Equiforce

by Crack-Fic Casey

But Heroes Stand Back Up

Abigail and Rainbow had been making remarkable progress before the castle shut itself down. It wasn’t as dramatic as it might have been; since the only spell being maintained was the lights, they were only left in utter darkness instead of anything falling apart or exploding. There was some turbulence, almost like the Dream Castle was scraping the side of a gigantic wall.

The hallway was eerie, lit only by the shifting dark green and yellow lights outside, with occasional flashes of a normal sky. “What was that?” Abigail asked. Rainbow didn’t answer, instead landing and standing at the ready. Abigail watched her wings tilt and ears twitch, as she searched for oncoming threats. Abigail looked around and pried part of the crystal from the wall to use as a makeshift dagger.

“Okay,” Rainbow whispered. “I don’t hear or Feel anything coming. Let’s keep moving.”

Abigail fell in behind the guardsmare trainee as they headed towards the Dream Castle’s center. There was progressively less and less light as they moved deeper within. “Wow. Who’d a thought this place would be creepier without the color commentary?”

Rainbow snorted. “I hear that.”

They came to a large ornate door that likely would have looked beautiful had it not been too dark to see properly. Through the crack underneath, they could see an eerie blue light and hear the sound of a magical field in use. “Get ready,” Rainbow said over her shoulder. “And stay behind me, no matter what. Without magic, you won’t be able to do much in a fight.” She frowned. “Actually, are you sure you wanna—”

“If you’re about to ask me to leave,” Abigail said hotly, “I’ll beat you senseless and do all this myself.”

Rainbow snorted. “Ya know what? If all humans are half as cool as you, you’re some pretty awesome aliens.”
“Well, this stuff just keeps happenin’. If we weren’t, we’d probably a’ gone extinct.”

“Huh, you’ll have to tell me later.” Rainbow turned around and tensed her forelegs, preparing to buck the door down. “Okay, bravado aside, you need to stay back. I can take a harder punch than you, so I need to be front and center. Don’t do anything unless you’re at least mostly sure that either you’ll survive, or we’ll all die anyway and it doesn’t matter.”

“Cheery, ain’t ya?” Nevertheless, Abigail did as she was told. Rainbow gritted her teeth and kicked the doors open.

The room was huge, with a gigantic vault door set into one wall and several smaller doors ringing the center of the room. Standing in front of it was a figure who was a head and a half taller than Rainbow was, almost the size of a horse. It had huge dark blue wings that would have looked like they were made of stone, except that they moved and flexed like they were real. It also had a long horn that was bright enough to illuminate the entire room. Lines of power trailed down the pony’s body, electricity discharging out of them periodically. Abigail could feel heat and power coming off of the figure from the other side of the room, almost twenty feet away. Involuntarily, she trembled. What am I even doin’ here?

The pony must have heard them enter because she turned to face them. She wore some kind of blue armor, that looked much like it was carved from stone like her wings. What was most striking, however, was her face. Abigail could now see that the Tron lines going down her body were actually some kind of magical scars, burned into her flesh by her power. The light was being fed by her horn, flowing down across the rest of her body. Tears streamed down her face.

Rainbow’s voice was muted. “Twilight,” she whispered, “what’s happened to you?”
Twilight made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “Run,” she whispered. “Please, you have to run. I can’t hold her back for long.”

“Hold who?” Ignoring her friend's plea, Rainbow moved closer. “Sparky, you need to stop.”

“I KNOW THAT!” Both girls recoiled at the sudden shout. “What do you think I’m trying to do?” Twilight wobbled backward unsteadily, getting as far away as possible. “Please! I can’t control myself, you need to get away!”

Rainbow shook her head. “Nuh-uh! Not until I know you’re okay!”

Twilight started to giggle hysterically through her tears, an action that filled Abigail with the direct opposite of optimism. “I’m not okay, Dash,” she said quietly. “I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again. This isn’t about me now, it's about everypony else.”

Eye to eye with the very insane Unicorn, Rainbow met her gaze, unflinching. “I don’t care what’s going on,” she stated. “ You’re my best friend, and I am going to save you.” The words were unwavering, stating a blunt fact that everything else would simply need to catch up with.

Twilight shook her head. “Don’t worry about that right now!” she said urgently. “You have to listen! She set this whole thing up, just to steal the Elements! She’s been waiting for ages, lurking in—”

“Stop speaking. Do as you’re told.”

Twilight’s mouth clamped itself shut, at the same time Abigail felt herself be jerked into the air. She watched helplessly as Rainbow spun around to confront the mare behind all of this. “Starlight Glimmer,” she spat.

