Three weeks had passed since most of the team and others dashed off into Space to thwart Titan’s plans of gathering energy from other planets for his sinister plan.

Many of the generators had been destroyed, and the reports were sent back to United Equestria by each team, only then for reach team to head off to yet another destination to stop yet another evil plot.

It didn’t seem like Starfleet was getting anywhere, and this did not go unnoticed by the enemy.

Titan was slowly feeling his power being restored, but he still had quite a long way to go to get what he truly wanted.

As the energy absorbed from every corner of the galaxy, seeping into the Shadow Planet, all the aliens and monsters one the planet worked hard, like in a giant factory, converting the energy into power and giving it to Titan to absorb.

“Try as you will, Starfleet, there’s no way you cans top me this time. Soon my power will be fully restored, and then… the real nightmare begins.”

Down on the Shadow Planet, several monsters were slacking off from their duties.

One of the Foreman monsters noticed this and blew his top. “Hey! What do you creeps think you’re doing? You’re supposed to be converting the energy into power for Lord Titan.”

“Keep your scales on!” growled a worker “We’ve got it all covered, thanks to Multi-Plus.”

“Yeah,” agreed another worker “Thanks to him and his ability to multiply certain things, we don’t have to work up a sweat. He can cover all our stations.”

The Foreman did not look very pleased, “Well, too bad for you, because Multi-Plus is gone!”

In the Royal Daycare, little Button fly was crying his little head off, which caused a bit of disturbance with the other babies too.

Cadance and Shining Armor were just dropping Flurry Heart off with the other toddlers before tending to their daily duties.

The daycare manager was positively frazzled as she tried to soothe Button Fly at least. “It’s no good. He misses his parents, and there’s nothing worse than being separated for a long period of time.”

Cadance hated the sound of babies crying, but she hated it more when anyone, even babies were suffering from heartbreak.

Luckily, her mothering skills came in handy, when all she did was softly stroke the little colt on his head which soothed his cries, and as Button settled down, the other babies did too.

Cadance giggled, but really she wished her friends would come home soon. “Things have been getting really hard around here lately, what with Starlight Glimmer still out there, and I do miss home.”

Starla was up on the top terrace and using and was looking up at the sky through one of the big telescopes.

“Just trying to see if I can spot any of the away teams, but of course it’s no good.”

Lightning moved the scope away from her eye. “Yeah, because it’s broad daylight…”

Then Krysta appeared, “Yabbo… thought I’d give the head honchos a copy of the latest report. I already gave one to their majesties.”

“Thanks, Krysta.” he said as he opened the paper. “It’s from Rhymey and Fluttershy… and it’s all in rhyme I see.”

Skipping through the poetry, the report stated the duo had already been to three known planets and destroyed the generators on each one, but their next destination was taken them straight into Unexplored Space, and would report back the first chance they got.

Lightning and Starla gazed in awe, and desperately wished they were with their friends too, and wondering what new sights they were seeing.

Rhymey and Fluttershy made it to an unexplored planet, somewhere in the Central Western part of the galaxy, where they were dark power flowing from the surface as tracked.

It seemed like quite the well-developed planet… with a breathable atmosphere, lush green forests and meadows, and blue skies, but the greatest features were that of the metropolitan areas…

…Large cities, with huge buildings and high-rise skyscrapers, and the city seemed as developed as modern Earth Technology-- Cars, Subways, Cellphones, and even the people seemed to be like ordinary humanoid aliens whom seemed civilized and ordinary as they went about their lives, walking or driving to work, hanging out with friends-- the usual stuff.

Rhymey and Fluttershy kept out of sight, away from the city, as they were strangers who just came to the planet rather suddenly, and the Starfleet Code clearly stated that officers couldn’t just barge in on unsuspecting beings without good reason. Only after much observation and discovery would it be possible to start establishing contact with the people and, hopefully, reach a mutual welcoming and right to continue exploration.

“This world seems too good to be true.
Fields of green and skies of blue.” said Fluttershy.

Find Titan’s goons and give them a bout,
And then we’ll knock the generator out.”

