’t get any closer. The heat’s already getting to me.” “Leave it to me, Krysta.” said Starla, and then she turned and looked at the volcano. She scanned through the stone with her visor. There was no more lava flowing in inner cave, but the smog was everywhere. Still, it was safe to get inside, but as she was unable to see any way in, she decided to just make one. “PULSAR LASER” KAPOW!! She blew a huge hole in the hollow rock, which unfortunately let more smog out, but she activated her visors infrared-vision and fluttered on inside. Unfortunately, she hadn’t gone unnoticed, but he didn’t wish to let anything on so as not to alert the fighters. “Charge!” shouted Lightning, and the fighters all lunged forth. Rhymey and Spike drew out their swords, and Artie got out his staff. Shade leapt in and parried their weapons with his claws. “You really… should… give up!” he growled at them. “Never!” growled Artie and he bashed him hard in the chest, allowing Spike and Rhymey to dash by and slash him, making sparks fly. Ebany battled Buddy, Pinkie and Applejack. She slashed at Pinkie over and over, while Pinkie skipped casually and merrily backwards, taunting her… “Whoops! Missed me! Oh, so close!” Ebany roared in fury, and tried to rush her, but Applejack and Buddy lassoed her-- Applejack with her rope, and Buddy with his whip. “Hold her tight!” shouted Buddy. “Don’t let her go!” agreed Applejack. Ebany growled and fussed to try and break loose, “You two can’t hold me down!” and she fired a blast of energy from her eyes shooting the two down, and she broke free. Buddy and Applejack got back onto their feet, and regrouped with Pinkie, “I won’t give up!” Applejack said to herself “I will get my parents back!” The rest of the team-- Lightning, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow and The Twins-- fought against Nightwing, still being careful not to hit him or Flurry with any magical attacks, but Nightwing continued to block them off and Flurry heart continued to zap them with her own magic. Suddenly, he found himself surrounded by the fighters. “End of the line for you, bucko.” said Dyno. “Make it easier and give up!” added Myte. “Ha!” scoffed Nightwing “I could, but it won’t matter anyway. Your barrier is depleting, and your planet will soon be totally under my control. There’s not much more you CAN do.” Rainbow’s face turned red with rage, and she roared as she charged forth, and the others rushed in as well to tackle Nightwing all at once. CRASH!! They all collided and began to go wild, punching and kicking, but as the smoke cleared, “WAIT!!” shouted Rarity, and everyone stopped, realizing that Nightwing had gone. “Where’d he go?” asked Fluttershy. Inside the volcano, Starla’s droid, able to survive the immense heat, arrived near the crater of the volcano. Back at the shelter, Starla spoke softly to herself, “It’s time to shut this place down for good.” she said as she armed her bow, “If I can cause the volcano to overload, it’ll destroy itself, and the smog will stop.” She was about to unleash her attack, when suddenly the lights in her helmet visor flash red. “ERROR!!” “ERROR!!” “What?!” snapped Starla, and she hammered on the controls, “I can’t move the droid!” Then, she could hear the sound of evil laughter. It was Nightwing! He had crept away from the battle and over the volcano. His own inner strength and power allowed him to take the intense heat, and he and Flurry Heart combined their magic together to ensnare the droid and holding it in place with powerful, magical binds. “Nice try, but as I have implied: No one is going to stop me and my curse!” Starla tried and tried, hammering on her controls, but bindings were too strong. Nightwing gazed at the amulet, and it was really starting to go out. A few more bursts of magic would make it completely go dead! For the moment, he planned to keep Starla’s droid under tight wraps, and destroy it later when he had more power. “I wonder how your friends are faring outside?” he taunted Starla “By this time, the barrier you set up is nearly depleted!” He was right. Outside, the barrier was fading fast. “Nice try, Starfleet…” hissed Shade “You lasted longer than we expected.” “Too bad it was all FOR NAUGHT!!” yelled Ebany. The Space ponies, looking rather beat but not defeated, all stood together, and Lightning clenched his fists tight. “You’re wrong.” he said with a small smirk, “It wasn’t for nothing. Nothing Starfleet ever fights for is for nothing.” The bats growled, but really they both looked equally as exhausted as the fighters were. Suddenly, a bight