My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic [The Unauthorized Revision]

EPISODE TWO

(Part 2)

    Lightning stood at the edge of Violet Swamp. From the dark, bubbling pools of tar and the acrid  smell of asphault reaching his nostrils, it was plain to see why no one traveled to this part of the kingdom. While there were a ring of trees, none bore any leaves. Combined with the dark of the night and eerie moon's glow above, just a simple gaze through all the thickets and brambles was enough to send chills up Lightning's spine.

    He was relieved to find that Brain wasn't so eager to go along with him. Or more likely was that he knew his limits and wasn't as dumb to go fight anyways. "What a smart kid." Lightning remarked to no one in particular.

    It was thanks to Brain's genius with a hoof-made radio that intercepted Star Fleet's communications that Lightning was here in the first place. While there were shelves upon shelves of gadgets and gizmos sprawled throughtout the colt's house from his tinkering, Lightning was more interested in finding out where the "Alien Intruder," as the attacker was named by Star Fleet, had taken Krysta, Brain's dad and all the others.

    They listened in on chatter about the brief reconnaissance flights taken by a nearby Star Fleet squadron had found activity taking place on Black-Top Mountain, where an old shrine and monument were built to honor the heroism of those involved with stopping Titan's defeat 1000 years ago. However one of those flights took on a disasterous turn when a unicorn lost control of his flight and crashed into the swamp below. Further flights were cancelled and apparently a special team was sent in. Despite the importance of the site and the events taking place there, it seemed that no one was aware or willing to even mention Titan's name. Lightning couldn't help but wonder why Grand Ruler had not stepped in, but the doubt quickly washed away as his faith in his master took hold. Knowing his master, everything had to happen for a reason.

    It had to.

    "Well… here goes." Lightning said to himself. Then he took one step forwards, crushing a twig with his hoof followed by all kinds of screeches and noises from within the swamp. He gulped nervously but ventured forth.

    Stepping under the cover of the winding, twisted, bare branches, the light of the Grand Ruler's night sky was mostly blocked from view. As through the trees were stretching their limbs to tear down something they could never touch. The thought that the stars and the moon were still there, even though he couldn't see them, was comforting and helped Lightning to keep going forward. The salty and the sulfuric odors that wafted into his nose every so often from a dead breeze were less pungent as he continued away from the tar pits. Instead the sour smell of ever-rotting leaves and plants took hold. Along the mountain trail he was now travelling on, jagged rocks, fallen logs and dangling vines seemed to trip him everywhere he stepped. At some points the dirt trail turned into mud, thick enough to grab hold of his boots and cause him to fall face down into the grungy mixture. "Urgh..." he groaned out and spat out.

    The bushes shook and twigs snapped. His instincts took hold when Lightning sensed movement. Leaping foward to create distance—losing a boot in the process—Lightning spun in mid air and used his wings to brace himself to keep himself aloft in order to fight...

    "Lightning…? Is that you…?" Emerging from the dense brush of trees was a certain violet-maned mare. Lightning sighed heavily in relief and returned to all fours on the ground. As he did so, Starla called out to the others who soon emerged as well. While Artie and Buddy used their magic to carry a lantern and flashlight respectiveuly, Rhymes arrived using the glow of his horn for light.

    "What are you doing here?" asked Artie in an icy tone. "We told you not to follow us."

    Lightning held his tongue while Starla floated his muddy boot to him. "Thanks." Lightning he said to her, although his good mood was already strained. After putting his boot back on, he turned toward the others and only barely recognized Artie's presence. "Nice of you to assume, but it just so happens that we crossed paths. I came to find the kidnapped hostages, myself."

    Rhymes quickly stepped between the two stallions' line of sight. Buddy followed along, stepping in closer to Artie's side. "Now, I wasn't there and I don't know why you two keep fighting when you're eye to eye. But I don't care who threw the first word. This squabble you guys have is something can ill afford." The yellow unicorn said with a serious look.

    "Nor will it be tolerated." Lightning gulped and faced Starla when he heard her speak so sternly.  "Lightning, as an active duty member of Star Fleet, it is imperative that I tell you that my primary objective is to complete my mission. And I will go out of my way to make sure that any interference or anything that will hamper my full operational capabilities and strategic advantage, will be dealt with. Is that clear?"

    Lightning gulped and nodded his head. Then Starla turned her glare onto Artie, causing him to cower for a moment before he regained his composure. "I was sure that since I'm the commanding officer on this mission, I'm responsible for dealing with unforseen events."

    "Yes, ma'am." Artie snapped to an attention, to Lightning's surprise.

