//------------------------------//
// Thunder Strikes Twice 
// Story: My Little Pony Rangers: Enter the Nightmare 
// by Lance Skyes 
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	The Rangers were battling Zecora’s hydra in the Megazord. Twilight would have been with them, but she was busy beating back a group of Putty Ponies that were attacking Ponyville. “Twilight,” Rainbow Dash called into the comm, “whenever you feel like joining the party, we’re waiting.”
“Sorry,” Twilight replied, flipping one Putty over her back, “but it’s no picnic down here, either.”
Just then, the hydra launched a fireball at the Megazord. Rarity was fast enough to move the sword arm to deflect the attack, but they had already taken a lot of damage. “Well hurry up, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said. “We’re getting owned up here!”
Twilight fired a huge blast of magic towards several Putties, knocking out the last of them. She turned to find Zecora standing behind her. “Excellent work, Twilight Sparkle,” Zecora said, “but I’m afraid... I can’t really work with that. Seriously, change your name.”
“I can’t bother with you right now, Zecora,” Twilight said. “My friends need me.” Twilight then started galloping towards where the battle was taking place, casting her spell for summoning the Dragonzord. “Dragonzord, decend!” The Dragonzord then fell to Equestria next to the Megazord.
“About time you joined us,” Rainbow Dash said as Twilight teleported into her zord.
“Just get ready to form the Dragon-Megazord. I’m casting the spell now. Dragon-Megazord forma- GAHH!” Twilight shouted as she suddenly got a massive headache, taking her hooves off the controls and grabbing both sides of her head.
“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Are you okay?”
“Something’s... wrong!” she said, straining to keep in her seat.
”Embrace the darkness,” she heard a familiar voice say in her head. ”Embrace the darkness.”
“Derpy?” Twilight asked. “What’s going on?” She did her best to keep upright, but it was as though there was some kind of weight weighing down on her along with the voice.
”Feel the full power of Thunder. Embrace the darkness.”
“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash called over comm. “What’s wrong?” As though to answer Rainbow Dash’s question, the Dragonzord suddenly attacked the Rangers with a tail swipe, which caught the Rangers completely off guard. “WHAT THE HAY, TWILIGHT?”
Rainbow Dash’s question didn’t really get an answer, but screams of “No!” and “Stop!” were coming from Twilight’s comm, causing Dash and the others to wonder what was going on. However, they didn’t have much time to wonder with the Dragonzord delivering blow after blow to the Megazord.
“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity shouted. “What are we going to do? We can’t just attack a teammate!”
“We’re probably going to have to,” Rainbow Dash replied as Twilight unwillingly sent another blow towards the Megazord.
“Rainbow... Dash...” Twilight said over comm, apparently struggling with something. “You have to... de-morph me!”
“Twilight, what’s going on?” Rainbow Dash tried to ask. However, this was answered by a fire blast from the Dragonzord. “Fine. Rangers, we need to de-morph Twilight, and that means fighting her.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Pinkie asked.
“I’m not sure. Just attack.” The other Rangers looked at each other, unsure of what they should do. Eventually, (after several more hits from the Dragonzord) the Rangers nodded at Dash and sent the Megazord charging at the Dragonzord, hacking and slashing with the Power Sword.
Meanwhile, Zecora was looking on from the ground, unsure of what was going on. “Well this is an interesting change of pace,” she said. “Come, my hydra. We shall return to the base.” She and the massive hydra then teleported away from Ponyville.
Back to the battle, Twilight was doing her best to keep the Dragonzord still while the Rangers hacked and slashed, but it was pretty much no use. No only was she still being controled by some strange power, (which at this point she figured was the Thunder Coin) but the Dragonzord itself was refusing to take very much damage. “Must... resist...” Twilight said to herself, still struggling.
”Embrace the dark powers of Thunder.”
“Keep attacking, Rangers!” Rainbow Dash shouted from the Megazord. “We’re almost there!” The Dragonzord was, indeed weakening, but the Megazord was badly damaged, as well.
