“Previously on Starfleet Magic…!”
Cadance was still and troubled by the mysterious voice calling out to her, and telling her to stop King Von Devilor, meanwhile, in a plot to capture Cadance, Dearka appeared and began to spill the beans to the heroes of how his once glorious and wondrous life was shattered, and how he was given a chance to finally return home to Planet Vistula.
EPISODE NINETEEN
Dearka continued his story of how he had returned to his home planet, and planned to reunite with his long-lost family.
“Soon, I had come across my old home, exactly as I remembered it, and it was there I was greeted by a little boy.”
“Hi there... Who are you? I’ve never seen you around here before.”
“This child seemed to resemble myself when I was his age.”
“Are you lost? Would you like to come and have lunch with me? Mom and Dad are cooking in the kitchen.”
“He referred to my parents. I couldn’t my ears. This boy was my younger brother, and obviously knew nothing about me.
He seemed so polite, that I had to accept his offer, but I just couldn’t bring myself to reveal myself to him.
Then, I heard a familiar voice call my name.”
“Dearka…? Lunch is ready.”
“My mother... My heart began to race, and I did all I could to hold back tears of joy as she came out to my brother.
…He was named after me?
Then she looked up at me.”
“Oh, hello... Are you new here?”
“She didn’t seem to recognize me because of my altered appearance, and before I could say a word to her, she polite insisted that I sit in and eat with them.
Soon, we were seated, and I asked the boy.”
“Your name is Dearka?”
“Yeah, I don’t know why mom and dad named me that, but I like the name. My parents say I’m the only child they ever had, so I should be named something special.”
“…The only child they ever had?
I felt my skip a beat. It was hard enough that my own mother couldn’t recognize me, but now it seemed like she didn’t even remember me.
Of course, since losing The Ultimate Challenge meant it be a shame and a sin to be affiliated with me…
…I remember how she cried and begged for me not to be taken away. She had to have at least some memory of me.
She came back with a dish of my favorite food, exactly how she used to prepare it. I hadn’t seen it in so long, my tears began to show.”
“Are you okay, Mister?”
“Yes. It just feels so nice to see a meal like this again.”
“Suddenly, my locket slipped forth, and my mother recognized it at once.”
“Where did you get that?”
“She finally began to see…”
“What? It can’t be?”
“It is… My name is Dearka! I am your son! Many years ago I was exiled into space for losing the Ultimate Challenge, but now, after all these years, I have come home.”
“The look in my mother’s eyes, I expected it to be tearful joy, but it seemed more shock and even fear.”
“You…! It can’t be.”
“What? Your name is Dearka, and you’re my brother?”
“Stop…!”
“My mother rushed past the table, tipping it over, and clutching Little Dearka.”
“He is not your brother! He is not my son! Do you hear me?!”
“What? But mother… I…?”
“Why? Why did you come back here?!”
“Because this is my home, I have missed you all dearly.”
“GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!!”
“Ah…?!”
“Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to let go of you; to put those awful memories out of my life… that I was the mother of a failure, a loser, a worthless being who shouldn’t have even been born if he would fail!”
“I felt each and every blow strike me like a burning knife to my heart, and it seared and burned worse than any other feeling I had ever felt. No matter what I tried to reason with, she insisted I leave and never return!”
“But I am your son!”
“YOU ARE NOT… YOU ARE A LOSER!!! YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN THIS FAMILY!! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!”
“I felt my heart aching and pounding in pain, as if it was ready to shatter to pieces, but then it got worse as my father came outside when he heard the shouting, and he recognized me almost at once.”
“You…?”
“Father…?”
“How dare you return here! You worthless failure! You have no right coming back to Vistula and sullying my family!! Guards! GUARDS…!!”
“Soon I was surrounded, and then appeared yet another familiar face… Calistia, whom was now queen of the planet, and with her King: the very creep who beat me in the challenge.
She acted just a cruel and hostile to me ever, and ordered me to be captured and executed for daring to return!
