//------------------------------// // Episode 18: Part 1: Leak in the Links // Story: My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic Season VIII // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// EPISODE EIGHTEEN *Mykan’s POV* The Data Squad had really been busy lately, scratching one virus after another. “…Time to Digitize!” Into the Digital World I went to stop Megadox from terrorizing the power grid. “DATA SABER” “CRASH SLASH WAVE!” Whenever a virus was too much for me, I could count on the Cutiemark Crusaders to help me. “SUPER CYBER DATA SQUAD… LET’S KICK SOME MEGABUTT!!” DD: “Dread Program online!” Sweetie Belle: “Make way for Assault!” Applebloom: “Totalizer’s ready to roll!” Scootaloo: “Arc here, and soaring high!” The Data Beasts were just as strong and as reliable as ever, especially when they linked up with me… “…SUPER SURFER LINK-UP MODE!!” “ERADICATION WAVES!!” KAPOW!! Another virus bit the dust. “That was for Granny Smith!” said Applebloom. Ever since her Granny had passed, she had gotten a bit over her blues, and now she felt she had more to fight for than ever! Of course the girls and I were able to pack more of a punch than ever, even when multiple viruses were sent to fight us. “INITIATE CRUSH PROGRAM!” The Data Beasts combined into their super robot form, which gave us twice the battle power. “Launching Missiles!” shouted Sweetie Belle. The two missiles fired, blowing two more viruses to the trash icons. “PYRO PROGRAM” I grabbed my bazooka and charged it up, “FIREWALL BLAZE” WHOA!! There went another virus. Then, just like every time, I would restore the systems back to normal, and we’d port out. *POV Pause* With each and every virus destroyed by the Data Squad, Data Stream grew more and more frustrated. “UGH! THIS IS HOPELESS!!” she thundered “Every single virus we send in is completely useless!” then she thundered at Megadox “You, so-called “Overlord” of the Digital World. You can’t even get rid of Surfer, and for my money you never will!” “SILENCE!!” shouted Megadox “Your bleating is beginning to anger me! I, too, loath the Surfer Program as much as you do, and wish it be destroyed!” Suddenly, there was a knock at Data Stream’s door. “Now what?!” groaned Data, and she quickly turned off Megadox so he wouldn’t be seen, and she got up and peeked through the door peep, and much to her horrors it was a Starfleet team, with scanners, and a couple of unicorns too. “Oh, no!” cried Data, she knew of Starfleet conducting searches for Megadox, and that whom was or were working with him. One of the officers called to her, “Data Stream, this is a Starfleet investigation. We have a warrant to search. Please open the door.” “What am I going to do?!” Data panicked softly. She knew she wouldn’t get past the lie detection units, and given there were unicorns in the group she suspected they had the conscience spell-- they’d be able to read her mind and know exactly the trouble she had been causing. “This is your last warning!” called the officer “If you refuse to comply we will come in. We have every right to.” Megadox suddenly came online by himself, “How pitiful; the Data Stream Fleshling is cornered and on the verge of being discovered.” he snickered wickedly. “Will you shut up!” she sneered softly towards him so as not to be heard, “Do you realize if they discover us, I’ll get hauled to jail, and then what will happen to you? What would you do for a virus maker?!” Megadox hesitated, “I compute your logic, and it is valid. Very well, I shall assist you. Touch the computer monitor with your hand.” Data didn’t dare question him and touched the screen. All at once, there was an electrical surge, and she vanished straight into the computer. He then proceeded to purge all of the data on the other computer-- all the virus programs, all the creator studios, anything that would show of Data’s dirty doings. Then Megadox himself logged off just as the soldiers came in-- rather than breaking the door down, the unicorn soldiers used magic to open the locks. The soldiers looked all over. “She doesn’t seem to be here.” said one soldier. “Maybe she’s out working?” said another. “I don’t think so, her uniform is still here.” “Maybe she just stepped out?” They inspected her computers and her desk, but all they could really find were her sketch book of monsters, and ordinary programs on