His wife agreed, and the two headed off towards the open fields where the darkness was emitting from.

Hiding behind some shrubs, they found the generator in almost no time, and mysteriously, the entire area seemed to run only by monsters and the Darquines, but absolutely no slaves-- no denizens of the planet, and the people of the metropolis seemed not to take any notice of the energy flowing of the evil aliens that had invaded their world, and the trouble they were up to.

“I will go first and drive them away.
Then you destroy the generator. Okay?”

Rhymey softly called for his weapon, and then leapt through the shrubbery, which got the monster’s attention.

The Darquines immediately rushed forth, but Rhymey made short work of them all-- swinging his sword and slashing them to punching and kicking them all down.

“Monsters to the left
Monsters to the right,
Come on over and
Fight-Fight-Fight!”

The monsters roared angrily and began to rush for him, and Rhymey lead them away from the generator.

One of the creatures at the end of the crowd fired a large flare up high in the air.

In almost no time, squad-after-squad of police-uniform wearing men and women rushed out on motorcycles and cruisers, and zoomed for the city limits.

“DRILL QUILL” unleashing his barrage of feather-spikes like a rain of needles at the beasts to stun them, giving him the perfect chance to soar in and slash them all with his sword, making sparks fly about all over.

One of them monsters then noticed Fluttershy, in her Valkyrie forum, looming straight over the generator with her sword at the ready.

With a mighty roar, Fluttershy came crashing down and drove her glowing blade right into the machine, causing it to spark, blow out, and then she backed away just in time as the whole theing exploded ceasing the energy flow.

The monsters were horrifying, but Fluttershy only glared at them next, and her husband stood at the other end.

“FOR LORD TITAN!!” they shouted, and they all destroyed themselves in big explosions just like that.

The ponies sighed at how foolish the monsters were while doing that, but at least their mission was completed, and with that they powered down their suits.

Suddenly, they heard what sounded like a load of police-sirens heading their way, and they were suddenly surrounded by loads of policemen and women.

One of the cops then noticed, “The generator…!” it was all smashed up and charred after being blown up. “You destroyed the generator!”

“Look!” cried another cop, pointing at the insignia on the ponies’ armor, “That’s the Starfleet insignia!”

Before either one of them could try to explain, the officers moved in. “You crooks are coming with us.”

“Save it!” shouted a cop, and then he called to his army “Let’s book them!”

It was obvious that these beings had the wrong idea about them, and in situations like this, retreating would only add to the, already, bad situation.

“You have it all wrong about us.
We’re not here to cause a fuss.” called a Rhymey.

“We came here not to invade,
But to stop the plans that evil has made.” added Fluttershy

Everyone turned and saw a rather beautiful woman with long black hair and wearing a red blazer with a matching skit step out of a limousine, and with two strong bodyguards by her side.

The cops all quieted down for her as she stepped forth, and called up to the ponies. “I am Paulesqa, Mayor of Mark City of Planet Metros.

We have been told of you and your Starfleet, and we know of all the dangers and mindless destruction you inflict on others, and now you’ve come to invade our world!”

“You’re mistaken, we can see.
You must believe my husband and me.” she protested.

“And I suppose destroying the generator is an act of goodness?” argued Paulesqa.

She explained how the monsters came to their planet on a peaceful mission, planting the generator there to extract energy from the planet that they claimed was “polluting” their world, and promising them to use their resources to provide energy and power for the whole city, which they had.

“Now thanks to you two meddlers, the generator is gone, and on top of that, you destroyed the great beings that helped make our lives better!”

It was clear to the ponies now that Titan’s goons had deceived these beings, but before either one of them could speak up, Paulesqa held up her hands and actually zapped the ponies with strong energy bindings.

Try as they would, they couldn’t seem to break free, and then they were telekinetically loaded into the back of a magic-proof wagon and hauled off for the city.

Paulesqa gave a satisfying, yet evil gaze as she watched the wagon go while muttering under her breath, “…Just as Lord Titan planned it.”

“Come along.” she said to her men “We have to meddlers to teach a lesson to.” Then she got into her limo and headed back for the city.

