//------------------------------//
// Episode 1: Awaken the Fury Part 1 
// Story: Power Rangers: Element Fury 
// by Equestrian Defender 
//------------------------------//

1500 years ago, a great evil had fallen upon the Earth.

He was known as the King of Shadows, a dark sorcerer who wished to rule over all life on this world. To do this, he sought the power of the Elemental Gems; seven stones that each granted the wielder power over one of the elemental forces of nature: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Steel, and Light. With all seven stones he would be near unstoppable. 

He would have succeeded, had one brave young woman not stood against him.

She was known as Clover the Clever, a shy girl who loved books but had a strong affinity for magic and an even stronger heart. Where the King of Shadows drew his magical power from the dark forces of fear, anger, and hatred; she drew her magical power from her courage, knowledge, determination, strength, faith, will, and hope.

The Gems sensed these traits within her and bonded with her spirit, giving her the power to command their elements and transforming her into the first Element Fury Power Ranger.

For years Clover battled against the King of Shadows; their skirmishes carved out lakes and rivers, rose mountains up from the ground, and created storms so powerful they tore the land asunder. 

Eventually she emerged victorious and sealed the King of Shadows away in the Dark Dimension, an alternate universe that served as a prison for monsters and beings of evil. 

But it was not a perfect victory, as one might think in a tale such as this.

During the final battle the Silver Gem of Steel and the Gold Gem of Light had been lost, scattered across the land. And Clover herself had been mortally wounded, thus she had to place herself in a healing slumber that could last for an untold amount of years. 

But before she did she placed the last five of the Gems inside of a crystal tree, casting a spell on them so that only those who were w a orthy could free them and use their power in the event that the King of Shadows would ever return.

In the present day five teenagers go about their lives, not realizing that soon their lives will be changed in ways they could never imagine...



 

-Canterlot City, Northern California-
-Present Day: March 21st, 2019-

It was a beautiful spring day in Canterlot City, California. The heavy clouds and snow were gone, allowing the people to see the blue skies and feel the warm sunshine. People young and old were now enjoying the weather; some were getting their gardens ready, some were playing outdoor sports, and others were browsing through the mall hoping to get the newest spring fashions.

Flash Sentry was doing none of those things.

At the moment he was working on the underside of a truck, his truck to be exact, while grumbling to himself about the fact that he had been stupid enough to buy a part for said truck from a store owned by the Flim and Flam brothers. "When am I gonna learn that any business run by those two may as well have a neon sign that reads: THIS IS A SCAM! TAKE YOUR MONEY AND RUN!" 

"Probably about the same time you get rid of this truck."

Rolling out from under his truck, he looked up to see a boy around his age with slightly darker blue hair and green eyes. He was wearing a green aviator's jacket and a pair of cargo pants with black boots. What really stood out about him was his goofy grin, one that could rival Pinkie Pie's in being able to make others smile.

Like Flash was right now. "Soarin! Long time no see."

Flash and Soarin had been childhood friends growing up in Cloudsdale, having been next door neighbors and attending the same schools. The two of them had been practically inseparable.

That had changed a year ago when Flash's father had passed away due to Leukemia. After that happened Flash's mother decided to move their family to Canterlot. Flash and Soarin said their goodbyes, but promised they'd always be friends no matter what.

Helping him up, Soarin replied "Yeah. Too long if you ask me." Looking at the truck he said "I see you got your dad's old truck up and running."

The truck in question was a 1992 Ford Ranger, colored red. It was an old truck that Flash's father had bought a long time ago at a garage sale, which he and Flash had spent a lot of time working on to restore and bring to life. 

Now it was the only thing Flash had left of his father.

Flash sighed as he looked over the truck. "Well it was. But I made the mistake of buying an oil filter from the Flim and Flam brothers. Gonna need a new one of those." Turning to Soarin he then asked "So, what exactly are you doing here? Not that I'm complaining."

Soarin smirked. "Well, my Uncle quit his old job. And he just so happened to notice a job opening in the Canterlot Times. So..." Soarin shrugged. "Looks like I'm going to Canterlot High come Monday."

"Awesome! Can't wait to show you around the school."

"I eagerly await the tour." Suddenly a loud growl came from his stomach. "But in the meantime, how about you show me a place we can get some lunch?"

Flash rolled his eyes, remembering Soarin's near-infinite appetite. "Let's head to the mall. There's this nice cafe called Sugarcube Corner. Best milkshakes in all of Canterlot."

"Cool. So, you got another car stashed somewhere?"

"No, but I do have the motorcycle I got for my birthday" he finished, picking up his helmet. "She's a bit of an oldie, but she'll get me from Point A to Point B." Smiling he added "While going from zero-to-sixty in about five seconds flat."

Soarin couldn't help but smile as he picked up his own motorcycle helmet. "I suppose great minds think alike." As they walked outside he asked "So, I've been hearing about some weird stuff happening around the school. What's been going on?"

Flash chuckled. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Well, it started in my freshman year when I met this girl named Sunset Shimmer..."





-Canterlot Mall: Mrs. Bibliography's Book Trade-

"I'd like to buy these books, please."

The request came from a girl of about fifteen with indigo hair that had two stripes, pink and mulberry, tied back in a ponytail while some of her bangs covered her forehead. She wore thick glasses, behind which were purple eyes. She was wearing a blue blouse, purple jeans and black sneakers. 

And on the counter in front of her were about fifteen large books relating to topics of science that the owner frankly had never heard of. Why a kid her age would want books like that would forever be a mystery to the store owner. 

Though she wouldn't complain since Twilight Sparkle was her number one customer.

So after the sale was made, Twilight exited the store holding three bags filled with books.

Three bags filled with heavy books. REALLY heavy books.

"Need a hand there, Twi?"

Turning to face the speaker, she saw a member of her small group of friends, Thorax Beetles. 

Thorax's appearance had always been a point of mockery from some of the other students at Crystal Prep Academy. Not only because his clothes had more than likely come from secondhand stores (evident by the holes in many of his pairs of jeans and some of his hoodies) but also because his eyes lacked any visible pupils or sclera. His eyes were just pure fields of metallic purple. As such he used to wear dark sunglasses all the time to hide them.

