“You’re… fine…” Ziz said uncomfortably. “That being said, I shall be back. It seems my fate is connected to you Rangers…” The avian general turned away from the group, holding the Blue Harmony Orb.
“Windy…” Pinkie said to her now-inactive Morpher, which no longer contains the Harmony Orb.
“First that Pink girl, I recognize her long hair and gentle eyes…” Ziz pondered in thought. “And now this Blue one… Party balloons… Who could they be…” The bipedal bird-creature then walked away, pulling out her bladed gurdy and playing music on it.
“Come, hop on!” Applejack said, riding her Steed Speeder. Applejack pulled Pinkie up, the defunct Blue Ranger getting on the Yellow Ranger’s bike.
“What about my--” Pinkie asked, only to be cut off.
“Yer family’s fine,” Applejack said. “Right now, Princess Luna’s talkin’ to yer ma and pa. But she told us to go back!” She said, revving up her Speeder.
The three girls returned to the manor. Luna and Fluttershy then checked Pinkie for any need of first aid, and took care of her.
“Pinkie’s doing fine,” Fluttershy said to the other girls as she closed the door to the room Luna is keeping Pinkie in. “I have a feeling about Ziz… It seems she knows us to some degree.”
“Somethin’ about what the Pies said about Ziz reacting to Pinkie’s name?” Applejack asked, to which Fluttershy shook her head to indicate she can’t conclude. “Pinkie also told me she felt a similar feeling I did when I fought Ziz one-on-one… it’s as if we should know who the person serving as her core is…”
Pinkie then opened the door, leaving the room to join the girls, with Luna following. “Girls… I’m sorry I sped off like that…” she said with her hair slightly deflated. “I was scared of what Ziz would do, first Flutters losing her Orb, then Ziz visiting my family, I didn’t know what else to do…”
“It’s all right, Pinkie…” Applejack said, with Twilight chiming in. “We’re just glad nothing pointed to Ziz wanting serious harm, and that she only wanted your Orb.”
“She may have beaten us and taken our Orbs,” Fluttershy said, holding Pinkie’s hands. “But I don’t think she meant any harm to us, remember what she did when--”
Fluttershy was about to continue when her phone rang. She answered her phone, only to hear her father’s hysterical screaming.
“Oh thank the Princesses you answered! I was beside myself trying to think what to do next-- Excuse me, are you sure the tests aren’t misread? I legitimately felt I was going to die!”
“Dad? Where are you?” Fluttershy asked.
“In the hospital, honey,” Mr. Shy replied. “I had a palpitation when your mother said she couldn’t find the manor you said you would be in, and-- hey!”
“Excuse me, are you this man’s daughter?” another voice asked. “This is Nurse Redheart speaking, and he’s been causing a fuss ever since he and his son arrived here.”
“Oh no, I’m so sorry--” Fluttershy said, only to be cut off.
“Well we’re administering him anesthetics, his heart rate and blood pressure are worrying to say the least.” Redheart said. “I will be passing the phone to your brother so he will tell you where to find your mother, ok?”
“Oh no…” Fluttershy gulped.
“Hey,” said another voice. It was Zephyr, sounding apathetic and uncaring, with a tinge of annoyance in being bothered. “Mom said she went to the manor you’re in, it is supposed to be on the eastern side of Everfree, right?”
“WHAT?” Fluttershy snapped uncharacteristically, shocking Rarity and Twilight. She then sighed and answered in defeat. “I’ll go to where she went, Applejack and Rarity can help me…”
“Cool, I’ll send you where her location pings are.” he said, in a tone implying slight glee of foisting a burden of effort off of his shoulders.
“I’m sorry, girls…” Fluttershy sighed. “AJ, Rarity? Could you help me?”
Applejack and Rarity nodded. They motioned for Twilight and Gilda to hold the manor while they accompanied Fluttershy, with Applejack offering to get on her family truck.
“Rrgh,” Applejack growled as she started the engine. “That no-good--”
“Calm down dear,” Rarity said, holding the farmgirl’s hands. “Let’s help Fluttershy instead of mulling on Zephyr being a knob.”
“Yeah, if I told him off he’d probably start crushin’ on me instead…” Appleack said with a shudder.
“Because Big Mac will beat him to a pulp?” Rarity asked.
“Nah, Mac’s a softie… It’s Granny Smith who’d do that.” Applejack answered. “Granny Smith’s the reason why predator wildlife are afraid to go into our Acres.”
“Mhm, I learned to subdue bigger animals from her,” Fluttershy added. “It’s why the Crusaders say I’m a bear-wrestler.”
The three then drove to the location where Zephyr said Mrs. Shy went to, and they immediately found the Shy family car, parked at the road with hazards on.
Fluttershy immediately darted out of the truck, with Rarity and Applejack trying to catch up.
“Fluttershy, wait!” Applejack said, trying to unlock her and Rarity’s seatbelts, “Dang, I can’t see with this darkness!”
“We have no choice but to stay and hope Fluttershy doesn’t get lost.” Rarity added.
