//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Lunaverse: Galaxy Rangers - The Rangers Nevermore? // by Rixizu //------------------------------// Lunaverse: Galaxy Rangers - The Rangers Nevermore? Chapter 5 by Rixizu It was a peaceful morning in Ponyville. So far the day was pretty uneventful. Trixie trotted up to the entrance of Lyra and Bon-Bon's house and knocked. Lyra let her in and greeted by the rest of her friends. Ditzy and Carrot Top were running late but should be along shortly. Bon-Bon was giving out sandwiches and Trixie took one. It was a plain store bought a dandelion sandwich, apparently, Bon-Bon was too busy to cook this morning, but Trixie took it anyway. Trixie's body still ached from yesterday, but she did her best to hide it. She took off the bandages a bit prematurely to not alarm her friends. Lyra was not so lucky, however. “What happened to your eye Lyra?!” Ditzy proclaimed in alarm when she entered the house. Lyra was sporting an eyepatch over her right eye. “Well...um...you see I slipped in the bathtub and hit my eye!” Lyra blurted out. “You poor thing.” Ditzy cooed. “You need to be more careful!” “Right right…” Lyra said dejectedly. She gave a Trixie a quick glare that went unnoticed by everypony else. “Anyway!” Trixie said trying her best to change the subject. “Do you think Corona will send a monster today? We smashed the last one pretty easily.” “Probably. Apparently, she starting to send monster at times other than midday.” Ditzy said. “What?” Cheerilee asked in alarm. Lyra and Trixie did their best to act surprised. “You have got to be kidding me!” Raindrop growled. Ditzy tapped her chin. “She sent one at about seven or so. Luckily I was able to beat it without much trouble.” “Good...job.” Trixie complemented. “Nice.” Raindrops said smiling. "That's going to be a problem. If she stops sending them at midday then we will never be able to predict when they will come." Cheerilee said troubled. “I thought about that. How about we do patrols?” Ditzy suggested. “Good idea.” Cheerilee nodded. “I have my route so I can be all over the place most of the day no problem.” Ditzy gave out not bothered at all by the extra work. “And I can watch from the sky while doing the weather.” Raindrops said nodding. "I can watch around too I guess," Lyra said hesitantly. "What we really need is somepony to do an evening patrol," Cheerilee said, "I suggest we do it in shifts. Trixie first." “What?” Trixie said outraged. “Why me?” "I just thought that since you aren't training that you can pull your weight for the team some other way," Cheerilee explained. Trixie growled in frustration. "Fine!" Hopefully, after a few days of no monster attacks, this whole patrol nonsense will get called off. There was a knock on the door and Carrot Top entered looking a little flustered. "Hey, guys!" Carrot Top greeted. "You aren't going to believe this!" “What?” Cheerilee asked apprehensively. Soon Carrot Top had everypony’s attention. "According to Zecora, six stars disappeared last night!" Carrot Top announced. She was unable to hide the worry in her voice. Zecora was a tentative ally of theirs. During their Longest Night adventure, she betrayed Trixie and her friends and pretended to join Corona against them, but really it was a trick to stop the mad alicorn. Zecora lured Corona to them so the power of the Elements could be released. She reasoning that only extreme danger could cause them to activate. When Corona was injured by the Rangers, she gave Corona a potion that poisoned her magic making her almost defenseless. Unfortunately, it didn't stop her from escaping and she foalnapped Zecora's friends Spike. Now nopony knew where the two were. Trixie did not trust the zebra one bit not finding somepony that betrayed both sides particularly trustworthy. She could be useful sometimes, however. “What? You’re serious?” Trixie asked alarmed. Carrot Top nodded. "Right around nine. She showed me her star charts and sure enough, six stars were suddenly gone!" “Six stars?” Lyra repeated. “Wonderful.” Raindrops snarked. Cheerilee tapped her chin with a hoof. “What could it mean? Is she going to send six monsters against us or one super monster?” “Zecora thinks it will just be one.” Carrot Top said. “I agree with her.” Trixie’s friends looked a little worried. Trixie herself felt the same way, not that she was going to show it. “Ha! So, what! We can beat this thing too. The Galaxy Ranger can vanquish any foe!" She boasted and flourished her cape dramatically. As leader, Trixie could show she had no doubt or fear. This is where Trixie’s persona as the Great and Powerful Trixie came in use. Her confidence would bolster the rest of her friends. Trixie’s friends smiled at her antics. It seemed to calm them down. “Right.” Lyra agreed. She looked at a nearby clock. “Five minutes until midday. Ready to transform?” "Seems as good as time as any," Ditzy confirmed. “Good luck!” Bon-Bon gave Lyra a kiss on the cheek. "Right! It's morphing time!" Trixie shouted. She pulled out her morpher and thrust it in front of her. The rest of her followed suit and got into formation. "Ursa!" “Cygnus!” Lyra shouted. “Hercules!” Raindrops said in a determined tone. “Libra!” Cheerilee said with purpose. “Sagittarius!” Ditzy gave a serious look. “Scorpio!” Carrot Top said lastly. In an instant, their armor appeared around them. It didn’t take long for them to hear the screams and shouts of alarm. “Let’s go!” Trixie cast an invisibility spell on