//------------------------------// // 9th Light: Trouble Off World! / The Kugutsu Threat! (Part 2) // Story: Shine on! Ultrawoman Aster! // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// [Base Camp…] Night was falling on the planet, but not many were getting any sleep. The scientists all tried to come up with a solution to break the hold the Belzeb have on the King.  “If Aster burned them all away, shouldn’t that mean that King Regulus will be free?” asked a scientist.  “Not accordin’ to Ocellus. Once poisoned, even after death, they’re connected to the hive mind of their Queen, and can be controlled from anywhere. And if it is the Queen of the Dark Changelings, she could be controlling them from the next galaxy over,” said Snap.  “Okay, we synthesize a cure,” said a female scientist.  “Also, not going to work. Ocellus said that the Kugutsu cannot be purified by anything in this universe. The Changelings have a natural immunity to it, but otherwise…”  “All we’re hearing is ‘Ocellus this’ and ‘Ocellus that’, why are we taking the word of some kid?!” another asked.  Snap glared at the man who asked that. “Because, she’s a Changeling too, and her people would know more about what we’re dealin’ with than anyone here.” “How do we know she isn’t behind this? Is it me or does anyone find this a little too coincidental?” another female scientist asked.  Mane slammed her fist against the table and flared her wings for intimidation. “That’s enough! You have no right to accuse her of anything! If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t have known the real reason behind this civil war!” “Well, come the day after tomorrow, it won’t matter. Either Uudora kills Regulus, or Regulus kills Uudora.” *knock, knock* The other scientists turned in the direction of the door. Snap walked towards the door and opened it, revealing Ocellus. “Ocellus? What are you doing here?”  “I’m here to help.” Ocellus walked into the room and stood before the scientists. “I may have a solution to the problem.”  The eyes of everyone in the room widened with surprise at this news, along with some skepticism.  “How, Ocellus?” Mane asked.  Azure plasma flames surrounded Ocellus, changing her back into her true form. “My blood. Changelings have a somewhat natural immunity to the Kugutsu, but the effects should be stronger if it’s from a Queen Changeling.”  That earned a few confused looks.  “I’m sorry, we’re not following,” said a male scientist.  “According to my King, I have latent potential to become a Queen. I…I still don’t know if that’s true, but it’s enough that Chrysalis wants me dead. So, if there’s a chance…maybe you can synthesize a cure from the blood in my veins,” said Ocellus. The scientists began murmuring amongst themselves, as they tried to think this through. If what Ocellus said was true, then they could fix King Regulus and this whole war would be over.  “We certainly have the equipment,” said a female scientist.  “And we do have a sample of the King’s blood, and it’s fresh too. We can use it to see if whatever antidote we create works,” said Snap.  “The problem lies with the quantity. If you’re blood is strong enough to counteract the effects of the Kugutsu, a small veil won’t be enough to spread through the King’s entire bloodstream,” said Mane.  “Again, I have a solution…I think.” All eyes fell on Ocellus once again. “Changelings can increase and decrease their size depending on whatever creature we’re mimicking looks like. I could just change my size, that would increase the amount of blood in my body.” \\\***/// [The Next Morning…] “I don’t like this,” said Sunset.  “I don’t either,” said Ocellus. “If I don’t do this, a fight will be waged the day after tomorrow, and either both or one creature is going to die. One dies it’ll be a tragedy, if the other wins, it’ll be a tragedy and Chrysalis gets control of this planet.”  Sunset watched as the crew brought in the instruments that they would be using. It seemed odd to Sunset when she saw the drop ship bring a large syringe needle, and several machines made for diluting blood. Fluttershy had explained to Sunset and Ocellus that it was typical that they have this kind of equipment, especially when dealing with very large creatures. The equipment was set up in an area with a soft patch of dirt, right next to a rock face that would hopefully serve as a place for her to rest up against.  