At least, until Twilight and her other friend stood up for him and became his first, and sadly only, friends. Which was a shame because he was actually a very nice guy once you got to know him. Granted he had an unusual fascination with bugs but hey, everyone has a hobby.

Anyway, he was dressed in his usual faded and slightly torn clothes; a regular pair of blue jeans, a faded yellow hoodie, and brown sneakers that had clearly seen far better days.

Taking two of the bags from her and lifting them up with little effort, Thorax asked "So, what are all these books for?"

Twilight smiled and replied "That energy project I'm working on. I'm still trying to figure out the source of those weird energy readings around Canterlot High School."

Back in September Twilight was working on a simple research project that involved measuring electromagnetic fields in the city. What it was for he'd never know but Twilight was the kind of a girl who would take a part a TV and put it back together just because she was bored, so he rolled with it. 

According to her equipment there was some strange unknown energy surges appearing around the area of Canterlot High School last year in September and October. Naturally with her scientific curiosity piqued, she jumped right in hoping to figure out what it was...

...and hit dead end after dead end. Theory after theory, hypothesis after hypothesis, she still couldn't figure out what the energy was. It wasn't electromagnetic, it wasn't from fossil fuels, it definitely wasn't nuclear (which would have gotten the government involved and no doubt quite a few black vans would have been posted around the school), and it didn't match up with any other energy source known to mankind. It was mind-boggling, but it only made Twilight more determined to find out what it was.

"You know, you could just wait until Monday when we start classes at CHS and ask the students there if they saw anything weird, right" Thorax deadpanned. 

"I know that. But YOU know that I'm not exactly a social butterfly."

Thorax did know that. Outside of her two friends and her family, Twilight didn't really socialize much. Most of this was attributed to the fact that very few of the students in Crystal Prep Academy wanted to talk to her, either because they saw her as a nerd to be ignored or because they were too busy trying to be "the best" by the incredibly (read: unbearably) high standards of one Headmistress Abacus Cinch.

It made him very thankful that their little group of three would be going to Canterlot High School come Monday.

His mind was brought back to the present conversation about weird energy when Twilight said "It doesn't match up with anything on record."

A thought then occurred to Thorax. "What about the energy the Power Rangers use? I mean with their weapons and giant robots, they gotta be releasing some sort of energy, right?"

Twilight shook her head. "Already thought of it and checked. It doesn't match with any of the previous Ranger teams."

"How-"

"Don't ask. Plus we only see the Power Rangers if a city or the planet itself is being invaded by aliens, monsters, demons, or evil sentient robots. Since none of those have been showing up, why would a team of Power Rangers be here?"

Thorax couldn't fault the logic at that. "A fair point." He then smiled and asked "You ever wonder what it'd be like to be one?"

Thinking about it for a few seconds, Twilight answered "I'm no superhero. I mean, I'm just a girl who builds machines using some parts I salvage from a junkyard and some custom parts I buy with my own allowance (and some money I borrowed from my older brother and Cadance.) And even if I wanted to, I'm nowhere near strong enough to be a Power Ranger."

"You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for" Thorax replied. "And it's not about having a strong body, it's about having a strong spirit. How many times have the Power Rangers faced near impossible odds?" 

"Almost every day they're on active duty."

"And how many times did they give up?"

A smile crept across her face. "Never." 

"Exactly." Smiling, he added "Besides, with that big brain of your's you'd probably figure out a hundred different ways to beat a monster in less than a minute."

Twilight giggled. "Thanks."

As they rounded the corner, Thorax asked "So where's our other friend?"

"Knowing her, she's probably up to her ears in some form of trouble."





-Meanwhile in an alley a block away from the mall-

"Look girly, we don't want any trouble. Just hand over any money or valuables you might have, and we'll let you go nice and easy."

The threat came from a group of about five thugs of various size and muscle. Who were they threatening?

A girl around sixteen with magenta hair styled in a slight mohawk, who was wearing a black leather jacket over a pink t-shirt, black jeans and black combat boots. She rolled her blue-green eyes, the right eye having a single scar, and replied "Better idea. You losers hand over what you stole from my friend, and I don't put you in the hospital."

All five of the thugs laughed at that. Their leader said "Real funny, sweetheart. Got a name?"

The girl smirked, but at that moment her cell phone rang. She sighed. "Give me a second, will you?" 

Answering it she said "Hello. Oh, hey Twilight. Yes, I'm on my way. I got a little held up at the moment. URGH! You sound just like Cadance. Look, I'll be there in five, ten minutes tops. Yes, I will buy the first round. Don't I always? Ok. See you soon. Bye." Groaning, she pinched her nose with her free hand as she pocketed her phone. "Sometimes I swear she's supposed to be my ACTUAL little sister." Looking back at the thugs, many of whom had either sweatdropped at the exchange or were now just confused, she asked "Where were we?"

"Your name?"

"Oh, right. The name's Tempest Shadow. I'm the girl who's gonna kick all your asses."

The leader chuckled before motioning to the two guys behind Tempest. "Victor. Monty. Get her."

The two guys in question made their moves, reaching out to grab her arms-

-only for Tempest to spin around and lash out with a quick kick to Victor's chest, sending him into the nearby trashcan. She then spun on her heel and delivered a strong haymaker to Monty's jaw, sending him spinning to the ground. 

Turning to the remaining three, she made a "come hither" gesture with a cocky grin and asked "Anyone else?"

Her answer were two of the thugs rushing her at the same time. She quickly side-stepped one, striking him in the leg, chest, and head in quick succession. She then dodged the incoming strikes of the other thug, before ducking and slamming him in the jaw with a right uppercut that sent him falling to the ground. Neither of them got back up, clearly in too much pain. 

Leaving their leader, who sighed and muttered "You just can't find good help these days." 

He then reached into his pocket, pulling out and opening up a switchblade. Pointing it at Tempest he said "Maybe I'll get your other eye. Then they'll match."

Tempest glared at him, focusing on his knife as she slipped into a combat stance she picked up from Twilight's older brother, who happened to be a cop. The leader charged at her, looking to stab her in her eye. She pivoted on one foot to get out of his line of sight. She then grabbed his wrist and twisted it hard, forcing him to release the knife. She finished it by grabbing the base of his neck, pulling with all her might and slamming him down onto the cold asphalt, hard. Once he stopped struggling she said "Do yourselves a favor. Rethink your life choices and try and be a better person. Otherwise, next time I see you I won't be so nice." She then reached into the man's coat pockets and finally pulled out a silver charm bracelet. Releasing the man and taking a step back, she added "Now get lost before I call the cops."

