My Brave Pony: Starfleet Nemesis

by Scipio Smith

Couples Therapy

Couples Therapy

A moment of silence greeted Starla's grim pronouncement. Then Rainbow Dash's face became contorted with anger. "Oh yeah? Well if she wants Fluttershy or Twilight then she can come and get 'em and go through me first!"

"Hold on, now, Rainbow Dash," Applejack said. "If we let ourselves get side-tracked by Starla Shine then we're making exactly the same mistake we did when we let Harkin distract us." She didn't need to remind any of them, or Lightning still stood nearby and listening to every word, of what had happened when they'd let themselves get distracted by Harkin. While they'd been fighting him, Twilight had been fighting a hopeless battle alone against Raven, and it was only this new miracle that meant they hadn't lost her for good.

Fluttershy's brow furrowed. "Perhaps I should-"

"Don't say it," Rainbow said earnestly. "Don't even think it. We are not splitting up, not again. No way, no how. Whatever we do, we do it together?"

Please, don't tell me that they're actually considering sticking around here? Lightning took a step forward. "You girls should go, now, all of you. While there's still time. Rarity, may I please borrow your ship in your absence?"

The five girls and the dragon all looked at him.

"What are you suggesting, Lightning?" asked Applejack.

"I'm suggesting that you six came here to do something important," Lightning said. "You need to go, you need to find Twilight. Applejack, you're right, you can't afford to be sidetracked by Starla or anything else. So you need to move out immediately, and I'll keep Starla off your back. You have my word."

"You have a plan, I take it?" Rarity said.

"I'll try and persuade her to stop this, that this doesn't need to end in violence," Lightning replied. "But...if that doesn't work I'll use the Twilight's ion cannon to disable the Revenge and leave it adrift. Look, you might not particularly want to hear this but Starla's stronger than any of you; if you wait here and make her come for you then she will kill you and who will help Twilight then? Please...I don't have the right to ask you to trust me, but I'm asking anyway. I can help you. At the very least I can buy you some time."

Twilight's friends all glanced at one another.

"I trust him," Pinkie said with surprising brightness (or surprising from anyone else maybe). "I believe you'll do your best, if we let you."

Lightning swallowed. Once more her capacity for forgiveness and compassion left him amazed and astonished. That the person I maligned the most should become my strongest supporter. What a world. What a people. What a girl.

A smirk crossed Rainbow's cyan face. "Well, if you can convince Pinkie I guess that's good enough for me."

"I think it's the best plan we got right now," Applejack said.

"I agree," Rarity murmured. "The ship is yours, Lightning. Take good care of her, and please don't scratch the paintwork."

Lightning chuckled. "I'll try."

"Thank you, Lightning," Fluttershy murmured. "You've...you've become very kind."

Lightning gave a wry smile. "I'd like to say that I'm becoming the hero Twilight always thought I could be, but I don't want to be presumptuous, so I'll just thank you for the compliment, and wish you good luck. Now go. Twilight's waiting for you."

"Right." They began to move, Spike clinging on to Rarity's back like a rucksack as they loped quickly westwards. Pinkie seemed to be taking the lead. That intuition like ability of hers, probably. Lightning wouldn't pretend to understand it. He didn't need to.

Just like he didn't have time to just watch them go. He turned to Fratello. "I hope that you've no objections to taking my orders."

Fratello shook his head, causing some hydraulic sounds as his neck moved. "I'm a novice at space combat, I'll bow to your greater experience."

"Thank you for your support," Lightning replied. He glanced down at Kitty Snip, and had to control himself from recoiling slightly at someone who had been a wanted criminal until a few days ago. But then, in a world where Twilight and her friends could be condemned as traitors how many similar innocents languished in the jails of Starfleet? "Miss Kitty," he said. "I don't know if you want to wait down here. If the Princess Twilight has to go into battle then it could be dangerous to be aboard."

"If I can't stick with Miss Pinkie then I'll stick with Krysta," Kitty declared.

Lightning was momentarily surprised at the idea that Krysta was friends with Kitty, but dismissed his surprise simply because he lacked the time to dwell on it. "Very well, best get aboard quickly. Fratello, with me."

As he quickly climbed the ladder and ran through the corridors towards the bridge, it occurred to Lightning how natural it felt to slip back into a commanding mode, giving orders and barking instructions. Habits, it seemed, were hard to break.

