My Little Pony Rangers: Enter the Nightmare

by Lance Skyes

The Twilight Zone

(Is that not the most generic/cliched title you can think of?)

The Rangers (again, minus Fluttershy) stood in general shock as the Princess’s student, Twilight Sparkle, stood before them after so much secretivity. “Are you ponies okay?” Twilight asked. “You act like you’ve never seen a unicorn before, and I know that would be a lie.”

“It’s just...” Rainbow Dash tried to say. “Why didn’t you reveal yourself sooner?”

“If I revealed myself too early, Nightmare would have focused her attacks on me, and I’m supposed to be some ‘ultimate weapon’. How could I do that if Nightmare sent attack after attack directed at me?”

“Even still,” Rarity said, walking up in front of Twilight, “why didn’t you do anything to stop Trixie when she came and attacked Celestia?”

“Actually, I did try to do something. I tried fighting her, but her magic was well beyond mine, so it was pretty much a mouse against a bear.” Twilight then walked past the Rangers over to Spike. “Spike, can you localize Celestia in the Time Dimension?”

Spike typed some stuff into the console, but all that happened was the computer making a buzzer noise. “Sorry, Twilight,” he said, “but Trixie’s spell is blocking Celestia’s signal.”

“Great.” Twilight then turned to back to the Rangers. “Now, the way I see it, there’s only one way to save Princess Celestia.”

“What do ya have in mind?” Applejack asked, still skeptical.

“We need to take the fight to Trixie. If we can manage to defeat her in combat, her spell might wear off and Celestia will be saved.”

“Hold on a second,” Rainbow Dash said, flying towards Twilight and hovering next to her. “Girls, we hardly know this pony. For all we know, she’s the one who made Celestia disappear!”

“Your skepticism is healthy, Red Ranger,” Twilight said, gently pulling Rainbow Dash back to the ground, “but I can assure you that I’m on your side. Right, Spike?”

“It’s true,” Spike said. “When she first enrolled in Celestia’s schoolf for gifted unicorns, her entrance exam was hatching me from an egg.”

“Okay,” Pinkie said, “If she has Spike’s vote, then I’ll trust her.”

“Me too,” Applejack said.

“Same here,” Rarity added.

Rainbow Dash just stood where she was for a moment before answering. “Fine. What’s your plan here, Twilight?”

“I just told you. Defeat Trixie to reverse the spell.”

“I mean for drawing her out. She isn’t just going to stay here in Equestria and wait around for us to find her.”

“Actually, Dash,” Spike said, waving her over to his console, “you might not be too far off. Trixie’s still in Ponyville.”

“That’s good news, Spike,” Dash said, flying over to where Spike was sitting. “But how’d you find her?”

“Lucky guess,” Spike sarcastically replied, indicating his screen, which showed Trixie leading a group of Putty Ponies through Ponyville.

“There’s no time for you Rangers to lose,” Twilight said to the others. “Go do your job, and when the time comes, I’ll show you why I’m Celestia’s secret weapon.”

“Okay,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Let’s move, Rangers.” The four ponies then galloped out of the building towards Ponyville.

“Wait!” Twilight called. “Don’t you remember that I can teleport all of you directly to Ponyville?”

“Oh, right,” Rarity said. “That reminds me, you need to teach me that spell, one of these days.”

“Sorry, Rarity, but spells like that are only for higher lever unicorns, and it takes years to achieve that title. For now, let me be the secret weapon the princess expects me to be and back you Rangers up however I can.”

“Okay, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said, “Do your thing.”

“Good luck,” Twilight said as she prepared to cast the teleportation spell. As she did this, her horn began to glow first a faint purple, then gradually increased in color intensity until it was lighting most of the area around Twilight. After it looked like the room couldn’t get any brighter, Rainbow Dash and the other Rangers were teleported away, leaving Twilight to colapse onto the ground and breathe heavily. “I’ll get better at that spell, Spike,” she said between breaths. “Trust me.”

Meanwhile, the Rangers fell in a heap just outside of Ponyville thanks to Twilight’s teleportation spell. “That hurt,” Applejack said, getting up.

“I should remind Twilight to work on that spell,” Rarity said. “With magic like that, I could just as easily give her lessons.”

Rainbow Dash recovered instantly and flew up next to the pile of others. “Hey, everypony! We still have an attack to stop and a princess to save!”

