Applebloom just stared at her phone after Scootaloo hung up.
“That was weird,” she remarked.
Scootaloo had just called her, telling her it was time they stopped posting secrets and put an end to Anon-A-Miss before she changed her mind.
Applebloom opened up the Anon-A-Miss profile on her phone. When Scootaloo brought it up, the redhead began to think. She looked at the number of followers and saw that there was a significant drop in numbers. Also, they had not gotten any new secret to posts from other students in CHS for days now. It was like Anon-A-Miss was yesterday’s news.
It had been a weird these past few days when giant monsters began to show up and then this Ultraman Ginga appeared to fight said monsters. Sunset was no longer isolated, alone and friendless. In fact, she had gotten some new friends. Applebloom had no idea who the green girl was, but Trixie Lulamoon and Lightning Dust were pretty well known and to see them hang out with the former she-demon was a surprise.
Then Applebloom and her friends saw Fluttershy joining them, and then Pinkie Pie. They soon became worried when Rarity joined them and Applejack too. Rainbow Dash was not with them, but it pretty much confirmed that they were all friends with Sunset Shimmer which meant Anon-A-Miss had not worked. Sure, they had rejected Sunset Shimmer at first, but it seemed that it had only been temporary.
Even the suspicion that Sunset Shimmer was Anon-A-Miss had died since everyone was more focused on the monster attacks and Ultraman Ginga. Micro Chips was even sending Anon-A-Miss conspiracy theories. They pretty much deleted those since they were not secrets Anon-A-Miss would post, but he still kept sending them.
It was hard for Applebloom to accept, but Anon-A-Miss had just been a passing fad and now people were joining another bandwagon, keeping an eye out for monsters to they could capture videos and post them online. They also wanted to see Ultraman Ginga.
And Applebloom could not blame Sunset Shimmer for ruining everything.
While Scootaloo had changed her mind, Applebloom began to think it was time to put Anon-A-Miss to bed. What was the point anymore?
“NO!”
Applebloom suddenly felt the biggest headache of her life, then an empty calmness.
“What is with you three going off script? Now, tomorrow, you will post that secret that you’ve been saving as a nuclear option. I need your sister angry to allow her to use a Dark Dummy Spark. Do you understand?”
“Yeah,” Applebloom replied, blankly.
“Good girl. Now, shouldn’t you be in bed now?”
Applebloom robotically turned off her phone, changed into her pajamas, and climbed into bed.
*////*
“You do realize that I’m not your handler, correct?” Icarus nagged at Fall. After he had teleported her out of Dark Lugiel’s chambers, the demon had dragged him out into the middle of nowhere, following the beeping on the device Fall had taken from Lugiel.
“Oh, shut up Icarus, I know that,” Fall replied, with an annoyed edge.
“Then why am I here when I could be making the next Rainbow Dash, or making another monster, or ANYTHING ELSE!?” Icarus demanded.
“Wow, what a whiner. You’re here because I need a witness. Your boss won’t just take me at my word. He will want a demonstration and in order to do that I will need magic.”
“And you expect to find some here? What could possibly be here that you need me to see?”
“If you could stop complaining so I can hear this thing, you would find out,” Fall venomously replied, struggling to hear the device over Icarus.
“What is that thing anyway? Lord Lugiel has never considered that device important, and now you’re telling us that it’s some ‘magic compass’.”
The device in Fall’s hand led her to a source of magic and she smiled.
“We’re right on top of it.”
Fall crouched down and began to dig. She was not afraid of getting her hands dirty. She soon found the source, a stone with an eye on it. The purple magic detector began to react.
“What is that?” Icarus asked curiously over Fall’s shoulder.
“Whatever it is, it’s full of Equestrian magic,” Fall answered with a grin. She also found something buried with the stone. It was a set of instructions on old parchment paper. “Ponies really should be more careful of what they toss in this world. You can never tell who will find it.”
Icarus was squinting while leaning around Fall, attempting to see the parchment, “What is that? I can’t read human.”
Fall grunted in annoyance, “This, dear Icarus, is called the Memory Stone. When aimed at a target it can delete any memories of the user’s choosing.”
“Deleting memories, hm hm hm? That sounds delightfully useful,” Icarus hissed.
Suddenly, Fall bopped Icarus on the head, “Idiot! This rock is useless for our purposes in this state. For one, it was created to battle magic users and other creatures like griffons and humans, not Ultras and aliens. Second, the people that Ginga defeats gain a resistance to mental attacks, which is why you two can’t reuse Dummy Spark users. No, we need something more general purpose. Fortunately, this device is far more than just a ‘magic compass’. ”
Fall then clicked a button on the device, causing it to open, drawing tendrils of magic from the Memory Stone into it. Once the stone was drained of all its magic, it crumbled to dust. Fall snapped the device close and had a wicked idea. If it was possible to drain the Memory Stone, then she could drain the Equestrian magic from the Rainbooms.
For now, she was content to have some actual magic to use.
*////*
Sunset managed to save Lightning Dust and Applejack from further questioning at the hospital. The doctor still insisted on checking Sunset’s injuries and was amazed by her quick recovery.
“What can I say? I heal fast,” Sunset said with a shrug. “And I wasn’t as hurt as badly as you thought.”
Seeing as there was nothing wrong with her and that the hospital was busy, the doctor had no choice but to release Sunset Shimmer and her two friends.
“So, what happened with Dash?” Lightning asked as she left the hospital with Applejack and Sunset.
Sunset scratched the back of her head, awkwardly, “Well the good news is,
we’ve upgraded from ‘openly antagonistic’. The bad news is said upgrade is to ‘it’s complicated’.”
