//------------------------------// // Insects and Snakes // Story: Equestria Rangers // by Shadowmane PX-41 //------------------------------// Back in Marrakesh, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were continuing to hold back Stinger. But he was an exceptionally agile bug creature. His acrobatic moves, coupled with his buzzing wings made it very hard for the girls to get even one strike in. And when it seemed that Rainbow Dash had a clear shot with her blasters, he instead raised one of the pieces of his armoured exoskeleton in the way of the lasers, causing them to merely bounce off. "Did ah ever tell ya ah hate bugs?!" Applejack snarled as she tried to whirl her hammer at Stinger. He merely barreled into her chest and sliced across her visor with his razor-sharp arm blades, leaving scratch marks. "No, but I bet you're oh so DYING to tell me that you are." Stinger licked his lips in satisfaction, then slid through Pinkie's legs as she charged in on him. Then, when he was on the other side, he grabbed her by the ankles and threw Pinkie into Rainbow Dash. "Come on! How hard is it to stomp one bug?" Rainbow Dash felt her breathing get heavier and heavier. Her internal temperature got hotter and hotter, and her hands were beginning to shake. Signs of fatigue and fury both coming together made her view seem hazy as she tried to stay focused on Stinger. "Just slow down and let us just finish it!" "It's me who should be saying that to you!" Stinger growled as he burrowed his foot into Rainbow's chest. "You wimpy humans are causing the Wolfpack a great deal of trouble! You should have just accepted defeat when you saw us; not fight back because of some deluded hope!" He made choking noises and built up bile in his mouth; sloppy, green and purple ooze that trickled out of the edge of his mouth. Just as he was about to throw that bile onto Rainbow Dash, Pinkie shot Stinger in the back with her cannons and he fell over Rainbow Dash, causing the bile to instead land on the sand and melt it all away, until nothing but a tiny hole remained where the bile once lay. "First of all: EW!" Pinkie Pie said as she watched Stinger creak the bones in his neck as he got back up to face Pinkie again. "Second of all, we're not the ones causing you trouble. You're doing it to yourselves!" Pinkie snapped. "Actually, how do you cause yourself some trouble? I've always wanted to know." "Trust me, Pinks. Ya don't." Rainbow Dash patted her on the shoulders. "But thanks for the save." "No problem, Dashie." Pinkie patted Rainbow's shoulder back. "Now, let's squish this nasty Wolfpack bug!" "If'n we can ever hit him..." Applejack watched as Stinger floated before them, inches above the ground. He now surrounded himself with more of his insects, almost as if they were a living cloud of armor. "That varmint's got himself more protected than a greenhorn in a rodeo ring!" "Yeah. But it doesn't matter how tough the armor is. So long as we can just get close, that's all." Rainbow Dash took a moment to study her foe. The way that he flew through the air, the way his wings buzzed, and his particular skills and weaponries. She had to admit, this was one of the only times where she had to think about things, rather than just go gung-ho and fill the guy full of laser blasts. So far, she knew that every one of the Rangers had not been able to get close to it or even damage it, because of the bugs dancing around him or the exoskeleton that shielded him from harm. "Think it's time to call in the big guns?" "Big guns?" Applejack cocked a brow. "Rainbow Dash, we ain't even sure if they're gonna work; let alone if they're finished or not." She watched as the monster dashed for her, only for her to sidestep out of the way and bash him into a nearby desert-city house. Unsurprisingly, it was only the house that took any real damage, as Stinger skittered out of it. "But... ah suppose it's worth a shot at least." "Yeah." Rainbow Dash evaded another one of Stinger's attacks and sent a message through the comms system. "El, how's the work coming on those new weapons in the Forge?" "The Forge?" Elaris replied, then remembered. "Oh yes! That's right! I completely forgot about that. Just checking the progress right now..." There was a few seconds of waiting on Rainbow Dash's end; time that she had to spend evading the bugs and insects that now swarmed the air like a virulent pestilence, heavily hazing up her view and the views of her friends. "Might wanna mosey on about it too. We're getting overrun here!" Applejack couldn't hit any of the bugs with her hammer. Despite the bugs being tiny, they were zipping around her like darts. "Pinkie! Could ya give me some help here?" "I'm trying, Applejack! But these bugs are too small for my cannons to hit!" In the middle of Pinkie's rain of explosive confetti, the bugs simply backed away and cleared the way whenever her cannons pointed at them. Every single shot that she tried to fire ended hitting up air. "This is just sad, Rangers. You're so weak that you couldn't even hurt a fly." Stinger walked forward triumphantly, his mandibles twitching at the thought of cutting down the girls. "How you've managed to safeguard your home from our advances is beyond me. But that's going to be rectified soon enough..." "El!" Rainbow called in pain as she was being brought to her knees by the gnashing teeth of the bugs. They were only tiny bites, but to Rainbow, it felt like there were knives being pushed into her skin. She tried her very best to suck on the pain and keep firing, but the bug bites were simply too painful to ignore. "Dashie!" Pinkie rushed over to Rainbow, only for the creatures to barrel into her chest and throw her to the ground, constantly biting any part of her body that was moving. It got to the point where she couldn't even move at all from all of the excruciating pain that was running up and down her body. "Girls!" Applejack