Lustering Steel

by TheSuperTransformerFan

First published

All seems well for Princess Twilight...until she meets a student who is just like her, and it's up to Steel to show her the light!

After the big battle with Evox, Blaze & Roxy, it has been almost 20 years in the future time of Equestria since Twilight ascended to the throne. Equestria has prospered and its alliances have led to the assimilation of many its neighboring lands into the principality. However, Princess Twilight is vexed by one final obstacle: her greatest student, Luster Dawn doesn't want to make friends saying that friendship is not worth it and a waste of time. Luckily, she knows just who to call: Steel, the silver Beast Morpher ranger! But, when a robotron nearby starts to cause damage, Steel and Luster are the only ones to stop it, and save Equestria!
Can Twilight & Steel both show her the truth, that the greatest spell Luster will ever know, is that the magic of friendship will grow?

Continuity:
Beast Morphers - It takes place sometime after "Scrozzle's Revenge" and before the season 2 opener, "Believe It Or Not" since Scrozzle is revealed to have survived after the zord battle with the Beast Bots.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - A huge rewrite of the season 9 closer, "The Last Problem", so most of this will probably not be canon. Also, Luster becomes a Power Ranger at the end.

I don't own anything. MLP & Power Rangers are both owned by Hasbro.

Prologue: Friendship...A Waste Of Time?

View Online

In Equestria, the city of Canterlot was all a buzz as not only the Equestrians of the three founding tribes, but Yaks, young dragons, changelings, Hippogriffs, and others were engaged in various business. But this was not the Equestria you all were used to seeing. Oh no! This is the Equestria taking place 20 years after the Mane Six and the Power Rangers banded together to take down Evox and his legion. Notably, this was the future time of Equestria...namely, the year 2039 which was two decades after Twilight had ascended to the throne to take princess Celestia and Luna’s place.

Anyways, most notable of all the Equestrians was a slightly larger than human size purple dragon, with green spines, that walked towards the castle. It was Spike. Around his neck was an amulet that had on it a purple six-pointed star surrounded by five smaller symbols, one was a set of three apples, one a set of three sapphires cut in the shape of kites, one a set of three butterflies, another a set of three-party balloons, and the final symbol was cloud with a lightning bolt of three colors. Behind the purple star was a merger of the sun and the moon. As Spike walked he smiled at all the going-on's and what seemed to be peaceful interactions.

After about half an hour he arrived at the door to the castle’s throne room, the door was opened by a male griffin, Gallus (a student in Twilight’s School of Friendship), who seemed to be in his mid-thirties with blue feathers who’s crown feathers was a lighter blue with amber tips dressed in the golden armor of the ESM. The dragon nodded to the griffin and the door was opened.

“I got here as soon as I could, but friendship ambassador is a full time job these days.” Spike said as he entered. “Making peace between Abyssinians and the Diamond Dogs has not been easy.”

In the throne room, there was a violet alicorn that stood almost seven feet with long, wavy, dark sapphire hair with two streaks, one was rose and the other was violet which floated effortlessly, with violet eyes, and metallic wings purple and gold in color which seemed to float behind her and yet also come from her back with two amethyst six-pointed stars functioning for the wings like her arm's shoulder balls. She wore a crown with a horn-like amethyst focusing gem on her forehead, also on her head was a tiara that seemed to be a merger of black colored metal and a golden crown. She was dressed in Royal armor, just like Celestia and Luna wore. It was Princess Twilight Sparkle, who had now almost matched her mentor’s appearance as she was finished wrapping up her discussion with an associate.

“That's why I picked you for the job.” Twilight said as she giggled. “But I'm glad you could come.” She did, however, hug her No. #1 assistant, now royal advisor.

The two went to their thrones. “So what's the emergency?” Spike asked as he sat down on his throne and Twilight sat on hers.

“Ever since I took over Celestia's School, my focus has been on teaching magic.” She told her advisor. “But now it seems my top student has missed the most important lesson of all.“ She was feeling a teeny bit apprehensive as she said that.

“What do you mean?” Spike asked confused.

“Let's just say it'll be good to have my royal advisor and friendship ambassador by my side.” Twilight said happily to her assistant/advisor.

Once she finished speaking to Spike, the griffin at the door opened it, “Your Majesty, she's here.” he informed her.

Twilight smiled and nodded, “Send her in, Gallus.” she ordered. The recently identified guard nodded and opened the other door to reveal a young pink unicorn nearing the end of her teenage years...think Twilight’s age at the start of the series, just on the crust of legally recognized womanhood. The young unicorn had hair that shifted from yellow to red like the rising sun at dawn with a couple of stripes of solid yellow. Her eyes were dawn yellow-orange and she had a cutie mark that looked like the rising sun.

The unicorn, feeling nervous for a few seconds, entered in the throne room, approaching her teacher before her. She bowed. “Your Majesty.” she said.

“Luster, I may be ruler of Equestria, but I'm still just your teacher.” She pointed out to her.

The recently identified Luster rose up to her teacher. “And you've been wonderful.” She said calm, but happy. “I've enjoyed every moment at the School of Magic. But I'm just not sure it's the right place for me.” She started to trail off, feeling a little nervous.

Twilight nodded, “I see.” the ruler admitted.

Luster looked back up and waved her hooves, “And, It's not the work. I could spend weeks in the library doing research.” she started to explain before she lowered her hoof and rubbed the back of her head, “It's just that there's a lot of focus on making friends.”

“Spike smiled as he hovered and placed his left front talon on his chest and closed his eyes, “If that's your problem, you've come to the right place.” He told her.

Luster gave a weak smile as lifted the heel of her left foot hoof and spun her ankle with her toe still on the ground, “But that's just it. I don't want to make friends.” She confessed.

“What?” Spike shouted in confusion. He then looked to Twilight in confusion.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Spike in slight annoyance before she turned back to Luster and gave a small smile as she seemed to be in thought, “So you'd rather leave the School of Magic than make friends?” She asked.

“I was hoping to set up an independent course of study.” Luster informed her teacher. “I want to accomplish as much as you have someday.”

Spike spied the content of the scrolls from over Twilight’s shoulders. He then looked over Twilight to Luster, “It'll be hard to do that without friends.” the dragon pointed out.

“I’m not so sure.” Luster had to disagree. “Friendship looks like more of a distraction than anything else and ultimately a waste of time.”

What?!” Spike asked shocked as his jaw was now agape in response to the student’s remark about friendship.

“I know you and your friends accomplished a lot together, but that was so long ago, and as far as I can see, you rule by yourself now.” Luster said as she pointed out to Twilight, who was indeed the only one ruling right now. But what she didn’t know would be that Twilight had some friends to show her later on to disprove that.

“Uh, hello? Royal advisor right here!”, Spike pointed out, showing her the medallion he was wearing around his neck.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”, the student agreed. “In fact, I think it’s better! Plus, if friendships ultimately fade, why make them in the first place?”

“You know what, Luster Dawn?” Twilight asked, giving her an understanding smile. “You're right.”

