Episode 8: Nighty Nightmares

EPISODE EIGHT

Mysterious had come before Titan with a super idea to help gather more energy for Titan, as well as severely weaken Starfleet’s chances of interfering. “Explain yourself, Mysterious.” Titan hissed.

Mysterious bowed and explained, “You are aware by this time, most of the alicorns are all heading home to sleep until morning, and that is where I shall strike them.”

Rep-Stallion was confused and asked “You’re going to go after them while they’re sleeping?” Mysterious nodded. “Correct. I shall strike where they cannot be protected-- in their dreams!”

He showed them all how he had been practicing and planned to cast a spell over Unicornicopia so all the alicorns would have horrifying nightmares unlike any others. These nightmares, once dreamt would place them in a state of unspeakable fear so great it would break their self-confidence “With their self-confidence impaired, Starfleet will be powerless and too frightened to do a thing about it.”

“I gotta admit, that is kind of impressive.” said Dementia.

“Yeah, wish I thought of It.” added Rep-Stallion.

Titan liked the sound of this and gave Mysterious his approval. Then he cast an image of Unicornicopia as night was beginning to fall, and the ponies were already leaving for home. “Pleasant dreams, ponies.” he teased silently.

…

The Grand Ruler was already out and making the sun set bringing forth the dark of the night. The towns and villages were starting to quiet down, and the daytime Starfleet officers were heading home as the night patrols came out for their shift of duty. The only real signs of life in most places were lighted windows in houses, but one by one they went out as ponies went to sleep.

Buddy Rose had just finished his work and closed up the community garden. He stretched and yawned and said “Gee, I’m certainly going to sleep well tonight, I’m bushed.”

“I think so too.” added Artie as he passed by with his case of art-supplies “When you’re in the art business you lose track of time and rest.”

Rhymey came along after he had just locked up his Café for the night. He looked ready for bed already and let out a big yawn.

“Oh, it sure has been a busy day,
It’s time to sleep my weariness away.”

Starla helped Inquerius close up the library for the night. “Did you see Lightning Dawn leave?” Inqueruis asked. Starla shook her head, but then she looked up. “There he is, up on the roof.”

Everyone looked up at Lightning as he gazed up at the stars as he sang a small song…




That’s when he leapt down from the roof, landing in the streets, and his friends began to dance with him in the streets as the music kept going. They danced around the lampposts, over the small fence-railings, and even did little flying dance moves. They kept on dancing as all through Rainbow City, and across a few of the villages, and one-by-one each of the friends broke away from the group to head for their respective homes, but waved goodnight to the gang.

Finally, Lightning and Krysta headed back home to their house in White Village, and upon arriving Lightning wrapped up his song…

He and Krysta smiled at each other but then both let out a yawn. Krysta pecked Lightning on the cheek before flying into her little house in the wall. “Goodnight Lightning.”

“Sleep tight, Krysta.” responded Lightning as he hopped into bed. He had had a long hard day of helping out his friends and the citizens of Rainbow City, and earned a good night’s rest.

Soon, all over the kingdom, everyone was fast asleep. Some were even snoring. The only exceptions were the night guards patrolling the streets and manning the lookout post. However, not one of them had spotted Mysterious nearby.

At night, in the dark, he could blend in with the darkness and shadows to slink around without being seen easily and there wasn’t much light out to harm him. He made his way to a small cave in Yellow Hills, where Rhymey lived, and thought it perfect place to begin his little scheme.

“It is time.” he hissed, and he began to cast his new spell onto a small stone-pillar in the center of the cave. His evil magic radiated from the pillar actually spreading out through the cave entrance and spreading its way across the planet. The night guards were still on patrol, when suddenly their visors detected strong levels magic in the air. They didn’t know what it was, but could tell it wasn’t natural, and decided to alert the Grand Ruler and investigate immediately

While Mysterious stood in the cave snickering wickedly. “Let the nightmares commence!”

…

Buddy Rose was starting to toss and turn in his sleep and moaning softly, as he began to dream about heading to his garden, one day, to realize, all his beautiful plants were dead. He tried and tried his best to revive them, but this only made the spiritual forces of his plants return as angry, nasty monsters, with sharp teeth and thorns, seeking to eat him, alive.

…

Starla dreamt that the stars were falling from the sky like a meteor shower, crushing and destroying anything they slammed on. Even the library and the observatory were hit and burst into flames. Starla even found herself being surrounded by a ring of stars that fell from the skies and burst into flames that began to close in on her.

