//------------------------------// // Lullaby Rises! // Story: The Amazing Adventures of Captain Invincible! // by shallow15 //------------------------------// Twilight let out a sigh of relief as she came back into the library. In retrospect, she probably should have taken the journal with her, but when nature called and wouldn't stop, sometimes you just had to focus on the problem at hoof. And speaking of the problem at hoof, she still needed to see how Captain Invincible was going to save the day. After double-checking that the “closed” sign was still in the window, and taking a brief moment to make herself a sandwich just in case any other biological functions decided to lodge complaints while she was reading, Twilight returned to her cushion and resumed Spike's story. The distance between Ponytopolis and Canterlot wasn't great, but it still took Captain Invincible and Scaleseeker two hours to get there. This was mostly due to the two of them trying to keep a low profile, (if you could call hitching a ride on the top of a Canterlot-bound train low profile) but also because of one small difference the Draconic Defender had from other dragons. “I still can't believe you can't fly,” Scaleseeker complained, wrapping her forelegs around her as protection from the chill wind that blew by as the train raced towards Canterlot. “Even ignoring that you're a lizard, I thought all superheroes like you could fly!” “Only in comic books,” Captain Invincible replied. He took off his cape and moved to wrap it around the pegasus. The dragon hunter snarled and pushed his arm away. “I don't need your sympathy. Remember, this is only temporary.” “Of course,” said Captain Invincible, resuming his seat on top of the train car. The two sat in silence for a while, watching the scenery roll past. “So what's the witch up to, anyway?” Scaleseeker asked, breaking the silence. “I'm pretty sure she's picking up right where she left off,” replied the Ponytopolis Protector. “Everything she's done so far indicates she's going to extract the residual magic out of Midnight Sun and implant it into herself. From there, she'll probably try to challenge Princess Celestia and take control of Equestria.” “I think her sister would have an objection to that,” said Scaleseeker. “If Lullaby manages to take down Celestia, she could use the Magic Extractor to take the Princess's magic and after that... well, I doubt Princess Luna would be much of a match for her.” “She can't be any worse than what we've got now.” Captain Invincible frowned and repositioned himself so he was facing the dragon hunter. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and cold. “Let me tell you something about Lullaby. There is nothing she won't do to gain power for herself. When I last encountered her, she was about to siphon the magic out of innocent foals and take it for herself.” “Foals?” Scaleseeker's visible eye widened. “Were they okay?” “Luckily, Midnight Sun and I managed to rescue them before she got that far, but if she had succeeded--” “It would have killed them,” Scaleseeker finished. “I know a few things about unicorn foals.” Captain Invincible quirked an eyebrow. “Yes. Anyway, Lullaby doesn't care about anypony or anything other than her own power. If she takes control of Equestria, everypony from the Crystal Empire to the Badlands is doomed.” Scaleseeker looked at the great dragon hero for a moment, then her usual annoyed expression came back. “Stop trying to influence me with your 'the whole world is at stake' stupidity, lizard. I'm in this to pay back the witch for double-crossing me. Nothing else.” “Understood.” The two said nothing further as the train continued toward the capital of Equestria. ***** The loud crash of equipment and Dr. Spectra's screeching voice caused Hot Scoop to awaken abruptly. The reporter raised her head from the stone floor and looked up to see what had happened. Dr. Spectra was hovering in the air and screaming down at the Urchins, who were clustered around some unidentifiable piece of scientific equipment. Buttermint was hiding behind one of the large crystals that sprouted from the floor of the cavern-based laboratory. The Schoolmarm rushed across the lab and began yelling back at Dr. Spectra. Knowing this would take a while, Hot Scoop rolled her eyes and tried to make herself comfortable on the floor again. One of the things no one ever took into account when you were a repeat hostage for the enemies of a superhero was the boredom. You could only be afraid of so many evil ponies out to take over the world or destroy a city or what have you before it stopped being frightening and just became routine. And there were always hours to kill between the time you were captured and the time somepony came to rescue you. The end result was always the same: excruciating boredom. Hot Scoop watched the villains squabble for a few moments more when the living shadow slid across the floor and formed into Lullaby. The archmage did not look happy. “Enough!” Lullaby shouted, her voice cowing the others into silence. She turned her gaze on Dr. Spectra. “Power up the Extractor. I want Midnight Sun's power before Captain Invincible makes his inevitable appearance. I seriously doubt we were lucky enough for him to have perished in the cavern collapse. ” “It's not ready,” Dr. Spectra