WHAT?!” Spike shouted as he was on full panic attack and could comprehend to what had just recently happened. “Friendship is more trouble than it's worth?!” he whispered in Twilight’s ear in disbelief, “This is your top student?”

Twilight nodded. “She is, Spike.” She then got an idea of what to do about this situation. “And, I know just who to call to help her see the light in this predicament!” She got out a blank scroll and with her magic, she used a quill to write on it. “Come on, Steel.” She said to herself and thought out loud as she wrote. “I need you for a very important mission.” She sent the letter off into the sky on its way as it went to an unknown as she waited, hopefully for the hero to receive the letter and arrive. Luckily, she knew just who and where it was going to!

(In the Power Rangers' world, on Earth in the year 2019...)

At Grid Battleforce, cadets were up and about building gadgets and the rangers were going through training to prepare for danger. However, one beast bot in particular with mantis, human and scarab DNA, Steel was moping around the hallways of the building as he paced. “It’s been a few months since Twilight and her friends helped us take down Evox.” He said. “I wonder what’s going on?”

He stopped and wondered, “I wonder if she’s okay.” as he started to pace around some more. “I just can’t believe that it’s been quite some time since her coronation.” He took a peek in some of the rooms and saw various things like the other rangers, going through training, workers doing their usual duty, and Nate working on new inventions. As he left Nate’s room after he peeked, Nate took notice and stopped work on his invention to quickly follow Steel out the door, and into the hallway.

“I just wonder if she feels alright with her position as the new ruler?” The beast bot wondered.

Just then, Nate, the gold ranger, came bursting out of the room in excitement with a letter in hand, running to Steel. He finally managed to catch up to him. “Steel!” He said excitedly.

This scared the beast bot as he screamed a little bit before fully turning to his human brother, Nate. “Bro!” He exclaimed in realization to him. “Don’t scare me like that!”

“Sorry, Steel.” He quickly apologized as he showed Steel the letter, which had a royal stamp on it. “I just wanted to tell you that a letter came for you.”

Steel took the letter and by looking at the handwriting, he could tell who it was. “It’s from Twilight.” He said as he opened the letter and looked at it. “It says that she needs me for an important mission.” He turned to his brother. “Why do you think she needs only me?”

“I don’t know, Steel.” Nate said, “...but let’s go tell our friends.” He ran to get the other rangers as Steel, who was rather confused decided to meet the others inside the lab.

When Nate, Devon, Ravi, and Zoey arrived in the lab while Steel was waiting for them, the three core rangers took their seats. “Thanks for coming on such short notice.” Nate told the other 3 rangers. “I’m pretty sure you’re wondering why I called you all here.”

“Not really.” Ravi said. “We were just going through our usual rounds of ranger training. But, yeah.”

“Nate, what is this all about?” Devon asked the genius confused.

“I’m glad you asked.” Nate said as he got out the envelope with the stamp and showed it to them. “I got a letter from Twilight in Equestria! She wants Steel to come over to the castle. There must be an important problem that she wants solved.”

“Sure enough that Twilight wants a friendship problem solved.” Zoey said as she got up. “But, she might need us. So I suggest we get the lead out and go!”

“I tried getting us all to go...” Nate told them. “But, the cutoff for the registration already passed and Twilight would only concide to Steel, specifically.”

“And, the question is...why only me?” Steel asked confused. “With all the monsters we faced and all the battles we fought, I’m just not sure why Twilight would only want me to come?”

“I don’t know.” Nate said. “But, it sounds pretty urgent.”

“But, hey!” Devon said as he went up to his teammate. “You helped us countless times in the past when we were facing Evox and his legion.”

“I agree with Devon.” Ravi said as he got up. “We faced Evox many times and some of them were with Twilight and her crew.”

“So, performing this task by yourself should be no different.” Zoey said optimistically.

“Steel, you helped us with Zord combinations, strategies and weapons that helped us beat Evox.” Nate told him. “It’s just going over to meet Twilight.” He told her. “It’s not big deal. Well, I’m this case it IS a big deal, but not like one of those monster issues we have to deal with.”

After thinking about it for a while, Steel considered it. “Well, alright.” He told the others. “It’s definitely not a mission to stop mega viruses. And, we haven’t heard from Twilight in a while. So, you know what? I think I’m ready for this!”

“That’s the spirit, Steel!” Devon said as he playfully punched the bot in the arm.

“I think you should go.” Nate told his brother. “I agree we haven’t heard from Twilight in quite some time. I truly believe you need to go on this quest. And we have no right to stop you.“

“I suppose not.” Zoey confidently told him.

“I still say this is nutty.” Steel started to say, “But hey, I've done lots of nutty things. At least it’ll give me the chance to go see Twilight.” He started to gather up his Striker morpher and key to get ready to leave.

“Well then, I guess this is goodbye, Steel.” Nate told him as he started up the portal for him to get to the future Equestria. “We can't wait to hear about it when you return.”

“Yeah, we hope your trip–” Devon started.

“Quest.” Ravi cut in.

“–your quest finally answers your questions about what Twilight’s been doing lately.” Devon finished. “She IS the current ruler of Equestria, by the way.”

“Thanks, everyone.” Steel said as Nate opened the portal. “I know it will.”

“Hey, why are you taking your morpher with you?” Zoey asked as she noticed his morpher in his hand.

“Well, you never know when you might really need it.” Steel told her. “Especially, since Scrozzle’s still around!”

“I hate to admit it...” Zoey said, smiling at the Beast Bot. “...but you’re right.”

As Steel started to step through the portal, The others said their goodbyes. “Goodbye, Steel!” Ravi said.

“Go get em, Big guy!” Devon said.

“We have faith in you!” Zoey said as well.

Steel turned to the others. “Thanks, guys!” He said. “I will! And, I’ll tell you all about how it went!” He stepped through the portal, that led to Equestria.

“Goodbye!” Everyone said as the beast bot was now through the portal and was probably already in Twilight’s world right about now.

Once Steel was gone, Devon turned to Nate. “You think he’s got this all by himself?” He asked.

“Of course, he does.” Nate told the others. “I bet Steel has already found the problem and will tell us when he gets back.” He turned to face the portal that Steel went through, and the other could only help but wonder what the problem was, why Princess Twilight needed Steel, and why this mission was so important to the Beast Bot.

Part 1: The New Student

View Online

In the year, 2039...(alright, forget it. Let’s go with the Future Time of Equestria. That’s easier.)...the portal opened and Steel arrived. He took a look around him as he saw various creatures all in Canterlot, being friends and sharing friendship.

“Wow!” Steel said in astonishment. “Equestria really HAS changed during all this time!” He did a quick look on both sides, hoping that no one was around to see him. “They’re probably not used to seeing a Beast Bot around in these parts.” Steel said as he got out his morpher and quickly morphed into his ranger form. “I’d better change my appearance!” He made his way to the castle and no one noticed his transformation or his presence.

He was about to enter the throne room when he was stopped by Gallus. “Halt!” He said as he aimed his spear at him. “Who goes there?” This made Steel step back a little bit.

“Uh. I have to see Princess Twilight at once!” Steel said, determined and nervously. “I’m here on a mission.”

