Even more, the Power Rangers were being lauded as heroes, and even more, Rainbow Dash’s ego wanted her to reveal her identity and bask in the glory. It took almost every ounce of strength she had to offer for Applejack to keep her friend’s ego on a leash. But even then, she was short on it at the moment as it was harvest time on her family farm… and Apple Bloom had decided to bring her friends along to help. “Now you know the drill for ridin’ herd on them young’uns, Applejack; don’t let ‘em outta yer sight.” Granny Smith reminded.
“They ain’t gettin’ away from me, Granny; I promise ya that.” Applejack nodded as she walked to do as she’d been told… though something had been weighing heavily on her mind; she hated lying to her family about being the Green Ranger, but she knew it was for their own good.
Even so, keeping Apple Bloom and her friends under control was hard enough even before she and her friends became Rangers. She always loved Apple Bloom, but sometimes the trouble of keeping an eye on her was too much, especially as she and her friends started running around the orchard like they were Rangers themselves. “Whoa there now, take it easy,” Applejack said cautiously as she tried to keep them from getting hurt.
“C’mon Applejack, I grew up on this farm same as you.” Apple Bloom pointed out.
“And how many times have we both gotten hurt here?” Applejack countered.
Apple Bloom was about to answer when Scootaloo suddenly got a notification on her phone. “Whoa. Heads up, Crusaders; there’s a monster sighting a few miles away.”
“What? How do you know that?” Applejack asked, quickly looking at Scootaloo’s phone to see… a fan site?
“It’s RangerStation; the new social media app where people can report monster attacks and post pics and theories about the Power Rangers,” Scootaloo explained. “It’s been live for weeks; where have you been?”
“Well, I know where we’re gonna be; watching the Rangers kick butt!” Sweetie Belle smiled. “Come on, let’s go!”
“Whoa now, wait a minute-!” Applejack called, but the girls didn’t listen; they just ran off and hopped in the wagon hooked to Scootaloo’s scooter and raced off down the road toward the monster sighting.
“Oh, fer heaven’s sake…” Applejack remarked in annoyance before her Harmonizer beeped. She quickly pressed the communicator button and saw Gloriosa’s face on the screen. “Ah think Ah know why you’re callin’.”
“Then you know what to do. Here are the coordinates; the others will meet you there.” Gloriosa nodded, transmitting the location of the latest attack to the screen.
“On my way.” Applejack nodded and signed off, quickly locking her Morph Key into her Harmonizer as she ran further into the orchard, quickly spinning the Disk. “Harmonize!” As soon as she Morphed into the Green Ranger, she quickly teleported to the suburbs a few miles from the farm, where she did indeed find the other Rangers fighting a legion of Knightmares… and what looked like a mutant hippo with boxing gloves and big cork-like nose plugs in its nostrils.
Applejack couldn’t help but smirk under her helmet as she drew her Defender and started blasting the Knightmares. “Well, Ah’ll give Tantabus one thing; she’s sure gettin’ creative,” she remarked.
“Tell me about it.” Rainbow agreed as she went back-to-back with the Green Ranger, deflecting Knightmares’ blades with her own. “I mean, who ever heard of a fear of hippos?”
“No, it’s definitely a thing,” Twilight reported over the coms. “It’s specifically called-”
“Wasn’t a serious question, Twi.” Rainbow rebuked quickly as she stabbed one Knightmare standing behind her without even looking.
“Does it matter what fear I draw power from? All that matters is your destruction, Rangers! And it will come at the hands of me: Hippounder!” The almost helium-like yet nasal voice froze the Rangers in their tracks as they looked dumbfounded at the monster.
After a few seconds, they all just burst out laughing, barely even able to focus on fighting off the remaining Knightmares. “Oh man, this could not possibly be any more ridiculous!” Applejack laughed, blasting other Knightmares while she doubled over laughing.
“Seriously! Lamest! Monster! Ever!” Rainbow agreed, flailing slashes at others.
“Hey! I’m terrifying!” Hippounder protested.
“To a kindergartener, maybe.” Rarity pointed out with a chuckle. “Why would Tantabus ever think we would consider you a serious threat?”
“See? I told you that sending that one was a stupid idea! And the Rangers agree!” Eclipse snarled at Midnight, having heard that remark through the scrying pool in the Lucid Lands.
“You wanted a Dream Demon with muscle, I found a Dream Demon with muscle.” Midnight argued. “If you wanted something specific, you could’ve said so. For now, this is what we’ve got.”
“You couldn’t have at least tried to make him sound more intimidating before you sent him out?” Eclipse growled.
“Silence, both of you!” Tantabus snarled as she walked next to them. “This bloated buffoon of yours had better pay off, Midnight. Or you’ll be made to pay for it.”
“He will, Mistress. As you can see, the Rangers already underestimate him.” Midnight smiled.
And it certainly seemed like she would be proven right, as the Rangers were striking Hippounder almost arrogantly with their Defenders, and admittedly the arrogance was at least moderately warranted as the monster was barely putting up a fight. “C’mon, are you even actually here to fight us?” Rainbow smirked as she slashed his arms.
“You shouldn’t be cocky, Rangers! You’re underestimating my power.” Hippounder countered, his helium-like voice not making him seem intimidating as the girls kept fighting.
