Legend of the Jedi Princess 3: Return of the Doresho

Brainstorm Part 3

Featured music: "Get Ready For This" by 2 Unlimited

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Two Jedi, two clones, three ordinary women, a speedy princess, a doresho gypsy, and one sea pony. Surprisingly, even this group found looking after a bunch of adults and kids mentally reverted to toddlers difficult.
"Is there any way we can reverse this spell?" Susy said, getting Carmine strapped with a harness.
"I'm sure there is," said Mariposa. "But we'd need to first find my husband's book of spells. He keeps it in our room somewhere."
"Well, we'd better find it quick." Echo said.
"I'll help you." Vivian said, and she followed Echo to the Heartwoods' room, where Vivian started sniffing around.
Echo checked the bookshelf, naturally. But, he found mostly history books, books of potions, and a few copies of books Garrett wrote about some of the many adventures he'd taken. And a leather journal.
"Hmm. Wonder what's in here?" Echo wondered out loud.
"Echo! That's a private diary!" Vivian scolded. "He might not be smart enough to scold you know, but once he is his smart self again, he'd definitely gonna be mad."
Vivian growled at Echo.
"Okay, Okay! I'm putting it down." Echo said. "It's just as well. None of these books have a reversal spell of any kind."
"Well, based on what I know of great wizards and sorcerers, they don't usually put their spell books where anyone can grab them." said the viventia.
"Then where do they keep them?"
"In specially made boxes. And since Hunter has a great sense of smell, Garrett would've hidden the box somewhere he wouldn't be able to smell it."
Vivian began sniffing around until she smelled under the bed, where there was a lot of dust.
"Achoo! Bingo! Dust makes it pretty hard for most species to smell much of anything, including heightened senses of smell like that of a wolf."
And sure enough, a box was underneath the bed. Except... it also had a lock on it that required a password.
"What's the password, I wonder?" Echo scratched his head. "Mari might know."
But, Mariposa didn't know the password.
"Believe it or not, Garrett is a very secretive man. I found mysterious men attractive, and he was the only one I believed I would marry, and then I did. But there are many a things he won't even tell me." She said.
"Well, we'll just have to guess it."
Caroline wiped some sweat from her brow as she and the others finally managed to contain the others by turning on the TV and putting on some programs little kids liked.
"They've finally gone down." Caroline said. "Sesame Street always got three-year-old Gabriella to sit still, according to Padme."
"Well, we have a new problem." Vivian said. "We can't open this box without Garrett's password, and I don't think he's gonna be much help if he's only smart enough to spend his time watching preschool puppet monsters singing the alphabet."
"If it's a password you need," said Diamond. "Then, it has to be something easy to remember. Like his birthday."
"Then we'll try that first." Echo said. "When is his birthday?"
"Just let me handle it." Mariposa said, and she typed in her husband's birthday. It blinked red. "Ugh! I should've guessed. Garrett's too smart to use something so obvious. Usually anyway."
"What's his favorite thing?" Hunter suggested.
"Try Mariposa," said Grassi. "He does love his wife very much."
So, they gave that a try. That was wrong too.
"What about Goldie?" Vivian suggested.
Negative on that.
They also tried "Mariposa & Goldie" for the password and "Goldie & Mariposa" neither worked.
"This may take a while." Mariposa said.
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Meanwhile, the others were having their own problems. Everyone had to split up to take different paths of the maze. The horses tried flying up to get an overhead view of the maze, but the walls reached all the way up to the ceilings, so it was impossible for them to do that. So, the only way to get through the maze was to find their way through.
"How are we supposed to find our way out of this maze without a map?" Omega asked.
"We could try wall following- AAH!" Boba screamed as the wall shocked him and gave him a bad hair day. "Okay, maybe not."
"Brainstorm must've already hypothesized that we would try that, and thus made the walls literally untouchable." Obi-Wan said.
"But how are we supposed to get out of the maze then?" Goldie said, getting scared.
Obi-Wan took Goldie into his arms and told her, "the only way we can. Patience and taking a path to see where it leads. If it's not the right one, we turn back and take another."
"That might take a while, though." Comedia said. "These paths all look alike."
