> Mighty Morphin' Power Ponies: Origin Story > by FelixTheBrony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A Mission Gone Wrong > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two ponies dressed in royal guard uniforms over their white coated bodies walked amongst the barren lands laid down before them, scanning the fields with their eyes before they beheld a large crater amongst the land surface. “Captain! We have something over here!” One of the ponies, the one with an electric blue mane and matching blue eyes, called back to a third pony who was dressed in a platinum quilted version of their armour over his brown coat and black mane and tail advanced towards them. “Report Private Flash Point,” The Captain said, looking the soldier in the eye causing him to stand straighter in fear of looking slouchy in the presence of the intimidating stallion in front of him. The second soldier, this one with a cherry red mane and green eyes, answered for him. “We found a suspicious lookin' crater, sir, looks like Intel was solid!” “Good,” The Captain grumbled, peering down the rather large crater. “The last thing I wanted was to have wasted my time on a wild goose chase.” “Um sir...If I may be so bold, what is this?” The Captain turned back to Flash Point, who flinch back a bit in fear. “We're looking for a container, I believe, so we can transfer it back to Princess Celestia to send to the Moon,” The Captain decided to answer, using his magic from his Unicorn horn to attach a safety harness to himself and his two subordinates. “Why does tha Princess need ta send this container ta tha moon?” The red maned pony asked, curiously. “I don't know, Cherry Stalk, but one thing I do know is that if the Princess wants it gone, I definitely want it gone!” The Captain answered as he attached a zip-line to the ground, using a grapple spell to keep the zip-line from loosening and plummeting him and his team to their deaths. “Contact Princess Celestia, tell her that we're on the right track and we should have the package secure within the hour,” The Captain continued as he connected his harness to the zip-line. “Follow me once you're done!” “Yes sir!” The two soldiers replied, saluting to their superior as he jumped back and began his descent to the bottom of the crater. Flash and Cherry then opened their saddle bags and removed a two way radio, the microphone from Flash's bag and the radio from Cherry's. Once they put te radio together, Flash tried to tune the radio to the same signal as the Castle Guard's while Cherry spoke though the microphone. “Castle Guard, this is Echo One, comin' in. Do you copy?” The two paused as all they heard was static back. “...Castle Guard, this is Echo One, come in please,” Cherry repeated, hoping that his voice would get through to them. Nothing. “Jeez! Either we're in a dead zone or no one's home!” Flash Point complained, slapping a hoof over his face. “It doesn't matter which since we aren't supposed to proceed until we've confirmed our location to the Castle Guard!” “Tha Captain's already down there though,” Cherry replied, trotting towards the zip-line and attaching his harness to it. “So we might as well get this over wit'. Besides, it's just a simple package retrieval. No big deal.” As Cherry jumped down after the Captain, Flash Point sighed, feeling a sense of foreboding overcome him. “Famous last words...” The Captain watched as Cherry landed on the ground, detaching his harness from the zip-line. “You okay there, soldier?” Cherry smiled a bit. “Yeah, I'm fine Captain,” He answered, as the Captain unhooked his radio from his belt. “Flash Point, you stay up there until back up arrives. We're just going to make sure this is the container we're looking for. Over,” He ordered, receiving a static laced reply back. “Understood, Cap- *zzt* Maint- *zzt* -tion. Over,” The Captain looked at the radio in confusion, shaking it a couple of times before speaking into it again. “Say again, Flash, you're breaking up. Over,” All the brown stallion received as a reply was static. “Captain! Ah think Ah found our package!” Cherry called to him before he heard a loud, retching noise. “An' it smells like manticore droppin's!” The Captain chuckled as he approached his team mate. As he got closer though, he could definitely see what his friend was talking about...or rather, smell what his friend was talking about. It smelled far worse than anything he'd ever smelt before and, after many nights of drinking out on the town with is buddies, he's certainly smelled a lot of things. When he finally got to where Cherry was standing, he could finally see what their target was. It was a greenish, black pod like thing with many black tendrils hooking it into the ground beneath it. “Well...That's not creepy at all,” The white pony said, gliding his eyes over the thing in front of him. “Doesn't matter if it's creepy or not. We have our mission. Now c'mon, let's get this dumpster and get out of here,” The Captain ordered, igniting his horn with the same colour aura as his brown eyes and tried using a lock breaking spell to unhook the container from the ground. It worked as the tendrils removed themselves from the ground below... ...unfortunately it worked a little too well as the container opened. The two guards jumped back as the top of the container flew off it's hinges and landed in front of them. They immediately drew out their hoof guns and took aim at the 'dumpster', ready to open fire. “Come out with your hooves up!” The Captain yelled out, his trigger hoof ready to let loose a lead bullet into whatever crawled out of that capsule. What they didn't expect, however, was a beautiful yellow, Unicorn mare with a cascading blue mane two exit the pod, glancing at them with a pair of alluring green eyes peering at them, innocently. “Where...Where am I?” The two lowered their weapons and the Captain approached the mare, concerned, holding a hoof out to help her out of the pod. “Are you okay ma'am?” She smiled, taking his hoof in her own. Her smile then became devious as she gripped his hoof more forcefully and yanked his head towards her own and her horn lit up with a sickly green magic, causing his horn to react violently towards it. “I am now!” Cherry could only watch in horror as his Captain had his magic forcefully sucked out of his skull, his muscle mass shrinking and his skin becoming paler and paler until he was nothing more than a skeleton that fell to the ground, smashing to pieces. As the mare approached him, he quickly raised his gun to start firing at her. “Y-you bitch!” He screamed as his hoof repeatedly pulled the trigger of his weapon, sending each lead capsule towards the mare. “Burn in Tartarus!” The Mare simply held out her magic and, in an unreasonable feat of magical prowess, managed to catch each bullet before they struck and she let them clatter to the ground, harmlessly. Soon his magazine clip ran dry and he dropped his gun, backing away from the mare who seemed to be slowly melt away in a wave of green energy. “You stallions always fall for a pretty face, don't you?” She asked, mockingly as her yellow fur burned away into black flesh, some visible holes in her hooves. Cherry panicked and tripped over a stray rock and the mare suddenly grabbed him by the neck, her horn drawing closer to his forehead. “Who are you?!” The last of the fur was burned from her face, revealing an elongated, deformed black horn and huge, bug like green eyes. Her long blue mane, once immaculate and shiny, now seemed grimy and held several holes to. “Oh, how rude of me. My name is Queen Chrysalis and you, my dear, are my next meal,” She grinned before her horn made contact with his head and a magic was seemingly being drained from his body, despite him being an Earth Pony. He felt his muscles grow weaker, his breaths getting shorter and his heart start to slow as more and more energy was drained from him. He looked at his body as his bones started to become more and more visible. It was as if she was drinking him like a juice carton. He soon felt a sweet release from his sudden weakness as his heart shut down and his brain lost its supply of oxygen. He had died right there. Queen Chrysalis grinned, wickedly as she felt her own magic start to flow again. “Ah, much better. Not as good as feeding on love, but it'll do,” She muttered to herself, extending her transparent, bug like wings from her back and flew away from the crater, not even bothering to acknowledge the ponies who were zip-lining down the crater to her abandoned pod. It's time, Equestria! She thought to herself, starting to form an idea in her head as she made her way towards the Crystal Empire. Time for my revenge! > Teen Life > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Teen Life The small town of Ponyville started to begin it's new day as its residents started to set up their shops for their customers and went off to work. The weather ponies flew into the sky to manage the weather to keep the ponies below content with the day. For one orange Pegasus with a purple mane and a cutie mark of two dancing ribbons forming an 'X' though, the day hadn't really started. It was a weekend, after all, and her adoptive mother's inherent laziness had somehow been passed down to her. She laid dormant on her bed, sprawled out across the sheets, her feathers ruffled and her mane and tail messed up. There were sheets of paper strewn across the room where she had tried to do her homework last night to have the whole weekend to herself, but they were either half finished or scrunched up a bit. There was a knock on her door and she turned around, hoping that the change in her direction would stop the noise. Another knock sounded and she grunted in response. “Five more minutes!” “Nnnope,” Came the reply of her adoptive father as he let himself into her room. Luckily, other than the paper, her room was relatively clean. “We're goin' down ta Sugarcube Corner fer a party, remember?” “C'mon dad! Pinkie has a party every day!” She responded, finally opening her purple eyes. Big Mac sighed. “It's her birthday, Scootaloo, this one's a little more important,” He answered, before leaving the room. “Breakfast is in tha kitchen. Don't eat all of it, yer mother ain't awake yet.” The mention of food managed to get the teenage filly out of bed as she flew into the kitchen, almost causing Mac to topple over. He sighed and shook his head, a small smile still playing on his lips. “Works every time.” Meanwhile, an Earth Pony, a yellow one with a red mane, a pink bow tying off her braid at the end was seen kicking a tree and watching in satisfaction as all the apples fell out of it and into the buckets. The teenage filly, Applebloom, glanced at her flank and flinched at seeing that, despite being fifteen, her cutie mark had still yet to appear. “It ain't fair...” “C'mon cheer up, mate!” She heard from beside her. She glanced at the pinto coloured teenage, Earth Pony colt besides her with a brown mane and tail. His cutie mark stood out as a compass. What made him the most distinctive, however, was that he was, at least, half a head shorter than Applebloom. He smiled at her as he kicked the tree behind him, only managing about half before another kick got the rest. “It'll show up soon!” He continued in a very distinct, Trottingham accent. “Now Ah've heard it from everypony, Pip!” She replied to him, picking up all the spare apples into the buckets and piling them onto the cart they had brought. “But it's true. Remember, I only got my cutie mark a month ago. I'm sure yours will come any day now,” He reassured her as he attached a yoke around his neck and hooked himself onto the cart. She sighed, but smiled in response. “Thanks Pip, I didn't mean ta snap before. It's just a bit frustratin', ya know?” “Of course I do. Remember, I was a Cutie Mark Crusader as well,” He replied as they started to move. He didn't struggle that much since there were only six buckets of apples in the cart. “Yeah. Thanks fer helpin' out wit' this, by tha way,” Applebloom continued. Pipsqueak grinned. “No problem. Besides, got to keep in shape for the karate team,” He answered. Applebloom and Pipsqueak had both joined the karate team in their local gym about two years ago. At first, all the Cutie Mark Crusaders had joined, hoping to earn a cutie mark for it. But after a couple of weeks, no-one got one and most had left. Only Pipsqueak and Applebloom remained. They had competed in tournaments before and had even won a couple as well, but nothing substantial. This year, they were hoping