“That bad, huh?” Lightning
“Yeah,” Sunset replied, downcast, before brightening up, “Oh, but the best news is that Ginga’s awake.”
“Say what?” Applejack said, “That don’t make a lick’a sense.”
“I mean that he can talk to me now, and the even better part is that I’m free.”
“Free?” Sunset heard the approaching Ginga Gang. Sunset had texted them and told them to meet her in front of the hospital.
“Of what?” Pinkie Pie continued.
“The demon from the Fall Formal. The thing has been sticking around in my head, waiting to take me again. Ginga kicked her out though so, hopefully, she’s gone for good now,” Sunset explained.
“That’s wonderful, Sunset!” Fluttershy squealed, happily.
“How do you feel?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Like a bad roommate just got kicked out of my place. I feel, I dunno, lighter,” Sunset answered. “So how about a round of milkshakes, my treat?”
The other girls cheered at the suggestion and began their march towards Sugarcube Corner.
*////*
At Sugarcube Corner...
“So, Wallflower, what did you make of Princess Celestia?” Sunset asked. The Ginga Gang sat in their booth with milkshakes in front of them.
Wallflower blushed, but replied, “She’s intimidating to say the least and way more regal than Principal Celestia. She was also so powerful that she could command the sun and used its power to recharge the Ginga Spark.”
“I’m amazed that she was able to awaken Ginga,” Taro added, awed.
“After 1,000 years, she’s learned a few things in her lifetime,” Sunset Shimmer shrugged. She used to believe that being a Princess meant being more powerful and smarter than anypony else. Clearly, she had been wrong in her assumption.”
“There’s more, though,” Wallflower added, “While she agreed to power the Ginga Spark, I don’t think she was particularly happy with Planet Ultra’s idea of peacekeeping. She spent a bit of time looking at the Ginga Spark suspiciously.”
Sunset sighed, “I’m not surprised. Princess Celestia really doesn’t agree with the concept of peace through violence. She would much rather resolve conflicts peacefully.”
“If we could resolve things peacefully, we would have. However, we needed to prioritize the safety of innocent beings,” Taro stated. “After all, those who hate violence could not exist without others fighting their battles.”
“Yeah,” Lightning Dust said. “It’s why we have laws that say we can kill in self-defense.”
“People who say that violence is never the answer don’t get that sometimes it’s the only possible way. Like putting down an animal infected with rabies, or when they are faced with someone who only has eyes set on destruction, like Metron or Icarus,” Pinkie said, shocking the rest of the Gang. Noticing their looks, she said, “My family firmly believes that if some psycho tries to force himself on you, you are well within your rights to kick their ass, be they man or woman.”
Fluttershy looked visibly upset at the topic. She hated violence.
Noticing Fluttershy’s discomfort, Rarity asked, “Could we change the subject? Fluttershy is uncomfortable with this topic.”
Suddenly reminded that their shy friend was in the room the Gang offered her a series of profuse apologies and several more milkshakes.
“It’s alright,” Fluttershy assured them. “Sometimes, using words won’t work and action is needed. If you didn’t fight, Sunset, more people could get hurt.”
“Thanks, Shy.”
“Just wondering one thing, Wallflower,” Trixie spoke up. “What was it like on the other side? Did you really change into a pony?”
“I did,” Wallflower blushed. “I came out as a pony and without my pants.”
Everyone, sans Sunset Shimmer, goggled at Wallflower Blush who, well, blushed.
“Nothing happened to me, though,” Taro piped up.
“Yeah, lucky you,” grumbled Wallflower.
“Clothing for ponies is optional,” Sunset explained. “While there are some ponies that enjoy dressing up, we mostly go without clothing. Special clothing is usually reserved for special occasions like the Grand Galloping Gala.”
“Oh, so like a formal ball,” Rarity summarised.
“I also had a weird tattoo,” Wallflower recalled.
“That’s called a cutie mark,” Sunset clarified. “It’s basically a mark that symbolizes your special talent. It shows up when you discover what your special talent is.”
“You know, there really is a lot about Equestria we don’t know,” Applejack said.
“Then it’s a good thing we have our own resident expert,” Pinkie Pie grinned.
Sunset smiled, though when Celestia was mentioned earlier, she began to think about her former mentor and if it was time for them to reunite.
“OK, Equestria sounds cool and all, but I really want to hear about how you beat Rainbow and the other monster, on your own,” Lightning Dust added.
“Trixie saw the stream,” the magician added. “It was impressive. You were stronger.”
“When Princess Celestia recharged the Ginga Spark, that must’ve given Ginga and I a boost,” Sunset surmised.
“Looks like those aliens are going to have a much harder time trying to beat you.”
*////*
Rainbow Dash walked into her home, silent and sullen. With nothing to do but think, she went over everything that had happened in the past few days and how she saw the situation and how her friends began to turn away from the idea that Sunset Shimmer was behind Anon-A-Miss. Rainbow Dash had stubbornly hung on to the idea, waiting for everyone to come around so she could say, “Hah, I told you so!”
Only that never happened. Then when Rainbow Dash learned Sunset Shimmer and Ultraman Ginga were one in the same, she foolishly believed that the girl from another world had conned everybody by playing hero. Well, Rainbow Dash decided to show that she could be a better hero. Unfortunately, that had not turned out so well.
Then she remembered what Gilda had said to her at the Starbucks earlier:
“You know, I can’t exactly entirely blame you, given who your parents are. But this time, I can’t hold back anymore. Rainbow, you don’t want friends, that implies give and take. No, what you want is cheerleaders, people whose sole purpose is to boost your ego and nothing else. And when they can’t do that, you throw them away like garbage!”
