A Dashed Shade Of Red Part 2: Close Encounters Of The Cosmic Kind

by TheSuperTransformerFan

Part 6: The Search Continues

Rainbow Dash was in the lab, still feeling shaken and traumatized about her friend having gone good to lovey-dovey evil about Discord! Ben’s sister, Betty Burke was typing up on one of the computers in the lab about what the speedy, sad Pegasus had told her earlier.

“What you have told me is awful!” Betty said, as she was typing up info about the new draconniqus in existence. “I haven’t seen you this upset since Evox captured Devon, and took him to the Cyber Dimension!”

Rainbow remembered that moment when she tried to defend her friend from the Blaze avatar, stealing the Morph-X tower. And, something told her that this moment she was suffering through right now, was just like that moment. “WHY?!” she wailed out, sobbing in her hooves. “OH WHY?!”

Betty put her hand on her wing, and patted it concerning. “Have some courage!” She said to her. “We’ll get through this. Okay?”

“Okay!” Rainbow cried, looking up from her hooves and to the Burke sister, as she bravely typed up the information about the recent situation.

After a few moments of typing, she finally got to a picture of a certain multicoloured, vibrant draconniqus...unlike Discord...who was evenly matched in every way. Sure enough, it was the one that Rainbow was looking for! “I’ve got it!” Betty shouted in her eureka moment.

“Got what?” Rainbow asked.

“This!” She showed her the photograph, which made her gawk at the Cosmic creature. “What I have found here is the only known photograph of the creature that could possibly possess your friend! I heard Discord telling the Rangers about her, and she matches the description. I think her name is...Cosmos.”

“Cosmos?” Rainbow asked bewildered. “Who’s that?”

“That’s the general question!” Betty proclaimed. “More like WHAT’S that? From what I’ve heard, she appears to be another spirit of Chaos, that crash landed in his dimension millions of years ago...dinosaur times even!” Rainbow was shocked, trying to process this information as Betty continued. “And, my guess is that she is the reason everyone in your world think Discord is a menace! Because, he’s been taking the blame for her actions!”

“Yeah, I got that!” Rainbow said quickly. “WHAT about her is helpful in this situation?”

“Oh, right!” Betty said, as she did a better bio of her. “It says here that she was imprisoned in the Andalusian stars...the ones which Twilight had sent you guys to find. And, so far, she has possessed not only Twilight, but also Luna and Celestia as well. Which ALSO leads me to believe that is also the reason Celestia has a love/hate relationship with Discord, and why they are in love with him.”

“I don’t CARE about Celestia! I want to nail Cosmos!” Rainbow said, as she pounded her hooves together. “I want Twilight back to normal.”

“I have conducted that there is a high probability that Celestia, Luna and Twilight are still together!” Betty said, bravely pounding her hands together. “And, since we know very little about Cosmos...” she turned to her friend, as if she were ready come up with a plan. “...we must FIRST locate Twilight!”

---

In Klugetown, Big Mac and Pinkie Pie were looking for their star gem, when the party mare screamed in excitement. “Ooooh! This stall has Llama accessories!” Pinkie squealed.

“Uh..” Big Mac started.

“I KNOW!” Pinkie finished his sentence. “Look for the star, and don’t get distracted. I’m glad you’re here to keep me focused.”

“Uh...” Big Mac started, as Pinkie Pie noticed a junk pile. She screamed.

“OH SUNDRIES!” She shouted, as she jumped in the pile of clothes. “Hold my Llama!” She tossed her toy to Big Mac, who felt a little uneasy.

As Pinkie was rummaging through the junk, a few Klugetownians were interested in what Big Mac was wearing, and came up to him. “OOOHHH!” One said, pointing to his Stoll. “How much for the yolk around your neck?” It asked, are you selling?”

“Nope!” Big Mac said nervously.

As one of them tried to pull it off of his neck, the same one from before took a good look at his hair. “I’ll give you three Storm bucks for the hair.” It said. “It’ll look better on me, anyway.”

Big Mac was getting more nervous as he was having his neck piece forcefully removed. “Nope.” He said, but the grabber wouldn't let go! Things were getting even worse and more uncomfortable for the stallion, when...

