My Brave Pony Starfleet Magic: Season IV

by DakariKingMykan

Episode 19: From the Horse's mouth

EPISODE NINETEEN

Esroh Dab hadn’t come out of his dark house for days, as he was still deeply in shock after that last battle and he hadn’t received any orders from the Dark King on what was to be done yet… until Tanig appeared in his home. “Still sulking?” he asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Esroh sneered.

“Temper, temper…” said Tnaig “But then again, that attitude will serve you well, now that you are in charge of the mission.”

Ersoh’s ears twitched and Tnaig confirmed that he had been sent by the Dark King to inform Esroh personally that it was now his responsibility to dispose of the ponies and conquer the present.

“I see…” said Esroh.

“Oh, and one other thing…” said Tnaig “His majesty also said to inform you that you are to be relieved from your post here tomorrow.”

Esroh perked his head up “What do you mean by that?”

“It means that you have wasted enough time in this world. You were sent here to spy, and after all this time we still have not been able to overcome the obstacles in our way. The Dark King is most disturbed by this and warns you not to mess up.”

Esroh clenched his fists. “You can tell his majesty that I will conquer this world, and I will avenge our fallen comrades.” He thought deeply as the images of his old comrades flashed in his mind. “Nomed, Ergo, Neila… I promise your demise will not be in vain. I will destroy these ponies.”

Tniag could see that his work was done, and he vanished.

So far, nine of the cardinals had been defeated, leaving only three more to go; the horse, the monkey and the dragon! They were bound to be strong and dangerous, and the ponies began to fear that the worst was only yet to come even after all that, and there was no second-guessing it would. As long as the Dark King continued to exist in the future, there would be no end to his evil onslaught.

Meanwhile, Lightning and Starla had just finished their morning patrol rounds, and were now walking home, just spending a peaceful morning together. Starla playfully looped her arm around his and rested her head on his shoulder. Lightning smiled lovingly at her as they continued to walk.

Still, Starla’s wifely intuition told her something was up. “Okay, let’s have it.” she said. Her husband was confused. “Have what?”

“Don’t try that on me, Lightning Dawn. Something’s on your mind and I want to know what it is, and I’ll find out eventually even if you don’t say.”

“You realize you’re also addressing your supreme commander?” said Lightning, but his wife just gave him a concerned stare, demanding he tell her. Lightning had every intention to tell her anyway. “It’s the Dark King. We’ve never actually seen him, we don’t know what he looks like, but there is no doubt from what we’ve seen and experienced, he is extremely powerful. He puts many of the major villains we’ve ever fought to shame.”

Starla knew how he felt, she had thought of this many times before.

“I’m just worried; eventually we will have to fight him, and despite all that we’ve obtained and unlocked, will we have enough power?”

Starla began to fully realize that seriousness a while back, but now she had the feeling “You’re still worried about your Enticorn powers, aren’t you?”

Lightning nodded. He never had a chance to test out his new theory that it was his emotions, preferably his anger, that caused him to go ballistic, not just because of his timing, but he was still nervous to try it, afraid that that he’d go crazy again and cause trouble for everyone.

Starla couldn’t argue with that. “Look, I won’t try and pressure you, but… well… if you ever get the nerve to try it, I’ll be there to support and help you, and know the others will too.”

“Promise…?”

His wife smiled at him “Promise.”, and she pulled him softly into a kiss.

Their moment was suddenly interrupted by the sound of Fluttershy’s tearful whimper. The two turned and saw Fluttershy dabbing her eyes with a hankie, and Rhymey sat next to her. “That was so beautiful.” cried Fluttershy.

Rhymey softly patted her shoulder, and then turned to his friends.

“Please, forgive us, do,
We couldn’t help overhear you.”

Lightning and Starla playfully rolled their eyes, and allowed their friends to join them on their walk in a double date. Rhymey even told them of how Fluttershy was coming along well in her fencing thanks to his coaching. “Cool, I bet that means your Valkyrie powers will be easier to wield now.” said Starla.

Fluttershy had to agree “I actually can’t wait to try it out, oh, but… that would be wishing the kingdom to be attacked, and I don’t want that.”

