EoH Evolution: Season 4

by Bahamut0

Episode 6: Unwavering Dedication

Spike felt horrible about him and Sweetie Belle. There weren't any problems with their blossoming relationship. Well, none between them at least. Here he was, a drake roughly her age, and he couldn't do a thing when some of the changelings still loyal to Chrysalis abducted Sweetie Belle and her friends. And to top it all off, he still looked like he was just a kid.

I can't believe I'm so pathetic. Spike thought to himself with a sigh. And this isn't the first time. I may have saved the Crystal Empire, but all the other battles? I did nothing. The Nightmare Forces. The Mutant Changelings. Now the Chaos Kin. Well, no more. I want to get stronger! I HAVE toget stronger! I wanna be like Burst, Inferno, and the other Elements of Heroism!

And so, with his mind made up, Spike threw himself into training he thought would help to build his strength. Spike did push-ups until his arms gave out, ran until his lungs were almost out of air, and did so many sit-ups his gut was hurting! All of this was doing the exact opposite of what Spike had hoped for. The poor drake felt even weaker than he was feeling earlier.

"I. . . gotta keep. . . pushing. . . " Spike wheezed as he tettered on the edge of collapse. He'd have fallen on the ground if a pair of arms hadn't caught him before he passed out! When Spike regained consciousness, he felt something cold on his head and saw himself in a familiar living room. "Wha-?"

"Thank Celestia you're awake." Burst Stream said with a sigh of relief as he removed the ice pack from Spike's head and gave him a glass filled with water. He'd seen the young dragon as a little brother figure due to how much time he and the guys would spend with Spike to give him some quality time with male friends. "Feel any better? Body less sore?" Spike nodded, and gulped down the water in an instant.

"Good. Now then." Burst flicked Spike on the row of spines that were on the drake's head! "What did you do and what were you thinking that pushed your body too much out there?!"

Spike winced a little at Burst's words. "I-I'm sorry! It's just. . . I wanted to be strong like you guys. All of you are able to protect the people you love. A-And I. . . I want to be that strong too! So I figured if I trained hard enough in one day, I'd be strong like all of you!"

"Oh Spike. Buddy. . . " Burst said sadly. "That's not how this works. You don't get stronger by almost training yourself to death and nearly wrecking your body! Spike, do you think I was born with the strength I have?" The young dragon nodded his head. "Well, I wasn't. Sure, being half-avatar gave me a bit more strength than the average kid, but my power wasn't nearly at the level I am now."

"So did you train like I did to get stronger?" Spike asked.

"Yes, and no." Burst answered with a small smile. "When I turned fourteen, I dropped out of CSGM to train with my dad. He's the one who taught me how to fight and use my magic in battle. But he also taught me how important it was to rest. If all you do is train until you drop, that's not progress. It only makes things worse because you're pushing past more than you can handle. I'm pretty sure the princesses had training to move the sun and moon. The point is, being stronger is something that you need to work towards. It's not something that you're autmatically given. It's something you develop, grow, refine, and ultimately earn. But if you wanna be a strong hero? It takes more than just strength. You know which elements me and the guys represent, right?"

"Yeah." Spike said with a nod as he counted off the Elements of Heroism. "Power, Potential, Honor, Wisdom, Tolerance, Courage, Levity, Compassion, Determination, Spirit, and Nobility."

"Yup." Burst said with a nod. "But that's all worthless if none of us have one thing."

"What's that?" Spike asked.

"Dedication." Burst answered. "What good is a hero who doesn't dedicate themselves to doing as much good as they can, or training so that they can stay in top form? Don't think any less of yourself, or sell yourself short Spike. I've seen how you act. If that isn't the dedication of a hero in the making, I don't know what is."

Burst smiled as he saw Spike beaming up at him. "Speaking of heroes, you want to hit up a comic book store? I think you could use a little something to help your mood if my little pep talk didn't do the trick. Plus, it'll give you something to entertain yourself with while me, a few of the guys, and Twilight and the girls help with restoring the Castle of the Two Sisters."

"It did." Spike said with a nod. "I just really want to see the next adventure of the Legion of Harmony! I heard the new issue is a crossover! So let's go!" And with that, Spike took off with Burst Stream right on his tail to the next train for Castalot. A trip to Enchanted Comics later, the two were back on the train to Unityville and on their way to the Castle of the Two Sisters.

As soon as the two arrived, Spike eagerly opened up the comic he'd purchased and gasped at the cover! "Sweet! The Crossover is with Power Rangers!" And with that, the young drake dashed off to where he could read in peace away from the restoration.

