My Little Pony Rangers: Morphin' is Magic

by Lance Skyes

Turning Point (Phoenix Ranger part 2) (Outcome A)

前回、マイ·リトル·ポニーレンジャーズに (Last time, on My Little Pony Rangers...)

“We have some interesting news regarding the Alicorn Amulet.”

“Once Zecora has her end of the plan finished, the fate of the Harmony Rangers and Equestria will be sealed.”

“She... she took Spike?”

“Tell me, are they really your friends?”

“You wouldn’t take me seriously as Spike, so I became something you’d have no choice but to take seriously.”

“So now the question is... would I be willing to go as far as risking Spike’s life and tainting my own in order to save Equestria?”

そして今、結論 (And now, the conclusion...)

Everypony in the room, as well as the two princesses on the screen, stared expectantly at Twilight, who was looking down at the Alicorn Amulet in her hoof. The unicorn was faced with the most difficult decision in her life, and it took what felt like hours before she had the nerve to even consider her answer, and it took that much more time to do said consideration. The atmosphere was so intense, nopony even dared to breathe for fear of breaking Twilight’s train of thought.

”I need to do this,” Twilight thought to herself. ”It might be the only way to save Spike.”

”But it isn’t the right thing to do,” the other half of Twilight’s consciousness argued. ”You’re a Pony Ranger, and it’s your duty to keep Equestria safe.”

”But that’s exactly what I would be doing. I’d be using this power to remove the threat Spike poses to Equestria.”

”But at what cost? Think of how much danger he’d be in--how much danger you’d be in--if you did this.”

”I’ve made sacrifices to save Equestria in the past. This can’t be any different, can it?”

”You’ve never had to put any of your friends on the line like this in the past. It’s very different.”

”They’ve all known what they were getting into from the day they agreed to be a part of this team. That includes Spike.”

”But that doesn’t mean you can make these kinds of decisions for any of your friends. That also includes Spike.”

”The safety of Equestria is my responsibility!”

”It’s the responsibility of you and your friends!”

“AHHHHHHHHHH!” Twilight suddenly shouted out loud, startling everypony. She then threw the Amulet into the air and grabbed it with her magic. Then she did something nopony in the room expected her to do.

She summoned all her magical might and slammed the Amulet hard into the ground before her, creating a small crack in the ground. Twilight then proceeded to begin stomping on the Amulet repeatedly, grunting and shouting loudly and angrily with each stomp.

“TWILIGHT, STOP!” Rainbow Dash shouted. She quickly flew over and tried to hold her friend back from stomping on the Amulet any more and possibly breaking her hoof. Rainbow Dash struggled to keep Twilight back from the Amulet for about a minute before the unicorn finally calmed down. “What is the matter with you!?” Rainbow Dash asked as she finally let Twilight go.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said with a sigh. “I’m sorry to all of you. I don’t know what got into me. I was trying to decide whether or not to use the Amulet and... I guess the stress got the better of me.”

“And I’m assumin’ yer decision is...” Applejack said, leaning back a little for fear of setting Twilight off once again.

“No,” Twilight replied. “I’ve made far too many moral sacrifices in the past. Killing Derpy, killing Trixie twice, nearly getting Rainbow Dash killed obtaining my Element of Harmony... I’m not adding ‘nearly killing Spike’ and ‘tainting my own soul’ to that list.” Twilight then used her magic to teleport the Alicorn Amulet back to Canterlot with the princesses. “It’s time I found a way to save Equestria that doesn’t involve any sacrifice of any kind.”

“But without the Alicorn Amulet, how else are we going to save Spike?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’m not sure,” Twilight replied. “But what I am sure of is that there is a way to do this without the Alicorn Amulet, even if I can’t think of it off the top of my head.”

“Let us know if thou figures anything out,” Princess Luna said. “We need to go raise the moon.” With that, Luna cantered off, leaving Celestia alone at the monitor.

“I am proud of your decision, my student,” Princess Celestia said. “And I have every confidence that you will be able to follow through with your plan.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Twilight said. “Don’t worry. The Rangers and I should be able to figure something out.”

“Then best of luck to you,” Celestia said. With that, she disconnected.

“So what’s the plan, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“First, you five need to go home and rest,” Twilight said.

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Spike’s our friend, too. We want to be there to help get him back however we can.”

“I’m aware of that,” Twilight replied. “But provided I can come up with a plan of some sort, it will very likely fail if all six of us are tired and ill-prepared for combat.”

“So then what about you?” Rarity asked.

“Me?” Twilight asked. “I’ll come up with something before I go to sleep, I’m sure.”

“Are you really sure?” Applejack asked. “I don’t think you’re makin’ a promise you can keep, here, sugarcube.”