to take part in the Young Champion Fighters Tournament as a team and, hopefully, get some advertisement for the gym. As they made it to the farm house, they found Applebloom's older sister, Applejack, stood in front of the door with a big toothy grin, a young colt standing on her back excitedly. “Alright! Time ta make some pies!” “Yay!” The light orange, blue maned colt cheered, jumping down and bouncing around Applebloom. She smiled and scooped him up, depositing him on her back as Pipsqueak unhooked himself from the cart and started unloading it. “Howdy Golden Delicious,” She said, bouncing Applejack's son up and down a bit. “Are ya excited fer Pinkie's party?” “Eeyup!” He replied, happily. While this was going on, another teenage filly, this one a white Unicorn with a dual pink and purple mane with a cutie mark of a bell with a couple of pink music notes coming out of it, was just stepping out of the shower. She used her magic, which lit up a towel in a green aura to match her green eyes, and wrapped it around her mane. She then repeated this process to wrap another towel around her barrel. She smiled to herself, contently, as she stepped out of the bathroom and went towards her own room to dry off and to 'pretty herself up'. She hummed a tune to herself as she opened the door to her room, only to find the one thing she didn't want to... ...Rumble reading her diary. “Rumble!” Sweetie Belle cried, causing him to look up at her, bored. “What are you doing in here?! And why are you reading my diary?!” Rumble raised a bemused eyebrow, giving her an evil grin before clearing his throat. “Dear diary,” He started readin out loud, hopping off of her bed when she dived after him. “Button Mash is sooo cute! We played MineCraft yesterday and I totally caught him staring at me! Squee!” He flew into the hallway when Sweetie Belle threw her mane curlers at him. “I wish he'd just pony up and tell me he loves me like I do him!” Rumble concluded, laughing out loud at her. Sweetie Belle fumed at him before tackling him, rolling the pair down the stairs, before they smacked into the front door. From the kitchen, Rarity and Thunderlane, who were eating breakfast, cringed at the loud 'THWACK' sound and turned to face each other. “Whose turn is it this time?” Thunderlane asked, taking another sip of his coffee. “It's Saturday so that would mean...darn it's my turn,” Rarity sighed, getting up and heading to the area of conflict where Sweetie Belle was seen sitting on top of Rumble triumphantly with her diary in her hooves. The side table where the family put their keys had collapsed and was piled in the corner. “How do you keep doing this?!” Rumble complained before Sweetie Belle pushed her flank down to squeeze Rumble a little more. “Just admit it! I'm stronger than you!” Rarity cleared her throat, causing the two to look up. “Oh, hi sis!” Sweetie Belle smiled, jumping off of him. “No need to intervene, we sorted it out.” Rarity eyed the two, suspiciously, before shrugging. “It's too early in the morning for this. I'll just ask Applejack to fix the table later,” She said, turning to head back into the kitchen. Rumble was about to follow before he was spun to face a very angry and red-faced Sweetie Belle. “If you tell anypony, and I do mean anypony, about my feelings for Button I will end you!” Rumble gulped, but tried to remain 'cool' and waved her off. “Yeah, yeah whatever,” He answered, finally making his way into the kitchen. Sweetie Belle sighed in contempt. Why's he grown up into such a douche-bag?! A couple of hours after those events Featherweight, a white coated Pegasus with a brown mane and a picture of a feather on his flank, a camera wrapped around his neck, trotted along the road grumbling to himself. “Superstitious idiot,” He mumbled to himself, half-heartedly looking around himself. “How many times do I have to tell him that Spidercolt is just a myth.” Featherweight, to earn some money, was a part-time photographer for the Pony-Press...The only problem with this, however, was that the owner of the Pony-Press was a little nuts. JJJ, or Jam Jelly Jim, was convinced that someone was stealing his tubs of jelly. Or, more worryingly, that a pony with spider powers was stealing them with retractable web shooters. He looked up to the side and noticed Cloudchaser bust a cloud and decided to take a snapshot...if for no other reason than to say he got a picture of something and continued on his way. “Oh well, I still get paid one way or the other.” “Hey Feather!” He heard and looked up to notice Scootaloo landing next to him, grinning. “What's up?” “Other than trying to find Spidercolt?” Scootaloo rose her eyebrow at him. “Who?” “Exactly!” Scootaloo giggled a bit, nudging him in the shoulder. “Ah, Jam Jelly Jim giving you a hard time again?” Featherweight sighed and paused to take a picture of some new promotional deal going on at Carrot Top and Golden Harvest's stall. “Yeah. And if the pay wasn't so good I would've left a while ago,” Scootaloo just grinned and nudged him again. “Well, you are the best there is at what you do,” Featherweight felt his cheeks flush a bit at the compliment, scuffing his hoof on the ground. “Um...Yeah, I guess,” The orange teen didn't notice the blush and glanced at Sugarcube Corner. “Hey I'll talk to ya later Feather, I gotta help my mom and dad set up for Pinkie's birthday. You'll be there, right?” Featherweight shook his head to rid his face of the red and turned to reply. “Yeah I'll be there. See ya...” Before he could finish, Scootaloo had already raced off, kicking up some dust in her wake. Featherweight sighed again and continued, a little more down than before. For the last year, the young photographer had started to develop feelings for the spunky, orange Pegasus. But it was pretty obvious that the feelings weren't exactly mutual, as far as he could tell. It's probably because she hasn't really given romance that much thought... ...not since her first coltfriend had broken her heart at least. Just give up, Featherweight. She'll never like you like that... He thought to himself, keeping an eye out for something interesting or exciting going on, but it's been pretty quiet though, so it was unlikely that that was going to change anytime soon... Queen Chrysalis, after touching down at the edge of the Crystal Empire, grinned evilly and dug her horn into the ground, igniting it in a green glow. After that was done, the barrier that Shining Armour maintains over the kingdom to keep the Changelings out wavered before the colour changed from purplish pink to a sickly green before disappearing in front of the naked eye. Phase one, complete... She thought to herself before she closed her eyes and she disguised herself again, this time as a white stallion with a blue mane and a shield as a cutie mark. Now to phase two! > Plans in Action > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight sat in her throne in the main chamber of her crystal palace, reading a letter she had received from Princess Celestia. The main chamber is the first area you'd find yourself in if you were to enter from the front gate and the amount of space it had seemed ridiculous! It was a large, crystallised hallway which led up to her large throne. Light seemed to seam through the stained glass window of her cutie mark, allowing the place to shimmer in the light. Twilight, at first, was quite embarressed about the window, but she had grown attached to it over time, as she had to the entire palace itself. She would always miss her old house, the library, but this place was a decent replacement. She sighed and read the letter again, taking her eyes away from the box next to her. Dear Twilight, I have felt a great disturbance in the force... ...Okay but seriously, I've got a feeling something is going to go wrong. Which is why I have worked on a new defence for Equestria in the extremely rare case that you and your friends would be unable to help. With Rainbow Dash pregnant and Fluttershy still on her honeymoon for the week, it just increases my worry. These coins will bestow enhanced abilities to those who wield them. But, and this is very important Twilight, they have to be given to young ponies. Teenagers ideally. If a more mature pony were to try and wield this power, the magic used to increase their attributes are more likely to strain their mind. It would be pure torture for them. Believe me because I had already had my five best Royal Guard test them. However, a teenager's mind seems to be able to take the strain. As if the magical properties can fit itself perfectly into their minds. Unfortunately, I could not find any...worthy candidates in Canterlot. So I need you to select five ponies from Ponyville to become a new force against evil. A new line of defence. Thank you and good luck. Yours sincerely, Princess Celestia P.S. I will be stopping by at Pinkie's birthday party to drop off her present from me and my sister, she will not be able to make it and sends her congratulations to her. Twilight looked back to the coins, each one with a picture of a different creature on the front. The one in the centre had a picture of a tyrannosauruses head, it's jaw open slightly to reveal a set of razor sharp teeth. The one to the far left had a picture of a mastodon with it's tusks slightly protruding from the coin itself. The one between them depicted a sabre-toothed tiger with two large canines that stuck out of its jaw leaving a slight bump on the base of the coin. The one to the right of the centre coin was of a triceratops that looked to have charged at the coin surface, it's head slightly raised up. The final coin was of a mid flight pterodactyl whose head had raised into the sky . This seems ridiculous! I mean, I've never let anyone down! And I don't plan on starting now! Twilight thought to herself, confident in her abilities as both a sorcerer and a Princess of Equestria... ...and it definitely had nothing to do with the fact that she doesn't really know many of the teenagers in town! She sighed again, poking at a couple of the coins before flinching back as she felt an obscene amount of power flow out of them. How am I suppose to pick them without really knowing them?! I'm not nearly as well acquainted with the younger population of Ponyville as Spike is! I always go to him whenever I need to know how to help them out with their problems... That's when an idea clicked in her mind and her face lit up. That's it! Spike! I'll get him to pick five ponies! “Spike!” Twilight called out. In reply she heard a bit of shuffling and then glanced above herself to find Spike resting on one of the crystal beams supporting the roof of the building. He glanced over the edge of the beam, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. “I have a job for you!” His eyes lit up as he leapt off of the beam and spread his wings out wide, both having a green inner membrane while on the outside of the wing, purple scales cover them to protect them from the outside elements such as rain, sleet or hail. He descended to the ground until he stood on all four legs, having started to do so both to remain at eye level with the average sized pony and the fact that it started to feel more comfortable and balanced then standing on the two. He stood about two inches taller then the Princess herself as he gave her a salute. “Of course Twi, what can your number one assistant do for you today!” Her horn ignited as the box with the five coins levitated up to meet him at eye level. “Princess Celestia has given me the responsibility of selecting five teenage ponies to become the next line of defence for Equestria if our friends and I are unavailable,” She explained, before levitating the box away and hiding it behind her throne. “And since I only really know the former Cutie Mark Crusaders, I need you to select five worthy candidates to be Equestria's protectors.” Spike rose his eyebrow. “Then why don't you just give them to the former Cutie Mark Crusaders?” “Because I only really got to know Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. But you're right, they would be appropriate choices given who their role models are and how well they can handle themselves these days,” Twilight mused upon herself. “That's three down, two to go!” Spike blinked and thought to himself. “I definitely wouldn't trust them to Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon. They'd be more likely to flaunt those coins in other ponies faces then try to keep them a secret and with the way they are I'm sure they wouldn't really