“You invite it; you sound ludicrous!” Rarity assured, delivering a firm slash across the beast’s chest.
“I’d say my bark is worse, but how about after I show you my bite!” Hippounder snarled as he punched Pinkie and Fluttershy back hard, sending them tumbling a few feet away.
“That wasn’t a bite, silly! It was a punch!” Pinkie remarked, a smile still present in her voice.
“And so’s this!” Applejack smirked as she swung a mean left into the monster’s face, sending it tumbling back. She smirked at the beast and her move… before she heard cheering from nearby. She glanced in its direction and saw Apple Bloom and her friends nearby. “Aw tarnation,” she said in annoyance… right before Hippounder took advantage of her distraction and blasted her away with some sort of blast from his eyes, sending her to the ground.
“AJ!” Rainbow called as she zipped over to her. “You okay?”
“Yeah, Ah’m fine. But the young’ns there have gotta get gone.” Applejack insisted, pointing quickly to the girls.
“Whoa, what are they doing here?” asked Pinkie.
Hippounder glanced over and saw the girls, smirking sinisterly. “Getting in the way and getting crushed, I’d say,” he smirked as he moved toward the kids, who quickly freaked out and started running.
“No!” Applejack yelled and quickly leaped to defend the girls, summoning her hammer in midair before she slammed it down on the monster’s nose, knocking his nose plugs out.
“Ouchie! Be careful; I have bad allergies!” Hippounder yelled, the nasal gone from his voice before he started sniffing. “Oh no. Here it comes! Ahh… Ahhhh… Ahhh-CHOO!” Seemingly out of nowhere, a massive blast of fire shot from the monster’s nose and hit Applejack right in the chest, sending her flying straight into a sign right above the girls, which shattered on impact, a small piece of the shrapnel falling from it and landing right on Apple Bloom’s arm, making her scream in pain.
Applejack landed nearby in pain as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo quickly got Apple Bloom clear, making sure to be careful with her arm. The other Rangers quickly grouped up around their green companion as they stared the monster down, who appeared to be having his own problems as he couldn’t control his sneezes. “This isn’t over, Rangers! I’ll be back when I- Ah! Ahh! Ahhh! Ahh-CHOO!!” In a huge sneeze, Hippounder shot up into the sky before disappearing into shadow along with the other Knightmares.
Once they were gone, the Rangers got a chance to relax. “Well, that was thoroughly humiliating.” Rarity remarked.
“You got that right.” Rainbow agreed before she saw Applejack jump to her feet and start running after the kids. “Whoa hey, where are you going?!”
“Ah gotta make sure Apple Bloom’s okay. Granny’s gon’ have my hide for lettin’ her get hurt.” Applejack said quickly before she ran off.
“I suppose she has a point. We should make sure Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are all right as well.” Rarity pointed out.
“Agreed. Let’s move.” Rainbow nodded and led the remaining Rangers after Applejack.
In the Lucid Lands, Hippounder had plugged his nose again as Tantabus and her generals watched. “I told you the Rangers would underestimate him.” Midnight smiled.
“Still, could you at least have chosen a less stupid-looking monster to send?” Eclipse asked seriously.
“Alright look, if it’ll make you feel any better, you can pick the Dream Demon we send next time.” Midnight remarked in annoyance.
“For now though, this one will do.” Tantabus smiled as she observed her scrying orb. “He’s certainly done his job well so far. And if he wishes to continue to exist, he will continue to do so.”
“Why use this bumbler for anything more?” Eclipse asked seriously. “He’s worthless even with those plugs.”
“And yet he’s somehow still managed to give a good show of his potential and damage the Green Ranger’s faith in herself.” Tantabus pointed out. “So he will continue to fight until I decide otherwise. Do you have a problem with that, Eclipse?” Her pike flickered with dark magic, causing some mild discomfort in Eclipse’s chest – a sign of things to come if she continued to question her authority.
“N- No, Mistress.” Eclipse relented and bowed.
“Good. Now… prepare to send Hippounder back to the waking world. While I prepare to enjoy the show he will doubtless put on.” Tantabus smiled as she watched her scrying orb.
At the hospital, the Rangers had de-morphed and were watching with Big Mac and Granny Smith as Apple Bloom was fitted for a cast on her arm. “She gon’ be okay, doc?” Applejack asked.
“She’ll be fine. Fortunately, the break looked a lot worse than it actually was.” the doctor assured, turning to Apple Bloom. “Just take it easy for a few weeks and you’ll be okay. Which means no more running off after the Power Rangers, okay?”
“Ain’t gon’ have no problem there, Doc.” Apple Bloom nodded simply as she examined her cast.
With that, the doctor left and Granny Smith turned to Applejack. “Ah thought I told you to keep watch on them youngens, Applejack. And you let ‘em run off to watch one of them monster fights and let lil’ Apple Bloom get her arm broken?” she asked angrily.
“Granny, this weren’t mah fault,” Applejack said seriously, though she did have a sneaking suspicion it was her fault. “They’re the ones chasin’ after that newfangled fan app.”
“You mean RangerStation?” Rainbow asked.
“Y’all have heard of it too?” Applejack asked in surprise.
