//------------------------------// // Episode 15: Faith of the Blind // Story: My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic Season X // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// EPISODE FIFTEEN Onboard Spider-Base… Specter told Razor and Waverline what he had learned about Starlight’s past. Razor couldn’t help but chuckle. “She’s all wigged out because her parents bit the dust?” “Aw… poor dear.” remarked Waverline, in a very sarcastic tone. Specter felt the same, “Nevertheless, we mustn’t let her know that we know. This knowledge could prove to be most advantageous… for us.” “Yeah.” agreed Razor as he ran his finger across the side of his blades. “Starlight acts pretty tough and she still has no idea of what it means to be truly evil.” Waverline flicked her hair, “Positively disgraceful.” The big doors opened wide, and there stood Starlight, with her hands on her hips, and a cross expression on her face which made the minions cringe. “And just what are you three up too?” she scolded them. She obviously hadn’t heard their conversation, but the minions had to think of something fast, and Razor said, “We, uh… we were just… getting ready. To… take the Darquines down to the surface… and, er… attack Celestia again.” “Then get going already!” bellowed Starlight “And don’t blow it!” “Yes, Miss…” said Specter. The minions headed off, and Waverline complained softly to Razor, “Nice going.” “What? It was all I could think of.” he whispered back. Starlight could only narrow her eyes as the minions walked off, and then she turned on her heal and went back out the door. Meanwhile, it had been a rainy morning, and Pinkie Pie was entering her seventh month of pregnancy, but she was now on official leave. Doctor Penny had ordered her not to go into battle, even though her droid, and get plenty of rest. She just stood by her bedroom window, looking out at the rain while stroked her bloated belly, and wishing the baby was born. She felt really bored with her diet, and not feeling like her usually hyper-self in a long time. She missed her friends while they were still out in Space, and spending her days in bed now was getting to be a drag. …But today, something else was on her mind, which made her sad. There was a knock at the door… “Come in…” she called in a low tone. Her Dear Apple Spice came in with a beautiful breakfast tray of foods he had prepared for her. “What are you doing out bed, honey?” he asked her tenderly. His wife sighed, “Just wanted to get up for a bit. The doctor says it’s okay.” Spice placed the tray down and moved over to his wife, holding her softly and pecking her cheek, and she held his hands in a way she did when she was sad or worried about something. “What’s on your mind?” Spice asked. She hesitated to tell, but she revealed, it was Lightning Dawn’s birthday. “Oh… I see…” said Spice. He knew fully well Lightning didn’t like celebrating his birthday because of what happened to him many, many years ago, on his fifth birthday…! Far off in New Canterlot, the rain was pouring gently, and Lightning was standing in a cemetery, and placing a wreath of flowers on a fancy monument dedicated to the Planet Harmonious, and all those who perished with it, including his parents. “Hi Mom… Dad…” he said softly at the monument. “I think about you all the time, and everyone else, and I always wish you were here with me. I think you’d really love Starla, and Shining Light.” He closed his eyes tightly, and he visualized that horrible day-- his planet was attacked, he was hurled into space by his dying mother, and the planet just blew up before his eyes. The past was gone, but the memories would always remain, and they would never stop hurting. He wasn’t the only one grieving… Starla was at a special stone that honored her own parents, whom she missed as dearly as Lightning missed his own. Then there was Cadance and Shining Armor, paying tribute to the relatives they had lost… Fratello, Twilight, and their stillborn son, Amando… It was hard to tell which of them-- Cadance, or Shining Armor-- were more heartbroken than the other, but it was no contest; not for anyone. The rain slowly stopped pouring, and the sunlight began to peek through, but the ponies continued to silently grieve. Suddenly, Krysta appeared. “Lightning…” she hollered. “Sorry to bother you, but their majesties want you to report to the palace, all of you. It’s urgent.” The group all huddled together, and Krysta teleported everyone to the throne room where their majesties were waiting, and surprisingly… “Dyno and Myte?” exclaimed Lightning “What are you two doing here?” Not wasting any time, the twins came right to the point. “We need your help, Lightning.” said Dyno. “Si, and right now…!” added Myte. “What do you need him for?” asked Starla. “We’d like to know too.” said Grand Ruler. “How important is it that you had to come rushing