//------------------------------// // Return to Action // Story: Friendship is Mystic: A Power Rangers and MLP Crossover // by CheesewedgeFTW //------------------------------// In a world where the forces of evil plan for the so-called-inevitable destruction of Earth and teenagers gain superpowers from funky looking cellphones, there was a small town called Briarwood. Although it was once a normal looking town with normal looking people, it was hardly a rare occurrence to find a friendly elf or fairy wandering around along with the humans. In fact, the town’s population had nearly doubled in size since the defeat of the Undead Army, with the different races coexisting as one. At first, the people of Briarwood were a bit iffy about having trolls the size of buses and reptilian humanoids as neighbors, but after awhile, it was dismissed as a normal thing. So the town lived on. However, little did the citizens know, that in the depths of the Earth below them, there lay a desolate land full of nothing but rock and stone. Somewhere in the barren wasteland, there lay a cavern in which a monument was built. It was the banishment ground for the Undead Army, who had once tried to rob the people of Briarwood of their freedom and imprison them with their dark magic. They were, of course, stopped and terminated by the Mystic Rangers, and now the secret grounds were abandoned and left in ruin. Rubble was strewn about everywhere, and the only forms of life was the faint moss that grew on the undersides of the random boulders. It appeared as if nobody was there anymore, and that the Morlocks of the Undead Army had finally been defeated. But was that really true? In the center of the circular alcove, there lay a small pad. It was in this pad that the Master Octomus, commander of the Undead Army, would communicate to his Morlock minions, until he escaped from the Underworld and was ultimately defeated by the Rangers. However, the dormant pad suddenly lit aglow with a dark red light, and the air stirred in excitement. Something tremendous was taking place. Then, there was a great roar that shook the caverns, and the dark abyss momentarily filled with a bright purple flash, until it dimmed to reveal a new figure standing the center of the room. It was a strange figure, a giant biped who was almost entirely covered in strange metallic armor and machinery, allowing very little of his mud blue skin to show. What was even more odd about him was his head, for on one side, a metal bull horn carved downward, and on the other, there was a steam pump encased in a tube. It was Morticon, lead general of the Undead Army and the Master's right hand man. He had been defeated by the Rangers as well, but there he stood, regardless of the facts. “Finally!” he shouted, raising his fist into the air in triumph, “I have escaped the clutches of death and returned to make my revenge on the Rangers!” Morticon lowered his fist and proceeded to look around the dungeon. “Certainly has taken a beating since the last time I lived,” he examined in interest. With a swift swipe of his extended arm, dark magic filled the room and the dungeon was restored to a less horrible condition. “Hah, it seems as if I have renewed magical energy as well, though I’m not as strong as I once was,” he said, and then let out a small chuckle, “No matter. I will regain my energy soon enough.” With more magic, he summoned a small viewing mirror in front of him, with the air shimmering to show a happy scene of the citizens of Briarwood walking about and talking, as if the fact that only 75% of those beings were mammals was completely normal. It disgusted Morticon. “Those Rangers have brought peace and harmony to this world,” he surmised, “And it’s my job to get rid of that.” He though more for a while, until an idea came to his head. “Attacking the human world now would be suicide, because the Rangers are still there, and more powerful than ever if they have beaten the Master. However, if I can find another dimension with as much magical energy as the mystic world has, I might be able to harness that energy for myself and use it to crush the Rangers once and for all.” He turned back to his shimmering mirage, waving his arm to scan through different images. “Now to find that certain dimension.” Then, without warning, he came across an image that was so full of magical energy that it looked ready to burst like a bubble. Morticon stumbled back in surprise, the surplus of energy catching him by surprise. This had to be the most amount of magical energy he had ever felt in one dimension before. He looked more closely at the image, and saw what appeared to be a small town with normal looking houses, not unlike that of the human realm. However, the town was inhabited by quadrupeds, sharing a strange similarity with horses and ponies. They were all of varying shapes, sizes and even colors. But one thing that each of them had in common was a strong magical signature that boiled his blood with envy. He needed that magic, and there was nobody who would stand in his way this time. As Morticon prepared to travel to the new dimension, the town of Briarwood went about in ignorance of his latest scheme. In fact, all of them still believed him to have been destroyed. It had been nearly a full year since the Mystic Force Power Rangers had banished the evil forces of the Undead Army from their humble town and brought unity between the humans and magical creatures of different dimensions. Due to the memory still fresh in their mind, the town council (now populated with more than one species) decided to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the victory by declaring a city-wide Mystic Day, celebrating the endeavors of the