As the farmgirl and the fashionista stayed near the vehicles, Fluttershy managed to ask help from a group of squirrels to guide her in the direction of where Mrs. Shy might be.
After minutes of diving deeper in the forest, she then heard signs of fighting.
“You will not harm this woman!” exclaimed a familiar voice.
Fluttershy then headed to the direction of where the voice came from, and she saw a peculiar sight.
What she saw was the Hell General of the Sky, Ziz, protecting a passed out Mrs. Shy from Sombra’s monsters, one of which was the barber pole and scissors monster that got away.
“She deserves a good cutting!” the monster exclaimed. “A snip there and here!”
“Not even a chance will be afforded to you.” Ziz said, holding what seems to be the Pink and Blue Harmony Orbs, and a third Orb that has no glow to it. She then borrowed some energy from the first two Orbs, channeling it into her blade.
Fluttershy then heard the Hell General exclaim something that took her by surprise.
“Shadowbolt Art: Blaze Tornado Fury!” Three consecutive slashes with her wing blade, bearing the powers of wind and fire, the Blue and Pink Rangers’ respective attributes, flew at the monster, obliterating it. Fluttershy could hear the monster’s final words, “The Queen will hear of this, you kill your own kind!”
Fluttershy then took this as a chance to approach her mother quietly, trying not to draw the Hell General’s attention.
“Take care of her…” Ziz said, not even glancing towards Fluttershy trying to sneak. “All I ask from your other friends is to fight their Megazord.
“You… You said Shadowbolt-” Fluttershy asked. “Are you a Shadowbolt?”
“I do not remember…” Ziz said. “I only have a feeling that you Rangers are key.”
The avian general then walked away.
Two days have passed since Fluttershy rescued her mother. The shy girl sat by herself, repeating the events in her head.
Ziz held in her hand, three Harmony Orbs, two being the ones Fluttershy and Pinkie had, and a seemingly dormant third.
“Shadowbolt Art: Blaze Tornado Fury!”
She then recalled her first encounter with Ziz.
“Pleased to meet you, Pink Ranger.”
“I only seek your Harmony Orb, harming you is not on my agenda…”
She then thought about Pinkie’s recollection of their fight.
Ziz replied, blocking Pinkie’s attacks. “I merely seek their knowledge.”
“I touched not a single hair on her head!” Ziz shouted back. “Don’t you punish her for a duel we both agreed on!”
“It can’t be…” Fluttershy thought to herself.
Just then, two sets of knocks rapped on Fluttershy’s bedroom door.
“Come in…” she squeaked.
“Hello, dear.” It was her father, bringing a bowl of sour vegetable soup. “I’d like to claim I made this, but your mother just forbid me from even touching anything in the kitchen…” he said with a light chuckle, hiding his wincing from the pain.
Fluttershy noticed the source, more bandages on her father’s hands. “Thanks, daddy. Umm, can I tell you something?”
“Of course, pumpkin.” He said, sitting beside her on her bed. “We’re your family, always here for you.”
“Daddy, what if someone likes someone else, even if they’re both girls?” she asked.
The older man tugged on his mustache, thinking. “Well she’s gotta hope the other girl likes her back, right?” he said reassuringly. “Now it’s dad’s turn to ask a question. Are you talking about your friend Rainbow Dash?”
Fluttershy’s cheeks turned pink. “I-- uhh--”
“I gotta be honest, pumpkin,” Mr. Shy said, scratching his head. “Seeing the closeness you have with Rainbow, I was kind of hoping that was the case… I still remember the time I was called by the camp in Cloudsdale, something about you being bullied. I was terrified about what they meant, but when I saw you unharmed, and seeing Rainbow in your bandage work, I could tell she did anything and everything to stand in the way and protect you.”
“Daddy, you accept?” Fluttershy interrupted.
Her father smiled. “Now now, I’m still nervous of my little girl expressing romantic feelings, but… put it like this: you like Rainbow because she’s Rainbow. You’ve spent thick and thin together.”
“I guess so…” the shy girl said. She gave her father a hug. “Thanks, daddy… I was scared you’d faint if I told you I had feelings for someone, let alone who I had them for.”
“I gotta be strong for my kids, that’s what a father does.” He beamed. “Also, the wounds from trying to make the soup, come to think of it, makes sense why your mother kicked me out of the kitchen.” He then stood up and headed out of the room. “Make sure to finish every drop, okay?”
“Mhm!” Fluttershy said, already taking a bite from the vegetables in her bowl.
“Princess!” Fluttershy called out. “I realized some-- where’s everyone?”
“Ziz called out,” Luna said, monitoring the location. “She’s just... sitting there, look, she painted three colors on the ground and just... sat there.”
“So they’ve already headed out?” Fluttershy asked. “Oh damn, and when I realized something about all of this…” She then sighed and left the Manor, taking her bicycle to the location, which unbeknownst to the others, she immediately recognized. “That area’s just near the road to Cloudsdale, Dashie and I used to sit there and watch the stars!”