    "Good. Now, corporal, take point. Private first-class Rhymes, you too. I'll deal with the problem right now."

    "Yes, ma'am." The orange unicorn saluted and without missing a beat, moved up ahead the path leading to the mountain. Rhymes did a less formal gesture, lazily moving his hoof but kept close to Artie and left.

    Unable to find relief in her words, Lightning found himself under Starla's intimidating gaze once more. This time he couldn't even gulp because of his nerves.

    "You'd just ignore me if I told you to go back, right?" Lightning was caught off guard by her blunt question, but managed to nod nonetheless.

    "Yeah." He managed to say. "I...I probably would."

    She sighed and her expression became hard to read. It was the same solid face she made when they were playing their guessing game just a few hours ago, only now when combined with her vest and serious demeanor, had taken on an imposing character.

    "Sergeant, what's the protocol on finding civilians or warriors unable to complete their duty in a dangerous area?"

    Buddy Rose glanced toward Starla for a moment before looking up as though the answer was written somewhere in the night sky. "Section 3 of Regulation Combat Protocol Within Mission Parameters is..." With his pause, the red unicorn smirked and looked back toward Starla and Lightning as though he had just heard some inside joke. "...the immediate escorting of civilians or unfit Star Fleet members to the closest Battle Ready Area or Medical Camp..."

    "That's unfortunate." Starla quickly replied, as though she already knew the answer to her question. "The nearest Ready Area or Medical Camp is at least half an hour away on hoof, not to mention that complying with protocol would leave me with at least one less team member to complete the mission."

    Lightning stared blankly at Starla, not understanding.

    To this Starla rolled her eyes and sighed, further confusing him. "Lightning, if I tell you to hide, what will you do?"

    "Uh...hide?"

    "To help Artie?"

    "If it's really that important for the mission...I'll help him in whatever way I can."

    "And if things get rough, and I tell you to run away with the hostages and not look back?"

    "I'll protect the hostages with my life, but I'll leave only if all of us are safe."

    "Eh, close enough." She glanced toward Buddy, and through some unknown signal, both of them began walking toward where Artie and Rhymes were. Buddy turned around and gestured his head, which Lightning noticed and followed after them.

    Hearing them approach, Artie let out a loud, dramatic sigh. "Finally, he's gone! Now we can-" He stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Lightning was walking closely behind Starla and Buddy when they passed him by. "...wait, what's going on? Qu'est-ce que qu'il fait, ici?"

    "The boss-lady's decided to let him tag along. Just deal with it, Artie." Buddy shrugged before looking ahead.

    Artie and Rhymes exchanged glances, but they could tell there was no point in trying to object. So, despite any sorts of technicalities that were bound to be involved, they knew better than to argue with Starla and quietly moved along with Lightning now joining them.

    As they traveled up toward the mountain, Rhymes stayed to the front of their formation, magically cutting through the undergrowth and thicket with a materialized sword so they didn't have to weave along the path and proceed straight.

    Noticing his awe, Rhymes smiled at Lightning walking beside him. "You like it? I call it my 'Ward Sword.' Catchy, huh?"

    "Yeah." Lightning replied simply, admiring the level of detail in the sword's materialization as well as its ability to cut through the brambles for them to walk through.  "How do you do th-" A scream cut him off and to their surprise, they unicorns all watched as Starla suddenly began sinking.

    "Get away!" She shrieked "Quicksand!" Heeding her warning, the others all leapt away before they got sucked in as well.

    "Starla!" Lightning called out when he and Buddy landed on one side while Artie and Rhymes watched from the other edge of the collapsing ground.. "Uh...don't struggle. You'll only sink faster!"

    "I KNOW WHAT QUICKSAND IS!" Starla snapped out at first, but when she noticed that she was already half submerged, she took a breath and regained her calm.

    "R-right." Lightning yelped back and looked around for something to help her out.

    "Lightning!" He heard Buddy call out and saw him pull a vine from a tree and toss it to her. Now that the sand was up to her shoulders, Starla caught it in her teeth and bit down as tightly as she could. Both Artie and Rhymes fluttered to the other side and immediately took to task, pulling hard until they finally yanked her out of the sand. They reached out and pulled the mud-covered mare away from the pit's edge and they all dropped to the ground, panting and tired.

    "Thanks..." Starla gasped out and spat out pieces of vince that was stuck to her teeth. "I'm confused..." She gulped and looked to the others as they continued trying to catch their breath. "There's no quicksand in this swamp."