glow of light flashed behind the space ponies, and they all parted away to reveal the Equestrians now as the Valkyries of Harmony. All five of them glowing brightly with their swords ready, and Applejack stood at the head of the team. “I want my folks back, and I want ‘em back… NOW!!” The bats could see they meant business, and would have made a run for it behind them, but Spike was there! “DRAGON FLARE”He blasted a huge wall of fire, making the bats wince. They’re eyes were blinded and they were stumbling all about. “Now girls!” shouted Lightning. The Valkyries joined their swords together and shouted, “HARMONY BEAM!!” focussing all the power of their elements and blasting the bat hard, enveloping them in the light. The bats screamed and yelled, and like magic, the evil energy left their bodies. The bats transformed back into Bright Mac and Pear Butter. They collapsed to the ground, and the Valkyries ran up to them, “Ma…! Pa!” cried Applejack. As for the evil energies of shade and Ebany, “Get them!” shouted Lightning, and he and the others powered up their finishers. “UNIFORCE” “WHIPLASH STRIKE” “SUPER STAFF SPIN” “THRASH SLASH” “BOOM-BOOM FLARE” “DRAGON KNIGHT SABER… IGNITE!!” Those powerful attacks struck the dark energy waves, blasting them into nothingness and they would never harm anyone again. As for Bright Mac and Pear Butter, they slowly began to awaken. The both of them felt as if a heard of cows had trampled all over them. “What in the world…?” groaned Bright Mac. Pear Butter looked up and the first thing she could see was, “Ap… Applejack…?” Tears were rolling down Applejack’s face, “It’s okay, Ma. You’re free now. We blasted that magic out of you and Pa for good.” “No kiddin’?” asked her father, and though he felt extremely weak. He realized he was fully normal again, though still humanoid, his bat armor was all gone, and he couldn’t feel the presence of the evil within him anymore. Applejack couldn’t help herself, and threw her armors around her folks, and wept, and her folks, though still weak, hugged her back. It was a most beautiful sight for all the others to see. Rarity wiped her eyes with her cape. “Wait…!” Bright Mac cried, “Where’s Seeder Breeze? Where’s my brother?!” Lightning finally realized the volcano hadn’t stopped spewing smog. “Starla…!” he called. It became obvious to everyone that Nightwing had retreated to the volcano and stalled the droid. Everyone looked up in the sky. The barrier was nearly finished, and after the long and hard battle, the ponies hadn’t much power left to reenergize it. “That barrier’s going to shatter any second!” said Buddy. Rhymey shuddered, “The barrier cannot do that, If it does, we’ll all become a bat!” Everyone shuddered at the idea, especially Applejack’s folks. “No! I don’t wanna turn into that ugly critter again!” cried Pear Butter. Inside the volcano, Nightwing saw everything, as outraged as he was that his minions had been completely redeemed, with the light barrier ready to collapse it didn’t matter that much to him. “You see, my dear.” he hissed at Starla’s drone “You can never destroy my dreams, but my dreams can destroy you!” He reached over and held the droid’s face, “Time to face the end!” Starla growled, but still couldn’t break her droid free from the bindings. …But suddenly…! KAPOW!! The wall burst wide open, rocks burst all over, and there stood Cadance, using her crystal magic to protect herself from the heat and smog. “What?!” snapped Nightwing. Starla could see through the eyes of her droid. “Cadance! I see Cadance!” Starla cried. Their majesties and Shining Armor dashed over to her. “Cadance? She’s in there?” cried Shining Armor. Grand Ruler cast a little magic upon Starla’s control helmet, creating a hollow sparling sheet like a screen in midair, so everyone could see what she was seeing. “You!” growled Nightwing. Cadance glared at him furiously and said deeply and sternly, “Give me back my baby!!” Nightwing gnashed his teeth, and he stroked Flurry Heart’s head, and looked down at his fading amulet, “You want her so bad… you’ll have to take her from me.” The two figures narrowed their eyes at one another, and fired big streams of magical energy. The two forces collided at midway and were seemingly equal. Of course, Nightwing was still badly fatigued from the battle and overusing his magic so much, and Cadance was ready to use her special-weapon! She shut her eyes and concentrated deeply, “Let the love for my child, and the bond we have shine bright.” “What’s going?!” cried Nightwing as Cadance’s body glowed brighter than ever, and her