//------------------------------// // Episode 10: Part 3: Childish Reasons // Story: My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic Season XI // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// “Previously on Starfleet Magic…” The heroes had all gathered to discuss how to deal with the ghost of Little Jewel, prompting Lightning to ask Grand Ruler Celesto to use the Spiritual Duplication Art; a deadly ability which may result in his majesty’s death. Meanwhile, Little Jewel captured Sole Maker and Lady Fair to hold hostage along with the entire shoe factory staff in attempt to lure Starfleet into her sinister clutches. EPISODE TEN The moment he got home, Artie jumped straight to work, painting a picture using the photo of Little Jewel as inspiration. Even though it was a strict known fact that you should never rush art; Artie needed this finished in a hurry, so he used his special quick-drying paint. Sunset came out with Sun Stream in her arms, and she still couldn’t believe her eyes. “I’d have to see it to believe it.” she grumbled. “How can you sit there and paint? Shouldn’t be out there going after that ghost?” “We will,” he answered her “I’m hoping this will be a big help. It’s just a wild hunch, but it can’t hurt to try.” His wife walked up to get a good look at the picture, and she looked back and forth between the painting and the photograph. She was really confused. “Why are you painting like that?” “Trust me.” said Artie. Sun Stream flapped her little arm up and down while she tried to reach over to the painting. “Oh, no, no, honey.” cooed her mother, and she carried her off to the kitchen to feed her. “We better let Daddy work.” Artie wiped his sweaty brow, and he checked the clock, it had already gone past One in the afternoon. “Got to hurry!” he groaned to himself, but though he was speeding he was rather careful not to overdo it and smudge the painting. At Canterlot Royal Palace, Castor and Leilani were in school like good children. They were doing their quietly without any fuss… …While their father peeked in through the door window. It pleased him to see his angels behaving so well and being focused on their studies. It made him truly realize how much they were growing. At 3 PM, when school was out, and the children returned their parents in the throne room, showing their good grades on their reports… “Oh, children, that’s so wonderful.” said Celestia. “It’s beautiful…” Grand Ruler replied in a very soft tone. “Can we go play in the garden?” asked Castor. “Can we, please?” added Leilani. Their father smiled lovingly at them. “Sure, go on then.” The children leapt for joy and ran off, while their parents kept watching them until they were out of sight. Then it was over to the window where they saw them playing peacefully together; passing a ball back and forth and not disturbing the royal gardeners. Grand Ruler’s clenched his fists which were trembling nervously. His wife placed her hand on his shoulder giving him a sad a worried expression. Neither one of them were able to break the news to their children of what was going to happen that night. They were not present for dinner in the evening, but Princess Luna gladly watched over the children and fed them. “Where are Mother and Father, Aunt Luna?” asked Castor. Luna simple told them both, “Your parents… had some place to be.” Leilani looked up from her plate. “…Another mission?” “Yes, dear, it is…” The children didn’t like the sounds of this at all; even at their young age, they were able to determine that something extremely serious was afoot, and it worried them deeply. Meanwhile, Jewel made Lil’s body pace back and forth as she looked at all her hostages-- all the workers in the factory, as well as Lil’s parents-- all were tied up with rope and gagged as well. Lil’, in Jewel’s evil voice snickered at them all. “Isn’t this just amusing; a bunch of big, powerful adults at the mercy of a little kid…” she chuckled “… Oh, I have missed so much… which isn’t nearly as much as you’ll all be missing out on, as well as all the adults across this land!” Many of the workers were all frightened out of their wits, while Sole Maker was growing all the more infuriated. He even cast a small glare at Lady Fair as if he were blaming her for this whole mess-- because she gave birth to Lil in the first place. Jewel looked at a big clock on the wall; it was only five minutes to six. “Just five more minutes…” she hissed to herself “…Five more minutes before the beginning… of the end!” Lightning and most of his group of Space Ponies, already transformed, were approaching the factory. Spike was with them, but Starla and Artie were not present. Starla was told not to