//------------------------------// // Episode 1: Starlight, Starfight // Story: My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic Season X // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// EPISODE ONE The next day, Lightning and Starla received word from New Canterlot about Starla’s findings the other night. It turned out she was not the only observer. The Starfleet observatories had been spotting the strange object the same way she had for the past several nights. One minute it was in plain sight, and then it was gone without a trace. Starla felt rather disturbed. “Why wasn’t I told of this before? You’d think they’d let a master observer-- slash-- star general in on it.” Lightning calmed his wife down. “Maybe they thought they were just seeing things too, but now we know for sure there’s something strange out there.” Starla agreed, and she had that sickening feeling in her gut that it could not be something good. A whole planet-- assuming it was even a planet-- just popping in and out like that, not to mention its shadowy surface. Lightning felt the same way. “I think we should head to the Royal Palace and talk it over with their majesties.” “No need for that, Lightning.” said a familiar voice, and Grand Ruler Celesto appeared, in the form of a hologram. Starla and Lightning bowed to him just the same. “No offense, sire… but you mind warning us when you’re going to just pop in like that?” asked Starla. His majesty chuckled, “My apologies, but the matter is urgent.” He explained to them what he had just told to every other member of the unit. “We, at the royal council, have been having the same suspicions of that object, and while we are unable to confirm things entirely without evidence, we are taking no chances and have ordered the force to standby for any signs of strange activity, and not just here, but every planet in the sector and beyond.” The soldiers saluted to him, and he saluted back. “Your majesty…” said Starla “Would it be possible for me to--” she was cut off when a large stack of papers magically appeared before her on the breakfast table. These were copies of the astronomical findings of the planet’s sightings from the observatories. “…I had a feeling you’d want to study them for yourself.” said his majesty. Starla chuckled as she began to run through the pages. “Thank you, Sire.” said Lightning “Switching to standby.” Grand Ruler bowed and faded out. Back at the palace, he suddenly began to hear the sound of cheerful play-fighting. He waltzed into the next room and saw Castor and Leilani playing with toy foam swords, and Queen Celestia had beat him to their children, breaking them up. “Settle down you two.” said Celestia. “We’re practicing to fight the bad guys.” said Castor. “Practicing?” asked Grand Ruler. “Yes, we want to help if the planet gets attacked again.” said Leilani. “Whoa, whoa… hold up there.” Celestia cut in “I think you’re both a little too young to be doing that.” “Your mother is right…” agreed Grand Ruler. “Fighting evil or saving the world is not some game, it’s very serious.” The children looked a little upset and hung their heads low, but they didn’t dare say anything in protest, for they were raised well and knew better than to argue with their parents. Celestia then got a cheeky idea, and she conjured up a magical-ball of light which she cast to flay around the children. “I bet you can’t catch it.” The children loved it when their mother gave them a magic ball to chase down, and they ran after it laughing. “I’m going to get it first.” called Castor. “Not before me.” teased Leilani. Their parents watched as their children ran off happily, and they softly wrapped their arms around one another. It pained them that they were so busy these days working with the new dilemma, but they always made certain to spend time with their children, nurture them, and reason with them if it looked as if they were getting ahead of themselves. Princess Luna came by, having just seen the children rush past her. “I fail to understand where they get all this energy from.” Her sister and her brother-in-law chuckled. “Well… I suppose that’s why we are the parents.” said Grand Ruler. “…And you are their wonderful aunt.” added Celestia. Luna rolled her eyes. Suddenly, all three of them could feel something-- a very dark force as the sky above the palace began to grow dark. “What is that?” asked Luna. Grand Ruler and Celestia both had sickening feelings as the dark grew stronger. …Starlight’s Spider-Base was slowly approaching the planet, and Starlight could only glare at it while snickering softly yet wickedly. She