“Man, I dunno... “ Coldcast muttered as he studied some of the star charts. “It’s like that constellation’s been there forever!”

“We’re in space,” Jabari commented only briefly tearing himself away from a radio where a catchy, upbeat pop song was playing. “Of course that constellation is going to be there ‘forever’ as you put it.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that! I’m not stupid!” Coldcast returned with the griffon’s feathers ruffling at the insulation. “It’s just, all the other constellations -Pavo, Dorado and the like- have moved respective to our position and yet that one,” he continued gesturing to the collection of stars known as Capricornus. “Doesn’t seem to have done any of that. It’s really odd for me as an astronomer...”

If he didn’t know better, Coldcast would have sworn Capricornus was actually following them. But that was impossible, wasn’t it?

His ears then perked up at the song Jabari was listening to. Catchy little number, had him snapping his fingers.

“Little Sophia Strange in ‘73
Her daddy’s yelling tirades at the TV
Hey man be cool!!
Sweeping the screen - rebel freak with a twist…”

“...Mind you, what’s even odder than that is you listening to music. I didn’t know you could tear yourself away from your own work long enough to have fun.” Coldcast deadpanned.

“I can multitask, you know. Plus, it’s good to mix business with pleasure,” Jabari kicked up his legs and folded them across one another. “You should tell that to Flurry. After so much time being a Princess, I think it’d be great to see her smile and work at the same time.”

“Pretty sure I’ve seen her smile… a few times,” Coldcast refuted. “Usually whenever my grand frère is around. But you didn’t hear that one from me okyu?” he asked before mentally groaning at that downright cringeworthy pun. Stardust’s phrase was starting to catch on amongst the whole crew, and it was terrible.

“What I’ve discovered is that if you treat your work like it’s all just a game, then you can get tons more stuff done without even thinking about it. If Captain Flurry did the same, then we’d be miles ahead of Dark Matter and all of their cronies in the stuff we could do,” Jabari flashed Coldcast a grin. “And I know that it sounds a little bit like we might get unfocused, but there’s times and places for everything. If you don’t relish the little things in life, you completely blow it in the moments that matter.” Jabari sniffed.

“Yeah, well excuse me if I take my work seriously given who we face,” Coldcast replied quirking an eyebrow. “You sure you’re feeling alright? You’re usually so wrapped up in your work that you hate being bothered. Has the Jabari I know and love to tease been replaced with one of King Pharynx’s changelings?” He asked quite tempted to call this one in just because of how… weird it really was.

“Trust me. I can tell a changeling from here. And I know for a fact that’s the real Jabari you’re talking to, Coldcast,” Pharynx stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to the other Kyurangers. Coldcast yelped and nearly jumped up a few feet up in the air.

“Man, do you mind not doing that?” Coldcast grumbled. “Not very good for my heart, you know! One of those days…” he grumbled before muttering something frankly rather rude under his breath in Spanish and hoping Pharynx hadn’t heard it.

“Hey. One thing Chrysalis taught me is that you always have to stay hidden. Better that you take to the shadows before your enemies can. Would you rather get dropped on by Dark Matter, or get the drop on them?” He smirked, wrapping his muscular dark green arms around Coldcast’s shoulders. “Anyways. What’s that song you’re listening to, Jabari? Is it a Zebrican custom I’ve not seen before?”

“...Pretty sure all Equestrians listen to music, but for your information, it’s a piece by Quiggles Startrail. Been listening to him since before we left Equestria actually, he was part of my first few tests on gathering alien communications.” Jabari replied.

Coldcast nearly fell out of his chair at this, his jaw dropping in shock. “What!?!” he yelped. “But you told me the first communication you managed to get was that Dark Matter message!”

“I didn’t want to tell anyone that it was alien until I was sure. For all I knew at the time, the music could have been coming from one of the vaults by some singer making a name for himself.” Jabari replied curtly.

“Never been a fan for songs myself. The Queen outlawed them from the hive approximately 746 cycles before I was hatched. Guess she didn’t get it either,” Pharynx just rolled his eyes. “Still, what’s so special about this one, Jabari? You got some kinda pet project you’re working on behind our backs?”

“No, not really. I just happen to be a fan. Quiggles’ songs… They’re peppy, upbeat. Give me something to be hopeful about. Do I need any more reason than that?” Jabari commented.

“Unless they’re a source of love, I ain’t buying. Still gotta work off that insatiable Changeling hunger, y’know,” He shook his head. Coldcast rolled his eyes. Pharynx did realize Changelings were all too happy to share love between each other right? He was pretty sure that was the reason they changed into their colorful selves, to begin with. Then again, Pharynx was… Pharynx. “But hey. Ponies like pony things. I’ve come to understand that. So… you just keep doing whatever you’re doing. I’m gonna see if Flurry needs a sparring partner.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure she has one of those in Flashfire…” Coldcast muttered before looking green at the thought. Oh, he so did not need to think about his brother doing… Well, that!

“True, but she’s gotta learn how to handle multiple threats at the same time. Last thing we want is multiple Karos pinning us down,” Pharynx said, strolling out of the lab. “Ciao, Coldcast, Jabari.”