As she walked off she pulled out her phone and dialed a number. Putting it to her ear she said "Hey Coco. You free at the moment? Good. Meet me at the mall outside of Sugarcube Corner."





"THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

Tempest couldn't help but smile as the blue-haired girl in front of her hugged her. "It's no big deal, Coco."

Releasing her, Coco Pommel replied "But it is a big deal! This charm bracelet was a gift from my grandmother. If you hadn't gotten it back-"

"Well I did. Now there's nothing to worry about." She smiled and ruffled Coco's hair. "And if Suri gives you any trouble while I'm at CHS, be sure to tell her that we still keep in contact with each other. And remind her of what happened the last time she was a bitch to you."

Coco winced. "Yeah. I don't think any of us are going to forget that anytime soon. But did you really have to give her a black eye?"

"Considering the things she said about you, Twilight, Thorax, and me? She's lucky she ONLY got a black eye."

As they parted ways, Tempest walked into Sugarcube Corner and immediately saw Twilight and Thorax sitting at one of the booths. Sliding into the seat next to Twilight she asked "So, what'd I miss?"

"Twilight trying to buy an entire bookstore. Again."

"Real funny, Thorax" Twilight replied. "So, where were you?"

"Getting back Coco's charm bracelet from some thugs" Tempest casually replied. "They weren't much of a challenge."

"You know, sometimes I'm worried that you're going to get yourself hurt doing that" Thorax said.

"And what was I supposed to do? Let those two-bit cons get away with something near and dear to our friend?"

"No. But would it have hurt you to tell me? A little backup never hurt."

Tempest shrugged. "Sorry, I didn't feel like waiting."

Rolling her eyes, Twilight slid Tempest a chocolate milkshake. "Seriously though, when are you going to cut the whole lone wolf act?"

Ignoring her Tempest asked "So, any luck on that weird energy thing you're working on?"

Mentally she rolled her eyes. Great way to dodge the question Tempest. "Still going nowhere. I swear it's like it's mocking me."

"Well, who knows? Maybe the answers might come walking through that door."

Ring!





"I'm surprised you still have your driver's license with the way you drive" Flash told Soarin as they walked into Sugarcube Corner.

Soarin rolled his eyes. "I wasn't that bad."

"The fact that you went about 20 over the speed limit in certain areas, along with the fact that you took those corners like a maniac the whole ride, would suggest otherwise." 

Walking up to the counter, Flash said "Hey Mrs. Cake."

"Hello Flash. What can I get ya?"

"The usual. And anything this guy wants" he added, jerking a thumb in Soarin's direction.

Looking over the menu board, Soarin said "I'll take the quintuple burger with extra fries, and two large chocolate milkshakes."

If Mrs. Cake was shocked by his order, she didn't show it and simply wrote it down. "Coming right up." She smiled and added "You know, you're the first person to order the quintuple burger in about a month. Most people don't have the appetite."

Soarin smirked. "I'm not most people." As Mrs. Cake walked to get the food prepared, he turned to Flash and asked "What's you're usual?"

"Double Cheeseburger with bacon, fries, and a strawberry milkshake."

As they waited for their food, Soarin says "So... Magic, huh?"

Flash shrugged. "Yeah. I thought it was crazy, too. But CHS has pretty much turned into Grand Central for the weird and magical."

"Magical?"

Both boys turned to see-

"Twilight?"

Seeing the look of confusion on her face made Flash realize that this wasn't the same Twilight Sparkle he had met at the Fall Formal. That and the fact that she was wearing glasses, a completely different outfit, had her hair tied back in a ponytail, and Sunset and the Rainbooms were nowhere to be found. 

This obviously meant that the Twilight standing in front of him was the Twilight from THIS universe, and as so they'd never met before.

His mind was dragged back to the present when she asked "Have we met?"

Flash chuckled awkwardly and replied "No. I... kinda mistook you for someone else."

She raised an eyebrow at his statement, clearly not believing him, but she shrugged it off. "Nevermind that. You go to CHS, right?" Seeing him nod, she continued "Okay. For the past few months I kept picking up these strange energy signatures that seem to originate from your school. Has anything weird or unusual happened at your school?"

Unsure of how to respond Flash turned to Soarin, only to see him already diving into his really big burger and pile of french fries, an empty milkshake glass beside him. Sighing, Flash turned back to Twilight and said "It's a long story. And you'd probably think I'm crazy."

"We live in a world where every other week a city somewhere gets attacked by evil forces that are stopped by superheroes wearing red, blue, yellow, green or black, pink, and some other color spandex, who happen to pilot giant robots. I'm pretty sure whatever you can tell me wouldn't be that crazy."

Flash couldn't help but laugh at that. Thank you, Power Rangers, for making stuff like this seem less ridiculous by comparison. "Okay then. You wanna sit down or-?"

Twilight gestured to the booth where Thorax and Tempest were sitting and asked "Can we talk over there?"

"I guess. Let me grab Soarin."

And I'm really hoping Sunset won't kill me for this.





Sunset Shimmer sighed as she looked at her phone, seeing and hearing the call she was trying to make to Rarity go to voicemail. She quickly dialed in Rainbow Dash's number. "Come on, Rainbow. You're my only hope."

Sadly she got the standard 3 rings and then her voicemail. "Hey this is Rainbow Dash. Sorry I can't answer your call, I'm probably doing something awesome! I'll call back when I can. Bye!"

Hanging up her phone she swore under her breath before heading towards Sugarcube Corner. "Where the hell are you guys?"

Walking into Sugarcube Corner, she immediately overheard a familiar sounding voice ask "But how does the magic work?"

Twilight? But I thought she was at that Summit in Griffinstone? 

Turning towards the voice, she saw five people sitting at a booth. One of them was Flash Sentry, one of them was a girl who did look like Twilight Sparkle but with glasses and a different wardrobe (Oh. That must be her human counterpart.) and a girl and two boys she didn't recognize.