protested. “Every time I get close, something–” She shot a pointed glance at the Urchins. “–happens to delay things further. Not to mention the preliminary tests still need to be done.” Lullaby growled and her eyes flashed red. She reached up, grabbed Dr. Spectra by her lab coat and dragged her down to the ground. “I am tired of these delays, Doctor. You will get this machine running in the next hour or there will be consequences. Severe ones. “As for your preliminary tests,” Lullaby pointed a hoof towards Hot Scoop, who sat up sharply, all traces of boredom gone. “Drain the reporter. I want Captain Invincible to see he arrived too late to save the two mares he cares about more than anypony else in the world.” “You can't!” Hot Scoop yelped. “It would–” “Destroy him?” Lullaby walked over to the glass dome that formed Hot Scoop's prison. She gestured at Midnight Sun's coffin. “I think you're missing one of the benefits of this entire exercise. I get Equestria, and revenge on that little nag and her insignificant pet dragon all in one fell swoop. It's a pity you won't be around to see it.” Lullaby sneered and flounced back to her minions. “Banana Split, Joybuzzer, Sour Note, make yourselves useful. Head up to the city proper and watch the airship docks and the train station. He's too much of a goody to travel any other way. You see him, get back here at once.” “Yes, Miss Lullaby,” chorused the Urchins before rushing out of one of the passages leading up to the city. Lullaby turned to Dr. Spectra. “One hour,” she hissed. Her shadow rose up behind her, engulfed the sorceress, and slid away into the darkness. Dr. Spectra let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. “Buttermint! Get the spare cables! We have work to do.” ***** Despite being a tall, well-built dragon and a one-eyed, heavily armed and armored pegasus, Captain Invincible and Scaleseeker managed to get into Canterlot without attracting attention. The two had left the train as it entered the city, leaping to the rooftops and making their way to the town square. They crouched atop one of the city's finer boutiques, trying to keep out of sight of the ponies going about their business below. “Well, now what?” Scaleseeker asked. “I'm trying to get my bearings,” Captain Invincible answered. “If I know Lullaby and Dr. Spectra, they've probably set up shop in the caverns under the city.” “Then why are we on the roof?” “Because Lullaby's smart enough to plan for our survival. She'll have sent somepony out to keep an eye out for us.” “So your plan is to spot a sentry and then what? Follow them aimlessly around the city?” “Well, unless you have any other ideas on how to locate the lair. What about how you found mine?” “I didn't find your lair. I found you. And even if it worked that way, I'm not sacrificing another piece of my soul just to find a crazy mage.” “A piece of your soul?” Captain Invincible's eyebrows raised. “What sort of--” “It doesn't matter!” Scaleseeker snapped. “Besides, there's a better way to find out where they are.” “What do you mean?” Scaleseeker smirked and pointed into the street. Captain Invincible's eyes widened as he spotted Sour Note at a cart set up outside a candy store. “How theatrical can you be?” Scaleseeker asked, a wicked grin spreading across her face. ***** “Ooh!” Sour Note squealed. “And some peppermints, and cinnamon balls... oh! And can I have a half pound of gummy ponies?” The candy vendor chuckled as he scooped the candy into a bag. “Where are you going to put all that, little lady?” “Oh, I have some friends to share with.” The vendor smiled again, folded the bag closed and plopped it on top of the cart. “That'll be three bits.” Sour Note smiled. “No, I don't think so.” She opened her mouth and let loose with a piercing shriek that caused the windows in the surrounding area to shatter, and all the ponies on the street to throw their hooves over their ears in pain. The unicorn filly grabbed the bag of candy in her teeth and dashed off down the street before anypony could recover. As she rounded the corner, a shadow passed over her and Captain Invincible landed in front of her. The Ponytopolis Protector thrust a claw towards her. “Hold it right there, Sour Note!” Sour Note paused for half a second, then hurled the bag of candy into Captain Invincible's face. He instinctively raised an arm to block the assault, allowing Sour Note to dash past him. As she sped away, Sour Note channeled her power and let out a cry to be heard form the airship docks to the train station. “It's Captain Invincible!”' At the train station, Banana Split looked up, grinned and began to run towards the direction of Sour Note's call. Meanwhile, at the docks, Joybuzzer fluttered her wings and took to the air. As Sour Note rushed through the streets of Canterlot, Captain Invincible smiled and gave chase, making it clear that he was pursuing the criminal filly. Up on the rooftops, Scaleseeker took to the air, following Sour Note as she ran towards the entrance to the hidden lab. ***** “Let go of me! I said let me go!” Hot Scoop kicked and struggled as Buttermint and the Schoolmarm forced her into a chair and tied her to it. A flailing hoof caught the Schoolmarm upside the head, knocking her glasses askew. The Schoomarm responded with a hoof of her own, smacking Hot Scoop across