//------------------------------// // Part 1: A Constellation Lost Years Ago // Story: A Dashed Shade Of Red Part 2: Close Encounters Of The Cosmic Kind // by TheSuperTransformerFan //------------------------------// It was a nice day in Ponyville. Everyone was bustling about as Twilight and her friends, Rarity, Pinkie Pie & Spike were out shopping at a few yard sales in town. Twilight was just looking for some things to buy when Spike and Pinkie were tagging along. Pinkie Pie just recently bought a retro pony figure, and wanted to play with it. “Oh! Just look at this!” Pinkie Pie said as she was just going to go to the furniture section to find more merchandise. “Can you BELIEVE ponies are still selling this stuff? I’d keep it forever!” “That’s called ‘hoarding’ and it’s something only dragons do.” Twilight Sparkle said as she was looking around in this sale. Spike felt a little offended by that comment, thinking it was a roast. “Hey...” he started to object. “...you are not wrong. But still...” Just then, Rarity came up to her friends, and she was sporting a necklace with a purple star, reminiscent of Twilight’s cutie mark connected to a blue chain with a gold holder. “Sorry I’m late!” She said to her friends. “I stopped by a jewelry stall when I spotted this, and I simply HAD to have it!” Spike was intrigued by this sparkling star gem, and wanted to eat it. He tried to get at it, but Rarity’s firm voice stopped him. “No. Bad dragon.” She said to him. He retracted his hand. “It’s very pretty Rarity!” Twilight said, really interested in the new gem necklace. “What kind of stone is this?” “I have no idea—“ Rarity said. “I just like the Luster of it. It’s got a lovely shine and the setting...” Pinkie was also interested. “I like that it’s purple! It’s almost pink!” “You know, Twilight...” Rarity was just thinking about giving it to Twilight because it was more her colour. “...seeing it next to you, I really do think it’s much more your style, dear.” “Really?” She asked Rarity. “Why, with all your purple, it was practically made for you!” Rarity happily said, as she took the necklace off her and put it on Twilight’s neck. Twilight was a little surprised but thanked her. “Oh...thank you?” She said curiously. Just then, Twilight’s eyes went pink, glowing with curiosity as a voice whispered to her as if under a spell. “Find the rest!” The voice said to her. “Twilight, are you alright?” Rarity asked her friend. “Do you not like the necklace?” “It’s not that...” the alicorn started to say. “I think we need to call a meeting.” She took a look at the new jewelry Rarity gave her. “Can you go gather everypony up?” “In on it!” Spike saluted her. Leaving Pinkie Pie to just groan in disappointment. Later, the rest of the Mane Six at the Castle of Friendship, Twilight and her friends had already gathered for a emergency meeting. Her friends were curious that Twilight heard a voice with that necklace. Well, except for Rainbow Dash, who was breathing in a major disappointment, regarding what had happened earlier with the Power Rangers, and Devon’s Dad. Twilight’s fast friend was troubled about that particular moment. But, the rest of the ponies doubted her. “So, NONE of you hear a voice when you put on that necklace?” Twilight asked her friends. “Nope.” Applejack told her. Rainbow Dash was breathing hard, and sadly not paying any attention, still concentrating about earlier. “Well, I bet Rainbow would say that you’re an overworked egghead, and hearing things and you should take a break.” Pinkie Pie joked, saying it for Rainbow. Twilight was a little ticked. “Harde har har, Pinkie!” She said, stressed. “Well, Put it on again, Twilight.” Applejack suggested. “Tell us exactly what you hear.” “I don’t think she should put on the necklace again if it’s going to talk to her.” Fluttershy said, feeling unsure and wanting to stay on the safe side. “It seems unwise.” “I wore it for almost 20 minutes before I gave it to Twilight, and I’m fine.” Rarity said to her friends. “It’s just jewelry.” Spike had some thoughts about it. “You know I have a solution that will make whole thing just go away...” he suggested. “All I need is a little bit of salt and lemon juice.” Twilight stopped him. “There will be NO digestion involved.” She