"Man! That new ranger was pretty strong! He even survived a fight with you Burst and you're the strongest of us!", Inferno mentioned as he and the rangers were discussing their last battle with the Main 7 at lunch. "Where did this guy even come from?"
"I don't think we're even close to finding that out Inferno. One thing's for sure. We haven't seen the last of him. He's serving Nightmare Moon. And you can bet we'll be facing him during the next monster attack."
"But he's a ranger! He should be on your side!", Rainbow said. "Why would he work for Nightmare Moon?"
"Nightmare Moon stole two of the duel morphers. And from the looks of things this new ranger received the second stolen morpher."
"Wait. The second morpher? Who got the first stolen morpher?", Applejack asked.
"Garble got it, but Nightmare used her magic to drive out the previous duel monster spirit that inhabited it. Garble's monster partner took over, and instead of becoming a ranger he fused with his monster partner. Which is why he looks the way he does."
"So what're you gonna do?", Sunset asked.
"We'll have to fight this new ranger. Maybe if we defeat him we can break whatever spell Nightmare put on him. If we can even land a hit." The rangers soon received an alert on their morphers. "What's up Gold?"
"Nightmare sent Garble and the Red Dragon Archfiend Ranger to attack the city!"
"We're on it! Sorry girls! Duty calls!" Burst and the rangers left to confront Garble and the Red Dragon Ranger. They morphed and teleported to their location.
"Just follow my lead ranger boy.", Garble hissed at Ice.
"Yeah. Follow the guy who's gotten his tail handed to him."
"We weren't ready last time, but now you can't catch us by surprise! Let's go guys!" Burst and the others charged at Garble and Ice! Inferno, Steel, and Shadow engaged Garble while Burst and Ace took on Ice! Burst came at him with a punch but Ice blocked it! Ace came at him with his sword, but he caught it and flipped the two of them over before making his own assault! Meanwhile, Garble wasn't faring as well against Inferno and the others! Steel and Shadow were going at him close-range with their melee weapons while Inferno rained down blaster shots when he leaped into the air!
"That's it! You're on your own!", Garble said to Ice as he teleported back to Nightmare's Fortress!
"Good. Now I get to have more fun!" Ice then summoned his own weapons! "Power Force Surge!" Ice plunged his sword into the ground and created an energy shock-wave that knocked back the rangers! He then executed a series of slashes as they were falling! The rangers managed to find the strength to stand, and mounted on last charge at Ice! "You've got guts. Absolute Power Force!" Ice wrapped his fist in flame and unleashed a gigantic fireball that engulfed the rangers! The damage was so severe that it caused them to power down. Ice was about to go in for the final blow, but stopped when he saw their faces! In specific, the faces of his brothers! Ice froze in horror of what he almost did! "Ace...Shadow!" Ace and Shadow were shocked when Ice recognized them!
"How do you know who we are?", Ace demanded.
"No...No...No! AARRGGH!", Ice clutched his head! 'They're my brothers! My family! I can't destroy them! I won't!' The warring state of his mind was so intense that it caused Ice to phase in and out of his ranger form! And Ace and Shadow were shocked to find out the Red Dragon Ranger's identity!
"No...it can't be! Ice!", Shadow said as he witnessed Ice's inner conflict!
"Stay....away from me!", Ice said in pain as he teleported back to Nightmare's fortress! Once he was there, he was writhing in pain as he powered down! "Won't....hurt them!" Nightmare noticed Ice's current state and decided to have a word with him.
"Leave us.", she commanded those attending her. "Is there something wrong Ice?"
"Won't...destroy...the rangers!", Ice grunted as he struggled against the spell Nightmare was using to control him.
"I never said you HAD to destroy them, but do tell." Nightmare sounded legitimately interested.
"The Timaeus and Dragluon Rangers...are my brothers! I...won't hurt them!" Nightmare was shocked! And then, she did the unexpected.
"Ice. Hold still." Nightmare focused her magic, and slowly Ice began to stop writhing in pain. "There that should do it. You're free now." Ice couldn't believe it! Why would Nightmare undo the spell that allowed her to control her best warrior?!
"Why? Why did you release me?!", Ice demanded!
"No one should be forced to be apart from their family." Nightmare's thoughts then drifted back to when Celestia had first banished her and Luna. And the long time Luna missed her sister. "No one...should ever have to know that pain. Return home Dark Ice. There is no longer any reason for you to stay here." Ice still was in shock that Nightmare was so willing to let him go, but he wasn't about to question it. He teleported back to earth. Meanwhile, the rangers and the Main 7 were talking about the shocking identity of the Red Dragon Ranger.