Friends were supposed to support and cheer each other on. And she wanted her friends to do that for her. But then, when her friends began to support Sunset Shimmer and cheer for her, Rainbow Dash felt jealous.
She was jealous because she knew, deep down, that Sunset Shimmer was better than her and she hated that.
Rainbow Dash opened the door to her house and immediately her parents were in front of her.
“Kiddo, are you OK?” Bow Hothoof asked. “You ran out when there was a monster out.”
“You’re not hurt, are you?” Windy Whistles asked.
Rainbow Dash smiled. Her parents might be embarrassing, but they were her parents, and they loved her.
“Mom, Dad, if I mess up you’d tell me, right?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Her parents shared worried looks then looked back at her.
“Dashie, is something wrong?” Windy Whistles asked gently.
“I just need to tell you guys something. We should sit down for this. It’s a pretty long story,” Rainbow Dash told them.
The family sat down and Rainbow Dash told them everything, omitting the parts about Sunset Shimmer being Ginga and Rainbow Dash becoming a monster, not to mention how other students were turning into monsters and aliens. She basically told them about Anon-A-Miss and how she believed it was Sunset Shimmer until her friends started to believe otherwise.
“And so we got into a fight and Sunset Shimmer told me something I didn’t want to hear but I needed to hear all the same. I think I really messed up,” Rainbow Dash finished. Her parents were silent. “Guys?”
“How, DARE SHE!” Windy Whistles growled.
Rainbow’s eyes widened, “What?”
“HOW DARE SHE TALK TO MY PERFECT GIRL THAT WAY!”
Rainbow Dash could not believe it. Here she was, telling her parents that she had serious issues, and they completely ignored her issues to offer more praise
This was what Gilda had been talking about. While her parents had started supporting her in order to boost her confidence and encourage her to do better, they were really doing her more harm than good. Rainbow Dash truly did appreciate all their effort, but right now she really needed her parents to help.
“Mom, shut up!” Rainbow Dash yelled, shocking her mother to silence. “Mom, please, Sunset was right. I’ve let my ego get the better of me. Right now I need you guys to help me fix this and make up with my friends.”
“We will not fix what isn’t broken,” Bow Hothoof replied, “If they threw you out to join that traitor, then they are no friends of yours.”
“SUNSET DID NOT BETRAY ANYONE! I DID!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “I WAS JUST TOO BLIND AND STUPID TO SEE!”
“No, they walked out on you, not the other way around,” Windy Whistles huffed.
“Only after they tried to reach out to me and I threw it in their faces,” Rainbow Dash countered. She remember the texts she received from her friends to at least talk to Sunset Shimmer, but she refused. “Remember when you guys thought Applejack lied to me? You told me I was better off without her and I listened. I didn’t even think that she might’ve been tricked like I was.”
“But you were tricked by Sunset Shimmer-!”
“Exactly! She was able to do that without us suspecting her and when I think about it, Anon-A-Miss looks like her. It doesn’t make sense.”
“But she tricked you once and you got smarter.”
Rainbow growled, deciding to put them on the spot, “So, if I told you that I tried to kill people for not cheering for me, you would just nod and say it was justified?”
Her parents froze. How do they explain this away?
“...Dashie, what are you talking about?” Bow Hothoof asked.
“I nearly crossed the line today, Dad.”
Her parents already knew about magic as she had shown them her wings when she ponied up. As usual, they were proud, calling her their ‘magical pony girl’. She really could not hide something like this from her parents.
“I was the black Ultraman, guys. I tried to blow away those people away for preferring Ginga over me. I wanted to prove the person behind Ginga was a fake but all I did was prove that I was the biggest fake of all.”
Unfortunately, her parents just saw this confession as a way out of the hole they were digging for themselves, rather than the worst nightmare of most parents.
“You’re not fake. You saw an injustice and sought to correct it. That is heroism,” Windy Whistles deflected. Big mistake.
“ARE YOU SHITTING ME RIGHT NOW!? I JUST TOLD YOU THAT I’M AN ATTEMPTED MURDERER, AND YOU’RE SITTING THERE SAYING I DID THE RIGHT THING!? NO! NO I DID NOT! I WILL NOT TAKE YOUR YES MAN BULLSHIT! WHEN YOUR KID COMES TO YOU AND SAYS THEY TRIED TO KILL PEOPLE, YOU DON’T START MAKING EXCUSES FOR THEM! I’VE HAD ENOUGH! UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT HOW TO SAY NO TO ME, DON’T COME TO ANY OF MY SOCCER GAMES!” Rainbow ranted, before storming up to her room.
Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles sat downstairs, unsure of where they had gone wrong with their daughter.
“Bow? What are we gonna do?” Windy asked her husband, but he did not answer, “Bow?”
“I… I don’t know.”
*////*
Applebloom woke up the following morning with a dull feeling in her head. Robotically reaching for her phone, she began to follow the instructions laid out by the voice last night.
Applejack made a deal with the Rich family that left the Apples financially ruined.
I guess she’s paranoid, on top of being a stupid hick.
Applebloom hit ‘post’ then began preparing for school.
*////*
“So ah’ve gotta ask, why Ultraman Ginga and not Ultrawoman Ginga? Surely Ultrawoman is a better fit fer ya,” Applejack pressed Sunset while walking into the school.
Sunset sighed, “You know, Rarity once asked me that, and Taro got a bit huffy about it, saying that humanity’s ideas on gender are limiting. He summed it up as Ultras not being picky about what parts their host have. In fact, to prove his point, he brought up how his adoptive brother, Ultraman Ace, had two hosts for a while, a man and a woman. So a Ultrawoman can just as easily have a male host, just like Ultraman Ginga has me as his,”
That was an interesting bit of trivia. An Ultraman with two hosts?