was ready! Meanwhile, Artie and Sunset Shimmer were at the Cakes café, celebrating their fifth month of marriage, and were now sitting at a table, holding hands, intertwining their fingers and looking into each other’s eyes. “What are you going to have?” Artie flirtatiously asked her. His wife teased him, “I don’t know. What are you going to have?” Back and forth they would tease each other with the same thing, until Pinkie Pie came out to greet her friends, but she didn’t seem herself. Pinkie was also five months married, and five months pregnant, it was already showing what with her belly growing, and she was already on maternity leave from the force, yet she didn’t seem her usual hyperactive, cheery self. If anything, she looked so neutral and blank, with her eyes half open. She seemed to be acting like her sister, Maud Pie, and even spoke in a soft tone. “Hi guys. Can I take your order now?” Artie and Sunset blinked once at her and then at each other. “Uh… we’ll just take our usual.” said Artie. Pinkie simply nodded and walked off to the kitchen. “What’s with her?” wondered Sunset “She didn’t even wish us a Happy Five Months.” Pinkie’s husband of five months, Apple Spice, came in carrying a sack of flour. Artie stopped him and asked about his wife… “The doctor put her on a strict diet, and she on meds to help reduce her cravings. She hasn’t eaten as much sweets or as goodies as she usually does, but that’s not the worst of it… she has mood-swings.” The couple shuddered at such thoughts, but still, Spice looked over at his pregnant wife taking another order with love and joy in his eyes before he snapped back into reality. “Excuse me…” and he picked up his bag and went back to work, passing by his wife on the way, and pecking her on the cheek. Pinkie gave a rather weak but visible smile. “Well, at least they’re still happy.” said Artie. Sunset agreed. Suddenly, the alarms sounded, and Artie’s energizer began to glow. “There’s trouble in New Canterlot.” Pinkie turned her head sharply, having overheard him. A small flicker of flames seemed to blaze in her eyes. “Go ahead, Pinkie,” said Carrot Cake, “I can cover your shift until you’re finished.” Pinkie nodded and made her way to the back where the stairs led up and into the house, straight to her and Spice’s room. Like all Starfleet fighters on maternity leave, Pinkie had been presented with her very own look-alike droid which she could control from her room. The droid came to life and rushed down the stairs. “Let’s go!” she called to Artie. Artie nodded, and he kissed Sunset goodbye. “Come back to me…?” Sunset said to him. Even though there were never guarantees in Starfleet, her husband gave her a loving gaze and nod which told her “…I’ll try.” Then he was off with Pinkie’s droid. They both flew off into the air, and met up with Rarity and Spike along the way. Rarity had baby Twilight in a harness on her front. “You’re taking the baby with you?” asked Artie in surprise. “We had no choice.” said Spike “You never know when the alarms will sound.” “I really think we ought to hire a nanny for this sort of stuff!” Rarity complained. Starla and Lightning came flying up to everyone, and like Rarity, Starla brought Shining Light along too. “The split second we get there, we’ll drop the kids off in the palace nursery.” said Starla. Rarity agreed. The rest of the team soon followed, and of course, Fluttershy and Rhymey had to bring Button Fly with them, but they already knew the routine, and soon. Finally, Krysta joined in with an army of her fairy soldiers. “Good, we’re all together.” said Lightning “Now let’s find out what this is about.” and with that, everyone zoomed off towards New Canterlot… …Which now had a large, and menacing dark cloud looming over it. The guards and fighters all stood ready as ordered by their majesties, and the darkness was growing overhead in the skies. Their majesties all stood on a terrace, still trying to sense and feel the force of the darkness, and Celestia finally felt something familiar… “…Starlight Glimmer!” Grand Ruler suddenly felt something else about the evil energies he was sensing. “No… it can’t be!” His wife and sister-in-law could also sense the evil, and there was no mistaking it…! But for now, a large beam of light shot down from the darkness, and Starlight appeared in the large field behind the palace, along with a large swarm of drone soldiers behind her. They were tall, dark, humanoid pony-like creatures, and even wearing Starfleet-like armor as well, but their faces were all covered in metal plating, and they had claws on their fingers. Starlight