her computer and files of bills and taxes. All this seemed pretty ordinary, even the monster pictures. “I don’t think she’s who were looking for.” “Just the same, we should come back later and question her ourselves. We can’t judge by all this alone.” The soldiers left, and after a few minutes, Megadox came back online chuckling, “Fleshings are more gullible than I realized.” Then he released Data Stream back in her chair. “Whoo!” she sighed “What a ride, and what a close call!” “Now that the excitement is over,” said Megadox “What are we do about Surfer?” “Like I should know that?” sneered Data “He comes and goes through the grid as he pleases. We don’t know where he comes from, and we don’t know where he goes. Even YOU haven’t been able to track him down, Mr. Almighty Ruler of the Digital World.” “Then the answer to that is obvious.” hissed Megadox “Since I am unable to pinpoint the location of the Surfer Program, the solution is to simply prevent him from returning from whence he came.” Data grasped at the idea, “Of course…! We lure Surfer into the Digital World, and track him back to his lair. Then we can find him… and be rid of that Digital Delinquent once and for all.” “Precisely!” snapped Megadox Data stream then got out her sketching book, “I’m going to have to design a real doozy of a virus for this one.” and she set straight to work. Meanwhile… It had been a few weeks since Granny Smith passed away, but Applebloom couldn’t grieve over it forever. “Granny always told me “Just because a friend or loved one dies doesn’t mean I have to stop livin’.” She was walking to school with her friends, and both DD and Sweetie Belle looked rather tired. “Trouble sleeping again?” asked Scootaloo. DD yawned, “That new baby is a non-stop crying machine. I don’t know how Tree Hugger and Buddy can handle it.” “You have it easier.” said Sweetie Belle “We all have to keep constant watch over Twilight in case she sneezes, or she could burn the whole house down. We’re going to get new flameproof stuff for her room.” The girls all shared a chuckle, but suddenly Scootaloo-- not watching where she walking-- tripped over a rock and fell on the ground. “Scootaloo!” cried Sweetie. “Are you okay?” asked Applebloom. “I’ve had worse.” said Scootaloo as she got up and brushed the dirt off her clothes. Unfortunately, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon happened to be passing by and saw. “Aw, what’s the matter? Did little Scoot trip over her own feet?” Diamond teased. “Funny, well she got back from her trip fast.” added Silver, and they walked of laughing. The Crusaders were not a bit amused, but suddenly DD gasped “Oh, no! Look at your wrist-com!” Scootaloo looked, and saw her come was sparking softly, having been slightly damaged when she fell and smashed it against the ground. “Uh, oh…” this can’t be good. The girls had never faced a problem like this before, but they were told by Lightning and Starla that if anything ever went wrong with their wrist-coms-- they were to report to Lightning and Starla immediately… …Only the school bell was ringing already, and they couldn’t be late for class. “We’ll have to do it after school.” said DD. The girls agreed and they all headed for the building. Mykan was not working that day, but the day proceeded normally… except for the fact that Scootaloo’s malfunctioning wrist-com was so distracting-- the way it suddenly gave a few flashes of light, and made blinking sounds, which distracted the other students as well. “Scootaloo, can you please put that thing away.” said Cheerilee. “Yes, Ms. Cheerilee.” agreed Scootaloo, and she went over to the back of the room to put it in her knapsack. “You know that I don’t like distractions in class.” “Yes, Ms. Cheerilee.” Later on that day, it was time for recess. Scootaloo thought this a great time to try and get her damaged wrist-com and get it to Lightning and Starla to fix it. “I’ve just sent them a message by the super-computer.” said Sweetie Belle “But they haven’t responded yet.” Sctootaloo couldn’t wait any longer, “I better get it to them myself.” she decided. “But wait, you can’t leave school grounds.” said Applebloom. Scootaloo felt nervous. There was worse to come. “And just what are you geeks babbling about now?” asked Diamond Tiara. “Who, us?” asked DD “Um… nothing. Nothing at all” Diamond and Silver didn’t buy