The others felt it was cute she was showing how much she cared.

The good moods however were suddenly shattered as they passed by Carousel Boutique. They saw Spike sitting on the front steps with a very queer look on his fate. In his hands he clutched the HMI that had his song for Rarity on it, and he was quaking nervously.

Then, he took in a huge breath, holding the HMI disk right in front of him, ready to burn it to ashes! “Spike!” shouted Lightning and he dashed over and snatched the disk out of his hands before he blew the fire. “Hey!” snapped Spike “What are you doing?”

“We could ask you the same.” said Starla “Why would you want to destroy your HMI?”

“Oh, don’t tell me, Rarity didn’t like it?” cried Fluttershy.

“No, she didn’t see it.” said Spike “…And she’s not going to! I don’t want her to see it.” He hastily reached for his HMI, but Lightning held it up and way out of his reach. “What’s going on now, Spike?” Lightning asked.

The others all stared at him, wanting him to say what was bothering him. “Fine, and you got it right, it’s about Rarity…”

It all started that morning. Spike had woken up early that day pondering over whether or not he’d show Rarity his HMI, and ultimately he decided to do it. However, rarity seemed to be so happy and cheerful. She was humming merrily all day, and twirling around like a ballet dancer. When he asked her what was up…

“Oh, Spike. I’ve doing a lot of thinking, and it’s time that I confessed my true feelings.” She said that while looking down at him lovingly. Spike really thought this was his big chance when Rarity said “I’m going to tell Thunder Cloud how I really feel.”

Spike felt his heart get slashed… right down the middle! He kept his HMI hidden well-behind his back, and he actually wished her luck for it, trying to be brave, but the second she had gone, he raced back to his bed and cried his poor little heart out.

Then, he decided maybe it best to destroy his HMI. It was no good anymore, and just looking at it, knowing all the hard work and soul he poured into was all for nothing, only hurt him more.

“Spike, you can’t just destroy it!” cried Fluttershy.

“Sure I can. It’s mine after all, and I can do what I want with it.”

“Spike, that’s enough!” snapped Lightning “You’re acting like a child. Well, technically you are just a child in dragon years, but that’s not the point!”

Spike sighed irritably “Why am I talking to you guys for anyway. You’re all in relationships; you got your special somebodies. What advice can you even offer?” and he just walked off.

“He may be upset, but he is right.
We can’t really give him any insight.” said Rhymey

The others reluctantly agreed, they couldn’t even begin to think of what to say at a time and in a situation like this, but at least they stopped Spike from destroying his disk. They decided to let him cool off a bit, and then maybe try and talk to him again.

Meanwhile, Rarity didn’t find Thunder Cloud at his home, suggesting he was out, so she decided to go off and find him, believing he couldn’t be far. She was, however, feeling a bit nervous about confessing her feelings, but having remembered all her past blunders when it came to men she liked, she wasn’t willing to let it slide this time.

“I will… nay… I must tell him!” she said proudly “As Celestia and Celesto at my witnesses, I will come forward, and together Thunder Cloud and I will be the happiest couple in the entire galaxy!”

A few colts and fillies playing in the field heard and saw her and thought she was being crazy, but they went along their way leaving Rarity to go her way.

Meanwhile, Thunder Cloud as standing in the middle of town, where he felt it would be the perfect place to unleash his cardinal, knowing Starfleet was bound to answer the danger call. “Time to destroy this place for good!” he mumbled softly, as he reached for his pocket to pull out the card.

“Thunder Cloud!” cried Rarity. She made him wince, “Oh, no, Rarity.” he muttered softly, and quickly dropped the card back into his pocket as that regrettable feeling sped through him again. He turned to face her. “…Hi.” he said nervously.

All Rarity could do was gaze deeply into his eyes, even though they seemed rather dark. Thunder both liked and disliked the way she was looking him, and felt himself starting to slide again. “Um… is something wrong?” he asked shyly.

Rarity snapped out of her trance “Oh… well… no, actually everything is fine.” she giggled nervously, her cheeks went pink. “I… well, I wanted to… it’s just that… oh my!”