“You’re right, Dashie,” Pinkie said, bouncing up as though she hadn’t taken any of the impact. “Come on, we need to get going.” Applejack and Rarity finished dusting themselves off and followed Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie into town.

Meanwhile, at the moon base, Nightmare was busy celebrating her supposed victory. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” she shouted, skipping about happily. “Celestia is no more! Victory is mine!”

Just then, Derpy walked in, rather terrified of the scene she found. “Uhh... is this a bad time?”

Nightmare practially stopped in midair when she heard Derpy, the resumed her regular, imposing and intimidating state as best she could. “No, why? What made you think it was a bad time?”

“But weren’t you just- nevermind. I have an interesting development regarding the Pony Rangers.”

“Yes. Without a guide, they’re crumbling, just like Trixie planned.”

“Actually, that’s not what I meant. In fact, it seems they’re about as organized as ever. But that wasn’t what worried me. What worried me was that they just appeared in Ponyville near Trixie’s current location out of thin air.”

“Well that was magic, Derpy, dear. They have a unicorn on their team.”

“No, the black ranger, Rarity, isn’t capable of such magic, and the only other ally they could possibly have that could do such a thing is Celestia herself. That means it would seem...” Derpy stopped for a moment to count in her head. “It would seem Player 14 has entered the game.”

“Player 14? You mean to tell me that they have yet another ally and this one seems capable of magic that’s on par with Celestia?”

“Actually, I was trying to say that we’ve hit 14 primary characters in this story. Way too many. But what you said, as well.”
` “Well then what are you waiting for?” Nightmare then began shooing Derpy out of the room. “Get down there and do something about it!”

“Yes, my lord,” Derpy replied, flying away.

Nightmare turned around and looked out at Equestria. “Don’t think I’m giving up that easily, Rangers.”

Back in Ponyville, the Putty Ponies were all over the place, attacking buildings and stands and, of course, ponies, all being led by Trixie. Trixie trotted happily through the town under fire. “Ah,” she said to herself, “nothing like destroying an unguarded town to celebrate a total victory.”

“Not so fast, Trixie!” Rainbow Dash shouted, galloping into view along with the other Rangers. “We aren’t finished yet!”

“You think we’re through just because of one little setback,” Applejack shouted.

“But we don’t give up easily,” Rarity added.

“Yeah!” Pinkie added. “And even if we do, we get right back up like a springboard! Ooh! Guys, can we get a springboard? I think that will really help us in future battles. ^_^”

“The point being,” Rainbow Dash resumed, “you may be able to get rid of Celestia, but we’ll always keep fighting.”

“FOR EQUESTRIA!” they all shouted at once, pulling out their morphers.

“Good for you, Rangers,” Derpy said, flying in and landing next to Trixie, Thunder Coin in hoof. “But did you really think Nightmare wasn’t expecting you to get up and dust yourselfves off like that? We’re prepared to give the killshot directly.”

“Then it looks like this will only go one way,” Rainbow Dash said, putting on her Element along with the others. “IT’S MORPHIN’ TIME!”

“HONESTY!”

“LAUGHTER!”

“GENEROSITY!”

“LOYALTY!”

“THUNDER!”

The four Pony Rangers stood against Trixie, Derpy, and the group of Putty Ponies that Trixie used for her prior attack. “CHARGE!” Trixie shouted to the Putty Ponies, who charged towards the Rangers, Derpy and Trixie at the head of the pack. Rainbow Dash flew forward to meet Derpy, Pinkie and AJ taking on Trixie, and Rarity battling the Putties.

Pinkie and AJ split up and attacked Trixie from two separate directions. However, Trixie’s powers were a little stronger than either ranger expected and Trixie teleported several feet away, causing the two rangers to nearly hit each other. However, they quickly recovered before they impacted and instantly began looking around for where Trixie was. They were still looking around when a blast of magic nearly hit them, revealing Trixie standing behind them. Applejack charged head-on at Trixie while Pinkie tried to do a flanking maneuver. Not such an easy combonation for Trixie to counter. Trixie fired at Applejack, but she was knocked to the ground by Pinkie Pie, who charged head on with full force. Trixie was thrown back a little, but she landed on her hooves. “Two earth ponies against the Great and Powerful Trixie?” Trixie shouted. “You two don’t stand a chance. Prepare to- OOF!” She was knocked to the ground by Applejack, who took her chance to attack while Trixie was distracted.