“I’m promising that I’ll save Spike,” Twilight said, performing the actions of a Pinkie Promise. “That’s a promise I promise to keep. Now I’m being serious, go home and get some rest so that when I can come up with something, you’ll all be able to help me.”

“Alright,” Rainbow Dash surrendered. She then turned to the others. “You all heard her. Let’s go get some rest.” Reluctantly, the other four nodded in compliance and all five of them made their way out of the library. Once everypony was gone, Twilight turned around to face her console and got to work.

Meanwhile on the moon base, Spike watched Ponyville slowly become bathed in night. He noticed that the full moon cast a rather relaxing glow upon the land as the ponies retreated to their homes and slumbered, blissfully unaware of what he had planned for that night.

“Those Harmony Rangers aren’t gonna know what hit them,” Spike said to himself as an evil smile crossed his lips. He then turned away from the monitor and retreated to his quarters to get a little bit of rest before his attack. On his way, however, he passed by Button Mash, who Spike had previously assumed was already asleep.

“Spike!?” Button Mash shouted. He then quickly placed his hoof on his mouth and looked around to make sure he hadn’t accidentally woken anypony. Then, quietly, the colt asked, “What are you doing awake? I thought everypony was already asleep.”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Spike replied. “Of course, seeing as I’m one of the four creatures on this base who isn’t a pony, I believe my question is a little more justified. You and the others are supposed to be resting for my attack later tonight.”

“I was, uh...” Button Mash started. “Getting water. Any creature could get thirsty in the middle of the night.”

“Then where’s your glass with water in it?” Spike asked.

“I left it by the sink,” Button Mash quickly replied. “What? Did you expect me to walk back to my room on three legs trying to carry a glass in my other hoof?”

“I suppose that’s plausible,” Spike said. “But there are two things you’ve forgotten about. One: you’re talking to one of the smarter creatures on this base. As horrible of a friend as Twilight Sparkle was, I did learn a lot from being her slave for my entire life. Second, if you did get water, there would still be some on your lips. Except there isn’t any. Care to explain?”

Spike stared Button Mash down for the longest time before Button Mash responded. “I’m... the Element of Deception?” the colt tried to defend.

“So then explain your deception,” Spike said.

Button Mash gave a defeated sigh before saying, “Alright, I’ll tell you why I was up. But please, please, please don’t tell Sweetie Belle or any of the others.”

“I’m only working for Discord, not standing by him,” Spike said. “I guess I could keep a secret.”

“Thanks,” Button Mash said. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting to get this off my chest.” Button Mash then looked around to make sure everypony else was still asleep. “Could you come with me to my room first, though? I really don’t want anypony to know this.” Spike raised a nervous eyebrow in response. “I’m not about to confess any latent homosexual feelings for you if that’s what that eyebrow raise is for,” Button Mash said with an unamused tone.

“Oh, that’s a relief,” Rei said from the other end of the hall Button and Spike were standing in. “I was hoping I wasn’t gonna have to write that kind of thing.”

“Will you get out of here?” Spike whisper-shouted at Rei. “You’re gonna wake everypony up!”

“Right, sorry,” Rei said. With that, the creative colt left.

Button Mash led Spike to his room and made sure nopony was awake before he closed the door. He then turned to Spike and let out a heavy sigh. “I can’t tell you how difficult this is going to be,” Button said. “You promise not to tell anypony, right?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Spike replied as he performed the indicated actions to complete his Pinkie Promise.

Button Mash took a deep breath before speaking. “I don’t really want to be a Chaos Ranger,” he finally confessed.

“Huh?” Spike asked. “But I’ve seen you fight the Harmony Rangers without mercy in the past.”

“That was just in front of Sweetie Belle,” Button Mash replied. “It was only because of her that I became a Chaos Ranger. She told me that it was by her request that Discord offered me the chance to be a Ranger, and I wasn’t really thinking when I said yes. I wanted to be with Sweetie Belle more than anything, but thinking back on it, I’m not even sure if I want to stand with her on this.”

“Woah,” Spike said. “You must be pretty in love with her to not have quit already.”

“That’s the thing,” Button Mash continued. “If I quit, she might never talk to me again. And don’t even get me started on how much Snowdrop scares me. Sweetie Belle might go easy on me with her anger, but if I were to quit on Snowdrop...” Button Mash shuddered as he trailed off. “I don’t even want to think about that.”

Spike was silent for a moment before placing his claw on Button Mash’s shoulder. “Thanks for trusting me enough to open up about this,” the baby dragon said. “It... means a lot to me.”

“Really?” Button Mash asked. “Well... thanks for letting me open up about it. I feel like I would have exploded if I had kept this a secret any longer.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Spike said with a smile. “After all, what are friends for?”

”Friends...” Spike suddenly thought to himself. ”Kind of like...”