The mare looked solemn. "I had really hoped it wouldn't come to this," she said morosely. "I was trying really hard to be nice, but no, you just wouldn't cooperate."

“Cooperate?” Rainbow repeated quietly. “Cooperate? You banished me, and did… that,” she pointed at Twilight with her wing and nearly spat the word out, “because I wouldn’t do what you said?”

Starlight recoiled as if slapped. “I didn’t have a choice!” She said with a surprising amount of emotion in her voice. “You don’t understand what’s going on here. If I could take her place and still save the world, I would.”

“Oh, please,” Rainbow snarled. “You’re just a crazy control freak with delusions of grandeur. You won’t get away with this.”

Starlight smiled bitterly. “You’d be surprised how often I hear that.”

Rainbow’s words were cut off at the same time her oxygen was, as Starlight’s field grabbed her by the throat and yanked her forwards. Rainbow slashed her wings forwards, magic surging, disrupting the field and sending her careening into the ceiling. She bounced off its surface and caught herself in mid-air, hovering in a small holding pattern to make it harder for Starlight to grab her again.

“Let me make something clear to you, Dashie,” the mare snarled. “I am not some theatrical supervillain from a radio serial. I won’t leave you in a death trap or wait until the last second before killing you. The only reason you’re alive is because I’m trying really, really hard to be the bigger pony here, and it’s not in your best interest to keep trying to change my mind. Your friends are gone, your training is useless, and you are about to die, alone and in the dark, because you can’t do what you're told. So sit down, and shut up.”

Suddenly, a new voice emerged from behind. “She’s not alone.” Abigail’s heart leaped; she recognized the voice. That’s Sunset Shimmer!

Starlight chuckled. “Oh, Sunset, so you came as well?” she said, turning slowly to face the pyromage. “Do you really think I am unprepared for your OH SWEET CELESTIA!”

Abigail couldn’t see very well from her current position, but out of the corner of her eye, she could make out another mare as big as a horse with wings and a horn. She held a golden shield, bladed and shaped like the sun, in front of her and glared at the madmare. “Not always. Now stand down, and let’s talk about this like reasonable ponies.”

Starlight backed away, levitating Abigail in the air threateningly. “Stay back! I’ll do it! I won’t let you stop me now that I’m so close!”

“Stop you from what?” Sunset demanded. She seemed different, what with being a short orange unicorn and all, but Abigail didn’t have time to dwell on it. “You love talking about the big picture, so what is it you really want? What are you going to do with Equestria when you conquer it?”

“Conquer?” Starlight laughed incredulously. “I’m not conquering anything! I just want to build a better world!”

Celestia laid a wing on Sunset’s shoulder, and she quieted herself. “If you truly have a way to improve the world, then we can talk about it like reasonable ponies. There’s no need to threaten others.”

“I’ve tried that.” Starlight growled. “It won’t work. You and your sister will make sure of that. Everything I had was taken from me last time, and I’m not going to let that happen again.” She took out her spellbook. “Twilight, don’t stop working. I’ll deal with this.”

Twilight’s magic flared, filling the room with an eerie blue light as Starlight flipped through her book. The field Abigail was in suddenly brightened, and the farm-girl found herself flying through the air towards the pale horse. The royal equine caught her with ease, floating Abigail behind her for safety. Abigail wanted to protest, but couldn’t find grounds to do so. What can I even do?

“θπίθεση βραχίν!”

The group slowly backed away as a series of portals like the one Starlight had traveled through opened. Dark green mist floated through them, forming two creepy arms taller than Abigail was herself. They slung themselves forwards, seeking to kill the four quickly.

Abigail dove out of the way, rolling to her feet in time to throw herself away from another attack. She ended up next to Twilight, who fortunately ignored her. She rested for a second, watching the fight in a mixture of horror and awe.

It was pandemonium. Sunset struck at the base of one arm directly with a stream of flames, sending it writhing backward. Rainbow followed suit by trying to tackle the second but passed through it as though it was made of smoke. It re-formed and punched her, smashing her against a wall hard enough to leave a small crater.

Celestia threw her shield past the disembodied arms at Twilight herself, but Starlight caught it in mid-air. She cast a spell on the ground, rapidly growing a wall of crystal in between them and the vault. Rainbow flashed forwards, just barely making it through the gap before it was too late. “You’ll have to be faster than that to stop me!”

Starlight’s tail lashed back and forth, as she backed away from the mare and conjured her spellbook. “Look out!” Abigail shouted.