Thunder was starting to feel a little uneasy. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.

Rarity nervously twiddled her fingers and bit her lip. “I… wanted to… well I…”

“Did you want to tell me something?”

“Yes, I did.” said Rarity, and then she paused. “I wanted to say… well, that is I…” she tapped the sides of her head several times trying to force herself to say the words, confusing Thunder even more, but finally it came out!

“…I really, really like you Thunder Cloud!”

Thunder Cloud blinked twice “What?” he asked softly. “What do you mean you really like me?”

Rarity smiled at him, and decided to show what she meant, by walking straight up to him, and kissing him softly on his cheek…

Unfortunately, Spike happened to be strolling nearby, and what he saw really made him freeze up in shock as tears came to his eyes. From the angle he was standing, it looked to him like Rarity and Thunder Cloud were sharing a real kiss.

Not only was the wound in his heart stretched wide open, but salt was thrown in it. All he could do now was walk sadly away, to a secluded area away from anyone else, fall to his knees, pound the ground and let out a scream of rage and hurt!

Some could actually hear the echoing of his scream, but they didn’t know what it was.

As for Spike, this was his ultimate eye-opener. Nothing he could say, do, or even consider would help now. Rarity was head-over-heels for Thunder Cloud, and after what he just saw then it was time to let go, really let go!

He just wish it didn’t have to hurt so much!

As for Thunder Cloud, he felt his cheek where Rarity had kissed, and Rarity stared at him and felt very bashful and embarrassed. “I just… I just felt I had to tell you. I really like you Thunder Cloud.”

“But… why?” Thunder Cloud asked “Why would you like me like this?”

Rarity looked shocked, and then a split second after, was twiddling her fingers again. “Well, it’s just, you’re not like other ponies I have known. Ever since I first met you, I felt you were rather strange as you didn’t seem to understand much of friendship and other things, and now I’ve helped you come quite of ways. I’ve enjoyed all the times we’ve spent. Whenever I am near you, I just feel… warm… and cozy. Oh, listen to me, I must sound ridiculous.”

Thunder Cloud felt really speechless, both verbally and mentally.

Rarity then stared him right in the eyes ever so deeply “But, I really like you Thunder Cloud.” She continued to gaze at him, hinting she wanted him to answer; preferably saying that he felt the same way. Thunder Cloud didn’t know what to say, but he did remember what Tnaig had told him.

“Rarity… I… I…”

“Yes…?” Rarity peeped, her eyes were twinkling like diamonds, but Thunder was quivering madly trying to figure out what to really say or do. “I… really need to think about this.” and then he just ran off. Rarity felt down a little, and feared that maybe he didn’t really like her back, but then again he was probably thinking that when he thought about, he’d admit he felt the same. She could only hope.

As for Thunder Cloud, he hid within an alley nearby, where no one would see him. “She likes me?!” he cried softly, still in complete and total disbelief, and not in a happy way. So why was he feeling the same way deep down? He struggled to gain control of his true evil self and grabbed his card. He was breathing heavily and angrily as he stared at it. “The Dark King is counting on me. I’m not going to let him down. Sorry Rarity!” and he began to bring his cardinal to life. “Go, Silver Steed! Go and destroy!”

Rarity couldn’t wait much longer, and needed an answer from Thunder Cloud. She checked all over the immediate area, but she couldn’t find him anywhere. She did however bump straight into a very large horse-creature, three times her size. Dark silver in color, wearing black armor, three spikes on its head in a vertical line, sharp fangs and a tail of iron bristles.

The monster gazed down at her, and growled fiercely, prompting Rarity to scream in fright!

(Not for 5 minutes of course)

Her scream was overheard for at least within a mile radius, and all the ponies looked in her direction. One look at that monster and they all ran in panic as the alarms sounded. That’s when Krysta’s fairies came out to warp everyone away to safety, and many of the other Starfleet ponies went to seal off the perimeter.

Spike heard the alarms and Rarity’s scream, and he dashed back to the danger-area. “Whoa!” he cried when he spotted the giant horse monster.

The monster snarled at Rarity, and she stepped back a bit, and her features hardened “Harmony Hour, Friendship Power!”

