My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic Season X

by DakariKingMykan

Episode 3: It's About the Size of it."

EPISODE THREE

The Shadow Planet, the home location of The United Alliance of Evil, was soaring through space thanks to its massive and magical engines, deep within its interior, and kept well out of sight by its incredible cloaking sources, which had to be constantly maintained.

All the monsters, Darquines, and allies loyal to Titan were all gathered as the evil sorcerer’s image appeared before them in the skies once more, and Starlight Glimmer marched along the path, and up to a small plateau, and her henchmen all stood behind her tall and proud as she presented the orb containing all the energy she had stolen from Celestia, and some of Lightning’s Enticorn power.

“Oh, Master Titan…” she said while holding up the orb “As per your orders, I present you with the cosmic energy you required, and I even got a little more.”

“Superb…” Titans snickered. He raised his monstrous hand absorbing the all the energy from the orb, leaving it drained.

Lightning and thunder shook the skies around Titan as his eyes glowed brightly behind his hood, and all the monsters in the massive crowd gazed in awe. Some were even shivering in slight fear.

“Excellent!” laughed Titan “I can feel the power coursing through me.”

The army cheered and hollered, until Titan shouted for them “SILENCE!!” and they all piped down instantly. “There is still much to be done. You are my army, go out there, and get more power! Only then will our ultimate goal be in sight, and the universe will grovel before us.

“It shall be all the easier,” said Starlight “With Celestia, Grand Ruler, and even Lightning Dawn no more than mere memories, what can possibly stop us? Starfleet should be quite powerless without their best leaders.”

Just then one of the flying monsters soared up in the sky towards Titan’s huge image and whispered something to him.

“WHAT?!” Titan roared, and the monster confirmed what he had been informed.

“Starlight Glimmer…!” Titan bellowed.

Starlight quickly got on her knees, “My lord…?”

“I have a new assignment for you…”

Before Starlight and her henchmen knew it, they were onboard the Spider-Base, bound for United Equestria.

Starlight was most furious. “How is this possible?!” she shouted at the henchmen. “How can Celestia still be alive when I saw her perish before my eyes?”

Razor stepped forth, “Guess they’re a lot stronger than we thought?”

Starlight looked ready to send him into the next galaxy, but she still had use for him and the others. Her assignment was now to keep Starfleet at bay and try to bring them down to prevent their interference with the evil plans.

She had even brought the monster that informed Titan of the situation.

Soarick: A cross-mix of a falcon, and a bat. His wings were batwings with sharp red feathers on the edges, which gave him strong wing power, and being part bat, he was

“A thousand apologies Ms. Starlight, but it had to be done.” he said “I hear and see many things during my flights through the cosmos, and working for Lord Titan, I thought I’d scout this area after your battle.”

He was starting to sound like he was teasing her, which irked Specter, and he threatened him, “You will show the chosen apprentice of Titan with better respect!”

The two then growled at each other.

“You’ll go with him, Specter.” said Starlight “Make sure he stays in line.”

Specter bowed to her, “Of course.”

“Hey, why can’t we go?” whined Razor.

Waverline nodded in agreement, but starlight gave them both a stern glare, “You two are still on probation for fleeing the last battle too soon.”

Razor tried to protest, but Waverline cautioned him not to.

Meanwhile, ever since the transformation, Grand Ruler Celesto and Queen Celestia had ordered the wizards and Professor Brain to come up with a way to restore them back to their rightful ages.

They, themselves helped out with their extensive, retained, knowledge of spells and potions.

Goldwin fetched some book-discs from the royal library to feed into the computers whole books and tomes to help.

“This is all I could find.” he said “I really I could do more to help you.”

“Oh, Goldwin,” said Celestia “You are a big help, just like everyone else who does their part.”

Suddenly, they all could hear rustling coming from outside.

They headed for the window and could see down in training fields, behind the palace…

Lightning training hard to test his abilities, what with his reduced body and all, and training with him were Starla, Rainbow Dash, Spike and Rarity, and The Twins.

Small, yet determined, Lightning stood ready to spar and train. “Let’s see if I can still do this.”

A song played over the montage, with Lightning’s inner voice singing.