“Button Mash,” Spike said out loud, “do you mind if I tell you something kind of personal?”

“I guess not,” Button Mash replied.

“The truth is that I didn’t want to become a Chaos Ranger either,” Spike said.

“But you had a legitimate reason to become one,” Button Mash said. “You had friends before Discord came around and they betrayed you.”

“I know,” Spike said. “But I didn’t want to accept that they betrayed me at first. I wanted to believe what Discord was showing me was false and that my friends still cared for me, but I couldn’t find any lies behind what he was saying. The real reason I don’t completely follow him is because a part of me still hopes the Harmony Rangers actually do care about me.”

“Really?” Button Mash asked. After a moment, the colt laughed a little. “Look at us. Two creatures on this base who would rather be standing anywhere but by Discord.”

“I know,” Spike said, also laughing a little. “Just think of what any of the other Chaos Rangers would think if they found out about this.”

As the two laughed, Sweetie Belle stood in the hall with her ear pressed up against the door to Button’s room. “I should have known,” she said quietly to herself. “I guess we’ll have to get rid of him sooner than Snowdrop had planned.” With that, Sweetie Belle turned and quickly made her way back to her room.

Meanwhile, Button Mash and Spike had finally finished laughing. “You wanna know something, Spike?” Button Mash said. “I think you’re the one creature on this base who I could truly call a friend.”

“Same to you,” Spike replied. Just then, Spike looked down as he remembered something. “I mean, it’s good to make new friends, but... it makes me kind of regret the fact that I’m getting ready to go down to Equestria to destroy my old friends in just a couple of hours.”

Button Mash placed his hoof on Spike’s shoulder and smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Spike,” the colt said. “I’m sure you’ll make the right decision when the time comes.”

Spike only replied with a sigh. “I can’t even be sure about that, anymore,” he said. “But if I make the wrong decision, I’ll be happy to know that I’ll still have a friend in you.”

“Same here,” Button Mash said. The two then had a completely friendship-based heterosexual hug before Spike left to his room to get some sleep, leaving Button Mash to get into his bed and do the same.

It was around midnight when Twilight fell asleep at her console. She was fighting desperately to stay awake in order to come up with a way to save Spike, but at last, she had lost her battle and fallen asleep. She was so fast asleep, in fact, that she didn’t even notice when an alarm sounded on the very console her head lay upon.

Meanwhile, the five Chaos Rangers had teleported to the roof of Ponyville Town hall, where they all patiently awaited the Harmony Rangers to appear.

“Shouldn’t they have been alerted to our presence by now?” Snowdrop asked after a while.

“They should have,” Spike said, looking around at the moonlit town. “Then again, I don’t think they’ve ever been called into action in the middle of the night like this.”

“So then what are we waiting for?” Derpy asked. “Whaddya say we send them their wake-up call?” Derpy then raised her hoof, charged it with energy, and fired a bolt of lightning down upon a (thankfully vacant) building, causing a very large and loud explosion.

Pinkie Pie was thrown out of her bed from the sound of the explosion. The first sound she heard once she was awoken was the sound of Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake crying, but she knew she couldn’t stay home and calm the foals down. She had some Chaos Rangers to stop if she wanted to keep all of Equestria from crying like they were. Aiming to avoid Mr. and Mrs. Cake and get thrown into calming the foals down, Pinkie leapt out the window and made her way to the source of the explosion.

Rarity shot right out of her bed once she heard the explosion and quickly galloped down to the kitchen to scold Sweetie Belle about whatever it was she was trying to do. Once Rarity got down to the kitchen and found that Sweetie Belle wasn’t trying to cook anything, however, she finally registered that the explosion must have come from somewhere in Ponyville and quickly galloped out of the boutique towards the source of the explosion, fearing that the Chaos Rangers were behind it.

The second Fluttershy heard the explosion, she instantly screamed, flew out of her bed, and hid behind Angel Bunny. Angel tried to get Fluttershy to let go of him, but that feat wasn’t without difficulty. Eventually, however, Angel managed to convince Fluttershy that the explosion was the work of the Chaos Rangers and that she needed to get down to Ponyville to help her friends. Fortunately for Angel, Fluttershy made her way out of her cottage and down to Ponyville without him having to repeatedly kick Fluttershy’s hoof.

Applejack heard the explosion plain as day, despite possibly being furthest from the source of the explosion and being the heaviest sleeper of all the Harmony Rangers. She quickly grabbed her hat and ran out of her house before anypony else in her family had a chance to leave their room to see what was going on.

The explosion very nearly knocked Rainbow Dash off of the cloud she was sleeping on. Fortunately, Rainbow Dash shot awake just before she began to fall and instantly began flying. She looked over in the distance towards the source the source of the explosion and quickly figured out that the explosion was the work of the Chaos Rangers. She then flew towards Ponyville at top speed to stop the threat.

