Equestria Rangers

by Shadowmane PX-41

The Pen

Mar'Zek returned to the bridge and took a seat in his chair, watching as Vi'Al and Siel'Viz stepped aside. As soon as they were out of his way, he re-activated his dome of screens, flipping through all of his remaining warriors. He took more time than usual, though, thinking about Livewire's betrayal beforehand.

"If I am to test the Rangers more, perhaps it is time that we tone down the chaos and take it to a more... philosophical level." His eyes finally turned to a screen showing a Wolf with blue skin, with the tips of his fur white as snow. He held a book in one hand and a pen in the other.

"Through callous acts and blind conflict, those who fight will fall. With stroke of pen felling mighty sword, bringing an end to all." The wolf on the screen spoke while writing. Once he finished writing, the digital training dummies were besieged by black energy from all sides, before they all exploded around him. "And when the fields of battle fall silent, only the dust will remain. Not a single soul resisting death left to bathe in the light of the sun again."

"Exceptional. Another literary masterpiece from the one and only." Mar'Zek pushed the call button on the screen, bringing up a video chat with the writing wolf.

"Ah. My day is blessed with the omnipotence of the Captain." The wolf chuckled as he took up his pen and book. "With this call, my fate is set in stone. All I need is your word and I shall dispatch the Rangers once and for all."

"Then by all means, Noh'Vehl, write us another one of your epic tales. The Fall of the Power Rangers." Mar'Zek grinned. "And please, flex your destructive lexicon as much as you want. Who knows? You might just make it an intergalactic best-seller..."

"Understood. Let us make the Rangers' denouement a tragic one." The call ended, and the cannon started to prime itself. Moments later, it fired, with the shockwave ringing out through the ship.

"Now then. They say that the pen is mightier than the sword. Let's test that theory, shall we?" Mar'Zek grinned as the shot hurtled down towards Canterlot. "Brace yourselves, Perfect Ones. For your story is about to take a rather dark turn..."

---

Sunset Shimmer sat alone in the park, water trickling down from the fountain behind her and air rushing in and out her hair. As the rest of the world stood tranquil, all of her thoughts were entirely different. Every battle, every exploding Wolfpack Agent, every life-or-death scenario ran through her mind. She had been in quite a few battles to save the world from evil before, yet this was something she had never expected. Now, she was in a war, an ongoing feud with an almighty fleet of wolves who knew nothing more than battle and pillaging. Naturally, she couldn't help but feel a bit out of place with all of the stuff that she had done; especially now that she was the Red Ranger of the Equestrian Star Ranger team.

"Were we really chosen by fate to fight? To never stop battling monsters? Or are we just really, really unlucky to have been dealt such an awful hand in life?" She asked herself as she stood up, slowly walking away from the fountain. "Ever since the Fall Formal, I don't think I've ever known peace. Whenever everything's going wonderful, something always comes along to remind us of just how weak we are, of just how vulnerable we are." More memories sprung out towards her as her footsteps blotted out. "The Dazzlings, the Friendship Games, Gloriosa Daisy, Juniper Montage, Wallflower Blush, Vignette Valencia, and now the Wolfpack. This world is not peaceful. It never will be peaceful. There's always someone hiding around the corner and ready to fight us. And only us."

Right as she reached the edge of the sidewalk, the noise of an explosion broke the silence around her. Looking up, she watched as another Wolfpack Meteor Cannon Shell hurtled towards the fountain. She dove across the road, almost being hit by a car in the process, as the shot collided with the earth, sending a massive wave of flame and force outward.

"Equestrian Stars! Shine Bright and Let's Fight!" She called out, hastily morphing as she skidded on her hands and feet. She stood back up, fully donned in her Red Ranger uniform as the dust began to settle from the crash site. "Okay. Let's see what we've got this time."

"A wandering soul, wracked with grief and torment. Longing for another reason to fight other than to slaughter. Such is the being known as Sunset Shimmer, the Red Ranger of the Power Rangers. Though her heart remains pure and just, she knows that deep down there is nothing to do but dirty it so that the world might know peace and prosperity once more."

Noh'Vehl launched out of the rising plume of smoke and landed before Sunset Shimmer, his feet burrowing into the remnants of grass and dirt beneath him. With his book opened as wide as could be, he twirled the pen in his free claw as he approached Sunset.