In this brand new body of mine,
Have I still what it takes to shine.
Can I still hold my own strength overall

Both my heart and brain are in place,
Pump my legs to run in the race
Show them all I still can stand straight, strong and tall

Can’t quit now,
Push it on… with all I’ve got.
Come on, bod,
We can do it… you and me… every shot!

Dodging blows and taking it tough
But is it just enough
Am I still as a great as I once was?

I’m small, but I won’t be weak
Still standing, not scared and meek
Or don’t I have what it takes to aid the cause!

I will rise up… Like once before
May be littler… but I’ll show them more!

The song began to fade out…

All during the music, Lightning proved he still had great potential. Back when he was naturally eleven years old, he had already been training with Grand Ruler for nearly four years, and by then he already showed enormously improved abilities.

Now, even as an eleven year-old, he already understood many of the routines and strategies, and he had already proved he could put up a good fight with the others, though he swore Starla was holding back in her battles.

“Come on!” he yelled at her “Quit going soft on me! Give it your all!”

His wife complied and began to attack more ruthlessly, while Lightning managed to dodge, and block her attacks, and strike her several times.

Rainbow helped with Lightning’s speed with a simple game of “Capture the Flag” and Rainbow found it quite hard to keep away from Lightning as they soared, dived, and zipped along through the clouds.

Unlike Starla, Rainbow didn’t go too easy on Lightning and poured on her best speeds, even using the clouds to conceal herself better. Still… it wasn’t enough to outwit Lightning’s keen senses and trickiness.

“Ha!” Lightning snapped as he dove for the flag, and Rainbow tried to dodge, but got outwitted and Lightning snatched the flag from her.

“Hey, no fair!” teased Rainbow. It almost felt insulting to her to be beaten by a kid, to which Lightning teased her by sticking his tongue out at her, which prompted Rainbow to chase him, but she couldn’t keep up.

Then, Dyno and Myte tested Lightning’s dodging abilities by firing barrage after barrage of attacks one him, and he was able to dodge them all with ease, especially with cool dance moves.

By the time the song had completely faded out, it was down to the last session of the afternoon…

Spike and Rarity to test his endurance and pain tolerance by constantly breathing fire one him and attacking him.

Rarity eventually fainted from blowing too much for too long, and Spike had to stop and catch his wife.

Lightning was beginning to look a wiped himself, due to his small body and only able to take so much pummeling.

“Lightning!” cried Starla as she dashed over to him.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine… just a little beat.”

“This is exactly what I’ve been afraid of.” said Starla “You may still have some of your abilities, but you have to know your limits.”

Lightning looked a little cross, “Are you saying that I don’t have what it takes?”

“Hey, hey, chill out.” said Rainbow. “Starla’s kind of right. You know. You probably shouldn’t push yourself too far.”

“Rainbow is quite right.” panted Rarity, and she paused to catch her breath. “We’re not saying we don’t believe you, we’d just hate to see you get hurt from overly pushing yourself.”

Spike nodded and added, “Rarity’s been training for months with her new dragon strength. She’s almost got it down, but she still tries to take it easy…” he paused and looked at his wife, remarking “…Sometimes.”

Rarity felt silly, knowing she shouldn’t had pushed too hard with her fire.

Lightning understood. “I guess I am still just a bit of a kid.” he looked up at his wife tenderly. “I’m sorry I snapped.”

Starla hugged him softly, and everyone agreed it was enough training for one day, but Lightning was still concerned about a few things.

“I dare not go Super Mode. Even with my promising potential, I’d never be able to handle its weight.

Then again, there’s still the Uniforce… I haven’t tried to unleash it yet.”

Everyone turned and gawked at him.

“Why ever not?” asked Rarity.

“I’m worried. I mean, I can still feel it in me, but will I be able to handle it?”

He referred to the facts that the first time he used the uniforce, he was much older and stronger, but it always left him drained of his strength to the point of exhaustion.

This worried Starla as well. Part of her would have tried to discourage him from attempting it until they were certain he was strong enough, but she also felt the sooner it was tested, the sooner they would know for sure.

“The uniforce is my ultimate power,” said Lightning “It’s the only actual magic I possess, and if I can’t use it in battle, it could mean trouble for us.”

The others all agreed, but they also to help Lightning take steps to train and see what could be done.

Suddenly, the alarms went off.

“What now?” wondered Rainbow.