“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack shouted. “We can’t hold out much longer!”
“Neither can Twilight. We need to finish this now. Focus all of your powers into this one strike. If it doesn’t work... let’s hope it works.”
“Let’s go for it,” Fluttershy said.
“Okay. Get ready, everypony.” All five of the Rangers closed their eyes, took a deep breath, and began focusing the powers in their morphers to the Power Sword. Just as the Dragonzord moved in for its final blow, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and shouted “NOW!” With one quick motion, the Megazord swung its sword in an arc motion in front of it, hitting the Dragonzord square in the chest and knocking it backwards. It then began glowing a bright green before teleporting away automatically, leaving a de-morphed Twilight laying in the middle of a field. “You four take the zords back to their hangars. I’m gonna go check on Twilight.”
“What about the Tyrannozord?” Pinkie asked. “How will we get your zord back to Canterlot?”
“Can you use the Pterodactyl zord to fly it there?”
“I don’t think so, but I could try.”
“Okay, you do that. Everypony, I’ll meet you back in Canterlot. I need to get Twilight first, though.”
“We’ll see you soon, then,” Rarity said. The Megazord then disassembled and the Rangers took their zords to their respective hangars while Pinkie grabbed the Tyrannozord and seemed to struggle a little with taking it back to Canterlot. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash flew as fast as she could towards where Twilight landed. (Which got her there in ten seconds flat.)
“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted, grabbing her friend by the shoulders and trying to shake her awake, but Twilight was out cold. “Twilight, wake up!” Rainbow Dash placed her ear to Twilight’s chest to try to hear her breathing or her heartbeat or something. Much to Dash’s relief, Twilight was still alive. She then picked up her unconscious friend and began flying towards Canterlot. However, she stopped when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She turned around to find the Thunder Coin lying next to where Twilight was. “I might as well take that, too,” Rainbow Dash said to herself. She picked up the coin, grabbed it with her teeth, and began flying towards Canterlot again with Twilight in her hooves.

Meanwhile, on the moon base, Zecora had just explained to Nightmare Moon what had happened earlier. (How she did so will remain a mystery for eternity.) “Are you sure you saw all of that correctly?” Nightmare asked her zebra minion.
“I am sure it is true, however out of the blue,” Zecora replied. “I saw it as plainly as the sunlight. My hydra barely even had a chance to fight.”
“Speaking of your hydra,” Gilda said, walking in with a mini-hydra in her talon, “how do you get your monsters so tiny when they’re not in action? It couldn’t be magic, could it?”
“It is a magic of some form, though not like that of a unicorn.”
“Back to the topic at hoof,” Nightmare interrupted, “something obviously happened to the new Green Ranger that made her attack the others. Something that I believe none of us in here did.” She then turned around back to Zecora. “Something I’d like you to try to figure out. You’re going on a stealth mission.” A smile crept across Nightmare’s face as Trixie galloped in.
“Wait!” she shouted. “I thought I was your minion for stealth missions!”
“In that mission, none of the Rangers were in Canterlot and you were spotted anyway. Besides, I want to be fair and give Zecora a mission where she doesn’t have to stand by and let her monster do the dirty work. As well, from how she’s bragging... she’s better at magic than you are.”
Trixie was furious, but knew better than to question her master when a decision was made. “Very well, my lord,” she said, bowing.
“Good,” Nightmare said. “Now go, Zecora. Find out what’s going on with those Rangers so we can exploit their weakness and finish them once and for all!”
Zecora nodded and turned, walking out of the base towards the teleporter room. “Seriously,” Gilda said, the mini-hydra still in her talon, “what am I supposed to do with this? It’s about the size of a mouse. Can I eat it?” Nightmare just slapped Gilda on the back of her head, but didn’t say anything to the griffon. “So I can’t eat it?”

