//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Lunaverse: Galaxy Rangers - Anniversary of True Love // by Rixizu //------------------------------// Anniversary of True Love Chapter 3 by Rixizu Lyra twisted and turned trying in vain to break free from the tentacles coming from Trixie’s mouth. She refused to give up, or else Bons might be their next victim.She planned to go down fighting dammit. If she could get to her morpher then she could fight this thing whatever it was, but she needed a free leg. Lyra pushed her body even harder determined to get free of this. The stallion looked amused at her struggles at first, but Lyra’s refusing to surrender was getting on his nerves. “You have lost.” The stallion stated. “You know that, right?” “Never!” Lyra yelled back. She thought it was her imagination, but the tentacles felt a little looser. She jumped on that, pushing her body as far as it could go. “Enough!” The stallion used his own tentacles to hold Lyra down on the ground. Together Trixie and the stallion proved too much for Lyra to beat. “That’s better.” The stallion cooed moving face to face with his prey. Lyra bit him on the snout and he screamed in pain. Unfortunately, this didn’t loosen the stallion’s grip. The stallion cursed. “You little….” It took him several seconds, but he regained control of himself. “Cute, but meaningless. What you fight is far beyond anything a mere pony can face. You are less than an insect, a mere microbe compared to my master. You fight inevitability. The Earth was doomed the second my master learned of this world. I find it better to join with the destroyer than fight it. Defiance is meaningless.” Lyra lifted her chin in a defiant gesture. “Enough speeches. Get it over with already.” The stallion growled. He didn’t like being ordered around. He moved the tentacle toward Lyra’s mouth. Lyra closed it tight in response but Trixie forced her mouth open with her hooves. Lyra closed her eyes. This was it. Bon-Bon, I’m sorry. I was too weak in the end. Lyra gagged as she felt the thing touch her tongue. It tasted as revolting as she expected. It began to move towards the back of her throat. Then Lyra heard something. It sounded like the rushing of air and the rapid flapping of wings. “It’s morphing time!” Ditzy yelled. “Sagittarius!” There was the sound of a breaking concrete, then everything happened at once. Lyra opened her eyes to see Ditzy use her staff to bat away the tentacle trying to enter her mouth shredding it to pieces in an instant when it impacted with the weapon. Ditzy kicked the stallion in the chest and he let go of Lyra and flew into a bench. Lyra fell to the ground and Trixie moved to intercept the Pink Ranger. She wrapped her tentacles around one of Ditzy’s legs. This proved useless when Ditzy tore herself free with one motion and whacked Trixie in the eye with the same hoof. "Oops, sorry Trixie," Ditzy said sheepishly when she realized what she had done. Trixie didn’t even seem to notice it and summoned more tentacles and stalked towards the Pink Ranger. “What a bother.” The stallion grumbled. He stood there and evaluated the situation. “No matter. You will surrender, or else.” “Why the hay should we do that?” Lyra growled while pulling out her morpher. Ditzy paused her advance on Trixie and looked at the stallion a curious tilt to her head. “Simple, my master Ithaut-daoth is part of your friend now.” The stallion explained. “There is no separating them now. The only way to break the connection from my master is to kill her. In the end, you will be forced to take her life. You don’t want that do you? Join us, and you can be together forever.” “In a pig’s eye, I will!” Lyra declared and thrust her morpher forward. “It’s morphing time, Cygnus!” Lyra summoned her bow and fired several arrows into the mysterious stallion. He screamed with pain and scampered away into the bush, using his tentacles to pull him across the ground. In an instant, he disappeared nowhere to be found. “Coward!” Lyra stomped her hoof in frustration leaving a large crack in the pavement. “Was that really necessary?” Ditzy asked noting the crack in the ground with her head after delivering a powerful punch into Trixie’s head knocking her out. “I guess not, but it felt good.” Lyra unmorphed and eyed Trixie with fear and worry. “What are we going to do about her?” “Not good.” Ditzy flip the unconscious Trixie over and opened her mouth and peered inside. She kept her armor on, which was a pretty good idea. Lyra wouldn’t want to touch whatever that was with her bare hooves. They noticed that the tentacles were part of the inside of Trixie’s mouth now. They appeared fused together somehow. “We are not killing Trixie!” Lyra glared at Ditzy. “I would never suggest that!” Ditzy shot back. “Besides, he was a bad guy. They lie all the time.” "Good, I just wanted to make that clear," Lyra said making it very