//------------------------------// // Episode 14: Dragon's Honoring // Story: My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic Season X // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// EPISODE FOURTEEN Onboard Spider Base, Titan had given Starlight a good talk down… “You have been stepping out of line, Starlight, and this disturbs me greatly.” Starlight bowed to him. “Forgive me, my lord, but I am carrying out my mission to keep Starfleet at bay.” Titan hissed behind the darkness, “Maybe so… which is why from this point forth, you may do as you please.” Starlight looked up in surprise. The minions were peeping in on the conversation. “What did he just say?” wailed Razor. “Quiet!” snapped Waverline. “He just allowed Starlight to do as she wants. She can come and go as she pleases.” Specter narrowed his eyes. “Interesting...” Starlight bowed to Titan. “Thank you, my lord. I swear, you shall not regret this.” “See that I don’t,” hissed Titan “And you best see that you know what you are doing. You are still my prized-apprentice after all.” He said no more and vanished away. Hearing him say those words soothed Starlight as she stood with new found confidence, leaving the minions astounded. They had never known Titan to be this compassionate towards his followers. Suddenly, Starlight aimed her hand over her shoulder a fired a blast at the wall, nearly missing the minions and making them leap out in fright. She knew they were there all the time. “Eavesdrop on me like that again, and I won’t miss next time!” She whipped round and gave them all a sharp, annoyed glare, making the trio shudder. Then she walked right past them. “Where are you going?” asked Specter. “That’s none of your business, you three just standby for further orders… if you can.” Waverline snuffed, “I’m really starting to dislike her even more.” Razor then got the idea, “Maybe we ought to look in and see what she’s up to.” Despite what Starlight had warned them about, Specter agreed. “I shall go.” “What?!” snapped Razor “But it was my idea. Let me go.” Specter gave him a sharp glared, “You’d stick out like a sore thumb. She’d never suspect me.” Meanwhile, far, far away, in the Eastern Sector of the galaxy, Spike and Rarity were exploring a rather desolate, barren, and unexplored planet. The lands were all barren, rocky, and full of mountains, and canyons, and it was plenty hot due to all the lava pits, and volcanos all around. “Oh, my mane is all sweaty.” groaned Rarity. “This would be an ideal place for the dragons back home.” said Spike. As they continued to head in the direction the dark power was emitting from, they looked down from above, and what they saw they could hardly believe… …There were dragons down below, much like those that lived in the New Badlands back home. They were of all shapes and sizes-- tall, short, plump, some were even fierce looking. Some had wings, some didn’t. They were wadding in lava pools, laughing and cracking jokes, and even munching on precious stones and ore, much to Spike’s temptation as he licked his lips. Rarity’s nostrils gave a twitch. “Ugh! The ashes in the air! They’re so smelly-- I… think I’m going to--!” She let out a huge sneeze, shooting her white flames in the air, which alerted the dragons down below of their presence. “Who’s that up there?” “No one knows of our secret lava pool and stash!” “Let’s get ‘em!” The flying dragons launched themselves upward. Rarity shrieked! “Let’s move!” shouted Spike, and they took off like speeding comets before the dragons could even blink their eyes… …They were ever so shocked and astounded. “…Were they dragons?” “How did they move so fast?” Spike and Rarity screeched to a halt in midair, and Rarity could barely catch her breath in the heat, since she was only half dragon. “I don’t believe I like it here.” she panted. “The sooner we leave the better.” Spike agreed, and as luck would have it, just a little ways ahead of them, they could see the dark power and the generator in sight, and no monsters guarding it guarding it either. “Let’s put that thing out of action.” said Spike. “Now, now, I am Colonel here,” said Rarity “And I say… Let’s put that thing out of action.” Spike rolled his eyes, but followed her down to the generator, but just as they were ready to blow it to bits… …Rarity’s visor gave off a warning of vibrations in the grounds below. “Spike, watch out!” she called, but it was too late! The ground opened wide open, like a fissure, and out thrust two humongous dragon tails, which grabbed them both, and yanked them down into the ground, which sealed up tight, leaving the generator to continue to convert more power for Titan. Back on United Equestria… Starlight was visiting a region on the far side of the planet, away from the main continent. …A place called Saudi Marerabia, or rather “New” Saudi Mareabia. On Equestria of old, before it was destroyed in The Great War, it