“...He so needs a girlfriend,” Coldcast muttered shaking his head. “He really does. Might make him loosen up a little…” he murmured before groaning at the images that filled his head about then.

“...You know, there’s nothing exactly ‘wrong’ as it is with your older brother having a marefriend, right?” Jabari pointed out. “Flashfire’s a perfectly grown adult so he’s allowed one and I personally would be proud of him for finally falling for someone.” he continued.

“Yeah, but would you want to think about your brother/father figure having sex?” Coldcast asked.

“Ugh… Yeah, no. Just no,” Jabari muttered. “Not my fault though that your mind runs the gamut from X to triple X. Think on that!” he commented before sighing to himself in a sorta sad way.

“Okay, okay. Jeez! No need to shoot the prophet, Jabari…” Coldcast holding his paws up in a defensive manner. A small sigh escaped from his beak shortly after. “Quiero decir, hombre!” He muttered before noticing Jabari’s expression and walking over to the zorse putting a paw on his sorta friend’s shoulder. “Hey, something wrong?”

“It’s been… It’s been so long since I’ve seen any of my parents after the whole… well, y’know what I mean.” Jabari choked on his own words, trying so hard to fight back tears as his eyes were on the verge of bursting with them. “This whole thing with Dark Matter isn’t helping much either. I can’t… I can’t move on, Coldcast. I can’t think of anything other than the feeling that I let them down; that we let all of our families down by letting Equestria die,” he sighed as Coldcast listened. “I try to put myself to work, so as to forget all of this stuff about mom, about dad, about everyone I loved back home, but… But it just never goes away. It’s always there. Every night, I close my eyes and still see dad flying up into stars unknown and mom crying when he goes out of contact.”

Coldcast wrapped his arms around his best friend from behind and pulled him into a hug. Jabari blinked in shock, knowing Coldcast wasn’t exactly one to show affection of any sort to anyone outside of people he really trusted. He remembered what the griffon was like back at the Galaxy Garrison academy, rather aloof and closed off only really interacting with him or Commander Flashfire.

“And I presume you listening to Quibbles or however you pronounce his name actually helps you… somehow?” Coldcast asked dropping the jokey and sarcastic attitude for once.

“No. It doesn’t help me forget. It does, however, give off a more calming, more peaceful vibe around here,” Jabari said. “I don’t want this place to become a reflection of me; sad, unable to do anything, lifeless at the thought of what was lost.”

“Man, have you ever considered therapy?” Coldcast asked. “Seriously, that’s what the Cadence-AI was brought online for. No, strike that!” he said smacking Jabari upside the head and whirling him around so Coldcast could look the zorse dead in the eyes. “You are not sad and lifeless. Fact is, you put your heart into your work more than anyone I’ve ever met, and considering I know Stripped Gear, Pharynx and my grand frère that is saying something. Seriously, you pouring over that Equus-style transmission we recovered… If that doesn’t say anything about how much hope you’ve got in you then I don’t know what the flying feather does man.” he stated.

“Still, can hope restore the dead? Can hope save everyone long-since gone from our memories?” Jabari asked, splaying his hands down on the table. “I… I don’t even know if it can anymore.”

“Maybe it can’t,” Coldcast stated flicking Jabari across the forehead with a talon. “But you sir, need to stop focusing on what you can’t do, and instead focus on what you can do. Besides, seeing you all mopey like this? Doesn’t feel right. You should be getting up in my face telling me to stop slacking off work, or making sarcastic comments or something!”

“You’ve heard it so many times before, Coldcast. I see no need to repeat something that should be committed to memory by this point,” Jabari breathed. “In any case, it should be me who should stop doing nothing, and get back to work,” He went over to the radio, turning it up just as another song from the singer started to play. “And if this helps me to do it, then so be it.”

“You know, it’s odd really…” Coldcast murmured as he turned his attention back to the Capricornus constellation. “This singer… Dark Matter, you know how oppressive they are right?” he asked and Jabari only gave him a flat look. “...Right, stupid question…”

“So, what’s your point?” Jabari asked picking up his violin for whatever reason and attempting to play along with the song.

“Just saying here, not trying to speculate or anything like that but why would Dark Matter allow this singer to continue to sing especially when his songs are so… hopeful?” Coldcast asked.

“Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a, Jupiter and Mars…” Quiggles sang from the radio only emphasizing Coldcast’s point.

“Do they want a possible uprising on their hands?” Coldcast wondered aloud. “...Maybe they’re not as smart as I gave them credit for…”

“Or maybe they just don’t care,” Jabari commented. “I mean, one single singer is hardly any threat to their regime and let’s face it, they have bigger things to worry about than one guy singing.”

“Personally, it could be either or. All the same… people do tend to get influenced pretty easily. All it takes are the right words at the right time, and people will coil around you like snakes on a tree branch.” the Doctor commented peeking his head in and once again Coldcast nearly had a heart attack.

“Locks on that door, that’s what we need,” he muttered. “Anyone ever tell you it’s rude to eavesdrop?” the griffon remarked.

“Well, eavesdropping is just one part of science, isn’t it?” The Doctor walked in, approaching Jabari and his radio. “You never know everything without getting an ear in without them knowing.”