all of them, the suit boasting her magic making seemingly impossible spellwork easy. Trixie would have never been able to handle this complicated spell on her own. They rushed outside. It didn't take them long to find their target. Trixie was taken aback by its appearance. It didn't look like the usual monster. It was in the shape of a pony but was bipedal and stood up on its back legs. It had black feathers covering its body. They were pitch black but looked greasy and gleamed in the light. Instead of front hooves it had giant wings that spanned almost the size of its body. It had a head like a pony's, but it was covered with a bird shaped mask. The mask's beak looked sharp and menacing. Through its eye holes Trixie could see giant violet eyes. Its mane hung from the back of its head and was a dark purple color. A long sharp horn protruded from the top of the mask. The thing looked vaguely female so Trixie assumed it was a she. Currently, the thing was scanning the town square coldly. Ponies ran and hid wanting to stay out of its path. Trixie and the other Rangers took position behind the monster and Trixie created an illusion of them teleporting from the sky in a rainbow colored light. She made them appear when the light hit the ground in a spectacle of light and colors. She loved these dramatic entrances. The group posed in their battle stances as the monster turned to look at them. She didn't do anything but stare at them tilting her head. A wave of uneasiness went over the group. A good minute passed without the creature actually doing anything. Trixie decided to make the first movie. She summoned her sword and charged in for the attack. The rest of her friends summoned their weapons as well, except Cheerilee, and followed behind her. Raindrops and Ditzy took to the air. Trixie swung her sword furiously, but her target vanished in a flash of light. She stopping in place and blinked when her attack met nothing but empty air. Trixie’s unexpected stop made Lyra and Carrot Top crash into her. “Hey!” Lyra complained. “What are you doing?” "She's gone!" Trixie looked around frantically. The rest of her friends joined the search. “There she is!” Raindrops yelled pointing. The creature was a block away watching them. Suddenly the monster was gone again. She appeared in the middle of the group and spun around in a circle. Black feathers flew from her wings and stuck the Rangers sparks flying. They collapsed in pain and Ditzy and Raindrops fell from the sky. Recovering Raindrops charged with her ax, but the thing just disappeared again. The monster appeared behind them and shot more feathers from her wings and the Rangers flew to the ground in a shower of sparks. Lyra got up and shot an arrow, but she just teleported away again. “You have got to be kidding me!” Lyra cursed under her breath. The creature appeared again in front of them just standing there watching. “Don’t worry. I got an idea.” Ditzy pressed a button on her morpher. She summoned a mini tornado and shot it at the creature. She teleported away, but Ditzy quickly used her staff to swing the tornado right where she appeared. Ditzy kept at it several times destroying some nearby carts in the process, but eventually lost to exhaustion and collapsed stopping her attack. “Well...shoot. I’m out of ideas. “Ditzy wheezed. “We have to stop her teleporting!” Carrot Top surmised. "Well, magic expert any idea?" Lyra asked turning to Trixie. The rest of the group did the same. “Damage her horn?” Trixie suggested. Like a pony, it lit up whenever the creature used her magic. “Okay, but how do we do that?” Carrot Top asked. Trixie had an idea. “Cover me. I’ll keep her distracted. If we press her hard, we’ll hit her eventually.” “Sorry girls.” Ditzy sat the ground. “I can’t do anything. I used up too much energy.” “Okay, you sit here and recuperate.” Trixie nodded. “We’ll handle it from here.” Trixie charged sword raised in her magic. The monster prepared for the attack. Suddenly six Red Rangers were attacking her. She blinked in surprise. An illusion swung at the thing, but she teleported away again. She appeared a few hooves away but was bombarded by more Trixie illusions. She kept teleporting away, but the illusion Trixies kept pressing her. The rest of the Rangers joined the attack. Lyra shot arrows repeatedly almost striking the monster several times. Cheerilee punched, Raindrops swung, and Carrot Top prepared to deflect any attacks. It didn't take long for the thing to look tired and exhausted. She growled in anger and flew up into the air and unleashed a barrage of feathers. She disappeared and reappeared in a circle showering the entire area with feathers. Luckily most of Trixie's illusions took the hits fading away like they never existed at all. Carrot Top rushed forward shield at the ready and protected her friends from most of the attacks. The feathers only lightly grazed them. The creature stopped her attacks and appeared a block away panting completely exhausted. This was the opportunity Trixie was waiting for. She pressed a button on her morpher and unleashed her ultimate attack. She dropped her invisibility to save energy and swung right at the creature's head with all her power. The monster's eyes widened in alarm. Trixie's sword glowed with power and erupted in flame. The blow missed the horn but hit right dead center on the mask. “Searing Blade!” Trixie yelled. The blade exploded and the creature went flying and crashed into a nearby empty stand. Trixie