It was a generally peaceful night in Ponyville. The final battle between the Harmony and Chaos Rangers was three days ago, and an air of calm settled upon the town since then. Even Twilight Sparkle, who usually spent her nights studying, was at the moment sound asleep.
At least, she was until she heard a noise coming from downstairs. Her ear twitched and she opened her eyes just slightly so she'd be awake enough to try to make out the sound. Usually if she was woken up in the middle of the night by a noise from downstairs, it was the sound of Spike rummaging about in the kitchen looking for a midnight snack, which Twilight often just ignored. However, that usually sounded like silverware and pans clattering to the ground because Spike accidentally bumped their drawers. That wasn't what the sound Twilight heard tonight was, though. This time, the sound was something like a whooshing and whirring sound that seemed to fade in and out, but each time it faded back in, it was slightly louder than before. After the noise was loud enough to cause Twilight to decide to go investigate, the whirring stopped and there was a sound that sounded something like a metal ball dropping. As the unicorn got out of bed, she heard what sounded like a wooden door opening, something being placed on the center table, and then the same door closing. Twilight made her way to her bedroom door and opened it just as the whirring noise from before started going off again, only this time it started intense and gradually ebbed. By the time Twilight got downstairs, the sound was gone, as well as the source of the noise. Twilight looked around for any evidence of a break-in. The door was locked, the windows unbroken, and nothing unusual about the room except for a few scattered quills and papers.
“That was weird,” Twilight said to herself. “I wonder what-” The unicorn stopped suddenly when she noticed something. There was a large tome on the center table that wasn't there before. “Huh... what do we have here?” The unicorn cantered down the stairs, picked up the book, and began to inspect it. She wasn't inspecting for long, however, before she saw something that made her gasp and drop the book. “The others need to know about this,” she said as she galloped to the basement so she could contact the other Rangers.
After about an hour, all the Pony Rangers except for Snowdrop and Button Mash had gathered in the library. As for everyone who was there, all of them were wondering where Twilight was since she was upstairs waiting for everypony to arrive.
“What do y'all think Twilight wanted this late at night?” Applejack asked.
“I have no idea,” Rarity replied. “But it had better be a reason good enough to interrupt my beauty sleep.”
“I'm sure Twilight wouldn't call us unless there was imminent danger,” Rainbow Dash commented as she flew upside down above everypony else. The pegasus then turned to Sweetie Belle. “Speaking of, do you know where Button Mash and Snowdrop are?”
“Oh sure, associate me and the Elemental Rangers with 'imminent danger' why don't you?” Sweetie Belle grumbled. “Button Mash's mom grounded him for getting so behind on his schoolwork—I think you can guess why—so he's gotta steal a scene from a spy movie if he wants to get here. I don't know about Snowdrop, though.”
“I sent a message to the Princesses to have them teleport her here,” Spike said. “Snowdrop should be here any minute.”
It was at this moment that the door opened and Button Mash quickly darted inside before closing the door behind him. He then galloped over to the window and looked outside for a while before he breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to the others, who were all staring at him. “Oh, hi guys,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “Sorry about the delay. I've been grounded since the other day and I had to sneak out of my house to get here.”
“I already told them,” Sweetie Belle replied.
“Oh, thanks Sweetie Belle,” Button said with a smile as he cantered over towards the group. “So, does anypony know why we're here?”
“Nope,” Applejack replied while shaking her head. “An' Twilight's waiting until everypony's here before she tells us.”
“It makes sense,” Rarity replied with a shrug. “I, quite frankly, would rather not have to repeat myself if it could be helped. I believe everypony here could agree with me.”
It was another moment's pause before Princess Luna teleported into the library with Snowdrop on her back. “Good evening, everypony,” Luna greeted as Snowdrop leapt off of the Princess. “Princess Celestia is preoccupied at the moment... with sleep. So I came here for her.”
“Sorry if we kept you all waiting,” Snowdrop said. However, she was facing away from the others as she said this. Luna quickly stepped in and turned Snowdrop 180 degrees. “Oh, was I not facing you all? Sorry.”
“It's ok, Snowdrop,” Fluttershy said as Luna guided the filly towards the group.
“Alright, so it looks like everypony's here now,” Rainbow Dash said. “Now hopefully Twilight will come downstairs and tell us what the hay is going on.”
Right on cue, Twilight trotted down the stairs while levitating the book she found earlier that evening. “Oh good, everypony's here,” she said as she made her way towards the group.
“Twilight, I'm just gonna ask the question on everypony's mind,” Rainbow said. “Why are we all here?”
