Sunset walked into the classroom, eager to meet the new teacher. He sounded nice enough, but she hadn’t actually had the chance to meet him personally. She took her seat and found she was in between Twilight and Rainbow. Oddly enough, Pinkie was right behind her as well. This would either be really good or really bad.
“Have you guys had a chance to see the new teacher?” Sunset asked.
“Not yet. I wanted to, but I couldn’t find him anywhere,” Twilight answered.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. I mean, how bad could it really be?” Rainbow asked.
“I don’t know. I mean, he could be an evil demon from Equestria who heard about what happened at the...past, and now he wants to get back to Equestria so he can take over,” Pinkie said rapidly.
“Um, first, thank you for not naming the specific events like you usually do, but second, I highly doubt that’s the case,” Sunset responded.
“Yeah, if he was from Equestria, I’m sure we would’ve heard something from Princess Twilight,” Rainbow added.
“Still though, I wish I could’ve met him so I’d know what to expect,” Twilight said.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’s not like he’s gonna change the entire curriculum on you. Even if he did, you’d probably get the hang of it instantly,” Sunset told her.
Little known to them, Tommy was in the classroom, only he was invisible. He found it interesting, the conversation the three of them were having. Once the other students began to enter the classroom, Tommy made his way to the door so he could become visible again. Tommy walked like he was just getting there.
“Hello, everyone. My name is Mr. Oliver. As you can probably guess, I’m the new biology teacher,” said Tommy. “I’m sure we’ll all get to know each other as the years goes on, but I still have a small presentation about myself so you can know me a little better.”
Tommy turned off the lights and turned on a presentation that appeared on the screen. “As you may have guessed, my full name is Thomas ‘Tommy’ Oliver. My small group of immediate friends called me Tommy. I grew up in Angel Grove, which I believe is only two or three miles away from Canterlot City. I was in fact adopted, but I have had the pleasure of meeting my biological parents,” Tommy explained.
Pinkie winced. Something about Tommy seemed familiar. Her Pinkie sense was telling her that Mr. Oliver was hiding something.
Sunset noticed Twilight was writing the things Mr. Oliver was saying, as if studying for a test. She glanced over to Rainbow, who was half-heartedly listening.
“Miss Shimmer, is something the matter?” Tommy asked, startling her.
“Oh no, I’m just a little short on sleep. Sorry,” Sunset responded.
Tommy smiled a little, not enough for anyone to see. So far, Sunset seemed nice enough. Maybe she wasn’t part of anything he needed to be concerned about. He couldn’t help but laugh in the inside about her hair, although Rainbow Dash’s hair was even crazier. Then again, his friends always told him he had crazy hair back in the day, as well.
After the presentation, Tommy got the students working on independent work. He wrote down a few notes: TWILIGHT SPARKLE: hard worker, maybe a little too hard. RAINBOW DASH: obviously sports fanatic. SUNSET SHIMMER: friendly, oddly familiar, unseen in Equestria. Tommy’s concentration was broken by a noise from the other side of the classroom. It was being made by the silver-haired girl from the other day. She was whispering to who Tommy could only assume was her friend and giggling. Tommy looked at his attendance list and saw the name of the girl: Trixie Lulamoon. He got up and walked over to her.
“Miss Lulamoon, I like jokes. Would you like to share yours with the class?” Tommy said.
Trixie shrank back, embarrassed. “U-Um no, Mr. Oliver.”
“Then maybe don’t share it with your friend here,” Tommy responded.
“O-Okay, sorry,” Trixie said as Tommy walked back over to his own desk.
The rest of the class was very uneventful. By the time the bell rang, Tommy had forgotten he wasn’t teaching in Reefside. He nearly forgot what he meant to do. He put his notes from before. “Um, Sunset Shimmer, I’d like to talk with you for a moment,” Tommy called.
The fiery-haired girl from before turned back. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Nothing, I just noticed that you seem to know a lot of names around the school. Tell me, how long have you been coming here?” Tommy asked.
Sunset’s expression changed from casual to surprised. “Um, j-just freshman year, M-Mr. Oliver,” she stammered.
“Everything okay?” Tommy asked.
“Yeah, just...like I said, short on sleep,” Sunset responded.
“Alright. By any chance, do you know anyone named Starlight Glimmer?” Tommy said.
Sunset’s expression was now shocked. “Yeah, she’s a good friend of mine..b-but she lives pretty far away,” Sunset responded.
“Okay. That’s all,” Tommy said as Sunset left. Tommy got his notes out from before and wrote that Sunset was definitely hiding something.