it one bit. “You are SO hiding something.” said Silver “You’ve been acting strange all day long.” Try as the naughty fillies did, the crusaders denied them everything. While inside the schoolhouse, Cheerilee was all alone and grading some tests. She sighed softly as she graded the Crusader’s latest tests. They were all satisfactory enough to just pass, but she was growing really concerned. “What’s happened to the girls?” she wondered “They were doing so fine-- acing every test I gave them-- and now they barely seem to keep up.” She began to wonder why the girls weren’t focusing so much. Sure they had busy lives, some even busier now that they had new babies in the family, but that was no excuse. Suddenly, she could hear the soft sounds of beeping… coming from Scootaloo’s knapsack on its hook. She couldn’t help but walk over, and though it was badly against privacy, she looked through Scootaloo’s bag and saw her watch that was blinking with small lights, and sparking just a little. She never really had ever seen the watch up close before. “What kind of watch is this?” she wondered, and curiously as ever, she pressed on it, which activated the holo-computer before her eyes, making her drop it onto a desk in fright. “What in the world…?” Due to the com’s malfunction, Scootaloo’s passcodes were no longer in effect, which was how she was able to activate the computer. Despite the static screen, Cheerilee saw images of the Arc Program. Cheerilee, not realizing what it really was, assumed instantly that it was some kind of video-game! “I don’t believe this!” she grumbled, and she remembered that the other Crusaders had things just like this. Cheerilee didn’t like it when students slacked off in their studied, and of all things… the girls were choosing video games?!! “How can anyone neglect their studies for this.” She said to herself, and touched her finger directly at the image of Arc, and since the passcodes were no longer effective… yes… she was transported into the Digital World, landing in Arc’s cockpit. “Huh…?!!” she cried as she looked all around her at all the controls and switches. “What is—How-- What’s going on?” The machine came to life and began to soar through the power lines, “WHOA!! Oh…! Oh, my…!” cried Cheerilee as she went faster and faster. “Stop…! Make this thing stop! …GET ME OUTTA HERE!!” Meanwhile, Data Stream had been working on her latest mega virus all night. You’d think she’d be exhausted, but she was so excited at the aspect of finishing Surfer, not to mention she had so many ideas in her head for her design, how could she possibly sleep. “Yes…! YES, THIS IS PERFECT!!” she hollered. “Wait until Megadox gets load of you.” She scanned her drawing into her computer and snickered at the sight of it. Then she called at her other screen, “Megadox…! Megadox! Get your computerized carcass in gear!” Megadox came online, “I hear you, Fleshling. I have been waiting impatiently for you to complete the virus.” “Well sent your sensors to stun, I’ve just completed Light Stings creation.” Megadox sounded frustrated, “Light Sting? Your logic is null! Light Sting was the very first virus, and Surfer already deleted him.” Data sighed, “You’d think I wasn’t aware. That’s why I redesigned him. He has new weapons, stronger armor, and I’ve equipped him with a tracking device to help us to find Surfer’s hideout. Behold… the Stinger Ray.” Just as Data promised, the creature was new and improved. Now it had thick armor plates on its shoulders and back, and even a chest guard, and two large cannons on its back that could launch powerful streams of electrical energies. “It is more than satisfactory.” said Megadox “I shall send it into the Digital World, and it shall lure Surfer into our trap.” Data sulked, “Well you’re welcome! I only spent all night making it.” “Let the games begin!” said Megadox, and he powered up the creature, bringing it to life, and just sent it to a random power plant. “And now, we wait…” hissed Megadox and he chuckled wickedly. Back at school, the crusaders finally managed to get themselves away from Diamond and Silver, but there seemed to be another problem…! “Recess should’ve ended by now.” said Applebloom. The girls decided to look inside the school. “Ms. Cheerilee…?” called Sweetie Belle, but there was no answer, for there was no one inside at all, and they knew she couldn’t