"That's so awful!", Fluttershy sobbed. "Ice had to fight his own brothers!"
"How could anyone be so terrible?!", Rarity asked in shock.
"Nightmare was the reason Princess Luna was separated from her sister for a thousand years. She's good at tearing families apart.", Sunset said coldly.
"Then that settles it! We have to free Ice from her control!", Ace said as he slammed his fist on the table the group was sitting at. "You saw what happened to him once he saw Shadow and I powered down! He was fighting against himself! There's still a chance we can save him!"
"That won't be necessary.", Ice said as he addressed the group. All of them were caught off guard by Ice showing up.
"Here to give us a warning if we don't surrender?!", Steel spat.
"Actually, I'm here to see if your team has an extra slot."
"Why should we let you join when you just tried to waste our friends?!", Rainbow countered.
"Because Nightmare released her control over me. After I saw Ace and Shadow's faces, I teleported away. I didn't want to hurt them. Surprisingly, Nightmare showed genuine concern for why I left the battle. I told her why I had left, and she actually looked horrified about what I would have done. Then she undid whatever magic she used to control me and sent me back." Applejack walked up to him and examined him.
"He ain't lyin'. He's telling the truth. Not one lie outta' his mouth." Burst walked up to Ice.
"Ice. We know what you did wasn't you in control of your own actions. You're in control of your power now. Stand with us, and we can defeat Nightmare Moon!"
"After what I've done, you'd still accept me?"
"Some of us have experience with dark pasts.", Sunset said. "But we had great friends to help us past them. Let us do the same for you Ice."
"Come on bro. We need you!", Ace pleaded. Ice managed a small smile and shook Burst's hand.
"I'm in!" Burst smiled and contacted Gold to tell him the good news.
"Gold. We found out who the sixth ranger was. And to top it all off he's been freed from Nightmare's control. He's with us now."
"Great news guys! Now we've got a stronger team!"
Meanwhile on Nightmare's fortress...
"I can't believe it! Now Ice has joined the rangers!", Garble fumed as he gazed furiously at Ice and the rangers together. "Nightmare! Tell me you had some sort of back-up plan to steal his powers in case this happened!"
"Nope.", Nightmare answered with a sly smile. "No back-up plan."
"WHY?"
"I'm evil Garble. Not heartless. Just send a random monster to attack. I'm done for the day." Nightmare then went to her own room with a small smile on her face. 'I'm glad you could find happiness Ice...'
Garble fumed to himself as he summoned an insect-type monster called Dreadscythe Harvester to attack the city. "And just to save us the trouble, Megamorph!" Dreadscythe grew to gigantic size and began his attack on the city! The rangers received an alert from Gold informing them of the attack.
"By the way guys, there's a new Megazord formation! Ice, Shadow, and Ace's zords can combine to form the Tri-Dragon Megazord! Ice! Try calling your zord!"
"Right! Red Dragon Archfiend Zord!" As Ice called it's name, Red Dragon came up from a crevice in the earth and took off into the sky leaving a trail of flame! Ace and Shadow summoned their zords from the forest and sea! The three of them jumped into their zords while they began to form the new Megazord configuration! Ice's zord formed the main body and legs while Ace and Shadow's zords formed the right and left arms respectively. "Tri-Dragon Megazord online!"
"Time to cut you down to size rangers!", Dreadscythe Harvester bellowed as he charged at the rangers with his weapon! Tri-Dragon Megazord dodged by leaping into the air!
"Lets see how our bug zapper works! Shadow!"
"Right! Dragluon Thunder!" The cannon on Shadow's zord unleashed a blast of thunder that fried Dreadscythe Harvester!
"Let's end this together Ice!", Ace said.
"Wouldn't want to end this any other way! Final Strike! Thunder Blaze Power Force!" Tri-Dragon Megazord charged up its cannon until flames and lightning were dancing around it! "FIRE!" A mighty blast of energy was sent out that destroyed Dreadscythe Harvester in a miassive explosion! The rangers took Ice to the command center. Pinkie was throwing Ice a "Welcome to the Rangers" party.
"Welcome to the team Ice!", his brothers cheered.
"I love being a ranger.", Ice said as he and his new friends celebrated him joining the team.