My Little Pony Tales: Quest To Babylon

by Phoxjes Rome

The Chapter That Gets The Plot Going

My Little Pony Tales: Quest To Babylon

Chp 3: The chapter that gets the plot going

"Melody! Bon-Bon! Clover!" Starlight called out to the other girls in the stars around her. "Anyone!"

The girls around her still didn't move from their current lying/sitting positions, each of them staying entirely unconscious. Nothing that she said could get through to them, so Starlight tried a different tactic: banging on the star that she was trapped within.

However, this also proved to be a useless endeavor, as each of her attacks just bounced right off of the walls.

"Y'know, for something made of burning gas, these stars are pretty solid." Starlight told herself, trying to light up her own mood.

"That's the whole point of barriers, Starlight; they're not supposed to be broken." A voice told her. Starlight turned around to see a familiar sight: The same light in the space from her dream last night. The same girl walked through it, carefully strolling towards Starlight and her friends.

"Star? Is that you?" She asked the approaching girl.

"Does Teddy smell like a dumpster?" The girl replied, to which Starlight giggled. Star made her way over to where she was, and her horn lit up. In a second, Starlight's barrier vanished, and she was able to stand on the invisible floor once again.

"What are you doing here? What are WE doing here?" Starlight followed up her previous question.

"I brought you and the girls here to answer the questions that the writer got bored of repeating." Star told her in reply. "But if I want to tell all of you at the same time, I'll have to release your friends from the barrier's they're in, and risk the likes of Illiux finding me. I'll fill you and your friends in one by one, so that they're clear as well."

"Okay, so first question: What's happening with the school and Miss Hackney?"

"This might take a while to explain, and there'll be a lot of information to take in, so listen carefully. All of the events up to now all have one common denominator: Lancer."

"Lancer? As in the rich colt, goes to our school, nicest colt we know, Lancer? But he'd never hurt a fly."

"Maybe not the colt that you and your friends know, but there's been a few changes in his life. Now listen, this part is important: In your world, there's five different types of magic that inhabit all life. Without these kinds of magic, you and your friends wouldn't have a world to call home."

"What kind of magic are these?"

"Well, firstly, just so we're on the same page, this isn't the sort of magic that let's you pull a rabbit out of a hat. The first kind of magic is already within you and the other girls, Starlight. It's what is called Neutral Magic, and everypony in the world, except from Pegasi, Unicorns and Alicorns have it."

"Wait, so you're saying that me and my friends are already magical? This I gotta see." Starlight looked at the ground behind her, in excitement.

"You'll see it yourself soon enough. The problem is, even I don't know how or when this power will show itself to you. In fact, as far as I know, only one pony does know how to use this, and he's fighting against us."

"Oh."

"Now then second kind of magic isn't as nice as it sounds: it's called Rainbow magic. This kind is the specialty of Pegasi and Alicorns, like myself." Star told her, showing her wings and lighting her horn up.

"Okay, so what does this one do? And what does this have to do with Lancer?"

"Easy, but it has nothing to do with him. You see, this magic is what gives all of the ponies here the motivation to live life, and feel great about themselves. It already spreads in the sky, and eventually finds it way into everypony in existence. It's the more... optimistic magic."

"Explains a lot really." Starlight said as she thought about what Star just said.

"Next up we have Mystical magic. I really don't think you or anyone you know will come across this one so easily."

"Why's that?" Starlight asked again. "If it makes my world a whole, then shouldn't I come across it often?"

"I thought that your friend Melody demonstrated that you shouldn't jump to conclusions. This magic is rare because it only exists in rare creatures, like Manticores and Dragoniquises. This magic isn't one to take lightly, because I don't know what it's limits are. Each species that has it can do their own thing. Summon storms, cut through metal, mass hysteria, you name it."

""Manitcore"? "Dragoniquis"? Are you sure you didn't make this up?" Starlight asked her, clearly still skeptical.