was a place that resembled that of something out of an Arabian Night. The land was surrounded by sandy deserts, and the town itself was comprised mainly of stone buildings and tents, with a market place, vendors, and wooden towers all over, and all the ponies and other creatures would wear turbans, veils, vests, sarees, and the usual things. Now, in the modern days of United Equestria, it was still all pretty much the same-- the people chose to keep to their traditional ways, but were always welcome by the main government of the planet to have the power technologies they needed whenever. This was the place where Starlight lived when she and her parents were exiled from Canterlot ages ago, and being here now brought on really bad memories, especially in the place where she stood… …In place where a large hotel stood, she remembered there used to be a house where she lived with her parents after their exile. Then, she headed off into the desert, where the graveyard consisted of hundreds of stones sat half buried into the ground, with names carved into them. She stopped and looked over one stone, in particular, which had her parents names carved on it. As she continued to look down at the stone, her eyes twitched angrily, and her fists quivered. “She’ll pay for this!” she whispered under her breath, thinking of Celestia, obviously blaming her for the death of her parents, as well as the exile. Specter had been hiding in the shade of another large rock, and he saw everything. “So this is the root of her lust for vengeance.” he said to himself. Spike and Rarity found themselves brought deep into the bowls of the planet, where it was much hotter due to the lava flowing all around. They had been brought to a large underground area, wide enough to store a large city, and they were surrounded by many dragons-- some that were even many times their sizes, and even fiercer looking than ever. Many of the dragons were snarling, and glaring at the duo as they were dragged along. Some of the dragons even had angry smoke shooting through their nostrils, which sent shivers up the fighters’ backs. “Now I’m certain I don’t like it here.” whimpered Rarity. “You’d think they’d at least have the decency to decorate their place, and make it more habitable.” “Shh… don’t make them angrier.” cautioned Spike. They were dropped off in the center of a large circular platform, and that was when the dragons began to chant in song like voices… “HAIL THE CHIEFTAIN… HAIL THE CHIEFTAIN…” The ground began to rumble as an extremely large lava pit at the head of the lair began to bubble and rise. Spike and Rarity held each other, quivering, as, what had to be, the largest of all the dragons stick its huge head out from the bubbling lava. The head was burning red, and seething with hot veins that glowed. The head was as wide as the platform itself, and the fighters couldn’t even see the rest of this dragon’s body as it was still submerged. The dragons all hollered and began to bow to their chieftain, and he looked rather enraged as he glared at the two strangers on the platform, with smoke flowing form his nostrils right past them. Rarity and Spike coughed softly. “You…” growled the chieftain. “You have the scent of dragons, and yet you are unfamiliar to us.” Spike and Rarity both powered down their suits to show their true selves to everyone, which only made all the dragons gawk in astonishment. One of the dragons flew in from the crowd and began to look Rarity all over. “This one looks rather strange.” he said as he ran his claws through her mane, much to Rarity’s disgust. Another dragon came in and felt along her arms, which felt both scaly, yet smooth. “Hey!” snapped Spike “Get your claws off my wife.” Rarity wrenched herself from the nasty dragons and ran to her husband. “For your information…” Rarity sneered “I happen to be only HALF… dragon. I am also half a humanoid pony.” Hearing that made all the dragons go wide-eyed, and then they burst out laughing hysterically. “Half a pony…?” “And they’re married…?” “What a pair of jokes!” Rarity and Spike felt their angers rising. “Listen to us!” shouted Spike, and he explained to them about who they were, why they had come, and about the generator absorbing energy from their planet. “We don’t care…” growled one of the dragons. “What?!” snapped Rarity. “We’re dragons; we only look out for ourselves-- doing what we like, however we like, whenever we like… yadda-yadda-yaddie. That’s how life goes here on Dragonia; a planet by the dragons for the dragons.” The other dragons all began to roar and cheer “DRAGONIA…!! DRAGONIA…!!” Spike and Rarity felt disgusted. These dragons were starting to sound and act far worse than the dragons back home. The Chieftain then let out a small growl, yet loud enough to make the place rumble, quieting everyone down, and then glared at Spike and Rarity, with blazing, angry eyes. “You…!! You disgrace