Back at Canterlot, Rainbow Dash had just flown in, carrying the still unconscious Twilight. Once she was inside, the other Rangers came galloping over, worried about their fallen friend. “Is she all right?” Fluttershy asked Rainbow Dash.
“She’s alive,” Rainbow Dash replied. “She just took a pretty long fall, that it.” (I’m sure there will be stupid people reading this, so I’m just going to come out and say that if you say something like “Too bad she doesn’t have wings!” or something else related to Twilicorn, I will delete your comment. This story still has season 1 continuity.) “Does anypony here have medical training?”
“I do,” Twilight said, waking up quickly, surprising Dash and causing the shocked pegasus to drop her. “Ow! Jeez, Dashie, I know it was a bad surprise, but you didn’t have to drop me.”
“You’re okay!” Rainbow Dash shouted, hugging Twilight. “I thought we had made a horrible mistake by fighting you.”
“You five didn’t make any mistakes,” Twilight said, walking over to the console where Spike was. “In fact, you may have saved us all for the time being. Only so long, however. Spike, pull up the security footage of the day Derpy attacked me.”
Spike nodded and typed some stuff into the console. After he finished flying his fingers across the keyboard for several seconds, he pressed one large button, lowering a screen right in front of Princess Celestia’s face. “I thought you were going to reposition that, Twilight,” Celestia said from behind the screen.
“Sorry, Princess,” Twilight replied. She then turned back to the Rangers. “Anyway, this is the security footage of Derpy’s... end.” On the projector screen, Twilight held the Thunder Coin in her hoof and morphed in front of Derpy, who shielded her eyes from the light of Twilight morphing. The screen then proceeded to show Twilight battling Derpy, eventually killing her.
“That really happened?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I’m afraid so,” Twilight said, turning to Spike and indicating for him to raise the screen back up. “The worst part of it is that I was under some type of outside control during the entire... well, looking back, I can hardly call it a battle. It was just me tossing Derpy like a ragdoll. Still, the point is, there was something controlling me, and I can say with a 97.825% certainty that it was the Thunder Coin.”
“Well if it’s so dangerous,” Rainbow Dash said, flying up to Twilight, “then why did you use it again, today?”
“There’s an excellent question, Dash. I used it today because I wasn’t entirely sure about the first battle. Maybe it was just Derpy herself that had somehow controlled me the other day.” She then walked over to the console and placed the Thunder Coin down next to her. She then cast a spell on the console, causing several lights to begin surrounding the Thunder Coin. “But now I have undeniable proof that it was, indeed, the Thunder Coin itself that controlled me.”
“So then what’s the solution?” Fluttershy asked.
“For now, I can’t be called to battle. It’s far too dangerous. In fact, it’s only a matter of time before the Thunder Coin’s evil power can control me in my un-morphed state, according to my research.”
While the Rangers were having this conversation, Zecora was eavesdropping from the support beams above. “This is rather interesting,” she said to herself. “I should take this opportunity and do something.” She then pulled out some eerie glowing green dust, held it up to her face, and blew it, causing it to envelop her body and disappear.
“That’s not much of a solution,” Applejack said.
“I know,” Twilight replied, not looking up from the screen. “That’s why I need to stay in here and continue my research before it’s too late.” Just as she said this, an alarm went off on the console. “Ponyville is under attack!”
“We kind of guessed that,” Rarity said sarcastically.
“Can you tell us what we’re up against?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Spike typed some more stuff into the console. “Zecora,” he said. “She’s back and it seems she’s here for vengeance. She doesn’t have the hydra or any monster, though. Just some Putties.”
“You Rangers go,” Twilight said. “If things get too hairy, I’ll come join you.”
“But I thought you said-”
“I know what I said, Dash, but protecting Equestria it top priority above all else. Now go. Ponyville needs you.”
“Okay. Best of luck to you, Twilight.”
“Same to you, Rangers.” Twilight gave a nod, and Dash nodded back.
