Chapter 6: Black Stars Rise
Apple Bloom kept her head down a little as she made her way through the school the next day. Amethyst had sent them back to try and investigate where the Chain Shade may be hiding when not in the theater.
She had searched the theater first just to be sure with no sign of the monster. Then again he was on a timer so it probably made more sense for it to be gone. Still, they needed to be as thorough as possible.
Finally the crowds dispersed as the students entered their classrooms. Apple Bloom took a deep breath as she started looking around again. She was pretty sure that they wouldn’t have a hiding place in one of the occupied classrooms, but she wasn’t about to rule anything out.
“Anypony else find anythin’?” Apple Bloom asked into her communicator.
“Not yet, I’m still keeping an eye on things in the theater,” Silver replied. Not that Apple Bloom blamed her, she was still trying to save Diamond from the Shade. “I’m taking another look at the script while I’m here. Something about all of this is still weird to me.”
“We’re checking with some of the staff around here,” Scootaloo answered. “I just asked a janitor if there were any weird reports. He didn’t really mention anything new that we didn’t know before, but he did mention that something is up in one of the classrooms that they closed down for repairs. I’d check that out if I were you, it’s in your area Bloom.”
“I’ll check it out then, what’s the number?” Apple Bloom asked quietly.
“Room 102, you should be close,” Scootaloo answered and Apple Bloom nodded a little. She noticed the door and started towards it.
“On mah way now,” she replied.
“Be careful, Apple Bloom,” Amethyst said over the communicator. “I’ve been looking over what we have here on Locke. It’s not much to admit, but I have some records on the last time he was used by the Shadow Line. I’m not sure what his game is this time though, and this play isn’t helping matters either.”
“What do we know about tha play?” Apple Bloom asked.
“It’s written in a similar style to English literature, probably from the Victorian era,” Amethyst replied. “That is consistent with what we know about the Shadow Line. The story seems to be dedicated to the aftermath of the death of the King… very Shakespeare if you ask me. But still, it’s not giving me much insight into this. Which likely means that it’s just a means to draw in the Tenebraean Energy.”
“Yeah, Ah agree,” Apple Bloom replied. She took a deep breath as she reached Room 102 which had a sign on it saying that it was closed. “Ah’m here now, what should Ah expect?”
“I wish I could tell you,” Amethyst replied. “But it’s worth a try at least. Be careful and ready to transform at any time. We don’t want to lose you too. Use your morpher to unlock the door with the key option. Speak the word unlock into it.”
“Ah’ll be careful,” Apple Bloom promised as she adjusted her morpher for a moment. She raised the morpher and spoke the word into it causing it to scan the lock and it opened up. “Ah just hope that this is actually what we’re lookin’ fer.”
“Only one way to find out, good luck,” Sweetie Belle said. “We’ll head your way in case you need us, okay?”
“Okay,” Apple Bloom replied as she pushed the door open. For a moment she didn’t think there was anything unusual about it until there was a strange purple haze. “What tha…”
She coughed a little as she grabbed her throat. It was getting harder to breathe all of a sudden, she could barely hear Amethyst’s voice in her communicator. “Morph! They’ve changed the atmosphere of this room, it’ll protect you for a short time!”
Apple Bloom grabbed her Charger and slid it into the Morpher as she pressed the button. The suit formed over her as she breathed normally again, panting to get as much oxygen as she could.
“Are you okay?” Amethyst asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just wasn’t expecting that is all,” Apple Bloom weezed out. “What happened?”
“I should’ve seen this coming, they used the same technique in other worlds,” Amethyst replied. “They can set up equipment in order to survive past the four hour mark outside of the train. He must have set this up. Figures really, I’d be careful, but see if you can find anything out while you’re there. Do you see anything?”
Apple Bloom adjusted herself as she looked around. There was some equipment lying around, some of which looked like terminals similar to what was in the train. Only they looked more archaic instead of the sleek computers she saw on the train.
“Yeah, Ah’ve got some sort of odd computer terminals,” Apple Bloom answered as she examined them. “They’re in some odd language Ah don’t recognize. It ain’t Ponish or whatever tha language is here, shouldn’t it be translated?”
“That has to be in the Shadow Line’s language, I’ve never gotten a close enough look at their alphabet to translate it,” Amethyst replied. “Use the device on your belt to take a picture of it and give me a moment and it will be translated.”
“Alright,” Apple Bloom replied as she removed the device and took a picture of the keyboard of the computer. “If yah say so.”
She looked down at the computer for a moment before the letters shimmered in her vision and turned into Equestrian letters. She shrugged a little and started checking over the computer before typing into it, going over the information on the computer in hopes of finding something interesting.
“Ah think Ah have somethin’,” she finally said after a minute as she clicked on a file. “It seems ta be some sort of notes on tha play or somethin’.”
“Oh? What does it say?” Amethyst asked.
“It’s talkin’ about how tha play will…” Apple Bloom started to say before she narrowed her eyes at it. “It’s talkin’ about usin’ it ta affect folks mentally. Apparently there’s some sorta strange power in tha play that’s gonna cause them ta go insane or somethin’. Does that make any sense ta yah?”
“It’s not without precedent,” Amethyst replied with a sigh. “Unfortunately I’ve seen this happen before, not from the Shadow Line, but from… other things. We need to keep an eye on this and rescue Diamond Tiara to stop the Shadow Line from hurting or killing people. See if there’s anything else there at least.”
“Great, no pressure,” Apple Bloom sighed as she went back to looking at the computer. She was about to open another file when she suddenly heard the door start to open behind her. She dove behind the teacher’s desk and hid in the hole, hoping that whoever it was wouldn’t find her.
