Return to the island

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BVNohVEvS4

Ever since Earth got a visitor from Equestria, Princess Shayla has been looking in on them with interest. Despite there not being any humans, she has grown quite fond of the ponies that live there. Interestingly enough though, two other teams of Power Rangers just payed them a visit. She wondered if there were any reason for the Wild Rangers to go there as well.

Princess Shayla heard the deer zord growing restless once again and smiled. She always loved singing for the deer zord. She went out and met Merik, who had his flute ready. “Good morning, princess,” he said to her.

“Good morning to you too, Merik. Are you ready?” Princess Shayla asked.

“As always,” Merik said, pulling out his flute. He began to blow into it, making the beautiful music that the deer zord had always loved. Princess Shayla began to sing her best.

“Each morning the sun rises, I hurry for my sleeve. I can’t wait to greet you with my song~” Princess Shayla sang. Merik couldn’t help but watch. He had always loved her, but he wasn’t sure if she loved him back.

Once they were finished, Merik said his goodbye and descended from the Animarium. Princess Shayla frowned. She saw Merik everyday and had the Wild Zords to help keep her company, but she always felt lonely. She sighed and went to check the pool.

Princess Shayla returned to find the sacred water erupting from the pool. She rushed to see what the trouble was. When she looked in, she was surprised to see Equestria’s reflection. They had monsters aplenty, but the pool only erupted when there was an org. What she next next horrified her. It was the org heart. She thought the rangers destroyed that when they defeated Master Org. She then saw the three org generals: Rendex, Nayzor, and Mandilock planning to obtain it.

Princess Shayla didn’t know what to do. She may not have lived there, but she still loved the land of Equestria. She knew what she had to do. She directed the Animarium to follow Merik.

“Princess? What’s going on?” Merik asked when he was summoned back to the Animarium.

“You need to see this.” Shayla showed Merik what she saw in the pool.

“We need the others,” Merik told Shayla.

“My thoughts exactly. I already know where Taylor is, and I bet she knows where Cole and the others are too. We have to hurry, or Equestria will be destroyed,” Shayla responded.

Meanwhile

Taylor was having the time of her life. She always dreamt of being a pilot. She didn’t even care for a minute that Princess Shayla didn’t let her keep her power. If that was the cost for this, it was totally worth it. Even so, she still got together with Cole from time to time. It had been a rough start between those two, but she got over the change in command pretty quickly.

She was currently taking her new engine for a test fly. It had taken her two years to complete, and it was working perfectly. Her jet was doing exactly what it was supposed to do. All the other pilots offered to help her, but they scoffed at her when they saw what she was planning. Taylor was a lady with dreams that no one else understood.

It was now time to pull of the main function of the engine: break 15 g’s. No one had ever done it, and it was gonna hurt. But Taylor was willing to do anything to rub it all of their faces. She set herself in line to fully increase speed, but before she could do it, an old friend showed up. It was none other than her old Eagle Zord.

“Wanna race?” Taylor yelled at the zord, but it shook its head. “What’s wrong?” The Eagle Zord motioned for Taylor to follow her. Taylor looked down at the base, but she knew the Eagle Zord wouldn’t tell her to come with it without a good reason. Taylor turned her jet and followed the Eagle Zord. They landed on the Animarium a few minutes later. Taylor was greeted by Princess Shayla and Merik.

“Taylor, we’re so so sorry to have to pull you away, but this is urgent. Do you know where we can find the other rangers?” Shayla asked.

“Um, yeah, but what’s going in?” Taylor responded.

“We’ll explain everything once the others are here. We promise,” Merik assured her.

“Alright, Cole’s...”

Later

Cole was arriving back in Turtle Cove. He didn’t know why Taylor had called him back there. Their ranger days were over. Maybe she just wanted to reconnect? Yeah, that was it. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Max, Danny, and Alyssa. He smiled and walked up to greet them.

“It’s great to see you all again,” Cole said.

“Yeah, it’s been forever,” Max agreed.

“Does anyone know where Taylor is?” Alyssa asked.

“I haven’t seen her,” said Danny.

Cole was about to say something when they were all surrounded by a bright light. Before they knew what was going on, they were all shot into the air. When the smoke cleared, they found themselves in the middle of the Animarium. Taylor was there, wearing her old eagle jacket. Princess Shayla and Merik were there as well.

“Taylor, what’s going on? Why are we back?” Cole asked.

“Hey guys. Look, I’m sorry, but it’s urgent. Princess Shayla said she’d explain when you arrived,” Taylor replied.

“Indeed I will. Please, rangers, get her around the sacred pool,” Princess Shayla instructed. The rangers did as she said, and the pool lit up. “This is Equestria. It is a world parallel to our own. Instead of humans, ponies and many other creatures inhabit this land. Instead of technology, they use magic for everyday tasks. The land is ruled by a Princess much like myself. Her name is Princess Celestia, and, along with Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and Princess Twilight Sparkle, they watch over this land with care. Very recently, Twilight Sparkle visited Earth on a mission to retrieve her stolen crown, and I have been watching them ever since, learning about their land. Very recently, two other teams of Power Rangers, Dino Thunder and Jungle Fury, were sent there to defeat old foes of theirs.”

“I don’t understand. What does this have to do with us?” Max asked.

“You see, not more than a few hours ago, something from our world that doesn’t belong in Equestria has shown up there. The Org Heart. While this may not be a problem, the three org generals, Rendex, Nayzor, and Mandilock have arrived there to retrieve it. If they do, they’ll become invincible. We must go there and warn the ponies of the danger to come as well as try to stop it. That being said, these are now yours once again,” Shayla explained, handing over the rangers’ old jackets and morphers.

“No way! Thanks, Princess Shayla,” said Max.

“Um, how are we gonna get there?” asked Danny.

“Simple. With the combined power of the Wild Zords and Shayla’s necklace, we should have more than enough power to get there without much trouble,” explained Merik.

“Sounds good, but I still have one question: are we gonna have to deal with...Dr. Adler?” Cole asked.

“Do not worry, Cole. I have searched the entire land of Equestria and have found no trace of Dr. Adler,” Shayla answered.

“Good. I don’t want another encounter with him,” Cole said.

“Alright then, let’s get going,” said Merik.

With that, the Wild Zords gathered together and summoned their power. Princess Shayla’s necklace began to glow. The zords roared into the air, creating a hole in the sky. Once it was big enough, the Animarium floated through it, into Equestria.

Meanwhile

“You can’t be serious,” Casey laughed.

“It’s not THAT funny,” Starlight rolled her eyes. She had just told Casey about the time she used mind control to try to bond with Twilight’s friends. He got a real kick out of it.

“Oh come on. If you can’t look back on it and laugh, then why’d you even tell me?” Casey countered.

Starlight chuckled at that. “Good point,” she sighed.

“So what’d Twilight say about that?” Casey asked.

“Ugh, she told me magic wasn’t a shortcut to friendship and that I needed to apologize to her friends. They got over it, but I still don’t really like to talk about it,” Starlight replied.

“Well, she isn’t wrong. After all, what good would friendship be if it depended on magic?” Casey asked.

“You’re right. Wow, where were you when I still used magic for stupid things?” Starlight asked sarcastically.

Casey chuckled. He opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by a large quake. The quake made the tablet fall face first onto the castle floor, and Starlight was quick to pick it up with her magic.

“What was that?” Casey asked.

“Just a little quake. So where were we?” Starlight asked.

“I was fighting monsters while you were making stupid things, to answer your questions,” Casey answered, making Starlight roll her eyes again.

“It’s a good thing you’re so cute,” Starlight said.

“Hey Starlight? Are you busy?” Twilight said from another room.

“Looks like, you gotta go. It was nice talking to you,” Casey said.

“You too,” Starlight replied, shutting off the tablet.

Starlight went out to see what Twilight wanted. “What’s up?” she asked.

“Literally speaking, a giant floating island that slightly resembles the shape of a turtle,” Twilight said, not breaking her gaze through her telescope.

“What!? Let me see,” Starlight said. She looked through and indeed saw a turtle-shaped island in the sky. “What is that?”

“Other than a turtle-shaped island , I have no idea. I already sent letters to the others, and they’ll be here any minute,” Twilight responded.

Sure enough, their friends, Rainbow Dash. Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie got to the castle.

“I didn’t believe what you said in your letter, so I flew up to check it out. You’re right; it’s a giant floating island,” Rainbow said.

“Did you see what was on it?” Twilight asked.

“No. I was gonna check it out, but something about it didn’t feel right. I figured we could all check it out,” said Rainbow.

“I do hope this isn’t another monster from Earth. Not that I don’t enjoy human company, I’m just tired of dealing with monster attacks,” said Rarity.

“Look on the bright side: if there are monsters, there’ll probably be a new team of rangers to stop ‘em,” replied Applejack, who really liked meeting new ranger teams.

“Either way, I’m throwing whoever’s on that thing a ‘Welcome to Equestria’ party,” said Pinkie.

“Let’s get going. I already had Spike ready the balloon,” said Twilight.

“Will that hold all seven of us?” Starlight asked. She had never taken a trip in that thing with them before.

“It should, but I’ll be flying next to it just to be sure,” said Twilight.

“I’ll fly too. No offense, but I just find the balloon really uncomfortable,” said Rainbow.

“Alright then. Let’s go,” said Twilight.

The seven of them ran out see Spike waiting with the balloon. Starlight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie boarded as Twilight and Rainbow began to ascend alongside the balloon.

“Good luck,” yelled Spike from the ground.

“Hey, why isn’t Spike coming?” Starlight asked.

Twilight blushed and flew down to him. She quickly flew back up and responded, “He said he’s fine.”

“Are ya’ sure?” Applejack asked.

Twilight flew down again. “It’s so easy to mess with her,” Applejack told Starlight.

“I was actually serious,” Starlight said.

Twilight quickly rejoined them. “He said he’s sure.”

After a while, they finally saw their destination coming closer. As they continued to approach the island, however, something flew past them. “W-What was that?” Fluttershy stammered.

“It was probably nothing,” Rarity said, not sounding so sure of herself.

Out of the clouds flew a giant, yellow eagle with green glowing eyes and a metallic body. “It’s a zord!” Twilight shouted as the eagle gave a loud screech.

While the ponies were recovering, the eagle scraped open the balloon with its sharp wing. The balloon quickly began to lose air and fall. Twilight and Rainbow raced to save their falling friends. They managed to catch them all and lower them safely onto the ground, but the eagle wasn’t done with them yet. They ran as fast as they could, but wasn’t nearly enough to outrun the eagle. They split up, and the eagle seemed to keep going after Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity. It finally had them cornered against the wall.

Before the eagle could do anything , the three of them heard a female voice. “Bad! Bad Eagle Zord! These are not orgs! They are ponies! Tell them you’re sorry, right now,” the voice yelled. Twilight opened her eyes to see a human female wearing a yellow jacket and a pair of jeans facing the eagle. The eagle gave a frown and a small screech. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. You didn’t know. I’m sorry I yelled at you. Let’s get you back to the Animarium,” the girl said. She then turned toward the scared unicorns and alicorn. “Sorry about her. She’s new here and is very protective of the Animarium. I’ll get her back up, and then we can make proper introductions,” the girl said. With that she jumped into the eagle, and it flew off into the air.

Rainbow and the others rejoined them. “Are you three okay?” Rainbow asked, worriedly.

Twilight, stunned by the recent event, blinked her eyes a few times without saying a word. When she finally regained the ability to think, she asked, “Wait, what just happened?”

Proper Introductions

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“Let me get this straight,” said Rainbow Dash, “A human just jumped between you and that zord and yelled at it to make it go away?”

“I think so,” Twilight said. The whole experience was just so weird.

“She said she’d be back later,” Starlight said. She didn’t really know exactly what happened either.

“Did she say her name or somethin’?” Applejack asked.

“Nothing,” replied Twilight.

“What did she say to the zord?” asked Fluttershy.

“To quote her exactly, she said: ‘Bad, bad Eagle Zord. These are not orgs’,” said Twilight.

“Orgs?” Rainbow said, raising an eye.

“Her words, not ours,” said Rarity.

Applejack was about to ask another question when a knock came from the castle door.

“That’s probably her,” said Twilight. She flew down to the door and opened it to see the girl from before. With her, was another girl wearing a white dress that resembled a wedding dress, a girl with darker skin and a white and pink jacket, a tall man with a glasses and a black jacket, a short kid with black skin and a blue jacket, an older looking man with a light blue jacket, and a strong man with a red headband and jacket.

“Hello, Princess Twilight. I am Princess Shayla. It’s nice to finally meet you in person,” said the woman in the hire dress. Twilight couldn’t find the words to respond. “I believe that if you allow me to explain, this whole thing will make a lot more sense.”

Starlight came up to the door and saw what was going on. “Um, who are they?” she asked.

This seemed to bring Twilight back into reality. “Of course! Come in! I am kind of curious as to how you know me,” Twilight said.

“Like I said, all will be explained,” said Princess Shayla.

They all neared the map room when Twilight stopped them. “I’m gonna go in there really quick and give my friends a heads up as to what to expect,” Twilight said.

“By all means,” said the man with the light blue jacket.

Twilight and Starlight entered the map room to see their friend waiting. They all had expecting looks on their faces. “Okay, so the girl from before is out there. She’s also brought her friends. I can only assume their all rangers. The only name I know is Princess Shayla’s. She’s the one wearing a white dress. Other than that, I have no idea who they are,” Twilight explained.

“This oughta be good,” said Applejack.

“Well, if they are rangers, that probably means they’re here to stop some new evil from Earth that’s made its way to Equestria,” Rarity said.

“Right, so let’s help them feel welcome,” Twilight said.

“We can do that,” said Fluttershy with a smile.

Twilight flew back to the door and opened it a little. “Alright, you can come in now,” she told the humans.

With that, all seven of the humans entered the map room to see a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, and yellow pegasus with a pink mane, a white unicorn with a velvet mane, an all pink pony, an orange pony with a blonde mane, and a pink unicorn with a lavender mane with a blue streak in it.

“Hello, my name is Princess Shayla. First, I would like to apologize for the Eagle Zord’s actions earlier. She mistook you for orgs, no doubt,” said the princess.

“Excuse my interruption, but what’s an org?” Rainbow asked.

“An org is an evil spirit that can possess an inanimate object. The eagle mistook you for orgs because of your horns,” said the girl with the yellow jacket.

“Yes, but I can assure you that will not happen again. Now, as to why we are here, it is to stop three powerful org generals. Their names are Rendex, Nayzor, and Mandilock,” the princess continued.

“What would they want here in Equestria,” asked Starlight.

“We believe they’re after the Org Heart, an artifact from Earth that we thought was destroyed. If they get their claws on it, they’ll become invincible. We could destroy them all we want, but they’d keep reforming,” said the man with the light blue jacket.

“I still have one more question: how did you know who I am?” Twilight asked.

“Ah yes, I forgot to explain that. Ever since your visits to Earth, which I knew about because the Animarium was passing over that area at the time, I was curious as to your origins. I watched your return and traced your location. I used the sacred pool to observe your world. I discovered your world and have grown quite fond of it,” said the princess.

Twilight blushed at the princess’s comment. She hadn’t really taken into account how much outside attention she’d attracted when she went to Earth.

“What exactly is the Animaruim?” Rainbow asked.

“There’s really now way to put it other than a floating island shaped like a turtle,” said the man in the blue jacket, making Starlight stifle a laugh.

“Just out of curiosity, what’s your team name?” Starlight asked.

“What do you mean?” asked the man in the red jacket.

“Your ranger team name. We kind of know you’re all rangers,” Starlight clarified.

“Oh right. We’re the Power Rangers Wild Force,” said the man.

“I believe it’s time to make introductions,” aid the princess.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Twilight said, “I’m sure Princess Shayla has told you this, but I am Twilight Sparkle.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Cole,” said the man in the red jacket.

“Name’s Max,” said the kid in the blue jacket.

“I’m Rainbow Dash,” said Rainbow Dash.

“I’m Taylor,” said the girl in the yellow jacket.

“I’m Danny,” said the man in the black jacket.

“I’m Applejack. You can call me AJ.”

“I-I’m Fluttershy.”

“My name is Rarity.”

“Name’s Pinkie Pie. I’m your friendly neighborhood party pony.”

“I’m Alyssa,” said the girl in the white jacket.

“Name’s Merik,” said the man in the light blue jacket.

“Guess that leaves me. I’m Starlight, Starlight Glimmer.”

“It’s nice to finally meet all of you,” said Princess Shayla.

“Not to be rude or anything, but can magic affect orgs?” asked Starlight.

“We have no reason not to believe so,” said Princess Shayla.

Just then, her necklace began to glow. “Looks like that’s our queue,” said Cole.

“Does that mean an org is attacking?” Twilight asked.

“Yep. Do you girls know how to fight?” asked Merik.

“Pretty well, if I do say so myself,” Rainbow smirked.

“Alright then, we could use all the help we can get,” Alyssa offered.

“Sounds good,” said Twilight.

“Let’s go see what we’re up against,” said Cole.

With that, everyone and everypony went to face the danger. They found there were three creatures: one had red and orange scales and a crescent-shaped ring, one had green skin and a small horn, and the third was purple with a large mouth and a head that ended in a point.

“What?! Rangers!?” shouted the purple one.

“You didn’t really think we’d just let you take over did you?” Cole asked.

“Doesn’t matter. You can’t defeat us,” said the green one.

“That’s what the other monsters from Earth thought. Guess what: they were defeated,” said Twilight.

“Oh how cute: you think you can fight us too,” said the red one.

“We’re about to find out aren’t we?” Starlight taunted.

“Let’s do it,” said Cole, looking at his friends. With that, they all pulled out golden phones, except for Merik, who pulled out a smaller, round morphed.

“Wild Access!” they all shouted. There was a deal of roars and flashing lights that were all too familiar to Twilight and her friends by now, and there were now six, fully morphed Power Rangers standing in front of them.

“Blazing lion! Red Wolf Force Ranger!” shouted Cole, the red ranger.

“Soaring Eagle! Yellow Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Taylor, the yellow ranger.

“Surging Shark! Blue Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Max, the blue ranger.

“Iron Bison! Black Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Danny, the black ranger.

“Noble Tiger! White Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Alyssa, the white ranger.

“Howling Wolf! Lunar Wolf Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Merik, the lunar wolf ranger.

“You are no match for us,” shouted the red creature.

“We can’t waste our time with them. We have to find the heart, first,” said the green creature.

“Fine. But let’s at least release an org spirit on them,” said the purple creature.

“Of course,” said the green creature. With that, it used its fan to release a spirit that flew into a nearby fence post. The post turned into a creature with wooden claws and two wooden horns. It was a wood org. The three generals disappeared as the wood org turned toward the rangers.

“I’m gonna make splinter outta you!” the wood org shouted.

“Aim for the horns. That’s its weak spot,” said Cole.

“I better go find the Org Heart before the generals do,” said Princess Shayla.

“Sounds good. Be careful,” said Twilight.

“You too. Orgs can be very strong of underestimated,” Shayla responded. With that, she turned into a white ball of light and floated away.

“You said you could fight. It’s time to fight,” said Taylor. With that, everyone rushed into battle with the wood org. It used a branch to swing at Cole, but he blocked it with a lion puncher. Taylor slashed at it with her sword. Applejack ran up to it and bucked it, sending it flying into Max’s range. He used his fin blades to slash right through the org. Alyssa used her baton to block the org’s attacks, and Danny used his axe to chop off one of its arms. The org quickly grew it back, but Twilight and Starlight got on opposite sides and blasted the monster with similar attack spells. Merik got in on the action by using his staff to fling the monster in the air and blast it with his blaster. Rainbow Dash too the opportunity to use a whirlwind to send the monster out of control as it hit the ground.

“Let’s combine our weapons and finish this guys off,” said Cole. With that, he used his lion fist to grab onto Alyssa’s tiger baton. Taylor put her sword in the middle of Danny’s axe, and Max put his fin blades together. They put them all together and raised the newly formed sword. They swung it around a bit and lunged it at the wood org. The sword hit, and the org was reduced to a green pile of slime.

“Wow, that just keeps getting more and more fun,” said Rainbow.

“Do these things happen to grow?” Applejack asked.

“They usually need certain seeds in order to do it, but I don’t think the generals have any,” said Merik.

Despite his statement, the slime started to glow and reform. The org was revived and grew. “What? That’s not possible without those seeds,” said Max.

“It doesn’t matter. We have the Wild Zords,” said Danny.

“Right, let’s call ‘em down,” said Taylor.

The rangers drew small daggers and small round marbles. The put the marbles into the holes of their swords and rose them into the air. “Wild Zords, descend.”

From the sky was heard the roars of five huge animals. A red lion, a yellow eagle, a blue shark, a black bison, and a white tiger hit the ground of Ponyville. The Lion Zord seemed to be in charge as it stepped in front and gave a huge roar.

The rangers jumped into their corresponding zords and got ready to combine. The Bison Zord opened its back like a trifold, and the Lion Zord jumped on. It was soon joined by the Shark Zord and the Tiger Zord who got on both of the Lion Zord’s side. The Eagle Zord landed on the lion’s back and folded its wings to wrap around the lion’s head. The bison stretched out a pair of legs behind and folded the down. The shark and the tiger connected to the lion’s sides and formed the arms. To complete the transformation, a head grew out the top. The Wild Force Megazord was now ready for battle.