then noticed Rainbow, who had not been paying attention at all about this discussion, and was totally looking down at the ground and got a little stressed. She threw a nearby ball at her head to get her attention. “Rainbow Dash! Did you even pay attention at all about that star necklace I was talking to the others about?” “Huh? What?” The Wonderbolt looked up, and saw her Princess friend giving her a death glare. She sighed. “Oh, sorry, Twilight.” She said sadly. “I guess my mind’s still set on Devon’s Dad.” Twilight heard this, and understood what she was talking about. “Yeah?” She asked. “What about it?” “Well, after we found out that the Storm King possessed him, Devon was shocked about his dad, and none of us knew that would happen.” Rainbow said dismally. “And, now he’s right in front of all the Morph-X that the Rangers could provide.” She sighed. “I just wish that hadn’t happened after Steel and I brought Zoey and Nate together. What are we going to do about it?” "Don't fret none, Rainbow!” Applejack said to her understanding. “We’ll still have a chance to save your friend’s dad. You’ll see.” She smiled at her friend, as did the others who all felt the same comforting feeling for her about her recent calamity. “I know!” Pinkie added. “I didn’t know that the meanie pants Storm King would transform into the Mayor of Coral Harbor, like he’s Queen Chrysalis’ brother.” “Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said to her in her kind motherly tone. “We’ll help you and your friend get his Dad back.” “Agreed, Darling.” Rarity added as well. “We will help you...of course, we need to figure out how we’re going to block all that energy from him.” “I’m sure we’ll find a solution to your friend, Rainbow.” Twilight said, smiling, before getting back to serious. “But right now, we need to figure out what that strange voice in my necklace is all about.” She put the necklace back on, and heard that voice again. “Find the rest...it keep saying to ‘find the rest’”. Just then, a map shot out of the star necklace out of nowhere, and projected it in front of the mane six. Her friends all saw it. “Neat!” Pinkie said. “What...what IS it?” Rainbow Dash asked, now surprised. “Surely SOMEPONY that spends so much time in the CLOUDS knows what the STARS like!” Applejack said after seeing that constellation. Twilight took a good look at the star map. “I know those stars...” she said. And right there and then, she recognized what the pattern was, as her eyes widened, and a huge grin spread across her face. “We gotta tell the Rangers!” At Grid Battleforce, Devon was pacing around the interior like a madman, wondering what to do. It had been just recently, that the Rangers, along with their allies, found out about the secret regarding Mayor Daniels and the Storm King being one in the same, and Devon needed a plan. The only problem was, he didn’t know what to come up with for that plan! “I can’t believe the Storm King took over my Dad!” Devon said, distressed. “We gotta find a way to get him back, before he’s lost forever!” “Don’t worry, Devon.” Ravi said, as he came up to him, patting him on the shoulder. “We’ll find a way to fix this whole mess. We always do.” Nate came into the room as well, after Ravi comforted him. “Yes. But, I’ve been working on a new weapon to add to our arsenal, and I somehow can’t get it done with you guys panicking.” He said, seriously. “Can you guys not see the holographic portals, and connection plugs for the weapons...they keep coming out all wrong!” The two exchanged looks at each other, trying to figure out why he needed to get it done without being disturbed. “How can I complete this new weapon if all I hear from you two is nothing but panicking?!” At that moment, Zoey came into the room as well, along with Steel. “Nate, think for a moment!” She warned. “Even if you don’t enjoy them bickering about the Storm King, the Mayor or your invention, that does not mean that your attempts to build your new weapon are bad.” Nate took in a deep breath and, walked up to Zoey. “I just want to make a great weapon to help stop the Storm King.” He said, calmly to them. “Perhaps, you already are making a great weapon, even without Devon and Ravi arguing.” Steel pointed out. The two teens looked