"Maybe I should've bought an issue for myself." Burst said with a chuckle. He was then surprised when he saw an unexpected addition to Twilight's restoration team. "Moon? What're you doing here?"

"Well, Twilight told me about this little restoration project when I was picking up some new books from her library." Nightmare Moon said with a smile. "This place has a lot of significant memories for me. So much of my life stems from this single place. Both from when I was created, and the memories of Luna before I came to be. And, well. . . it IS kind of my fault this place got trashed."

"Not to sound lazy, but couldn't you just, y'know, magic away all the damages and restore the castle to its former glory?" Burst asked nervously. "I mean, it'd be no problem for you."

"First, you didn't sound lazy at all. Just practical." Nightmare Moon said with a giggle. "And you have a good point. However, I've got a good motive. I want to put effort into this. True, just using my magic would make light work of the restoration. But actually working to repair the damage would show Celestia and Luna that I really care and that I'm more than willing to put in effort to make things right between us three."

". . . You just keep giving me reasons to love you. You know that, right?" Burst Stream asked with a loving smile as he helped Nightmare Moon move a carpet. "So what other reason do you have to help with the restoration?"

"Spending time with Twilight and the girls." Nightmare Moon answered with a smile. "As much as I enjoy our time together, I can't be with you alone? Plus, I get to give pointers to Twilight since she's a rookie Avatar!"

"HEY!" Twilight snapped! "You're just saying that because I haven't found something to be princess of yet!"

"Twilight? You're a literal goddess now." Ty pointed out as he held a bunch of tapestries under his arm and carried Fluttershy on his shoulder. "Ace, Steel and I are avatars too. That doesn't mean we need to be a prince or princess of anything."

"Although if Steel WAS given a title, we could call him Edge Lord!" Rainbow Dash said with a snicker! Back at Unityville, Steel Edge sneezed! At the castle, the rest of Rainbow Dash's friends just gave her unimpressed stares. "Fine. That jokes been done too much. I'll toss it."

"I'm gonna go check on Spike." Twilight said with a nod as she flew to the castle's library. Sure enough, she found Spike sitting next to Arctic Ace. "Hey you two! Any good reads you managed to find once you cleared the dust?"

"A few hidden gems here and there." Arctic Ace said with a shrug. "Spike's find is far more recent though. How's the issue coming along so far buddy?" The rest of the Main 6, Nightmare Moon, Burst, Inferno, and Ty came in to see how Spike was doing.

"Man this issue's great!" Spike exclaimed as he reached to flip the page and read the exciting conclusion to the story! "It's. . . blank?" An empty page. That's all that awaited Spike's eyes as he flipped the page. "But there's no 'to be continued' box on the last page. Why would I be sold an unfinished comic?" Spike then noticed a piece of text. "Hm?" With no better idea of what to do, Spike read the text. A flash of light went off, and a swirling portal opened right above the comic book! Sucking the group of friends in!

"Nnnngh. . . " Spike groaned as he regained consciousness. "Man, that's twice I've passed out today." Spike then saw the Main 6. All of them were a bit confused to their new surroundings and attire. But Spike was quite familiar with both. "You've become the Legion of Harmony!" He then looked at his own reflection and outfit. "And. . . I've become HumDrum. Great."

"Uh, aren't we missing a few heads?" Applejack asked. "Where did Moon and the others go?" The Main 6 and Spike began to consider the possible places where the rest of their friends had landed, but their thoughts were interrupted when the sound of a wall exploding and alarms blaring got their attention! Out stepped the villain of the comic's story, Mane-iac! But something was odd about the crazed villainess. A green, lightningbolt patten was on her suit and it seemed to stem from a small coin that was inside some sort of device that looked like it was leeching energy from the coin!

"Well, wherever the others went, we'll have to worry about them later!" Twilight said. "Spike? You seem to know all about our new powers. So you'll have to instruct us as we go!" The only exception to this being Pinkie Pie who was already zipping around Mane-iac.

Meanwhile, the others had just recovered from their landing. "Everyone in one piece?" Inferno groaned as he scratched his head. The response was either nods, or groans of discomfort. It was then that they all noticed something odd about their clothes. "Hey, anyone know why we're color-coded now?"

Inferno was clad in a black t-shirt with blue jeans with black sneakers, Burst had a red tank-top and grey jeans and black sneakers, Ty had a white shirt with a yellow vest over it and tan jeans with white sneakers, Ace had a striped blue shirt with blue jeans.

