“I hope dad didn’t stomp on her too hard!”
“There she is!”
“Pinkie!”
“Is she okay? Is she breathing?!”
“She is, just barely.”
“Let’s carry her outta there!”
“Lay that sleeping bag. Get her comfortable.”
“Pinkie, darling, wake up! Can you hear us?”
“Pinkie.”
Pinkie Pie’s eyes flutter open and finds herself lying on a sleeping bag in the quarry, seeing her friends surrounding her before Rarity hugs her tight. “Rarity…” she muttered weakly as she looks at her. “…Did we win…?”
“We didn’t…” Rarity said solemnly before a smile. “…But at least you’re alive.”
“You don’t look hurt at all! It’s like being the Man of Shadows acted as a protective barrier for you.” Fluttershy noted.
Pinkie Pie squeezes her fingers and stretches her arm, finding no discomfort or pain. “You’re right. I don’t feel anything at all, just like back at the hospital.”
Ember quickly comes to Pinkie Pie’s side. “Pinkie, that parasite took my dad and flew away!”
“No doubt going for round two on Canterlot.” Applejack added.
“I still can’t believe after that epic battle that ended with you shooting the Samurai with a huge laser, all it took for him to beat you was making Torch step on you!” Rainbow Dash grumbled in exasperation, evidently most frustrated of this outcome.
“Where’s the Bug?” Pinkie Pie asked them as she looks around.
“She disappeared to fight the Robot on her own, and we haven’t seen them since. I dunno if she’ll come back.” Sunset Shimmer answered.
“We must hurry back to Canterlot. I’ll call Furlong for an airlift.” Twilight Sparkle suggested as she takes out Juggler’s phone.
“By the time anyone reaches us, there probably won’t be a Canterlot to go back to.” Flash Sentry rebutted.
Pinkie Pie groans. “Great. After everything we’ve done to get to Torch, he comes back to finish off Canterlot anyway. What else can go wrong?”
“Can… go…” the voice echoes. “Can… go…”
“Gah, it’s saying something again!” Pinkie Pie held the side of her head as she receives the message.
“Wait, I can hear it too!” Rarity said.
“And me!” Fluttershy added.
“I think we can all hear it now!” Twilight Sparkle realized.
“I… Ken… go…” Suddenly, Pinkie Pie’s jacket pocket starts to bulge as if something is trying to escape her clothes. She unzips and the gun flies out, zig-zagging around everyone like a boomerang. “I… remember… my… truth…” It stops between everyone and spins in place before an apparition of the Man of Shadows manifests in place. “I… am… darkness…” the Man of Shadows clutches the crack in its chest. “…And… light.” it tears itself in half, bringing a flash of bright light that blinds everyone.
“Dimension Load!”
When they regain their vision, they’re no longer in the quarry, but floating in a swirling rainbow vortex. “This is what I saw when I entered the portal!” Ember remembered when Torch hurtles overhead through the vortex, covered in the Pony of Shadow’s darkness.
“Careful now, Torch. I need you in one piece if I’m to enact revenge on the Pillars and Twilight Sparkle.” The Pony of Shadows taunted Torch before clamping his mouth shut, and Twilight Sparkle to wince in fear. Then, he turns towards the group. “Who… are you?”
“Is he talking to us?” Fluttershy whimpered as she backs away.
“I’m the light of hope!” shouted a massive man of shining light flying above them. He grabs onto Torch and tears the tendrils, then slashes away larger attacking tentacles with a sword of light.
“How dare you! None shall foil my plans for revenge!”
“As long as my light shines bright, I won’t let darkness prevail!” the man of light screamed before forcibly pulling the Pony of Shadows off Torch. The man of light manhandles the slithering darkness, trying to put as much distance between it and Torch, but is stabbed in the chest by a dark spike. Injured but not down, the man of light throws the Pony of Shadows through the vortex wall.
“Nooo!” the Pony of Shadows screamed before dissipating.