"True that is. Chances high that go around in circles we might for hours, even days." Yoda said. "Figure a solution, we must."
"We could leave a trail." Gabby said. "Like Hansel and Gretel."
"But what can we use for a trail?" Peppermint said. "For once, I don't any candy on me or even anything to turn into it. Comedia, any chance you brought some of your gummy bear stash or some splattering stuff you use for messy pranks?"
Comedia shook her head. And she looked in her prank purse.
"The only pranks I got in my bag are some silly string, a slingshot, a balloon, and... oh! Looks like I found my rubber ducky. But unless someone's taking a bath with silly string, I don't this'll provide much use."
"Too bad we can't contact Electra." Gabby said. "She could run right through this maze completely unscathed since her magic literally runs on electricity. What else can we use for a trail?"
"Why don't you just grow flowers?" Carousella said. "Remember? You made a trail of flowers to remember the way back to camp when we went searching for the Lurmen village."
"Oh, yeah! I remember now. But, not all of us can grow flowers, and there are three paths, so if we split into three groups again, how will the group without me or Lamenta remember the way?"
"Goldie, can't you grow flowers?" Peppermint said. "Didn't Mariposa say doresho gypsies can grow plants with magic?"
"That's what my mom does. But I'm only half doresho." Goldie said. "And I can't use magic very well. I have cast-lexia."
"What's that?" Lamenta asked.
"It's a really rare condition that only happens to Enchanteds. Basically, it means my powers don't work as well as quickly as most others. In other words, I mess up a lot of spells when I cast them."
"Goldie, every Enchanted has struggles when they start out with magic training." Carousella said.
"You don't know what it's like. You didn't see the time I turned my neighbor's favorite flower pot into a mushroom. Or an entire wall into butterflies." Goldie started crying. "All I do is mess up, and Daddy probably thinks I make him look bad. He's a famous teacher, and I just mess everything up. He can't even spend time with his old friends because he has me."
"Goldie, you know that isn't true." Obi-Wan said. "Your father loves you very much. And I'm sure he doesn't care how many mistakes you make. He would have to be truly dumb not to see that you are one of a kind and he is lucky to be the man who gets to be father to a special girl like you. Believe it or not, when I introduced him to my Olivia for the first time, he told me of the day you were born. The moment he caught a glimpse of the golden sun rising when he saw your face for the first time, he knew it was a sign he'd been blessed with a child as good as gold."
"He said that?"
"Would I lie to you?"
"You're not the first to make a mistake either, Goldie." Gabby said. "You should've seen when I made a tornado in the hangar."
"Who could forget?" Obi-Wan held his head. "It took at least a week to clean up that mess."
"Okay," said Carousella. "Let's split up. But this time, we'll take different groups."
So, this time, Obi-Wan took Goldie, Omega, and Crescent. Yoda took Boba, Comedia, Peppermint, Lamenta, and Mr. Sumner, and Crosshair took the others.
"Remember, each of you has to make a different kind of flower so we know where to find the others." Carousella said.
"But, how are we supposed to let the other groups know we've found the end?" Gabby asked.
"We'll just have to wing it." Crescent said. "Clearly, weather magic isn't going to work here."
"Alright, troops. Choose a path, and stick to it." Obi-Wan said, sounding like a general.
"Still haven't gotten used to not barking orders like a general, huh?" Goldie said.
"War habits are a little tough to break." Obi-Wan said, placing her on Crescent's back. "And remember, don't touch the walls!"
So, everyone split up, each magical girl starting to grow flowers to make a trail back if they couldn't find the exit. Gabby grew pink roses, and Lamenta grew some purple evening primrose. Goldie... she wasn't growing any flowers yet.
"Goldie, you gotta start growing some flowers." Crescent said.
"But I might end up growing something else." Goldie said. "Or cast a worse spell."
"Goldie, I'm sure you'll do fine." Omega said. "Just grow the first thing that comes to mind."
So... Goldie did just that. And what grew in the floor beneath the group's feet... a little red and white mushroom.
"Not bad."
But Goldie looked discouraged.
"Ohh... it was supposed to be a tulip. Those are my mom's favorite flower."