The org pulled out a branch and swung it at the Megazord, but it blocked using the shark saber. It then slashed repeatedly at the org, cutting off several pieces of bark. The org attacked with its claws, but the Megazord struck back with a series of shark surges and tiger furies. Finally, the heads of the zords began to gather energy in their mouths. The combined a huge roar that completely destroyed the monster.

The rangers had the Wild Zords return to the Animarium as the ponies approached them.

“A new team means a new Megazord, I guess,” said Twilight.

“I thought it looked cool. It was definitely the coolest one I’ve seen yet,” said Rainbow.

“Thanks. But just wait until you see the rest of the Wild Zords,” said Taylor.

“Wait, there are more?!” Twilight asked excitedly.

“Yeah, like eleven more up on the Animarium,” Merik said.

“Oh boy, now you’ve done it,” Starlight said.

“What do you mean?” Merik asked.

“YOU HAVE TO TAKE ME TO THE ANIMARIUM!” Twilight yelled.

“She’s a total sucker when it comes to learnin’ new things,” said Applejack.

The rangers chuckled. “I guess we could take you guys to the Animarium if you all really want to,” said Merik.

“Sounds like fun,” said Starlight.

“Count me in,” said Rainbow.

“Ah, what the hay. Ah’m in too. And I think we all know Twilight’s answer,” said Applejack.

The rangers demorphed. “We should all get some rest first, though. Besides, we need to make sure the org generals don’t get the Org Heart,” said Merik.

“Alright,” Twilight said, sounding like a foal.

The ponies left to their homes as most of the rangers ascended to the Animarium, except for Cole and Taylor. “Is everything alright, Taylor?”

“I’m just worried about how that org grew without the seeds,” aid Taylor.

Meanwhile

“We have got to find that heart before the rangers do,” said Rendex.

“I told you, I’m having trouble getting a solid reading,” said Nayzor.

“May I suggest we check the Animarium?” said Mandilock.

“Are you crazy? The Wild Zords will destroy us as soon as we get close,” said Rendex.

“Not here, not in this world,” said Mandilock.

“Mandilock is right. There is so much magic in there, it’s getting to us. We should have new powers we’ve never had on Earth. Maybe even enough to destroy the rangers,” said Nayzor.

You can’t teach an old wolf new tricks

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Merik was mesmerized by Applejack’s precision strength. The ability to kick a tree and make all o the apples fall out of it without hurting the tree itself was astounding. Regardless, Merik preferred the old fashioned way of picking apples. He didn’t think it was tedious. In fact, he loved manual labor. It made him feel like he had a purpose.

“Ah really gotta thank ya’ for helpin’ out around here, Merik. Between me, Big Macintosh, and Applebloom, the chores can take all day sometimes,” Applejack said.

Merik put down the barrel of cider. “It’s fine. I love helping out in any way I can,” he replied.

“Still though, I wanna invite ya’ over for dinner. My Granny Smith is an amazing cook,” Applejack offered.

“No thanks. I usually have dinner with Princess Shayla,” Merik said kindly.

“Alright, but any time you wanna come over, you’d always be welcome,” Applejack concluded.

Merik went to retrieve another barrel of cider. According to Rainbow Dash, this was supposed to be the best tasting drink in Ponyville. Merik couldn’t help but laugh at the whole situation. After all, he was in an entirely new world, but he felt right at home. It had probably helped that everypony already knew what a Power Ranger was.

Merik put down the barrel as his morpher began to buzz. “Merik, come quick. I my have found the Org Heart,” said Princess Shayla.

Merik went back outside. “Hey, Applejack. Sorry, but I gotta go. The princess thinks she found the Org Heart,” he said.

“That’s great. You go ahead, I can handle things here,” said Applejack.

With that, Merik ascended up to the Animarium. He was greeted by the princess. She was sitting by the pool. Merik looked into the pool and saw what looked like a castle made of crystals. “Where is that?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I thought we should ask Twilight. She’s been wanting to come up here anyhow,” Shayla responded.

“Alright. I’ll go get her.”

Meanwhile

Twilight was in her study, looking for anything about orgs or the Org Heart. She doubted she’d find anything, but it never hurt to look. She considered asking Princess Celestia if she knew anything, but if she couldn’t find it in her own library, she doubted it would be in Canterlot.

After a few minutes of searching, there was a bright flashing light. Twilight looked to see Merik, who was bowing to her. “That’s unnecessary,” she said, “you don’t need to bow to me.”

“No problem. If you’re not busy, there’s something that may require your attention on the Animarium,” Merik responded.

Twilight squeed. She had wanted to go to the Animarium ever since it appeared in Equestria. “Of course! I-I mean, I’d be ha-pay to help in any way I can,” she told Merik.

The two of the stepped outside the castle, and Merik spoke into his morpher. “Alright. She’s here. Bring us up.”

A bright light from above surrounded them. Twilight panicked a little at first, but she knew there wasn’t anything to be afraid of. The two of them shot into the air like a couple of bullets, and before Twilight knew it, she was in the middle of what looked like a forest. She looked around and saw a few quaint-looking statues. The Animarium was beautiful up close. She would have to tell her friends about this.

“Hello, princess. I apologize if you’ve been pulled away from anything because of this,” said Princess Shayla.

“I no, it’s fine. I’ve been dying for a chance to come up here. It’s beautiful, but the way. Do you really live here?” Twilight asked.

“Indeed I do. The Animarium has been my home for thousands of years,” Shayla responded.

“That’s amazing. Now, what did you need my help with?”

“We need you to identify a location in the sacred pool. It may be the location of the Org Heart,” Merik explained.

“Sounds easy enough. Let me see,” Twilight said as she looked into the sacred pool. It glistened beautifully just like everything else on this island. When the glistening had receded, it shown a location that was familiar to her. “I can’t tell if the Org Heart is here, but I can tell you that this is the Crystal Empire, home of Shining Armor and Cadance.”

“Is there anything we really need to know about the Crystal Empire?” Merik asked.

“As long as the ponies there don’t feel threatened, it should be fine. The Org Heart can’t hurt anypony, can it?” Twilight asked.

“On its own, no. It needs an org as a host for its power to be unleashed,” Shayla explained.

“Either way, we need to retrieve it before the generals get to it,” Merik added.

“If you wanted, I could go with you. I know the Crystal Empire like the back of my hoof,” Twilight pleaded.

“Sure. I could use all the help I can get,” said Merik.

“What about the other rangers?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, shouldn’t they be there as well?” Shayla added.

“They should stay here in case trouble arises,” Merik responded.

“Are you sure?” Shayla asked.

“Trust me, we’ll be fine on our own,” Merik assured her.

“If you say so,” Shayla said hesitantly.

Twilight and Merik descended back to the streets of Ponyville and made their way to the train station.

“How come you don’t want any help?” Twilight asked Merik.

“Like I said, they should stay here in case anything happens,” Merik said.

“Are you sure this doesn’t have anything to do with pride?” Twilight said with a slightly concerned tone.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Merik said, looking down at her.

Twilight shrunk back a little. “It’s just that, one of the last rangers that were here insisted that he could take care of everything on his own and ended up getting hurt,” she said.

Merik gave Twilight a little more space. “Trust me. This has absolutely nothing to do with pride. I just feel we shouldn’t get our hopes up in case the Org Heart isn’t actually in the Crystal Empire.”

Twilight and Merik finally boarded the train. The ride to the Crystal Empire was silent, save fore the sound of the train itself. Twilight knew Merik wasn’t telling her the entire story. He was hiding something. She took to her usual hobby when things weren’t as desirable as she wished: staring out the window.

She perked up once the Crystal Empire was finally in view, looking as shiny as ever. She and Merik exited the train, and Merik marveled at the sight. The entire kingdom was made of crystal, even the floor.

“If the Org Heart is here, we should ask my brother Shining Armor if he’s felt anything like it,” said Twilight.

“Sounds good,” Merik replied.

The two of them made their way to the castle. Merik heard a few of the ponies whispering about him. He wasn’t sure if he should be offended or flattered. Twilight took notice of this. “Don’t mind them. They’re just excited to see another ranger,” she told him.

“It’s still a little weird,” Merik said.

“Anyhow, here’s the Crystal Heart. This is what protects the Crystal Empire from the Frozen North,” Twilight explained as she and Merik got to the castle.

“Why is it called the ‘Frozen North’?” Merik asked.

“It’s a literal term. Freezing winds come in from the North,” Twilight responded, making Merik chuckle.

“Twily! It’s great to see you,” said a stallion with a white coat and blue mane.

“That’s my brother, Shining Armor,” said Twilight.

“Who’s this? Another Power Ranger?” Shining asked.

“Yep. This is Merik, the Lunar Wolf Wild Force Ranger,” Twilight said.

“It’s nice to meet another knight,” said Merik.

“I didn’t know you were a knight, Merik,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, I was Princess Shayla’s personal bodyguard,” said Merik.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you too,” said Shining. “Why exactly are you here though? Is there any danger to be aware of?”

“Not at the moment. We’re looking for something called the Org Heart. It’s brown, round, has vines coming out of it. Have you seen anything like it?” Merik asked.

“Actually, yeah. It appeared a few days ago right next to the Crystal Heart. We didn’t know if it was dangerous, so Sunburst took it with him to figure out what it was. He’s not in any trouble is he?” Shining explained.

“Hopefully not. We haven’t seen any trace of the generals, so I think we beat them to the heart,” said Merik.

“Thanks for the help, Shining. I wish I could stay, but I should really make sure everything’s okay,” Twilight said.

“It’s fine. I can handle this, no problem,” Merik said.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Okay, but be careful please.”

“I’ll be fine,” Merik assured her.

Twilight gave a huff and walked off with her brother. Merik sighed and started the short walk to Sunburst’s house. It wasn’t hard to find, it was basically a library after all. Merik knocked on the door. A unicorn with an orange coat and mane opened the door.

“Oh hello. I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting any company today,” Sunburst said.

“It’s fine. You must be Sunburst, right?” Merik asked, just to clarify.

“That’s me. And I assume you’re a Power Ranger?” Sunburst responded.

“That’s correct. Name’s Merik. I’m here about that artifact you found a few days ago. Could I see it?” Merik asked.

“O-Of course, I just have to find it. Come in if you like,” Sunburst responded, walking back into his house. Merik followed and saw that Twilight was right; it was just like a library. Merik looked around for a minute before Sunburst re-emerged with a round, brown artifact. “Here it is. I hope it’s what you’re looking for.”

Merik took a closer look and nodded. “This is it. Thanks for holding onto it for me,” he told Sunburst.

“I was also hoping you could tell me what it is and what it does?” Sunburst added.

“Sure. This is called the Org Heart. It grant invincibility to an org if it gets its claws on it. It’s my and the other rangers’ jobs to keep that from happening,” Merik explained. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ll have to be taking this with me.”

“Go ahead. I don’t want to be responsible for some monster becoming invincible,” Sunburst exclaimed.

Merik lifted the Org Heart and started toward the door. He was about to speak into his morpher when he was hit by a sudden blast. “I see you have gone through the trouble of finding the heart for us. I’ll be taking it with me, now,” said a green org.

“Nayzor! You’re never getting the Org Heart,” Merik responded.

“We’ll see about that, Merik...or should I say, Zen Aku,” Nayzor taunted.

“I am not that wolf,” Merik yelled back.

“Doesn’t matter. Either way, I’ll be walking away with that heart,” said Nayzor, firing another beam.

Merik ducked out of the way and drew his morpher. “Wild Access!” Merik morphed and charged into battle with Nayzor. The two clashed weapons. Nayzor quickly gained the upper hand with his fan by slashing Merik with a wind attack. Merik fired a laser back at Nayzor, but it was blocked with the fan. Merik switched his blaster to blade and used that to attack. It had a longer reach, so Merik was able to hit Nayzor without having to worry about getting hit. Eventually, Merik hit at the right angle and caused Nayzor to drop his fan. Merik capitalized on this by grabbing onto the fan before Nayzor could retrieve it.

Merik thought that Nayzor would be worried without his fan, but Nayzor just chuckled. Merik attacked him again, but Nayzor’s horn glow, and Merik was surrounded by a green aura. He flew into the wall and hit the ground repeatedly. Merik tried to blast Nayzor, but he just fired a counter attack from his horn. Nayzor then popped with a green light and teleported directly in from of Merik. Merik tried to get away, but Nayzor grabbed onto Merik with the green aura from before. Nayzor was about to finish Merik off, but a lavender blast, similar to the one Nayzor fired, struck Nayzor.

“Let him go!” Twilight yelled running in front of Merik.

“Twilight, get out of here. Nayzor’s too strong,” Merik told her, but Twilight stood her ground.

“How adorable, a puny alicorn trying to protect a Power Ranger,” Nayzor laughed. He then charged his horn and fired another shot. Twilight raised a shield, and, to her surprise, it was enough to block the attack. She lowered the shield and fired her own shot. Nayzor did the same, but his shield was broken. Nayzor teleported a little closer to Twilight and attacked her from there, but Twilight teleported into the air. Nayzor blasted at her several times, and Twilight avoided them and charged her own attack. She changed her flight path to aim right at Nayzor and fired. Nayzor was sent flying back and hit the ground.

“It seems I’ve underestimated you. I will gain a better control of the new magic and destroy you. But for now, I’m afraid I must be going,” Nayzor said before teleporting away.

Twilight ran up to Merik, who was making sure the Org Heart was still safe. “Are you alright?” Twilight asked.

“I’m fine. It’s just, Nayzor’s never had that kind of power before,” Merik responded.

“Is the Org Heart safe?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah. I made sure Nayzor didn’t get a hold of it during the fight. How did you do that, by the way?” Merik said.

“I’ve been working on my combat skills with Starlight ever since the Dino Rangers showed up in Equestria. This is bad though. If Nayzor’s never had those powers on Earth, he could be using Equestrian magic,” said Twilight.

“And if Nayzor has those powers, the other generals might have them too,” Merik added.

“We need to get back and warn the others,” Twilight said.

“Right, let’s get going,” Merik responded.

With that, the two of them made their way to the train station.

But you can teach him to improve the old ones

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“I can’t believe Nayzor beat me so easily,” said Merik.

“Don’t get down on yourself. You didn’t know he would have that kind of power,” replied Cole.

The rangers were discussing the issue of the orgs’ new power. “Maybe we can severe their horns?” suggested Danny.

“We’d never get close enough,” said Taylor.

“Hold on. Nayzor was able to use magic, but the org from before wasn’t,” said Max.

“You’re right. So maybe only the generals can use magic,” added Alyssa.

“How can we use that to our advantage?” asked Taylor.

“I don’t know, but it’s a start. Something tells me we’re gonna be getting a little help from the locals here,” said Cole.

Meanwhile, in another room, Twilight was relaying the events of what happened at the Crystal Empire to her friends.

“Did he seem good at using magic, or just mediocre?” asked Starlight.

“He seemed to know what he was doing. Either way, I’m surprised I was able to fight him off so easily,” said Twilight.

“We’ve fought evil before. It’s definitely not invincible,” said Applejack.

“Yeah. We can kick its butt any day.all they have to do is show their ugly face and BAM!” Rainbow yelled.

“The problem is, even if we can out magic them, we’ll have no chance in hand to hoof combat. I know a little, but not as much as the rangers,” said Starlight.

“Maybe we can get the Jungle Rangers’ help. They’re immune to magic,” suggested Fluttershy.

“They wouldn’t be able to get here. Even if they could, it would be for naught of the generals got the Org Heart,” said Twilight.

“I don’t see why we’re holding on to that thing rather than trying to destroy it,” said Rarity.

“I already tried. Nothing has been working,” responded Twilight.

Rarity was about to speak up when Cole came into the room. “Rendex knows the Org Hear is here. Hide it; we’ll keep him busy,” he said.

“Don’t worry, Cole. You can count on us,” said Rainbow.

Cole went back out. He and his friends ran outside to face Rendex. “Well well well, look who decided to show their faces. You don’t stand a chance against me,” said Rendex.

“That’s what you said last time we fought. And don’t you remember: we defeated you then too,” replied Taylor.

“I didn’t Have this power that I have now. And I know about your last encounter with magic,” Rendex taunted.

“Wild Access!” The Wild Rangers morphed and jumped into battle with Rendex, who drew his daggers. Cole and Danny tried to use their combined weapon strength to attack, but Rendex blocked them both slashed them with his daggers. Max used his fins to engage in battle for a moment until Rendex blasted him at point blank. Taylor and Allyssa used their own weapons to slash at Rendex, but he avoided them. He then used his daggers to disarm them and blasted them as well. Merik tried to blast Rendex from a distance, but Rendex countered.

“I don’t even need magic to defeat you,” Rendex said as Merik switched to blade mode and attacked with that. Render caught the attack with his daggers, and the two went at it. Cole got back into the fight, catching Rendex off guard long enough for Merik to hit him with the blade. Cole then used his own weapon to hit Rendex square in the eye. It was at this point that Rendex’s horn began to glow. Cole and Merik were enveloped in a red aura and lifted off the ground. They went flying back into a house and hit the ground. “Nayzor was right. Magic does make defeating you easier.”

“It doesn’t matter whether or not you have magic. We’ll defeat you either way,” said Cole. He charged back at Rendex, who looked as if he was preparing to hit Cole at close range. His horn glowed once again, and he teleported directly in front of Cole to unleash his attack, sending Cole back over Merik.

“They need our help,” said Rainbow.

“I don’t know. He seems a bit stronger than Nayzor did,” said Twilight.

“How? From what you told us, Nayzor did all of the same things,” said Starlight.

“But he didn’t have any actual weapon like Rendex does. How are we supposed to get in close without being hit?” asked Twilight.

“We’ll never know if we don’t try,” said Applejack.

“You’re right,” twilight said before Turing to Rarity, “Can you look after the Org Heart?”

“It’ll be no problem, darling. Now you get out there and help them,” replied Rarity.

With that, Twilight, Starlight, Applejack, and Rainbow ran out to help the Wild Rangers. “We’ll draw his attention. You two sneak attack him with yer magic,” said Applejack as Starlight and Twilight teleported to another location.

Rainbow and Applejack ran out to face Rendex, who was making mincemeat out of the rangers. “How adorable. Two ponies without any magic two their names think they can stand up to me,” Rendex taunted.

“We don’t need magic to kick you ugly butt,” said Rainbow.

“Hm, I seem to recall six multi-colored warriors claiming the same thing before I defeated them,” Rendex replied.

Seemingly in response, Merik and the other rangers got up to join Applejack and Rainbow. “You haven’t defeated us and you never will, Rendex. It doesn’t matter how strong you think you are; good will always triumph,” said Merik.

“Sounds like someone’s just trying to shake off his humiliating defeat from yesterday, aren’t you, ‘Zen-Aku’,” said Rendex.

“I am not Zen-Aku!” Merik yelled.

“Oh please, you’ll never be anything more than that wolf who was sealed away all those years ago,” said Rendex.

“What’s he talkin’ about, Merik? Who’s Zen-Aku?” Applejack asked.

“Merik, don’t listen to him,” said Cole.

“What’s wrong? The wolf hasn’t become a scaredy-cat has he?” Rendex taunted.

Before Merik could respond, Twilight and Starlight appeared on top of Rendex, catching him off guard once again. He tried to blast them, but they teleported away and attacked him. He tried to use his magic, but Starlight used a spell to make Rendex’s horn go limp. Rendex drew his daggers and charged as Twilight raised a shield, which Rendex slashed right through. Twilight was hit hard by Rendex’s daggers, and Starlight was in no position to defend herself. Rendex was about to attack her when Merik jumped in and attacked.

“You and me. We finish thesis right here, right now,” said Merik.

“Sounds good to me,” replied Rendex.

Merik and Rendex charged at each other, meeting in the middle. Starlight’s spell was still holding up, so Rendex was left to using his daggers. He tried to use them to disarm Merik, but Merik stood his ground. He used his sword to jab at Rendex and keep his distance. He switched back to blaster mode and shot him with that.

“I’ve had enough. What do you say we finish this with one last shot?” Rendex challenged.

“Fine by me,” said Merik.

With that, Rendex’s daggers began to glow and grow. He threw them at Merik, and Merik caught them. He held them a small distance away from his chest as he heard Rendex’s voice through them.

“You’re nothing but that wolf who nearly destroyed the rangers. You’ll never be anything but Zen-Aku. Why don’t you just accept defeat? After all, you can’t teach an old wolf new tricks.”

Merik could feel himself being pushed back. He didn’t know how long he could keep this up.

“Merik, you can do this. You are not Zen-Aku. You are Merik, the Lunar Wolf Ranger,” Merik could hear his friends telling him.

“You’re right. Zen-Aku is a being of the past. I’m not gonna let that get to me now,” said Merik as he began to push back against the dagger.

“What?! Impossible!” Rendex shouted as Merik gained control of the dagger. Merik threw the dagger on the ground and prepared his own attack.