Diving, Rainbow tackled the other mare. In one smooth motion, she grabbed the book in her mouth and kicked off of Starlight to land on the other end of the room. She spat the book out onto the floor. “Nice try!” she declared as she nosed the book open. “But it looks like it’s my turn to summon—”

Abigail wasn’t entirely sure what happened to her next. As soon as she started to read, Rainbow’s eyes rolled up in her head, and she dropped the book and backed away, shouting inarticulately. Starlight’s ray of magic hit her in the chest, creating a dark purple crystal that began to slowly seal Rainbow away. “It’s not about speed,” the cunning mage said as the crystal began to cover Rainbow’s face. “It’s about tactics.”

Abigail had to do something. So she did the only things she knew how to do: she threw herself across the room and tackled the mage. It was a perfect tackle too; Abigail wished that Big Mac was there to see it, as well as possibly throw large rocks at certain ponies. Starlight’s horn hit the ground with a solid bang, its aura shorting out. Starlight cried out in pain.

Abigail punched the mare in the face and then hit again to make sure she wasn’t getting up. And then she hit her a third time just because she wanted to. “You alright, sugarcube?” she asked Rainbow.

The little pony was straining against the crystal, trying to free herself. There were minute cracks forming all across its surface, but Rainbow was already beginning to tire. “Y-yeah,” she wheezed. “These crystals aren’t charged with a magic spell like the other ones are; it's just tough. Can you break it?”

Abigail shook her head. “Not without breakin’ my hands, and that’s assumin’ I can break it at all.” She gave it an experimental kick that bounced right off. She winced. “Yeah, that ain’t happenin’.”

Behind them, an odd sound that was almost like the ring of a bell stretched for several seconds came from the Vault door. A series of musical clanking noises came from the door itself as it slowly shrank until it was no taller than the average pony, and Twilight casually kicked it open with a push of her foreleg.

Starlight staggered to her hooves. “Stop her!” she ordered. Twilight's field splashed towards the human, smashing her against the wall hard enough to leave her seeing stars. Unlike Starlight’s, Abigail could feel Twilight’s field against her skin. It was like that time she’d held the electric fence on a dare. She gritted her teeth and bore the pain, waiting for a chance to get free.

“What would you like me to do now, Starlight Glimmer?” Twilight asked vacantly. Abigail noticed that her nose was bleeding, and the mare just stared straight ahead without looking at anything in particular.

Starlight hissed in pain as she walked over and nosed her book open. “Επισκευή,” she forced through gritted teeth. There was a weird flicker, and Starlight’s image seemed to warp, like she was a picture a parchment that had been left in sun too long. When she returned to normal, she was healed. “Just, hold her or something!” she snapped. “I need to get the Elements before the Princess gets through!”

Twilight continued to stare straight ahead, ignoring Rainbow’s pleas for help as Starlight vanished inside. Abigail pulled against her grip, but that increased the painful buzz in the field and numbed her arm. This all looks pretty hopeless, Abigail thought. How are we supposed to get outa this?

Just then, one of the doors opened, revealing the haggard appearance of none other than Diane. “I have… arrived!”

She then promptly fell flat on her face.

---

Sunset teleported around another blow, barely avoiding a sudden death. She painted the arm with fire, but it only clung to the arm for a few seconds before it was able to let it drift through.

Celestia’s light-based magic was doing more harm, but not much. Sunset suspected that whatever this… thing was had some kind of weird connection to magic itself. Sunset’s fire spells artificially created a chemical reaction in the air, thus producing fire. Celestia, meanwhile, directly stuck at the creature with magical light, driving it back.

Sunset rolled away from another attack, desperately trying to think. Everything was so wrong today. It was supposed to be her day of triumph! She was going to show Celestia that she’d mastered the Elements of Harmony, traversed between the Realms, and then she’d… She’d…

Why can’t I get any of this right?

Sunset did what she always did with doubt; she kicked it in the neck and left its dead corpse behind her as she forged ahead. She charged forwards, sliding underneath the arm’s arc, and bumped into the crystal wall Starlight had raised. She concentrated her Feel on the portals themselves. If we can’t kill those things, then we have to keep them from attacking us.

The magic portals… weren’t magic. They were entirely different from any spell Sunset had Felt with her magic before, in a way that didn’t make sense. It wasn’t Dark Magic or a new kind of magic… Sunset didn't think it was magic at all. I’m almost starting to buy into Rainbow’s ‘pure evil’ theory. The pyromage lit her horn. Whatever it was responded to magic, so maybe Sunset could short-circuit it.

Sunset began charging up a ball of magical energy, moving backward to make herself less of a target. The air around her horn began to glow, as she committed more and more magic to what she was going to call a magibomb, which was perhaps not the most inspired name, but she was a little busy and would have a proper name for it later, thank you very much.

