//------------------------------// // Act 4: Bitter Briefing // Story: Starfleet Magic Movie: How the Finch stopped Hearths Warming // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// ACT FOUR The palace was shrouded in a powerful barrier conjured by Grand Ruler Celesto and Queen Celestia, to keep the Cursed Blizzard from seeping in. They also had cast this magic worldwide, shrouding every building, every home, every shelter with the same protection, and had issued orders that everyone was to remain inside until further notice. As for others who were already affected by the storm’s curse… by order of their majesties, they were captured by Starfleet officers-- imprisoned within holding spheres, and brought to the palace so that they could be de-cursed. Lightning, Twilight, and the remainder of the team were waiting to see all three of their majesties in the main briefing room. They all waited outside in the hall. Fluttershy was weeping softly for the loss of her friends, and Rhymey comforted her, but felt just as bad himself. Rarity not only felt worried about the lost friends, but she also felt horrible for all the ponies that were under lockdown, or kept imprisoned in the spheres. “It seems so barbaric to do such a thing.” Applejack disagreed, “It’s the only way to keep the hate from spreading, and so nobody gets hurt.” Rhymey looked up and nodded, “Sometimes it’s the only thing to do We don’t like it any more than you do. I still hope we can get the others back, And save Hearths Warming from this attack.” “So do I.” peeped Flutterhy. Lightning sat near Twilight, but he didn’t look at her as he was deeply infuriated. “I told you not to do anything!” he scolded. “If you had just kept still, I could have zipped over to Frieda and taken the amulet from her. You ruined everything.” Twilight did not take very kindly. “How I was supposed to know you had that plan, you didn’t tell me. I had to do something, and what if your plan didn’t work?” “Silence!” snapped Lightning. “We will see what their majesties have to say about your insubordination.” Twilight was quivering with rage, and looked ready to belt someone. “I suggest you not.” Starla whispered to her. Twilight cringed softly trying to contain herself. She had never seen Lightning act this seriously before, when just earlier that day he seemed reasonable and trying to have fun. Then again, these were serious times now, and there was no room for mistakes. She was starting to feel Lightning’s scolding get to her. Maybe she hadn’t done the right thing. Spike hated seeing Twilight when she was like this. “Gee, Lightning really read into her.” “I can’t blame him,” said Krysta. “She was given strict orders.” Spike gave her a hard stare. “Don’t you go wailing on my friend too!” “Why shouldn’t I? You’re the one who questioning the Captain’s rightful and justifiable scorning.” The two growled angrily at each other. “Stop it, both of you!” snapped Buddy. “Things are bad enough as they are. We’re not going to get anywhere by bickering with each other.” Everyone fell totally silent, except when Applejack softly cleared her throat. Just then, a royal guard came out from the room. “Their majesties are ready for you.” Twilight felt her nerves wrecking inside, fearing their majesties would probably be just as displeased as Lightning… …And they were when they heard the hold story. Grand Ruler spoke deeply to Twilight, “Gross insubordination is a serious very offense, Twilight Sparkle.” “Yes sir.” Twilight said in a downhearted voice. Celestia sighed in disappointment. “We understand how you must have felt for your brother, and Princess Cadance-- I understand especially, but you still behaved very recklessly.” Now Twilight really felt upset. “However…” said Grand Ruler “In spite of all this, it cannot be denied that we’ve learned a lot about Frieda, and the power she possesses, and it is possible for us to retrieve the rest of the team. Therefore, there shall be no charges… this time.” Twilight was astounded, but Lightning’s features had not changed. He didn’t even show concern that Twilight was let off the hook and immediately asked. “Is there any way we can get our friends back?” “There is.” answered Princess Luna, and she unfolded a map of New Canterlot and the surrounding area, including where the battle took place. “Sensors have detected the Cursed Blizzard seems to be the coldest and the strongest from this area.” “Exactly as we thought.” said Lightning. “Frieda must have her hideout somewhere in the clouds.” “I know exactly where…” said Luna, and with a magic pen, she drew on a small area of the map, and