"Is Bright-Eyes an egghead?" Star replied sarcastically.

"Carry on."

"Next, we have a more... unpleasant sounding kind of magic. Brace yourself for this kind: Ghost."

"...Seriously?" Starlight asked, looking concerned at the potential that this magic could cause.

"Yuppers. Ghost magic is one of the more difficult magic's to learn, but in return, it's even more difficult to beat. They can do pretty much anything that you think a ghost can: Walk through walls, disappear, fly, be much more unique than the other guy." Star then broke into a song and little dance. "And it was then that he knew what he had to do, he had to stop all the ghosts that are coming through, he's here to fight for me and-"

Star stopped when she saw Starlight staring at her in confusion.

"Okay, okay I'll stop now. But in all seriousness, Ghost magic allows certain ponies, mostly Unicorns to take on powers to float, vanish, possess things, and even yell a wail that can shatter glass. However, not a lot of ponies can be gifted with this kind of magic. In fact, back where I come from, Some ponies argue whether or not this kind of magic actually exists or not."

"But it does, right?"

"Of course it does. Finally, you might find this one the most difficult to overcome."

"Come on, I can take anything." Starlight told her, looking confident.

"I really don't think you can." Star answered.

"Bring it on, we'll take down any-"

"Dragon." Star bluntly said.

Starlight's heart skipped a beat. Her intense fear of the scaled animals was kept a secret from everyone she knew. However, knowing now that she had no choice but to face them eventually, Starlight was beginning to doubt her own abilities.

"Did... You... Just... Say... Dragons...?" Starlight asked in fear.

"Yes... I... Did..." Star replied, mocking her, clearly not taking this as seriously as she should.

"That's not funny."

"Anyway, like it or not, you and the others will have to take them on sooner or later. Now that that's out of the way, Let's move on to the colts of Babylon, and your former classmates."

"You... Ahem." Starlight cleared her throat. "You mean Teddy, Ace and Lancer, don't you?"

"Those are their official birth names?" Star asked with a cadence of surprise.

"What do you mean? Those are their ONLY names, right?"

"Not exactly. You remember before, when I said "Where I come from"?"

"I think so. Wait are you from another time? Or another dimension?! Are you from the future?!" Starlight asked, getting excited.

"If you pipe down, I'll tell ya." Star told her, causing her to calm down. "Thank you. Now, then I'm from a different timezone, like you said. Where I'm from, Almost every pony has been split up into different factions of society."

"Okay."

"Now the leaders, one of which is my-"

"Hold on a second! What factions are these? What society? Where are you from? How are you from a different timezone? Who's every pony? Who isn't every pony? How did you get here? What's this have to do with Coltonville? You didn't answer my questions from before."

"Listen. The factions that my home is split up into all have leaders, one of which is my brother. My brother is the one who's controlling Lancer."

"He's being controlled!?"

"Yes, and unless you and your friends can revert him back into being the boy that you once knew, then I'm afraid that Coltonville won't ever be the same again. You see, my brother promised to give him everything that he wants: His dream life, a respecting family, a secure career, Bright-Eyes for his wife, everything."

"I think I understand. So you're saying we need to convince him that your bro is lying to him."

"That might be easier said than done. The problem is, I don't really think that he is lying to him about his promises, because he could actually potentially fulfill his end of the bargain. After all, he's already started."

"How so?" Starlight questioned in curiosity.

"You don't think there's a connection between your school and shop being in danger, and the three of them disappearing? Lancer is trying to own this town."

"What!? Why?!" Starlight yelled.

"To live his lifelong dream: He wants to be the governor of Ponyworld. With the help of my brother and his entourage, that may be a very real possibility."

"So this Illiux guy isn't the one who's trying to own the store, but Lancer is?"

"Erm... Yes and no. You see, Lightning Talisman, AKA Illiux Lure, has had a long history of business with Lancer's parents in his life. Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked, so let's moved on."