“Because of this,” Twilight said as she levitated the book over the center of the table and set it down. Instantly, everypony gathered and looked at the book curiously. “I was woken up earlier in the night by some strange noise, but when I went to investigate that noise, the only thing I found was this book on the table. No evidence of a break-in, no magical residue left from teleporting, nothing. But that isn't the strange part. The strange part is the title of the book. Go ahead and take a read.”
Everypony instantly crowded around the book to get a good angle on the title, which was written in small, difficult to read print. Everypony except for Rainbow Dash, who flew over everypony's head and looked at the title from above. “It reads...” she started, squinting her eyes to read the text. “'History... of the...' WHAT?” Whatever Rainbow had read, it startled her enough to cause her to become unable to keep herself in the air and fall on top of everypony.
“Rainbow, what was that for?” Applejack asked angrily as she and the others got back up and Rainbow got off the table. “What'dja read?”
“It said 'History of the Pony Rangers';” Rainbow replied. “Are we really so old that we need some huge tome to chronicle our adventures already?”
“Well, this story has been in the process of being written for about three years now,” Pinkie said. “Then again, in terms of chronologicallity within the story itself, it's actually been a year and an unmentioned but easily calculable by total nerds of this story number of months since Nightmare Moon returned and the first five of us became Pony Rangers.”
The others just stared at Pinkie. “Anywho...” Button Mash said, “back to the book.”
“Right,” Twilight said. “The title isn't the worst part, though.” She used her magic to open up to the inside page. “Look here. It says 'Volume 1' under the title on this page, implying that this story has more than what's just in this book. And the worst part is this book looks large enough to fit everything we've been through in the past year and a half. That is, unless this one just has incredibly large print and many illustrations and it's that reason why several volumes are needed. But I skimmed through the book and that wasn't the case.”
“Wait, you mean you haven't even read it yet?” Snowdrop asked.
“I haven't,” Twilight replied with a shake of her head. “I didn't want to get too far into this and leave everypony else out. But don't worry, Snowdrop. I'm gonna read it aloud for everypony.”
“Gather 'round, fillies and colts, it's story time with aunty Twilight,” Rainbow said. At least, she was going to say that, but for the first time in a long time, she actually kept her remark to herself. Instead, she said “Okay, Twilight. Let's get to the bottom of this.”
“Let's hope this book lets us get there,” Twilight replied. She then opened the book and read the first page. “'About a thousand years ago, Nightmare Moon escaped her prison on the moon, and began her campaign to plunge the world of Equestria into eternal night. Princess Celestia, who was still trapped in her time warp by Nightmare's dark magic, hatched a plan to stop her corrupted sister. She called upon five ordinary ponies, Rainbow Spectrum Dash, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Fluttershy Breeze, Rarity Belle, and Applejack Apple, to wield the Elements of Harmony in order to defeat Nightmare and restore peace to Equestria. Similarly to what happened when the two sisters wielded the Elements of Harmony against Discord, these five ponies gained the ability to become the Pony Rangers. However, unlike the Solar and Lunar Rangers, these five, each wielding an individual Element of Harmony, became the Harmony Force Pony Rangers of the colors Red for Loyalty, Rainbow Dash's Element, Pink for Laughter, Pinkie Pie's Element, Yellow for Kindness, Fluttershy's Element, Black for Generosity, Rarity's Element, and Blue for Honesty, Applejack's Element. It was with these powers that...'” Twilight stopped reading in the middle of the sentence.
“What is it, Twilight?” Sweetie Belle asked. “It sounded like there was more to read.”
“There is,” Twilight replied. “But there's something bugging me. It feels like there was supposed to be something that happened before this in the book, even though I'm reading from the first page.” Twilight looked carefully at the inside cover page before finding her answer. “Aha! There are several pages torn out from the beginning.” Looking carefully at what remained in the book from the torn pages, something that looked like text written in very small print was on the paper. However, the text looked hoof-written, not typed like the rest of the book. “It says, 'You'll get to this part later.'”
“What's that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked. “Shouldn't the beginning of the story be told, ya know, at the beginning of a book?”
“I'd guess so,” Twilight replied. She then shook her head. “Well, if the book says we'll get to the beginning later in the story, then there's nothing we can do but just keep reading.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Fluttershy said with a nod. With that, Twilight went back to the book.
“'It was with these powers that were born from the Elements of Harmony that Equestria found its salvation from Nightmare Moon and her evil.'” Twilight then read a little further onto the next page silently for a moment. “Now it's telling about our battles in detail...”