Rarity wasn’t having too much trouble dealing with the Putty Ponies. Sure she was outnumbered 10 to 1, but they were no match for even a single Ranger. Rarity battled with her usual grace, knocking Putties to to the ground left and right. She even used her magic to knock downed Putties into others.

Rainbow Dash and Derpy squared off once again, both trying to do combat at high speed. They flew all around the area where the others were battling, exchanging blow after blow with each other, some making contact, some being blocked. “You better not be holding back because you think there’s some ‘good’ in me, Dashie,” Derpy said with a sinister smile, even though it couldn’t be seen from under her helmet.

“Don’t say that, Derpy,” Dash replied. “I know for a fact that there’s good in you, but Nightmare doesn’t want you to see it within yourself.”

“Silence!” Derpy shouted as she punched Rainbow Dash in the face, causing her to start falling. Dash quickly recovered though and flew up to charge at Derpy head on. Derpy flew down at top speed to do the same.

“You don’t need to be evil, Derpy!”

“That’s what you believe, Dashie.”

The two continued flying at each other, neither one planning on evading the other. They just kept flying, not thinking of anything else but the moment of their impact. Both their expressions as serious as they could get. They were 50 feet from each other. 40. 30. 15.

BOOM!

The two collided, creating a massive explosion, sending up a massive rainbow colored cloud that crackled with thunder and lightning. The wind knocked the other Rangers, Trixie, and all the remaining Putty Ponies off their hooves and tumbling in all directions. When the wind died down, Trixie was facefirst on the ground, the other Rangers were demorphed, and Derpy and Rainbow Dash were in the epicenter of where the explosion was, both on the ground, knocked out cold. Rarity got up slowly, followed by the other Rangers. “What was that?” she asked.

Applejack looked over to find Rainbow Dash and Derpy on the ground. “Look!” she shouted to the other Rangers.

“Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie shouted, galloping towards the fallen Ranger, followed by the other two.

“She’s alive,” Applejack said, “but it looks like she’s out cold.”

“Too bad for you Rangers,” came a voice from behind the three remaining Rangers. They turned around to find Trixie standing behind them, seeming like there wasn’t a scratch on her.

“What?” Rarity shouted. “You weren’t caught in the blast?”

“Of course I was,” Trixie replied. “But being so great and powerful, I have access to a wide variety of spells... including healing spells.” Trixie paused for a moment to brush her mane out of her face. “But I have one more surprise. I know one of Nightmare’s most powerful spells.” Her horn began glowing brightly, the glow quickly encasing her whole body. “I know the Mega Spell!” She then cast the spell and she grew to about 30 stories tall, causing the Rangers to step back a little.

“Great,” Applejack said. “How are we supposed to fight her now without Fluttershy OR Rainbow Dash?”

Just then, their morphers went off. Twilight was trying to contact them. “Hey, Rangers,” she said over their comms. “I see you have a small problem on your hooves.”

“A small problem?” Rarity asked.

“Nevermind the joke. I’m sending you your zords now.”

“Hang on, Twi,” Pinkie Pie said. “We can’t form the Megazord without Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash.”

“Don’t worry. I can use my magic to pilot both of them. Just trust me. Here they come.”

The dinozords stampeded towards Ponyville, the Tyrannozord and Sabre-tooth Tiger zord moving as easily as if they were being piloted by their actual pilots. “Wow,” Rarity said. “Now that’s what I call magic.”

“Come on, Rarity,” Applejack said. “We still need to pilot our own zords.” She then galloped off, followed by Pinkie and Rarity. They all morphed and leapt into their zords. “All right, Twilight, lead the way.”

“With pleasure,” Twilight said. “I’m casting the Megazord Formation Spell, now.”

Using the spell, Twilight combined the zords and formed the Megazord in about a fourth of the time as it usually took for the rest of the team to form it. All the pieces literally leapt into place. The Sabre-tooth, Triceratops, and Mastodon zords just flew onto the Tyrannozord. The Tank zord leapt into the air and flew right into the Pterodactyl zord, landing perfectly on its feet. The Megazord drew its power sword and stood ready for battle against Trixie. “That was fast,” Applejack said.

“Ha!” Trixie scoffed. “Do your really think your little machine has a chance against the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

“Yeah,” Pinkie Pie replied. “We’re going to beat you, then they’ll have to call you the, uh... Not So Great and Less Powerful Trixie?” Pinkie turned to the other Rangers. “Right? Does that sound good?”