Twilight was shaken awake from the sound of the explosion. She looked around quickly to try to figure out what was going on before noticing the alarm beeping right next to where her head was laying. “Oh no,” Twilight said to herself. “I can’t believe I fell asleep while I was working and the Chaos Rangers attacked while I was sleeping.” Twilight then quickly galloped out of the library and made her way to the source of the explosion, which actually wasn’t that far from the library. “I really hope the others are already there.”

“Way to wake everypony within a 50-mile radius, Derpy,” Spike said to the green-clad pegasus with an annoyed tone.

“I’m sorry, have we met?” Derpy asked. “Hi, I’m Derpy Hooves, Chaos Ranger Green and really impatient.”

“Actually, Derpy’s plan seems to have worked,” Sweetie Belle commented as she looked down at the ponies running around the moonlit streets in panic (and pajamas). That wasn’t what really caught the young marshmallow’s eye, however. What she noticed was that while most ponies were running away, six ponies were running towards where the Chaos Rangers were from different directions.

“In that case, why don’t we go down there and greet those six?” Spike offered. Once the Harmony Rangers had gathered, the Chaos Rangers jumped down from their scenic overlook and faced the Harmony Rangers. “Back for a second beating?” Spike asked. “Don’t be shy. I promise not to KO all six of you in five seconds this time.”

“Oh, we’ll make sure of that,” Rainbow Dash said. She and the others then pulled out their Elements of Harmony. “IT’S MORPHIN’ TIME!”

“ELEMENT OF HONESTY!”

“ELEMENT OF KINDNESS!”

“ELEMENT OF LAUGHTER!”

“ELEMENT OF GENEROSITY!”

“ELEMENT OF LOYALTY!”

“ELEMENT OF MAGIC!”

“Harmony Force, Ranger Blue!”

“Harmony Force, Ranger Yellow!”

“Harmony Force, Ranger Pink!”

“Harmony Force, Ranger Black!”

“Harmony Force, Ranger Red!”

“Harmony Force, Ranger White!”

“From all of us together, we fight as one! We protect one another until the battle is done! PONY RANGERS: HARMONY FORCE!” The explosion that normally occurred behind the Rangers once they finished their roll call seemed to burn brighter and more brilliant in the dim light of the full moon. It also seemed to emphasize the serious expressions on the Rangers’ helmets a lot more.

“I’m guessing this isn’t going to turn out like our last battle?” Spike asked as he drew his blade.

“Oh, we’ll make sure of it,” Rainbow Dash said as she and the other Harmony Rangers drew their weapons.

“Spike, you don’t have to do this,” Twilight pleaded. “You don’t have to fight for Discord.”

“Who says I’m fighting for Discord?” Spike asked. “I’m only here to make you six pay for treating me the way you did.”

“Um, are you going to need us for this battle?” Derpy asked.

“I want you four to stay back,” Spike said. He then turned back to the Harmony Rangers and raised his sword. “This fight’s mine.”

“Then you leave us no choice, Spike,” Twilight said. “Harmony Rangers, attack!” With that, the six Harmony Rangers charged forward toward Spike.

“En guarde!” Spike shouted as he charged back at the Harmony Rangers.

Rainbow Dash was the first to reach Spike. She did her best to bring her Harmony Sword down upon the baby dragon, but Spike easily blocked Dash’s blade with his own and proceeded to counter her attack with a blast of fire that knocked Rainbow Dash back. This unsuccessful attempt at an attack was followed up by Rarity, who tried to use her Harmony Axe to at the very least knock Spike off-balance so she could get a decent hit in on him. However, Spike managed to block Rarity’s attack as well and proceeded to leap up and flip-kick her right in the jaw, sending her flying backwards. Spike then turned around just in time to use his fire powers to block several of Pinkie Pie’s energy arrows. Once all the arrows were incinerated, Spike proceeded to create a ball of concentrated fire with his fire streams and launched the whole thing at Pinkie, who was unable to defend against the attack and knocked backwards in defeat. Following this, Applejack and Fluttershy attempted to attack Spike simultaneously. They figured that between them, their four blades could beat out Spike’s single blade. Unfortunately, however, the two ponies underestimated Spike’s swordsman skills and he easily defeated them without breaking a sweat.

At last, Twilight and Spike were the only Rangers left on the battlefield. (The other Chaos Rangers aside, that is.) “Done hiding behind your so-called friends, Twilight?” Spike asked.

“I’ve been standing back because I don’t want to fight you, Spike,” Twilight said. “I refuse to fight you. Discord may have put you in that evil Ranger armor, but I know that deep down, you’re still Spike. My Spike. Our Spike. The very Spike who’s been there to help Princess Celestia and the Harmony Rangers since the beginning. The Spike who was there to help me the most whenever I needed you. The Spike who was always there to help everypony wherever even I couldn’t. That Spike is still in you and I know it. You just need to fight Discord’s magic to prove it.”

