//------------------------------//
// The War Begins 
// Story: My Little Pony and Power Rangers 
// by ZeldaTheSwordsman 
//------------------------------//

My Little Pony & Power Rangers
Chapter 4: The War Begins


With a 'chonk' the last piece settled into place. Standing before the redheaded hag was a fully functional duplicate of the Monster-Matic. "Reeka! Draggle!" called out Hydia to her daughters. "I finally did it! Bring me the clay!" The two amateur villainesses came rushing down the stairs carrying tubs full of clay. "Yes! Now let's see..." said Hydia, digging through the purloined sack of molds. "A-ha! There they are!" she said, pulling out the molds for the Putty Patrollers. With wicked glee she began filling the molds up with clay, producing small figures of the Putties ready to be popped in. After having made a suitable amount of these she then started looking at monsters. "I think I'll start with two monsters, see how that goes. Ooh, a sphynx, those are always a blast. And... oh, how perfectly evil! That's the perfect monster to send after those stupid ponies! Mwahahahahahahaha!"

Back in Angel Grove, Tommy had stepped out into the locker hall to sit down in the quiet for a bit. Kimberly was currently freshening up, and the others were all catching up or talking to the ponies. Suddenly a circle of light appeared in the air in front of him. In the circle was the face of the Mystic Mother, the woman who had once been Rita Repulsa. "Please tell me this is a social call," said Tommy, hoping beyond hope this was the case.

The Mystic Mother gave a heavy sigh. "I wish. No, I come to give you a heads-up of bad news. A wicked witch from another dimension named Hydia snuck into my old palace and looted the secret storage room. She took the backup copies of some of my spell books, my spare staff, and the Monster-Matic pieces - including a sack of some monster molds. She is certain to be sending trouble your way soon. I cannot do much to help you right now, but there is one thing I can undo to help you. Do you have it with you?" 

Tommy nodded and pulled the carrying case out of his jacket pocket. He unlatched it and pulled out a small round coin. The Mystic Mother gestured with her hand, and a burned-down stub of a green candle appeared. "What once I took, I now shall return to its rightful master." She snapped her fingers and the wick lit. And the candled burned - backwards. It grew taller and taller, tendrils of wax being drawn back into it. Soon it stood whole, and the flame vanished. The coin in Tommy's hand flashed green. "Thanks. I'll tell the others right away." The Mystic Mother nodded, and the circle vanished. Tommy motioned the others over as soon as Kimberly had exited the bathroom. They made their excuses and joined him in the locker hall. 

"What is it, Tommy?" asked Jason. "Well, you know that feeling we've all had that something was coming? The Mystic Mother just contacted me with info on it. An evil witch called Hydia raided the old palace on the moon and found some spellbooks, a spare staff, and enough parts to recreate the Monster-Matic with. We're going to have a fight on our hands real soon," said Tommy. He then gave a small smile. "The Mystic Mother did give me one thing besides the info. Something that's really going to help." By way of answer to the unspoken question, he held up his old Dragon Coin. They all gasped. "You mean..." began Zack. "Yeah. "

Back out in the dining area, Twilight Sparkle was talking to Rarity. "What do you think they're talking about, Rarity?" "I'm not sure," said the white unicorn. "It's the strangest thing. We've only just met those six, but something about them feels familiar. Is it possible...?"

This speculation was cut short when they heard a distant explosion outside, and for the first time in over a decade Angel Grove's Monster Alarm began to blare. Civilians began heading for the shelters.

"Okay, everyone, it's showtime!" shouted Drizzle. "Twilight Sparkle, you and your team go get 'em. Megan, go with them. There's a few spare barding sets on the chariots for those who feel like backing them up. I'll go with you. The rest of you, go with Dart and help get the civvies to safety. Jason, i whatever you and your friends were doing is ready, go with Twilight Sparkle's group." Jason nodded from across the room, and rushed to join the six ponies who were heading out to battle.

Twilight Sparkle led them to where she'd heard the explosion come from. The enemy was still there, standing amidst the remains of a blown-apart dumpster. Before the group stood two blasts from the past, new bakings of monsters Rita had used during her campaign. King Sphynx, and the Polluticorn. It was the latter who drew the ponies' ire, being a twisted, anthropomorphic mockery of an alicorn. "Look who showed up!" he said. "Too bad you're not going to be around long enough to really appreciate how dumb that was! Putties, get them!" At that command, a large platoon of Putty Patrollers materialized.