"Lightning!" Krysta flew down the corridor, trailing motes of glowing light, slowing down only when she was level with him. "What's going on?"

"Starla's parked a battleship in orbit above us and declared her intent to kill Twilight and anyone who gets in her way. Whether that includes me or not I don't know, but she wants her husband back. She was explicit about it."

"Who knew that she could get so mad, huh?"

"If it was just me I'd say I deserved it. I've treated her badly."

"Maybe you have, but murderous rage is a little extreme don't you think?"

Lightning didn't reply. They reached the bridge and Lightning burst in as soon as the door opened.

Fratello was a step behind him. "Rarity and her friends have gone to find Princess Twilight. Lightning Dawn has been given command of the ship until she returns."

Lightning tried to ignore the looks that he was getting from the bridge crew. They thought him and outsider and a usurper and wondered why he had been so honoured.

He meant to show them by his actions rather than simply trying to explain it to them.

He glanced down at the captain's chair, but for the moment he did not sit down in it. He didn't to seem presumptuous, although he might have need of a seat if it came down to action against the Revenge.

"It's Bridge Bunny, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes it is."

"Please hail the Revenge, and put them on speaker," Lightning said. "I want the whole ship to hear this."

Bridge Bunny's hands flew over the controls on her console. "Sending hail...Revenge is responding, hailing frequencies open."

Lightning found himself pulling down his shirt, tugging on the hem even though Starla couldn't see him over a purely oral line of communication. "Starla, are you there? It's Lightning Dawn here on the Princess Twilight Sparkle."

There was a moment of pause before Starla's voice, soft and almost tender in stark contrast to her barely contained rage when threatening to take the head of Twilight Sparkle, filled the bridge and, indeed, the entire ship. "Lightning? Lightning is that...is that really you? Of course it is...it's good, no, it's wonderful to hear your voice again. I've missed you, so much."

Lightning closed his eyes as he sighed. How much of this could have been avoided, if only I could have been a good husband? But how much would being a 'good husband', of being the husband that Starla wanted, have cost him? Would he have had to ignore his moral awakening, his growing sense that he been learning the wrong lessons, making the wrong choices his whole life? Possibly...but it was all in the past now. He could no more change the things he'd done then he could...he almost thought 'then he could bring Twilight back from the dead' before he remembered that somebody had done just that.

"I...I've missed you too, Starla."

"Then why are you down there?" Starla demanded, her voice rising to a near shriek of anger. "Do you know how much you...do you know that Rhymey is dead?"

"Yes," Lightning said softly. "I watched his funeral."

"I stood vigil over him," Starla declared. "With Buddy and Artie. You should have been there with us."

"I was in..." Lightning trailed off, because saying that he had been in hospital at the time would probably sound extraordinarily petty and defensive of him.

Nevertheless, it appeared that Starla could guess what he had been about to say. "You should have come anyway," Starla said. "As he would have risen from his sickbed if you had been the one lying in state." She was silent for a moment, and when she spoke again her voice was full of resentment. "You stood vigil for Twilight before her funeral. Did you know, even then?"

"Know what?"

"Don't act ignorant!" Starla snapped. "Did you know, even then, that she wasn't really dead, that it was all faked to let her escape and plot fresh treasons?"

"It's a little more complicated than that, Starla."

"That's what sinners and villains say to sugar over the archdemons they have conjured," Starla said. "It's never complicated, good is good and bad is bad; all the rest is sophistry practice to decieve the vulnerable and the credulous." Her voice softened. "The question is...are you decieved or are you wicked? Please, Lightning, my love, my heart, my moon and stars tell me that you are decieved? Tell me that you are decieved and let me help you. Tell me that you are decieved and I will cleanse all evil influencers from your life and all will be made well again, I swear it."

"I was decieved," Lightning confessed. "But now I think I'm seeing clearly for the first time in many years."

"Seeing clearly," Starla repeated, in a tone that was both wounded and cutting at the same time. "Do you know why I am here, Lightning? Do you know why I was given the command to hunt down Twilight and any who aided her, to avenge Rhymey's death, do you know why I'm here and you didn't know until I arrived? Because His Majesty can no longer trust you. You, the pride of Starfleet, the exemplar of valour, he whom the Grand Ruler loves as a son and he cannot trust you. He confessed to me that he feared you would not defend him against Twilight's malice, thus am I sent in his stead. Lightning...do you have any idea how much you have hurt us who love you best in all the galaxy? Are you not wounded to hear it now."