Flash shrugged and replied "I honestly don't know. I'm as new to the whole magic thing as you guys are."

"Still, kinda weird to hear that there's another dimension full of magic and that your counterpart there is a princess."

"Yeah well, I'm just really, really hoping Sunset doesn't get too mad at me for telling you guys this."

The one girl, who Sunset noticed had a scar over her right eye, saw her and asked "She wouldn't happen to have green eyes and red and gold hair, would she?"

"Yeah."

One of the boys, who she noticed had odd looking purple eyes, added "Wears a leather jacket with a red stripe on each arm?"

"How would you...? She's right behind me, isn't she?" All four of them nodded and he turned around, smiling very awkwardly and with a hint of fear in his eyes. "H-hey Sunset."

But to his surprise, Sunset Shimmer didn't look angry. She simply facepalmed and said "Hey Flash. I thought we agreed not to speak about the magic to anyone outside of school?"

Before he could reply, the Twilight look-alike replied "Well to be fair, the four of us are starting school at Canterlot High School on Monday. So we'd probably learn about the magic sooner or later."

The remaining boy with darker blue hair added "Plus, Flash told us your were pretty awesome in the Battle of the Bands."

"Really," she asked Flash. Seeing him nod she said "Okay, you're off the hook for that one."

Seeing the exhausted look on her face, the purple-eyed boy asked "You okay? You look like you haven't slept."

Sitting down next to him, Sunset replied "That's because I haven't- uh... I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"Thorax." Pointing to the magenta haired girl he said "That would be Tempest Shadow-"

"Sup."

"-you've already met a version of Twilight Sparkle, so I'm sure you know her name-"

"It's still nice to meet you," Twilight added. 

"-and this is our more recent friend, Soarin Skies."

"Well, more recent for you guys," Flash said. "But Soarin and I have been best friends since we were kids." Looking at Sunset, he asked "But back on topic; how come you haven't gotten any sleep?"

"Because Friday after school, Fluttershy asked for help taking some rabbits from the animal shelter and releasing them back into the wild. I couldn't because I had a job interview, but Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity did. When they were done and my interview was over, we were all supposed to meet up at Fluttershy's house for a slumber party." She sighed. "I waited all night with Fluttershy's parents, but they never showed up."

"And they're still not back yet" Tempest asked, a look of concern on her face.

Sunset nodded solemnly. "I've called each of them three times since this morning but all I keep getting are their voicemails. And before you ask, yes, I already talked to their parents. They haven't seen them since yesterday. I'm worried that something might've-"

"Can I see your phone for a second?"

Everyone looked at Twilight, who had pulled a blue laptop out of her bag along with an AUX cord. Confused, Sunset asked "Why?"

"If your calls are still going through, then it means their phones still have some charge. Phone please."

Handing it to her, Sunset asked "What does that have to-?"

"One of the benefits of being a genius," she said as she plugged the cord into Sunset's phone "is that I have plenty of experience with computers. Enough experience to create a program that can trace cell phone calls via satellite."

"Don't the police, FBI, CIA, et cetera have programs like that?"

"Yes. But my program can do it in half the time and can trace them anywhere in the country. Sunset, if you would?"

Hitting Fluttershy's number on speed dial, Sunset asked "Will it work?"

"I've tested it on Thorax's and Tempest's phones. It works."

"Wait wait wait! You have your own satellite" Soarin asked.

Flashing Soarin an "Are you kidding?" look, she replied "My older brother's a cop and my sister-in-law's the Dean of Students at Crystal Prep. You really think I have enough money to buy my own satellite?"

"You mean to tell me you hacked a satellite" Flash asked. "Isn't that illegal?"

"Only if you get caught."

Everyone barring Tempest and Thorax, who were used to this, was wide-eyed at that statement. In unison, not that they knew it, Flash and Sunset thought Princess Twilight she is NOT.

After a few seconds, Twilight said "Got it."

"You found them" Sunset asked.

"Their cell phones, at least. They are in... the Everfree Forest."

Soarin looked worried about that. "You mean the forest that's had all sorts of legends and rumors about it?"

Tempest chuckled. "You're not seriously scared of some old wives' tales, are you?"

"I'm not scared," Soarin said unconvincingly. "I'm just... wondering why they'd choose that forest of all places to leave a bunch of bunnies."

"We can ask them that when we find them" Flash said. "If you guys are going, that is."

"I'll go" Thorax replied, picking up his keys. "I've got a van that should fit most of us, and a First-Aid Kit." Seeing everyone's looks he added "Better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it."

"You don't have to worry about me and Soarin. We've got our own rides." Flash looked at the rest of them. "Anyone else?"

"Considering we might have five people in need of medical attention, you'll need every set of hands you can get" Tempest said. "I'm coming too."

"Since I'm the one with the location and I don't let ANYONE touch my laptop, I'll come too" Twilight said.

"I've done crazier stuff than go into a reportedly cursed/haunted forest." Downing the rest of his milkshake, Soarin said "Let's do this!"

As they walked out of the mall, Sunset said "I can't thank you guys enough."

"Well," Twilight said as she climbed into the backseats of the van "maybe you can answer some of my questions about the magic on the way."

Thinking about it, Sunset replied "I can try. How many questions do you have?"

In the shotgun seat, Tempest sighed before pulling out a pair of earbuds and picking a song on her phone.*Here we go.

Thorax's thoughts were similar, though he merely settled for rolling his eyes. She's gone full on nerd.





-Unknown Location-

"My Lord, the five girls have been dealt with."

The statement came from a humanoid creature with a face similar to a crow, with large wings with jet black feathers. He was clad in midnight black armor with gold plates on his shoulders and forearms, and a large black and gold katana at his side.

He was speaking to a large tube made of purple crystal that seemed to be filled with jet black smoke. Something within the smoke shifted, and a pair of dark red eyes looked at him. In a slithery whisper, the smoke replied "Good. And how close are we to finding the Gems?"**

"I sent Skullossus and a squadron of Pawns into the Everfree Forest."

"Why such a small force?"

"I believed it would be all that was necessary. After all, as far as we know the Gems have not bonded to anyone, so Skullossus is merely Gem hunting."