...in a brilliant flash of lightning, the Harmony Sword, created and summoned by the power within the Elements of Harmony, descended from the clouds above and planted itself in the ground before the Harmony Megazord. The Rangers grabbed the sword and aimed it at the giant manticore before them. However, their foe, in a moment of cowardice, teleported away from the battle, thus giving the Harmony Rangers victory for that day. Despite not being able to use the full extent of their power in their first battle, the Rangers were able to send a powerful message to Nightmare Moon. Despite the absence of Princess Celestia, Equestria was far from defenseless. Nightmare read this message loud and clear, and prepared her counter to the Rangers...
“Something tells me that this next chapter is going to be about Derpy,” Twilight said as she turned the page.
“With any luck, this book might tell us something really important that we should know about Derpy's powers,” Rainbow added. “I know there's something about her powers that changed her, because she isn't the same mare she was two years ago by a long shot.”
“None of us are, Rainbow Dash,” Princess Luna replied. “But you have a point. Derpy does seem to be a special case. Even from behind the veil of darkness the miasma cast over me, I could tell she underwent a massive personality shift when she became the Green Ranger. Why or how, however, I do not know.”
“Then let's hope this book can tell us what we need to know,” Twilight said as she returned to the book.
...the Thunder Coin was an ancient relic, a result of the Elements of Harmony being used against Discord. All of his chaotic power was too much for his stone form to hold, so before turning to the miasma, the two sisters created the Thunder Coin as a means of containing Discord's magic. The coin sealed a great amount of chaos energy, but it wasn't nearly all of Discord's power. Even still, the Thunder Coin was hidden away by and entrusted to Princess Luna so that the chaos magic within would remain hidden forever, even if Discord were to escape sometime in the future. This turned out to be a poor idea, however, as several centuries later, the miasma possessed Princess Luna and turned her into Nightmare Moon. She was sealed away within the moon with the Thunder Coin still in her possession. When Nightmare was freed a millennium later and faced with the Harmony Rangers, she came up with her own plan to use the Thunder Coin to create her own Pony Ranger, one born from evil and chaos. As her subject, Nightmare Moon chose an ordinary pegasus mare called Derpy Hooves. (See picture to left.) Derpy had no evil in her heart to begin with, but the Thunder Coin overtook and corrupted her, destroying her old personality and turning her into a villain equal only to Nightmare Moon herself.
“Did that book just say that the Thunder Coin 'destroyed' the old Derpy?” Rainbow asked with a shocked expression.
“It did,” Twilight replied. “I'm sorry, Rainbow. I know how much you wanted to save her, but I'm afraid-”
“No,” Rainbow interrupted. “You said yourself that the only thing we can do is continue reading. So do that. There has to be a way to save Derpy later in this chapter. And failing that...” Rainbow took a deep breath. “If we can't save her... then we need to find a way to finish her once and for all.”
Twilight nodded slowly before returning to the book.
...the Thunder Coin gave Derpy incredible power. Despite there being only one of her, she could easily match the five Harmony Rangers in battle. However, this incredible power of hers came at a terrible cost. Discord's power would eventually begin to-
“There's more pages torn out,” Twilight said while shaking her head. “This is getting ridiculous.”
“I'll say,” Rainbow shouted. “Whatever that book was about to say, it has to be important.”
Twilight looked carefully at the paper remaining from the torn pages. “Like the beginning of the book, the remaining paper has 'You'll get to this part later' written on it. Everything's torn out until our first encounter with Gilda.”
“Whoever left this book here sure is leading us along a mighty winding path,” Applejack said.
“I've seen this technique before,” Button Mash said while rubbing his chin. “In a lot of the video games I've played, lots of plot devices are hidden away in the dialogue, only referenced once or twice, and then, when you least expect it, BOOM! Plot twist. And a pretty important one at that. Something that reveals something shocking about a certain character.”
“So what does that mean?” Snowdrop asked.
“It means whoever wrote this book has a thing for showponyship,” Rainbow concluded. “But he goes about it in a pretty annoying way.”
“You're welcome,” Rei said with a smirk as he relaxed in the corner of the room on a recliner. “By the way, I'm not the one who put that book there. In case you were planning on asking, that is.”
“Then why are you here?” Twilight asked. “You wouldn't show up in your own story unless you had something to say that would affect the plot.”
Rei just laughed and shook his head as he got off the recliner and stood up. “Twilight, have you even read this story? I almost never have something important to say. I usually just pop up for comic relief. Though I did feel the need to pop up so I could clear up some confusion. I just wanted to confirm that you weren't talking about me whenever you complained about 'whoever wrote this book.'”