"Alright, buddy. I don't know what you said about me, but it's all lies. Especially coming from you!" Sunset drew her flame sword and held it out for battle.

"Through her fits of rage, Sunset tried to fight back, ignoring the words of the wolf who stood before her. But through every single swing of the blade, she struck naught but air, as this new face easily evaded all of her attacks, countering with a move of his own." Noh'Vehl wrote in his book as Sunset performed her actions, and sure enough, it all came to pass. Her swift swings couldn't connect with him at all as his speed heightened, leaving only a blur as he evaded each attack she threw. Once she failed to hit the last one, he grabbed the blade by the handle, pulled Sunset close and struck her helmet's visor with the palm of his hand, with a small trace of black energy accompanying it as she hurtled to the ground. "She looked on with a sense of confusion, dread, and unnerve as this new wolf continued to write in his book, the story entirely in his control."

"Nice storybook. You going for the narcissist of the year award—"

"She retorted, in a rude and almost callow fashion. But the wolf did not listen, and only lowered his book and pen for but an instance." He said as he finished writing. "Sunset Shimmer. How pleasant to see you at long last. I've heard tales of you and the other Power Rangers' feats. While they are not great tales, they are still stories nonetheless."

"Let's just cut the writing garbage and get on with this, alright? You want to fight me because Mar'Zek sent you down to challenge us." Sunset picked her sword back up.

"As she stood by, Sunset started to struggle, her grip on the blade weakening more and more with each passing second. She knew that by fighting this wolf, nothing would change, even when her fight or flight reflexes were beginning to kick in at the thought of seeing a Wolfpack Wolf." Noh'Vehl wrote. "For all of her victories, she had only suffered heavier losses. Even now, even after overcoming her fears of it, the fight against Mar'Zek lingered on in her mind, the scars forever emblazoned onto her body as a sign that she is never safe from him or his fellow wolves."

"Huh?" Sunset wrote, before a sudden surge of fiery pain rushed up throughout her body. Groaning and wincing, she collapsed to her knees and looked down at the ground. She was de-morphed instantly and when she saw her skin again, she noticed that there were a lot more scar marks than usual. Marks that hadn't been there before. "Wh-what the?!"

"In defiance, she stood back up, still wanting to fight regardless. She believed that she could win, as she had done so many times before. But even as she took back her sword and locked horns with this interloper, would things really change?" He wrote, causing Sunset to morph again and rush back into the fight. Noh'Vehl stopped writing again and met Sunset's attacks with some claw attacks of his own.

"You think you're so hot just because you write a book? That we can't win against you?" Sunset cried out, her thoughts completely fractured as she ferociously swung at Noh'Vehl. "Well, tell that to the other wolves that we've beaten so far!"

"I need not tell them. For they knew they were weak the moment they died. I, on the other hand will not." He drew his pen like a sword across Sunset's neck, launching her backwards into a tree. As soon as she crashed, he continued to write in his book. "In the heat of battle, Sunset let het guard down a great deal. All that she cared about was defeating this wolf, going home, and dwelling on the shadows of her wins. But those cares were misplaced, as this new wolf conjured a seal beneath her feet, tangling her within a web of dark tendrils."

As he wrote every single word it, it happened in reality, with Sunset now bound by the sigil around her, the dark power eating away at her body with every hit. "She struggled, resisted, even tried to feign her pain. But at last, the symbol turned into a pillar of pure darkness, overwhelming her body and forcing her back into her weakened human state." As he pounded in the full stop, Sunset was indeed consumed by darkness, de-morphing once again.

"Sunset!" A distant voice called out. Immediately, the other Rainbooms came rushing to her side, throwing themselves into a wall-like formation around her body in protection.

"Are you alright?" Rainbow Dash asked, helping Sunset stand back up.

"No. No, you need to get out of here fast!" Sunset whimpered as she watched Noh'Vehl ready his pen and book for another few paragraphs of deadly scriptures. "This wolf. He's not like the others!"

"The other Power Rangers stood around Sunset, a quintuple of warriors all branded with their Crystals. At the sight of their felled friend, they took up a battle posture and morphed in seconds. They would not let this transgression go unpunished." Noh'Vehl chuckled.

"Equestrian Stars! Shine Bright and Let's Fight!" The other Rainbooms called out, morphing on command before they all stumbled, disjointed and confused as to what had happened.