"Alright girls," said Twilight Sparkle, "CHARGE!" They rushed the Putties head-on. Applejack kicked down every one of them she could reach with her strong hindlegs, while Pinkie Pie opted to jump up and down on them instead. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy rammed them with hooves and wings. Twilight Sparkle and Rarity struck at them with their horns - those were for more than just magic, after all. Megan drew her sword and began slashing, while Tommy, Kimberly, Zack, Billy, Trini, and Jason used their well-honed martial arts skills. But there were quite a lot of Putties, and after being out of the game for years the veteran Rangers weren't at full fighting stamina. Additionally, these Putties seemed to be tougher than the ones they had battled in the old days.

Applejack was the first to realize this wasn't going to work. "Twi, I think it's time," she said, bucking a Putty hard enough to send it flying. The lavender unicorn nodded. "It is. Let's do this, girls." They summoned their morphers and hit the activators. "Twilight Sparkle, Harmonize!" "Rarity, Harmonize!" "Applejack, Harmonize!" "Rainbow Dash, Harmonize!" "Pinkie Pie, Harmonize!" "Fluttershy, Harmonize!"

Jason and co. stared in mild amazement as the six ponies transformed into Power Rangers. "Well, no harm in them seeing then," said Jason. "It's morphin' time!" The six humans pulled the Power Morphers from the holsters on the back of their belts, raised them, and pushed the buttons on the sides. "Dragonzord!" "Mastodon!" "Pterodactyl!" "Triceratops!" "Sabertooth Tiger!" "Tyrannosaurus!" And in a flash, they too stood there in their Ranger armor. Tommy looked at his belt and saw with satisfaction that his Dragon Dagger was there in the black holster.

The Putties recovered from their own surprise and began attacking again. "Looks like it's time to go to work," said Zack. The core 5 of the Harmony Rangers drew the dirks from their right saddlebags while Fluttershy drew her special weapon and switched it to sword mode. They began hacking and slashing away at their clay foes with renewed vigor. The Mighty Morphin' Rangers did the same with their Blade Blasters and the Dragon Dagger. Rainbow Dash and Firefly took to the air to try and go straight for the monsters. The monsters responded by unfurling their wings and beating a strong wind towards the two. Still the Pegasi pressed onward, determined to reach their foes. But their heroic effort was cut short when Polluticorn knocked them to the ground with blasts from his horn.

Things continued in this manner for another couple minutes, but at last Twilight and Jason broke through to the monsters and started landing blows. Jason switched from his Blade Blaster to his Power Sword while Twilight Sparkle sheathed her dirk and materialized her Harmony Battle Staff. Jason brought his sword down hard on King Sphynx, chopping the monster's staff in two in the process. Twilight Sparkle slammed Polluticorn with her staff, a heavy, staggering blow that sent him reeling.

Hydia, watching the battle unfold on her crystal ball, was furious. She picked up the stolen staff. "Magic Wand," she began, "Make the monsters..." She hurled the staff like a javelin, "GROW!"

King Sphynx and Polluticorn grew to skyscraper size. There were still plenty of Putties though, and for a very brief moment the team captains hesitated. "Focus!" said Megan. "Fluttershy, Tommy, and I can handle the remaining Putty Patrollers ourselves, and there's backup coming. You guys call your Zords and deal with the monsters."

The Red Rangers nodded. The Mighty Morphin' team went first. "Tyrannosaurus Dinozord Power!" called out Jason, the reconstruced rex rising from the earth to join the battle at his command. "Mastodon Dinozord Power!" said Zack, and his Zord trudged onto the scene from its ethereal tundra. "Pterodactyl Dinozord Power!" shouted Kimberly, the Pterodactyl barrel-rolling in. "Sabertooth Tiger Dinozord Power!" yelled Trini, and her old friend came charging in. "Triceratops Dinozord Power!" finished Billy, and the blue Triceratops Dinozord came cruising in on its treads. The five leapt into their cockpits. "Log on!" said Jason, placing his hands on the control pads. It felt good to be back in the familiar cockpit. "Trini here, everything looks good." "Zack here, same on my end. Nice work, Billy." "Thanks. Triceratops systems nominal. Everything is functioning at 100%." "Kimberly here, ready to go. And the stereo's even nicer than before."