Spike was silent for a moment after Twilight finished her plea. Then he did something Twilight was dreading he would do. He began laughing evilly. “I don’t know what you think you’re talking about, Twilight,” Spike said as he laughed, “but I’m sorry to tell you that Discord has no hold on me. I merely accepted his offer to help me destroy you six because I wanted my revenge.”

Twilight had begun tearing up underneath her helmet. These words just couldn’t have been coming from Spike’s mouth. This wasn’t the Spike Twilight knew and loved. There was no possible way it could be.

“Are you just going to stand there, Twilight?” Spike asked. “If not, I’ll be happy to make the first move!” Spike then rushed forward and struck Twilight with a powerful charged slash. Twilight made no effort to defend against this attack, however, so she took the full force of it and was thrown backwards at least 20 feet, demorphed once she hit the ground once again. “Pathetic,” Spike said to himself with an evil grin under his helmet. He then moved his sword so that the bladed end was resting on his shoulder and slowly walked over to where Twilight lay.

“How could this have happened?” Twilight said weakly to herself. She looked around to find that all of her friends had been demorphed, defeated, and were strewn about the moonlit battlefield. There was no logical argument within Twilight’s mind that could confirm that Spike was the one who had done all this. Or there was and Twilight was trying desperately to ignore them. Twilight had to face the reality, however. Spike was the one who did this, and as much as Twilight didn’t want it to be true, he wasn’t under Discord’s power.

”Spike is being held by one of the strongest powers at Discord’s disposal,” Princess Celestia said earlier that evening back at the library. “His own jealousy.”

It was without warning that Twilight recalled that memory. “It was our fault,” Twilight said to herself. “We neglected him, and now we have to pay the price for it.” Twilight then began crying softly into her forelegs, not even looking up to see Spike standing over her, raising his sword to deliver the final blow.

“I’m so sorry, Spike,” Twilight said through her sobs.

“What was that?” Spike asked, slowly lowering his sword. “What did you say?”

“I said I’m sorry,” Twilight replied, not even looking up as she continued sobbing. “I’m sorry we treated you so horribly. I’m sorry we pushed you down this path. But most of all, I’m sorry I didn’t see this start to happen sooner and try to fix it before it happened. So go ahead, finish me. Maybe then I’ll finally get what I deserve.”

Spike was silent as he looked down upon the sobbing unicorn. This was something he had never expected to happen when he accepted the Phoenix Gem from Discord. Twilight was the one who had neglected him in the past, and now she was apologizing to him. But it wasn’t a “fear for her life” kind of apology. She actually sounded sincere. Like she really regretted what she had done.

Spike gripped his sword tightly, debating whether to believe what Twilight was saying and accept her apology or to not believe her and silence her on the spot. She certainly looked pathetic sobbing like she was...

“No...” Spike said finally, raising his sword once again. “No more! No more of these lies!” The baby dragon then charged his sword with all the fire energy he could muster, then spun around and sent a blast of fire right at the Chaos Rangers, who were caught off-guard and blasted backwards.

Twilight heard this happen, but it didn’t click that the attack wasn’t directed towards her for a few more seconds. Only then did she realize she was still alive and finally looked up. What she saw stunned her. Spike was actually facing away from her, his sword smoking from the attack he had just fired, and further away were the other Chaos Rangers just then getting up from the attack.

“What is the meaning of this, Spike?” Snowdrop shouted.

“Discord lied to me,” Spike replied. “He told me that my friends didn’t care for me anymore, but that wasn’t true and it took me nearly destroying them to find out.” Spike then grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands and assumed an offensive stance. “I was blinded by jealousy in the past, but now I know what my place is. Standing by my real friends, against you four and Discord and whoever else might stand in harmony’s way.”

“Then I suppose that’s your choice, little dragon,” Derpy said. She and the other Chaos Rangers then raised their hooves to the sky. “SUMMON CHAOS ZORDS!”

Just then, the four Chaos Zords descended and formed their respective Megazord and Battlezord. “Oh no,” Spike said. “I can’t take them on on that level.” Quickly, Spike turned around to find Twilight struggling to get back to her hooves. Spike ran over and tried to help Twilight up.

“I’m glad you came back, Spike,” Twilight said with a smile as the baby dragon helped her up.

“Me too,” Spike replied. “But there’s no time for a reunion. The other Harmony Rangers are out of commission. Can you still fight?”

“I think so,” Twilight replied, finally standing up straight. She then summoned her Element of Harmony and summoned the White Tigerzord. She then morphed, jumped into her zord, and used her magic to form the White Tiger Battlezord.