“No… the darkness… not again…” the man of light clutches his chest as darkness infects his body, consuming him, falling into the horizon alongside Torch.
With a flash, everyone returns to the quarry, stunned from what they witnessed. “That must’ve been a memory!” Sunset Shimmer realized.
“I remember now, I saw that in a dream. I thought it was the Pony of Shadows’ memory, but it was from that other thing!” Pinkie Pie recalled.
Then, a man of light manifests before them; the same from the memory. “If not the Pony of Shadows, who are you?” Twilight Sparkle asked the figure.
“I am Trigger, an Ultraman; a hero of light from a far-off universe, protecting dear smiles wherever I roam.”
“You mean you’re an alien?!” Applejack questioned.
“Trigger, like a gun… you’ve been saying your name all along!” Pinkie Pie realized.
“Exactly. That gun, the Sparklence, is a torch in the dark, and I am its light.”
“What’re you doing here?” Sunset Shimmer asked.
“The Ultramen were investigating a disturbance in Equestria, and I discovered Torch as the source. In an attempt to rescue him during transit to this world, I was unfortunately hindered by the Pony of Shadows.”
“Why did you possess Pinkie in the first place?” Twilight Sparkle asked Trigger.
“When Torch defeated me, I accidentally caused her demise. Filled with regret, I merged my essence with hers for a chance that we both might live, and I found like me, she values the smiles of her friends… But something went wrong.”
“It was that darkness, wasn’t it?” Fluttershy asked Trigger.
“Although I fought against darkness before, this fight was difficult. The darkness corrupted my body, but my mind and memories took the greatest toll. I acted on habits I didn’t understand, parroting words for some reason resonated with me, meddling with unknown magic, all while subconsciously trying to regain my light.” He explained solemnly.
“All that spooky stuff you did was because you’re confused?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Again, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare anyone, I wanted to help with what little senses I had left.” Trigger nodded sadly. “Thanks to watching your fight for friendship; I eventually remembered myself, and reminded me of my own friends back home whose smiles I fight for!”
“Now that you’re at full power, can you take us to Canterlot and save my dad?!” Ember begged him.
Trigger dissolves into two small light orbs levitating to Pinkie Pie. “As long as Pinkie Pie’s willing to pull the trigger again.”
The moment she touches them, the light disperses to reveal a futuristic white blaster and a purple pen-drive illustrated with an image of Trigger painted in stained glass. “Woah, these look waaay cooler now!”
“With my Sparklence and Hyper Key, you can let the burning will to fight rise, shoot through the winds of fate, and cut through this battle.” Trigger offered her. “Will you light your courage and be the one to pull the trigger?”
Rarity takes Pinkie Pie’s hand. “Whatever happens next, please come back to us in one piece.”
“Course I will. After all, I still owe you a fluffy souffle when this is over.” Pinkie Pie chuckled, and Rarity chuckles with her. “Let’s do it, let’s save the world!”
She inserts the Hyper Key into the Sparklence’s grip. “Boot Up! Zeperion!” a disembodied macho voice announced from the blaster.
“Cool! It’s got voice activation!” Rainbow Dash beamed.
“The Sparklence was designed by a friend to help bring out my inner light. And yeah, it’s pretty cool!” Trigger agreed excitedly.
Then, Pinkie Pie raises it up and was about to pull the trigger, when-
“Waaait!”
“What? I was gonna pull the trigger.”
“No, there’s more steps to unlock my true power. Just follow what I say.” Trigger requested. “Now, open it like a paper fan.”
Pinkie Pie pulls the muzzle backwards, transforming the Sparklence into a Y-shaped device with a shining diamond in the middle. “A torch…”
“Then, repeat after me: Build the future, the light of hope!”
“Build the future, the light of hope!” Pinkie Pie chanted as she raises the device.
“Finally, and I hate to steal from a friend…” Trigger said in hesitation. “Chant my name! Ultraman Trigger!”