“I do not see the necessity in checking over the equipment again, Madame Noir,” Locke said as he walked into the room with Madame Noir walking in behind him. “I can assure you that everything is in perfect working order.”
“Baron Nero wants to be sure that everything is ready,” Madame Noir said. “Given you failed last time, he wanted to be sure you’re ready. I’m inclined to agree with him. Do you still have that meddlesome Ranger captive?”
“Yes, of course I do,” Locke answered as he nodded to the coffin he had been pulling. “My Coffin prison is impenetrable and she’s locked up tight. And soon enough I’ll have all five of them and we won’t have to worry about that lot anymore.”
“You had better, we haven’t been able to get the same amount of Tenebraean Energy since they started to be a thorn in our sides,” Noir said as she unfolded her fan and fanned herself as she typed on the computer’s keyboard. “You have only one chance to pull this off, Locke. Are you absolutely sure that it’s going to work?”
Apple Bloom had to stifle a gasp. While she wasn’t surprised that the Shadow Line was after them, they were really wanting to take the out just to get more energy? Weren’t they getting enough on just their normal efforts? It was like they were actively trying to destroy universes at this point.
“Once the play hits opening night, the full effects are going to come into play,” Locke said as he pointed at the screen. Images and text were shown on it in the same language as before, showing information on the play itself. “I made sure that it’s going to work personally. We just have to make sure everything is in place.”
“Good,” Noir said as she folded up her fan and pointed it at Locke as she walked around the desk, standing just a few inches away from the hiding Apple Bloom. “Are you certain that this will be enough? This world is weak in terms of the energy we actually need.”
“I’m positive,” Locke answered as he placed his hands on the desk. “The fact of the matter is that there is a lot of underlying darkness here. This is about bringing that darkness to the surface, and make them unleash it upon each other. That will give us all the energy we need.”
Apple Bloom’s eyes went wide at that and she had a hard time not saying something. They were using the humans here as a way to draw the energy out? While that was nothing new, this universe didn’t seem to have any other defenses. So they had to do what they could to stop them, somehow.
“You had better be right about that, because we do not give third chances,” Noir said as she walked around the desk and got in close to Locke, shoving the fan into his face. “Do not fail us, or I will personally make sure that you are punished for your failure. Do I make myself clear, Locke?”
“Crystal clear, madame,” Locke said as he looked at her nervously. “I have accounted for every possibility this time as I already told you.”
“You better have…” Noir trailed off, her voice one of warning. “Because I will not tolerate a failure for the second time. “
00000
Silver Spoon worried. She’d always been two of a kind with Diamond, for better or for worse. Bump! Bump! Sugar-lump, rump! That’s how it went, right? Seemed a bit silly at the time, a whimsy mocking rhyme from a bratty child. Now, she would have given to have Diamond by her side, even if only to recite that little rhyme.
“Are you okay, Silver?” Sweetie asked as she looked over at the grey haired filly. The two of them were in the school’s library looking into anything that might help them. “You’re still worried about Diamond, huh?”
“Yeah…” Silver said softly. “A lot of this isn’t making sense really. What does taking Diamond even have to do with what’s going on if it's related to the play? Why take her?”
“I don’t know,” Sweetie admitted as she picked a book up off one of the shelves and flipped through it. “It probably wants us out of the way. I don’t like it, it might mean they’re going after the rest of us next. I promise, we’re going to figure out a way to get her out of there.”
“I… I hope so…” Silver breathed out frantically. “I’ve never been without her you know? We’ve never been apart since we were fillies! Did you know that?”
“I mean… I always knew you two were close,” Sweetie said as she rubbed the back of her head a little. “Ever since you two were fillies yeah. I guess I didn’t realize just how close you were… Silver, she’s going to be okay.”
“Yeah, maybe if we keep telling ourselves that, we’ll believe it,” Silver mused. “She’s in a dimension inside a coffin. She’s the furthest thing from okay there is!”
“Okay, good point,” Sweetie said with a sigh. “But at the same time, you know it’s no longer just the two of you right? We’re a team now so we’re here for each other. We’re going to rescue Diamond as a team, and you’re going to be there to help her. I promise that I’m going to make sure that she’s okay, we all are.”
“I… yeah. Why you’re doing this for me, I don’t understand. Sisters, we were such little terrors to you throughout childhood weren’t we?” Silver muttered in self-disgust.
“You were, but that was a long time ago, and you’ve both proven yourselves to have changed since then,” Sweetie answered. “Ponies can change, and now you’re our friends.”
“T-Thanks…” Silver whispered, taking off her glasses to dab at her now wet eyes.
Sweetie hugged her tightly. “Diamond’s lucky to have a good friend like you. Now, how about we see if we can find anything? Though I’m pretty sure this is all just normal books, I don’t think we’re going to find a book of weird plays created by monsters from another universe.”
“So where do we look then?” Silver sighed, sliding down against a bookcase. “What, do we just go up to the Shade and ask if we can borrow his book collection?”
“No, I guess that’s not an option,” Sweetie said as she picked up another book and flipped through it. She paused a moment at it as she read over some of the words. “‘After stumbling queerly upon the hellish and forbidden book of horrors the two learn, among other hideous things which no sane mortal should know, that this talisman is indeed the nameless Yellow Sign handed down from the accursed cult of Hastur—from primordial Carcosa, whereof the volume treats.’”
“Sounds… well, yeah now that just sounds a bit disturbing really,” Silver mused. “Sounds like something out of HP Ponecraft!”
