//------------------------------//
// Seeds of Hope - Edited 
// Story: Cutie Mark Crusaders: Heroes from the Stars 
// by Chrome Masquerade 
//------------------------------//

Babs Seed was walking home from another productive day at the local salon, where she typically worked. Ever since she'd received her Cutie Mark, she had found that she had a talent with styling Ponies' manes (and occasionally tails). Ponies came in daily to get her services specifically; she'd earned some amount of clout over time. While she wasn't as such.... "famous" as of yet, it was close enough for her.

Anyway, as she trotted toward her home in the downtown Manehattan area, she was, needless to say, in a fairly good mood. She had a bit of a skip in her steps and a smile on her face. Also, the sun was shining and not a cloud could be seen. It seemed like things just couldn't get any better.

Suddenly, a meteorite appeared high in the sky, falling toward the earth below at a tremendous speed.

"Well, it seems like there's at least ONE cloud." Babs deadpanned, her good mood soured slightly.

When the meteorite hit the ground seconds later, not far away, it unfolded to reveal what seemed like a steel gray dragon. A seriously huge one, easily surmounting the previous Dragon Lord's enormity. It had no horns, but it had bat-wing-like ears(1), leathery wings and a long tail with what seemed like a drill at the end. This turned out to indeed be the case, as one of the first things it did was dig a hole into a building with it, slashing the solid metal wall apart.

Ponies began to panic, running in all directions. Some were crushed by falling rubble, some were burned by the dragon's fiery breath, but most of them were able to escape relatively unscthed.

Babs saw a group of foals that had been cornered by the dragon, blocked on the other side by fallen debris. Babs reacted swiftly. Reaching into her Pocket, she drew forth a grandé sized pair of scissors. Switching to a two legged stance, she removed the screws keeping the two blades together, essentially giving herself a pair of swords.

Running forth, she slashed at the dragon's legs, trying to at least distract it from the younglings.

The dragon turned in annoyance as Babs tried to further attract its attention. "Yeah! Dat was me! Whatcha gonna do 'bout it, ya ova'grown gecko!?"

While she was doing this, the foals made a break for it, only one stopping to call "Thank you!".

Babs knew that she didn't stand a chance against this beast, but wasn't about to give up that easily. The dragon snapped at her with surprising speed, and it was only through luck that Babs managed to parry the strike, still getting knocked back several meters.

"Okay. Note ta self: Faster than it looks." she said to herself.

Dashing forth once more, she was able to avoid a swipe of the dragon's tail, managing to score a couple more cuts along the beast's underside. The dragon roared with anger, this time spewing forth a jet of flame. Babs was just barely able to avoid that, but was unprepared for what happened next. 

Raising one claw, the dragon snorted and drew a symbol in the air. A similar symbol appeared under Babs and she suddenly stopped, mid-run, also dropping her scissor-blades. Try as she might, she was frozen; unable to move at all.

Drawing another symbol in the air, the dragon pointed at her, slowly raising its claw, and she began levitating with it! The dragon brought her up to its face. It then spoke in a language foreign to Babs. "Vi n'teaz'ris ir, wux re. si tiichi wux shafaer lastig por nomeno drong. oli nomeno nibel ui svern."(2)

Bringing  itts head closer to her, it continued, more than a bit smugly, "Wux re kiri kosj ekess nakta. Si filiik si geou tepoha ekess... rechan wux spical."

That was the last thing Babs heard befor the dragon sent her through a wall with a flick of its tail.





"Babs Seed. Babs Seed, awaken!"

Babs awoke, face down. Rolling onto her back, she groaned. Everything felt sore. in the extreme. She still managed to get up, with a few attempts. Looking up - looking waaaaay up - she saw a red and silver bipedal figure. He had a triangular crystal in the center of his chest, He was seriously enormous! "Who... who are you?" she queried nervously.

"Glad you asked. I am Ultraman Mebius. Typically, I would have chosen a male host, but you were the only one close by. Anyway, I am speaking directly to your mind now. That dragon is attempting to destroy the city you call home. Alone, you stand no chance, as you just witnessed. However, together, we may be able to defeat it. What say you?"

"Where do I sign?" Babs said, readily.

An orange crystal appeared upon her right foreleg. "All you must do is concentrate your energy into that and call out my name; Mebius."