I had no choice, but to run, and then defend myself against any and all coming onslaughts, and in the chaotic stress, there was a big explosion which struck me hard, and damaged my locket…
…I managed to elude capture, but… I never thought it possible to feel so crushed, so hurt, so hated, and shunned! The Vistulans were sticking to their laws, outright resenting me, cutting ties, and wanting nothing to do with me except to destroy me!
Everything I ever was in the past, all the great things I had done had no meaning anymore-- as was also part of the custom!
Worse than that, my heart ached so much that I began to resent having ever been affiliated with these creatures, or any and all of my former goods deeds I had done.
I led a good life, I was a well-known and respected, and now disgraced, and most-wanted simply for losing a challenge I shouldn’t had lost in the beginning!
The hate… the rage… it all began to boil inside of me, reaching unfathomable levels.”
Then, I was greeted by the very creature that brought me to Vistula.”
“You seem disturbed. I’m guessing it wasn’t a happy reunion.”
“I didn’t even care how the creature followed me to Vistula. I didn’t care about much of anything anymore except how enraged I was, and how I longed for vengeance and to pay back not just those who had betrayed me, I wanted every being anywhere to understand my pain!”
“Come with me… I can give you home, a purpose, and all the power you could ever dream of to exact the vengeance you seek.
We understand your pain, and like yourself, we also desire vengeance and power to exact it.
Come… be part of my world, and together, we will accomplish so much!”
“Of course I was not one to refuse an offer as that.”
Lightning stepped forth, “And this creature… was it…?”
Dearka snickered, “Yes… it was King Von Devilor!”
Everyone tensed up. “Should’ve seen that coming.” murmured Applejack.
Dearka continued,
“Apparently, when I first made contact with him and touched his warp portal, it was the final link in a key to helping him and his fellow Devils escape from their realm.
King Von Devilor took me in, and for the next decade I trained well, unlocking new powers and abilities I never had before, all born from the darkness and hatred I felt from my betrayals and losses.
Keeping the part of my broken locket with me as a constant reminder of what happened, and how wondrous it would be to exact vengeance, it gave me the motivation to keep on struggling, until I became the Devilish creature I am now!
The King made me one of his most favored generals, and sent me off on my first mission, back to Vistula…”
He referred when he disrupted that wedding, when his brother, Young Dearka, all grown up, was preparing to marry Lenora. He caused such a havoc forcing Major Fenton and his team to intervene.
He even came across his mother and father…
“Worthless, am I…?
Failure, am I…?”
Dearka snickered, and the others all felt sick to their stomachs.
“You… you destroyed your own family?!” cried Rarity.
“Those that refer to were not my family. They disowned me, and demanded I leave, and they tried to destroy me simply because I dared to return out of love and heartbreak
I realized then that Love is a big joke-- it gets you nothing but crushed, beaten down, robs you of what you hold dear, and above all else… love gets you nowhere!”
Cadance hear everything, and it sounded like the ramblings of a pure madman!
“The Devils are my family now, and soon they will have to power to break free of The Devil’s world, and they can repopulate the universe as they once planned to, and all we have to do is wipe out all love there is.”
He then recited The Devils’ oath…
“Find all the beings in love. Root them out and kill them!
Find anyone who is capable of love and destroy them!
And above all: Find those who are about to be married, and wipe them out of existence forever!
Hate the love in this world, for as long as there is love, those of us with hateful hearts will know no peace!”
With that, his aura began to blaze like fire all around his body. His muscles seemed to grow larger, and longer hair went from blue to dark with thunder and lightning striking through it like a storm.
“What’s happening?!” cried Pinkie.
“His power level is increasing!” said Starla.
“Indeed!” hissed Dearka, his voice was now even deeper and raspier “When a Devil is able to focus vast amounts of hatred and anger within them, the power begins to flow through them like with the power equivalent of a raging tempest!
…PREPARE TO FEEL MY ULTIMATE WRATH!!”
With such power he was actually levitating up off the ground, and he shot small jolts of electricity all around him, making large explosions, causing some of the guards to back away in shock.
“Stop this now!” demanded Luna, but Dearka was far too lost in his own lust for power and destruction to even want to be reasoned with.
Cadance could hardly believe was she was seeing. “He seems so enraged! So hurt and betrayed, and that’s what led him to all this.”