“You were right, Rendex. You can’t teach an old wolf new tricks, but you can teach him to improve the old ones,” Merik said. With that, Merik summoned a green platform that cut through Rendex’s torso, keeping him in place. Merik set three orbs, similar to the ones the other rangers had, on the platform. He pulled back his sword and took aim at Rendex. Merik pushed his sword forward, sending the orbs rolling quickly at Rendex. With one final cry of desperation, the orbs hit Rendex, causing him to explode.

Merik demoprhed and faced his friends. “Are you guys alright?”

“We’re fine, but that was awesome,” said Max.

“Yeah. You sure showed him who’s boss,” Taylor agreed.

Starlight let go of her spell as Twilight got back up. “Are you okay, Twilight?” Merik asked.

“I’m fine. Rendex didn’t hit anything important,” Twilight responded.

“Merik, what was Rendex talking about? Who’s Zen-Aku?” Rainbow asked.

Merik hung his head in embarrassment. Before he could answer, Rendex reappeared and began to grow.

“I assume you want to take this one?” offered Cole.

“Yeah, man. Thanks,” Merik said in response.

With that, Merik morphed again and pulled out the three orbs from before. He put them in his blaster and fired them into the air. They glowed, and three new Wild Zords took their places. There was a free crocodile zord, and purple hammerhead zord, and a silver wolf zord. The crocodile folded up its tail and reached its legs out. The wolf and the hammerhead folded in their limbs and attached to the crocodile. A head grew out the top of the combination. The Predazord was now ready to fight.

“Woah, Merik has his own Megazord?” Twilight said.

“Technically, we call it the Predazord,” Cole clarified.

Rendex drew his daggers and attacked while Merik got his own weapon: a staff. The fin on the end of it fired at Rendex and hit him repeatedly. Then Merik turned the staff to attack with the crocodile tale. It hit Rendex hard, causing him to drop his daggers. Rendex tried to use magic, but Merik swung the staff again at his horn. It broke off, leaving Rendex defenseless. Merik raised the crocodile head in fron of the Predazord and it fired a predator wave at Rendex, finally defeating him.

Merik jumped down to the ground and powered down. “I guess you guys were right. I shouldn’t let one fight get me down.”

“You’re right. And you know what? Nayzor and Mandilock are next,” agreed Cole.

Meanwhile

“I can’t believe Rendex was defeated so easily. I thought you said this world gave us new powers,” accused Mandilock.

“It does. Don’t worry, we’ll get the heart one way or another. We just have to be patient,” said Nayzor.

Thunderous Spirits of the past (part one)

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“Sounds rough. I wish I could help you, but I have no idea how to get there,” said Casey. He and Starlight were chatting through the tablets again, and Starlight was telling of the current dilemma.

“It’s fine. According to Cole, the red ranger, there are eleven more Wild Zords we haven’t even seen yet,” Starlight replied.

Casey nodded. Something outside Starlight’s window caught his eye. It was Rainbow Dash practicing her tricks. “Hey, just out of curiosity, have you told Rainbow that you have a way to communicate with me?”

“Um, no. Why do you ask?” Starlight responded, sounding confused.

“I just can’t help but feel bad for her,” Casey said.

“Why’s that?”

“Didn’t you say she had a thing for the Red Dino Ranger?”

Starlight thought a bit before responding. “I think I see where you’re going with this. You feel bad that I can contact you, but Rainbow can’t contact him?”

“Yeah,” Casey said. He then thought of an idea. “Hey, what was his name again? The Red Dino Ranger?”

“Um, his name was Connor. Why?”

“Do you know where I can find him?”

“I’d start in Reefside if anywhere. Where are you going with this?”

“You’ll see,” Casey said, writing something down on a piece of paper. “Have Rainbow here next time we talk. I gotta go do something real quick. Talk to you tomorrow?”

“Um, sure. Bye,” Starlight said, turning off her side of the tablet.

Casey turned off his side, grabbed a coat, and walked toward the exit of the school. On the way, he ran into Jared.

“Hey man. Where are you going?” Jared asked.

“Oh, um, I’m, uh, going to Reefside to meet someone. It’s kind of a long story. Speaking of which, can you take over my classes for today and tomorrow?” Casey asked.

“Sure, man, no problem,” Jared responded.

“Thanks,” Casey said, walking out the door.

Unknown to Casey, he was being watched by two of his old adversaries.

“He’s on the move. This could make things even easier,” said one.

“You go after him. I’ll go to Equestria and get the gem we’ll need,” said the other.

With that, one teleported away as the other swiftly followed after Casey.

Meanwhile

Connor was in a rather sad mood. Even though it had been two months since he’d been to Equestria, he still wasn’t over Rainbow Dash. In fact, he hadn’t even left Reefside since the whole incident.

‘No powers, no zords...and no Rainbow Dash,’ Connor thought to himself. Sure, he was human, and she...wasn’t, but why would that matter? He never felt these feelings for any human, so who cared? His friends understood. Even if they didn’t, Connor didn’t care what anyone else thought.

On his way out of the restaurant he was in, Connor heard a car pull up. He also saw someone who looked to be at his age get out and walk up to him.

“Are you Connor McKnight?” he asked.

Connor was confused. “Um, yeah. Who are you?”

“I’m Casey, Casey Rhodes. Jungle Fury, Red Ranger. I also know that you’re the Red Dino Ranger,” the young man replied.

“Oh, uh, nice to meet you, I guess,” Connor replied.

“I have something I think you’ll like if you come with me,” Casey offered.

“Um, why me?”

“Trust me, I have a feeling you’re gonna love it.”

“Fine, I’ve got nothing better to do,” Connor said skeptically.

Connor got into Casey’s car, and the two drove off. They drove for a while, until they pulled up to what looked like a school.

“Dude, why are we here?” Connor asked.

“Trust me, you’ll see,” Casey assured.

Connor rolled his eyes as he and Casey got out of the car. As soon as they did, they were both attacked. Connor looked up to see a golden, two-legged turtle.

“Is this your little ‘surprise’?” Connor asked sarcastically.

Casey paid him no mind as he got back to his feet. “Snapper? What are you doing here?”

“Nothing much. Just doing what I do best: cause trouble,” the monster replied.

Casey moved a little closer to Connor. “Sorry about this, man. I didn’t even know he was still alive. Can you still morph? I don’t think we’re getting out of this without a fight,” he said.

“Um, no, I can’t morph. But I can still fight,” Connor responded.

“Alright, let’s do it,” Casey said. With that, he and Connor charged to fight with Snapper.

They were both having a really hard time. Connor tried to attack from the back, but Snapper saw that coming. Snapper turned around and hit Connor in the gut. Casey struck, but Snapper blocked it and knocked Casey back. Connor tried again to attack, and Casey even joined him, but Snapper was to fast to hit.

“Enough playing around,” Casey said as he pulled out his red sunglasses. He put them on and pressed the little button, shouting, “Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed!” Casey morphed into the Red Jungle Ranger.

Snapper went after Casey after knocking Connor down, and the two went at it. Casey was able to hit a lot harder, but Snapper was still able to counter. Snapper found an opening and struck, sending Casey flying. Snapper then wasted no time using his Rinsin Power to kick Casey while he was down. Casey demorphed. Connor tried one more time to attack Snapper, but Snapper just grabbed onto his neck and picked Casey up by the neck as well.

“How ironic. I was just gonna grab one of you, but now I have two red rangers,” Snapper bellowed.

“You’re not gonna get away with this, Snapper,” Casey said weakly.

“You’re so pathetic. Luckily for you, I need your strength to help me with something,” Snapper replied. With that, he used his power to teleport away.

Meanwhile

Rainbow Dash was flying through the sky as fast as she could. She was determined to pull off this trick. There was absolutely nothing that could stop her.

She curved to fly toward the ground and folded her wings in. Once the ground seemed close, she quickly turned her body and opened up her wings. She flew back toward the sky, doing several flips in the process.

When she landed on the ground, she heard clapping. She looked around to see where it was coming from and almost fainted when she saw who it was.

“Connor! What are you doing here?” Rainbow yelled excitedly.

“Well I couldn’t leave my best friend for long, now could I?” Connor responded.

Rainbow’s cheeks flushed bright red. “R-Really? I-I’m your...best friend?” she managed to stammer out.

“ Of course. Why? Was there something you wanted to tell me about that?” Connor smirked.

Rainbow opened her mouth to say ‘yes,’ but stopped herself, thinking of an idea. “Actually...I was kind of thinking...”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe we could be a little more...than friends?” Rainbow asked sheepishly.

There was an eerie silence. Rainbow looked to the ground and squinted hard, hoping Connor would say yes, or do something that meant yes. Instead, she just heard laughing.

Rainbow looked up and saw Connor laughing hard. His face was red from how hard he was laughing. “What’s...what’s so funny?” she asked.

“Seriously? We’re not even the same species. You really thought I would have feelings for you?” Connor said.

“Um, but...but w-what about the...the kiss? From r-right..right before you left?” Rainbow said, a tear forming in her eye.

“That was just a moment of weakness. I would never love really a pony,” Connor said, still laughing.

“Why? Why are you making fun of me? I thought we were friends,” Rainbow said, her voice a bit shaky and tears beginning to flow.

“Because love is for losers. Like you,” Connor said, pointing at Rainbow.

Rainbow squinted in pain. She then heard more voices surrounding her, laughing at her. She looked around to see the other Dino Rangers, as well as her own friends. They were all saying things like, “You’re lame,” or, “Humans can’t love ponies.”

Rainbow tried to fly away, but her wings wouldn’t open up. She tried harder to open them up before resulting to running away. When she tried to get out of the circle of those laughing at her, she was just pushed back into the middle and teased some more.

“No. This isn’t happening. You’re my friends. You wouldn’t make fun of me like this. This has to be a dream,” Rainbow said to herself.

“Indeed this is. However, I must say, there are not many nightmares to tend to during the day, young Rainbow Dash,” said a new voice that drained out all the laughter.

Rainbow looked up and saw a black and blue alicorn descending toward her.

“P-Princess Luna?” Rainbow said.

“There is no need for this worry, Rainbow Dash. You were right: your friends do not make fun of you for loving a human,” Luna responded.

Rainbow took a deep breath and sighed. She looked back at Connor and saw him frozen, but still with a look of laughter. “But why? Why am I having these nightmares now instead of when Connor left?”

“Many dreams come as warnings. Perhaps this is one of those instances,” Luna suggested.

“What should I do about this? Should I tell the others?” Rainbow asked.

“That is not my choice to make. What you do when you awake is your own decision,” Luna said.

“Alright. I think I should probably wake up now. Thanks for the help, Princess Luna,” Rainbow said. With that, Rainbow opened her eyes, and she was in her own bed. She sat up and heard Princess Shayla singing. “Best alarm clock ever,” Rainbow said to herself.

She got up and flew out over Ponyville. She looked down and thought of Princess Luna’s words. ‘Maybe I should tell the others,’ she thought to herself. She looked toward Twilight’s castle and saw Starlight walking out of it. ‘Or maybe I should talk to Starlight about it first. After all, she did have a similar fling with Casey.’

Rainbow flew up to Starlight. “Hey, Starlight, do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Ask away. I’ve got nothing but time,” Starlight replied.

Rainbow looked around to make sure nopony else was watching. “Did you ever feel like you were doing something wrong when you were with Casey?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean like...did you ever feel like you thought other ponies would judge you for falling in love with a...you know, a...human,” Rainbow said sheepishly.

Starlight chuckled a little in response. “Not at all. What’s going on?” Rainbow didn’t answer her. “It has something to do with Connor, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

“Come on, I was on my way to Sugarcube Corner. You can tell me about it on the way,” Starlight offered.

The two of them made their way through town as Rainbow told Starlight about her nightmare. Starlight quickly understood what Rainbow meant earlier.

“Yeah, no. We wouldn’t make fun of you for loving Connor. And I know for a fact that Connor wouldn’t do something like that to you,” Starlight said.

“Really? You think so?” Rainbow asked.

“I know so,” Starlight replied with another chuckle.

Rainbow chuckled as well and looked to the streets of Ponyville. What she saw wasn’t something she expected. There was a swarm of Rinshi attacking the citizens. Starlight looked as well and went wide-eyed.

“Rinshi? What are they doing here?” Starlight asked.

“I don’t know, but it can’t be good,” replied Rainbow. “You go get the rangers; I’ll do what I can here.”

Starlight nodded and teleported away. Rainbow flew above the Rinshi and dove into the middle, taking many of the Rinshi down. The Rinshi tried to strike back, but Rainbow was too fast. She zipped through the group that was trying to attack her.

“Wild Access!” Rainbow heard the rangers say. The six of them jumped in to fight the Rinshi as Twilight and the others came up to Rainbow.

“What are they even doing here?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, the Overlords were defeated, so there’s no reason for ‘em to be attackin’,” added Applejack.

“I have no idea, but we should probably help them. And remember, magic doesn’t work,” Rainbow replied, motioning toward the Wild Rangers.

She and the others went into battle alongside the rangers. Twilight was having a bit more trouble than before since she wasn’t able to use her magic. Luckily, her flight gave her a distinct advantage. Applejack’s strength proved to more than enough to be able to take the Rinshi down. She simply bucked and they went down. Cole and the others weren’t having very much trouble. They had experience fighting enemies like this, even if there was no sign of them in Equestria.

Cole used his lion puncher to easily punch down any Rinshi that got near him. They seemed to have a really high balance, so defeating them wasn’t very hard. Taylor used her eagle saber to slash down the Rinshi. Save for a few spears, the Rinshi didn’t have any weapons, leaving them open to her attacks. Max used his shark fins to keep a steady defense while staying on the attack. All he really had to do was keep his weapons close and block any incoming attacks. Danny used his axe the send as many Rinshi flying as he could. Rinshi were a lot stronger than he thought, but that didn’t really matter. Alyssa’s baton was enough to bring down any and all incoming attacks from the Rinshi. The baton may not have seemed like a sufficient weapon, but it served well enough. Merik used the long reach of his sword to jab the Rinshi down without having to get too close. He was also able to use his blaster to keep his distance.

“Where did these things even come from?” yelled Twilight, still fighting.

“I have no idea. I just looked in the street and they were here,” Rainbow replied.

“Where ever they came from, it can’t be good,” said Applejack.

Before anyone could respond, a huge bolt of lightning shot up from the ground, taking out the rest of the Rinshi and hitting the rangers and ponies in the process.

“I have a feeling we’re about to find out where those Rinshi came from,” said Cole.

In the lightning’s place, there were now two more Power Rangers, both wearing red suits. One had red and white triangle patterns, and the other had red and black stripe patterns.

“Connor? Casey? What are you guys doing here?” Twilight asked with excitement. All she got in response were a few growls from the two rangers. They also shifted positions to look like they were ready to fight.

“Guys? What’s wrong?” Rainbow asked, a bit confused. In response, Connor pulled out his tyrannostaff and Casey pulled out his sharks sabers. They both got into fighting stances.

“What are you doing? It’s us; your friends,” Starlight pleaded.

“I don’t think they can hear you. And I don’t think we can avoid a fight with them,” Merik said.

“What are you talking about? They would never attack us,” said Rainbow.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” said Taylor, pointing at Connor and Casey. Sure enough, they were charging at them, ready for a fight.

“I don’t think we have a choice,” said Cole.

“I don’t believe it,” said Twilight.

“I’m sorry, but we’re gonna have to fight them. All we can do is hope that’s not really them,” Merik said.

With that, the six Wild Rangers charged into battle with the Red Dino Ranger and the Red Jungle Ranger.

Thunderous Spirits of the past (part two)

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Cole, Taylor, and Merik fought with Casey, while Max, Danny, and Alyssa went after Connor.

Twilight, Starlight, and Applejack were still trying to wrap their heads around what was happening. Why were Connor and Casey acting like this? Didn’t they become friends during their visits?

Rainbow Dash, however, was fuming. She had guessed that her dream was a warning for this.

Casey used his Jungle Sabers to block the oncoming attacks from Cole and Taylor as Merik snuck around him. Merik tried to attack, but Casey ducked, so Merik ended up hitting Taylor. Cole went in for another punch, but Casey dodged it and grabbed hold of Cole’s arm. Casey then landed a few kicks on Cole’s gut before letting go and kicking him down. Merik tried blasting Casey, but Casey blocked them with his sabers. Taylor drew her own Crystal Saber and went at it with Casey. They were equally matched for a moment as Merik tried to capitalize. He drew his sword and swung at Casey. Somehow, Casey saw it coming and countered with a kick. He then ducked under Taylor’s attack and slashed her from behind. Merik tried to attack again, but Casey managed to kick Merik’s Weapon out of his hand, leaving him open for attack. Luckily, Cole managed to knock Casey off balance as Merik regained his weapon. Casey put his sabers together and slashed all three of them, one by one.

Connor used his staff to block Danny’s axe attack. He then ducked and let Danny trip over him. Max attacked with his fins, but Connor used his staff to confuse Max long enough for Connor to land a solid shot on him. Alyssa went in for an attack with her baton, but Connor blocked it. He then tilted his staff, causing Alyssa to lose her balance and become vulnerable as Connor attacked again. Danny got back up and tried to attack with his axe, but Connor did a spin, causing Danny to trip past him and allowing Connor to strike again. Max attacked with his fins, but Connor blocked again and swept upwards with his staff and slashed Max twice with it.

“That’s it. I’m getting in there to help,” said Rainbow, starting to bolt at Connor.

Starlight quickly caught Rainbow’s tail in her magic, keeping her from going anywhere. “What are you thinking? You can’t fight Connor.”

“Oh yeah? Watch me!” Rainbow said through gritted teeth. She tried again to fly at Connor, but Starlight’s magical grip wouldn’t budge.

“You don’t actually think that Connor would really do this do you?” questioned Starlight, struggling to hold onto Rainbow.

“She’s right. Connor’s our friend. He would never do anything to hurt us,” said Twilight, joining Starlight.

“Look at what he’s doing now! Stop trying to hold me back!” Rainbow yelled.

“He doesn’t even have his powers remember? That can’t possibly be him,” Starlight said, hoping that would calm Rainbow down.

Connor turned his attention towards the three of them and pulled out his blaster. He took aim at Twilight and fired. Starlight saw this and raised a shield to block the attack, letting Rainbow go in the process. Rainbow flew as fast as she could at Connor. He grabbed hold of her with the T-Rex head in his staff and threw her onto the ground. He went for another attack, but luckily, Danny got back up and attacked Connor, distracting him.

Starlight ran up to Rainbow. “Come on. You’re gonna get seriously hurt if you try to fight him,” Starlight tried to convince Rainbow.

Rainbow took no mind of Starlight’s words as she flew into the air and above her. Starlight tried to grab her again with her magic, but she felt Connor kick her onto her stomach. She tried to get away, but Connor stuck the T-Rex head on her horn and held her down with his foot on the back of her head. Connor then began to yank the staff back, causing Starlight to scream in pain. She felt her horn’s magic being blocked by the staff, and Connor was too strong to try and fight, so she was helpless. She felt the pain in her horn begin to increase as Connor pulled harder on his staff. She knew it was only a matter of time before her horn would crack and break off. Rainbow tried to fly in and knock Connor off Starlight, but Connor drew his blaster and fired at Rainbow. She managed to dodge it, but the blast still clipped her wing. She hit the ground next to them with tears in her eyes and a singed feather on her left wing.

Cole went at it again with Casey, giving him absolutely no openings to attack. He threw punch after punch with his Lion Fist. He was determined to get Casey to the ground and find a way to demorph him, but Casey kept moving out of the way. Eventually, Casey grabbed hold of Cole’s arm. The two struggled for power for a bit until Starlight screamed in agony again. Casey turned his head to see what was happening. “Starlight?” Cole heard Casey say. Cole broke free of Casey’s grip and went for another punch, but Casey disappeared in a red glow right before Cole made contact.

Starlight clenched her eyes shut as hard as she could in anticipation of what was about to happen. She felt the weight of Connor’s foot come off her back. Her horn still stung hard from Connor’s staff. She slowly looked up and saw Connor and Casey were both gone. She also saw Rainbow in the ground next to her, crying and holding her wing.

“Starlight?! Are you okay?” Alyssa asked, running up to her.

“My horn kind of stings, but I’ll be fine. Besides, I doubt it compares to what Rainbow’s feeling,” Starlight said, motioning to Rainbow.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, joining them.

“Can I explain at the castle? I really want to get some ice on my horn,” Starlight replied.

“Sure,” said Twilight. She lifted Rainbow onto her back using her magic, and they all made their way to the castle.

Meanwhile

Casey took a quick breath before he was punched against the wall.

“You’re lucky I don’t destroy you right now, Red Jungle Ranger. Fortunately for you, your use to us has not yet run out,” said Scorch. He held Casey up against the wall as Snapper put the chains back on his hands and legs.

“It seems making Spirit Rangers works with any kind of Power Ranger,” said Snapper to Scorch.

“Yes. And even better, those Wild Rangers have no idea what to do,” Scorch replied.

“All we need to do now is wait for their power to recharge,” said Snapper. After that, he and Scorch left Casey and Connor, who were both still chained to the wall.

Casey looked over at Connor. “I’m so sorry, Connor. I shouldn’t have dragged you back into this. This is all my fault,” Casey said.

“Don’t sweat it, man. Are you alright?” Connor asked.