magic became stronger and pushed back against his own, “No!! NOOOOO…!!!” The light struck both him and Flurry Heart, knocking them both to the floor as the light enveloped the volcano, making it quake violently. Everyone outside could see the light glowing from the volcano and the ground shaking. “What in the universe is going on in there?!” groaned Lightning. “Hey!” Starla cried “I’m regaining control of my droid.” The magic spell that bound her droid was wearing off, but the power level was starting to run low and needed recharging. The others all watched with anxiety, and they were not the only ones. Their watching of the battle attracted the attention of many of the refugees, whom were anxious to know of the situation and how things were going. Applejack’s family were gathered at the front, seeing as it was their relative involved. The light had faded out. Cadance was panting hard, feeling a little pooped out. Starla droid was free, and the two of them could hear the sound of a baby cry. “Flurry…!” cried Starla, and both she and Cadance could see the little infant, lying on the ground completely normal. Cadance quickly scooped her baby up, casting a crystal shielding over her to protect her from the heat, but she felt like crying too as she held her daughter close and planting kisses all over her little head. “Oh, Flurry… baby… darling…!” she wept. Shining Armor saw the whole thing and felt like crying himself, “She’s all right!” Celestia and Luna had tears in their eyes, and Grand Ruler sighed softly muttering “Bless the stars.” Although Cadance still defied orders and deserted her post, they were beginning to think it best that they overlook any scolding as they were happy that Flurry Heart was saved! Suddenly, there was a stirring over in a pile of rocks, followed by a soft groan. Cadance and Starla watched as Nightwing made his way back up over the pile, only it wasn’t him… but rather Seeder Breeze. He was still wearing Nightwings armor and cape, but his head was normal, thanks to the magic Cadance had used that had connected with his heart. “Seeder Breeze…” cried Starla “Are you okay, are you all normal now?” Seeder panted softly as he stood, “No… Nightwing’s still inside me, I can feel him, but I can fight the control now.” Suddenly, the volcano began to go crazy, and was shaking violently. The friends outside could all feel the tremors, and Dyno and Myte scanned the seismic-activity. “Ay’… Madre de estrellas! *Mother of stars!* whatever happened over there has triggered a huge chain-reaction! “How bad is it?” asked Fluttershy “Very bad!” said Myte “There’s going be a huge eruption so huge it’ll blast that mountain to rubble!” The team all gasped in shock and worry. “WE’VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!!” cried Pinkie, and her shouting echoed in everyone’s ear. “But where are we supposed to go?” asked Artie “Half the planet’s covered in smoke and there’s a ton of infected creatures out there. We’d be walking into a trap.” “I don’t think it matters!” Krysta said as she looked up, the barrier was already starting to vanish and the smog was creeping in through the crack. “When that barrier goes down, we’re going down… or… something like that.” Bright Mac looked over at the volcano, “Seeder!” his wife and daughter felt equally as worried. The shaking continued, and boulders began to fall inside the cave as gas pockets began to erupt and the heat was intensifying. Flurry Heart was scared and cried loudly in Cadance’s arms. Worse than that, the ground crumpled beneath the trio’s feet, and they plunged deeper into the cavern. Cadance managed to soften her landing by fluttering her wings, but a few rocks fell on Starla’s droid, shorting it out and shutting its systems down due to lack of power. “No!” cried Starla “I’ve lost all power.” With her droid out-of-action, Grand Ruler’s image screen went out as well. “Cadance…! Flurry Heart!” cried Shining Armor, and he began to panic “What’s happening to them?! Someone get them out of there!” Princess Luna tried to calm him, but she like her sister and brother-in-law were just as worried. Inside the violent volcano, the trio was okay, despite Starla’s droid lying flat, but the rocks had blocked off the ceiling, and it was far too dangerous to try to plow through them, and the volcano was becoming more active by the second. “There’s got to be a way out of here!” cried Cadance. Seeder knew of one way as he looked down at his amulet. It had hardly any magic left it in, not enough to warp everyone out. Then again, he already knew what he had to