Esroh Dab peeked from behind the alley. “Even with her powers, she’ll soon find my steed’s special ability is more than she can handle.”

Rarity leapt up high to kick the monster’s face. The monster made no attempt to raise any defenses, and didn’t have to. Rarity’s foot hit his silver, metallic face. Rarity winced, and held her aching foot as she fell back down. “That wasn’t smart!” she groaned.

“Rarity!” cried Spike, and he began to run straight for the battle area. He tried to transform, but he didn’t. He tried again; still nothing. He had quite forgotten that his distraught over Rarity, that his confidence were shot, really bad.

The monster snarled at Spike and began to stomp towards him. Rarity couldn’t understand why Spike couldn’t’ transform this time, but shouted “Spike, run!”

Spike ran as fast as his tiny legs could go. Steed wasn’t very fast due to all the metal, but not too slow to catch up to little Spike. “IRON TAIL” Steed shouted, and his tail glowed brightly, and he gave a huge swung, Spike ducked down and out of the way, causing Steed to miss, but smash a house down with one swipe.

Rarity and Spike gasped in horror. Though the building was evacuated, the fact that they were up against that much physical power really. Rarity’s foot wasn’t hurt badly. She managed to stand up.

Spike was backing away from the huge monster. Steed swung his huge metal fist at him. Spike rolled out of the way, causing Steed to pound the ground, making a giant crater.

“That’s quite enough!” snarled Rarity, and she summoned all the magic she could muster into a single blast, and fired it from her horn straight at the monster’s back. “Ah!” Rarity gasped when she saw Steed had not a scratch!

Esroh snickered wickedly and muttered quietly to himself “The fools. That’s a futuristic alloy. It’ll take far more than simple zap to harm it, and that’s not all it can do…!”

The monster turned to face Rarity, and began to stomp straight for her. Rarity flapped her wings and soared up to safety, but she didn’t count on what was coming next. As the monster stood in the sunlight, the bright light reflected off his shiny armor like a mirror “SOLAR REFLECT” and at Steed’s shout, all that energy harnessed into one collective pulse, that he fired several times straight up at Rarity. She swerved, and swerved to dodge all the blasts, but the last one hit her directly, and she fell to the ground hard.

“Rarity!” cried Spike. Then he heard actually hear faint sounds of snickering coming from an alleyway far ahead. He couldn’t make it out by all the shadows and darkness, but he was sure he could see someone that looked like Thunder Cloud.

Esroh didn’t notice this as he was too busy eyeing at Rarity as she lay on the ground struggling to get back up. Part of him was thrilled that she was losing this fight, but there was still that teensy amount of him inside that hated what he was doing, but he shook it off. “Don’t think about her like that.” he kept telling himself “She’s the enemy, and this is how it has to be.”

The monster then began to stomp towards Rarity, and she managed to get up, but really neither she nor Spike knew what to do.

“IRON TAIL”

Rarity dodged the attack.

“SOLAR REFLECT”

Spike barely managed to avoid the attack! “Spike, you must transform!” cried Rarity. Spike tried all he could, but as long as those awful images-- what looked like Rarity kissing Thunder Cloud-- plagued him, his confidences remained shot, and his powers useless.

The two kept dodging attacks, and suddenly found themselves huddled together in one place, with a solid wall behind them, and the monster was stomping right for them. There was no room for them to dodge this time.

“Yes, right where I want them.” Esroh sneered. He saw his monster getting ready for the kill. He shut his eyes tight, and didn’t seem to want to open them again, as if he didn’t want to look. “Not, again!” he groaned “What’s happening to me? Am I ashamed of seeing Rarity being destroyed?!”

While he was struggling with his feelings, Steed’s tail was glowing and ready to swat Rarity and Spike into the next dimension. “IRON TAIL” He swung his tail, and Spike and Rarity screamed as they held each other tight, but suddenly, Steed felt someone grabbing his tail…

…Lightning and Rhymey, who had leapt down from above and was using their stronger strengths to hold the monster’s tail. “Grab a horse by the tail!” Lightning shouted as he struggled to maintain his grip.