care if anyone else is in danger...” Spike paced in front of Twilight, now oblivious to her presence. “Snips and Snails would have their hearts in the right place, but Snips is a bit pushy at times and Snails has some really slow reflexes. Button Mash...Well with his ADD I'm not sure he'd be able to focus on a plan of action. Plus if we're picking Sweetie Belle for the team then they'd be mumbling and blushing around each other non-stop...” Spike started to flap his wings and fly around in a circle high towards the ceiling. Twilight sighed and shook her head. He seemed to pick up her trait of not really noticing anything else around the world while she was in deep thought. “Dinky is getting more adept in her magical abilities but she hasn't got much in the way of stamina and endurance. Plus I'm not sure how her vision impairment would effect the team...” Twilight heard that sentence and looked down. Dinky was her own, personal student just as she had been to Princess Celestia. She was a very powerful Unicorn! Unfortunately she had found poor Dinky trying to find something to help her mothers eyesight and had miscalculated a spell and had ended up giving herself the same medical condition. Luckily, they had all managed to move past it and Dinky was able to navigate around without too much difficulty, but it didn't escape the eyes of a certain two bullies. She shook the thought from her head as she noticed Spike had sat down in her throne, much to her chagrin. “Rumble has everything going for him except his attitude as of late. I don't know why he started acting like he does now, but I know it wouldn't help out in a team.” He then got up and crawled his way up on top of the throne and arched his back so that he was lying in a semicircle as if he were part of the throne. “I guess that just leaves Pipsqueak and Featherweight. They're the only other two I know personally. Pipsqueak is short, sure, but he more then makes up for it with his friendly nature and the fact that he's on the karate team with Applebloom, so those two would already know how to work together...” He then jumped down in front of Twilight just as she had sat back down in her throne. “...and Featherweight has stealth on his side. He's a photographer after all. He once spent four days lurking outside Sapphire Shore's home to get a picture for JJJ, plus he may look spindly and weak but I've hoof-wrestled him before and all I can say is that looks can be deceiving.” Spike stood, beaming up at the Princess. “So there you go! Your five ponies should be AB, Scoots, Sweetie Belle, Pip and Feathers!” Twilight giggled at his enthusiasm. “Great work Spike. Now I just have one more job for you. I need you to gather them up and bring them here so I can brief them on the plan and what their roles should be...” She concluded, about to write back to the Princess before a thought occurred. “Hang on! Who should lead their group?!” Spike looked back, then placed a claw to his chin. “I think Applebloom. I mean she was the leader of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, so it only makes sense,” Twilight rose an eyebrow at him. “How did they decide that she should be the leader?” “I believe it was because she built their clubhouse and the clubhouse itself was on the farm,” Spike finished, walking out the door to collect the five ponies. Twilight nodded and started to write everything down. Once Spike had left, the transformed Changeling Queen smirked to herself. Now that that's out of the way she should be all alone... She stood out tall and walked through the streets of Ponyville, nopony even taking a second glance at the pony. After all, they've all seen Prince Shining Armour before. Once she had reached the open gate to the castle she smirked to herself. And this is why you shouldn't have an open door policy... She walked straight through the gate, the enchantments around the castle all letting her through as they recognised her as a friendly. Good to see my cloaking spell still works perfectly... She thought to herself as her green aura died from her horn. She opened the door to the throne room, only to be enveloped in a hug by an excited looking Twilight. “Shiny! It's so good to see you!” She squealed happily, letting her go to look up at him. She shook her head from the...strange warm feeling she had felt, and smiled back down as convincingly as she could. “Good to see you too, Twily!” Twilight continued to smile as she closed the door behind them and she led them towards her throne... ...that was when something struck. “Hang on...You don't have green eyes!” She suddenly yelped, as her horn was hit by a bolt of green magic. “You were always too smart for your own good, Twily,” Queen Chrysalis mocked as she returned back to her normal form, standing over the prone Princess. “Though I was impressed by how quickly you figured it out.” “It's easy when you try to copNEAAAAAGH!” She screamed as she felt her magic disperse out of her horn and leak from her injured horn. Chrysalis grinned, evilly at her. “You like it? It's a magic killing bolt,” She grinned as Twilight's eyes widened in horror. “I guess by that look that you know exactly what it is. But I feel like taunting you, so I'll explain it to you anyway.” Chrysalis started to stroke Twilight's damaged horn, causing her to flinch back. “You see, usually, I would drain someone's magic or love to feed on it myself and grow stronger. However you, my dear Twilight, have far more than I could possibly consume. So, with this spell, I punctured a small hole in your horn, towards your magic pool, and now your magical essence is leaking. And you know what happens to a pony once they run out of magic, don't you?” Twilight, with great effort, looked up to glare at the Changling Queen. She smiled back. “I thought so. Don't worry, it'll only be torture for about, say, an hour or so...Enough time for the ponies of the world to come and see their saviour DIE!” As she said that last word, she teleported herself away. Twilight cursed herself for putting the castle's defences up with her own magic rather than the castle's own magical stores, meaning the teleport blocking barriers had shut down, and thought of her options. A magic killing bolt leaves a hole in a Unicorns horn for, about, four to six months. It was made that way so that a Unicorn couldn't just maintain a spell to contain the essence as, eventually, they would need to sleep. She could use some of her remaining essence to send Princess Celestia a message, but even then Princess Celestia has no counter spell for a magic killing bolt. One was never created since it was outlawed across the entire world and one would be disgraced by everyone if they had used it. Queen Chrysalis doesn't care about that though... She thought to herself. She just wanted revenge... She could send a message to her friends and tell them what's going on. But, if she was dead how were they supposed to do anything?! As Princess Celestia had mentioned in her letter, Fluttershy was on her honeymoon in Vanhoover and Rainbow Dash was pregnant! It started to become more and more hopeless as she felt every second of agony as her magic continued to drip away. I can't let Chrysalis win... She thought, trying to get a message to the Crystal Empire with what little remained in of her magic... ...however she felt a mental block override her once she felt her consciousness hit the outskirts of the city. DAMMIT! Twilight cried out in her mind. Chrysalis set up a communication block barrier! I can't contact my brother or Cadence...and I just wasted half an hour of my magic trying... Twilight felt her tears started to roll down her cheeks at the inevitable defeat in her wake...and she wouldn't even be alive to see it. She, using the last of what remained in her horn, sent out a goodbye message to each of her friends. Her consciousness spread out to her seven closest pals. To Fluttershy snuggling with her new husband, Braeburn, in Vanhoover, to Applejack baking pies with her son at Sweet Apple Acres, to Rainbow Dash decorating with her family in Sugarcube Corner, to Rarity talking about current affairs with her husband and siblings in the Carousal Boutique, to Pinkie who was on a Picnic with Caramel in the park... ...to Spike... She was so caught up in her grief and depression, that she didn't notice her leaked magic start to interact with the castle itself. Suddenly a column of crystal shot out around her and she was sealed in the surrounding, transparent crystal. She panicked slightly, wondering what was happening now, before the vast amount of magic she leaked stated to fill the tube in a liquid form. She noticed that the tube was erected in the centre of her throne room and all of her leaked magical essence move itself to the tube and fill it up rapidly, up to the point where she was completely submerged in it. She let out her breath, using her horn to set up the castles defences once more, and then felt herself lose consciousness... > Blue Ranger! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blue Ranger Spike, after a good while flying above the town of Ponyville, finally came across one of his targets and swooped down in front of Featherweight, who was carrying a gift-wrapped box on his back. “Hey Feather!” Featherweight, understandably, jumped up in fear, accidently dropping the box as he did so. “Spike!” He answered, annoyed. “What the heck? I thought I told you not to do that!” “Sorry about that, but...” Spike suddenly stopped when he felt a telepathic message in his head. Goodbye Spike, I love you. “Twilight...?” Spike questioned, not noticing Featherweight looking at him in concern. “Hey Featherweight!” Applebloom called out as she and Pipsqueak started moving towards them, two carts of apple themed foods behind them. “Hi Spike,” Pipsqueak greeted, getting nothing in response. Featherweight saw their confused looks and shrugged. “I don't know, we were talking and he suddenly just shut down,” He explained, noticing Scootaloo greet Sweetie Belle at the door to Sugarcube corner. He also saw her give a harsh glare at Rumble, who had flinched but otherwise maintained his cool. Scootaloo just grabbed Sweetie Belle and pulled her towards the growing group. “Scoots! What the he...Oh hi guys!” She interrupted herself, smiling brightly. “Howdy girls,” Applebloom greeted, looking over Spike for a second, as if deeming the best course of action to take to break him out of his spell. “Trying to get him to snap out of it?” Scootaloo asked with a strange undertone of glee. The others nodded. “Don't worry, I know how to do it!” The group was about to ask how before Scootaloo just swung her hoof round and slapped him, incredibly hard, right in the face. Spike stumbled back as the group stared at Scootaloo, shocked. “Scoots! What the heck was for?!” Pipsqueak exclaimed, attempting to keep Spike balanced. Scootaloo shrugged. “I saw it on TV once. Plus I really needed to hit something after seeing Rumble,” Applebloom flinched, glancing at Sugarcube Corner. “Aw no, Rumble's there,” She undid her yoke and looked at Scootaloo. “Do ya mind doin' me a favour an takin' these inside? Ah don't think Ah can handle 'im hittin' on me again!” “Twilight!” Spike cried out, turning to the others. “You guys, get to the castle as soon as you can!” He then started to rush towards the castle, his wings flapping frantically. “Hot diggity!” Applebloom yelled out in glee, able to escape from the grey teenager and ran off after Spike. The others turned to each other, concerned, before Big Mac approached them. “Y'all should probably go,” He said, causing them to look up at him. “Dash jus' told me that Twi said goodbye ta her an', if Spike came callin' fer ya, he probably needs ya more than we do right now.” “Thanks dad!” Scootaloo said, giving him a quick hug, before flying off to catch up to the others who had already chased after them. Spike burst into the castle and his unbelieving eyes beheld the fate of his friend/sister. Twilight was suspended in a large, crystal tube in the centre of the throne room. Her wings were held out and her head was held high, showing a black void at the base of her horn. Her eyes were closed and her body was deathly still. Spike felt his bones turn to jelly as he approached the Princess, shaking with every step he took. “Twily?” He whispered to the tube, as if she'd open her eyes and flash out of it in a second, ready to scold him for being behind schedule... ...she didn't. Spike raised a trembling claw to the surface of the crystal and laid it out upon it, hoping that he might feel her warm presence. Instead, he felt the bitter chill of the glass like structure. “Twily...Wake up...” He pleaded, his eyes misting up in the corners. He heard hoof steps behind him, but didn't need to turn to know who it was. “Wake up!” He tried to shout, but his voice could barely make any noise over the pain in his chest. He continued to tremble, looking into the closed eyes of his best friend, hoping to see them open. “Spike?” He heard and his attention snapped back to Sweetie Belle, who flinched back. “Sorry but...Why are we here?” Spike felt a fire in his heart burn when he remembered what he and Twilight were discussing earlier. About choosing five ponies to protect Equestria in her absence. He wasn't stupid, he knew someone came here and assassinated her. Though he doesn't know who, he does know that they weren't going to stop here and that the world needed protecting... ...He just hoped he made the right decision. He got on four legs and skittered around the room, causing the group to jump a bit, never seeing the dragon move this fast before. Just before they could question him about it, though, he returned with a small chest laid out in front of them and he opened it, revealing the five power coins from earlier. They all raise their eyebrows and looked up at Spike, who was looking back at them as if expecting something. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, Pipsqueak broke. “Okay, mate, what is it you wanted us to do?” Spike facepalmed himself and sighed. “Equestria is in danger and, as you can see clear as day, Twilight can do buck all about it,” He then pointed to the coins. “So Celestia gave us these power coins to bestow onto five teenagers with attitude so they can save the day and, low and behold, you're our teenagers!” The five turned to each other, then gave Spike varying degrees of looks. From glares of being offended to wide eyed looks as if he had gone insane. “Attitude?! If you want attitude go talk to Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon!” Scootaloo complained, folding her hooves in defiance. “Um...You sure you don't want to give these to trained, military personnal?” Pipsqueak asked, confused as to why they were the ones that needed to protect the world. They were like fifteen! “Yeah, sure when Twi an' mah sis got tha Elements o' Harmony they were pretty young, but they were still adults!” Applebloom agreed, not sure why this responsibility was being shouldered onto them. “And why don't you take one, you're older than us!” Sweetie Belle added, noting that the dragon was a solid eighteen years old. “That's the point, these coins only work on young ponies!” Spike replied, a little peeved that they didn't just take the coins. If he were being offered superpowers beyond his normal abilities, he'd take them in a heartbeat! Why were they not agreeing to this? “Oh why didn't you say so?! We'll do you one better then! I'll go get Pixel Bit and Golden Delicious! Those five year olds should be much better fits!” Scootaloo continued, still glaring at him. While they were arguing, only Featherweight was transfixed on the coins...or at least, one in general. He stared intently at the Triceratops coin, as if under some spell. He could almost hear it call out to him, as if it wants to be picked up and examined more. The other five were too deep in their disagreements to notice him reach out for the coin. Just as he laid his hoof upon it, he suddenly felt himself transported some-place else, some-place far from the Castle of Friendship and his friends. It was like he was in Ponyville, but the scene in front of him was not what he associated with the town he had grown up in. For one, it was desolate, with nigh a pony in sight. Neither a bird in the air, nor a mouse hiding in the alley ways. Two, the buildings looked wasted, but not knocked over or destroyed. Just unused, left to the elements...abandoned to grow plants that had rooted themselves to them. And three, and probably the main reason this Ponyville was different to his own... ...The bones. He looked around the whole town, skeletons littering the streets like popcorn on the floor of a movie theatre. Not so many that it seemed ridiculous, but enough to know that pretty much everypony that had called Ponyville home had been mercilessly killed. It took a moment for Featherweight to notice that he was crying, since he didn't know what to do. Where had this coin taken him? What did it want from him? Why was it doing this? He didn't get the chance to find out the answer to any of these questions though, as he heard a scream coming from ahead of him. He shook the questions from his mind and charged forward to save whoever that scream came from. How he would do this, was anyone's guess. He wasn't muscular like Pipsqueak or Applebloom, didn't have magic in the sense that Sweetie Belle did and certainly didn't have the angelic and graceful movement that Scootaloo had. But that didn't matter to him right now! He just knew that he had to help whoever that scream had come from. He found the pony after a while, but couldn't say that he knew her. She looked like a generic Earth Pony that he had seen around town. She was a blue mare with a white mane and a horn for a cutie mark. She had red eyes as well and, from that, he knew that she looked like nopony he had ever seen before. But at that point, he couldn't find himself caring. It didn't matter to him who this pony was. Only that she was screaming, crying, and backing away from some green, slime monster that was approaching. He flew into action, getting inbetween the mare and the monster, and bucked it in the chest with a solid thwack. It wasn't a strong kick, by any means, but the surprise hit the monster and it fell back. The mare was surprised that something had intervened, and looked up at her saviour. Featherweight turned back to face her. “Run, Miss, run and don't look back!” “W-what about you?!” She declared, noticing the monster get back up and Featherweight turned back to face it. “It doesn't matter what happens to me! All I care about is making sure that you're safe!" He announced, a trickle of a tear running down his cheek. "Everyone I cared for is gone, but you still have a chance! Get out of here and live to fight another day!” He yelled back, before trotting towards the monster. What he didn't notice was that the mare started to smile and glow blue, the power drawing into a coin in the centre of her chest. “Good answer, but we're both going to make it out of this...” Featherweight, wondering what she meant by that, turned back and noticed that, after a flash of light, he now held a strange device in his hoof. It appeared to be some kind of...He didn't know what to call it. It was about as big as his hoof and, in the centre of it, rested his power coin. He also noticed that he was wearing a blue jacket over him with an emblem of a triceratops on the right shoulder. This is your Power Morpher, He heard an ethereal voice in his head say. To unleash your new power, you must first announce it's pass code and go through the motions. He noticed the monster coming towards him, but stood firm, trying his best to remain brave in the face of danger...But now that there was no-one else with him, it was hard to keep a brave face on. First you must thrust the coin forward with both hooves, upside down, then twist it right-side up and declare 'It's Morphing Time', Featherweight, not at all caring how silly it sounded, or looked, decided to just trust the voice and went through the motions. “It's Morphing Time,” He declared. He noticed that the device was suddenly building up some kind of power and was trying his hardest not to let the thing go. Now the final step, declare the name of the beast from within the coin, and let it's strength combine with you, The voice finished, Featherweight deciding to just go with. He, of course, sussed what the animal was, having seen it on the coin and emblazoned on his new jacket. “Triceratops!” And just like that, he was back in the castle, but still going through a transformation. The five stopped arguing and turned to Featherweight, whose whole body was enclosed in a blue light, only his head being free. When it cleared, over his body was a blue jumpsuit with a large, white diamond on his chest, his hooves covered with four white boots with a pattern of blue diamonds on the trim. Then his head started to be covered by a helmet, hiding his face from the world. It was blue in colour to match the rest of his outfit, but had a black visor and three silver horns that didn't jut out, they were just there for aesthetic purposes. After he finished the transformation, he pulled back his left forehoof, thrusting his other forehoof in front of his, facing in that direction himself. “Blue Ranger!” That was when he noticed that he was no longer facing off against a green slime monster, but facing five of his friends, looking at him as if they had seen Princess Celestia bursting in, declaring that she was retiring to take up knitting. He lowered his forehooves, before realising that they were covered by boots and looked himself over, noticing that he also had a belt which displayed his Power Morpher to the group. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes before Scootaloo piqued up. “I'm next!” > Black Ranger! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Black Ranger “...And then I found myself back here, dressed very flamboyantly by the way, talking to you guys about this,” Featherweight said, having just explained his ordeal to his classmates and Spike. The group looked amongst themselves, still a little shell-shocked by Featherweight's sudden transformation. He had taken his helmet off, so it's obvious that they weren't going to be forced to wear the suit forever or anything, but it still sounded a little strange. “So which one's mine?” Scootaloo asked, looking over the four remaining coins, having been doing so since the other Pegasus had started his story. The group looked over and rolled their eyes at her. “Scoots, did you listen to a thing Featherweight said?” Applebloom asked, already predicting the answer. “Of course! He said he dresses flamboyantly,” Featherweight blushed at that and shoved his helmet back on to cover his face. “Yeah, you didn't. He said he felt drawn ta it, like somethin' callin' ta him...” “Nevermind! I chose...” Scootaloo interrupted before she suddenly stopped talking, zoning out and keeping hold of the coin with the picture of the mastodon on the front. They stared at her for a few seconds before realising that she probably wasn't going to snap out of it anytime soon. “You know, maybe if you guys took yours as well, instead of doing it one at a time, we'd catch Twilight's killer!” Spike stressed, snatching the coin case and presenting it to the three. “Okay Spike, now we know how the coins choose their bearers, what makes you think they'd pick us?” Sweetie Belle asked, raising an eyebrow. “Plot convenience?” “...I...I-I...” Spike whimpered, apparently having not thought of that. What if the coins didn't like the ponies he had picked for them? Would they leave any lasting damage on them? Would they be stuck in this 'test' forever? But if they didn't at least try, then the one who murdered his best friend/mother/sister was going to get away with it! And damn it all, he knew the coins wouldn't choose him because he would've felt a connection to one of them by now if he had. So he had to resort to the last thing he could think of... ...he begged. He had gotten down on his knees, placed the box on the ground, clasped his hands together and peered up at them with the saddest eyes he could muster. “Please! Please at least try! I'll do anything!” For the most part, the other three just stood there, awkwardly uncomfortable with the older dragon pleading to them like a lost puppy wanting to be fed. It was really unnerving and just made them want it to stop! “Alright! Fine, just git up an' stop actin' like that! It's creepin' me out!” Applebloom shuddered, unconsciously grabbing the centre coin before freezing in place. Pipsqueak and Sweetie Belle looked between Featherweight, who was looking over Scootaloo to ensure she was doing okay, to Applebloom who was frozen and staring into space, and towards Spike who looked a little happier that the third coin was being taken, before shrugging and taking the final two coins. The sabre-tooth and pterodactyl respectively, before they also froze on the spot. “Urg...Wow, what was that?” Scootaloo asked as she