Grand Ruler Celesto and Queen Celestia were surrounded by piles of books, papers, research notes, and even lists of failed experiments to try and figure way to restore their ages to normal, and they still had not a clue, nor would any of their experiments succeed, given the list of failed attempts.

Her husband leapt up out of his chair, and they both dashed over to their bedroom window, and much to their surprise, there was a whole swarm of Starlight’s outside, nearing the palace boundaries, and more were popping up.

Celestia growled softly, and wondered if the Real Starlight was out there somewhere, doing this, but there was no way to determine, right away, since Starlight had ways of rendering herself and her clones undetectable.

Indeed, the real Starlight was hiding somewhere in the thick brush in the fields, while admiring the army of puppet clones she had created, with the help of her new sidekick.

He was a humanoid shaped alien with four arms instead of two, and wore several armored pads all over his arms and legs-- each with a Plus and X mark on them. He also had three eyes in the front of his head, making it easier to see things from three different points.

“Tis a great many times a pleasure to serve, Miss Starlight.” he said with a bow, and all the crosses and Xs on his armor were glowing brightly. “With my magical-multiplying-armor, I can continue to multiply your clones…

Starlight was aware of this, which meant she couldn’t cast a barrier around him, or it would block off the magical-waves to keep the clones in action.

“You and I will stay here, and once the army weakens out the palace forces, I’ll sneak in, find Celestia…” she paused, and flexed and cracked her knuckles, “…and give her the death sentence she has coming!”

Starla, already transformed, stood at the head of the army, with Cadance, in her Ninja Forum, and Shining Armor as Saber.

The force-field was up around the palace, and Lightning had the artillery knights ready with their cannons, and Krysta and some of her fairies to help with the special surprise-blast strategy.

Celestia clenched her fists angrily, but nervously, and even a little frustrated. “Starlight… if only I could make her see reason.”

“ATTACK!!” shouted Starla, and she and the army rushed forth, as did the Starlight clones.

Starla jumped in, punching and kicking madly at every clone that came her way, but unlike ordinary Darquines, these Starlight puppets were stronger, faster, and fought dirtier.

Starla took a whap to the face, and a kick to the gut, but she still stood tough and managed to kick and punch them back.

She threw her star clusters, forcing them clones to leap back, and accidently crash into one another.

Cadance and Saber attacked and knocked more clones away, only to get punched, kicked, and blasted at.

“They’re multiplying!” shouted Saber. “They’re heading straight for the palace!”

Lightning saw this from the battlements, and he signaled to the artillery troops to take aim with the cannons and their magical weapons.

The cannons were fired, and magical beams too-- all of which flew through the portals…

...More portals appeared outside, and the blasts shot at the oncoming clones keeping them at bay…

Multi-Plus got the idea and continued to multiply the clones, causing the army to expand even more.

The artillery continued to blast at the oncoming clones, but there were just so many of them, and hard to blast them all.

The Real Starlight was flowing with evil glee. “Yes… blast it down! Blast it all down! Then I can make my move, and I’ll be fresh as a daisy while they’ll all be worn out like old blankets.”

Rhymey and Fluttershy found themselves thrown into an underground dungeon below the city streets. They were stripped of their energizers and armor, in exchange for green plumber-like outfits. Rhymey had an anti-magic manacle locked around his horn, while Fluttershy had an anti-power patch attached to her back.

They couldn’t transform or call upon their super-powers. The also had anti-lift patches fitted on their wings to make flying useless too.

“It’s the perfect place for monsters like you.” sneered Paulesqa, and she snapped her fingers, and her guards slammed the manhole coverlid shut.

Fluttershy was outraged, and while she still had her super strength and would have loved to rush up through the ground like a missile, Rhymey urged her not to, knowing it would make things worse.

The guards suddenly force marched two ponies, pointing powerful ray riffles at them.

They came to two large steel doors, which opened wide and revealed an underground trash refinery, with tons of other prisoners working the joints.

Others were even operating the power plants to supply power to the city above, through forced labor, and guards on their tails every few moments, even if they weren’t slacking-- whipping them, or firing near-miss shots from their guns.