The arms must have sensed the magic in the air. They twitched around, trying to bend backwards and reach her. Celestia moved fast, casting a force wall in between Sunset and the arms. Sunset charged, ducking around the wall and cast her field around the two portals. She yanked them together with all the strength she had.

The arms shrieked in pain as the energy struck them, retracting into wherever it was that they came from. Celestia rushed over to her former student’s side. “Are you okay? she asked frantically. “That was incredibly foolish! Are you okay?”

Foolish? I just saved us! Why can’t I— Sunset was feeling somewhat woozy. Was the castle shaking again, or what it her legs? She sat down. “Just needa rest.... Gotta help…”

Celestia gently pushed her back. “It’s alright. You’ve done your share already.”

Sunset shook her head, ignoring how that made her vision begin to go black. Unconsciously, she leaned against her mentor. “No. I can’t stop. Failures stop. I'm not a… Gotta show ya...”

The last thing she remembered was the ground rushing up to meet her.

---

Diane blinked, fading back into consciousness. Do wa… Am I there yet?

Twilight stood near the end of the room, except now she had wings and was glowing. A pony that would have looked adorable if she wasn’t in peril stood sealed in a purple crystal, and Abby was pinned against the wall by Twilight’s magic, which had changed color.

The rainbow maned pony was trying to get her attention without speaking. Diane pushed herself up on her elbows to see better, holding in a grunt of pain. “What?” she hissed.

The mare shot a panicked look at the hole carved in the wall, but nothing came out.

Diane crawled over to the opening and peered inside. The room was huge and sporadically lit. This must be where the Elements Twilight ranted about are, Diane thought. She said that they had the power to fix her mentor… can they stop her? Can they fix me? She pulled herself inside. What do they even look like? Diane had no idea how to find them, but in her current state, it was the only thing she could do. She gritted her teeth and pressed onwards.

Alert.

She also started hearing voices. She ignored them, and hoped that whatever extra personality she was forming wouldn’t be evil.

It is of vital importance that you listen to this message. The voice hissed.

“Mr. Castle?” she whispered. “Is that you?”

This is what’s left of the Dream Castle’s Automation Matrix. Beginning playback: If you are hearing this, then whoever you are, you’re the last hope of the Realm. You are not the being that broke the A.M, thus making you the perfect candidate to take the Elements of Harmony and get them to safety

‘Forget safety!” Diane hissed. “How do I use them?”

Do not concern yourself with using them; unless you’ve done something to prove yourself worthy of an Element in relatively close proximity to them, they won’t allow you to bear them. I have no idea if the being that broke the castle’s A.M can force them to do its bidding, and I’d rather not find out. Get them and leave. I’ve created a complicated puzzle in the center of the vault connected to a deathtrap as a distraction. The real Elements are hidden in a broken chest in the lower right corner. Hurry! And if you at any point see Queen Celestia, be sure to tell her I anticipated this.

Diane accepted this without comment and began crawling as fast as she could. There were several dangerous-looking items that she passed, wary of accidentally setting them off. At the end of the path, Diane found a badly rusted chest that was sealed shut. She pressed against the lid, but couldn’t budge it.

They aren’t inside the chest itself. Pass your hoof or equivalent appendage in front of the lock, right to left.

Diane did so carefully, expecting the chest to open. Instead, a trapdoor opened underneath her and she silently fell. Diane landed on a thick mat with a muffled crash, grateful for the padding. In front of her was a sculpture holding five stone spheres.

Those are the Elements of Harmony. You must move quickly. There is a smaller version of the Crystal Mirror behind you. It will drop you somewhere in the Everfree forest. There is no way to be certain where, thus making it the perfect escape route, assuming that you do not get eaten before you finish escaping.

Diane staggered upright and managed to make it two steps before she fell again. She crawled forwards. There’s no way I can get out of any kind of forest like this, let alone a magic murder one. If I can’t get these to work, I’m sunk. From above, she could hear a shout of rage and saw a series of red flashes that looked suspiciously like fire. We’re sunk, she added.

With trembling hands, she reached out and touched one of the Elements.

In a flash, her world was gone. Power reached into the core of her being, and flowed across her body.

The world was, objectively, a cruel place. People died every day for stupid reasons like land and money. There were just two things you could do; let it beat you, or stand up tall. She wouldn’t give up on them, on anybody, ever. She was a hero who would keep everyone smiling.