rose to her hooves, suddenly realising where she was... ...the day her heart was broken. The whole scene was playing out in front of her like an awful movie. Rumble standing there, looking down at the ground and telling her that he didn't want to date anymore. It was their third month anniversary at the time, both of them were fourteen years old, and she remembered being really excited about it. She had grown really attached to him over that time. He was cool, a great flyer, at least ten percent cooler than the other colts in class and he had helped her learn to fly when they were kids. He was, by all means, the perfect pony for her to get to know better. However, it appeared that Rumble did not reciprocate those feelings. In fact, by his own admission, he had felt the relationship wasn't working out the way he'd felt it would. Hearing that obviously upset her. But, instead of crying, she had gotten very angry. She had started yelling, causing quite a stir in the school's field. It seemed, now that Scootaloo was watching it from a third person perspective, as if the whole school was watching. And Rumble obviously didn't like getting yelled at, especially in front of so many other ponies. It drove him to start retaliating in kind. He had tried letting her down as gently as possible but if she was going to get snappy about it, then why should he? But some of the things he said had hurt...badly. He had called her too talkative, a big show-off, way too cocky and, worst of all... ...Just like Rainbow Dash. Now, most might see that as a compliment. After all, Rainbow Dash was one of the heroes of Equestria, a proud member of the Wonderbolts and just an overall inspiration to all. Hell, had it been a few years ago Scootaloo would have loved that comment. But Scootaloo didn't want that now. She wanted to be known as the first Scootaloo, not the second Rainbow Dash! She wanted her own image to stand out, her own style and presence. Not a cardboard cut out of some one else's. And what had stung the worst was what he'd said after that. “It's no wonder Applebloom is so much more attractive than you! She isn't just a clone of her sister!” She remembered punching Rumble square in the jaw and running off to find Sweetie Belle or Dinky...and actively avoiding Applebloom for the next couple of months. Scootaloo looked down as a sudden guilt washed over her. She didn't feel bad about what she did to Rumble even if, looking at it now, it might've been her fault that he'd lashed out. But she felt bad because, to some degree, she blamed Applebloom for her failed relationship. It was petty, she knew that, but what Rumble said made her think that...that Applebloom had been spending time with him and started talking bad about her to him. Manipulating him into thinking that she was a much better catch than her. But the worst of that came when she suddenly felt the scene fast forward to a month and a half later. Scootaloo was so focused on the scene playing in front of her, she didn't even notice the black, Earth Pony mare now standing next to her. She was in her room, trying to work on her homework, still upset about her break-up. Then Applebloom had come in, explaining that Mac had asked her to come and see what was wrong... ...that was when the anger came back. Scootaloo had suddenly exploded at the yellow teen, letting out every hurtful and spiteful remark she could think of, effectively using the poor mare as a verbal punching bag. Words like 'dirty farm pony' and 'tangled, greased mane' and even 'stupidly, childish bow' came out but the worst one was 'forever an untalented blank-flank'. Applebloom's eyes had misted up, her hooves had trembled and she bolted out of the room, quietly weeping and whimpering about one of her best friends apparently doing what Princess Luna had promised she wouldn't do. Start to hate her for being a blank flank. The Scootaloo from the past looked pretty shocked about what she did and the Scootaloo from the future felt something wet on her face. Reaching up, she rubbed a tear from her eye and turned to find the unfamiliar pony there. “Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?” “Uh...no, I've seen this all before,” Scootaloo answered, shaking the dark thoughts suddenly invading her mind. Why was she still thinking about this, anyway? She had already explained her actions and apologized for them. And Applebloom had forgiven her, though things were a little awkward for two or three months but she had forgiven her. As if the black mare knew what she was thinking about, she smiled knowingly at her. “But you haven't forgiven yourself yet, have you?” “What?!” Scootaloo yelped, having not expected that at all. The black mare shrugged, looking back at the scene, which now replayed that one, dreaded phrase over and over again, as if on a loop. Forever an untalented blank-flank, forever an untalented blank-flank, forever an untalented blank-flank... “Those were some pretty cold-hearted words you let slip. If I said something like that to one of my best friends, I know I'd be questioning myself,” Scootaloo just shook her head. “But she forgave me! It was just because I was going through a rough patch and...” “Your friend seemed like an easy enough target to share in your misery?” The mare asked, causing Scootaloo's anger to flare up. “Of course not! How dare you think I'd do something like that?!” “But you did. And to me, those 'reasons' sound like excuses,” She explained again, Scootaloo snapping out of her anger, this time opting for confusion. “Excuses?” “Yes. Excuses not to blame yourself. Like they're a good enough reason for you to act like you did.” “I...I...” “Oh I, I, I, listen honey there are other ponies in your life you know. Ponies who value your opinion of them. I mean, how would you feel if Rainbow Dash, out of the blue, called you a bad dancer?” Scootaloo flinched, as if physically struck. It'd tear her apart if her idol/mother suddenly insulted her like that. Then the words from the background, the words she uttered only eight months ago, replayed again: Forever an untalented blank-flank, forever an untalented blank-flank, forever an untalented blank-flank... And she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. A nauseatingly painful feeling crawling all over her skin, guilt crashing all over her. Those words sounded so cold, so hurtful and just... ...not something you'd want to hear from one of your closest friends. It's one thing to hear these insults from someone like Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon. They weren't nice ponies to begin with, but from someone who'd been your friend since childhood? “Applebloom...” Scootaloo whimpered, looking at the expression on past Applebloom's face. It was the perfect look of being absolutely betrayed. Her eyes were watering, her legs were shaking, her shoulders flinched every so often with racked, quiet sobs. Her lips quivering in a loose lipped frown and her nose sniffling as if trying to save face in front of her. It was one of the most miserable moments in Applebloom's life and she was the cause of it. It was her fault. She let her emotions build up, let them take control and let them guide her towards blaming her best friend for something that she had nothing to do with! She clamped her eyes shut, trying her best not to cry herself. The black mare smiled and wrapped a hoof around her, trying to comfort the filly. Scootaloo said nothing, but rested against her. “It's always best to let your emotions out, young one, not to let them build up to the point of bursting out in the worst possible way. To hold a part of the power, you need to learn to control your emotions, or you could use your new strength irresponsibly,” The black mare explained, before glowing and disappearing. Scootaloo suddenly felt a black jacket with a picture of a mastodon emblazoned on the right shoulder. “Now, unlock your new power, and heed my lessons, lest you repeat mistakes from the past...and be doomed to repeat them.” Scootaloo shivered, but stood up. Remembering how to unlock her powers from Featherweight earlier. She had, after all, caught the important parts of his explanation. She thrust the coin forwards, upside down at first, before turning it right-side up. “It's morphing time!” She felt power build up in the coin and declared, what she hoped, was the beast of the coin. “Mastodon!” Suddenly, a glow enveloped Scootaloo causing Featherweight to jump back in surprise. And before long, Scootaloo's was standing there in a black version of Featherweight's suit, with the only exception being the helmet which had an elephant trunk like pattern running down the centre of it, stopping just before the visor's bottom half. She thrust her left forehoof out, pulling her right one back and declared. “Black Ranger!” > Yellow Ranger! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yellow Ranger Pipsqueak shook his head of vertigo and glanced around himself, wondering where he had suddenly gone. Strangely enough, it was some sort of amusement park. There were roller-coasters, Ferris wheels and many more attractions. Stands selling junk food, stands full of prizes waiting to be won and stands selling souvenirs like snow-globes and teddy bears. “Pip!” He heard his name being called and looked up to see Dinky, herself, standing just behind a fenced off area with one, tall muscular stallion guarding the only entrance. “C'mon, I want to go on the roller coaster!” Pipsqueak shook his head, once again, wondering how the heck he got here! One minute he's standing in the Castle of Friendship, the next he's in Disneigh Land? Did I just imagine all of that? He thought to himself, moving to get into the park before being stopped by the guard. “Sorry kid, but you need to be at least this tall to get in the park,” The guard said, unsympathetically, motioning towards a sign which was about as tall as Scootaloo, with the it stating that he must be at least as tall as her to get in. “For the whole park!” Pip yelled, indignantly. “Since when was there a height limit to buy candy apples!” The guard rolled his eyes and pointed away. “I don't make the rules, kid, I just enforce them. Now get out of here, you're holding up the queue.” “What queue?” Pipsqueak asked, turning back, now noticing that a line of about a hundred ponies behind him, all looking fairly impatient. “Quit holding the line up, shorty!” One voice yelled, angrily, causing little stallion to flinch. “Yeah, go back to the kiddie park where you belong!” Another voice cried out. The pinto pony just stood there, defiantly, pointing past the guard. “At least let me go get my friend, she's already in there.” “So you want me to go ruin your friend's fun, just because you can't have any?” Pipsqueak flinched at the tone the guard's voice held. “That's pretty selfish, don't you think?” “I...I just...” A sudden scream interrupted him as he looked behind the guard and noticed that Dinky was now surrounded by several, roguish looking ponies. “Dinky!” “Pip! Help!” She cried back, as one of the ponies came a bit too close for her liking. Pipsqueak tried to get through, but the guard held him back. “I told you before, kid, you can't get through unless you grow a few more inches, now get lost!” “My friend's in trouble, I have to help her!” The guard rolled his eyes. “And what are you going to do, short-stuff? Throw your action figures at them?” He sneered, pushing him away. “They're big ponies, so they're allowed to do whatever. Go play with your dolls and let the big ponies handle the big pony issues.” Pipsqueak clenched his teeth and hooves, the jeering and laughing of the crowd causing his anger to flare up higher and higher. All his life he's had to deal with ponies making fun of his height, from Trottingham to Ponyville. It's not his fault he has stunted growth and it didn't make him any less of stallion... ...so why did it make him feel so powerless? Maybe because it was the one thing standing between him and Dinky. Who was still backing away from the ponies around her. “Pip! Please help!” I'm trying! He thought to himself, feeling a tear fall down his cheek... ...which was quickly wiped away by a yellow hoof. He looked up and noticed a red eyed, yellow Earth Pony stallion with a grey mane, smiling at him. “You really do care for her, don't you?” “She's my best friend, of course I care!” He flinched at his own tone. This stallion was the only one being nice to him, so why was he snapping like that? The stallion must have noticed because he smiled, gently back. “I know that look. A