panted. She prayed the thing was defeated. She couldn’t keep this up much longer. The creature got up rage filling her eyes. Her mask was scorched and cracked. It broke to pieces and fell off her face. Trixie froze and gasped in shock when she saw the creature’s face. “Twilight Sparkle?” Trixie said stunned. "You are dead!” Twilight snarled. She vanished and appeared right in front of Trixie. She unleashed a flurry of feathers point blank and Trixie flew several hooves back and collapsed to the ground. She unmorphed and just laid there unmoving. “Trixie!” Her friends cried out. Raindrops snarled and charged with abandoned. Twilight just teleported behind her and slashed Raindrops with her wings. “Gah!” Raindrops unmorphed and fell to the ground. Twilight stood above Raindrops coldly and teleported away when an arrow flew at her. Lyra unmorphed and twitched on the ground when Twilight appeared next to her and slashed her too. Cheerilee, Ditzy, and Carrot Top took a defensive formation back to back. They scanned the area around them when Twilight disappeared again. Ditzy backed away startled when Twilight appeared in front of her face to face. After getting her wits back, she swung at the monster with her staff. It dodged nimbly and stuck Ditzy in the torso with a wing. Ditzy collapsed and demorphed. Cheerilee tried to strike Twilight from her blind spot with a hoof and stuck her mark hitting Twilight on the back of the neck. Twilight flew forward towards the ground but teleported before hitting it. Twilight appeared behind Cheerilee and Carrot Top and struck both of them with her wings in a spinning motion. They collapsed to the ground and unmorphed. Trixie looked around them and saw the townsfolk watching them in horror and terror. Dinky was crying and yelling out her mother’s name. Bon-Bon looked terrified and frozen with fear. Twilight hovered above them with an icy expression on her face. She looked ready to strike to finish them off but a voice stopped her. “That is enough. Good work Corvus my servant.” Corona said appearing in the sky with a brilliant glowing white aura around her. She landed with grace. This was the second time Trixie had ever seen the Tyrant Sun in all her glory. She seemed just as vibrant and powerful as the first time Trixie saw her back on the Longest Night. It reminded Trixie of the terror and dread she felt from before and she couldn’t stop her trembling. Twilight, or rather Corvus stared at Corona. There was something in her eyes. Haughtiness? Anger? Trixie ignored Corvus for the moment and turned to Corona. “What did you do to her?!” Trixie demanded. “I gave her new life. She is one of my knights now. Perfect in every way.” Corona replied walking up to Trixie. She stared down at Trixie triumphant. “A gift I will extend to you as well.” “What?” Trixie replied baffled. “Equestria needs you Trixie Lulamoon.” Corona smiled in a motherly way. “It needs the Rangers. Even I can’t deny this.” “I thought…” Trixie tried to say, but Corona interrupted her. “You thought I was your enemy? That I wanted you destroyed? Not so.” Corona explained. “I wish to be nopony’s enemy. I just want my rightful spot as Equestria’s queen. To bring prosperity to all.” Corona bent down and looked Trixie eye to eye. "I want to you help me, Trixie. You and the rest of the Rangers. A crisis is coming. I can feel it. We need to work together to stop it." “What crisis? What are you talking about?’ Trixie asked confused. “I don’t know, but I have this feeling. This dread in the pit of my stomach. The Elements gave you power that my sister and I never had. The Elements are ancient and mysterious. They always give the exact amount of power needed to overcome a crisis. This unexpected increase in power? It couldn’t be for me. I am mighty, but not all powerful. There are some beings out there that even I fear.” “The Elements are preparing you for something, and I intend to help you overcome it.” Corona gave the warmest smile Trixie had ever seen. It was surreal and bizarre on Corona’s face. “Join forces with me Trixie Lulamoon, and we can make Equestria into the bright and wonderful paradise it deserves to be. “ Trixie spit into Corona’s face. “Never!” Corona's face turned from motherly to one of pure terrible fury. "How dare you! I am the Sun! The very thing that brings life and light to all! You dare spurn me?!" She ranted. Her whole body started radiating such heat that the ground underneath her started melting. Trixie closed her eyes praying that her death would be quick cursing herself for doing something so monumentally stupid. After a few minutes, Trixie slowly opened her eyes. Corona luckily wasn't throwing fire at her and melting her face off. Corona was visibly trying to control herself. "You do not know what you are rejecting," Corona said. There was still a hint of anger in her voice. "I can offer you anything you want. Do you want land, titles, money? Done." “No!” Trixie said defiantly if a bit shakily. “I am loyal to only Princess Luna!” Corona snorted. “Admirable, but foalish. Very well. I just have to do this the hard way.” Trixie gulped. “What do you mean by that?” “You will serve me. You will all serve me whether you want me to or not.” Corona smirked. Trixie did not like the sound of that one bit. She looked around frantically for a way out. The rest of the Rangers were sprawled across the ground equally helpless. "You will not escape," Corona said triumphantly, "You will be mine Trixie Lulamoon."