have stepped out; she would never do that during school hours, and then again no one actually saw her leave the building. The rest of the class came into the room and saw their teacher was gone. “She just left us?” “Why would she do that?” “She didn’t even leave a note.” While several of the students were confused, Diamond Tiara decided “Guess school’s out early. I’m going home.” “Me too.” agreed Silver Spoon, and soon all the students agreed with that and left the building in seconds leaving only the crusaders left all alone in the empty classroom. “Okay, this is weird.” said DD. “Weird or not, we may as well go.” said Applebloom. Scootaloo agreed and figured she’d take her wrist-com to Lightning and Starla… but when she looked in her knapsack, “…My wrist-com, it’s gone!” She practically dumped all the contents out of her bag. “I know I put it in here!” Suddenly, the others’ wrist-coms began blinking with danger. Sweetie Belle clicked her computer on and the first thing she saw, “Ms. Cheerilee?!” “HELP!!” Cheerilee screamed “How do I stop this crazy thing?!!” The girls couldn’t question it at all, “She must’ve taken your wrist-com and activated it.” said DD. Scootaloo trembled with fear and shock, “This is bad! This is really bad!” “Try a Million-Bazillion times horrible!” cried Applebloom “Ms. Cheerilee’s trapped in Cyber Space, and now she probably knows about our secret!” The girls knew they needed help, and so they grabbed their things and dashed straight for Lightning and Starla’s place. You can bet, Lightning Starla, and Krysta were more than shocked to hear and see-- Cheerilee on the computer screen still calling out for help. “Girls, how could you let this happen?” snapped Krysta. “I told you,” protested Scootaloo “I broke my wrist-com, and I wanted to bring it here, and--” “Never mind that.” said Starla “All this fighting isn’t going to get us anywhere. We need to get Cheerilee out and fast.” “I’ve just sent Mykan a message.” said Lightning “He’ll be here any minute.” *Mykan’s POV* I teleported right to the house after getting the message, “Please tell me you’re joking?” I said, but I saw the screen, and Cheerilee panicking. “You weren’t kidding.” I then glared at the girls, and they all felt ashamed, but I didn’t bother arguing with them. It was just an accident, and now I had to go in there and get Cheerilee out. “But what are you going to explain to her?” asked Sweetie Belle. “We’ll worry about that later,” said Lightning, “Right now the most important thing is getting her out.” We all agreed, and Starla tracked where the Arc Program was, “It’s cursing aimlessly in the electrical power lines in Town Square.” “Right, I’m going in.” I said, and together we all shouted, “…TIME TO DIGITIZE!!” I booted into the computer, donned my armor, but I just stayed in the loading base while Starla established a contact link to Arc. “I’ve got it. She’s all yours.” “Thanks.” I said “Time to reel her in.” *POV Pause* Poor Cheerilee was really starting to feel sick from all this roaming around, like being on a fast roller coaster ride! “Can’t anyone hear me?!” she shouted “Can’t I shut this thing off?! I want to get out!” Suddenly, the screen on the console activated… *Resume* “Ms. Cheerilee… Can you hear me?” I called to her. It was a good thing she didn’t recognize me or my voice. “Yes,” she replied as she gawked at me “Who exactly are you?” “I am Surfer-- guardian of the Digital World.” As expected, Cheerilee couldn’t believe this a bit. “Are you supposed to be a character in a video game or something?” “I assure you this is no video game. You have been digitized into the planet’s power grid. I’ve come to help you get out.” Hope started to fill Cheerliee’s mind, “Thank you! I was going crazy for a while now. What do I do?” “First, take hold of the steering gear in front of you, and pull softly forward.” Cheerliee did as she was told, but she pulled the gear too far and made Arc climb high in a steep ascended, “Whoa!!” “Take it easy!” I shouted at her “Move it forward a bit and keep steady.” Cheerilee straightened herself out, “That wasn’t fun!” she groaned “What about these controls here?” “Don’t touch those! Those control the weapon systems.” Her features changed to an intriguing expression, “Weapons? Maybe this thing isn’t so bad after all.” She immediately those words as she speeded out of