noticed her felled teammates and tried to head over, but Stinger just chuckled lightly and swept her legs. "G-gah! Get offa me! Get off—aaaaarrrgh!" The way that Stinger held her, added with the endless pain of the bugs rendered Applejack immobile. "ELARIS! WE'RE GETTING POUNDED HERE!" "I'm trying, okay?! This machine hasn't seen action since the Thirteenth Equinox of Aetheria!" Elaris shouted back; clearly, very, very stressed by how her Rangers were starting to take the strain of it all. "Nngh! Work, you stupid piece of junk!" She smashed her fists against the console, trying to get some kind of reaction. When nothing came, she jsut slumped down in her chair and hung her head. "What's going on over there?" Rarity asked, her voice coming through on the comms systems shortly after Elaris had tried to get the machine to work. "Do you want us to come over and give them a hand, dear? It sounds like they're getting torn to shreds over in Marrakesh." "Oh yes. Don't you think we should come on over and give them some help?" Fluttershy's voice came through as well. And that was the moment when Elaris lifted her head up. "Wh-what do you mean? Aren't you two supposed to be clearing ou—" "That pile of scrap and bolts? He clearly needed some more upgrades." Rarity said, as Elaris opened up a video channel. Sure enough, the Wolfpack had scattered, and Rarity and Fluttershy were already working hard to free the remaining civillians who had been enslaved by the wolves. Rarity sliced through the walls of the pens while Fluttershy led them all to safety. "Still, if it sounds like the others are having trouble, we could easily go around and help them out," Fluttershy added in. "It's better to save the Rangers so that they can help save the rest of the planet." "Don't put yourselves in danger like that, girls. It's not worth it. Trust me." Espy's voice spoke to Rarity and Fluttershy. "The Wolfpack are exceptionally ruthless. And more likely, they'd kill the girls the second they found out that reinforcements had been called. They don't just sit on their hands." "THEN WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT?!" Elaris howled with rage and fear, knowing that the Marrakesh situation was only going to get worse and worse if an action wasn't taken. "The Forge still isn't working and the Wolfpack are about to murder the Rangers there!" "You honestly disappoint me, Rangers. Of all the things the Wolfpack had to fight, you're putting up the least resistance we've ever seen." Stinger stood over Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie as the insects continued to bite away at their bodies. "I don't even need to kill you. This is embarrasing enough as it is. I should just give the go-ahead to the Feral Five to blow this planet to smithereens." "N-no. It... doesn't... end like this." Rainbow Dash tried her best to stand back up, even with the alien insect creatures devouring her strength. Her grip on the Twin Blasters was exceptionally shaky, but she still pointed them towards Stinger's face in defiance. "What good will fighting do for you? You've lost! Admit it!" Stinger swatted the guns away, dislodging them from Rainbow's hands. They spun through the air and landed in the sand. "No. We've only lost... when we say we've lost." Pinkie, trembling from the pain, pointed her cannons towards Stinger and fired another shot off. The confetti did explode in his face and stagger him backwards, but he simply knocked her backwards with a vertical swing from his arm. "When you say you've lost? What kind of petty, childish thing to say is that? You KNOW you've lost, yet you're acting in denial. Just admit it." Stinger taunted; his mandibles clanging together with anticipation for the kill. "It's better to accept defeat when you know you're beaten, than to keep going and die pointlessly." "We ain't gonna... die like this." Applejack mustered up all of the strength that she could, gripping the handle of her Terra Hammer, ready to swat away Stinger. Putting everything into her arm strength, she made her move. She screamed out in pain and determination as the bugs went away at her body, yet still found the energy left to strike Stinger away. Once more, he was launched into one of the desert-city buildings. "It ain't over. Not until we drive ya'll back to whatever hole ya crawled out of!" "Big words. But words mean nothing..." Stinger, chittering to himself, clambered out of the house and spread his wings again. Once more, they flitted so fast that the naked eye couldn't see them, and he barrelled back towards the Rangers. "Oh well. Fine by me! I don't make the orders, after all!" As Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Applejack stared towards the ravenous Stinger charging towards them. As they took one last look to each other, they closed their eyes and curled their hands into fists. Even in the face of impending destruction, the three of them still held out hope and kept that hope burning brightly inside of them even as Stinger moved in for the kill. They felt pain running up and down their bodies. They knew that it wouldn't go away until Stinger himself was put down. Even with the sensation overpowering them, they still had to fight. After all, if they didn't fight, then all the stuff that they had done would have been in vain. And then, right as Stinger was about to lay down the finishing blow, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash's crystals reacted. They expelled a radiant surge of light and fired tiny particles of light into the air. They broke through the atmosphere and snuck aboard Elaris's ship, landing directly in the Forge. The Forge thrummed with life and the energy inside of it began to fluctuate. A motorcycle, a pair of rollerblades, and a bow with a quiver of arrows were wrested from the ground and pulled into the stars and cosmos of the forge, smothered and swallowed in a cocoon of