“It’s also considered rude,” Coldcast pointed out. “Do you have any, and I mean any concept of basic social skills?”

“Eh, social skills are overrated. That, and well, let’s just say I’m more of an antisocial butterfly, if such a thing’s possible. If it is, then a lot of ponies back home would have had a lot of problems...” Suddenly, his ears pricked up, lulled in by the song’s notes and lyrics. “What are you listening to, Jabari?”

“Quiggles Startrail’s newest single,” Jabari said humming the notes briefly before playing them on his violin. “Does it matter?” he asked setting the violin down and crossing his arms.

“Well yes. Especially given what kind of music this Quiggles is singing…” The Doctor whipped out his Sonic Screwdriver, scanning the song with it before the light blipped repeatedly. “It’s rare to see in this corner of the galaxy, but if my theory’s correct, this song has some little triggers planted deep within the music, timing, and words to the song themselves. It’s like a tangled web with a treasure at the bottom of it, luring people in.”

“In plain Equestrian Doctor?” Coldcast asked. “Please, no poetry.”

“He’s talking about subliminal messaging, you dunce,” Jabari stated. “Though personally, I think you’re just paranoid or your sonic needs a few checkovers. Seriously, the sheer idea in itself is implausible. Honestly, if Dark Matter wanted to use this they’d be a bit more subtle about it. I mean, it’s what everyone would expect from them right? Use a mega-popular pop star as their mouthpiece. And anyways, what would they hope to achieve? The songs are very upbeat, kinda hard to lull a galaxy into complacency with pieces like that if you ask me.”

Coldcast raised an eyebrow at Jabari not entirely sure if the fanboy -there were seriously some things he’d rather not know about the Zorse- was in denial or not.

“I’ve had to upgrade my Sonic at least five times today. That is seriously the last time I walk into the bridge while the microwaves are on the fritz... The whole device was knackered beyond repair, yet through some miracles, we were able to get the old girl restored and working much better than ever.”

“...Who thinks up a sonic screwdriver anyways?” Coldcast asked. “Ooh, did you have some cabinets to put up and you thought to yourself… Oh, hey! I can make this screwdriver more sonic! Or did you have a lady friend you wanted to please?”

“Oh, hardy-har-har, Coldcast. I’ll have you know that this is some of the best Gallifreyan technology you’ll ever find this side of the cosmos,” the Doctor snarked. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. Jabari? Do you mind if I use your scanners? I need to decrypt these messages the songs are trying to give us…”

“There is an easier way to find out you know,” Jabari said as the radio told everyone of an upcoming concert for Quiggles on the planet Jark. “Why don’t we go ahead and ask Quiggles ourselves?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind being locked out by security and denied entry backstage. Honestly, I think that this way is much faster,” said the Doctor.

The radio then said Quibbles was hosting a contest, right before the concert. Whoever came up with the best cover of one of his songs or showed up with the best singing voice, in general, would get an exclusive all-access backstage pass to him. Jabari simply looked smug. “An idea has just presented itself.”

Coldcast and the Doctor just gave him a flat look. “...You just want an excuse to get up close and personal with your favorite singer don’t you?” Coldcast deadpanned.

“Eh… No?” Jabari replied nervously. “Besides, you have to admit this is a perfect opportunity to find out from the source himself,” he stated. The Doctor groaned to himself seeing Jabari wouldn’t be swayed.

Coldcast went for his communicator, establishing an immediate link with the bridge. “Flurry. Change of plans. Divert the ship to planet Jark. We’ve got a concert to catch.”

Flurry decided it best not to ask.

Planet Jark

“You do realize this is the stupidest idea ever possibly conceived, right?” one very grumpy Pharynx asked. He was wearing what was possibly the most ludicrous outfit anyone had ever seen him in, and if were possible he would have died of shame long ago. He was covered from foot to head in Quiggles merchandise, with not a single piece of clothing not naming one of the songs or showing a picture of the celebrity in question.

“Stupider than trying to outrun a Deathworm or fighting Lupus alone?” Flurry spoke through the comms. “You’ve been through worse, Pharynx. This shouldn’t be too hard.”

“One, I look like an idiot -you could have at least made me look like a security guard- and two, don’t you think a giant Equus style colony ship hanging above the planet Jark will have people asking questions? We are pretty famous by now I think…” Pharynx replied dryly.

“That’s what the disguises are for. We’re keeping the ship higher than the usual orbit too. Like you said, not gonna attract anything,” said Flurry. “Anyway. I just hope that for your sake, Coldcast, that this is related to the campaign we’re running against Don Armage and Dark Matter. I swear to my mother, if you took us just to see some trashy celebrity singer then—”

“For your information, Flurry Heart of Equestria, Quiggles is not trash. Nor will he ever BE trash. Seriously, methinks that you’ve been Luna’s been rubbing off on you a bit too much,” Jabari interrupted. “Besides, if you believe the Doctor then we may have stumbled upon a huge Dark Matter plot.”

“Yeah. You never know. Dark Matter could be hiding under a simple thing as this Quiggles whatever his name is,” Pharynx harrumphed, glaring skyward. “Another thing I learned. Suspect everyone and everything. We never know for sure, do we?”