"Whatever... he writes..." Sunset groaned, before she blacked out behind the other Rangers.

"Before they could hear what she had to say, Sunset's vitality sadly gave out on them, severing her conscious thought," said Noh'Vehl. "In the wake of the attack, they darted into battle, only for the Wolfpack Wolf standing before them to write another deadly passage in his book, deluging them with more of his malicious magic."

With their mindsets and thoughts completely overwritten by the book's words, the Rainbooms charged and fell right into Noh'Vehl's trap. Five giant cracks split open from the ground, forming sharp waves to rise up out of them and slice the Rainbooms from below. They all hurtled through the sky before another few words were scribbled into the book, causing five pillars to slam into them from above, burying them into the ground. The attack de-morphed all of them in an instant.

"N-no way..." Pinkie clutched her chest as she writhed on the floor. "This guy's a total cheater."

"We didn't even stand a chance..." Rarity reached out for her swords again, but was only met with Noh'Vehl's foot standing before her.

"As the six teenagers laid defeated, they pondered everything that they had gone through up until now. The battles against all of their old foes came to mind instantaneously. The very same feelings that Sunset were feeling beforehand were now being projected onto them. For all they knew, she was right. There was no point in fighting the Wolfpack if all they would do was continue to fight back. They were, after all, only six compared to an ever-growing army." He wrote more and more as the Rangers tried to stand once again, their bodies strained under all of the stress. "Whether or not what they were doing was right no longer mattered. This was the decisive moment that the Wolfpack had been waiting for. However, in what they presumed were their final moments, the wolf did not lay the final blow and instead decided to leave them rotting and festering on the ground. He needed to do nothing more. In their current state, they could not fight back."

"Enough of the... writing!" Sunset moaned. "Just stop this! We didn't do anything to you and your kind! Why are you hurting us so much?!"

"Sunset's question fell on deaf ears as the Wolfpack agent prepared to transmat back to his ship. But right before he left, he imparted one last question among all of them before fading away." He closed the book, tucking it and the pen away before bringing the Rangers close to him.

"Do you girls enjoy bloodlust? The sheer intensity that you feel when fighting us Wolfpack Wolves? Do you like killing and want to continue killing because you like it?" With that question hammered into their heads, he vanished back onto the Alpha Slayer.

With the book's power out of the vicinity, the Rainbooms found the strength to stand back up again. However, none of them showed any emotion other than pure horror, their entire bodies feeling numb and cold from the anguish they had just been through. They all looked at each other, the faces telling them that none of them disagreed with the fact. They couldn't even walk properly without slowing down or wobbling mid-step, their vision fuzzing up as they tried to regain their composures.

"Girls. You don't believe that, do you?" Sunset asked weakly, her voice almost gone from thinned and hollowed breaths. "You're not... killers."

"He's trying to... get under our... skin." Rainbow Dash panted to herself as she trudged forward towards, each step feeling like she was fighting a ferocious snowstorm in the coldest of climates. "But... he does have a point."

"We've been... enjoying this. We have indeed liked killing these Wolfpack Wolves." Rarity's lip quivered as the question repeatedly played over and over again in her mind. "No matter what, we will be killing again. And we have no choice but to keep killing these wolves until Captain... Mar'Zek falls." She lost balance momentarily and felt to her knees, with Applejack and Fluttershy helping her back up.

"Whatever happened, this just got... a whole lot... more real." Pinkie Pie lost her own balance and tumbled onto the ground, planting face first into the dirt. "This isn't a cheesy cartoon story anymore."

"And what's worse is that guy is still out there. He can continue to use that book against us." Sunset planted her hand against another tree for support. "No matter what we do against him, we're just puppets to his little storybook. With that pen in hand... he can do anything to us at anytime, from anywhere."

"Whoever this Wolfpack agent is, he's definitely not playing around." Sunset looked at the battered remains of her and her friends. "We need to get back to Elaris's ship, on the double. Because it's definitely not safe for us here. Or anywhere..."

---

Back on the Alpha Slayer, Noh'Vehl sat alone in his quarters. A quiet room with nothing more than stacks of books, both written and blank. The ones that had been filled with pages chronicled the other battles that he had been involved in, climaxing with the Wolfpack's victories over the planets they invaded. The blank ones just sat there, the nimiety of blank pages like a swarm of artist canvases, ready to be filled with imagination.