"He killed my family," Lightning said.

There was a silence on the other end of the line. "What? What did you say?"

"The Grand Ruler, it was him who attacked Harmonius and destroyed it, it was him, it was Starfleet, they killed my family and destroyed my home and scattered my people to the stars as slaves," Lightning said. "I don't know why he took me in, maybe it was because of the Uniforce, but he must have done something to my mind, messed with my memories somehow."

"You think His Majesty would do something like that?" Starla demanded. "To you, of all people? Who told you this, where has this story come from?"

"From Snowflame, one of my friends from Harmonius," Lightning said.

"Everyone on Harmonius died except you."

"No, they didn't, two of my friends were rescued from a slave ship by the New Baltimare and brought-"

"A likely story," Starla cried. "Open your eyes, Lightning. Open up your eyes and see that you are being played. You really believe this random mare who shows up out of nowhere claiming to be your long lost friend-"

"If you're going to call me a liar how about you do it to my face?" Snowflame yelled as she stomped onto the bridge.

"Who is this? Am I on speaker?"

"My name is Snowflame, daughter of Summer Storm and Distant Thunder, last Stormbringer of Harmonius," Snowflame declared. "Who are you?"

"I don't answer to frauds and refugees."

"Is this your wife?" Snowflame asked. "I can see why you kicked her out."

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Starla screamed. "I am going to rip out your tongue you pathetic little insect!" There was a pause, but Lightning could hear Starla taking deep breaths on the other side of the line. "I mean...where's Twilight, Lightning?"

"I don't know," Lightning said.

"You don't know or you won't tell me?"

"I honestly don't know," Lightning replied. "Starla, please, listen to me. You don't have to do this. There doesn't have to be any violence."

"I have my orders and I've accepted my mission," Starla declared. "Do you remember what that means. Do you remember when you used to follow orders and faithfully carry out the missions that were assigned to you?"

"I've felt happier since I started thinking for myself," Lightning said.

"Think for yourself? You're being decieved, Twilight and her crew are leading you by the nose and you're letting them!"

"I don't think I'm the one being decieved, not any more. Starla, let me explain-"

"I don't need your explanations, I know everything I need to," Starla said. "Valour, duty, sacrifice; I'm a good soldier, a faithful servant of His Majesty, and I will defend His Majesty in person, honour and dignity against all enemies. The question is...are you one of them?"

"Starla, listen to me-"

"I've listened enough," Starla snapped. "I-" she was silent for a moment. Then she laughed. "Clever, clever Lightning, you've been playing for time, haven't you? Let me guess: you've sent Twlight and her friends away somewhere and now you're keeping me talking so that they can get as far away as possible."

Lightning cursed inwardly. "You don't have to do this, Starla."

"I'll take that as a yes," Starla said. "I...I'm sorry that it's come to this."

"Starla-"

"Lightning Dawn, you have declared yourself an enemy of Starfleet and a traitor by your actions," Starla declared. "As such I, Starla Shine, bearer of His Majesty's honour, will deliver His justice to you and to all who would defend you."

"You didn't used to be like this," Lightning murmured. "You used to be...you didn't used to be like that?"

"Perhaps you should have asked yourself just why that was," Starla snapped. "It was for you. I did everything for you. I changed myself, contorted myself, pushed aside the very core of my being and all for you. So that I could be 'worthy' of your love, so that I could be a good girlfriend and a dutiful wife to you. So that I could be the good girl, the worthy girl, the girl a hero like you deserved. But you're not a hero, and you've chosen the bad girl, and I'm done with you. The good girl's gone, Lightning. Goodbye."

"Connection severed," Bridge Bunny said.

"You picked a right one with her, didn't you?" Snowflame said.

"She didn't used to be that way," Lightning muttered. "Once...I loved her once."

"That was because she was pretending to be someone you could love."

Midnight, the ship's AI who bore a disconcerting - to Lightning, at least, although the rest of the crew seemed to have gotten used to it - appeared on the holo-panel on the arm of Rarity's chair. "The Revenge is resuming her descent."

Lightning looked at the captain's chair once again. She did give me her ship. He tried to avoid the appearance of hesitation as he sat down in what he could not but think of as Rarity's rightful seat. "Bring the ship up to full power and get us airborne as quickly as possible; raise the shield, charge the ion cannon and prepare for ship-to-ship combat. All hands to action stations, the ship is going to General Quarters."