“Sorry, Sir.” Gallus said as he carefully prodded him, making him take a few more steps back. “No one gets in to see the Princess without permission.”

“I have an invite from the princess, herself.” Steel said, getting out the letter that was delivered to him.

Gallus took the letter and read it, and sure enough, it was legit and all the proof that he needed. He retracted the spear. “Well, why didn’t you say so?” He said and opened the door. “Your majesty?” He told her. “Steel’s here.” And he moved to reveal the silver power ranger, standing right before her.

Twilight saw him and smiled. “Steel!” She said happily. “You came!” She flew over from her student and advisor to hug the ranger.

“Twilight!” Steel said excitedly as he went over to her and got hugged by the princess. He noticed that she looked a little...“different” from the last time he saw her, and that she almost matched Princess Celestia herself. “You look a lot like Celestia than the last time I saw you!” He said in surprise. “How did you almost match your mentor’s appearance?”

Twilight giggled. “Well, it’s not easy...but a lot can change in 20 years.” She told him.

Steel was utterly shocked, trying to process this information. “Has it been THAT long?” He asked. “Because the last time we defeated Evox was a few months ago!”

“I know how change can rapidly happen.” Twilight said happily.

Steel also saw Spike as well. “Spike!” He said excitedly.

“Steel!” Spike said, coming over to him and hi-fiving him. “Good to see you! I can’t believe it’s been such a long time.”

“It sure has been!” Steel said. “You got muscles? Cool!” Spike smiled. “You’re growing up!”

“I sure am!” Spike said to him.

“Did I insult anything?” The beast bot asked.

“No, you didn’t, Steel.” Twilight told him. “Even I know this can be quite a shock to you.”

“So, what’s the problem?” Steel asked.

“I’m glad you asked.” Twilight told him. “You see, ever since I took over Celestia's School, my focus has been on teaching magic. But, it seems my top student has missed the most important lesson of all.”

“What do you mean?” Steel asked.

“Let's just say it'll be good to have you here to help.” Twilight told him. She turned to Luster Dawn. “Luster, I brought someone who can help.”

Luster took notice at the silver ranger that appeared before her and she was surprised. “You can demorph, Steel.” Twilight told him.

“But, what if I scare her?” The beast bot asked nervously. “I mean she’s probably not used to seeing a beast bot.”

“Steel, I already told her a lot about you.” She said as she smiled. “So, you’ll have nothing to fear. You won’t scare her. You can demorph when ready.” Steel got out his morpher and instantly demorphed to reveal his beast bot form. Sure enough, Luster Dawn was super surprised at what she saw. She had never seen a creature like him here before.

Her reaction was a lot different than Steel had expected. “Wow!” She said silently in amazement. “That’s cool!” It turns out. She wasn’t scared at all. She was rather amazed by what she saw. “I’m Luster Dawn.” She introduced herself.

“She’s my top student.” Twilight told her.

“Amazing.” Steel silently said. “I’m Steel.” He introduced as the two shook hands/hooves. “So, why did you want me to come here, remind me again?”

“She doesn’t want to make friends and thinks that friendship isn’t worth it.” Twilight told him.

Steel was utterly shocked at this. “What?!” He asked. “That’s crazy! Friendship is more trouble than it's worth?!“

“That’s what I asked her!” Spike said in agreement with the Beast Bot and deftly dodging a glare from Twilight.

“Well, I think Friendship is a waste of time.” Luster started to say. “It’s just that there is a lot of focus on that.”

“Maybe, you might want to walk with us for a little bit.” Twilight suggested as She, Steel, Luster and Spike all walked to a stained glass window. “Friendships take work, and there's no guarantee they'll last. They can be complicated. They can be messy. And they never go the way you plan. Friendship is a hard thing to Navigate.”

“I can’t argue there.” Steel said. “Friendship can take a long time to understand.”

Twilight smiled and nodded in agreement. “You are right, Steel.” Twilight said. “I remember the first time I realized it might not last forever.” She then turned to face Luster, “Have I ever told you the story of my coronation?” she asked.

Luster shook her head, “I can’t say you have.” the student answered. Twilight smiled as she turned back to the window.

“Your coronation!” Steel said in realization. “Of course! I remember that like it was yesterday!” He turned to Twilight. “That was before the big battle we had with Evox!”

Twilight smiled. “It sure was, Steel.” She said.

(Read part of “A Coronation Put on Hold” from the last story, “Target: Mane Six”
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/465901/2/target-mane-six/part-1-a-coronation-put-on-hold)

Twilight and Spike were packing up to move back to Canterlot.” Steel narrated the whole flashback. “...and evening THOUGH she was ready to rule Equestria, she was reluctant to leave Ponyville behind, fearing that she and her friends will drift apart in spite of their promise to rule together. Spike, I remember you suggested that Twilight talk to her friends about it.

“It’s true!” Spike cut in. I DID suggest to Twilight to talk to the others, hoping that they would understand her situation and that they would help her out.”

However, the rest of Twilight's friends were more welcoming of this transition, explaining that change is natural and should be embraced.” Steel continued to narrate. “ Applejack and Pinkie Pie were making final preparations for the ceremony,Fluttershy was rehearsing with her animal friends, Rainbow Dash was overseeing a special Wonderbolts routine, and Rarity was using star spiders to weave Twilight's coronation gown at the time. Back at the castle, Twilight felt that her friends cared more about making her coronation perfect than the fact that she was leaving Ponyville. Though, she didn’t realize that it was not forever she was leaving Ponyville.

Luster was intrigued and amazed by what the beast bot was telling her. “When the other elements of Harmony arrived to see her off, Twilight finally voices her frustrations, thinking that they were making her coronation so perfect that she was leaving and that none of them cared. This shocked her friends a lot. ” Steel told her.

Luster was a little surprised, as well as Spike and Twilight for a little bit. But, Steel knew there was more to the story than there was, and he would stop at nothing to help Twilight’s top student see the light...even if he had a whole story to tell.

Part 2: Breaking Down The Problem

View Online

Steel paused the flashback story to let what he told thus far sink in. Luster, however, seemed to have come to the wrong conclusion for as soon as the beast bot paused. “Exactly.” Luster declared, “You moved away, your friends didn't care, and that was that.”

Twilight shook her head while Steel went over to her. “I wouldn’t say that.” He declared. “And, while that’s a reasonable conclusion to make, you jumped to the wrong conclusion...and there’s much more to the story.” He continued to narrate the flashback story.

(Read “Target: Mane Six” for the full flashback.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/465901/target-mane-six)

After, Twilight voiced her frustrations to her friends, her friends revealed that they do share her concerns and had been keeping themselves busy with the coronation so that they didn’t worry her or make themselves sad. Finally coming to grips with Twilight leaving, the ponies cried together and expressed how much they would miss her...but for a short time.“ Steel continued. “After hearing that, Twilight felt a little better, knowing her friends felt the same way she did at the time.

Luster was still listening to what the Beast Bot had to say. She didn’t want to miss a minute of the story and have to jump to the wrong conclusion again. She kept her eyes and ears open to listen for an important part in the story.

