//------------------------------//
// Thunderous Spirits of the past (part three) 
// Story: Call of the Wild: A Power Rangers Story 
// by TheHardie-Boy 
//------------------------------//

Everyone, ponies and rangers alike, gathered into the throne room. Everyone gave Jared different looks: some accusing, others just plain curious. Either way, they wanted to know what was going on with Connor and Casey.

“So, you said you think you know what’s happening. Spill it,” said Taylor.

“Calm down, Taylor. We want his help, not his fear,” said Cole.

“It’s fine. After I tell you this, you’ll be thinking the exact same thing,” said Jared.

“So, um, I assume this has something to do with you having used to have been, um...” Twilight started.

“Evil? Yeah,” Jared finished.

“I was actually gonna say possessed,” corrected Twilight.

“Well, either one works, really,” said Jared.

“Not if you really think about it,” said Trent.

“Just say what you gotta say,” said Max.

“Alright. While I was ‘possessed’ by Dai Shi, Jellica resurrected the Phantom Beast Generals, who are some of the strongest warriors in existence. She thought that they would destroy me and Camille for her, but they turned on her and destroyed her. Instead, they asked for me...er Dai Shi to be their king. He told them that he would accept their offer if they could capture three Pai Zhua Masters. They did, and Dai Shi used their power to turn them into what I call...Spirit Rangers. Now, I’m not sure how they did it to Connor too, but I’m pretty sure that’s what we’re really dealing with here,” explained Jared.

“What exactly is a ‘Spirit Ranger’?” asked Starlight.

“A Spirit Ranger is basically a translation of a ranger’s power into a physical being, controlled directly by the original owner of the power. But since these Spirit Rangers are being created with Rinsin Power, a Phantom Beast’s power, they actually do what Scorch and Snapper want them to do. So, they’re basically a reflection, a clone if you will,” Jared answered.

“So, they’re under a spell, just not a magical one?” Twilight asked to clarify.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“So the reason the device didn’t work...” Trent started.

“Is because they weren’t really there. That makes sense,” finished Cole.

“That being said, how do we save ‘em?” asked Applejack.

“Well, if they’re using a certain type of power, maybe we can use this to track where they’re coming from,” said Trent, holding up the device meant to save them.

“Are you even able to do that?” asked Alyssa.

“It might take me a while to reprogram it, but I should be able to.”

“Sounds good, but what do we do after we find them?” asked Merik.

“Simple. If I’m not wrong, Snapper and Scorch are holding them hostage while their powers recharge. All we have to do is set them free,” Jared answered.

“So kind of like a jailbreak. I like where this is going,” put in Max.

“What about Snapper and Scorch? I don’t think they’re gonna let them go so easily,” said Danny.

“It’ll be tough, but something tells me that if we can set Connor and Casey free, they can help take them down,” said Cole.

Twilight was about to speak up when a familiar thunder blast went off outside. They all looked out the window to see Connor and Casey were back again.

“Trent, you get to work on reprogramming that thing. We’ll keep the Spirit Rangers busy,” said Cole.

“Alright, good luck. I’ll join you as soon as I can,” Trent responded.

Cole and the other rangers rushed out of the room. “I say we join them. They’re gonna need all the help they can get,” said Twilight.

“You go ahead, but I’d rather not after what happened last time I tried to fight them,” responded Starlight.

“Okay,” Twilight responded. She and the others, save for Rainbow Dash left the room.

“Aren’t you going to help them?” Starlight asked Rainbow.

“Why? You heard Jared. There’s no real reason to fight them. They’re not really there,” Rainbow replied.

“What do you mean?” Trent asked.

“Yeah, what difference does it make if they’re really there or not?” Starlight added.

“It-It’s complicated,” Rainbow responded.

Trent walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Listen, I know what happened between you two, and I also know that Connor really does like you. In fact no, he loves you. I’ve seen Connor have crushes on girls from Earth, but his feelings toward them didn’t even come close to comparing to the way he talked about you,” he told Rainbow.

Rainbow sighed. “It’s just that this whole thing is so confusing. First, he comes out of nowhere and we get a little...closer than we thought we would. Then he just picks up and leaves. Then I have this dream where he’s making fun of me for liking him. Now he’s here again, but not really, and he’s evil or something-“ Rainbow said, but was cut off by Starlight.