“I'm starting to think we were complaining about both you and whoever tore out the pages,” Rarity grumbled.
“Hmm... I suppose a lot of people have wanted to voice their complaints about my writing style,” Rei said with a shrug. “At the time this story takes place and at the time it's gonna be published. The first ones to voice their complaints this openly for all to see might as well be my own characters.”
“Your own characters?” Pinkie asked. “But we're property of Hasbro.”
“Okay, this is enough craziness for one evening,” Rainbow said, flying between Pinkie and Rei. “You, Mr. Author, please go away and leave us to read this book in peace. You, Pinkie, please don't be so... you. At least for tonight. There's answers in that book and we need to find them.”
“I'm actually gonna stay in the room this time,” Rei said. “I'll leave you all be to continue the story, but I kinda wanna be there to see what happens for myself.”
“And I can't make any promises,” Pinkie said with a grin.
“I'll... I'll take that,” Rainbow said with an unsure tone. She then turned back to Twilight. “Alright, let's try to continue this story without any more breaches of the fourth wall.”
“You'll get no arguments here,” Twilight said as she returned to the book.
...during one of Nightmare's attacks, an invasion of Parasprites (see image to right) sent by Zecora, the Harmony Rangers found themselves at nearly a loss, despite their best efforts...
...when all seemed lost, the Harmony Rangers found salvation from an unlikely source: Derpy Hooves. Despite her evil, the Green Ranger knew Zecora's attack was out of hoof, and fought alongside the Harmony Rangers in order to destroy the Parasprites.... Once victory was achieved, however, Derpy turned on the Harmony Rangers once more.... Despite what happened, however, this battle served to prove that, perhaps, Derpy was not completely gone. Perhaps behind the veil the Thunder Coin cast, the old Derpy was still crying out. Trying to free herself, trying to stop the Green Ranger....
“I knew it!” Rainbow shouted. “I knew all wasn't lost. If this book says that Derpy might still be in there, there might be a chance.”
“Don't get your hopes up, Rainbow,” Button warned. “This is exactly what happened in 'Ponyblade Chronicles 3D.' It seemed like there was a chance for everything to turn out alright, but then-”
“I see what you're saying, Button Mash,” Rainbow interrupted. “But even if there's a faint glimmer of hope, I wanna hold onto it.” She then turned to Twilight and nodded. “Go ahead.”
...It seemed at first like Twilight had destroyed Derpy once and for all, but as long as the Thunder Coin still existed, that could never have happened. All it took was a single feather, infused with her essence, that Rainbow Dash recovered and set free to fly in the wind, away from Nightmare Moon. Derpy could still exist, but her form was now shattered. A part of her in the feather, a part of her in the Thunder Coin, and, with Twilight the new Green Ranger, a part of Derpy in the unicorn. Even incomplete, Derpy still existed, though hidden far away from Ponyville....
“So that's how Derpy returned,” Fluttershy commented. “Who could have guessed?”
...the Grand Galloping Gala was where Nightmare Moon made her final stand against the Harmony Rangers....
...despite her power, the Harmony Rangers were able to overwhelm her in a final charge to victory, thus destroying Nightmare Moon and freeing Princess Luna from the miasma's grasp. However, the miasma itself was not destroyed. Fueled by all the jealousy and rage it had consumed from Princess Luna for so many centuries, the miasma became a massive monster that could have easily destroyed Equestria were it not for the Harmony Rangers going in for one last battle....
“I'm guessing the next bit is going to be about Discord, right?” Rainbow asked.
“Looks like it,” Twilight replied.
...Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony, now freed thanks to the eradication of the miasma, which was the only entity maintaining any measurable seal on him. His stone imprisonment held him for some months, but the time quickly approached when the Harmony Rangers had to do battle with him....
...their overconfidence proved to be their downfall. Discord was unfazed by the defeat of Nightmare Moon under the belts of the Rangers, and was able to easily defeat them, even stealing the chaotic Green Ranger powers from Twilight....
“Whoa whoa whoa,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “I dunno about anypony else, but I don't remember 'overconfidence' playing a part in the first time we battled Discord and got our flanks handed to us.”
“Are you sure about that, Rainbow?” Pinkie asked. “Think reeeeeeally hard about that day. If I remember right, we were kinda cocky, like we could take on the universe no problem. Well... that's how I felt, at least...”
Twilight cleared her throat and continued reading.