“Dude, look at us,” Casey said, looking toward the ground. “We’re chained to a wall, being forced to attack our friends. Specifically, our marefriends.”

“Our ‘marefriends? What are you talking about?” Connor asked, sounding confused.

Casey took a deep breath before responding. “I know about you and Rainbow Dash. I was brought here, and I know you were brought here too. I also know what happened between the two of you. I had a similar fling with Starlight, but I still had a way to contact her after. I felt bad for Rainbow, so I thought I could get you so you two could see each other again,” he explained.

Connor looked down at himself. He had no idea anyone other than his own team knew about him and Rainbow. He looked back at Casey and realized he was just trying to do him a favor.

“Thanks. And look at it this way,” Connor said, getting Casey’s attention. “When we get out of this, which we will, we’ll both get to see them again.”

Casey smiled. “That just leaves the question: how are we gonna get out of here?”

Connor sighed. “Not a clue,” he confessed.

Meanwhile

“Wow. Rainbow really thought we would make fun of her for having a crush on Connor?” Rarity asked.

“As far as I could tell,” Starlight replied.

“She knows we would never really do that. Although, I can’t even begin to imagine what she’s going through now,” said Applejack.

“Yeah. I mean, she had a crush on a human who turned out to attack her and almost ripped Starlight’s horn off with a staff,” Pinkie said nonchalantly, earning glares from the other ponies in the room.

“I just wish we knew what was wrong with Casey and Connor,” Fluttershy said.

“I ran every magical analysis I could think of,” said Twilight.

“And? What’d you come up with?” asked Starlight.

“Nothing. Whatever’s happening to them isn’t magic,” replied Twilight.

“Makes sense. Isn’t Casey immune to magic since he’s a Pai Zhua Master an’ all?” Applejack asked.

“I forgot about that. That being said, magic isn’t gonna help us this time,” Twilight responded.

“If only there was a way to contact the other Jungle Rangers or Dino Rangers,” said Fluttershy.

Starlight’s eyes went wide. She didn’t even think of using the tablet to call for help. Rainbow looked over from the corner she was sitting in and saw her face. “Is everything alright, Starlight?” Rainbow asked curiously.

Starlight blushed and tried to put on a convincing smile. “Yeah, just fine. I, uh, I gotta go do something,” she said as she started to leave the room.

Before she got out the door, a large, bright portal opened up in front of her. A figure stepped out of it, and they all immediately recognized the man.

“Hey girls; I’m back,” said Trent.

“Trent!” the seven of them said. Pinkie lunged at Trent, causing him to stumble back and fall.

“Okay, Pinkie, I missed you too,” Trent said, laughing.

Pinkie got off Trent as he got up. He was quickly crowded by the seven ponies. “It’s great to see you again! What are you doing here?” Twilight asked.

“I had a vision of what was going on here. I told my dad, and we got to work building a device to help me get back here. He also made me this.” Trent displayed his wrist to the girls, and there was a device similar to his White Dino Morpher. “It’s not the exact same as my old morpher and Dino Gem, but it’s enough to replicate my old powers,” Trent explained.

“That’s great, but what about Casey?” Rainbow asked.

“Who’s Casey?” Trent asked.

“About a week after you guys left, another team of rangers came to Equestria. It was the Power Rangers Jungle Fury. Casey was their Red Ranger. He’s here too, and whatever’s going on with Connor is happening to him too,” Twilight explained.

Trent pulled out a large device in response. “Well, my dad did make this to try and save Connor, so maybe it will work for ‘Casey’ too,” Trent offered.

“It’s not magical, is it?” Starlight asked.

“Nope. It’s pure technology. Why do you ask?” Trent inquired in response.

“Casey’s completely immune to magic,” Twilight explained.

“That’s alright. I shouldn’t have too many problems. As long as I can get a clear shot, I’ll be fine. That being said, is there another team of rangers here right now?”

“As a matter of fact, there is. The Wild Force Rangers,” Rarity answered.

“Alright then. I’ll have a quick chat with them, and we should be good to go,” Trent said, putting the device in his pack.

“I’ll get up to the Animarium and tell the Wild Rangers what’s going on,” said Twilight. Before she could leave the room, however, another portal opened up. Another human stepped through, but it wasn’t one anypony had ever seen before.

“So,” the man said to himself, “this is Equestria. Casey was right, it does feel a lot different than Earth.”

“Um, who are ya’? And how do ya’ know who Casey is?” Applejack asked, suspicious of the new human.

Before he could answer, Starlight spoke up. “Wait a second. Are you Jared?”

“That’s me. Casey’s told me a lot about this place,” the human responded. He looked around the room and saw the seven ponies, along with Trent.

“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Trent, the White Dino Ranger,” Trent said, extending his hand.

Jared shook it and responded. “Nice to meet you too.” Jared turned to the other ponies in the room. “Don’t tell me, let me guess.” He walked up to Fluttershy. “Butterfly tattoos, yellow fur, and a pink mane. You must be Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy giggled in response. “That’s me. It’s nice to meet you,” she said in her trademark soft voice.

Jared moved on to Applejack. “Let’s see. A cowgirl hat, a blonde mane, and a southern accent. You’re Applejack aren’t ya’?”

Applejack nodded her head. “That’d be me. It’s nice to make your acquaintance, Jared.”

Jared went up to Rarity. “White fur, gorgeous mane. You must be Rarity.”

Rarity blushed in response. “That’s correct, Jared. It’s nice to meet you.”

Jared moved up to Pinkie, who was bouncing up and down in excitement. “All pink, and to quote Casey ‘the definition of excitement’. You’re Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie shook Jared’s hand rapidly, making him laugh. “That’s me. I can’t wait to get Casey and Connor back so I can throw you all a party after all throwing parties is-“ Pinkie was cut off by Jared.

Jared walked up to Rainbow Dash, who was sitting on her throne and not really listening to what was going on. “And you must be Rainbow Dash,” said Jared.

Rainbow looked at him. “Huh? Oh yeah, that’s me. Nice to meet you,” she said half-heartedly.

Trent bent down to meet Twilight at ear level. “What’s with Rainbow?” he whispered.

“She’s upset about whole ‘Connor’s evil’ thing,” Twilight responded.

“I get it. Connor and the others treated me the exact same way when I was evil,” Trent said.

Jared was moving over to them next. “And let me guess: you’re Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight smiled. “That’s right. It’s nice to meet you. Casey told us a lot about you,” she responded.

“Yeah, well I can answer your questions later,” Jared joked, making Twilight roll her eyes.

“That just leaves one,” said Jared, moving on to Starlight. “You must be Starlight Glimmer. Casey’s told me a whole lot about you. It’s nice to finally meet you in person.”

Starlight blushed at the mention of Casey. “Yeah, you too.”

“Alright, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk business,” said Jared, standing up.

“Well, Trent here’ll fill you in on the details. I gotta go tell the Wild Rangers what’s going on, so I’ll be right back,” said Twilight. With that, she took her leave out the window.

Trent pulled up the device from earlier. “This is set to the same frequency that decorrupted my Dino Gem when I was evil. The plan is to wait for a clear shot and hit them with this. Since you know Casey, you can probably be the one to subdue him long enough to cure him.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jared said in response.

Just then, there was a familiar lightning blast outside the castle. Everyone looked out the window to see Connor and Casey were back and looking to fight.

“Let’s do it,” Trent said. Jared nodded in response.

They all rushed outside and stood in front of the two Red Rangers. “Remember, I’ll hit Connor first, while you keep Casey busy,” Trent told Jared.

“Alright good luck,” Jared responded.

With that, Trent activated his morpher, and Jared summoned his spirit.

“White Ranger! Dino Power!”
“Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed!”

The two rangers morphed as Casey and Connor charged. Jared met Casey with a swift sweep of the leg. Casey jumped over Jared and went for a kick. Jared grabbed onto Casey’s foot and threw him into the air. Casey quickly recovered and hit Jared with his palm. Casey then went in for another kick, putting Jared on his back.

Trent took aim with the device, but Connor drew his blaster and fired at it. Trent turned to block the attacks and was hit in the process, causing him to drop the device. Connor went to blast it again, but Trent kicked it away, causing Connor to attack him instead. Connor pulled his staff and jabbed at Trent with the T-Rex head. Trent recovered and drew his Drago-saber, slashing at Connor as quick as he could. Connor stayed low in an attempt to avoid Trent’s attacks, and he got the upper hand. Connor threw an uppercut as he jumped, sending Trent flying.

Starlight picked up the device with her magic and levitated it away from the action. “How do I use this thing?” she asked.

“Look for some kinda trigger, ah’d guess,” Applejack responded.

Starlight tilted the device with her magic and looked for the trigger. She quickly found it and took aim at Connor. “I can’t keep it aimed straight while firing it. One of you are gonna have to do it,” she said.

“Ah’ll do it. Plant it on the ground,” Applejack said in response.

Starlight planted the device on the ground as steadily as she could, and Applejack prepared to fire. Trent saw what they were doing and forced Connor into the aim of the device. He then punched Connor as hard as he could, sending a bit closer.

“Fire!” Starlight shouted. Applejack pulled the trigger, and a large surge fired out the front of the device. Unfortunately, it went right through Connor and hit Trent instead. Luckily, Trent was unaffected.

“What? I was sure I programmed that thing right,” said Trent as Conor went after him again.

Jared saw what happened as he continued to fight Casey. He ducked under a punch Casey threw at him and tackled him to the ground. Casey quickly threw Jared off him and pulled out his swords. Jared, not having a weapon, took serious damage from the swords.

“Looks like I’m gonna have to do this the old fashioned way,” Jared said as a gold aura began to surround him. “Call to the beast inside! Free the lion!” Jared unleashed his animal spirit, which turned out to be a lion, and hit Casey, sending him onto the ground.

Casey got back up, and Connor joined him. Trent joined Jared as well. “Nothing’s working. There has to be something else going on here,” Jared said.

Just then, six more humans ran up to them. “I assume you’re the Wild Rangers?” Trent guessed.

Cole nodded. “Twilight told us what’s going on. We’re gonna have to make introductions later. Did the device work?”

“Not a bit,” Jared responded.

Before anything else could be said, Casey and Connor disappeared similarly to how they did before.

“No way. I think I know why it didn’t work,” Jared said.

“Why?” Taylor asked.

Before Jared could answer, two monsters with gold armor walked up to the scene. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t our ex-king! You’re gonna come to regret getting involved. You too, White Dino Ranger!” the one with the red face said.

“Snapper and Scorch! I should’ve guessed you two were behind this. Let them go, now!” Jared yelled.

“Or what? You can’t defeat us,” the other monster said.

“Who are they?” asked Merik.

“They’re definitely not orgs; I can tell you that,” said Max.

“They’re Phantom Beast Generals. Some of the strongest warriors in existence,” Jared explained.

“Enough talk. Time for us to destroy you for your interference,” said Scorch.

The eight rangers charged Snapper and Scorch, but the two of them unleashed their full Rinsin Power upon them. The eight rangers all went flying back and demorphed.

Snapper and Scorch charged for another attack to destroy the rangers, but Scorch stopped. “We must go. They’re beginning to escape.” With that, the two of them teleported away.

Twilight and the others ran up to the eight of them. “Who was that?” she asked.

“I think I know what’s going on here,” Jared responded.

Thunderous Spirits of the past (part three)

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Everyone, ponies and rangers alike, gathered into the throne room. Everyone gave Jared different looks: some accusing, others just plain curious. Either way, they wanted to know what was going on with Connor and Casey.

“So, you said you think you know what’s happening. Spill it,” said Taylor.

“Calm down, Taylor. We want his help, not his fear,” said Cole.

“It’s fine. After I tell you this, you’ll be thinking the exact same thing,” said Jared.

“So, um, I assume this has something to do with you having used to have been, um...” Twilight started.

“Evil? Yeah,” Jared finished.

“I was actually gonna say possessed,” corrected Twilight.

“Well, either one works, really,” said Jared.

“Not if you really think about it,” said Trent.

“Just say what you gotta say,” said Max.

“Alright. While I was ‘possessed’ by Dai Shi, Jellica resurrected the Phantom Beast Generals, who are some of the strongest warriors in existence. She thought that they would destroy me and Camille for her, but they turned on her and destroyed her. Instead, they asked for me...er Dai Shi to be their king. He told them that he would accept their offer if they could capture three Pai Zhua Masters. They did, and Dai Shi used their power to turn them into what I call...Spirit Rangers. Now, I’m not sure how they did it to Connor too, but I’m pretty sure that’s what we’re really dealing with here,” explained Jared.

“What exactly is a ‘Spirit Ranger’?” asked Starlight.

“A Spirit Ranger is basically a translation of a ranger’s power into a physical being, controlled directly by the original owner of the power. But since these Spirit Rangers are being created with Rinsin Power, a Phantom Beast’s power, they actually do what Scorch and Snapper want them to do. So, they’re basically a reflection, a clone if you will,” Jared answered.

“So, they’re under a spell, just not a magical one?” Twilight asked to clarify.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“So the reason the device didn’t work...” Trent started.

“Is because they weren’t really there. That makes sense,” finished Cole.

“That being said, how do we save ‘em?” asked Applejack.

“Well, if they’re using a certain type of power, maybe we can use this to track where they’re coming from,” said Trent, holding up the device meant to save them.

“Are you even able to do that?” asked Alyssa.

“It might take me a while to reprogram it, but I should be able to.”

“Sounds good, but what do we do after we find them?” asked Merik.

“Simple. If I’m not wrong, Snapper and Scorch are holding them hostage while their powers recharge. All we have to do is set them free,” Jared answered.

“So kind of like a jailbreak. I like where this is going,” put in Max.

“What about Snapper and Scorch? I don’t think they’re gonna let them go so easily,” said Danny.

“It’ll be tough, but something tells me that if we can set Connor and Casey free, they can help take them down,” said Cole.

Twilight was about to speak up when a familiar thunder blast went off outside. They all looked out the window to see Connor and Casey were back again.

“Trent, you get to work on reprogramming that thing. We’ll keep the Spirit Rangers busy,” said Cole.

“Alright, good luck. I’ll join you as soon as I can,” Trent responded.

Cole and the other rangers rushed out of the room. “I say we join them. They’re gonna need all the help they can get,” said Twilight.

“You go ahead, but I’d rather not after what happened last time I tried to fight them,” responded Starlight.

“Okay,” Twilight responded. She and the others, save for Rainbow Dash left the room.

“Aren’t you going to help them?” Starlight asked Rainbow.

“Why? You heard Jared. There’s no real reason to fight them. They’re not really there,” Rainbow replied.

“What do you mean?” Trent asked.

“Yeah, what difference does it make if they’re really there or not?” Starlight added.

“It-It’s complicated,” Rainbow responded.

Trent walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Listen, I know what happened between you two, and I also know that Connor really does like you. In fact no, he loves you. I’ve seen Connor have crushes on girls from Earth, but his feelings toward them didn’t even come close to comparing to the way he talked about you,” he told Rainbow.

Rainbow sighed. “It’s just that this whole thing is so confusing. First, he comes out of nowhere and we get a little...closer than we thought we would. Then he just picks up and leaves. Then I have this dream where he’s making fun of me for liking him. Now he’s here again, but not really, and he’s evil or something-“ Rainbow said, but was cut off by Starlight.

“Rainbow, Connor didn’t just leave you. He really wanted to stay, remember? It was almost like me and Casey. I don’t know for sure how Connor feels, but I know he wouldn’t just come out of nowhere and attack us,” Starlight said.

“That’s easy for you to say. You and Casey were open about your feelings. It wasn’t even until Connor left that he even showed any signs of liking me,” Rainbow responded.

“You didn’t see him on Earth. He was so upset that he had to leave. In fact, he was so sad that he didn’t even leave Reefside to go home. And do you want to know the name he kept using when talking about what happened? It was yours, Rainbow Dash. You were almost all he talked about. And even though he never admitted it, we all knew how he really felt about you. He loves you. He’s just way too embarrassed to say it,” Trent countered.

“Yeah. And when Connor’s set free, you two are gonna sit down and talk the whole thing out. Whether it’s in your own ‘cool’ way, or some other way, you’ll see that he really does love you,” Starlight added.

Rainbow looked down. She couldn’t think of a reason as to why they were wrong? Maybe Connor really did return her feelings for him. Now she felt even worse. She had been so selfish.

“You guys are the best. Thank you,” said Rainbow.

“No problem. That’s what friends are for,” said Starlight. Trent nodded in agreement.

“Alright. Let’s get to work,” said Trent.

Meanwhile

“Oh Casey, why do we always have to be on opposite sides?” Jared asked himself as he and the Wild Rangers ran up to Casey and Connor.

“Let’s hope that Trent can get that tracker ready quick,” said Cole.

“Only one thing to do now,” said Taylor.

“Wild Access!”
“Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed!”

All seven rangers morphed into their respective uniforms.

“Blazing Lion! Red Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Cole.
“Soaring Eagle! Yellow Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Taylor.
“Surging Shark! Blue Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Max.
“Iron Bison! Black Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Danny.
“Noble Tiger! White Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Alyssa.
“Howling Wolf! Lunar Wolf Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Merik.
“With the Spirit of the Mighty Lion!” shouted Jared.

With that, they two Spirit Rangers charged. Jared, Cole, and Merik went after Casey. Jared used his brute strength to keep Casey from getting a hit on him, and Cole used his Lion Fist to land several tough blows. Casey pulled his nunchucks and attacked Jared with those. He managed to wrap the chain around Jared’s fist and throw him away. He then went after Cole, who simply caught the nunchucks with his Lion Fist. Casey regained the upper hand by kicking Cole away. Merik jumped and used his blaster to knock Casey off guard. He then used his blade to slash him and make him trip. Casey quickly got back up and pulled his Jungle Sabers. Since he had two, Casey had no trouble fighting off Merik. The two went at it, with Casey constantly landing shots on Merik, until Cole landed another punch. Jared got back into the fight as well. It could have been going better, but as long as Trent had enough time to reprogram that device, it didn’t matter.

Taylor swung her sword at Connor, who blocked it with his staff. Connor then went in for another slash, but Taylor ducked and tackled Connor to the ground. Unfortunately, when Connor hit the ground, he stuck his knee up and hit Taylor in the gut, flipping her off of him. Connor got back up and attacked Danny. Danny tried to block Connor’s attacks, but Connor was too fast. He managed to knock the axe out of Danny’s hands, but Max swooped in with his fins. Alyssa also fought Connor, using her baton. Connor used his staff to try and fight both of them, but it was pretty tough, since Max had two fins to attack with. Connor jumped out of the middle and drew his blaster. Max was able to block most of the lasers, giving Taylor time to slash Connor with her sword. Connor took a total of two hits before blocking Taylor’s attacks and disarming her. Danny hit Connor with his axe from behind, putting Connor on the ground.

Twilight and the others, save for Rainbow and Starlight, ran outside to see the rangers were doing a pretty good job without them. Unfortunately, there was also a swarm of Rinshi approaching the fight.

“Ready to fight, girls?” Twilight asked her friends. They each gave nods in response, even Fluttershy.

With that, the five ponies leapt over the ensuing battle and engaged in battle with the Rinshi. Twilight used her wings to create a gust to push the Rinshi back. She couldn’t use magic to affect them directly, but she could still use it to her advantage. She got in position to buck and teleported to a large group. She bucked and the Rinshi all went flying. She then levitated a few rocks to bash into the Rinshi, putting them down for the count. Applejack wasn’t having any more trouble than usual. She could easily take down any Rinshi that attacked her, whether it be by charging or bucking. She just ran right through whatever attacked her. Pinkie was having so much fun, she forgot these Rinshi were even evil. She was simply bouncing off a bunch of them like a pinball. They had so little balance, that was enough to take them down. Rarity, for her part, was doing better than she thought she would. Fighting came surprisingly easy to her. She simply jumped out of the way of an incoming attack, and then threw one of her own. She didn’t even need her magic to assist her. Fluttershy, on the other hand (or hoof), was having a bit of trouble. She didn’t have quite enough strength to take down the attacking Rinshi. All she could really do was fly away from anything that attacked her. Luckily, the Rinshi’s clumsiness pretty much took it from there.

From the castle window, Trent jumped out with a device. “White Ranger! Dino Power!” He morphed in midair and landed in the middle of the fight. He wasted no time taking as many Rinshi out a possible. They were noticeably weaker than Tyrrannadrones, so he didn’t have much trouble, even without a weapon.

Twilight flew up to him and continued to fight. “Did you get the device ready?”

“Yeah, all I need to do is fire the signal beam at them to expose the trail of power,” Trent responded, sweeping down a few Rinshi in the process.

Twilight flew around all the Rinshi as fast as she could, creating a vortex of wind. All the Rinshi were swept up in the vortex, leaving just them and the Wild Rangers and Spirit Rangers.

Trent took aim with the device and fired it at Connor. It connected and a gold trail emanated from him that led out of Ponyville.

“You two follow it. We can handle these two,” said Cole to Trent and Jared.

“Okay. Wish us luck. We’re probably gonna need it,” responded Trent.