Sweetie looked at her friend oddly.
“...my dad was a fan, actually he fancies himself a bit of a literary critic. But yeah…”
“Yeah… Carcosa again, this must be what Amethyst was talking about before,” Sweetie said as she looked it over. “It’s probably nothing really. Just happened to find it I guess. Never really read much of Ponecraft myself.”
“Ponecraft was a xenophobe, like real summon down the windegos level of xenophobic. He apparently wrote a story, The Shadow Over Horsemaw just because as it turned out his mother was -gasp- a pegasus!” Silver explained. “He… yeah, he’s really kinda creepy to be honest. Him believing in Nihilism and all. Liked to say all that awaited us was nothing but existential terror. Apparently there was one photo of him smiling, just one and… yeah, it was kinda freaky. Like really unsettling.”
“Yeah, wow… remind me not to put him on my to read list,” Sweetie said.
“I read one of his books, and… eh, it was really kinda dull if you ask me,” Silver said. “Even putting aside the rampant racism, it really wasn’t all that entertaining. There’s much better writers for his whole Mythos.”
“Well, until we can figure something out I guess there’s not much we can do,” Sweetie said. “It’s not like there’s some near infinite information resource where we can look up monsters and evil plays or something… is there?”
“I heard some of the girls, oh… what were their names? Katie, Sarah?” Silver muttered before snapping her fingers. It came almost naturally to her, the act. “Yeah, that was it! They mentioned something called the ethernet?”
“It’s worth a try, let’s check it out.”
Silver pulled up a chair next to the computer, and after several minutes of fiddling and banging on the device she finally managed to boot up what was called ‘Google’. “Now how do I…?”
“Here, Amethyst showed me how to use the computers on the train, let me see…” Sweetie said as she took the keyboard and typed in a few words before hitting the google search button. “And there we go… maybe… honestly that was probably kind of vague.”
“Maybe you need to be more specific…” Silver theorized pushing her aside. “Here, let me… Okay magic all knowing library of things, what do you make of the Ambassador from Carcosa?”
It didn’t take but a minute for several results to show up, like wildfire appearing before their very eyes. A list of monsters, madness and mayhem.
“Oh… that’s bad…” Sweetie commented. “That is very bad.”
“Gee, you think?” Silver squeaked. “The Hanged King (now SCP-2264-5) is still stationary within Alagadda, and cannot move. Because of this, he uses SCP-2264-4, also known as The Ambassador of Alagadda, as an mobile agent, who travels throughout the city and wider multiverse. The Ambassador has traveled as far as Adytum, where he met Grand Karcist Ion. Over eons many have come to the city, either in order to participate in the carnival and/or orgies of the twisted, vaguely humanoid inhabitants or in order seeking the boon of the King.”
“You… you think the Chain Shade is the ambassador from Carcosa?” Sweetie asked nervously.
“I don’t know,” Silver admitted. “This is just something on the ethernet. It sounds more like fiction, like more out of Ponecraft. But there’s probably weirder things out there. If the Chain Shade is anything like this then we need to stop it.”
“Yeah…”
“A-And save Diamond…” Silver started to panic. “She’s… inside that thing!”
“Silver, it’s going to be okay, we can save her, we will save her, calm down,” Sweetie said, placing her hands on Silver’s shoulders. “We are going to save her, I promise.”
“Promise me something else?” Silver asked, her gaze hardening as her eyes seemingly turned to ice. Her expression was positively frigid.
“Y-Yeah?” Sweetie asked nervously as Silver slammed a fist into her outstretched palm.
“First chance we get? Lend me some of your powers so I can turn that thing into molten slag.” Silver requested.
“I promise,” Sweetie said.
“Good, now let’s go save my best friend.”
Sweetie smiled and nodded. “Let’s do it.”
00000
Meanwhile back aboard the zords, Apple Bloom had rushed back to Amethyst with the new information in hand. Amethyst looked down at her from where she was working and waved. “Glad to see you got away from the Shadow Line back there. Did you learn anything interesting?”
Apple Bloom gave her a quick rundown of what she had heard from the Shade and Madame Noire. Amethyst frowned a little and sighed. “I was afraid of that, as I said I’ve seen this type of thing before. This is definitely not good news, and it just means our mission is even more important now.”
“Now where have yah seen it before?” Apple Bloom asked critically, her eyes narrowed as she approached the woman. The farm mare crossed her arms, looking suspicious. “What are yah not tellin’ us? Yer awfully keen on keeping secrets really…”
“I tell you what you need to know,” Amethyst said, unfazed. “Nothing more.”
“Yeah, well what Ah need ta know right now is what yer not tellin’ me,” Apple Bloom stated slamming a hand down on top of Amethyst’s desk. It rattled a bit, and a drawer opened. Apple Bloom caught a flash of something purple, and she quickly pried it away before Amethyst could stop her. “...Like say, a morpher huh?”
“I… You didn’t need to know,” Amethyst said. “It wasn’t important.”
“Oh, Ah’d dare say it is!”Apple Bloom snorted. “Yah were a ranger this whole time huh? And yah didn’t think ta… oh, let us in on tha secret? We could have used your help! Diamond’s a prisoner of that thing and maybe if yah’d been there maybe she wouldn’t be! Think about that huh?”
“I’m not a Ranger!” Amethyst said, standing up angrily and slamming her forehooves down on the desk. “I was a scientist, I helped build this train, back where I come from I mean. I never was a fighter I…” Amethyst said as she looked like he was about to cry. “I never could… I have to go… just…”
She went around the desk and started for the door. Apple Bloom laid a hoof on her shoulder.