flicked her long mane in back as Celestia and her family approached her. Their eyes met, and Starlight glared at her very crossly, rather than surprised. She had been told of the changes over the years, and was even impressed a little. Celestia could only glare at her, but spoke softly. “You have changed quite a lot. The darkness within you is indeed strong.” Starlight agreed, “I’ve been training for quite a while now. Training takes time, and so do assembling armies… but there comes a time for everything…” she paused and her eyes flashed eerily at Celesita “…Even revenge!” Celestia growled softly. “We caution you not to do this.” warned Luna. Starlight only hissed “…Why shouldn’t I? I have my reasons…” She raised her hand and singled to her soldiers. “Darquines… attack!!” The Darquines growled and rushed forth, but Captain Shaina whistled for her own army, “…Stop them!” The knights and fighters rushed forth. While the three majesties powered up and prepared to combine their powers and detain Starlight themselves. The magic was fired, but Starlight narrowed her eyes, and both they and her horn glowed with a dark aura, producing a dark curtain of magic, completely shielding her, much to their majesties shock. Starlight snickered, “My master has trained me well.” Their majesties were not willing to give up without a fight, especially not Celestia as she magically changed out of her royal garbs into her casual battle suit. Luna did the same. Grand Ruler stood ready as well, and all three powered up-- their auras flaring up. “Oh, this is going to feel great!” hissed Starlight. Lightning and the others, already transformed, were nearing the site of the danger, by the Royal Palace, and they could see all the commotion down below. “What in the hayfields is all this about?” wondered Applejack. Lightning didn’t like it one bit, and he asked Krysta “…Can you teleport the babies to the nursery in the palace?” “Right.” Said Krysta, but rather than do it herself, she asked for a couple of her troops to do the job. The mothers pecked their respective sweethearts before the fairies took them to safety. Fluttershy felt near tears, but Rhymey assured her “They’ll be alright, Now it’s time to fight.” His wife quickly snapped herself to her senses… …But as everyone headed down to join the fight, they were bombarded by powerful laser blasts from way up high-- from the Spider-Base’s blast cannons. Everyone was forced to land, but the blasts continued to fire all around them. “What’s going on up there? What’s firing at us?” Rainbow exclaimed. “It’s got to be some sort of spacecraft,” suggested Buddy Rose “I’ll also bet it’s the cause of all this.” “Then we’ll just have to shoot it down from here.” suggested Dyno. “Si, and fast before it shoots up the village.” added Myte. Lightning agreed, “Everyone stand together, get ready to fire.” The team stood ready, but suddenly they were shot from all around, on the ground, which caught them by surprise and they all fell over. “Now what’s up?!” growled Starla. That’s when a monster appeared. He had cannons for arms, a bigger cannon was on his chest, and even a large turn-up shot-tube for its head, and his face on the side of it. “Not what’s up,” it laughed at the fighters “But what’s going up… YOU that is… in flames!” The fighters all stood and glared the monster down, when suddenly Starlight’s three henchmen appeared behind him, and snickered at the sight of the fighters. “We’re baaaa-aaack.” teased the female. “It can’t be…!” cried Lightning. All the others were equally as shocked as he was. Though all creatures seemed humanoid, there was no mistaking it; these were the three former henchmen of Lord Titan. “Mysterious…? Rep-Stallion…? Dementia…?” exclaimed Starla. Who seemed to be Mysterious, shook his head, “That was who we were before. Now we are all-new—better and stronger than ever. …I am “Specter!” He was tall, and still had his night-shaded skin, but now he wore a simple dark shirt, with a matching long waistcoat with a small train in the back, like a cape. What seemed like Rep-Stallion hollered, “Yo’… I’m “Razor!” He still had his dark gray skin, but he wore a leather jacket, dark pants, and over his arms and legs he wore pads with serrated sharp blades. He was a regular walking slasher. Finally, the female whom was once referred to as “Dementia” flicked her long hair. “The name is “Waverline.” She wore a Sparkling black skirt and top, with armored paddings, and her long purple hair almost looked as if it were made of shadowy fog, the way it waved and the shades shifted around. The monster then stepped in, “Don’t