...the loss was scathing, but the Harmony Rangers were far from the point where they'd given up. Twilight Sparkle had been working on the Weapons of Harmony, which could have been the difference between victory and defeat in their previous battle. (See image gallery in back.) They were untested, however, which was why the Rangers could not use them in the first place. Despite Twilight losing her place as a Ranger, the Weapons of Harmony she had created still helped the remaining Rangers defeat Discord. He was not finished, but a message was sent to him, the very same message the Harmony Rangers sent to Nightmare Moon in their first battle: Equestria was still defended....
“I guess we're getting to the part where we come in, huh?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Looks like it,” Twilight replied. “Might also have something on Derpy, though.”
...the Chaos Rangers, new Pony Rangers created through Discord's power. Only the Rangers representing Deception, Greed, and Betrayal were created by Discord, however. (Hatred and Cruelty were left out for the time being.) Instantaneously, the Chaos Rangers proved to be superior to the Harmony Rangers in every way. As though the Harmony Rangers didn't have enough problems, however, soon after their defeat, they were treated to another unpleasant surprise. The return of Derpy, the original Green Ranger.... She had survived an incomplete existence off of just her feather, but once Twilight lost her Ranger powers, the life force Derpy had within Twilight was returned to Derpy. After that, the creation of the Chaos Rangers created an influx of chaos energy that Derpy was able to feed off of in order to not only complete her form, but re-obtain her Ranger powers.
However, this did not slow down her decay. Her powers still continued to-
“The page is torn out again,” Twilight said. “And those last two sentences were scratched out.”
“What did it mean by 'decay'?” Rainbow Dash shouted in a near-panic tone. “What's wrong with Derpy?”
“I don't know,” Twilight replied with a shake of her head. “The bit that's left once again says 'You'll get to this pa-'”
“I'm tired of this foreshadowing!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “If something's wrong with Derpy, I have to know! Isn't there some way we can skip to the part that talks about what's wrong with her?”
Everyone was silent for a moment, unsure how to properly respond to Rainbow's outburst. Finally, in defiance of everypony's expectations, Rei spoke up. “Rainbow Dash has a point,” he said. “Season recaps are good for a TV show, but I'm starting to rethink whether it's such a good idea in a fanfiction... or any written material for that matter.”
This was followed by everypony else mumbling and nodding softly in agreement before Twilight spoke her part. “Alright,” she said. “If you of all ponies say so, then that's what we'll do.” The unicorn then began flipping through the book. “Let's see... Element of Magic, Phoenix Ranger born from Element of Hatred, that day everypony went crazy thanks to Discord's spell, our final encounter with the Chaos Rangers... while they were still evil, that is. Hey wait a second. What's this...?”
...Derpy and Rainbow Dash fought to a standstill, as per usual, but this time, something worked in Rainbow's favor in order to end the duel early. Derpy's deterioration had accelerated faster than she had planned, and it was during this battle that her body began the process of physically breaking apart, starting at the hoof she attempted to strike Rainbow Dash with at the wrong moment. If Derpy had attempted to continue the fight any longer, the Thunder Coin would have completely destroyed her. In order to prolong the decay, Derpy retreated and was not heard from again by the Harmony Rangers for three days....
“And none of that was scratched out like last time...” Twilight said.
“Whoever left the book wanted us to discover this part at this exact moment in the story,” Button Mash said. “And beyond that, it's been three days since that battle. We could hear from Derpy again at any second.”
“So what this book is saying is that Derpy is slowly...” Rainbow Dash said. “But is that why she's been so dead-set on revenge? Is that the only reason she's been fighting?”
“I think we'll find out in this next chapter,” Twilight said. “It's titled 'The Strange Book'. That probably means this chapter is about us finding the very book we're reading at this moment.”
“Hah, that's stupid,” Rei said with a laugh. “What kind of book talks about itself?” Everyone in the room glared at the author, who quickly cleared his throat. “I mean, uh, please continue.”
...Twilight Sparkle walked downstairs to see a book left behind by a mysterious stranger, of whose presence there was no other evidence other than the very book you are reading. (Or a copy, at least.) Whoever left the book vanished without a trace....
...all ten of the Harmony Rangers gathered in the library, where Twilight read to them all the book contained, which was a detailed account of all of their battles and adventures as Pony Rangers up to that point. Much to their dismay, however, many of the pages had been torn out of the book. (See “Removed Pages” in index.) This angered several of the Rangers, but the one who was most concerned was Rainbow Dash, due to the fact that almost everything that was torn out had to do with Derpy Hooves, whom the former pegasus sought to save from Discord's hold. As the story went on, however, Rainbow Dash and the others slowly began to realize that there was more at stake than just Derpy's alignment. No, they slowly discovered why Derpy fought so vigorously. Because of the decay that Derpy was experiencing due to the Thunder Coin's overwhelming chaos energy....