"Not to worry, Goldie. It doesn't need to be perfect." Obi-Wan said. "We only need it to make a path back the way we came. Meanwhile, you can use this as an opportunity to practice. You'll only get better if you practice."
So, Goldie tried again to make a tulip... but she only made another mushroom appear.
"Grrr!"
Goldie tried again, and this time she made a small fern grow. But Goldie did as Obi-Wan said and kept trying, but she kept growing every kind of plant except a tulip. After at least thirty failed attempts as her group continued their way through the maze, her latest one came out... a hibiscus.
"Oh, come on!" Goldie cried out in frustration. "Why is a simple tulip so hard to do?!"
"Well, you got a flower this time," said Crescent. "So, you're getting closer at least."
"Believe it or not, I'm pretty sure a hibiscus is actually a lot harder than a tulip." Omega said.
"But I don't want a hibiscus! I want tulips!"
"Well, you already got some on your face." Crescent joked, amid everyone's unamused looks. "What? You would've laughed if Comedia said it."
"I'm not sure even she would find it funny at this time." Obi-Wan said. "Goldie, were you ever officially diagnosed with this cast-lexia?"
"Well... no. But I read about it in one of my dad's books, and I fit all the symptoms."
"Goldie, not everyone who sneezes has a cold." Obi-Wan said.
"What?" Goldie was baffled.
"I think what he means is that maybe you don't have a pre-exisiting condition that makes it hard for you to learn." Crescent said.
"Indeed. Perhaps it's only because you are doubting yourself too much. When I was your age and I struggled with my first Jedi lessons, Master Qui-Gon always told me that when we struggle to learn a new skill the only thing truly stopping us is ourselves in the moment we decide to give up."
"But I'm not a Jedi." Goldie started to cry again. "I'm no good at anything like my parents. They can do everything. I'm too scared of heights to climb mountains like my dad, I don't have green hands like my mom, I mess up spells unlike either of my parents. I don't even know anything about my full heritage."
"Your mom does know a lot though."
"Yeah, about her side of the family. Not Daddy's."
"Where is your dad from, anyway?" Omega asked.
"I don't know exactly. He never talks about his family. The only thing he told me is that he grew up in an island paradise."
"Why wouldn't he wanna talk about that?" Crescent asked.
"No idea. I've tried asking him, but he always gets upset and then changes the subject. But I can't help wondering if it's because secretly he's embarrassed by me messing up every spell he's ever taught me."
"Goldie, you know that isn't true."
"Yes, it is! I'll never be as good a spell caster as the royal family, or my parents!"
And with, that Goldie ran off, crying.
"Goldie, wait!"
But as she ran away crying, Goldie's beating heart sent out the one trail that would lead to any communication with the outside world.
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Queen Reigna was in the middle of speaking with her second cousin Emeraldi. The younger mare was recovering nicely from the injuries she sustained from her abusive former rider. After living with her cousin's family for some time, she was hoping she might find a new rider. One who was a better match. Mostly now and then, she'd been checking in on her younger sister. Now that they weren't under their parents' care anymore, they were reconciling more and more each day.
Emeraldi was glad to see Comedia had a loving father who adopted her, but she started to think maybe she needed a fresh start of her own. So far, no luck finding a suitable match for her. So, she started looking into having some new responsibilities in the palace.
"Again, I'm happy for Comedia." Emeraldi said. "Master Mundi clearly has been taking good care of her. I still can't believe she's starting high school this fall."
"It is amazing how much you have both grown." Reigna said, smiling at a picture of Emeraldi and Comedia together when they were little.
Suddenly, Reigna's jewels began to glow pink.
"Looks like there's a little girl in need of a pony!" Emeraldi smiled. "Do you think I could be the right pony for her?"
"It's possible. We have to see who's in need first." Reigna said. "You did always want to see how the Ride of Love Ceremony worked when your great aunt was queen."
"She was a good mare, your mother. May she rest in peace."
Reigna brought Emeraldi into the Equinary chambers, where she asked the Equinary to show her the girl in need of a new friend. The Equinary flipped its pages and showed a picture of a little girl named Goldie Heartwood.