back?” added Celestia. The twins calmly explained… While on their mission, they discovered a planet in Unexplored Space from where dark power was being emitted from. This planet was called Blisstonia, and as the name implied, the people of the planet were peaceful, kind-hearted, and very devout in hopes, beliefs, and miracles. Lightning’s ears twitched, and his insides suddenly began turning in a strange way. “That planet sounds and awful lot like Harmonious once was.” Dyno nodded at him, “Believe us it was, the Blisstonians were a peaceful race of aliens, much like you’re people used to be-- No magic, no weapons, not even any high levels of technology. It was all just simple, plain, and quiet.” Myte agreed, “…That is, until Titan and his hombres came and did their dirty work.” The twins continued to explain, that the defenseless Blistonians were helpless and unable to fight back. As a result: They were enslaved, forced to mine the soils of their planet to conjure more dark power for Titan’s forces, and work the generator. The Twins had arrived and made short work of those bad guys. The Darquines were all roasted to ash, and the monsters were soon forced to destroy themselves when the Twins crushed the generator. The Blisstonians were eternally grateful for their heroics, and honored them as true miracles and heroes, but the celebration was only short-lived when the planet was shaken by earthquakes. The grounds broke open with fissures, mountains began to collapse…! The Twins used their equipment to observe the activity within the planet’s core, and as expert geologists, they determined that the evil energy caused by Titan’s goons caused a great disturbance within the planet’s core-- the materials within the core combined with the dark energy were highly combustible and caused the instability and deterioration. The Twins didn’t have to go on. “You mean the planet is going to explode?!” cried Cadance. The Twins nodded regretfully. “That’s not even funny.” wailed Shining Armor. Their majesties bolted up onto their thrones with the deepest concern, now realizing what the Twins were getting at. “We’ll notify the refuge planets immediately.” said Grand Ruler. “Alert the rescue teams too; emergency planetary evacuation.” added Celestia. “I’ll get my fairies together. We’ll help with the transporting.” said Krysta. “…Wait a minute!!” Lightning yelled, and everyone came to a dead standstill. “What does all this have to do with me?” “We need your help really bad.” replied Dyno. “The people of the planet know they are in danger, but they feel they don’t have to leave.” “What? Why?” asked Krysta. Myte explained, “We told you, they are believers in miracles, and devout in the power of faith and hope. They believe that their faith will heal their planet and stop the danger.” Everyone, especially Lightning, were aghast by this. “We need you to come back with us.” said Dyno. “We need you to help convince the Blistonians that they need to evacuate.” “You’ve been through a situation like this before,” added Myte “Maybe they’ll understand better.” Lightning didn’t know whether to feel proud or sick. He wasn’t angry with his friends of course, but all this talk about a blissful planet, and stubborn beings refusing help reminded him too much of his past and brought him much pain. Still, his decision was easy. “I’ll do it!” He gave sharp looks at everyone else, knowing they would probably object to him going out into space, what with his reduced age. “I’m going, and that’s final. I have to try and help those people!” He began to have flashbacks of the time Harmonious was breaking up. “We were all helpless, and no amount of faith or believing to could save us. I was saved by a stroke of fate, not a miracle. No one should have to go through the pain trauma that I did.” He shut his eyes and clenched his fists supressing his inner pain and anguish. To his delight, nobody had any objections to his willing to go at all. Not even Starla, “…But I’m going too. In case Lightning can’t convince the people to leave…” she paused and almost regretted what she was going to suggest. “We may have to initiate Code 42-B.” Code 42-B was a Starfleet authorization stating that if and when people stubbornly refused evacuation, the soldiers were authorized to use force, but only if totally necessary-- when all other methods were tried and failed. “We must not allow an innocent race of peaceful beings to perish.” declared Grand Ruler. “How long do we have?” The twins estimated from their calculations that Blisstonia would explode by sundown, by United Equestria’s standard time. Celestia looked outside the window at the sun peeking through the parting rainclouds. “It’s gone Midday already.” The Twins stiffened. “That doesn’t leave much time.” said Dyno. Myte agreed, “Six hours at the most, and the planet is so far from here-- on the other side of the galaxy. It’ll