“Rainbow, Connor didn’t just leave you. He really wanted to stay, remember? It was almost like me and Casey. I don’t know for sure how Connor feels, but I know he wouldn’t just come out of nowhere and attack us,” Starlight said.

“That’s easy for you to say. You and Casey were open about your feelings. It wasn’t even until Connor left that he even showed any signs of liking me,” Rainbow responded.

“You didn’t see him on Earth. He was so upset that he had to leave. In fact, he was so sad that he didn’t even leave Reefside to go home. And do you want to know the name he kept using when talking about what happened? It was yours, Rainbow Dash. You were almost all he talked about. And even though he never admitted it, we all knew how he really felt about you. He loves you. He’s just way too embarrassed to say it,” Trent countered.

“Yeah. And when Connor’s set free, you two are gonna sit down and talk the whole thing out. Whether it’s in your own ‘cool’ way, or some other way, you’ll see that he really does love you,” Starlight added.

Rainbow looked down. She couldn’t think of a reason as to why they were wrong? Maybe Connor really did return her feelings for him. Now she felt even worse. She had been so selfish.

“You guys are the best. Thank you,” said Rainbow.

“No problem. That’s what friends are for,” said Starlight. Trent nodded in agreement.

“Alright. Let’s get to work,” said Trent.


Meanwhile


“Oh Casey, why do we always have to be on opposite sides?” Jared asked himself as he and the Wild Rangers ran up to Casey and Connor.

“Let’s hope that Trent can get that tracker ready quick,” said Cole.

“Only one thing to do now,” said Taylor.

“Wild Access!”
“Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed!”

All seven rangers morphed into their respective uniforms.

“Blazing Lion! Red Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Cole.
“Soaring Eagle! Yellow Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Taylor.
“Surging Shark! Blue Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Max.
“Iron Bison! Black Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Danny.
“Noble Tiger! White Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Alyssa.
“Howling Wolf! Lunar Wolf Wild Force Ranger!” shouted Merik.
“With the Spirit of the Mighty Lion!” shouted Jared.

With that, they two Spirit Rangers charged. Jared, Cole, and Merik went after Casey. Jared used his brute strength to keep Casey from getting a hit on him, and Cole used his Lion Fist to land several tough blows. Casey pulled his nunchucks and attacked Jared with those. He managed to wrap the chain around Jared’s fist and throw him away. He then went after Cole, who simply caught the nunchucks with his Lion Fist. Casey regained the upper hand by kicking Cole away. Merik jumped and used his blaster to knock Casey off guard. He then used his blade to slash him and make him trip. Casey quickly got back up and pulled his Jungle Sabers. Since he had two, Casey had no trouble fighting off Merik. The two went at it, with Casey constantly landing shots on Merik, until Cole landed another punch. Jared got back into the fight as well. It could have been going better, but as long as Trent had enough time to reprogram that device, it didn’t matter.

Taylor swung her sword at Connor, who blocked it with his staff. Connor then went in for another slash, but Taylor ducked and tackled Connor to the ground. Unfortunately, when Connor hit the ground, he stuck his knee up and hit Taylor in the gut, flipping her off of him. Connor got back up and attacked Danny. Danny tried to block Connor’s attacks, but Connor was too fast. He managed to knock the axe out of Danny’s hands, but Max swooped in with his fins. Alyssa also fought Connor, using her baton. Connor used his staff to try and fight both of them, but it was pretty tough, since Max had two fins to attack with. Connor jumped out of the middle and drew his blaster. Max was able to block most of the lasers, giving Taylor time to slash Connor with her sword. Connor took a total of two hits before blocking Taylor’s attacks and disarming her. Danny hit Connor with his axe from behind, putting Connor on the ground.

Twilight and the others, save for Rainbow and Starlight, ran outside to see the rangers were doing a pretty good job without them. Unfortunately, there was also a swarm of Rinshi approaching the fight.

“Ready to fight, girls?” Twilight asked her friends. They each gave nods in response, even Fluttershy.