Goldie Heartwood:
Daughter of renowned Enchantra High Commission Education Board member Professor Garrett Heartwood and Mariposa Morphina-Heartwood. Current state: drenched in self-doubt and low self esteem despite great potential within.
Likes: flowers, being outdoors, and the beach.
Dislikes: Messing up, bats, and being alone.
"The poor dear." Reigna said.
"Which pony is for her?" Emeraldi asked. "Could it be me?"
The Equinary flipped its pages, and when it stopped, Reigna sadly shook her head. "Not this time, I'm afraid. But don't worry, Emmy. We'll find you a rider when the time is right."
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Goldie sat down in a dead end she found, crying into her hands.
The poor girl didn't know what to do. She was lost, scared, she didn't know what to do, and she doubted herself even more than ever. And she didn't even have Dotty, her plush caterpillar, to comfort her.
Goldie was so busy crying, she didn't notice a big pink heart appearing near her. But then she heard a whinny, and she looked up and wiped her eyes on her arm.
Before the young girl was a very unique looking pony. She looked like a young zebra with white and golden stripes, and a long mane of orange and pink streaks with a green bow in her mane, and she had pegasus wings too.
The new pony slowly approached Goldie and sniffed her curiously.
"Where did you come from?" Goldie sniffled.
"Equinaro, sent by Queen Reigna herself." said the zebra. By her voice, she was not much older than Goldie. "My name's Buttercup."
"Uh... I'm... Goldie."
"That's a pretty name. Why are you crying? Are you lost?"
"Yes. But I'm also useless. I can't cast a simple spell." Goldie sniffled. "I mess everything up! I'm no good at anything. Everyone in my house is good at something, but I'm no good at anything."
"Hey, hey. Don't give me that talk." Buttercup said, wiping Goldie's eyes with a handkerchief in her hoof. "I don't know you, but I know for a fact that you gotta have some kind of talent. Heaven knows that you just need a little help to see it. Now, where is your family? And what is this place?"
Goldie explained to Buttercup the battle between her family and Mariverde, and how Mariverde clavatized a girl with the power to steal people's intelligence, and now she was holding her school's principal hostage somewhere in the maze, and they had no way of getting through the maze without a map, and they couldn't touch the walls without being electrocuted.
"I was supposed to make a trail for my friends to follow, but I kept messing it up." Goldie said. "I'm useless."
"Hey, you listen to me Little Miss Sunshine. Coach tells even the bench warmers this one thing: no member of any team is useless. We each got a purpose, and we gotta find and stick to it when the time calls to play the game."
"What exactly is your talent?"
Goldie had an idea though.
"Soccer. Also baseball, tennis, lacrosse, kickball, football, basketball, cheerleading, gymnastics, golf, swimming, volleyball, hockey-"
"In short, sports?"
"See? You're a smart girl."
"I know what sports are, yippee." Goldie said sarcastically.
"Wow, it's worse than I thought. Come on. Get on up and wipe those tears away. You're smarter than you think. You know, a lot of people think I'm not that smart."
"Why?"
"Why else? Because I'm an athlete. A jock. The kind people tend to stereotype as the jerk who makes the so-called 'nerds' do my homework for me while all I do is never miss practice and play about. But the truth is, sports take a lot more smarts than some care to believe. In any sport, ya gotta know how much force to use, when to use it, how to calculate the proper score, and of course, ya gotta be able to spot patterns of behavior and strategies in your opponent so you know how to beat them. But most of all, like any new skill, ya gotta have this one weapon."
"What?"
"Confidence."
Buttercup picked Goldie up by the back of her dress and tossed her up onto her back easily, startling the poor kid.
"Hey, careful! I don't have wings yet." Goldie said.
"Well, you're gonna earn your wings today. Metaphorically speaking." said Buttercup. "And we're gonna start by finding a way to the other end of this maze. Just tell me which way to go. So, tell me more about this maze."
So, Buttercup began running from path to path, turning the corner at Goldie's command, but Goldie struggled to hold on, riding being one thing she hadn't quite mastered yet, much less bareback.
"Could you slow down please?!" Goldie begged. "I can barely even ride a horse with a saddle."
"Well, hold on tight. Because I think I may be able to help you beat this maze. I was sent for you through the Ride of Love Ceremony. Ever heard of it?"