The voice was silent, before it finally replied "Very well. Go back to Skullossus and supervise. With those five girls out of the way we shouldn't have too much to worry about. But if the Gems are found and bond to new wielders... Well, I supposed that's why I have you, Nevermore."

Bowing his head, Nevermore replied "I will not fail you, my Lord."





-Outside the Everfree Forest-

"So, this is the Everfree Forest." Soarin shivered. "Anybody else getting the creeps just from looking at this place?"

One wouldn't blame him for posing that question upon having seen the sheer size of the forest and feeling its presence. The trees were so close together that they almost seemed to form a wall save for a trail through it, their canopies so thick that they served to prevent nearly all the sunlight from reaching the ground.

But what really sold the creepy factor was the silence. The entirety of the forest was so quiet, so smothered by an oppressive silence that it could never NOT be creepy.

Thorax tucked his First-Aid Kit into his backpack and replied "Sheesh. Just throw in some thick fog, inhuman monsters, some horrifying hallucinations and you'd have a setting for one of the Silent Hill games." 

Tempest rolled her eyes. "Come on, nerd. Let's find these girls and get out of here."

Twilight checked her laptop. "Okay, I'm cross-checking their position with the maps of this place. I'll let you guys know where we need to go."

Seeing Sunset with her phone, Flash asked "Still no answer?"

She shook her head. "Still nothing."

"Figured it wouldn't be that easy. Guys?" Once he had everyone's attention he continued "This place is huge and the last thing we want is someone getting lost. So stay close and make sure your cell phones are on."

Soarin smirked and gave him a mock salute "Aye aye, Captain!"

Smartass. "Let's move."

As they set off down the trail, Soarin couldn't stop the nervous twitching in his hands. Noticing this, Sunset asked "You okay?"

"Not really." He looked around at the trees, almost expecting something to jump out at them. "It's too quiet."

"I hear you" Thorax replied. "You'd think you'd hear some birds or squirrels."

"Not what I mean. I grew up in Cloudsdale. I'm used to honking cars, screeching tires, the yelling of street vendors and sign spinners. This whole place may as well be The Twilight Zone. No offense, Twi."

"None taken," she replied. "At least you didn't make a reference to Stephanie Meyer's god-awful vampire books."

"Considering how much she butchered vampire mythology, I don't even think they deserved to be called vampires."

"Amen. Those books sucked, figuratively and literally," Tempest quipped, getting a chuckle out of the group.

"So, where did you guys go to school before CHS" Flash asked.

"Well, Twilight, Thorax and I went to Crystal Prep Academy," Tempest replied. "But... we kinda got expelled."

"No, you and Twilight got expelled," Thorax cut in. "I asked for a transfer request. I don't think Cinch cared that much."

Flash, Soarin, and Sunset looked at Twilight in shock. "YOU GOT EXPELLED?!"

"Why is that such a shock? Wait, let me guess, Princess Twilight never got expelled."

"From what she told me, she's the kind of girl who would follow the rules to a 'T.'" Sunset shook her head. "How did you get expelled?"

Sighing, she replied "It was stupid. The girl's soccer team pulled a bunch of pranks on the three of us, and Cinch did absolutely nothing to stop them. She said, and I quote 'I'd rather not risk the success and reputation of this school over some juvenile tomfoolery.'  Well after they put paint bombs in our lockers, took photos of our paint-splattered faces, and posted them on MyStable, I snapped. So after their Gym Class one day, I hacked into the school's system and input a code that would switch the water in all of their showers to cold." She winced. "But... I input the wrong code and turned the sprinklers on. I tried to stop it, but I made it worse and... I sorta, kinda-"

"She flooded the whole school" Tempest and Thorax said in unison.

There was a moment of silence, before Flash, Sunset, and Soarin all burst out laughing. Twilight rolled her eyes and after a few seconds asked "You three done?"

Regaining their composure, they nodded. Flash asked "So Cinch found out and you got expelled?"

"No, I confessed to it. She wanted to sue me for all the damages, but Shining managed to talk her down. I ended up spending most of February doing community service, after which I got expelled."

Continuing their trek, Sunset asked "So what about you, Tempest?"

Tempest looked away and muttered "I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, Tempest" Twilight said. "They got to hear my story, now tell yours."

Rolling her eyes, she complied. "Fine. You guys ever heard of Suri Polomare?"

"Wasn't she that girl who stole some of Rarity's designs for that fashion contest" Flash asked Sunset.

Sunset nodded. "Eeyup. A rich, snobbish, self-entitled brat. Like Diamond Tiara times one thousand."

"Well one of our friends, Coco Pommel, got a job at a store owned by her family. More specifically, Suri was the manager. So she hired Coco as her assistant. And... Coco's not exactly what one would call assertive."

"Fluttershy's like that too. Though she's gotten better since she and her friends got back together."

"Well considering Crystal Prep's policy on friendship, that wasn't happening unless she joined one of the sports teams" Thorax replied.

"Anyway," Tempest continued "she kept telling us about how awful Suri was to her everyday. So, being the kind and caring friend I was, I decided to have a little talk with Suri. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of telling her what Coco told me. She told me she'd be 'nicer' to Coco."

"Let me guess, she fired her."

"And spread a bunch of rumors about her so no clothing stores or boutiques would ever hire her. And just to really get me mad, she posted rumors about Thorax, Twilight, and... me."

Noticing the pause, Flash said "The rumors about you weren't rumors, were they?"

She fixed all of them with a glare. "I'm not, nor will I ever, go into detail about them. So don't ask. But yes, some of the things she said about me were true. I saw it online..." She clenched her fists so hard that Soarin, Flash and Sunset were surprised that her nails didn't draw blood."It's just... the idea that this bitch could post that stuff, say stuff like that online for the whole world to see and ruining our lives, just to make herself feel better? Just to spite me. The next day in school, we called her out on what she did, and she freaking gloated about it!" Growling, she slammed her fist into a nearby tree. Taking a few deep breaths, she finished "All I saw was red. And the next thing I know Suri Polomare's on the ground in front of me, with a black eye courtesy of my fist. Her parents called the school, one thing leads to another and I get expelled."

"You left out the part where you grabbed her by the front of her dress and threatened to break every bone in her body if she didn't take those posts down and post the real truth," Twilight added.

"Which she did" Thorax stated.

