//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Galaxy Rangers: The Movie - Shocker Crisis! // by Rixizu //------------------------------// Galaxy Rangers: The Movie - Shocker Crisis! Chapter 2 by Rixizu Trixie winced as bright lights forced her awake, finding herself in a stark bland grey room unremarkable with a single door. Two Combatponies stood on guard duty. She struggled only to find herself strapped to a vertical table. Not the greatest of places she’d woken up in. “So, this is our little troublemaker.” A voice said entering the room. Trixie gasped as the pony approached. “Ditzy?” Trixie asked, dumbfounded. “Interesting, you know my name too.” Ditzy paced around Trixie’s chair. “Captain Raindrops told me you somehow knew her name.” Shouldn’t have said that. Trixie clamped her mouth shut. She wouldn’t tell these guys anything. Ditzy wore a grey, neatly pressed uniform with the Shocker armband. What made Trixie double-take was the mare’s right eye. It was a different color, blood red, and never lost its place like her real friend’s. It made tiny mechanical noises as it moved. It was an artificial eye! What incredible technology far beyond anything her world had! “My appearance surprises you?” Ditzy asked. “No reason,” Trixie replied, “cool eye.” “Yes, Shocker gave it to me when I joined the Shocker Youth Program.” Ditzy paced around Trixie making her feel dizzy. “I had a condition that impaired my vision. They eliminated it and all my other weaknesses.” Well, darn. This wasn’t her Ditzy and doubted she could appeal to her better nature. Best play this cool. Ditzy studied Trixie for several long, uncomfortable moments before finally speaking. “Tell me, what is your name?” “Trixie, and that’s all your getting.” Ditzy pressed a button and Trixie screamed when millions of volts of electricity hit her like a ton of bricks. She convulsed when it gracefully stopped. “Flippancy? A futile gesture.” Ditzy said. “I will get the information I seek, regardless of how long it takes. I do hope you struggle. It’s more fun that way.” Trixie screamed as another bout of electricity hit her. Trixie struggled to raise her head and stared into Ditzy remaining pony eye. Much to Trixie’s horror, she saw Ditzy enjoyed hurting her and would enjoy breaking her into a sobbing mess. Shocker had removed any equinity from her friend, only leaving a monster. Oh, Ditzy, what have they done to you? Tears gathered in Trixie’s eyes. “Broken already?” Ditzy laughed, misunderstanding Trixie’s tears. “Good. That was easy.” She recoiled when Trixie spat into her face. Trixie screamed, receiving another burst of electricity. Ditzy growled. “Big mistake. You got my uniform dirty. Where do you come from? Where did you get your Ranger powers?” “The moon,” Trixie screamed as Ditzy stabbed the torture button again. For two hours, Ditzy questioned Trixie, but the Red Ranger refused to provide any answers. They not only electrocuted her. Ditzy order the Combatponies to pummel her into submission. Despite everything, Trixie still refused to give in. Frustrated, Ditzy stopped the session for the day. “Stubborn one.” Ditzy sniffed. “No matter. I’ll get my answers, eventually.” “You.” She pointed at a Combatpony. “Bring her to a cell. Provide her with no food or water for three days. No sleep either. That should soften her up.” Trixie groaned as they dragged her away, too sore and beaten to protest. --- Trixie grunted as the Combatponies roughly threw her into a cell. The cold concrete felt nice on her bruised body. She enjoyed the floor for several moments before lifting her head to examine her surroundings. It was a cell. Nothing she hadn’t seen before. Cheap bed, toilet, steel bar, rats, the usual. She looked outside to see rows of other cells. A Combatpony guarded the door at full attention. This is it? I’ll escape, no problem. Trixie’s body protested when she tried rising. The attempt failed and Trixie choose to remain on the floor. Maybe not yet. Boy, they did a number on me. Still, she’d kept her mouth shut and Trixie beamed with pride. For now, she’d rest up and work on an escape plan. No food, water, or sleep for several days was a pain, but it sure as heck wouldn’t stop her. Right now, she contented herself with hanging out with her new best friend, the floor. “Hey!” Trixie yelled out to the Combatpony on guard. “At least provide me a book! It’s dull in here!” No response and Trixie didn’t expect any. It was worth a try, though. “It can’t be.” A pony said from another cell. “You!” Trixie blink and turned her head towards the cell across from hers. There sat a unicorn mare with a purple mane with aquamarine highlights and a pink, purple coat who gave Trixie a scathing glare. The pony’s vitriol confused Trixie. “Look, whatever you’re angry about, it wasn’t me,” Trixie said, “it was this world’s Trixie.” Seriously, can I go into a different universe without somepony getting angry at me? The other prisoner gasped. “You’re from another world too!” Trixie blinked. “What.” “You must be Trixie from Timeline B!” The mare proclaimed. “You’ve totally lost me. Who are you anyway?” Trixie searched her memory but felt certain she hadn’t met this pony before. The mare glared at her. “Starlight Glimmer. And what’s happening? I’ll tell you. It’s your fault all this happened in the first place!” “Really.” Dear