light. And as they were enveloped in the Forge's power, they began to change. They bore the emblems of each of the three girls, with a golden pattern running across the aqua bike, pink blade wheels, and the orange bow and quiver. "Wh-what is going on?" Elaris asked, noticing that the girls down in Marrakesh had been expelling light; light that was being used to blind Stinger and cause him to shuffle backwards away from them, along with the rest of his insectoids. "Not to intrude, but I have detected a powerful surge coming from the Forge," L.U.C.Y. inquired as the feed changed to show the new equipment in the Forge, shimmering radiantly in the light of the stars. "It would appear that Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack now have new tools at their disposal. Shall I deliver them?" Elaris was too stunned for words as she stared at the new tools for the Rangers. She had thought that the Forge wouldn't have been read to manifest the new weapons for them until after they had cleared out the Wolfpack in each of the three designated cities. But there they were, ready to go. "W-well, yes! Of course! Right away, L.U.C.Y!" "Understood. Deploying," L.U.C.Y. responded, and the three weapons vanished from the forge in an implosion of light, shooting towards the planet like streaking meteors towards Marrakesh. "What in the name of Ahl'MaiTie did that light come from?!" Stinger finally barked through the roaring light. "This shouldn't be possible! It can't be possible!" "It's like we said." Applejack's helmet came off, showing the girl's face underneath. "It AIN'T over." She sternly replied with a tranquil fury in her voice. "WE say when it's over. Not you." "Yep." Pinkie took her own helmet off, breathing heavily now that the bugs had been expelled from her body. "We have a right to live, y'know. And then you MEANIES came and totally ruined all of it! Ya think we weren't gonna beat you all silly?" "Nah. This is the end of you, kid." Rainbow Dash was the last one to take off her helmet, revealing the girl underneath the suit. "It's time someone taught you—and everyone else in the Wolfpack—some manners." "Bluestreak!" Rainbow Dash threw her arm into the sky, and a blue star crashed into the ground by her, creating a plume of sand. When it finally died down, there was now a custom blue motorcycle with golden accents and a sigil bearing the same mark that Rainbow Dash associated herself with on the nose of the bike. The handles were black and there was a computerised console in the center; likely for Rainbow to fiddle with in battle. "Earthsplit Arrows!" Applejack threw her arm into the sky as a second shooting star came crashing down. She was able to catch her new bow in her hands as the quiver secured itself tightly around her side. The Terra Hammer disappeared as she took hold of her new tool, drawing back the first arrow in preparation for another big fight. "Pink Rollers!" Pinkie flipped forward and stood on her hands as the final star collided with her feet, causing a pair of roller-blade wheels to extend out of the boots of her armour. They spun up incredibly fast as the colours finally began to set in; with each wheel as pink as the rest of the suit, with the same golden accents that the other new tools and bike had. Rainbow Dash hopped onto the bike and revved up the engine, the roar of the bike exceptionally loud and healthy; like a new bike straight out of the shop. The wheels spun and threw up the sand beneath her in a torrent, before she sped off towards Stinger; hair flailing around wildly like a stream of many colours. She rammed the bike straight into his body, hurling the insect like a ragdoll into a horde of Hounds. After she hit him, Rainbow turned the bike towards her Twin Blasters, then leaned down and swiped them off of the ground with one hand. She stopped the bike and watched as the guns disappeared. "My turn! My turn!" Pinkie started to shuffle forward with her roller blades. With her newly added speed, it made moving around the battlefield a breeze. She was immediately able to close the distance between Stinger and herself very quickly; even with the sand running beneath her treads. Once she got close enough to Stinger, Pinkie readied her cannons and fired as soon as the barrels touched the monster's face. This time, because of her new Pink Rollers, Pinkie was knocked backwards when the cannons fired, and she simply let the wheels carry her back to the safety of her teammates. "N-no! It doesn't end like this! You don't get a say in when it ends!" Stinger, now noticeably furious with the pain that he was taking, flew into the sky into the blinding light of the sun, vanishing within the radiant glare. He gargled some more bile and spat it towards the girls like a corrosive bomb. "Alright, girl. Just remember the Friendship Games..." Applejack took a deep breath and aimed towards the careening blob of mucus that was tumbling towards her. Drawing back the arrow as far as she could, she released the string and let the arrow fly. Effortlessly, it managed to piece the goo ball and cause it to detonate, before flying towards Stinger's armoured exoskeleton. However, it didn't bounce off, and at the speed it was flying, the arrow penetrated the armour, causing Stinger to hiss in agony. "Got it! Direct hit!" Applejack fist-pumped as she watched Stinger limply flit towards the ground and kneel. Stinger, now VERY PISSED OFF with everything snatched the arrow and pulled it out of his skin. He snapped the thing in half and tossed it away as he looked towards the three rangers with a newfound fire in his eyes. Chittering to himself, he called every single bug, insect, and other miniscule creature to his side and let out a scream, throwing his arms out to the side. The bugs danced around him like a whirlwind before shooting off towards the Rangers in a deadly stream. "Okay, then. You wanna play chase? I'm