“Let’s go, Rangers,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Wait,” Twilight called. “Just because I can’t fight doesn’t mean I can’t teleport you directly to Ponyville.”
“Oh, right. I keep forgetting you can do that. Just don’t drop us from ten feet in the air like last time.”
“Yeah, sorry. I’m not exactly a master at magic yet. Anyway, get in position.” The Rangers stood in a line in front of Twilight and waited at attention. Twilight then began casting the teleportation spell. “Compensating for z-axis location... good luck in the battle, Rangers.” Twilight’s horn flashed brightly and in an instant, the other Rangers were gone. “Not out of breath... Huh, I am getting better.”

Back in Ponyville, Zecora was leading a dozen Putty Ponies through the streets, using her own tricks to cause explosions and destroy property. “This attack will be finished in no time,” she said. “But I’m still surprised the author still tries to let me rhyme.”
Just then, the Rangers arrived in Ponyville. The only problem was that they weren’t on the surface. They were in some kind of cellar full of strange wooden barrels. (That one’s for you, Pewdiepie.) “Well,” Rarity said, “I think Twilight compensated for altitude a bit too much.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Rainbow Dash said. “At least we didn’t fall from ten feet in the air, this time. Let’s just get out of here and get to the battle.”
Just as the Rangers got up, an earth pony with a mane and coat colored similarly to Pinkie, except a little darker, galloped in. “Hay!” she shouted, “who are you all? And what are you doing in my wine cellar?”
“Uh, we were just leaving,” Applejack said. “Come on, Rangers.” Applejack then galloped out of the room, followed by the others. The only pony left in the room was Berry Punch.
“Ah,” Berry said to herself, trotting over to one of the barrels and filling a glass with the liquid contents. “Sweet relief.”
After a few minutes, the Rangers finally got out of Berry Punch’s house and found themselves muzzle to muzzle with Zecora and her Putty Ponies. “Zecora!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “You’re not getting away, this time.”
“Ah, Red Ranger,” Zecora said, “I don’t recall meeting you before, but I see Rangers Pink and Black are back for more.”
“Wha’s she talkin’ ‘bout?” Applejack asked.
“Zecora ambushed and kidnapped Pinkie on her first attack with the Parasprites,” Rarity replied. “I’m the one who fought Zecora to save Pinkie.”
“Okay,” AJ said. “Sorry, I don’t read MLPR that often.”
“Enough chit-chat,” Rainbow Dash said, pulling out her Element of Harmony. “It’s about time this battle got started. IT’S MORPHIN’ TIME!” Upon Rainbow Dash’s command, the others pulled out and donned their Elements as well.
“HONESTY!”
“KINDNESS!”
“LAUGHTER!”
“GENEROSITY!”
“LOYALTY!”
The five Rangers each took on combat-ready stances. “Harmony Force, Ranger Blue!” Applejack shouted.
“Harmony Force, Ranger Yellow!” Fluttershy shouted.
“Harmony Force, Ranger Pink!” Pinkie shouted.
“Harmony Force, Ranger Black!” Rarity shouted.
“Harmony Force, Ranger Red!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“From all of us together,” the Rangers shouted in unison, “we fight as one! We protect one another until the battle is done! PONY RANGERS, HARMONY FORCE!” After the Rangers shouted this last line, there was an explosion behind them as they all posed as not individual ponies, but as one team.
“You have improved on your preformance since we last met,” Zecora said. “I am shocked, you could have easily bet.”
“Stow it, Zecora,” Rarity said. “We’ve had enough of your rhymes. Time for you to be defeated!”
“You’ll have to get by my creations before you do that, Ranger Black. Putty Ponies, I command you to attack!” Upon Zecora’s command, the Putty Ponies charged at the Pony Rangers, who charged back.