the image of a large ice-palace appeared. “Whoa! Check it out.” cried Spike. “It’s incredible!” agreed Rarity. Luna greed it was rather astounding. “It was discovered by agents assisting the lockdown in New Cloudsdale. There can be no doubt; this is our enemy’s base of operations.” “Well, that’s a good thing,” said Applejack “But how do we get to it? I assume it ain’t that easy.” “Indeed not.” replied Grand Ruler “The Cursed Blizzard emitted from palace itself; shrouding it like a force-field. Because the storm is the strongest from there, there is a very good chance that you would become infected if you tried to pass through it, even with magical shielding.” Rhymey had to agreed, “There must be a way to get through there, Without being affected by the freezing air.” Twilight’s ears twitched at the sound of the word “Freezing.” “…That could work.” “What could?” asked Fluttershy. Twilight explained, “We encase ourselves in ice, and we launch ourselves straight at the palace. The curse won’t affect us if we’re already frozen, and then the spell wears off after we get there. Once we’re through the storm, we can enter the ice palace.” Many of the others weren’t too crazy about such an idea. “You want us to actually freeze ourselves in solid ice?” asked Buddy. Rarity shivered, “I understand how desperate we are, but does that not rather-- pardon the pun--chilling?” Lightning was rather astounded that she came up with such a plan, and the more he thought about it, he agreed. “…It just may work.” Twilight looked at him in a strange way; that he actually agreed with her after he had just scolded her? It didn’t last too long as Lightning pointed out, “…But then there is still the matter of storming the palace itself. We have no idea what dangers lurk inside, and then there’s Frieda herself.” Their majesties agreed, having heard about Frieda’s intentions to freeze all hearts and destroy Hearths Warming. She had to be stopped, no matter what, or Hearths Warming would be in greater danger than ever. Twilight interjected, “Maybe she’s having a friendship problem.” Every eye in the room was suddenly fixated on her. “She’s trying to destroy Hearths Warming,” Twilight continued “And nobody does something like this without a reason. Maybe we can try and reason with her, and she’ll give up willingly.” Everyone began to feel it was possible, but the Space Ponies were rather skeptical. “It still doesn’t change the fact that she’s committed crimes.” said Starla. “Even if we can win her over somehow, which I doubt, we still have to arrest her.” Celestia and Luna both held their heads down a bit at such an idea. “You mean just up and contain her?” asked Spike. Krysta nodded, “The law is the law. If you break it, you pay it.” “I’m afraid she’s right.” agreed Grand Ruler. Now the Equestrians were starting to feel worried and hurt. “So you’ll just toss her in jail?!” wailed Rarity. “Nobody said anything about that!” snapped Grand Ruler. “If Frieda is truly willing to be reasoned with and see the error of her ways, it’s possible that we may be able to help rehabilitate her.” “Well that’s good to hear.” said Applejack. “But… uh… just asking: What if we can’t, and what if it gets way worse?” Grand Ruler clenched his fist and shut his eyes tight. “I really hope it won’t have to come to that, but if it does… and only if it must be done…” Celestia held her hand over her mouth in soft horror, as did the Equestrians, while the Space Ponies seemed equally remorseful. “You… you don’t mean?!” cried Fluttershy. With a heavy heart, Lightning said it for all to hear, “…We destroy her.” Stomachs gave turns, especially Twilight. There was nothing more to say after that on the subject, and no protests would be tolerated. It was very late, and their majesties suggested the fighters rest. “We shall begin at dawn. We’ll have a much better chance in the daylight.” said Grand Ruler. Celestia agreed to that, but she hoped all the others were okay, wherever they were. Meanwhile, within the icy dungeons… All of Frieda’s prisoners were thrown into a large holding area, still frozen in solid ice… …Until, the blocks of the Space Ponies began to crack as the ice emitted steam; actually starting to melt softly. Suddenly, the ponies burst out from the ice blocks. Artie and the twins groaned as they shook themselves awake. Their suits had fully powered down, and all three of them felt pretty chilly, but they managed to fully come to their senses. “You guys okay?” asked Artie. “Si, I think do.” replied Dyno. Myte began to shiver. “¿Qué esta pasando?” *What’s happening?