enter battles anymore, but there was no way she wasn’t going to offer at least some form of help, so she assisted the sentries in keeping the entire area evacuated. Swift Star was helping her. Artie was also not present, as he was still finishing up his little project, but he promised the others he would be there quickly. “Thanks for letting me come on this one, General.” Swift said to Starla. Starla shook her head, “Think nothing of it. You’re an axillary front-liner, and Lightning felt you needed some action and extra experience, especially with all the help you did on this case.” Swift felt flattered, but kept his head well in focus. He was deeply concerned for Lightning and the others. Lightning, Buddy, Rhymey, and the Twins were approaching the factory. “Okay, this is it,” said Lightning. He scanned the factory with his visor and could detect positive life signs, “…All the hostages are inside. We’ve got to get them out.” The men agreed. “We’ve got to keep Jewel distracted long enough so that Grand Ruler can perform the magic art.” His majesty was standing in a clearing in the forest located near the factory grounds; a perfect place to keep him covered so that Jewel wouldn’t notice a thing. The Equestrian ponies were all nearby, as the Valkyries of Harmony were also standing nearby, hiding behind trees and bushes, ready to defend him if need be. “Okay, Spike…” said Grand Ruler “Go and tell Lightning that we’re ready.” Spike, as the Dragon Knight, bowed and flew off. His Majesty closed his eyes and bowed his head softly. “It’s now or never…” he said to himself. The Valkyries had never seen him look so tense before, Rarity almost felt faint herself. “Don’t you be getting all woozy now!” Applejack snapped softly. “We all need to be at the top of our game for this one.” Pinkie and Rainbow gripped their swords tightly; both of them were so anxious to finally being rid of this nasty creature for good… …While Fluttershy was still deeply concerned for his majesty and what would happen to him. “Do you think he’ll be alright? What if he dies from the fight?” she asked frantically. Celestia felt the same nerves of worry shoot through her stomach, but she knew she had to have faith in her husband. “Celesto is strong…” she said to herself “I know he can pull through this, because I can’t bear the thought if he doesn’t.” Her husband stood where he was, straight at tall, with his eyes shut. He focussed hard on all his inner strength and life energy. Then, he opened his eyes only slightly and began to softly wave his arms, and move his body in slow Tai Chi motions. Nothing seemed to happen at all-- it would take a few moments to build up the power. Spike had flown towards Lightning. “He’s doing it.” he whispered to him. Lightning nodded. Then, suddenly, there was a large glowing coming from the factory gates, causing the men to stiffen and stand ready-- even though they knew they couldn’t effectively battle Jewel, but this was not their plan in any case. Jewel’s evil laugh echoed as she appeared in her monstrous, ghostly forum. She glared at the men staring at her and hissed, “Good Evening…” Lightning stepped forth and balked, “We’ve come as told. Now, release your hostages!” Jewel just laughed, “Why should I? It’s not like there’s anything you can do about it.” “Don’t push us, you little brat!” shouted Buddy. Jewel’s features hardened at what he had just called her. “How dare you call me that?! You will be the first to feel my wrath.” She powered herself up, making the light shrouding her glow brightly, and she charged straight for Buddy, forcing him and the others to scatter. This was exactly what they hoped for; to anger her enough into making her charge with rage and distract her from the factory. The twins joined their hands together, and thrust their free arms forth. “BOOM-BOOM ROCKETS” they fired their rockets, which, unsurprisingly, passed right through her and exploded like fireworks in the air. “Idiots!” laughed Jewel, and she proceeded to fire her energy beams at the twins, which they dodged. In actuality, they knew their rockets would go through her and explode…! *Mykan’s POV* Krysta and I were hiding in the shrubs nearby, with a squad of Krysta’s fairy soldiers, as our plan was to try and infiltrate the factory and free the hostages, and the fireworks were our signal. “Let’s go!” I said softly. Krysta agreed, and we both teleported inside the factory, seemingly unnoticed. It was pitch black inside at night with no light, so the fairies used the tips of their wands and huddled together to form big light balls. We still couldn’t see too well, but we didn’t have to… The hostages could see us from where they sat, and one of them