“I thought you were here to look at things from an unbiased point of view?” Coldcast asked. He’d been chosen to look like the security guard wearing a nice black suit and tie. “Not be overly paranoid.”

“And I still am. Both paranoid and unbiased. I can be both, can’t I?” He gave Coldcast a stare. “That, and any excuse I can use to get off of the ship and bash some Dark Matter freak’s skull in, I’ll gladly take.”

Coldcast facepalmed when he saw everyone staring at the Changeling King before glaring at him. “...Right, have you not ever heard of keeping your voice down?” he hissed out before looking back at the other musical groups. “Nothing to see here folks, he’s just going through some of the lyrics for the song we’re going to sing. Move along!” he laughed nervously hoping they’d believe that.

Jabari shook his head, the zorse being dressed in a bright red yukata and pink -and extremely flamboyant- feather boa with sunglasses over his eyes. And to top it all off, he wore this blond wig. Coldcast was trying very hard not to bust out laughing on the spot. His friend looked extremely ridiculous to say the least.

“There’s embracing your role and then there’s taking things that little bit too far…” Coldcast thought preferring the grumpy workaholic Jabari to… well, whatever this was.

“In any case, you guys need to get to Quiggles one way or another. If this plan of yours works Jabari, get what info you need and let’s get going,” Flurry reminded. “Pharynx has a point. We don’t want to stay any longer than necessary.”

“...If we can stop Jabari from orgasming on the spot if we meet Quiggles, then yeah…” Coldcast deadpanned. If looks could kill, the expression Jabari gave him next would have incinerated him on the spot.

“You’re going to enjoy taking the mickey out of your friend all throughout this, aren’t you?” the Doctor asked, dressed in gaudy orange and gold clothing covered in glitter. “Seriously, you are.”

“Eh, it’s the little pleasures in life,” Coldcast remarked. “Besides, this is about as stupid as you can get. So assuming Dark Matter doesn’t out us as soon as they see us… Well, might as well have some fun before I die right?”

“Yeah. Fun. Right,” Pharynx huffed. “Seriously, I look like some kind of pinata at a foal’s birthday party.”

“Embrace it, man,” the Doctor replied. “You look good!” he said barely holding back sniggers. Pharynx glared. “Anyways, if we want to get Quiggles to notice us… We have to be noticed. So, smile!” he said holding up a camera. Then, without any indication, he took some shots, posing in different ways so that he could get some more angles. “Oh. Oh yes, boys. Look good for the people. You could be the next Quiggles with looks as good as yours…”

“Kill me. Now.” Pharynx thought with a forced smile while Jabari went along with the whole thing and smiled while holding up his violin.

“Yesssir folks!” Coldcast piped in. “These two, this duo! They will be the next Quiggles, just you watch! Idol groups, overtaking the galaxy by storm! Pop stars are so old-fashioned! Now now, don’t crowd them!” he continued getting everybody to stand back as they continued walking forwards while the Doctor continued snapping photos.

“There we go. Gallifrey’s most handsome haven’t got anything on you, boys. Magnificent!” He tried to do what looked like a combination of knee-walk dancing and camera shots, leading to some angles that caught the boys’ chins mostly, with the night sky as their backdrop. While he did this, someone dressed in a pink bunny suit rushed past. Presumably a backup dancer for some group.

A nearby security guard stuck their hand into a pocket, pulling out a phone. They dialed in a number, brought the device to their head and said, “Hey, boss? You’re gonna want to see this…”

In just a few minutes, a guy dressed in a leopard print suit with bright red hair walked down to meet the group. He tapped on the Doctor’s shoulder, instantly pulling him from the camera’s scope.

“Oh, I assume you are Quiggles?” the Doctor asked noting how Jabari was struggling to contain himself. Coldcast quickly gave Jabari a look, and the zorse settled down.

“Not exactly, but I am associated with Quiggles. And I must say, you three warrant a bit of an examination,” he said, eyeing up Jabari, Pharynx, and the Doctor. “Especially you, sir. Are you a super fan of my client, perchance?”

“Um… yes?” Jabari said. “Listened to his very first production piece, Hearts Aligned! Inspired me to take the path I am on today, with Heart★TwoPiece!”

“Well, methinks that you might be able to blow us away one way or another,” said the employee. “After all the strange rumors we’ve been hearing, it could do us good to host this little contest for the fans; make them restore some faith in us.”

“Strange… rumors?” the Doctor pressed. “What’s going on?”

“Some people have been saying that our songs have… well, sparked a bit of physical debate recently. Something about some people wanting to take up arms and oppose this silly thing called a Dark Matter Empire,” he said. “I personally have no clue what in the world is going on, but the media is cracking down hard on us for this whole facade. Anything we can do to make the people happy again is a welcome change, I say.”

“And yet you don’t want to attract Dark Matter’s wrath right? You and Quiggles. Am I right?” the Doctor asked.

“Yeah. I don’t want someone to take us to court over the fans and their beliefs…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “You weren’t… one of those fans, were you?”