“Well, here you are.” One the men taunted the ponies “You’re new home for the rest of your lives, and who knows how long that will take.”

The other guards chuckled, and soon put the two ponies to pushing carts full of trash along to dump them off to the crushers.

All of a sudden, Fluttershy’s insides became shaky and cold. She hated being locked up, or treated like a prisoner more than any other being she knew, and worse than that, both she and her husband were both convicted, suspected by beings who believe them to be hostile aliens who came to attack their world.

To make it all worse, because they were on an unexplored planet in an unfamiliar sector of the galaxy, all their Starfleet ranks, laws, and rights, meant nothing here.

And what really hurt them both was the thought of being trapped here forever, and never being able to return home, to United Equestria, and their baby boy.

“What are we going to do, dear?
We can’t just stay locked up here.” whimpered Fluttershy.

“They think we are all criminals, but we’re not
There’s got to be a way to convince the misguided lot.”

The guards didn’t take kind to their chattering and fired a few shots by their feet.

Rhymey growled and Fluttershy quivered nervously, still refraining from taking the guards on as it wouldn’t do their cases, or the reputation of Starfleet any good.

At meal time, the prisoners were served leftovers from the portions of unfinished meals from the city above them. Everyone got something different, and rather gross looking. Yet the prisoners all ate it up as it were a feast for kings.

Aside from not feeling too hungry, the ponies noticed how all the prisoners didn’t look the least bit like dangerous beings from above, but rather average and ordinary citizens.

Then, someone politely approached Rhymey and Fluttershy’s table and asked, “May I please sit with you?”

The ponies looked up, and nearly gawked in shock. This prisoner looked and sounded exactly like Mayor Paulesqa.

Rhymey and Fluttershy shook their heads, but didn’t know what to say, not wanting to cause more confusion, but the lady only smiled at them. “If you were imprisoned here wrongly by those above, then you are surely friends.”

The woman nodded, “You are correct. I am the True Mayor Paulesqa of Metros… or at least I was.”

She and her people--“The Metrosians”-- were a peaceful and well-civilized race. They had no super powers at all, and preferred to evolve and develop in their own ways.

…But then, one day, a month ago, while I was out on a nature hike outside of the city limits, my men and I were ambushed by vicious creatures from Outer Space.

One of them impersonated me, and used her vile magic to brainwash my men into thinking SHE was the real mayor.

And so I was thrown down here, and my people know nothing about it.” she paused and motioned to other prisoners, “…At least not everyone does.”

“You mean all these people around we see,
They were also imprisoned most wrongfully?”

Paulesqa nodded. “That wretched imposter assumed my position as mayor, and deceived my people into thinking those evil monsters and their generator were here to help improve our world, and used their vile sources to develop new weapons and power sources.

That imposter used her vile powers to hypnotize Sector Security, and imprisoned any and all people who were even slightly wising up, here.”

She didn’t need to say anymore; Fluttershy and Rhymey knew this was Titan’s doing, a plan to turn other races against Starfleet, which would, likely, cause disagreement and possibly riots all over the galaxy.

“Something will have to be done soon,
We’ve got to take down that imposter goon.” said Rhymey.

“We’ll take and her goons down,
And then restore order to this town.” added Fluttershy.

Paulesqa shook her head, “I admire your bravery and willingness, but with all Sector Security and these guards all under the spell, there’s just no hope. I should know; I’ve tried to reason with them.”

The starlight clones continued to proceed towards the palace, firing their energy beams at the barrier, and no matter how much the forces tried to take them all down, the clones just multiplied again, and again, and again.

“We… can’t… keep this up… much longer!” panted Starla “My suit energy is running low!”

“That’s not all!” cried Saber, and he pointed up at the barrier, which was starting to fade as it had taken such beatings.

Cadance held her hands to the sides of her face, worried for her friends and relatives inside.

Grand Ruler and Celestia tried to pour on more magic to help keep the barrier up, but after a long time, and their reduced ages, they were both starting to feel low.

Princess Luna rushed into their bedroom and scooped them up in her arms. “Sister…! Brother-in-law…!”