take us an hour to get there by pathway.” “Let’s go, Now!” snapped Lightning. He was kidding. He was already super anxious, and almost panicking. Suddenly, the red alarm sounded. “Oh, not now…!” groaned Lightning. Captain Shaina rushed into the throne room. “The henchmen are attacking!” she hollered “They’ve brought an army of Darquines with them.” Shining Armor stepped forth. “We’ll go take care of the chumps.” Cadance agreed with her husband. “You guys get going and save that planet.” The team agreed, and Krysta then prepared to teleport Lightning and the others off into Deep Space, promising to join them once she got her fairies all together. “The rescue teams will join you momentarily as well.” said Grand Ruler. “Good luck to you all.” He said that to everyone, but seemed to aim it more at Lightning, still feeling concern for him. “Let’s go!” said Lightning. Krysta teleported everyone off, and they rocketed off into space, on a magical pathway. “I’m not going to let those people die!” Lightning thought along the way. While Grand Ruler and Celestia organized and gathered the rescue teams and prepared to send them off with Krysta and her fairies… Cadance and Shining Armor transformed… “Go-Go Ninja…!” “Mask of Saber…!” Then, they along with the armed soldiers headed outside to confront the Darquines and the henchmen. “About time you showed up.” Specter hissed “We were hoping to have destroyed you all by now.” Cadance clenched her fists, and Saber clenched all six of his fists. “Let’s get’ em!” he bellowed. The fight was on. The knights and the soldiers made fast work of all those Darquines. “Oh, yeah…take this, all of you!” shouted Razor. “FLY CUTTERS” he unleashed his blades into the air. “DISTORTION FORCE” Waverline cast her power on the blades, empowering them with the energy. “STRIDENT SHOCKWAVE” Saber fired his electricity, and Cadance added by throwing a wave of shurikens, straight at the oncoming projectiles… …But surprisingly, the blasts cut straight through the barrage, and made their way over to the army, making big explosions and showers of sparks fly. “How do you like our new combo, attack?” teased Waverline. “I like it very much.” snickered Razor. He then called over to the fighters, “You chumps are in for the fight of your life now.” “We’re not scared.” bellowed Saber. Cadance stood beside him, and with the soldiers in back. Specter snickered and said, “Well… you ought to be.” with his eyes glowing with dark power as he shrouded himself in aura, ready to attack. When Lightning and co finally arrived on the Planet Blisstonia, the first impression left Lightning feeling faint… …The lush green meadows, the pure clear waters, and the brightness of the skies with beautiful mountains in the distance. …It was almost exactly like his home planet… come back from the dead. The Twins and Starla felt awful for him, suspecting he’d react like this. Suddenly, a large tremor hit, shaking the lands. Trees fell over, cliff faces shattered, and small fissures opened where the gang stood, snapping him out of his trance. “Jump!” shouted Starla, and everyone leapt up into the air. “Ay-Ay-Ay! I don’t want to think how close that was.” panted Dyno. “We’ve got to start evacuation before things get worse.” said Myte. “Soon there will be gas pockets blowing fire jets everyone, and the ground will collapse like crackers.” The Twins led their friends to the main village, which was composed of simple houses, with thatched rooves, and all the Blisstonians were just going about their lives normally. The Blisstonians were a race of humanoid aliens, and each one had a different colored skin, almost like the ponies did. They wore different colored robes with sashes and oriental-like designs-- almost like that of a religious cult. Adults were gardening, fishing, mining, some even worked as carpenters, or teachers and instructors, while children would assist their parents or those who asked them, or spend their time playing with their friends. Some of them looked up. “Our saviours have returned!” “Our prayers were answered again.” They all dropped what they were doing and began to bow, in prayer-like trances at the group. The Twins sighed in dismay. “They’ve been doing this ever since we saved them.” said Dyno. Myte nodded, “They treat us like we’re some sort of miracles sent from above. I suppose in a way, we are.” Just then, a soft fanfare was heard-- by flutes rather than horns-- and the villagers began to clear away. “What’s happening?” asked Lightning. “It’s her…” replied Dyno. “It’s the Grand High Priestess. She rules here.” added Myte “She’s the one you need to speak with.” The Grand High Priestess was brought onto the scene, in a chariot, pulled by two strong Blisstonian males. She stepped out, and what a beautiful creature she was. Her name was Mandia: She had pale white skin, with long, flowing blonde hair that shimmered