“No, me? Never… While I do like to fight the system as it were, physical violence at concerts?” the Doctor asked detecting a hint of nervousness in the man’s voice. This and Jabari’s reaction to him gave him the feeling that the manager was more than he said himself to be. “Uncalled for if you ask me! People should be allowed to enjoy their music in peace.”

“Nice to know we’re on the same wavelength, as it were. Now, go on. Mustn't keep Sir Quiggles waiting!” he said shooing the foursome off.

As this happened and the manager walked away nobody noticed an exact duplicate of the Doctor rush up some stairs and into a projector room above the concert arena. Here, in this out of sight place, he would be able to get much better scans of the music Quiggles was putting out. This way, combining the power of the sonic his duplicate held he would get all the information he needed and this way see if Dark Matter really was putting subliminal messaging inside Quiggles’ music. The bunny-suited man was already in the room with him and stripping out of his fursuit to reveal Stripped Gear.

“Well, that was thoroughly unpleasant. Almost burned up in there!” Stripped muttered to himself wiping off a few beads of sweat from his face. “I assume your Gemini clone got the information we needed?”

“Yeah. Turns out that these songs are causing people to fight Dark Matter,” The Doctor commented fingering the Gemini Kyutama. The Last of the Time Lords shrugged to himself. “Maybe they could join the crew? We are getting a bit short-staffed in some areas especially the cooking staff…” he trailed off. He winced, best not to mention that to Spada. Then he’d never hear the end of it.

“Bit counterproductive isn’t it?” Stripped remarked. “If I were Dark Matter, I’d place the subliminal messaging in such a way that it would make them completely subservient to them. But.. No, Dark Matter seems to want to make themselves look like catastrophic morons.”

“Unless… Unless that’s what they want to do!” the Doctor realized.

“Then that would make them catastrophic morons,” Stripped reaffirmed before his optics widened. “Unless… Oh, sweet Cadence…” he whispered in realization. “That’s exactly what they want! They want to know exactly who opposes them! This way, they can round up their most dangerous foes and take them out all in one clean sweep!”

“And we’re not considered for that list? I’m insulted!” the Doctor muttered.

“Get serious Doctor!” Stripped shouted before his voice became lower as the true horror of what had really transpired set in. “In fact, I’m willing to bet with how much of a fan Jabari seems to be, they anticipated us coming here! Hell, they wanted us to come here!” Stripped shouted and he was only vindicated when two Strongindavers along with Madako walked in weapons trained on them. Stripped’s optics widened before he and the Doctor felt mighty blows crash over their heads and all went black.

“Jelly Brains…” Madako sighed before gesturing to her henchmen. “Boys, take these sad sacks out of here. We’ll decide what to do with them later. For now, allow the Kyurangers to proceed. We’ll only spring the trap on the rest of them later…”

She waltzed over to the fallen Gemini Kyutama and picked it up off the floor. Her eyes twinkled. Now this one could come in handy she thought to herself. Meanwhile in a dressing room backstage, both Pharynx and Jabari were going over through some last minute preparations being gussied up if you will by stagehands.

Pharynx shooed them out of the room wanting to talk to Jabari in private ushering in Coldcast as well from outside his post at the door. “You know this is stupid right? And I don’t mean the costumes.”

“So you’ve been saying,” Jabari said with a slight roll of his eyes. “It’s noted.”

“I have to ask, for someone so supposedly smart… Why are you such an idiot?” Pharynx asked. “You know this smells like a trap, and we probably just waltzed right into it.”

“Yeah, I have to agree with Pharynx,” Coldcast sighed. “Our faces are probably known to every Dark Matter agent in the galaxy and we just were allowed in without any sort of trouble? I mean, what’s up with that? You gotta admit, Jar, this whole scenario stinks something rotten!”

“He’s right, it’s too easy,” Pharynx added. “If Dark Matter really is backing Quiggl-”

“They can’t be, they possibly can’t be!” Jabari shouted catching both of his fellows off-guard. “They just can’t… I believe in Quiggles!”

“Oh for the Hivemother’s sake…” Pharynx muttered facepalming. “Surely you can’t be this stupid… Open up your eyes Jabari. We’ve been had, and we just practically signed our own death warrants the moment we walked into this place!”

Coldcast tried to raise communications but only got static. He swore softly to himself. Of course, they were down. He remembered the astrological reports, the nearby star was supposed to be giving off solar flares right at this moment. While harmless to them, the type would make raising any communications nigh-impossible. And he knew Dark Matter had planned on this very sort of mishap occurring. He slammed his head up against a nearby wall. He was such an idiot.

“Okay, so why do you believe in Quiggles? Please don’t tell me it’s just because you’re a fanboy,” Pharynx said. “Because I hate dealing with such naivete. And don’t say it’s because of the image he propagates. Take it from me kid,” he continued looking Jabari dead in the eye. “Celebrities, their public image is rarely how they really act in private. 90% of the time, you deal with frauds. I’ve only met a few famous ponies or otherwise that are really how they are described or thought to be, like Princess Twilight for exampl…”

Coldcast quickly shut up Pharynx with a rather nasty glare when he saw Jabari’s body literally shaking with sobs. Walking over gently to his friend, Coldcast sat down beside him wrapping a wing around him in comfort.