“You don’t really think you can take on both our zords on your own, do you?” Derpy asked with a laugh.

“It doesn’t matter if you have one Megazord for each of you four,” Twilight said. “I’ll still fight you all to my last breath!” Twilight’s zord then drew its sword and charged towards the Chaos Rangers. Twilight tried to strike the Chaos Megazord first, but the Chaos Rangers easily blocked this attack, allowing Derpy to take the opportunity to strike Twilight with her spear. This attack was closely followed by a slash from the Chaos Rangers, sending the White Tiger Battlezord stumbling backwards and leaving it open to a double hit from both of her opponents’ zords.

Spike could only watch helplessly as Twilight got pummeled by the Chaos Rangers. “There has to be some way I can help her!” Spike shouted to himself as he clenched his sword tightly.

”Hello? Is this Spike the dragon?” an unfamiliar voice called from Spike’s communicator. This was something Spike found odd because before that point, he was sure he didn’t even own a communicator of any sort. He checked his wrist and sure enough, there was a watch-like device which allowed communication similarly to what all the other Rangers had.

“This is Spike,” the baby dragon said into his communicator. “Might I ask who this is?”

”My name is not important right now,” the voice replied. ”But if you need to call me anything, call me Faust.”

“Alright, ‘Faust’,” Spike said, “what do you want?”

”I’m calling to tell you how you can save your friend,” Faust replied. ”You have discovered your true place as a Pony Ranger, so now you have access to your own zord.”

“I get my own zord?” Spike asked. “Sweet! Where is it? What creature is it based off of? How do I summon it?”

”Calm yourself, young one,” Faust said. ”You can summon your zord by aiming your Phoenix Blade to the sky and channeling the pure essence of the Phoenix through it. Once you have done that, your zord will reveal itself.”

“And that’s it?” Spike asked.

”Yes, but you must hurry,” Faust said. ”Time is of the essence if you wish to save Twilight.”

Right then, Spike looked over to find the White Tiger Battlezord get thrown across the battlefield by the Dragon Battlezord. “Alright,” Spike finally said. He then aimed his sword at the sky and shouted, “POWER OF THE PHOENIX! Uh... summon my zord or something?”

Without warning, Spike’s blade was instantly set ablaze and a tower of fire shot out from it into the sky, burning brighter than even the sun. It was so bright, in fact, that Twilight and the Chaos Rangers stopped fighting and looked on as the tower of fire began to change its form. It swirled around in a huge ball before it began spinning around rapidly, changing into more of an oblong object (like a football).

“What is that?” Spike asked nopony in particular as he stared up at the mysterious flaming entity.

”That would be your zord,” Faust replied from Spike’s communicator.

Right as Faust said this, the entity quickly changed its form once again. It spread its massive flaming wings as a loud and intimidating roar erupted from its beak.

“Is that...” Spike started. “Is that a giant phoenix?”

”Yes it is,” Faust replied. ”It is your Phoenix Zord. Use it to save Twilight from the Chaos Rangers and solidify your place among the Harmony Rangers.”

“Alright,” Spike said. “Wait... how do I teleport into my zord again?” Right as Spike asked this, he was instantly turned into a beam of gold light and teleported into the cockpit of the Phoenix Zord. Once its pilot was in its cockpit, the Phoenix Zord spread its wings, roared once again, and the flames disappeared to reveal that it was mechanical like the rest of the zords.

“Spike!?” Twilight asked via comm. “Is that your zord?”

“I guess it is,” Spike said.

“It doesn’t matter how many zords you Harmony Rangers have,” Snowdrop said. “We’ll turn them all to scrap!” The Chaos Rangers then charged at Spike’s Phoenix Zord, which was just hanging idly in the air despite the charging villains.

“Oh, what do I do!?” Spike shouted, randomly pressing buttons on his console. “Nopony ever taught me how to pilot a giant robot phoenix!” Just then, Spike remembered something that Twilight had told him months ago.

”A zord is a zord, right?” Twilight asked another version of her from an alternate reality.

“More like a living machine,” the other Twilight replied.”

“Of course!” Spike said. He then closed his eyes and imagined himself in the Phoenix Zord’s position, like the dragon and the zord were one. “I think I understand,” Spike said to himself as he concentrated, seemingly unaware that the Chaos Rangers were almost within striking distance. Suddenly, Spike opened his eyes and slammed down on a button on his console. Without warning, the Phoenix Zord roared once again, its wings were instantly set ablaze, and it charged forward at the Chaos Megazord and Dragon Battlezord, striking both of them with its flaming wings and knocking them backwards.

“What!?” Derpy shouted as she got her zord back up. “How could his zord have that much power all of a sudden?”