Meanwhile, back at Canterlot, Twilight was working furiously trying to figure out how to counter the dark energy within the Thunder Coin. “Gah!” Twilight shouted in frustration. “There’s just no way this could be so powerful. It pales in comparison to the Elements of Harmony in all of my tests, but it’s produced such different results in combat. This just doesn’t make any sense.” She continued working for a few seconds before she was suddenly struck by a massive yet all too familiar headache. “No...” she said, holding either side of her head with her hooves and struggling. “Not... now...”
”It’s useless, Twilight Sparkle,” Derpy’s voice said from inside Twilight’s head. ”The power of Thunder will consume you.”
“You won’t win, Derpy,” Twilight said, thrashing her hooves around in her struggle. “My mission is to protect Equestria. You won’t stop me from that mission. You hear me? YOU WON’T STOP ME FROM PROTECTING HARMONY!” Upon saying this last sentence, Twilight collapsed to the ground. She didn’t get up, but she did put her hoof on the table and begin blindly looking around for the Thunder Coin, which she found in a matter of seconds. An evil laugh escaped her mouth as she pulled the Thunder Coin closer to her and off the table.

Back in Ponyville, the Rangers were having an easier time than usual with the Putty Ponies. “Your ‘creations’ seem a bit weak today,” Applejack said to Zecora after flipping a Putty over her shoulder. “What’s the matter? Low budget?”
“No, Ranger Blue,” Zecora said. “Though it does not concern you. I have another plan that I will put into action that will easily defeat Celestia’s faction.” Just as Zecora said this, the Dragonzord appeared suddenly and began rampaging through Ponyville. “That was not part of my plan. I mean, that was totally supposed to happen.”
“What the hay?” Rainbow Dash shouted after smashing the heads of two Putties together. “Is Twilight piloting that?”
“She did say it was only a matter of time before the Thunder Coin could control her in her un-morphed state,” Fluttershy said. “I guess time’s up, now. What are we going to do, Rainbow Dash?”
“Fluttershy, you and the other Rangers stay here and finish the battle with Zecora. I’ll take care of Twilight.”
“You’re not going to hurt her, are you?”
Rainbow Dash took a moment to pause (and buck a Putty Pony trying to sneak up on her) before responding. “I hope not.” Dash then pulled out her Element and used it to summon the Tyrannozord. “I’ll think of some kind of solution. Don’t worry.”
“Good luck, Dash,” Fluttershy said. Rainbow Dash gave a quick nod in reply and flew up into her zord.
“Okay,” Rainbow Dash said to the Tyrannozord when she landed in the cockpit, “one more battle.” Rainbow Dash then flipped on the comm system and tried to contact Twilight. “Twilight! Twilight, are you there?”
In response, the Dragonzord turned around and fired several rockets Dash’s way. Rainbow Dash was easily able to deflect these, but that wasn’t the response she was hoping for from Twilight. “Dash,” Twilight struggled to say over comm, “I can’t... control the Coin, anymore. You have to... destroy me.”
“It’s not going to come to that,” Rainbow Dash said. “But you have to be the one to fight your own battle. I can only do so much to help you.”
“There’s nothing you can do,” Twilight said, sounding like she was really straining. “It’s too late!” Jsut as Twilight shouted this, she unwillingly sent the Dragonzord charging straight at the Tyrannozord.
Back on the ground, however, the battle was only beginning. The four remaining Rangers had defeated Zecora’s Putty Ponies and were now about to face the zebra in charge. “Four against one?” Zecora asked. “Ha, I’m hardly done. I have magic beyond what you would believe. Would you like to see?” Just as Zecora said this, she leapt into the air and threw several small spheres at the Rangers. Each one hit the Rangers and caused small explosions, catching the Rangers off-guard.
“What was that?” Fluttershy asked.
“Bomb Spheres,” Zecora said, landing on the ground perfectly on all fours. “They are very usefull as you can see. Though they won’t be the height of my victory.” Zecora then waved her hoof and vanished in a puff of purple smoke.
“Where’d she go?” Applejack asked, looking around.