The magic flowed over her body, forming itself into a suit or armor. Lightning crackled, bouncing away from white metal and pink fabric. The room was filled with fire and lightning. When it was done, Diane Jones wasn’t standing there anymore.

In her place, was a Power Ranger.

Diane stared in the mirror, taking in every detail. She wore golden armor over her chest, shoulders, and joints. Underneath was a pink tunic, with white arms, pants, and boots. Her helmet looked almost like a motorcyclist’s, with a knight's helm overtop. Her white scarf lay proudly over her shoulders. There was an odd symbol, a blue balloon carved out of a sapphire, in the center of her breastplate.

I’m a Power Ranger.

Harmony Event detected. Initiating playback: How interesting! It appears that my experiments have indeed broadened the abilities that the Elements of Harmony are capable of granting. However, you mustn't let your guard down. Unless I have left a large gap in time in recording these, the energy discharge created by morphing will have created a large and semi-pointless explosion directly behind you. And that could—

It was too late. An older Unicorn jumped down behind Diane. “Alright,” she hissed. “I’m only going to say this once; give me the Elements of Harmony!”

Superherofight, superherofight, superherofight! “Well, I would, but honestly I just don’t think they like you very much.”

The pony dug her hooves in. “Then so be it.” Her field wobbled unsteadily, levitating piles of rubble. Diane took a step back, not as nervous as she had been earlier. Time almost seemed to slow down. Diane felt charged with power, able to do anything.

The rubble flashed forwards, faster than a swarm of bullets, slashing through space the Pink Ranger had occupied less than a second ago. She’d leaped forwards, flipping over them and nailing a three-point landing in front of Starlight. “Superhero landing!”

The madmare growled. Her field lashed out, slashing wildly at the Pink Ranger, but was again too late. She’d leaned backward underneath it at an angle that shouldn’t have been possible. Pivoting on her left arm, she swung her body around and kicked her in the stomach hard enough to send her careening into the wall. ‘I… uh… got a kick out of… You know what? I’m better than that.”

Starlight staggered to her hooves, and flashed her light bright enough to blind her. Diane felt the mare grab her in a field and slam her against the wall. It was harder than she’d ever been hit in her life. Diane literally heard the stone crack under the force.

She didn’t feel a thing.

The Pink Ranger chuckled as she pushed against Starlight’s power. “Sorry,” she said as she began to push herself free. “Should I pretend like this is harder than it is? Because this is super duper—”

She was interrupted by a ray of magic that crystallized around her body, freezing her in place.

Oops.

Diane tensed, pushing against the crystal with all of her newfound might. The crystal began to crack from the force, but far too slowly. The Ranger watched in horror as the lavender unicorn lifted the Elements from their stone statue and placed them in an ornate case. Her magic stuff was wavering, and she dropped one.

The crazy pony observed the cracks forming in the crystal, and wisely backed away. “I’ll deal with you later.” The mage began pushing the heavy case towards the mirror.

Diane frowned. Her magic isn’t flowing the same way Twilight's did. It looks like it’s hurting her... Did she hit her head or something? She strained against her crystal prison, hearing it slowly begin to crack. I can’t let her get away!

Starlight glanced over her shoulder and then redoubled her efforts as Diane began to break the crystalline cell apart. With a final crash it split open, and Diane wasted no time rushing the villain. Her unchecked dive carried her into Starlight, who rolled with the impact and landed on top. She brought both of her forelegs down on Diane’s face, sparks cascading from the impact. Diane brought her arms underneath the mare and shoved her as hard as she could, throwing her against the ceiling. The Pink Ranger brought her legs up as the mare fell, catching her in a kick that sent her flying into the case that held the Elements. Three of the orbs bounced through the small mirror unshielded.

The glass flexed and bulged around the points of impact, before snapping back into place. Stray beams of energy flashed all around the room. Diane was able to pirouette around first one, then flattened herself against the floor to evade the second. Several beams melted through the ceiling, leaving more than enough space for Diane to fit through. She grabbed the two remaining spheres and jumped as high as she could.

Before, she might have been able to make that leap, likely by almost missing and dramatically dangling from the edge, but now she cleared it easily. She only stumbled a little on the landing; her motions were smoother now. It was as if she’d had decades of practise with these powers, not mere seconds.

The scene was much as she left it, except there was also a huge white horse, a lot taller than Diane was, wearing golden armor. “Hi!” the Ranger exclaimed. “I’m Diane! Are these important?”

The horse tore the Elements from Diane’s grasp. “Where are the rest?” she demanded.

The Pink Ranger took a step back. “They went through the Mirror downstairs,” she replied, before reflecting that this was turning out to be a notably surreal day.