“It’s okay, yah don’t have ta tell us. At least… Not yet,” she said, gently laying the morpher down.
“You have to understand, if I could fight I would,” Amethyst sighed. “And someday, I promise I’ll tell you. It’s just really hard to talk about.”
“Ah… Ah understand. Ah don’t like ta talk about what happened ta mah ma and pa,” Apple Bloom soothed, hugging the woman from behind, her arms ensnaking themselves around Amethyst’s waist. “Whoever yah lost, we can talk about them in time. Ah’ll be here fer yah. Pinkie Promise, cross mah heart and hope ta fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Thanks, that actually means a lot,” Amethyst said with a weak smile. “I guess it’s not easy to trust others when I’ve been on my own so long.”
“Well, yer not now,” Apple Bloom said clapping her on the back. “Never forget. So, tha question is now, what do we do now moving forwards?”
“Your information is a good start, we need to find the Chain Shade and keep it from finishing its plan,” Amethyst said as she took a deep breath. “I will say this. From my experience with this kind of event, we need to stop it before it starts. The Chain Shade is messing with dark and dangerous powers. Our first objective will be to free Diamond Tiara.”
“So what, do we just blast tha coffin?” Apple Bloom asked. “And what’s his ultimate goal?”
It was then Silver Spoon and Sweetie Belle rushed into the car, looking absolutely terrified. Their already pale faces were white as a ghost. They were sweating hard, and breathing even harder.
“What happened?” Amethyst asked.
Sweetie and Silver tried to explain, but ended up being a babbling shouting mess, each trying to explain over the other.
“The Hanged King!”
“The Ambassador!”
“Doom, death, destruction!”
“THE SCPS!”
“Alagadda!”
“Oh, you two found the Internet…” Amethyst deadpanned before her expression softened. “Look, the SCP Foundation is… well the good news is that it’s not real in this universe. It was created by a bunch of writers on the internet. At least, in this universe and some others. We are currently on a higher level of reality than the SCP Foundation at the moment, but it is out there. Unfortunately, you are right about one thing, what is happening here is very similar to the Hanged King’s Tragedy and the Ambassador. Which is why we have to be careful.”
“So does that mean…” Sweetie asked, her voice low and terrified. “The students are going to become scared, suicidal? Starting to cut their own faces open and start slitting their own throats? How can we stop it?”
“We stop it by stopping the Shade,” Amethyst answered. “And we have to stop it soon. Opening night is probably where it will manifest. This is what I’m talking about when I said I’ve seen it before. Now, it’s up to us to stop it.”
“...is that a morpher?” Sweetie said looking towards the purple smartphone laying on the floor.
“It’s nothing important,” Amethyst said. “Really, our main focus should be on…”
“Ah just realized somethin’,” Apple Bloom said, her eyes slowly widening in horror. “Where’s Scootaloo?”
00000
Night had fallen over the city, and Scootaloo had found herself unceremoniously drafted into a party night by a certain duo.
“I… Oh, I don’t know about this. If my sister finds out about this, she’s going to get mad…” Scootaloo stammered out as both Katie and Sarah pulled her towards a bar.
“Relax, you need to live a little!” Katie said. “Besides, who better to help celebrate the success of our new play than with a friend?”
“But the play hasn’t premiered yet…” Scootaloo tried to point out.
“But when it does, oh it’ll be a smash!” Sarah decreed pointing to the sky. “Everyone loves a good medieval tragedy!”
“Do you guys hear that?” Scootaloo asked, swearing she was hearing the sound of clanking chains.
“Hear what? The crickets?” Sarah asked.
“No, it sounds like…” Scootaloo said before her eyes widened. “...singing?”
“I’ve got a coffin, just for you,” the voice came low over the darkened streets and out of the mist. “I’ve got a coffin just for you, and you won’t even have to pay a dime…”
“Oh no…” Scootaloo realized in a single horrific moment. “Katie, Sarah, run!”
“Run, why?” Katie asked. “Is it your sister, are you that scared of her learning about…”
“Katie?” Sarah asked nervously as twin golden eyes appeared out of the gloom. “W-What’s that…?”
A scream rose up from Sarah’s throat as the Chain Shade marched out of the mists, his coffin dragged along the streets and his golden eyes like lamplights. “I’ve got a coffin just for you, and you won’t even have to pay a dime…”
“Katie, Sarah, run!” Scootaloo said. “I’ll be right behind you!”
Neither girl needed to be told twice and ran off as Scootaloo went for her morpher. As ever, a feminine voice sung softly out of it, comforting the mare in the face of danger. “All Rangers prepare for boarding," the voice said. “Please stand behind the white line!”
“Ranger 3-Yellow!” Scootaloo said as golden light covered her and she emerged from the morph weapon in hand.
Chains erupted from the ground, ready to drag Scootaloo into the shade’s coffin, before she brought the hammer down. The ground cracked, before a steam pipe erupted and hot scaling steam exploded in the Shade’s face even as the yellow ranger came at him with a roar. Her hammer slammed into his face, the monster staggering before he snapped his fingers.
Crows appeared from out of the darkness, guns lighting almost at once. Scootaloo rolled to the left, before two more jumped out of the shadows with axes in hand. She just barely held them back with the handle of her weapon. Pushing forwards, she knocked them to the ground with a show of force. Again, Scootaloo brought the hammer down, and sent rubble flying towards the minions with multiple swings.