Luna, why do ponies always blame me for things? I’m never the blame for anything... usually. “Yes, really!” Starlight said. “I’ll tell you why.” This outta be good. “Once upon a time, there was this little village where ponies lived in peace, harmony, and perfect equality. They were free of the tyranny of cutie marks, free to live however they liked no pony better than anypony else. I was their wise and benevolent leader. Everything was wonderful and perfect until you and your friends came to town!” “When I saw you, I thought your group would be perfect recruits to our little village and greeted you warmly. But you and your friends had more sinister motives in mind. Right away you spread dissent and disharmony among my townsponies. You lied to them, telling them that cutie marks were a good thing! I tried to be nice and integrate you into our village, but you won’t listen!” “Before I knew it, you turned the entire town against me and drove me out of town! I wandered the nearby caves for days, forced to survive on nothing but cave mushrooms! But I survived and swore revenge for ruining my perfect town!” “Uh-huh,” Trixie replied. What a load of garbage. “One problem, I don’t remember any of that,” Trixie said. “I’ve defeated many bad guys before, but I think I would have remembered that.” Starlight glared hate at her. “I’m not done. To get revenge, I thought I would destroy everything you’ve ever cared about. You took away everything I’ve ever loved, so I would do the same to you! After months of searching and research, I found an artifact that would realize my designs, the Amulet of Kairos!” “And what’s that?” Trixie asked, dreading the answer. “It allowed me to travel back in time and change things to my satisfaction! After heavy research, I discovered the perfect moment to ruin your life! At Canterlot station, I drugged you and Lyra and placed you on a train headed toward Manehatten. That way you’d never arrived in Ponyville and become bearers of the Elements of Harmony. You’d never defeat Corona and become a faded ex-student of the Princess stuck in a dead-end job representative of Ponyville, a place you hated.” “So that’s what happened?” Trixie had always wondered how they’d somehow ended up in Manehatten. Unfortunately for Starlight, one of Luna’s batponies was in the city for repairs on his chariot. He volunteered to drive them to Ponyville, almost breaking his back in the attempt. Luna’s Night Guard was pretty amazing. They were horribly late, but she’d somehow finished the preparations for the Longest Night before the princess arrived. That Batpony inadvertently saved Equestria! If she ever returned to her timeline, she owed him a thousand thanks. “Imagine my surprise returning to the future only to discover you were a famous superhero!” Starlight continued. Trixie blinked. “Come again?” “In my timeline, Timeline A, you were only an unpopular wannabe noble. Not some great hero! It somehow improved your life!” That’s a matter of opinion. Trixie opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again. “Because I was late to the Longest Night, I became a superhero? That makes no sense.” Starlight threw her hooves into the air. “Don’t ask me!” “This is where everything goes horribly wrong?” Starlight glared at Trixie again. “I planned to travel back in time and fix my mistake, but a stallion somehow learned about my time travel adventure and stole the amulet!” “And he was part of this Shocker group?” Trixie asked. “Causing yet another radical change in the timeline?” Starlight’s voice was tight. “Yes, creating this timeline, Timeline C. I stole another version of the amulet to fix my mistake, but they captured me and stuck me in here.” It was an insane story, but Trixie believed it. It rang true and it wasn’t the craziest true story she’d ever heard. “You’ve ruined everything!” Starlight proclaimed. “If you’d never came to my village, none of this would have ever happened!” Starlight retreated as Trixie rattled her cell bars with surprising force. “You’re lucky these bars separate us. Or else I’d be throttling you right now.” Trixie’s words weren’t an empty threat or declaration of revenge. This idiotic mare and her stupid revenge plot turned her best friends into monsters. Trixie was beyond furious and the bars bent a few inches from the pressure she placed on them. “Best I let you rest then.” Starlight laughed nervously. “You’ve had a rough day.” --- Their story made Ditzy cackle in delight. The foals had no inkling they were being overheard. Not surprising considering they both came from technologically backward societies. Her hunch had been correct. Putting Trixie together with Starlight Glimmer had worked just as she predicted. She suspected Trixie came from Timeline B. It explained why everything about their world confused the mare. The amulet’s existence and the alternate timelines remained a closely guarded secret amongst Shocker even amongst the Shocker elite. But Ditzy was an inquisitor. No information was beyond her hooves. On the viewing screen, Trixie fumed, ready to strangle Starlight to death. Should she release the cell locks and see what happens next? No. While Starlight was a complete buffoon, her magical skill was impressive. Ditzy hated wasting any resources. The unicorn would provide Doctor Shinigami with an excellent test subject