“Behind you, Ranger Blue,” Zecora said from behind Applejack. Before AJ could react, Zecora knocked her to the ground in one solid kick. Rarity was about to jump Zecora while she was distracted with AJ, but Zecora disappeared yet again.
“That’s going to get annoying fast,” Rarity said, looking behind her to try to catch Zecora before she could attack again. However, Zecora wasn’t there, this time. Rarity was about to question where Zecora was when the zebra came down from above Rarity and landed right on top of her.
“Zebras do not usually fly, but with my magic, I can always try.”
“I don’t believe what I’m seeing,” Fluttershy said. “We’re actually getting beaten.”
“Quite correct, Ranger Yellow,” Zecora said from behind Fluttershy, startling the timid pegasus. “And yet you can still seem so mellow.”
“I’ll show you ‘mellow’!” Fluttershy shouted as she tried to attack Zecora with a foreleg strike. Much to Fluttershy’s surprise, this attack made contact and knocked Zecora back a little. “Wow. I was sure she’d teleport again before I hit her.”
“A decent hit, but it only hurt a bit.” Zecora then waved her hoof again, spreading a bright yellow powder across the battlefield.
“What’s going on?” Fluttershy asked.
“I’m not sure,” Applejack replied. Just then, she felt something hit her. Something small and barely noticeable, but it was definently from the smoke. “Be careful, everypony! There’s something in the fog.” As Applejack said this, she began getting hit by more of those small things. This time, however, it felt like there were hundereds of them and they were attacking from all over, causing significant overall damage.
“Bullet Smoke,” Zecora said, “a personal favorite of mine. This battle will be over in no time.”
“I hope Rainbow Dash and Twilight are doing better than we are,” Applejack said, trying to sheild herself from the continuous attacks.
Applejack’s hopes weren’t exactly going too well. The Tyrannozord was getting thrashed by the Dragonzord and Rainbow Dash couldn’t do anything about it. “Twilight!” she shouted into the comm. “You have to stop!”
“I... can’t!” Twilight shouted, struggling to stop her zord.
In Twilight’s mind, she was standing un-morphed in front of Derpy in a dark room with low-lying fog all around the area. ”You’re fighting a battle you can’t win,” Derpy said to Twilight.
“You’re wrong, Derpy,” Twilight said. “Harmony will always win.”
”But you don’t weild the power of harmony, do you? You’re using the power of Thunder and are, therefore, under its control.”
“No. You will never control me.”
”Do you not notice what is going on outside of your mind? I have total control of your body and your powers.”
”Twilight!” an echoing voice shouted from what seemed to be a thousand miles away.
“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked, looking around. “Is that you?”
”Twilight, you have to fight whatever’s controling you! Only you can fight your own battle!”
“She’s right,” Twilight said to herself. She then turned back to Derpy. “You don’t control me. You don’t have nearly as much power as I do.”
“What are you talking about?” Derpy asked angrily. “What power do you mean? Nothing is stronger than Thunder.”
“Nothing except for one thing.”
“Let me guess. Harmony? Magic? Friendship?”
“The latter. It’s a power that can overcome any and all obstacles that come my way. With my friends by my side, there’s nothing I can’t beat, and that includes you.”
“No, I will beat you!” Derpy then charged at Twilight at top speed. However, just before Derpy could reach Twilight, a tornado of Twilight’s magic surrounded her, knocking Derpy back. “This is impossible. There’s no way!”
As the tornado of magic died down, Twilight stood with the other five Rangers standing around her. “For lack of a better analogy, you’re just one small roadblock on the road of friendship, and they are the bulldozer I need to break you down.”
“No. No!” As Derpy was shouting, a large burst of light was emmited from Twilight and the others, enveloping the entire area and sending Derpy flying backwards into the dark void in the distance. After Derpy was gone, the area lit up with a white light and the next thing Twilight knew, she was back in the cockpit of the Dragonzord.
“I did it,” Twilight said to herself. “I’m free from the Thunder Coin’s control.”