Meanwhile
Sunset rushed to the cafeteria to join her friends. She couldn’t get her mind off of what Mr. Oliver said. How did he know who Starlight Glimmer was? Even she had only met her once.
“Hey, Sunset, what was that about?” Twilight asked.
“It was weird. There’s definitely something he’s not telling us,” Sunset said.
“Well what makes you say that, darling?” Rarity asked.
“Guys, he asked me about Starlight Glimmer!” Sunset said, getting a few gasps from her friends.
“What? How? Starlight’s in Equestria, isn’t she?” said Twilight.
“Now hold on, y’all. Maybe he was just talkin’ about the Starlight glimmer on Earth,” suggested Applejack.
“I guess he could be. We haven’t ever me her,” added Fluttershy.
“Don’t you guys get it? He’s from Angel Grove, he said he had a small group of immediate friends, his nickname was Tommy, he’s obviously hiding something-“ Pinkie was cut off.
“What are you suggesting?” Rainbow asked sarcastically.
“Girls, he’s a Power Ranger! That’s what he’s hiding!” Pinkie silently exclaimed.
“How would that explain how he knows Starlight Glimmer?” Twilight asked.
“Hold up, what’s a Power Ranger?” Sunset asked.
Pinkie’s bottom jaw dropped. “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL YOUR LIFE?!” she yelled, causing the other students to stare at them.
“Don’t mind her. Just classic Pinkie Pie,” said Twilight, getting Pinkie down from the table. “What is wrong with you?”
“What? How has Sunset never heard of the Power Rangers?” Pinkie asked.
“Maybe because I grew up in another dimension?” Sunset shot back.
“Oh, right,” said Pinkie, blushing.
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Power Rangers are a pretend group of super heroes that protect the earth from evil, to answer your question before,” she told Sunset.
“They’re real, and I can prove it,” Pinkie said.
“Really? Just think about it: if Power Rangers are real, why haven’t we seen them before when we were dealing with...evil?” Rainbow interjected.
“Maybe they were fighting evil of their own, or maybe they were afraid of Equestrian magic,” Pinkie suggested.
“Oh please. Power Rangers protect the earth from far more evil beings than a few demons; I’m pretty sure what we dealt with would’ve been nothing to them,” Rarity put in.
“No one answered my earlier question: even if Mr. Oliver is a ranger, how would he know Starlight Glimmer?” Twilight said.
“Like Applejack said before; he probably meant the Starlight Glimmer from Earth,” Sunset added.
Before Pinkie could say anything else, the bell rang. “Mark my words; Mr. Oliver is a Power Ranger, and I’m gonna prove it,” she stated before walking to her next class.
Meanwhile
Tommy was on his way to Principle Celestia’s office. He had to know what was going on with those girls, if they had something to do with Rito’s getting to Equestria.
“Hey, are you busy? I have a few questions regarding to school’s...history,” Tommy said, entering the office.
“Don’t worry, I’m free and I’ll be happy to answer any of your questions,” Celestia answered as Tommy took a seat.
“How exactly did the ‘Fall Formal’ play out?” was Tommy’s first question.
“Suspend your beliefs, but a princess from another dimension came, claiming that one of our students went to her castle and stole her crown, and that for every being in that dimension, they had a counter part here,” Celestia started.
‘That must be Twilight,’ Tommy thought to himself. “Which student was it that stole the crown?”
“I’d rather not say, but apparently she’s also from her dimension. Anyhow, she used the crown to turn the students here, save for the Rainbooms, into mindless zombies under her control. Something happened, I can’t remember what, but now she’s one of their closest friends. That’s all I really know. You’d have to get better details from the Rainbooms themselves,” Celestia finished.
“Alright, thanks,” Tommy said, exiting the office. He didn’t get a lot of information, but it was enough. He thought about it and decided he would wait until tomorrow to talk to the Rainbooms.
The next day
“I don’t like this, Goldar,” said Gasket.
“A small set-back, but nothing we can’t deal with,” Goldar responded.
“Gasket’s right. Tommy’s presence could ruin everything,” said Archereena, Gasket’s wife.
“Not if we don’t screw up,” said Sprocket, Gasket’s brother.
“I don’t get it. Why don’t we just go to Equestria now? There’s nothing stopping us,” said Squatt.
“Because, you idiot, we have to revive Rita and Zedd here. If we take the staffs to Equestria now, they’ll be locked and we’ll never be able to revive them. Honestly, I don’t know why Goldar’s kept you alive for so long,” said Gasket.
“Not to mention the Wild Rangers are in Equestria right now, along with the Animarium,” Sprocket added.