“Hey, it’s alright. You can talk to me. Shh…” Coldcast whispered as he pulled his friend in close for a hug letting him cry into his shoulder until all tears were spent.

“Alright, it started like this…” Jabari began to explain once he’d calmed down enough.

The planet Equus, just a few years ago at the Galaxy Garrison. Jabari had only just started listening into the radio transmissions off-planet. He often took to the rooftops, just for some peace and quiet, away from the noise and chaos of his classmates.

As he tuned into various transmissions, Jabari smiled to himself. He’d make up the classwork over the weekend. The headmaster didn’t care, not really. Not as long as the work was done and turned in. Aside from that, it didn’t really matter when exactly Jabari did it. And up here, well… He could actually be alone with his thoughts really. Personally, he liked it out here with the stars shining down brightly from Luna’s -well, not exactly Luna’s anymore really- night sky and the colder winds of the ice fields blowing into his face.

“Alright now… Come on… Work with me here!” Jabari muttered as he tried to establish contact with any intelligent alien life out there in the galaxy. He wasn’t stupid. He really found it rather hard to believe that of all the possible millions upon millions of planets out there in the galaxy that there wasn’t anyone else out there who could reason and think for themselves in such a way you could label them sentient. It was foolish to think otherwise, ignorant even! So, that’s why Jabari had set his sights to the stars in hopes of maybe making exterrestrial contact. Then, he heard it. Another voice.

“You raise me up… You make me fly…” a male voice came out of the speakers.

“Yes, yes, a hit!” Jabari shouted in excitement doing a little dance and punching the air in victory. “Go Jabari, go Jabari!” he sung before realizing how much of an idiot he must have sounded. “Um… Yes, hello? I’m very sorry about that. Just so excited to meet you. Name’s Jabari. ...Okay, I suppose you already know that from my little ramblings. First thing you need to know about me... Well, I like peanut butter, and I like peanut butter cookies, but I hate peanuts. They're so dry. Also I sweat a lot. I mean in general, unrelated to the peanuts. Is this okay? I don’t sound too nervous I hope…” he rambled. “You know, all my life I’ve been waiting for this. A chance to talk to actual intelligent alien life! All my life I've been waiting for an opportunity like this, and here it is, screaming “Go Jabari! Go Jabari!”

Jabari facepalmed upon realizing he got no response from the other end of the line. Oh dear sweet Celestia, he must have sounded like such a confounded idiot he thought. But then, he did hear something. That same voice again. It sounded almost like… singing?

“You raise me up… You make me fly…” the male continued to sing, and Jabari sighed to himself. Great, not really extraterrestrial contact at all. Just some idiot singing. Granted, it really was an inspiring song to say the least but…

“Great, way to set your hopes up Jabari…” the zorse muttered to himself. But for whatever reason, he continued to listen. He wasn’t sure why, maybe he was entranced by the singer’s astonishingly good voice. He’d almost call it a crush, maybe. Slapping himself in the face, Jabari muttered: “Get ahold of yourself man…”

For night after night, Jabari stole away what private moments he could and tuned into the singer. He eventually learned his name, Quiggles Startrail. Odd name, yes, but given some of the names Equus residents got he really had no room to talk. Hell, his full name basically meant Swift Swift! At one night, Quiggles finally spoke. Jabari knew Quiggles wasn’t talking to him directly, but honestly? He felt like Quiggles knew he could hear him.

“Thank you, thank you for all your dedication,” Quiggles said. “Honestly, you guys… tuning in to my performances every night? You’re starting to get me noticed. People are starting to talk about me. Even in this galaxy’s condition, you’re giving a young man hope. I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring. And I want to say, you lot…? You’re honestly the best support a man could ask for. Thanks to you, my first album? It’s shooting up the charts like a shining star. But I’ll be honest with you. The truth is, of course, is that songs don't have to be about going out on Saturday night and having a good rink-up and driving home and crashing hovercars. A lot of what I've done is about alienation... about where you fit in society. I don’t know my place in society yet, but I know you’ll all be there with me. Let’s have a bit of fun, shall we? I don’t know where we’re going from here on this journey, and maybe there is no journey at all -we may arrive and depart at the same time- but I do know one thing. The trail of stars you follow me on, it’s sure to be alive with mystery and intrigue. So, follow me will you?”

Jabari knew he’d follow this man on his journey. Somehow.

“Look, I know it sounds stupid… But Quiggles?” Jabari whispered. “He made me feel better about myself, helped me sort a few things out. Hell, he’s one of the reasons I got so confident on flying in the first place. He honestly felt real, authentic to me. I want to believe in him, believe in the man I know he is.”

Coldcast smiled. “Then I’ll believe in him with you,” he said giving a thumbs up. “Come on, let’s save Quiggles. Now dry those tears, you’ve got a show to put on!”

“Personally, I think going through with this is a grand display of idiocy that’ll only get us killed,” Pharynx stated as he readied himself. “But… No backing out now I suppose…”

“Hey, look at this way!” Jabari said. “If they love you, maybe you can soak up a bit of love before you die.”

“...Yeah, swell.” Pharynx deadpanned. “Out with a… bang.”

“It’s a good way to go!” Coldcast chirped. “How I’d probably want to go out.”