game." Rainbow lowered her brows and revved up her machine once again. Bluestreak's engine screamed loudly as she took off, attracting the bugs towards her. But however fast the insects tried to chase after Rainbow Dash, they couldn't exactly catch her, leaving Pinkie and Applejack free to fight Stinger. "Right. That's IT!" Stinger ran towards the two other Rangers and blindly swung his bladed arms out, in an attempt to strike the girls down. Needless to say, they were able to sway, duck, dive, and roll past his attacks, with the occasional block and reversal kick thrown in. "You want to make me look like a fool in front of the Wolfpack? I don't think so!" "Sounds to me like you're a little bit worried because the tables turned. It ain't somethin' to get worked up about, pardner." Applejack smashed Stinger in the head with the bow and launched another arrow into his knee. It was able to get him to kneel down as she backflipped, kicking him in the chin with her legs. "Ya'll had it comin', ya know." She drew back another arrow and fired as Stinger was launched, striking him in the back before he even landed. "You meanies always played with the deck totally stacked in your favour. Well now, it's time for us to shuffle that deck!" Pinkie came forward with her cannons again, punching Stinger all over before he landed; with each punch accompanied by a cannon shot, which in themselves, were accompanied by the lethal explosive confetti particles that came speeding out. The arrows that Applejack had burrowed in also exploded when they were struck by Pinkie's strikes, causing more damage to Stinger and leaving noticeable scar marks on his body. "Not literally shuffle the deck, but you get the term, don't ya?" "What... are you?" Stinger, desperation overwhelming him, started to gasp for breath as he watched Pinkie and Applejack standing over him. Even without the helmets on, they looked like the most menacing people that he had ever met. For once, he felt like victory was not assured. "WHAT ARE YOU?!" He screamed again, recalling the bugs back to his side; forming a bubble around him. "We're the Power Rangers, buddy. And it's time that you got the message. Earth. Belongs. To. Us!" Rainbow Dash sped forward with her bike. She pushed a button on the console, causing the bike to thrum with energy. It coated her and the bike in a blue, lightning contrail. Twising the throttle again, Rainbow called out the words "Sonic Blast!" And with those words, she burst forward, as a wave of light energy shot out of the bike. The acceleration of the bike greatly increased as Rainbow Dash collided with Stinger's insects. "No! You're not getting past this!" Stinger's bubble of insects created a net of energy that tightened, acting as a protective bubble that did its' best to fend off Rainbow's charge. But even as he tried his best to hold the shield together, it started to shatter as the bugs one by one popped like bubbles. With enough of his insects exterminated, the barrier finally began to crack. "I... WILL NOT EMBARRASS THE—" Before he could finish, the barrier completely shattered, and Bluestreak's impact once more launched Stinger. As he hurtled towards the building, Rainbow's bike, still wrapped in the blue contrail sped past him. She skidded and performed a 180 spin right before she hit the wall and drove back into the still-flying Stinger. "Shall we, Pinkie?" Applejack smirked as she readied another shot from her bow. "Absotivelutely, Applejack!" Pinkie gave a nod. Then, she took her place by rollerblading behind Stinger. "Twin Collision! FInal Attack!" Pinkie and Applejack declared together as Pinkie charged up one last double-punch and Applejack let her last Earthsplit Arrow fly. When the arrow collided with Stinger's body and the confetti shrapnel with the back of Stinger's head, the explosion was devastating. Pinkie slid backwards on her wheels while Applejack stood firm in the wake of the titanic detonation. "I... I'm not the bug to squash here. Y-you are!" Stinger gasped and struggled to cling on to life as he inched forward and tried to stand his ground. "How... How did I lose to you? I'm not a filthy maggot! I'M NOT A MAGGOT!" He let out one last scream as he fell to the ground and exploded once more; this time erasing him from existence. "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call pest control." Rainbow Dash punned as she climbed off of the bike and stood on the soil of a Wolfpack-free Marrakesh. "Hey, El? We got 'em. The Wolfpack's just been driven out." "Thank goodness. For a second, I was really worried for your lives there for a second." Elaris took a deep breath and put her hand on her chest. "Well done, girls. Now, set everyone else free and I'll bring the ship around for an exfil." "Hey, ya think we also have time to help out the others?" Pinkie asked as she wandered over towards the first human pen that she could see, noticing that the Wolfpack drones were retreating into the distance. "Like, how are Sunset and Twilight doing?" "I haven't actually checked in with them in a while. Let me get back to you on that. In the meantime, again, well done. Keep up the good work and set everyone in the city free. Then when you're all done, I'll bring you back to the ship and we can start to think about our next targets." "Sounds pretty good to me." Applejack took a deep breath as she started to head on over to the city with the rest of her friends. Now that Stinger had been written out of the picture, she could finally breathe easy; and not just because her helmet was off. One less Wolfpack jerk grindin' their boots on our face. Hang tight, everyone. We're gettin' there... In Florence, Ophi'Dia laughed like any queen would as she used her snakes as much as she could. She used them as platforms to stand on to get out of reach of Sunset and Twilight's many attacks, commanded them to move whenever the girls tried to take them out, and