“Ultraman Trigger!” Pinkie Pie pulls the torch’s trigger, engulfing everyone in a ball of blindingly bright white light.
“Ultraman Trigger! Multi Type!”
Back in Canterlot, military tanks and jets try and fail to penetrate Torch’s armour and thick scales as he rampages some blocks away from a hospital. Staff, patients, and visitors proceed to evacuation, Maud Pie among them. When a quake hits, she passes a room where an injured Scootaloo with a foot cast trips on the floor, helped up by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.
“Thanks, guys.” Scootaloo nodded to her friends.
“You kids, we need to get out of here.” Maud Pie calls to them in her usual monotonous tone.
Another boom comes, and they look out the window to see Torch sending a flaming fighter jet crashing towards the hospital. Suddenly- “Shyeah!” -a giant, sparkling hand catches the jet.
“What the…” Maud Pie said in awe before opening the window to get a better look at their saviour.
Standing before them is a giant with silver, blue, and white patterns painting its body, wearing a golden chestplate powered by a blue diamond, bearing a stoic alien visage with glowing white eyes, a blue diamond in its forehead, and a fin-like crest. In its left hand is the now-extinguished fighter jet, and in the right a glowing purple orb.
“What is it?” Scootaloo wondered.
“Looks like one’a them big-head grey aliens, only bigger!” Applebloom added.
“Whatever it is, it saved us.” Sweetie Belle said as the giant puts down the jet and the sparkling orb in the empty parking lot.
When it turns to the hospital, beaming its eyes into Scootaloo’s room, it waves at them, then places its index fingers on its chiselled lips and traces a smile. Maud Pie stares at it, sensing familiarity from the giant.
“Maud, we gotta go!” Sweetie Belle yelled.
“Huh? Oh, okay.” Maud Pie acknowledged before they rush out of the room.
Inside its mind, Pinkie Pie stands in a space of shimmering diamond reflections, a far cry from the black void she stands in whenever she became the Man of Shadows. “Holy moly! I’m larger than life!” she skipped giddily, excited to see her new form.
“I know! It’s so cool, right?” Trigger’s disembodied voice echoes through the glittering space. “I remember my first time rising! I was in a Martian pyramid—” he said excitedly before interrupting himself. “No, now’s not the time to reminisce. Now’s the time for action!”
“Yeah! Action!” Pinkie Pie quickly takes an improvised karate stance.
Torch finished burning a building when he looks at Ultraman Trigger mimicking Pinkie Pie’s karate pose, and roars before galloping towards the giant. When the two giants meet, Ultraman Trigger grabs Torch’s horns to sumo-push him away from the hospital.
At the parking lot, the glowing orb bursts into sparkles, releasing Pinkie Pie’s friends onto the asphalt. “We’re back home!” Rarity realized before everyone looks up to Ultraman Trigger fighting Torch.
“So that’s an Ultraman…” Sunset Shimmer muttered in awe.
“What’re we doing standing around for? We can still help!” Rainbow Dash rallied.
“What can we do? We’re small, and Torch is so big!” Fluttershy wondered.
“The latches.” Ember told them “While she’s keeping him down, we can work removing those latches again.”
“‘Fraid I’ll have to tap out.” Applejack said as she holds her arms. “Samurai did in my haymakers. I’m no condition fer heavy liftin’.”
“Then it’s just me and Twilight.” Flash Sentry said before Lil Flash vibrates. “And Lil Flash. Sorry.”
Twilight Sparkle looks at the boulevard where Ultraman Trigger fights Torch, seeing the roofs of the surrounding buildings align with the height of Torch’s armour latches. “I can see buildings where we can position ourselves level with the latches. If Pinkie Pie can hold him down between those buildings, Flash and I can remove them simultaneously.”
“Don’t tarry then, let’s save ourselves a dragon!” Rarity rallies her friends before they rush towards Ultraman Trigger’s feet.