"A pity, that I am to be gifted with these powers of mine. With this pen and these books, the Wolfpack shouldn't have to fight. Whatever I chronicle comes true, no matter what the circumstance or battle." He sighed and kicked up his feet on the bed, toes drooping over the edge. "It shall take the Rangers a long time to prepare themselves for our second meeting. So perhaps I should write the future. After all, idle claws and all that..." He picked up a blank book and was about to write in it, when Mar'Zek's voice burst over the speakers.

"Noh'Vehl. Congratulations on kicking down the Rangers a peg. A pleasure to see one of my wolves working so hard at their job," he said. "I trust that you are already hard at work preparing for your next meeting with them?"

"Of course. But at the same time, I feel that I am already prepared. These books of mine are all the training I need. I do not need physical attacks or long-range combat to prove that wolves can still be deadly," he responded to the Captain by walking over to a funnel, pressing a button beneath it.

"In any case, it is still mandatory that you partake in some mock combat. You cannot win every battle by gallivanting off into the world of your dictionary. Report to the training range at once," said the Captain as the intercom stopped.

"Understood, Captain." Noh'Vehl slumped taking the book and pen with him. "What a shame. Rather than write a tale about how the Wolfpack will finally triumph over the Perfect Ones, I am burdened with a pointless and menial task of fighting hand-to-hand. What was to be a treasure will now be nothing more than tiresome filth that only a battle-hungry ape would enjoy reading." He walked out of the room and trudged off down the corridor. "Alas, such is the price of success as a writer. No matter what you do, you cannot always write what you want. Always encumbered with other such tasks in the process. I am glad that I do not write unfinished stories chapter by chapter, as the audience would always crave more. No. One tale is all that they need to know the truth of a literary prodigy's creativity..."

Comments

[The Bricklayer]

Oh great, White Woz/Light Yagami as the main villain, basically. Now I'm officially terrified. Damn, you more than rose up to the challenge I set for you.

[Shadowmane PX-41]

9486040
I aim to please, after all.

[badninja]

Nice to get another chapter today! I get the feeling that they need to find a way to beat the narrative he creates and my money is on either Pinkie or Twilight being that game changer.

[Ze1a7in]

Mar'Zek said a "more philosophical level", and boy did you deliver.

[The Bricklayer]

9486043
Trust me, you did. This one... Scary. I have to wonder where the Wolfpack finds these nuts. Is there an egomaniac generator lying about? ...Wait, don't answer that. ...Planet Earth really has crappy luck with aliens though, especially in Toku franchises.

[The Bricklayer]

9486050
They could just steal his book... Or destroy it. ...Simple solutions though? Probably not gonna happen here. It's never that simple with villains. Unless they're the too dumb to live types. And from reading this chapter, I'm pretty sure our new boy isn't one.

[Layton13]

"If I am to test the Rangers more, perhaps it is time that we tone down the chaos and take it to a more... philosophical level." His eyes finally turned to a screen showing a Wolf with blue skin, with the tips of his fur white as snow. He held a book in one hand and a pen in the other.

Oh, this does not sound good.

Noh'Vehl

Puns, puns everywhere! I love it.

"Through her fits of rage, Sunset tried to fight back, ignoring the words of the wolf who stood before her. But through every single swing of the blade, she struck naught but air, as this new face easily evaded all of her attacks, countering with a move of his own."

Ok, seriously, there is only one thing I can do here: WAGA KYUSEISHU!

vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/d/d2/White_Woz.png/revision/latest?cb=20190114032918

"Huh?" Sunset wrote, before a sudden surge of fiery pain rushed up throughout her body. Groaning and wincing, she collapsed to her knees and looked down at the ground. She was de-morphed instantly and when she saw her skin again, she noticed that there were a lot more scar marks than usual. Marks that hadn't been there before. "Wh-what the?!"

I'm really liking this.

"This guy's a total cheater."

Yep.

"We've been... enjoying this. We have indeed liked killing these Wolfpack Wolves." Rarity's lip quivered as the question repeatedly played over and over again in her mind. "No matter what, we will be killing again. And we have no choice but to keep killing these wolves until Captain... Mar'Zek falls." She lost balance momentarily and felt to her knees, with Applejack and Fluttershy helping her back up.

Fuck!