"Yeah. Last I checked, pink wasn't a color I frequently wore." Nightmare Moon noted as she looked over her outfit. A light pink shirt with blue jeans, and white sneakers. "And I know I didn't have this ponytail style before we got sucked in here. Any clue why we got dragged along for the ride?"

Burst Stream was uncertain, but then he felt an object in the back pocket of his jeans. He reached in, and pulled out a small metallic device. And his eyes lit up like a kid in a toy store as he remembered the premise of this specific issue of the Legion of Harmony and what said device was.

". . . Guys? Check your back pockets." Burst Stream said in a neutral tone that betrayed the excitement in his eyes. The others did so, and pulled out similar devices. All of them looked to Burst, then to their devices. This was going to be fun. "I trust you all know what time it is?" They all nodded.

"Follow my lead." Burst said with a smile as they all heard the sounds of the Main 6 tangling with the Mane-iac. They rushed to the scene, and thrust out the devices! "IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!"

"MASTADON!" Inferno cried out!

"PTERODACTYL!" Nightmare Moon shouted!

"TRICERATOPS!" Ace called out!

"SABERTOOTH TIGER!" Ty shouted!

"TYRANNOSAURUS!" Burst cried out! In a bright flash of light, the five had morphed into the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers! "Alright guys! Let's give Mane-iac the trim she's overdue!" The five chraged at Mane-iac, but she wasn't the least bit surprised to see them!

"Ah! The Puny Rangers!" Mane-iac mocked as she swatted aside the Main 6! "I heard you were in town, so I decided to call some old friends of yours to come out and play!" Mane-iac snapped her fingers, and a squad of putties jumped onto the scene!

"Let's pulverize these putties first!" Ace suggested. "Then we can tangle with the big-bad!" Each of the rangers and the Main 6 took on a few of the Putty Patrol! With their combined strength, it wasn't long before the putties were in pieces! "We'll need some heavy duty tools to even make a dent in those locks!"

"Got just the thing for that!" Inferno said with a smirk as he summoned his power axe! "Not a giant pair of scissors, but it'll do!" And he cut off one of Mane-iac's hair tendrils! Both teams of heroes leaped into action! Twilight firing elemental blasts of ice from her hands while Moon let loose bolt after bolt from her power bow to keep Mane-iac's attention! Applejack managed to get a hold of the villain's arms with her lasso while Pinkie literally ran circles around Mane-iac!

All the while, Spike had managed to snag the electro orb that had been dropped in the fight. However, the tide of battle abruptly turned when Mane-iac let loose a green aura of power that knocked back both teams of heroes! She then turned her attention to Spike, and gripped the young dragon in one of her hair tendrils! Squeezing just enough to make him drop the orb!

"Why thank you Hum-Drum." Mane-iac said with a mocking grin. "You're such good help when you're around!" And with an insane cackle, the villain left the scene of her handiwork using her hair tendrils to swing through the air.

"You alright Spike?" Twilight asked as she and the others rushed to Spike's side. "She didn't hurt you, did she?"

"No." Spike said with a shake of his head. "But that's not what's important! What is important is that we get the electro orb back from Mane-iac! Follow me! In all my years of reading comic books, I've learned that most supervillains have lairs based on themselves of their theme!" And with that, Spike lead the two teams of heroes to Mane-iac's hideout. Naturally, it was an abandoned hair product factory.

"Alright. Looks like we're taking the fight to the Mane-iac." Burst said with a nod. His helmet didn't show it, but he was smiling. "Maybe we can also get whatever that coin around Mane-iac's neck is! Let's go!" And with that, both teams of heroes charged into the abandoned factory! However, it was the heroes were soon sprayed with a, well, giant hairspray can. Freezing them in place! "What the?! I can't move!"

"And we can't access our powers!" Twilight noticed as she tried to power up her magic! It wasn't long before they were all confined to a cage. "Isn't the cage a bit unnecessary since we're already frozen in place?"

"Comic book, remember?" Pinkie Pie chimed in. "Oh! I think Mane-iac's about to explain her plot!" Just as Pinkie Pie said, Mane-iac started going into how she'd use the electro orb to power a ray gun to immobilize the entire city and probably boost her own increased power!

"You might have all of us, but you still forgot one person!" Twilight shot back! "As long as they're out there, you're not going to win!"

Mane-iac giggled. "Humdrum? Sidekick? No powers, remember?" She then let out an insane cackle. "You really think that little nothing can help you escape?" Unbeknownst to both parties, Spike had infiltrated the lair and was listening in on the conversation.