began to pound his feet on the floor, alerting us to the location. “There they are!” I said. All the factory workers were there, as well as Lil’ Fair’s parents. Strangely, there was no sign of Lil herself even though she, too, was reported missing that day. But just as I was about to move in, Krysta stopped me, “Wait! This is too easy.” I agreed with her. Surely Jewel wouldn’t just leave her hostages so vulnerable and easy to rescue after she refused to let them go. We all moved in a little closer, and the fairies lights illuminated the corner where we could see all the workers, and Sole and Lady bound and gagged up on the floor. Another one of the workers shook her head at me as if she was trying to tell me something… like not to come in any closer. “Hmmm…” I said softy, and then, I bent down and picked up a single bolt on the floor and tossed it towards the wall behind the hostages. It had barely gotten two feet away from me when it was suddenly shocked by powerful magic and shot away. “…An invisible barrier!” groaned Krysta. “…Oh, just perfect!” “We’ll try and break through it.” suggested one of the soldier, but Krysta snapped, “No! Don’t!” and her men stopped at once. Even I didn’t have to have Starfleet scanners to tell “This is a strong energy field, if we try to break it, the resulting shockwaves could hurt the ponies. I can’t even try to absorb it with my sword.” As we all tried to come up with some other plan to free the hostages, something strange began to happen-- the floor was starting to glow in a light similar to the aura around Jewel. “Mykan, get off the floor!” shouted Krysta. With my magic cape, I levitated safely into the air, but the ponies behind the barrier all looked frightened. Since they couldn’t get up high like me and the fairies, the light began to envelope them, and they wailed behind their gags. Jewel had cursed the factory with her energy draining, and with all the adults inside, their life force would slowly increase her power outside, making her stronger and faster. *POV Ends* While all that happened… “Look out!!” shouted Lightning. Jewel fired her beams at all the men, and they were just barely able to dodge them by leaping up high into the air. “Whoa! That was way too close!” said Spike. “She’s coming back For another attack!” hollered Rhymey. Jewel rose up into the air, laughing at the men, “You’re not fairing very well, aren’t you? You know you can’t beat me, so why bother with me at all?” Then suddenly, she began to groan and wail as she clutched herself tight. “No!” she growled “Stop it!” The men were most confused. “What’s happening to her?” wondered Dyno. “Hey, look!” cried Myte. He pointed at Jewel’s ghastly body, and the men could see some kind of light emitting. “What is that?” wondered Lightning. He could swear he almost saw a face forming in the light before it faded as Jewel seemed to regain control. “Now then, where were we?” she growled. Before anyone could answer, there was another bright glow coming up from behind her. She turned round, and the men gazed in awe… It was a spiritual image of Grand Ruler Celesto, in a golden aura. “What?” grumbled Jewel, and his majesty responded by swinging his fist at her face, actually striking her with a loud POW, and actually sending her crashing down hard to the ground. The men were all surprised that it actually worked. Grand Ruler’s spirit assured them all, “Leave her to me, you try and get the hostages out.” He then zoomed down to engage in full battle with the evil specter. Jewel picked herself. Being a spirit, she was totally unharmed, but she was entirely shocked that she had actually being shoved down-- having no knowledge of the Spiritual Duplication Art. “What sort of trickery is this?” she bellowed. Grand Ruler’s spirit landed near her, but rather than answer her-- wanting to save time and energy, he leapt forth and kicked her hard in the gut, sending her sailing backwards. She tried shooting her energy blast, only for it to pass right through him, and head straight for the forest… ..Straight for Grand Ruler himself, but Celestia leapt out from the bushes and used her Valkyrie shield to bounce the attack away from her husband. Grand Ruler had to remain just as he was… in total concentration and in continuous motion with his Tai Chi dance, which would allow him to maintain full control and contact with his spiritual double. If his concentration was tipped, even by a smidge, it would ruin everything. He had to keep it up for as long as he could to keep Jewel at bay, until the hostages could be safely released. The other Valkyries remained as vigilant to help defend their Grand Ruler as well. “Look tough, ladies!” Celestia said. “We’ve