“Guess all them Ultras need hosts then, huh?” Applejack asked.
“Well, not really. Ones like Seven and Mebius can assume human form.”
Applejack decided to change the subject to something more important: Anon-A-Miss.
“Look, we need to confront Applebloom about Anon-A-Miss. I mean, when I look at her, and know what she’s gone and done, I gotta resist giving her an earful,” Applejack said.
“It’s still too risky,” Sunset argued.
“Well, then we tell Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna or we can take Applebloom’s phone without her knowing.”
When they entered school, the students in the hallway were looking at them and whispering.
“What’s going on?” Sunset wondered aloud.
Applejack, however, recognized this pattern. This was just like when Anon-A-Miss first posted. Pulling out her phone, Mystable confirmed her suspicions.
As soon as she saw the latest post, she exploded.
“APPLEBLOOOOOOM!!!” Applejack roared.
*////*
Rainbow Dash walked into school, dejected and alone. Breakfast with her parents was an oddly silent affair, just like dinner the night before. Really, how they not understand? How could they delude themselves into thinking that it was OK for her to nearly blow people to kingdom come?
As Rainbow Dash entered the school, she heard a yell in a very familiar southern drawl.
“APPLEBLOOOOOOM!!!”
“Shit, what now?”
*////*
Applejack knew her little sister’s schedule and where her homeroom was. She marched angrily to find her so she could give her a well deserved spanking. Behind her, Sunset was pleading for her to stop before she did something she would regret.
“Applejack, stop! You don’t want to do this!” Sunset yelled as he went after her angry friend.
“Ah’m pretty sure ah do now back off, Sunset!” Applejack shouted back.
“No! You look like you’re about ready to kill your sister! This isn’t what your parents would want!” Sunset pleaded.
“She’s right you know.”
Applejack froze, feeling a massive headache, then a dullness.
“Rather than taking your anger out on your sister, why not take it out on the family that got you into this mess? I think you should go brain that mouthy brat Diamond Tiara’s head against your shoe, then present her body to her parents. That should teach them for trying to destroy your family’s legacy.”
“Yer right, Sunset.” Applejack said plainly, “Ah shouldn’t get mad at mah sister for this.”
Sunset let out a sigh of relief, “Thanks, Applejack. Now, why don’t we just-”
“Ah’ll jes’ go break Diamond Tiara instead!”
“Wait, what? No! No, no, no! Don't that! That’s a bad idea!”
But Applejack had already gone off to find Diamond Tiara who was sharing Applebloom’s homeroom as well. Sunset Shimmer went to stop her and grabbed her arm, but the farmgirl shook her off and continued onward.
Rainbow Dash soon caught up with Sunset Shimmer and Applejack. The redhead looked to her estranged friend for a moment before trying to get Applejack to stop.
“What’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Anon-A-Miss posted something and she just lost it,” Sunset answered. “Now she’s going to kill Diamond Tiara!”
“What!? Shit! Look, go get your friends. I’ll handle Applejack!” Rainbow commanded. Sunset hesitated but nodded, knowing that she could not do anything against the raging farmgirl’s strength.
“Please, stop her,” Sunset begged, before running off to fetch her friends.
Being the more athletic one, Rainbow Dash was able to catch up to Applejack and grab both her arms, stopping her in her tracks!
“Lemme go! She’s going to get what’s coming to her!”
“No, you’re going to do something you’ll regret!”
Rainbow Dash wrestled with Applejack in the middle of the hallway. The two girls were athletic rivals so it was definitely a pretty close struggle with Rainbow holding on while Applejack tried to break her grip.
All of a sudden, a fist connected with Rainbow Dash’s face, causing her to release Applejack as she was sent sprawling to the floor. Rainbow Dash lay groaning on the floor while she rubbed her cheek.
“The Hell?” Rainbow Dash then saw who had thrown the punch. “Sunset?”
The girl raised her foot and then slammed her boot into Rainbow Dash’s face, knocking her out. The last thing Rainbow Dash saw before she drifted to unconsciousness was the cruel smirk on Sunset’s face.
*////*
“Well, now that she’s dealt with, we can get down to business, Applejack,” ‘Sunset’ said to the farmgirl who glared at her.
“Here to try and stop me again, Sunset?” Applejack asked, threateningly. She had just seen ‘Sunset’ knock Rainbow Dash out with a kick to the face.
‘Sunset’ tilted her head to the side, the evil smile never leaving her face. “Stop you? Never, my friend. I’m here to give you a gift to aid you in your vendetta.”
‘Sunset’ then reached behind her back, and pulled out a Spark Doll and Dark Dummy Spark.
Applejack realized too late that this was not Sunset Shimmer. However, before she could reject the two items, the two items’ purple glow appeared in her own eyes as well. She soon succumbed and fell under the Dark Dummy Spark’s trance as many had before. Sleepily, she clutched the items, touched the Spark Doll to the Dummy Spark, and disappeared into the darkness.
From behind a corner, the chuckling Icarus emerged, “Hm hm hm, I must admit, I wasn’t sold on you. But now, dear Fall, I believe you are growing on me.”
“Hmph, flattery will get you nowhere, Icarus. Now, let’s split. I can hear Sunset’s little posse on its way,” ‘Sunset’ said, motioning Icarus over. The alien nodded, then took hold of her and teleported out of the school.
*////*
Sunset only managed to find Pinkie Pie, Lightning Dust and Trixie before she led them back to where Rainbow Dash and Applejack were fighting only to find the rainbow-haired athlete knocked out on the floor.
“Rainbow!” Sunset cried as she went and knelt beside her. Pinkie Pie quickly joined her. “Is she OK?”