“Batter up!” she said, holding the hammer over her shoulder. Laughing, she said: “You guys are nothing compared to me! You should go back home and practice some more! Man, I doubt I’d ever need to be morphed to deal with you!”
“Then what about me?” the Chain Shade asked, before with a wave of his hands chains erupted from the ground and rushed towards Scootaloo. She quickly went for her side arm, and blasted them out of existence with laser fire. Scootaloo ran towards the monster, keeping it off balance with more laser fire, before flipping over it and firing more shots at it in mid-air.
Another wave of his hands, and chains bound themselves around Scootaloo dragging her forwards. Then, the blow of a train’s horn and train cars thundered past depositing her fellow Rangers who quickly slashed her free.
“How about a coffin just for you then?” Silver Spoon asked pointing at the monster. “I’ll be having my friend back now, thank you very much.”
“Go ahead and try!” the Chain Shade laughed patting his coffin. “But she’s mine now, and mine she’ll stay!”
“We’ll have to see about that won’t we?” Silver said, readying her sword. However, before they could charge in, they were blasted backwards by a wave of dark energy.
“I think not,” said Madame Noire as she stepped in front of her Shade. “My shade’s failed me once, and I intend to see he doesn’t fail again.”
“So what?” Silver said as she stood up, using her sword as support. “I’m going to get my best friend back, and if I have to go through you… so be it!”
“An admirable goal, but ultimately futile,” said the woman. “But, I cannot let you pass so…”
Another wave of dark energy demorphed them, and Noire and the Chain Shadow made their escape.
“Well, that was humiliating…” Scootaloo groaned out in pain as she lay on the pavement.
“Okay, she’s really beginning to work my last nerve,” Silver agreed. “Maybe we can just blast her with our weapons in some new combination next time she shows!”
“Uh, guys… I think we have bigger problems to worry about than that…” Sweetie said as both Katie and Sarah appeared from behind a tree, eyes widened in shock.
“...I thought I told you to run!” Scootaloo shouted.
“Yeah, and uh, leave you behind?” Katie asked. “I don’t think so!”
“Though it looks like you can take care of yourself!” Sarah put in. “Like wow, you’re an actual regular day superhero!”
“...well, this could be a big problem…” Sweetie muttered.
“So who was that anyways?” Katie asked. “Mr. Chain Gang I mean?”
“He’s… yeah, he’s a monster,” Scootaloo tried to explain.
“Yeah, we kinda figured!” Sarah laughed. “But what exactly is he?”
“He’s called a Shade. And I’m sorry to say, but your play is going to become a real tragedy if you don’t shut it down. I know the show must go on and all, but…” Scootaloo laughed. “This time you may want to make an exception!”
“Uh…” both Katie and Sarah looked at each other nervously. “Why?”
“That monster, he’s got a plan and if the play goes through and completes its final act? He’ll have more energy for his masters than he’ll know what to do with! He’s been influencing it from the shadows,” Scootaloo said. “I’m sorry I have to tell you all this, but…”
“We understand,” Katie said nervously, nodding along. “But… I’m not sure you can stop it. Nor can we!”
“Well,” Scootaloo said with a cocky little grin, spinning her blaster in her hands like an old western gunfighter. “Good thing I’m from a family that’s known for beating impossible odds!”
00000
“I don’t think they’re just going to cancel the play,” Amethyst commented as she looked at the others. “This world doesn’t have magic or monsters in it, at least outside of stories. They’re more skeptical than that, so they’ll have no reason to do anything about it without actual proof.”
“And they looked at the Shade as if it was normal when they did see it,” Scootaloo remembered.
“At least while on the stage.”
“Alright, so then we’re going to have ta make our move before openin’ night,” Apple Bloom said as she looked at a flier for the play. “And that’s not gonna be easy since it’s tomorrow night.”
“Because of course it is,” Silver Spoon said in complete deadpan.
“How convenient…” Scootaloo groaned. “Alright, so we need a plan then. We know that the Chain Shade or Locke or whatever it’s called is in the theater.
“We also know that they tend to grow giant when they get beaten,” Sweetie Belle commented. “And it’s not like this is a place with a bunch of empty buildings we can fight it in. We can’t put the students or the school at risk.”
“Perhaps, and I know this sounds crazy, we should let the play just go on, and when the time is right…” Silver theorized. “We strike. Or… or is that not a viable option?”
“Unfortunately if we can’t lure out the Shade then we may not have a choice in the matter,” Amethyst sighed. “But work on getting it out of the building. Sweetie is right we can’t put anyone at risk. Unfortunately at this point I don’t think we have much of a choice in the matter.”
“So… luring out the Shade. What, do we just morph and hold up a big sign that says: “Kick our Asses”?” Scootaloo asked in a sarcastic tone.
“We’ll have to figure something out, preferably before…” Amethyst said and her eyes suddenly lit up. “That computer system you saw in the classroom, Apple Bloom. He must need it for something, if we can take it out it might hurt his plans.”
“Finally, a plan Ah like!” Apple Bloom said slamming a fist into her outstretched palm. “Nothin’ fancy about it, just simple smashing!”
“Alright, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, you two will go and destroy the computer system, the rest of you will be at the theater,” Amethyst said. “Your morphers should protect you from the influence for a time if it starts before you can get the Shade out. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, once you’re done head for the theater, okay? We’ll adjust the plan as needed. Really, there are only 4 rules of planning. Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails and throw away the plan.”
“Rail Rangers Riding to the Rescue!” Sweetie shouted, punching the air and when everyone looked at her, she laughed nervously. “...what, I thought we needed a catchphrase…”
“We’ll work on it, but I don’t think it's going to stick,” Scootaloo said.
