My Brave Pony Starfleet Magic: Season II

by DakariKingMykan

Episode 22: Part 1: Illusions of Darkness

EPISODE TWENTY-TWO

A few days passed, and New Ponyville was still undergoing repairs. Dyno and Myte were supervising repairs, and Krysta even brought several of her worker-fairies from her planet to assist in the operations. They were very good at building. Yet, even with some of the homes repaired it was recommended that everyone stay out until all the repairs were finished as it was pretty busy and noisy around there.

Still, all the ponies staying in the palace found plenty to do with their time. They helped out with whatever duties there were to be done. Lightning and Twilight even found some spare time to catch up on their book-studying in the royal library, or they would train by sparring with each other and their friends in the dojo, Twilight was still trying to figure out how to unleash the power of harmony, but again to no avail, nor was she any closer to finding any clues of how it worked.

One thing they all did was check up on Cadance every now and then, and see how she was doing while still under house arrest. Twilight spent the most time with her sister-in-law, and Cadance admitted she was okay, but even Twilight could tell that she wasn’t. She was still worried about Fratello, and still wished there was a way to save him…

…but there wasn’t.

At least with the barrier around the palace she couldn’t leave, so she was safe.

Right now there was no time to worry about that. Grand Ruler and Queen Celestia had called a special meeting for the two teams in the throne room. One item was the discussion of the repairs of New Ponyville. Krysta and the Twins were happy to report that repairs were nearing completion.

Professor Brain even handed in his notes on fully studying the bits of armor left from Dragonoid. He gave them to Grand Ruler and the Queen and they both of them would work on magic spells to produce stronger force fields to protect the buildings, but it wouldn’t be easy on them, unless they were to obtain something special, and that was the second item of the meeting to discuss. “The Rainbow Rod?” asked Lightning.

“Yes, Lightning.” replied his mentor.

Everyone remembered the Rainbow Rod. It was formerly Lightning’s standard weapon of choice before he learned to control the uniforce. Then it was passed on and served a key link to helping their majesties. Celestia and Grand Ruler would fuse together to form Grand Celestial Ruler-- The very same cosmic being whom, with the help of everyone’s faith, believing, and harmony, destroyed Titan and revived the fallen worlds into United Equestria.

Since then, their majesties had kept the Rainbow Rod, and broke it in two equal halves. All they would have to do to trigger their fusion was connect the two pieces together.

Their majesties each took out an exact half of the Rainbow Rod, and everyone could see that the pieces were not glowing as brightly with magic as they used to. This meant there was not enough power for the fusion to work, and even if it could, it wouldn't even have the power to swat a fly, let alone battle an enemy.

The reason behind thia was because Lightning had used the rod a lot of in the previous war, and then their majesties used it to wipe out Titan and create United Equestria, the rod's mystical properties had be all but exhausted. It was nothing more than an ordinary piece of treasure now.

“And what’s this have to do with us?” asked Twilight.

"Quite simple, really..." replied Celetsia "Your mission is to replenish its power."

“But how do we do that?” asked Spike. “I thought it took over a millennium for it to absorb all that magic.”

“Only half correct.” said Grand Ruler “It did take that long the first time, but we’ve located a source of energy that may do the trick for us instantly. I myself wasn’t entirely sure until now that it existed, but it does. However, obtaining it involves a great risk at the highest possible magnitude.”

The others were almost too nervous to ask how dangerous and Grand Ruler explained everything.

Being a chosen child of the gods, he was gifted with extraordinary knowledge, though it wasn’t always clear even to him and it only happened once in a great while if he desperately sought an answer for the good of all.

Recently, he had been having dreams, which were actually visions of prophecy and knowledge given to him by the gods.

He explained his vision...

"Thousands of years ago, a race of monks that used to inhabit the planet Esper. They never raised a sword in anger, for they had a power far greater...!

All the enemies they ever faced, the people of Esper used their own powers to absorb the energy and powers of their enemies, rendering them harmless and unable to carry out their treachery. The monks would then store all that harnessed power and keep it ready to use against other foes.

The more enemies they faced, the more the power grew. Other evil forces, when they found out, sought to absorb this power for themselves and began to attack the planet Esper in huge numbers. The monks were finding it more and more difficult to fend off their world. Esper was plunged into a most violent war of chaos and destruction imaginable.

The monks could tell their days were numbered, and in a last ditch effort they had taken the remains of the great power source they had obtained and hid it deep within the mysterious Caverns of Illusion; enchanted caves that made any and all wanderers come to face with illusions of fear drawn from their minds, and the more they would believe in it, the more real the illusion would seem.