"Well, here goes," said Twilight Sparkle as she watched the Dinozords roll into action. "Alicorn Harmony Zord, power up!" A robotic red-and-silver alicorn galloped in from out of nowhere. "Tiger Harmony Zord, power up!" said Rarity, and a black tiger with white stripes followed suit. "Wolf Harmony Zord, power'up!" In bounded the wolf. "Tortoise Harmony Zord, power up!" The flying tortoise swooped in in jet configuration. "Alligator Harmony Zord, power up!" Last but not least came the pink alligator. Twilight looked to her team. "Ready, girls?" she asked. They nodded. As one, they galloped forward and leapt high into the air, landing in their Zord cockpits.

Twilight Sparkle placed her hooves into indentations in the floor, the knowledge of what to do flowing into her from her Ranger powers. "Powered up and ready to fight." she said. "How about you?" "I am prepared. Oh, this Zord is simply magnificent!" "Ah'm right with you, sugarcube." "The tortoise is ready for action. Let's get those creeps!" "Gator's good to go, so let's go!" "Right," said Twilight. "Jason, you and your team focus on the sphinx. We'll take the other guy." "Right!"

The Dinozords adjusted course slightly, heading straight for King Sphinx. He started to flap his wings, but before he could really get them going the Mastodon nailed him with it's freezing mist. The Pterodactyl, Triceratops, and Sabertooth Tiger all shot him with their cannons before he managed to shake loose. By this time, however, the Tyrannosaurus had reached him and started beating him with its tail.

The Harmony Zords, meanwhile, charged towards Polluticorn, readying their blasters (or, in the case of the Alligator, missile pods.) They opened fire on him, sending sparks flying from his body as the shots hit. The Wolf and Tiger pounced on him, biting him, but were knocked back. The Alligator jumped at him, propelled by a jack on its belly, and chomped his muzzle, but it too was thrown back. Rainbow Dash had the most luck, strafing him repeatedly with the Tortoise, but eventually the monstrous alicorn spread his wings and took to the sky himself, and kicked her down. "Argh!" said the blue pegasus. "Twi, go after that jerk. Show him what a proper alicorn can do!" "On it," said Twilight Sparkle. The Alicorn Harmony Zord spread its own wings and soared into the air. It flailed its front hooves at the Polluticorn, striking him repeatedly. He retaliated by swinging his horn, which the Zord countered. Then its horn started to spin like a drill. The Polluticorn's horn was sheared off. "Curse you!" he yelled, and crashed to the ground, having been distracted from flying by the pain.

"Now's our chance to finish this!" Twilight Sparkle called out. "It's time to bring them together." "Right, said Jason. "Power up your crystals!" he told his team. They each drew out the conical crystals that would act as their Megazord's joysticks. "2, 1, power up!" they said in unison as they inserted the crystals. The Triceratops and Sabertooth Tiger folded their tails forward, clearing the connection sockets. The Tyrannosaurus sank into a kneeling position, and docked with the others. The Mastodon's head slotted in over the Tyrannosaurus' chest while its legs, which had unfolded into a pair of long arms with cannons attached, snapped onto the sides. The Pterodactyl tucked its wings in and connected to the Mastodon hooves sticking out of the back. The tank fired two shots at King Sphinx. "Switching to Megazord Battle Mode!" said Jason. "Megazord sequence has been initiated," said a familiar synthesized voice. The cannons and Mastodon head vanished into subspace as the Pterodactyl took off. The ends of the arms rotated to reveal hands, and the Megazord raised itself to standing position. The cannons reappeared, this time connected to the back and pointed at the sky. The Tyrannosaurus' chest opened, and its head folded in, revealing the Megazord's head. The Pterodactyl flew in, folding its head and wings in to become the Megazord's chest. The cheekgaurds swung out, finishing the transformation. "Megazord, activated!"