The royal guards were already rushing to their battle-stations and the sentries were heading out into the village.

One of the sentries flew down to the team! “Commander Lightning! General Starla! A monster has been spotted overflying the marketplace!”

Lightning looked ready for action, despite having just gone through an exhausting training session, while the others all turned to face him and suggest he sit it out, but Lightning immediately insisted, “I’m coming. I’m not that beat, and if things get rough, I’ll try and port out, okay?”

The others had no choice but to trust him.

“Let’s go!” shouted Lightning, and everyone transformed.

“STARFLEET MAGIC”

“HARMONY HOUR, FRIENDSHIP POWER”

“Dragon Power”

Lightning’s battle-wear was adjusted to fit him, and still worked all its wonders on him, but Rainbow held in a soft giggle at how cute he looked, like a kid going out trick-or-treating on Nightmare Night.

Lightning gave her a sharp look, and she snapped to her senses, and the team was off.

Grand Ruler and Celestia saw the team fly off from the palace window.

“Please be careful, Lightning Dawn.” Grand Ruler said under his breath.

Celestia was equally as concerned, especially given that the planet was being attacked which told her, “Starlight Glimmer has returned.”

She looked way up in the sky…

…Starlight kept the Spider-Base a good-distance away from the planet to avoid more attacks, and yet she watched and could see everything happening from the magical monitors.

“Now we’ll see just how strong Starfleet really is.” she snickered.

Though the protective barriers were already raised around the houses and other buildings, there were still loads of civilians that didn’t make it inside in time-- the alarm just sounded so suddenly.

The knights had taken their places to seal off the perimeter, and the sentries were already working to help outsiders get to safety, away from the danger area.

Soarick was flying about scaring people.

“SONIC WIND” He flapped his, glowing, wings hard producing strong winds with sonic-waves within, which were not only a deafening noise to bear, but the winds caused damages to the streets and the objects around-- trees, carts, mailboxes.

The shields protected the buildings from damage, but the people inside groaned at the unbearable sound of the waves. Some even resorted to sticking cotton in their ears, and the sentries couldn’t bear the noise either, and got out their emergency earplugs.

Soarick relished at their tortures. “Who wants more torture?” he bellowed.

“You do!” called Lightning as he as his team landed in the market square, all of them looking ready to brawl. Yet Soarick looked at Lightning and couldn’t but laugh, “I had heard the rumors that you were a small child, Commander, and now to actually see it…” he went on laughed, which really irked Lightning and the others.

“I wouldn’t go judging me so easily.” said Lightning “Size isn’t everything.”

“I second that.” agreed Starla.

The others nodded sternly, but the monster continued to scoff. “We’ll just see…

…SKY STRIKE!” and swift as sound, he dove straight past them, striking everyone hard.

“Lightning!” cried Starla.

“I’m fine, let’s get him!”

Soarick halted in midair, and Rainbow zoomed straight at him, but missed him when he dodged and got kicked in the stomach and sent way up high.

The Twins stood ready and held hands…

“BOOM-BOOM FIREBALLS”

“STAR SHOWER” Starla unleashed her stars to the barrage.

“I don’t think so…” scoffed Soarick, and he flapped and flapped his wings like crazy, actually blowing back the barrage, dousing the flames and the stars, much to the fighters’ shock!

“Now it’s my turn!

SONIC WIND” and he unleashed his sonic waves, causing the fighters groan and moan while they clutched their heads.

“What is this?!” shouted Spike.

“I can’t stand it…!!” screamed Rarity.

Sparks began to fly as the fighters all took damage.

“Ay’¡Que ruido! *What a noise!*” groaned Dyno.

“That’s all we needed!” added Myte.

“Quick, earplugs!” called Lightning.

Tapping their energizers, magical earplugs appeared in all the fighters’ ears. These were specially and magically fitted to filter out the high frequency waves, but the fighters could still hear all other things.

Soarick was hardly impressed. “Those toys still won’t save you from certain destruction!” he thundered.

The fighters all huddled together.

“We’ve got to try and capture him.” whispered Lightning. “If he is part of Titan’s forces, he’ll have information we can probe from his mind.”

The others agreed, and all stood together. Each of them twisted rubbing their feet on the ground, as signal for a special attack rush.