control. “No!” I groaned. “Starla, can you track her?” “I think so…” replied Starla, but as she began her search, the warning alarm went off. “Oh, no! I’ve got bad news; I’ve just picked up a virus half a mile away from you.” I sighed “Perfect! That’s all I needed. Keep trying to find Cheerilee. I’m going after the virus.” With that I was on my way, through the power lines, and I landed right where Sting Ray was busting up some systems. The two of us began to brawl! *Pause* Data snickered as she observed the battle, “Like a moth to the flame, Surfer showed up.” “Yes!” hissed Megadox “Even, if by some miscalculation, Surfer is the victor, I shall be able to track him to his lair, and I will destroy him finally and forever!” *Resume* “Here I come!” I shouted as I charged forth, then I leapt up for a flying kick, right into the monster’s hard chest plate, bouncing right off of it. The monster was hardly damaged at all. Then it glared at me and began to charge up its powerful electro-cannons. The electrical blast was fired and I quickly rolled out of the way! KAPOW!! The Blast took out a whole load of circuits and wires in a big explosion. “Whoa! This bad boy sure is packing some power.” I said. Sting Ray prepared to fire at me again. “Booster Boots!” and I whisked to the side. I got in closer where the cannons couldn’t aim at me and began to punch and kick the big brute, but Sting Ray grabbed me and began to strangle me about like a ragdoll. “Hello, out there!” I called “I’m going to need some help!” *Pause* Starla grunted, frustrated that she couldn’t find Cheerilee, and now all THIS was happening, but suddenly, there was a blip on the screen, “Wait… I think I found her.” The blip was indeed the Arc Program, and the screen showed Cheerilee inside it, still shouting out, “Surfer! Where are you?! I thought you were going to help me.” Starla quickly tracked Arc down and established a link, “There, I can get you back in your cockpit Scootaloo, but…” she paused “I won’t be able to warp her out of there unless we get her back to base, and that could waste all the power. You wouldn’t be able to join the rest of the team for a while.” Everyone was deeply concerned; it meant that Scootaloo would have to endure Cheerilee as company for the battle, which would really break the security. “I’m afraid we’ve got no choice.” said Lightning “We can’t let that virus cream Surfer.” The girls all felt very awkward about this. “We better do it.” said DD The others agreed, and prepared to login. “Good luck, girls.” said Krysta “And I can’t believe this happening.” “Gee, real enthusiasm there.” grumbled Sweetie. The girls all huddled by the Super Computer, which loaded up with the Data Beasts and connected to the active Arc as well. “SUPER CYBER DATA SQUAD… LET’S KICK SOME MEGABUTT!!” They all tapped the screen and warped inside. Inside Arc’s cockpit, Cheerilee was beginning to panic and lose hope of ever escaping, when Scootaloo suddenly just popped in. “Move over, Ms. Cheerilee, I’ll take over.” “Scootaloo?” snapped Cheerilee. “Please, move over.” Cheerilee scorched over as far as she could and let Scootaloo take the controls, “Arc to Data Beasts; come in.” The other girls all responded and were glad she was okay, but Cheerilee was ever so surprised, “Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, DD…?! What is all this about?!” “We’ll explain later,” said DD “Right now we’ve got to go and help Surfer.” Scootaloo agreed. “Hang on, Ms. Cheerilee!” “Whoa---!!” Poor Cheerilee had no seatbelt, so she held on as tight as she could as Arc sped through the systems. Outside, the trio watch everything on the screen, and all three of them were growing concerned for Cheerilee, but so far, so good! *Resume* Sting Ray continued to strangle and rattle me around, and finally knocked me off, and I rolled along the ground. The creature roared and prepared to attack me again, when suddenly it was ambushed from behind by Dread. “Peek-a-boo… I attack you.” taunted DD. The virus turned round and DD gave it a good head-bash to the face. “Come and get it!” shouted Applebloom as she charged totalizer in and began to arm wrestle with Sting Ray, and I helped her by punching and kicking the beast from behind. Arc flew past us all, but didn’t dare open fire while its teammates were that close. “What is that awful creature?” asked