With that, the five ponies leapt over the ensuing battle and engaged in battle with the Rinshi. Twilight used her wings to create a gust to push the Rinshi back. She couldn’t use magic to affect them directly, but she could still use it to her advantage. She got in position to buck and teleported to a large group. She bucked and the Rinshi all went flying. She then levitated a few rocks to bash into the Rinshi, putting them down for the count. Applejack wasn’t having any more trouble than usual. She could easily take down any Rinshi that attacked her, whether it be by charging or bucking. She just ran right through whatever attacked her. Pinkie was having so much fun, she forgot these Rinshi were even evil. She was simply bouncing off a bunch of them like a pinball. They had so little balance, that was enough to take them down. Rarity, for her part, was doing better than she thought she would. Fighting came surprisingly easy to her. She simply jumped out of the way of an incoming attack, and then threw one of her own. She didn’t even need her magic to assist her. Fluttershy, on the other hand (or hoof), was having a bit of trouble. She didn’t have quite enough strength to take down the attacking Rinshi. All she could really do was fly away from anything that attacked her. Luckily, the Rinshi’s clumsiness pretty much took it from there.

From the castle window, Trent jumped out with a device. “White Ranger! Dino Power!” He morphed in midair and landed in the middle of the fight. He wasted no time taking as many Rinshi out a possible. They were noticeably weaker than Tyrrannadrones, so he didn’t have much trouble, even without a weapon. 

Twilight flew up to him and continued to fight. “Did you get the device ready?”

“Yeah, all I need to do is fire the signal beam at them to expose the trail of power,” Trent responded, sweeping down a few Rinshi in the process.

Twilight flew around all the Rinshi as fast as she could, creating a vortex of wind. All the Rinshi were swept up in the vortex, leaving just them and the Wild Rangers and Spirit Rangers.

Trent took aim with the device and fired it at Connor. It connected and a gold trail emanated from him that led out of Ponyville.

“You two follow it. We can handle these two,” said Cole to Trent and Jared.

“Okay. Wish us luck. We’re probably gonna need it,” responded Trent.

Trent and Jared broke off from the group and followed the trail. It led through the Everfree Forest and pst the Castle of the Two Sisters. The trail went down a ravine. Trent and Jared looked in to see Snapper and Scorch keeping maintenance on Connor and Casey, who were wearing chains that extended to a stone wall, fighting air. Scorch and Snapper hadn’t yet noticed the trail, so Trent’s and Jared’s presences were still unknown. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long until the trail was seen by Scorch.

“We’ve been discovered,” Scorch told Snapper.

“We must stop whoever created this trail before they find us,” responded Snapper.

The two of them turned as Jared and Trent dove for cover behind a tree. Trent could here the two of them getting closer. It was only a matter of time before they were spotted.

“Give me your hand,” Trent whispered.

“What?” Jared whispered back.

“Just trust me.”

Jared did as Trent told him, and the two of them stood completely still. The two Phantom Beast Generals came up to them and stopped as if they were looking for something. Scorch even turned around and looked in the exact direction of Jared, but he didn’t react. Instead, the two just walked away.

Once they were far enough away, Trent let go of Jared’s hand. “How did they not see us? What did you do?” Jared asked.

“Camouflage is my Dino Power. We were blending in with the background,” Trent explained.

Jared and Trent made their way down the ravine and toward Casey and Connor, who were both still fighting. 

“What now?” asked Trent.

“Easy, we break the chains,” responded Jared. With that, Jared summoned his golden aura and sliced away the chains that were holding Casey with his hand. Casey stopped air-fighting and fell to the ground. Jared caught him before he hit.

“Jared? What are you doing here?” Casey asked.

“I’ll explain later. Trent, do the same thing I did with Connor, but don’t use your hands. Use a weapon,” Jared instructed Trent.

Trent pulled out his Drago-saber and slashed away the chains holding Connor. Connor stopped and fell to the ground as well. Trent caught him just like Jared did with Casey.

“Trent? What happened?” Connor asked Trent.

“We’ll explain later. We gotta get back and help the Wild Rangers,” Trent responded.

“Wild Rangers? What are you talking about?” Casey interjected.

“Again, we’ll explain later. Come on, they need our help. Scorch and Snapper are on their way there now!” Jared said back.

That seemed to kick Casey and Connor back into gear. Connor looked at the pillars Scorch and Snapper set up and took the gem from the top of the one that was in front of him. It glowed and directed itself to his wrist, making his Dino Morpher reappear. 

“Now they’re in for it. No one messes with our friends,” said Connor.

With that, the four of them made their way back to Ponyville.


Meanwhile


As the Wild Rangers prepared to keep fighting, the Spirit Rangers disappeared.

“Alright! Jared and Trent must’ve freed them!” yelled Max.

“Now all we need to do is wait for them to return,” said Alyssa.

“Don’t celebrate. We’re still gonna destroy you,” said a familiar voice.