"Alright. What about the other two?" Starlight asked the alicorn.

"Who'd you wanna know first? The colt you hate with a passion, or your future husband?"

Starlight giggled at the second one. "I think I'm gonna pick the second one."

"Okay, so Teddy is under the con-"

"WHAT!?! NO!! I MEANT ACE!!" Starlight practically roared.

"I know, I'm just kidding. Ace is... different, as well." Star laughed. 'The nicest way I can tell her.' She thought.

"Different how?" Starlight asked her.

"Well, he's, uh... Bigger. And, um, he's gotten a lot stronger now. Plus, he changed his... um, hair. He's taken a small change in fashion now, and he's a lot more... different." Star smiled awkwardly.

"Okay..." Starlight looked confused. "So, is he helping your brother as well?"

"Technically yes, but not as much as Lancer. He's under the control of a Dragon."

"Oh." Starlight said again, recalling her fear. "Why does he want him? He doesn't want to eat him, does he?!" She gasped.

"I think their relationship is less about what Auxron wants with Ace, and more about what Ace wants from him. Similar to Lancer, Ace was promised to get what he wants with life. Unfortunately, his dream involves everypony bowing to him. So, you can imagine how ecstatic he was when he heard the he could have dragons instead of ponies at his beck and call."

"I think I get it. Well, if it's for him, I don't care if those things rip me in half." Starlight said, finding new-found bravery.

"Um... Touching." Star replied to her comment.

"What about the idiot?" Starlight turned her attention back to the other girl in front of her.

"Out of the three of the boys, Teddy's got the strongest reason to help those guys that I'm trying to stop." Star informed the filly.

"Really? Why?"

"Starlight, I may be an Alicorn from another timeline, but I don't know everything."

"Oh, okay. Maybe then, I won't have to feel as bad, when I stop him myself."

"Not quite what I meant, but if that makes you happy..."

"Continue." Starlight instructed.

"From what I do know, Teddy is helping the most...self-confident pony in Babylon."

"Babylon?" Starlight asked.

"My home. Well, my old home, but I can't continue to help the ponies there."

"So that's where they are now?"

"I don't know, they could be there, or they could be on their way back over here now. In fact, they could already be here, as far as I know."

"Wait, so this Babylon could have already sent the three of them over here, and we're wasting our time in this outer space thing?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, the pony that your old enemy is helping is the second most dangerous pony in all of Babylon."

"Who's the first?"

"My brother, of course. As far as I know, anyway."

As the two of them were talking, A sudden disturbance came between them and shook the entire space, knocking the girls off of their hooves.

"What was that!?" Starlight cried out.

"The Babylon! They've found me!" As she was answered, another shock wave attacked them.

"What do we do?!" Starlight asked, ready to panic.

"There's no alternative, I'll have to tell your friends later, but for now, you'll have to-" Star was cut off, when a bright light broke through the cosmos, similar to the one that Star first came out of. This caught the attention of the girls, as they turned to see the 8 filly's.

The gap opened even further, and soon enough, a figure could be seen walking right out of it. Whoever it was, they were clearly taller and older than the girls, and they had clothing on.

Their clothes were mainly themed around sports, hence the red and white Letterman jacket they had on, over their yellow tank top. They also had matching white tracksuit pants on, and red and yellow trainers.

Whoever the being was, they weren't a pony. In fact, they had a more masculine appeal to them, and they stood on two legs.

"Hey, Starlight, how have you been?" He said. He made his way over to the girls on the other side, and four more figures even appeared to become visible from the gap behind him.

"Virtuoso. I thought with a brain like yours, it'd take you years to get here." Star told him, standing in front of Starlight.

"You calling me an idiot? I just got to your little excuse of a hideout, and I'M the idiot?" This guy asked. As he got closer and closer to them, it was clear that he was more than just something other than a pony, he was Starlight's biggest fear: a dragon.