“Twilight!” the purple unicorn called from below. “Get them!”

“Yes, Starlight Glimmer,” Twilight said vacantly. “Whatever you say.”

“Not so fast, evil do-er!” Diane took a running leap at Twilight, which ended when Twilight flapped her wings hard enough to send the entire party flying back. Diane was first on her feet, and charged at her again. “You’ll never get—”

Twilight hit her with a beam of pure energy, which sent Diane back through the crystal wall, through the stone wall on the other side, and put her in a deep crater in the hallway outside.

It can be difficult to describe what it feels like to be hit as hard as Diane was. Diane herself couldn’t remember the moment of impact; it was as if she’d been teleported into a large crater filled entirely with pain.

“Ow.”

Slowly, Diane pulled herself out of the crater and stood again. She took a moment to steel herself, pushing back her fear, before diving into the fight again.

---

Abigail pressed herself against the wall as hard as she could, trying to keep as far away as possible from the magical maelstrom. The light from their magic was blinding, and the heat was enough to feel from the far end of the room. A part of the girl wanted to try and attack Twilight, but a much larger part of her being was insisting that these beings were beyond her understanding and that she should be cowering in terror.

Abigail compromised and began to work her way around to the stone orbs that Celestia had dropped. Down below, Starlight was trying desperately to float herself up and out of the hole. The knock on her head had screwed with her magic, but she was slowly beginning to recover. Abigail swallowed and looked away.

Abigail had just reached the Elements when a crippling sense of doubt overtook her. What am I doin’? This whole time, I keep nearly dyin’ and I ain’t done nothin’ useful. Do I really want to jump into the middle a’ this?

Across the room, Twilight’s magic flared, sending Celestia reeling back. Before the thrall could follow up, the Pink Ranger dived through the wall and landed on her back. “Yippi-Ai-Ki-Yay mother—!”

Twilight thrashed and bucked, trying to get the girl off. Her horn lit, and she slammed the girl into the ground again. Celestia took the opportunity to cast a spell at the wall behind Twilight. It began to glow, and Twilight flew backwards and hit it with a loud smash! Celestia followed through with a beam of energy, annihilating the wall and sending Twilight well out of sight. The queen turned towards Starlight, but a glowing strand of blue energy whipped through the hole and wrapped itself around her neck. She fell after Twilight. Diane staggered to her feet and ran after her.

“Wait!” Abigail shouted, but she was ignored. “Dagnabbit!” That fool is gonna get herself killed! What’s wrong with her? This ain’t our fight!

...Like it weren’t her fight when she saved me.

Abigail looked back at the Elements of Harmony. Diane will jump into this, like she did to save me. She’ll do her best to be a hero, ‘cause I think that’s just the kinda person she is. And if she tries to do it alone, she’ll get killed.

There ain’t no choice at all.

Unwavering, Abigail reached across and grasped one of the Elements.

The first thing that hit her was the sense of duty. She was strong, so very strong, and others relied on it. She had to be tough, to hold the line, because if she didn’t, then nobody would.

Power shot through her, making her stronger and faster. Suddenly, she just knew things, like how to shoot and fight. The light wrapped around her body, forming armor that was thicker and stronger than Diane’s. Her suit was somewhere between a rich brown and a dark orange, and she could see vines wrapping around and growing across the entire uniform.

The Amber Ranger stood proudly, ready for anything. From below, Starlight shot her with a wavering beam of magic, but the thin beam bounced off of her thick armor. She crossed the room, grasped the sides of the prism Rainbow was trapped in, and squeezed. It shattered instantaneously. Rainbow shook the remaining shards from her wings and stepped out. “Holy crap!”

Starlight finally emerged from the hole, and kicked the remaining Element down the hole and dove behind it. Rainbow charged after her, but before Abigail could follow, Celestia fell back into the room and crashed to the floor. She bounced a few times and slid until she hit the wall with a crack that sounded troublingly like a bone shattering.

The Amber Ranger charged forwards, catching Twilight with her shoulder and sending her flying into the wall. The mare’s stone armor took the brunt of it, and she stood back up amidst the crumbling rubble.

“Oh, another Ranger! Cool!” Diane did a casual forward flip to land in front of Abigail (largely because she could) and struck a pose. “Alright then—”

Twilight’s field whipped forwards, forming a blade of energy. The Pink Ranger twisted in a way that made Abigail's head hurt when she thought about it later, avoiding it entirely. The beam smashed into Abigail, sending her back several paces, which would have unnerved her less had the stone underneath formed craters around her feet from where she landed.

Okay, I got this.