The Wild Rangers and the present ponies looked to see that Snapper and Scorch had returned to finish what they had started.

“We didn’t come to this world just to be defeated again,” said Scorch.

“You’re going down,” said Cole.

“Yeah, you don’t stand a chance,” agreed Taylor.

“Oh really? Bring it, then,” said Snapper.

With that, the six rangers charged the two Phantom Generals. Cole leapt at Scorch and punched with his Lion Fist. Scorch simply avoided the attack and grabbed onto Cole’s arm. He then hit Cole repeatedly with his claws. Taylor attacked with her sword, but Scorch avoided the first swipe and threw Cole into the second swipe, causing him to hit the ground. Scorch then sent a swift kick at Taylor, making her drop her sword. Scorch followed up with several more blows that put Taylor down. Merik tried to blast Scorch, but his attempts all missed. Scorch blocked an attack from Merik’s blade before attacking Merik. Merik tried to defend himself, but Scorch was too fast.

Danny swung his axe at Snapper, who caught it and delivered two shots at Danny with his claws. Max went in for a slash with his fins, but Snapper proved to be too strong to attack. Snapper used his claws to disarm and slash repeatedly at Max. Alyssa tried to attack from behind, but Snapper ducked and slashed Alyssa. Danny tried to take advantage of the situation, but Snapper got around Max, causing Danny to hit him instead. Snapper put Danny down with one more punch and did the same to Alyssa.

The Wild Rangers regrouped and tried to combine weapons. They got their Savage Sword and swung it at the two Phantom Generals. They simply knocked it away and fired their Rinsin Power, sending all six rangers flying. The Wild Rangers hit the ground and demorphed.

“Too easy. Maybe we didn’t even need those Spirit Rangers,” said Snapper.

“Now it’s time to finish them off,” said Scorch.

“Hold it right there!” shouted a new voice. Everyone looked to see Jared and Trent had returned.

“We just beat six rangers. What’s two more?” taunted Scorch.

“Two? Try four,” responded another familiar voice. Two more humans stepped up to join Jared and Trent. The ponies recognized them as Casey and Connor.

“What?! How did you escape?” Scorch asked in shock.

“It’s never smart to leave your prisoners unattended,” said Connor.

“Ready?” shouted Casey.

“Ready!” shouted Connor, Trent, and Jared.

“Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed!”
“Dino Thunder! Power Up!”
“White Ranger! Dino Power!”

The four humans morphed into their respective ranger colors as Snapper and Scorch charged. Trent and Jared focused on Snapper. Trent jumped over Snapper, allowing Jared to attack from the opposite side. Trent slashed Snapper with his saber, and Jared delivered a series of punches and kicks into Snapper’s sides. Snapper tried to fight them off, but they were both too fast. Eventually, Snapper managed to put some distance between him and the attacking rangers. Trent wasted no time going after Snapper, who tried to counter Trent’s saber with his claws. Trent managed to bait Snapper’s attacks one way while Jared surprise attacked Snapper from the other. The two of them charged their final attacks. Trent fired a series of arrows, and Jared fired his Lion Spirit. They both hit Snapper, causing him to spark and explode.

Connor swung his staff at Scorch, who avoided the attack by jumping back. Connor kept going after him until Casey came in and attacked with his sabers. Scorch attacked Casey with his claws, but Connor swept him off his feet and sent him flying back. Casey slashed Scorch midair, causing him to hit the ground in smoke.

“I am a Phantom Beast General! Do you really think you can defeat me so easily?” Scorch boomed.

“Probably not. That’s why we can do this,” responded Connor. With that, Connor’s suit began to glow as the triangles turned into spikes. He was now in Super Dino Mode.

Casey pulled out his claw boosters as his suit turned from black to white. The jets on his suit blared, and Casey transferred into Jungle Master Mode.

Connor and Casey went back to fight Scorch in an identical manner; they flew at him and slashed at the same time. Scorch ran back at them and tried to split them up, but they didn’t give him a chance to attack. Connor used his spikes to block Scorch’s claw attack, and Casey used his claws to force Scorch back. 

“No one makes us their puppets and gets away with it,” said Connor.

“Yeah, you should’ve let us go, Scorch,” agreed Casey.

With that, they both flew back at Scorch. Once they reached him, they both unleashed powerful slashes with their spikes and claws. Scorch erupted into a huge fit of sparks and fell to the ground. “This is impossible! I’m one of the strongest warriors in the universe!” Scorch yelled right before exploding.