“That’s great, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said over comm. “Now, could you please do me a favor and get the Dragonzord off of the Tyrannozord and power down the fire breath!”
It took Twilight a moment to realize that the Dragonzord was, indeed, standing on top of the Tyrannozord and about to deliver the final blow. “Oh, sorry Dash,” Twilight said as she powered down the fire breath and moved the Dragonzord off of the Tyrannozord.
As this was happening, Zecora noticed it and was furious. “No, my plan has failed,” she said. “Time for plan B. I summon my hydra to come down and assist me!”
Upon Zecora’s command, the hydra from the previous battle decended near Ponyville. “The hydra!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Twilight, we have to fight it together.” Just as Rainbow Dash said this, the hydra fired a blast of ice at the Tyrannozord, knocking it to the ground. “I can’t get my zord back up off the ground! She’s wrecked!”
“Oh no!” Fluttershy said, looking on from the ground. “Without the Tyrannozord, we can’t form the Megazord.”
“The Rangers cannot form their Megazord,” Zecora said, seeming to not believe that her own plan worked. “Equestria will soon be under the control of my lord!”
“Wait a second...” Twilight said to herself, thinking back to when she combined the Dragonzord with the Megazord. “If that combonation worked, who’s to say that this next one won’t?” She then opened her comm to the Rangers on the ground. “Pinkie Pie, do you think you can hold Zecora off without the help of the others?”
“Uh, probably,” Pinkie replied. “What do you have in mind?”
“Still not entirely sure. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, get ready to pilot your zords. I’m sending them now.”
The three indicated Rangers were about to question what Twilight was planning, but before they could do so, their zords came stampeeding towards the battlefield. “I guess we mount up,” Rarity said to the other Rangers. The three then entered their zords and came up next to the Dragonzord.
“So what’s the plan, Twi?” Applejack asked.
“I think I have an idea for defeating this hydra,” Twilight replied. “I’m going to try to form a new Megazord.”
“A new Megazord?” Fluttershy replied. “Would it be dangerous?”
“Probably not, but you might want to hold onto something whlie I cast the spell.” Twilight took a deep breath and prepared the spell. “Dragon Battlezord formation spell, go!”
After Twilight cast the spell, the Mastodon, Triceratops, and Sabre-Tooth Tiger zords were lifted into the air alongside the Dragonzord. The Triceratops and Sabre-Tooth zords tucked in their legs and formed legs on the Dragonzord similar to what usually happened when they combined with the Tyrannozord. The Mastodon did a similar action, it’s head and body separating and forming the chestplate and arms for the Dragonzord. The Dragonzord’s tail extended and detatched, flying into the hand formed by the Mastodon and becoming a spear-like weapon. “Dragon Battlezord, ready!” the Rangers shouted in unison.
“Wow,” Twilight said to herself. “I can’t believe that actually worked.”
“Hey, Twilight,” Applejack said, “is there anything different that we’re supposed to do with the Dragon Battlezord as opposed to the normal Megazord?”
“No,” Twilight replied. “The only differences are that Dash and Pinkie aren’t here and I’m the leader of this combonation. Also, slightly different weapon.”
“Well that doesn’t sound too hard,” Rarity said. “But the only question is: how much more easily can we take this hydra down?”
“Actually, the Dragon Battlezord has a similar level of power as the Megazord, so just as easily as normal. Now let’s go!”
[Author’s interjection: Admitedly, I’ve only watched a couple episodes of MMPR and not a single one with the Dragonzord in fighting mode. You’ll have to forgive me if I depict this combat scene incorrectly.]
All four Rangers set their controls to full throtle towards the hydra. The Battlezord moved forward, its spear pointed straight towards the monster. The hydra fired an ice blast towards the Battlezord, but Rarity blocked it using the Zord’s left hand with a quick flick of her joystick. [Shut up. I want to see no comments on that line.] With another swift movement, she swung the Zord’s weapon hand towards the hydra. The spear made contact and sent the hydra flying. “Take that, you ruffian!” Rarity shouted.