even used some of her ophidian friends as her own personal pair of whips. "Come on, now, girls. Aren't you fond of snakes?" Ophi'Dia asked with a smirk as she landed daintily on the tips of her feet. "They won't bite. Not until I tell 'em to that is." She swung the snakes by the tail, which made them instinctively bare their fangs ready to bite down on the Rangers' suits. "Usually, I don't really care about snakes. But you're really starting to change that," saig Sunset gruffly as she finally caught one of the snakes with her free hand, squeezing down on the neck as tightly as she could. But little did she know that Ophi'Dia used that opportunity to yank the snake—and her—back towards her. "Whoa!" Sunset remarked as she was sent careening towards Ophi'Dia and her many snakes, all ready to tear into her. "I got you, Sunset!" Twilight opened her book and tapped one of the pages with two fingers. Her finger tips glowing, she drew a rune in the air, which caused a portal to appear in front of Sunset as she was being pulled to Ophi'Dia. She vanished through the portal and reappeared by Twilight's side, although, not without landing face-first into the ground. "Ooh... Sorry about that." Twilight winced and picked her back up. "Are you alright?" "Yeah. I'm fine." Sunset nodded. "Thanks for the save, though. Really mean it." She had to take a few deep breaths as she refocused her attention on Ophi’Dia. “Y’know, I’m starting to get sick and tired of seeing snakes in Florence. I mean, it’s one of the nicest places on this planet and you just HAD to screw it up. Don’t you have any kind of respect?!” “Respect means nothing on the battlefield, darling. It’s all just something stupid that people believe in.” Ophi’Dia let her snakes down and walked forward. “Respect only matters when you aren’t fighting. So whatever you humans want to believe in, don’t. It’s not good for you to respect and need respect when there’s a war going on. Waste of time, really.” She scoffed and tossed her hair back. “We humans, as you call them, have a right to respect what we want. It’s called life.” Twilight turned the pages of her book to find an offensive spell. Then, she laid her palm on the page and pushed out with that same hand, conjuring a runic ring in the palm of her hand that fired a singular laser of energy. Ophi’Dia took it square on the chest, but didn’t flinch. And as the laser ended its’ stream, the ring vanished. “Well, whatever the case, I don’t care. You’re preaching to a WOLFPACK wolf. You should know by now that we don’t accept the human race. We never will. Your only option is to fight.” Ophi’Dia sprinted towards Twilight and Sunset. And as she did, her legion of obedient snake pets ran by her side, coiling around her arms and legs. Once she was fully-armoured up, Ophi’Dia launched punches and kicks at Sunset. And when the girls backed away from the strikes, the snakes stretched out and closed the gap, gnashing down on Sunset and Twilight’s limbs. “Get off of me!” Sunset took her flame sword and swung it out at the snakes that had sunk their teeth into her. With one clean slice, she decapitated the snakes and watched as their heads limply fell to the ground. Once she was de-snaked, she turned to Twilight, kicked Ophi’Dia in the stomach, then carved up the snakes that had latched onto Twilight. “Twilight, you okay?” “Yeah. I’m fine.” Twilight brushed the parts of her body that had been clamped by the snakes. “It’s a good thing those ones weren’t venomous, or it would’ve been a totally different stor—Look out!” She pushed Sunset away as Ophi’Dia punched the ground. Once her balled-up paw struck the street, the remaining snakes on her body stretched out and tried to bite again. Twilight instead flipped to another page of her book and used another one of her spells. This one formed a thick wall of ethereal energy between her and the snakes just as they lurched out for her. So instead of striking Twilight, they instead crashed head-long into a wall of hardened light energy, that faded just as they retracted back to Ophi’Dia. Twilight got an idea as she flipped through her spellbook. “I wonder…” Reaching out through time and space, she summoned the Revive Crystal and tossed it to Sunset with a shout of “Catch!” Sunset’s eyes widened under her helmet and her morpher glowed as the crystal landed on it. Sunset’s armor seemed to ignite, the morpher chanting: “MAX POWER!” The armor was wrapped in gold, blazing like the surface of the sun, with wings erupting from Sunset’s helmet. Two talon-like weapons appeared in Sunset’s hands with a screeching sound. “More flashy new suits?” Ophi’Dia joked at Sunset’s new form. “It doesn’t matter what kind of tin suit you put yourself in, Rangers. I can still take you easily.” Ophi’Dia raised her arm into the air, causing the remaining snakes to morph and contort together into a pair of giant hands. Ones that slithered towards her and stood by her side. She threw a punch forward, which caused the fist on her fight to move on her mark, with snakes all raising their teeth ready to chomp down. “Wh-what in the…?” Ophi’Dia started to pant as she looked up at the menacing form of Sunset Shimmer, which now stomped towards her and her many snakes. Each and every time her boots stomped the ground, the snakes backed off further and further from Ophi’Dia. “I don’t think you heard me the first time, Ophi’Dia. I LOVE this place. I HATE what you’ve done to this place,” Sunset spoke in a very-deep, menacing tone of voice, almost how she would have spoken from the days she was a school bully. “And as we all know, snakes hate fire. I’ll char every single one of your stupid pets to a crisp if I have to. And you won’t be able to do a thing about it.”  