Trent and Jared broke off from the group and followed the trail. It led through the Everfree Forest and pst the Castle of the Two Sisters. The trail went down a ravine. Trent and Jared looked in to see Snapper and Scorch keeping maintenance on Connor and Casey, who were wearing chains that extended to a stone wall, fighting air. Scorch and Snapper hadn’t yet noticed the trail, so Trent’s and Jared’s presences were still unknown. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long until the trail was seen by Scorch.

“We’ve been discovered,” Scorch told Snapper.

“We must stop whoever created this trail before they find us,” responded Snapper.

The two of them turned as Jared and Trent dove for cover behind a tree. Trent could here the two of them getting closer. It was only a matter of time before they were spotted.

“Give me your hand,” Trent whispered.

“What?” Jared whispered back.

“Just trust me.”

Jared did as Trent told him, and the two of them stood completely still. The two Phantom Beast Generals came up to them and stopped as if they were looking for something. Scorch even turned around and looked in the exact direction of Jared, but he didn’t react. Instead, the two just walked away.

Once they were far enough away, Trent let go of Jared’s hand. “How did they not see us? What did you do?” Jared asked.

“Camouflage is my Dino Power. We were blending in with the background,” Trent explained.

Jared and Trent made their way down the ravine and toward Casey and Connor, who were both still fighting.

“What now?” asked Trent.

“Easy, we break the chains,” responded Jared. With that, Jared summoned his golden aura and sliced away the chains that were holding Casey with his hand. Casey stopped air-fighting and fell to the ground. Jared caught him before he hit.

“Jared? What are you doing here?” Casey asked.

“I’ll explain later. Trent, do the same thing I did with Connor, but don’t use your hands. Use a weapon,” Jared instructed Trent.

Trent pulled out his Drago-saber and slashed away the chains holding Connor. Connor stopped and fell to the ground as well. Trent caught him just like Jared did with Casey.

“Trent? What happened?” Connor asked Trent.

“We’ll explain later. We gotta get back and help the Wild Rangers,” Trent responded.

“Wild Rangers? What are you talking about?” Casey interjected.

“Again, we’ll explain later. Come on, they need our help. Scorch and Snapper are on their way there now!” Jared said back.

That seemed to kick Casey and Connor back into gear. Connor looked at the pillars Scorch and Snapper set up and took the gem from the top of the one that was in front of him. It glowed and directed itself to his wrist, making his Dino Morpher reappear.

“Now they’re in for it. No one messes with our friends,” said Connor.

With that, the four of them made their way back to Ponyville.

Meanwhile

As the Wild Rangers prepared to keep fighting, the Spirit Rangers disappeared.

“Alright! Jared and Trent must’ve freed them!” yelled Max.

“Now all we need to do is wait for them to return,” said Alyssa.

“Don’t celebrate. We’re still gonna destroy you,” said a familiar voice.

The Wild Rangers and the present ponies looked to see that Snapper and Scorch had returned to finish what they had started.

“We didn’t come to this world just to be defeated again,” said Scorch.

“You’re going down,” said Cole.

“Yeah, you don’t stand a chance,” agreed Taylor.

“Oh really? Bring it, then,” said Snapper.

With that, the six rangers charged the two Phantom Generals. Cole leapt at Scorch and punched with his Lion Fist. Scorch simply avoided the attack and grabbed onto Cole’s arm. He then hit Cole repeatedly with his claws. Taylor attacked with her sword, but Scorch avoided the first swipe and threw Cole into the second swipe, causing him to hit the ground. Scorch then sent a swift kick at Taylor, making her drop her sword. Scorch followed up with several more blows that put Taylor down. Merik tried to blast Scorch, but his attempts all missed. Scorch blocked an attack from Merik’s blade before attacking Merik. Merik tried to defend himself, but Scorch was too fast.

Danny swung his axe at Snapper, who caught it and delivered two shots at Danny with his claws. Max went in for a slash with his fins, but Snapper proved to be too strong to attack. Snapper used his claws to disarm and slash repeatedly at Max. Alyssa tried to attack from behind, but Snapper ducked and slashed Alyssa. Danny tried to take advantage of the situation, but Snapper got around Max, causing Danny to hit him instead. Snapper put Danny down with one more punch and did the same to Alyssa.

The Wild Rangers regrouped and tried to combine weapons. They got their Savage Sword and swung it at the two Phantom Generals. They simply knocked it away and fired their Rinsin Power, sending all six rangers flying. The Wild Rangers hit the ground and demorphed.

“Too easy. Maybe we didn’t even need those Spirit Rangers,” said Snapper.

“Now it’s time to finish them off,” said Scorch.

“Hold it right there!” shouted a new voice. Everyone looked to see Jared and Trent had returned.

“We just beat six rangers. What’s two more?” taunted Scorch.

“Two? Try four,” responded another familiar voice. Two more humans stepped up to join Jared and Trent. The ponies recognized them as Casey and Connor.

“What?! How did you escape?” Scorch asked in shock.

“It’s never smart to leave your prisoners unattended,” said Connor.

“Ready?” shouted Casey.

“Ready!” shouted Connor, Trent, and Jared.

“Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed!”
“Dino Thunder! Power Up!”
“White Ranger! Dino Power!”

The four humans morphed into their respective ranger colors as Snapper and Scorch charged. Trent and Jared focused on Snapper. Trent jumped over Snapper, allowing Jared to attack from the opposite side. Trent slashed Snapper with his saber, and Jared delivered a series of punches and kicks into Snapper’s sides. Snapper tried to fight them off, but they were both too fast. Eventually, Snapper managed to put some distance between him and the attacking rangers. Trent wasted no time going after Snapper, who tried to counter Trent’s saber with his claws. Trent managed to bait Snapper’s attacks one way while Jared surprise attacked Snapper from the other. The two of them charged their final attacks. Trent fired a series of arrows, and Jared fired his Lion Spirit. They both hit Snapper, causing him to spark and explode.

Connor swung his staff at Scorch, who avoided the attack by jumping back. Connor kept going after him until Casey came in and attacked with his sabers. Scorch attacked Casey with his claws, but Connor swept him off his feet and sent him flying back. Casey slashed Scorch midair, causing him to hit the ground in smoke.

“I am a Phantom Beast General! Do you really think you can defeat me so easily?” Scorch boomed.

“Probably not. That’s why we can do this,” responded Connor. With that, Connor’s suit began to glow as the triangles turned into spikes. He was now in Super Dino Mode.

Casey pulled out his claw boosters as his suit turned from black to white. The jets on his suit blared, and Casey transferred into Jungle Master Mode.

Connor and Casey went back to fight Scorch in an identical manner; they flew at him and slashed at the same time. Scorch ran back at them and tried to split them up, but they didn’t give him a chance to attack. Connor used his spikes to block Scorch’s claw attack, and Casey used his claws to force Scorch back.

“No one makes us their puppets and gets away with it,” said Connor.

“Yeah, you should’ve let us go, Scorch,” agreed Casey.

With that, they both flew back at Scorch. Once they reached him, they both unleashed powerful slashes with their spikes and claws. Scorch erupted into a huge fit of sparks and fell to the ground. “This is impossible! I’m one of the strongest warriors in the universe!” Scorch yelled right before exploding.

Casey and Connor demorphed and turned to their friends.

“How did you guys know we were here?” Casey was the first to ask.

“I had a vision,” said Trent.

“Same here,” added Jared.

“Trent, how do you have your powers? I thought we had to throw the Dino Gems into a black hole,” asked Connor.

“My dad made me a makeshift Dino Morpher. He also made some for Ethan and Kira,” Trent explained.

“What about Dr. O? Don’t you think he’ll want some of his powers back too?”

“He already has his powers,” Casey said.

“Wait what? How do you know?” Trent said, suspicious of Casey.

“Oh, when my team and I were sent here, he came here to stop an old foe of his. He said he was gonna talk with you guys when he got to Earth. Did he?” Casey responded.

Connor tried to stifle a laugh, but failed. Trent joined him. “Oh my God. No, he never said anything about it,” Connor answered.

“In fact, we haven’t seen him in years,” Trent added.

Before anymore could be said, Scorch rose up once again and grew. “I told you that you couldn’t defeat me,” he boomed as he towered over Ponyville.

“We don’t have any zords,” said Connor.

“My Tiger Zord isn’t gonna be nearly enough to take him down,” said Casey.

Luckily, the Wild Rangers got back up. “You must be Connor and Casey. We’ll have to make proper introductions later. We have to deal with Scorch,” said Cole.

“Wild Zords, descend!”

The rangers called upon the same five zords as before, and Merik called his own three zords. They combined and formed the Wild Force Megazord and the Predazord.

Scorch charged the Megazords and was hit by the crocodile tail. He quickly recovered and hit the Predazord. The Wild Megazord tried to slash Scorch from behind with its Shark Blade, but that only got Scorch’s attention. He turned and landed a huge shot on the Megazord, causing it to stumble and fall. The Predazord attacked with the boomerang, but Scorch simply grabbed onto that and threw it back. The Megazord got back up and attacked with shark surges and tiger furies. They managed to damage Scorch a little bit, but Scorch quickly regained the upper hand by grabbing onto the arms of the Megazord. He then kicked the lion right out from the combination, causing the Megazord to deform. The rangers were forced out of their zords, leaving Merik to deal with Scorch on his own.

“We have to get back in there!” said Max.

“We can’t. The Lion Zord’s injured,” said Cole, holding Max back.

“So’s the Eagle Zord. If we try to fight, they might be destroyed,” added Taylor.

“Rangers, more of the Wild Zords woke up from hibernation. They’re ready to help you now!” Princess Shayla told the rangers through their morphers.

“Maybe the Congozord will be enough to take down Scorch,” suggested Danny.

“It’s worth a shot,” responded Cole.

The rangers put new gems into their sabers and pointed them toward the sky. “Wild Zords, descend!” The ponies watched as five more Wild Zords came down from the Animarium. There were a green gorilla, a black bear, and polar bear, a blue rhino, and a small, purple armadillo.

“Woah, five more Wild Zords!” exclaimed Twilight, a gleam of excitement filling her eyes.

The gorilla literally picked up a few bananas and started throwing them at Scorch. They actually managed to hurt Scorch, causing him to stumble. The bears fired fire and ice attacks at Scorch, burning and freezing him simultaneously. The rhino charged at Scorch at full speed, sending Scorch flying back.

The gorilla gave a mighty roar as its eyes began to glow. It folded its arms below its body as the reached back over its shoulders. The bears also twisted their heads to form arms. They connected to both sides of the gorilla, whose face turned around to reveal a warrior’s face. The rhino split down the middle of its back and folded upwards to form the legs. The armadillo rolled into a ball and rolled into the rhino to complete the left foot. The Congozord was now complete and ready for battle.

Scorch kicked down the Predazord and turned his attention to the Congozord. He tried slashing it with his claws, but the Congozord used the polar bears to force Scorch back. Scorch was hit by such a big force, he went flying back. The Congozord then slashed Scorch with the jaws of the polar bear, freezing him in place. It followed up with a slash from the black bear, burning him to the ground. Scorch fired his Rinsin power at the Congozord, causing it to spark and smoke. The armadillo rolled out of the rhino’s foot and bounced up. The Congozord kicked it up and juggled it with its foot. It then kicked the armadillo with all its strength. The armadillo hit Scorch square in the chest, putting him down for good.

“I may be defeated, but you have not seen the last of me!” Scorch shouted as he exploded.

Later

Twilight and her friends, save for Rainbow joined the rangers in their reunion with Connor and Casey at Sugarcube Corner.

“It’s great to see you guys again! You know, when you aren’t attacking us,” Twilight said, giggling at the same time.

“It’s great to be back, even if the circumstances kinda suck,” Connor responded.

“Yeah, that was a really weird experience,” agreed Casey.

“We’re sorry about that. We really didn’t have a say in the matter,” Connor said to Cole.

“Don’t sweat it. Jared explained to us what Spirit Rangers are,” Cole responded.

“So, how’re you enjoying Equestria?” Casey asked Jared.

“It’s great, even more beautiful than you described,” Jared responded.

“I just gotta ask. Why did Snapper bring you and Connor here?”

“We were together when he attacked.”

“Why?”

“I felt bad for Connor, so I wanted him to be able to see Rainbow Dash again,” Casey explained, getting the others’ attention.

“See her? How?” Rarity asked Casey.

Casey and Starlight blushed at the same time. “Um, you see...funny story...we kind of are able to talk to each other across worlds,” Casey said.

Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie went wide-eyed. “WHAT?! Are you saying that all this time Connor and Rainbow Dash could’ve seen each other?” Applejack asked in shock.

“Um...yes?” Starlight answered sheepishly.

“You do realize this information might’ve been useful earlier?” Rarity asked angrily.

“I was literally gonna get Connor so the two of them could talk. Gimme a break,” Casey answered back.

Connor rolled his eyes and laughed. Suddenly, he realized Rainbow Dash wasn’t here with them. He knelt down to Twilight and whispered in her ear, “Speaking of Rainbow, where is she?”

Twilight turned her head to answer him. “She’s back at the castle. I’m pretty sure she’s still trying to figure out how she’s feeling about all this.”

“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll go see her.”

“Go ahead,” Twilight smiled.

Connor exited the bakery and quickly made his way to the castle. He had his super speed, so the journey didn’t take him long. He ran up to the door and slowly made his way in. He looked around for a while before finding Rainbow in the throne room.

“Hey, um, long-time-no-see,” Connor said sheepishly. He wasn’t sure what Rainbow was feeling, and he didn’t want to upset her if she didn’t want to see him.

Rainbow turned her head to face him. She gave him a bit of a deadpan stare. “Hey,” was all she said back.

Connor took a deep breath and stepped all the way in. “Listen-“

“I know what happened. It was just hard to accept. I wasn’t really sure if you’d really attack us, but another part of me didn’t listen to reason,” Rainbow said.

Connor rubbed his head before responding. “And now?”

“Now...I don’t know. I was just so angry at you even though I knew you weren’t doing anything to hurt us,” Rainbow responded.

Connor walked up beside the throne she was sitting on and knelt down. “You know, Snapper really only meant to bring Casey back here. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Connor looked Rainbow in the eye. “You know that I would never do anything to hurt you in any way.”

Rainbow closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again to look at Connor. “I know, but everything just added up: the dream, you being here, you almost ripping off Starlight’s horn.”

“What? What dream? And what do you mean I almost ripped off Starlight’s horn?” Connor asked with shock in his voice.

“Right before you came here, or well spirit you, I had a dream where you were making fun of me. The same day, when we were still fighting, you almost ripped Starlight’s horn off with your staff,” Rainbow explained.

“Oh. But why was I making fun of you? And what do you mean ‘it all added up’?”

“That...that you...you didn’t...return my feelings,” Rainbow answered.

“Return your feelings? Oh! You...you thought that...I didn’t love you back, didn’t you?”

Rainbow wanted to nod, but she was too embarrassed.

Connor took her in a deep hug. He ran his hand up and down her mane, making her purr softly on his shoulder. “I love you. I really do. There’s no one else in the universe I can see myself with, Rainbow Dash,” he whispered in her ear.

Rainbow broke the hug and looked into his eyes. “Really? Y-you really feel that way of me?”

“Of course I do,” responded Connor, a tear of joy forming in his eye.

“Then I hope you don’t mind what I do next,” Rainbow said.

Before Connor could respond, Rainbow closed the gap between them and kissed Connor. He closed his eyes and kissed her back. After the kiss broke, the two of them continued their embrace in silence for what felt like an eternity.

Meanwhile

Back at Sugarcube Corner, the party was still going on. Casey was currently telling of his encounter with Slimieel back on Earth.

“So let me get this straight,” said Rarity. “You took the cloth of the stolen kite and used it to...clean the monster?”

“Yeah, pretty much. As ridiculous as it sounds, it actually worked. I managed to get rid of all the slime using nothing but a kite,” Casey responded, giggling.

“I know I can be a bit of a neat freak, but that sounds ridiculous even to me,” Rarity joked.

Everyone shared a laugh until Rainbow and Connor came through the door. Everyone got up to greet them.

“How’re you guys doing?” asked Twilight.

“Great. Rainbow and I are closer than ever,” Connor said, smiling and nudging Rainbow playfully. Rainbow responded to the gesture with a cute giggle and blush.

“That’s great to hear,” said Casey, putting his hand on Connor’s shoulder. “Again, I’m sorry you got swept up into lol of this.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Rainbow replied for Connor. “Although, Starlight, Connor tells me you and Casey have a way to communicate through worlds.”

“Oh come on, we just just finished having this conversation,” Starlight whined playfully.

Everyone shared a laugh. The party went on until sundown, with Pinkie enlisting Trent into a few crazy party tricks, Jared got to know everypony, and the Wild Rangers conversed with Casey.

The next day

“Ugh, where is Trent?” Connor groaned.

“I don’t know, but he’d better get here soon. This world is great and all, but I kind of promised Master Mao and Camille we’d be back by now,” Jared agreed.

“Just give him a minute. After all, Trent probably can’t go the whole night without sleep like Twilight can,” Casey joked. “As long as he finished that trans-dimensional teleporter, it’s fine.”

As if on cue, Trent appeared into the room with a sheepish look on his face. “Hey guys,” was all he said.

“So? Did you finish the teleporter?” Jared asked.

“About that...” Trent responded.

“What did you do?” Connor deadpanned.

“I kind of used the parts from the tracking device to make these instead,” Trent answered, holding out two small devices with black screens.

“Um, aren’t those a little small for us to fit through?” Casey asked.

“Don’t worry about getting back. I already asked Twilight if we could use her portal, which is really, a lot safer,” Trent responded.

“Okay, and what are those?”

“These are trans-dimensional communicators. They’ll allow the owner of one to communicate with the owner of the other, no matter the location,” Trent explained.

“Why did you feel the need to make them?”

“Um...here, Connor, this one’s for you,” Trent said quickly, handing one of the communicators to Connor.

“And who gets the other?” Connor asked in return.

“I can guess,” said Jared.

“So can I,” added Casey.

“I know, but I wanna hear him say it,” Connor said.

“Um...Rainbow Dash,” Trent whispered quickly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” Connor responded.

Trent rolled his eyes. “Rainbow Dash. The other one’s for her, so you two can talk whenever you want. There, better?”

Conor laughed. “Yeah. Let’s get going.”

The four of them made their way to the throne room, where Twilight, Starlight, Rainbow, and the Wild Rangers were waiting for them.

“The portal’s all set,” said Twilight.

“It was great meeting you guys,” said Cole, extending his hand.

The Wild Rangers all took turns shaking the hands of Connor, Casey, Jared, and Trent.

“When you get back to Earth, we’ll have to get together,” offered Casey.

“Sounds fun,” said Alyssa.

“Oh hey, Rainbow, Trent made this for you,” said Connor, giving Rainbow the other communicator.

“Um, thanks. What is it?” Rainbow asked, confused.

“Just press this button when you here it start beeping,” Connor responded, pointing to a button at the top of the device.

Starlight and Casey shared a quick kiss, and the four rangers made their way towards the portal, which was glowing bright.

“I have to admit, saying goodbye gets easier after you’ve already done it once,” joked Trent.

“Yeah. Tell the other Dino and Jungle Rangers we said ‘hi’,” said Twilight.

“We will. It was great meeting you all,” said Jared.

With that, the four of them walked through the glass portal and returned to Earth. They appeared in front of a statue of a horse, facing what looked to be a high school.

“Well, that was...rather interesting,” said Jared.

“I told you that world was weird,” said Casey.

The four of them began to make their way away from the school when they heard a familiar voice.

“Connor? Trent? Casey?”

The four of them turned to see who said that. They saw it was none other than Tommy Oliver. With him was a girl with amber skin and fiery hair. She wore a shocked expression on her face.

“Okay, maybe we should’ve waited until nighttime to come back,” Trent whispered to Connor.

“Ya’ think,” Connor deadpanned back.

The shark grows up

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‘Just a few more and I’m free-no, no, no, no, don’t wake up please,’ Max thought to himself. He was currently trying to sneak off the Animarium so he could have a look around Equestria. He had wanted to see the world he was currently living in ever since he arrived.

Max slowly stepped over Alyssa’s sleeping bag and nearly tripped over Danny in the process. Not that Danny would get mad at Max, but if he woke up, so would everyone else.

Max did a little jump over Cole and snuck past Merik. He passed a few of the sleeping Wild Zords before coming to the drop off. Finally, Max was gonna get the chance to look around.

Max jumped down and landed near the edge of what the ponies called the Everfree Forest. He looked behind him and saw a cottage. He jumped when the door opened, but he was relieved to see the butterscotch pegasus from before.

“Oh, hello, Max. What brings you to my cottage, especially at this hour,” asked Fluttershy.

“Oh nothing. I was just hoping to get a good look around while I’m here...Fluttershy was it?” Max responded.

“That’s me. Would you like to come in and have something to eat?” Fluttershy offered.

“Sounds good,” Max answered.

Max stepped into Fluttershy’s cottage and admired its nature-like design. The two sat down and shared a few small sandwiches, talking about Earth and Equestria.

“So, this ‘Master Org’ was really just a human?” Fluttershy asked.

“From what Cole told me. Apparently he was an old friend of Cole’s parents until he became jealous of their success,” Max explained.

“So what happened next?”

“Cole summoned all of his strength and kicked Master Org’s butt. Dr. Adler tried to get Cole to finish him off, but Cole wouldn’t go down that path.”