Meanwhile, Spike pulled his zord up and brought it around for another pass at the Chaos Rangers. However, the Chaos Rangers expected Spike’s attack this time... except for the fact that Spike didn’t use his fire wing attack this time. Instead, he fired a flamethrower from the Phoenix Zord’s beak, knocking the Chaos Zords back further.

“Oh, I am really enjoying this!” Spike said as he flew by and circled around for another pass. However, Derpy expected Spike this time and struck the Phoenix Zord with her spear, knocking the mechanical phoenix to the ground.

“Didn’t expect that to happen,” Spike grumbled as he struggled to get his zord back in the air.

”Spike, you have to call upon more power if you wish to defeat your foes,” Faust’s voice suddenly said from the Phoenix Zord’s comm.

“Faust?” Spike asked. “How much more power can I call upon?”

”You must call upon the power of the Phoenix Samurai Battlezord,” Faust replied. ”With its power, you should be able to overcome your opponents.”

“Alright,” Spike replied. He then pulled out his sword and inserted it into a slot on his console. “Wait a second, how did I know to do that?” Spike suddenly asked himself. However, he simply shook this thought off and began channelling his energy through his sword into the zord. “PHOENIX SAMURAI BATTLEZORD! PHOENIX ZORD, MORPH!”

Right as Spike said this, his downed zord instantly became coated in flame once again, got off the ground, and spread its wings as it gave another mighty roar. It then began flying straight up while burning brighter than it ever did before. Once it was at a significantly high altitude, the intensity of its flames was almost bright enough to copy the sun.

“What the hay is going on?!” Snowdrop shouted as she and the other Chaos Rangers shielded their eyes from the light.

Right as Snowdrop asked this, however, the light suddenly died out and a figure began descending from where the Phoenix Zord was at a high speed. Once the figure landed, the Chaos Rangers instantly recognized it as a battlezord. It was entirely red, humanoid, and much more sleek and slender than any of the other Megazords. The Battlezord instantly rose and drew a flaming sword. Another interesting thing about the zord was that it had a phoenix-like design on its chest and flames on its shoulders.

“PHOENIX SAMURAI BATTLEZORD, READY!” Spike shouted as he aimed his zord’s sword at the Chaos Rangers.

“Now the Harmony Rangers have plus one Ranger and plus one zord?” Sweetie Belle shouted.

“It doesn’t matter how many zords they have of whatever power tier,” Derpy said. “Spike’s still one baby dragon. The four of us can easily beat him.”

“You say that now, Derpy,” Spike replied over comm. “But you’re all ponies fighting a dragon. Do you really wanna try your luck against a creature you know so little about like me?”

“We’ll take our chances,” Snowdrop said angrily. The Chaos Megazord and Dragon Battlezord then charged forward at the Phoenix Samurai Battlezord.

The Chaos Rangers were the first to try to hit Spike with their Serpent Blade. However, Spike blocked this attack with his Phoenix Blade. While the two zords had their blades locked, Derpy tried to sneak up behind Spike and attack him. However, Spike saw this attack coming and dodged the attack, causing Derpy’s attack to keep going and strike the Chaos Rangers while at the same time releasing the Serpent Blade and causing the Chaos Megazord to strike the Dragon Battlezord. Spike then quickly spun around and blasted both zords with a blast of fire.

“If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen,” Spike said with a smirk under his helmet. “Anypony still want more flank-kicking?”

Derpy was about to respond, but Snowdrop was quicker on the draw. “You know what?” the young pegasus asked. “I’ll admit it this time. You beat us, Spike.”

“Wait... what?” Spike shouted.

“Wait... what?” Derpy shouted when she heard over her own zord’s comm.

“Wait... what?” Rei shouted as he sat atop a building with his laptop in his lap.

“Wait... what?” you find yourself asking, given the fact that you’re such a fan of this story and you’re well acquainted with Snowdrop’s pride in this story.

“It’s true,” Snowdrop continued. “We honestly didn’t plan for you to turn on us like you did. So because of this, I’m calling a tactical retreat for my team.”

“Red, what the hay are you-?” Derpy started.

“Wait for me to finish, Derpy,” Snowdrop interrupted. “As I was saying, though we may be retreating now, we have another plan in motion.”

“Oh great,” Spike said. “Let me guess, this is truly the one that will bring down the Harmony Rangers?”

“Correct,” Snowdrop replied. “Only this time, there’s no Trixie to buck things up like she did with the Alicorn Amulet and Zecora is only a support in this plan. Trust me, this one will be what finally brings down your precious harmony... and even you won’t be able to help your friends, Spike.”

With that, Snowdrop and the others teleported away.

“Go ahead and talk all you want,” Spike said to himself, even though the Chaos Rangers were gone. “I’m not making the same mistake twice. Whatever you have planned, I’ll be there to help my friends defeat it.”