in the sunlight. She wore a white robe with large, floppy sleeves, and golden strips around the cuffs, and over the shoulders, and done up with a matching golden sash. She had silver bracelets around her wrists, and around her neck she was wearing a beautiful necklace, with a pendant in the shape of a golden sun with a halo over it. She was followed by two girls, roughly about the same age as the adult ponies. These were her daughters, Primm and Prei. Primm was the eldest, and Prei was a year younger. Unlike their mother, one had long black hair, and the other had long brown hair, but still long and shimmering in the light. Primm wore a red robe with blue edgings, and Prei wore a lilac robe, with purple edgings. Each of the girls wore a medallion just like their mother. Their eyes lit up when they saw the twins, but they remained by their mother’s side as they joined her in bowing to the group. “O’ saviours from the heavens…” said Mandia “You have returned as we had prayed you would. Does this mean you have reconsidered-- that you will live with us, and wed my daughters?” Starla and Lightning winced in shock, and the two daughters looked up at the twins with soft, yet serious expressions, and trying not to blush. The Twins only held their hands to their heads in aggravation. “No, actually…” said Dyno. The two girls looked disappointed. Myte then said, “We wanted you to meet some friends of ours…” and he motioned over to Lightning and Starla. The crowds of Blisstonians were astounded. “They have friends?” “The heavens are bursting with miracles.” Starla and Lightning stepped forth and saluted. “Commander Lightning Dawn: Starfleet.” “General Starla Shine: Starfleet.” The Blisstonians didn’t even question Lightning’s age for a commander, for the believed miracles worked in mysterious ways, and were not beings to quickly judge. Lightning stepped towards Mandia. “As you know and as I have been told, your planet is in severe danger.” “Yes, so we have been told, and we realize this.” replied Mandia. Starla came forth. “We’ll come straight to the point. We are here to urge you all to prepare to evacuate your planet, at once.” Mandia shook her head, “We will not leave, and there is no need to. We are devout race-- firm believers in miracles, and the power of faith. We shall heal our planet through prayer.” Just then, there was another tremor that shook the lands, and it felt stronger than the previous. The Blisstonians were a little shaken by the tremor, but brushed it all off and acted completely unfazed as if nothing had happened. They just folded their hands, got on their knees, and prayed silently… …Which Lightning and Starla found totally ridiculous. “You mean this is it?” asked Starla. “You’re not going to do anything about it, but just pray and hope your planet will heal itself.” Primm looked up and explained, “We Blisstonians have always been guided by faith, and are upholders to the heavens light.” Prei nodded and added, “So many times we have prayed to the heavens for the miracles to lead and protect us in dire times, and they have always worked. When our mother fell ill with disease, we had prayed for cures, and we discovered the herbs needed to do so.” Primm then explained, “When our crops began to fail, we prayed to the weather, and our prayers were answered once more as the rains returned.” Mandia herself then spoke, “And just recently, during our enslavement, there was not a single Blisstonian that would not pray and hope for a miracle to save us from our troubles….” she then cast a look at the twins. “Again, our prayers were answered. You both saved us from our troubles, and you drove the evil away. It is also a noble tradition, that such strong and noble beings should stay with us, and be wedded to my daughters as a symbolic preservation and honouring thanks to the answering of our prayers.” From the looks of bashfulness on the girls’ faces, they were already madly in love with the twins despite the traditions. As flattered as the twins would be, they could only groan at the ignorance of this display. “I ask you again…” Mandia asked to the twins “Will you heavenly saviours stay, and will you marry my daughters? We will honour you both with the most graciousness we have to offer, and you will be treated as gods.” The girls, again, looked up at the twins with hopeful and loving expressions. Despite the great temptations, and the glories lives they could lead; the twins, once again, refused, which disappointed the girls, and their mother greatly. Lightning then addressed Mandia, “I’m sorry to have to do this to you… believe me, I understand your devotion to your beliefs… but you are wrong; your planet will not and cannot be healed by blind faith!” Mandia, her daughters, and all the Blisstonians gasped in horror and slight outrage. “Please, hear me out…” Lightning said… He cringed softly as his memories came