Goldar just groaned. Gasket was right: why was he keeping Squatt and Baboo alive? He could just o to them what he did to Rito: set them up to be destroyed.
“Where’re Vinster and Clank?” Goldar asked.
“Right here, Goldar. Do you require our assistance?” said Clank.
“Have you finished merging the putties and the cogs yet?” Gasket said.
“Yes sir. They have just finished cloning. It would help if we could have a quick test run,” said Vinster.
“At least someone around here knows how to think,” said Goldar as he looked down to Earth. He saw a teenage girl with amber skin and fiery hair.
“There’s a girl at the school Tommy’s teaching at. Send them to attack her,” said Goldar.
“Right away sir,” said Clank.
Meanwhile
Sunset was waiting by the portal for her friends. She was always the first one at the school on Friday. It was hands down the best day of the week, despite Twilight’s reasoning.
‘Speak of the devil,’ Sunset thought to herself as Twilight came up to her.
“You’re here early for a Friday,” Sunset said.
“Yeah, well I had nothing better to do,” said Twilight. “Have you thought anymore about Mr. Oliver?”
“A little. Something tells me there’s something to be worried about, but I just can’t out my finger on what,” Sunset responded.
“I’m sure if there was something to be worried about, we’d know. Even if there was, maybe Mr. Oliver doesn’t even have anything to do with it,” Twilight suggested.
“You know what? You’re right. I shouldn’t worry until it’s actually time to worry,” Sunset chuckled.
The two of the continued to chat until the were surrounded by strange creatures with grey suits. The way they moved and their faces seemed to indicate they were robots of some sort.
“Woah, I’ve never seen anything-“ Twilight was cut off by one of them kicking her to the ground.
“Hey, don’t mess with-“ Sunset started to say as one of them pushed her into the grip of two others. She tried to struggle, but they were too strong.
Twilight got up and clutched her necklace. She used her power to try and levitate the robots, but more of them stopped her form saving Sunset. Sunset tried to use her powers to read what they were thinking, but she couldn’t get anything other than “Destroy. Destroy. Destroy.” One of the robots landed a kick into Twilight’s stomach, and another swept her onto the ground. All Sunset could do was watch, and one of the robots took a shot at her.
“What are these things?” Twilight wheezed.
“I-I don’t know,” Sunset responded.
The robots looked as if they were about to finish them off when a figure wearing a black suit with golden triangle patterns jumped into the middle of the action. All of the robots turned their attention toward him as he began fighting them all off. Sunset watched in amazement as the figure continued to take down the robots. He was so fast and strong. One of the robots turned back toward her, but the figure leapt over to them and took it out.
“Go help your friend,” said the figure.
“A-Alright. Thanks for the help,” Sunset responded, but the figure went back to fighting off robots. The robots tried to swarm him, but he ducked down and took them all out. The fight kept going until there were only two robots left standing.
“Picking on two, innocent, teenage girls. What do you have to say for yourselves?” the figure joked. All he got in response was incomprehensible blubbering. “Seriously? 25 years and you still don’t know how to talk?” the figure said before kicking the two robots down.
“Are you two alright?” the figure asked Sunset and Twilight.
“Umm, yeah, thanks to you,” said Twilight.
“No problem, it’s what I do,” the figure responded.
“This is gonna sound crazy, but are you a Power Ranger?” asked Sunset.
Twilight glared at Sunset. “Sunset, that’s ridicu-“
“As a matter of fact, yes,” said the ranger, causing Twilight to go wide-eyed.
“I must go. I have to see where those things came from,” said the ranger, teleporting away.
Sunset saw Twilight’s expression and laughed. “Here, let me get that for you,” Sunset joked as she closed Twilight’s mouth with her hand.
Meanwhile
“Well, they were destroyed, but I’d say they work rather well. Would’nt you say, Goldar?” Gasket said.
“They’ll be perfect for the invasion. Now all we need to do is revive Rita and Zedd,” Goldar agreed.
Meanwhile
This was bad. Tommy had no idea what those things were, who had sent them, or why they were attacking Sunset and Twilight.
He powered down and took a look at his notes. Despite not knowing anything about Rarity, Fluttershy, or Applejack, he knew this couldn’t wait any longer. He had to talk to those girls today.
Later
Sunset and Twilight were trying to look like they weren’t hurt, but it was pretty obvious. They got way more concerned looks in that one hour than in the past year, and they didn’t like it. They finally got to class and sat down.
“What happened to you two?” Rainbow asked.
“We’ll explain later,” Sunset responded.
“We’re you two attacked and saved by a Power Ranger?” Pinkie asked with a smirk.