"Yeah. Gabby told me it was how she met Carousella, and how a lot of her family met their pony friends."
"Did any of them tell you about how the Ceremony works? Think hard now."
Goldie thought and tried to recall every detail she could about the Ride of Love. She remembered hearing about the Equinary, the message in a bottle, and the silver horseshoes...
"That can travel anywhere!" Goldie concluded. "That's it! The horseshoes! They can apparate you anywhere, even to wherever a certain person is."
"Smart thinking, Goldie. Just tell me who we're looking for and- Oof!"
Buttercup and Goldie both fell to the floor as they crashed into someone else.
"Comedia!" Goldie exclaimed. "Where are the others?"
"Brainstorm apparently changed the rules again." Comedia said.
"What?!"
"Yeah. Long story short, Brainstorm started abducting everyone else one by one. At least in my group. My best guess, they got closest to the end, so I started running back, and then I ran into you and your... new friend?"
"I'm Buttercup." Buttercup bowed. "Princess Comedia."
"Please, no bowing." Comedia said. "We have a real crisis here. If she's got Gabby, Lamenta, or the twins, then she's got four of the crown jewels in her grasp, and we have to stop her now!"
"Well, we may have gotten an idea of how to reach her quickly." Goldie said. "Your horseshoes."
"Oh, of course! How did none of us think of that before?"
"So, who do we need to teleport to?" Buttercup asked.
"Mrs. Sumner. Lilian Sumner." Goldie answered.
"Then let's go!"
Both the horses thought only of Mrs. Sumner and ran as fast as they could to activate their horseshoes. Goldie crossed her finger that horseshoes were as lucky as people said, and that this would work.
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And sure enough, it did!
But the three girls were horrified by what they saw!
Brainstorm was drained all the adults' intelligence too! Gabby and her siblings and cousins were all chained and muzzled, and Brainstorm was prepared to take their jewels.
"It's sad when a corrupt system promises you great rewards for hard work and then turns on you, isn't it?" Brainstorm smirked. "Now, I think I'll start with Skywalker's first born child."
Gabby squirmed and tried to keep Brainstorm, from getting to her necklace.
"How do we get that paper from Brainstorm?" Goldie asked Comedia.
"By taking advantage of what she thinks real smarts are." Comedia said. "Hey, Brainstorm!"
Brainstorm stopped before she could get Gabby's necklace.
"What's this? A silly-corn, a hopeless teacher's kid, and... some zebra?"
"I'm a pegazeeb." Buttercup said.
"We want you to release our friends right now." Comedia said. "I'm Princess Comedia of Equinaro, and I'm commanding you to release them now."
But Brainstorm laughed and said, "How cute, the clown of the royal family likes to pretend she's a real princess."
"You know, you're right. How silly of me." Comedia said. "I should know better than to assume I could..."
Comedia then worked her magic and shot some silly string at Brainstorm's face and bit Brainstorm's wrist, making her drop the paper, which Comedia grabbed with her mouth.
But then, Brainstorm got angry as she got the silly string off her goggles.
"You're gonna wish you hadn't done that." she growled, and she shot some lightning that just barely missed Comedia, the paper going flying off somewhere.
"Girls! Get the paper!" Comedia exclaimed.
"Goldie, it's time to play a game of Keep Away." Buttercup said.
(Here's where "Get Ready For This" by 2 Unlimited starts playing)
Buttercup grabbed the paper in her mouth and started running as Brainstorm started shooting lightning bolts, easily dodging every shot.
Goldie wasn't sure what she should do at this point. Until Comedia called her to help her free the prisoners. So, Goldie rushed and started removing everyone's muzzles while Comedia got the chains loose and freed Mr. and Mrs. Sumner first.
"Lilian!" Mr. Sumner exclaimed, happily kissing his wife as they were both free.
But even with the ability to free everyone, it would be impossible to escape with the impossible maze being the only way out. They had no way of knowing how far any of the flower trails were, and Brainstorm would probably just zap them back to where they started all over again.
"Well, these are storm clouds, and we already know we can use weather magic to get rid of them." Carousella said. "But, maybe we can get rid of them using something else."