With one last stomp, the snakes were completely pressed against the walls of the buildings around her. Sunset summoned her sword, and—with one wide swing—ignited all of the snakes in a blaze of fire. Each and every single one of the reptilian beasts turned into dust as they were swallowed up by the wave, leaving Ophi’Dia all alone. “Where are your friends now, wolf? Gone. Reduced to nothingness.” “Irksome little pest.” Ophi’Dia snarled and threw her hands to the ground. And as she did, the earth begun to shake. The quake was enough for Sunset to snap out of her anger-fuelled rampage, as it knocked her down to her knees. “Did you think those were the only snakes that I had, little girls? No, no, no. You should know that I’ve communed with all kinds of snakes. Even ones from across the stars too!” Suddenly, something large erupted from the ground. A titanic snake with gray and black skin burst out and craned its neck down towards Sunset and Twilight. Malice in its’ eyes and its tongue dangling out of its mouth, it was ready to feast on the two tiny humanoid flies staring before it. But it wasn’t alone, as more of the giant snakes came out of the ground as well. Soon, one snake turned into many, as the giant beasts stared down both Sunset and Twilight. “Whoa mama…” Sunset muttered as she took a few nervous steps back eying her talon blades. Twilight wrapped her fingers around Sunset’s own. “What are you…? “Remember, you’re not alone,” Twilight said. “Haven’t you figured it out by now? We do this as a team.” Twilight’s costume began to glow with a purple version of the light Sunset had been covered in before. Her morpher began the same general chant of “Max, max, max!” that Sunset’s had. A flowing coat extended past her waist, a staff forming in her right hand. The coat itself had a star-pattern running down it and the staff had a majestic orb of purple energy at the top of it. Twilight’s helmet morphed into a metallic wizard’s hat as she looked out at the titanic snakes. “GO! FEED!” Ophi’Dia howled as she swung her hand down, prompting the giant snakes to lurch towards Twilight and Sunset, ready to feast on their bodies. Despite their size, the snakes were exceptionally fast and came rushing at the girls like express trains. “Remember,” Twilight said as she and Sunset leaped over the snakes. “You’re only at half strength now.” “Of course I’m not,” Sunset smiled. “I have you.” She launched herself forwards, digging her talons into the first snake, and then leaped to the next ripping it open in similar fashion. Twilight waved her staff, and a whirling purple tornado sprang to life, engulfing what remained and launching it skywards. A glowing purple orb appeared in her outstretched hand, and she tossed it, the orb growing larger by the second as it neared Ophi’Dia. “Brat!” Ophi’Dia met the strike head on, trying her hardest to punch it out. But as she struck the orb, it just detonated into her face and she flew through the air, only to land on another one of the many giant snakes that still remained. “Worthless, inconsiderate, snake-hating brats! Both of you!” She tantrumed. “Attack!” Twilight waved her hand, and chains erupted from the ground to hold Ophi’Dia in place. Sunset dashed forwards, talons erupting in flame before she slashed right through the wolfpack warrior. The attack was enough to cause Ophi’Dia to hit the ground, still smoldering from head to toe. Looking up at the all-powerful Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle that now stood before her, she knew that she couldn’t win on land. “Think it’s… over?!” She coughed and sputtered as she stumbled around, trying to get back up. “Looks like it is to me.” Sunset smirked as she folded her arms. “I mean, look at you. You can’t even stand up properly. We should just bury you while we have the chance. What do you say, Twilight?” “I think you’ve just about had enough time here in Florence.” Twilight went for one more spell in her book. “This last one should be just what we need to finish you off...” Ophi’Dia just chuckled at that. “Fine. Do whatever little fancy-schmancy moves that you want. But it’ll do nothing to me.” Ophi’Dia’s eyes glowed with rage and the sky turned dark as a glowing moon appeared in it. Finally regaining her strength to stand, Ophi’Dia leaned back as she stood on her two legs and declared “FERAL FURY!” And with one last howl, her body crackled with red and black lightning as she grew in size exponentially. Now, she was just as large as the rest of her giant snakes, who all saw their mistress’s growth spurt and coiled around her once more, completing her new look. “Come on then, Rangers. Use your tiny magic spell on me now! I dare you!” Ophi’Dia declared in her new size and state. “See what good it does you!” “Damn…” Sunset swore to herself. “The other rangers are all elsewhere, so we can’t go for the Megazord right now.” She tried her best to think of how in the stars she was going to be able to fight this new giant beast. “My Phoenix Zord would be able to hold off the snakes, but I doubt it’d stop Ophi’Dia head-on.” “Hey, don’t I have a zord too? Since, y’know, I’m a ranger now as well?” Twilight asked. “I’m pretty sure that I should have a zord, if you all got your zords when you became Rangers.” As Sunset was about to ask Twilight about her zord, she saw that Ophi’Dia made another strike on the ground. This time, from the force of the impact of a giant fist colliding with the earth, it was enough to send both Sunset and Twilight flying into the walls, crashing violently against them. “Well, we don’t really have much time to think about it, girl. We just have to go for it. Now.” Sunset took the moment to throw her arm into the air. “Calling Phoenix Zord!” As the almighty Phoenix Zord swooped into action, Sunset climbed up to the rooftops, took a running start, and leapt into the cockpit of her mighty machine. Once she was comfortably locked into the cockpit, she stared down the titan-sized Ophi’Dia and the snakes that now adorned her massive arms and legs. “I can try and stop those snakes, but it’ll only distract