“Unfortunately, yes. Honestly, Sweetie Belle will not shut up about it.” Rarity remarked.
“And it’s that dad-burn app that got Apple Bloom into trouble. Ah tried to get her out of it, but…” Applejack quickly caught herself before she said anything else.
“But what? What happened, Applejack?” Granny asked.
Applejack bit her tongue and sighed. “But Ah was scared to get in the middle of it, and by the time Ah got there, Ah was too late.” she lied. “Ah’ll make it up to ya, Granny; Ah promise ya that.”
“Ah’m gon’ hold ya to that, young lady,” Granny assured as she walked out to Mac’s truck with Apple Bloom and the other girls.
Once they were gone, the Rainbooms looked around, and seeing no one actively looking at them, they decided now would be a good time to talk Ranger business. “Question is where’d that app come from anyway?” Applejack asked.
Almost immediately, the girls all looked at Sunset, who reacted with surprise. “What? Why am I the first suspect?” she asked, offended.
“Well, um, you did make us turn against each other with fake texts and emails.” Fluttershy pointed out.
“That was ages ago. Plus, that’s as far as my skill with technology goes – hacking phones and email accounts is a cakewalk compared to what you guys are talking about.” Sunset pointed out. “If you wanna blame one of us, blame Twilight.”
“Oh, thanks,” Twilight said in annoyance.
“That’s not exactly a denial, Darling.” Rarity pointed out.
“Then how about this – I’m an admin on the app, but I have no idea who actually made it,” Twilight assured.
“Admin? How’d you land that?” asked Rainbow.
“I didn’t – someone just messaged me and asked me to be an admin because of my technological knowledge.” Twilight shrugged. “And I’ve only been using my position to the advantage of the team – taking down posts that may point to you, deflecting theories, things like that.”
“Well, whoever made this here app had best be ready, ‘cause if’n Ah find ‘em, Ah’m gon’ introduce ‘em to ol’ Bucky McGillicuddy and Kicks McGee.” Applejack scowled, slapping her thighs for emphasis.
“Is now a good time to say that I find it really weird how Applejack named her legs that?” Twilight whispered to Sunset.
“I’ve considered asking about it, but I’m worried that’ll put me on the business end of one and/or both of them.” Sunset returned quietly.
Suddenly Twilight’s phone buzzed and when she checked it, her eyes went wide. “Well, I’ll give this app one thing; it certainly makes tracking the monsters down easier,” she remarked.
Applejack quickly looked at Twilight’s phone and indeed saw the app open to another sighting of Hippounder. “And here Ah thought I’d have to wait for payback,” she remarked as she stomped out of the hospital.
“Applejack, wait!” Rainbow called, but too late; she was already gone.
“She’s going to get herself crushed. We have to go help her.” Rarity said quickly.
“Right, let’s do it,” Rainbow ordered as she and the girls raised their Harmonizers and opened the Crystal Locks. “It’s Morphin’ Time!”
In sync, the Rainbooms held their forearms up with the Disks pointing upward and locked their Morph Keys into the slots, before thrusting their fists diagonally down their bodies, slamming the Locks closed as they went and making the Disks flash in the Keys’ colors. “Power Rangers!” they all announced as they put their palms against the Disks before pulling them back across their bodies fast, spinning the Disks as they went. “Harmonize!”
A red light pulsed out of Rainbow's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-red glow, leaving her head exposed. Appearing behind her was a thunderstorm and lightning struck each of her limbs as she punched and kicked, creating her uniform. A final bolt struck her head at the same time a loud neigh was heard, causing her helmet to appear. Streaks of electricity jolted between her fingers as she posed as if she had just finished a guitar solo.
A blue light pulsed from Rarity's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-blue glow, leaving her head exposed. Appearing behind her was an expansive ocean and streams of water struck her limbs as she danced over the surface, creating her uniform. A wave of water crashed into her head as a loud neigh was heard, causing her helmet to appear. A ripple pulsed from beneath her as she posed like a dancer awaiting applause.
A yellow light pulsed from Fluttershy's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-yellow glow, leaving her head exposed. Appearing behind her was a field of flowers and petals landed on each of her limbs as she spun around, each petal forming her uniform. A final burst of petals encircled her head as a loud neigh was heard, causing her helmet to appear. Flower petals flew about her as she posed like a ballerina.
A pink light pulsed from Pinkie's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-pink glow, leaving her head and over-the-top smile exposed. Appearing behind her were the tops of clouds in which she cartwheeled and bounced around, causing tufts to fly off her and create her uniform. She stuck her head in a cloud and pulled it out as a loud neigh was heard, causing her helmet to appear. She then posed with her hands stretched out as if saying 'Don’t talk to me' to two people.
Just as expected, immediately after the Rangers arrived at the sight of the battle, they saw Applejack going solo against a large legion of Knightmares toward Hippounder alone, and she looked like she was flailing as she swung her hammer in one hand and blasted around with her Defender in the other, blasting and smashing her way through the Knightmares.
“Let’s give her some backup, Rangers!” Rainbow said quickly.
“Right!” the others agreed and activated their weapons, fighting the Knightmares off as Applejack fought her way to Hippounder.
“Round 2, Big-Nose!” Applejack yelled as she flipped her Defender into saber mode.