"Wait a minute! I just thought of something!" Omega said. "Remember in science class when we were learning about weather patterns?"
"Yeah. Just after we learned about the water cycle." Boba said.
"Goldie, go long!" Buttercup said, tossing the paper like a frisbee, and Goldie jumped up and grabbed it, and started running all over the place really fast and dodging pretty easily by jumping on the chairs any freed prisoners were currently in, and then onto Buttercup's back as she was running.
"Hardcore parkour skills," said Buttercup.
"My dad taught me that." Goldie said. "I guess I am good at something after all."
"Told ya."
"And what comes after a rainstorm?"
"Sunlight!" the kids all exclaimed.
"But, for a storm this big, we'd need some intense heat." said Peppermint. "And I'm not sure Omega's far enough in her training to create sunlight that hot."
"You may be right," said Omega.
"What if I combined my fire power with Omega's sun power?" Gabby suggested.
"That could be dangerous."
"You got any better ideas? I'm not sure how much longer Goldie and the new pony can keep distracting Brainstorm."
"Everyone," said Omega. "You need to keep Brainstorm distracted while Gabby and I take care of these clouds."
So, Omega and Gabby held hands and concentrated on the clouds while the others joined in the game of Keep Away.
Buttercup took flight with the paper in her mouth and zigged and zagged around, making herself impossible for Brainstorm to hit.
"Hey, zebra!" Crescent said.
"Buttercup." said Buttercup.
"I'm open."
So, Buttercup tossed it over to Crescent, and he flew about, and then he passed to his sister, who passed it to Goldie, who passed it to Peppermint, then back to Buttercup, then Remix, then Pinto, then Boba, then Comedia, then Lamenta, and getting Brainstorm confused as everyone began moving in random patterns making it impossible to figure out where she needed to aim her lightning bolts.
"Will you hold still?!" Brainstorm growled.
Goldie thought she'd have a little fun, and cast a little spell that made a swarm of yellow butterflies get all in Brainstorm's face, distracting her even more!
"Yes! I finally got a spell right!" Goldie exclaimed.
"Omega! Gabby! Now!" Boba exclaimed.
And Gabby and Omega cast their spell, creating a heatwave that made all the clouds evaporate into thin air, while Goldie, the last person to get the paper, ripped it in two, releasing the mariclava.
"Care to do the honors, Goldie?" said Comedia.
Goldie nodded and concentrated on the mariclava and her spell casting.
"Luminesk!"
And with that, Brainstorm changed back into Madison. But, strangely, Madison still didn't look totally normal. Her eyes were all swirly like she was just hypnotized.
"Madison? Madison, what's going on?" Boba said.
"Why does she look like she's been hypnotized?" Comedia said.
"No idea. But we'd better snap her out of it pronto."
Boba snapped his fingers in front of Madison's face, and she quickly snapped out of it.
"Huh? What happened?" Madison looked around. "Where am I?"
"You don't remember anything?" Gabby said.
"Not really."
Suddenly, everyone's phones and communicators reappeared.
"Let's get back to the palace," said Boba. "We've got a few things to settle first."
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The others had absolutely no luck getting into the box with the spell book for Garrett's reversal spell. And it didn't help when Anakin and Carmine swiped the box and started playing Monkey in the Middle with Echo.
"Come on you two! This isn't funny!" Echo exclaimed.
That was when the rescue team arrived.
"Mommy? What's going on?" Goldie asked.
"We've been trying to find a reversal spell to restore everyone's intelligence, but so far had no luck figuring out your father's password. And unfortunately, I don't recall how to cast this particular one."
The spell in question was one that reverse any spell, and was only to be used in the event one couldn't recall the counter spell. And in this case, that spell was essential.
"Did Garrett ever teach you such a spell, children?" Ki-Adi asked.
"I don't remember." Boba shrugged.
"Me neither." Omega shook her head.
"Now that you mention it," said Lamenta. "I think I remember something about it. Something with a triangle and rhyming."
"I remember something about going counter-clockwise." Gabby said.
"You gotta make an isosceles triangle in a counter-clockwise motion and make a rhyme with the exact meaning of the spell you wanna reverse." Goldie said. "I've seen Daddy cast it a few times."