Meanwhile with Twilight’s then-student, Starlight Glimmer, she and Spike had a book of memories to give to her before her big moment. With the scrapbook now officially complete, they had decided to give Twilight the scrapbook before they leave for the coronation. But when Starlight goes to the castle the next morning, Twilight and her friends race past her to catch the train to Canterlot. Feeling disappointed in this, Starlight decided to give Twilight the scrapbook after the coronation.“ Steel continued. “When Twilight missed her train to Canterlot as a result, she teleported herself and the rest of the Mane Six onto it so they can travel together. Unfortunately, their coronation preparations quickly start to come undone: Big McIntosh mixes up food deliveries to Canterlot Castle, Fluttershy forgets to bring snacks for her performing animal friends, the Wonderbolts leave from Wonderbolt Academy without Rainbow Dash, Pinkie neglects to supervise Gummy and the fireworks display, and the train got delayed due to a herd of sheep on the tracks! Can you imagine! ” Steel laughed at that incident, as did Twilight and Spike because every now and then, it was okay to laugh at these little annoyances in life and this was a time to do just that.

“I can imagine THAT...being funny!” Twilight said happily.

“I know!” Spike said as he giggled. “The sheep were still on the tracks and everything else went wrong for them!” Twilight gave him a glare. “But not for you yet.”

Twilight blushed slightly. “Whoops.” She said. “My bad for jumping to conclusions.”

“Hey, no problem!” Steel said. “I jump to conclusions a LOT of the time! Like when the one time I gave the General my hand, so I could help?”

Twilight giggled. “Steel, I completely understand that was funny.” She told him. “But, don’t you think you should be getting back to the story?”

“Oh, yeah! Right!” Steel realized and got back to storytelling.

Twilight finally made it to the castle in time for the ceremony to begin. ” Steel continued to narrate. “Only at that moment, Commander Shaw contacted her and her ceremony had to be put on hold.” Luster gasped in shock at that.

“So, the coronation was put on hold and you didn’t get to have it?” Luster asked curiously. “What next?”

“Not exactly.” Twilight told her.

Twilight, Starlight and the others were called to Earth to team up with the rangers again when Evox and his minions began executing their final plan of stealing an entire Morph-X tower.” Steel narrated. “While the others were defeating gigadrones, Ravi, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy defied the commander’s orders in a desperate bid to save the real Roxy by destroying her avatar once and for all. On top of it all, they also managed to stop Blaze from taking the transporters. We found more of those transporters, and at that moment, trouble started to arise with Blaze activating the teleporters that we found, which resulted in both the Morph X tower and Devon being transported to the Cyber Dimension. ” Luser gasped in horror, but didn’t say anything yet as she wanted to know what happens next in the story. “ After confronting the Commander about his recent discovery, Mayor Daniels was told the truth about the Rangers' true identities, and joined them in their mission to travel into the Cyber Dimension to save Devon and defeat Evox. As Evox assumed physical form and prepares to return to Earth, Zoey decides that they need a new Megazord combination unseen before to have the best chance, so Nate and I revealed their secret configuration: The Beast-X Ultrazord...which we used to defeat Sombra and BellDrone earlier on. Our chances of saving Devon increased when Cozy Glow, a former villain gone good, took control of the Beast-X King Zord and combined it with the Beast Chopper and Wheeler zords, giving us the chance to defeat Evox and his minions once and for all!

Luster gasped in shock, awe, and excitement as she heard of how Evox was destroyed with the combined powers of the Mane Six and the Power Rangers...but there was more to come.

After we defeated Evox, we headed to Canterlot, where Twilight’s ceremony was filled to the brim with all the friends of the Mane Six were waiting for Twilight to be crowned.” Steel continued. “Once we were there, Princesses Celestia and Luna officially introduced her as the new ruler of Equestria. However, the ceremony DID hit a number of snags: Twilight briefly tripping on her gown, Fluttershy's animal friends fighting with Rarity's star spiders, the fireworks disrupt the Wonderbolts' aerial routine, and the coronation guests are served applesauce instead of apple cider. But the worst of all was when Twilight was picked up by the geese and was lifted above the balcony! Everyone thought she was going to fall, but with Ravi and my fast thinking, we managed to save Twilight and get those pesky silk spiders out of her dress and got her back on the platform safely before anything else bad happened! It was pretty much smooth sailing after that!

Twilight shot Steel a look, while the Beast Bot himself was a little confused and surprised. But, she quickly shifted back to smiling at him. “Pesky?” Twilight quietly whispered.

After a few seconds of thought. Luster then spoke up. "I think I get it now. Your coronation was such a disaster that you and your friends never really recovered, and that's why you all drifted apart." The student concluded.

Twilight stifled a giggle as Steel groaned. Spike then spoke his mind, "Well, you're half right." The dragon admitted.

Luster gave her teacher a worried look as tried to fathom what happened. But as we all know, outcomes had a way of changing, and Luster and Steel were about to reach the most powerful outcome yet.

Part 3: The Call To Action

View Online

Luster stroke her chin as she tried to fathom what she missed, “So the coronation wasn't a disaster and your friendships just faded away over time?” she asked.

“Not exactly.” Twilight told her.

Just then, they heard two muffled laser blasts which did not go unnoticed went off, immediately catching Steel’s attention. “What was that?!” He asked in shock.

“What?” Spike asked confused as if he didn’t catch what the Beast Bot just asked him.

“That!” Steel said, pointing to the source of that noise as they all went over to a window, and saw a tool-like robotron blasting laser bolts every which way.

“A robotron?” Steel asked in shock. “Here? I thought we defeated them all!” Instantly, he knew what had to be done as he started to head out. “I’ll take care of this!”

Just then, Twilight got an idea. “I have an idea, Steel. Why don’t you take Luster with you?” She suggested.

This threw Steel in for a loop as Twilight was suggesting that her top student go with him. “WHAT?!” Steel, Spike & Luster all said in unison.

“Are you crazy?!” Spike asked.

“Twilight...not to sound rash, but are you sure that’s even a good idea?” Steel asked. “I don’t want to put her in danger or anything.”

Twilight smiled and shook her head in response to Steel’s question. “Yes, I’m sure.” She said. “You’re not going to put her in danger because you and her can help the situation.” She gasped in excitement. “Ooh! Maybe, this could be a good time to prove her about friendship being strong!”

Luster was a little shocked at this. “Are you sure about this, Twilight?” She asked her teacher.

Twilight nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. In fact, Steel will help you out and keep you safe during this time. I won’t ask you to do something you don’t want to. Will you go with him?” She asked.

Luster took a look at Steel, and then Twilight and Spike. And then, her mind was decided as she opened her mouth. “Okay. I’ll do it.” She said, smiling.

“You sure about this?” Steel asked. “I don’t want to force you into something you don’t want.”

“I’m sure.” Luster told him. “In fact this could be your chance to prove me wrong about my conclusions about friendship.”

“Okay.” The Beast Bot gave in. “You can come. Just stay safe with me.”