Fluttershy watched as the final preparations were complete and sighed as she walked over to Ocellus and Sunset. “They’re ready.”  Ocellus nodded and walked over to where everyone had set up the equipment. One large syringe hooked up to an industrial sized hose, and all leading to two large devices, one that would collect the blood, and another that would begin analyzing and breaking it down into different components, allowing the scientists to find the factor in Ocellus’ blood that allowed her to resist and combat the mind controlling effects of the Kugutsu.  The young Changeling didn’t know if this was going to work or not, changing her size while keeping her original form was not something a Changeling did every day, such specific changes usually took a lot of practice, along with trial and error. Ocellus reasoned that this shouldn’t be that hard, it wasn’t as if she was trying to change her gender. Yes, she could turn into males, but changing your own original body’s sex was a different matter. But this was just her body size, and hopefully it would be a lot easier, emphasis on hope.  Okay…increase my body’s size and height…let’s see. I’ll shoot for Aster’s height, that should be big enough, she thought.  Ocellus’ azure plasma fire swirled around her, but it didn’t completely obscure her body like it would normally when she was changing into someone or something else. The young Changeling struggled, her brow sweating as she concentrated as hard as she could, focusing on Ultrawoman Aster’s height and body dimensions without completely changing into her.  This is a lot harder than I thought…! It feels like I’m fighting against my own nature! Ocellus stumbled a bit, making her go down on one knee. “OCELLUS!” Fluttershy cried.  “That’s enough, stop!” Sunset insisted.  “NO!” Ocellus shouted back, rising back to her feet. “I can…do this! I have to…! This is my fault…! Chrysalis is going to hurt all these creatures just to win a civil war…! I will not…let her…do that!”  Ocellus then let out a loud cry as she poured all her effort, all her spirit into this transformation. The azure plasma flames swirled around her fiercely, and just then, her body grew. It was subtle, at first, having grown a few inches, but then it was becoming more gradual. With each passing second, Ocellus’ body enlarged, growing bigger and taller, it was still a struggle in her mind and body though. Her body wanted to change completely into the mental image she set forth in her mind, but Ocellus willed herself to just focus on the size and height, not the look.  Everyone watched with bated breath as Ocellus grew taller, her shadow was cast upon them, she stood at an impressive fifty meters tall, her tail frill swished back and forth, creating a gust of wind. From her back her translucent wings flared, catching the sunlight and bathing everything in a bright salmon, pink color.  “OCELLUS!” Sunset and Fluttershy yelled.  Ocellus slowly turned around, minding her step as she did so. When she turned, she looked down at her friends and smiled triumphantly. “I did it!” Snap and Mane let out a sigh of relief, unfortunately, that was the easy part.  Mane flared her wings and flew up towards Ocellus and hovered in front of her face. “Okay, are you ready?”  “I think so…” Ocellus said with a nod.  The young Changeling walked towards the rockface, sitting down and resting her back up against it. She gave a shuddering sigh as she looked at the oversized syringe needle, it was strange, it looked so much bigger when she was her normal height, but now it looked like a regular sized I.V. needle.  “Okay, normally either myself or Snap would do this, and believe me we would. Unfortunately, we can’t turn into giants, and you definitely don’t want us trying this with a drop ship,” said Mane.  Ocellus immediately shook her head.  “So, I’ll have to guide you, and you’re going to be inserting the needle into yourself. I won’t lie, it will hurt, but at any time you want to stop, just say the word.”  Ocellus nodded.  “You’ll want to find a soft spot on your carapace that the needle can easily go into. Once you do, find a good vein that you can use.” Ocellus knew exactly where, looking at the spot where her elbow bent, there was a gap in her exoskeleton, allowing for joint movement, and of course it was more tissue there than hard shell. She stretched out her arm, allowing her a better view of the gap and noticed a good vein that appeared. Ocellus felt her heart beating fast as she took the needle into her right hand and readied at the insertion area.  “Breathe, Ocellus, deep, calm breaths. Steady yourself.” Mane instructed.  Ocellus tried to do as she was told, taking calm breaths in and out, but her pulse was going fast, and she was finding it hard to calm herself. That is until she saw something out of the corner of her right eye. Ocellus watched as Fluttershy, in her true form, leaped and bounded until she was climbing the rockface, with Sunset clinging to her back as she did so. Both girls landed on Ocellus’ right shoulder and gave her looks of encouragement.  “’You can do this, Ocellus,” said Fluttershy.  “We’re right here,” said Sunset.  Mane flew lower and placed her hands atop of Ocellus large right hand. “We all are, dear.” With the assurance of their presence, Ocellus swallowed her fear and looked down at her arm. She breathed steadily as she moved the needle towards her arm, it was easy to see that she was tensing her body, but thankfully she managed to not tense up her left arm. Ocellus let out a yelp of pain as she felt the needle pierce her skin, the immediate instinct to stop and pull the object that was causing her pain was trying to take over her mind, but Ocellus fought against it as she continued to press it further in, making her release small squeals of pain.  “Okay – okay that’s good, Ocellus, it’s in!” Mane stated. “You did great, dear!”  Ocellus panted, her arm releasing waves of discomfort as she was keenly aware of the needle in her arm. Just then the machines kicked on, and the process began. The tube was clear, allowing everyone to see the green tint of Ocellus blood as it flowed out and into the machines. The first machine began extracting the blood, and the second started analyzing it. Snap looked over the data and gave the thumbs up to his wife.  “You did great, Ocellus! Just rest up against the rocks. Tell us when you think you’re feeling lightheaded and we’ll stop. We shouldn’t need that much at this rate.” “Okay…” Ocellus stated. She then turned to her right and smiled at her friends. “Thank you.” “No problem,” said Sunset.  Fluttershy patted Ocellus’ cheek and smiled at her. “I hope this works…I know we have the ability to create an antidote, but I don’t know if they can create a way to inject him with it, or allow us to get that close,” said Ocellus.  Sunset cupped her chin as she began to think. “I think I might have a way.” “You have a plan?” Fluttershy asked hopeful.  “Part of a plan…like, twelve percent of one.”  Ocellus and Fluttershy looked at her with a deadpan expression. “Give me a break, I’m working on the fly here!”  \\\***/// [A few minutes later…] Scootaloo sat upon a hill that overlooked the camp from a distance. She could see Ocellus, still laid up against the rock face as all the scientists in the camp, including her parents, worked feverishly to create an antidote to the mind control poison. Scootaloo scowled a little as she hugged her legs closer to her chest.  “Huh, didn’t expect to see you out here. Didn’t your ‘rents ground you?” The spiky haired girl looked towards the voice and frowned a little. “You going to rat me out?”  Sunset chuckled. “Not my style.” Sunset then jumped straight up, making Scootaloo gasp as she cleared the nearly six-foot-tall hill and land behind her.  “Whoa, how did–?!”  “Let’s just say I’ve done some intense training,” said Sunset as she took a seat next to Scootaloo.  “What’re you doing out here?” Scootaloo asked.  “Mostly, thinking. But, now that you’re here, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”  Scootaloo averted her gaze and stared out into the distance. “What?”  “You risked nearly starving or suffocating to death, stowed away on a ship bound for an alien world where any number of complications could’ve happened, just to come and see your parents. So, either it was something so important that you couldn’t wait to tell them, or…”  Scootaloo huffed. “What does it matter. They’ve been too busy with all this mess for me to even ask.” “Well, I’m not your mom and dad, but you could always bend my ear,” said Sunset.  “Thought you came out here to think, not hear my whining?” “Sometimes you need a distraction in order for your idea to come to you. So, spill, and if you want, I won’t tell your parents,” Sunset promised.  Scootaloo sighed heavily. What was the harm? Her parents were too busy to talk, and Sunset seemed alright, she did save her after all. “…Alright…so…you know I’m half alien, right?”  