“...I really wouldn’t want to be inside your head at times, you know that right?” Pharynx muttered looking skywards and wondering just who exactly had he managed to piss off for his life to go this particular direction. Discord, probably. Yeah, that made enough sense to him. This was the kind of thing that old chaos god probably reveled in.

Pharynx and Jabari reached the stage just as another musician -a heavy metal guitarist- was booed off the stage for apparently butchering “Fly Me to the Moon.” Pharynx had caught some of it, and winced.

“Jabari, do me a favor. Honestly, if anyone ever asks me in my life what my nightmares look and sound like, please tell them I’m gonna refer to that.” he sighed still clutching his bleeding tympanals.

“Noted.” Jabari said.

“There is as much chance of you being a pop star or a rock star as me flying to the moon or Kalos tomorrow morning for breakfast. It’s never going to happen,” Quiggles stated as the frankly rather disappointed Syrian left the stage. “Anyways, next up is… Oh, someone my manager met on the way. Call themselves Heart★TwoPiece. And yes, the star is part of the spelling. Now, I’m not a fan of the idol group format, but let’s see what they can do anyways eh?”

Holding up his violin and running the bow across the strings, Jabari smiled. “Now, this one… It’s actually one of your own.”

“One of my own? I’m… I’m touched actually. Which one is it?”

“LuckyStar,” Jabari answered and Quiggles blinked out in shock.

“R-Really? That… That one I haven’t done in ages, one of my old managers pushed me away from it. Saying it would never catch on!”

“Well, did with me. Helped me out when I was in a bit of a dark place, hoping it’ll do the same for another generation.”

“Well then,” Quiggles said. “Fire away! I’m interested now…”

And he only ever grew more interested as Jabari played the song on his violin with Pharynx providing the piano accompaniment. Softer, more subdued than the original song but actually more beautiful this way.

“On this world, there are countless stories continuing
What will we feel when we touch them, see them?

“Sitting around and thinking won't tell you, so hurry on a space journey
Don't make up excuses not to go

“Careful not to shine too bright! You're lucky stars!”

The crowd themselves, they were actually clapping along to the song as Jabari put his heart… No, his soul into the music. Now, while he fancied himself a man of science, this was his hero he was in front of. He had to put his all into this piece and he had to make sure everyone knew it. Jabari spared a look towards the Silver Ranger and smiled softly. Who knew Pharynx actually knew how to play? Well, he supposed all those long hours with Manx did rub off on him in some way given he had caught the Baroness playing piano when she thought nobody was watching.

“When the ground is shaking you leap, leap, leap, leap
Let me clear even the darkness of the universe,
Oh yeah! Oh yeah, oh yeah & good luck!

“Connecting unnamed stars together
As if to make a constellation someday
Thinking with someone

“Connecting… I want to protect the radiance of this universe…”

Finally, the song ended and both members of the group were greeted to raucous applause. Coldcast was actually crying, though he’d very much deny that to anyone who later asked him. Well, almost everyone was applauding the group. Quiggles, on the other hand, sat unimpressed and looking almost… bored?

“That’s not even good enough for a hotel lobby. In fact… I dare say if you had lived 2,000 years ago and sung like that, I think they would have stoned you. And by Rao, the name? Heart★TwoPiece? What, did you come up with that in the bathroom?”

Jabari’s jaw dropped and he fought back tears while hushed whispers actually broke out amongst the audience. However, it wasn’t Coldcast who came to the zorse’s defense.

“Now listen here you…” Pharynx growled jumping off the stage and picking up Quiggles by the shirt. “The kid, he played his heart and soul out for you. So what gives you the right to-”

“Because it’s my work?” Quiggles said before Pharynx punched him to the floor. He probably would have done more had Jabari not stepped in.

“No, you don’t need to defend me,” he stated to the Changeling King who stared at him in shock while his wings buzzed angrily. “I know what you must think of him, but some battles are not yours to fight. Quiggles, you once said this. “There, in the chords and melodies, is everything I want to say. The words just jolly it along. It's always been my way of expressing what, for me, is inexpressible by any other means.” Did you not? That’s what I was subscribing to. I refuse to believe the real Quiggles Startrail would have changed this much. I refuse to believe that you are the real Quiggles.”

Slamming the Eridanus Kyutama into his gauntlet, he fired a little river of what revealing who was truly in front of him. Yes, Quiggles was in front of Jabari but at the same time, a figure similar to Denvil sat over his shoulder.

“Damnit!” Manavil exclaimed as both Coldcast and Jabari blasted him into existence. “And I had this plan going so well! And you had to come along and screw it up!”

“Sorta our job, really…” Pharynx stated pulling out his scythe and placing the Triangulum Kyutama on it. Sending a gold prism-themed slash towards the Magistrate, he floored the creature before just narrowly ducking a sword swing from the Scorpius Drone who chose that moment to reveal himself. Madako was soon to follow.

“Oh, you Jelly Brains!” Madako laughed as the crowd screamed and scattered with Coldcast helping to get them to safety. “You walked right into our trap!” she cackled. Even as Pharynx morphed and dueled the Scorpius Drone, he looked upwards to see both Stripped Gear and the Doctor lowered from the ceiling in chains. “Damn shame I couldn’t get all of you, but five will do. Don Armage will consider it repentance even after you screwed up his plan to get rebels to reveal themselves.”