"You didn't think to tell us earlier?" Crosshair said.
"I didn't think what I had to say mattered." Goldie said, twiddling her hands. "I'm usually only good at making mistakes."
"Goldie, making mistakes is part of life," said Comedia. "Making them is inevitable. No one's perfect. Take it from someone with experience. I'm the only silly-corn in my whole family. My own parents though I was a mistake from birth, but it was they who made the mistake of underestimating me. And the only truly bad thing that comes from making mistakes is not learning from them."
"She's correct, little one." Ki-Adi said. "You have great potential within you. All you need is a little confidence."
"Like I've been telling you from the beginning." Buttercup told her friend. "Now it's your turn to be the teacher."
"Me? Teach?"
"It's in your blood." Lamenta said. "And right now, you're the only one who has any knowledge of how to cast this spell. You're our parents' only hope."
Goldie suddenly felt a huge weight being put on her shoulders. She never thought she would be the last hope for anything, not unless repopulating the doresho species counted. For all she knew, she was the only half-doresho child in this galaxy. And all her life, she struggled with her spells, and thanks to the discouragement of some of her neighbors back on Verden, she was sure something was wrong with her, but her parents always told her all she needed was practice and confidence. But, she never listened and always thought she had to get it perfectly because she was related to a genius wizard who was a famous explorer admired by millions and had been to so many places. In other words, she had big shoes to fill. But, she didn't know a lot about her father's past, so even if she wanted to do exactly the things he did, she didn't have enough information. But, he did occasionally teach her what he taught his students, especially the most essential spells for her protection.
So, Goldie took a breath, and got to teaching every Enchanted in the room the reversal spell, making sure everyone knew to make the triangle in the right direction. Now they just needed words.
"Now, everyone. Repeat after me." Goldie said. "From the bottom of our hearts, return all Brainstorm's victims' smarts!"
"Really?" Boba said.
"It was the best I could come up with on such short notice." Goldie shrugged.
So, every Enchanted and unicorn began casting the spell with their hands or horns, and repeated the incantation after Goldie. Everyone concentrated as they cast this spell very hard, praying desperately for it would work.
And before they knew it, every one of Brainstorm's victims had their intelligence returned! And all of them started wondering what happened.
"We'll tell you later," said Gabby. "But right now, we got a situation with Madison."
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Madison sat down as the royal family sat to talk to her about a text message her mother sent her.
"What can you tell us about this?" Anakin said. "Madison? Has your family been hurting you?"
Madison was silent and looked down.
"Madison," said Padme. "Has this been going on for a long time? If someone is hurting you, nod your head."
Madison sat still for a moment, and she nodded silently.
"Okay. Are your parents the ones who hurt you?"
It was then that Madison burst into tears and started crying.
"It was my mom!" Madison said. "She's treated me like this for years! She ruined my life! It's always 'Geo did this' 'Geo did that,' 'Why can't you be more like Geo?' I hate it! Mom puts all this pressure on us to be the best at everything, and always treats me as second best. Ever since she and Dad got divorced, it's been a living hell! She wouldn't even let my dad come to my graduation."
"Why would she do that?" Padme asked.
"I don't know! But she got sole custody of me and Geo, and I haven't been able to live peacefully since. I never get to see my dad, I always have to get perfect grades, and unless I get into a top college, she won't let me continue my education past high school. The whole reason I joined the cheer squad was because school was the only place I could get away from her! And she wouldn't let me continue as a cheerleader if I didn't become captain or get valedictorian."
None of the family could believe Madison had to go through all that. It was no wonder Madison was always so dramatic when it came to competition. It all came from fear and emotional abuse.
"What about Geo?" asked Caroline. "How is he about all this?"
"Oh, he's fine. Geo belittles me all the time too. We were never even close when I was little. Even when our parents were married, he always had to one-up me on everything, and he's always bragging about being the golden child." Madison sighed. "I'd give anything if I could just live with my dad instead. He was always supportive of my dreams, and he never belittled me for making mistakes."
Omega hugged Madison and let her cry into her shoulder.
"We had no idea you were going through all that." Omega said. "If there's anything we can do to help you, tell us."