the very name of “Dragon” with this nobility to fight for justice and freedom.” He then glared squarely at Spike, “And you…! You would take a pony for a mate-- all the greater dishonor!” The other dragons all began to boo and hiss at the couple, some even blew small flame jets towards, which they dodged easily. “I say we roast them alive!” “Nah… let’s stone them!” Spike and Rarity didn’t like this one bit, but with so many huge dragons surrounding them, escape looked next to impossible. But it was Rarity who spoke up first. “How dare you insist we carry no honor! Why in my opinion, my spike and I have more honor in ourselves than the lot of you on this entire planet.” All the dragons fell silent. Spike, as astounded as he was by his wife’s balking, he supported her entirely. “If you want honor, we can prove it to you.” The Chieftain could see some assertiveness in their attitudes, but still finding them somewhat disgraceful, he decided… “I… Varos… Chieftain of the dragons of the planet Dragonia… Varos… of the eighty-seventh brotherhood, and displayer of discipline, hereby decree, these two strangers shall put to The Test!” The dragons all began to gasp. “Not The Test.” “They’ll never survive.” Spike and Rarity were confused and worried, wondering what this “Test” was. Varos explained, “The two of you shall be pitted against our champion, Scarlight!” The very mention of the name, made some of the dragons shudder while others went “Oooohhh…!!” “And…!!” continued Varos “…You will do so without your fancy armor, or magical powers.” The couple gawked at one another with concern. Suddenly, the ground began to quake with huge, oncoming footsteps. The other dragons began to cower and hide as HE approached. Scarlight: Champion of Planet Dragonia. He was a very large dragon, more than ten times the size of Spike and Rarity-- making them about the size of tennis balls to him. He had dark red scales with an orange tummy and a sword emblem burned into it-- the marking of a true champion. His face was rather flat, but his teeth, his horns, his claws… ..Worst of all was his mighty roar, the massive flames that shot from his mouth. Rarity felt faint with fear, Spike shuddered softly, but tried to be brave. The dragons call cheered and chanted. “SCARLIGHT!! SCARLIGHT!! SCARLIGHT!!” “They expect us to beat… THAT?!” wailed Spike. “…Without our armor and magic?!!” added Rarity. Scarlight glared at the two, and sneered in his booming voice, “First you have no honor, and now you lack courage. Perhaps I should roast you on the spot!” With that alternative-- being death-- and given they hadn’t time for hanging around on the planet like this when the galaxy was still in danger. …Spike and Rarity had no choice but to accept the test. In New Canterlot, Celestia was rummaging through an old memory chest of hers, hoping to find some old spells she had written over the centuries and see if any of them would help restore her true age. Then she came across an old photo taken over twenty years ago for her class with young Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer. Seeing it brought back some good memories, but it also hurt her inside; what with Twilight being dead and she missed her dearly… …But also, Starlight wasn’t so jealous then, and she actually looked a little happier-- she was smiling. Grand Ruler came into their bedroom. “Celestia… do you need some help, dear?” His wife just sat on their bed and turned to face him with a sad expression, and she passed him the picture. “Ohh…” he said as he gazed down at it, and he could tell what she was thinking and feeling. Celestia sighed, “Starlight has changed horribly.” “You can’t keep blaming yourself like this,” her husband said. “You were right to expel her from school, and exile her family for their crimes.” No matter how much she knew of that, the sickening feelings wouldn’t stop chewing at her conscience. “Having it out for me is one thing, but swearing allegiance to Titan? Causing havoc and destruction through the cosmos…? There has to be more to it than simply for the expulsion and banishment, and that’s what I intend to find out.” Grand Ruler blinked once, “What do you mean?” “I’m going to go out there, beyond the main lands and find the answer.” “Wait a minute…!” her husband said sharply as he put his hand on her shoulder. “You can’t go out there. In the first place: You know Starlight is out there, waiting for the chance to attack. In the second: you’re still a child, like I am. Other races may still take advantage of you because of your reduced height and power.” Celestia was aware of all this, but still insisted “…I must find the roots of Starlight’s evil.” “Which is another thing entirely…” protested her husband. “Where would you even start looking? There’s no known record of where Starlight Glimmer or her parents once lived.” Now Celestia felt her hopes starting to fade, but then… something