her without some kind of offense to go with it,” Sunset relayed through radio. “Once you figure out your zord, Twilight, get it out here and let’s bring this wolf down!” Holding onto the joysticks, Sunset piloted her Phoenix Zord around Ophi’Dia, lashing the snakes with her robot’s flaming wings and incendiary breath. Sure, it did manage to get the snakes to outright stop attacking, but it did absolutely nothing to Ophi’Dia’s body as she tried to swat the Phoenix Zord away. “Elaris, we’ve got a problem here.” Twilight opened a channel between herself and Elaris. “The wolf in Florence just invoked Feral Fury. There is a GIANT wolf here and only one zord to fend it off. What should we do?” “A Feral Fury? That does put some problems forward…” Elaris opened up a video feed on her ship and saw Sunset trying to fight back Ophi’Dia using her Phoenix Zord. Every single flaming strike only affected the snakes, while Ophi’Dia sucked it up and slapped the firebird away. “Do you have any kind of idea what your zord is, Twilight?” “No. Sadly, I don’t. I was hoping that you’d be able to figure it out for me, Elaris,” said Twilight as she watched the battle continue on. She watched as Sunset unleashed a bombing run of fireballs which struck the snakes directly and caused them to loosen their hold on Ophi’Dia’s body. “Right… Well, that’s curious. Usually, the zord is dependent on the user. And usually, it can contort to whatever creature best suits you. Such is the case with the girls’ other zords matching with their personalities,” Elaris explained as she brought up the schematics of the other zords. “But when it comes to you, Twilight, I can’t really see a clear-cut creature of this planet that matches with you.” “So, what? I just have to think of an animal that best matches me and I can fight Ophi’Dia?” Twilight asked for clarification as she watched Sunset come in for another run, which prompted Ophi’Dia to spring into the air and drive her heel into the back of the Phoenix Zord. If it wasn’t for the burst of flame that enveloped it, Ophi’Dia would have smashed it into the ground. “But what do I come up with? And what kind of animal can fight… well, this?!” She slapped herself in the face, of course! A snake to kill a snake! As it all stewed in her brain, the purple crystal on her belt began to react, glowing a bright shade of light. She took the crystal out, held it skyward and said. “Calling Hydrazord!” A purple streaking star fired out of Elaris’s ship, growing larger and larger as it finally came down to the earth. And when it landed, a new zord came into existence. Standing on its own pair of legs, there stood a titanic beast with a pair of snake's heads for both of its ‘arms’, with a final snake’s head as the main head. Heavily armoured and ready for battle, washed over with shades of purple, this was Twilight’s newest zord; the Hydrazord. “Perfect!” Twilight remarked as she ran towards the new Hydrazord. As if the machine had been listening to her, it leaned down and extended its snake-headed right arm towards Twilight. The mouth opened up and the mechanisms inside contorted to reveal a door that Twilight ran into, all the way up the machine to her new cockpit. As soon as she saw the seat, she sat down and laid her book on her legs as she took control of the twin joysticks that allowed her to move the machine herself. “What?! Another robot?” Ophi’Dia noticed the Hydrazord straight away. “Made of SNAKES?!” Had it all been a cartoon, steam would have been roaring out of her nose right about now. “Is this some kind of joke?! Are you mocking me?! Are you ACTUALLY making fun of me? ME?!” She screamed and ran towards the Hydrazord in a fit of rage. Each of the Hydra’s heads seemed to look at each other in confusion, wondering just how cray-cray this woman was. No matter, they decided, each hitting the monster with an elemental blast. They reared back their heads and in consecutive fashion fired off streams of fire, lightning, wind, ice and earth. They all hit Ophi’Dia square in the chest, knocking her backwards. As she stumbled backwards, Sunset let off her own stream of fire from the mouth of the Phoenix Zord, sandwiching Ophi’Dia in deluges of elements. It caused a detonation that knocked Ophi’Dia down to her knees. Snarling, she punched the ground and glared at the Hydrazord, seething hatred growing in her eyes with each passing second. “This is unacceptable, girls. Do you hear me? UNACCEPTABLE!” She slammed her hands on the ground, causing the two snakes on her arms to burrow back underground off of her arms. They slunk underneath the city and burst back out underneath the Hydrazord and Phoenix Zord, trying to eat them like a pair of sentient venus fly-traps. The Hydra Zord’s heads just looked confused, before ripping the snakes up out of the ground and tossing them skywards. In her cockpit, Twilight flipped a lever and the kanji for fire came up. All the heads reared back before all five unleashed an incinerating blast of flame. “BURN BLAZE FEVER!” “And now for you,” Sunset said as she watched the Hydra Zord march forwards. “Ready, Twilight?” “Hmm!” Twilight nodded and once more used the Fire Kanji to project fire from the heads of her beast. Sunset did the same as her Phoenix Zord’s fires intensified and changed colour from orange, to blue, and then to white. “Let’s do this!” “TWINFERNO!” Sunset and Twilight called together as the Hydrazord spat a torrent of fire that Sunset’s Phoenix Zord ran through. Now, a titanic ball of flame hurtled towards Ophi’Dia and struck her square in the stomach. The flame was so intense that not only did the snakes completely disintegrate upon impact, but the Phoenix Zord went straight through Ophi’Dia’s stomach, leaving a massive gaping whole where her chest was. “But… but how?!” Ophi’Dia asked as she fell to the ground, her hole visible to the world. “I should be cold-blooded! And you burnt