“That makes sense!” Pinkie shouted. “You guys, do you remember back in season 1 when Rei did that crossover chapter with the other author that never got finished?”
“Oh crap, you're right!” Rei shouted. “I completely forgot that chapter still needed a conclusion! Oh, I bet Xanderman1201 is sooooo angry with me.” The pegasus then turned around to face the camera. “Xander, if you're out there, I'm really really really sorry about neglecting our chapter.”
Sweetie Belle leaned over to Button Mash and whispered “Why is he apologizing to a wall?”
“He's talking to the camera,” Button replied in a similar whisper. “It's something a lot of video game characters do if the game is heavy on comedy.”
“There's no time to worry about the conclusion to that chapter right now,” Pinkie said. “What's important is what happened in part 1 of that chapter. When we encountered that evil Twilight from the alternate universe, she said something about the Thunder Coin being too much for her and that she was slowly dying.”
“But wait, didn't we already figure out that what she said was false?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, even if that bit technically hasn't happened yet since it wasn't written, we sorta figured it out after Twilight... well, never died because of the Thunder Coin. If what that evil White Ranger said was true and Twilight couldn't have survived more than a few more battles, then she shouldn't be standing here right now. Right? Am I right here?”
“Maybe her math was off,” Twilight said while rubbing her chin. “Or maybe she told you false information on purpose to throw us off. That being said... who knows how long Derpy has now?”
“Not long, I'd bet...” Rainbow Dash said while looking down. “Derpy... we have to save her! Twilight, that book is about us as Pony Rangers, right? And it's some kind of history book from the future?”
“That's right,” Twilight replied with a nod. “But where are you going with this?”
“If that's a history book from the future, then surely it has an ending,” Rainbow concluded. “You know, it can't just stop at 'the Pony Rangers found this book and read it'. It has to end somewhere. Maybe it can tell us how to save Derpy. I mean, surely we save her in the end, right?”
“I don't know, Dash,” Twilight said. “I mean to say, I don't know if that's such a good idea. What if we read ahead and find out that we don't save Derpy? Somepony once told me that the future is only changeable until it's read, then it's set in stone.”
“But that book has already said that we're reading the book,” Rainbow replied. “What if the book says something like 'The Rangers then read that this and this and this were what were needed to save Derpy.' With everything that's already happened with this book, surely that's not out of the question, right?”
Twilight was silent for a moment before sighing. “You know what? You're right. It's like I said at the beginning of this book. The only thing we can do is keep reading.” The unicorn then went back to the book.
...the Rangers read and read, but stumbled upon nothing that would help them. That is, until they reached the final chapter....
“Well... that's convenient,” Twilight said with a confused expression. “It looks like the next chapter is the final chapter.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” Rainbow asked. “Let's hear what it says.”
“Okay,” Twilight replied with a nod. “The final chapter: Friendship is Magic....”
...that morning, every Ranger knew that something big was coming. However, Rainbow Dash was the only one with a real battle on her hooves. At high noon-
“Not again!” Twilight shouted. “More pages are torn out! This time it looks like the whole chapter's gone.”
“What?” Rainbow Dash shouted. “But that can't be! How are we supposed to know-?”
“Wait a second...” Twilight said. “There's something in the back of the book.... It's a note of some kind.” She then read the note.
Well hello there, my little Pony Rangers. Did you enjoy the story I drew up for you? Well, I didn't write the whole thing. I had a couple of co-authors. But if you'd notice, I kinda got rid of a lot of stuff on this particular copy, namely a lot of pages, but what probably evaded your perception were some minor things like the names of the authors and such. Why all of this? One simple reason: spoilers. What you all are having is an adventure. What's the fun in an adventure if you know what's around the next bend? No, I left this book here for just two reasons. First, I wanted to remind you of what you're fighting for. At this point, the first five Harmony Rangers have been doing this gig for about a year or so. Everyone else probably less time, but none of you can forget why you're Rangers in the first place. You all have to remember that you're all destined to save Equestria, even those of you who got off to a... less than pleasant start. Second, I wanted to let you know what's at stake here. You probably don't know this, but Discord survived the moon base exploding. (Then again, you really shouldn't be surprised if you didn't know.) And beyond that, he's almost back to full power. All it'll take is one last surge of chaotic energy in Equestria, and he might become too powerful for the ten of you to stop. In fact, I can just about guarantee that. That's why you have to find him and stop him before something drastic happens.
