//------------------------------// // Thunderstruck (part 1) // Story: Welcome to the Jungle: A Power Rangers Story // by TheHardie-Boy //------------------------------// Theo was getting “the grand tour” as Pinkie calls it. After his rough start, he decided he wanted to get to know this new world. Although it was crazy, Theo was actually starting to get used to it. After all, this was only arguably the weirdest thing he’d ever seen. Pinkie was super-duper happy Theo was coming around. She had taken it upon herself to make him comfortable. So, she did that the only way she could think of: throwing him a party. Unfortunately, that only freaked him out. So she resulted to trying easier methods, starting with apologizing. The two of them just finished checking out Rarity’s boutique. Theo was strangely impressed. He had never been fascinated by clothes before, but he couldn’t help but marvel at Rarity’s designs. It was no wonder she had so many stores across Equestria. Theo has seen the crystal castle, Sugarcube Corner, Sweet Apple Acres, and Fluttershy’s cottage, and he was thoroughly impressed. And according to Pinkie, that was just what was in Ponyville. Meanwhile, Casey and Twilight were chatting about his power. Twilight had learned the hard way that Casey wasn’t the same as Ethan. She found this out when she surprised him with questions and he responded by running away. Now, they were just having a friendly conversation. Casey was telling about his life at the Pai Zhua Academy. She couldn’t help but compare him to Connor. He was more head forward. Connor was more laid back. She liked them both, don’t get her wrong. Casey was really getting used to this new world. At first, he was unsure about living in a world without other humans, and his nightmares didn’t really help. But now he was growing closer with the ponies here, especially Starlight. Theo and Lily also really helped. “Jared was always a bit of a jerk, but he didn’t deserve to be possessed. And what’s worse is that it took us so long to figure out that he was. No kidding, we had just assumed he was just being more of a jerk. When we finally did figure it out, I took it pretty hard. Then, one day on the forest, I decided to go for a run. It was a few days after Theo and Lily earned their stripes without me. I admit I was jealous, but mostly I thought it was me. Anyhow, I saw three phantom beasts attacking Camille. I thought about helping, but then another person came out of nowhere and started defending her. I ducked behind a tree, and I saw that it was Jared. After he defeated the monsters Jared tended to Camille. She at first thought it was Dai Shi, but then Jared spoke up. He said that Dai Shi didn’t really care about her. He told her that, in his time Dai SHi possessed him, he had grown fond of her. He took her back to the temple. I told my friends about what I saw, but they didn’t believe me. I tried to convince them, but they just thought I was trying to be heroic so I could earn my stripes. It was clear I wasn’t getting any help, so I went to Dai Shi’s temple on my own. Master Mao even tried to stop me, but I was determined to save Jared. I entered the temple and we met, face to face. Dai Shi told me that Jared no longer existed, that I was wasting my time; but I wasn’t gonna let him get to me. We fought, and he kept trying to get into my head. Eventually, I gained the upper hand, and Jared finally broke free of Dai Shi’s control. But Dai Shi wasn’t gonna give up. He tried to finish Jared off once and for all. Camille even tried to stand up to him, but Dai Shi just tried to destroy her too. Luckily, he forgot about me. I used my tiger spirit to hold back Dai Shi. We took the opportunity to escape, and my friends met us out front. They were ready to fight them, but I managed to talk them down. But then, Snapper and Scorch came out to confront us. We all fought them and defeated them. I earned my tripes that day. RJ said it was because I really wasn’t thinking about making up for not earning them before. I offered our friendship to Jared, but he was convinced that he didn’t;t deserve a second chance. So he and Camille went into hiding. We were on our own to face Dai Shi. Scorch was out to fight us one last time, but even though we defeated him, he still managed to gather enough fear to resurrect Dai Shi. Dai Shi usedhis power to resurrect all of the monsters we defeated, including the Overlords and the Phantom Generals. We had no choice but to fight. We did the best we could, but there were just too many of them. We tried to get Jared to help, but he was still getting over being possessed. Luckily, the other Pai Zhua masters came back to help us. They used their full powers to get rid of all the evil spirits, but Dai Shi took their power from them and regained his physical form. He