“You bit-” Pharynx started before the Scorpius drone kicked him through a wall.

“Naughty naughty, language!” Madako chided wagging her finger. “Mama spank!” she laughed lashing out with her cat-o-nine-tails making Pharynx scream out in pain. Coldcast and Jabari shared a look even as henchmen swarmed the stage. The question on their minds was simple.

“Now what?”

It didn’t take long for a solution to present itself. Soaring down through the skies was the Scorpion Voyager, Flurry at the controls. The tail of the ship arching upwards, it fired a laser beam at Madako sending her flying backwards. Even as it hovered in the air above the concert venue, Flurry leaped out and morphed in an orange flash of light helping Pharynx up.

“You alright?” she asked, the scorpion tail on her suit flicking dangerously. She looked at Pharynx and soon regretted it. It was an ugly sight, to say the least. Even though the threads of his costume, she could see his back partially ripped open by Madako.

“Y-Yeah, I’ll be fine. Her on the other hand…” Pharynx chittered his wings buzzing angrily as he swung his scythe dangerously. “Can’t say the same for… G-Glad you stuck to the plan. So damn glad.”

Now, what plan you might have asked? Back aboard the Shining Armor before they made planetfall, the Doctor and Coldcast had warned everyone involved in this about the scheduled solar flare. They knew it would knock out communications so they said if they didn’t return within two hours max, to send someone to come and get them. Mind you, they hadn’t expected that someone to be Flurry. Not that they were complaining mind you.

“Let’s close off this concert with a bang shall we?” Flurry smirked as she slammed her change Kyutama into her Astral Spear the others mimicking her movements even as Invaders swarmed them.

“Galaxy!” the weapons all called.

“Antares Impact!”
“Altair Impact!”
“Ophiuchus Impact!”
“Alpha Lupi Impact!”

Sending powerful slashes or shots of energy through the Invader hoard, they were quickly cleared out. The Scorpius Drone’s eye widened in what looked like fear, before he fished out a Kyutama with a fox on it and vanished from plain sight. Manavil had also fled to his own ship as well. Flurry sighed, they’d deal with those two another time. Right now they had bigger priorities.

“You… You Jelly Brains! You… You ruined everything!” Madako shouted before she trained her rifle at both the Doctor and Stripped making everyone step backwards. “Well, almost everything. Kill me, and they drop.”

“I dunno. I believe I’ve got a pretty fast trigger finger…” Jabari commented readying another Altair Impact. “I calculate you’ve only got 0.43 milliseconds between the time you have to fire and the time you die from a good shot. Not a very big window. How much you willing to risk?”

“Everything for Dark Matter,” Madako said. “But how about you. Are you willing to risk your friends?”

Madako smirked when Jabari lowered his weapon before she cackled and teleported up to the ship, but not before firing off twin shots at both the Doctor and Stripped.

“NO!” Flurry called, rocketing towards the two before she saw the shots pass right through them. To her surprise, however, no blood or anything. Just a flickering of holograms. Her scream then turned to one of pure rage. Madako had played them, quite successfully. Throughout everyone’s gambits this whole day, she had the last laugh in the end.

“They were never here…” she whispered clenching her fist and her suit’s scorpion tail smashed the chains out of pure rage letting the holograms drop. “Faust damn it!”

Later, when the solar storm finally passed and everything was back to normal Quiggles readied for his concert but not before giving Jabari his rightfully earned prize money. The machine that generated the subliminal messaging had been found microchipped in his brain and with careful spellwork from Flurry had been destroyed. Sadly, while there would be no uprisings against Dark Matter just yet, quite a few lives had been saved and that at least was some sort of victory.

“Hey listen man, never got the chance to thank you properly,” Quiggles said as he readied himself for the show. Like both the Doctor and Jabari had suspected, he and his manager were one and the same. Just different attire and some careful makeup work. Not that Jabari was going to spill the secret. “So, just thanks for believing in me. And I’m willing to believe in you and your friends. Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming. Can you hear it? The tomorrow with your friends being found safe and sound? I can.”

“Yeah… So can I. Just one question though…” Jabari trailed off.

“Why the disguise? Well… As an adolescent, I was painfully shy, withdrawn. I didn't really have the nerve to sing my songs on stage, and nobody else was doing them. I decided to do them in disguise so that I didn't have to actually go through the humiliation of going on stage and being myself. Guess that carried over to me when I decided to self manage.” Quiggles shrugged and Jabari could only laugh.

Author's Notes:

Okay, yes... A tribute to the man himself. Had to be done, given his alias and all that. First off, huge thank you to Shadowmane for help in writing the first half of the chapter. Massive thank you. Admittedly, we did sorta screw up -at least at first- the whole idea with the subliminal messaging bit until Ruin pointed out what we were basically doing was The Force Unleashed but with pop music.

Also, if anyone asks, Alpha Lupi is a real thing. The brightest star in the Lupus constellation. Believe me, I checked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvfC109XyYA