“Hm. I feel like Twilight would love to hear this story more than anypony. Should I go get her?”

“If you want. Is she even still awake?”

Fluttershy thought, ‘On the one hoof, Twilight loves learning about rangers’ pasts. On the other hoof, she needs her sleep.’

“I guess it can wait until morning of it has to,” said Max.

“Alright then. More cocoa?” Fluttershy offered.

“Oh yes please. This stuff is really good,” Max replied.

Fluttershy walked into the kitchen and opened her cupboard. She looked behind everything, but she just couldn’t find any more cocoa.

“I’m afraid I’m out. I’m pretty sure Pinkie’s still up though. If you like, we could go see if we could get some from her.”

Max stood up, clearly excited. “That’d be great. I could also get to see more of Ponyville.”

Fluttershy giggled at Max’s excitement. “Alright then, let’s go.”

The two of them made their way to Ponyville, and Max marveled at the sheer quaintness of the town. He never before got a chance to really take it all in because he was always too busy protecting it. It was a lot different from Turtle Cove. There were more lanterns, smaller houses, and not a car to be seen anywhere. There were many similarities as well, such as a bakery and a boutique.

“It’s so peaceful. I really wish I could’ve done this sooner,” said Max.

“Why didn’t you?” asked Fluttershy.

Max groaned and answered, “The other rangers, especially Taylor, insist I can’t take care of myself on account of a few incidents from Earth. But they’re just being paranoid.”

“It sounds like they’re just looking out for you,” said Fluttershy.

“I know, and it’s sweet and all, but I’m not a little kid. I’ve grown up since I’ve become a ranger. I can handle a few responsibilities.”

Fluttershy was about to respond when there was a muffled grumbling sound moving toward them. They both took cover as the purple monster from before made its way toward Twilight’s castle.

“It’s Mandilock! He must think the Org Heart is in the castle. Either way, I gotta stop him,” said Max.

“Shouldn’t you get the others?” Fluttershy asked.

“There’s no time. You go up to the Animarium, I’ll hold off Mandilock,” Max instructed.

“If you insist,” said Fluttershy. With that, Fluttershy flew into the air, leaving Max by himself.

Max leapt over Mandilock, morphing in the process. He now stood to face him.

“So, the Blue Ranger thinks he’s enough to stop me from obtaining the ultimate form of power?” Mandilock taunted.

“You’ll never get the Org Heart, Mandilock!” Max shouted back.

With that, Mandilock drew his weapon and charged Max. Max drew his shark fins and blocked Mandilock’s strike, following up with a slash of his own. Max went in for another attack, only for Mandilock to blow some sort of mist out of his mouth, sending Max flying back. Mandilock struck again and landed a devastating hit on Max. Max landed at the front door of Carousel Boutique as Mandilock turned back toward the castle.

A light inside the boutique turned on, and the front door opened, revealing Rarity.

“Max, whatever are you doing at this hour?” Rarity asked in surprise.

“No time to explain. One of the generals is heading toward Twilight’s castle!” Max answered.

“We have to warn her!” Rarity shouted back.

With that, the two of them began to pursue Mandilock once again. Max got in Mandilock’s way as Rarity snuck around to the castle, and began pounding furiously on the door.

“Rarity? What’s going on?” asked a tired Twilight.

“You have to get out of here, now!” was all Rarity shouted back.

Max tried to push Mandilock back with his fins to no avail. Mandilock simply picked him up and tossed him aside. Max jumped back and landed a slash on Mandilock.

“You’re just determined to do the impossible, aren’t you?” Mandilock growled.

“If it means stopping you, anything,” Max responded.

“Fine then,” Mandilock said. Mandilock’s horn began to glow, and Max was enveloped in a dark purple aura. Mandilock used his magic to pound Max into the ground several times. Luckily, Twilight cut off Mandilock’s magic with her own as the other Wild Rangers came into battle, already morphed.

“I’ll just have to destroy you the old fashioned way,” said Mandilock. With that, Mandilock grew to his maximum size.

“Wild Zords, descend!” The rangers called upon their zords and formed the Predazord and the Congozord.

Mandilock charged at the Megazords and landed hits on both. The Congozord managed to catch the next attack and land a hit of its own. The Predazord jabbed with the alligator tail and slashed with the hammerhead fin. Mandilock blew the mist out of his mouth, pushing back both Megazords. The Predazord fired the hammerhead fin, which hit Mandilock several times before Mandilock smacked it away. The Congozord kicked the armadillo at Mandilock, causing Mandilock to hit the ground. The Congozord then fired its ice attack, but Mandilock countered and froze the Congozord. Mandilock then slashed the Congozord repeatedly, showing no mercy.

“We can’t take much more of this,” said Taylor.

“Let’s hope the Deer Zord is out of hibernation,” said Cole, holding up a green orb. He used it to summon a new zord from the Animarium. A green deer leapt down and gave a smooth roar before folding up and taking the black bear’s place on the Congozord.

Mandilock went to attack the Predazord, only to be stopped by a glowing substance that came from the deer. He was frozen in place as the Predazord used the alligator tail as a drill to attack Mandilock. Mandilock recovered and slashed the Predazord with his weapon. He then turned his attention to the Congozord. The two went at it until Mandilock managed to disconnect the polar bear from the Congozord, leaving it open on one side.

“We can’t beat Mandilock,” said Alyssa.

“Then what do we do?” asked Danny.

“We have to put him down with the Deer Zord,” said Taylor.

“She’s right. The Deer Spell will put him to sleep for a while until we can figure something out,” agreed Cole.

“Let’s do it then,” said Max.

The Congozord aimed the deer’s antlers at Mandilock, who readied his own attack. They both fired at the same time, but instead of connecting, they moved past each other. Mandilock was wrapped in an orange glow and laid down slowly and gently. The deer was hit with the attack and disconnected from the Congozord, hitting the ground in a bad position.

“Guys, I think the Deer Zord’s injured,” said Danny.

“That’s not good. We need to get it back up to the Animarium now,” said Taylor.

Cole called down his Lion Zord to help the injured Deer Zord back up to the Animarium with the rest of the zords. The rangers jumped down and demorphed.

“What happened?” asked a barely awake Starlight.

“Mandilock thought the Org Heart was in the castle and tried to retrieve it,” explained Twilight.

“But the Org Heart isn’t even in the castle I thought,” said Danny.

“It’s not, but Mandilock thought it was,” said Merik.

Taylor pulled Max aside. “What were you thinking?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sneaking off the Animarium, fighting Mandilock on your own. You could’ve been seriously hurt, and now the deer’s injured,” Taylor scolded.

“Are you saying it’s my fault?” Max scoffed. “If it weren’t for me, Mandilock would’ve destroyed the castle.”

“And if it weren’t for Fluttershy, he would’ve destroyed you. You should’ve at least told us where you were going.”

“If I did, we’d be having the exact same conversation. You never trust me to do anything on my own.”

“Yeah, because you keep proving you can’t handle it. Like the time you got captured by the Bell Org, or the time you let Kite get captured by Jindrax. You have got to stop acting like a kid.”

“I’M. NOT. A KID!” Max yelled, getting everyone else’s attention. “It is impossible to talk to you because you just keep acting like I can’t take care of myself.” With that, Max stormed off.

“What was that about?” Twilight asked.

“Max snuck off the Animarium, and now the deer zord, one of our most important zords, is injured,” Taylor said.

“He’s right though. You’ve been treating him that way ever since you met him,” Cole countered.

“When I first met him, he was getting his butt kicked by an org,” Taylor countered.

“Hey, I was there too. You gotta cut him some slack. He wasn’t even a ranger yet,” said Alyssa.

“I’ll go talk to him,” said Fluttershy, flying off in the direction Max went.

“I’m just looking out for him. He’s like a little brother to me,” said Taylor.

“But he’s growing up. It’s great that you want to keep him safe, but you can’t protect him all his life. Trust me, I know,” said Applejack.

“But...but if he gets hurt, I’ll never be able to forgive myself,” said Taylor.

“Maybe you should tell that to Max,” said Twilight.

Meanwhile

Fluttershy finally caught up with Max, which wasn’t easy. He’d gotten surprisingly far for how long he was gone.

“Hey, uh, Max, wait up,” said Fluttershy, not trying to sound rude.

Max stopped and turned around. “Can you believe her? She’s treated me like that ever since we met.”

“Well, she is just trying to protect you,” responded Fluttershy.

“But I don’t need protecting.”

“I’m not saying you do, but she was just looking out for you.”

“Okay, that’s fine, but she didn’t have to scold me right there in front of everyone.”

“Granted, she may have gone a little overboard, but don’t we all? Even I once got too assertive with my friends.”

Max paused. “Wait, what? How does that work?”

“I took some assertiveness classes, and I ended up taking them too far. I hurt a lot of ponies’ feelings with how I was acting.”

Max chuckled. “Talk about irony. Still though, Taylor can’t just treat me like a kid whenever she wants to.”

“Taylor was just scared of what could’ve happened. You would be too, if the roles were reversed.”

Max took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. “Either way, I’m not a kid, and she can’t keep treating me like one.”

“I’m sorry, but I just didn’t want you to get hurt,” said Taylor, walking up to the two of them.

“What do you want?” Max said sarcastically.

“I just wanna talk. Fluttershy, can you give us a minute.”

“Of course,” said Fluttershy before flying away.

“If you’re here to scold me again, I don’t wanna hear it,” Max scoffed.

“I’m here to apologize,” Taylor retorted, getting Max’s full attention.

“I know I can’t keep treating you like a kid, but I just can’t help myself. I’ve always thought of you like a little brother. I just know I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to you.”

Max rolled his eyes. “Look, if you want to protect me, fine. But I don’t always need protection. I admit I should’ve told you Mandilock was here, and I’m sorry I didn’t. But you can’t always just assume the worst of me.”

“I know, and I promise to mind my own business from now on unless you want my help,” said Taylor, holding out her fist. “Forgive me?”

Max rolled his eyes again. “Fine,” he said, fist-bumping Taylor.

Taylor held her arms out and slowly approached Max.

“Woah, what are you doing?” Max said, giggling.

“Come on, give your big sis a hug,” Taylor joked.

“No way,” Max replied sarcastically.

“Come on,” Taylor begged.

Max groaned. “Fine,” he said, embracing Taylor.

The two of them broke the hug as the ground of Ponyville began to shake again. Mandilock rose from the ground, breaking free of the deer trap.

“Your Deer Zord can’t hold me down,” Mandilock boasted.

Taylor held up a white orb. “The polar bear’s still injured.”

Max held up a green orb. “So is the deer.”

“We’re gonna have to use the Wild Force Megazord,” said Taylor.

Max nodded in agreement, and they went to join their friends.

“Mandilock broke free extremely quick. We’re gonna have to beat him fast,” said Cole.

“Wild Zords, descend!” The rangers called upon their original five zords, and the Wild Force Megazord was formed.

Mandilock attacked with his weapon, pushing the rangers back. He pushed them further back with the mist, and the rangers had trouble recovering. Mandilock kept up his attack, but the Predazord got in the way. The two went at it until the Megazord got back on its feet. Mandilock used his magic to lift both Megazords into the air and slammed them onto the ground, causing the zords to break apart.

“That was easy!” boasted Mandilock. He swung his weapon around and down at Ponyville, but luckily, the sun rose and blinded Mandilock.

“We have to form the Horus Megazord,” said Alyssa.

“We can’t. The Deer Zord’s still injured,” said Danny.

“Wait a second, I have an idea,” said Max.

“Shoot,” said Cole.

“I’ll distract Mandilock with the Giraffe Zord, and you guys form the Congozord.”

“Are you crazy? He’ll pound you!” Taylor responded.

“I know you want to protect me, but you have to trust me. This’ll work.”

Taylor thought for a moment. “Alright, go for it.”

“Alright. Giraffe Zord, descend!”

From atop the Animarium, an orange giraffe jumped down to the ground. It was about the same size as Mandilock. Max jumped into its cockpit and charged at Mandilock. Mandilock swung his weapon, but the giraffe swung its head, knocking it to the side. The giraffe then stood on its hind legs and pushed Mandilock with as much force as it could.

“Wild Zords, descend!” The rangers called upon their zords to form the Congozord while Mandilock was distracted with Max. Once he saw it, he knocked the giraffe onto its side and was met with the teeth of the polar bear. The Congozord then kicked Mandilock to the ground.

“Guys, launch the armadillo at me,” said Max as the giraffe crouched down.

“I see where you’re going with this,” said Taylor.

Mandilock got back up. “Enough games. It’s time to finish you!”

Mandilock charged once again as the Congozord kicked the armadillo toward the giraffe. The armadillo went up the giraffe’s back and the giraffe raised its neck. The armadillo launched into the air and hit Mandilock, sending him flying back.

“Let’s combine,” said Max.

“Good idea,” said Cole.

The giraffe folded up its legs, and a helmet covered its head. It took the black bear’s place on the Congozord. Mandilock grabbed his weapon and swung it at the Congozord. The rangers used the giraffe to block the attack and deliver one of their own. The giraffe had a much longer reach, giving the rangers an advantage. The Congozord aimed the giraffe head at Mandilock. The head fired out and caught fire before it struck Mandilock, finishing him off.

Later

“Two down, one general to go,” said Cole, raising his glass.

“Once Nayzor comes out, he won’t stand a chance,” said Max.

They were all currently at a party, thrown by Pinkie. The rangers were a bit unsure of having a party, but Pinkie wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“It’s weird. Last time we had a much harder time to defeat the generals. Now, they’re just dropping like flies,” said Taylor.

“We can’t let our guard down now,” said Alyssa.

“That’s right. Nayzor was always the strongest of the generals. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a surprise up his sleeve,” agreed Merik.

“Either way, we’ll deal with him when the time comes,” said Rainbow.

“She’s right. Now’s the time to celebrate,” agreed Twilight.

The rangers and ponies went on to enjoy the party Pinkie had planned for them, complete with cake, games, and pranks.

Later

Twilight yawned as she approached her bed. She was exhausted from the party.

She got into her bed and pulled the covers over herself, closing her eyes as well. She thought and realized that out of the three teams to have been to Equestria, the Wild Rangers had the shortest stay. It was a bit of a shame, since they all seemed really nice. But she did enjoy the chance to get to know them. She also thought it was nice to meet a princess from Earth.

It was a few minutes before she began to drift off into a deep sleep. She began to dream about being back on Earth as a human with someone she didn’t recognize, when she was dragged back into the real world by a hand covering her horn.

She shot her eyes open to see a two-legged creature with black armor, one eye, and a single horn. He used his other hand to cover her muzzle before she had chance to call for help. She tried screaming through his hand, but a simple whimper of fear was all that came out.

“I wouldn’t try anything, princess, lest you want me to use this,” he said, motioning to the sword on his back.

A tear ran down Twilight’s face as she realized there was currently no way out of this. She stopped making noises and slowly nodded her head.

“Good girl,” said the creature. With that, he picked up the blanket and waved it around them. They transported to another location, which was dark and cold.

The creature let go of Twilight, but the second he did, she felt her wings being tied to her sides and her hooves being held in place. She also saw a small bind form around her muzzle. She tried to move, but couldn’t.

The green creature she recognized as Nayzor walked up to her.

“Hello there, princess,” Nayzor said, running a claw up and down her back, making Twilight even more afraid. “You’re going to be of great use to me.”

Princess for a princess

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Twilight mumbled through her clamped muzzle, trying to ask Nayzor what was going to happen. Despite not being able to speak, Twilight’s question seemed to be understood by Nayzor.

“Oh, I’m not going to do anything to you. It’s what I plan to do with you that you should be scared about,” replied Nayzor. He then turned his attention to the creature that had captured Twilight. “Onikade, did anyone see you?”

“No, Nayzor. My visit was quick and swift,” replied Onikade.

“I assume you would like to attack now?”

“With pleasure,” Onikade said before teleporting away.

Nayzor turned back to face a trembling Twilight. “I’m not gonna lie; you had me worried back at the Crystal Empire. But you must know you never had a chance to stop me. Rendex and Mandilock maybe, but not me.”

Twilight turned her head away, not wanting Nayzor to see her cry. Unfortunately, she couldn’t hide the sounds of her whimpering, making Nayzor give a creepy laugh.

Nayzor rose his fan and pointed it at Twilight. Twilight looked down at herself and saw she was starting to glow. She then felt a tingly sensation that made her even more scared. There was a burst of light, and Twilight saw herself lying next to her, unconscious.

Twilight groaned angrily at Nayzor, who continued his creepy laughter.

“In a normal situation, this would be an evil clone of you. But I can’t afford to take any risks. This is simply an exact double of you, with no memory of this encounter,” Nayzor explained.

With that, Nayzor took Twilight’s double and teleported away, leaving Twilight on her own.

Later

“Twilight? Twilight, where are you?” called Starlight.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine,” said Spike.

“I don’t know. It’s not like her to just leave without saying anything,” replied Starlight.

As if on cue, Cole ran into the castle with a worried look on his face.

“Org attack. We may need you to help,” said Cole.

“I’ll be right there,” said Starlight. After Cole ran back out, Starlight turned back to Spike. “You keep looking for her, I’ll go help them.”

Spike gave a salute in response, and Starlight ran out to the action. The rangers were surrounding a black org with one eye and one horn. It also had a sword sheathed on its back.

“Onikade, what are you doing here?” asked Merik.

“Just finishing what I started before,” the org replied.

“Who is this guy?” Starlight asked Cole.

“That’s Onikade, the ninja duke org. His illusions are hard to see through, so keep your guard up,” Cole explained.

Onikade drew his sword and attacked Danny. Danny blocked with his axe, but Onikade quickly swept Danny to the ground. Alyssa swung her baton at him, but he blocked and slashed her twice. Max swooped in with his fins, but Onikade jumped over and turned to slash Max on the back. Taylor slashed at Onikade with her sword, but he dodged it and kicked Taylor and slashed her. Merik jabbed with his blade, but Onikade blocked and held it down with his own. He then slashed Merik twice, putting him down. Cole punched with his lion fist, but Onikade countered with his sword. The two traded shots before Onikade tripped Cole.

“How pitiful. Before, you defeated me like a true warrior. But now, you can’t even begin to keep up. No matter. I will retreat for now and return at high noon. Be there, or I will show no mercy to this world,” Onikade said before turning to Starlight. “As for you, I have something, or more appropriately, someone you want. Meet me at high noon or never see her again.” With that, Onikade teleported away.

Starlight rushed to help the rangers up. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, we’re fine. He just caught us off guard,” Danny answered.

“What did he mean he has someone you want?” asked Merik.

Starlight thought for a moment before gasping. “Twilight! She wasn’t in the castle this morning. He must’ve taken her!”

“Man, what is it with Onikade and kidnapping princesses?” Max asked sarcastically.

Just then, Princess Shayla spoke through the rangers’ morphers. “Rangers, get up to Animarium quick. And bring the element bearers.”

“We’ll be right there, princess,” responded Merik.

“Starlight, get the others and tell them what’s going on. We’ll meet you back here, and we’ll ascend to the Animarium,” Cole instructed.

Starlight nodded and ran off to gather her friends.

Later

The rangers and mane six gathered in the throne room to discuss the problem.

“Something tells me the this ‘Onikade’ isn’t gonna fall for that trick again,” said Rarity.

“Even if he does, we wouldn’t know where to find Twilight,” added Applejack.

“What would he even want with her?” asked Rainbow.

“Best guess, hostage trade,” said Merik.

“What do you mean?” asked Fluttershy.

“Princess Shayla has a necklace that holds immense power. Onikade probably wants to trade Twilight for that,” explained Merik.

“If Nayzor gets his claws on that necklace, guarding the Org Heart will have been a waste of time,” added Cole.

“Rangers, Nayzor and Onikade are contacting the sacred pool,” Shayla communicated to the rangers.

“We’d better get up there and see what they want,” said Taylor.

“You girls ready to ascend to the Animarium?” asked Max.

“Are you kidding?” replied Pinkie.

With that, the ranger and ponies were all teleported up to the Animarium.

“It’s so beautiful,” said Fluttershy, looking around at her surroundings.

“Even more than Twilight described,” said Starlight.

The eagle soared overhead, causing the ponies to jump in surprise.

Taylor laughed. “Don’t mind her. Like I said before, she’s just very protective of the Animarium.”

“She’s incredible,” complimented Rainbow.

Princess Shayla came running up to them. “You need to see this.”

They all went up to the sacred pool and saw Onikade holding Twilight in place as Nayzor looked ready to speak.

“Princess Shayla, I know you and the rangers can hear this. You have defeated Rendex, and you have defeated Mandilock. You will not defeat me. As you know, Onikade has captured your beloved Princess Twilight. If you ever want to see her again alive, you will meet our terms. Meet us at the castle in the Everfree Forest in less than an hour and bring the rangers and the element bearers. If you are late, I will personally dispose of poor Princess Twilight. And don’t even think of calling for another princess. If you do, you will regret it dearly,” Nayzor called out. With that, the image faded from the pool.

Starlight looked up. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know. We can’t let him get the heart, but we can’t just sit back and let Nayzor do what he wants with Twilight,” said Cole.