Seeing the shocked looks on their faces, Tempest shrugged. "You didn't see what she posted, or heard what she said. If you did and it was about people you care about, you'd slug her in the face too."

Sunset smirked. "I would've done the same thing. Was it worth it?"

"Given the fact that she deserved/needed to be knocked off her high horse? No offense, Sunset."

"None taken. I'm a Pony, not a horse."

"Either way when it comes to knocking Suri down a peg, I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

They came to a fork in the trail; one path went eastward, the other westward. 

Looking at her laptop, Twilight said "We're gonna wanna take the west trail."

Pulling out his phone and bringing up a map, Flash said "That trail goes towards Clover Canyon."

"Clover Canyon" Thorax asked. "Isn't there an old legend about that place?"

"Yeah, some story about a sorceress who defeated an evil monster" Tempest said dismissively. "Honestly, I never paid attention to most of those fairy tales."

Sunset tuned them out when she noticed something on a tree on the edge of the trail; a bright pink streamer tied on one of the branches. Recognizing it she said "This is one of Pinkie's streamers she uses for her parties."

"There's another one on that tree" Thorax pointed out.

"Smart thinking," Flash stated. "She left a trail so they wouldn't lose their way."

Twilight looked at her laptop. "And that's where we're going."

As they walked off of the path and into the woods to follow the trail of streamers, they never noticed a cloaked figure peer out from behind a large tree. "And so it begins."





"This is just about where the signal came from," Twilight said, closing her laptop and sliding it into her backpack. 

Her program had brought them to a small grassy clearing, surrounded by trees on three sides and one side giving a good view of the canyon a few yards away. The only evidence that there had been anyone here recently was a large pet carrying crate that had a few half eaten carrots and an empty bowl of water. 

But Sunset's friends were nowhere to be found.

Looking around, Sunset immediately noticed a yellow small phone with a pink butterfly on the back. "It's Fluttershy's phone. She was here!"

"Okay," Tempest replied. "They were here. But where are they now?"

Flash looked around the clearing, before saying "There's no blood or any signs of a struggle. Nothing looks out of the ordinary."

That's when Soarin noticed something on a patch of bare ground. "Hey, you guys said that Rainbow Dash was into sports, right?"

Sunset nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

Soarin smirked before saying "There's a pair of shoe-prints here, belonging to a pair of Nikes."

Everyone gathered around them, with Sunset saying "Yeah. Those are definitely Rainbows." She then pointed to a different set of shoe-prints and added "And that's definitely from Rarity's shoes."

"How can you tell," Tempest asked.

"Because I don't know anyone else on this planet who would go hiking in the woods while wearing high heels."

Studying the prints, Flash said "Looks like they're heading deeper into the forest."

A buzzing came from Twilight's backpack, which she immediately opened and pulled out her laptop. After a few keystrokes she said "I think I know why." Looking in the direction the footprints were heading, she explained "I'm picking up a massive energy signature from that direction. One that's very similar to the ones I picked up from the Fall Formal and the Battle of the Bands."

Almost the second after she finished that sentence, Sunset's body began glowing a light red before she suddenly grew pony ears and a pony tail that matched her hair. Everyone was a bit surprised at this, save for Flash who'd seen it before. Once the shock wore off Sunset confirmed "Yeah. Definitely Equestrian magic."

Tempest asked "You think they decided to check out what it was?"

"Knowing them, more than likely."

"Then I guess that's where we're going," Flash said. 

As they continued down the path, Thorax whispered "You ever get the feeling you're being watched?"

Just about everyone whispered back "Yes." 

Soarin asked "You guys know how to defend yourselves, right?"

Twilight was the first to reply. "My big brother made me take some self-defense classes."

"I can vouch for that, since she and I took the same classes," Thorax added.

Tempest smirked. "I can handle myself."

"You know I can handle myself in a fight, Soarin" Flash stated. "Remember in seventh grade when we fought off Smokescreen and his friends?"

Soarin laughed. "Good times."

Eventually the team came to a large cave, Sunset's magical aura glowing brighter the closer she got to it. "Whatever's causing it is definitely in there."

Seeing how dark it was inside the cave Soarin asked "Don't suppose anybody bothered to bring a flashlight?"

Tempest rolled her eyes. "Why would we need one when we have the glowing pony girl?"

Seeing how bright Sunset's aura was glowing, Soarin nodded. "Fair point."

As Sunset lead the way into the cave, Thorax noticed something. "That's odd."

Hearing him, Soarin asked "What is?"

"Well, most caves usually have jagged or rough floors and walls." Running his hand across the walls, he continued "But both the floors and walls are perfectly smooth. Almost as if this was built instead of carved out by erosion like most caves."

"Considering magic's involved, I'd say that's very possible."

After a while the cave opened up into a large chamber, big enough to put a two story house in.

But in the center of the chamber was something that immediately drew their eyes, as well as defied their imaginations.

In the center of the chamber grew a large tree, roughly the size of a full grown oak, that seemed to be made out of pure white crystals. While there was no sunlight it still glowed, shining like a beacon through the darkness.

"Okay, that's not normal."

Tempest facepalmed before looking at Soarin. "Thank you, Captain Obvious. Your services are unnecessary, but appreciated."

"What? I'm just saying-"

"Hey guys?"

All of them turned to see Flash at the trunk, looking at something in the center of it. Once they joined him they got a good look at what caught his attention.

Set within slots on the tree were five gemstones of different shapes and colors: a red flame, a blue drop of water, a green cyclone, a yellow boulder with a crack going through it, and a pink bolt of lightning. Each gem was small enough they could fit in the palm of their hands.

"Any idea what these are, Sunset" Flash asked.

She shook her head. "Nope. I've never seen heard or read anything about gemstones like these. The tree does kinda resemble the fabled Tree of Harmony, but that's back in Equestria."

"Well I get the feeling that these gems are what drew the Rainbooms here."

"But they're not here," Thorax noted. "So, maybe they couldn't get the gems free?"

"I wonder why," Tempest asked aloud. "It doesn't look like there's anything protecting it."

"Looks can be deceiving. I've read enough Daring Do books to know that the things that you think aren't booby-trapped, are usually booby-trapped," Twilight stated.

Soarin chuckled before turning to Tempest. "She said traps."