Which brings me to my third and final reason. (I did say there were three reasons, didn't I?) That final reason is Derpy... Rainbow Dash, if you're reading this, you're not gonna like what's coming next. At this point, I'm pretty sure Derpy is beyond help. Even if you were to find a way to convince her to join you, I'm afraid she doesn't have enough time left. Her powers will destroy her tomorrow, and there's nothing you can do. She also knows this, and she's going to do something drastic as one last hurrah. This drastic thing is going to be what Discord needs to regain the remainder of his power. You will have to stop her before that can happen, no matter the cost. If you don't, Discord will have the power he needs to conquer Equestria entirely unopposed, and you'll be powerless to stop him.
“But... but that can't be...” Rainbow Dash said in a shaky voice. “N-no, that has to be a lie. There has to be some way to save Derpy. There just has to!”
“I'm sorry, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “But I warned you. Once the future's read, it's set in stone.” There was a pause before Twilight continued. “There's still a little more to the note.”
But before you cut away from this note to Rainbow Dash being upset over the news, Twilight, there's one more thing you need to know. Once Derpy is gone, the Thunder Coin will still remain. Keep that as safe as you've kept the Alicorn Amulet. There is one very important thing you need to know. About the road that lies beyond Discord. (Oops, probably should have put a spoiler alert there. But let's face it, why would you think Discord was it?) There is a message you need to receive, and that message is: Only the power of Thunder can defeat the master of all evil.
To Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Snowdrop, Sweetie Belle, Button Mash, and Spike, I wish you all luck with this battle. Remember, do not waste any time. Time is something you will need against Discord. I understand how hard this will be for you to digest, but you need to forget about Derpy. Finish her when you have the chance so that she can't give Discord the opportunity he needs to achieve his maximum power. And save the Thunder Coin. Store it somewhere safe. Where no one will ever get to it until the time is right.
This is all I can offer you. The ten of you are on your own from this point on.
“That's it,” Twilight said. “The note was at the back cover of the book, and there's nothing else we haven't read yet. That was everything this book had to offer us.” Everypony in the room then looked over at Rainbow Dash. “And I'm sorry about Derpy. I really wish there was something we could do.”
“There is,” Rainbow replied sternly with a stomp of her hoof. “Why should we care about what some book says? For all we know, it was just put there by some talented prankster who knows way too much about us. It doesn't have to dictate what we do to Derpy. There's a way to save her... I can feel it. And whatever that way is, I'm going to find out, and I'm going to use that knowledge to save Derpy.”
Everypony in the room was silent for a moment before Twilight shook her head. “No, Rainbow Dash,” she said. “I'm afraid you're wrong.”
“How could you just give up like that?” Rainbow shouted. “I know you're an egghead and like books a lot, but why are you letting this one little book dictate what we do and who we save?”
“You didn't let me finish, Dash,” Twilight replied. “What you're wrong about... you're not going to find out how to save Derpy... we're going to find out. All of us will work together to find a way to save her.”
“Really?” Rainbow Dash asked, a glint of nervous hope in her eye.
“Our duty is to protect Equestria and everything within,” Twilight replied. “That includes Derpy. If she's in danger, then we're going to save her from that danger. All of us. Together.”
“Yeah!” the other Rangers in the room cheered.
“Gosh... thanks everypony,” Rainbow said with a slight smile. “It means a lot to me that you'd all-”
Rainbow Dash was interrupted when there was a loud beeping noise coming from downstairs. “There's an incoming transmission!” Spike shouted. He and Twilight then ran down towards the computer room, followed closely by the others and finally Luna with Snowdrop in tow.
Once everypony was gathered in the computer room, Spike opened up the transmission, revealing the face of Derpy on the screen above. “Derpy!” everypony shouted in unison.
“Hello to all of you as well, Harmony Rangers,” the evil pegasus said. “And especially to you, Dashie.”
“What do you want, Derpy?” Rainbow Dash asked with a fierce expression.
“To apologize,” Derpy replied with a sinister smile. “I'm sorry our last battle three days ago got cut short. I'm afraid I was... unprepared, in a sense. But now I'm ready to finish what I started all those moons ago. Rainbow Dash, I challenge you to one final duel at high noon tomorrow above Ponyville. One final duel from which only one of us shall walk away. And you will face me alone.”