do! “Princess, please take this…” he said handing her the fragment of the Mystic Map that Nightwing had found. “Take this too.” and he handed her the amulet. Cadance was astounded, but confused, “What are you doing?” and before she knew it, Seeder quickly waved his hand over the amulet to trigger it off and in a flash, Cadance, Flurry and Starla’s droid were magically warped outside. “Look!” cried Spike “It’s Cadance.” “And she has Flurry Heart!” added Rarity. The gang rushed over to their friends, delighted that they were safe, and that Flurry was saved thanks to Cadance. “Cadance, what are you doing here?” Lightning scolded, but seeing Flurry was okay and all that, “Oh, never mind.” “What happened to Nightwing?” asked Rainbow. Before Cadance could answer… “Bright Mac… Pear Butter… can you hear me?” Seeder called to them. He was using the last of his dying bat powers to communicate with them, though everyone could actually hear him. “Seeder!” cried Bright Mac “Where are ya?” “I’m still inside the volcano.” Everyone’s blood turned cold. “What are you waitin’ for?! Get the heck outta there!” cried Pear Butter. “I can’t.” replied Seeder “The amulet’s all outta’ power, and besides I gave it to the princess.” Cadance held up the, now, powerless amulet, and the fragment of the map. “We’ll come in and get you out!” said Applejack. “There’s no point.” replied her uncle “Your powers are all weak too from all that fightin’. I’m way avalanched in. There ain’t no way you’ll get to me in time, and besides…” he paused feeling a bit sore with himself for what he was about to say knowing it would upset the others, “…I’ve… I’ve decided to ride this one out.” As expected, everyone gasped hard, “No! No you can’t do that!” cried Bright Mac. Before anyone else could protest, “Listen to me…” Seeder cut in “I still have Nightwing’s evil spirit inside of me. I may be fightin’ his control now, but I can already feelin him strugglin’ to take over again. As long as that critter, varmint’s around, the planet ain’t safe. Look at all the damage that’s been done already.” The others couldn’t argue with that. “That’s why I gotta do this.” said Seeder “If I go down, then Nightwing goes down with me, and all his evil will be purged away.” “Of course…” said Lightning, “Like destroying the head vampire; get him, and all of the curse will be lifted.” Even still, “But no… it doesn’t have to be like this!” “He’s right!” cried Pear Butter “Seeder, don’t try to be the big guy! We can work somethin’ else out.” “Come on, bro. There’s gotta be another way.” added Bright Mac. “There isn’t!” snarled Seeder, “Try to understand, it’s more than just breakin’ the curse. Because of me, that evil critter caused our family much pain. He took over my body, and made me infect you two. Then we sealed ourselves up knowing we were dangerous, but that still left the family without us for ten long years. I know it wasn’t my fault, but, ever since I killed Grand Pear, even though I didn’t mean to, I never lived it down, and I certainly could never live myself and all this on top of it. No sir! I know it’s hard, but I gotta do this, and it’s for the best.” Bright Mac’s tears were streaking down his face as his felt his heart hurting with sorrow, “Seeder…” he sobbed “I don’t want you to die! Don’t do this to me!!” He could almost feel his brother’s dying spirit right there before him, putting his hand on his shoulder. “Hey… it’s all right.” Seeder said with a sad smile, “After all these years, you all can be a family again, and that’s another reason I’m doin’ this. Remember, I’d do anything for you, Bright Mac… even die for you.” Bright Mac, his wife, their daughter all felt their hearts being crushed, and finally, Seeder’s power died out, and he couldn’t say anymore to them. He just stood there in the volcano, and felt the end was coming as the heat intensified, and lava was starting to leak through. At that moment, Nightwing began to struggle for control of his body again, “You can’t do this to me!” he thundered “I will not let you destroy me!” Seeder regained control, and snickered “Sorry pal… this time, I’M callin’ the shots.” The lava began to cascade in as the floor and walls erupted, consuming Seeder’s body, “…AAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!” Nightwing’s evil essence was incinerated in the inferno… and… …KABLAM!!! The entire mountain exploded in a huge blast that rocked the lands hard, and knocked all the friends hard off their feet in the trembling. The magic barrier shattered, but with Nightwing’s demise the evil smog vanished; faded off