forget about me, Big Blast!” The minions glared at him in annoyance. “Will you just get in there and destroy these pests?!” thundered Waverline. “Uh… yeah.” grumbled the monster. “…CANNONBALL’S AWAY!!” and he unleashed multiple blasts out of his arms, and even through the top of his head, all straight for the team, forcing them all to dodge and scatter about. “Let’s get ‘em!” shouted Specter, and he and his comrades rushed forth as well. “…Split into groups!” hollered Lightning. The team agreed and spread out to battle the evildoers themselves, but just as promised, the minions were now stronger and fighting better than ever. Not only were their strengths, speeds, and endurances heavily improved, but they showed off astounding new abilities they had been given. Specter was able to use his newest abilities of the shadow to dodge oncoming attacks and escape harm. “Time to see the light!” thundered Lightning. “Right!” agreed Starla. “Ready when you are!” called Krysta, and her fairies behind her readied their powers and wands. “UNIFORCE!” “PULSAR LASER” “FIRE!!” shouted Krysta, and she and her fairies combined their powers into a great big beam of light. All three attacks bound straight for Specter. “Not this time!” he snickered, and he held out his hands, “DARK WALL OF WIND!” all at once, he was shrouded in a veil of twisting winds which blocked the attacks, much to the fighters’ shocks. The brightness of the light didn’t even make him flinch like in the old days. Worse than that, Specter, still encased in the winds, rushed forth with the force of a wrecking ball, forcing Lightning and Starla to leap into the air, but Specter quickly sprung off the ground and bashed them both hard before the wind ceased around him. “Impressive isn’t it?” he boasted “…A defensive-offensive power, thought I’d just show it to you.” The two fighters growled, and Krysta and her fairies weren’t willing to give up either, nor were the other teams, but they didn’t seem to fair too well at the start either. Artie, Rhymey and Spike all had their weapons drawn and were attacking Razor from different angels, but Razor’s new agility sure gave him an edge as he skillful parried their every move and proceeded to strike them all hard, making sparks fly. “Now try this!” he shouted, “FLY CUTTERS” his blades on his every pad launched and twirled like sharp boomerangs, in a huge swarm around the men, making it down near impossible to dodge or parry them all. “Let’s do a team-up strike!” called Artie to his friends. The others agreed, and the two ponies unleashed their attacks… “PAINT BOMB” “DRILL QUILL” A lot of the blades were repelled, giving Spike enough space to rush through. “DRAGON FLAME-WHEEL” Curled up and shielded in his flames, he bowled right through other oncoming blades and headed straight at Razor, and he swerved out of the way, only for Spike to bounce back for him again, and again, and again every time he dodged. Spike and the two ponies then charged at him all at different angles, and would have struck him hard had the spider-base not shoot more blasts from way up high. The force of each blast caused the three fighters to fall off balance. “Aww… too bad.” teased Razor. “It sure feels great to pay you punks back after all this time!!” The men got up and onto their feet, still undeterred and ready for more. “We beat you punks once, and we’ll do it again!” Rainbow snarled as she charged at Waverline, but she jumped up high and out of the way and fired magical blasts from her hands, which Rainbow dodged, and regrouped with Rarity and Applejack. Waverline scoffed, “You only beat us because we underestimated you, and a few lucky breaks!” “If you ask us, it was no lucky break!” protested Rarity. “Ha!” huffed Waverline “Well I didn’t ask you… you ugly little cross-breed!” Rainbow and Applejack gasped in horror while Rarity’s head throbbed, her skin seemed to turn boiled red, and being half dragon, she let out a huge roar and flames in the air before she rushed furiously at her enemy. “YOU DARE CALL ME UGLY?!!” Waverline unleashed her own specialty at the oncoming, angered hybrid. “DISTORTION FORCE” She unleashed a spinning, wave of energy, like a spinning wheel straight at the ladies, which exploded and caused the very air and ground around them to start wavering in distortion, actually attacking them without any visual means. Sparks and small explosions emitted from the ladies causing them to fall to the ground. “That’s it! Now I’m mad!” growled Applejack. Rarity was even madder than she and Rainbow put together, still determined to make Waverline suffer for calling her “Ugly!” The ladies all charged for her, and Waverline swerved and dodged their every move. The Spider-Base continued to bombard the area all around, giving the enemies an unfair advantage. “We have to stop that ship!” cried Dyno. “Si, before it blows up everything!” agreed Myte. Buddy, Pinkie and Fluttershy agreed, but they were all confronted by Big Blast. “The only thing that’ll be stopped is you! Take this!” and he fired more cannon shots at them. “Hey, I’ve got an idea!” said Buddy, and he got out his Vine Whip. “What are you thinking?” asked Fluttershy. “Just trust me. Come on!” Heeding, the others all rushed off with him. “Take some of this!” yelled the monster as he opened fire at the fighters, forcing them to scatter. The twins then nodded at one another and shouted, “NOW YOU TAKE THIS…!” and they both joined hands… “BOOM-BOOM ROCKETS” Their misses bound straight at the monster, and he easily shot them down with his own blasts, making lots of smoke from the resulting explosions. “Nice try, bozos!” he taunted, but he suddenly ate those words as all five ponies came rushing in, kicking, and punching him hard, and knocking him over. “Okay, that does it! I’m gonna make the biggest blast I can give! It’ll reduce you all to ash!” Fluttershy gulped hard. Buddy and the others narrowed their eyes at him as he charged up the huge cannon on his chest for an enormous blast. Buddy looked up at the sky, using his visor’s telescoping tracking to lock onto his target-- the Spider-Base. “HERE IT COMES!!” the monster shouted “FIRE!!” But the split second his blast fired… “NOW!!” buddy quickly threw his whip, lassoing the monster’s huge head, and with a huge yank, he pulled him over, causing his cannon to aim upward! POW!! The blast fired straight up through the dark clouds; clean up towards the monstrous ship, striking it hard in its mouth and underside, damaging the blast cannons. “THE SHIP!!” cried Razor! The other two reacted in the same shock, but Starlight didn’t seem to care in the least. She came with a job, and a personal agenda, to clear and nothing would stop her! Nothing at all!! She and the three royal alicorns continued to brawl hard, and had been for the entire battle, what with the knights, fighters, and fairies all fending off the Darkquines and protecting the palace like good soldiers would and per their orders! During all the calamity Starlight had proven herself to indeed be a very worthy and well-trained fighter. The three ponies shot at her with magical blasts, which she evaded by sprinting along the ground. Then she leapt up high, whirled round back in mid-air, firing multiple mini-blasts from her horn and hands, shooting at all three of the alicorns, but seemingly trying to keep Grand Ruler, and Luna back, letting Celestia go through. …She was the one Starlight seemed to be after most. Starlight landed, and engaged in a rough brawl with her! She punched and kicked and flipped about, while Celestia managed to block and dodge each blow, and shifted to the offense, but Starlight managed to block and dodge her as well. “Am I good enough NOW?!” Starlight roared at her before kicking her hard in the chest-plate, leaping up off of her and fifing more shots from her hands, which were intercepted by Grand Ruler and Luna, coming to Celestia’s aid. “Are you alright, Sister?” asked Luna. Her sister nodded, but all three glared Starlight down. “Starlight, it doesn’t have to be this way!” Celestia said, as if she were begging her, to which Starlight scoffed “Why should now be any different? You had your chance, and now it is too late.” “Listen to us!” said Grand Ruler. “Never…!” Luna then spoke up, “I realize how you must feel, but you are fighting for the wrong reasons.” “Please, let us help you!” added Celestia. “Too late!” sneered Starlight and her eyes glowed an angry red, “…By about twenty years!” Lightning and Specter lunged at each other, punching and kicking like crazy, and finally meeting in a fist struggle. The both of them powered up strongly, and their auras glowed brightly, and their arms flipped, their fists striking the ground resulting in a huge explosion that threw them both across the field. “Lightning!” cried Starla as she and the others re-grouped and helped him up. The villains all regrouped as well, including their monster. “So you’ve just been toying with us?” hissed Specter. Lightning nodded softly, “So have you, we felt it.” “No, duh!” sneered Razor “Where’s the sense in destroying you if we don’t thrash about first?” “You’re going to pay dearly for busting up our ship!” said Waverline. Suddenly, the darkness was beginning