BONK! 

Rubbing his sore head, Soarin looked at Tempest and asked "What was that for?"

"For being stupid." 

As that little comedic exchange was going on, Sunset looked on the tree and noticed something etched in just below the stones. Leaning closer she recognized it as Old Equestrian. "Looks like someone wrote something on the tree. In Old Equestrian."

"Old Equestrian," Twilight asked. "You mean from your world?"

"Yeah. But from a looong time ago. Not a lot of ponies read it or use it outside of translating ancient tomes." Looking carefully at the etching she read "Only those with pure hearts and courage, knowledge, determination, strength, and faith can release the power of the Gems."

The moment she finished reading the five gems glowed brightly before shooting out of their slots towards the other five members of the group. The red gem flew into Flash's hand, the blue gem to Twilight's, the green gem to Soarin's, the yellow gem to Thorax's, and finally the pink gem into Tempest's hand. The moment the gems made contact, they felt a surge of power run through them. 

As Sunset watched this she saw the magical aura she had begin to fade, her pony ears and tail disappearing as well. Looking to the tree she saw that it was fading away as well. So the tree was just made to protect the gems, which were the source of the magic the whole time. Does that mean the magic... is now inside of them?

Once they stopped glowing Soarin asked "What just happened?"

"I... I honestly have no idea," Sunset replied. "Magic gems flying out of a tree and into the hands of my friends is a new experience. Even for me."

Twilight flexed her free hand, looking at the blue gem in her hand. "What was that power surge? I feel... different."

"I feel like I just drank three espressos in one sitting" Tempest added, flexing her fingers.

"I feel like I could go three rounds with All Might***," Thorax said. 

"Not to put a damper on things," Flash said, getting everyone's attention "but we still have five missing girls we need to find."

Looking around Soarin stated "There's no other ways into or out of this cave. We haven't seen any sign of them in here or by the entrance. So whatever happened to them, it must've happened either before they made it to the cave, or after they left."

"Well, we're not going to get answers standing in a dark cave. Let's get out of here."





A few minutes later the group was exiting the cave, Twilight saying "Maybe we should check the clearing again. We might've missed something."

Flash shrugged. "It's worth a shot. But..."

His words died in his throat, as a cold shiver ran up his spine. "Guys? You feel that?"

Soarin shivered. "Please tell me that's just the wind."

Tempest shook her head. "As much as we want it to be-"

"-it's not" Twilight finished.

The moment she finished talking someone, or something, let out a sinister, bone-chilling laugh.

Tensing up at the noise, everyone looked around trying to find the speaker. "Okay, tell me I'm not the only one who heard that," Thorax said.

"No. You weren't," Flash muttered. "But where...?"

"Right here!"

Everyone turned their heads to look at the trees to try and find the speaker, only to see something drop down from the branches and land a few feet in front of them. Once it landed it stood up to its full height, revealing its form.

It's horrifying, nightmarish form.

It looked like a skeleton that was roughly seven feet tall, but with metal gray bones and two angled horns on its head. From within its empty eye sockets a red glow shone, and its fingertips ended in sharp bone claws. Around its waist was what looked like a tattered loincloth, not that it mattered since it didn't have anything to hide. 

What really unnerved them was that despite the fact it had no facial muscles or lips, it seemed to be sadistically grinning at them. It opened its mouth and said "Greetings. My name is Skullossus. And thank you so much for getting those gems out of that tree. Now, if you could just hand them over right now, we can avoid any... unpleasantness." He flexed his claws at the last word, ensuring that his point got across.

Being closest to Sunset, Twilight whispered "Don't suppose you can just make him disappear?"

"Like I told you in the van, I have no idea how magic works in this world. And besides, even if I did I can't just make him disappear. I can teleport him somewhere but I can't-"

Skullossus cleared his throat (despite not having any vocal cords) and said "You two ladies do know I can hear you, right?"

"How can you do that when you don't have ears," Twilight asked.

"Not important," he replied, before snapping his fingers. "PAWNS!"

Seemingly from the shadows themselves, about ten humanoid creatures emerged. Each of them stood about six feet tall and wore plates of pitch black armor on their arms and chests, as well as helmets with visors. The flesh that shown was pale gray and seemed to be stretched over their bones. A bright red glow came from the slits in their visors, and each one carried a short sword roughly the length of their forearms.

And unfortunately for our heroes, they were surrounded. "Any ideas," Soarin asked.

"Can't go forward, and if we go back in the cave we'll be trapped," Twilight stated.

"Guess that leaves one option," Sunset said clenching her fists. "We fight."

Tempest smiled, settling into a combat stance. "Music to my ears."

The Pawns and Skullossus charged at them, but the group scattered and the fight was on.

One Pawn rushed Tempest but she lashed out with a kick into its exposed stomach, sending it flying to the ground. Another Pawn slashed at her with its sword, but she sidestepped it and struck him in its exposed neck with a chop, followed by a kick to his head. Seeing the first Pawn she knocked down start to get up she quickly stomped on its head, slamming it into the ground. "Huh. These guys aren't so tou-"

The words died in her throat as they both got up, apparently not even injured or winded. "You've gotta be kidding me."

As they both charged at her with their swords she felt another surge of power, this time stronger than before. Looking at her hands she saw pink sparks arcing off her fingertips, moving faster and faster. With nothing else to go on she threw her hands out at the Pawns-

-and watched in awe as streams of pink lightning shot out and nailed them in the chest, making their bodies spasm like cartoon characters. Once she stopped the Pawns fell to the ground, fading away into black dust.

Looking at her handiwork Tempest said "Okay. That was pretty cool." Pulling out her Gem, she saw the pink lightning bolt was glowing. "This just got interesting."

Twilight was not faring well. Most of the self-defense classes she took focused mainly on grappling or disarming her opponent, giving her time to run away and find help. The problem was that the two Pawns she was fighting weren't human and didn't seem to feel pain. Meaning that she was just delaying the inevitable.

But then she saw the blue gem in her hand glow, and suddenly she felt the air around her moisten, as if it were about to rain. Acting on instinct, she moved like she was pushing the Pawns away-

-and somehow summoned a massive stream of water, which slammed into the two Pawns and knocked them into the nearby trees. As they faded away Twilight was in shock, her mind trying to figure out what the Gem did to her. "Well, that was a thing."