As Jason had been instructing his team to start their combination, Twilight Sparkle had been doing much the same. "Initiate Harmony Megazord, now!" The Alligator's tail folded up horizontally, and it split in half across the middle to become the feet. The tortoise's wings folded in and it split along its center line. Its head and turret folded in, and it connected to the Alligator halves to form the lower legs. The Alicorn's tail detached, and its hindlegs swung back, until they were parallel with its torso. The lower parts slid into the halves of the Tortoise. Its forelegs folded up into blocks with sphere-tipped pegs sticking out. The Tiger and the Wolf swung their bodies down, exposing the sockets in the backs of their heads. They folded their tails up, allowing the hands to slide out. Their midsections rotated to reveal elbow joints. They attached to to the pegs as the right and left arms, respectively. The Alicorn's mane swung down and plugged into its back while its wings shifted to a position more suitable for the combined form. Then, similar to the Tyrannosaurus' transformation, its chest opened up to allow the animal head to tuck itself in and reveal the Megazord head.. However, unlike the Tyrannosaurus, it's chest was also the Megazord chest. Each of the the other Harmony Zords had a disk on it bearing the appropriate Element symbol. These disks detached themselves and inserted themselves into sockets on the chest. A sword in a scabbard materialized at the Harmony Megazord's side. The Alicorn's tail plugged into the back of the head to give it a ponytail. Finally, a tiara identical to the Element of Magic descended onto the head, "Harmony Megazord, power up!"

The two Megazords strode towards the monsters and delivered dizzying punches. Meanwhile, down on the ground, Drizzle, Firefly, Wind Whistler, Sundance, and Hollywood had joined the fray. Hollywood's wings began to glitter. She beat them furiously at three of the Putties, sending out a sparkling wind towards them. They folded their arms, trying futilely to block it. They staggered back, and then succumbed to the wind's true power and disintegrated. Sundance bucked another Putty that had been about to slash Megan with its sword, sending it sprawling to the ground. She finished the job by trampling it. A particularly unlucky Putty broke its mace on Tommy's Dragon Shield, got grabbed by its arm and thrown like a shot, then bucked into some of its fellows by Drizzle. Wind Whistler scooped up some loose stones and took out another two with a tiny localized hailstorm. Megan climbed onto Firefly's back as the pink pegasus took off, then came back down in a swift dive, ploughing through more Putties while Megan slashed with her sword to get the ones to the side. Fluttershy then switched her weapon to blaster mode and zapped the remaining Putties.

The fight against the monsters was going well. King Sphinx was particularly vulnerable after taking a well-aimed punch to the head. "We need the Power Sword!" said Jason. The original Megazord's Power Sword dropped from the sky, and was caught midair. The Harmony Megazord drew its own sword. "Harmony Blade, ready!" The original Megazord raised its sword high, charging it up with red lightning, then swung at King Sphynx. The lightning ripped through his body as he was thrown back. Flashes of light erupted all over his body, and then he exploded in a fireball. The Harmony Megazord leapt high into the air. It held the Harmony Blade behind it. The blade glowed with the colours of their five elements. Then, the Harmony Megazord dove towards the Polluticon, swinging the Harmony Blade in an arc that left a glowing curved cut on his body. "YEARGH!" he yelled as the glow engulfed him and he exploded. The Megazords nodded at each other and shook hands. The Rangers leapt down and saluted each other. "That was a good job," said Tommy. "No casualties, not even one damaged building. Hydia's going to have to do a lot better than that if she wants to win." "She won't win even if she does," said Twilight Sparkle. "We'll stop her evil plans at every turn." "Now that's the right attitude. Alright everyone, all together now..." The teams put their hands and hooves together. "Power... Rangers!" they shouted, raising their arms and forelegs and jumping into the air.

"Good work, all of you," said Drizzle. "Particularly you, Fluttershy. From what Celestia's said, you aren't inclined to combat." Fluttershy was thankful for her helmet, because she was blushing furiously. "Um, well, I'm not really, but I've always been able to fight when I have to protect someone. And when I morphed my powers guided me." "That's good to know," Drizzle told her.

Pinkie Pie had just noticed something. She looked at Megan, then at the Harmony Megazord, then back at Megan. She started giggling. "What's so funny?" asked Megan. Pinkie simply gestured towards the Harmony Megazord's head. Megan looked at it properly - and then saw that there was an uncanny resemblance to her. "I'm going to have to talk to Ninjor about that the next time we see him," she muttered to herself. Just then, the all-clear sounded. The teams demorphed and headed back into the Youth Center.