“Working together, we will prevail!” rhymed Rhymey.

Starla and Fluttershy came soaring in, scooping Spike and Rarity up and flying them out of the way. The boys let go of Steed, letting his tail slam hard into the wall, smashing it to bits. The boys then back flipped away towards the rest of the team. “You two okay?” asked Lightning.

Rarity and Spike were fine, and grateful that the others came, but then Steed turned back to face them, and the others could tell that this monster couldn’t be attacked or weakened so easily by normal attacks, and Steed prepared to unleash his Solar Reflect again. “Scatter!” shouted Lightning, and everyone dodged the blast just in time.

Seeing him reflect the sunlight like, Lightning could tell that even a blast of the uniforce wouldn’t be smart, being entirely made of metal, the monster didn’t have any visible weak-points. So they’d have to make him weak some other way.

Then suddenly, he had an idea, and knew the one thing that even the most futuristic of metals couldn’t stand up. “Rarity, Fluttershy… change into your Valkyrie modes.” he shouted

The girls were confused, and Lightning pointed at his head, saying he had an idea. Seeing no point in arguing, the girls did as they were told. Closing their eyes, and concertinaing hard on the Elements of Harmony within their bodies, they began to glow and shouted “VALKYRIA!!” which was the magic word command to trigger the transformation.

Esroh Dab gazed in awe at the girls, now in their Valkyrie uniforms, shimmering in the light, and holding their weapons. “So the rumors are true.” he grumbled “I didn’t believe it until now.”

Now that the girls were ready, Lightning told them to follow him. “What are you doing?” cried Starla. Lightning didn’t answer. He and the girls were hovering in the air, with Lightning hovering between the girls and the monster. “Hey, silver stuff!” he taunted “Up here! Bet you can’t hit me!”

The monster narrowed his eyes, and began to absorb more sunlight. “Get ready, girls.” Lightning said. The girls, catching on to his plan, stood ready with their shields.

“What are they doing?” Esroh wondered.

“SOLAR REFLECT!”

As the flares headed straight at Lightning, he zipped out of the way, and the girls stepped in with their shields, and deflected the magic right back, combining it with a little of their own magic, intensifying the heat of the blast.

The blast hit Steed square on, but only got absorbed, and he fired it again. The girls deflected the blast, putting more energy into it, making it hotter still, and Steed absorbed it to send it back again!

The cycle continued, and the blast got stronger, brighter and hotter, and every time Steed absorbed it, his metal body was starting to glow brightly with the heat, but Fluttershy and Rarity couldn’t keep it up much longer.

“This heat!” cried Fluttershy “I don’t think I can hold out.”

“We… have to!” groaned Rarity.

Rhymey was worried for the girls, as they bounced the blast back again.

“The heat is getting stronger!
The girls won’t last much longer!”

Lightning landed near the group. “Lightning, what’s all this about?” asked Spike. “Just wait…” Lightning said.

The blast continued to bounce back and forth, and the girls were really starting to get overheated, but suddenly, Rhymey and Starla spotted a few fire hydrants, and began to understand what Lightning was planning; a move they used when they faced a fire-monster back on Unicornicopia.

Lightning nodded at them confirming it.

Finally, the girls bounced the blast back at Steed again, and when Steed absorbed it, his body was so hot; the ground was sizzling where he stood. “Go!” shouted Lightning. The ponies nodded and dashed for the hydrants.

“STARLIGHT ARROW”

Rhymey leapt up high and came down slicing the hydrant with his sword, and Lightning used a bit of uniforce to blast the last hydrants to bits. Water blast everywhere, but especially on the burning monster, cooling it down instantly, causing the metal to rust and corrode.

“It’s working!” cried Spike.

“Oh, no…!” Esroh whimpered.

Fluttershy and Rarity felt themselves cooling off in the misty rains, but their Valkyrie time was all used up, and their suits vanished leaving them in their casual wear; both of them were exhausted.

Rhymey and Lightning leapt up and caught them as they fell and then brought them over to Spike. “Good job, girls.” Lightning said “We’ll take it from here. Watch over them, Spike.”