to fade in the sky. “The ship!” cried Razor “It’s starting to fall off course! We’ve got to stop it!” “We have our orders!” snarled Specter. “We’re staying here and finishing them off right here and now!” Waverline was with Razor too, “But we can’t let the ship fall out of orbit!” She and Razor teleported back up to assist with repairs and stabilizing it. “GET BACK HERE!!” bellowed Specter. Big Blast couldn’t seem to get his canons going, still all bashed up and weak from so much blasting. “Um… maybe I should go up too. Recharge a little and…” Specter lost patience and gave him a good blast, destroying him, much to the horror of the others. “You destroyed your own monster?!” shouted Artie. “He was weak and worthless! Such a creature has no place in our rising army.” Rarity looked like she was going to explode again. “Why you sick creature!” “You’ve hardly changed a bit in attitude!” Spike added. Lightning angrily powered up into his Enticorn forum. “You’ll pay for this!” Specter’s eyes widened at the very sight. “So this is the Enticorn powers I’ve been told of.” He muttered under his breath “I’ll admit it’s impressive.” The other fighters began to power up. Their auras were blazing brightly. Specter, much as he wished to fight, wasn’t sure if he could take them all on at once like this-- exactly what destroyed him and his comrades the last time. He did however summon another swarm of Darkquines to back him up in long rows. “Let’s get ‘em!” shouted Lightning, and he and his team rushed in, making quick work of the creatures, giving Lightning a good chance to speed in towards Specter, blasting a ray of uniforce at him, which he barely dodge. Specter could feel the heat of ray burn him softly. “It’s stronger than I thought.” he murmured. “I’m going to blow you to the ends of the galaxy!” shouted Lightning. He swung his fist straight at him, but Specter dodged, giving himself the chance to retaliate… “DARK WALL OF WIND” He had encased himself in his wind-sphere again and rammed straight for Lightning, whom dodged and swerved, and finally found his opening… “ULTRA-UNIFORCE” he blasted the sphere hard actually forcing it back, and the darkness proved to be pretty strong as Specter had to struggle to pour on more power, but he ultimately found himself losing as the power began to break his shielding down! He was being pushed far up into the sky, and he roared loud and painfully, but he made a quick retreat, and vanished, just as the sphere exploded… KABOOM! Lightning feared and somewhat knew he had escaped, but he let it go for now and proceeded to help the others battle Darkquines. While the Darkquine army was finally diminishing, the three royal alicorns were in a big mess. All three of them combined their powers together, and captured Starlight within a sphere, but Starlight proved to be worse than they thought, as actually managed to break out of it and restore herself to normal. “My stars!” cried Grand Ruler. “We can’t contain her by ordinary means.” cried Celestia. Luna growled angrily. Starlight snickered at them, and her horn glowed bright, shrouding them in aura. She brought Celestia closer towards her, leaving the others hanging in midair. “Celestia!!” shouted Grand Ruler. Starlight chuckled softly. “I’m going to enjoy this… a lot!” and she grabbed a large glowing orb, which their majesties recognized all too well and knew what it did…! Lightning punched off another Darkquine, and looked over towards the commotion. “…What?!” he exclaimed, and he watched as Starlight slowly began to use the orb’s power to absorb Celestia’s very life-energy. “NO…!!!” Lightning shouted as he rushed over, and fired a large beam at Starlight, forcing her to turn her head and fire blasts from her horn at him, but Lightning just kept right on coming and forced his way right into the path of the magical waves hoping to sever it and save Celestia. “LIGHTNING…!!” Grand Ruler shouted, which alerted the other fighters, especially Starla to turn their heads, just in time to see Starlight, carelessly, fire another magical blast, which struck Lightning’s glowing body and the draining magic from the orb, resulting in Lightning getting struck hard, glowing white, and he soared back, colliding right into Celestia, and they both crashed into Grand Ruler. All three of them soared out into the open field, crashed on the ground, followed by a big explosion! Everyone gasped in extreme shock and horror, and Starla could only scream “NOOOOOOOOOOOO…!!!!” Even Starlight was slightly surprised by how things turned out, yet the orb in her hand was still glowing, pulsing with loads