The monks had stored the great power in a secret altar somewhere within the depths of the cave. They then placed a powerful force-field around the energy preventing anyone who was not pure in heart from even touching the power. Anyone unworthy trying to lay their hands on the great power, the force-field instantly destroyed them, and whatever power they possessed was added to the great power itself, increasing it's incredibility."

The friends were all amazed!

“Wow! That must be some force.” said Lightning. The mission was beginning to become clear-- seek out the power source and absorb it into the Rainbow Rod to power it up again. “Where are these caverns anyway?” asked Krysta.

“That is where it gets dangerous and risky.” replied Celestia “The caverns are located on the Dark Planet itself, directly beneath the fortress of Chrysalis.”

Chills ran up everyone’s spines, and before any of them could ask how, Grand Ruler explained that according to his vision, "After the war, planet Esper had suffered horrifying damage and destruction, the monks along with their enemies had all been destroyed, and the planet was left as a dark and chaotic world of eeriness, and desolation shrouded in the the most profound darkness. The former Planet Esper became thereafter known as the Dark Planet."

The friends were all once again astonished beyond words.

“As you all know," Grand Ruler said "...I sealed Titan away on that dreary planet for a millennium, and he made it his main base of operations. Fortunately he was never aware of this great power deep within the planet itself.

After was defeated, and again as you know, Chrysalis escaped into space, found her way to the Dark Planet and took over, and it is doubtful that she knows of the existence of the great power as well.”

There was no need to explain further, and their majesties again reminded everyone that this was a volunteer assignment. Lightning stood up quickly “I’m ready!” he said.

Grand Ruler smiled proudly at his student. “Thank you, Lightning.” he said. Then Krysta agreed to go. Her warping skills would come in real handy for emergency escapes.

“Count me in too.
I’ll go with you.” said Rhymey, and he was a good choice since his sword could pierce through energy itself, and Twilight agreed to go too. Her magic would be useful there too, but they all figured they would need one more member, one whom could help them in the darkness. “I know just who.” said Celestia. That’s when her sister appeared. “Princess Luna?” asked Twilight. “Yes…” Luna said proudly “As one with the power of darkness, I will be of great help to you all.”

She had a point there, not to mention, even though Chrysalis was by far the only creature on that entire planet, nobody really knew what to expect there.

The final mission layouts were discussed, and it was time to prepare to leave.

Fluttershy was worried about Rhymey leaving, but she knew he had been doing this all his life, and he assured his mare-friend that he would come back safely, and pecked her on the cheek.

Twilight and Krysta thought it was adorable, but not as lovely as Lightning and Starla’s. “Lightning…”

“Starla…” Lightning then smiled at her “I’ll come back, don’t worry. I’ve used the Rainbow Rod before. I know what I’m doing.”

“I know.” Starla said “I wish I could come with you, but I guess some of us have to stay and protect the kingdom. Just come back in one piece.” They shared a soft kiss, and Lightning promised her. “I will. You're in charge while I'm gone.”

After that, Krysta created the necessary portal that would take them to the Dark Planet. The team stood all together with the Rainbow Rod, whole, stowed away in Twilight’s backpack. “Shall we go?” asked Luna. The others nodded, and they leapt through the portal-gate, and headed off into dimensional space.

“Good luck, everyone.” Celestia and Grand Ruler thought at the same time.

“Hey, where’s Spike?” asked Pinkie Pie. The others couldn’t find him and began to wonder if maybe, “Oh, no!”

Across the magic pathway did the team fly, soaring through space...

They emerged on the Dark Planet. Lightning, Krysta and Rhymey felt very strange to be back after such a long time, but Twilight and Luna had never seen a more frightful place; the dark and stormy skies, the dark sandy grounds laden with corpses and bones. “Now I see why they call it "The Dark Planet.” Twilight said, but now was not the time for sightseeing. They had a job to do, and fast before Chrysalis found out they were there.

“We better look for Chrysalis’ fortress. The caverns are supposed to be right beneath It.” said Lightning.

Luna concentrated and sensed through the darkness where the power was located to help them find the fortress easier. “Follow me.” she said, and they all walked off together across the barren wastelands of the planet.

Suddenly, Twilight began to feel something moving around in her backpack. “What’s wrong?” asked Krysta. “I don’t know...” Twilight said, and when she took off her backpack and looked inside, were they all surprised when Spike popped his head out of the bag and breathed heavily. “I can’t breathe in there!” he groaned.

“SPIKE?!” the others sneered.

“Forgive me if I sneer,
But what are you doing here?” snapped Rhymey.

