My Brave Pony Starfleet Humans

by DakariKingMykan

Act 4: There's Something Weird

ACT FOUR

By the end of the day Sunset was still complaining on how Lightning had brushed her off like that. “He doesn’t want to be popular and he just insults me like that? No one insults me like that.”

Flash was growing annoyed with her whining “He didn’t really insult you. Give it a rest.”

“Don’t tell me to give it a rest!” she snapped at him. She looked on an ahead and could see Lightning heading out the door. Flash gazed at him also with greater interest than his girlfriend. “There’s something odd about that kid.” he thought to himself, and he walked off. “Where do you think you’re going?” snapped Sunset.

“I’m going to meet with my mom. I’ve got stuff to do.” and he just left her there. She angrily stomped her foot and huffed.

As he left the school, he saw Lightning with his buddies up ahead, and a pale-blue car approached the front of the building. Flash hopped in next to his mother. She seemed to be hidden in the darkness. “Where you able to find it?” she asked to her son. “No, Mother, and if what I suspect it true, we could be in for some bad news.” He pointed out the window at the buddies, particularly towards Lightning. His mother saw him and gripped the steering-wheel in slight frustration. He did look heavily like Lightning, but it was uncertain if it was him for sure. “We will have to watch him more closely. In the meantime we’ll continue our own search for what we seek.”

Lightning saw many of the students hop on busses for home, but Lightning remembered Grandruler was going to pick him up later. Buddy, Artie, and Rhymey met up with him. “Well, you made it through the first day.” said Buddy.

“Are you kidding? I am so glad to be out of there.” said Lightning “This has been one of the most boring days of my life-- teaching me a whole bunch of things that I already know.”

That explained to the boys how he was able to finish all the assignments so easily. “But I thought you said you’ve never been to school before?” said Artie.

Lightning rolled his eyes back and forth. “Well, yeah. I was taught by my master.”

He was about to tell the boys the whole deal, when he looked up, and saw that same bully who was picking on Starla was with four more bullies, they spotted Starla and walked up the street to catch up to her.

“I smell trouble
…on double.” said Rhymey.

Lightning narrowed his eyes and pursued after the bullies, but they had already caught up with Starla at the corner of the street, away from the school grounds. “Hello there, twinkle star.” mocked the leader. Starla looked up from her book, but didn’t respond and tried to keep walking, but two more of the bullies blocked her way. “Excuse me.” she sneered.

“You’re excused.” said one of the bullies as he flipped the book out of her hand. She bent down to pick it up, but it got kicked away. Now Starla was angry.

“Uh, oh, I think she’s gonna cry.”

Lightning and the boys had just reached them, when Starla unleashed a furry of kicks and punches at the big brutes knocking them over like trees. “Oh, did I mention I study martial arts too?” she cheekily said.

The bullies just groaned as they got up feeling sore and ran away like cowards. Starla turned to pick up her book when she was startled by Lightning and the boys standing behind her. “Oh, you scared me.”

“Sorry.” Lightning said as he gave her back her book. “I didn’t know you could move like that.”

Starla admitted she volunteered at the town library, larger than the school library, which was where she was headed then, and she usually found time to look in a book or two, not just about stars and astronomy. She just didn’t defend herself in the lunchroom because fighting was against school rules, but since they were now away from the school, she just let it out.

Buddy, Artie, and Rhymey also admitted they knew a thing or two about martial arts and studied it in their spare time. “You should join us for study-buddies, Lightning.” Buddy offered.

Lightning wasn’t sure at first, but when realizing this would be his big chance to finally learn things about the world like he wanted to he decided, “Sure, why not. Oh, but I have to meet Grandruler now, to pick me up.”

“Oh, no worries…” Artie said and he pulled out a device Lightning had never seen before, and he gazed at it strangely. “What? Haven’t you ever seen a cellphone before?” asked Artie

Lightning shook his head, which made the others wonder “What planet is this guy from?”

He surprised Lightning again, informing Grandruler that Lightning was with them and he would know where to pick him up much later, to Grandruler understood.

“You know Grandruler that personally?” asked Lightning.

“We all do,
Just as you.” said Rhymey.

As they all walked off the library together the other four explained to Lightning how Grandruler helped all of them. Some of them started out as orphans; frightened, alone, and yet talented in some fields, like art, planting, poetry, and astronomy, but feared the world would never recognize them. So, out of the kindness of his heart, he took them into his home at the Grand Manor, and raised them as if they were his own, he helped them find jobs, and paid for their induction and education.

Rhymey, however, was the only one of few who still had a family, and a very large one, and not many problems, but he still knew Grandruler personally having met him when he hung out with his friends. To them, Grandruler was one of the kindest people on the entire island… but for some reason lately, he seemed to be more down in the dumps, and not in very pleasant moods, especially towards Celestia, but nobody knew why, or even a bigger mystery why Celestia was always in such a nasty mood herself; always blowing her head off at anyone near her, even when they didn’t do anything or even look at her.

The only person she seemed open to was her sister, VP Luna, who was probably the only one who knew what was wrong with her sister, but refused to tell anyone as it was understood between them.

This made Lightning feel a little remorseful for his previous run-ins with Celestia. “Well, still, she doesn’t have any right to be such a grouch.” he said, and his friends agreed, practically half the students at school agreed Celestia’s temper issues were going too deep, but nobody knew what to do for her.

Still, it was best not to think about her now.

They made it to the town library, and Lightning ran into another familiar resemblance. Ms. Inquerious the head librarian, and Starla’s supervisor. She knew the gang personally and often reserved them a quiet table to study at, but Lightning was also told that she suffered from a stroke a few years back which impaired a part of her brain for her vocal facilities. Now she could only speak through questions, but she was very nice nonetheless.