for the pony enhancement program. Ditzy smirked when Starlight hide into a corner, terrified for her life. She pressed a button and a cassette containing the conversion ejected from the computer. Trixie’s Ranger powers remained a mystery, but it was a puzzle for a later date. Combatponies saluted her as she trotted through the hall and entered the executive bullet train. She’d arrive in the capital castle soon and Ditzy relaxed. The train sped through miles of concrete and city. Once ponies called this area the Everfree Forest said to be completely uncontrollable and untamable. Ditzy smirked. Complete foalishness. Shocker conquest was absolute and the ancient forest became a sprawling metropolis, Shockeropolis, the world’s new capital. Shocker had converted the Castle of the Two Sisters into the new capital castle. It was a magnificent building, very gothic and dark. The Great Leader had a magnificent taste in architecture. The original capital castle and Canterlot was destroyed when Princess Luna refused to comply with Shocker’s demands. Good riddance to old rubbish. Ditzy was unimpaired as she walked through the castle. It combined new and old with computer monitors and gothic architecture. Stain glass windows showed images of Shocker victories. She entered the lift to the Great Leader’s audience chamber. It was a large cavernous room, dark and mysterious empty except for the throne in the middle. It was marble with red velvet cushions. A stone plaque of the world stood behind it, showing everypony who ruled the world. The Great Leader of Shocker’s throne sat on a raised dais. The Great Leader wore a red robe with a large black collar. Covering his face was a red pointed hood with two black piercing eyeholes. He wore a solid gold amulet with Shocker’s logo around his neck. Some stupid ponies believed the Grand Leader was multiple ponies because he never once showed his face. Ditzy understood better. His powerful gaze and mighty aura came upon her and she shuttered in delight. Every time she’d sensed the same presence, leaving no doubt to the Grand Leader’s identity. “Inquisitor Doo, you have something to report?” Even the Great Leader’s voice spoke of great power, and Ditzy bowed before him. Ditzy motioned with a hoof that everypony else should leave the room. The Great Leader nodded and waved a hoof. Everypony but the Great Leader and Shocker General, Ambassador Hell, left the room. “Well, who is this rebel, Trixie?” Ambassador Hell asked. He was a large fearsome stallion that wore silver, red armor with a cyan cape and a gold and silver helmet that looked like a pharaoh’s headdress with two gold horns sticking out of it. Grand Leader motioned for her to stand and she did so. She gave Ambassador Hell the cassette tape. “I can confirm that Trixie comes from Timeline B.” Ambassador Hell snorted. “Is that so? How did she get here?” “I don’t know,” Ditzy admitted squirming under the two leader’s gaze. “She proved uncooperative. The mare is stubborn.” Ambassador Hell frowned in disapproval. “Keep working on her. We must learn how she got here. These Rangers might disrupt the peace of our world.” “I agree.” The Great Leader said. “If more Rangers arrive, they might become a threat like the Riders in the previous timeline. Inquisitor Doo, ensure this will not happen.” Ditzy bowed respectively. “I understand. As you command.” --- Trixie closed her eyes and yelped in pain as a Combatpony shocked her with a rod. She glared, but the guard ignored Trixie’s protests. She sighed and rolled over, staring at the ceiling. Out of immediate danger, her mind wandered to her friends and tears gathered on her eyelids. She missed her friends and being apart from the other Rangers in another world tore at her soul. It made her feel incomplete and weak. Trixie fought back the tears stubbornly. She hated being alone like this. It made her dwell on the pains of her life which wouldn’t be productive. “Three days of this, how wonderful.” A rumbling caught her attention and she searched for the source. Her ears rang as an explosion rocked a wall and it collapsed. A pony dressed in black leather emerged with a helmet blocking their face. The Combatpony tried to intervene, but this pony sent him flying with a kick after a brief struggle. The new pony walked up to Trixie’s cell and stole the keys from the guard with a raspberry aura. “Don’t worry, I’m here to rescue you!” The pony said and Trixie gasped, recognizing the voice. “T-Twilight?” Trixie said, stunned. “How?” Twilight shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Monsters and Combatponies will swarm this place if we don’t hurry.” “Help me up,” Trixie said, “I can’t move much. We need to stop meeting like this.” Trixie remembered fondly when Twilight rescued her from a police cell after somepony framed her for Pokey’s murder. What an adventure that was. “What about me?!” Starlight protested. “What about you?” Trixie glared. “Leave her. She’s a criminal.” “Hey!” Starlight glared back. “No, any enemy of Shocker is a friend of mine.” Twilight shook her head. “Fine.” Trixie rolled her eyes. Starlight might be useful. They heard the sounds of ponies rushing towards them. Twilight quickly unlocked Starlight’s cell and levitated Trixie on her back. They ran through the newly created hole and Combatponies burst through the door.