Outside, the Real Starlight leapt out from hiding. “Their defenses are weak. Now’s my chance…!”

Multi-Plus snickered, but remained in hiding as order as Starlight leapt up, up, to the window of the Royal Bedroom-- levitating herself with her magic.

“Mind if I come in?” she hissed, and she powered up to blast her way through the remains of the barrier.

Suddenly, Starlight got blasted from below, which nearly knocked her out of the air.

Poor Starlight, she had made her puppet clone just like her much too well, that it also seemed to carry her grudge and lust to take Celestia’s life, and because of all this, the clones stopped attacking the palace and began wailing on each other… much to the delight of the Starfleet forces, and to the shock and horror of Multi-Plus. “This has never happened before!” he cried.

Suddenly, one of the clones fired a stray blast that flew straight towards him, forcing him to leap out of hiding.

“It’s a monster.” said Lightning, and he could judge by the glowing crosses and Xs on his armor, “…HE’S the one making the clones!”

Saber saw it too, and he was able to break through the army of bickering and fighting clones to confront Multi-Plus.

Multi-Plus bolted upright and snickering while flexing his four arms… “Come and get it, Bug Brain.”

Saber threw his chain-and-sickle, but Multi-Plus saw it coming with his three eyes, and caught it in one of his hands, then with two others he grabbed the chain and gave it a big yank pulling Saber in, and with his one remaining hand he aimed to punch him hard in the face…

…But Saber used his own extra hands to grab his opponent’s hand, and flipped him over.

“If you have to rely so heavily on clones to do your work-- your fighting skills and strength are obviously soggy!”

The clones were continuing to brawl with each other, and still trying to shoot the Real Starlight down from the window, wanting to get at Celestia themselves.

It got worse as gaurds came rushing into the Royal Bedroom looking ready to try and apprehend Starlight.

“That does it!! I’M OUTTA HERE!!” she Starlight. “THIS ISN’T OVER, CELESTIA!!”

Then she vanished and was gone, leaving the guards frustrated, and Celestia felt most upset, but she was too tired from helping to power the barrier to show it.

“STRIDENT SHOCKWAVE” Saber gave him a huge electrical blast, making a big explosion that sent Multi-Plus sailing up and crashed down, damaging his armor.

With his armor all busted up, the brawling clones began to disappear, one-by-one, leaving the monster all on his own and surrounded by the Starfleet army.

Lightning saw everything from the window, and angrily pounded the sill. “I’ve never seen such devotion to maintaining secrecy!”

“Well, at least the monsters are all gone,” said Krysta “But they’ll be back.”

Once back onboard Spider-Base, Starlight was positively infuriated with her puppet clone’s latest failure, that she up and destroyed it in a blazing blast, much to the minions’ surprise.

“Worthless… Idiotic… Disgusting Failure…!!” Starlight fumed as she continued to blast the puppet so that not an ash of it remained.

Specter scoffed, “That’s what she gets for disobeying Lord Titan’s commands again.”

Waverline only flicked her hair and walked off going, “This has got to stop, one way or another.”

Back on Metros, in the town square… the imposter mayor was delivering a public speech to the entire city, with video screens on all the buildings to amplify things.

She showed supposed images of Starfleet carrying out their duty, to destroy, conquer, and make people feel weak and worthless…

…And the people of the city actually bought into it, and who could blame them-- the imposter had, in fact, magically edited the images to make her story look true.

“Excellent.” she thought to herself “Starfleet’s reputation is well on its way down. Lord Titan will be most pleased, and be able to conquer the universe faster.” She paused and looked down at the people who were booing and hissing at the images. “…And these poor fools don’t suspect a thing.”

She then addressed the crowds. “People of the City of Lights, I, your beloved mayor, beseech you all. This Starfleet is a menace to the entire universe we live in. We must make the word be heard, and bring them down!”

…When suddenly… POW!! The ground burst wide open, and Rhymey and Fluttershy, in their super armor, leapt out onto the street.

“What is the meaning of this?!” shouted the imposter. “How did you criminals escape prison?”

“You did block our magic,
but not our strength and skill,
You’re men didn’t have a chance,
not against our will.”