A cat with a trench coat walked on the scene, and patted him reassuringly. “Sorry, guys!” He said. “This one’s already bought, and paid for!” The citizens growled, as they snapped their fingers and walked away. In an instant, Pinkie recognized the voice as...

“Capper!” She shouted, as she came over, and gave him a tight bear hug. Capper found it hard to breathe, as he tried to release himself from her powerful hug.

“Oof!” The cat said, as he released himself from her hug, and shook Big Mac’s hoof. “Pinkie Pie, you know better than to bring a Green horn to Klugetown.” He told her. “What were you thinking?”

“Uh, that he doesn’t have a green horn?” Pinkie wildly guessed.

“Uh, maybe?” He said, as he turned to the two of them. “So, what brings you here?”

Pinkie felt like now was the perfect time to explain to Capper what has happened so far, as she took in a deep breath and explained the whole story. “First, I brought a Llama, and THEN, Twilight found a star and it’s pink! And, it’s part of a big astronomical mystery, and it made our magical Cutie Map all shiny, and pointed us to the other fallen stars ALL ACROSS EQUESTRIA! And, now we’re on a mission to find them all, and...”

Capper was quick to cover Pinkie’s mouth, as he took the paper map with the star on it, and showed it to Big Mac. “You’re looking for this?” He asked the silent stallion.

Big Mac just nodded. “Eeyup.”

He took a good look at the picture, and thought it looked familiar. “It’s funny, it looks a bit like the top of the trophy Klugetown’s yearly Muck Marathon.” He said, intrigued.

That caught Pinkie’s attention as she freed herself from the cat’s own grasp, and zoom to him. “What’s that?” She asked. “It sound fun!”

“It’s basically the only entertainment we have out here.” Capper explained to them. “Folks run through all sorts of disgusting, dangerous things, and whoever does it the fastest and survives gets the trophy and bragging rights for a year.” He saw the date of the Muck Marathon on the paper. “It’s today!”

Pinkie saw the paper, and was now intrigued too. “Well, THAT’S convenient.” She admitted.

They went to the area, where they saw a stand, having the entrance to the Muck Marathon was. “See?” Capper asked, pointing to said stand.

Pinkie saw the star on the trophy, and was jumping for joy! She needed to have that trophy...more to the point, she need that star as it was an essential piece to the stars that Twilight needed. “That’s it! Let’s grab it!” The party mare squealed in joy. “Mine!”

Big Mac was about to say something, when Pinkie turned to him. “Oh, you’re about to say something noble like how we’re going to win it, aren’t you?” She asked. It was as if Pinkie had read his mind! “You’re such a good pony, Big Mac! I’ll go sign us up as a team, right now!” She dashed over to the stand to sign her team as a Muck team!

“You were about to suggest how to steal it, weren’t you?” Capper asked, as Pinkie was about to sign them up.

“HOW ABOUT WE CALL OUR TEAM “BIG PIE”, OKAY!” Pinkie called out as Big Mac facehoofed in frustration. It was going to be a long, and dirty ride for him and Pinkie, as they had to compete to get that next Cosmic star in the search for the Andalusian.

---

Inside one of the lab rooms, the 5 Rangers, with Discord in the room were testing one of the Neural Alligners on Fluttershy, who was mutated earlier into a Pony-Butterfly hybrid. At the control pod, Ravi was starting the machine up. Fluttershy was confused as to how it would work.

“Uh, Ravi? What’s going on?” Fluttershy asked, almost balling herself up in fear.

“We’re trying to figure out a way to switch you back to a pony.” Ravi told her.

“The machine’s circuits and process should be able to switch you back to normal.” Nate said, confidently.

“That is...if it even works!” Discord grumbled under his teeth.

“Discord! Lighten up, will you?” Ravi asked him. “We ARE trying to find a way.”

The others nodded, as he sighed. “Oh, fine!” He said in disappointment.

“Uh, how does the process work?” The kind mutated Pegasus asked.

“The process combines DNA with Morph-X to morph our friends into Rangers.” Starlight stated. “Maybe, if we reverse the process on you, that will set things right.”

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy asked.

“Positive.” Starlight said, as she turned to the others. “You can start the sequence now!”

They nodded as they started up the DNA reversal. “The process should be starting...now!” Ravi said, as he accessed the portals, and hit the button. “Brace yourselves, guys.” He told them, as they all shielded their eyes.