“She said we’ll talk about it later!” Twilight said through gritted teeth.
Mr. Oliver walked into class and took attendance. From there on out, everything went smoothly. Once the bell rang, everyone got up to leave.
“Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkameena Diane Pie, I’d like to see you four after school, along with your friends Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy,” said Mr. Oliver, sending a shiver down Sunset’s spine.
Later at lunch, the seven of them got together to discuss what had happened.
“So I was waiting there as I usually do in Friday, and Twilight walks up. We start chatting for a few minutes, and all of the sudden, we’re surrounded by a bunch of grey-suited robots. Twilight got close to one, and they just all of the sudden attacked us. We tried to fight them off, but we just couldn’t. Then, out of nowhere, a Black Power Ranger comes and kicks the robots’ butts,” Sunset explained. All of the girls were really surprised, except for Pinkie.
“I told you Mr. Oliver was a Power Ranger,” Pinkie said with a smirk.
“Okay, this person had a totally deep voice. There’s no way it was Mr. Oliver,” Twilight countered.
“Ah don’t know. Ah’m Gonna have to agree with Pinkie. Ah mean, this guy comes out of nowhere and robots just happen to attack and there just happens to be a Power Ranger to save y’all?” Applejack said.
“And Mr. Oliver just so happened to want to us you after school the same day you were attacked?” Rarity added.
“Well, at least if Mr. Oliver is a Power Ranger, we can be sure he’s a good guy,” said Fluttershy.
“True. Although, I’d still like to know how he knows about Starlight Glimmer,” Sunset said.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait until after school to find that out,” said Twilight.
After School
Sunset and Twilight walked up toMr. Oliver’s classroom to see their friends already waiting there. They waited for a moment until Mr. Oliver joined them.
“Sorry I’m late. I had to make a phone call,” Mr. Oliver said as he opened his classroom door. “Please, take a seat. I’ll try and keep this as quick as possible.”
They all took seats in the front row as Mr. Oliver pulled up a chair of his own. “So, I did a little bit of research about the school, and I found a couple of interesting events took place here. They go under the names of ‘Fall Formal’, ‘Battle of the Bands’, and ‘Friendship Games’. Principle Celestia told me a little bit about the Fall Formal, but I kind of need better details than what she gave me,” Mr. Oliver told them.
Sunset’s heart skipped a beat. “Um, can I ask why?”
“You’ll see. You’re not in trouble, I just need to know,” Mr. Oliver replied.
Twilight gave Sunset a nervous look. She knew this was still a sore spot for her, but she couldn’t find a way to defend her friend as she was not present for this event.
“Um, you see-“ Rainbow started to say, but was cut off by Sunset.
“If he’s gonna hear this, I should be the one to explain it,” Sunset said.
“A-Are you sure, darling. We know this is still hard for you to think about,” Rarity said.
“I-It’s fine. Y-You’re not gonna get a better version from anyone...anyone else,” Sunset said.
“Alright. I apologize for bringing this up if it is this bad,” Mr. Oliver said.
“It’s okay.”
Sunset explained the whole ordeal, and Tommy quickly saw why this was hard for her to talk about. She was the one to steal the crown from Twilight and use it for evil. She reminded him of himself when he had first become a ranger. Sunset explained everything while trying to hold back tears.
“I’m sorry. If I had known this would be so hard for you, I wouldn’t have made you bring it up. I understand though. I went through a similar dilemma when I was your age. Are the Battle of the Bands or the Friendship Games any easier to talk about?” Tommy asked.
Twilight hung her head in response. “I was only there for the Friendship Games,” she said.
“Judging by your response, I’m assuming it’s not any better. In that case, I think I have all the information I need. Now to get to the point f this meeting. Have any of you ever heard of anyone named Rita Repulsa?” Tommy asked.
The girls all shook their heads in response.
“Does the name Lord Zedd ring a bell?”
The girls shook their heads again.
“What about Rito Revolto?”
The girls did the same.
“Alright then. Either way, you need to see this,” Tommy said. With that, Tommy stood up his bracelet changed into a small black and gold head. He pulled out a key of the same color.”I’m sure you’ve already put two and two together, but in case you didn’t: Dino Thunder! Power Up!” Tommy said, putting the key into the head.
The girls were blinded by a flashing light that came from Mr. Oliver. When the light receded, the looked back to see the black ranger from before.
“I knew it!” Pinkie yelled.
“Keep it down,” said Applejack.
“Um, forgive me if I’m wrong, Mr. Oliver, but aren’t Power Rangers supposed to keep their identities a secret?” Rarity asked.
“In most cases,yes, but there’s a special case here,” Tommy responded.