He implied that he and Fluttershy were easily able to overpower each and every guard and all security in the prison with their powerful strengths.

The imposter growled angrily, but tried to keep herself calm so as not to break her cover.

“It’s all over for you now.” shouted a familiar voice, and Paulesqa stepped forward, making the imposter and the crowds gasp.

“She is a liar, she is a phony.
She is telling you stuff that is full of baloney!”

“This is your mayor, not the one up there.
We’re here to set things right, and make things fair.”

“People, you must believe us!” called Paulesqua, “Whatever this imposter has been telling you is not true. Starfleet are friends, not invaders.” Then she pointed angrily at the imposter. “…She and her forces came to take our planet’s energy for an evil plot.”

“BE QUIET!!” shouted the imposter “I will hear no more of your criminal lies!” and she summoned all of Sector Security-- whom were still under her hypnotic spell.

The cops all rushed out like a stampede, all armed to the teeth. Some even stormed into town square on their bikes and in their cruisers, nearly running into the people on the way.

The civilians all jumped out of the way and couldn’t believe what their police force was doing.

The imposter, knowing she was cornered, magically revealed her true form-- a dark skinned female alien wearing strong tights, and she worn an amulet around her neck, which was glowing to the same color as the cops’ eyes.

The civilians all gasped in horror, even more so as all the cops turned to face them, pointing their guns at them with snickering expression.

The alien laughed and introduced herself. “I am Hypnoesa… loyal servant of Lord Titan. You may have spoiled my work here, but Lord Titan will soon be restored. A pity none of you shall live to see it!”

That was what she thought, for Rhymey, Fluttershy, and Paulesqa had planned this too.

“NOW!!” shouted Paulesqua, and out from manhole covers burst many of the prisoners which the ponies had freed, and they are all armed with rifles taken from the guards, surprising the cops and the civilians.

“What’s this?!” shouted Hypnoesa, and before she knew it… one of the prisoners caught her off guard, firing a blast from his gun, hitting her hard and causing the amulet break free, and it hit the ground shattering into pieces!

Paulesqa was very relieved that her troops were back to normal, thanks to the bravery of the ponies and her people.

“THRASH SLASH” with one swing of Rhymey’s glowing sword, the monster screamed and roared she fell over and exploded, and then reappeared within a sphere.

Despite the astounding, and rather horrifying theatrics, the people of the city cheered and applauded with joy.

Rhymey and Fluttershy stood tall and proudly, and felt incredible that they finally captured one of Titan’s monsters, and hoped they would be able to probe her mind of information regarding Titan’s plan…

…But it wasn’t to be, for just as Fluttershy reached down to pick up the sphere, the tiny monster trapped inside began to glow, and she disintegrated.

A few minutes later, after receiving much praise from the mayor and her entire public for saving their world…

“Must you leave us so soon?” asked Paulesqa. “There is so much we wish to know about you, and your Starfleet, and share our lives with you too.”

The ponies were flattered, but they were bound by their duties to return home and report their discoveries at once.

“The world as we know is in danger of falling,
And whenever it is, we must answer the calling.” said Rhymey.

“But we wish to extend to you our hand,
And forge friendship that shall be grand.” added Fluttershy.

With that, they also promised to send a team of settlers to Metros to full establish contact, friendship, and more; maybe even establish yet another outpost to spread the Starfleet Empire out, and keep Metros safer from future attacks.

Paulesqa could only look up at the sky, watching her new friends and allies fly off and murmur, “Until the next time we meet, Starfleet...

In our next episode: Spike and Rarity visit a planet that is run by alien dragons who consider them a disgrace for their ways, their marriage, and Rarity’s cross-breed, and force them into a tournament fight to the death to prove their power and worth. Meanwhile, Celestia decides to dig deeper into Starlight’s hatred of her and plans a secret trip, against her family’s wishes.

Will Spike and Rarity prove themselves to the dragons, and will Celestia’s plan pull off?

Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!”

(Next Episode: “Dragon’s Honoring”)

My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic Season X

by DakariKingMykan

Episode 13: Multiple Deceptions