“Now that’s just mean!” Hippounder remarked, punching hard at Applejack as he deflected her flailing blows almost too easily. “How would you like it if I made fun of you for being a terrible fighter? Because spoiler alert: right now, you are!” With that, he swiftly punched Applejack in the chest and knocked her back a few feet.
“Think that’s gon’ stop me? Think again!” Applejack scowled, quickly flipping the lever on her belt buckle and retrieved the Key. “Final Strike Key locked!” Applejack announced as she locked her Key into the head of the Apple Smasher, spinning the Disk between the heads and making them shine as root-like veins glowed on the handle. “Apple Smasher! Applesauce Slam!” She spun the hammer above her head a few times before she grabbed it and brought it down hard to the ground, sending out a powerful green shockwave, knocking Hippounder back into a wall, which knocked out his nose plugs again.
“Oh no, here it comes again!” he yelled and started sneezing fireballs, doing his best to aim them at Applejack, but she simply roared as she got up after every blast and tried to attack again.
“Applejack, stand down!” Rarity ordered, but the Green Ranger didn’t listen; she just kept charging and attacking, showing barely any self-restraint until one last fireball hit her in the chest and knocked her back, de-morphing her by force.
“AJ!” Rainbow called as she moved to her friend’s side, but Applejack was busy letting her rage get the better of her as she grabbed her Defender from the ground nearby and raised it ready to fire, but her hand tensed in pain and she dropped her blaster, accidentally firing and hitting Rainbow in the chest. “OW! Watch it!”
“Ha! How about that? Now I- ahh! Ahh! AHH! AHH-CHOO!!!” Hippounder sneezed, knocking himself into the wall again. “Guh. Need new plugs again. Next time, Rangers!” With that, he swiftly disappeared in another burst of shadow, leaving the Rangers behind as Applejack seethed in anger.
“That’s twice this fool has failed!” Eclipse scowled as Hippounder sneezed fire around the Lucid Lands while Knightmares struggled to plug his nose again. “We’re not really going to send him back out to fail us a third time, are we?”
“Silence!” Tantabus roared. “If you truly wish to fight, then perhaps I should send you out now, while you are not yet at your full power. Your demise would serve as a fine example to the rest of my forces to obey my will.”
Eclipse scowled but knelt. “Message received, Mistress.” she nodded. “But I must insist that if we’re going to send Hippounder back out there, he needs more power. And stronger backup.”
“I hate to admit it, Mistress, but Eclipse is right.” Midnight nodded. “The Rangers are getting stronger, and if we want to keep pace with them, we must strengthen our own ranks.”
“I must agree. Thankfully, I’ve been developing a spell for just such a purpose.” Tantabus smiled as she walked over to the group of Knightmares tending to Hippounder. “And now seems to be a perfect time to test it.” With that, she cast a powerful bolt of magic out of her staff at the Knightmares who all convulsed as their muscles and armor – particularly their breastplates – grew bulkier, their helmets reshaping into heavier and clunkier forms as their swords turned into heavy Morningstars. “Behold our new heavy forces; the Juggerknights.”
“Impressive,” Midnight remarked, though she eyed the soldiers’ large chests trepidatiously. “But… was that really necessary?”
“Oh, like you’re one to talk,” Eclipse argued.
“Shut up.” Midnight rolled her eyes as she walked over to Hippounder, dark magic in her hand. “This is your last chance, Hippounder. Put this extra power to good use and destroy the Power Rangers, or I’ll use it to destroy you.” She set her hand on Hippounder’s chest and the magic flowed into the monster’s body, bolstering his strength and apparently relieving his allergies as the nose plugs disappeared without him sneezing.
“Yes, General.” Hippounder saluted as he marched off, the Juggerknights and another team of Knightmares behind him.
Back at base, Gloriosa patched up the damage Applejack had ended up inflicting on herself. “There we go, good as new,” she said. “You’re lucky it wasn’t as bad as it looked.”
“Same goes for your Harmonizer; if you’d damaged it, I probably would’ve kicked your tail for Hippounder.” Twilight agreed.
“Speaking of, perhaps you’d care to share exactly why you’re so dead-set on apparently getting yourself destroyed by this monster?” Rarity asked judgingly.
“Ugly punk got Apple Bloom’s arm broken. Anyone messes with my family’s gon’ wish they never met me. That’s double-true for monster punks like him.” Applejack insisted.
“We both know it’s not just that.” Sunset pointed out bluntly. “You’ve been acting weird like this for days now; don’t think we haven’t noticed. You’re barely talking to people around school, including your own family and when you talk to us, you’re incredibly tense. What’s the deal?”
Applejack narrowed her gaze at Sunset. “Forgive my tone Sunset, but Ah don’t rightly see how that’s any of your business,” she said simply, walking past her toward the door. Before she could leave, Sunset suddenly reached out and grabbed the Harmonizer off Applejack’s wrist like the strap wasn’t even working. “Wha- Hey! What do ya think you’re doin’?”
“Don’t feel like talking? Fine. Then you’re not going back out there.” Sunset said simply.
“I’d listen if I were you, AJ.” Timber smirked as he watched from the Tree of Harmony.