Casey and Connor demorphed and turned to their friends.

“How did you guys know we were here?” Casey was the first to ask.

“I had a vision,” said Trent.

“Same here,” added Jared.

“Trent, how do you have your powers? I thought we had to throw the Dino Gems into a black hole,” asked Connor.

“My dad made me a makeshift Dino Morpher. He also made some for Ethan and Kira,” Trent explained.

“What about Dr. O? Don’t you think he’ll want some of his powers back too?” 

“He already has his powers,” Casey said.

“Wait what? How do you know?” Trent said, suspicious of Casey.

“Oh, when my team and I were sent here, he came here to stop an old foe of his. He said he was gonna talk with you guys when he got to Earth. Did he?” Casey responded.

Connor tried to stifle a laugh, but failed. Trent joined him. “Oh my God. No, he never said anything about it,” Connor answered.

“In fact, we haven’t seen him in years,” Trent added.

Before anymore could be said, Scorch rose up once again and grew. “I told you that you couldn’t defeat me,” he boomed as he towered over Ponyville.

“We don’t have any zords,” said Connor.

“My Tiger Zord isn’t gonna be nearly enough to take him down,” said Casey.

Luckily, the Wild Rangers got back up. “You must be Connor and Casey. We’ll have to make proper introductions later. We have to deal with Scorch,” said Cole.

“Wild Zords, descend!” 

The rangers called upon the same five zords as before, and Merik called his own three zords. They combined and formed the Wild Force Megazord and the Predazord.

Scorch charged the Megazords and was hit by the crocodile tail. He quickly recovered and hit the Predazord. The Wild Megazord tried to slash Scorch from behind with its Shark Blade, but that only got Scorch’s attention. He turned and landed a huge shot on the Megazord, causing it to stumble and fall. The Predazord attacked with the boomerang, but Scorch simply grabbed onto that and threw it back. The Megazord got back up and attacked with shark surges and tiger furies. They managed to damage Scorch a little bit, but Scorch quickly regained the upper hand by grabbing onto the arms of the Megazord. He then kicked the lion right out from the combination, causing the Megazord to deform. The rangers were forced out of their zords, leaving Merik to deal with Scorch on his own.

“We have to get back in there!” said Max.

“We can’t. The Lion Zord’s injured,” said Cole, holding Max back.

“So’s the Eagle Zord. If we try to fight, they might be destroyed,” added Taylor.

“Rangers, more of the Wild Zords woke up from hibernation. They’re ready to help you now!” Princess Shayla told the rangers through their morphers.

“Maybe the Congozord will be enough to take down Scorch,” suggested Danny.

“It’s worth a shot,” responded Cole.

The rangers put new gems into their sabers and pointed them toward the sky. “Wild Zords, descend!” The ponies watched as five more Wild Zords came down from the Animarium. There were a green gorilla, a black bear, and polar bear, a blue rhino, and a small, purple armadillo.

“Woah, five more Wild Zords!” exclaimed Twilight, a gleam of excitement filling her eyes.

The gorilla literally picked up a few bananas and started throwing them at Scorch. They actually managed to hurt Scorch, causing him to stumble. The bears fired fire and ice attacks at Scorch, burning and freezing him simultaneously. The rhino charged at Scorch at full speed, sending Scorch flying back.

The gorilla gave a mighty roar as its eyes began to glow. It folded its arms below its body as the reached back over its shoulders. The bears also twisted their heads to form arms. They connected to both sides of the gorilla, whose face turned around to reveal a warrior’s face. The rhino split down the middle of its back and folded upwards to form the legs. The armadillo rolled into a ball and rolled into the rhino to complete the left foot. The Congozord was now complete and ready for battle.

Scorch kicked down the Predazord and turned his attention to the Congozord. He tried slashing it with his claws, but the Congozord used the polar bears to force Scorch back. Scorch was hit by such a big force, he went flying back. The Congozord then slashed Scorch with the jaws of the polar bear, freezing him in place. It followed up with a slash from the black bear, burning him to the ground. Scorch fired his Rinsin power at the Congozord, causing it to spark and smoke. The armadillo rolled out of the rhino’s foot and bounced up. The Congozord kicked it up and juggled it with its foot. It then kicked the armadillo with all its strength. The armadillo hit Scorch square in the chest, putting him down for good.

“I may be defeated, but you have not seen the last of me!” Scorch shouted as he exploded.