clear she would not budge on that point, "whatever happens, Trixie is still my friend.” “No argument from me,” Ditzy replied. “Maybe Zecora can do something?” Lyra suggested. They seemed to go to her for a lot lately. Whether it be Star Beast monsters, hiding from the law, or curing Ponypox or some other weird magical ailment, Zecora seemed to have an idea what to do. "That looks like our best option," Ditzy replied and swung Trixie over her back. “I will hunt that guy down and kick his flank!” Lyra declared and punched her hooves together. "Shame about this messing up your day with Bon-Bon," Ditzy said sadly, "but duty calls I guess." Lyra froze. She forgot all about her marefriend and the wonderful perfect day they planned to spend together. It was ruined now. Bons would be so disappointed. This was horrible! She dreaded Bon-Bon’s expression when she told her marefriend the news. No. No! She could make this work. She had the perfect idea! "Maybe I don't have to," Lyra an idea dawning in her head, “Pardon?” “I could do both!” Lyra grinned ear to ear. “I could hunt that jerk down, and have my date at the same time!” And Bons would never have to know about this Itho-somethingwhatever nonsense. Lyra thought with glee. "That doesn't sound like a good idea," Ditzy replied. “No!” Lyra gritting her teeth in stubbornness. “This will work!” “Alright, go ahead." Ditzy signed. She muttered under her breath that Lyra was such a silly filly. "Just be careful okay." "I’ll take care of Trixie. There has to be a way to save her.” Ditzy said. Lyra froze when Trixie started to stir, but Ditzy punched the Red Ranger in the head knocking her out again. “Sorry, Trixie.” Ditzy patted Trixie on the head. “I’ll make this up to you I promise.” “Good luck!” Lyra said. She prayed silently over and over again that Trixie would be okay. Ditzy gave a nod and ran towards the Everfree Forest. --- "You were gone a long time," Bon-Bon stated as Lyra walked back towards her marefriend in the art museum. “I, um, had bad diarrhea!” Lyra replied. She patted herself on the back for such a good excuse. B ons made a face but quickly turned back to a more neutral expression. “Sorry to hear that. You should probably drink a lot of water tonight. That will help a bit.” "I will keep that in mind," Lyra said, "say, I was thinking after this we could have a walk around Ponyville until it's time for dinner. I just realized how little I look at it, you know. I go through town every day, but I don't really see the town. Do you understand what I'm getting at?" Bon-Bon brightened. “That’s real insightful of you Lyra. I would love to do that. I always hate it how pony rush from place to place, but never really pay attention to the surrounding beauty. Sure Ponyville is just a farming town, but it's picturesque when you look at it. I think ponies would live a lot happier if they…” "So, how about we do it right now instead of standing around in this dusty museum," Lyra suggested before Bons started a thirty-minute speech about art and beauty of the world. “Sure.” Bon-Bon followed Lyra as they left the museum. “As I was saying, ponies are too impressed by large striking structures like the ones in Canterlot, but these little homely cottages are just as impressive if you really look at them.” Lyra zoned Bon-Bon out as she continued her talking point and scanned the crowd and streets. She was going to find this guy even if it killed her. She could barely control her fury over what he did to Trixie. For his sake, he better have just skipped town. Lyra kept her ears perked and eyes sharp for any sign of him. Lyra grumbled. Twenty minutes, and still no sign of him. In the corner of her eye, she saw Pinkie bouncing through the street. With her vibrant pink coat, it was hard not to notice her. For some reason, she wore musical instruments all over her body. She had drums, various horns, and even an accordion. Lyra didn’t even want to know. She turned back to her task and froze. Pinkie! Of course! Lyra thought in sudden realization. She would be perfect for tracking him down. Nopony knows Ponyville better than Pinkie! “Oh, its Pinkie.” Lyra blurted out. “So, it is," said Bon-Bon, not sure why Lyra was bringing this up. "I wonder what is up with all those instruments," Lyra said, "I'll go ask. Wait here." "O-kay," Bon-Bon asked confused but did as told. “Pinkie!” Lyra said as she approached Pinkie. “I need to talk to you for a second.” “Lyra!