Applejack just scowled at Sunset. “Gimme that back.”
“You want it?” Sunset smiled as she slipped the Harmonizer into her jacket pocket. “Come and get it.” With that, she took her jacket off and tossed it onto a chair on the side of the room as she took a fighting stance. “You and me, straight up. Right here, right now. You win, I give you back your Harmonizer and let you go. I win, you talk and then I give you back your Harmonizer and let you go.”
“Oh, this is gonna be good,” Rainbow smirked as she looked at the two.
Applejack smirked as she cracked her neck and tossed her hat onto another chair. “Alright, yer on.”
“Whoa, hang on. Before you guys do anything, maybe you should move to the training room.” Gloriosa suggested.
“We have a training room?” asked Rainbow.
“We do now,” Twilight answered as she pressed a button, opening the cave’s left wall with a massive door to reveal what looked like a large hybrid of a gym, martial arts/swordsmanship dojo, and shooting range. “We just finished setting it up.”
“Where did you even find the space for this?” asked Rarity.
“This old quarry’s decades old; the tunnels snake through the mountain for miles.” Timber shrugged as Sunset and Applejack took to the dojo floor. “The Tree of Harmony did most of the heavy lifting; we just furnished the place up.”
“Don’t much matter to me, long as I get my Harmonizer back,” Applejack assured as she assumed a fighting stance.
“You want it?” Sunset smirked, raising her hand at the ready. “Come and take it.”
“Ooh. Man, I got chills.” Pinkie remarked as Spike scampered forward.
“Ready? Fight!” he called, prompting the two girls to engage in an intense martial arts battle; Applejack appeared more focused than she was on the battlefield, but her slow and strong moves were still easy for Sunset to deflect and counter.
“Give it up, Sunset. Ah don’t need my powers to know you’re outmatched.” Applejack remarked, swinging a hard haymaker.
Sunset took the punch on the chin like a champ and spun into a training dummy against the back wall, smirking as she spit on the floor. “Maybe I am. But there’s one rule of fighting I’ve always loved,” she smirked.
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?” Applejack asked as she moved to attack again.
“When outmatched…” Sunset smirked, holding something in her hands. “Cheat.” Suddenly she scattered a handful of small marbles on the floor, tripping Applejack up and making her fall onto the floor, giving Sunset an easy chance to grab her arm in a leg-lock.
“Agh! Gah, okay; Ah give!” Applejack called, quickly tapping out on the floor. Sunset let her go and helped her up with a smirk.
“I know I’m no match for you straight up, AJ. But I think it’s been well established by this point that I’m pretty tricky.” Sunset smirked. “Now start talking.”
Applejack sighed as she walked back into the main base and sat down. “Ah just feel like… such a hypocrite,” she remarked.
“How do you mean?” asked Gloriosa.
“Ah mean Ah’m supposed to be the Element of Honesty, but I have to lie to everyone I know about bein’ the Green Ranger?” Applejack asked. “That don’t sit right with me, and we all know Ah’m a terrible liar.”
“Eh, she’s got a point there.” Rainbow shrugged.
“Exactly. But the fact that my lyin’ got Apple Bloom hurt just makes it even worse.” Applejack said angrily.
“So every time you’ve been in the field, you’ve been fighting that too?” asked Twilight.
“Pretty much, yeah.” Applejack shrugged.
“Applejack, darling… you know you’re not alone in this concern.” Rarity assured. “I mean, honestly, do you think I haven’t wanted to tell Sweetie Belle that I’m the Blue Ranger? But it’s for their own protection that we keep this secret from them.”
“Except that ain’t been workin’.” Applejack pointed out. “Thanks to that dad-burn app.”
“You mean RangerStation?” Timber asked as he went to one of the base’s computer terminals. “We’ve been looking into it, and I think we figured out who made it.”
The Rangers all looked at the screen and their eyes narrowed. “Why am I not surprised?” Rarity remarked with a roll of her eyes.
“Well then, Ah think we’ve all got a piece of our minds to give someone,” Applejack remarked.
“Exactly. And it’s the same with being heroes. And friends.” Sunset assured. “If one of us has a problem, then we all have a problem.”
“Thanks y’all.” Applejack smiled at her friends. “Guess Ah just forget how much a good talkin’ to helps.”
“And as much as I hate to admit it, this app helps a lot too,” Gloriosa remarked as she looked at the screen. “Monster sightings are really easy to track when we can just comb through the app and see where they are at the press of a button.” Right on cue, an alert went out over the app, showing Hippounder and his forces attacking the city again, the monster sneezing fireballs around with a great deal more control than before. “See what I mean?”
“All I see is a monster about to get his tail kicked.” Rainbow smiled.
“Ah’m with ya there.” Applejack agreed as she put her hat on. “Let’s go give him what-for.”
“You’re gonna need this,” Sunset smirked as she handed Applejack her Harmonizer.
“Thanks, sugarcube,” Applejack smirked as she strapped her Harmonizer back on. “Let’s go.” With that, the team immediately teleported out of the base.
Appearing in the city, they saw Hippounder and his soldiers scaring humans off around the plaza. The girls immediately locked their eyes on the Juggerknights as they bashed their way through café tables. “Sheesh. What’s with those guys?” asked Rainbow.