00000
"Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails and throw away the plan,” Scootaloo murmured as the two found the computer room again. “Yeah, seems simple enough.”
“We may have ta morph,” Apple Bloom commented. “Last time Ah was in here tha room was filled with somethin’ that would’ve hurt me.”
Scootaloo nervously pushed open the door, and her eyes widened. “...Yep, we need to morph!”
For on the other side of the door were Crows. All looked up at the two Rangers, and pulled out their guns with audible clicks and clacks.
“Yeah, let’s do this,” Apple Bloom said as they pressed the buttons on their morphers.
“All Rangers prepare for boarding, stay behind the white line!” The computerized voice said as they slid their train chargers into the Morphers.
“Ranger 1 - Red!”
“Ranger 3 - Yellow!”
“ALL ABOARD!” The Morpher finished as their suits finished forming around them. The crows were knocked back by the force of the morph, even as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo quickly got to work smashing up the computers.
“...Oh, Ah do hope the school has a high enough budget ta replace all these.” Apple Bloom mused.
“Vandalism, not what I thought I’d be doing as a superhero,” Scootaloo joked. “Oh, my sister would be so proud of me…”
“Ah think that’s tha least of our problems right now, but yeah,” Apple Bloom chuckled as she brought her sword down on another computer. “But it beats leavin’ them fer what tha Shadow Line was up ta.”
Meanwhile, the play was the thing!
“...it’s not even a good play,” Sweetie said from the audience. “All tragedy, and no substance.”
“It’s literally called the Tragedy of the Night King, I’m not sure what we were expecting,” Silver commented.
“Less edge?” Sweetie asked.
“If this was any edgier that one pony that tried to copyright the word edge would sue it.”
Their communicators beeped at about then, and several people whispered at them to silence their ‘phones’. Sweetie and Silver quickly made their way to a corner of the room.
“What’s going on?” Sweetie whispered. “Please tell us you have some good news, this play isn’t that great.”
“All doom and gloom, really. Guess it just reflects my mood, sitting like this and feeling kinda hurt with all the darkness in my room,” Silver said in poetic fashion. “...Oh Celestia, it’s starting to get to me!”
“Well, we got the computers taken care of,” Scootaloo said over the communicator. “So we just need to deal with the Shade now.”
“I don’t think we’ll have to wait for long…” Silver mused. “Hear that?”
“I’ve got a coffin, just for you,” the voice came low from out of the darkness. Something was audible, grinding itself up against the ground against the sounds of tell tale rattling chains. The audience broke out into whispers, hearing the sounds come from somewhere up above. “I’ve got a coffin just for you, and you won’t even have to pay a dime…”
“From the sounds of it, it looks like we pissed him off,” Scootaloo said. “We’re on our way!”
Silver and Sweetie made their way to the rafters up above the stage, and sure enough from out of the darkness came the Shade.
“Throw out the plan?” Sweetie Belle asked and Silver nodded as they activated their morphers.
“All Rangers prepare for boarding, stay behind the white line!” The computerized voice said as they slid their train chargers into the Morphers.
"Ranger 2 - Blue!"
"Ranger 5 - Pink!"
“There’s only two of you,” the Chain Shade said with a little laugh. “How do you plan to take me down?”
“Oh, we’ll figure something out…” Silver said as she raised her rather large blaster. She fired it up in the air, as the audience broke out into screams and began to scatter as she shouted: “Everyone, get out of here!”
Sweetie meanwhile charged forwards with her claw weapon, slashing at the monster’s armor. Silver leaned out from behind her, firing her blaster again and again at rapid pace. As chains swirled out of the shadows, both Rangers leaped to another rafter, metal clanking beneath their boots.
“Exchange?” Silver said as Sweetie nodded.
“Blue line switched to Pink line!”
“Pink line switched to blue line!”
Sweetie fired the blaster into the monster’s body, before Silver sent twin slashes of energy towards the creature.
Silver then swung from a rope to another rafter behind the creature as Sweetie tossed her a charger. Likewise, Silver tossed her own to Sweetie.
“Pink line switched to blue line!”
“Blue line switched to Pink line!”
Silver fired as many shots as she could into the Chain Shade, while Sweetie fended off the crows with her blaster.
But more came, this time armed with guns.
“Switch, again!”
Again, the chargers were tossed to each other.
“Blue line switched to Pink line!”
“Pink line switched to blue line!”
Silver charged up an energy slash, before Sweetie spun to her left and then to her right each time firing off shots to down the footsoldiers. And with one single slash, Silver ripped the Chain Shad’s coffin away from him. It slipped away, and crashed to the floor smashing some of the seats below to splinters.
With a roar of rage, the Chain Shade sent more chains towards both Rangers, each rolling out of the way to avoid them. Sweetie riddled the monster with laser fire. Silver leaped to another rafter, accidentally slicing through ropes in the process and sending lamps tumbling to the floor with loud crashes.
However, she ran forwards and then leaped into a diving kick slamming her boot right into the Chain Shade’s face. Slicing through his armor over and over with wild abandon, she spun like a drill and the entire rafter came crashing down to the floor. Obviously, both ranger and monster were taken with it. As Silver recovered, Sweetie leaped down to join her as both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo finally joined them.
“You’re late.” Silver said.
“Got caught up in traffic,” Scootaloo said, holding up her smoking blaster. It was then Silver realized the two had switched colors. She fired into the coffin, and it exploded releasing all who had been trapped inside.
“...uuuugh,” Diamond muttered as she dusted herself off. “Thought I was going to get claustrophobia if I was trapped there for any longer… Thanks Silver, for not giving up on me.”