Later


Twilight and her friends, save for Rainbow joined the rangers in their reunion with Connor and Casey at Sugarcube Corner.

“It’s great to see you guys again! You know, when you aren’t attacking us,” Twilight said, giggling at the same time.

“It’s great to be back, even if the circumstances kinda suck,” Connor responded.

“Yeah, that was a really weird experience,” agreed Casey.

“We’re sorry about that. We really didn’t have a say in the matter,” Connor said to Cole.

“Don’t sweat it. Jared explained to us what Spirit Rangers are,” Cole responded.

“So, how’re you enjoying Equestria?” Casey asked Jared.

“It’s great, even more beautiful than you described,” Jared responded.

“I just gotta ask. Why did Snapper bring you and Connor here?”

“We were together when he attacked.”

“Why?”

“I felt bad for Connor, so I wanted him to be able to see Rainbow Dash again,” Casey explained, getting the others’ attention.

“See her? How?” Rarity asked Casey.

Casey and Starlight blushed at the same time. “Um, you see...funny story...we kind of are able to talk to each other across worlds,” Casey said.

Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie went wide-eyed. “WHAT?! Are you saying that all this time Connor and Rainbow Dash could’ve seen each other?” Applejack asked in shock.

“Um...yes?” Starlight answered sheepishly.

“You do realize this information might’ve been useful earlier?” Rarity asked angrily.

“I was literally gonna get Connor so the two of them could talk. Gimme a break,” Casey answered back.

Connor rolled his eyes and laughed. Suddenly, he realized Rainbow Dash wasn’t here with them. He knelt down to Twilight and whispered in her ear, “Speaking of Rainbow, where is she?”

Twilight turned her head to answer him. “She’s back at the castle. I’m pretty sure she’s still trying to figure out how she’s feeling about all this.”

“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll go see her.”

“Go ahead,” Twilight smiled.

Connor exited the bakery and quickly made his way to the castle. He had his super speed, so the journey didn’t take him long. He ran up to the door and slowly made his way in. He looked around for a while before finding Rainbow in the throne room.

“Hey, um, long-time-no-see,” Connor said sheepishly. He wasn’t sure what Rainbow was feeling, and he didn’t want to upset her if she didn’t want to see him.

Rainbow turned her head to face him. She gave him a bit of a deadpan stare. “Hey,” was all she said back.

Connor took a deep breath and stepped all the way in. “Listen-“

“I know what happened. It was just hard to accept. I wasn’t really sure if you’d really attack us, but another part of me didn’t listen to reason,” Rainbow said.

Connor rubbed his head before responding. “And now?”

“Now...I don’t know. I was just so angry at you even though I knew you weren’t doing anything to hurt us,” Rainbow responded.

Connor walked up beside the throne she was sitting on and knelt down. “You know, Snapper really only meant to bring Casey back here. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Connor looked Rainbow in the eye. “You know that I would never do anything to hurt you in any way.”

Rainbow closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again to look at Connor. “I know, but everything just added up: the dream, you being here, you almost ripping off Starlight’s horn.”

“What? What dream? And what do you mean I almost ripped off Starlight’s horn?” Connor asked with shock in his voice.

“Right before you came here, or well spirit you, I had a dream where you were making fun of me. The same day, when we were still fighting, you almost ripped Starlight’s horn off with your staff,” Rainbow explained.

“Oh. But why was I making fun of you? And what do you mean ‘it all added up’?”

“That...that you...you didn’t...return my feelings,” Rainbow answered.

“Return your feelings? Oh! You...you thought that...I didn’t love you back, didn’t you?”

Rainbow wanted to nod, but she was too embarrassed.

Connor took her in a deep hug. He ran his hand up and down her mane, making her purr softly on his shoulder. “I love you. I really do. There’s no one else in the universe I can see myself with, Rainbow Dash,” he whispered in her ear.

Rainbow broke the hug and looked into his eyes. “Really? Y-you really feel that way of me?”

“Of course I do,” responded Connor, a tear of joy forming in his eye.

“Then I hope you don’t mind what I do next,” Rainbow said.

Before Connor could respond, Rainbow closed the gap between them and kissed Connor. He closed his eyes and kissed her back. After the kiss broke, the two of them continued their embrace in silence for what felt like an eternity.


Meanwhile


Back at Sugarcube Corner, the party was still going on. Casey was currently telling of his encounter with Slimieel back on Earth.