Madison wiped her eyes.
"Can you find my dad?"
"It might prove a challenge, but we will start right away." Qui-Gon said. "No child deserves to be without a loving father or mother."
Luckily for them, Mrs. Sumner had files with everyone's parents' names on the pickup list.
"Here we are. Leon Renado." Mrs. Sumner confirmed. "He lives in an apartment in the city. But typically is only allowed to see Madison with her mother's consent, which, now that I think of it... hasn't been too common for at least the last five years."
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So, the royal family contacted Madison's father, and Padme held Madison's hand as they arrived at his apartment. As you can imagine, Leon was so happy to see his little girl again, and he embraced her in a big hug. And when he learned of how his ex-wife had been treating her leading to the point of Madison getting clavatized, he knew she'd officially gone too far, and immediately decided he was going to fight harder than ever to regain custody of his daughter.
Madison was very grateful to the royal family for their help.
And, the graduation? Well, a make-up ceremony was done three days later. Once more, everyone was gathered at the school, and Roya was finally able to give her valedictory speech.
"All of us, royal and non-royal alike worked very hard to reach today." Roya said. "Each of us is smart in our own respect. Some are great at academics, others at sports. Some are even artists with talent beyond the average student's wildest imagination. But if there's one lesson we should all take from our days here at Windy Falls, as well as outside, and even recent events, it's that we are not smart because of how much we know or how quickly we can solve complicated math problems. Rather, it is from knowing how to stand up for what is right, seek the truth, and being able to open our eyes to seeing the truth even when all odds seem against us. But most importantly, by making mistakes, learning from them, and taking risks where we make more mistakes, because it is only through failures that we are reminded to try again, to keep going, and to always appreciate successful moments when they come. We are all going to face many successes and failures as we continue to grow. By now, many of us have outgrown having tea parties with our dolls, jumping on the couch, and wrapping towels around our necks to play Superheroes. But one thing we will never outgrow is learning. There is no limit to how much there is to learn. A curious mind is something all children are born with. And it is up to each and every one of us to use it to ask many questions so we may seek answers and pass that knowledge on to future generations. So, thank you to all our teachers, our friends, and family who supported us all to make it to this very day. Thank you everyone, congratulations, and best of luck to everyone with dreams just waiting to come true."
Everyone clapped as Roya concluded her speech. This time, Madison was happy for Roya, believing she truly deserved it, and when the ceremony was to end, Madison had a new salutatorian speech.
"I could never top such a great valedictory speech, so I'll be brief." Madison said. "As much as I wanted to be valedictorian, I came to realize something. Whether or not I succeed, whether or not any of us succeeds isn't determined by some fancy degree, a PHD, or even how much money we make when we grow up. It's by doing what makes us happy, feeling true to ourselves, and knowing that we are serving the purpose we've come to realize is our truth. Only recently did some very wise friends help me realize that. And I hope that if anyone here has ever felt like they had to be some droid programmed to be perfect all the time realizes they don't have to be that. We all have a choice, and today I choose to accept being second place. If in someone else's eyes that's first place for losers, I'd rather be true and be in first place for losing than win the grand prize by lying about who I am."
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"Can I keep her, Mommy?" Goldie begged her mom, hugging Buttercup. "Please?"
"I don't know, Oruguita." Mariposa said. "Looking after a pony is a big responsibility."
"I can take care of her. Buttercup helped me a lot, and she was part of how Daddy got smart again."
"I was sent for her by Queen Reigna after all," said Buttercup. "The Equinary's never been wrong."
"She did say that." Mariposa realized out loud. "We'll have to discuss this with your father, later, Sweetie. Right now, we got a party to join in."
And just like Mariposa said, there was a party going on at the palace. The graduation ball was finally on, and the party was in full swing. There was so much to celebrate tonight. The 8th grade class' graduation, Madison reuniting with her father, and Goldie finally realizing she had more potential than even she realized thanks to a little help from Buttercup. One more pony in the house meant their family was only getting bigger.
But, one thing did concern the grownups in the family. When the kids mentioned that Madison looked like she was hypnotized after she was de-clavatized, that drew some concern. Only two people they'd met could do that, and they were back in prison. Or were they?