AN: And we’re back! Updates will come semi-frequently in the coming months and the story will pick up once I get over the initial hurdles of introducing stuff. Still working on a potential storyline that may or may not come to fruition.

Anyway, Enjoy!

Chapter 18: Scythe Run

“I will destroy them and feast on their flesh!”

Zedd turned away from the newly transformed Gilda and chuckled wickedly as he looked at the glowing Crystal in his hand. The Dark Ultra Crystal had performed better than he would have thought for transforming flesh and mutating it into something stronger. He almost wished the griffon would have kept her quadrupedal stance but waved away that train of thought. A bipedal griffon warrior would do nicely until he could figure out how to resurrect the dead with the crystal. Then Goldar would be his top warrior once more and he knew the golden titan would love to go a few rounds with the ex-Blue Ranger. Whatever the outcome; it would be prolonged, messy and would end with the brainy one ravaged beyond repair.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the pathetic mass of azure flesh finally starting to take on a coherent form. Tricksy was now a half reptilian, half unicorn beast with a crocodilian head adorned with a stubby horn and ringed with a bluish-green mane. The hooves on her hind legs remained but the skin had vanished; exposing the musculature beneath…as well as gleaming white bone. Her front legs had twisted into grasping claws that ended in razor sharp talons that could easily slice through the hardened granite walls. From the feeble attempts she kept making, Zedd could see that the reptilian unicorn was trying to achieve a bipedal stance. He let her continue in her attempts and walked out to the mouth of the cavern.

The Everfree Forest surrounded his cave and he longed for the airless void of the Moon…but knew that wasn’t a viable option. For one thing; his servants needed oxygen and sustenance to keep functioning well, even though they had been magically enhanced. A more pressing problem was that while the Moon in his home dimension moved on its own and wasn’t monitored; the Moon over Equestria was…by Celestia’s sister Luna. The alicorn would surely sense a structure being summoned onto the stony surface within seconds. After that, the Rangers would probably come up in their Zords that the ex Ranger had undoubtedly given them. He couldn’t risk that happening yet.

Sensing a presence behind him, he turned his head to see Discord next to him. The former alicorn had a wide smile on its face and nodded once to his Lord. Nodding back, Zedd felt a rush of anticipation fill his body as his servant slipped into the depths of Everfree. So, Discord had pierced the dimensional wall and had a subconscious hold on the former Green Ranger. Even if his friends realised what was happening, they were powerless to stop it as Zordon was long gone and their ‘main brain’ was in Equestria. It was a stroke of genius to allow Discord to use what little magic he had left to reach through the dimensional barrier piggybacking on his magical sight spell. Of course, the magic Discord had remaining wasn’t enough to fry an egg with but it still had enough manipulative power in it to enslave an unguarded opponent. The information Zedd had learnt during that bout of ‘Ranger Watching’ had also been very interesting.

The Yellow Ninja Ranger was dead. Killed by, of all things, a suicidal monster. He had almost slapped his face at procuring the information from Tommy’s mind…but was stopped by an overwhelming desire to live. A suicidal beast would be a useful terror tactic against to Rangers but the novelty would wear off after a few detonations. He had been so surprised that the connection to the ‘other side’ had been cut off but Discord had gotten the job done anyway. Any further musings was cut off by a strange sound near his feet. Looking down, the dark Lord saw a strange insectoid chirping excitedly as it sniffed his transformed feet. Lifting up his staff to crush the insolent insect, he stopped as it was joined by two more creatures that had flown in from the Everfree. Magically ensnaring once, he brought it up to eye level and examined it.

If he was a more sentimental overlord, he would have called it cute. Two brightly coloured eyes jutted out from a blue face that was disturbingly humanlike. Six jointed legs stuck out from underneath the face and four thin wings lightly flicked in the shifting breeze. Sneering under his mask, he snatched it out of the air and crushed it in his hoof-like hand; chuckling in dark pleasure as dark green slime oozed out from between his fingers. Tightening his grip on the Dark Ultra Crystal, he laughed as a new segment of information wormed its way into his mind. He could create monsters with the Ultra Energy but he would have to merge one creature with an inanimate object that was either built or magically created. Wiping the remains of the insect on a broad leafed plant, he concentrated his energy and summoned a long scythe into his open hand.

“Parasprite? What is Master doing with a Parasprite?”

Zedd turned to see Tricksy staring curiously at the creatures at his feet. They smelt the remains of their brethren and were licking the slime with bright pink tongues. Not wanting to listen to Tricksy’s rambling explanation, Zedd pointed his Crystal at the reptile’s mind and savagely ripped the information out from her mind while she screamed in fear and pain. Cackling as he raped her mind for the information, Lord Zedd exerted all of his power into tearing apart her defences; irregardless of whatever disturbing images he saw.

“Master, no! Not there! Tricksy begs you to stop!”

After another few minutes prolonging the mental destruction of his servant, Zedd released her from his spell. Parasprites…were interesting creatures indeed. Just one could consume an apple tree in mere moments while a large swarm of them could fly across miles…destroying everything in their path. They were the Equestrian analogue to locusts and he would use them as such. Kicking away his useless servant, Zedd threw the scythe down onto the two Parasprites with a clatter. One was sliced in two by the blade but the other remained intact.

Unleashing a torrent of magic, the transformation and melding of the two objects began. From her vantage point on the ground, Tricksy squinted through the pain as the Parasprite began to merge with the strange weapon her Master had summoned. The cute eyes grew larger and became compound and its teeth turned into crushers, fangs and mandibles. Blades of some metallic alloy burst out from its exoskeleton and it roared to the Heavens as it finished its transformation. Her Master seemed pleased with his work and pointed in the direction of the accursed town of Ponyville.

“Parascythe, go forth and destroy them all!”

TBC…

Author's Note

And as always, this is directly copied from my soft copy of the story...complete with original author's notes.

Yup, Zedd reveals that he can pull memories out of people's heads. Or savagely rape someone's brain to leave them a gibbering wreck. Seeing this is Tricksy, her mind is still semi-fragmented and the latter part doesn't take too long to get over. Bonus chapters will be placed in order for the crossover, including one chapter in particular...