“All right!” Twilight squealed in excitement a little bit. Then blushed, as she turned to her student. “All right, Luster. Stay with Steel and be safe.” Luster nodded as she and Steel dashed out of the castle to fight the robotron.

Nearby, Equestrians were running from a tool robotron as it blasted lasers in every direction. Also nearby, a red and silver robot was laughing evilly as he was readying a blaster to fire at anyone that ran away.

“Those rangers destroyed my Cyber Dimension!” The robot said. “Now, I’m gonna destroy their future!” He turned to the robotron. “Go on, ToolTron 2.0! Destroy the Equestrians!” The robotron was ready to take another blast...but at that moment, Steel and Luster arrived on the scene.

“It’s Scrozzle!” Steel said as he and Luster appeared before the two robots. Luster herself was shocked at the two robots that were before them. “I thought we defeated you!” He said as he approached the evil robot.

Scrozzle and ToolTron 2.0 took notice at the two heroes here to fight! “Well, well, well!” Scrozzle shouted. “Look who we have here!”

“I TOLD you!” Steel said to him. “You’re not going to destroy Equestria, Scrozzle!”

“Back off, Steel!” Scrozzle said getting his blaster ready!

“We don’t want to hurt you!” ToolTron 2.0 said jokingly.

“We wouldn’t worry about that!” Steel said as he broke out his morpher. “We’re not exactly defenseless! “IT’S MORPHIN TIME!” He readied his morpher. “STRIKER MORPHER...READY!” He got the key ready and inserted it in. “ACTIVATE BEAST POWERS!” Within seconds, he was instantly transformed into the Silver Ranger. “Scarab Beast Power! Silver!” He said to them.

“Tronics!” ToolTron 2.0 bellowed, and in a flash the tronics appeared like “Johnny on the spot”, ready to face the two time-displaced heroes.

“What are we going to do?” Luster asked calm, but shocked.

“Just do what I do.” Steel said to her. “Ready?” Luster looked at him and nodded in brave determination.

“Go!” Steel commanded and the two heroes got ready to take the bad side on! Steel started this battle off by punching a few Tronics to the ground. “Transport...Striker Saber!” Steel hit his transporter and summoned his saber as he took a few slashes against the foot soldiers!

Luster was doing her part too as she dodged a few Tronics and jumped up and kicked them! Suddenly, the tronics surrounded her and she was scared at first, but realized she could use her magic against them! So without hesitation, she fired up her horn and spewed out a barrage of blasts, wiping them out. “Take that tronics!” She said bravely.

They continued to come after the heroes! Luckily, Steel came to her side! “Luster!” Steel shouted picked her up by the arms as she used her back legs to kick the tronics down to the ground as she fired her horn at them.

Steel used his saber to instantly wipe out the remaining tronics as they were instantly destroyed! The two heroes then regrouped.

“Very impressive!” Luster said in excitement to the ranger as they regrouped.

“Thanks, Luster!” Steel said to her. “You too!”

Just then, ToolTron 2.0 came and was ready to strike! Steel took notice and saw that it was going to hit Luster! “Look out!” He said as she saw the robotron about to fire at her and he got her out of the way of the blast!

“You’ll both be disassembled!” ToolTron 2.0 said, ready to fight!

Steel and Luster both got ready and each threw a punch at him. “Take that!” Luster shouted.

“And this!” Steel said as he kicked him in the “gut”.

ToolTron 2.0 got his sword ready and tried to strike at the heroes but they were too quick as they dodged his sword quickly. “Coming through!” Luster said as she jumped up from Steel’s shoulders and kicked the robotron down to the ground.

“Help, Scrozzle!” The robotron shouted as he tumbled down.

Scrozzle took notice as he saw his creation get beaten by a ranger and a pony. “Uh oh!” He said nervously.

The two heroes duked it out some more as Steel used his saber to slash his beams and sword while Luster fired at him with her magic. Finally, the two combined their powers, knocking him down! “I’ve been falling apart!” The robotron said in agony.

Luster and Steel were ready to give him the final blow! “Let’s finish him!” Steel said. Luster nodded in agreement. He got his striker morpher charged and ready to blast. “Striker Morpher Charged!” He got ready to aim as he accidentally got in the way of Luster’s horn.

“Uh, excuse me?” Luster said jokingly as she got right next to him with her horn charged up too!

“You’ll pay for this!” ToolTron 2.0 shouted in anger.

“FIRE!” The two heroes shouted as they both blasted the robotron spot on, instantly destroying him! They were both proud of themselves working together and defeating the robotron. “Bullseye!” Steel said in excitement.

“Phenomenal” Luster said as they both did a victory hi five!

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Scrozzle cried nearby. “MY ROBOTRON!” The heroes turned to him who was furious that his creation was easily defeated by two time-displaced friends. “YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE LAST OF ME!” He shouted as he went I back to his computer, just right by Twilight’s Castle.

“Fortunately, I still have a stash of Morph-X for such an occasion!” He said as he landed his computer with the energy to create his trump card to take the heroes down.

“Morphing Alpha Model into ToolDrone 2.0!” The computer said as an Alpha Model was instantly loaded with The robotron’s data and was about to land in front of the heroes. They had just defeated a robotron, but Scrozzle saved the worst for last as his gigadrone was about to take the silver ranger and the future top student down.

Part 4: Two Zords Are Better Than One!

View Online

The Silver Ranger and The future top student were celebrating their moment of victory of the robotron’s defeat, but it was only short-lived as a gigadrone dubbed Tooldrone 2.0 landed almost 5 yards from them!

Steel and Luster were both shocked at the gigadrone’s arrival. “A gigadrone?!” Steel asked. “Already? How do we handle that?”

Luster Dawn, Twilight’s top student, was not afraid because from her recent battle with Steel to help her take down the robotron, she was ready to help finish the job of defeating that giant! “You know what? I think we got this!” She said confidently to her teammate.

Steel could tell that she was right. “Luster, you’re right!” He said in realization. “We’re gonna take this gigadrone down!” He contacted Commander Shaw on his morpher. “Commander! Deploy Jet & Racer zords!”

Commander Shaw caught the message loud and clear. “Zords are on the way.” She said over the morpher.

“Alright!” Luster said in excitement. “Let’s go!”

The Zords arrived quickly as Steel jumped into the Jet Zord and Luster jumped in the Racer Zord! “You ready for this, Luster?” Steel asked her.

“Yeah!” Luster said in agreement and excitement. “Let’s show him what a top student and a Beast Bot teacher are made of!”

Scrozzle got his gigadrone ready and he was piloting it as well! “It’s time for my revenge!” He said as he got his mech ready to fire laser beams from his hands!

The Jet Zord flew up to the gigadrone and scanned it. “I scanned the gigadrone!” Steel said. “Scrozzle’s inside it!”

The message went to the racer Zord loud and clear. “Then we gotta destroy him!” Luster said.

“You’re right!” Steel said as he flew to the giant. “Rapid blast!” The Jet Zord fired a barrage of blasts to the gigadrone.