In an attempt to push back, Torch breathes fire on Ultraman Trigger’s chest, but the good titan braves the flame as if air was blowing instead. Torch tries to shake him off like a stubborn bull, and headbutts him, disorienting him for a minute before slashing him with his sharp claws.
“I’m gonna need some serious power to beat Torch!”
“If it’s Power you need, then it’s Power you’ll receive!” Sparkles gather before Pinkie Pie to produce a red Hyper Key. “Hora!”
Pinkie Pie removes the previous Hyper Key and inserts the new one. “Boot Up! Deracium!”
On cue, a tall Ultraman Trigger manifests behind Pinkie Pie. “Repeat as I say! Seize the victory, the light of strength! Ultraman Trigger!”
“Seize the victory, the light of strength!” Pinkie Pie repeated as she sweeps the Sparklence across before raising it. “Ultraman Trigger!” she pulls the trigger and is showered in red light.
“Ultraman Trigger! Power Type!”
Torch started to swing another hook, when Ultraman Trigger’s patterns change to red, and his gold armour splits into shoulder straps. He thrusts a mean ultra-powered punch at Torch’s face, sending him tumbling along the road. Ultraman Trigger looks at his hands, then flexes his muscles.
Everyone splits into two buildings between Ultraman Trigger; Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Spike, and Ember joins Twilight Sparkle in the apartment on his right. Rarity, Applejack, and Sunset Shimmer joins Flash Sentry ascend a grocer’s roof access. When Twilight Sparkle’s team reaches the roof, they find Ultraman Trigger flexing his new form.
“Was he always red?” Fluttershy wondered.
“She got a power-up! Awesome!” Rainbow Dash grinned excitedly.
“Pinkie!” Twilight Sparkle shouts to Ultraman Trigger, who stops posing. “Hold Torch at this boulevard! We can still do something about the buckles!”
“Yeah!” Ultraman Trigger gives her a thumbs-up before Torch tackles him.
Torch pins himself on top of Ultraman Trigger and snaps his teeth at him. Ultraman Trigger manages to force his jaws open, but sees sparks building at the back of his throat. Thinking quick, Ultraman Trigger kicks Torch’s stomach to flip him onto his back. When the dragon gets back on his feet, Ultraman Trigger jumps onto his back and grabs his horns to ride him like an angry bull.
“Yeehaw! Ride ‘im, Pinkie! Ride ‘im like the wind!” Applejack whooped.
“Flash, will this take long?” Sunset Shimmer asked Flash Sentry as he opens his camera case.
“Not at all.” Flash Sentry said after putting up a tripod. He inserts the supercharged battery into Lil Flash and screws it into the tripod. “What’s the melting point of gold again? Was it nineteen or eighteen-fifty degrees?” he wondered as he fiddles with the buttons.
“Nineteen-forty-eight degrees.” His own, though computerized, voice answered from the camera.
“Oh, thanks Lil Flash.” Flash Sentry casually responded. “Armed!” he yelled to Twilight Sparkle across the street.
Ultraman Trigger leads Torch between the two buildings, but the wings slap him silly in the face before extending its orange membranes to quickly take off into the sky. Torch performs an aileron roll while accelerating higher into the sky, attempting to shake off Ultraman Trigger. The titan holds Torch’s horns tight, but as the spin increases, he starts getting dizzier until he slips off his back and falls down towards Canterlot below, hundreds of miles in the sky.
“Aaah!” Pinkie Pie screamed as she feels herself falling inside the inner space. “Trigger, whadda we do?!”
“I have just the thing here!” Sparkles again gather before Pinkie Pie, producing a blue Hyper Key.
She grabs and inserts it into the Sparklence. “Boot Up! Runboldt!”
“Wait a minute, Runboldt? I remember that from—”
“Repeat after me! Dominate the sky, the light of speed! Ultraman Trigger!”
“Dominatetheskythelightofspeed!” Pinkie Pie quickly chanted. “Ultraman Trigger!” she yelled before blue light covers her.
