Starfleet Magic (Movie): The Switch Before Hearths Warming/Christmas

ACT THIRTEEN

All the rest of that day, there were no further sightings or reports of The Golden Fighter, as there were no more crimes or danger, and no need for heroics.

This gave every member of the team a chance to do whatever duties they had, and those that had nothing better to do that didn’t involve maintaining lifestyles were ordered to remain on patrol for any sightings of anything unusual that would lead to the magic.

The base was scanning the entire city and prepared to call in at any time and ready to alert everyone at any time… though this would not help, as understood, by the time anyone would react, it would be too late to reach the scene… but they were to stay on alert with round-the-clock shifts by order of his majesty-- still under the guise of Human Celesto.

So, their lives, or rather their duties, continued.

Lightning had papers to grade, lessons to plan for the next class… and he had to take a few refreshment readings himself to keep up with it.

Celestia, Luna, and even Shining Armor had to work at school, and help with preparations for upcoming school dances.

Grand Ruler was by far, the busiest of anyone, running companies and industries, and, at the same time, helping with the search in whatever ways he could.

All the others could do their menial tasks, just to keep their counterpart’s lives and reputations going.

Rarity was minding her Fashion Shop, and she had loads of sewing to do, not just for the Christmas Rush, but for Fluttershy and Rhymey’s upcoming wedding…

…It was still hard for her not to resort to her canine instincts, especially whenever Opal came near. She would growl at her and feel the need to chase her around the house, only to stop herself, regain control and resume her work.

Applejack went riding with her sister and brother as promised, only she had a little trouble keeping her balance in the saddle-- due to having never ridden like this before.

“Hey! Wow! Easy, boy!”

Applebloom and Big Mac were most confused.

“She’s riding like an amateur.” said Applebloom.

“Eeyup… Something weird’ s going on here.” agreed Big Mac.

It sure took Applejack some time, with all the bouncing and rushing to get the hang of it. “I think I got this now. Like riding a charging minotaur! YEE-HAW!!”

Anyone who had classes, work, studies, or other duties to do would do them, if not, then every minute was to be spent patrolling and scanning on shifts.

Pinkie Pie was falling into a panic, not just because of the lack of progress with their mission, but to save Human Pinkie Pie’s Christmas Party, which was the day after the next… and she had been rushing all over town with Rarity, Rhymey, and Fluttershy, who had time to kill before their turns at the mission.

…Rarity also needed to shop for more fabrics for wedding clothes.

“This is terrible!” cried Pinke. “I have no band, no refreshments, no decorations, and no place to get any!!”

She was right, because it was so close to the holidays, lots of shoppers had already bought all the great stuff, bands were all reserved, and hardly any nice-looking decorations were left.

“I can’t believe this!” wailed Pinkie.

“There, there, you’re a smarty,
I’m sure you can fix up the party.” said Fluttershy.

Rhymey agreed and said,

“Why don’t we, ourselves, do it.
I’m sure we could, there’s nothing to it.

We can play music for all to hear,
And we can make food for a holiday cheer.”

Pinkie’s eyes lit up. “Of course! Why didn’t I think that of that before?” Then she looked grim again, “But we still don’t have party supplies I need.”

“Darling, calm yourself.” Rarity said, “I believe I can assist you with that.” She got out her cellphone and texted Artie.

He responded to her with a thumbs up.

“Right, I believe should suffice.”

Pinkie felt giddier than ever. “When do we start?”

Fluttershy’s phone vibrated with the timer she had set off.

“We can’t start now I’m sorry to say,
It’s our turn for shift. We best be on our way.”

Pinkie sighed, “Oh, well.”

“Never mind, darling.” said Rarity. “I shall keep working for us all. After all, I can’t really go on patrol.” She shook her eyebrows hinting at everyone at her disguise spell, which would diminish the second she tried to transform, or come into contact with any magic.

The others knew she was right, and they agreed, so they bid their goodbyes and went on their ways.

On the way down the street while looking for a place to transform, the trio saw Swift Star walking across the street on the other side of the road.

Fluttershy and Rhymey were surprised

“Oh, I forgot to mention about him.” Pinkie admitted.