Spike admitted that the meeting bored him so he slipped into Twilight’s backpack and fell asleep. “Sorry…” he said.

Twilight sighed “We’ll talk about this later. We may as well keep going.”

On and on the team went, and the planet seemed to get more eerie and dreary by the minute, and suddenly, “Look, up ahead.” cried Krysta. It was Chrysalis’ fortress, and it didn’t really look too different from when Titan ruled it. The only major differences were the many statues of Chrysalis, and the busts of her head posted all around the walls. “Somebody sure is egotistical.” Spike muttered.

“The caverns are supposed to be beneath It.” said Lightning “Let’s look around, maybe we can find an opening.

Suddenly, Chrysalis’ voiced echoed out “Well, well, what have we here? I see you’ve all finally come to your senses and finally have decided to ultimately surrender to me.”

“Think again, Chrysalis!” snapped Lightning. “We’ll never surrender to an ugly, evil witch like you!”

The ground began to shake and quiver. “I think you’ve made her mad…” whimpered Spike.

That’s when Chrysalis appeared before them snickering wickedly. “You really ought to be careful whom you insult around here.” she hissed “I’m really quite sensitive, you know.”

Lightning and Rhymey clenched their fists, and nodded at one another. “Starfleet Magic!” and they transformed. “Let’s get her!” shouted Lightning, and he and Rhymey dashed forward, but they went right through Chrysalis and fell flat on the ground.

“Huh?!” they both exclaimed, and the others realized it was only a magical illusion. “She’s not really there.” said Twilight, and right then the illusion vanished, and the ground began to quake. “What’s happening?” asked Spike.

“I don’t think I want to know.” cried Krysta. That was when the ground burst wide open and powerful magical forces seemed to grab everyone and pull them all into the bowels of the planet.

When Lightning came to, he found he was all alone in a dark cavern, far below the surface. “Oh! Galloping Galaxies...” he groaned as he felt his head. At least he was still in full armor. “What happened? Where am I?”

All the others were coming round to realize they were lost too, and had not a clue of where they were. Krysta, Luna and Twilight found they couldn’t even teleport out. So, everyone decided to wander through the caves, hoping to find a way out or at least run into one another.

Spike grabbed one of the many torches from the walls and began to head down the tunnels. “What kind of a cave is this?” he wondered. Then, all before him at once was a giant pile of jewels and precious stones. Spike’s eyes shimmered like the gems themselves “Come to Papa!” he cried as he dashed to jump in the big pile, when suddenly, as he got closer the jewels began to move, and join together to form a giant monster made completely out of gems. It roared at Spike and he quickly began to run back the other way. “Help… Help…!”

Then he looked behind him to see the creature had gone. He rubbed his eyes but still couldn’t see the monster. Not even any tracks in the dirt, or even a sign of the gems.

Twilight had been wandering around the cave, and she suddenly heard a voice calling out to her. “Twilight Sparkle…” Twilight didn’t want to believe it, but up ahead it was her. “Queen Celestia…? What are you doing here?”

“Silence!” yelled her teacher. She did not look a bit pleased and said that she was tired of Twilight’s bungling and messing things up. Twilight was confused and tried to protest, but Celestia just grew crosser. “You have ruined things for the last time, and I have no choice.” That’s when her horn began glowing “The penalty for your actions, Twilight Sparkle… you shall… DIE!!” She fired a shot which Twilight dodged, and she began to run away for her life, but was unable to understand what was happening. Suddenly, she tripped and kicked a stone that was on the ground right at Celestia… and she just vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Twilight sighed in relief, and remembered from Grand Ruler’s story about the magic of the caverns. Everything was just an illusion. She wondered how the others were faring, and then she came face to face with another illusion, of all the enemies she had fought in the past coming straight at her, and she ran down the tunnel screaming!

Krysta heard the sounds of the scream. “Twilight?” she called out. She tried to fly through the tunnel in the direction of the voice, but suddenly a giant wall of fire sprung out. “Whoa!” she cried, stopping before she nearly flew into it. She backed up against a wall panting in relief, but suddenly saw a monstrous snake next to her.

She tried blasting it away with her magic, but strangely her magic went right through the snake, and it just vanished in thin air “An illusion!”

Rhymey was on the run from a swarm of bats and miniature demons. Then he skidded to a halt and quickly turned round. “DRILL QUILL” and launched his swarm of quills at the creatures, actually dissolving them into clouds of smog. Rhymey couldn’t understand it.