“Ultraman Trigger! Sky Type!” as Ultraman Trigger falls through a cloud, blue light flashes within.
Expecting him to emerge, Torch stares at the cloud until something pokes his shoulder. He turns around to see Ultraman Trigger, now with an entirely-blue body, popping out of a cloud beside him to clock him in the jaw.
After popping his dislocated jaw back into position, Torch darts away and Ultraman Trigger gives chase, leaving behind a trail of blue sparkles as he flies. They zip and dart between clouds at incredible speeds as Ultraman Trigger catches up to Torch. When he nears the dragon, Ultraman Trigger tackles Torch and attempts to grab his wings to control him. Retaliating, Torch chomps down onto his arm hard, and no matter what Ultraman Trigger tries, the slightest movement only causes the bite force to exert more pressure.
Suddenly, a massive artillery shell strikes Torch’s back from below, causing both to tumble out of the sky; Torch still clamping onto Ultraman Trigger’s arm. Ultraman Trigger forcefully pulls his arm from Torch’s mouth, but is quickly slashed across the face, knocking him off-course. Torch spreads his wings and glides away from Ultraman Trigger crashing down towards the city.
At the boulevard, everyone sees the swooping shape of Torch gliding down steadily, but Ultraman Trigger spins out of control. “She’s falling!” Rarity pointed.
“Is she blue now?” Flash Sentry wondered as he narrows his eyes, then Sunset Shimmer passes him to reach the edge of the roof.
“Twilight! Catch her!” Sunset Shimmer shouted to the building across.
Twilight Sparkle raises her hands to cast her telekinesis on Ultraman Trigger, but his massive size proved difficult to carry, and she instantly tires herself out from trying. “This is bad! At the rate she’s falling, the shockwave could take out the block!”
As they brace themselves for impact, orange lights on a black wall suddenly casts onto them, followed by a heavy, but harmless thud. When they look back, they see the Bug, now the size of Ultraman Trigger, carrying him in her arms.
“The Bug! She’s alive!” Rainbow Dash said in relief.
“And she’s huge now!” Ember exclaimed.
“Could she have always done that?” Spike wondered.
Ultraman Trigger looks at the Bug when she sets him down, giving him a pincer-up. He responds in kind with a tight hug, to which the Bug responds with a surprised croak. The Bug suddenly puts up a shield in front of them, blocking an incoming fireball.
Torch comes galloping toward them and slashes at the shield, soon lifting it up and tossing it aside before punching the Bug’s chest. Ultraman Trigger comes to her aid by grabbing her shoulders and swinging his body for a roundhouse-kick at Torch’s face. When Torch snaps his jaws at them, he’s suddenly pulled back at great force, passing by the vantage buildings.
On Torch’s tail end, an enlarged Robot is tugging his tail with her left hand, waving at Ultraman Trigger with her cannon-arm. Ultraman Trigger gestures the Bug to follow his lead, and together they hug shut Torch’s face like crocodile wranglers. Torch spreads his wings in defence to smack them, so Ultraman Trigger climbs onto his back and pulls them back to stop them from moving.
On the buildings parallel to Torch, Flash Sentry and Twilight Sparkle come face-to-face with the golden latches. “Now, Flash!” Twilight Sparkle shouted as she casts telekinesis on her latch.
“Smile, Torch! You’re on camera!” On the grocer’s roof, Flash Sentry presses the shutter release on Lil Flash, triggering the lens to blast a purple laser beam to melt the golden latch.
With both latches removed, Ultraman Trigger hops off Torch’s back and joins the Bug to tug on the cuirass collar, attempting to force it off. On the other end, the Robot throws aside its cannon to an adjacent avenue and uses both hands to pull Torch’s tail harder. With the Robot pulling Torch’s tail and the other two pulling his armour in the opposite direction, they separate the dragon from his shell. A moment after the cuirass and the dragon are separated, Torch dissolves into white sparkles, and left lying on the road is a dark blue fluffball.