“So let me get this straight,” said Rarity. “You took the cloth of the stolen kite and used it to...clean the monster?”

“Yeah, pretty much. As ridiculous as it sounds, it actually worked. I managed to get rid of all the slime using nothing but a kite,” Casey responded, giggling.

“I know I can be a bit of a neat freak, but that sounds ridiculous even to me,” Rarity joked.

Everyone shared a laugh until Rainbow and Connor came through the door. Everyone got up to greet them.

“How’re you guys doing?” asked Twilight.

“Great. Rainbow and I are closer than ever,” Connor said, smiling and nudging Rainbow playfully. Rainbow responded to the gesture with a cute giggle and blush.

“That’s great to hear,” said Casey, putting his hand on Connor’s shoulder. “Again, I’m sorry you got swept up into lol of this.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Rainbow replied for Connor. “Although, Starlight, Connor tells me you and Casey have a way to communicate through worlds.”

“Oh come on, we just just finished having this conversation,” Starlight whined playfully.

Everyone shared a laugh. The party went on until sundown, with Pinkie enlisting Trent into a few crazy party tricks, Jared got to know everypony, and the Wild Rangers conversed with Casey.


The next day


“Ugh, where is Trent?” Connor groaned.

“I don’t know, but he’d better get here soon. This world is great and all, but I kind of promised Master Mao and Camille we’d be back by now,” Jared agreed.

“Just give him a minute. After all, Trent probably can’t go the whole night without sleep like Twilight can,” Casey joked. “As long as he finished that trans-dimensional teleporter, it’s fine.”

As if on cue, Trent appeared into the room with a sheepish look on his face. “Hey guys,” was all he said.

“So? Did you finish the teleporter?” Jared asked.

“About that...” Trent responded.

“What did you do?” Connor deadpanned.

“I kind of used the parts from the tracking device to make these instead,” Trent answered, holding out two small devices with black screens.

“Um, aren’t those a little small for us to fit through?” Casey asked.

“Don’t worry about getting back. I already asked Twilight if we could use her portal, which is really, a lot safer,” Trent responded.

“Okay, and what are those?”

“These are trans-dimensional communicators. They’ll allow the owner of one to communicate with the owner of the other, no matter the location,” Trent explained.

“Why did you feel the need to make them?” 

“Um...here, Connor, this one’s for you,” Trent said quickly, handing one of the communicators to Connor.

“And who gets the other?” Connor asked in return.

“I can guess,” said Jared.

“So can I,” added Casey.

“I know, but I wanna hear him say it,” Connor said.

“Um...Rainbow Dash,” Trent whispered quickly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” Connor responded.

Trent rolled his eyes. “Rainbow Dash. The other one’s for her, so you two can talk whenever you want. There, better?”

Conor laughed. “Yeah. Let’s get going.”

The four of them made their way to the throne room, where Twilight, Starlight, Rainbow, and the Wild Rangers were waiting for them.

“The portal’s all set,” said Twilight. 

“It was great meeting you guys,” said Cole, extending his hand.

The Wild Rangers all took turns shaking the hands of Connor, Casey, Jared, and Trent.

“When you get back to Earth, we’ll have to get together,” offered Casey.

“Sounds fun,” said Alyssa.

“Oh hey, Rainbow, Trent made this for you,” said Connor, giving Rainbow the other communicator.

“Um, thanks. What is it?” Rainbow asked, confused.

“Just press this button when you here it start beeping,” Connor responded, pointing to a button at the top of the device.

Starlight and Casey shared a quick kiss, and the four rangers made their way towards the portal, which was glowing bright.

“I have to admit, saying goodbye gets easier after you’ve already done it once,” joked Trent.

“Yeah. Tell the other Dino and Jungle Rangers we said ‘hi’,” said Twilight.

“We will. It was great meeting you all,” said Jared.

With that, the four of them walked through the glass portal and returned to Earth. They appeared in front of a statue of a horse, facing what looked to be a high school.

“Well, that was...rather interesting,” said Jared.

“I told you that world was weird,” said Casey.

The four of them began to make their way away from the school when they heard a familiar voice.

“Connor? Trent? Casey?”

The four of them turned to see who said that. They saw it was none other than Tommy Oliver. With him was a girl with amber skin and fiery hair. She wore a shocked expression on her face.

“Okay, maybe we should’ve waited until nighttime to come back,” Trent whispered to Connor.

“Ya’ think,” Connor deadpanned back.