Soarin dodged a swipe from one of the Pawns attacking him, then jumped out of the reach of the other Pawn. He looked at his Gem and said "Don't suppose you got anything for me?" Feeling the familiar surge and seeing his gem glow green, he smiled. "Okay. Now what?" 

As a Pawn tried to strike him he spun out of the way, but he didn't stop. He began to rapidly spin like a top, summoning a green tornado that yanked the Pawns up and sent them flying away. As he stopped spinning he grinned. "That was fun."

Thorax had also awakened the power from his Gem, his arms now coated in glowing yellow stone and his strength greatly increased. The Pawns' swords broke on contact with is arms, and with two quick punches the Pawns were nothing more than dust. "Another one bites the dust," he said, quoting one of his favorite bands.

Sunset unfortunately had no magic at the moment, as she still hadn't figured out how to call upon it at will. Sadly that left her with the karate lessons she took when she was dating Flash, and that was proving to be mostly ineffective. 

As one of the Pawns tried to stab her a green blur slammed into its side, revealing Soarin who had nailed it with a high speed kick. "Magic is officially awesome!" 

The other Pawn tried to rush him but got grabbed by Thorax, who lifted him up and slammed him headfirst into the ground, dispersing him into dust. "Down boy."

The final Pawn tried to get back up, only to get splashed by a large amount of water courtesy of Twilight. Turning to face her, Twilight said "Metal, water, and electricity; not a good combo."

Pink lightning struck the Pawn, frying it until it joined its brethren as dust. "That's the last one."

Soarin stated "I see everyone else who got a gem got some benefits."

"Hey, where's Flash" Twilight asked.





Flash dodged another swipe from Skullossus' claws. "You move pretty fast for a guy without muscles," he quipped.

"I've got five hundred years under my belt, fleshbag," he replied.

Dodging two more swipes, Flash felt the power surge and saw the red glow. As Skullossus tried to slash him again, he sidestepped and grabbed his wrist. Smoke started to rise from where Flash had grabbed him, and Skullossus screamed in pain. "ARGH! IT BURNS!"

"That's just the warm-up!"

Flash released him before knocking him back with a kick. On instinct he threw his hands out, and twin streams of red fire shot out and slammed into Skullossus with the force of a freight train, and sent him flying through multiple trees until he smashing into the ground. 

Looking at his glowing hands, Flash couldn't help but smile. "So... THIS is what it's like to have magic."

"FLASH!"

Turning he saw the rest of the group run up to meet him. Seeing the destruction and some of the scorched trees, Soarin asked "You too?"

"Yeah. I got some serious firepower. You guys?"

"Wind."

Showing his rocky arms Thorax said "Earth. Twilight's got water, and Tempest has lightning."

"Well, this is an unfortunate turn of events."

All six of them turned to see another monster drop from the sky, a large humanoid bird with black wings, holding a black and gold katana in his right hand. "Oh joy, another one," Tempest grumbled. "And who are you supposed to be?"

The monster smiled. "I am Nevermore. And it seems you five have bonded to the Gems. That's unfortunate for you."

Flash asked "Why's that?"

"Because in order for my lord to use the full power of those gems, I'll have to destroy you five."

It was then that they noticed his katana was glowing.

"MOVE!"

Nevermore brought his katana down in an overhead slashing motion, unleashing a crescent wave of black energy towards the group. They all dodged out of the way but they all saw it continue on its path, carving out a trench in the ground. Tempest threw her hand forward and shot a stream of lightning at Nevermore, but he simply blocked it with his sword. Thorax was more surprising, grabbing a nearby boulder and chucking it at Nevermore like it was a pillow. But it was all for naught as with one swing of his sword the boulder was sliced clean in half. Soarin shot a cyclone out of his palm, but Nevermore walked through it like it was nothing. Twilight and Flash decided to hit him simultaneously, blasting him with a condensed stream of water and fire. Their combined attack struck Nevermore head on, eliciting a cry of pain from him, and creating a large steam cloud that obscured him from view. "Did that work" Soarin asked hopefully.

"I doubt it," Sunset replied. "He's obviously stronger than the Pawns and Bonehead."

"More than you can imagine."

Out of the steam cloud Nevermore walked, not a single scratch or scorch mark on his armor. Laughing he said "You five may have accessed the Gems' power, but you've only just started using them. You've got a long way to go before you could so much as scratch me."

As he slowly walked towards them Tempest asked "Any ideas?"

Almost as if answering her call a blast of green energy slammed into Nevermore, freezing him in place. "That should hold you for a bit."

Everyone turned to see a cloaked figure, obviously a woman judging by their voice, standing behind them with a staff in her hand. She looked at them and said "Sorry about this but we need to get out of here before my stasis spell wears off."

Before anyone could say anything she slammed her staff on the ground, and all anyone could see was bright green light.

And then they were gone, not a trace of them to be found.

Nevermore finally managed to break free of the spell, cursing under his breath. "I'll have to inform the king at once."

"Owwwwww."

Turning towards the trees he saw a stumbling, dazed Skullossus walking towards him. "Did anyone get the number of that truck that hit me?"

Sighing, Nevermore focused his magic. "Come on, Skullossus. The King'll need to hear this at once."

And with that the two of them disappeared into the shadows.





Inside a cave there was a flash of green light before the cloaked woman appeared, Flash and his friends appearing shortly thereafter.

Looking around Flash asked "What just happened? Where are we?"

Getting the shakiness out of her legs Sunset answered "Our mystery lady teleported us out of there. As for where we are, ask her."

A giggle escaped the cloaked woman, who said "You're welcome, by the way."

Tempest grumbled "Why does it feel like I'm gonna hurl?"

"First time teleporting? That's usually one of the side effects. Don't worry, it get's easier the more you do it."

Thorax finally asked "Okay, who are you? What is going on? Why did we just get attacked by a skeleton and some living chest pieces, followed by a monster named after one of the works of Edgar Allen Poe?"

"All in due time, my friend. And as for who I am?" 

The woman then pulled her hood down, revealing a pale skinned woman in her twenties with dark green hair and eyes. She smiled and said "My name is Clover the Clever. And I need your help."