    Lightning's ear twitched at sound of creaking wood. Within the grove of trees, the shadows themselves seemed to move. Before he knew it, he had jumped to his feet, pulling Starla up as well. "What are you-"

    "RUN!" Lightning screamed out, just as the trees around them began to explode. A shower of wood and splinters rained on them, as dirt and torn plants and weeks sprayed out from the force of the constant concussions.

    All of them galloped as fast as they could toward the end of the tree line where the mountain path became clearer. But the ground shuttered and quaked as tree after twisted tree burst into pieces like grenades.

    With their wings raised, the unicorns did their best to shield themselves from the flak until they stumbled into the clearing, toppling over each other and desperately gasping for breath.

    Rolling onto his back, Lightning looked up and was greeted by the sight of the starry night sky in its full glory once more.

    The five them remained quiet, save for their heavy breathing and the soft wind passing over them.

    "...wow." Buddy was the first to break the silence.

    Rhymes gulped out loud. "Yeah."

    ...

    After a few minutes of rest, the group started their trek up the path once more. Looking back, Lightning regarded the straight line of trees that were now crumbled pieces of wood. He felt Goosebumps from the sight and turned to look at Blacktop Mountain, which was in full view and right ahead. With the large, ominous dark clouds obscuring the peak, it looked even more eerie than the swamp, sending chills up everyone's spines.

    "...so...this just a regular day for Star Fleet?" Lightning asked, feeling the need to fill in the silence.

    "Yes… it is." Artie said icily, trotting up next to the white unicorn. Noticing the sour look on Lightning's face, Artie shook his head and let out a nervous chuckle as he could feel Starla staring daggers from the front of their group. "Um...but anyways, that's was pretty amazing of you to notice that the trees would, you know...explode..."

    "Yeah." Lightning nodded. "You'd be surprised how quiet it gets at the palace, so I guess my hearing became really good? I don't really know..."

    "Ha, yeah. All the better so you can hear others criticize you and you can get mad at them, huh?" Artie blurted out but realized only when he saw the irritated look in Lightning's face. "I...I'm sorry about that, uh..."

    Lightning looked up ahead just in time to see Starla look forward, then turned his attention to the yellow unicorn walking alongside him. "Nah...don't worry about it..." He said instead of his initial reaction. Hurrying his pace, Lightning moved closer to the front.

    "No, it's..." Artie began, but stopped himself and continued to walk as the other unicorn moved ahead. Rhymes walked up from the rear of the formation with one corner of his mouth raised along with his eyebrows. Artie noticed the yellow unicorn and nickered. "You know I'm not good with words..." Rhymes simply shrugged his shoulders, much to Artie's feigned annoyance. Rather than puruing an answer from the other unicorn, Artie looked ahead. "Hey, I think I see it!" Artie called out.

    Toward the front of the group, Buddy, Starla and Lightning looked around but were unable to see anything other than pebbles, rocks, boulders and wiry plants sticking out from those rocks and boulders.

    "Where?" Lightning asked, squinting his eyes to where he figured the path led up to. Even when he poured all of his focus, he could only barely make out a dot at least a mile ahead. But soon enough the shrine came into view. A wooden structure built into the mountain, the shrine had been buffeted by the elements and long disrepair.

    The five of them stood just in front of the wide doors, that were three times a unicorn's height and as wide as an average wingspan. "Well, here we are…" Artie said nervously. With a strong burst of wind, the shrine doors creaked inwards, as if they were being invited in.

    "That...wasn't scary at all..." Rhymes quipped as they now stared down the mouth of a deep cavern, which was dark and unlit.

    "Come on, let's go." Starla said and walked into the cavern. "Corporal, you're on point. The rest of you, keep your heads on a swivel."

    "Yes, ma'am." Artie rushed to the front while the rest filed behind him in pairs. As the howl of the winds faded, they all quietly walked down the cavern, alert as much as possible. Even with the lamp and flashlight, as well as the glow of both Starla and Rhymes' horns, it was dark. As they walked further in, not even those sources of light seemed to be enough, and the group's pace slowed as a result.

    "Think we should announce we're here?" asked Buddy Rose, who was walking alongside Lightning in the center row of the column.

    "And why should we do that?" asked Starla, a bit perturbed by Buddy's suggestion from her spot in the third row next to Rhymes.

    "Well, whoever was responsible for attacking us in the swamp obviously know we're here..." Lightning added. Then, the echoing slam of the doors bounced off all around them. They halted and readied themselves for an attack, which in the ensuing minutes, had yet to come.

    "Maybe that was our...welcoming call...?"