Shining Armor could hardly believe his wife was actually showing compassion… to a Devil.
As understandable as Dearka’s rage and lust for power seemed, he could not be allowed to get away with all he had done, and namely grasp what he came for-- Cadance!
“We’ve got to keep the palace protected!” said Lightning.
“Agreed,” said Grand Ruler, and he then advised the teams be divided in half. He and the space ponies would try and take Dearka down, while Celestia, Luna, and the Equestrians would stand back to further shield the palace.
Everyone agreed, and already being transformed, they were ready to fight.
Lightning even signaled for Krysta to warp inside to Cadance’s side, to which she agreed.
Dearka let out a huge roar and unleashed a wave of darkness at everyone, forcing them to scatter.
“We have to stay apart!” cried Buddy “Our own anger and resentment only fuel him!”
Dearka laughed and shouted at them, “It won’t matter this time. I have more than enough power to stomp on you all like bugs!”
“…Sentries!” shouted Grand Ruler.
The guards all complied and readied their weapons and cannons to attack.
“…Fire!” shouted Captain Shaina.
The weapons and cannons fired mercilessly, and Dearka didn’t even bother to put up any defenses, and he didn’t have to, his aura was so insanely strong that each and every projectile, canon ball, they vaporized into nothing before they even reached him-- consumed by the aura.
“I can’t believe this!” shouted Dyno.
“That aura gobbled up the attacks like an avalanche!” added Myte.
Dearka growled, “You see now, how it is. When you’re as overly enraged as I am, your strength increases. You feel nothing, nothing at all but the anger and the hate, which makes all physical pain around you vanish into nothing!”
The fighters all cringed in anger themselves, despite that I fueled Dearka’s growing power!
“How can we stop this guy?!” wondered Lightning.
“You don’t!” thundered Dearka, and he unleashed more dark waves at everyone, making big explosions that knocked everyone off their feet.
They weren’t badly hurt, but they were astounded.
“That power…!” groaned Artie “It felt so strong, and it was just a normal attack!”
“He is getting stronger and angrier too,
Our attacks aren’t good enough to make it through.” said Rhymey.
Grand Ruler already had an idea of how to quell this anger, and he looked over at Celestia and Luna. His wife and sister-in-law agreed.
“Lightning, prepare to go Enticorn.”
Lightning was confused at first, but then immediately caught onto the idea, and he began to concentrate hard, flaring his glowing aura.
“Oh, no you don’t! Not this time!” growled Dearka, and he powered to fire a large beam of intensive darkness at him.
Lightning didn’t even budge and continued to focus.
“We’ll shield you, Lightning!” called Starla, and then she hollered to the other space ponies, “Conjure up the biggest, strongest barrier you can!”
The others all agreed, and concentrated all their inner magic together to place wall, after wall, after wall or strong energy between Lightning and Dearka.
“…FIRE!!”
Dearka unleashed his dark beam which slammed into the first barrier, shattering it, and then proceeded to the next one, and the next…!
“We’ve got to help them!” shouted Rainbow.
“Let’s go Valkyrie!” called Fluttershy.
The other girls agreed, and they all shouted, “VALKYRIA” becoming the Valkyries of Harmony.
Celestia was the only one who didn’t transform, and she had her reasons.
“Come, ladies!” called Rarity “Let’s show this darkness what light can do.”
Together, they all combined their swords and shot magical blasts at their own shields, repelling the light with double the force at the barriers, strengthening them, but the dark blast continued to reach for Lightning, slowly shattering the barriers on the way.
Finally, Lightning had fully transformed into an Enticorn, and his light aura was burning brightly.
“You think I should be scared?!” shouted Dearka.
Lightning smirked, “…You ought to be, and here’s why…!”
Grand Ruler gave the signal to Celestia and Luna, and together, the three of them cast powerful beams of magic onto Lightning, strengthening his aura.
“The last shield’s about to break!” cried Spike.
“I’m hoping it does!” said Lightning. He waited until the last light shield began to crack like glass, and he readied his arms, conjuring up his power and all the light he had been blessed with.
Then, just as the shield shattered open, “ULTRA UNIFORCE” he unleashed his light energy past the fading light shards of the barriers, combining with his power and strengthening it more.