Rhymey wondered,

“Is he part of the Starfleet here too.
I can’t tell, can you?”

Fluttershy shook her head.

Pinkie also remembered checking Human Pinkie’s invitation list to her party, and how Swift Star was unchecked yet.

“Gee, looks like he didn’t get invited.” she said “Well, no time like the present.”

The couple tried to protest, but Pinkie had already rushed across the street and stopped before the guy. “Howdy, doin’, Swift?”

“Humph!” Swift grunted and just walked past her, which confused her. The Swift Star she knew would have said “Hi” or acted much friendlier.

She jogged up to catch up to him. “Not having a good day?” she asked.

Swift did not answer and tried to walk faster to get away from her, but Pinkie was relentless as ever and stayed with him. “I know what could cheer you up… coming to the Christmas Party.”

She obviously didn’t know about the tension between him and the Starfleet gang.

Swift was losing patience and spoke gruffly to her. “You came to me about this yesterday, and I already said “No!”

Pinkie was taken back by his hostile tone, so were Rhymey and Fluttershy. He was nothing like their Swift Star back home.

“Get this through your head.” Swift said. “We’re not friends. You and the others had your chance, and you shot me down.”

Pinkie looked more confused than ever. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t look dumb with me!” snapped Swift. He began to feel a burning rage inside of him, and he quickly calmed down.

“Just leave me alone.” and he walked past her down the street, leaving her nearly in a daze. “What just happened?”

Fluttershy and Rhymey caught up with her, and they were appalled by what they had just seen.

“Why was he so rude like that?
Why did he turn you down flat?” wondered Fluttershy.

Pinkie shook her head as if to say, “I don’t know.”

“We can’t worry now,
We must hurry now.” said Rhymey.

The ladies complied, and soon the trio was off-- transformed, and flying high in the sky.

Artie, who had just finished his own scouting patrol, was ready to fulfil Rarity’s request for Pinkie.

First, he went to the Arts and Crafts store and used Artie’s credit card to buy all the things he needed. “I know the other Artie won’t mind, especially to help a friend.” he said to himself. It was a good thing his counterpart had lots of money anyway, just like he did back home.

Once that was done, he went back to his and Sunset’s College dorm room.

“What’s all that?” Sunset asked.

“Just things to help a friend out.” he answered, and he told her what Rarity had said about Pinkie Pie.

“That’s so kind.” said Sunset, and then she watched as Artie, being the master artist he was, cut out loads and loads of card circles which he skillfully bent into plates, and cups. He even used a little of his magic to help speed up the process, only because it was an emergency.

Then he used his magic to change loads of Styrofoam into cups, and he used a special paint to put cute holiday designs on all the dishes-- wreaths, bells, decorated trees, candy canes.

The pain was thin and hardened perfectly, and it wouldn’t with any foods.

“Beautiful.” he said when the last dish was finished. He had made enough for more than two hundred people, which was practically what was needed anyway.

Sunset was only too impressive.

Meanwhile, Rarity was purchasing extra fabrics from a store to help with decorations for the party. “These will make wonderful streamers and tablecloths.” She said to herself.

She suddenly found herself running low on steam and was panting almost like a dog. “Perhaps some liquid refreshment would be nice.”

Unfortunately for her, the only thing she could drink was water. Anything else would upset her stomach in her condition.

Luckily, there was a drink vendor nearby and she bought a bottle of water.

Then, as she turned a corner to head back to her place where she could work, she bumped into someone who came around the corner at the same time carrying a pizza in a box.

Rarity dropped her shopping bags, her water bottle, and the other guy dropped his pizza in the box, it slammed against the ground and was ruined!

“I’m so sorry about that.” The other guy said, but then he gasped when he saw who it was, “You…!”

Rarity then realized this guy looked a lot like, “Swift Star?”

Swift’s features hardened, but before he could say anything, Rarity shrieked, alerting passersby. Some of which covered their ears from the noise.

Others began to assume a poor lady was being attacked, but seeing the scattered messes, they knew they assumed wrong and went about their ways, not even bothering to help either of the two out.