“Good hit, Rarity,” Twilight commented. “Applejack, Fluttershy, this next shot belongs to.”
“I already know what you mean, Twi,” Applejack said. “Get ready, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy gave a quick nod, acknowledging that she knew what Applejack meant. The two sent their zords into full throtle, running at the downed hydra at maximum speed. Just before they got to the hydra, Fluttershy used the Sabre-Tooth Tiger zord to leap into the air, allowing Applejack to use the Triceratops zord to give the hyrda one solid kick, knocking it back further.
“Good hit you two,” Twilight said. “Now it’s time to finish this monster once and for all.” Twilight began charging up magic energy for the final blow. “Now here’s something Derpy never would have been able to do. LIGHTNING SPEAR, CHARGE!” As Twilight said this, the Battlezord raised its spear to the sky and was struck by a bolt of lightning, charging the spear and the entire zord with energy. Twilight exhaled slowly before continuing the spell. “Time for some real magic.” She then pounded a large button on the console before her, causing the Battlezord to lower its spear, still crackling with electricity, and point it directly towards the hydra. “FINAL STRIKE!” she shouted, unleashing a massive amount of magic directly into the Battlezord. Upon doing so, the Battlezord charged directly at the hydra and, in one quick slash, obliterated the hydra in a massive sweet-mother-of-glory explosion. The other three Rangers in the cockpit cheered and patted Twilight on the shoulder, congratulating her. “Well that wasn’t so bad,” Twilight said to herself amid the celebration.
“This is very bad, indeed,” Zecora said, observing her monster’s demise. “All of Nightmare’s plans, this will greatly impede. But I will be in little danger. After all, I did defeat the Red Ranger.”
“Oh, you’re still in danger,” Pinkie said from behind Zecora. “What? Did you forget I was here.”
“No, I didn’t, Ranger Pink. However, it is time to leave, I think.” Zecora waved her hoof and spread a green smoke around her. Pinkie tried to give chase, but Zecora was already gone.

Later, all the Rangers were gathered back in Canterlot. “How long is it going to take to fix the Tyrannozord?” Rainbow Dash asked Twilight.
“Without interruption, just a couple of hours at best,” Twilight replied. “She’ll be back up and running with plenty of time before Nightmare’s next attack.”
“Your magic is certainly improving, my student,” Celestia said. “And not only that, but you discovered the full might of true friendship and used it to break the grip the Thunder Coin had on you. This is an important power to master, indeed.”
“Yes it is,” Twilight replied. “And using that power, the six of us will defeat Nightmare Moon and save Equestria together.”
“You’re right, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said. “If there was anything important to learn today, it’s that we aren’t only a team, but we’re friends, and while a team my be powerful, friends are unbeatable.”
The six Rangers hugged while Spike sat on the other side of the room, looking over with a sad look on his face. “Why aren’t I ever included in group hugs?” he asked himself.
“That’s because you never ask,” Fluttershy said, flying over and hugging Spike. She was followed by the other five, who did the same thing. For the first time, all seven of them felt a sense of true friendship within each other’s embrace.

Meanwhile, on the moon base, there was a sense of anything but friendship in the air. “How could you let them slip through your hooves like that?” Nightmare scolded Zecora. “You even had the Tyrannozord completely out of commision!”
“I apologize, my lord, but the Green Ranger recovered her power,” Zecora said, trying to defend herself. “I didn’t expect that to happen, especially at that particular hour.”
“Just shut up, Zecora,” Nightmare said, storming out of the room. “All of your rhymes are giving me a headache, and I’m sure the same can be said about agent_cupcakes.”
“But-” Zecora tried to say. However, her mouth was kept shut by some strange outside power. She simply hung her head and walked out of the room, but not before somehow banging her head against the door frame... repeatedly. “How- why- STOP DOING THAT, AUTHOR!” With a painful headache, the poor zebra finally managed to leave the room.