to back to him; nevertheless, he explained to everyone about Planet Harmonious, and how it doomed, and all the praying and all the faith and hope did not save it. The Blisstonians were very horrified to hear such a story, and Lightning did all he could to supress his pain, which burned in his stomach like fire. “I was saved by an act of my mother’s strength, and then later by meeting my future mentor, Grand Ruler Celesto.” Lightning continued. “It was a stroke of fate, not a miracle.” “I am very sorry of the loss of your people…” said Mandia, “I understand how it must feel to lose those whom you love. My mate who fathered my daughters, he succumbed to the same illness I had long ago. We had not the proper cure yet, and despite all our prayers, he died.” A small tear fell from her eye, and her daughters looked sad too. The ponies felt sorry for them, but began to hope that maybe she was starting to understand the sense they were talking about. Sadly, their hopes were dashed… “Our prayers were not strong then, so no miracle had occurred… but I still believe our planet will be healed; if we all pitch in together. Together, with our faiths so strong, we will be spared.” “Ay! Ay! Ay!” groaned Dyno. “Esto es ridículos! *This is ridiculous!*” mumbled Myte. Starla was livid and came up to say, “You’ve got to believe us! There will be no miracle. No answered prayer! You’re planet will be destroyed in a matter of hours, and we’ve come to get you off it before it does.” By this time, Blisstonians were beginning to question the ponies, wondering how visitors and saviours from the heavens that they prayed for be acting like such heathens. “You obviously aren’t as firm as we are in the art of believing.” said Mandia. “Oh, yes we are…” protested Lightning “We believe in a lot of things, like trusting in ourselves to keep going even when all seems hopeless, but that’s not the same with what you’re doing. You’re just wishing for your planet to stop destroying itself, and we assure you, that won’t happen. Please… just let us help you. Spare your lives from certain extinction.” The stubborn aliens refused once more, insisting their faith was all they needed. Lightning lowered his head in shame. His eyes were shut tight, and his fists were quivering, and more horrible images of his home planet he could see… The ponies screaming and perishing in the explosions, the rockslides, and being swallowed up by the ground… Suddenly, another tremor snapped him awake. This tremor was so great that it caused trees to topple down, ponds and rivers began to drain due to small, but deep crevasses splitting open, and even the village houses were starting to look like they would fall apart under the stress if it continued. Lightning looked back at his friends, and they all nodded in agreement, though reluctantly. “We tried to reason with you…” he said softly. “…But you leave us all no choice.” At that split second, more portals opened and backup arrived-- the rescue teams and Krysta with her fairies-- had arrived. The Blisstonians were astounded, and once again confused the army for more miracles. Lightning was not about to sit by and let these good-natured people perish. With a heavy heart, he called to the soldiers, “Initiate Code 42-B.” The soldiers saluted, and the first thing that happened was Krysta orders her fairies to conjure up many portals to appear. “What are you doing?!” cried Mindia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6RuFLKFuuc Her only answer was the soldiers going about, and capturing every single Blisstonian, and imprisoning them within spheres. The Blisstonians had no way to resist, nowhere to run and hide, Starfleet even broke into their homes and rounded up everyone. Krysta and her team of fairies then scoured the planet, rounding up every single bird, animal, or living thing they could sense and find, wanting them to be protected too. Bit-by-bit, those who were captured where put into special containment cases that could hold many sphere, which were taken by other solders, through the portals, clear across Space to the Starfleet refuge planets. The evacuations sure took some time, especially with the Blisstonians running away, trying to hide and resist going, the animals of the planet as well. It also wasn’t made easy by the many earthquakes, rockslides, and fissures occurring as the planet continued to fall apart from deep within, and time was running out! Lightning, Starla and the Twins helped as best they could. By the planet’s nightfall, just as the twins had calculated, gas pockets began to erupt from the ground causing massive flames to shoot up into the sky as the planet’s crust began to crumple. Starla, Lightning, and the twins all regrouped. “All the teams have left.” said Starla “The planet should be totally evacuated.” “Not totally…” Lightning said while pointing at Mindira and her daughters; the only