* Where are we? It’s even colder here than before. …WHOA!!” he and his friends began to find the floor very slippery, since it, like practically everything in the palace was made of ice. With a few taps on their energizers, the soles on their boots transformed to rough surfaces so they wouldn’t slide. Artie suddenly remembered the battle, and he turned round to see, “…The others!” The four Equestrians were still encased in ice. The twins gasped. “Let’s get them out.” cried Dyno. “I’m with you, meng.” replied Myte. The three men simply gave each block of ice huge punches, shattering them to pieces and releasing the Equestrians. Rainbow and Pinkie rubbed their eyes; and Pinkie, in a usual fashion, cracked every bone in her body to see if she was fine. “Ah… Ah…. Ah-Choo!!” she sneezed. Rainbow still felt a bit cold. “W-W-W-What’s happening?” she asked. The guys realized that the ladies were only still conscious because of special spell cast on them before the battle, but now it was gone and they had no special heating units in their outfits like they did. Worse than that, Cadance and Shining Armor were both unconscious, having been frozen for much longer than any the others had. The twins scooped up the unconscious ponies and felt their wrists and necks-- Starfleet officers were trained in reading vital signs, even without their visors. “Well… WELL…!” yelled Pinkie. Her voice echoed along the chamber making things shake softly. “They’re still alive,” said Dyno “But we’ve got to warm them up.” “That won’t be easy.” said Myte “It’s plenty chilly in here, even for our heating units, and there’s no place to build a fire either.” “We’d dare not even if we could.” said Artie. “Look around… everything seems to be made of ice.” The others all looked around, and concluded they were in some sort of dungeon. “What is this place?” wondered Pinkie. “Whatever it is,” said Rainbow “…I don’t like it, and I’m outta’ here!” Luckily, she could see a large ice door at the end of the chamber, and she readied to take a running crash at it. “Rainbow, No!” Artie snapped as he held her back, “That’s not a good idea. We don’t know how thick that ice is.” Curious, Pinkie marched up to the door and tapped it with her fist. Then she furiously wailed and pounded on it until she puffed and panted. “Yeah… it’s pretty thick.” Suddenly, Shining Armor and Cadance began to stir. “They’re waking up?” exclaimed Dyno. “But they haven’t been warmed up yet.” Myte pointed out. The two ponies snapped their eyes wide open, but they were glowing with a freezing blue color. The others backed away. “Uh… nice contacts…?” Pinkie joked nervously. The two royals hissed wickedly. “Join us!” said Cadance. “Let your heart grow cold.” added Shining Armor. “They’re brainwashed!” cried Rainbow. “It’s Frieda!” grumbled Artie. Then he and others could hear Frieda’s wicked voice, “That’s right… and guess who else is now invited to my End of Hearths Warming party?” Everyone’s eyes widened. Cadance and Shining Armor began to move in closer towards the ponies like zombies. “We better capture them.” suggested Artie. Pinkie and Rainbow were initially appalled. “You mean just attack them and lock them in balls?” wailed Rainbow. “That’s even colder than this room!” added Pinkie. “What choice do we have?” asked Dyno. “If we don’t, they’ll attack us.” sneered Myte. The girls understood and stood behind their friends. The three men stood ready to activate their energizers, but surprisingly… Cadance and Shining Armor were not only possessed by the ice powers, but possessed them as well, and they both let out a series of blasts freezing the alicorn’s horns, as well as their hands over their energizers preventing them from activating them. “Ah! Oh, no!” cried Dyno. “We’ve got to break loose!” added Myte… …But there was no time to make much of a move as the two royals had unleashed actual blizzardy winds from their mouths, exactly like the Cursed Blizzard outside the palace, which enveloped the ponies. Frieda saw everything through her amulet, and snickered. “Excellent… now all that remains is for the others to get here.” She paused as she sat back on her icy throne. “Hearths Warming is as good as doomed.” She then used the amulet to look down into the world below her storm; all the ponies were tucked safely away inside and protected by the outer barriers. “Their fools if they think that will stop me. No one defies the Queen of Winter.” She raised the amulet up and looked deeply into it, catching her reflection in all angles. “I hope it won’t have to come to my doing that… but anything is worth it if it means the end of all this cheery nonsense and sickening joy.”