Sunset nodded.  Scootaloo stood up and removed her hoodie. Underneath that she wore a modified tank top, which was low cut in the back to allow her wings to flare. The young girl concentrated as slits of orange light appeared around her shoulder blades. In the next second, two orange, feathered wings sprouted from her back.  Despite having seen that at least three times now, it still never ceased to amaze Sunset every time she saw it. “Your wings are cool.” Scootaloo smiled a little. “Have you seen Rainbow Dash’s wings?”  “Yeah, three times actually.” “Then can you tell me the difference between my wings…compared to my Mom and Rainbow Dash?”  Sunset furrowed her brow as she thought, at first glance, Scootaloo’s wingspan was about four feet, at least. Sunset would be the first one to admit, she wasn’t as knowledgeable about different alien races as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, but as far as she could tell, she couldn’t see any differences. “Sorry, Scoots, I can’t…” “My wings are short…” “Yeaaaah…and?” “They should be bigger…my wings should be as big as Rainbow’s. Average wingspan of an Alien Avian is about six feet when fully flared, but Rainbow’s is eight. My Mom’s is about seven feet, Rainbow’s will probably be larger than that when she’s older, but me…” Scootaloo flapped her small wings. “Mine are small…I mean, can they lift me off the ground?” Scootaloo flapped her wings, which, remarkably, were able to lift her at least three feet off the ground. “Sure. If I run with them out, they can make me run faster too. But flying…? That won’t happen, I can’t join Rainbow or my Mom in the sky…” Sunset rubbed the back of her head. “Well…maybe you’re like a late bloomer or something?”  “That’s not the case…A doctor told us that, sometimes, when it comes to half aliens, one part of their DNA will be dominant, but sometimes, when they get older and go through…ugh…puberty…the body can make changes, even on a genetic level. Which means…” Sunset figured it out. “Which means your wings could be affected, too.”  “They are affected…the doctors said I’d have a seventy-forty chance of my wings growing or not. Guess which of the two the seventy percent is on.” Scootaloo sat back down and hugged her legs to her chest again. “One of the girls in my class saw me trying to fly with them at school…she’s a real bitch to me and my friends, but that day she pushed it too far, for me at least.” “What happened?” Sunset asked.  “She started to say things like, ‘Why do you even have wings if you can’t fly?’ and, ‘You’re better off without them, flightless chicken.’” Okay, yeah, she is a bitch.  “I got so mad, my eyes watered, and then I punched her! And, just as a fact, she’s a half alien like me. An Alien Adamantite, they have diamond hard skin. Fortunately, I punched her so quick she didn’t have time to harden her skin. Anyway…of course I got in trouble, they called my aunts, I told my side and her rich daddy and mommy raised hell about it, and I was suspended for a week…I just got frustrated with all of it! I just wanted to go! So, when I heard about the trip from the Preserve, I snuck on.” Sunset’s expression saddened now that she heard the whole story, the young girl just wanted to get away and be with her parents, but when all this happened, she didn’t have the chance to talk to them about it. “Do they know you’re suspended for that?”  “No, I live with my aunts, and communication out this far is sketchy, so they planned on telling them when they came back…” Scootaloo sighed heavily as she gazed back out into the distance, watching the ongoing commotion down below. “I’m not smart like my Mom and Dad, at least not like they are…I can’t fly like Rainbow or my Mom, what good am I?” Sunset chuckled a little and made Scootaloo look at her with annoyance. “Sorry, I just realized you’re not that different from me.”  “How do you figure?” she asked skeptically.  “You’re kind of directionless, and for a while I was too. You see, kid, I have no memories of my past.” Scootaloo’s eyes widened with shock. “I don’t remember my parents, my friends – if I had any – my home, whether or not I was a good person or not, pretty much everything. All I knew was my name, and that was it, well that and a few other things, but none if helps me remember.” Scootaloo blinked and then looked away, feeling really bad about how she sounded. “I’m sorry…here I go whining about something like that, when you don’t even have memories.” “Don’t worry about it. It is frustrating, but up until recently, I didn’t know where I was going, or what I should be doing. Then I met someone I can call a friend, and she helped me figure out what I wanted to do.” “That is?” “Be a hero,” said Sunset with a wink. “In my own way. Point is, you may feel like this now, but trust me, if a girl who has no past can find her direction, then so can you. And you have parents, aunts, friends, and an awesome big sis, so you kinda got a leg up on me there, Scoots.”  Sunset ruffled Scootaloo’s hair, making her groan in annoyance, but she didn’t swat Sunset’s hand away, and she allowed a small smile to grace her lips. At that moment, both girls watched as Ocellus began to shrink down until neither of them could see her anymore. Sunset and Scootaloo looked at each other and then headed down. Scootaloo flapped her wings as she fell, slowing her descent and bringing her to hover above the ground, Sunset just jumped straight down, landing with little effort against the dirt.  “Race?” Sunset asked.  “You’re on!”  Scootaloo landed on the ground and then took off down the dirt road, a dust trail was kicked up in her wake as the young teen ran with incredible speed. Sunset blinked, impressed at Scootaloo’s speed despite not being able to fly. The flame haired girl smirked as she too dashed away, kicking up her own dust trail in the process. In no time at all Sunset caught up to Scootaloo, she was a little surprised, but not as much, the older teen was bigger, and so had a longer stride. But it was fun nonetheless, not many of the kids at school could keep up with her aside from Rainbow when she hung out with her, now it seemed she had a new running partner.  In no time at all, the two girls made it back to camp, stopping only when they made it to where the operation was going on and saw Fluttershy was helping Ocellus walk towards them.  “Is she okay?” Sunset asked panting a little.  “She’s fine, we just need to get her hydrated and then Ocellus needs to rest,” said Fluttershy.  “Did…was it enough?” Ocellus asked.  Snap came up and patted Ocellus gently on the head. “More than enough, Missy, you’ve helped us a lot. Go on and rest, you’ve earned it.”  Ocellus smiled weakly and began heading to her lodgings with Fluttershy's help.  Sunset turned to Snap and asked, “So, how are we with the antidote.” “We’ll be cuttin’ it close, but we might have something. The real issue is time. Time to finish it, time to load it onto the ship, and time to administer it, all of which King Regulus won’t give us,” said Snap. “If Aster shows up, maybe she could stall the battle and keep them from battling long enough for you to finish,” said Sunset.  “It’d take a miracle. But stranger things have happened.” Snap then took notice that Scootaloo was standing beside Sunset. “Here now, what are you doing here, Scoots?” “I just…I needed to think, and I couldn’t stay cooped up in the room. Sorry…” Scootaloo looked down at the ground.  Snap sighed and then smiled as he ruffled his daughter’s hair. “Chip off the old block, can’t sit still too long in one place. It’s fine, Scoots. I know we haven’t had time to properly speak with ya, but your mother and I promise to talk with you when this is over.”  Scootaloo perked up as she looked up at the rugged man that was her father, her eyes practically sparkled upon hearing that as she nodded her understanding. \\\***/// [The Next Day, Sunrise…] The two forces marched on the designated field of battle, a spot at the base of the largest mountain in the region. Uudora led her Constellatin army across the forest, as the sky was filled with her forces. In the distance stood more of Regulus’ army, not just his lionesses, but also his controlled creatures. The red eyed Constellatins didn’t seem to have a red mark on their bodies, there was no need for it, for King Regulus was one of the strongest Alphas on the planet, so his power allowed him to control the other Constellatins as he wished. I power he rarely invoked, but under the control of another, he was given no other choice.  Howls, roars, neighing, grunts, hisses, caws, and other animalistic noises filled the air as the two Alphas squared off with their armies at their sides. In the distance, however, was another faction, one that was fervently working to keep this fight from happening altogether. Now though, only two served as the vanguard, one was Fluttershy, and the other was Sunset. Both looked through binoculars that zoomed in on the action as they tried to get an estimate on how big the respective armies were.  