“My fabrics!” Rarity wailed! They had scattered all over the sidewalk, and some of the water from the bottle spilt all over some of it, and worse, some bits of Swift’s pizza spilt all over them too.

“Urgh!!” growled Swift as he picked up ruined slices off the fabric and stuffed them back into the box.

While no one was watching, he slipped his hand inside the box and wiggled his glowing fingers. Magically, the pizza was restored and ready to eat again.

But Rarity, unaware of what he was doing, tapped his shoulder with her finger, while he was doing magic. “Excuse me!” she said angrily, rather than calmly, “…The least you could do is assist me in picking up my mess!”

Swift was beginning to feel that rage boiling inside of him again, and it was hotter than ever, but he still managed to calm it down, but he did angrily turn to face her. “I said I was sorry, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Ah!” Rarity gasped lividly, and then she growled softly, like a dog, which really angered Swift. “And another thing: You have magic… so why don’t you do it--” he didn’t finish, and he suddenly looked freaked out as he gazed at her.

“And just what are you staring at?” Rarity demanded to know, but Swift only stepped back from her, like he was afraid of something, and then he just ran off.

“Humph! How rude!” grumbled Rarity. “You’d think he’d seen a monster.”

She began to gather up her items herself, but she suddenly noticed her hands and her arms, they were reverting back to their dog-like state.

Her floppy ears had returned and drooped down.

“No!” she cried, and she stood up, and looked at faded reflection in a store window. She had reverted to her half dog form. She was so shocked she couldn’t scream, and then it got worse.

Passersby couldn’t help but stare.

“What’s with her face?”

“Are those real?”

“Mommy, is that a dog or a woman?”

Horrified and embarrassed, Rarity grabbed all her stuff and ran away in tears.

That night, Celestia came to Rarity’s place, along with most of the team, and she recast the spell on Rarity, disguising her again.

“Try to be careful with this.” she cautioned her.

Rarity almost didn’t hear her as she was still so embarrassed. “I have never been so humiliated!” she sobbed as she fell over her sofa.

Rainbow and Applejack covered their ears.

“Could she be any louder or annoying?” Rainbow groaned.

“Nope.” sighed Applejack.

Grand Ruler asked Rarity again, “You’re certain you didn’t use any magic?”

“No! No! A-hundred times, no!” wailed Rarity. “I don’t know how I transformed. I just did.”

Everyone was convinced she didn’t use magic, but things were starting to sound suspicious from when she was speaking with Swift Star.

Lightning then asked Sunset, “How come you didn’t tell us about Swift Star in this world?”

“I never had to, it didn’t seem important.” said Sunset, and she explained to everyone about Swift and the tension between him and the Starfleet team.

“So, he wanted to join you, and you turned him down because he has no magic, is untrained, and he’s angry at you for it?” asked Starla.

Sunset nodded.

“Ohh… that’s why he acted so mean and nasty.” said Pinkie.

“What?!” snapped Lightning, “You ran into him too, and you didn’t tell me?”

Pinkie acted sheepish, “Oops.”

“Don’t be mad at her, we did too.
We also didn’t think to tell this to you.” said Rhymey.

Fluttershy nodded,

“It didn’t seem like a big deal to us,
And we were in a hurry patrol without fuss.”

Lightning felt more frustrated than ever.

“Alright! Alright!” said Grand Ruler “We’ve established there is a Human Version of Swift Star in this world, but I think we should focus more on the connections.”

He asked Rarity again, “You were talking with Swift Star, and that’s when you started to transform?”

Rarity nodded, and then suddenly it hit her. “No… No, it can’t be.”

“Maybe it is.” said Buddy. “I saw him too…” and recalled what he and Tree Hugger saw while ordering lunch. “I’m more than convinced now… that wasn’t ordinary skill.”

Everyone else was starting to feel equally as convinced, “So, Swift does have the magic?” asked Sunset. “And that could also mean he’s the Golden Fighter?”

The evidence was heavy, but still the proof was not concrete enough.

“Maybe we should try talking to him.” suggested Krysta. Then she looked at Sunset, “Where does he live?”