was a huge, twelve headed, golden dragon. We tried to fight him, but he was just too strong. There was nothing we could do. Luckily, Jared came. He told Dai Shi that they were not the same. He charged his power to its full extent and jumped directly into Dai Shi and began to weaken him. He told us to finish him off. We told him that we weren’t gonna hurt him, but he said he would be fine. We took aim and fired our power at him and destroyed Dai Shi once and for all. Jared hit the ground in front of us. We rushed to his aid, and Camille cried because he wasn’t giving a pulse. But he woke up. I went back to teach at the old Pai Zhua Academy with Jared and Camille. Dominic went to France. RJ, Theo and Lily all stayed to work at the pizza parlor. Jared and I have been friends ever since,” Casey finished. Twilight was astounded. She was hating herself inside for only wanting to research Casey’s powers. She didn’t recognize that he was a person. He had a life outside of being a Power Ranger. “That-that was amazing. Ethan just told me about his ranger life. I completely took your real life for granted. I’m so sorry. I-I hope you can forgive me and we can be friends,” Twilight said. “Of course. Don’t sweat it. Everyone on Earth thinks the Power Rangers are just popularity. They forget what our job really means. We take offense at first, but then again we’d do the same thing if we were in their place. Oh, and yes, we’re friends,” Casey said, making Twilight smile. “Quick question, though,” Casey continued, “Rainbow told me you could tell me: why was she giving me a hard time before? We talked before, and she said it wasn’t really me.” “Well, I guess if she said it was alright, I can tell you. It really isn’t you; it’s just that, she kind of had a thing for the last red ranger that was here: Connor, the red Dino ranger. Ever since he left, she’s been trying to convince me to let her go to Earth and see him,” Twilight said. “Really?” Casey raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I don’t know if it was his super speed, or what? Well, anyway, it took them both a while to realize they were growing closer. We didn’t even pick up on it until they left and,” Twilight looked around the room, “and he kissed her,” she whispered. “Oh wow. I guess that makes sense,” Casey said. “Yeah, looking back it’s pretty funny how long it took them to realize their feelings for each other. You know, kind of like you and Starlight,” Twilight teased. “What?! What are you talking about?” Casey said, blushing. “Oh please. I heard that talk you two had the other night,” Twilight said. “I admit I feel closer to her, but I don’t think of her like that,” Casey defended. “Whatever you wanna believe,” Twilight concluded. Meanwhile “Who are you? You don’t look familiar,” Jellica said to the skeleton. “Yeah, neither so you,” it responded. “Just answer the question, or I’ll destroy you,” Carnisoar threatened. “Woah, woah. Calm down there buddy. I’ll answer the question...I-uh...what was the question again?” it asked. “Ugh, this guy’s an idiot,” Jellica said to Carnisoar. “Hey, I heard that. You’re lucky I don’t sick my sister on you,” it shouted back. “Oh shut up,” Carnisoar said, sending a blast at him. The skeleton simply blocked the attack no problem. It then struck back with a fire ball, which Carnisoar dodged. The fire ball hit a tree, instantly destroying it. “Hey, I have an idea. This guy may be stupid, but maybe he can destroy the rangers for us,” Jellica said. “Rangers!? As in Power Rangers!? Oh Rita’s not gonna like this. If she comes to this world and sees there are Power Rangers here, she’ll never trust me to do anything important again,” the skeleton pouted. “Let’s try it. Yes, there are Power Rangers here. And they’re strong. But we bet if you fought them, they’d go down in an instant,” Carnisoar said. “Alright then. Oh just wait, those Pwoer Rangers won’t know what hit them,” the skeleton said as it started to run off, “Oh yeah, by the way, I’m Rito...Rito Revolto.” Carnisoar and Jellica rolled their eyes in unison. Later Lily was out at the edge of the Everfree Forest. She had nothing better to do, so she thought she’d give Fluttershy a visit. She couldn’t help but admit the timid pegasus was cute. And her love of animals was also something she really admired. After all, there were only so many people on Earth that saw animals for what they really were. Lily arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage. She noticed that a lot of birds were watching her. The animals here were a lot more tame than on Earth. She knocked at the door, and it opened up just enough for a small voice to come out. “Come in,” said the voice. Lily smiled and walked in. “Hey, Fluttershy. I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by. I hope I’m not intruding,” said