got to keep this up as long as we can.” The ladies all agreed, but they were all deeply concerned for his majesty. The longer he kept his attack up, the more his life energy would drain, and while he didn’t seem anywhere near exhausted now… any moment that would change. “Be strong, my love!” Celestia prayed softly. The two spirits brawled fiercely, punching and kicking each other like crazy. They didn’t bother fire anymore magic at each other as it would be ineffective. WHAMM!! The two punched each other in the face, and the each flew backwards, straightening themselves out in midair. “I must admit, I’m actually impressed.” hissed Jewel. “No one has ever been able to stand up to me like this before.” Though using up energy to speak was not too smart, Grand Ruler had to let it out. “No one should be standing up to you at all. You have no reason to be doing any of this at all!” Jewel seemed furious, and she bellowed “I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO DO THIS!!! I need to wipe out all grownups and those who believe in growing.” The two spirits rushed in and brawled again, and as they did, Jewel revealed more her past and what really happened to her. *Jewel’s POV* I was tired of being who I was-- a grown mare always trapped in a puny, little body! No amount of fame and fortune I earned could ever bring me what I truly desired… to grow up and be a real adult, and be awarded all the benefits and the responsibilities that came with it! But no…! I had to be cursed with this blasted condition so that could never be!! How could I ever be seen or treated seriously…? How could I ever find a husband…? How could I get a real job and uphold a better life…? I wanted to grow up so much, but because my body lacked the proper cells to allow growth, nothing could be done for me-- no surgery, and no known Equestrian magic. I wasn’t about to believe that, so I began to ignore my demands for more modeling and commercial promotions. I researched and experimented while trying to discover something-- anything that could finally change me and gain the life I always wanted… …But my stupid father wouldn’t hear of it. He enjoyed all the vast money I made and the attention got being the father of a child-like adult, which only further humiliated me. He wouldn’t have me throwing it all away for his sake, so he burst into my bedroom right in the middle of an experiment and attempted to force me to stop. In the struggle, he knocked me into the table of unstable potions I had been mixing. The result was a disaster…! I became the hideous ghoul I resemble now. I was so hideous-- a freak-- even my own father was mortified at the very sight of me, and without warning or even a second thought, he up and killed me-- slamming a chair over my head, breaking my bones. I will never forget those final thoughts. Fortunately for me, he got his comeuppance, when the remains of the mixed potions I made caused a big explosion and our bodies perished in the flames. *POV Ends* Jewel punched at Grand Ruler’s chest, but he blocked it with his arms, like a shield, and flicked her arm up, leaving her open for him to kick her in the gut. Still unharmed, Jewel looked up and glared at him. “My life was already ruined, and then it was taken as well! Grownups! They are all to blame for this, but it is everyone who shall pay for it.” Grand Ruler did feel a little sorry for her, but he was far from being sympathetic. “What happened to you was tragic, but the people don’t deserve to suffer!” “Sure they do!” sneered Jewel “They all deserve to know what it’s like to be me! How it feels to be denied of all the wonders and joys of growing!” Lightning and the others had smashed through windows of the factory and flew into the main work floor where the fairies, Mykan, and the hostages were. *Mykan’s POV* “Stay off the floor!” I shouted to the men, and they all fluttered in midair. They could instantly see the glowing, and Krysta told them about the barrier guarding the hostages. Lightning saw the wall behind the hostages and scanned it with his visor, “We’ll break in from outside. That’ll get them out.” The rest of us agreed and Krysta teleported us all outside, behind the wall… The brick and steel were only two easy for the space ponies to break through with their bare hands, and soon the hostages were revealed… No sooner where they enveloped in the light harder than ever, and wailing even worse. “What’s happening to them?” asked Dyno. Myte turned round, “My guess is… That!” *POV Pause* Jewel levitated high in the air, and, roaring loudly, she absorbed more energy from the hostages to power herself up, making her aura glow brighter and fiercer, like flowing electricity that