“SONIC WIND”

As the winds blasted straight for the team, the fighters all scattered about in different directions.

“Fight wind with wind!” hollered Rainbow “SONIC RAINBOOM” she zoomed straight for Soarick, and he dodged, up into the air.

“STARLIGHT ARROW” Starla a load of arrows which the monster dodged and swerved around and even used his wings as a shield to deflect the shots.

The twins then soared straight at him, together, and let go of their hands at the last second, splitting alongside him, and then they turned back for a quick strike-back.

“Amateurs!” growled Soarick, and he easily dodged them, only to run smack into a wall of flames made by Spike and Rarity, blowing him out of the sky and sent him crashing to the ground, and right before Lightning who had his new miniature capture blaster-- specially fitted for his size, but just as powerful.

“Your flight’s been canceled!” Lightning sneered as he stood ready to fire…

…When suddenly, from right below his feet, something suddenly attacked him, knocking him off balance and causing him to misfire, just barely missing Starla and Rainbow.

The blast headed up into the sky and exploded!

Starla turned back and saw, “Specter…!” he was emerging from the ground up as a shadow.

“We meet again…” he hissed, and behind him appeared a swarm of Darquines.

“Ah, give us a break!” groaned Rainbow.

“Let’s go!” shouted Starla, and she and the others rushed in to help Lightning, but Specter motioned to the Darquines, “Stop them!”

The Darquines complied and began to rush for the others, but Starla, enraged and determined as ever managed to speed right past them to her husband’s side.

“Lightning! Starla!” cried Rainbow.

“You guys go on ahead,” said Spike “Me and Rarity will handle the chumps.”

Rarity agreed, and she and her husband leapt right into action.

With his sword in hand, spike slashed and cut at the creatures, while Rarity punched and kicked them down.

One of them grabbed her from behind, but she elbowed it in the gut and took a swing with her claws, striking it down.

“Sneaking up on a lady? How uncouth…!”

“Look out!” called Spike, as three more Draquines came lunging at her, and fired blasts from their horns, shooting her down.

“Rarity!” thundered Spike “That’s it! No one hurts my wife and gets away with it!

DRAGON FLAME-WHEEL”

Encased by his flames, he bowled his way right past the wicked creatures, then stopped right by his wife and helped her up.

“Thank you, but I could have handled it myself, you know?” she said teasingly.

Their moment was broken by more Darquines, which they continued to take down.

“Come on!” cried Dyno.

“Hurry up!” added Myte.

…but as they and Rainbow got nearer to Lightning and Starla…!

“SKY STRIKE” Soarick zoomed straight at them, knocked them all far down the streets away from their friends.

The three groaned as they got back up and the monster teased them, “Sorry, guess you were too slow.”

The trio growled, and as much as they knew Lightning would need more backup, they couldn’t let the monster loose, and still had to follow orders to try and capture him.

The three of them looked ready to brawl, much to his amusement.

As for Specter, he glared at Lightning. “You seem rather different from our last encounter.”

Lightning and Starla glared furiously at him, and Specter cast his view at Starla.

“This is between myself and him!” He raised his hands to fire a shot at her, but Lightning tackled her to the ground and out of the way, just in time as the shot missed.

“Are you okay?” Lightning asked.

His wife nodded, and stayed by his side as they stood.

“You would pick on someone half your size!” Starla scoffed at Specter “You’re disgusting!”

Specter only snickered “What do you expect when it comes to evil?

But enough of this-- I suppose I’ll have to take you both on. Two ponies at once-- or rather one and a-half.” He hinted at Lightning for his size, which really aggravated the couple.

The two stood ready to fight, as did Specter, like cowboys ready to draw.

Quickly, Specter fired a shot, and Starla fired a blast from her horn.

The two blasts collided and exploded, and the fighters rushed forth to attack, but Specter vanished out of sight.

“Where is he?” cried Starla.

Lightning had a feeling, and he was right-- Specter had used his old shadow magic to meld into the ground to attack by surprise.

“Look out!” he shouted, and he and Starla leapt up into the air just as Specter emerged from right below them.

He thrust out his arms…

“DARK PALMS OF FURY” and he summoned forth two large hands, made of a dark force, which sprung out, bashing the two fighters hard to the ground.