“They did it!” Spike cheered.
“Let’s see if my dad’s okay!” Ember said before running down the roof access.
Flash Sentry’s team leaves the grocer through the front door, passing under a fallen pauldron leaning over them. As they do, Sunset Shimmer is unknowingly showered in sparkles.
When they meet the fluffball, they find a dark blue mastiff getting up. “What…? Where am I?” Torch dizzily wondered.
“Dad!” Ember leaps to hug Torch.
“Ember? Is that you? Why’re you a dog?” Torch asked her, then turns his attention to the humans. “Giants!” he growled.
“Dad, no! They’re humans, creatures from the world we’re stuck in. The parasite took you from Equestria to another world, and these humans helped rescue you.”
“I remember… Those ponies, that portal, everything after is a blur.” Torch scratches his head when he finds his claw is a paw.
“I’m Flash Sentry, and welcome to our world.” Flash Sentry greeted.
“Flash Sentry? You look different, but sound the same.” Torch noted.
“You met the pony me. I’m the me me.”
“No doubt you were responsible for saving me. Perhaps I was too judgemental on the other you, thinking he’d never achieve such a feat again.”
“I’m flattered, but it was Pinkie Pie who mainly helped.” Flash Sentry points to Ultraman Trigger standing miles behind them, waving at Torch.
“And the rest of us, too. It was a team effort.” Rarity added.
“Even that unicorn?” Torch pointed behind them.
“What unicorn?” Sunset Shimmer wondered when her friends look at her in surprise. “What?” she looks at her body and finds herself in her original unicorn pony form. “What?! Why am I a pony?!”
“Huh, always wondered what you ponies looked like. Kinda cute.” Rainbow Dash giggled.
“We passed under a part of Torch’s armour. I think it didn’t just control him, but maintained his dragon form in our world!” Sunset Shimmer postulated before in a flash, she quickly reverts back to human form. “Thank Celestia, it’s temporary!”
“Aw, I wished you’d stay a pony longer. You looked so cute.” Fluttershy commented.
“Mental note: salvage Torch’s armour later for research.” Twilight Sparkle said to herself.
“Thank you, humans, for saving my dad. I dunno what I would’ve done without you.” Ember thanked them.
“No sweat. It’s kinda what we do.” Rainbow Dash smiled.
Ultraman Trigger stands above them with the Bug and the Robot, giving a victorious chuckle.
“Everyone’s smiling again, thanks to you, Pinkie.” Trigger thanked Pinkie Pie.
“I couldn’t’ve done it without you, Trigger.” Pinkie Pie smiled. “You really are a warrior of smiles, after all.”
“Iyaaadaaa!” The Samurai stumbles out of the armour angrily. “[You were supposed to kill him, not save him! Greater Wyrm is a super-rare card, and I wanted it!]” he unleashed a childish tantrum before extending his chakram. “[With this, comes your end mark!]” he shouted as he presents two cards illustrated with the Bug and the Robot.
“Cards?” Flash Sentry raised an eyebrow.
“King Joe-chan.” The Samurai inserts the Robot’s card into the ring.
“King Joe!” a demonic voice announced before the card flies into the Robot, absorbing it into her body and causing her great pain.
“Zetton-chan.” The Samurai inserts the Bug’s card into the ring.
“Zetton!” the voice announced as the card flies into the Bug’s body, causing her to smack Ultraman Trigger away with enough force to knock the blue out of him.
“[Let me borrow…]” the Samurai chants as he raises the chakram. “[The power of darkness!]” A red flash bursts from the chakram, blinding everyone who sees it.
When they regain their vision, they find standing in the place of the Bug and the Robot a hybrid resembling the Bug wearing the Robot’s armour. “Chou Gattai! Pedanium Zetton!” the Samurai’s voice boomed from the hybrid.
To be continued…