“You will inform me if you need any help?” she asked. The teens smiled at her and nodded in thanks. Inquerious sighed “How is it that not all children are like them?”

Lightning found many of the subjects he was interested in that he didn’t learn at the school, about Earth and its history, space, geographies. He found it all so incredibly fascinating he wished his friends back at home could see all this with him. So maybe school would be a tad boring to him, at least he had a way to learn more effectively of what he wanted to learn.

Still, nothing he would learn in the books would help him find the Rainbow Rod or Sapphira, which reminded him as he reached in under his shirt and pulled out the transport-jewel, and it had faded slightly. It now had only four weeks before its magic disappeared.

“What’s that?” Starla asked quietly as she stared at the jewel. The boys saw it too and thought it was pretty, and Lightning decided to come clean “Okay, you guys, listen carefully…” and he told them everything about his mission, and even showed them the picture of the Rainbow Rod and how he had to find it before Sapphira did, but the others thought it all just a joke, and did their best not to break out laughing loud in the library.

“It’s the truth.” Lightning said.

“Lightning, you don’t have to make up stories.” said Buddy “We already consider you one of us, no matter how strange you may think you are.”

Artie looked at the jewel and as convincing as he thought it looked, he had seen glowing fake-jewelry like that at the crafts shop where he worked. “Still, it is beautiful. It looks so real.”

“It is real.” Lightning protested “Why won’t you believe me?”

“Lightning, as much I hate to say this, but there’s no concrete evidence suggesting that alternate universes actually exist.” said Starla. “I should know. I’ve gone over a lot of these books.”

Lightning tried to protest again, but the library was about to close and everyone had to leave. Lightning groaned in dismay that no one believed him still.

As he walked out into the street, Rhymey was waiting for his bus, when he looked across the street at the animal shelter where a pretty teenage girl with pink hair was feeding the rabbits, and reading the very letter that he had slipped into her locker.

“Your smile is as bright as the sun in the sky
Your kindness to animals makes my heart fly.
And though you are timid, you’re sweet as pie.
You are very special to me, Fluttershy.”

The girl, Fluttershy, blushed and giggled nervously. “Oh, I wish I knew who wrote this. she said softly, but there was no name written, and there were many students who wrote poetry at school; the poets crowd.

Rhymey sighed heavenly as he gazed at her, and Lightning could guess the obvious. “You really like her.”

Rhymey nodded, even the others knew he was crushing on Fluttershy. She was beautiful, smart, kind, and loving and caring to animals; everything he imagined as his dream girl; one who was like him with a gentle soul. Lightning asked “Why don’t you just go up to her and tell her yourself?” but Rhymey felt too embarrassed to even consider doing that.

“Alas, dear me…
I am as shy as she.
For now I can only continue to write
And keep far away from her sight.”

Lightning sighed; a typical reaction for most cases of guys in love. He knew this too well himself, back home when it came to someone special whom he liked.

Rhymey’s bus came and he had to leave, but he cast one last look at Fluttershy before getting on.

…

Soon, Lightning was back at the manor, and he asked Grandruler if he could see the manor’s library. “Well, if it will help you catch up on studies, go right ahead.”

He showed him to the massive library, which was nearly as big as the town library, and Lightning got straight to studying more about the Earth and Space. Grandruler had never known anyone with such eagerness to learn, not to mention crash coursing. “There’s something unusual about that boy.”

As he walked off and left Lightning on his own, he passed by a large portrait in the hallway, of himself in his spacesuit, with his helmet off, and saluting. He smiled proudly at the portrait and saluted back to it. Chef Cookie Dough saw him. “You miss those days, don’t you sir? You must be proud to have been one of few men to set foot on the moon.”

“Oh, it’s all a long time ago and well behind me, Chef. I’m a businessman now. My place is here on Earth, helping people out when they need it most.”

Chef admired his master for his ways, “Tell me sir, do you not think you will ever have someone special to share this wonderful of yours with?”

Grandruler felt a little low at that. “No, Chef, I don’t think there is anyone, not in that manner. Besides the children and teens that I help and knowing they have a chance is all I really need.”

He then walked off to his office, but once he was alone, he looked really down in the dumps. On his desk was a framed photograph of himself and a familiar woman near him wearing a victory wreath, and holding a riding trophy. Behind them was a racing horse, also wearing a victory wreath. He sighed heavily to himself “It’s just not possible anymore. She’s not the woman you remember.”

As Lightning continued to study, he could hear a tapping coming from one of the large windows. “Krysta…” He hastily opened the window and let her in. She was exhausted after flying all around the entire island all day. “Did you find out anything?”

“Only how hard birds have it.” Krysta panted, and explained that all day she was chased by cats and dogs, pelted at by mean kids with stones, and other birds thinking she was trying to invade their turfs. There was one particular dog that picked on her a lot in the park before she got there. It was purple with green floppy ears and a dyed green tuft of hair on its head. She was saved by the dog’s owner; a girl with lilac skin and long dark blue hair with pink and purple streaks.

“Sorry, I didn’t find out what we wanted to know.”

Lightning sighed “That’s just dandy.”

“Well don’t feel bad, we still have four weeks.” said Krysta “Something’s bound to show up. We just have to keep looking.”

Lightning knew she was right, but he wished people would start believing about his stories and stuff, then maybe things would go smoother, but every time he tried to prove it, he got interrupted by other things. Still, there was plenty of time, and he wasn’t willing to give up, but he and Krysta couldn’t help but sake off the sneaky feeling that somewhere, danger was lurking and ready to strike at any second.