Cheerilee. “It’s a mega-virus monster.” answered Scootaloo “We don’t know who creates them, but an evil computer program called “Megadox” brings them to life, and he uses them to attack electronic systems to take over the world.” Cheerilee was a mix of intrigued and shocked. “And… you girls and Surfer… fight them all the time.” “Eeyup,” answered Applebloom “That’s us-- The Super Cyber Data Squad!” “We can’t begin to tell you the number of times we’ve saved the world!” added Sweetie. The virus attacked and knocked me and Totalizer off and away. Then it prepared to launch its cannons. “Watch out!” I called, but the cannons fired and struck Dread and Totalizer. DD and Applebloom were rocked about as their beasts crashed down. “Girls!” cried Cheerilee. “Oh, that is it!” snarled Scootaloo. “You ready, Assault?” “You bet I am, Arc.” answered Sweetie. “Hang on, Ms. Cheerilee!” Cheerilee held on as Arc dove straight in. “Firing lasers…!” Arc fired its lasers to distract the monster. Cheerilee was astonished how well Scootaloo aimed. “It’s just simply geometry and velocity. You taught me those things.” Now Cheerilee was starting to feel proud-- that the girls used their school teachings to fight for the world. Sting Ray was ready to shoot its cannons again. “Oh, no you don’t!” sneered Sweetie “Missiles away!” POW!! Her missiles fired, straight into the mouth of one of the two cannons, KAPOW… blowing it to scrap and rendering it useless. “Good shot, team.” I hollered, “Now let’s link up.” “RIGHT!!” agreed the team. “Hang on, Ms. Cheerilee; you’ll like this.” The programs were launched, and the Data Beasts formed my armor, “SUPER SURFER LINK-UP MODE!!” “Impressive.” said Cheerilee. “That’s nothin’. Wait ‘til you see what this bad boy can really do.” said Applebloom. I began to stomp my way forth, and Sting Ray roared at me. It aimed its remaining good cannon and fired an electrical charge at him, but I just plowed right through that firepower as if it were nothing. The monster and I engaged in a fistfight, punching and pummelling each other down, and finally, I took a huge swing and actually punched the second cannon in half, knocking part of it to the floor. “Take that, Hotshot!” taunted DD. Then it was time to finish it off, “ERADICATION WAVES!” and that was that-- the virus was totalled! “Wow!!” cried Cheerliee “That was amazing!” The girls all cheered. “Well done, Data Squad.” I said “Now let’s put things right and port out.” The systems were all restored, then the Data Beasts separated from me, and we all ported back out again. *Pause* Data Stream was having a fit. “I spent all night working on that virus, but once again, Surfer blasted him into cyber chunks.” “All is not lost, Fleshling.” said Megadox “Thanks to the tracker you placed on Sting Ray, I am currently pinpointing the location of the surfer program, and I have now located it within a six mile radius of New Ponyville town square.” Data nearly froze in anxiety, “What? He’s somewhere in New Ponyville?” Her face curled into an evil grin, “Well… this should be interesting. We’ll finally be able to find Surfer.” “…And destroy him, once and for all.” laughed Megadox *Resume* The entire gang rematerialized in the living room, and Scootaloos wrist-com had been repaired automatically after going through the digital zone. As for Cheerilee, not only would she never feel the same again after the adventure she had just had, but she was most surprised to see me there. “Mykan…? You… you were that Surfer.” I nodded sheepishly, “Sorry you had to find out.” Lightning and Starla suddenly looked a little upset about something, but Krysta spoke, “Um… she’s not the only one.” and she motioned behind us all. We turned round and there standing behind us were Applejack, Rarity and Spike, Buddy Rose, and Rainbow Dash… …all of them looking pretty annoyed with their arms on their hips and glaring at the girls—or rather the entire group. “Uh, oh…!” the girls muttered. To Be Continued...! (Promo) In our next episode: The tension really heats up as the grownups argue over the Data Squad, things only get worse as Megadox plans to unleash his most devastating viral attack over the entire planet. Is it doomsday for United Equestria, will our heroes be able to actually stop Megadox? Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!” (Next episode: “Part 2: Megadox Revolution”