    Ahead of them, a torch lit, revealing a dead end. As its flickering orange light dazzled the group in its warm but eerie glow, two more torches alighted revealing a wall on either side of them. Finally a fourth was set ablaze behind them, and a wall had materialzed where there used to be the cavern path.

    "Ok, then..." Lightning sighed. Without needing orders, the group drew closer to one another, each unicorn looking outward as they formed a circle. Floating out of the darkness, Lightning spotted large bubbles approaching them. "Hey, there they are!" He called out and rushed over to the twelve to fifteen bubbles in sight. "Krysta!" Lightning cried out. "Krysta, are you ok!?"

    Looking over his shoulder to see what the ruckus was, Artie immediately recognized something was wrong. "LIGHTNING, NO!" He bellowed and engulfed the white unicorn in an orange glow and barely managed to drag him back before sharp talons swiped down from the ceiling and crashed into the stone floor.

    "What in the world!?" Lightning gasped out as he regained his balance. His wingers flapped restlessly and he looked back to Artie with wide eyes. "Th-thanks!"

    "Shut up and pay attention, idiot!" Artie screamed out and still holding onto Lightning with his magic, threw him to the ground to dodge a horizontal swipe. Feeling the magic disperse, Lightning groaned out in pain from the move but stumbled to his feet and rushed away from the dark edge back to the others.

    "Hold your positions!" Starla called out and the others nodded, knowing their responsibilities. By instinct, Buddy and Rhymes slid over to fill the gap that formed from Lightning's absense and all four of them used their range of vision to watch out for further movement. Lightning bumbled over to Starla and Rhymes, panting quickly to catch his breath from the ambush.

    Around them the group heard nothing but the faint wind blowing through holes that had formed in the shadow-obscured ceiling. Lightning groaned and brought a hoof to his temple as he felt an onsetting migraine.

    "Lightning, are you alright?" Starla asked while carefully looking around her.

    "I've, uh...been better..." Lightning hissed as his head began to throb.

    "Oh come on, I didn't throw you that hard, Lightning!"

    "Not now, Artie!" Starla growled out.

    "Aagh..." Lightning groaned and clenched his jaw. He clutched his head with both forehooves, and even his body began trembling now from the sharpening pain as though his head would explode from the pressure.

    "That doesn't look good, boss-lady." Buddy looked away from his assigned sector and eyed Lightning with worry. He turned back to face the darkness on his side that was weakly punctured by a wall torch.

    "AARGHH!" Starla looked at the white unicorn with increasing concern, placing an assuring hoof on Lightning's shoulder as he was now clenching his eyes shut and growling out from some unknown injury. She looked back to the others and after assessing the looks on their faces, nodded.

    "Alright then, boys...full power!"

    "Yes, ma'am!" The three unicorns answered, and their horns glowed brighter until the whole room was illuminated, pushing away the shadows that previously wrapped around the weak torch lights. Taking full advantage of the moment, they all looked around for any way out of this room, while wary of whatever it was that had tried to attack Lightning.

    "I found it!" Artie called out and pointed to a set of rocks that ascended upwards like stairs.

    "Alright, let's move, let's move, let's move!" Starla called out and rushed to take Lightning over her shoulder. Buddy moved to the other side and lifted him up as well and the two of them began to drag the pained unicorn to where Artie was waiting.

    "I got the rear!" Rhymes yelled out while backing away toward the stairs as well. Casting the light of his horn from side to side, he felt a sprinkle of dust trickle onto him. "Huh?" Looking up, his eyes grew wide when a black-coated unicorn dropped down, swinging a scythe's blade onto him. Rhymes yelped, reinforcing his horn with magic and struck back against the enemy's strike.

    "Rhyming!" Artie called out when he noticed the yellow unicorn's bright light disappear.

    "N-no! Just go!" Rhymes strained out. With as much strength as he could muster, he pushed back against the larger black unicorn and growled out until it jumped back into the shadows after seeing the round was at a draw. "Get Lightning to safety!" He panted, keeping his attention toward the direction the other unicorn had escaped to. "I've got this!"

    Just as he said this, a second creature emerged and lunged to strike Rhymes from behind. Several shimmering stars struck at the ground leading up to where the yellow pony stood at the ready and dispersed into flashes of light.

    "Starla!?" Buddy yelled in surprise when the mare jumped off the stairway and shot at the second creature with her magic.

    Without looking back at them, Starla proceeded to fire more bolts of magic until the second enemy disappeared into the shadows as well. "Just go! You too, Artie!"

    The two of them exchanged looks until the orange unicorn hurried to prop Lightning over his shoulder. "Come on..." Artie grunted and they hauled the still-shaking Lightning up to the next floor.