“She’s got a pulse,” Pinkie Pie checked Rainbow Dash’s wrist. “And a gnarly boot print on her face.”
“So where’s Applejack?” Lightning Dust asked.
They felt the ground shake followed by a loud, angry and monstrous roar.
“Trixie believes that must be her.”
“Dammit, they got to her,” Sunset cursed as she took out her Ginga Spark. “Girls, get Rainbow Dash out and as far away as you can. I need to take care of Applejack.”
“Kick some ass, Sunset!” Lightning Dust said as she scooped Rainbow Dash up in a brival carry. The three girls made a run for it like the rest of the school.
“Alright, Ginga. Time to get to work,” said Sunset as the Ginga Spark opened and released Ginga’s Spark Doll.
*////*
The monster that appeared had a color scheme that did not match its name but it was still very ferocious. As soon as it appeared, it released a furious roar. Pretty soon, the students and faculty of Canterlot High started to evacuate and flee from the massive Skull Monster.
Red King spotted Diamond Tiara who was holding hands with her best friend Silver Spoon as they ran with the crowd.
“Diamond Tiara...” Applejack growled angrily from inside Red King, her eyes red with rage. She was the one who had exposed one of her deepest, darkest secrets. “DIAMOND TIARA!!!”
Applejack began Red King’s march after the two little girls, the monster’s massive frame smashing buildings on the way. Unfortunately for the two girls, Silver Spoon took a wrong step and tripped herself on her own legs, taking Diamond Tiara down with her in the fall. Feeling her revenge soon approaching, Applejack was swiftly upon them, raising Red King’s foot in preparation to crush the little girls.
Suddenly, a giant foot kicked Red King in the chest mid-stomp, sending the monster backwards to the ground. Standing protectively above the girls was Ultraman Ginga.
Inside the Ultra, Sunset asked, “Okay, Ginga, how are we playing this?”
“Prioritize Red King’s feet, while the monster is powerful, the flesh on its feet is tender,” Ginga replied.
“So just step on its feet a lot, got it,” Sunset said.
By now Red King was on its feet and charging fast, but Ginga merely side-stepped and kicked the inside of the monster’s knee, sending it to the ground again. Leaping upon Red King’s back, Ginga grabbed hold of the monster’s head and smashed it, face-first, into the ground, twice, before moving to the beast’s tail and heaving the monster over his shoulder.
Ginga hopped backwards in preparation for Applejack’s next attack. Red King got up, and charged Ginga, launching into a grapple, but Ginga simply lifted his foot, and stomped on the monster’s right foot. The reaction was swift.
“YEEOWCH!” Applejack cried, distracted by her now heavily throbbing foot.
Using this opening, Ginga planted his left foot against Red King’s chest, hopped backwards slightly with his other foot, then fell on his back, pulling the monster with him. Red King was thrown through the air and landed on its back once again. Sunset willed Ginga back to his feet, and turned to face Red King, but instead, found the monster shakily standing up, clearly in no condition to continue fighting.
“Huh, this was surprisingly easy,” Sunset thought, striking Ginga’s left wrist over his right, in a manner akin to striking steel and flint together, turning his Zenshin Crystals green.
“Ginga Comfort.”
The green ray of light rained down on Red King. Inside the monster, Applejack started to calm down as the angry red glow in her eyes faded. The farmgirl blinked in confusion.
“Huh? What happened?” Applejack wondered.
“Applejack, can you hear me?” Sunset asked from within Ginga.
“Sunset? What’s going on?”
“One of the aliens got to you and made you turn into a monster,” Sunset answered.
“No, wait, that’s not right,” Applejack responded, shaking her hand. “It wasn’t an alien.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
*////*
Meanwhile, Fall stood atop the school roof and glared at both Red King and Ginga for stopping their fight.
“This won’t do at all,” Fall said in disapproval. She then raised up the magic detection/containment device and opened it up. She then threw a bolt of pure magic at Red King.
The magic quickly took effect as it hit the monster and also Applejack. All of a sudden, the red glow in Applejack’s eyes returned with a vengeance as she released a furious scream of rage. A red aura of magic exploded from her body as she ponied up, but her form was corrupted. The pony ears were sharper, her hair became ridiculously long and unbound, and she had red vapor coming out of her glowing red eyes.
Red King began to go through a terrifying transformation. Its scales became charcoal black with glowing orange gaps between the scales to show lava flowing underneath. In additional, Red King’s forearms grew and became as bulky as Popeye’s with huge fists to match.
Red King had evolved into EX Red King.
“What the Hell!?” Sunset yelled.
“It’s EX Red King, Red King’s evolved form!” Ginga warned. “DUCK!”
Ginga ducked as EX Red King’s giant fist went sailing over his head but the monster then followed up with a punch that connected with Ginga’s ducked head, sending him tumbling. Standing up, Ginga saw EX Red King crouch down, before leaping onto its hands then launching itself into a flip, intending to deliver a double hammerfist to his head.
Ginga rolled out of the way mere moments before EX Red King came crashing down. As Ginga got back on his feet, the telltale beeping coming from his chest started as his color timer began blinking red. He was running out of time and confronted by a rampaging beast with augmented strength.
How were Ginga and Sunset Shimmer going to get themselves out of this?
*////*
Meanwhile, the students and staff of CHS were at a safe distance. Rainbow Dash was laid across a bench as she started to come to. She opened her eyes to see the faces of her concerned friends; Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Rarity was fanning Rainbow Dash.
“Ow,” Rainbow grunted as her face felt sore.
“Are you OK, Rainbow?” Pinkie Pie asked as she helped Rainbow Dash to sit on the bench.
“What happened?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Applejack turned into a monster and now Sunset’s fighting her,” Pinkie Pie informed the athlete.