This dragon had yellow scales spreading from anywhere visible on his body, including what little Starlight could make of his face, underneath his jacket hood. What was eye-catching, though, was the fact that his scale color was very familiar to Starlight.

"How did you and your little lizard colony find me?" Star asked the hooded sporty dragon.

"Ha ha ha." He laughed at her, as he stopped walking. "If you really gotta know, it was her fault." He pointed at Starlight.

"Me?" She asked this guy, backing up a little.

"Heck yeah, baby. When master Illiux asked you if you've seen Star, the look on your face told him the answer he was looking for. Then, all we needed to do was get mistress Xandra and the Ingenium faction to help me and my new friends get in here."

"So this is my fault?" Starlight asked, feeling guilty.

"Hey, good for you; you're beginning to catch up." He replied with a laugh. "But anyway, Star you know why I'm here, so just give it to me."

Star then reached into her golden ring on her leg. As her hoof made contact, the ring began to light up slightly, and Star was then able to pull out something that she had apparently been keeping in there.

It was a gem. The gem was as small as her hoof, misty white and had what looked like a topaz core right in the middle of it. The little jewel also had small yellow spikes descending from the edge of the tip.

"You want it?" She asked, showing him the gem.

"Yes I do." Virtuoso replied, with a smug smile on his face.

"Then... Go fetch it!" She shouted, before doing something unpredictable. She handed the gem over to Starlight and pushed her right out of the way.

Star then lit her horn up again, and fired something directly at Starlight directly. As it made contact with her body and the gem, starlight's entire figure then lit up.

"No!" The dragon shouted, as he ran for his life over to her, seemingly so he could catch the gem that he was clearly after. He managed to get very very close to her, almost enough so that he could rip her face off with one swipe of his claws.

Fortunately for her, the light surrounding her then worked its magic in the nick of time. She began to light up brighter before, teleporting away from the cosmos that she was in.

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"Starlight? STARLIGHT!" A voice called out to the young lady , as the filly very slowly began to open her eyes once again.

"Where am I?" Starlight asked, rubbing her head. She felt the touch of several hooves helping her back up from whatever she was lying on.

"Well, for the last 40 minutes, you've been knocked out cold." Sweetheart told her. "When that star shower came out of nowhere and attacked us, You were the only one that actually got affected by it. So when you went under, we knew that we needed to get you home as soon as possible."

"Thanks girls." Starlight said as she got up from here bed, before a thought appeared into her head. "Say, uh, this might sound a little weird, but..."

""But..."?" Melody quoted.

"What... happened to YOU when I was out? Did you see, hear or feel anything?"

"Well, come to think of it, I think I saw someone in this really strange space thing." Bright-Eyes replied.

"Yeah, there was a girl with a blue and pink mane, wasn't there?" Patch asked the other girls.

"I think so. She didn't look at us though." Clover added.

"We saw her for about five seconds, before she disappeared and we got our vision back." Bon-Bon continued.

"Wasn't she talking to some pony in front of her? Although we didn't see their face." Sweetheart said.

"Okay. Did any of you hear what she said?" Starlight asked as well.

"Starlight, we didn't even hear her name, so how could we hear anything else?" Patch asked in response.

"Heh. Fair enough, then." She smiled.

"Hey, what's that?" Clover asked, pointing to the bedroom window. The seven girls looked at the window, noticing that there was some sort of black mist covering the outside.

"I don't know. Maybe something outside's making smoke?" Starlight suggested, walking up to it. She began to open the window, right before the mist creeped through the window and wrapped itself around her hoof.

"Ahh!" She exclaimed, moving her hoof back immediately. As the mist let go, it found its way around the window. Withing seconds, the window opened itself.

"What is that?!" Bon-Bon asked, backing up with the other girls. Whatever it was, the mist was pouring itself onto the floor in one spot.

"I think I know..." Starlight answered, coming to a realization.

"Well, you gonna let us know as well?" Melody asked.