"Are you sure about this, our Lightning?" Snowflame asked.

"Relax," Lightning said, wishing that he could take his own advice. "I'm a terrible friend, I have a problem with empathy and I don't expression my emotions very well but this?" He grinned at her. "This is the part I'm actually good at."

"Please, Lightning, don't sell yourself short. By the time we parted, you'd become a very good friend to me. I'm proud to see what you've grown to become."

Lightning's eyes widened. That voice...it was... "Twilight?"

Twilight's voice filled the bridge. It was like it was coming out of the speakers but...how could that be...where was she? Was she hacking the ship somehow? "Hello, Lightning Dawn. Or should I call you Commander now?"

Lightning shook his head, for all that he knew that Twilight couldn't see it. "Twilight...you don't have to call me commander, you don't have to...Lightning Dawn is fine. Twilight..." he rose to his feet. "I...I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything."

"You have nothing to apologise for, Lightning," Twilight said kindly. "You kept my friends alive, and safe, and now you've brought them here to me. We'll be together again soon and that's all down to you. I should be the one-"

"Don't trust-!"

Lightning frowned as a second voice, a second voice of Twilight interrupted the first. This voice was neither smooth nor kind, this voice was shouting before it was interrupted.

"Sorry about that," Twilight said. "We're getting a little interference trying to access your comms from here."

"Where are you?"

"Somewhere safe," Twilight said. "I've left markers to guide the girls to my location. Oh, it's going to be so great to see them all again. You have no idea how much I've missed-"

"...a trick!" the other Twilight cried. "Lightning, list-"

"We're working very hard here to lock down this interference," Twilight said, with a chuckle of embarassment. "Don't worry, the problem will be resolved soon. All the problems will be resolved soon."

"Listen, Twilight," Lightning said. "I don't know what kind of signs you left for your friends, but if they're not subtle then Starla might be able to use them to find her. I'm going to try and keep her off your back but-"

"Don't worry, I'm well aware of what Starla Shine plans to do with my head," Twilight said, and this time it was almost as if there was an un-Twilight-ish edge of contempt in her voice. "I'm going to take care of that problem too."

"Meaning?"

"There's no need for you to risk your ship or crew in a battle," Twilight said. "Sit tight and relax, I'm going to take care of this."

The ship began to shake, vibrating fiercely from side to side, so fiercely that Snowflame struggled to keep her feet and the seated crewmembers were rocked back and forth. Lightning was thrown into the arm of the chair and grabbed hold of it to steady himself.

"Seismic vibrations detected all across the planet," Midnight said. "This is not an isolated phenomenon."

"Twilight?" Krysta asked. "Is this you? What are you doing to my planet."

"Take it easy, your majesty," Twilight said calmly. "The tremors will pass soon."

"Energy signatures detected," Midnight said. "Multiple energy signatures, of varying size. Hundreds...thousands. Energy signatures...underground. Rising."

"Twilight?" Lightning yelled.

"During the Great War between Light and Darkness, Luminoth completely fell under the sway of darkness," Twilight said. "When the Six Heroes of Light arose then Titan, fearing defeat, hid a great army here beneath the planet's surface until he should return and require it again. Since he isn't using it, I thought I'd borrow it for a while."

"But..." Lightning's mouth felt parched and dry of words. His mind was whirling with so many questions that couldn't even begin to list them all. "Twilight...why..."

The vibrations shaking the ship intensified as something massive erupted out of the ground right in front of the Princess Twilight. The ship was showered in earth as what looked like a giant mechanical spider, all metal legs and a fat silvery body, all aglow with blue lies running across it, rose into the air powered by boosters mounted into its legs. Around them, as far as the viewscreen would show him, Lightning could see more spiders rising up out of the ground, followed by swarms of robotic ants, robotic ants with wings swarming upwards in immense numbers, blotting out whole swathes of the sky as they rose up from the ground and flew upwards, upwards towards the atmosphere, upwards...towards Starla's Revenge.

"Behold," Twilight declared. "The Insecto Armada, the dark lord Titan's gift; the instrument for the destruction of Starfleet and the liberation of the galaxy."

Comments

[N Harmonik]

...Well, crud.

[heavens-champion]

I have a bad feeling about this.