“Its name is ‘Red King’,” Taro said, perched on Wallflower’s shoulder as she walked over to the group. “Though now it has become EX Red King.”
Everyone could see EX Red King and Ginga fighting from a distance, waiting for the silver giant to finish off the monster as he usually would.
“Red King?” Pinkie Pie looked at the monster. It was charcoal black not red. Even before its change, Red King had been a pale yellow. “The name doesn’t really match the color scheme.”
“What happened, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked her childhood best friend. Though things were complicated between them, she still cared for her.
“I was trying to stop Applejack from going on a rampage when Sunset Shimmer went to get you guys,” Rainbow answered. “Then Sunset came back and knocked me out.”
The Rainbooms looked at each other, puzzled, then back at Rainbow. They were confused and angry. Had Rainbow Dash not learnt anything at all?
“Rainbow Dash, are you accusing Sunset Shimmer of assaulting you?” Rarity demanded.
“Do you know anyone else with red and gold hair?” Rainbow Dash insisted.
“Rainbow, Sunset was with us the entire time the attack on you would have happened,” Pinkie Pie said.
“What?” Rainbow asked, “That can’t be right, Sunset was busy kicking my head in, how could she be with you?”
“It could be an alien doppelganger,” Taro surmised. “After all, they can disguise themselves as humans and ones like Zarab are fond of using imitations to confuse humans.”
Rainbow paused, horrified, “Shit, Applejack must have gotten suckered in by its disguise.” She had almost been tricked again.
“Oh, no,” Wallflower looked up at Ginga who seemed to be struggling to beat EX Red King. She could see the color timer blinking. “Sunset’s time’s running out.”
If only they could help. Unfortunately, there was only one Ginga Spark and they could not produce any copies of it.
“C’MON, GINGA!” Rainbow yelled. The encouragement did not seem to help, so she did the only thing she could think of, “Sunset, I know we didn’t exactly have the best relationship with each other. I was a huge jerk to you, there’s no denying it. Whether before, or after the Fall Formal I was always feeling threatened by you. You were prettier, smarter, and more talented than I could be, and I was afraid of fading out of popularity. After we beat you at the Fall Formal, I saw a chance to, I guess, shove you off the ladder. To push you out of the spotlight so I could retake it. When you took the mic in the Battle of the bands, I realized that you were climbing back up that ladder and I was losing to you again. So when Anon-A-Miss happened, I jumped at the opportunity to get rid of you, and regain control of the band again. But then I started losing everybody and I just couldn’t admit I was wrong so I just double down. When I realized my mistake and told my parents, they just smiled and let me get away with it all. I can’t even think of a time that they’ve ever grounded me. I’m sorry, Sunset. I’m sorry. I want to help you save Applejack, but I need to know how. Please, tell me HOW, GINGA!?”
At this final plea, a light emerged from Rainbow’s chest and coalesced into a crystalline blue imitation of the Ginga Spark.
“Wh-what?”
The Ginga Gang just stared in shock of what just happened..
“Is that...a Dummy Spark?” Rarity asked.
“No,” Taro gasped, “This… This is something else, something new, something purer. It’s a Light Spark.”
Fluttershy turned to Rainbow at Taro’s declaration, “Rainbow, this is a sign. Ginga wants you to help. To allow you to be the hero you wanted to be the hero you are meant to be. Ginga wants you to help Sunset and save Applejack.”
“OK, but I don’t have a Spark Doll,” said Rainbow Dash. A Spark was useless without a Spark Doll to use it with.
“Oh, don’t worry! I got something!” Pinkie Pie put her hand inside of her big and curly cotton candy pink hair and pulled out a Spark Doll. “Here you go!”
“Wait, but that’s-,” Rainbow began before Lightning Dust cut her off.
“Rainbow, now is not the time to be picky! You need to get out there now!”
“But you might wanna do it where nobody is looking,” Wallflower reminded them of the crowd that was around them watching the battle between EX Red King and Ginga. Some had their phones out to record or were live streaming it.
“Eh he, right,” Rainbow said, then hurried away for a place where she could use the Light Spark without being seen.
*////*
Back in the fight, EX Red King was now attempting to strangle Ginga, holding him by the throat in one of its massive hands.
“Applejack! Applejack!” Sunset yelled to try to get through to her friend.
However, it seemed that Applejack was no longer in control of her own mind, seemingly having been replaced by a primal being of pure rage and nothing else.
Sunset was also running out of time and growing weaker with each passing second. All the while, EX Red King’s grip tightened as it raised its other fist to smash it upon Ginga’s skull.
Suddenly, a light filled Sunset’s vision, and a red foot kicked EX Red King in the side, freeing Ginga, and sending the monster to the ground. Ginga was on the ground, groaning and massaging his throat. A hand extended to Ginga and Sunset looked up to see Ultraman Mebius standing over her. This time, he was no longer black-and-red but proper silver-and-red.
“Rainbow?” Sunset asked.
“I think it’s time for Ultraman Ginga to stop laying down on the job,” Rainbow snarked from inside Mebius, holding the Light Spark.
Ginga stayed kneeling for a moment before nodding, then clutching Mebius’ hand and allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. The two Ultras stood side-by-side and truly made a heroic sight.
“So, how do we do this?” Rainbow asked.
“We’ll hit her with beam attacks at the same time,” Sunset said. “I’ll hit her high and you’ll hit her low, is that OK?”
EX Red King was now on its feet and ready to resume the fight.
“Yeah! Let’s set the table!” Rainbow cheered.
Mebius and Ginga charged at EX Red King, as the monster brought its fists down, causing a magma eruption to burst in front of the two Ultras. Mebius pivoted on his heel, spinning out of the way as Ginga leaped high.