"It's a ghost." Starlight calmly said. As she let the other girls know, they all looked at each other, then back to her.

"A ghost? Are you sure about that?" Sweetheart questioned her, looking back at the mist before them. They all noticed that the mist was starting to gather up in one spot, and built its way up to create a form.

"Trust me, and you'll see." She said, waiting for it be complete. The other girls carefully backed off from the so-called spirit, whereas Starlight stayed immobile. At first thinking that it was just paralysis out of fear, she refused to back off.

In fact, the young lady actually started to walk towards the the scary looking black air.

"You... You're not scared of me?" A very soft and gentle voice asked her. The voice was apparently coming from the mist that the other girls didn't want to go near.

"I don't think I need to be." Starlight responded to the mysterious being. Eventually, the mist reached the top of the pony form that it was building, and it vanished.

The figure appeared to be a little girl, around the age of six. She had a peachy white coat color to her, and the front of her mane was a neatly coiled up spiral shape, with light flicks at the back. It was mostly a light purple, with hints of minty green in some parts, a bit like ice-cream.

Her outfit consists of a Gothic black dress, fit perfectly to her size. It was plain and black, but really stood out, especially because of her colors. She also wore some black eyeliner, and her hooves were painted black as well.

Her eyelids then opened, showing off her pretty emerald green eyes. She looked so innocent.

"But what about what miss Star told you?" The little girl asked the older one. Starlight gasped at what the kid just asked her.

"How do you know what she said?"

"I didn't. It just came to me that she would have told you about why I'm here right now."

"Wait, so..." Patch piped up, moving towards the girl. "You're actually a ghost?"

"Yes, but not like Squire, miss Patch." The foal answered her, surprising Patch.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?" Patch demanded to know.

"My name is Kindred Spirit. Guardey- I mean, Lancer told me about you and your friends, miss Patch." The little girl said, in her angelic voice.

"Lancer?! You know him?! Where is he?!" Bright-Eyes asked, running up to her.

"Yes I do, miss Eyes. I don't want you to worry about him; he's not in any physical pain." Spirit told the smart girl.

"Oh, well that's kind of a relief. You don't have to call me 'Miss', by the way." Bright-Eyes said.

"Okay. But Lancer won't be ready for a while, after my master is done with him."

"What do you mean "Done with him"?" Clover asked the newly arrived young lady.

"He's just helping up with a few things in his life and body. But I don't think he has to; he's already fine as he is. He's just so handsome, calm, stylish, nice, rich, helpful, young, talented, stylish, smart, strong and caring." Kindred said, as she went into a sort of daydream.

"You said stylish twice." Bon-Bon corrected her.

"Somebody's got a boyfriend~" Patch whispered, thinking that he little girl couldn't hear her. How very wrong she was.

Kindred slowly walked up to her, and raised her front hoof. As she did, the whole hoof turned back into that black mist from before. It crawled its way around the back of her head.

Suddenly, it turned solid, and Patch felt it pull her head down quickly, specifically so it reached Kindred's height level.

"One day, I hope so." She calmly said to the tomboy, releasing her ghostly grip.

"How did you do that?" She asked the phantom.

"It's a type of magic, called Ghost magic. Not a lot of ponies can learn it, but in return-"

"It's even more difficult to beat?" Starlight cut her off.

"Oh, so you DID speak to her?" Kindred asked the girl, to which Starlight nodded. "I guess that she also told you that I have to get that gem she gave you as well."

"Uh, no, that didn't come up." Starlight took a step back.

"Really? Well, now you know, so please just hand it over." Kindred extended her hoof, waiting for her to give it, Starlight got the gem into her hoof, and held it there for a few seconds.

"Starlight wait!" Bright-Eyes said, as she got in between the two girls. "Before she gives it to you, tell us exactly what's happening with the colts."

"I'm not allowed to tell you, now please give it here."

"Not until we know." Melody told the little girl.

"I need that gem, then you can have those boys back."