Meanwhile inside the racer Zord, Luster was ready to take the gigadrone on when she heard a voice from inside the Zord. “Hi, Luster!” The voice said. “Steel told me a lot about you.” She saw the voice was coming from the steering wheel...Devon’s Beast bot, Cruise!

She jumped back in shock, but then came back in the game. “You...you just talked!” She said in astonishment.

“Of course I can!” Cruise said. “Beast Bots can take the form of steering wheels for the zords. Were you scared?”

“A little.” Luster said to Cruise. “But, I’m okay now.”

“Awesome!” Cruise said. He then took notice of the gigadrone. “Let’s show this gigadrone what he’s messing with! Rapid blast!” The racer Zord opened up it’s “doors” And fired blasts at the gigadrone, catching its attention.

“Cheetah mode!” Cruise shouted as the racer Zord quickly converted to cheetah mode, ready to pounce on the gigadrone! “The racer Zord can handle this!”

“It can turn into a cheetah?” Luster asked. “Like a changeling could turn into a different kind of creature?”

“You bet!” Cruise said. “Time to take a bite out of this! Beast bite!” And the racer Zord in cheetah mode jumped up and pounced on Tooldrone 2.0 and “bit” him As he jumped off.

Scrozzle’s mech was getting roughed up and needed some artillery! “Time for backup!” He said and Tooldrone 2.0 fired out some giant cylinders which transformed into gigadrone tronics!

Cruise and Luster took notice of the two gigatronics that just appeared before them. Luster was shocked...but, Cruise was ready for this! “Gigatronics were not what I was expecting!” The red beast bot said as he Got ready to pounce on them!

The racer Zord jumped on the first one and took a bite out of it. “Is that all you got?” Luster said, laughing with excitement as the second Gigatronic blasted the other one which also got blasted as the Zord jumped off, making way for the explosion!

“Having fun yet?” Cruise asked the future pony.

“Yeah!” Luster said excitedly as she was actually enjoying this first fight with a power ranger and a few zords. She had a lot to learn about ranger technology, but she was catching on quick.

Steel took notice on how the gigatronics were easily beaten by Luster and the cheetah Zord! “All right, Luster!” He said. “The student becomes the teacher!”

The Tooldrone 2.0 advanced toward the Castle was about to zap it apart if Twilight’s top student hadn’t noticed. “Oh no you don’t, Scrozzle!” She said as the racer Zord started toward him.

“Racer zord! Battle mode!” Cruise said, and in a flash, the Zord transformed into robot mode.

“Whoa!” Luster said, fascinated by all this! “It has a battle mode! Cool!” She took the reins and ready to face Scrozzle head on!

The racer Zord advanced toward Tooldrone 2.0 and used its sword to slash it, but however, the Gigadrone had other ideas. It fired lasers from its hands at the racer zord, making it stagger back in pain. “Aaah!” Luster said in shock. “It’s zapping the Zord!” The Zord tried to retaliate by using the sword, but the gigadrone swatted the sword away, which made the Zord stagger back some more.

“Luster!” Steel said as he advanced in his Jet Zord and fired at the gigadrone, making it stagger back.

“Thanks, Steel!” Luster said as Steel’s Zord backed the fight up.

“You can’t do this on your own!” Steel said. “You need friends to help you! That’s the important thing about friendship!”

In an instant, something in Luster’s mind clicked as she now knew how important friendship was now. She thought it was a waste of time and Twilight’s friends didn’t care about the coronation going wrong, but she was wrong! She realized that friendships can be hard, and it takes work to maintain them. But without friends, things can be a lot harder. Friendship connects everyone, and undoing one group of friends makes its magic less powerful. “That’s it!” She said in realization. “I know how important friendship can be! Just like Twilight told me!”

“That’s the spirit, Luster!” Steel said, clapping his hands in excitement. “You ready to work together to take him down?”

Luster smiled back. “Absolutely, friend!” She said. And she and the beast bot got ready to strike at him!

The Jet Zord transformed in Scarab mode and grabbed the gigadrone while he flew up! However, Scrozzle’s mech had other ideas as it grabbed the Jet Zord and threw it off of him. Steel’s Zord landed on the ground next to the racer Zord (which was standing up).

“Steel!” Luster said as she saw what happened to his Zord.

“Oh, man! That guy threw me off!” Steel said in shock. “What are we gonna do?”

Luster knew what to do. “Zords alone aren’t enough.” She said. “We need to combine forces!”

Steel perked up, realizing what Luster was planning on. “A Zord combination, right?” He asked in amazement. “Let’s do it!”

“Yeah!” Luster said as she got the racer Zord to take a jab at the Tooldrone with its sword, making it back away for long enough. Steel used to Jet Zord to blast it, to buy them more time.

Finally, they were ready! “Let’s combine!” Luster said in excitement and determination.

“Do it!” Steel said as his Jet Zord came right over to the racer Zord and split into a few armor parts... a stronger arm for the Zord, followed by a jet pack for its back, and a blaster for it to use. The two zords combined into a new zord combination that not even Scrozzle or any ranger had seen before!

“What should we call this combination?” Luster asked.

“Uh...I think...” he thought of a perfect title. “Beast Racer Megazord...Unleashed!” He announced.

“Sweet!” Luster said. “I like the name!”

“Now, let’s show this guy what we’re made of!” Steel said. The beast Racer Megazord was ready to take this gigadrone on!

“Alright.” Luster said. “So, let’s see what you can do!” The Tooldrone got right to the megazord, but it retaliated by using its Scarab arm to grab it. It then used the gun to blast it deep in the gut, which made it stagger back. “Yeah!” Luster said in excitement.

“Check this out!” Steel said as he activate the jet pack on the back and the blaster, making the Megazord go up in the air!

Luster was shocked and amazed at this new ability this new combination had. “Alright!” She said. “This Megazord can fly? Awesome!” The Beast racer Megazord swooped down and used the Scarab arm the slash the Tooldrone, which made it stagger back in pain.

Scrozzle was not handling the situation well as he was taking a beating from this new combination. “Argh! I can’t handle this flying Zord!” He said in agony. The racer Megazord meanwhile, was ready for round 2 with this gigadrone!

Meanwhile inside Canterlot Castle, Twilight and Spike were going over what happened recently and that Luster should stay with Steel as he battled as a chance to see how Friendship really works. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Twilight?” Spike asked worriedly. “Luster could probably be hurt! She could probably be in a difficult situation she can’t get out of as we know it!”

“Not exactly, Spike.” Twilight told him. “I’m pretty sure that whatever Steel and Luster are doing to help, they’re doing it together.”

Just then, the doors opened as Pinkie Pie came in, now in her 40s with bigger pink hair and confetti. She sighed. “Sorry I'm late.” She said. “But it is so hard to find a sitter with a sense of humor for Li'l Cheese.” Behind her was a yellow colt with a bouncy light pink mane, Li’l Cheese, who bounced inside with a rubber chicken squeaking in his mouth. He let go of the chicken as his mother patted him as they walked toward their friend.

Then, Rarity came in with a blue gown and a sky blue stoll, and her mane having a gray hairline added to her purple. “Honestly, I would have been here sooner, but you would not believe how busy Yakyakistan is these days.” she said as she entered and met up with Twilight.