shot out of her. She thrust her arms out, sending bolts of energy shooting like thunderbolts in random directions. “Watch it!!” shouted Spike. The men dodged, and the bolts struck bits of the building, blowing more holes into the walls! Swift saw the bolts coming towards him and the others. “Hey, look out!!” “Ah!” cried Starla, and she quickly charged up as best she could, “PULSAR LASER” blasting the bolts out. She looked sharply off towards the factory in the distance, and she could see the large glowing in the sky, which was Jewel; which made her worry about Lightning and the others, especially Grand Ruler. Several bolts were heading into the forest. “Shields up!” hollered Celestia, and she and the other Valkyries blocked the oncoming bolts, keeping his majesty safe. “This is getting nuts!” wailed Rainbow. “We can’t keep this up forever!” panted Pinkie. Fluttershy looked over her shoulder, and gasped at what she saw. “Forgive me for saying so, But there’s another problem to go!” The others looked round and saw his majesty was starting to show signs of fatigue-- his eyes were starting to droop. He was beginning to sweat, and his dance moves were beginning to slow down. “He’s running out of energy!” cried Applejack. “What are we going to do?!” wailed Rarity. Celestia thought of stopping him, but though her husband could not speak to her, she could read him like a book-- the way he was continuing his dance and his energy flowing-- it told her he could and wanted to keep going for just a little longer. Celestia’s hand quivered, but she still gripped her sword tightly having faith and trust in her husband. Jewel noticed the bolts being repelled from the forest. “What is this?” “UH-OH!!” everyone else exclaimed. Jewel began to make her way towards the forest where the Valkyries were. Grand Ruler’s spirit zipped up in front of her. “That’s as far as you go!” Now Jewel was really intrigued, feeling there was something really important they were hiding, and she was determined to find it… once she got past her opponent, so they continued to brawl, and Grand Ruler was forced to pour on more power to keep her from discovering the secret… But thanks to his energy starting to dwindle, and Jewel’s recent power up, the evil spirit began to gain the upper-hand. POW!! She socked him hard in the face! BOOM!! She kicked him in the gut! Even though he still took no damage, Grand Ruler’s spirit was beginning to lose its glow. Grand Ruler himself was starting to slow down even more, and he was really struggling; much to the worry of the Valkyries. Jewel then realized, “Let’s try this another way…!” and she spun round and fired large blasts of her bolts towards the forest. Lightning and the men had just finished getting the weakened hostages out of the building when they looked up and saw it happening! “Krysta, quick!” shouted Lightning. The fairies all nodded and zipped off! “No!!” Grand Ruler shouted. He unleashed his own magical blasts, but he wasn’t able to intercept all the bolts. “INCOMING…!!” hollered Pinkie. “FIRE!!” shouted Celestia, and she and the Valkyries fired their strongest blasts from their swords, but still not wiping out all the beams. “We’ll never block them all!” yelled Rainbow. “WE’RE GOING TO BE BLASTED!!” shrieked Rarity. Just before the blasts had struck, Krysta and some of her fairies dropped in and teleported the entire group away, even his majesty himself. They landed far away near Starla, Swift and the sentries. “Whoa!” cried Swift. He and Starla ran up to the others along with some of the sentries. “Are you all okay?” “Yeah, we’re fine.” answered Applejack. “Hey, look!” shouted Rainbow. She was pointing up at the sky… Grand Ruler’s spirit duplicate was completely fading away because his concentration had been severed; not that it mattered anyway…! …His majesty fell to his knees, and then flat onto the ground. “No!” Celestia cried as she ran over and scooped her husband into her arms. “Celesto…! Celesto…!” He didn’t respond. He seemed extremely weak; he could barely keep his eyes open or make much of a sound. His mane had gone dark and was hardly showing any sparkly images of space, and his cape had lost its twinkle and its magical flutter. “Oh, Celesto…!” To Be Continued… (Promo) In our next episode: It’s the climax of the battle as Jewel gains the upper-hand with hardly anything remaining to hold her back, but then, the truth is reveal of Lil’s involvement with the creature, and another source of hope occurs when a picture appears in the sky for Jewel to see. Will Jewel finally be stopped, and will Lil’ Fair be saved? Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!” (Next Episode: “Final Part: Growing Growth”)