The process swirled around the scaredy-cat pony as the transformation took place. It showed a butterfly bursting through the tornado, as the tornado now turned yellow. That was a good sign, as the effect was taking place. However, when the tornado dissipated, it showed their friend, still as a mutated pony-butterfly hybrid. The process failed.

“I don’t understand.” Cozy asked with worry in her voice. “Was that supposed to happen.”

“I don’t think so.” Nate whispered to her.

Ravi went to the aligner, and saw that she was still in her mutated form. He sighed. “Oh, man!” He said in defeat. “Nothing works! I thought for sure it would!” Discord just facepalmed, knowing that it would fail.

“I guess Cosmos’s Magic must be stronger than our powers.” Spike put in.

Discord nodded too. “She obviously has the most power that anyone has ever seen!” He put in. “Not even Battleforce’s tech can help!”

“I’m sorry it didn’t work, Ravi.” Fluttershy said sadly. “It’s okay. We’ll try again later.”

“Tough break.” Devon said, in empathy to his friend, patting him on the shoulder.

“Have you tried asking Celestia and Luna to use their magic to help the process?” Starlight asked.

Discord and Steel both looked at her, as if she were out of her mind. “What would THAT do?!” Steel asked, flabbergasted.

“I’m not sure.” Starlight said to them.

“How come YOU never say anything useful?” Steel angrily asked, pointing to Discord.

Discord gasped, and pointed to him back. “How come YOU have the IQ of a biscuit?!” He shouted to him.

“How would you like me to turn your body into balloon animals?” Steel, threatened him.

The draconniqus backed away a little bit in fright, as if her were trying to kill him. “Uh, I misspoke?” He asked, nervously.

“Steel!” Zoey said, stopping him. “Discord HAD nothing to do with this! If he did, then you’d torture him. This is not one of those times.”

“Oh, all right, Zoey!” Steel said in utter frustration. “I just wish we could get Twilight to help us!”

“Golly, me too, Steel.” Cozy agreed. “But, she’s gone bad, along with the other two Princesses!” She was a little more shocked at this. “How will we get Twilight to know who she is, and that we’re her friends?”

"Anycreature with pink eyes and slits means that they're possessed by Cosmos.” Discord told them. “No matter if they are your friends, they are still the same evil being I used to meet.”

“I’ll never believe that!” Devon said to him. “Not Twilight!”

“And, Twilight’s our friend.” Ravi told him. “Why would you think she’s a totally different villain?”

“Because Cosmos hurt things!” Discord pointed out. “And, who better to possess the Princesses than her?”

“We need real evidence based on that!” Ravi said, defiantly to him. “What you’re saying sounds like to things like ghosts and spirits and zombies, which are as make-believe as things from sci-fi movies. Your so-called proof is just a bunch of hooey!”

Discord was frustrated as he folded his arms in front of him. “But what if you're wrong, Ravi?” He asked.

“Right now...somehow. I find this incredibly hard to believe.” Ravi said, as he started to head to the lab. “Coming from the spirit of chaos, himself. Come on, guys. Let’s go run some more tests.”

“Good idea.” Devon agreed.

“Let’s go.” Spike said, as they all left the room to find their broken down friend.

Along the way, Starlight turned back to Discord, who was still having his arms crossed. “Uh... Discord? Are you coming?” She asked him.

“Nope! Uh... gotta stay here and look for a cure.” he said, sarcastically. The others were unsure of this, but left anyway.

“Okay. Well, if you need anything, just holler.” Cozy said, as they left the room.

This left Discord the sole creature in the room, pondering what Ravi said to him about Cosmos being a bunch of Hooey. He had to prove that his Ex was coming to wreck havoc on Equestria! “They just don’t believe that Cosmos really is back!” He thought. “I’d better try to prove to them, that what I said is true. Then, they’d believe me!” Discord HAD to get his teammates to believe him, even if they had to go on a dangerous mission to get their friend back. He just needed proof.

---

In Griffonstone, the CMCs, Zecora & Ben had already found the fifth star gem in the constellation. They were all shocked and amazed that they had managed to get it so easily.

Applebloom was marvelling the star with curiosity. “Y’know, it’s weird the griffons were so keen to give us this thing.” She said in confusion.