The next ones to enter were Rainbow Dash and Applejack...with Rainbow, having her mane in a style like Spitfire’s and wearing a wonderbolt jacket, and Applejack still wearing her usual hat, but also now with Granny Smith’s bandanna around her neck. “Maybe we could get to places on time if you let me do some of the chores instead of always doing everything yourself.” Rainbow said as she and Applejack both entered the throne room.

“Maybe I would if you did them the right way.” Applejack said calmly to her friend and saw that the others were gathered. “Oh. Sorry. We're not the last ones, are we?” she asked.

A portal then opened up, revealing Fluttershy with her mane tied in a beautiful ponytail as Discord handed her a a gift bag as he went back into his dimension. She was the last one to enter. “Discord's headed to an O&O convention or he'd be joining us.” she said giggling.

The others looked around and saw that Luster wasn’t in the room with them. “Now, where the hay is Luster?” Applejack asked confused. “Isn’t she gonna be here with us?”

“Yeah.” Rainbow said in agreement. “It’s not like her to be late.” No one inside noticed the Beast Racer Megazord going at it with Tooldrone 2.0!

“Luster’s solving a little friendship problem.” Twilight told them. “She’ll be fine.”

Applejack then giggled. “You’d think Luster assumed that since we all aren't together all the time now—“

“That we wouldn’t stay friends?” Twilight asked as she and the others giggled.

“Exactly.” Rainbow answered.

“Oh, Please, Rainbow Dash darling!” Rarity reminded her. “It’s quite rude to address the fact that someone’s not here and just make fun of it.”

“What are you talking about, Rares?” Rainbow Dash asked her confused. “I wasn’t trying to make fun. I was just waiting for Twilight’s student to show up. That’s all.”

“Oh, I hope she’s okay.” Fluttershy said a teeny but worried but mostly with confidence. “I just hope nothing bad happens to her. That’d be terrible.”

“Easy there, Flutters.” Applejack reassured her. “I’m pretty sure Luster will show up in time for Twilight’s speech. I just know it.” She smiled as she saw everyone in the room with her. “I just can’t help but wonder how surprised to see how we’re all still friends together.”

“Hey, guys!” Pinkie Pie said. “Check this out!” The others went to the window where she and Li’l Cheese were watching as they all now saw the Megazord take out the gigadrone.

Rainbow was surprised to see the Megazord as she instantly recognized the zords that were part of this combo. “Is that Steel?...And Devon?” She asked in surprise.

“And, how did they get over there fighting that gigadrone?” Rarity asked as well.

“Uh, guys?” Spike said as he saw who was in the cockpit. “I don’t think that’s Devon.”

“What?” Everypony else asked.

“Then, who’s piloting the racer Zord?” Rainbow asked in confusion.

Twilight looked deep into the Zord combination and scanned it to see who was in it. She saw Steel and a pink unicorn with a sun-like mane piloting the racer Zord. Twilight gasped as she realized who it was. “It’s Luster!” Twilight said which shocked everyone!

Meanwhile, back to the Zord taking on the gigadrone, Luster and Steel’s Megazord combo was taking on Tooldrone 2.0 without a sweat! As the gigadrone couldn’t take much more of this the two decided to finish him off. The Beast Racer Megazord flew up and swooped down as it slashed the gigadrone down to the ground. “BEAST RACER MEGAZORD BLITZ CHARGE!” They shouted as the Megazord did its attack.

Scrozzle couldn’t handle this combination anymore as he gigadrone was almost completely worn out from all the attacks this Megazord was giving it. “I can’t take much more of this!” He said in agony and fright!

“Let’s finish this!” Luster said to her teammate, now friend.

“With you all the way!” Steel said as the Megazord activated his jet packs and flew up and aimed the jet-like blaster at Tooldrone 2.0.

Steel got out his striker morpher and aimed it at the gigadrone inside the cockpit. “BEAST RACER MEGAZORD...HYPER BLAST!” Steel and Luster shouted as the Megazord fired a massive blast with its gun, hitting the gigadrone spot on and severely weakening it.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Scrozzle shouted as the gigadrone exploded, taking him with it! And just like that, the last member of the Legion of Doom was destroyed. Scrozzle was now no more.

“Virus eliminated!” Steel and Luster proclaimed in victory as they defeated the gigadrone. Scrozzle was finally stopped and Equestria was safe again as Luster not only learned how important friendship can be, but also made a new friend in the progress. She couldn’t wait to tell Twilight as she and Steel both jumped out of the zords to meet up with the Mane Six while the zords themselves went back to the hangers in Grid Battleforce. They couldn’t wait to tell them about the new discovery in Friendship they made as they headed back to Canterlot Castle.

Epilogue: The Magic Of Friendship Grows

View Online

As Steel and Luster Dawn were heading back to the throne room in the castle, they were talking about their latest victory of how they defeated Scrozzle.

“That was epic!” Luster said in excitement! “Did you see how we took on that gigadrone?”

“I know!” Steel said in agreement. “And, Scrozzle was like ‘I can’t much more of this two-Zord abomination!’” They both shared a laugh as they entered the throne room and were both surprised as they saw not only Twilight and Spike, but also the rest of the Mane Six and Li’l Cheese as well!

The first one to speak up was Twilight. “I see you learned a special lesson about friendship?” She said as she and the others were smiling at her.

“I sure did!” Luster said, walking up to them. “But, I wouldn’t have learned about how important friendship is if it weren’t for Steel.” She pointed to the silver ranger as she said that. “He helped me see how important friendship can be, and how hard it can be to navigate when you’re a newcomer at it.”

Twilight smiled with joy as did the others. “Well then, it seems that you learned a lot, while being alongside Steel.” She said as the others nodded.

“Yes.” Luster said, nodding. “I sure did.”

Steel was the most surprised that he saw the rest of the mane six in the throne room with her. The Mane Six were excited and surprised to see that he was there too! “Steel!” Rainbow Dash said as she went up to hug him. “How’s it been?”

“Oh, my gosh!” Steel said in silent shock. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing!” They broke the hug after a good amount of time for him to recognize who was there. “Rainbow Dash?” He asked. “Applejack? Rarity? Pinkie Pie? Fluttershy?” They all nodded. “Is that really you guys???”

“You bet it’s us, Sugarcube!” Applejack said in excitement upon seeing her ranger ally here.

“Do you think we’d forget a face?” Pinkie Pie asked confused and excited.

“I...I don’t believe this!” He said in surprise. “Rainbow, your mane’s like Spitfire’s! You’re the wonderbolt captain!” He turned to Applejack. “Applejack! That’s Granny Smith’s bandanna! How is your grandma?” Applejack shied a little bit. “Oh, sorry I asked.”

“Oh, it’s okay, Sugarcube.” Applejack said as she smiled again. “It’s just so great to see you here!”

“Fluttershy! You...almost look the same.” Steel said in surprise as he then turned to Rarity. “Rarity! You look like you came from Yakyakistan! It’s like you’d say...That outfit is so 10 years ago!” He and Rarity shared a small chuckle at that.