The force collided into Dearka’s blast, and the two seemed perfectly matched.
“What…?! This can’t be!!” bellowed Dearka.
Lightning continued to pour on the power, and began to slightly push back against the darkness.
Dearka concentrated on all his hate--remembering all the horrible things his people said and did to him-- which strengthened his darkness more, evening the struggling once again.
The surge of the two forces made the ground shake and the winds stir up.
“IT’S GONNA BLOW!!” shouted Pinkie. Everyone else believed the same thing.
…But really, it didn’t. The two fighters suddenly felt overly exhausted, and their powers began to grow smaller, and smaller, until they faded out, and the two fighters themselves collapsed to their knees.
Lightning de-transformed and looked ready to pass out.
“Lightning…!” Starla cried as she dashed to her husband’s side, holding him up.
Dearka was panting heavily, “I… I don’t understand.”
“I think… I do…” panted Lightning, but he was too exhausted to say, so Grand Ruler said it for him.
“Love and Hate, Light and Darkness-- all these opposing forces are two sides of the same coin, and they both operate in identical ways.
Just as the darkness and hate empowered you, our determinations and love strengthen our light, giving us the edge we need to match you Devils blow-for-blow.”
“That’s right!” agreed Celestia “Now we know of ways to stand up to you and your entire Devil race better than ever, so do yourself a favor and surrender while you can!”
Dearka only scoffed, “I would soon be destroyed before that happens! I will never forgive and forget what happened to me, nor will I cease in my conquest of making those who love suffer for my own suffering!”
Everyone just couldn’t believe his stubbornness, especially Pinkie Pie, and after all she had just heard about his past, she actually believed there was hope for him, but he wouldn’t grasp it.
Grand Ruler seemed disappointed, “We gave you a chance to redeem yourself, but it seems you’ve left us no choice.”
Before or anyone could do anything however, there was a bombardment of dark pulses that rained all around them, making sparks and explosions fly as everyone fell over and their suits powered down.
“What was that?!” groaned Celestia.
Then, the sound of familiar laughter was heard, and everyone looked up high.
“Scarlet…!” snapped Lightning.
She was levitating up in midair, with her aura glowing strong-- as deeply as Dearka’s was-- but just as eerie, just as dark and powerful as ever.
She had been standing by, out of sight, and as Dearka powered himself up with the vast amounts of hate and anger from talking of his past, she had used that hate to increase her own power as well.
“Surprise-Surprise!” she hissed at everyone “You forget, we Devils also work well together, strengthening each other.”
The fighters all felt livid for having been tricked, and yet they all seemed rather weak from boosting off so much energy, but they were still able to stand.
Scarlet then powered up a strong beam of her own, and fired well past them all, straight at the barrier, right near Cadance’s window!
“No…!!” shouted Grand Ruler.
“Look out!!” shouted Shining Armor.
Cadance gawked in horror as the blast struck the barrier.
“Krysta…!!” called Lightning.
Quickly, Krystra teleported the family away, to the upper-most terrace in the palace where Goldwin was on the lookout.
“I saw everything! Are you guys okay?”
“Just barely.” said Cadance.
Suddenly, the voice began to call to her again.
“Help…! Save Me…!”
“It’s that voice again, and it sounds louder than ever.”
“Voice?” asked Goldwin “I don’t hear anything.”
“I’ll explain later…” said Shining Armor, and then he turned to his wife “What’s it saying?”
“Save me… from the… Devil’s World!
…The Devils World!”
“…The Devils’ World?” murmured Cadance.
Goldwin and Shining Armor looked back and forth at one another.
“You think the voice is coming from the Devils’ World?” asked Shining Armor.
“Oh, no, the barrier!!” cried Krysta.
It was actually starting to weaken under all that tremendous power. A few more hits like that and it would come down!
“Can’t you zap us out of here?” asked Shining Armor.
“I could, but they’d probably follow you. They’ll do anything to capture Cadance.”
“We can’t let them do that!” said Goldwin.
Cadance could look down and see the team and the guards, retaliating against Scarlet and Dearka.