Doing so, Babs cried out, "Mebius!"
(FLASH!)




Suddenly, in a flash of light, a new arrival was revealed. She was red with silver streaks. Or was she silver with red streaks? Whatever. Upon her chest was a triangular crystal. She stood tall, facing the dragon down.

The dragon grinned (as much as a dragon is able to grin, anyway). "Kwiip ziihul! Sva annyo, vi relekihl!"(4)

The figure flexed her hands experimentally, moving into a fighting stance shortly thereafter. She made a "come on, then" gesture, which was more than enough invitation for the dragon.

The two clashed, one trying to push the other over. After being pushed back a few times, the figure managed to stand her ground fully. Glaring into the dragon's eyes, she Projected, {I am Ultramare Mebius. I am charged with the protection of these Ponies. And it will be my honour and pleasure to spar with you.}

The two broke apart, Mebius throwing a punch and the dragon swiping, claws open. Both were able to counter. After five more of these, they each managed to hit each other solidly at once, forcing the two backward from each other. 

This time, Mebius took the opportunity and attacked, hitting the dragon solidly on the side of it's head, forcing it further back, slightly stunned. It shook its head, then wiped its mouth with one claw, removing a small amount of blood. "Ha! Si tepoha ti coanwor donotresk hefoc batobot persvek vi owier eorikci usv throdenilt."(5)

The dragon flapped its wings hard, unleashing a blast of chilling air, which Mebius not only managed to avoid damage from, but, swirling her arms quickly, she created a vortex that used the attack's energy. {Mebius Cyclone!} And sent it back toward the dragon, which was easily blocked.

Mebius decided that it was timne to step things up. Concentrating her energy, she began to shift somewhat in colour, ending up with golden streaks in places. {Knight Brave Mode!} Focusing her energy again, she created a sword of energy and her armet transformed into a kite shield.

"Draushum seanf daron, hak? Algbo hak, confn shafaer!"(6) the dragon taunted, unleashing a jet of flame. Raising her shield, Mebius absorbed the fiery enregy, then redirected it at the dragon. {Deflection!}

Mebius was then able to give a couple of good slashes to the dragon's tough hide, but not enough to kill it. The dragon then retaliated with both a gout of flame and a gust of biting cold from its wings. This time, Mebius was unable to avoid the full brunt of the attacks, but managed to stay standing.

{Mebium Blade Overload!} Mebius chared energy into her sword and directed it at the dragon, which easily blocked the attack, holding some of the energy in one claw, just to show off. "Si tepoha airema taouli, riliwa wadotiri kagh throdenilt, arunir po vin silah mishun lae wux! nomeno ui svabol si waph po!"(7)

Mebius' crystal began flashing red. Time was running short now.

Concentrating her energy, she changed again, shifting the colour scheme to include even more golden streaks and a phoenix symbol on her chest. {Burning Brave Mode!} With that, she tossed the sword that she had into the air and formed another with some of her remaining power. Deftly, she caught the first blade with her off hand. {Dual Blades!}

Mebius and the dragon began an exchange of multiple shashes and swipes, each taking a few hits before they backed off. Focusing her energy once more, as did the dragon, both sent out bursts of energy toward each other. {Mebium Blade Shoot!} 

For a moment, the two energies clashed, neither collapsing for a while. Mebius then, with some effort, raised her other blade to enhance the energies projected by the first. {Mebium Double Blade Blast!} After that, the dragon's flame didn't stand a chance and was overwhelmed. Mebius' attack hit the dragon full force in the face, effectively destroying it with a dramatic explosion.

Before that happened, she heard, "Nomeno tepohaic coanwor vin mombasso slathalin. wux tepoha coanwor yscik ekess frivin svabol throden ornla qe nuryscik ekess; Nomagqe yth nishka slathalin tenamalo sihkear."(8)

Mebius looked to the sky and leapt, vanishing from sight in a burst of light.





Later on,Babs was getting a ticket for a train ride to Ponyville. It had been a while since she'd seen her cousins last and she decided that it was time to change that. She'd made sure to reserve a few days off of work for the purpose. As she waited for the train, she briefly looked at her arm, consideering the events of the day. One thing was clear in her mind: Things were going to become VERY interesting, VERY soon.