Lily. “Oh no, it’s okay. I was just cleaning up a little,” Fluttershy responded. Lily walked in and admired the inside of the house. It was beautiful, as if nature had created this house just for Fluttershy. There were trees and other plants growing on the walls and floor, and animals running around with each other. It lily were anyone else, she would run and never look back. But Lily absolutely loved nature. “Wow, your cottage is amazing,” said Lily. “Oh, thank you,” Fluttershy blushed. Lily’s mopher started to buzz and she put them on. She saw a skeleton that was half painted with camouflage. It was running with purpose toward Ponyville. “Sorry, Fluttershy. Duty calls,” Lily said, running out of the cottage. “Oh that’s okay. Good luck!” Fluttershy waved. “Now, who’s hungry?” she said, turning back to her animals. Lily finally managed to cut off the skeleton. “Not another step, skelly,” she said. “Haha, do you even know who you’re talking to, little girl? I am Rito Revolto, brother of Rita Repulsa. I’ve been sent here to scout this land for her rule, and she’s not gonna like Power Rangers in these lands,” it said. “Yeesh, it sure likes to talk,” Lily said to herself. “I heard that. Uuuugh, I’m gonna make you pay for that,” said Rito. Rito drew his blade and fired a lightening bolt out of it. Lily just barely dodged it. “Guys, I’m gonna need some help up here,” Lily said. She then put on her sunglasses and pressed the button. “Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed!” She was now morphed once again. “Huh? I’ve never seen a Power Ranger like you before. Eh whatever, I’ll destroy you anyway,” Rito said. Lily and Rito met in the middle. Lily tried to jab at him, but he blocked all of her attacks. He even struck back. Lily tried to counter, but he was too strong. Rito took aim and fired a fire blast at Lily. She took it and went flying. She tried to use her staff to attack with lightning, but Rito fire a beam through the lighting and at Lily. “Lily, we’re here,” shouted Theo. He was with Casey. The two of them put them on their sunglasses. “Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed!” The two of them morphed. “What the?! More of you?!” Rito shouted. Theo and Casey tried to fight Rito, but he held his own easily. Casey swung his nunchucks at him, but he missed. Rito struck back using his sword, and Casey hit the ground. Theo tried using his tonfas to send a bolt of lightning at Rito, but he just countered worth the same beam as before. “Let’s try the canon,” said Theo. “Right,” Casey responded. “Claw canon! Powered by animal spirits!” The rangers took aim at Rito. “Gimme your best shot,” Rito taunted. “Fire!” The canon fired its fire ball at Rito. But Rito countered it just by punching it into thin air. Rito then fired his own attack, damaging the claw canon. In the distance, Rainbow and Twilight were witnessing the fight. “We need to help them,” said Rainbow. “But how? Magic doesn’t work,” Twilight reasoned. “It’s worth a shot,” Rainbow countered. “Alright,” said Twilight. Twilight charged a spell and took aim at Rito. She fired and the spell made contact. Rito reacted by bursting into flames. But he quickly recovered and struck back. Luckily, Twilight and Rainbow had their fair share of avoiding attacks in midair. “If magic works, let’s try the Elements of Harmony,” said Twilight. “Good idea. I’ll tell the rangers to stall,” said Rainbow. “Be careful,” said Twilight as she flew off. Twilight teleported to the castle and told the others what was going on. They went to the Tree of Harmony and got their elements, along with Rainbow’s element. They made their way back to the fight, where Rito was making quick work of the rangers. They gave Rainbow her element and took aim at Rito. By the time Rito knew what was happening, it was too late. He was struck by the blast and turned to stone. “That guy was tough,” said Lily. “Yeah, I’m not sure how much longer we could’ve lasted. Thanks for the help,” said Casey. “No problem. It’s what we do,” said Twilight. “Just out of curiosity, what are those?” Theo asked. “Oh these? These are nothing. Just our Elements of Harmony,” said Rarity. “Elements of what?” said Theo. Before Twilight could answer, the stone statue began to shake. The stone cracked and Rito broke free. “Oh I hate when I get turned to stone! That’s it, no more Mr. Nice Guy,” he growled. Before Rito could attack, there was a bright light that lingered around for a moment. When it vanished, a human stood in its place and faced Rito. “Rito Revolto, you’re coming with me,” he said. “Oh no, not you again. I’m out of here,” Rito said, teleporting away. The man turned to face the rangers and the mane six. “Who are you?” asked Casey. “I’m Tommy...Tommy Oliver,” he responded. At the mention of Tommy Oliver’s name, Twilight fainted.