me to a crisp!” She cried as she finally collapsed, exploding in a pillar of flame before disappearing from existence. “Elaris. The hunt is over. Ophi’Dia is dead,” said Sunset as the Phoenix Zord reduced its’ fire output and flapped gently in the air, posing with the Hydrazord once the explosion dissipated. "Thank goodness. Three cities safe and three more Wolfpack agents terminated," Elaris's voice, a very happy version of it came through. "Good work today. All of you. Finish up where you are and return to me. We'll take back this planet in no time." "Thanks, Elaris. We all did a good job today, no matter where in the world we were," said Sunset as she disembarked from her Phoenix Zord and de-morphed back into her civillian form, as did Twilight. "We'll start setting people free and then you can pick us up afterwards." "Roger that," Elaris said. "Anything to add, Espy?" "Nope. You girls are totally living up to that Perfect Ones title the other big dogs upstairs fail to see," said Espy. "But we're far from over. This might've cleared out the Wolfpack in some corners of the world, but there's still tons more bad guys out there that you girls have to put down. And hey. If you need some help, I've got your backs." "We'll remember that." Twilight said as she high-five-grabbed Sunset's hand. "Good job today, Sunset." "You too, Twilight," said Sunset, smiling peacefully to her. Then, wrapping her arm around Twilight's shoulders. "So, how's about it? You wanna see Florence with me while we rescue the civillians?" "Sounds good to me, Sunset." Twilight had to admit, that she had never really seen Florence, but she had always wanted to deep down. And now that Ophi'Dia and all of her snakes had been exterminated, she had all of the time in the world to see the place for herself with Sunset. In a way, they were mixing business with pleasure. "Great! Let's go!" Sunset spoke, with more vigor in her voice than she had expected. Probably because she was in Italy, and all of those Italian supercar visions in her head were finally coming back now that the Wolfpack had been beaten out of the country. Still, she and Twilight made their way down the city, looking for one of the many pens that housed the Wolfpack's—soon to be free—prisoners. "Another Zord? How curious..." Ahl'Mai'Tie pushed his hands together as he watched the Hydrazord and the Phoenix Zord eliminating Ophi'Dia again. "Vi'Al. Study this zord. Immediately. And add this Purple Ranger and all of her attributes as well. Then, start to develop the technology you need to put down these girls." "You hardly need to ask me. These girls are the product of pure research." Vi'Al replied with a grin as he pushed his hands together. "Every second those Power Rangers eat, breathe, sleep, anything really. They are all numbers, data, formulas, and statistics. Like with everything else in life. They are nothing but data for me to play around with and study." He turned his back to the Feral Five and walked off to the laboratory. "And, like with any data, they benefit anyone who uses them; not just themselves. So keep on playing, girls. Give me more data. Shower me with facts and figures. It's what we LIVE FOR as scientists!" "Captain, before we go on, we should also really discuss those other three Rangers who took out Stinger." Mah'Jehs'Tie replied as she changed the image on the screen. It showed as Rainbow Dash called forth Bluestreak, Applejack her new Earthsplit Arrows, and Pinkie's Pink Rollers. "They too got some new powers. Should we interject?" "It means nothing to us. We are the Feral Five." Ahl'Mai'Tie brushed off Mah'Jehs'Tie with a wave of his hand. "You petrify all who are not beautiful, Uon can snipe the girls perfectly, Deh can make them go insane, Uhp can upgrade and overclock any and all machines over and over, and I... well, that's for another time." He put his hand to his chest. "They have not warranted our attention yet. We will keep on beating them down. And besides, we have plenty more land that they don't. We can always redirect our resources to the other bases and make the Wolfpack in those regions stronger." "Well, if you're gonna do that, I might as well see what this godforsaken rock has to offer." Uhp'Grahy'Der stood up from his throne and looked out towards the surface of the earth. "Going out for a walk?" Deh'Mehn'Sha asked, twitching in his seat. "More like a scouting trip. Apparently, these humans have constructed large platforms out on the ocean. Use them to drill down to the deeper parts of the planet for oil. Reckon I'll take a stroll and see what I can pull from them." Uhp stretched his arms and legs in preparation. "Don't wait up for me." He tapped on a button on his armplates, opening up a portal. He stepped through and left his compatriots behind. "Guess I'll scout out the land as well. See what there is to see on this dirtball that we haven't destroyed." Uon stood up from his chair; rifle still slung over his back as he made another portal and stepped through it. "Wait, you're not gonna leave me here are you?! You know how I get when I'm not doing things! I turn insane! Insane I tell you!" he stood back up and opened up another portal, scampering through. "I need some fresh air!" He screamed as he threw himself through his portal. "Well, I guess that leaves you and me. I'm in no rush." Mah splayed herself over her chair like a true queen would. "We can take all the time we want sizing up these people. All the really pretty boys and girls, I'll take. All the rest... eh, I'm sure they'll manage without the ability to move around." "Indeed. We've got all the time in the world." Ahl'Mai'Tie kicked up his feet and put his hands behind his head. "Those Rangers can gear up all they want, but unless these ladies can deliver, I'm hardly impressed. So go on, girls. Impress me. Curry my favour. Then you'll see just how much that bluster and bravado does for you..."