of energy and power. “It appears that I got more than what I came for. I’ve got the power, and now I’ve gotten my revenge as well.” Starla roared and charged for Starlight, ready to break her limb-from-limb, but Starlight had vanished and was gone causing her to miss and land flat on the ground. She furiously punched he ground, making a small hole. She began to quiver with pain and sadness at the thought of what she had just seen. “Lightning…!” Everyone else felt ready to grieve just the way she had, when suddenly, there was a stirring from over where the explosion happened. “Hey!” cried Krysta. Luna turned and she was the first to rush over to the pile of rocks left from the blast. “Can it be…?” she wondered. That’s she heard a faint little groan, like one of a child. She used her magic to move the rocks away, and what she saw then she could not believe, nor could the rest as they all huddled around. “What in the world?!” cried Krysta. “It can’t be!” muttered Starla. Lightning and their majesties were very much alive, only… they were all smaller in size for they had been transformed into children-- pre-teen versions of themselves. “Galloping Galaxies!!” cried Lightning. “My stars!!” added Grand Ruler. Celestia trembled in shock, “This can’t be!” The three kids looked back and forth at one another, and then up at everyone else gawking at them with extreme concerned expressions. As for Starla, the sight of her very young husband, she couldn’t help it, and she fainted in shock. “Starla…” Buddy cried as he caught her. “Get them to sick-bay at once!” ordered Luna. Back aboard Spider-Base, the minions were bickering with one another over the supposed insubordination. “You cowards left the field!” growled Specter. “You’re the one who destroyed our monster!” bellowed Waverline. “At least we saved the ship from falling away.” boasted Razor. “QUIET, ALL OF YOU!!” thundered Starlight “…Or I’ll toss you all into space!” The trio quieted down. Specter narrowed his eyes angrily. Starlight placed the orb with the captured energy and magic on the table. “We got what we came for, and even more. Master Titan will be most pleased.” She paused and then thought, “I know I’m especially pleased, now that I’ve done away with that wretch, Celestia!” She obviously didn’t know what had happened. Her only concern now was to take the power she had captured and get it to Titan at once. “Now Project Darkness will be able to proceed, and the galaxy… the universe… all will belong to evil!” She turned to face the Darkquines at the controls and helm. “Set course, on the double!” The monstrous ship zoomed out into space, but Razor couldn’t help but ask, “What about Starfleet? They’re still going to come after us.” Specter scoffed, “There is not much they can do to stop us, now that we have the power and have disposed of their best fighter.” Waverline agreed, “Besides, even if they try to stop us, they’ll find eventually it won’t help a bit. Not with what we have planned…” Dr. Penny, being Lightning’s regular doctor, was notified of the transformation on Lightning and their majesties, and Krysta teleported her straight to the royal palace to assist in the examinations and testing on the three victims. The rest of the team could only watch and wait from far in the corner. Not one of them could take their eyes off of the three teens that were their friends, especially Starla. “What was all that about back there anyway?” asked Buddy. “Who was that pony that did this to them?” “It was Starlight Glimmer.” answered Spike “I don’t know her too well, I was only a baby, but I remember what Twilight and Celestia told me… Starlight Glimmer was a former student in Celestia’s School of Gifted Unicorns. When Twilight was chosen to be Celestia’s personal student instead of her, Starlight vowed she would never forgive either of them, and she was expelled from the school for her misconduct and bad behaviour which followed. Her family found out, and they were outraged, but their bad behaviour and misconduct only earned them exile from Equestria by Celestia, and that was the last anyone had ever heard from her.” “Shesh… talk about holding a grudge.” said Rainbow. Nobody needed to even guess what happened after. “She turned to the dark side, and, somehow, found her way into space.” assumed Artie, “And she was taken in by Titan and his forces.” Hearing that name made everyone’s bloods turn. “Titans’ back.” said Pinkie through her droid “That’s the only way his henchmen could return uglier than ever.” Luna was inclined to agree, “If Lord Titan has indeed returned, I fear for the safety of the entire