Rainbow Dash was far from surprised by this. She already knew about what was happening with Derpy, and if what the note at the end of the book said was true, this was that last hurrah. Her final attempt to destroy Rainbow Dash. Whether Derpy succeeded or failed was inconsequential to whether she lived for very long afterwards, so since she had nothing left to lose, Derpy was going to fight Rainbow Dash with every last ounce of energy, thus making this duel the most dangerous one ever. But also if what that note said was true, if Rainbow Dash didn't accept Derpy's request, then something terrible was going to happen that would cause massive chaos in Ponyville, and possibly all of Equestria, that would give Discord the energy spike he needed to gain unbeatable power. Finally, after considering all of this, Rainbow Dash responded to Derpy.
“I'll fight you, Derpy,” she said with a serious and unflinching expression. “I'll fight you, and if need be, I'll finish you once and for all. But I can't let you put any more ponies in harm's way because of your thirst for revenge.”
“Heh, you can try to finish me Dashie,” Derpy replied with a laugh and an evil smile. “But know this right now. I'm not going down tomorrow by your hooves. No, I'll finally be the one to defeat you. Then we will finally see who the truly superior Ranger is. Once you're out of the way, your whole town will suffer my wrath, and even your friends will be powerless to stop me.”
“If my friends will be powerless to stop you, then I'll just have to make sure I finish you first,” Rainbow replied. “Tomorrow at high noon will be our final battle.”
Derpy's lips curved into a sinister smile. “Good. I eagerly await this battle. I'll make sure it's one you won't soon forget.” Derpy then disconnected, and the screen turned to static.
“I know it'll be one I won't forget,” Rainbow said mostly to herself as she looked down and a frown began to appear on her face. “It'll be one we'll both remember as long as we live...”
“Rainbow Dash, are you ok?” Princess Luna asked while walking up to the prismatic pegasus.
“I'm fine,” Rainbow replied with a shake of her head before looking back up at everypony else. “The plan hasn't changed. Derpy's finally sent her challenge, so now the only thing left for me to do is meet that challenge. I'll fight her, and I'll defeat her... in the name of harmony.” Dash then looked down once again. “But that doesn't mean... I won't feel bad about losing her.”
Twilight walked up and placed a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. “You won't lose her,” the unicorn said with a reassuringly serious expression. “We'll make sure we can come up with a plan to save Derpy from whatever the Thunder Coin's doing to her. Don't you worry, Dash.”
“Thanks Twilight,” Rainbow said with a smile. “Thank you everypony. I don't know what I'd do without any of you here to back me up.”
“And we don't know where we'd be without such a great leader,” Fluttershy replied.
“Yeah, without a leader like you, who would we have to back up?” Pinkie asked. “We'd be backing up nothing but air, and we can all imagine how awkward that would look.”
For the first time in a while, everypony in the room allowed themselves to laugh a little at Pinkie's comment. It was probably the first time any of them had laughed in ages, and this proved to some of them to be a good omen. Whatever the next day brought, they were all ready for it, for better or for worse.
“Okay, so it looks like everypony is not only clear on the plan, but has some pretty high morale,” Rei said. “In that case, I'll go ahead and... disappear. You know, like a usually do.”
“Wait,” Twilight said as the colt began to walk up the stairs. “You have to tell us something first.”
“What could you possibly want me to tell you?” Rei asked with a curious expression.
“Why do you keep appearing?” she asked. “Whenever something's big is about to happen, you decide to show yourself instead of make it happen from the background like you normally do. What significance do you have to your own story?”
Rei was silent for an uncomfortable amount of time before replying. “Do you remember how Derpy and the others gave Applebloom and Scootaloo edited versions of this story?”
“Yes...” Rainbow replied. “Are you saying you're the one who gave the Chaos Rangers those chapters to give to our sisters?”
“No,” Rei replied with a shake of his head. “I mean I keep appearing so that I can prevent something like that from happening.”
“But... what's that supposed to mean?” Button Mash asked.
“You can't concern yourself with that right now,” Rei replied. “You have a finale to focus on. As for me... I'll see you all again on the other side.” The colt then left the room.
“He's right,” Rainbow said. “We can't dwell on the mysteries that surround him. We have to focus on Derpy first. If we don't stop her, we'll never be able to stop Discord, and we won't be able to save Derpy unless we're all focused.”
“You're right,” Twilight said with a nod. “Alright everypony... let's prepare ourselves for a finale.”
Next time, on part 1 of the season finale of My Little Pony Rangers...
“We'll come up with something by the time all's said and done. Trust me.”
“And here I was afraid you wouldn't show.”
“I know why you fight, Derpy. I wanna help you.”
“Where was all of this help when I still had a chance?!”
“Derpy, please wake up!”
“To defeat me, you have all tried. But now is the time that you've all died!”
Be on the lookout for the beginning of the end, “Derpy's Last Stand (Friendship is Magic part 1)”