“Well, I suppose Tantabus must get lonely. And I doubt the extra muscle hurts.” Rarity remarked.
Then Hippounder noticed the Rangers. “Ah, I was wondering when you’d get here. Back for another beating, Green Ranger?”
“Here to give one of mah own.” Applejack countered. “Along with a lesson. You don’t mess with mah kin and just get to walk away.” With that, she and the other Rangers raised the Harmonizers and opened the Crystal Locks. “It’s Morphin’ Time!”
In sync, the Rainbooms held their forearms up with the Disks pointing upward and locked their Morph Keys into the slots, before thrusting their fists diagonally down their bodies, slamming the Locks closed as they went and making the Disks flash in the Keys’ colors. “Power Rangers!” they all announced as they put their palms against the Disks before pulling them back across their bodies fast, spinning the Disks as they went. “Harmonize!”
A green light pulsed from Applejack's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-green glow, leaving her head exposed. Appearing behind was a desert canyon and rocks and pebbles landed on her limbs as she stomped and punched, creating her uniform with each strike. A boulder landed on her head and a loud neigh was heard. With a final stomp, she posed in a boxing stance.
A red light pulsed out of Rainbow's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-red glow, leaving her head exposed. Appearing behind her was a thunderstorm and lightning struck each of her limbs as she punched and kicked, creating her uniform. A final bolt struck her head at the same time a loud neigh was heard, causing her helmet to appear. Streaks of electricity jolted between her fingers as she posed as if she had just finished a guitar solo.
A blue light pulsed from Rarity's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-blue glow, leaving her head exposed. Appearing behind her was an expansive ocean and streams of water struck her limbs as she danced over the surface, creating her uniform. A wave of water crashed into her head as a loud neigh was heard, causing her helmet to appear. A ripple pulsed from beneath her as she posed like a dancer awaiting applause.
A yellow light pulsed from Fluttershy's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-yellow glow, leaving her head exposed. Appearing behind her was a field of flowers and petals landed on each of her limbs as she spun around, each petal forming her uniform. A final burst of petals encircled her head as a loud neigh was heard, causing her helmet to appear. Flower petals flew about her as she posed like a ballerina.
A pink light pulsed from Pinkie's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-pink glow, leaving her head and over-the-top smile exposed. Appearing behind her were the tops of clouds in which she cartwheeled and bounced around, causing tufts to fly off her and create her uniform. She stuck her head in a cloud and pulled it out as a loud neigh was heard, causing her helmet to appear. She then posed with her hands stretched out as if saying 'Don’t talk to me' to two people.
“Element of Honesty!” Applejack announced and posed. “Power Ranger Green!”
“Element of Loyalty!” Rainbow announced and posed. “Power Ranger Red!”
“Element of Generosity!” Rarity announced and posed. “Power Ranger Blue!”
“Element of Kindness!” Fluttershy announced and posed. “Power Ranger Yellow!”
“Element of Laughter!” Pinkie announced and posed. “Power Ranger Pink!”
“Friendship’s Might, Ready to Fight!” they all called and posed; Rainbow in the center, Applejack and Rarity flanking her, and Pinkie and Fluttershy on the outer edges. “Power Rangers Crystal Harmony!”
“Destroy them!” Hippounder ordered as the Knightmares and Juggerknights charged.
The Rangers quickly drew their special weapons and charged the dark soldiers, slashing and bashing them all aside. “Ha! Is it me or are they going down easier than before?” Pinkie smirked as she swung her nunchucks in wide arcs, ringing the Knightmares’ helmets like bells with every strike.
“Well, the extra muscle is certainly putting up more of a fight.” Rarity remarked, digging her heels into the ground as a few Juggerknights forced her back, but then she dropped down and swung her axe in a wide arc, slashing them all down before she stood up in the middle as they exploded. “Still not enough, though.”
Fluttershy weaved between the swords and maces of the foot soldiers, slicing and blasting as she went. “At least things are easier for this one fight,” she remarked… before she saw a few Knightmares leveling vicious-looking crossbows at her. “Me and my big mouth.” Almost on instinct, she jumped and rolled in the air between the energy arrows fired from the Knightmares’ crossbows before she landed and suddenly linked the handles of her blades together, the wings extending out into the arms of a bow before she pulled the trigger, a much more powerful blast shooting out of her weapon and destroying the would-be firing squad. “Whoa. I like this.” she smiled as she split her weapon back into its tonfa mode and charged again.
Rainbow and Applejack meanwhile focused on Hippounder, with Rainbow deflecting his fireballs with the Bolt Saber as Applejack swung her hammer at him. “You think you can beat me, Green Ranger? I’ve stomped you twice already, and that was before I had control of my allergies.” the monster sneered, sneezing fire out with much more control this time.
Rainbow just smiled and slashed the fire-blasts in half with her sword, knocking them away to explode. “I’m sorry; I just still can’t take you seriously with that voice,” she remarked. “Not that it’ll matter soon. Let’s cut to the chase!” With that one-liner, Rainbow slashed across the monster’s gut with her sword, making him stumble toward Applejack.
“This is for my sister, ya big lump!” the cowgirl bellowed as she swung her hammer into the beast’s gut, knocking him back into a wall. The other Rangers quickly grouped up, knowing just what to do next. “Alright gals, let’s bring ‘em together!”