“It’s pretty creepy.” Scootaloo agreed. “I’d want to get rid of it, too.”

“And, I brought the souvenir Griffonstone thimble for Rarity’s collection!” Sweetie Belle added, showing them a thimble with toy-like wings. “Odd thing for one to collect with no thumbs. I always thought...”

Zecora took a closer look at the star, unsure of what it would cause. For a brief moment, her eyes went pink, and she briefly gave a crooked smile. Then, she shook the feeling off quickly. She covered up the gem. “A bad feeling I have about this, it’s something I cannot dismiss.” She told them. “This relic has the strangest feel. Now, off to Celestia for her deal.”

The CMCs were confused about all this, as the Zebra turned to them. “Best not to touch an unknown thing. You never know what dangers it may bring.” She warned them.

Ben just scoffed. “What are you talking about, Zecora?” He asked her. “Rarity had one, and it did no harm to her.”

The zebra was shocked upon hearing him speak like that. “You dare speak like that about it, Green?! Unknown consequences could be foreseen!” She scolded him.

“Easy, Zecora!” Applebloom lowered her arm. “Ben was a little skeptical about all this. So, there no need for violence, okay?” Zecora understood and nodded, as the filly smiled.

“Well, I guess we’d better get walking back.” Scootaloo put in, about to head home. “It’s a LONG trek home.”

“Ain’t NO way I’m walking back!” Applebloom retorted, sticking out her hoof out, showing blisters on it. And, also...blisters on top of those blisters. “My hoof blisters have blisters on top of them after the trip here, and were on a mission from Twilight herself!”

“Um, guys. I got the Hydro Zord, I'll be fine.” Ben said. He started to call for the Zord.

The CMCs stopped dead in their tracks and turned to face him quickly and shocked and amazed. “You have a zord?!” Applebloom asked in shock.

“Yeah.” Ben told them. “I could use it to give you a ride back. If you want, by the way.”

“Are you kidding?!” Scootaloo whooped happily. “Of course, I want to ride your Zord!” She turned to Zecora. “Zecora! Can I go with him? Can I ? Can I? Can I?”

Zecora sighed, content and smiled. “Of course you can go with him. If you don’t mind protecting a limb.” She rhymed.

“Really?” Zecora nodded. “Thanks, Zecora!” She raced toward Ben. “Guess what, Ben! I get to go!”

“Alright!” Ben said. “I’ll just get them to send it over.” He contacted the base. “Send the Hydro Zord.” He said. And within minutes, the Hydro Zord arrived to the team, ready to pick them up and take off.

“You guys, want to come too?” Ben asked, motioning Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to come with as well.

“Uh, no thanks.” Sweetie Belle told them. “We’ll just ask the local townsfolk for a ride back.” Applebloom nodded in agreement.

“Okay, then.” Ben said. “We’ll meet you there. Come on, Scoot!” He said. “Let’s go!”

“Alright!” Scootaloo cheered in excitement, as they got in the hydro Zord’s cockpit.

“Ready to ride, Ribbit?” He asked his beast bot.

“Do I ever!” Ribbit croaked excitedly. “Let’s go!” And the Zord started to lift off the ground.

“Whoa!” Scootaloo jumped back in shock. “Is that a...beast bot?” She asked.

“Yep.” Ben told her. “Those robots are our partners in our battles when we need tech.”

“Wow! She’s so cool!” Scootaloo said, patting her nicely. Ribbit ‘blushed’ at the nice compliment.

“You ready to stretch those wings?” Ben asked the filly.

“You got it!” She said, as the Hydro Zord took off from Griffonstone, and flew to Canterlot. As they flew they saw Applebloom on one of the Griffins beside the Zord, and Scootaloo and Zecora on the other one on the other side of them.

“Oh, don’t act you’re not relieved to have a ride back!” Ben called out from his Zord.

As they were flying, Sweetie Belle took notice of an air ship flying below the Hydro Zord, and was amazed. “Hey, Look! An airship!” She said, pointing to it.

Little did they know that Capper, Pinkie Pie and Big Mac were on that airship. And when they got to Canterlot, they would have one heck of a story to tell about how they got their stars. However, something...rather cosmic and odd would happen at the Royal grounds...unless two certain heroes had anything to say about it.