Blisstonians left on the entire planet. The three ladies were gawking rather tearfully at their dying planet all around them. They could not believe this was happening, but they couldn’t believe even more that their prayers had failed. The Twins stood behind them, and much as they felt sorry for them, and hated themselves for what they were about to do… …They joined their hands and performed their finisher, “BOOM-BOOM FLARE!!” The ladies looked behind them at the oncoming flames, that magically, but harmlessly consumed them, and imprisoned the three of them in spheres, and then quickly rounded them up. “Let’s beat it out of here!” hollered Dyno. The grounds began to erupt like geysers, shooting gas and flames coming straight at the group. “…NOW!!” shouted Myte. “Krysta, quick!” called Lightning. Krysta nodded and raised her wand, “Alright, hang on…! HERE WE GO!!” and she transported everyone into Space just in time… …the entire area, where they stood, collapsed and erupted into massive flame blasts, consuming the entire village and all the homes. As the friends all zoomed off along the magic pathway, Lightning turned and looked back at the planet, getting smaller and smaller in the distance, and then… …It happened!! The planet exploded in a massive blast, leaving nothing behind by clouds of dust, and bits of debris that fell into the system’s sun. The sight of the explosion really brought pain to his heart and tears to his eyes; it was like watching Harmonies blow up all over again! The pain was so overbearing that he felt woozy and nearly strayed from the path and fell into Space, but Starla kept close and held him; embracing him softly. Soon, everyone arrived on Refugee Planet 5, where all the Blisstonians had been released from the spheres, and were all being fed and tended to, and even comforted by the soldiers. The poor aliens were heartbroken at the loss of their planet, but even more so by the fact that their prayers just weren’t enough and they had nearly perished along with their planet. Mandia and her daughters were the most downtrodden. They didn’t think they bring themselves even to eat, when Starla and the twins brought them food on trays. “You should eat, you know.” said Starla “You’ve been through a bad ordeal.” The ladies looked up sadly and softly took the trays, but they still made no attempt to eat. “We have been so foolish.” said Primm. “We trusted in faith to save us, and it didn’t.” added Prei. Mindia clasped her pendant, and almost looked as if she was willing to throw it away, renouncing her faith and any forum of it too. “Don’t do it.” said Dyno. She looked up at him and his friends and said, “…Our faith has failed us, and our planet is gone. You were correct all the time; it’s foolish to trust in mere faith alone.” “Don’t say that!” snapped Myte. “Faith didn’t really fail you, you know.” “How do you figure?” asked Mindia. Starla pointed out, “It was your hopes and your beliefs that something would happen. Like the medicine that came when you were ill. You’re people kept trying, and they discovered the necessities to make it happen.” Mindia never thought of it that way. She had always assumed that all blessings came from the heavens. “Maybe in ways… they did.” said Dyno “You prayed and wished for someone to help you while you were in danger, and me and my brother came.” Myte nodded, “Si… and you did pray and hope for your survival. Even though the planet was lost, your prayers were still answered; we all helped you escape.” “And we’ll continue to help you.” added Starla “We’ll find you all a new planet where you can live and start your lives over. See…? Faith hasn’t really failed you.” The ladies looked right up and felt small faith returning to them. They still had to get over the tragedy of losing their whole world, as did their people, but it was a little comforting to know all was not totally lost. “Thank you…” said Mindia “We will learn from this, and perhaps when we settle in on our new planet, we will try harder not to leave all things up to faith, and try and discover things for ourselves.” The ponies smiled proudly, but Primm and Prei looked up at the twins sadly. “Won’t you both come with us?” Primm asked kindly. “We’d love it if you would.” added Prei. The twins hated to do it, but they refused. “Lo siento mucho. *I’m so sorry*. We just can’t.” said Dyno. “We were glad to help you,” added Myte “But there are others we need to help too. We need to keep fighting and save the galaxy from more problems like this.” As saddened as the girls were, they understood, but then quickly grabbed the twins and pulled them into deep kisses-- not even minding they were pony lips, they still felt humanoid like their own. The boys were shocked, and flailed their arms around in near desperation to break free, which Starla couldn’t help but chuckle at. …But her smile faded as she looked over at