Fluttershy raised her wrist communicator and asked, “How much longer?”  {We’ve just finished synthesizing it, but we need more time to turn it into an aerosol form to spread out!} Mane answered.  “No time for that, tell them to get it here,” said Sunset.  “Just bring it here, I think I see Ultrawoman here!” Fluttershy replied.  {Understood, ETA: one minute!} “You sure you’re up for this, Shy?” Sunset asked.  Fluttershy narrowed her gaze. “Of course, I won’t let Chrysalis harm these innocent creatures! Whatever it takes!”  “Then let’s do it!”  Fluttershy nodded and threw her binoculars to the ground. The pink haired girl grunted and growled as her body grew bigger, busting the seams of her clothes until they completely burst apart, allowing Fluttershy to assume her true alien form once again. Sunset summoned the StaRaizer and thrust her arm into the air, creating the starry nexus.  “I ask for the gift of kindness!”  || ULTRAMAN COSMOS! || “I ask for the gift of protection!”  || ULTRAMAN AGUL! || “Let the waves of my soul calm you!”  || FLOW AND CRASH! COSMIC WAVE! || A blue pillar of light and water swirled around Sunset, transforming her body as she rose up as Ultrawoman Aster Cosmic Wave. When the light faded, Aster knelt upon the ground and placed her hand down. Fluttershy hopped into it and held on as Aster rose up. The hero of light then jumped into the air and flew off in the direction of the two armies.  Meanwhile, Regulus and Uudora stepped away from their armies as the moved closer towards the middle and began circling each other.  “Don’t make me do this, Regulus! I know your mind is poisoned and you’re not in control of your actions! But for the sake of our world, I will not let you be used as a puppet, nor bring harm to our people!” Regulus sneered menacingly and what came out was not the voice of the King. “So, you can see right through him, can you? It doesn’t matter, yes, your King is my puppet, and once I have him kill you, I’ll have control of this planet. Or, you could always join me?” “Laughable! Why would I join forces with a cowardly wretch like you?! Face me in battle and we’ll see if you’re worthy of leadership!” Uudora challenged.  “Ha, ha, believe me, you don’t want that. It wouldn’t be a contest, at least this way it’s a handicap for you. Now, DIE!”  Regulus roared and so did Uudora, the two titans of the planet charged for each other, prepared to fight to the death. That is until a bright blue light shot down to the ground between them, making the two Alphas stop dead in their tracks. The blue light slowly faded and revealed Aster as she held up both of her arms.  “Enough, please cease this battle!” Uudora’s eyes widened upon looking at this giant. She recognized it, and she wasn’t alone, all the Constellatins settled down upon seeing the blue giant, apparently the memory of Ultraman Cosmos was etched into their minds, exactly what Sunset was counting on. One of the Canis Majors ran up to Uudora and asked, “Is it him? Has the blue one returned?!” Uudora narrowed her gaze as she looked upon the giant. “Yes, and no. This one is female, but her aura is similar to that of the other blue one. But…wait a moment, is that not the one called Fluttershy?” “I am Ultrawoman Aster, I am a Warrior of Light. I am here to stop this war! King Regulus is under the influence of poison that is allowing him to be controlled!” Aster then turned her gaze towards Regulus. “Regulus, if you’re still in there, we have a way to save you! If you can, I ask that you fight it! Do not let yourself be her puppet!”  Regulus glared at Aster and said in the voice of Chrysalis, “So, you know of me, and you know of my Belzeb, and their Kugutsu venom.”  “I do, and I’m sure you know that I burned them to ashes yesterday.” “Tch, I was hoping to use them to control more of these beasts should Regulus fall, but no matter. You can’t stop me without killing Regulus, are you willing to kill an innocent creature to save all of them?” “Fluttershy…” Fluttershy nodded, knowing exactly what was going to happen. “Uudora!” Fluttershy called out as she jumped off of Aster’s shoulder and landed upon the Ursa’s head. “My apologies, but Aster didn’t want me to be in the middle, great chief.” Uudora grinned. “I see, so were I to go into battle now, I’d risk your safety.” “I…well…” “At ease, Fluttershy, I know what’s going on. She may not be the same blue giant, but she has the same spirit. I will put my faith in her.” Aster assumed a defensive stance as Regulus roared and charged straight for her. Regulus lunged at her, but Aster sidestepped, using her hands to redirect the great beast, making the Leo tumble to the ground. The great beast picked himself up and charged for her again, but Aster once again sidestepped and redirected, making Regulus fumble and roll on the ground. Regulus quickly sprang back to his feet, inhaled deeply, and released a roar that turned into a torrent of flames. Aster made a circle with her arms as she generated a shield of energized water, the flames struck against it, releasing a loud hiss as steam blanketed the area.  Regulus began shooting fireballs into the steam cloud, but each one that was fired was sniped out of the air by a Water Bullet. The Leo was getting more and more frustrated by the stalling tactics of Aster, and so too was Chrysalis.  \\\***/// Mane and Snap piloted the drop ship, they proceeded with caution as they not only had a giant capsule of the antidote, but also because Scootaloo was with them. How she managed to talk them into this, they hadn’t a clue, but it didn’t matter now, they were all on a mission and they would see it through. The ship was finally in view of the battle, Scootaloo rushed to the front and watched as Aster fought against Regulus, well, not exactly fighting, more like she was tripping him up and using his own power against him.  “Cricky, just like Shy said, Ultrawoman Aster’s here!” Snap exclaimed.  “That means she can get the antidote to him! Let’s get above them and prepare to drop,” said Mane.  “Let me help!” Scootaloo stated.  Mane looked to her husband who nodded. Both mother and daughter went into the cargo hold, Scootaloo was instructed to release the straps and stand back. The young teen hurriedly did as she was told, heading to each side and releasing the lock straps to allow the giant capsule to slide down. Mane went to the control console and opened the bay doors. The doors slowly opened as wind rushed in and howled around them. Once they were opened, Mane hit the button that activated the ramp, the capsule slowly moved towards the opening and was put into drop position.  “Okay, now I’ll set the timer for the release latch to make it easier for Aster to administer the antidote, and then we’ll drop it.”  Just as Mane was about to hit the button, a rogue fireball exploded next to the ship, jostling everyone inside. Mane held onto the console and accidentally hit the button to release the capsule. Both Scootloo and Mane watched as the capsule was ejected from the cargo bay and out into the sky.  “No! I didn’t set it!” Mane cried.  Scootaloo narrowed her gaze as she took off her hoodie and ran towards the opening. Her mother yelled something at her, but with the roaring wind whatever she did say was drowned out. Scootaloo jumped off the edge and summoned her wings as she dove down to the capsule, thankfully it was falling straight down, allowing the opening to be pointed up towards her. The young half alien flapped her wings, giving her a small boost as she dived down faster. Her wings were small, and she couldn’t fly well, but gliding wasn’t a problem, hopefully. Down below, Scootaloo could see the battle still raging, a thick steam cloud now obscured the battlefield, but she didn’t have time to worry about that now.  Scootaloo landed on the top and found the panel, only to realize she didn’t know the code to open it. “Well, when all else fails, use some finesse!”  Finesse in Scootaloo’s case consisted of cocking back her right fist and punching the control panel until it broke. The locking mechanisms released, now the capsule could be opened, now only if she had another plan to get herself on the ground safely and without dying. “Yeah, didn’t think this through all the way!”  Scootaloo looked down and saw Aster, in a desperate attempt she cried out, hoping that Aster would hear her. “ASTER!!! HEADS UP!!!!” Scootaloo?! Sunset thought.  Aster looked up and watched as the capsule descended from the sky, along with Scootaloo who was riding it. Regulus used this distraction as he lunged for her again, fangs and claws bared to rip into the hero. But Aster was aware, using her incredible speed to dodge Regulus, and then slammed him down onto the ground, hard. The mighty beast let out a grunt as the wind was knocked out of him upon impact.  “Time to put my plan into action!”  The Ultra Warrior zoomed into the sky, flying higher and faster until she caught the capsule, with Scootaloo still clinging onto it. The young teen looked up at the giant and chuckled nervously.  “That was reckless, but very brave. I need you to hang on now. Okay?” Scootaloo nodded.  Regulus was slowly getting back up, but Aster was ready. Aster’s left hand glowed as she drew a sparkling circle with it. “Healing Halo!” A giant halo formed over the battlefield; Regulus smirked as the voice of Chrysalis came out of his maw.“Seriously? You think this is going to work? The Kugutsu is too strong to be stopped by your little ring of light!”  “Maybe, but what if I added this?!”  Aster popped off the lid of the capsule as she floated down to the Halo, Aster thrust her right hand into the Halo, letting the capsule's contents spill into it. The color of the Halo changed to a bright turquoise color, releasing particles of the same colored light. Regulus began to thrash about, roaring as he felt the invading presence begin to leave.  “What’s going on?! How can this be?!” “Invader…BEGONE!!!” Regulus released a mighty roar as the red mist of the Kugutsu fled from his body, his crimson eyes returning to that of a clear cerulean. Aster dismissed the Halo as she descended to the ground and stood before the King. The eyes of the lionesses, as well as many of the other Constellatins, all changed from their angry red color and were now blue like the rest.  Uudora walked towards Aster, stopping at her left side as Fluttershy translated for the great bear chief. “Uudora says, ‘Thank you, once again we owe our lives to another giant of light’.”  \\\***/// [The Following Day…] Sunset reclined in her seat, awaiting the rest of the crew as they were close to launching and returning to Earth. With the administering of the cure to Regulus, his Alpha control that made the other Constealltins do his bidding was stopped, no longer sharing in his mind-controlled madness. Peace had been forged between the King and Chieftain, and of course they expressed their thanks to Ocellus, and asked that their thanks be passed onto Aster.  Scootaloo was scolded for her reckless move, but in the end was praised for her quick thinking. With a little encouragement from Sunset, Scootaloo opened up to her parents about what she was feeling and what had happened back on Earth. Snap was noticeably angry, along with Mane, after hearing their daughter was made fun of like that they were sure to have a word with the Rich Family when they came back.  Sunset heard footsteps behind her and saw that Scootaloo was coming around the corner and sat across from her. “So, how’d it go?”  “Mom and Dad are going to be coming back in a couple of days, they just want to make sure that everything’s stable first. But after that, to quote my Dad, ‘I’m on the bloody warpath for that Rich!’.”  Sunset smiled. “Good, and it turns out that you’re still badass even with short wings.”  Scootaloo blushed. “Thanks. And don’t worry, I’ll be sure to not do too many reckless things…Ultrawoman Aster.”  Sunset shot up straight. “W-What?”  “Oh c’mon, you think I didn’t notice? The adults were too busy with everything, but I wasn’t. Every time Aster appeared, you were gone, and when Aster was gone, you suddenly reappeared somewhere,” said Scootaloo.  “Um…uh…dammit. Alright, yeah, I’m her. So…?”  Scootaloo smiled and said, “I’m not gonna tell anyone, besides, now I have another hero rooting for me.”  The two girls shared a smile as a bond had been forged between them. It was then that Fluttershy and Ocellus entered and sat down with them.  “Ocellus, again, you did great! It’s thanks to you that all the Constellatins are free from Chrysalis’ influence,” said Sunset.  The young Changeling blushed. “T-Thank you, I mean I know it was a long shot, but I’m glad it worked.” Ocellus looked at her arm and sighed. “I guess this means that I am a Queen class, which also means I might have to face Chrysalis…” Fluttershy reached over and took Ocellus’ hand into hers. “You won’t be alone on that day. We’ll be there to help you in anyway we can.”  Sunset nodded in affirmation, especially after all the chaos Chrysalis caused on this planet, Sunset was looking for some payback of her own.  “Thank you, all of you.”