galaxy, especially considering what just happened.” She explained to the others what Starlight had done with that life-extracting orb. “It is so rare and so dangerous; it was believed to have gone extinct. It has the power to drain the life-energy of the victim, and also absorb magical energies. Had Lightning not risked himself and interfered, I fear my sister would no longer be with us.” The others all stiffed, and while they were relieved Celestia and the men were still alive, “But… what’s happened to them now?” asked Buddy “How did they become… well…” Luna turned to look over at the patients, “That I have not a clue.” She had her suspicions. They all did… When Lightning blasted into the ray while still an Enticorn, the energy from his power caused something to go haywire, causing the patients to revert into children. “Oh, I dare say, I hope they’re okay.” said Rhymey. “Oh, my... So do I.” added Fluttershy Starla said nothing, far too concerned and worried about what this would mean for herself and for everyone. The doctors finished all the examinations, and while the patients seemed physically healthy and fine, their worries and concerns as they looked back and forth at one another was well-noted. Celestia couldn’t help but hold Grand Ruler’s hand. Her husband could feel her nerves and child or not, he held his wife’s hand in comfort. Lightning felt a little lonesome, and strange, just sitting by himself at the end of the large exam table. Doctor Penny and the court physician spoke with the team. “They seem perfectly normal,” said Penny “We’ve run every test from blood to DNA, and they don’t seem to be in any danger.” The team gave her an expected look telling her it looked otherwise. “The point is…” Penny said “The only thing that’s changed about them is their bodies. Other than that, they still retain their knowledge, their experiences. They’re really not all that different than whom they were before.” “Just smaller, and younger.” said Applejack “But how do we fix it? How do we get them back to their true ages?” The two doctors hesitated, and the court physician admitted “We haven’t the slightest idea. Whatever that magical force was that turned them into children is strange to us. We’ve never seen it before.” “So you’re just giving up?” Rarity asked. “Not at all.” replied the physician “We’re going to continue to study this, and as for finding a cure, that’s going to be up to the lab experts and magical wizards.” “Well what are we supposed to do in the meantime?” asked Krysta. The patients approached everyone, and Grand Ruler said “I think it’s obvious… we will carry on.” A moment of silence followed, but Celestia and Lightning both agreed with him. Starfleet still had to carry on, especially now that it was clear that Titan out there and it probably wouldn’t be the last they saw of Starlight Glimmer. Celestia looked down at the ground, still finding it hard to believe that Starlight would return so evil and vengeful, and working with Titan no doubt. It was no wonder she was so powerful now. “What could she want by stealing my energy and my magic?” she wondered. “Whatever it is… it can’t be good.” said Grand Ruler. He looked ready to jump straight into action and get the armies ready. “Your majesty…” the physician cautioned him. “I realize the seriousness of things and I recognize your eagerness to ready to planet for combat, but given your current situation, perhaps it would be wise for you not to get so deeply into work… at least until further tests are concluded.” “I agree,” said Penny “Remember, even with your experiences and willingness, you still have the physique of a child. Just try not to overdo it.” His majesty nodded at her, “I will keep that in mind.” Then he and Celestia walked off hand-in-hand, and Princess Luna went off with them to keep an eye on them. Lightning approached his wife, and he could already sense she was feeling awkward about this, not that he felt any different himself. “Starla…?” She looked at him, but she tried to be brave. “Come on, honey… we’ve got work to do.” His wife agreed, as did the others, and they all went off together. (Promo) In our next episode: While contemplating about what to do of the age situation, there happens to be an underground organization dedicating themselves to bringing Starfleet down for their own reasons which could lead to even greater danger to the entire society. How will Lightning and the others adjust to their situation, and what lengths with this group go through to get their way? Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!” (Next Episode: “Rise of the Falling”)