"It's not the powers that make a hero." Burst Stream replied sternly. "Even if we lost our powers, none of us are going to back down and let villains like you do as you please!"

"Humdrum might not have any powers, but he always comes through!" Twilight added!

Spike's went wide at hearing his friends speak so highly of him! However, he had no time to truly appreciate it when the pipe he was holding onto came crashing to the floor! Right between Mane-iac and his friends!

"Ah. We were just talking about you." Mane-iac slithered up to Spike, and scooped him up in one of her hair tendrils! "How about you join up with me? I'm sure you're sick of being in the shadow of those six. So what do you say we make this city ours?"

". . . This city is already mine because it's my home." Spike answered as he snatched the coin off of Mane-iac's costume! "And there's no way I'm letting you wreck it!" A blinding flash of green went off as the coin seemed to respond to Spike's unwavering dedication to his friends! As soon as the light died down, Spike stood as the green ranger! But what really shocked everyone was that his voice sounded. . . older. "No one's going to take us down! The power lies on our side!" And to prove his point, he fired an enerby ball that knocked the Mane-iac right out of her lair! "Hold tight guys!"

Using the dragon dagger, Spike cut the bars of the cage to ribbons just as both teams of heroes regained their mobility! "You guys keep the cronies busy!" Spike looked over to the immobilizer ray. Smiling underneath his helmet. "I've got an idea on how to wrap up this battle!"

As the others fought against Mane-iac's villains, Spike came to blows with Mane-iac! The crazed villain tried to swat him aside with her hair tendrils, but Spike cut her locks with the dragon dagger! "I think it's time to call in the big guns!" Spike put the dragon dagger to the mouthpiece of his helmet, and blew into it!

Rumbling was heard from all around the building, and the roof was torn right off the building! The Dragonzord let out a mighty roar as all the combatants stared in shock and awe of the mighty robotic dragon!

"Uh. . . nice dragonzord?" Mane-iac said nervously as the massive mech was glaring at her!

"It's me you've gotta worry about!" Spike cried out as he kicked the Mane-iac in her side and leaped over to the immobilizer ray! "Let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine!" Spike fired the ray, and smashed the control panel immediately afterwards! The effect of the ray was instantaneous as Mane-iac's own hair became her prison! "And that's how you wrap up the villain's plot!" A few seconds later, Spike and the others found themselves thrown out of the comic and back into the castle! "Well, that was a fun adventure. Uh, guys? Why are you looking at me?"

"Look in a mirror dude." Burst said. "Let's just say you've grown up fast."

"What're you. . . oh." Spike did as Burst suggested. Spike had indeed grown up. He was now roughly Sweetie Belle's height, and found his body had been more slightly developed if the barely noticeable muscle was any indication. "How did this happen?!"

"Easy." The dragon spirit residing in Burst's sword answered as it materialized. "Your recent growth is the result of something rare among dragons of this age."

"What's rare about it?" Spike asked. "Also, WHO ARE YOU AND WHY DID YOU COME OUT OF BURST STREAM'S SWORD?!"

"To answer your question, your growth is the result of a noble desire." The dragon spirit answered. "You wanted to protect your friends and those you love. As for who I am? Well, I'm in no mood to spoil that. Not yet. Lastly, my spirit has been bonded to the sword. Also, did you notice the new addition to your arm?"

"New addition?" Spike asked as he looked to the purple arm cannon styled after a dragon's head on his right arm. ". . . Niiiice! I got my own Duelist Arm!"

"Meaning we're gonna need to start your training." Inferno said with a nod. "And get you some new clothes."

Spike looked himself over, and blushed. "Aw geez! This is embarrassing!" And the entire group shared a laugh.

Comments

[Bahamut0]

9222061
Next chapter's up!

[ArcticAce01]

9230061
By far one of the most best episode right now because it shows spike becoming a hero and a part of the team Aswell

[Bahamut0]

9230747
Thanks dude. Oddly enough, I unintentionally predicted the future when I wrote the original series S4 episode because Power Rangers is now owned by Hasbro.

[ArcticAce01]

9230847
Really

[Bahamut0]

9230851
Yeah. I'm serious, Hasbro owns the Power Rangers now. Look up the Beast Morphers trailer. It's on YouTube!

[MasterPhoenix93]

So Hasbro owns Power Rangers...yeesh.

Spike got his duelist arm AND Power Rangers. (Dino Thunder was my favorite btw, Black Ranger Tommy FTW)

Good Chapter (by the time you get this I will either be reading the next chapter OR I will already be finished reading because it's 1:15 in the morning)