Sunset shook her head.

“You don’t know?” Dyno asked shock.

“You’ve dealt with him all this time, and you don’t know where he lives?” added Myte.

Sunset explained, “He only graduated from Canterlot High this year. We knew he was living without his parents, but that’s all we know. The others and I never really knew him because we graduated a few years ago. We never got to know him, and we don’t know that much about him.

We only met him when he started begging for us to let him join us, and we know little about him. Just that his parents left him to go to a peace conference… two years ago.”

This made Celestia realize, “Perhaps his records are still at Canterlot High.”

Grand Ruler agreed, “I’ll see if I can dig up any information on him myself. Meanwhile…”

“…The rest of us keep our eyes on him and call in the second something happens.” Artie guessed, and his majesty nodded.

In the meantime, it was getting late, and everyone had a big day and decided it was best to head home. Some of the gang still had work in the morning.

Celestia’s cellphone rang, with Luna calling from the mansion, “Sister! I believe you and Celesto should come home… at once!” The sound of Castor and Lelani shouting and playing about like out-of-control animals didn’t have to tell the couple twice.

So, everyone bid each other goodnight and headed off.

“You going to be alright?” Applejack asked Rarity, and Rarity wiped the tear streaks off her face, “I’ll try.”

Lightning walked with Starla down the street. Both knew they could just each fly to their respective places, but they didn’t feel like leaving each other’s company yet.

They missed each other’s full-time company, and the affection with it, even if it was just for one day.

They gazed into each other’s eyes, and moved in for a kiss, but Krysta stopped them, “Don’t do it. What if someone sees you?” she whispered.

The couple stopped sadly.

“So… Not bad for a first day?” Lightning asked, trying to change the subject.

Starla wasn’t sure she could agree, “This world is just so strange. Limited resources, not enough patrols and watches, all these extra obligations, more pollution and corruption…?!

…How did you make it so well here?”

Lightning and Krysta both recalled their first ever mission to this world. “It wasn’t easy,” said Lightning, and he recalled in a series of scenes like sill pencil drawings of it all…

-His struggles to fit in…
-Attending Canterlot High…
-Concealing his mission and identity…
-Even his getting into a scrape with Human Celestia, which still bothered him.
-In the end, saving the day and stopping the bad guys with his new friends, and even meeting Twilight Sparkle and Sci-Twi beforehand.

“Those sure were harsh times.” said Krysta. “There were times I thought we’d never make it.”

“Well, we did,” said Lightning “And we’ll get through this too, we’ve got to, and not just for our own sakes.” He referred to the counterparts in the Magic World.

In New Canterlot Palace, it was Supper Time for the royal family. The children noticed their parents looked incredibly beat, and hardly touched their food.

“Mother, Father, are you both alright?” asked Castor.

Celesto yawned, “Perfectly fine.”

“We’re just a little tired, is all.” said Celestia.

The two of them had never worked so hard in their lives. All those royal duties, all those meetings, reports, taxes, arrangements, and many other things.

Despite having their majesties’ knowledge, they still didn’t have their actual strengths and feeling of the workload.

Luna entered the room, looking very well rested, from spending most of the day in bed. “Good evening.”

“Good evening, Aunt Luna.” the children said politely, and Luna patted them both on their heads, but then she noticed her sister and brother-in-law looking beat.

“A tough day I suppose?”

“That would be putting it lightly.” said Celesto, “And we still have a few things do take care of before bed.”

Celestia groaned, “I don’t believe I’ve ever worked so hard in my life. I don’t understand how their ma--” was all she got out when her husband put his finger to his lips warning her not to say another word, or the children would know the truth.

“Uh…I mean, I don’t understand how I’m so tired. I should be used to all this.”

“Maybe it’s because it’s so close to Hearths Warming.” said Lelani. “The holidays are always so busy.”

The family looked all around at all the decorations around the dining hall, including the big, decorated tree-- just one of many all over the palace.

The scene then changed to a small tree inside Mykan’s home…

*Mykan’s POV*

I felt relieved to be home and having dinner. I was feeling pretty beat, not just from a long day’s work and the battle that day. I had to go to all the homes of the entire team to checkup on them and see how they were getting on.