“Weapons, Combine!” the Rangers announced. The handle of Rarity’s axe quickly slid into the handle of Rainbow’s sword as Applejack’s hammer locked in on top of the axe, one of the hammerheads forming what looked like a weapon stock. Then Fluttershy’s tonfa-blades linked into the tip of Rainbow’s sword with their barrels ready to fire and Pinkie’s nunchucks locked into the sides of the upper hammerhead, their heads aiming forward as they opened to reveal large blast emitters as Rainbow grabbed the trigger and the others quickly steadied the weapon by grabbing its sides. “Harmonic Crystal Cannon!”
“Guessing it’s too late to talk about this?” Hippounder asked.
“Final Strike Keys locked!” the Rangers called as Rainbow opened the upper head of the hammer in the stock, letting the Rangers lock their Keys into it before it closed and Rainbow spun the Disk between the hammer’s heads, powering up the cannon. “Harmonic Final Strike!” the Rangers bellowed as Rainbow pulled the trigger, blasting the villain with a large rainbow-colored shot of energy out at the monster.
“Gah! I had to ask!” Hippounder bellowed in pain as he fell to the ground and exploded.
“How many times does one idiot have to fail before we send someone truly powerful enough to destroy the Rangers in one attack?” Eclipse asked in anger.
“We’ll find that out when the time comes. In the meantime…” Tantabus assured as she stepped forward, her pike glowing with dark magic. “Power of Darkness, Heed my Command! Grant this Beast a Final Stand!” She slammed her blade into the ground, and just as before, a dark storm cloud formed above the monster’s remains before a bolt of lightning shot down and struck them, flashing the surrounding area like a photo negative before Hippounder suddenly reformed and grew 30 stories tall.
“Still think I’m ridiculous?!” he roared down at the Rangers, his voice now much deeper and more intimidating.
“Voice-wise, no! But you still look stupid!” Rainbow called up at the monster.
“Taunt the monster after we defeat him, Darling.” Rarity reminded as she retrieved her Zord Key.
“Right, right.” Rainbow nodded as she and the others followed her lead. “Let’s do this!”
“Zord Keys Locked!” they announced as they locked the Keys into their Harmonizers and spun the Disks. “Crystal Zords, Harmonize!” As the Disks sparked, the Zords raced into the city from their hangars and let the girls quickly leap aboard, quickly deploying their Megazord Keys.
“Megazord Keys locked!” the rangers called as they locked their Keys into the sliders and slammed them back into the Locks. “Crystal Harmony Megazord, Harmonize!” They all spun their spinners and they sparked to life.
“Zords Combine!” Applejack’s Zord spun into reverse and its rear bumper split in half, the rear quarters of the truck extending into thighs as the pegs formed from the bumpers locked into the rear ends of Rarity and Pinkie’s Zords, the whole assembly braking hard to force itself upright. The truck’s cannons moved down the newly formed torso to the midriff as the cabin split in half and folded out into shoulders to reveal a head that glittered like crystal with pony ears as pegs folded out from the shoulders. Rainbow and Fluttershy’s Zords both folded their wings in and locked into those pegs by their rear ends as large hands folded out from under the cockpits, a panel in the chest folding to form a breastplate emblazoned with the same ornate gold arrangement as the Rangers’ belt buckles. Then the head’s eyes flashed as it stood ready to fight. “Crystal Harmony Megazord, Ready!”
Then Rainbow deployed the Saber Key and slammed it into her Crystal Lock. “Saber Key locked!” she called. “Crystal Clash Saber, Harmonize!” With a spin of the Disk, the Megazord’s sword materialized once again but this time, the Megazord swung the weapon to touch its hip, magnetically linking the gold scabbard into place before the Megazord drew the silver sword.
“Let’s finish this!” Hippounder bellowed as he raised his club, charging the Megazord and clashing with it.
“Is that the best you’ve got, buddy? Ha, this is gonna be a piece of cake.” Rainbow smirked as the Megazord clashed hard against the monster’s club, knocking it aside and letting the Megazord get in a good cut across the monster’s nose.
“Gragh! Alright, now I’m mad!” Hippounder scowled and started sneezing over and over, blasting massive fireballs out at the Megazord. The Rangers did what they could to deflect the blasts, but there were too many, and before long, the Crystal Clash Saber was knocked from its hands and the Megazord fell back to the ground.
“Gah! We’re getting creamed!” Pinkie called in worry.
“If this is it, gals, then Ah gotta tell ya; I’m sorry for bein’ so bullheaded earlier! Ah just hate lyin’ to my kin like I’ve been!” Applejack said seriously.
“It’s fine, Darling. If we survive this, we’ll gladly back you up if you tell your family.” Rarity assured.
“That’s a promise.” Fluttershy agreed as she and Rainbow righted the Megazord onto its feet.
“Ready for another beating? Alright then!” Hippounder smirked. The Rangers were more than ready, but the Megazord’s saber had been knocked out of its reach.
“Great. Now what?” asked Rainbow. Then something strange happened; out of nowhere, Applejack’s Battle Gear Key ejected itself from her belt and flashed in her hand.