“It’s what friends are for,” Silver said with a smile. “Now, as friends I say we finish this creep together eh?”
“Bump! Bump! Sugar-lump, rump.” Diamond grinned under her helmet.
“Blue line switched to Green line!”
“Green line switched to Blue line!”
The two rushed the monster, Diamond shooting and Silver slashing.
“Pink line switched to Red line!”
“Red line switched to Pink line!”
“...ugh, again with the pink?” Scootaloo muttered before she leaped atop Sweetie’s sword as it extended rails that Scootaloo ran along, slashing into the monster. She leaped off and watched as the rails bound themselves around the Shade before Sweetie slashed through the monster. Finally, Apple Bloom ran along the floor in a slide around the monster, shooting it full of laser fire.
Sweetie used her sword like a whip, the ‘rails’ lashing into the monster’s skin. Silver used her borrowed axe to lift Diamond up, even as chains reached out to grab them. Diamond leaped forwards, covering the Shade in laser fire. The monster staggered back, even as the Rangers all returned to their normal colors.
“Well, that’s about wrapped this one up, I’d say!” Sweetie said. “You… you know, because I literally wrapped him up in rails? Anyone?”
“...I ought to get a slipper to slap you just for that one!” Scootaloo grumbled.
“We can’t finish him here,” Diamond muttered. “The people!”
“Follow me!” Sweetie shouted leading the monster on a merry chase through the halls and out the back door of the school. As luck would have it, and Sweetie’s keen eye had spotted this earlier, the school was directly in front of a forest. And so here, they could have their battle and finish the monster off.
The Chain Shade sent sharp rusted chains in every other direction, the Rangers scattering into the brush. Then, from out of the forest came Sweetie with her claw weapon in hand, with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo right behind her with sidearms in pistol mode.
Sweetie slashed into the monster several times before breaking away with a backflip as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo riddled it with shots. Silver appeared, and Apple Bloom launched her sword, rails flying and Silver landing on them as she surged forwards firing shot after shot into the monster’s hide. She circled above the creature, still firing before landing next to the now reunited Rangers.
“I say you deserve to get the final shot, right?” Diamond said as the Rangers combined weapons.
“No, he captured you so…” Silver disagreed.
“But you were the one having to worry over me!” Diamond argued.
“Oh, someone just shoot him!” Apple Bloom groaned in exasperation.
“This… is your last stop!” Silver said as she fired and down went the Shade in an explosion. And then up it grew in an explosion of Tenebraean energy.
“I’ve got a coffin just for you all!” he roared, now the size of a giant.
“I’m coming in with the train, prepare to go into Megazord mode after I arrive,” Amethyst’s voice said over their communicators as there was a familiar train whistle as the Quantum Reality Express snaked over the trees and stopped in front of them.
The five quickly entered their trains and took their positions, pressing the console buttons. “Megazord mode activated,” the computerized voice said as the train cars moved into position. “Entering Express Train Formation.”
The megazord marched forwards, much to the awe and amazement of the people below. Some whipped out their cameras and smartphones. Within the hour, YouTube would be flooded with footage of a real mech battle and conspiracy websites would be all abuzz talking if it was a promotional stunt, aliens, or the government hiding something.
Chains erupted from the ground, only for the megazord to slash through them with its sword.
Again, the monster tried this and again the chains were reduced to scrap metal.
So therefore, the monster did something different. From out of the ground came wood on all sides, boxing the megazord in.
“Like I said, I have a coffin just for you…” the shade growled out.
The megazord’s energy levels began to drop exponentially.
“Ah… Ah don’t know how, but he’s drainin’ all of our Tenebraean energy!” Apple Bloom shouted in fear, having checked the readings. “Consarn it! We gotta do something!”
“You must break free, Rangers!” Amethyst shouted over the comms. “Otherwise we’ll be dead in the water!”
“We… yeah, we need to do something drastic!” Scootaloo shouted. “Energy levels are continuing to drop! Wait, I have an idea!”
She threw a switch, and the trains split apart rushing out of the smashed coffin on separate tracks before reforming behind the monster.
“Genius!” Apple Bloom shouted.
“Well, it was either that or do something extremely phallic…” Scootaloo said and all of the other rangers groaned.
“...you’ve got a dirty mind, you know that right?” Silver said adjusting her glasses.
“Hey, I didn’t say I was going to go through with it!” Scootaloo returned, holding up her hands in a defensive manner. “Besides, don’t we have a giant monster to fight?”
“What she said,” Apple Bloom said as the megazord marched forwards. It delivered a series of front style kicks to the monster, making it stagger. “Now I believe it goes like this right…? Have at thee!”
From the forest floor, both Nero and Noire watched.
“I’m surprised you’re not helping him…” Nero tutted, leaning on his cane.
“He’s a failed experiment,” Noire replied. “He’s proven useless to us once before, remember? And he’s just failed again.”
“A fair point,” Nero agreed, raising a glass to his health. “Until next time then!”
“Silver, Diamond, how about you do the honors,” Scootaloo said as they placed their chargers in the center console.
“Yeah, let's finish this chain freak off,” Diamond said as she gripped her console and activated the finisher mode as the chargers began to glow with energy.
The Megazord’s sword lit on fire as it swung it around a moment. Then it ran at the Chain Shade, swinging its sword around and slashing through it. It let out one last cry before melting into a puddle of darkness and finally vanishing.
“This dimension is back on track!” Sweetie shouted, and everyone looked at her. “...what, I thought we needed a closing one liner?”