“Who is there?
Come out, if you dare!” he shouted

Luna didn’t mind being alone in a dark place. She was used to such things, but she suddenly had the feeling that she wasn’t alone after all or something strange was about to happen. That’s when she felt the ground beneath her feet starting to rumble. The rumbling got stronger, and stronger, and then she saw why! A giant boulder was rolling straight for her. Luna quickly dashed down the tunnel, but soon she came to a dead end. “No!” she roared angrily. Then she turned to face the boulder, but noticed something odd. “What?” It was coming at her, but not crushing and of the smaller stones and pebbles along the way, and when it finally reached her, it vanished! “Of course; this is the magic of the caverns.”

Lightning had been wandering through the tunnels. Going deeper and deeper, he felt as if he was nearing the very dimensional core of the planet. He called out for the others hoping they would answer and he could find them.

He suddenly began to hear the sound of Chrysalis snickering. “Where are you?” he growled “Show yourself! Quit cowering and fight me for real!” Chrysalis appeared at the end of the tunnel. “My, my, what a revolting display of temper.” she mocked. Lightning gritted his teeth and lunged at her, but she vanished and then appeared behind him. “And slow on his reflexes. I thought your master taught you better.”

Lightning turned to punch her, but she vanished again and the reappeared sitting on a bed of stones beside him. “Will you stay still so I can hit you?!” roared Lightning. Chrysalis only snickered at him, and Lightning charged at her with full-speed until passed right through her again, and ended up sliding down a slippery slope through another tunnel, and emerging in a deep hidden crypt.

Lightning gazed ahead and what he saw made his eyes budge behind his visor. It was some sort of ancient shrine with a plateau reached by a stone stairway leading to a giant tomb that seemed to have a protective barrier around it, but also, Chrysalis was there, and all the others were bound by magical chains. “Lightning!” cried Twilight.

“Help us!” shouted Krysta.

“Let them go, Chrysalis!” Lightning demanded, and at the shouting of his voice, the prisoners and Chrysalis vanished again. Lightning was shocked at first, but then he remembered what his master had told him about the illusions. Lightning felt very silly for having, once again, trusted his eyes instead of his instruments, which could have told him the images weren’t real

Suddenly, the entire shrine went dark all except for the light emitting from the barrier around the tomb. Then, the shrine lit up again, and Lightning saw something that he didn’t see before. Sitting on the stairs was someone who looked exactly like him in every way, except he was darker, and his eyes glowed red. Lightning moved in closer and this time made sure to use his visor. “It’s real…!” he murmured, and without warning, Dark Lightning leapt over and kicked Lightning hard in the chest, then he Dark Lightning rushed him and began to attack him.

Lightning fought back only to discover that this Lightning knew every move he did. Every punch, every kick, and he was able to counter Lightning’s every attack perfectly as if he could see them coming, and land several attacks on him.

“That’s it!” Lightning snapped “Let’s see you try this!” and he began to glow along with his golden horn “…UNIFORCE!!” and fired his power right at the imposter, but as quickly as it was about to hit, the other Lightning actually summoned a darker version of the Uniforce and countered the magic. “Galloping galaxies…!” Lightning exclaimed “Who are you? What are you?” but Dark Lightning only lunged for him again.

Lightning tried his very best, but this evil copy seemed to always be one step ahead and ready for anything. Finally, Lightning was backed up against a stone column, and the Dark Lightning’s black horn began to glow again.

Lightning had to think of something fast, and he realized that the column he was leaning against would possibly be able to help him. He waited until the last minute, and his evil clone fired his blast, and Lightning leapt up in the nick of time. The blast hit the column, shattering the stone and it began to fall over like a tree, the clone leapt out of the way before it fell on him giving Lightning the opening he needed. He dashed down at this clone, kicking it hard in the face, and sending it crashing into another column. This time it actually fell on him. “Yes!” Lightning cheered, but suddenly, to his shock, the clone rose up again. “I have got to be dreaming!”

The dark Lightning was not willing to give up and soon, it was joined by more evil clones, and evil Twilight, Luna, Spike, Rhymey, and Krysta. “Oh, boy!” whimpered Lightning “This isn’t going to go well.”

To Be Continued…!

(Promo)

In our next episode, just as Lightning seems to have had it, his real friends save him and then join the battle against their evil clones, but they don’t seem to fair to well.

Princess Luna even attempts to open the tomb, only to be fatally injured in the process forgetting about the barrier’s curse, and to top things all off, Chrysalis becomes aware of what is happening and plots to steal the power for herself.

How can the gang overcome their evil counterparts, and who will be first to get the power?

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

(Next episode: “Part 2: To Fight or Not to Fight”)