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Fancy meeting you here. I…” “Pinkie, I need you to help me find somepony.” Lyra got right to the point. “Somepony really bad.” Pinkie gasped. “I knew it! The changelings have finally made their move! Apple Crème was right!” “Um, uh, no.” Lyra managed. She had no idea what Pinkie was talking about. “Something else.” “Oh.” Pinkie said. “I guess we will have to fight them another day.” “Right… I need you to help me find a certain stallion.” Lyra gave a brief description of the mysterious stallion. “Watch out. If you get near him, he will turn you into a tentacle zombie thing.” “Sounds super bad!” Pinkie saluted. “You can count on me!” She turned to leave. “Wait! Before you go, what is with all the instruments?” Lyra was already dreading the answer, but she needed to know. Otherwise, Bons would get suspicious. “Oh, this?” Pinkie winked. “It’s a secret!” With that, Pinkie bounced away. "Whatever," Lyra grumbled and trotted back to Bon-Bon. “So what’s going on?” Bon-Bon asked. "Who knows," Lyra replied, "it's just Pinkie being Pinkie." Bon-Bon shrugged, and they continued on their way. They soon found themselves in the marketplace which was perfect because it was only a few blocks away from where they were going to have dinner. Many of the ponies that usually attended the stalls were gone. Not surprising due to the three-day long farming convention in Canterlot even Carrot Top had left. Much to Lyra surprise, Applejack stood at her stand. The reason became obvious when Lyra noticed the surgical mask over the apple farmer’s face. “Howdy Sugarcube.” Applejack greeted. She coughed a few times. "I thought you would be at the farming convention," Bon-Bon said walking up to the mare. “Ah wanted too, but ah got this dang cold out a nowhere and Granny forced me to stay in town by my lonesome while the rest of the Apples went to the convention.” Applejack explained. “She didn’t want me to get anypony sick. Makes sense given several hundred ponies will be there. So many ponies cramped together make the perfect breeding ground for a bug.” “Yet, you’re selling apples?” Lyra asked raising an eyebrow. “And not in bed?” “Sure.” Applejack replied. “Ah ain’t that sick. In fact, Ah’m on the tail end of recovering from it. Thought about getting a little fresh air so why not? Wanted to make myself busy and useful somehow.” "I would like one apple please," Bon-Bon said and moved to get a bit from her purse. "Bons, we are just about to have dinner," Lyra said in an even and reasonable tone. "I know," Bon-Bon said back, "I'm just in a mood for a snack.” “You can have an apple at dinner.” “I want one now.” “Fine. Ruin your appetite. I don’t care.” Lyra said in a huff. Applejack chuckled at their quarrel. “That’ll be one bit.” "Oh shoot," Bon-Bon said in annoyance, "I forgot I used up all my cash. Lyra would you be a dear and pay for it.” "I guess I will handle this." Lyra rolled her eyes and paid the bit. “Mighty thanks.” Applejack nodded and handed over an apple. “You’re going to wash that first, right?” Lyra said not wanting her marefriend to get sick too. “Of course.” It was Bon-Bon’s turn to roll her eyes. “I’ll just go into Sugercube Corner and ask to use their sink.” Lyra waited patiently as her marefriend strolled into the bakery/youth center. She started humming to herself in a low almost inaudible tone. This song was special and Lyra refused to share it with anypony besides the pony she loved the most in the whole world. She decided to go over the song one more time for practice for the special event tonight. Failure was not an option. She would not miss a single note or chord. “She sure is taking her time.” Pinkie said making Lyra almost jump out of her fur. “Pinkie.” Lyra hissed and glared at the offending mare. For some reason, Pinkie still wore that strange variety of instruments. “Yep, that’s my name.” Pinkie said in a nonchalant tone. Lyra gritted her teeth and held back her annoyance and she started regretting ever conscripting Pinkie’s aid. “Did you find him?” Lyra asked. Pinkie in response gave a blank stare. "The creepy evil pony dressed in all black," Lyra said scowling and resisting the urge to shake Pinkie. “Oh, him.” Pinkie said in dawning realization. “How the hay was I supposed to figure out who ‘him’ is? That doesn’t give me much to work with. Do you have any idea how many stallions live in Ponyville?” “Who is this him we are talking about?” Bon-Bon trotting up to her marefriend. Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap. Lyra thought in sudden panic. Okay Lyra, just think of a convincing lie. “Just somepony from magic school I used to know! Not someone you know or anything. He’s in town and I asked Pinkie to find him!” Lyra said in one breath. "Oh, what's his name?" Bon-Bon asked. "You've never told me much about your friends from magic school." “His name is…” Lyra blanked the name. She tried to think in vain of a male pony from her old class. Giving up, she gave a random name from the top of her head. “Silver Wind! That’s it!” “Lyra, what are you talking about?” Pinkie asked in confusion. “You never asked me to do that.” “Pinkie!” Lyra growled. “What?” “Look, if it’s some sort of secret you don’t really need to tell me.” Bon-Bon sighed. “I completely understand.” “Thanks, Bons.” Lyra pulled