---

“4,127 known accomplices?!” Rainbow asked in shock, upon seeing the long list that Betty gave her. “That’s so many, and ugh!” She stuck her tongue out, as she saw the names of the one that were on it. “They’re all monsters, and they’re all spooky like!”

“Well, Cosmos is more comfortable around monsters.” Betty admitted. “I’m sure you’ll find her in no time.”

“But, what about Twilight?” Rainbow asked. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Cosmos has Twilight as her puppet fighter for the Storm King.” Betty told her serious. “Now, listen to me. This is very important.” Rainbow listened in on what Betty had to say, “You must go up to Twilight and confront her. Then, rip that star gem off of her neck and fling it back into the sky.”

“How do you know that?” Rainbow asked her, confused.

“I had a star gem once when I was a kid.” Betty told her. “It’s a long story.”

As Rainbow was pondering this, the alarms went off in the base as the Rangers and their allies arrived where she was.

“We heard there was an emergency and we rushed right over!” Cozy said as they arrived on the spot. As she said that, Commander Shaw entered the room, urgently than ever.

“Commander, what’s going on?” Devon asked her.

“I’m glad you asked.” She told them. “I was checking the surveillance cameras and I found this.” She played back the footage shown, revealing to be Twilight, Celestia and Luna out in the Canterlot Gardens, scheming. “They were out here, and planning something as if there was no tomorrow.”

“What do you make of this, Commander?” Rainbow asked her, nervously.

“Is it Twilight or not?” Devon added.

The commander did a quick scan through the cameras, and the scans were normal so far. “They’re normal.” She said to them. “All read outs, X-Ray and infrared shows that it’s them...”

Just then, the scan did a beeping noise like a metal detector, and it showed the stars on their necks. She pointed to the stars, as the cameras closed up on them. “...except for these!” She told them. “The sensors indicate some sort of device located on their persons...and they may not be aware they have them.”

“Those are the stars that Cosmos has!” Discord shouted, pointing out what the commander saw.

“What?” She asked, confused.

“Nothing.” Discord said, retracting back to normal.

“Nate! Steel! You two need to guard them and see what’s going on at all costs!” She told them two urgently as they stepped forward. “Do not leave their side.”

“You can count on us, Commander!” Steel said, as his brother nodded.

“Let’s go!” Nate said as he and his brother started to leave.

“What can I do to help?” Cozy asked him.

“Nothing...not yet.” Nate said to her calmly. “But, we’ll contact you if we need help!” They left to go to the portal to Canterlot, while Cozy was left to wallow away in sadness.

“You see?” The alicorn filly told the remaining good heroes who were present. “They’re just worried I’ll get in the way, and cause trouble for them, like I did you guys in the past. I don’t think I have what it takes to be a good ally on your side.” She started to cry.

“Now, why would you say that, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, coming to her side. “You’re a great friend...even to Twilight! I bet if you’d...”

“No, Applejack!” The filly said bitterly to her. “Just go away!”

The farm mare was taken aback by her response, that she didn’t know what to do to help her. “Alright, Cozy.” She said, lowering her hat. “But, if you do want to talk with us, we understand.” She solemnly watched Cozy fly out of the room, almost on crying level.

“Poor Cozy.” Rainbow said, hearing every word from this. “I had no idea she felt so bad.”

“I should know because I saw her like this during target practice earlier.” Zoey said to them, worriedly.

“Maybe, we should talk to her and persuade her to stay.” Ravi suggested.

“Good idea.” Commander Shaw said in agreement. “By the way, Rangers...Cozy’s day will come. She might not know it yet.”

“Roger that.” Spike nodded as they all went to find their heartbroken friend.

Elsewhere, Nate and Steel were on their way to find the other 4th and 5th stars to the Andalusian Constellation. However, they would also get a surprise in the form of their lovey-dovey enemies! One could only wonder how this could go.

Author's Note:

And, that’s all for this chapter! Cozy is feeling a little out of place in the team, and is wondering if she would be able to benefit to it. Also, Rainbow Dash terror strikes about Twilight or the Princesses gone bad, the other two stars found, and Nate and Steel on the way?! What will happen next?! Find out next time when the Striker Rangers take on the Princesses! It’s the most unlikely battle to happen next!