…

Rhymey dreamed that while he was reciting a poem about monsters and horrors-- as he read the words he wrote the monsters and horrors he described actually came to life and gave chase.

“Mercy me…!
I believe I should FLEE…!”

…

Even Krysta was having a nightmare…

She dreamt that she had found other fairies just like her and they invited her into a spring for a swim, but as soon as Krysta leapt off the edge, the beautiful paradise turned into an infernal nightmare, with flaming monsters, molten lava, and demons that caught her.

…

More ponies were tossing and turning in their sleep as their nightmares grew worse, and as their nightmares continued to haunt their minds the energy emitted from their fearful emotions seemed to sail along the air as forms of magic and traveled to Mysterious in his hideout as he harnessed it all in a magic ball which he sent to Titan to make him stronger. He just couldn’t stop laughing to himself, but what he was really anxious for was about to happen. “Any moment now…” he hissed softly.

…

Easily, Lightning was having one of the worst dreams.

He dreamt that he was brought before the Grand Ruler and he did not look a bit pleased for reasons unknown. “Lightning Dawn it has become clear to me that I can no longer trust you, or instruct you as my apprentice. I have no choice but to banish you to the Dimension of Darkness and out of my sight and this planet FOREVER…!”

In a quick snap Lightning and Krysta both woke up with a bloodcurdling gasp, all their friends work up in exactly the same way, as did others all over the planet; some were even screaming, some fell out of bed, and little children were crying and weeping in fear.

…

Mysterious could sense the fear in the very air as he absorbed the last amount of the energy. “Excellent, my plan has worked perfectly. Oh, what I would give to see the expressions on their fearful faces now.”

…

Lightning and Krysta were quivering madly, fraught with so much fear, but they couldn’t understand why. They had had nightmares before, but they never felt as shaky as they were now.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, causing them both to jump. “It’s okay, it’s just the door.” stuttered Krysta. Lightning answered the door, and he was relieved to see it was Starla and Buddy Rose, but they, too, looked just as freaked out as Lightning and Krysta.

Starla explained about her nightmare, and that she was too scared to even look at the stars through her telescope. Buddy Rose was almost too scared of all the plants and flowers in his home garden, and on their way over, she also heard several ponies screaming from their bedrooms, and could hear the cries of many frightened children.

Stuttering, Buddy Rose asked “D-D-Do you think maybe… this isn’t natural, like someone’s… making us feel this way?”

“I don’t think I want to find out.” cried Starla. Lightning and Krysta felt the same, but they all knew this was ridiculous; the way they were acting; scared of their own shadows.

Suddenly, a magical letter shot through the open window, landing on Lightning’s bed. The suddenness of its appearance made them all jump and yelp. Lightning recognized the seal on the rolled up paper. “I… It’s from the Grand Ruler.” he whimpered, but he didn’t seem too eager to look at it fearing it was bad news. “You may as well open it and get it over with now.” cried Buddy. “Y… Y… You can do it.” added Starla.

Lightning swallowed hard and nervously unrolled the letter.

Dear Lightning…

Do not be alarmed, I am well aware of the nightmares you and your friends have experienced. The entire planet is suffering from this, and I can assure you this is not natural.

Only recently before I sent you this letter, I was informed by the night patrols that a strange magic had been detected roaming about. This spell causes anyone who is sleeping to dream up terrible nightmares, and then they awaken cursed with near-uncontrollable fear and anxiety.

As you read this, I am currently going around the planet trying to dispel the magic with my own to stop it from spreading and spare others from suffering, but you and your friends must find out the source of the spell and destroy it.

Do not let your fears hold you back. Without your self-confidence your powers will be severely weakened, and you will not be able to transform into your battle-gear. Just be strong, and stand up to your fears. You can break the spell and help us save the kingdom from a nasty night’s sleep. I have faith in you and the others Lightning.

Your caring master: The Grand Ruler.

PS: At this moment as I write this, the guards have informed me the source of the magic seems to be emitting form somewhere in Yellow Hills!

“W- W-We have to go out there.” Lightning said nervously “It’s the only way.”

“No way, count me out!” cried Starla.

“I’ll second that.” added Buddy Rose.