into thin air, and all the affected creatures instantly transformed back to normal. Finally, the sun shined all over once more, and it was safe for everyone to venture outside, but all was silent and still at the battle sight. Mount Flaris was gone, blasted into rubble as The Twins promised. All the lava from the volcano flowed into the pits and pools for the dragons to play in upon their return to their lands. The whole gang was simply heartbroken and downtrodden with grief. Fluttershy began to weep, and Rhymey held her tightly trying to control himself as well. Rarity was so upset by what she had just seen; such an act of nobility, and yet a heart breaking sacrifice, she fainted into Spike’s arms, and she wasn’t being overdramatic this time like her usual melodramas. Easily, the ones more hurt and upset were Applejack and her folks. Applejack and her mother began to cry softly. As for Bright Mac, he fell down on all fours, with his face pointing at the ground and his tears falling hard against the rocks by his fingers. His body shook with aching and burning as he spoke softly “Seeder… Don’t do this! Don’t leave me again…! …SEEDER BREEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE!!!” Cadance held her little baby tight, fighting her own anguish. She knew how it felt to watch your brother give his life for a noble cause! Lightning sighed, “Let’s go home.” Everyone agreed, there was just no point in hanging around any longer. The next morning, after Princess Luna brought on the full moon to cleanse any possible leftover of the evil, the sentries made an inspection that there were no more bats and no traces of the smog anywhere, all the refugees were permitted to return home. Of course, the first thing to do was get the Apple Family re-acquainted with one-another. You can bet that Big Mac was overjoyed to see his folks again. Pear Butter nearly cried her heart out as she hugged Big Mac, “Oh, son… I can’t believe how much you’ve grown.” “E… EE… Eeyup!” sobbed Big Mac “Oh, Ma, I missed you so much!” Granny Smith was way overjoyed as she held Bright Mac close, “I can’t believe it!” she cried “I got my boy back! You ever go worryin’ me like that again… I’ll… I’ll… I’ll paddle you ‘till you’re all pink and red!” “Oh, Ma…!” sobbed Bright Mac as he hugged his elderly mother, “Hearin’ you say that… I feel so bright!” Of course, Applebloom was a bit shy and skeptical to approach the couple. She never actually got to know her parents, and they felt a little strange too seeing how big she was now. “Applebloom, it’s okay.” said Bright Mac as he knelt down by her. Pear Butter looked deeply in her daughters eyes, “Come on, honey… we can do this.” Applebloom quivered nervously as her tears fell, but she managed to push herself forward, “Mama…! Daddy…!” she sobbed as she embraced her parents, and they embraced her. It was so touching to see a family reunited after so many years; it also brought a little upset to some, Namely, Lightning, Starla, Buddy, Tree Hugger and even DD. It made them miss all their folks very much, but they wouldn’t be able to come back, not ever. And of course, there was still a little grieving for the family when they were told how Seeder Breeze gave his life to save the world. Granny was just heart broken and nearly went into a hypertensive shock, “My son… dead?!” Everyone helped to calm her down, not wishing her to suffer a heart attack or anything. The last thing anyone wanted was for another family member to go! “I can’t believe it…” cried Big Mac, even Applebloom felt just as bad, though she never got to know her uncle much, and now she never would. The right thing anyone felt they could do was hold a little service in memory of Seeder. They planted a baby apple tree in the orchards in New Sweet Apple Acres, and put right near it a rock with a small plaque on it which read: “This tree is planted here in the memory of Seeder Breeze, Who gave his life for his loved ones and saved the world.” The Apple Family would try to cope with, and now all they wanted to do was get back together and catch up on lost times. (Promo) In our next episode: the ponies discover where another part of the Mystic Map lies in New Horn Kong, while a disgraced Slash also hears of this and makes plans to redeem himself to Sienna. Meanwhile, Mako begins to awaken under the care of Zecora, and suddenly opens up to them about how Sienna and he came to power. Will Starfleet succeed in obtaining the map, and what is Mako and Sienna’s origin? Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!” (Next Episode: “Truth be Bold”)