“Spike, that was awesome,” Twilight’s voice said over Spike’s comm. “You actually managed to beat them all on your own.”

“I’m not so sure about that, actually,” Spike replied. “Did you hear what Chaos Red said?”

“Yeah,” Twilight replied. “But let’s not worry about that right now. Let’s gather up our friends and get them to Canterlot for medical attention.”

“Alright,” Spike replied.

Roughly an hour passed between when Twilight got everypony to Canterlot and the Princesses were left to attend to them. However, Celestia requested that Twilight stay in Canterlot with them in order to help with their recovery. This in mind, Twilight left Spike to keep an eye on the library while Twilight was away.

“Again, I’m really sorry I can’t be there with you right now,” Twilight said as she communicated with Spike via visual comm. “It’s best that I stay here with the others and someone has to keep an eye on Ponyville.”

“It’s ok,” Spike replied. “I understand now that you wouldn’t intentionally dump me into a situation like this.”

“Well I’m glad to hear that,” Twilight replied. “Are you sure you’ll be fine on your own tonight?”

“Yes,” Spike replied. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve accepted your apology and I know Discord was deceiving me. You won’t hear another peep from Chaos Ranger Gold. I’m a Harmony Ranger from here on out.”

“That’s good,” Twilight said. “I need to go now. The others need me.”

“Ok, bye,” Spike said. With that, Twilight disconnected. Spike then sat back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling for a moment, just thinking.

”I wonder how Button Mash is doing right now,” Spike thought to himself.

Meanwhile on the moon base, Button Mash was looking down upon Equestria, wondering the exact same thing about Spike. Everypony else on the base had gone to bed, so Button had plenty of time to just sit there and look down upon the world.

Or so he thought.

“Trouble sleeping, Button?” a familiar voice asked from behind Button Mash. The colt jumped at the sudden voice, but calmed down when he turned around to find Sweetie Belle standing behind him.

“Sweetie Belle,” Button Mash said as he breathed a sigh of relief. “You scared me.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Sweetie Belle replied. “Mind if I join you?”

“Sure, I guess,” Button replied as Sweetie Belle sat next to the colt.

“Equestria sure is beautiful when you have this view of it, huh?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yeah,” Button Mash said.

“But you weren’t sitting here to admire the beauty, were you?”

“No,” Button Mash said. “No I wasn’t. Quick question: would you believe me if I said I was waiting for you to join me?”

“Not really, no,” Sweetie Belle replied. “Because I know the real reason you were here. You were thinking about Spike, weren’t you?”

Button Mash was silent for a moment before he answered. “Yeah, you caught me. The way Spike betrayed Discord like that and how easily he went back to his friends...”

“Hay, don’t worry about it,” Sweetie Belle interrupted. “The new plan will work with or without Spike. Besides, there’s something else I came here to talk to you about.” Sweetie Belle then smiled and looked at Button Mash. “Something really important I think you ought to know.”

Button Mash was about to respond when he noticed Sweetie Belle leaning in closer. He may be just a kid, but he knew where this was going. He closed his eyes and leaned in towards Sweetie Belle. Just before they made contact, however, Sweetie Belle shifted her head to the side and leaned closer to Button’s ear.

“I heard you and Spike talking earlier,” Sweetie Belle whispered. “I heard the secrets you two shared. But don’t worry, I promise not to tell Snowdrop.” With an evil grin, Sweetie Belle gave Button a quick kiss on the cheek and got up to walk away. She spared Button a quick glance before she left the room, seeing the colt frozen there with a look of shock and horror on his face. “Heh... boys,” Sweetie Belle said to herself with a smile as she left the room.

Meanwhile, Button Mash just sat there, doing his best to process all that had just happened. One second, Sweetie Belle was about to kiss him, and the next, she revealed that she knew he didn’t really want to be a Chaos Ranger. His loyalty to Discord and Sweetie Belle were in question. And not only that, but if Sweetie Belle were to go back on her word and reveal his secret to Snowdrop...

Well... that moment, he vowed he’d do his best not to think about that...

Next time...

“I have no idea why we didn’t just try this sooner.”

“Finally, I get a chance to get my paws on you six again.”

“The five of you have done pretty much nothing since I joined the team!”

“If you all won’t just pay attention when I offer a plan, then why am I still talking to you losers?”

“No doubt this is Discord’s doing.”

“Looks like I’m flying solo this time around...”

次回、　「Seeds of Discord」　あ楽しみに！ (Next time: “Seeds of Discord” Enjoy!)

Author's Note:

AT LONG LAST! :D

Well, it's been done for a while, but I've been waiting until I could post Twilight Mercer's version at the same time. It can be viewed in the next chapter.

Yeah, that bit at the end with Sweetie Belle and Button Mash will be important in the next chapter. How? Just you wait... ^_^