Krysta even slipped back inside her house and hid under her bed. “Why can’t we just use magic to get through this?” she groaned, but she pretty much knew this was something magic couldn’t fix, and just as the letter had said without their self-confidence, their powers were weak and would be useless. In their conditions, they were likely to be sitting ducks if they went out there.

Lightning, soon began to feel he was acting rather silly-- his mentor had faith in him, why else would he charge him with such a task. He was a member of Starfleet; a warrior! He swore to help defend the world from evil and here he was cowering over one simple dream? “I’m going to try at least. I’ll go alone if I have to.” he said with pride, and though he was still feeling scared, he leapt out the window and flew off into the night. Starla felt more nervous than ever. So did Krysta, but they both just couldn’t let Lightning do this alone and they flew off after him. Buddy Rose was still not too keen on going, but he felt even more scared being left all alone. “Wait for me!” he called as he chased after them.

Soon they arrived at Rhymey’s house in Yellow Hills, but it took some time for him to answer the door after they knocked. The door creaked opened and poor, frightened Rhymey peeked through whimpering…

“Is somebody out there?
Please don’t give me another scare!”

The others convinced him that everything would be okay, at least they hoped.

Yellow Hills was a small village; quiet and peaceful, the hills were small and not very step. However, the team could already see small magical waves emitting from one of the hills, and they nervously approached the area finding the entrance to a small cave. “I… I don’t see anything in there.” stuttered Buddy Rose.

“But I see you!” hissed a voice from inside the cave loudly making the gang jump. “That voice!” cried Lightning, and they all saw Mysterious step out from the cave laughing wickedly and he teased “You all seem a bit shaken. Having bad dreams?”

“So, you’re behind this! You gave us those nightmares!” growled Starla.

Mysterious sniggered and nodded his head, “And it looks as if my little plan has succeeded. Look at you; you’re all trembling with fear. It shows in your eyes. I think now’s the perfect time to introduce you to my newest sidekick.” He clapped his hands and a large flare of fire erupted from the cave frightening the gang as a huge fiery coated monster emerged. Mysterious called this monster Hothead, and made it from the flares of a torch he had in the cave with him.

Fire light didn’t seem to harm him that much as it was weak and dim, the sight of such a beast made Krysta scream and hide under Lightning’s wing. “Oh, my, Oh!” she whimpered. That was the exact same type of monster that attacked her in her dream, a large monster with burning flames all over its body. “G…G…Get it away! Keep it away from me!”

“Me too!” cried Starla as she backed away, while Buddy and Lightning whimpered and shook with fear. Mysterious was overcome with joy of seeing the ponies so scared. “This is better than I had visualized. Prepare to be destroyed!” He was about to order Hothead to attack, when suddenly, they both got bombarded by small explosions and magical blasts.

They turned round and saw Artie, in his battle-gear. He fired more magical blasts from his horn, and launched his Paint Bomb attack causing more explosions knocking Mysterious off his feet “It can’t be!” he cried.

“Time to put your plans to bed, Mysterious!” snarled Artie.

The others were glad to see him, but were just as surprised to see him geared up and not afraid. Artie explained to them “The spell only affects those who sleep, but I was tossing and turning still thinking about my paintings. I never went to sleep so I had no nightmare.”

Mysterious growled as he got up realizing his error. “You may have avoided my spell, but let’s see you avoid me!”

“Bring it on!” snarled Artie, and the two of them began to brawl, but Mysterious, being in the dark of the night, had the upper-hand. Artie’s physical attacks went right through him. He tried to zap him with more magic, but Mysterious was now able to avoid them by slinking around along the shadows. “You’re beginning to look cold. Perhaps my monster will warm you up a bit.”

Hothead growled fiercely and made his way towards Artie. “…PAINT BOMB!” Artie tried his very best, but his explosive attacks didn’t seem to work too well on a fire creature. “Guys, I could use a hand here!” he called to the others.

The others knew he needed help, but their fears held them back badly. Hothead then launched huge fireballs at Artie, hitting him hard and sent him rolling along the ground. “Guys!” he cried out.

“Artie… we can’t…!” cried Lightning. Mysterious fired magical pulses near the gang to freak them out worse. Sparks and small explosions flew everywhere. Starla screamed, and the others backed away.

“Ha, too bad fraidy-cats. You’re finished along with your friend.” Mysterious mocked and he prepared to fire a finishing blast to finish them all off. “No!” cried Artie. He tried to rush over and help them, but got fired at by Hothead.