look of a pony who wants to do something, but can't because of other, stupid ones,” He said, motioning to the guard who had just let in three ponies. “A look that says it's not fair.” “It's not though-” “I hate to tell you, kid, but sometimes life just isn't,” Pipsqueak looked back up, shocked, but the pony was still smiling. “But that doesn't mean you just sit down and take it. If you want to protect someone, then you stop at nothing to do it! That's what it means to hold the power.” Pipsqueak tilted his head to one side, kind of confused as to what the stallion before him was talking about, now noticing the fence explode and the way into the park clear. He, forgetting the stallion was even there, shot through the new entrance like a jaguar out of it's cage, already sizing up his opponents. There were four of them, all twice as big as he is, one was brandishing a bicycle chain and one a lead pipe. He decided that the one with the chain was the biggest threat and took action. He jumped, wrapping one foreleg around the chain wielding pony's neck, and directed all his weight downwards. Effectively causing the pony's face to slam into the dirt, knocking him out. He used the momentum to roll in front of Dinky and stood on his hind legs, much to all of their shocks. “You want her, you're going to have to go through me! She's my friend and I'm never, ever going to let anything happen to her!” The lead pony grinned, picking up the fallen one's chain, and swung it round with a menacing jiggle. “Hey look boys, someone brought their four year old to play,” He taunted, throwing his head back to guffaw at the very idea. And for his troubles, Pipsqueak threw a punch into his chin, throwing half his weight into it, causing the leader to stumble back, his teeth smashing into each other as the punch forced his jaw together. He shook his head, spitting a little blood out of the side of his mouth, and growled at the unfazed Pipsqueak. “Oh I'm gonna make you Griffon meat for that!” “I've picked bigger threats than you outta my teeth! Bring it on!” Pipsqueak retaliated before noticing that he was now holding a power morpher and wore a jacket with a sabre-tooth tiger emblazoned onto it. “Oh it's already brought,” The lead pony spat, advancing forward with the other two. Dinky huddling behind Pipsqueak. The little stallion decided he might need some help. “It's morphing time!” He declared, going through the motions, almost falling over with the influx of energy suddenly gathered in his hooves. “Sabre-Tooth Tiger!” Pipsqueak, in the castle once more, broke out of his trance and now wore a yellow version of the Ranger gear, his helmet resembling a tiger's head, with two large incisors jutting down over the visor. He crouched down, throwing one hoof in front of him, the other behind him ready to swing. “Yellow Ranger!” He noticed that he was no longer facing three roguish, ponies, but Spike, Scootaloo and Featherweight. He shook his head and stood back up, rubbing the back of his head, sheepishly. “Uh, I mean. Hi guys!” “Hey Pip, welcome back to the land of the living,” Scootaloo grinned, motioning towards Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. “Still waiting on those two.” “Yeah. It's funny though, Applebloom took her's before you so I would've thought she's be done first,” Spike mentioned, scratching the back of his head. “Unless her test is more difficult,” Featherweight mentioned, looking between the three others. “Only time will tell.” “Hey, this is Applebloom and Sweetie Belle we're talking about! What's the worst that could happen?” Scootaloo asked, causing the three guys to shake their heads and make cut throat motions. > Pink Ranger! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pink Ranger Sweetie Belle shook her head and looked around herself to take in her surroundings. She appeared to be in some sort of dressing room with five other ponies. They were dressed in over the top, pink feather outfits that made them seem like they were twice their own size. She shook her head and stared straight ahead, now fully taking in her own reflection. She could almost be a dead-ringer for her sister! Her mane had been curled, hanging over both of her shoulders; one pink, one lavender. Her eyes had dark purple eye-shadow to help the green of her eyes stand out. She also wore a sparkling, sleeveless, pink dress. She cringed at the garment. Rarity would never been seen making something like this...Where am I, anyway? As she was thinking this, a white pony in a suit came up to her. “Ready for the show, Sweetie?” Sweetie Belle blinked, stupidly, before shaking her head. “What show?” “Your debut album? C'mon girl, don't zone out on us now!” The pony said, motioning to the door where she could see a stage. “B-but...I never,” She stuttered, looking away and heading to a different door. “I'm sorry, I just have to-” “No time, you have to get out there and sing your heart out, dear!” One of the show mares said, pushing her towards the stage. The last thing Sweetie Belle saw before the scene faded away was a sullen looking brown stallion walking away from the door she was trying to get to. The scene changed where she was now in the familiar Carousel Boutique, looking around confused. She looked up and noticed her sister looking fairly sad, but happy at the same time. “I'm so happy for you Sweetie Belle!” “Um...What?” She shook her head, looking down at the trench coat she was wearing. “Sorry, it's just been so long since I last saw you, I figured I'd let you know that first!” Rarity clarified, turning towards the kitchen. “Would you like to sit and have some tea? I'd love to catch up.” Sweetie Belle, despite the confusion, wanted to say yes and put her sister at ease, but the next words that came out were not her own. “I'm sorry, but Miss Belle needs to be in Manehatten by the hour, so can't stay long.” She flinched and noticed the grey, Earth Pony bodyguard standing next to her. She wanted to tell the guy to go buck himself, that whatever was in Manehatten was nowhere near as important as her sister, but Rarity just smiled in pained understanding. “Oh of course, not to worry. I'll let everyone know why you couldn't stay longer,” Rarity nodded, just as Sweetie Belle was being told to head towards the train station. As the scene faded, she noticed the same stallion as before look down as he dropped a bouquet of flowers. She was now standing in the street, in the middle of a down-pour, water falling from the sky in deluges. The umbrella she held in her magic just about keeping everything from her mane to her shoulders dry. She was confused but looked up and noticed the same brown stallion as before looking at her, miserably. “I...I'm sorry Sweetie Belle...” Now that she heard his voice she could tell who it was, clear as day. Sure, he was bigger, had ditched his propeller hat, favouring to go without head-wear, and his muscles were more defined, but she'd never forget the colt she'd had a crush on since she was eight. Button Mash. But he didn't look like his cheery, fun-loving self. He looked miserable, his mane plastered to his neck and forehead from the rain, but doing nothing to hide the redness in his eyes or the tears falling out of them. She tilted her head to the side at his words, but a sense of dread was building up. A very similar one to the one she felt when she was forced away from Rarity. He noticed her silence and turned away. “I can't...I can't date you anymore...” She gasped, feeling her chest tighten painfully. We were...but he...I... He clenched his eyes shut and continued. “I just can't do this anymore! I never get to see you, spend time with you, Hell! I can't even go out in public with you cause of the damn paparazzi! It's just...” “B-Button...?” She let out, losing the will to keep her magic going, causing the umbrella to fall to the side. She didn't know how she got him in the first place, but she's wanted him for years and she'd be damned if she was going to lose him now. “...Please...” He looked into her eyes and sighed, turning away. “It's not you, Sweetie Belle, it's me. I can't handle this! I've never been good in public and I...I-I...” He choked out a sob and started to run away, much to her shock. “I'm sorry!” “Button!” Sweetie Belle called back, starting to run after him, finally having some control over herself. She could barely keep her eyes open through the rain, but she's not going to stop. She was in love with that colt, dammit, and she wasn't going to miss her chance with him just because the weather ponies were overzealous with the storm clouds. He turned a corner and Sweetie tried to follow, except she had slipped and fallen into a large puddle which had form on the pavement. She tried her hardest to get up to follow him, but it was too late. She had lost sight of him. Her chest clenched painfully as her tear ducts started to fail her, letting the salty liquid pour out of them. She breathed heavily, trying her hardest not to let out any sounds... ...until she decided it wasn't worth it. “Button! Please come back!” She screamed out into the empty streets. “I'm sorry! Please give m-me another chance! I'll do anything!” Only the pitter patter of rain replied and she cried. “Man that sucks,” She heard, no longer feeling the rain pelting her head. Sweetie Belle looked up, finding a pink, Pegasus mare with red eyes and a white mane holding her discarded umbrella. “Thanks...” Sweetie Belle muttered, not really having it in her to stand, so fell onto her stomach. The pink pony shrugged, lying down next to her. “You really love him, don't ya?” Sweetie Belle just nodded at the Pegasus. “That's why you don't do much with your talent, ain't it?” Sweetie Belle looked over again, nodding. “Rainbow Dash had t-to leave P-Ponyville for five months for training for the...the Wonderbolts and b-barely got t-to see any of us...I never w-want to leave m-my friends behind so...” “So you gave up your dreams to keep your friends,” The pink pony hummed, causing Sweetie Belle to nod. “Well that's admirable, I'll give you that, but it sounds pretty miserable.” Sweetie Belle glared at the pony, motioning to herself. “Well what about now?! I have my dream, but I lost the love of my life for it and, guess what, it wasn't worth it!” She vented, causing the mare to blink. “What's the point of a dream if I have no-one to share it with?!” The mare understood and smiled, supportively. “You do have a point, kid, but tell me? What do you live for if you have no goal? What drives you to get up in the morning? And don't tell me you'll just support whatever that boy does, cause you don't look like the type to be a stay-at-home mare.” Sweetie Belle blinked, before she clenched her eyes shut. “I don't want to lose any of my friends so if being a stay-at-home mare stops that from happening, so be it!” “You'd get bored,” The mare replied, bluntly. “Look kid, I'm not saying you can only have it one way or the other, if you tried hard enough you could have it all.” “No I can't-” “Yes you can,” The mare said. “Or did I miss the part of the story where Rainbow Dash lost all of her friends and is now an obsessive, career-driven mare?” She grinned. Sweetie Belle sighed. “I don't know...” “You really are a pessimist, aren't you?” Sweetie Belle flinched as the mare continued. “You always look for what can go wrong! News flash, everything can go wrong! But you shouldn't let that stop you!” The mare laid a hoof on Sweetie Belle's shoulder. “You have to keep your chin held high, a smile on your face and be prepared to fight for what you want! If you want to control the power, you have to learn to be positive in the face of adversity!” Sweetie Belle blinked but, just before she could ask what the mare was talking about, she heard some hoof-steps in the rain. She looked over and saw Button running down the street to her left. She started to chase him, barely noticing the pink jacket wrapping around her forelegs and barrel, nor the power morpher in her hoof, proudly displaying the pterodactyl. He started getting a little further before she noticed and decided to see if she could gain some speed. She stopped where she was, going through the motions. “It's morphing time! Pterodactyl!” Sweetie Belle, now adorning her pink uniform, her helmet having a pterodactyl image looking as if it's roosted on top of her head, rushed forwards, declaring. “Pink ranger!” “Button Mash!” She continued, as if nothing had happened, before she was held away from the front of the castle by Spike and Scootaloo. “Whoa girl, slow down!” Scootaloo said, spinning Sweetie Belle towards her. Both decked out in their uniforms and helmets. “I've been stuck with the guys for, like, half an hour! Least you could do is stay for some girl time!” Sweetie Belle blinked, before looking over her booted hooves, blushing in embarrassment. Oh gosh they all heard me say that, didn't they. As if she had read her mind, Scootaloo grinned. “Yeah, you got a good week of teasing ahead of ya for that, Lover-Girl.” She blushed as Featherweight and Pipsqueak giggled at her embarrassment. “Oh shut up, guys!” As they laughed, Spike was looking over Applebloom, who had still yet to finish her test. Please be okay, Bloom. Chrysalis grinned as she stood before her army, gathered from the Changeling catacombs, all of them hissing and clicking, their horns glowing slightly in preparation. “My children! The time has finally come!” The army cheered in clicks as the Queen used a spell to show the peace town of Ponyville, going about its day, before in panned out to show even more. “After all these years, it's time to conquer Equestria!” > Red Ranger! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Red Ranger Applebloom opened her eyes to find herself back at Sweet Apple Acres, surrounded by the Gala trees in the western orchard. The leaves bright green and the fruit plump and ready to harvest. Thinking that she had taken a nap and overslept, she shook her head and rolled onto her stomach, taking a closer stock of her surroundings. That was when she noticed that she wasn't alone. “Ah, you're finally awake!” A red Unicorn stallion with a white main exclaimed, happily, before pausing. “Well...not 'awake' awake but-well you know what I mean!” Applebloom blinked and tilted her head to the side. “Um...Who are you?” “Oh forgive me, I haven't introduced myself,” The red pony said, lowing his head in respect. “I'm Tyranno, spirit of the Tyrannosaurus power coin.” Applebloom blinked again, tilting her head to the side. “Blunt.” He shrugged. “I find it best to just let the pony know what they're getting into before they take my test,” He explained, before straightening himself out and waved a hoof towards the left. “Now then, we begin here.” Applebloom turned and was surprised to find herself, albeit much younger, constantly kicking a tree behind her, at most getting one or two of fruits down at a time. “You used to be quite the determined little tyke,” She heard and glanced back at the pony. “Always trying your best to find what you were meant to do. That's why you formed the Cutie Mark Crusaders, right?” “That don't exist no more,” Applebloom clarified, looking at her younger self fondly. She did look rather adorable but, at the same time, incredibly exhausted. “No, you disbanded when Scootaloo got her cutie mark,” Tyranno mentioned, offhandedly, causing her to look up in shock. “I'm in your head, sweetheart, I know all of this.” “...oh,” She was unsure, whether or not, she should be freaked out by this. “...So when do Ah fight the slime monster-” “That was young Featherweight's test,” He interrupted, waving his hoof around the area. “You didn't think all of your tests would be the same, did you?” “...Well maybe.” “Kid, each of you has a test based on who you are or what you've done and, as I'm sure you've noticed, you're not Featherweight,” He clarified, noticing that the younger Applebloom finally collapsed on the ground, glancing at her own blank flank in self pity. “Featherweight had to deal with his bravery. He spends his time hiding from the world, behind his camera and such, he needed to learn how to do things he was afraid to do. Scootaloo had to deal with her emotions, to control them better and to not let them build up to an uncontrollable rage. Pipsqueak had to learn to stand up for himself, not to be weighed down by his differences. Sweetie Belle had to learn to not be so pessimistic, to realise that the only one holding her back from what she wanted was herself...” He paused as he finally noticed the younger Applebloom start to cry at her blank flank. “And you, my dear, need to learn to have confidence in yourself.” The older Applebloom's eyes widened and she was about to argue that she is confident, before he silenced her. “I know that you have performed with your friends in front of crowds before but tell me, if you were to go out on your own, in front of everyone you know and share a talent, would you?” “No, of course not! Because Ah don't have a talent!” Applebloom yelled, getting tired of the pony in front of her, waving a hoof towards her flank. “If Ah did Ah'd have something ta show fer it, wouldn't Ah?” Tyranno put on a stern expression, before the scene shifted to the CMC clubhouse that another version of herself was currently fixing up. “You didn't get a cutie mark for that, did you?” “Ah don't have anything on mah flank, obviously tha answers n-” “But that doesn't make what you did any less impressive!” He interrupted, looking up at the young Applebloom looking over the completed clubhouse, before looking at her flank, flinching and looking to the ground, depressed. “And yet there you are, acting as if you just spent the whole time playing tic tac toe with yourself.” Applebloom glared back. “Well Ah may as well have fer all tha good it did!” The scene fast forwarded again, this time to a Twilight Time where Applebloom perfected potion able to accelerate the growth of an apple tree, from seed to tree, from a few years to just a few days. “That was an incredible feat you did there. A potion used by your family all over the world, able to gather food throughout the year, as much as they want. Scientists up in Canterlot are currently working on synthesizing it to work on any fruit or vegetable. They believe that you may be the pioneer to solving world hunger.” The younger Applebloom sighed and hung her head as she noticed her flank was still blank. “And you look like you just made tea for the first time.” “Yeah yeah, it was impressive, but all Ah did was make, like, two changes in one of Zecora's potions. Given a couple of months an' she'd be the one who did-” “You don't know that,” He interrupted again, waving to a formula scribbled on Twilight's board in the background. “It took Twilight years to work out what was wrong with the equation of her temporal displacement spell. She carried a two instead of a three on one sum.” He turned to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Being able to change what a potion does like that is no easy task, even if they seem like simple changes to you, other ponies may not even see what you did. There are reasons those scientists haven't yielded results yet.” “Well if'n that's tha case then why don't Ah have mah cutie mark yet!” Applebloom cried out, frustrated, tears coming to her eyes. “Ah've tried everything and nothing has worked, even tha stuff Ah was good at didn't work! Karate, carpentry, science, potions, farming, crochet, hoof-ball, tennis, teaching-None of it!” Tyranno shifted the scene again, this time to her in her room...From last night. She looked at the Applebloom from yesterday, staring at her flank in sadness, the weariness in her eyes and the frown on her face. Tyranno sighed. “It's because you gave up.” Applebloom blinked and looked up at him as he continued. “It happened a while ago, after CMC comedians didn't work, just after you performed at the talent show with your friends. You do this every night. Look at your flank with a frown, sometimes you cry, sometimes you hit yourself, sometimes you punch your pillow, but you always go to bed with a frown. Like you hate yourself or something.” “...And what if Ah did?” Tyranno blinked and turned to find Applebloom's tears falling, but no sobs or anything escaping her. “Ah don't know what's wrong with me, Ah've tried everything to find mah special talent but nothing has ever worked...It got to tha point where Ah just...knew that Ah wasn't special. That Ah had nothing to help me stand out, Ah'd just be an untalented blank flank...ferever.” “Is she crying?” Pipsqueak asked, looking at the stock-still yellow pony in front of them, tears falling from her eyes. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle flinched as memories of their own tests rushed back to them. “Guess Applebloom's test must be going kinda roughly, huh?” Spike ignored Scootaloo's comment, opting instead to panic, reaching out a claw to hold Applebloom's hoof, securely, in his grasp. Ah man, why did I make her do this?! If she's not worthy of the coin she could... Ignoring the odd looks he was getting from the other four, he extended a wing to try and comfort the pony, despite the fact that she probably couldn't feel it, and probably didn't even know that he was here. Please be okay, Bloomy. Applebloom sniffed as she felt something wrap around her, but as she squinted her eyes open there was nothing there, just a sympathetic looking red pony. She wiped her eyes of her tears. “I don't need your pity...” “Now, now. I'm not-” “Yes you are!” She said, turning away. “This is why Ah don't talk ta ponies about this! Ah'll get that look! Ah'm a big pony, Ah can take care of mahself!” “And why should you need to?” “Because Ah-” She blinked, not expecting that question. “What?” “I asked why you should need to be a lone wolf when, by my account, ponies are very social creatures,” He explained, looking over her. “And you appear to have a few ponies here for you right now.” She looked around herself before he stopped her. “Not physically, obviously, but in spirit. There to catch you when you fall. Why cut your only safety net, hmm?” He tapped a hoof to the ground, showing the inside of the Castle of Friendship, seeing Spike hugging her to his side via wing, both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo giving unheard words of encouragement and Pipsqueak and Featherweight giving their own support, albeit a lot more subdued then the other three. “You have a group of friends, ready and willing to help you with anything you might need help with and you choose to shut them out. That sounds somewhat selfish, but I know that wasn't the intent,” He explained, waving a hoof towards them. “Well it's silly, really!” Applebloom shot back, looking down. “Ah mean it's just a cutie-” “Buck the cutie mark, this is about your self-esteem!” She flinched at his harsh tone. “Is getting your cutie mark suddenly going to make you love yourself, or are you inevitably going to be disappointed by what it is!” “Society builds itself around our darn cutie marks!” Applebloom yelled back. “If you don't have a cutie mark, you have nothing!” “You have friends-” He shot back. “-and that should be all that matters! A picture on your butt isn't going to magically solve all your problems! You just told me that you hate yourself! That's not something that's going to go away overnight!” Applebloom started to breath heavily as the thought of attacking Tyranno came to mind. Though she knew that was a stupid idea. He's the spirit of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, there was no way she was going to do any damage. He noticed her back down and sighed in defeat. “Forget it, this was a waste of time,” He said as he turned to leave. “You can find your way out though the castle door, failure-” That tore it, as Applebloom screamed in rage and charged the pony, squatting down to swipe his legs out from under him, causing him to fall onto his side painfully, and drop kicked his stomach. “Now you listen here you chicken limbed, quasi-philosophical crud spewer, Ah was brought here to git some power so Ah can help catch Twilight's killer an' Ah'm gosh well going to get that! Spike and Twilight'll be countin' on me and Ah ain't going to let them down, ya hear me!” He looked up as Applebloom sat down on his chest, using one of her fore-hooves to pin both of his over his head, her other one griping his horn, ready to twist in case he started to charge a spell. “Ah ain't gonna sit there like some yellow-bellied coward while mah friends go try and catch some deadly assassin on their own. Ah'm getting that power ta help them and do you know why? Cause when Ah put mah mind ta something, Ah do it! Mah feelings in the matter don't matter when mah friends are countin' on me!” She grit her teeth as she gripped his horn a little tighter. “So do your worst!” She prepared several techniques in mind, ready for him to try and twist his lower body to roll the two over. A simple twist in the opposite direction will allow her the momentum advantage to throw him away enough so that she could get up