appeared in a flash on the window sill. “What’s that?” wondered Celestia. As the light faded, there, sitting on the sill, was a small parchment with writing on it, but no signature. The writing simply read: “Go to the New Saudi Mareabian graveyard. The answer you seek is there.” The two ponies looked at one another, and both wondered; who sent this letter? How did they even know what they sought? They didn’t recognize the handwriting, nor were there any fingerprints on the paper to identify. “New Saudi Mareabia…?” Celestia muttered. While Grand Ruler was intrigued himself, he still protested, “No… you mustn’t go.” Celestia finally agreed not to go, at least not herself. In almost no time, she had created a puppet clone, and much like Pinkie’s droid, she could control and see through it, via her magic rather than controls, and without actually leave the palace. “You really think you’ll find something out there?” asked Lightning. “I’m not sure, but I have to take this chance.” “Lightning and I will go with you…” said Starla “Or… rather your puppet.” “I’ll take you there.” said Krysta “All aboard for New Saudi Mareabia.” She teleported them all clear across to the other side of the planet, and they materialized in the hot, sandy desert away from the village. “Whew! Feel that blaze said Starla, and she and Lightning clicked on their armors’ cooling systems. “Still, feels good to be traveling again.” said Lightning. “…Better than being cooped up in the palace or at home all day.” The graveyard was just a little ways ahead of them, up the sandy hills, and all four of them had wide-eyes. “That’s the graveyard?” asked Krysta. The sight of it made Celestia shudder, “We lost many good ponies over the years, with or without monster attacks. Living in the desert can be harsh.” Lightning felt that especially, he had traversed many deserts and wastelands while wandering on his own after his planet, Harmonious, was destroyed. Celestia remembered the message from the letter. “We have to search the graveyard, and I think I know who we’re searching for… …Follow me.” Heeding their queen’s hunch, the trio followed her puppet into the sandy cemetery. Back on Dragonia… Rarity and Spike had removed their armored suits, but kept their pants, and Rarity was permitted to keep her boots, and especially her undershirt; refusing to show her bare chest! She and Spike stood at the end of a large dueling platform, glaring up at Scarlight, and he glared down at them, snickering at the thought of crushing them both like pebbles beneath his huge feet. “SCARLIGHT!! SCARLIGHT!! SCARLIGHT!!” The dragons continued to chant for their champion. “Remember…!” sneered Scarlight “If either of you use so much as a speck of magic, you automatically lose, and then… I get to roast you.” Rarity gulped, but quickly shook off her fear and looked ready to go, so did her husband. Varos then declared, “...This contest only ends when one side has been downed! BEGIN!!” He booming voice shook the underground. Scarlight let out a huge fiery ball from his mouth at the two fighters. They both zipped away, causing the blast to hit the ground making a big explosion. “What?!” bellowed Scarlight. The dragon crowds and Varos couldn’t believe their eyes either, and especially at what happened then… Spike and Rarity appeared straight in before the dragon’s huge face-- they were still allowed to fly. Scarlight tried to snap his huge jaws at them, but they zipped up, making him miss. “Here I come…!” shouted Spike, and he soared down, aiming a powerful punch… …WHAMM!! Right in Scarlight’s huge face, making the dragon roar and actually fall over on his side. The dragons all gasped in horrors! “Take this!” hollered Rarity as she kicked the mighty dragon in the side, rolling him over. Scarlight couldn’t believe; these little twerps were many times smaller than he was, yet they just did him harm with strength that matched his own. Still, he was far from beaten. With a swing of his tail, he batted Rarity hard knocking her hard to the ground. “Rarity!” cried Spike. WHAMM!! That’s when he got hit himself by Scarlight’s huge fist, and he slammed on the platform too. The dragons cheered for their champion again, especially when the dust settled and the two fighters lay face down in the two craters made by their crash. They didn’t move an inch, but they did wink their eyes and one another. The dragons hollered and called to Scarlight… “Finish them!” “Squash them!” “Burn them to cinders!” Scarlight, stomped his way over, and raised his huge foot to crush the fighters like flies. “DIE…!!” he shouted as he brought his foot down, only for Spike and Rarity to suddenly snap upright, and actually push back on his foot in a huge struggled. “This can’t be!!” groaned Scarlight as he tried to gain control, but the two fighters gave him a huge shove, sending him back a few paces. Spike and Rarity glared him down, growling like