“Pinkie!” Steel said as he turned to her. “Your hair’s a little bigger!”

“Yep!” Pinkie said. “Boy, you would not believe how big my mane gets when I take good care of it.”

“And, I’m the wonderbolts captain too!” Rainbow added.

Steel then noticed the young yellow pink maned colt. “Who’s this little guy?” He asked curiously.

“Oh, that’s Li’l Cheese...my son!” Pinkie said smiling at him.

Steel was utterly bemused that Pinkie had a son. Had it really been that long since the last time the rangers and ponies met? “You have a son?” Steel asked as Pinkie nodded. “Whoa! How long has it been since we last saw you guys?”

“Well, a lot can happen in Like...20 years.” Rarity told him.

“20 years?!” Steel asked in shock and surprise. “Has it really been that long???”

“Well, time does fly by when you’re having fun!” Rainbow told him.

“Especially, since you’re spending time with your friends!” Fluttershy added.

“R...Really?” Steel asked. “We just assumed that since Luster figured that you all weren’t together all the time now—“

“That we wouldn’t stay friends?” Twilight finished as she and the others shared a laugh. “That wasn’t the point of my story. It's true my coronation was almost a disaster.”

“I can only imagine.” Steel said as he recalled what happened.

(Read “A Coronation No One Will Forget” from “Target: Mane Six”.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/465901/9/target-mane-six/epilogue-a-coronation-no-one-will-forget)

Despite how disastrous it almost became, the ponies and rangers share a laugh about it. Starlight Glimmer and Spike arrive with a going-away present for Twilight: a book of memories for whenever she misses her friends or Ponyville. Wanting to maintain relationships with her friends for years to come, Twilight establishes the Council of Friendship. With Twilight's transition to ruler of Equestria now complete, Celestia and Luna take their leave to enjoy their retirement in Silver Shoals. As they prepare to start their rule in Ponyville, Nate tells them that they could still come visit during the holidays, since they’re currently working on some new inventions. As Steel and Devon prepared to head back to Grid Battleforce, Steel had an awful feeling that Evox wasn’t gone and Devon wondering he was right. They felt like they hadn’t seen the last of Evox. That was in 2019.

As Steel wrapped up the last loose ends of the story flashback, Luster wondered about what happened. “So, even though everything changed and you moved away from your friends, you didn't grow apart?” She asked curiously. “And this is the Council of Friendship? That's what you're all doing here?“

“Of course!” Steel said. “The council of Friendship! I remember that like it was yesterday!”

“It can seem that way.” Rainbow said as she and the others nodded in agreement.

“How’s Starlight doing?” Steel wondered.

“Starlight’s doing fine.” Twilight said. “She’s currently the new headmaster of the School of Friendship.”

“Wow!” Steel said. “She’s the headmare of your school? That’s huge!”

“Speaking of which, how are Ben and Betty doing?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh, Ben and Betty are still working on some new inventions at Grid Battleforce.” Steel told them. “You know how it is, when they test them.” The others including Luster shared a laugh.

“This time, we meet every moon.“ Rainbow said.

Applejack let out a chuckle. “What she means is this is how we've been rulin' together.” she said in conjunction with Rainbow’s response.

“And how we've continued to face every problem and threat to Equestria over the years.” Rarity added.

“But mostly, it's how we keep in touch. No matter how busy life gets.” Pinkie Pie said in agreement.

“Sometimes friendships can be hard, and it takes work to maintain them.” Twilight said as she walked toward her student. “But without friends, things can be a lot harder.”

Luster thought about it for a while, and finally, she came to a perfect conclusion. She smiled as she turned to Steel and Twilight and the Mane Six. “You and Steel are right.” She said. “I never thought about friendship being something to work at, and I don't mind work. And when I was fighting the robotron with Steel, I felt like I actually made a friend...” she looked at Steel and smiled. “My first friend. I guess if they don't have to fade away, maybe making friends isn't the waste of time I thought. But I've been so focused on my studies, I wouldn't know where to start.”

“That's all right...” Twilight told her. “...because I know exactly where to send you.“

“Really?” Luster asked as the Mane Six and Spike all nodded. She beamed with excitement like never before. She went over to Steel and gave him a big hug...one she was happy to return. "Thank you, Steel. Thank you for all this," She said as her eyes teared up with joy.

Steel smiled down at Luster. "No. Thank you Luster.” He said as he carefully broke the hug. “Though, that's not quite right now is it?"

Luster was confused as she looked up. "What do you mean?" She asked.

“You aren't just a regular student, Luster.” He said as he got out a Beast-X Morpher from his pocket and put it on Luster’s left front leg. “You are something more." He handed her a pink Morph-X key.

Luster felt something click at that moment as she beamed. "You mean?" She asked. Steel nodded as she inserted the key and the light from the Morpher then intensified, as a pink tornado of energy descended and swirled around her. The tornado dissipated to reveal her morphed form. It was a pink suit, and her helmet had a bird-like motif on it. Her transporter was black...like red, yellow, and Blue’s. She examined her form and was shocked and excited all at once.

“"Welcome home, Pink Ranger." Steel said as Luster beamed with excitement as she hugged her ranger “mentor”. It was a moment that would be with her for a long time and for the first time, she was about to be sent to Ponyville by the Mane Six to learn more about friendship. She had learned that the greatest spell she will ever know is that the magic of friendship can grow. It was a perfect day for her as her future would turn out well for her, and she was also now the Pink Beast Morphers Ranger!

(In the Power Rangers' world, on Earth in the year 2019...)

Back at Grid Battleforce, Devon, Ravi, Zoey and Nate were waiting for Steel’s return as the portal suddenly opened. Steel entered through as well as a pink ranger with him as well.

Nate and the others were excited for his return that they went over to him excitedly. “Steel!” Nate said in excitement. “You’re back!”

“How did your mission go?” Zoey asked.

“You must tell us everything!” Ravi said in excitement as Devon nodded too.

“It was amazing!” Steel told them. “However, Scrozzle was there too.” The others gasped. “But, we took him down together! Scrozzle’s toast!” The others cheered again in the victory of Scrozzle’s defeat.

“Hold on.” Devon said. “What do you mean ‘we’?” He asked in confusion and curiosity. Steel moved out of the way to reveal the Pink Beast Ranger. Everyone was shocked that there was a pink ranger here.

“A pink ranger?” Ravi asked shocked.

“Who’s your new friend?” Zoey asked.

Steel turned to the Pink Ranger. “You can show them.” He said. The Pink Ranger nodded as she took her helmet off, revealing a pink unicorn with a sunset, peach-like mane. The other rangers were surprised at all this.

“Whoa!” All 4 rangers said in unison.

“Who are you?” Devon asked.

“I’m glad you asked.” Luster told them as she introduced herself to the rangers. “I’m Luster Dawn, Twilight Sparkle’s student from the future. And, I’ve got one heck of a story to tell you.” The others gasped in shock and amazement as Luster started to tell the rangers all about her recent adventure with Steel and how she had made her first friend.