and get ready for his next attack... ...What she didn't expect was for him to start laughing. She grit her teeth harder, making sure her head was out of headbutting range. “What's so funny?” “That's what I was looking for! Your drive!” She blinked as he started to disappear in front of her. She looked back and brought her hooves up, expecting a teleport strike, but what she wasn't was a power morpher and jacket to appear on herself. “You fight for your friends, that's where your confidence lies. But remember to allow your friends in! Let them know about your problems. They will help you and they won't think any less of you.” “You need to believe in yourself and be able to strive forward, even if the situation seems hopeless. That's what it means to hold the power...” She flash-backed to last night, and remembered that she felt incredibly lonely, sad and miserable. Let them in, She thought to herself, letting out a small smile as her friends now surrounded her, all giving words of encouragement, placing their hooves on her shoulders, giving small hugs etc. And they'll love me all tha same. “It's morphin' time!” Everyone backed away when they heard her shout. Tyrannosaurus They then saw her wearing a red version of the ranger suit, the helmet looking like an open T-Rex head with teeth surrounding the visor. She got up onto her hind hooves, placed her fore hooves on her hips and held her head up in the air. “Red Ranger!” The ponies of Ponyville where all just going about their day, enjoying the sun and the company of their friends around the town. From within Sugarcube Corner, Big Mac, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Golden Delicious, Thunderlane, Rarity and the Cake and Mash family were all finished setting up Pinkie's Birthday Party. Rainbow Dash herself sighed in relief and fell back onto Big Mac's side as they took in their surroundings. “I'd say the place looks great, think Pinkie'll like it?” Big Mac let out an 'oof' as the full weight of the pregnant pony landed on him and he smiled. “Shucks you girls set it up fer her, she'd be happy if you had gotten her a card from Barnyard Bargains.” “Yeah but still-” “Um guys? Did we invite Thorax?” Thunderlane asked from the door, causing the group inside to look up at him. “I don't think so, why?” Applejack asked, motioning for Golden Delicious to go and play with Pixel Bit as she moved towards the door and noticed a group of, like, thirty changelings flying towards the town. “Those guys don't look-” Was as far as he got before the changelings started to fire on the town. > Go Go Power Rangers! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Go Go Power Rangers! “You doing okay there, Applebloom?” Spike asked the red ranger, noticing that she had been fairly quiet since she finished her test. The others were too busy talking about where Twilight's assailant might've gone and how to fight said assailant, to really notice. Applebloom looked up at the slightly taller dragon and smiled, albeit a somewhat forced one. “Yeah I'm...Well actually,” She started, causing Spike to tilt his head a bit. “What's up?” “Um...I just-” Applebloom said, before she remembered that Spike is dealing with his own problems right now and won't have time for hers. So instead, she sighed and nudged him. “I just wanted to know how you're holding up?” Spike rose an eyebrow, but didn't bring up her weird behaviour. “I'm...coping, I guess. I'll feel better when we get the bastard that did this to her.” “Do you know someone who'd want to do this?” She asked, trying to take her mind off of her own thoughts. “A couple of names spring to mind, but unless Sombra or Tirek found a way out of Tartarus, then I'm stum-” The ground underneath everyone suddenly shook, violently, knocking everybody off of their feet, all of them landing on the ground. Spike managed to catch Applebloom, however, and used his wings to hover a little off the floor. “What was that?!” Scootaloo asked, rubbing her head a little, before placing her helmet on, hoping to protect herself in case she falls over. “I haven't the foggiest,” Pipsqueak answered, before nodding and putting his own helmet on. “But I'd say putting our helmets on is a good call.” After their helmets were back on, Spike going without because his scales would be strong enough to withstand most impacts, they gathered in front of the crystal tube Twilight was in to talk. “Well, we know that wasn't an earthquake,” Sweetie Belle said, poking the ground a little. “Or it would've been a lot stronger-” “Not really,” Spike interrupted, leaning against the crystal tube and folding his arms. “We have a Richter Scale for a reason. An earthquake could be happening anywhere and we wouldn't feel it because the effects are that-” “Whatever Captain Nerd!” Scootaloo said, punching the dragon in the shoulder to silence him. “But if that wasn't an earthquake then what was it?!” Almost as if to answer her, Twilight's horn lit up and, on the side of the tube, a projection of what was happening outside was playing. Showing ponies running and screaming as black, changelings flew around and chased them, firing green energy from their horns. They blinked, not sure what to make of that. “Spike, Ah thought tha changelings were good now,” Applebloom asked, turning to said dragon, who was scratching his head in confusion. “They should be, Thorax wouldn't let his people attack us like this,” Spike mentioned, looking over the lot of them before he spotted something. “Wait, is that?!” They looked to where he was pointing and saw Rarity was creating a magical shield against a tall, female changeling with a blue mane. “Queen Chrysalis!” They all exclaimed in union, turning to make their way out of the door. Once they all got outside, Applebloom turned to stop Spike. “Whoa, hold on there!” “Applebloom, what are you-?” “Spike, Twilight used her magic!” She interrupted him, pointing to Twilight's glowing horn. “The castle, no matter how magical it is, can't get magic out of a dead pony, so-” “Twilight's alive...” Spike said, turning to the suspended mare. “Right, and if whoever tried to kill her realizes that, they'll come back. Someone needs to protect her,” She said, placing a hoof on his shoulder, causing him to look back at her. “...You're right,” He replied, putting on the most determined face he has ever had. “And if Chrysalis finds her way here, I won't let her get Twily without a fight. Good luck out there, but my place is here.” Applebloom smiled and nodded. “Good luck to you too!” She said, giving the dragon a hug, before she ran off to catch up with the other rangers, not noticing Spike's stupid grin as she was leaving. Please stay safe, Bloomy. “You picked a bad day to show your face here, you harlot!” Rarity cried, using a spell to throw a few loose stones at the changeling queen. Said changeling just erected a magical shield so that the stones just bounced harmlessly away from her, grinning maniacally. “On the contrary, my little pony, with your cowardly yellow friend out of town, your foolhardy blue one in no condition to fight and your purple Princess out of commission, it was the perfect time to come and get my revenge!” As she was talking, she failed to notice a big, red stallion approach, before both his back hooves smashed into her side, sending her flying into the wall of a nearby building. She looked back and saw Mac smirking at her. “Ah usually don't hit ladies, but fer cackling, evil megalomaniacs, Ah think Ah can make an exception.” She flinched as she got up, using a small bit of magic to call her changelings. “You're going to pay for-” She was cut off when a rope wrapped around her horn and yanked her to the side, bring her face to face with a very pissed looking Orange mare, who's eyes seemed to resemble fire as she slammed her hoof into the Queen's face, repeating the process after each word she spoke. “You put mah baby in danger you bitch!” The queen flinched and used a quick flash spell to temporarily blind Applejack enough to kick the pony away. Ur! Not back at full strength yet! As she got back up, she failed to notice a large blob of cake batter coming at her until it hit her square in the face. “Alright-y, I don't remember there being this many changelings here when I left this morning!” Pinkie said, slowly observing her surroundings behind her party cannon. Just as Rarity, Applejack and Mac made their way towards her, the changeling hoard had come to Chrysalis's side, showing there to be, at least, a hundred of them. Chrysalis, herself, got up on wobbly hooves, shaking her head and pointing to the four of them. “Destroy them, my children, destroy them!” One of the changelings nodded and charged forward to attack, the others following after a while. Rarity was about to prepare another barrier spell, but flinched and held her head in pain. It was then, that she realized, that she had overworked herself and couldn't use another spell for a while. Just as the first changeling was about to hit her, a blur of yellow jumped over the white unicorn, colliding with the changeling and forcing it away, causing the others to back away in surprise. Because there, standing between Rarity and the changelings, stood Pipsqueak in his yellow ranger suit. Just before Chrysalis was about to order another attack, the other rangers jumped in to stand with their friend. “And who are you?” She found herself asking instead. The rangers turned to each other, almost as if they were surprised that someone would ask, before Applebloom shook out of it and stepped forward. “Who we are doesn't matter, what does is that we're here to stop you and what ever it is you're scheming!” She declared, trying not to let her accent slip into her speech, less Applejack or Big Mac recognize her. “But if it matters so much to you,” Scootaloo continued, deepening her voice so she sounded more male than female. “I'm the immovable object, here to stand between you and what you want-” She continued, striking the pose she made when she finished her test. “I'm the Black Ranger!” The others turned to each other, unsure of what Scootaloo just did, before Featherweight shrugged and stepped forward. “I'm the unstoppable force, ready to push you back and out of our town-” He said, striking his own pose. “I'm the Blue Ranger!” “I'm the savage beast, ready to strike whether you're ready or not-” Pipsqueak said, striking his pose, between his posing friends. “I'm the Yellow Ranger!” “I'm the patient hunter, ready to pounce when you least expect it-” Sweetie Belle shrugged, striking her pose between Pipsqueak and Featherweight. “I'm the Pink Ranger!” Applebloom blinked, before sighing, striking her pose in the middle, to show that she was the leader of the group. “I'm the Red Ranger, the leader of the group, ready to take you down and-You stopped listening a while ago, didn't you?” “Huh?” Chrysalis said, snapping out of her stupor, noticing that the rangers were now in a team pose in front of her. “Oh, I'm sorry, you were just babbling for so long-” “Forget it, we're the Power Rangers! And we're here to kick your ass!” Applebloom stated, turning to Rarity. “Get to a safe distance and recharge your magic, we'll keep Queen bitch and her army of bugs at bay.” “Oh, um, thank you,” Rarity replied, making her way to a nearby pharmacy to, hopefully, find a potion or something to help. “Mac, you help her look and keep Rainbow and Golden Delicious safe!” Applejack stressed, pushing her brother back. Mac nodded and ran after the white Unicorn. She then turned to the Rangers. “Pinkie and Ah will clear the changelings on the streets, if y'all will keep these ones busy.” “They'll have their hooves full, we assure you,” Scootaloo said, grinning under her helmet. “Looks like we're on a bug hunt, AJ!” Pinkie cheered, grabbing the orange pony and running off with her and her party cannon in tow. The Rangers turned to each other, nodded and looked towards Chrysalis and her army, the Queen herself, smirking in anticipation. “Well, now that that's been sorted,” She said, almost as if she was just sitting there, letting them coordinate themselves. “Let the battle begin!” And then they charged. Spike placed his hand up to the glass, watching the encounter between Chrysalis and the Rangers. “Good luck guys...I'm rooting for you.” Spike noticed a glowing besides him and turned, surprised to find a glowing Twilight besides him, watching the projection herself. Me too, Spike- She said to him, telepathically, turning to him and smiling, noticing the large, relieved one growing on his face. Me too.