the face, shocking the reporter into silence. Before Hot Scoop could protest, Buttermint fastened the strange suction cup device to her muzzle. It was slightly modified from the one she had worn before with the first Magic Extractor. It was smaller, and Hot Scoop found herself unable to open her mouth. The Schoolmarm snorted. “At least maybe we can get some peace and quiet now.” “Is she secured?” Dr. Spectra demanded from her place at the controls. “Y-yes, Dr. Spectra,” Buttermint answered. “Then get on with your test, Doctor,” said Lullaby, appearing next to the controls, causing the pegasus to jump. “I grow tired of these delays.” “Yes, Lullaby,” Dr. Spectra said, shaking off her surprise. She threw a large switch on the control panel and the Turbo-Powered Unicorn Magic Extractor rumbled to life. The Schoolmarm and Buttermint took up positions at two auxiliary panels, waiting for their orders. Hot Scoop looked up in alarm as energy began flowing through the gigantic machine. Then she felt the air rush out of the suction cup covering her muzzle and a tremendous suction. Dr. Spectra grinned and pointed a hoof at Buttermint. “Throw open the switches on the sonic oscillator!” Buttermint obeyed the command and threw three knife switches on the panel in front of her. The rumbling turned into a harsh whine as the sonic oscillator came to life. Hot Scoop felt a tingling in her horn. Her magic was activating. Dr. Spectra pointed another hoof, this time at the Schoolmarm. “And step up the reactor power input three more points!” The Schoolmarm complied, hitting three large red button on her console. The whining increased in volume and wind began to whip through the cavern, tousling the manes of all the ponies. Hot Scoop tried to scream as she felt her magic being sucked back down through her horn and out her nostrils and mouth. The suction cup attached to her face began to glow bright blue with the power being forced into it and down the cable leading to the nearby collection crystal. Hot Scoop felt her eyelids grow heavy and her head began to loll. She felt sick to her stomach and her hooves began to throb as she was drained of her magic. She was about to succumb to the darkness at the edge of her vision when the Urchins rushed into the cavern. “Captain Invincible's here!” Sour Note yelped. “And we're pretty sure he's followin' us!” Banana Split added. Lullaby growled through her teeth and reached across the panel, throwing the master switch. The Extractor powered down. “We're out of time. Buttermint, hook the Extractor to the coffin. Urchins, put the reporter somewhere out of the way.” “We can't just do that!” Dr. Spectra protested. “It will take time to calibrate everything again, not to mention bleeding off the magic in the collection crystal so we can be sure we get all of Midnight Sun's magic.” “We won't be using the collection crystal.” Lullaby stormed across the cavern to the collection crystal. She pulled the cable connected to it out then levitated a second suction cup sevice over and connected it to the end. “Are you insane?” the Schoolmarm asked. “We have no idea if a direct transfer can work. The magical influx could kill you.” Lullaby fixed the Schoolmarm with a cold stare. “Never question me. I know what I'm doing. Buttermint! Is it connected?” Buttermint let out a squeak as she heard her name. She turned to Lullaby. “Y-yes, Miss Lullaby. Everything's ready here.” “Then take your positions. Both of you.” Buttermint returned to her console. The Schoolmarm opened her mouth as if to protest again, but another look from the sorceress silenced her. She went to her own console. “I'm not going to do it! The risk is too great,” Dr. Spectra said. “We can set up a distraction for the purple oaf or something. I—urk!” The mad scientist's words were cut off as Lullaby constricted her magic around her throat. “You will do exactly as I say,” said Lullaby. “Or I will kill you myself. Right here. Right now. Do you understand?” Dr. Spectra nodded frantically. Lullaby dispelled her magic and fastened the suction cup to her face as Dr. Spectra got back to her hooves behind the main control panel. “Now,” Lullaby said, her voice slightly muffled. “Begin.” ***** Captain Invincible and Scaleseeker followed the tunnel leading beneath Canterlot. They had followed the Urchins to a ponyhole in a forgotten alley and soon found a breach in the city sewers leading into the caverns. “Well, we know they're here,” said the Ponytopolis Protector. “Of course, our little display back in the city means they know we're coming.” “You said you wanted to find them, you never said anything about subtle,” Scaleseeker answered. “Besides, I want to get this over with.” “Yes, but–” Captain Invincible's thought went unfinished as the entire tunnel started vibrating. The hero and the hunter braced themselves against the tunnel walls to keep upright. “Earthquake?” Scaleseeker asked. Captain Invincible's expression was grim. “Worse, I think. Come on!” The two ran down the tunnel and dashed into the lab. They stopped and stared in awe at the technological wonder. Awe turned to rage when the great dragon hero saw the Extractor hooked up to Lullaby and Midnight Sun's coffin. He bared his teeth and raced towards the coffin, intending to put an end to the experiment once and for all. “I wouldn't