“Ginga Thunderbolt!”
Ginga threw his attack and stunned EX Red King. Mebius followed up with a kick to the monster’s stomach then a karate chop to its head. The monster attempted to punch the Ultra, but Mebius nimbly backflipped away as Ginga delivered an axe kick to its head.
EX Red King was stunned by the attack allowing Mebius to close the distance and punch the monster in the throat, followed by Ginga grabbing it by the knees and ripping its feet out from under it.
Sunset willed Ginga to grab EX Red King’s tail, then turned to Rainbow, “Hey Rainbow!? Ever been to the rodeo!?”
“No, but there’s always a first!” Rainbow replied, willing Mebius to also grab EX Red King’s tail.
The two Ultramen then lifted the monster up by the tail, and began spinning, before releasing their grip, throwing EX Red King away. The monster landed a decent distance away, dizzy and vulnerable.
Sensing that Ginga was less than a minute away from timing out, Sunset decided to finish the fight now.
Mebius took his position as he prepared his Mebium Shoot attack, kneeling in front of Ginga as the other Ultra put his arms into position for his Ginga Cross Shoot.
“Ready, Rainbow?”
“I was born ready! Let’s do this!”
“GINGA CROSS SHOOT/MEBIUM SHOOT!”
The beams met in a brilliant display of light and color before smashing into EX Red King. The beast tried to withstand the beams but it was useless as the combined beams soon caused the monster to detonate in a massive fireball.
The two Ultras faced each other. Honestly, they could not forget the past few days with how adamant Rainbow had been about Sunset being Anon-A-Miss and believing Sunset did not deserve to be Ginga. However, looking back, Rainbow Dash realized how stupid she had been to not listen to her friends as they tried to reason with her. She must have been acting like some kind of paranoid nutjob.
At least, with this, Rainbow Dash could prove how sorry she was.
“High five?” Sunset Shimmer offered.
“Definitely,” Rainbow replied with a grin, raising Mebius’ hand.
Sunset clapped Ginga’s hand against Mebius’ with a massive, relieved smile on her face. It was then that she became aware of the cheering coming from the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight. It seemed that the two Ultras setting their differences aside to face a greater foe was far more appealing than two Ultras fighting amongst themselves.
Feeling her time running out, Sunset told Rainbow, “Enjoy it. Those cheers don’t just belong to me this time, they’re yours as well.” She then transformed back, leaving a tearful Rainbow to bask in the adoration of her new form.
*////*
Applejack groaned as she regained consciousness and found herself lying in the bottom of a crater.
“Darn it,” the farmgirl cussed.
“Hey, AJ!” Rainbow Dash called out from outside the crater. Sunset was with her. “Just hang tight, OK? We’re going to come get you out!”
Rainbow Dash descended into the crater before she helped Applejack up. The two of them then climbed up and out with Sunset Shimmer helping to pull them both out the crater.
“So, I’m guessing you both buried the hatchet, huh?” Applejack asked.
“Pretty much,” Rainbow Dash answered.
“Guess that’s a start anyway. You still owe Sunset an apology,” Applejack replied.
“I can safely say we’ve let bygones be bygones,” Sunset shrugged. “How are you feeling?”
“Like two bulls went into a headbutting contest in my head,” Applejack groaned.
“Well, you were pretty mad. Guess that’s how Metron or Icarus got to you,” Sunset said sympathetically.
“It’s wasn’t either of those two varmints,” Applejack answered. “It was you.”
“Huh?” Sunset blinked.
“Yeah...he he,” Rainbow Dash chuckled awkwardly. “You might have an evil twin around here.”
“Wait, what?”
*////*
Sunset could not believe what she was hearing. A girl wearing her face, and acting like a spitting image of her pre-Fall Formal days, was loose in the city and was apparently allied with Dark Lugiel and his aliens. It was far fetched, but there was only one thing she could be.
“Shit, it’s her.”
“Huh?” Fluttershy asked.
Rather than have this conversation in the crater, the three girls decided to wait for the rest of their friends and go to Sugarcube Corner where they were now discussing this new shocking development.
“Ginga said that the demon I became at the Fall Formal was more than just an aspect of me, but an actual entity with thoughts and emotions. She must have found a way to take a physical form and she joined up with Lugiel and the aliens,” Sunset explained. “It’s like my past sins are literally determined to haunt me.”
“And if she causes trouble, everyone will think it’s you,” Trixie said.
“Yes, Trixie, I know,” Sunset sighed. “But it’s not my reputation I’m worried about. I’m afraid she’ll take advantage of her resemblance to me to go after you girls. You wouldn’t even know it wasn’t me.”
“Unless we did something to tell you two apart,” Rarity said as she had an idea. “We can use code phrases that only we know.”
“You mean like in a spy movie?” Lightning Dust asked.
“Precisely, darling. When we see Sunset, we’ll give her the code phrase and if she gives the right response then we’ll know it’s her,” Rarity answered.
“Or we can ask her to show us the Ginga Spark,” Wallflower suggested.
“That could work unless the doppelganger has a copy in her possession too.”
“We’ll do both: you girls can ask me to show you the Ginga Spark and give me a code phrase to respond to yours,” Sunset compromised.
“OK, so we got Anon-A-Miss, aliens and now Sunset’s evil twin to deal with,” Rainbow Dash listed. “Dammit, when did our lives get so complicated?”
“The Fall Formal,” everyone chorused.
“Well, how about we deal with Anon-A-Miss first? We already have an idea of who they are,” Trixie proposed.
“Wait, you girls know who Anon-A-Miss is?” Rainbow Dash asked. “That’s great! Who is it?”