Lightning was sitting by himself and looking extremely sore from what happened, and she couldn’t blame him. She walked over and sat next to him. “Are you going to be alright?” she asked. He honestly didn’t know how to answer her, which was why he said nothing. “Look… I know I don’t have to say it, but that wasn’t your planet.” “I know…” he answered softly “But it felt like it. It looked like it… and seeing it blow up like that, it really hurts me, and the worst of it is it happened to today of all days.” Starla felt a bit struck by what he had said. “Why, Starla…?” her husband asked “Why do extremely bad things keep happening to me on my birthday? It feels like I’m cursed or something.” Starla didn’t know to feel hurt for him, or outraged for saying such a thing, until he said, “…I know I’m not really cursed-- bad things happen all the time, especially in Starfleet. …Still, it’s just so hard to live with sometimes, and no amount of praying and hoping will make it better.” His wife sighed, and wrapped her arm around him. “I know how you feel. I miss my folks every day, and I think them all the time.” She paused, and held him close to her, “At least we can feel the same together, and continue to pray to their spirits watching over us.” Lightning didn’t smile, but relaxed calmly in his wife’s arms; almost like a child being comforted by a mother. Soon, the group had to leave. Dyno and Myte had to go off on another mission to destroy another generator, and Lightning, Starla, and Krysta had to go back to United Equestria, leaving the Blisstonians to the refuge workers-- to care for them, and help them find and build a new world. But upon arriving back at New Canterlot Palace-- it was already night, and Princess Luna was there to greet the friends upon arrival… …She looked pretty upset about something. “What’s happened?” asked Lightning. Luna looked up and told the team, “Follow me.” and she led them all to the sickbay, where they found Shining Armor lying in bed and bandaged up after being badly hurt from the battle. Cadance was in tears, and Grand Ruler and Celestia behind her, both deeply concerned. “What happened?” asked Lightning. Cadance looked up and wiped her eyes dry, “It was awful, I nearly lost him!” She recounted how during the battle, the henchmen fought ruthlessly, while the army, led by herself and Shining Armor-- as Saber-- fought valiantly, but the henchmen had discovered ways to combine their abilities to make extra-special attacks, and once which combined all three of their attacks into one incredible strike! “DARK WALL OF WIND” Specter shrouded himself within his dark wind sphere, ready to ram forth, and then his comrades added their power to his. “FLY CUTTERS!” “DISTORTION FORCE” The magic-empowered cutters flowed around Specter sphere at great speeds, like a powerful circular saw. He charged straight at Cadance, after she had all but exhausted herself from such a fierce battle, prompting her husband to heroically shove her out of the way and get rammed instead, resulting in a big explosion. Cadance was horrified, and as the smoke cleared, her beloved husband, no in his regular forum, lay injured on the ground, wounded from head to toe, but still alive. The henchmen, figuring enough was enough, left to fight another day, while Shining Armor was taken to sickbay at once. “He was very lucky,” said Grand Ruler “His injuries were bad, but they have been treated and he will heal, but it will take a few days with hospital treatment.” Celestia agreed, and stated, “Until then, it would be best if he stayed off the battlefield.” Lightning and Starla’s blood turned cold. “That’s terrible.” said Krysta “He’s one of our best defenses.” The couple agreed, but they were ever so glad that at least he would live and get well to fight again. “I’m sorry…” Shining Armor said softly “I feel I let you all down.” “Don’t say that.” sobbed his wife “You saved me, and you’re going to be just fine. I will pray for you.” “Pray…?” muttered Lightning, and remembering the Blisstonians, and that it didn’t hurt to pray a little. “…We’ll all pray for you.” he said to his friend. All the others nodded and agreed with him, which earned them a weak but pleased smile from Shining Armor, and he believed it would hep him heal better. (Promo) In our next episode: Rainbow Dash and Artie’s mission leads them to Artie’s home planet, where he is once again forced to face his parents and their disapproval of him. Meanwhile, Starlight mounts yet another attack on the royal palace as they reinforce their army, with Swift Star joining them, resulting in his first ever confrontation with Starlight, which sparks something when he helps her after she is injured. How will Artie deal with his cynical parents, and how will Starlight react to Swift Star’s sudden kindness? Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!” (Next Episode: “Art of Honour”)