"What's happening to them, kid?!" Patch was getting annoyed.

"They're just being experimented on. Are you happy now?"

"What?! No! That's just made us feel even worse!"

"You asked for an answer, what more do you want? My master didn't tell me anything else."

"You've told them enough already, young one." Somepony else with a deep voice said, clearly standing at Starlight's doorway. The eight girls looked to see a covered up pony standing right there, in front of them.

He was firstly wearing pitch black shads, insinuating that he was blind. He had a large white fedora hat on, covering the majority of his head and hair. In addition, he had a white scarf folded right around his mouth, nose and muzzle, hiding his entire face. Also, he had a white suit with black buttons on it, with a white tie underneath, on top of a black shirt. On top of that he had a pair of black trousers on, obviously leaving a hole for his tail. Finally he was wearing a pair of black and white loafer shoes on his back hooves and gloves on his front hooves..

"What now? Who are you?" Starlight asked the stranger. "And how did you get in here?"

"Hey, that's the blind pony from yesterday. How'd he get up here?" Sweetheart told her friend.

"Mr. Walker?" Kindred asked him. It was clear to the girls that the two of them knew each other.

"Who's that?" Melody asked the little girl.

"Sir, what are you doing here?" Kindred asked again, ignoring Melody's question.

"Wait a second, "Sir"? Are you her master? You're the one controlling Lancer?" Bright-Eyes followed up.

"Yes and no. I do outrank Kindred greatly, making me her superior, but I am not her master. You must be thinking of Phoxjes; He is my master as well as hers."

"So who are you? And how did you get here?" Starlight repeated herself.

"My name is Walker, and I am a ghost pony, like young Kindred. I am here to tell miss Spirit that Mr. Lancer is waiting for you right now." Kindred's eyes widened at the news.

"Guardy? Wants me?!" Her soft voice somehow found a way to get even softer.

"Yes. He said that when you didn't show up at his mansion, he began to get worried, so he sent me to find you."

"Oh yeah, I forgot all about that. Can we go there now?" Kindred asked as she touched the blind stallion.

"Hold on, then we're going with you!" Bright-Eyes told the pair, with a determined look in her eyes.

"As foolhardy as it is brave..." Walker started.

"Bright-Eyes." Kindred said for him.

"...Bright-Eyes, but I'm afraid I can't do that. My master would be most displeased." Walker continued, taking the little girl under his hoof.

"If we see him, or his friends Virt or Ursa-" Kindred began, before Walker cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry, if we see Ace or Teddy, we'll let them know you're looking for them, okay?"

The girls didn't even get a chance to reply, before the pair turned back into the black mist from before. Soon, they looked like they were made entirely of gas, and they started to seep through the floor, into nothingness.

"Well... That happened." Bon-Bon stated the obvious.

"So the boys are back here?" Starlight asked herself out loud, putting a hoof on her chin.

"I guess so. One way to find out: Let's try calling them again." Sweetheart suggested.

"Good idea." Starlight said, as the other girls seemed to agree. Sweetheart picked up the phone and dialed in the number of what she hoped to be her future husband.

"Cross your hooves, girls." Clover said to them.

"Never thought that hearing Teddy's voice would be so relieving." Patch added. Suddenly, the phone was answered.

"Sweetheart! What's up?" Someone's voice said to her, to which the other girls heard.

"H-how did you know is was me?" Sweetheart asked the boy.

"Because I have eyes. Turn around." He instructed. She obeyed, and almost dropped the phone she was speaking into. She had her gaze fixed on the window, and more importantly, who was on the other side of it.

"What... How... Why..." Sweetheart was lost for words, as she hung up the phone. She then made her way over to the window, and spoke to him. It was Teddy.

"How's your day going?" He calmly asked her, literally just levitating above the ground, so he could speak with the girls.

There was something flapping on his back, which was obviously the reason why he was up this high. It was clear that he was more than just different like they initially thought.

He was a Pegasus.