“You see, I’ve actually gone to Equestria very recently. I went there to stop an old foe of mine named Rito Revolto. He was sent there, I’m assuming, by his sister, Rita Repulsa, and evil witch from space. I came here to see if I could figure out how she found out about that world. I wasn’t expecting those monsters from this morning to attack you two,” Tommy explained.
The girls were shocked. They had no idea what to think about the situation. Not only was there a living, breathing Power Ranger standing in front of them, but he had also been to Equestria.
“So that explains how you knew who Starlight Glimmer is,” said Twilight.
“Did you meet our counter parts? What’s mine like?” Pinkie said.
“She’s exactly like you, Pinkie,” Tommy responded.
“I have to ask: how did Princess Twilight act when she met you?” Sunset asked with a laugh.
“Actually, I wasn’t the first Power Ranger to enter Equestria. It turns out that two other teams, one of which being my former students from Reefside High,” Tommy explained.
Sunset was shocked. Why didn’t Princess Twilight tell her about that?
“I’m not trying to be rude or anything, but what exactly does this have to do with us?” Applejack asked.
“Well, considering the monster attack from this morning and your discussions from today and yesterday, which yes I heard, I’ve come to the conclusion that you have something that someone else wants. And that someone is not good. So, I have no real choice but to make you this offer-“
“YES!” shouted Pinkie.
“While the enthusiasm is appreciated, Pinkie, this is not a decision to take lightly. Nor is it one to be made on your own,” Tommy said.
“What exactly is the offer?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well, duh. He’s gonna ask us to be Power Rangers,” said Pinkie. The other girls looked at Mr. Oliver, who nodded.
“Us? You must have the wrong group,” Rarity said.
“No, I’m pretty sure you’re it,” Tommy responded.
“What did you mean when you said it wasn’t a decision to be taken lightly?” Twilight asked.
“Well, there are a lot of risks incorporated with being a ranger. You’d all be putting your lives on the line,” Tommy responded. “And you’re either all in, or none of you are.”
“This-This is a lot,” Sunset sighed.
“I understand, which is why you have the night to think about it. If the answer is yes, meet me at this address,” Tommy said, handing Sunset a piece of paper.
“That is all. I hope you all have a good weekend, regardless of your decision. However, you must keep this a secret,” Tommy said.
With that, the girls left.
Later
Sunset lie awake in her bed. She wasn’t sure if she deserved this chance. Part of her wanted to accept it without a second thought, but the rest of her was that second thought. What if she failed? What was she really fighting? What if she refused? What would happen then?
Sunset pulled out her phone to see she was getting a group call from Pinkie. She answered and so did the rest of her friends.
“We’re gonna say yes right?” Pinkie said.
“Hold on, you heard Mr. Oliver. We’d be putting our lives at stake,” said Twilight.
“Trust me, it’s worth it to save the earth,” responded Pinkie.
“Okay. Say we agree. What if we fail?” Applejack said.
“Easy: we won’t. I’m with Pinkie. We’ve fought evil before. This time, we just have an upgrade,” said Rainbow.
“These guys aren’t like those guys. They won’t restrain like I did,” said Sunset.
“Sunset, why do I have a feeling you’re gonna say no due to guilt?” Rarity asked.
“I just don’t know. I mean, do I really deserve a chance to fight evil after everything I did?” Sunset replied.
“If that were the case, I wouldn’t even consider it,” Twilight said.
“That's different. You were pressured into using magic. I did it because I was a selfish brat,” said Sunset.
“It Mr. Oliver didn’t think you deserved a chance, he probably wouldn’t have offered it to you,” said Applejack.
“What do you think, Fluttershy? You’ve been pretty quiet,” said Sunset, wanting to get the focus off of herself.
“I’m not sure. I don’t really want to fight, but what’s the alternative? The earth gets destroyed?” said Fluttershy.
“I didn’t really think of that,” said Rarity.
“I don’t know about you, but if there’s some evil witch that wants to destroy Earth, I’m not just gonna wait for her to do it,” said Fluttershy.
“Same here. Come to think of it, I don’t really mind fighting evil in a different way from before,” said Applejack.
“Oh what the heck. I’m in too,” said Rarity.
Sunset could hear Twilight take a deep breath. “If you guys are in, then so am I,” she said.
“That just leaves you, Sunny,” said Pinkie.
Sunset hesitated to answer. She really didn’t know if she deserved this opportunity. Then again, Applejack was right: Mr. Oliver did give her the offer, knowing what she had done beforehand.
“I’m in,” said Sunset.
“Alright! Where’s the address?” Pinkie asked.