Meanwhile in the Volcano of Gloom, Hydia was furious. She hopped around the room in a rage, throwing furniture around. Not only had her monsters been beaten, but the workload of producing them and the Putties had made her newly-stolen Monster-Matic run hot, leaving it temporarily out of order. "Confound those ponies, they drive me to drink!" she railed. "Mama, maybe you should take a Valium" suggested Reeka. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU, DON'T CALL ME MAMA!"

The victorious heroes stepped back into the Youth Center. "Hey Ernie," said Jason, "we could use a smoothie for each of us."

"Comin' right up," said Ernie. "It's on the house."

"Ernie," Jason said tentatively. "I've been meaning to ask this for a while. Why do you give us food on the house so much?"

Ernie looked around. The doors were closed. "Well, since you ask, and since it's just you guys and your allies here, I may as well confess. I figured out you, Zack, Trini, Billy, Kimberly, and Tommy were the Power Rangers a long time ago. Like, before Lord Zedd showed up long time ago. And I figured the least I could do to thank you for risking life, limb, and soul was make sure you didn't have to worry about the bill or having a place to hang out."

"In that case Ernie," Tommy said, "We offer thanks of our own. For looking out for us, and for keeping our secret safe."

"You're welcome. And speaking of looking after you, it's getting late. You guys should probably go and get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be busy."

The group said their farewells to Ernie, and set off for the hotel district. As the returning ambassadors, Molly, Jason, Zack, and Trini had large suites at the Angel Grove Hilton, as well as extra room keys to give to spillover guests. It was a bit crowded (but that's easier to tolerate in a hotel), but they found room for the whole party. They decided to blow off some steam in the lounge. Cestria, Billy, Twilight Sparkle and Wind Whistler decided to match wits in a game of team chess.

Rainbow Dash took Firefly aside. "Okay Firefly," said Dash. "You know Megan pretty well, right?" Firefly nodded. "Then do you explain something to me? How come if she's so brave and all like in your stories and like we saw today, she was scared witless when the Princesses showed up?"

Firefly sighed. "Well, Megan knows how protective ponies like Celestia are. She was afraid her involvement with our kind would be taken in the worst possible way in spite of all the good she's done. It was like when she first met Queen Majesty all over again..."

The Queen of Ponyland at last turned to Megan. The human girl was shaking in her boots. She had heard how Majesty cared deeply for her subjects, and how the white unicorn did not take kindly to anyone hurting them. And Megan was scared that despite all her work she would be seen as having harmed the Little Ponies in some way, that in spite of her good intentions she had harmed them in some way. Her thoughts were interrupted by Majesty speaking. "Hello, Megan, child of Earth. I have heard many things about you, Megan. Very interesting. In light of your actions, I see little other option..." the regal unicorn paused for dramatic effect "...but to grant you knighthood."

"Huh? I- but- wha?" said Megan, completely caught off-guard.

"Were you afraid I would see you as some insidious monster infiltrating my beloved ponies and plotting against them? Or that you were a misguided person obliviously causing harm when you thought you were helping?" said Majesty, slightly amused. She reared up and placed a comforting hoof on Megan's shoulder. "I am a much better judge of character than that. You have risked life, limb, and soul for my little ponies several times over. You have broken curses, mended families, slain monsters, stopped disasters. You are a caring friend, a substitute parent when you have to be, and have even gone so far as to act as a midwife for pony mothers on occasion.

"For all that you have done and continue to do for my Little Ponies," the blue-maned unicorn said "You deserve this honor at the very least." And touching her horn to Megan's left breast, the queen of Ponyland proclaimed: "I dub thee Dame Megan of Paradise Estate, Keeper of the Rainbow of Light and Protector of the Realm."

"...and just like that time, she worried over nothing."

"Wow," said Rainbow Dash. "She cares a lot about everypony, doesn't she? Otherwise no way would she have been that worried."

"You got that right," said Firefly. "She's very precious to us, too. Can't bear the thought of something bad happening to her."

Not too long after that, the group turned in for the night. They slept easy, knowing that whatever the new day would bring, they'd be able to deal with it.