Lightning groaned and looked as if he were really hurt, infuriating his wife, causing her to leap up onto her feet and go into a fit of rage, with her aura flaring brightly.

“Starla…!” cried Lightning, but she was too enraged to hear, and with a mighty roar she lunged at Specter, punching and kicking, and he blocked and dodged her every move.

“How noble-- running to the defense of a helpless child,” Specter mocked “Your husband must be weaker than he looks.”

Lightning felt deeply offended and clenched his fists.

“You shut up!!” shouted Starla. Her rage flared harder than ever, and she managed to land a blow straight in her enemy’s face, sending him skidding up the streets.

“PULSAR LASER”

Her beam headed straight for him…

“DARK WALL OF WIND” Specter managed to counter the attack just in time, and, encased in his wind sphere, he sped straight at Starla forcing her to swerve and dodge.

Starla tried to attack him-- throwing punches, kicks, firing shots from her horn-- but she missed every time.

Finally specter sped straight for her, and she held her bow out in front, blocking him and engaging in a struggle.

Lightning bolted upright and charged straight for them, “I’m coming, Starla!”

Specter quickly ceased this wind, kicked Starla away, and proceeded fired many shots at Lightning, and he swerved and dodged through them all.

“DARK FISTS OF FURY” he sent his two dark hands after him. They chased him like homing missiles, yet he managed to keep ahead of them, and with a slick tricks he made them attack each other, causing them to explode in dark puffs of smoke.

Finally, Lightning reached Specter, and the two began to brawl fiercely. “You should never underestimate someone!” Lightning yelled at him “Isn’t that what you said last time?”

Specter growled, but as he continued to block Lightning’s blows he had to admit in thought, “His strength and his skills are amazing. I thought for certain he’d be weaker with his reduced age.”

Still, he kept on brawling and managed to punch Lightning hard in the gut, and at the same time, Lightning kicked him in his side, and the two soared away from each other.

Starla looked up and saw the two were ready for more, but she really didn’t think Lightning should go on anymore.

“Maybe I’m not as weak as you thought.” Lightning called.

“No,” insisted Specter “…You are worse-- you are overconfident.”

Lightning growled.

“If you really think you’re still the all-mighty bigshot fighter you’ve always been, then prove it, and attack me with your very best.”

Lightning knew he was egging him into using the Uniforce, and he looked willing to actually do it. He actually began to charge up, and his golden horn began to glow.

“No…!” shouted Starla, and she rushed in and scooped her husband up in her arms, and carried him away from the battlefield, back towards the palace.

Lightning began to fuss and struggle. “Starla, put me down! Put me down right now! This is an order!”

“Forget it!” she snapped at him, tightening her grip on him! “This is one risk I’m not letting you take; especially after all you’ve been through!”

Lightning was infuriated, and he would have protested again and threatened to put her on report, but he remembered his own doubts from earlier, and realizing this made him see she was right, and let her carry him away.

Spike and Rarity had finished off the last of the Darquines, and they could hardly believe their eyes.

“I can’t believe Starla did that.” remarked Spike.

Rarity felt a tear come to her eye. “She’s too concerned for his safety.”

Specter was most outraged that he didn’t get to see Lightning use the uniforce, but at least he had discovered some of Lightning’s current capabilities.

As for Soarick…

Despite his gloating and all his super speed and all his pounding and pummeling, even he had his limits and was starting to grow exhausted from pushing it too far, and it slowed him up.

“Now’s our chance!” said Rainbow. “You guys, ready?”

The twins nodded and joined their hands together, having readied their finisher on “Capture.”

“I’m not finished yet!” thundered Soarick.

“SONIC WIND”

The leapt up into the air, dodging the blast.

“SONIC RAINBOOM”

Rainbow dove straight at Soarick, barely missing him, but crashing into the ground with such force, making her trademark colored-explosion which knocked him back hard, which gave the twins their opening chance.

“BOOM-BOOM FLARE”

Their massive flames fired, engulfing the monster.

“They got him!” cried Spike, but Specter only snickered softly.

As Soarick felt his body beginning to shrink, before he could be encased in a capture-sphere, he shouted “FOR LORD TITAN…!!”

“What’s he doing?!” cried Rarity, and right then, the monster exploded and was destroyed instead of captured, much to everyone’s shock!