Celestia and Celesto, and Cadance and Shining Armor, had sent me letter reports of their own days.

You bet I was surprised to hear that everyone did well in the battles without breaking their cover, but it was still such a risk.

So far, everything was okay… to an extent, but there was still Sci-Twi and Spike.

“Heard you two got into a little trouble today.”

Sci-Twi and Spike looked ashamed.

“I’m glad you managed to work it out without breaking your cover… but try to be a little more careful.”

“Easier said than done.” grumbled Spike. “This world is so…! Well, it’s just…! I mean it’s…

…Crazy.”

Normally, Sci-Twi would scold him for being rude, but she couldn’t blame him this time.

“I studied and learned so much, and after witnessing today’s battle…” she paused, and she got up from the table and went to the window to look outside at the calm town. “There’s so much to this world. It’s wonderful… Magical… and…” she paused again “…Just the same, it’s so dangerous.”

She turned to face me, “How can you live in a place like this?”

I answered, “You get used to it… I guess. I’ve lived here four years now, and in all that time I’ve seen and done so much, and I still haven’t got it all figured out, but what’s what makes the adventure so exciting.”

In flash still drawings like Lightning had, I remembered all the adventures I ever had, and the struggles I had to fit in, plus all the many times I nearly would have been destroyed.

“Wow! That sure takes guts.” said Spike.

“Guts” is barely the half of it.” I said, and then I sighed, “No matter how wonderous and magical this all is, it’s not without risks, struggles, and even sacrifices.”

I was thinking about my family again.

*POV Pause*

Sci-Twi and Spike felt bad for him, and it also began to make them wonder how all their other friends were doing.

Sci-Twi missed her brother and Cadance, and she worried about baby Flurry Heart back home.

Far away in the New Crystal Empire, Shining Armor and Cadance were tucking four-year-old Flurry into bed.

“Well… good night.” Shining Armor said.

Flurry reached up and pecked him on the cheek, much to his surprise. “Good night, Daddy.”

Then she pecked Cadance too, “Goodnight, Mommy.”

Cadance blushed and felt her eyes filling with tears. Luckily, Flurry was already asleep to notice.

The couple headed out of the child’s room and bound for their own.

“She’s so sweet.” whispered Cadance. She was trying hard not to come out crying, for fear of being noticed or heard.

Cadance was really missing her real daughter back home.

“Try to relax,” said her husband. “I’m sure the other Cadance and the other Shining Amor are treating her well.”

Shining Armor had come home to his wife, just as she had put the baby in her crib.

The couple left to go downstairs before becoming too mesmerized by her cuteness. Both missed their real Flurry Heart back him.

Then there was Spike, just sitting and looking out the window, off into town in the distance. “Goodnight, Rarity… I’m glad you’re alright, but I wish I was home with you, and our daughter.”

All the way across town, Rarity was working all night sewing streamers, banners, and other decorations for Pinkie’s party, while also casually snacking on… dog chow and biscuits.

She was more heartbroken than tired.

All the other friends were missing their homes and families too, some more than others.

Human Buddy, and Human Artie both managed to avoid having to have marital moments with Tree Hugger and Sunset and managed to get to bed without trouble.

Pinkie, still playing her role well, pecked her “husband” and “son” goodnight, and crashed into bed, avoiding going any further or harder.

It was still amazing how just one day could not only be so exhausting, but so emotionally painful as well.

In her college dorm room, Sunset looked out into the night wondering about her husband.

Artie joined her. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, but it was easy to understand her sadness. Artie felt the same way, missing his Sunset and Sun Stream.

At that moment, all the friends, and their counterparts sang in their minds to the same sad song while missing their lives, worlds, and families.

“Blue Christmas/Hearths Warming”

As the song ended, far across town, Swift Star lay awake on his bed, still in shock at what he had witnessed that day.

“How did Rarity transform like that?” he kept asking himself, while remembering Rarity’s strange appearance.

“Something doesn’t add up here.”

He yawned and went to sleep. “Tomorrow’s just another day.”