Pinkie by hoof away towards an alley. “We just need to talk for a second!” Bon-Bon muttered to herself and rolled her eyes as they left her. “Where is he?!” Lyra demanded almost throwing Pinkie in the alleyway. “Where is the stallion in black?!” It took a minute for Pinkie to reorient herself, but she got her bearings back quickly. “Over there.” Pinkie pointed towards the stallion in question. He was stalking down a street like a predator on the prowl. Lyra cried out in surprise and horror when he grabbed Noteworthy and shoved a tentacle down his throat. “Yeah, he’s been doing that.” Pinkie said. “I think he’s trying to turn the whole town into tentacle zombies!” “I’m going to put a stop to this!” Lyra slammed her hooves together. She cursed when she realized that would mean leaving Bon-Bon alone. "Pinkie," Lyra ordered, "keep Bon-Bon busy for a few minutes. This won’t take long.” With that Lyra ran forward towards her prey with a single-minded determination. With a few short strides, she was on him. Lyra leaped into the air and kicked the stallion in the face causing him to cry out in pain and alarm. “It’s morphing time!” Lyra thrust her morpher forward. “Cygnus!” The stallion rubbed his chin. “You again?” “You won’t escape this time!” Lyra smirked. The stallion just chuckled. “You have no idea who face, do you? My master is beyond eternal. Beyond death or even time. When my master comes into the world, all will be Ithaut-daoth.” “Yeah yeah, whatever," Lyra said dismissively. The stallion’s expression turned towards one of annoyance. "Enough talking. It's time to kick your flank.” “Very well.” The stallion stomped a hoof. Ponies rushed into the street surround Lyra at all sides even from the air. Lyra gasped at the number of ponies around her. She counted at least forty ponies. Their eyes were dead and hollow and the tentacles coming from their mouth lash back and forth aggressively. They rushed at her all at once. Lyra did her best to fend them off, but there were so many of them. They used their tentacles to grab her and push her down towards the ground. Despite her strength, there were too many for her to fight and they held her firm. Lyra wanted to fight back with everything she had, but she couldn’t bring herself to hurt these innocent ponies. Soon her entire body was immobilized by tentacles. They held her in the air and spread her limbs as far as possible. I’m so weak. Lyra despaired. I always hold my friends back. Never able to do the job myself. She thought back to her fight with Vinyl. Despite her efforts, she wasn’t able to do much and only got her Zord damaged. It still was inoperative and Luna’s scientists still had not a clue how to fix it. Ditzy was the one that saved the day in the end. The same pony that rescued her from this very same stallion earlier that day. He walked up to her and grinned victorious. Weak. Weak. Weak. That’s all I am. Lyra fought back tears. She screamed in pain when the stallion punched her. He didn’t stop at a single punch and started pummeling her. Sparks flew from every hit. “Like I said.” The stallion said after another punch. “The power my master grants cannot be stopped.” As she received the beating, all her thoughts drifted towards Bon-Bon, apologizing to her for being such a terrible marefriend and being a weak disgrace. Bon-Bon. The word repeated in her mind in an endless loop. If she lost, if the Rangers lost, what would become of her beloved Bon-Bon. To Dinky. Her friends and everypony else she loved. She looked in the eyes of the possessed ponies. Was this the future? To part of an uncaring, unloving abomination? No! Lyra refused to let that horror become a reality. Lyra hissed at the stallion’s next blow and used that pain to push herself forward. This pain was nothing compared to losing Bon-Bon and everything else she cared about. “Enough fun.” The stallion chuckled. “I think it’s about time I got serious and show you the form my master granted me.” “You won’t win!” Lyra growled. “I won’t allow it!” The stallion snorted. “Really? I…” Lyra screamed as she put everything into tearing her right hoof free. The force resisting her was strong, ridiculously so, but Lyra just fought harder. The stars on her armor that represented the constellation Cygnus started to glow with a faint light. With a find howl, Lyra’s hoof tore through the tentacles holding it. Black ooze or blood splashed on her armor. She landed on the ground with a loud metallic clank. “I-impossible." The stallion fell back onto the ground in wide-eyed shock. Even the zombies seemed shocked. With seemingly little effort, Lyra tore her other hoof free. The stallion’s expression turned to one of panic. Lyra summoned her bow and used its edges to cut the rest of her limbs free in a single motion. Lyra pointed the edge of her weapon right at the stallion’s face. “Your master picked the wrong planet to mess with.”