the dragons they were, and smoke seeping through their nostrils. “This is remarkable!” thought Scarlight “I’ve never seen such strengths, and in tiny beings. I must sample more.” While it was traditional to fight within the area, he knew they would need more space. He spread out his huge wings and began to fly upward declaring, “We shall finish this duel on the surface!” While many of the dragons, and Varos were confused by his attitude, Spike and Rarity agreed to follow him-- mainly to get out of the underground, and take their chance to destroy he generator. “Chieftain!” cried a dragon “This cannot be allowed.” Varos knew his position as Chieftain, to uphold the law and rules, but he, himself, couldn’t begin to think of missing a fight like this. Scarlight burst through the open ground and zoomed up into the sky with Spike and Rarity on his tail. Scarlight then came to a stop while still flapping his wings and breathed his fireballs in a massive barrage. “Look out!!” shouted Spike, and he and Rarity began to swerve and dodge the flames, until Rarity barely got nicked by a fireball, which burned off a small portion of her mane! Spike gasped in horror, while Scarlight snickered… …And Rarity, her face turned red and steamed a pot on the stove. “YOU… RUINED… MY… MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANE!!!” She let out a massive dragon roar, which actually shook the skies and the lands below. Even Spike was surprised, but he called over to Scarlight, “Now you’re in for it!” Rarity rocketed straight at Scarlight. He breathed more flame-balls at her, which she dodged effortlessly while continuing forth, and slammed head first into his massive dragon gut. Scarlight groaned ever so painfully as he flew backwards, but managed to tail-swat Rarity hard back into Spike. Scarlight managed to straighten himself up, and he was infuriated. “You both are quite strong, but there is a reason why I am Champion of Dragonia, and now, you are about to see why; for I am going to unleash my most devastating flame of all.” He wasn’t kidding, the way his eyes began to glow with a blazing light, and he drew in a long and very deep breath. Rather than get ready to dodge, Spike and Rarity fluttered in midair, and held hands. Scarlight then unleashed his biggest and baddest fire blast straight at them. As the blazing blast headed straight for them; Spike and Rarity took in huge breaths, and unleashed their own fiery flames-- green for Spike, and white for Rarity. The flames combined together into a spiraling wave that flew straight at the massive oncoming flame, and despite its small size, the flames collided together, resulting in a big explosion, which threw all the fighters back hard. Rarity and Spike went sailing through the air, and Scarlight-- he crashed down, down to the ground, right on top of the generator, smashing it to bits and ceasing the evil energy flow. Spike and Rarity felt out of breath as they softly landed on the ground. “We did it…” Spike said “We crushed the generator. We can go now.” Rarity then whimpered, “Um… I’m not so sure of that, dear.” The dragons had surrounded them all, and they didn’t look pleased at all. “How could they beat Scarlight?” “I say we crush them!” “Yeah, let’s get them now!” They could have, Scarlight not bolted upright and growled, “…You will do no such thing!” The dragons all began to quiver at his mightiness. Then Scarlight glared at the two fighters as if he wanted to brawl some more, but really, he bowed to them. “…I concede. You win.” Now the dragons were all shocked and appalled even more, forcing Scarlight to roar at them all to shut up! “In all my ages as Champion, I have never seen such strengths, such willingness. …Such honor.” The dragons gasped. “I agree…” bellowed the voice of Varos, and he stuck his enormous head through the ground. “It is also quite obvious, even to me, that Scarlight would have been defeated by these two. Therefore, I can accept that they do seem to possess levels of honor in their own way, but this does not mean our ways of lift have changed either. We are still dragons, and bound by our ways of tradition.” The dragons cheered and hollered, while Spike and Rarity could only sulk in dismay, but at least they were finally given their freedom to leave the planet. As the two headed off into space for their next assignment, Rarity was still feeling grumpy. “Well, I’ve had my share of meeting rather strange beings, but that certainly takes another piece of the cake.” She was still peeved that her mane was still charred, and she began to throw one of her hysterical fits, “Look at me. I’m positively hideou-ha-ha-ha-ous!” All Spike could do was sigh and roll with it. “I just hope we can go home soon.” Back at home, the gang had combed over a lot of gravestones in the sands, but finally Celestia found what she had been looking for… …A single gravestone with the names “Firelight” and “Starpoint” carved into it. “Oh, my…” she said deeply “These were the names of Starlight’s parents.” The others all expressed deep looks at one another. “So they’re dead.” said Lightning. Starla scanned the rock with her visor, “And for a long time, too. This rock is over twenty years old.” Krysta clenched her wand tightly. “They died when Starlight was very little. That could explain a lot.” Celestia agreed, and while she wasn’t certain if this was what the secret letter told her to look for, she was convinced that this was a large reason towards Starlight’s insanity. “Quite sad, isn’t it!” called a familiar voice. The group turned and saw Starlight standing at the end of the path. “My ears are burning. You’ve been talking about me, haven’t you?” and she fired a strong blast from her horn forcing everyone to dodge. “So now you know, Celestia… my parents are dead, and it’s all because of you!!” She recalled her past. After being exiled from the main continent, she and her folks were hoping to settle down in Saudi Mareabia for a spell while searching for a better home. Her parents then stepped out one day to do business with some merchants, and found a sitter to watch for Starlight. …But her parents never returned. Starlight knew something had to be wrong, and soon she got the word that her parents had been killed. They’re bodies were brought back to the village, where they were buried in the sandy graveyard. Celestia felt just horrible. “Starlight… I--” was all she could say before she was cut off. “Don’t look so innocent!” Starlight bellowed. “After my parents were buried, I was about to be put in the Mareabian Orphans Home, but the past many nights I would come here to visit my folks at their grave, and I vowed to find whoever was responsible for their deaths and make them pay… …Not that I couldn’t already guess…” she said while glaring at Celestia. She recalled how on one night, it was freezing cold in the desert at night when she came to see her parents’ grave, still enraged and saddened by their death. That’s when he came to her… Lord Titan. It wasn’t actually him. At the time, he was still trapped on The Dark Planet by Grand ruler Celesto’s barrier, he still able to project an image of himself to contact her. “Do you truly wish to avenge the death of your parents?” he asked her. “I can help you achieve that.” “You can? How?” the little filly asked. “Trust me. Allow me to lead and guide, and I will help you develop powers and skills that will make you invincible.” Anyone in Starlight’s position then couldn’t possibly resist such a temptation. After all she had been through, it would not only feel great to avenge her parents, but also to get revenge on her ruined life. “Show me!” she insisted. The images faded into the present. “Lord Titan took me under his wing. He trained me well, and now look at me. I’m stronger, and more powerful than even you could hope to be, Celestia!” Celestia’s features hardened. “I am sorry that your parents died, but I cannot be held responsible for it.” Starlight barked back at her, “If you hadn’t exiled me and my family, this never would have happened! The full blame rests with you, and thanks to Lord Titan and all that he’s done for me, I WILL have my revenge!” “You won’t!” snapped Lightning, stepping in front of the puppet, “Not if we have anything to say of it!” Starla and Krysta stood with him, and Starla scolded, “You were a fool to trust in Titan, Starlight, and if you continue on this path, we promise it will only end worse for you than ever.” Starlight wished to hear no more of their chattering, and as she already knew the Celestia with them was unreal… “Lord Titan is growing stronger as the time passes. Soon he will be fully revived, and when he is… it is YOU ALL who shall face your worst end. …THAT IS A PROMISE!!” And she laughed as she vanished and was gone. “That’s it… run away from the truth!” yelled Krysta. “WE’LL STOP YOU YET!!” Lightning and Starla agreed, but they, like Celestia still couldn’t help but feel a little hurt for Starlight, now that they knew the truth. “We better get back…” Celestia suggested “We have much to consider.” With that, Krysta teleported everyone back to main continent. Once the coast was clear, Specter popped out from hiding in the shadows, having overheard everything that transpired, and all he could do was snicker wickedly. (Promo) In our next episode: Lightning is in for the shock of his life on his birthday, when Dyno and Myte return to inform them of a planet one the verge of exploding; a planet that is highly identical to Lightning’s Birth Planet, and he must convince the stubborn, yet highly devout aliens to evacuate without causing great problems. Can Lightning convince the aliens to heed his advice, and how will all of this affect Lightning himself emotionally? Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!” (Next Episode: “Faith of the Blind”)