Spike nodded, and the space ponies stood tall as they faced the now weary and woozy monster that could barely move as he was all rusted up. He couldn’t attack, and just looking at his corroded metal was enough to make it collapse.

“I don’t think we need to use our mega modes.” said Starla.

“Our combined powers should blow him into scrap-loads.” rhymed Rhymey

“Well, what are we waiting for?” said Lightning, and he and the others powered up their normal finishers.

“THRASH SLASH”

“GALACTIC PROJECTILE”

“UNIFORCE”

All those strikes; Steed never stood a chance, and he was destroyed in a big explosion. His card plopped onto the soggy grounds and the picture faded. “They did it!” cried Spike. Rarity and Fluttershy cheered for joy.

Spike then looked behind him at the alley and saw that shadowy figure slip away into the darkness. He still hadn’t any real proof, but he had his suspicions big time now.

Esroh stood in the dark with his fists clenched tightly grumbling “This is impossible! That was the strongest alloy from the future, and they smashed through it like paper.” He angrily punched on a trash can, denting it. “They haven’t heard the last of me!” He took another glance outside “Especially you, Rarity!”

The water was shut off at the mains to stop the gushing. Apart from the smashed wall, the busted hydrants, and craters in the ground, no serious damage had been done that couldn’t be fixed overnight for worker ponies. Lightning and friends offered to help, as they were responsible for some of the damage.

As they all worked, Rarity suddenly remembered “Thunder Cloud! I never got my answer.”

Spike began to look a little down but he did his best not to let it show this time. Lightning and the others knew this was bad for Spike, but they couldn’t just take one side over the other. “I’m sure he feels the same about you, Rarity.” said Fluttershy “You’ve already done so much for him, who wouldn’t want to return your feelings.”

The more Spike heard this, the more discomforting he felt, and also he couldn’t ignore that shadowy person he saw in the alley. Was it Thunder Cloud or not? He just couldn’t prove it, and unless he could he decided not to make a bigger deal out of things.

“Spike…” Lightning said “I hate to do this to you, you have enough on your plate already, but I’m going to have make inquiries about your past behaviour.”

“What?” Spike asked sounding confused.

Lightning and the others spoke softly to Spike, not wanting Rarity to overhear. “Spike, you’ve been letting this whole Rarity deal get to you way too much, and it’s slowing you down.” said Starla “And the Starfleet code says “All fighters must be fit both physically and mentally.”

Spike began to realize where this was going “Are you saying…?”

“Not exactly, Spike.” said Lightning “We won’t know for sure until the inquiries are complete and we hear form their majesties, but…” he paused, finding it hard to say what she was about to say “Until such time, as Supreme Commander, I’m relieving you from active duties. You are not to enter any battles, until you can sort out your issues.”

Spike felt really downhearted now, but he did understand it was right “I guess it is safer than risking getting my head knocked off.” he said.

“We’ll do all we can to help you get back into the fight,
But until then, when danger comes, keep well out of sight.” said Rhymey.

Spike nodded in complete and mature understanding. “Just don’t tell Rarity why, okay?”

The others couldn’t promise that, as Rarity would probably have to be called to the inquiries as well, but for the mean time they wouldn’t tell here. “Oh, one more thing…” Lightning said, and he passed Spike his HMI disk back. Spike promised he wouldn’t destroy it, but he still didn’t want Rarity to see it… not now especially! “If only I could show her how I really feel.”

Rarity, not having heard any of what was said, was lost in her thoughts, thinking of Thunder Cloud. “I hope he knows how I really feel about him.”

(Promo)

In our next episode; the two hooded figures give the friends a set of instructions to head off to two extremely distant planets to obtain special ingredients needed to complete a special formula Professor Brain has received.

The teams split up to head to these two planets, but Lightning runs into trouble when a beautiful yet vain and self-centered Princess decides to make him her husband against his will.

The other team encounters a race of creatures under the heel of an extremely greedy dictator taxing the money out of everyone, and soon find themselves as wanted criminals.

What’s so important about these ingredients, and what other fates await our heroes?

Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!”

(Next Episode: “Distant Disasters: Part 1”)