at each other, and agreed with what Steel said. “You just may not know it, yet.” Nate saw his friends, and nodded in realization. “You may be right, Steel.” He said. “Now, I must go build my great blah-blah-blah-blah...blaster!” He started to leave the lab in a grand way. “Hold on...” Devon said in amazement. “Did you say...blaster?” “Devon, Ravi.” Nate said, before shutting himself in the lab, to keep building his new piece of weaponry. “Wow.” Ravi said, pointing at him. “That guy really needs to chillax.” Devon nodded, as the Transdimensional Teleporter opened up, and Twilight and her friends came through the portal, really excited. “Guys!” Twilight said in excitement. “We just discovered something really cool!” “Hey, Twilight.” Devon said. “What did you guys find?” “You won’t believe it!” Rainbow Said as well. “Believe what?” Steel asked. “This map I found!” Twilight said, as her friends nodded. The others looked at each other in excitement, and went into the lab to see this amazing discovery. “So, what’s this new discovery you wanted to show us, Twi?” Ravi asked, curiously. “This!” Twilight tapped her necklace, to show the map the came out of it, along with the constellation. The others gazed in awe at its amazing glory. Nate came in as well, and was surprised too at what he saw. “What is this?” Zoey asked in excitement. “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” “Amazing!” Steel said in excitement. “What is it, Twi?” “I’m glad you asked, Steel!” Twilight said happily, wanting to show her friends. “This is the Andalusian!” She said, showing them, as they all marvelled it. “It’s a series of stars that just showed up in the night sky one day ages ago...centuries ago!” “Riveting.” Rainbow Dash said as she was impressed by all this. “Then one day, the whole constellation went dark.” Twilight continued to say. “This necklace...the points in the sky...they’re stars!” She was excited by all this! “Of course!” Nate said in excitement, as he grabbed out a book and set it down for all to see. “Phenomenal!” He pointed to a page of the stars of said constellation. “Look at this!” They all came to see it. “Hey. Isn’t that where Luna got banished to the moon thousands of years ago?” Steel asked quizzically. “So, you do study Equestrian history?” Ravi asked him. “Well, sometimes.” Steel admitted. “Then you should know that the Andalusian Constellation...” Nate told his brother. “...is where Acute Space Triangle is.” He turned to Rarity. “Rarity, by finding this necklace, you may have stumbled upon a clue to solving the biggest cosmic mystery of all time!” “Well I do have excellent taste in jewelry and adventure!” She agreed with her friend. “So, what am I getting out of this if I can’t eat it?” Spike asked a little disappointed. “Sorry, Spike.” Ravi told his dragon friend. “But, it looks like lunch might have to wait a while, little buddy.” “So...what do we do?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Just find all those things, and fling them back into the sky?” “Seems simple enough...” Devon said. “I mean we have a map telling us where to look.” “And the FLINGING THEM BACK INTO THE SKY PART?!” Rainbow wanted to know. “Well, I CAN kick mighty hard.” Applejack admitted. “I think it’s nice to take a normal break from our series of events...” Fluttershy finally said. “No monsters or creatures trying to take over the world.” “And, more to the point that it’s mainly a scavenger hunt for the stars sound like a wonderful adventure.” Zoey added as well. This could be one of the greatest things that has ever turned up.” “And think of all the research opportunities! We can find out what the magical qualities of these stars are, what made them fall, where they CAME FROM IN THE FIRST PLACE...” Twilight was still engrossed by this new recent discovery. “WE CAN LEARN ALL THE THINGS!” The others noticed their friend was acting a little more weird than usual. “Twilight, are you okay?” Steel asked. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” Twilight snapped back to reality. “Oh, I’m okay.” She said, thankfully. “Thanks.” Just then, the voice in Twilight’s voice came into her head again. “Find the rest.” It said. “Find the rest...yes, I’ll find the rest.” Twilight said as if she were in a daze. “I’ll leave now, and find the rest!” Fluttershy flew to her. “Are you all right?” She asked, concerned. Twilight turned to her. “Oh, sorry, Fluttershy.” She said. “You know how I get with all this discovery.” “Yes, we DO know that’s how you get.” Applejack agreed. “That’s why were going to help you. Otherwise, you’d take off solo around Equestria looking for every purple bauble driving yourself nuts!” “So...we have one of six!” Pinkie Pie recalled. “One down, five to go!” Steel pointed out. “That’s gotta be where the map is directing us.” Nate said. “We should be able to find the others scattered across Twilight’s world.” “A scavenger hunt sounds fun.” Devon agreed. “Count me in.” “And, there’s no monsters to worry about.” Zoey agreed as well. “Sounds like a plan at this point.” “All right then. Come on, Y’all!” Applejack pep talked the others. “Let’s go rally up some troops! I think it’ll be best if we all team up, and split up!” “Let’s go see if we can catch some of your friends to join!” Ravi said, confidently about this hunt for the stars. We’ll meet back here in a bit.” Applejack and the others nodded, as he turned to Twilight. “Okay, Twi?” “Sounds like a plan!” Twilight was still caught up into the plan. “Want to team up, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked her shy friend. “Oh, no thank you. I have someone in mind already.” Fluttershy told her. “He needs something like this to set up structure in his life. It’ll be good for him.” “I’ll team up with Steel.” Nate said. “The rest of you can find some others to help out.” “Alright!” Devon said excitedly. “Then, that’s where we’re going.” “Awesome!” Steel said, raising his arms in the air happily. “Are you coming?” Rarity asked the dazed alicorn. “No. I think I’ll stay here and draw up a game plan for everyone. Planning for faraway destination travel is kind of a strength of mine...train schedules and whatnot...” she said. “If you’re sure you’re alright, then we’ll leave you to it!” Nate said. “Be back in a bit!” The others all left to find some other allies to help team up with in the new search for the stars. “Yes.” Twilight said. “Goodbye.” Spike was trying to take the necklace off her, when she suddenly snapped. “DON’T TOUCH IT!” She shouted. This made Spike jump in fear. “I mean...this gem has a link to all the other stars.” She regained her calm. “I should keep it safe. Maybe it would reveal more clues? I should wear it for...academic purposes.” “Fair enough.” Spike said, deciding to walk away from the gem. “I wouldn’t trust me with it either.” He walked away, leaving only Twilight in the room. He approached the others, panting like he did to tell Twilight about her brother’s wedding. Zoey and the others noticed, and could tell that he was concerned about something. “What’s wrong, Spike?” Zoey asked him. Spike was panting heavily, and then, lightened up on it. “I don’t know.” He said to them. “That energy, the necklace, the star...something’s off.” As Spike and the others tried to figure out what was off about the cosmic energy, Twilight was in the lab, as an evil smile curved on her face, as her eyes turned pink again! But this was no ordinary feeling. No, this was a possessed feeling by an unknown creature! A creature from the outer limits of space, and a creature who liked causing chaos as much as Discord did! “At last...” the princess of Friendship said in a demonic female voice. “...after all this time, somepony powerful enough for to embody has found me!” She took a good look of Princess Twilight from her coronation day as new princess. “And a Princess, no less.” She smiled. “How delightfully fortunate! I will need every piece of my magic back, so I can get back to...him!” She smiled, hungrily as she got ready for her latest romantic encounter. “Are you ready, Discord, my dear?” She asked, both evilly and excitedly at the same time. “Bit by bit, I’m coming home!” She laughed evilly as a familiar rather female draconniqus formed from the shadows, about to have her full body, but she would need more ponies to help her. Little did they know, that it was Cosmos who was possessing their friend, and she would have to wait when the time was right to reunite with Discord. And then, when the time came, she would be ready!