“Dash, you may wanna sit down brace yourself for this,” Applejack said calmly as everyone prepared for Rainbow Dash’s reaction to the revelation. Rarity also scanned Sugarcube Corner for the CMC so they would not hear this and find out that they were already discovered.
*////*
“WHAT!?”
*////*
After some rigorous placating, the Gang managed to calm down Rainbow Dash, and keep her from rushing off to find Scootaloo. Now the Rainbooms were sitting quietly at their table stewing on the information that had been revealed to the athlete. However, something was bothering them.
“Hey, Applejack?” Sunset began, “What was it that Applebloom posted that pissed you off so badly to begin with?”
The reminder of the post suddenly made the farmgirl very aware that she was now cornered by eight curious girls, with no escape route, “Ah made a mistake that nearly cost us the farm and our home.”
“What? How?” Pinkie asked.
Now visibly sweating, Applejack replied, shakily, “A-a-ah m-m-made a d-d-d-deal w-with Filthy R-R-Rich th-th-th-that m-m-m-made us l-l-lose a l-l-l-lot of m-m-m-money.”
This shocked the rest of the Gang, but not for the reasons Applejack thought they were.
“What!?” Sunset shrieked.
“Huh?” Applejack replied, confused by the redhead’s reaction.
“What the actual HELL made you think that made sense!?” Sunset demanded.
Applejack’s confusion suddenly turned to defensive anger, “What do ya mean!? If ah didn’t make that deal, the farm would’ve gone under.”
Pinkie Pie now joined Sunset in the argument, “But didn’t you just say that the deal almost cost you the farm anyway!? Which is it!? Would the deal save your farm or cost it!?”
Realizing that Pinkie had her there, Applejack changed her story, “Well... It sounded like a good idea at the time!”
“How!? Your family has never been hurting for money!” Rarity cried.
Oddly, this seemed to come as a shock to Applejack, “Wh-huh?”
“Wait, do you seriously not know?” Wallflower asked.
“Know what?”
“Applejack, Sweet Apple Acres holds a monopoly on apples in the region,” Trixie said.
“Did you think Applewood was just a name? No! Your family built the movie capital of the country!” Lightning Dust added.
“Your family has connections to the government for cryin’ out loud!” Rainbow threw in.
Applejack, ever stubborn, realized she was losing ground in the argument, so she decided to attempt to deflect, “Well, it wasn’t like I had my friends at the time to give me a second opinion!”
“Wait, when was this? Was this after I” Sunset paused when she realized when this took place. “Oh, oh shit. It was, wasn’t it?”
“Yep,” Applejack quoted her brother.
“It was during the time I split you guys up!” Sunset facepalmed. “Still, you could’ve consulted your granny or even Big Mac, right?”
That did it, that last question completely destroyed Applejack’s resistance. While it was true that Sunset had broken up their friendships at the time the deal was made, there was nothing stopping her from running it by her family first. “Uh… Well… Ah…” Applejack sighed, “Ah’m an idiot.”
“Oh, Celestia, it never even occurred to you to do that,” Sunset surmised.
“Please, don’t rub it in,” Applejack pleaded, weakly.
“I’m not rubbing it in. I’m just mystified that you made such a massive financial decision without thinking to run it by your family first. In fact, why did you never think to get a lawyer to look it over?”
Applejack just pulled her stetson over her eyes. Everyone took this as a signal to no longer talk about it.
“OK, but we can agree that your little sister went too far this time,” Lightning Dust said to Applejack. “Right?”
The table responded with a chorus of confirmations, including Applejack, who merely mumbled her agreement
“Look, I know we agreed that confronting them now would put them in danger,” Taro spoke up. “But this cannot be allowed to continue. Their actions are giving Lugiel more targets to turn into monsters.”
“We should let Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna know then,” Rarity suggested. “It’s finally time we get the administration involved.”
“Right,” Sunset agreed, “And Applejack?”
“Hm?” the farmer groaned.
“If you have any sense, get your extended family to pull some strings to bail you out of that deal. Also, take Taro with you.”
“Huh?” Applejack’s head shot up at that last part, “Why?”
“Do you think the Crusaders will just freely confess to what they did? Obviously not. They’re going to panic when they realize they’ve been caught. We need something that won’t allow them to deny their involvement, so Taro will be there to catch her in the act.”
“Oh,” Applejack said.
“But understand this, everyone, no matter what happens, Anon-A-Miss ends tomorrow,” Sunset declared.
With that ultimatum, the group left Sugarcube Corner and returned home to prepare for the coming day. Christmas was just around the corner and it was time to put an end to Anon-A-Miss for good.
*////*
“So I used the magic this thing collected to give Red King a boost. It almost killed Ginga before that other Ultraman appeared,” said Fall.
Icarus, Metron and Fall were in Lugiel’s lair.
Lugiel turned to Icarus, “And you can confirm her story?”
“Yes, my lord. I have been with her since last night and can say with utmost confidence that she will be an exceptional asset in our war. Hm hm hm, in fact, I gladly volunteer myself to be her handler.”
“Thank you, Icarus, but I already chosen someone to fill the position,” Lugirl informed his agent.
Icarus was greatly disappointed by the news, having hoped to be able to continue working with Fall for the foreseeable future, but kept his mouth shut. Lugiel turned to Fall.
“Let me introduce your new handler,” Lugiel said. “Baltan!”
The alien being stepped out from the shadows. It was a bipedal anthropoid whose facial features resembled a cicada. A dark exoskeleton covered its body and instead of hands it had a large pair of pincer claws. Its head was crowned by two sharp points and its orange eyes glowed menacingly. But all of this was nothing compared to the sound it made. It was an eerie laugh that echoed in the lair.
Space Ninja Alien Baltan.