Shayla stood up. “We have to go hear him out. There’s no doubt he’s either after my necklace or the Org Heart, but it’s not worth losing the Princess of Friendship.”

“No way. We are not gonna play his game,” Merik countered.

“We don’t have a choice. At least if we do what he says, there’s a chance he might go easy in Equestria. And if not, you can all go to Earth and hide there,” Shayla reasoned.

“Absolutely not. Running away is out of the question,” Rainbow interjected.

“She’s right. I’m not sure what we’re gonna do, but we’re not gonna run,” Applejack agreed.

“Wait, I have an idea,” Starlight perked up.

“Let’s hear it. It’s not like we have anything,” said Taylor.

“It’s a bit risky, and it might backfire. But if it works, there’s a chance we might be able to get rid of Nayzor,” Starlight said.

“This is one of those rare instances where the risk is worth taking,” said Alyssa.

“Hold on there. No offense, Starlight, but your plans usually have a tendency of going horribly wrong,” said Rainbow.

“You haven’t even heard it yet,” Starlight protested.

“And it’s not like you have a plan,” added Applejack.

Rainbow shrunk away in embarrassment. “Right, go ahead then,” she said sheepishly.

“Did you notice how he said bring the rangers and the element bearers?” Starlight began.

Fluttershy went wide-eyed as she figured out what Starlight was getting at. “But you’re neither one!”

“Exactly. I say we set up a trap in the Everfree Forest. Then, at the castle, you guys hear out Nayzor. Meanwhile, I sneak around and try to catch them off guard. The way I see it, either I’ll get Twilight and get out of there, or one of you will. Either way, Nayzor will probably give chase. Whoever he’s chasing runs through the trap and it sets off on Nayzor,” Starlight explained.

“That actually sounds like a good idea. We’ll probably need some help on sprinting the trap,” said Applejack.

“I-I have an idea for that. But we-we’ll need to hurry. We have less than an hour to meet Nayzor,” said Fluttershy.

Later

“Are you sure about this? What if you get spotted?” Taylor asked Starlight.

“It’s a bit too late to back out now. Either way, I got this,” Starlight responded.

With that, Starlight used a spell to turn herself invisible.

“Are you two ready?” Cole asked the two ponies Fluttershy suggested spring the trap.

“Of course,” said one.

“We’ll be fine. You have to hurry though,” said the other.

“Right. Remember, fire on either Nayzor or Onikade, not Twilight and whoever’s with her,” Cole reminded.

The two nodded, and Cole went to meet his friends.

“This is it,” said Applejack.

“Did Nayzor say whether or not we could morph?” asked Max.

“No, but I say we go in morphed,” Taylor said.

“Good idea,” said Cole.

“Wild Access!” The rangers morphed.

“I thought we could use these, just in case,” said Applejack, holding out the Elements of Harmony.

The girls put on their respective elements, and they all made their way to the castle. They walked inside to see it was deserted.

“Nayzor, we’re here!” shouted Merik.

“Give us back Twilight!” yelled Rainbow.

They were all met with a blast. Onikade jumped into the middle of them all and drew his sword. Cole went in for a punch, but Onikade tripped him. Cole ended up hitting Applejack with his lion fist. Taylor swung her sword at Onikade, who caught it and took it from Taylor. He used the two swords to slash the remaining rangers and keep the ponies at bay before jumping up to the two thrones.

“Now that we have your attention, it’s time to get down to business,” said Onikade.

Nayzor appeared next to Onikade, along with a bound Twilight.

“Twilight! Give her back, now!” shouted Rainbow.

“Not until you meet our demands,” Nayzor replied.

Princess Shayla stepped up. “What is it you want? Name it.”

“Simple: your necklace,” Nayzor said in a devilish tone.

Princess Shayla looked down and held her necklace in her hand.

“If you obtain my necklace, will you return Princess Twilight?” asked Shayla.

“That is something you will have to find out,” Nayzor answered.

Shayla looked up again and saw Twilight shaking her head furiously. She grasped her necklace in her hand and took a deep breath. “Deal.”

“Wise choice. Now, bring it up to me,” said Onikade.

Rainbow took a step forward, but she was stopped by Cole.

Princess Shayla made her way toward Onikade. Twilight was still shaking her head, trying to signal that this was a bad idea. Shayla held the necklace by the chain over Onikade’s hand.

“Don’t do it!” shouted Max.

Right after he did, Onikade felt a blast to the back. He leaned back and yelled in pain as Princess Shayla did a quick spin and kicked him down. After that, everything went crazy.

Starlight revealed herself and rushed toward Twilight, heaving Twilight on her back and running. Nayzor aimed his fan at them, but he was blasted by Merik. Onikade jumped toward the two, but was stopped by Cole. He responded by slashing Cole with his blade until he was down. Taylor went in to attack Onikade, but she was beat as well.

Nayzor looked around for Princess Shayla and was met with a punch to the face, courtesy of Rainbow Dash. He used a vine from his fan to pick her up and throw her at her friends. Max tried to slash Nayzor with his fins, but Nayzor picked him up with his magic and threw him back. Nayzor looked around again and saw Starlight escaping the castle with Twilight.

“Onikade, go after the unicorn!” ordered Nayzor.

“Yes, Nayzor,” Onikade responded. He sheathed his sword and gave chase to Twilight and Starlight.

Starlight ran into the woods with Twilight still on her back, and Onikade followed them in. He was met by two blasts of powerful magic. When the magic subsided, he was gone.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepped out of hiding.

“Your plan seems to have worked. Nice job, Starlight,” complimented Celestia.

“Thanks. I should probably get back and help them,” panted Starlight.

“Nonsense, you are drained. Come with us to Ponyville and rest up,” insisted Luna.

Starlight looked back toward the castle and then at the princesses.

“Do not worry about them. Leave that to me,” said Luna.

Starlight was about to accept their offer when Twilight suddenly disappeared from her back. The three of them were shocked as they heard an evil laughter from the forest.

Onikade jumped down from the trees, blocking the path back to Ponyville.

“Naughty filly. If my memory serves me correct, Nayzor said to bring no other princesses,” Onikade scolded.

“But we...how did you-“ Starlight began.

“Oh please, I’m a ninja; I know an ambush when I see one,” Onikade smirked.

Celestia turned back to Starlight. “We will handle this beast. You go back to look for Twilight.”

Starlight nodded and teleported away.

“Come, sister, let us show this vile monster what we are truly made of,” said Celestia.

Luna stepped up to her sister’s side. “You have one chance to leave, you wicked creature.”

“Not a chance. Normally, I don’t fight unarmed opponents, but in this case, I’ll make an exception,” said Onikade, unsheathing his sword.

Meanwhile

“Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, get Princess Shayla out of here,” said Rainbow Dash before getting kicked by Nayzor.

Cole aimed a punched at Nayzor, but Nayzor blocked with his fan and slashed Cole down. Danny and Taylor attacked Nayzor from opposite sides, but Nayzor ducked. They ended up countering each other as Nayzor struck both of them.

“Let’s get out of here, princess,” said Rarity to Princess Shayla.

“Indeed. I am needed back at the Animarium,” replied Shayla.

The four of them got to the exit of the castle as Starlight ran back in.

“What happened to Twilight?” asked Fluttershy.

“That was just a decoy. Twilight’s still in here somewhere,” Starlight responded.

“We’ll get Princess Shayla back to Ponyville, and then we’ll join you,” said Rarity.

“Alright, but you’re gonna have to find another way back. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are fighting Onikade as we speak!”

After hearing that, Princess Shayla spoke up. “Take me to the bottom of this ravine.”

“Are you sure? It’s pretty deep,” said Rarity.

“Trust me,” Shayla insisted.

Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Starlight took Shayla to the bottom of the ravine surrounding the castle, where Shayla used her necklace to summon something. A few seconds later, the Animarium hovered overhead.

“How did you do that?” asked Pinkie.

“Those who control my necklace have power over the Animrium. That’s why Nayzor wanted it,” Shayla explained.

With that, Princess Shayla safely ascended, and the Animarium floated away.

“I have to get back in there and find Twilight,” said Starlight. With that, she teleported back into the castle.

Back in the castle, the rangers and ponies were taking a beating from Nayzor. Since neither Twilight nor Starlight were there, Nayzor could freely use his magic, giving him an advantage. Rainbow tried to divert his attention while Applejack bucked him, but he grabbed onto Applejack with a vine and threw her into Rainbow. Cole tried to punch Nayzor, but Nayzor teleported behind Cole and slashed him down. Merik blasted Nayzor, but Nayzor fired a magical beam back at Merik.

Starlight teleported to the fight and saw what was going on. Rainbow managed to land right next to her, startling her.

“Is Twilight okay?” Rainbow asked.

“No, that was a decoy. She’s still in here. We have to find her,” Starlight responded.

“I’ll tell Applejack. You need to keep Nayzor’s magic down,” said Rainbow.

“Okay, good luck,” responded Starlight.

Rainbow ran up to Applejack and told her the situation. The two of them ran into another corridor to look for Twilight. Starlight put up a spell around Nayzor’s horn to stop him from using magic.

Danny and Max attacked Nayzor. Nayzor tried to counter with magic, but he was caught off guard when he couldn’t do anything. The two rangers hit him, pushing him back into a wall.

“Onikade! Come to me!” Nayzor shouted.

Back at the forest edge, Onikade was still ducking it out with the princesses. Despite there being two of them and him being just a Duke Org, Onikdae seemed evenly matched with the two princesses. When Onikade heard Nayzor’s command, he sheathed his sword.

“Well, it’s been fun, but I must be leaving.” With that, Onikade disappeared.

Onikade reappeared in the castle beside Nayzor. “How may I be of service?”

“Keep the rangers busy. I have a princess to go deal with,” Nayzor responded.

“Yes, general.”

Nayzor ran down the corridor, and Onikade unsheathed his sword once again. The rangers surrounded him, waiting for him to attack.

Meanwhile

“Twilight? Where are you?” called Rainbow.

“Keep it down, we’re gonna get caught,” admonished Applejack.

“Well what should we do? Just keep looking and hope we find her?”

As if in response, a mumbling sound could be heard coming from the other side of the wall.

Applejack smirked at Rainbow and pulled a book lever to open the wall, revealing Twilight, who was tied up and gagged. The two entered the room and walked toward where Twilight was tied up.

Twilight shook her head furiously as the two of them came close, making them stop.

“What’s wrong?” asked Rainbow.

“Is it a trap?” asked Applejack.

Twilight nodded her head.

“Is there a way to get you out of there?” asked Rainbow.

Twilight pointed her muzzle toward a lever and her tail toward another.

“Will pulling these release you?”

Twilight shook her head.

“What will it do then?”

Twilight moved her tail in front of her face and tried to hide behind her mane like Fluttershy would.

Applejack and Rainbow looked at each other in confusion.

“It’ll summon Fluttershy?” Rainbow guessed.

Twilight rooted her eyes and shook her head. She then tried to crouch down and hide again.

“It’ll open a secret passage way that’s under us,” guessed Applejack.

Twilight shook her head again.

Rainbow and Applejack looked at each other and gasped.

“It’ll close the door, giving us time to free you before we’re found!” exclaimed Rainbow.

Twilight nodded.

Rainbow and Applejack went over to the levers and pulled them, causing the door to be closed and something above them to open. The light shone down on the ground, revealing a green path leading around the room and to Twilight.

“I’m assumin’ if we touch this green...stuff, we trigger a trap?” asked Applejack.

Twilight nodded.

Rainbow flew over the green residue and landed carefully next to Twilight. She carefully undid the chains holding her and took out her gag.

“Thanks, I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t found me. What happened to my double?” asked Twilight.

“Starlight took it and ran, but she came back the second she found out it was a fake,” explained Rainbow.

Rainbow and Twilight flew out of the room and took off back to the main throne room to help the rangers. Unfortunately, they were stopped by Nayzor, who stood in their way.

“Naughty, naughty, naughty. Such a shame, you could’ve made such a nice leader to my slave army,” Nayzor said in a dark tone.

“If you think anypony will ever work for you, you’ve got another thing coming!” yelled Rainbow.

“They will when their lives are threatened,” Nayzor replied. With that, he grew vines from the ground and held Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow in the air.

Back in the throne room, Onikade was making quick work of the rangers.

“I’ve had enough. It’s time for you rangers to meet your makers,” Onikade said. With that, Onikade flashed a light at the rangers, causing their shadows to stand and transform into black versions of the rangers.

The rangers began to go at it with their shadows as Onikade approached Starlight. She tried to run away, but Onikade grabbed onto her too fast for her to run.

“I’ve had enough of you,” Onikade said, putting his sword to her throat.

Luckily, Starlight let go of the spell holding off Onikade’s magic and fired her most powerful beam of magic at him. As a result, Onikade’s sword broke in two, and the shadow rangers disappeared.

Onikade looked around and saw he was all alone and retreated.

Back in the corridor, Twilight was looking for an opening to blast Nayzor, but she couldn’t find one. The vines Nayzor had around them began to tighten, until there was a sharp whistling.

Everyone looked to see the rest of the mane six had come to help the three ponies in trouble.

“What do you want?” asked Nayzor.

“Release them. Now!” threatened Starlight, who was charging another spell.

“Oh please. I am an org general. Your magic is no match for my sheer power. Allow me to demonstrate,” said Nayzor, growing more vines from the ground. They wrapped around the four of them and held them in the air as well.

“You won’t get away with this,” squeaked Rainbow Dash.

“I already have. No one is coming to your aid. Luckily for you, I need one of you alive. Which should it be?” Nayzor said.

“Out of the question,” said Rarity.

“That’s right. If you destroy one of us, you have to destroy all of us,” said Twilight.

“So be it.” Nayzor began to tighten the vines even more.

Out of nowhere, a series of blasts shot down the vines holding the ponies in place. The rangers gathered in the corridor and held up new weapons.

“Falcon Summoner!” shouted Cole, holding up a red bow and arrow.

“Rhino Shooter!” shouted Danny, holding up a blue blaster.

“Sword of Pardolis!” shouted Max, holding up an orange blade.

“Deer Clutcher!” shouted Alyssa, holding up a green claw with silver antlers.

“Armadillo Puck!” shouted Taylor, holding up a small, purple ball.

The rangers put together their weapons and took aim at Nayzor.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said Nayzor, aiming his fan at the mane six.

Unfortunately for Nayzor, the mane six all had their elements and were also ready to fire.

“You’ve gone too far this time, Nayzor,” said Cole.

“Nowhere left to run,” said Twilight.

Both sides opened fire upon Nayzor. Right before Nayzor was struck, a burst of smoke covered him, and he was replaced by Onikade, who took the blast and exploded.

“Relish in your victory now, for we all know this fight is only half over,” said Onikade before exploding.

“This is gonna be tough,” said Cole as Onikade grew through the ceiling.

“Wild Zords, descend!”

The rangers called down their zords and formed the Wild Force Megazord and the Predazord. Onikade charged both Megazords and wasted no time slashing Merik. The rangers used the shark blade to attack, but Onikade blocked and jabbed them back. He then unleashed a blast that threw back both Megazords. The Megazord got back up and tried to use the shark surges and tiger furies, but Onikade was fast enough to block them all. He kept slashing the Megazord until it fell apart, sending the rangers down to the ground.

“Are we gonna be able to reform the Megazord?” asked Alyssa.

“We can’t. The eagle’s injured,” replied Taylor.

“So is the shark,” added Max.

“Let’s hope the Congozord can take this,” said Cole.

“Wild Zords, descend!”

The rangers called their five extra zords and formed the Congozord. They attack with the black bear, but Onikade avoided the attack and kicked the Congozord back. He blocked another attack from the Predazord, and slashed that apart as well, sending Merik to the ground.

“Oh man, the crocodile’s injured. I can’t form the Predazord,” said Merik.

“I really wish we could help, but the rangers are on their own,” said Twilight.

The Congozord tried to kick Onikade with the rhino, but he jumped to the other side of it and slashed its back. The Congozord did a spin and tried to hit with the polar bear, but Onikade ducked and delivered a devastating slash on the Congozord. The Congozord broke apart, and the rangers hit the ground.

“The Megazord, the Predazord, and the Congozord are all down,” said Cole.

“Cole, we have to form the Isis Megazord,” said Taylor.

“We can’t. The rhino’s hurt,” said Danny.

“Then that’s it. We’re officially out of Megazords,” said Max, throwing his hands in the air.

“We can’t give up that easily,” said Alyssa.

“But what can we do? Too many zords are hurt to form anything,” said Danny.

“Wait a second. The lion says he’s gonna keep fighting,” said Cole.

“So is the wolf,” said Merik.

Just then, another zord flew down from the Animarium. It was a red bird, the Falcon Zord.

“Onikade’s too strong to fight without a Megazord. They’re gonna get hurt,” said Cole.

Before anyone could respond, the lion, wolf, and falcon gave roars that caused their eyes to glow. The lion folded its head forward, and the falcon folded in its claws. The wolf folded in its legs and stuck out its head to form a sword. The falcon landed in the spot made by the lion, and the wolf and hammerhead connected to the sides of the falcon. A head appeared on the top of the falcon.

“I can’t believe it. We’ve never seen this configuration before,” said Alyssa.

“It’s amazing. Like a centaur with wings,” said Taylor.

Onikade charged the new configuration, but it blocked using the wolf. It then turned and pounded Onikade with the hammerhead. It then stood up and kicked Onikade with its forelegs. Onikade jumped to the other side of the configuration, but it turned and opened its wings, exposing two blue eyes on the inside. The eyes turned yellow, and Onikade was frozen in place. The configuration flew into the air and charged Onikade. It slashed with the hammerhead and wolf, unfreezing Onikade. It then unleashed two powerful beams from its eyes. Onikade was hit and burst into a fit of sparks.

“You may have defeated me, but Nayzor will get the Org Heart, one way or another. Once he does, nothing will stop him,” said Onikade. With that, he hit the ground and exploded.

“This configuration is amazing!” exclaimed Max.

“What’re ya’ gonna call it?” asked Applejack.

“That’s a good question,” said Taylor.

“What about the Centaurozord?” suggested Cole.

“Sound good,” said Danny.

“Princess, is the Org Heart still safe?” Merik radioed to the princess.

“Indeed. Nice job, rangers. Tell Princess Twilight that I apologize for what happened to her,” Shayla replied through Merik’s morpher.

Merik held his morpher close to Twilight, so she could reply, “No apology needed, Princess Shayla.”

Later

Up on the Animarium, there was a celebration.

“One general to go,” said Danny.

“Nayzor doesn’t stand a chance,” said Max.

“Not with the Centaurozord on our side,” said Alyssa.

While the rangers were partying, Twilight and Shayla were having a chat about what happened.

“So Onikade kidnapped you too?” Twilight asked.

“Indeed. He double crossed Mandilock to help Master Org obtain the Org Heart on Earth,” Shayla answered.

“I’m glad Master Org isn’t here after hearing about him,” said Twilight.

“So am I. Even without the Org Heart, Master Org is still one of the most powerful beings in the universe.”

Unbeknownst to them, Nayzor was using his power to listen in on their conversation.

“So, Master Org is still feared after all these years? Looks like I’ll just have to match that power, and I know just how to do it.”

Ultimate revenge (part 1)

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“Finally, the time for your revenge is at hand, doctor,” said Nayzor, referring to the seed he just planted in the Everfree Forest. The seed wasted no time sprouting and creating a cocoon. The cocoon opened and revealed a human that was in his sixties, wearing a hospital gown from Earth.

“Dr. Adler, how nice of you to join me,” said Nayzor.

Meanwhile

Princess Shayla felt a sharp pain in her chest, a pain she hadn’t felt in a long time, not since she met Cole.

“Princess Shayla, are you okay?” asked Twilight, trotting over to her.

“I-I don’t know. Something just...happened, something bad,” Shayla responded.

“Like what? What did it feel like?”

“I’m...not sure. I know I’ve felt it before...but I just don’t know why,” Shayla explained.

“Should we tell the others?”

“I...I think that would be a good idea.”

Meanwhile

“Nayzor, where am I? Why have you brought me here?” asked Dr. Adler.

“Don’t get so excited. The answer to your question is simple. I brought you here to finally exact your revenge on the Red Wild Force Ranger,” Nayzor answered.

Dr. Adler’s Head was instantly filled with dark memories at the mention of the Red Wild Ranger. Visions of swallowing the seeds, of killing the parents, of being defeated when victory was so close.

“How? How can I get my revenge? I am powerless. They will destroy me on sight!” yelled Dr. Adler.

“Now that is where I come in.”

Meanwhile

“Rangers, I have felt something that I have not felt in years. I don’t know what it is for sure, but I know that it is not good. You must remain on your guard at all times,” Princess Shayla said.

“I don’t get it. Did Nayzor get the Org Heart?” Alyssa asked.

“I don’t believe so, but I have sent Twilight to make sure it is still safe.”

“When else have you felt this?” asked Cole.

“Well, the first time I felt this was when Animys was defeated by Master Org, before Merik destroyed him with the Wolf Mask. I felt it again just before I met Cole, and again when the Wild Zords were destroyed.”

“So, you feel this every time something bad happens,” surmised Merik.

“And not like anything, but something really bad,” added Taylor.

“What else do these events have in common?” asked Alyssa.