“Fluttershy, wait!” said a voice. It was Gilda, running beside her trying to catch up. “Take me there, to the fight!”
Fluttershy nodded, switching with Gilda so that the white-haired girl would be the one driving the bicycle, while Fluttershy held tight from behind Gilda. “We’ll get there faster with you pedaling!” Fluttershy said with slight panting.
Meanwhile, Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack scrambled to the location that Ziz had indicated. The Hell General, still wounded from the burns and cuts from her previous duels, was seated in the seiza manner, behind three emptied buckets of paint, each being red, yellow, and black, representing the three active Rangers.
“Welcome, Rangers.” Ziz said with a slight bow before standing up. “I will be cutting to the chase.” The Hell General materialized the bladed gurdy she sported, and played a tune with it.
“Dark Zords, arise! Gryphon, Phoenix, Windicorn!”
The distant ground quaked, splitting open. Out of the cracks, emerge the aforementioned Dark Zords.
“Zords, descend and combine!” the three Rangers said in unison.
The Red Ursa arrived from a crack in the sky, followed by the Diamond Dog and Timber Wolf Zords. The Diamond Dog and Timber Wolf Zords screeched to a halt, and transformed into legs. The Ursa Zord turned into a torso and arms, descending to combine with the two legs.
The three Zords form together, the Harmony Megazord, in another format.
“Harmony Striker Megazord, awaken!” Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity shouted in unison.
“Dark Zords, combine!” Ziz shouted.
The Dark Gryphon transformed into an armless winged robot, with the Dark Phoenix and Dark Windicorn forming arms to combine with.
“There it is…” Gilda said, as she and Fluttershy, just getting to the location, got off the bicycle. “The Dark Gryphon Megazord!”
She clutched her head. “Phoenix… Windicorn…”
“Dark Gryphon Megazord, awaken!” Ziz exclaimed, now inside the Dark Gryphon Megazord’s control room.
The Dark Gryphon Megazord then summoned a weapon made from the combination of the Blaze Shield and Gale Blaster.
“Behold,” Ziz spoke. “The Storm Lance!”
The Dark Gryphon Megazord, wielding the Storm Lance, began its onslaught, pushing back the Harmony Striker Megazord. The Rangers found themselves skirting closer to the city proper than they would like.
“We can’t defend against this barrage!” Applejack said to Twilight. “We gotta evade when Ziz relents!”
The Dark Gryphon Megazord then backed away, funneling power into the Storm Lance.
“Charge at them!” Twilight said.
The Harmony Striker Megazord made a beeline to the Dark Gryphon Megazord, which Gilda saw from where she stood. “What are they doing?” Gilda shouted. “Looks like I have no choice…”
She put her palms together and generated what looks to be a miniature storm within them.
Fluttershy looked on at the girl, noticing her form flickering into an ethereal state.
In the Megazord fight, the Harmony Striker Megazord managed to close the distance between it and the Dark Gryphon Megazord.
“Now,” Ziz said as the Storm Lance glowed intensely. “Eye Piercer Lun--”
“Slide!” Twilight shouted.
The Harmony Striker Megazord then went into a sliding attack, tripping the Dark Gryphon Megazord as it prepared to lunge.
“AAAGHH!!” Ziz screamed, feeling the feedback from the charged energy. She felt parts of herself cracking and chipping off.
“Come on… Stand up, Gryphon Megazord…” Gilda grunted, trying to maintain the charged power within her palms.
The Harmony Striker Megazord stood itself up, and entered into a fighting stance. Seconds later, the Dark Gryphon Megazord stood up.
“Thunderstorm, return!” Gilda shouted, firing the storm at the Dark Gryphon Megazord’s chest.
“And now, I return to my true form…” She said to Fluttershy, as her body faded into thin air.
“What?” Fluttershy said, panicking. “Oh no, Gilda’s--”
“There is only one way this will end!” Ziz shouted.
“You’re absolutely right! And it’s with your defeat!” Gilda said through the Gryphon Zord. “Now, Rangers! Strike at me! I’ll do my best to resist Ziz’s control!”
“What?” Twilight gasped.
“Gilda…” Applejack said, trailing off.
“She’s the Gryphon Zord?” Rarity wondered.
“Hit me with your final attack!” Gilda commanded.
The Harmony Striker Megazord then channeled power through its palms, until they crackled with an aura fluctuating between red, yellow, and dark purple.
“Constellation Palm Strike!”
The Harmony Striker Megazord then slammed its palms towards the Dark Gryphon Megazord, sending a burst of energy that destabilized it into breaking apart.
The dark energy that enveloped the three Dark Zords was purified, freeing them. However, the toll of the battle meant they were knocked out of commission.
Rarity and Applejack unboarded the Megazord, and approached the Gryphon Zord. Her claws were holding what remains of the Hell General Ziz, the avian shell crumbling apart, uncovering a shocking revelation.
Secundus Hell General Ziz, is Rainbow Dash.