do that if I were you, Cap'n!” Captain Invincible stopped mid-stride and turned to face the source of the voice. His eye widened when he saw Hot Scoop tied to a chair surrounded by a dozen Banana Split clones. Sour Note was standing on one of the Banana Splits, her mouth close to Hot Scoop's ear, while Joybuzzer flew above her, her wings sparking dangerously. “Another step an' yer little squeeze ain't gonna be feelin' so good.” “Same goes for you, One-Eye,” Joybuzzer said, spotting Scaleseeker. “Do what you want with her, I don't care,” the dragon hunter replied. “Scaleseeker, stand down. Please.” Captain Invincible said. “I don't take orders from you!” Scaleseeker snarled. “This is payback for all these nags double-crossing me back at the lair!” Scaleseeker's wings flexed as she prepared to go airborne. But as she crouched to take off, an explosion rocked the cavern and part of the Extractor crashed to the floor of the cavern. “Dr. Spectra!” Buttermint cried. “The generator is going critical! It's too much power!” “The magic levels are off the charts!” The Schoolmarm reported. “Nopony could contain this kind of power!” Dr. Spectra was frantically throwing switched and pressing buttons on the panel in front of her. “It's no good! I can't contain it! Everypony out! It's gonna blow!” Banana Split blinked and her duplicates vanished. The Urchins left Hot Scoop behind and dashed up the tunnel, Buttermint and the Schoolmarm close behind them. Dr. Spectra took to the air and sped across the cavern. Scaleseeker growled and followed her, pulling out her sword. “You don't get away from me that easily!” she cried as she shot back up the tunnel. “Scaleseeker, wait!” Captain Invincible called. The cavern was rocked with another series of explosions as the Extractor tried to compensate for the unexpected level of magical power coursing through it. Captain Invincible scanned the area, trying to figure out how to save Hot Scoop, Midnight Sun, and even Lullaby. He dashed to the coffin and tried to disconnect the extractor cable. He hauled on the cable with all his might. A surge of energy rushed through it and the great dragon hero screamed in pain as it blasted him back across the cavern. As he staggered to his feet there was another series of explosions and he stared in horror as the entire Extractor collapsed, burying Midnight Sun and Lullaby under tons of metal and wiring. “No! Midnight Sun!” Captain Invincible rushed forth, but stopped when he heard a faint cry behind him. “Spike... save me. Please.” Hot Scoop had awakened and was calling weakly to him. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was struggling for breath. “Please, Spike... help me.” Captain Invincible looked back at the ruins of the Extractor. The metal was beginning to glow a bright red. Something was still running underneath all of it, and it was going critical. “I'm sorry Midnight.” Captain Invincible turned away from the wreckage of the Extractor, grabbed Hot Scoop without bothering to untie her and dashed out of the cavern. As he left, he failed to notice that the red glow had begun to be shot through with tendrils of black. ***** As Captain Invincible crawled out of the ponyhole, he spotted Dr. Spectra pinned up against the wall of the alley, the point of Scaleseeker's sword at her throat. “Scaleseeker, stop!” he cried. He untied Hot Scoop and laid her out on the ground before walking over and knocking the sword away. “Get out of my way, lizard,” Scaleseeker said. “I may not have been able to take out the witch, but I can definitely take out this psychopath.” “Not while I'm here,” Captain Invincible said harshly. “I know you're better than this.” “No, I'm not.” Scaleseeker took to the air and swung her sword up, intending to bring it down on the great dragon hero. Captain Invincible braced for the impact. Then the ground exploded beneath them. Dragon and pony flew through the air, landing hard on the ground. Scaleseeker and Dr. Spectra tried to use their wings to steady themselves, but were slammed into the walls of the alley and fell to the ground. When the dust settled, Captain Invincible stood up and rubbed dust from his eyes. “Is everypony all right?” There were groans in the affirmative. Captain Invincible rushed to Hot Scoop. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the unicorn was still breathing. “Awww, is little Spike's sweetheart okay? How delightful.” Captain Invincible frowned and looked upward. Lullaby floated in the air above them. Her eyes glowed a dark red edged in black. Her tiara sparkled with magical energy and her cloak floated behind her in an unearthly manner. She grinned down at Dr. Spectra. “Congratulations, Dr. Spectra, the experiment was a success. And now that it is finished,” Lullaby pointed her horn down at the group in the alley. It began glowing with the same black tinged red magic. “I no longer need any of you.” “I'm home!” Spike called as he closed the door to the library. Twilight looked up sharply, her concentration broken. She swallowed as Spike looked in on her. “Hey, Twilight,” he said quietly. “Hi, Spike,” Twilight said, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice. “Um, get everything done?” “Yeah, sooner than I thought. Um... so.” “Yeah. So.” The two of them stared at each other uncomfortably, not sure what to say.