Twilight flapped her wings, the wind roaring forwards louder than a jet. Abigail was blown off of her feet, and plunged a hand into the stone floor to keep from flying away altogether. Diane and Celestia weren’t so lucky.

Aw, this is gonna suck.

“Twilight, heed me!” Celestia called. “You can free yourself from this! Try!”

“Starlight Glimmer told me to get you,” Twilight stated. Despite the apparent cheerfulness in her tone, there was a vapid quality to it, like some very essential components of Twilight’s mind were missing. Its familiarity set Abigail on edge.

Abigail took a deep breath in, and let it out. “Alright. Starlight told ya to get us, right? Well, ya did. We've been got.”

Diane was confused. “We have?”

“Yes we have!” Abby hissed. “And that means you don’t got nothin’ to do no more, don’ it?”

“I don’t got nothing to do no more,” Twilight repeated the grammatical defenestration of the English language.

Abigail went to mop the sweat from her forehead, but her hand bounced off her helmet. “Okay… did Starlight give you any other standin’ orders?”

“I must stop speaking and do as I’m told.” The mare actually sounded pleased by that. Abigail shuddered at the look on Twilight’s face. It was fixed in an unnatural grin, her eyes unfocused and body uncaring of the pain Abby had inflicted upon it. Abigail clenched her fist.

“Okay,” she said through gritted teeth, “Did she say not to listen to orders that weren’t from her?”

“No, she did not say not to listen to orders that weren’t from her.”

Abigail nodded. “Good. So: I order ya to fall asleep!”

Twilight sank to the floor in one smooth motion, limbs heavy and unmoving. Diane staggered to her feet and walked over to her. “How did you know that would work?”

Abigail looked at the other Ranger, uncomfortable. “Let’s just say I’ve done somethin’ like it before.”

Diane was probably curious, but Abigail didn’t feel like answering her. She leaned against the wall. Okay, so I saved the crazy girl, beat the big monster, Rainbow’s got the other one…Can I be done now?

Diane moved closer to her, casually ignoring her personal space. “Wait a minute… Abby?”

Abigail nodded. Diane squealed in surprise, pulling her into a huge hug. Abigail flailed her arms, trying to get free. “You're a Power Ranger too! This is great!”

“Hey!” Abigail finally broke free and held the other girl at arm's length. “I ain’t no Power Ranger! As soon as we’re in the clear, I’m giving this thing back and goin’ home!”

Diane took a step back, and Abigail realized she was yelling. “Oh. Okay. Sorry. “

Abby took a deep breath in, and let it out slowly. “No, I’m sorry, this has just been…. Stuff I didn’t want to deal with.” Again, she added mentally.

Diane cocked her head to the side, looking confused. “ Well, we're almost done now, so we’ll be able to go home soon. I guess you can give it back then.”

Celestia looked like she was about to say something, but before she could, the castle shook again, much harder than before. “How long has the castle been doing that?” she asked in a sudden realization.

“Since all the lights went out. Why—”

Abigail's voice trailed off as Celestia rushed past them into the hallway. It was much brighter than she remembered. Before, the area outside the castle had been a horrifying stew of hellish mind-twisting insanity, but now it kept… disappearing. For several long moments, it was replaced with a normal blue sky. Even as it disappeared, Abby could see pieces of blue poking through. “What does that mean?”

“Trouble,” Celestia replied grimly.

---

Rainbow landed smoothly, not missing a beat before punching Starlight with her wing. A burst of Pegasus-fueled wind sent her off balance, allowing her to spin on her forelegs and buck the mage across the room. Dash had to give her credit; Starlight knew how to take a beating. The Unicorn had been knocked around all day, but she was still basically standing.

Starlight faced her as best as she could, tail lashing. She swayed on her hooves, off balance and dizzy. “Oh, don’t you ever quit?”

Rainbow responded with an admittedly predictable smug look and mini-preen. “Sorry,“ she quoted from her favorite pulp novel, “I don’t know the meaning of the word.”

Starlight stamped her hooves in frustration, before blinding her with a surge of light. The unicorn made a break for it, but Rainbow caught her in mid-gallop. The two of them rolled several body lengths until they collided with the far wall, Rainbow on top. She brought both hooves down on Starlight, underneath each foreleg where the joints were weakest.

There was a sickening crack as the bones partially slid out of alignment. Starlight cried out in pain and rolled on her side. Rainbow ignored her; she’d be in too much pain to be any threat for now.

Rainbow trotted over to the Element, regarding the small ancient rock with an overwhelming sense of apathy. It was wasn’t that much larger than a buckball, and it looked like it was falling apart. After the way Sparky had talked about it—

Oh no, Sparky!