“Anyway,” Rarity said, ignoring Pinkie’s bad pun. “The point is, we’re going to defeat you and save Princess Celestia.”

“You think defeating me will bring back your precious princess? You slly fillies. There is no possible counterspell for what I used to make Celestia disappear. She’s gone forever!”

“You shut your muzzle, Trixie!” Applejack shouted. “Let’s do this, Rangers!”

“Leave this to me, Applejack,” Twilight said over the Megazord’s comm. “Let me show Trixie what real magic is capable of.” Twilight then activated the Megazord’s loudspeaker. “You hear that, Trixie? This is our rematch!”

“That voice,” Trixie said. “You’re that unicorn from Canterlot, aren’t you?”

“Correct,” Twilight replied. “And I’m here to finish what we started before.” The Megazord then aimed its sword at Trixie, ready for combat.

“Um, Twilight,” Rarity said. “Are you sure you don’t need us for anything?”

“No, Rarity. I got this.”

“Fine. This is your battle, then.”

“Thanks. Now, on to you, Trixie.” The Megazord then charged at Trixie, who teleported behind the Megazord and bucked it to the ground.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Trixie asked.

“Hardly,” Twilight replied, getting the Megazord back to its feet. “I’m just getting warmed up.” Twilight then sent the Megazord charging again, swing its sword just as Trixie got within range. Trixie just barely dodged, but she did take a little bit of damage from catching the tip of the blade. Trixie countered by sending a powerful blast of magic towards the Megazord, but Twilight blocked the attack with the Power Sword, even managing to deflect it back at Trixie. Trixie fell to the ground in defeat.

“You...” Trixie said, getting up but unable to fight. “We’re not finished, Twilight Sparkle. I will have my revenge.” Trixie then teleported away back to the moon base.

Back at Canterlot, the three remaining Rangers were standing around Twilight, who was still trying to figure out what happened to Celestia. “I just don’t get it,” Twilight said. “How could Trixie have cast such a spell that doesn’t have a counterspell?”

“Maybe she really is the strongest unicorn in Equestria,” Spike said.

“No,” Twilight said. “It’s just a lesser known spell, that all.”

Just as Twilight said that, Fluttershy flew into the computer room, carrying Rainbow Dash. “Hey, everypony,” she said, yawning. “Did I miss anything?”

“Not much,” Pinkie Pie replied.

“Oh. Then what happened to Celestia and Rainbow Dash? And who’s that purple unicorn.”

Applejack sighed and walked over to Fluttershy. “It’s a long story. I’ll fill you in.” She then turned to Twilight. “Can you take care of Rainbow Dash?”

“Self-healing spells are pretty difficult, but I know some medical spells that I can cast on other ponies.” Twilight then carried Rainbow Dash out of Fluttershy’s hooves and took her out a door on the other side of the room. “She’ll be all right in a couple of hours.”

“But until then,” Spike said, stopping Twilight, “Celestia is still gone.”

“I know, but Rainbow Dash is our immediate priority. After I’m done here, I’ll get to work on a spell that should bring back Celestia. Until then, you Rangers head back to Ponyville. Who knows what Nightmare’s next move will be.” Twilight then walked out of the room with Rainbow Dash.

Back on the moon base, Trixie stood proud in front of Nightmare Moon. “Congratulations, Trixie,” Nightmare said. “You came up with a plan that actually worked, for once.”

“Yes,” Trixie replied, bowwing. “But unfortunately, I think the Red Ranger finally finished the Green Ranger.”

“Oh? That’s too bad. Oh well. Now that Celestia is no more, it won’t be long before those Rangers fall.” Nightmare then started walking out of the room. “We won’t even need Derpy, anymore.”

Back in Equestria, Derpy still lay where she was knocked out by Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, she opened her eyes and stood quickly. “What happened?” she asked to nopony but herself. She looked around to find that nopony was around any more. She had been left there. “Trixie left me? I should have known. They were all against me.” She then looked over to find Canterlot in the distance. “I’ll show them. I’ll show them all. Nightmare and the Rangers. And I know exactly where to start.” She then flew towards Canterlot with on final goal in mind. The destruction of Rainbow Dash.

Author's Note:

Derpy's still alive. Still ready for one final battle. Still angry at Rainbow Dash for Celestia-knows-what. Anyway, this is just the midpoint of the story.

Comments

[Living Encyclopedia]

Dashing, Darling. Simply, dashing!

[xanderman1201]

Yay! Epic Final Showdown time!