“Ah think I’ve got an idea.” the cowgirl smirked as she opened her console’s Crystal Lock. “Battle Gear Key Locked!” She slammed the Lock closed and smiled as she spun the Disk. “Megazord Weapon, Harmonize!” As the Disk sparked, the green gem in the Ranger Emblem on the Megazord’s chest flashed forward and materialized into a massive green apple. The girls were confused until the Megazord reached to grab it by the stem… which then extended from the apple on a long chain like a meteor hammer.
“Ho-ho yeah, that oughtta do the trick.” Rainbow smiled as the Megazord pulled the chain and lifted the hammer to its hand.
“Weapon of Honesty; Apple Mace!” the Rangers announced as the Megazord spun its new weapon, easily bludgeoning Hippounder’s club out of the beast’s hand.
“Hey! Cheaters! No one said anything about new weapons!” Hippounder yelled.
“No one said anything about being an evil meanie either, but you’re doing it!” Pinkie pointed out.
“And either way, it’s one of the best rules in a fight,” Applejack smirked. “When outmatched, cheat.” She could almost hear Sunset smirking at that back in the Command Center as the Megazord swung the mace over and over, wrapping the monster in the chain before pulling hard and sending him into a spin that knocked him into a building.
“Let’s finish him off!” Rainbow smiled as she raised her Final Strike Key.
“Right!” the others agreed and drew their keys as well, slamming them into their Crystal Locks and slamming them shut. “Final Strike Keys locked!” They reached their hands across their chests, ready for the final attack. “Crystal Harmony Megazord, Final Strike!” With one powerful spin, the Megazord surged with power that raced through the Apple Mace, which the Megazord spun above its head while the apple at the end of the chain grew massive. “Apple Mace; Bumper Crop Bash!” With one final upward swing, the mace bashed the monster into the air screaming before it exploded in the air.
The Rangers all cheered at their victory as the Megazord stood down, the chain of the mace between its hands. “Perfect Harmony: Crystal Clear Skies ahead!” Rainbow announced proudly.
After the battle, the team returned to school whooping up their latest victory. “That was awesome! I still can’t believe we can give the Megazord new weapons with old keys!” Rainbow cheered.
“I didn’t know you could.” Twilight noted scientifically. “Not until the Apple Mace appeared. It must have something to do with the Geodes being linked to the Elements of Harmony. The Mace only activated after Applejack was honest about her true intentions.”
“Let’s not worry about it for now, Twilight.” Sunset insisted. “For now, let’s just be happy about another win.”
“And speaking of being honest…” Rainbow remarked, pointing into the main office where the girls saw Applejack’s family, as well as Flash, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Principal Celestia, and Vice Principal Luna. “Guessing you called them?”
“Ah had to,” Applejack remarked as she walked into the office. “Howdy, y’all. I got words and Ah figure y’all need to hear ‘em.” She looked at her family and breathed deeply as she took her hat off. “Ah’ve been lyin’ to ya for weeks now, and it’s gettin’ in the way of a lotta stuff, and it even got Apple Bloom’s arm broken. So Ah figure it’s ‘bout time Ah got it out there.”
“Now Applejack, you ain’t gotta say nothin’.” Granny Smith assured with care in her voice, making Applejack smile. “… ‘Cause we already know it! Ya really think you could keep it from yer old granny that you’re the Green Ranger?”
“Wait, you knew?!” Applejack asked in surprise, echoed on the faces of the others. “You all knew?”
“Eeyup.” Big Mac nodded.
“It wasn’t exactly hard to figure out.” Flash shrugged. “The whole school knows.”
“Aw, come on!” Rainbow said in annoyance.
“It’s true. The absences Luna’s covered for, the obvious symbols…” Celestia pointed out. “The whole school knows you’re the Power Rangers.”
“Is that why you girls went to that battle?” Rarity asked Sweetie Belle.
“Well… yeah. Why else? We wanted to see our big sisters and their friends being heroes!” Sweetie Belle smiled.
“Well… if nothing else, that means we won’t have to sneak around on Ranger business anymore.” Twilight shrugged, trying to look on the bright side.
“Yeah, and it means I’ll get to flaunt my awesomeness around to all our friends,” Rainbow smirked.
“Not according to Ranger Rule Number 1.” Sunset reminded, taking the wind out of Rainbow’s sails again. “No abuse of power or no power, period.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m not that crazy.” Rainbow pointed out.
“That’s debatable.” Rarity rolled her eyes.
“Well, either way, at least things will be easier now.” Fluttershy shrugged. “But… does anyone else feel like we’re forgetting something?”
“Oh yeah! We need to throw a ‘High School Heroes’ party!” Pinkie smiled.
“No, not that.” Fluttershy shook her head. “Um, I mean that does sound like fun, but… there’s something else.”
“I think I remember what,” Rainbow noted as she glanced out of the office and saw Lyra Heartstrings walking down the hall with BonBon. “We still need to give a piece of our minds to the one who made RangerStation in the first place.”
“Mind if I take charge of that, Red?” Applejack asked as she cracked her neck.
“Be my guest,” Rainbow smirked as the Rangers raced from the office, chasing Lyra and BonBon down the hall as those in the office laughed – this would be fun.