The twins were most perplexed. They checked to make sure they had set their finisher to “Capture” which it was.

Specter laughed at them. “You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you? Lord Titan’s project is so great that we won’t run the risks of it being compromised.”

“So you destroy your own soldiers?!” exclaimed Rarity.

“No, no… they take their own lives.” corrected Specter. “All our fighters are willing to meet their ends if they must… just like you are.”

While he was correct-- Starfleet fighters were always prepared to give their lives if they absolutely had to-- the way they went about it still sickened them.

Specter then waved teasingly at them, “Until next time… give my regards to your child commander.” and then he vanished and was gone.

The fighters were outraged, but at least the danger was over, and despite the minor damages, they would easily be fixed in no time.

“Let’s get back to the palace.” suggested Spike.

Back on Spider-Base, Starlight had observed everything from the screens.

“Even as a child, Lightning Dawn is still no less of a threat.” she grumbled, and then she thought to herself “Which means Celestia will be equally as tough herself, and she’s a little older than Lightning is.”

“Your grace… if I may…” said Specter “In spite of the commander’s performance in the battlefield, it can still be noted that his strengths are limited.”

“Obviously…” Starlight replied in a gruff voice.

“Which means,” said Razor “First chance we get, we’ll cut him to ribbons.” He looked really ready to get his game on.

“Like you could hit an elephant in the snow…” teased Waverline.

Razor growled at her.

“Can’t you two do anything besides bicker?” sneered Specter, but Starlight took no notice of them as she was more focused on her prime goal.

“I’ll get you, Celestia… mark my words!”

Meanwhile, Lightning was being treated in the palace sickbay, and he was fully revitalized.

Starla apologized once again for taking him away from battle. “Don’t think of it as not having faith in you.”

“I understand, Dear.” said Lightning. “I should’ve known better than to push myself too far as I promised not to.”

By this time he was dreading to think what would have happened if he had tried to unleash the uniforce, while he was already wiped from the battle and the excessive training.

Their majesties were finding it harder than ever to willingly allow Lightning to go into battles the way he was.

Lightning noticed everyone staring at him with the same concerned expressions, and he could tell what they were thinking. “Well… out with it.” he said “You all think I should step down from big battles for a while.”

“Lightning, remember what I taught you?” said Grand Ruler “There’s a difference between “confidence” and “cockiness.”

We’re not denying your capabilities-- you did fine in the battle. Nonetheless, the full-extent and limitations of your power is still unknown, and we don’t think it would be wise for you to take unnecessary risks.”

Lightning felt his insides cringing with grief. “You are asking me to step down.”

“Not from everything,” said Celestia “Believe us, we don’t like having to ask you of this, but even Celesto and I are refraining from unnecessary risks, and until we discover more about what’s happened to us all, it would probably be for the better.”

One-by-one, the others offered their condolences, saying he would still be their commander and still have his rights and his respects.

“There are plenty of other things you can still do for us all.” said Rarity.

Spike agreed, “Like organize routines, give us battle strategies and lectures on experiences… the whole ball of wax.”

“You still rock, Lightning, and you always will.” said Rainbow.

The twins nodded.

“We’ll find some way to get you back to normal, bro.” said Dyno, and Myte added “But, for the sake of us, as a friend, and the sake of your family, just think it over.”

Lightning did think it over, and while he wasn’t being ordered to do it, he looked up in Starla’s eyes, and reflected on her acts of concern in taking him out of the battle.

He shut his eyes tightly, feeling deep regret. “General Starla Shine, please take over command of the unit until further notice.”

Starla gave him a weak smile. “Yes sir.”

Their majesties were proud of Lightning, but still felt sorry for him, so did the others.

The doctor then dismissed Lightning, deeming him fit to move around, but Lightning just walked off by himself, wanting to be alone.

Starla felt crushed for him, but she had to be brave to no take charge for the battles ahead.

(Promo)

In our next episode: The Cutie Mark Crusaders have a little struggle in high-school, dealing with spiteful schoolmates denouncing Starfleet, which gives the “Idiots” a chance to collect more power for their project and lead to an even greater rebellion.

Can the Crusaders convince their schoolmates of the error of their ways? What new sinister plot do the “Idiots” have?

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

(Next Episode: “High-School Muse-ical”)