Cole went wide-eyed with realization. “Guys, I-I think I know what they all have in common.”

“Great. What is it?”

Just before Cole could answer, Twilight appeared before them. “Well, the good news is...the Org Heart is safe,” she panted.

“Does that mean there’s bad news?” Max asked cautiously.

“Kind of,” Twilight answered sheepishly.

Meanwhile

Vines reached out from the forest and toward Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack and her siblings did the best they could. Fending them off, but the vines didn’t cease.

“Why is this happening?” asked Applebloom.

“Ah don’t know. The Tree of Harmony’s not in any danger, and Twilight said the Org Heart was still safe,” Applejack answered.

A vine swung down on top of Applebloom and nearly crushed her. Applejack rushed toward the vine, but it came down on top of Applebloom.

“No!” Applejack shouted.

“Applejack, Ah’m alright,” said Applebloom, walking up to her sister.

“But, the vine, and you were...”

“I got her. You guys need to get inside somewhere,” said Merik, appearing out of nowhere.

“Thanks, Merik. Ah don’t know how to thank ya,” said Applejack.

“No thanks necessary. But really, you need to get inside. The castle’s your best bet,” Merik explained.

“You heard ‘em! To the castle!” shouted Applejack. With that, she and her siblings ran to the castle. Merik quickly turned around and sliced through another vine coming down on him.

“How impressive, ranger. Too bad, this is it for you,” said a new, male voice with an American accent. Before Merik could turn around to see who said that, he was knocked out by a vine.

Meanwhile

Starlight fired a spell at an incoming vine, shredding it instantly. She teleported away from another and blasted it as well. Rainbow Dash tried using clouds to zap the vines away, but that didn’t work very well. If anything, it made the vines attack even more.

Max slashed down a vine with his shark fins, and Taylor pinned a few down with her sword before cutting them with her crystal saber. Danny threw his axe at one of the vines and punched another one back before retrieving his axe. Alyssa used her baton to hold down a vine as Cole used his lion fist to bite it.

“We can’t keep this up!” shouted Rainbow.

“But what are we gonna do? And where are they even coming from?” asked Max.

Before anyone could answer, Applejack came running up to the scene. “We need...to get...to the castle,” she panted.

“Where’s Merik? I thought he was going to get you,” said Cole.

“He’s back at Sweet Apple Acres. He said the castle was our best bet at survival.”

“There is no chance for survival for you, rangers,” said a familiar voice.

“No way,” said Max.

“It can’t be,” said Danny.

“That’s impossible,” said Alyssa.

“We destroyed him,” said Taylor.

“What? Who are you talking about?” asked Starlight.

All eight of them turned to see a large human in brown robes with three eyes and a horn on his forehead. He wore a devilish smile and held a staff in his hand.

“Master Org,” said Cole.

“We have some unfinished business, red ranger,” said Master Org.

“What are you talking about? I’m not gonna fight you!” Cole yelled back.

“No? Then I guess I wouldn’t be needing this,” Master Org retorted, using a vine to hold up another familiar figure.

“Merik!” shouted Alyssa.

“Let him go, now!” commanded Taylor.

“Not until your friend has defeated me.”

“I’m a Power Ranger. I’m not gonna pay some ransom. I fight to protect the innocent, not just to fight!” yelled Cole.

“Too bad. Looks like I’ll just have to destroy him, like I did your parents.”

Cole’s blood began to boil as he clenched his fists. “You’ve gone too far this time, Master Org. I’ll fight you, but not until you release Merik.”

“As you wish.” With that, Master Org tossed Merik’s unconscious body aside and pointed his staff at Cole.

“Get to the castle. This is gonna get really ugly, really fast,” Cole told his friends.

“No. We’re not leaving you to deal with this guy alone,” Taylor insisted.

“Yeah, man, we’re your friends. We’re here to help,” added Max.

“I said go! Grab Merik and tell the others what’s going on. Then meet me back here to finish him off,” Cole instructed.

“Alright then, if you insist. Be careful though,” said Alyssa.

With that, Taylor and Danny picked up Merik, and they all made their way to the castle, leaving Cole and Master Org.

“Seventeen years of waiting, and it will all be worth it,” said Master Org.

“We don’t have to fight. You can start over. You can put this life behind you and start a new one,” Cole offered.

Master Org simply scoffed in return. “Pathetic. I cannot turn from this path now even if I wanted to. Besides, I would still choose to be your enemy.”

“Why is this such a big deal to you?”

“Because, you are the only remaining piece of my past. Once I destroy you, every trace of my failure will be gone.”

“And then what? Have you ever considered what would happen if you did succeed? It’s not worth it!”

“Quiet, fool. You’re simply stalling. It’s time for my glorious revenge.”

With that, Master Org fired a beam of power out of his staff, sending Cole flying into the air. Cole immediately recovered and charged with his lion fist. Master Org blocked the attack and spun to strike back. Cole hit the ground, but he managed to kick Master Org off balance. Cole went for another shot, but Master Org blocked it and knocked it out of the way, leaving Cole open to attack.

Before Master Org could strike Cole, there was a huge earthquake. The ground shook, knocking both Cole and Master Org off their feet.

In the distance, Nayzor had changed into his super form and grew.

“Nayzor, what are you doing?” asked Master Org through gritted teeth.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m destroying this world piece by piece...including you,” Nayzor explained.

“What? We had a deal!”shouted Master Org.

“Oh, Dr. Adler, you should know by now that I cannot be trusted,” Nayzor joked. “Regardless, your time is now up.”

Nayzor took aim at Master Org and Cole with his fan and fired his most powerful attack. Master Org put up a wall of vines in front of him to block the attack. The vines were destroyed, but Cole and Master Org were both unharmed.

“I’m out of here. I’ll deal with you later, red ranger,” said Master Org. With that, he disappeared.

Cole turned back to Nayzor and got hit by another shot from the fan. Cole went flying into the air, but luckily was saved by a familiar lavender being. It was Twilight, who was struggling to keep him balanced on her back while avoiding Nayzor’s attacks. Luckily, the Animarium swooped in and knocked Nayzor on his back while Twilight made her way onto the island.

The Animarium ascended back into the sky as the lion, falcon, wolf, and hammerhead jumped down to face Nayzor.

“You four Wild Zords don’t stand a chance against me,” Nayzor taunted.

The lion roared and started folding its head forward as the falcon folded in its legs. The wolf and hammerhead folded in their limbs as well, and the four zords combined to form the Centaurozord.

“A new configuration. How interesting. Too bad I have to destroy it,” Nayzor said before firing another shot from his fan.

Meanwhile

Twilight and Cole landed on the Animarium, and Shayla instantly ran up to them. Twilight got out from under Cole.

“How? How is this possible? How is he here?” asked Cole.

“I don’t know, but I do know that we have to stop him,” Shayla answered.

“Hold on. Who are you talking about? Who’s here?” Twilight asked, confused.

“That human...was Master Org,” explained Cole.

“You mean the evil being that nearly destroyed the Animarium three thousand years ago?!” Twilight asked with clear shock in her voice.

“Unfortunately so. Nayzor must have revived him somehow,” Shayla responded.

“Okay, okay, no one panic. We’ve dealt with worse, so we can deal with this right? I mean how hard could it be?” Twilight asked in hysterical shock.

“Even if we knew how to deal with him, we still have to deal with Nayzor,” Cole pointed out.

“Oh come on. Why can’t we catch a break?” Twilight pouted.

“Wait, where are the others? Tell me they’re not fighting Nayzor,” Cole plead.

“They are. And in Nayzor’s super form, I don’t know how long they can last,” Shayla answered.

“I’m getting down there,” said Cole.

“No!” Twilight and Shayla said in unison.

“You’re way too injured to go down and fight,” said Shayla.

“You said it yourself. Nayzor’s in his super form. I have to help my friends.”

“But if you try to fight now, you could be destroyed,” plead Twilight.

“It’s either me or Equestria, and I’d rather it be me.”

“But then Nayzor will just turn his attention on Equestria,” said Shayla.

“Princess Shayla’s right. If there’s a chance to salvage something of value, we should take it,” added Twilight.

Cole stood up and morphed. He then turned to exit the Animarium. “Get as many ponies onto the Animarium as possible. They’re not gonna wanna be on the ground during this fight.” With that, Cole descended back down to Ponyville.

Shayla stood up to follow Cole, but Twilight stopped her. “I don’t think there’s any way you can convince him not to fight. We should do what he says in case the worst comes to pass,” said Twilight.

“I hope you’re right,” said Shayla.

Meanwhile

“We can’t take much more of this!” cried Max as Nayzor landed another shot on the Centaurozord.

“We have to keep fighting!” Taylor yelled back.

Nayzor fired another blast at the Centaurozord and gave a maniacal laugh.

“You rangers cannot defeat me. You may as well give up now and go back to Earth,” Nayzor taunted.

“We can’t let him win. We have to push him back!” yelled Merik.

The Centaurozord swung the wolf at Nayzor, who blocked it and slashed the Centaurozord with his fan.

“Why do you fight so hard for this world? It’s not even yours,” said Nayzor.

Nayzor then snatched up the Centaurozord in a vine. He aimed another blast at the rangers before he was hit by a few flying bananas. The gorilla jumped onto Nayzor and held on tight.

“Guys,” cried Cole, “Finish him!”

“What if we hit you?”

“Trust me,” Cole responded.

The falcon’s wings opened up and fired two beams at Nayzor. The gorilla jumped out of the way before it was struck and fired its own beam. Nayzor was struck and began to spark, all while laughing maniacally.

“You think you have defeated me? Think again,” Nayzor said before exploding. Unfortunately, the blast revealed a large, brown, artifact that was all too familiar to the rangers.

“No way!” cried Max.

“Impossible!” yelled Danny.

“It can’t be!” shouted Alyssa.

“He actually got it!” screamed Taylor.

The pieces of Nayzor floated back into the air and moved toward the artifact.

“He did it. He got the Org Heart,” said Merik.

With that, Nayzor reformed into the same green, vile beast he was before.

“Now you see, rangers, that I am invincible. If you surrender now, I will allow you to return to Earth peacefully. But if you try to resist, you will be forcefully destroyed much as you destroyed my comrades,” Nayzor boomed.

“Guys, what do we do?” asked Max.

“I-I don’t know. No matter what we do, he’ll get right back up,” said Danny.

“Well, I know what we’re not gonna do. We are not leaving without that heart, and we are getting it one way or another,” said Taylor.

With that, the Centaurozord took flight and prepared to fight Nayzor once again.

Ultimate revenge (part 2)

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Twilight, Starlight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie ran through the streets of Ponyville, destroying falling debris and protecting the locals while the battle between Nayzor and the Wild Rangers raged on.

“We need to evacuate!” shouted Applejack.

“Right! Get everypony out of Ponyville, now!” agreed Twilight

The seven of them split up. Rarity ran to her boutique and got her sister, Sweetie Belle.

“What’s going on?” she asked, scared out of her mind.

“Just a little...hiccup with the Wild Rangers. Everything’s gonna be fine,” Rarity assured.

“That’s what you think,” said a new, male voice inside the boutique.

Rarity looked to where the voice came from before getting knocked out.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cake?! Are you in here?! We need to go now!” Pinkie shouted throughout Sugarcube Corner.

She got no response; the restaurant was already deserted. Pinkie rushed up to her room and got a few of her things, namely, her diary, her cookbook, and her party canon.

“You won’t be throwing any parties where you’ll be going,” said a dark voice.

Pinkie failed to see who spoke before she was knocked out.

Rainbow Dash flew through Cloudsdale, getting as many pegasi to leave as possible. They had their doubts, but when they aw what was going on in Ponyville, the listened without any further questions.

“Alright, I think that’s everypony,” Rainbow said to herself.

“All except one,” said a new voice.

Rainbow was knocked unconscious quickly after.

“We need to go, friends,” Fluttershy said to her animals.

One animal in particular, Angel, was putting up a fuss.

“I wish we didn’t have to go either, but we don’t have a choice,” Fluttershy beckoned.

“Exactly,” said an unfamiliar, male voice.

Fluttershy turned around to see a tall human with long, brown robes, three eyes, and a horn on his forehead.

“Boo,” he said.

Fluttershy fainted.

Applejack rounded up her family, and they all met at the front gate of Sweet Apple Acres.

“Applejack, what’s going on? Things’ve never been this bad before?” asked a scared Applebloom.

“It’s gonna be fine. We just need to stay out of the rangers’ way. You three got to the Everfree Forest and try to get to Zecora’s. Ah’ll meet ya’ there,” assured Applejack.

“Now you be careful,” warned Granny Smith.

“Ah’ll be fine. Now you three get goin’,” said Applejack.

The three of them hesitantly made their way from Sweet Apple Acres, leaving Applejack.

“You know, I could’ve had a family too,” said an unfamiliar voice.

Applejack turned around and was met with a vine to the face.

“Spike?! Spike, where are you?” Twilight yelled through her castle.

“Twilight, I’m here! What’s going on out there?” Spike asked.

“Nayzor got the Org Heart. We need to leave Ponyville, now!” Twilight explained.

“Seriously?! First the vines again, and now this?!” Spike asked.

“I know, but we have to go,” Twilight pleaded.

“What about our friends?”

“They’ll meet us out of Ponyville. Please, we need to get going,” begged Twilight.

“Alri-Twilight, watch out!” Spike suddenly shouted.

Twilight turned around and was hit by a green blast.

“This has all been too easy. Soon, Nayzor will see why no one betrays Master Org,” said a man in brown robes with three eyes and a horn.

“Y-You’re M-Master Org,” Twilight stuttered.

“That’s right,” Master Org replied, tossing Spike aside.

“W-What do you want?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing much. Just three thousand years worth of revenge,” Master Org answered.

“That’s a lie, and you know it. Princess Shayla told me about you. You’re real name is Dr. Adler, and you betrayed your friends. But you can start over, make new friends,” Twilight said.

“Don’t try and show me sympathy,” Master Org said before knocking Twilight out.

Twilight woke up on her hooves, tied up, and forced to look toward Ponyville. Her friends were tied up as well, ave for Starlight.

“Pathetic. To think villains before me have struggled to defeat you. Now that you are out of my way, Equestria is mine for the taking,” Master Org gloated.

“Y-yer’ never gonna get away with this,” Applejack said, her muzzle barely able to open, due to the vines holding her in place.

“Who’s going to stop me? You? You’re precious Wild Rangers? Please, they will be the first to go,” Master Org replied.

“Please, you don’t have to do this. You can let go of your past-“ Twilight was cut off by the vines tightening around her.

“Shut up. You have no idea what pain those rangers caused me. I’m gonna make them pay for all of it. I just have to deal with that traitor, Nayzor, first,” Master Org said, turning to the fight.

The Centaurozord was getting beat up by Nayzor. Whenever they got close, Nayzor struck them back.

“How do we beat this guy?!” yelled Max.

“We can’t give up!” yelled Alyssa.

The ranger attacked with the wolf, but Nayzor dodged and attack their side.

“When will you rangers give up and leave already? If you do, you have my word that I won’t go after you,” Nayzor tried to tempt.

“No way!” Cole shouted.

“Not happening,” agreed Taylor.

“Whatever it takes, we will beat you,” said Merik.

“You’re funeral,” Nayzor said, aiming his fan at the Centaurozord.

Before he could fire, he was wrapped in giant vines.

“W-What?! What is this?” Nayzor shouted as he helplessly struggled against the vines.

“Maybe next time you’ll think twice before betraying Master Org!”

A few blasts of green energy flew at Nayzor, causing the Org Heart to expose. But before Nayzor could reform, Master Org surrounded the Org Heart with a green aura and slowly floated it toward him.

“We can’t let him get the heart,” said Danny.

“I have an idea,” said Cole.

“What are you thinking, Cole?” Merik asked with a serious tone.

“I’m gonna snatch the heart before Master Org can get his claws on it,” Cole explained.

“And how are you gonna do that?” asked Taylor.

“Simple, I’m just gonna jump,” Cole responded.

“Are you crazy?!” Max yelled.

“When it comes to the safety of the innocent, yes, I am crazy,” Cole replied matter-of-factly.

With that, Cole stood up and made his way toward the exit of the Centaurozord.

“Cole, don’t do this! At least let us help,” Alyssa pleaded.

Cole didn’t listen as he jumped out of the cockpit and onto the head of the Centaurozord. He pushed a button on his belt, and his suit began to glow. A golden lion head appeared on his chest, and a pair of golden wings appeared on his back.

Cole leapt for the heart with all of his strength. The wings helped keep him airborne, but the heart was still moving away from him. That was, until the heart was surrounded by a familiar blue aura. Cole looked to the ground to see Starlight Glimmer using her magic to hold the heart in place.

Cole drew a sword and slashed as hard as he could at the Org Heart. It was a solid shot, and the heart split into two.

“Impossible! The Org Heart is supposed to be indestructible!” Master Org shouted as Cole made his landing.

Cole looked up to see the Elements of Harmony being held in place by Master Org. “Let them go, now!”

“Come up here and make me!” Master Org repeated.

Cole flew up to Mater Org and was met with a blast of energy. Cole fired a blast of his own and hit Master Org in the chest.

“Cole, we’re here!” shouted Merik as he and the rest of the Wild Rangers ran up to the scene.

“Not happening!” Master Org said, planting his scepter into the ground. The ground Master Org and Cole were standing on was suddenly shot high into the air. “We finish this, one on one!”

“We don’t have to! Just put-“ Cole was cut off by a blast from Master Org.

“Just fight me!” Master Org ordered.

“If that’s what it takes,” Cole muttered as he charged. Master Org grew a vines from the ground and smacked Cole to the side. Cole spread his wings and glided back to Master Org, hitting him with his sword. Master Org fired his scepter and hit Cole in the back, sending him to the edge. Cole let go and flew above Master Org to fire an attack from the lion head. Master Org countered with a blast of his own, and the two were equally matched.

“I destroyed your parents, and I will destroy you, no matter what it takes!” Master Org shouted, pushing closer to Cole.

“No you won’t! I will defeat you and avenge my parents!” Cole said, pushing back.

The two beams pushed each other back and forth, until Cole finally managed to push all the way to Master Org. Cole quickly flew up to Master Org before he could recover, and delivered another slash to his horn. The horn was severed, and Master Org’s robes all faded to dust, leaving nothing but an old man in a hospital gown.

“Go ahead, finish me and avenge your parents,” Dr. Adler taunted.

Cole got up and pointed his sword at the man, but hesitated.

“Do it! Destroy me!” Dr. Adler shouted.

Cole lowered his sword. “No. I told you before, and I’ll tell you again. I’m not going down the same path as you. Besides, you’re not worth it.”

Cole turned away and began walking toward the edge. Dr. Adler scowled and charged at Cole, who got out of the way. Dr. Adler tripped and fell over the edge. Cole looked down to see nothing but the ground quickly coming toward him.

Luckily, the collision was softened by a lavender and blue aura, surrounding the plate and levitating it safely to the ground.

“Phew, catching something that heavy that fast can really take a toll on you,” said Starlight, her horn dying out.

“You can say that again,” Twilight agreed.

Cole walked up to his friends. “Where is he?”

“Who?” asked Taylor.

“Master Org. He fell off the edge before we hit the ground,” Cole explained.

“We don’t know. We didn’t see him,” Merik responded.

Cole looked up to Ponyville. “Nayzor, is he gone?”

“Yeah, he couldn’t reform without the Org Heart,” answered Max.

“And the Org Heart, what happened to that?”

“Split into two pieces,” answered Alyssa.

Cole leaned forward, panting a little. “Well, I guess that’s everything, then.”

Later

“Thank you, again, for all of your help,” said Twilight.

“It was nothing. Anything to help another princess,” said Princess Shayla.

“And thanks for your hospitality during our visit,” said Merik. The other Wild Rangers had already said their goodbyes and ascended to the Animarium.

“Of course. You’re not the first team of rangers to come to Equestria, and I doubt you’ll be the last,” said Starlight.

Shayla chuckled at the unicorn’s comment and held out one half of the Org Heart to Twilight. “Here, I think it’s a better idea to keep these separate. Besides, think of it as something to remember us by.”

Twilight took the heart fragment in her magic. “Thank you. I’ll do my best to keep it safe. I wish you all a safe journey home.”

“Thank you. It was nice to finally meet you,” Shayla said.

“You too. Will we ever see you again?” Twilight asked.

“Maybe. If the Wild Zords feel the need to return,” Shayla responded.

With that, Princess Shayla and Merik ascended to the Animarium, which floated into the air until it was out of sight.

“Out of the three ranger teams that have been here so far, their leaving has been the easiest to accept,” Starlight admitted.

“True,” Twilight agreed.

“Probably because none of us fell in love this time,” Starlight added.

Twilight chuckled. “You’re probably right. Let’s try to not do that in the future.”

Call of the Wild: A Power Rangers Story

by TheHardie-Boy

Return to the island

Proper Introductions

You can’t teach an old wolf new tricks

But you can teach him to improve the old ones

Thunderous Spirits of the past (part one)

Thunderous Spirits of the past (part two)

Thunderous Spirits of the past (part three)

The shark grows up

Princess for a princess

Ultimate revenge (part 1)

Ultimate revenge (part 2)