The others trembled in fear as Mysterious came closer and ready to fire. Lightning felt this was the end, but suddenly he and the others remembered what the Grand Ruler had said; he just had to face his fears. “Come on guys, we can do this!”

The others nervously nodded and concentrated hard trying to stand up to their fears.

“Say goodbye!” growled Mysterious as he fired his blast, but the others quickly dodged causing him to miss “What?!” he snarled, and both Starla and Buddy Rose blasted at him with magic blasts.

“It’s over, Mysterious!” snarled Lightning “We’ve broken your fright spell.”

Mysterious couldn’t believe it! “It matters not; I got what I came for anyway. I’ll leave you at the mercy of my monster!” and he vanished.

“Guys!” shouted Artie “Glad you’re better, but I could use some serious help!”

“Hang on Artie!” hollered Lightning. “Let’s go guys!” The others agreed and transformed. “…STARFLEET MAGIC!!” Artie leapt over to join the group and they all stared the monster down. Hothead flared up wildly and angrily ready for a big burn.

Just looking at him already told the ponies that their normal attacks wouldn’t work on fire, and physical attacks were no-no too. “Let’s try your weapons.” shouted Lightning.

“STAR BOW”

“VINE WHIP”

“SUPER STAFF”

“WARD SWORD”</I>

With their weapons drawn, they all charged, attacked the beast hard, but its flams were still burning bright making it difficult to approach him, and Hothead hit them all with hot punches knocking them all away.

“Whoa! That really burns!” cried Buddy Rose.

“The flames are too much.
He’s too hot to touch!” added Rhymey.

“There’s got to be some way to cool this beast down!” said Krysta. Hearing this made Lightning realize “Cool it down, of course!” and he saw a fire-hydrant nearby. “Guys, lead him this way!”

The others didn’t know what he was up to, but obeyed their leader’s orders and lead Hothead towards the hydrant, and began to catch on to Lightning’s plan. Lightning then spit into his hands and rubbed them together, and pulled and tugged hard on the hydrant, yanking it clear off the ground spraying a huge burst of water in a perfect angle onto the monster. Hothead roared loudly as it felt itself growing weaker every second, and soon all its flames had gone out and it could hardly even stand upright. “Get him!” shouted Lightning, and all his friends jumped in merceliely attacking the monster, weakening him further. Then Lightning saw his chance and got out the Rainbow Rod. He charged it up and recited the chant.

“SPECTRUM STREAM”

The monster was struck and blew it up in a ball of fire. The others cheered for joy over their victory.

“Well done everyone.” said a voice from atop the hill. The gang looked, and saw someone standing off in the distance. “Grand Ruler!” cried Lightning. His master nodded as he stood proudly on the hill with his cape fluttering in the soft breeze. “Because you all believed you could win and faced your fears, you overpowered Mysterious’ magic.” He was also happy to announce that after Mysterious had left, his nightmare spell on the planet was weakened enough for him to dispel it.

“That is good to know,
But Titan has still gained power so.”

“Yes, I’m afraid he has.” said Grand Ruler. “Take great care of yourselves, for this battle with Titan and his forces will continue, and now will only get much more difficult, but know that I have faith in all of you, especially you, Lightning.”

The gang bowed to the Grand Ruler, and Lightning asked his mentor, “When will I learn the true secret of my real magic? Haven’t I come far enough?”

The Grand Ruler chuckled, “You have done wonderfully Lightning, but you still have a long way to go yet. One day all will be clear to you, but for now just stick with your basic training. I must go now. I still have much to do before the planet can sleep tightly again. Goodnight.”

The gang quickly replaced the fire-hydrant Lightning broke, and then decided it was best to head home to bed. Lightning felt disappointed that even after all this he still didn’t know what his master was trying to teach him about magic, but at least when he and the others went home and back to bed, they all had nicer, more pleasant dreams.

Lightning didn’t even have to write a report, for he again learned something and demonstrated it before his master’s eyes. So, he simply snuggled comfortably under the covers and dreamt of all the adventures he would have another day.

(Promo)

In our next episode, Professor Brain develops and aerial balloon and invites Lightning and Krysta for a ride, but Rep-Stallion, seeking to prove his worth to Titan, arrives to cause trouble by using the balloon to his own advantage.

How can Lightning and his friends overcome this new threat?

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

(Next Episode: “Up, Up and In a Balloon”)