five teens who bravely stood up to the face of evil with a large festival in the center of town. The town people did much to prepare for the celebration at hand, but unbeknownst to them, off in one of the entrance roads to town, three bikers rode together towards buildings. They rounded many corners in the city in their roaring motorcycles, almost as if they were intent on some specific location. Eventually, they came to a slanted road by the side of a small park, where the children played regardless of their differing races. The three motorcycles roared to a stop in front of a building called the Rock Porium Music Store, where music disks were sold and DJ gigs were held frequently. The bikers got off their vehicles and took off their helmets, revealing their faces. One of them was an older man with whitened hair and the face of an elder, and another was an older woman with auburn hair that wrapped around her head like a snowcone. The final biker was much younger than the other two, with a solid face and spiked, black hair. He smiled up at the music store. “Look at this place,” he said to his two companions, “It hasn’t changed a bit since we last came here.” “Are you happy to be home?” the older man said, placing a hand on the other’s shoulder, while the woman smiled warmly. “Heck yeah I am,” he said, “And I’m glad that I’ll finally be able to see…” “Nick!” a voice yelled from just outside the entrance of the Rock Porium, where a young girl stood and began running towards the three bikers. Four others ran out of the building as well, following the running girl. When the girl arrived at the biker's position, she threw her arms around the younger man, who hugged back in happiness. “Nick, I can’t believe you’re back. I’m so glad to see you again!” she said, pulling a bit back from the embrace and looking up into his eyes. Her flowing, night-sky hair pooled around her head  as she gazed up at him in warmth. “Maddie, I’m glad to see you too…” Nick trailed off as he caught her gaze, and they both stood there for a second until they heard a solid “Harumph” coming from the woman standing next to them. They turned to see her looking at the pair of them with a bit of a stern expression. “Sorry, Udonna... I mean, Mother,” Nick said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head, while Madison looked down at the floor to avoid her old mentor's gaze, “I guess we got kinda carried away.” “You could say that,” she said, her stern gaze brightening up to allow a sleek smile to pass through. “Cheer up, Udonna,” the older man chuckled, “I’m sure these two are just excited to see each other after so long.” He looked up to the other four people running towards them. “And speaking of seeing each other…” “Nick!” were the shouts the others gave out as they all surrounded the newcomer along with Madison. Nick smiled and laughed, for he recognized the familiar faces of his old friends. Chip was as freckly and blonde-haired as ever, Vida and her solid streak of pink in her spazzed-out hair style, and Xander in all his Xander glory. The fourth person walked towards the two older couple, an older man in his early thirties, and bowed with the dignity of a knight. “Greetings, Master Leanbow, Udonna,” he spoke with grace, “Welcome back to Briarwood.” Leanbow once again chuckled in light humor. “There’s no need for such formality, my dear Daggeron. You are no longer my apprentice, after all.” Daggeron straightened himself and smiled apologetically, “My apologies. Such habits are tough to break.” “Indeed,” said Leanbow. Meanwhile, he five younger people besides him were exchanging compliments. “It’s so great to see you four again!” Nick exclaimed with a smile on his face, “What’s been happening here since we were gone?” “Well, somebody’s got to look after the Rock Porium with the Red Ranger gone off on vacation!” Xander said heartily, pompous as ever, “And who’s better to do that than manager-of-the-year… also known as Xander.” “Yeah, and I’ve been helping him out as employee of the year,” Chip said happily, “We’ve been so successful with sales that Toby is considering opening up more branches outside of town!” “With me as the main attraction, of course,” Vida butted in, “Me and Matoombo have been touring outside of Briarwood. Turns out he’s only a demon in exterior and natural born DJ at heart. I actually only came back yesterday for the anniversary celebration.” “And I’ve been working with a local film for a documentary of the Mystic Force,” said Madison, “It’s gonna be about our fight against the Undead Army, and they appointed me as the director of the cinematography! We’re hoping to have it done in the next few months. Oooh, it’ll be so exciting.” She let out a squeal and jumped up and down in excitement. “That’s fantastic!” Nick was happy to hear his friends had been living just fine. “But enough about us,” said Xander, “Where has our glorious leader been off to since we’ve last seen him? Taking it easy with your newfound parents, I presume?” Nick looked back at Udonna and Leanbow, who were happily making conversation with Daggeron with their backs to them. “Yeah, it’s been great,” he told the others, “We’ve been traveling around the world, seeing sights and meeting new people and… you know, being a family. It feels like we’ve been catching up on the life we never lived.” He then leaned it to his friends and said in a quieter voice, “And to be honest, I still can’t believe those two are my actual parents.” “We heard that,” both Udonna and Leanbow said, not even bothering to turn to face him. Nick’s jaw almost touched the ground, but when his four friends began to laugh hysterically, he laughed and smiled too. It feels so great to be back home, he thought to himself.