Rainbow glanced back through the hole in the ceiling. The sound of fighting had faded, but that could mean any number of things. She looked back at the small, crumbling stone orb. The castle said that I’d earned one of these things… why not? She lightly poked it with her hoof, wondering what she was supposed to do with it.

Energy crackled throughout her body, giving her the power to back up her boasts. Ponies were counting on her to come through for them. It didn’t matter how hard the task; if her friends needed it done, it was going to get done.

Golden armor surrounded her barrel, leaving her joints and wings free to move. The suit was blue, and as streamlined as a fish in water. Her mane and tail were free, waving proudly behind her.

The Blue Ranger reared back on her hindlegs, shying away from the sphere. “What was that?”

Third Harmony Event detected.

Rainbow addressed the castle suspiciously. “Hey! What’s going on?”

Status Report: C-currently, the majority of the Automation Matrix has been compromised by an unknown monstrosity that ranks a-at error, and the Dream Castle itself is falling out of the sky and will destroy Equestria in Er-er-er-error.

There were a number of things Rainbow wanted to address in that statement. She tried to do all of them at once. “Stop, just, uh… what’s causing this, exactly?”

The spells that-that-that— Vocal Interface Reset. The spells that were cast to keep the Dream Castle protected from the Between are decaying, and it’s beginning to drift closer to its edge. There are several pre-set spells in place around the exterior of the castle that will open a portal into our world to protect the castle itself. However, the most likely place to materialize is several miles above the surface of the plane, and given the mass of the Dream Castle at the time of this recording, the impact will kill an unknown amount of people.

Rainbow was troubled by this news. “Well, how do we stop it?!”

T-that information is unavail—

There was a hissing noise as the speaker cut out. Dash turned back towards Starlight. The mare had healed herself again and stood by one of the crystal interfaces. Her magic flowed into the crystal itself, overpowering the original spells with her own.

Time slowed down. Rainbow dove towards Starlight. She had to reach the mare before she could finish her incantation. Rainbow was so determined that she didn’t even notice that the part about time slowing down was literal.

Her body didn’t feel lighter, exactly; it actually felt heavier. But it also felt smoother, faster, like when she was committing to a dive. Starlight hit the far wall and collapsed into a heap. “You’re finished,” Rainbow said coldly.

Warning! Warn-

Rainbow glanced up as the castle went crazy. Starlight must have broken it. What’s it tryn’—”

Enemy detected. Deploying countermeasure.

Two crystals lit up with a sudden surge of power. Beams of light shone from each, connecting in the center of the room. Rainbow slowly approached the pillar of energy. She raised her wings and crouched, ready for anything.

The monster materialized.

Rainbow took a step back.

It wasn't just that the monster was tall because it really was. But being eight feet tall is a lot more terrifying when you're also heavy enough to leave cracks in stone when you take so much as a single step.

Its body was shaped like a cylinder, with three arms ending in sharp looking implements and no obvious head. While its skin looked metallic, it flexed and breathed like a normal pony would. It moved on three legs like some kind of living tripod, shifting its weight from side to side and swaying forwards in a way that shouldn't have worked but covered ground with terrifying swiftness. The monster approached her, each step crunching as it destroyed part of the floor by walking like a normal pony. The side facing Rainbow split open, revealing rows of teeth wanting to grind the guardsmare to dust.

If Rainbow didn't have super speed, she would have been killed right then and there. As it was, she was only struck a glancing blow that was partly absorbed by her armor. She spun around, catching herself in the middle of the room, before turning to look for Starlight. Perhaps the madmare could be persuaded to turn the golem off.

Unfortunately, Starlight and her book were gone. She teleported away again? How does she keep doing that?

She turned back to the monster only to discover, despite her weird 'everything go slowly' power, that the tripod was almost on top of her again. She backed up a few paces and circled it, trying to find a blind spot. The thing appeared to able to track her, and its arms could reach everywhere around it at the same time. Rainbow risked a quick attack, hoping she moving too fast to be properly hit.

The gaurdsmare swooped in to deliver a crushing blow, but it did nothing but rock the machine. Its armor was barely dented and it was too firmly planted to be unseated. Dashing back and forth, Rainbow struck all three sides of the monster with increasing strength, trying to throw it off balance.

One of the arms managed to strike her a glancing blow that sent her spiraling into the wall. As she picked herself up out of the crater she found herself in, Dash grimly noticed that her blow had barely dented the monster. Her new powers wouldn't be enough on their own.

The castle said that there are two other Elements turned on. I hope they're ready.