“It’s… yeah, that’s actually pretty good!” Apple Bloom said. “...your earlier one still sucks though.”
“Eh, give it time. I’ll make it stick.”
00000
It was now later after the Quantum Reality Express was on its way to its next destination. Silver Spoon was seated in the train’s dining room eating some ice cream.
“Hey Silver,” a voice said from the entrance to the room and she looked up to see Diamond standing in the doorway. “Do you mind if I join you?”
“Yeah, go ahead,” Silver said with a smile as she nodded to the chair next to her. “It’s really good to have you back.”
“It’s good to be back,” Diamond said as she took a seat. “I’m just glad none of you got caught up in that thing. It wasn’t pleasant, I can tell you that.”
“Yeah, I’m worried though,” Silver said as she took a deep breath. “The fact of the matter is that we cut it close this time. Next time we might not be so lucky. And I’m a bit worried about what Amethyst said before.”
“About dangers in the multiverse?” Diamond asked and Silver nodded. “Well, we knew that there would be a lot of threats. If there is this, Alagadda out there somewhere or whatever, then I’m not sure that it’s the biggest threat we have to deal with. We’re chasing after the Shadow Line, and we only know a few things about them.”
“So what do you suggest?” Silver asked. “What are we going to do if we run into more of these dangers?”
“I don’t know honestly,” Diamond said. “But I do know that we’re going to do this, together. This is our chance to help people, ponies, whatever. We’re going to face it together as a team, you know?”
“Yeah, I know,” Silver said and then chuckled. “That play really was terrible, you know? You’d think the Shadow Line would have better writers.”
“Oh you think you had it bad, he read that thing out loud sometimes while dragging the coffin around and I heard every word,” Diamond said with a shudder. “I’d rather not think about it really. Let’s just take this one day at a time.”
“Yeah, one day at a time,” Silver said as the two smiled and continued talking.
They didn’t notice that Amethyst had stopped in the doorway and was watching. She smiled softly as she kept walking down the hallway and entered the library. She reached into her bags and took out the papers where the play was written on. She wasn’t going to let it be used again, not this one.
She pulled a few books off the shelf and the shelf opened up to reveal a vault. She opened it up and went inside, placing the papers on a shelf next to many other items that she had locked away here.
“Secure Contain Protect…” She muttered. “The Foundation isn’t the only one who knows the value of those words.”
She closed the vault up and walked away. She had many secrets that she wasn’t ready to tell her charges about, but she knew deep down that the time would come soon that she had to. She just had to hope that it would be on her terms.
00000
In a distant universe, under a strange sky with black stars that dotted it, stood a towering fortress surrounded by a city. The city had long ago been lost to madness and destruction, with those who wanted to hold things together having left.
At the center of the fortress, there was a sound. A sound of chains rattling and metal scraping against metal as a figure sat on a throne, chains binding him as he did. His head raised, a single eye visible from behind a hood as he did.
He had felt power once more. And now something was going to happen. His forces had enemies, but they were not going to be enough. He waved a chained hand as a projected screen appeared before him, showing a figure.
“Master, what is your bidding?” The shadowed figure asked in a feminine voice.
“Prepare…” He said in a raspy voice. “We have much to prepare for. When you are ready, go to the Imperial Kuliner. These Rangers will not stand a chance.”
“Yes Master,” the woman said with a slight bow before the screen vanished again.
The form looked up and raised his hand again as a white and purple outfit appeared over him. He allowed his disguise of a young ruler to form over him. Only a few knew his true form. He closed his eyes and prepared to send new instructions to his servants.
The Shadow Line would not fail again.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- RuinQueenofOblivion · 186k words · 20 8 · 1.3k views
- CookieScript · 9.7k words · 14 11 · 599 views
- Lucasnike123 · 31k words · 21 5 · 1.2k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.029 seconds
Total duration
912 users online
456,084 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Ooooooh, ominous. So rises the Emperor. So glad I dropped out of the doc just in time to be surprised with that ending. Also, happy to help!
media1.tenor.com/images/1da546e46f4a48093152024a6c87cc6d/tenor.gif?itemid=13418132
Writing that fight scene was fun let me tell you, even if the transfer changes were a bit of a pain to write.
Gotcha, our monster is a pretentious literally snob.
I mean, it could be not based on the 26 letters of the alphabet and instead be something more akin to Japanese or something. Who knows.
And you complain about our puns. Hypocrite.
Wrong series Rach. Someone really needs to fix your multiverse.
Well, that escalated quickly.
I'd say, you will most likely be fine, given I think you are 18 or something, but with these two numbnuts, yeah...
Damn, not so stupid civilians.
Or short, RRRR!
So... Is she now a self insert?
Uhhhh... With the helmet?
Cute.
Doubt
10417794
Basically? Yes, yes he is.
Or it could be a completely different alphabet, I haven't decided yet.
This one's not on me! Brick named him that.
Everything is real in my multiverse, haven't you learned that by now?
Welcome to what happens when you tell Brick about your plans related to SCP.
Yeah, 18 and not even in the same universe.
Yep.
That was Brick's idea... I didn't come up with these cheesy ones.
No... totally not.
I didn't want to include the actual thing from the show and Brick couldn't resist.
Whoops.
Darn puns.
Really? That's what you got from that scene? Not a comment on how ominous that was or something?
10417937
I assume there were slippers involved?
I'm aware.
Huh...
Shame, they are great.
They are lovely, ain't they?
Pretty much. I mean, it's a pretty standard "Hello, I'm the bad guy and this is my evil lair" scene.