Dearka, had gathered enough to strength to stand and use his regular attacks against the already tiresome team, while Scarlet repelled any and all shots from the guards, but with Scarlet’s aura so strong it wasn’t doing them so good.
The team would fire whatever projectiles they could, and Scarlet’s aura defended her from every blast, allowing her to fire her own pulses.
“We can’t let her fire at the palace again!” shouted Rainbow.
“Keep up the defenses!” hollered Lightning “We’ve got to keep going until they run out of power!”
“Oh…!” Fluttershy groaned in exhaustion “…I …don’t think I… can go… much more…!”
Cadance couldn’t bear to see this happen to her friends and family much longer.
Then the voice repeated to her again…“The Devils World…! Save me!”
She knew the Devils weren’t playing a trick on her, because she had heard the voice before they discovered her powers.
What she was thinking next was probably the stupidest, most idiotic idea she ever thought, but she had to know.
She clutched Flurry Heart deeply and small tear ran down her cheek. “You’re mommy loves you!” she whispered into her ear “Never forget that!”
Shining Armor approached her, “Cadance what are you…?” he stopped when his wife suddenly pulled him, kissing him very deeply, much to his surprise.
Then she felt him passing Flurry Heart into his arms, and when she separated from him, she quickly used her magic to trap him in a small barrier.
“What? Cadance, what are you doing?!”
Cadance then used her telekinetic powers to pull off Goldwin’s mask, turning him back into a Golden Statue.
“I’m sorry, but I must do this.”
“CADANCE…!!!”
She had already leapt off the terrace, and as the barrier only stopped things from coming in and not going out, she made it outside and flew straight towards Scarlet.
“Cadance…!!” shouted Celestia.
“What are you doing?!” yelled Grand Ruler.
Before anyone could say anything, there she was in front of the nasty Devil, and not doing anything, as if she was asking to be taken!
Scarlet saw her chance and enveloped her in her aura. Cadance screamed in terror, and in a large poof, she was gone.
“NO…!!!!” shouted Lightning.
“She’s gone!” cried Starla.
Scarlet and Dearka smirked wickedly.
“Well, well,” hissed Dearka “We came here to snag the princess, and just like that, she delivers herself.”
Scarlet snickered, “Guess we’ll be going, and the next time we see you all, it’ll be for the last time!”
Laughing maliciously, the two Devils disappeared through their portals.
With Cadance gone, Shining Armor was released from her barrier, but he was ever so devastated and upset.
Flurry Heart began to cry from what she had just seen too.
The royal sisters had tears in their eyes, and Grand Ruler shook his head in such disbelief wondering “Why…? Why would she do that?”
Lightning fell to his knees and pounded the ground with his fists, Starla held him to comfort and cool him down, but she felt just as hurt and upset as the rest, and confused as why Cadance would just give herself up.
Back in the Devils’ World, Von Devilor was laughing wickedly as he held Cadance in one of his massive tentacles. She was unconscious, but shrouded in a small barrier to keep her protected from the toxic atmosphere.
“Well done, both of you!” he commented to Scarlet and Dearka “Thanks to the both of you, we now have obtained an incredible asset, one that will gain us new power and abilities to crush our enemies, escape from this realm, and wreak havoc on the entire universe as our hate grows stronger.”
He then placed her down by the large glowing flesh on his lower forum, and actually absorbed her inside where he intended to keep her, alive, and where he would be able to sap her powers of love and convert it into hate and darkness to power himself and his Devils.
Scarlet felt very pleased, and Dearka seemed just as pleased, but Scarlet was still thinking treachery for Dearka.
“Once I gain enough power from all this, you’re finished you faker, especially now that even Starfleet knows who you really are.”
(Promo)
In our next episode: Thanks to Cadance’s energy, Scarlet and Dearka gain new powers, and Von Devilor begins a new plan to harness energy from everywhere, which Lightning discovers while on a trip to Vistula for his own investigations, but something strange happens when Cadance suddenly escapes from Von Devilor’s nightmare, only she’s whom she seems.
Will our heroes be able to fend off the Devils; new strength, and what has happened to Cadance?
Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!”
(Next Episode: “Tall True Tales”)