Chapter 22: Initiations

A sharp beeping roused him from his rest.

Opening his eyes, he looked up at the ornately decorated ceiling above him before blinking in confusion. The Ultra Cavern didn’t have decorations like that on its ceiling, so where was he? Slowly raising himself up off the slab he was lying on, he looked around him and the memories came flooding back. The assault on Xonix’s Fortress, the Brown Crystal, the portal and the entering into another dimension. Strangely, everything after the healing of the Yellow Ranger was a blank. Nodding to the unmorphed ponies around him, he looked at Eliza and gave her a weak smile before shaking his head to clear the cloudiness. Exhaling slowly, his eyes widened as he took in the brilliant designs on the stained glass windows along the long hall of the Command Tower. Stylised designs of ponies were posed in exploration, attack, victory and defeat. One pane of glass showed strange crystals resting on a pedestal of some sort with the strange winged unicorn staring at them.

“Those are the Elements of Harmony.”

Jerking his head up at the voice, he spun around and saw that the winged unicorn was next to him. Gripping the sides of the slab, he swung his legs over the edge and lowered himself to the floor. Seeing that his energy was recovering nicely, the winged unicorn spoke again. Weihan smiled at how melodious her regal voice sounded.

“Please do not strain yourself. You are still recovering from your energy drain. My name is Princess Celestia and I am the ruling monarch of the land of Equestria.”

Weihan nodded as he flexed his arms. An energy drain was consistent with using his powers to heal…but that didn’t explain the sharp beeping near him. Ignoring the oddity for the time being, he looked to the Princess and asked about Equestria and its inhabitants. The Princess laughed lightly at his question and obliged.

“Equestria is a land inhabited by ponies of three species. Earth Ponies tend to the land, Pegasi to the weather and Unicorns allow propagation of knowledge and magic. I, like my sister, am an alicorn and to the best of my knowledge we are the only two true alicorns in all of Equestria. The Elements of Harmony are the strongest concentrations of magic and are known to be able to purify evil from any being they are used against.”

Nodding lightly, Weihan tried to wrap his brain around the information being given as the Princess kept talking. If the Elements were the energy source that the Rangers of this world drew from, they would be very formidable indeed. He didn’t quite know how quadrupeds could battle bipedal monsters…then again; he had seen the Friendship Stampede at work. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. He would eventually have to go back to his world but he wished he could open up a permanent two-way portal to help the Rangers whenever they needed help.

The beeping sounded again, louder and closer. He stifled a yelp as he looked around for the source. The Princess had ceased talking and was also looking around in confusion; as were the Rangers and Eliza. As the beeping increased speed, he squinted at the communicator on his left wrist. Shaking his head again, he pressed the side button cautiously.

“Hello?”

After a burst of static, the familiar voice of Rachelle Cole, the Silver Ultra Ranger broke through.

“Weihan, thank God we’ve managed to break through the dimensional walls! You have to hand it to Will and Justin; those two can do anything!”

Weihan sagged on the wall next to the Med Bed as Eliza let out a small cheer before running to his side. Popping open the clasp of his communicator, she slid it off his wrist and onto the communication station. As Twilight helped the Purple Ultra Ranger with strengthening the signal, Weihan felt a surge of relief wash over him. While communication didn’t mean they had a way to go back just yet; it meant the Rangers had a way to communicate with their displaced team mates. He blinked in surprise as a very familiar voice came over the air…but judging from the smiles that broke out on the ponies faces, it didn’t belong to the girl he loved.

“Hey, we’re here an’ the Ultra Rangers are mighty fine folk! Don’t know who this ‘Jacqui’ is that everyone keeps telling me about but I’m sure ta meet her soon! For those Rangers who don’t know who ah am, I’m Applejack and your team says hi. And Dash says hi as well…but she’s swooping round the base”

Inwardly, Weihan laughed as Eliza shot him a sly look. There was a pony in the Ultra Cavern with the same voice as his girlfriend. If those two met each other…well, he didn’t want to know what would happen. It would certainly put a strange spin on his earlier comments comparing her to a pony. The Rangers let out whoops and cheers as they learnt the status of their missing friends and their cries of joy lightened the shadows in his heart. He saw Billy walk in with the Pink pony from a side corridor and nodded once to them before opening his mouth to reply to the pony. He only managed a sound that was the beginning of an acknowledgement when shouts in the background drew his attention.

“The Hell? Is that a talking pony? And what is going on here? I’m taking Rebecca and we’re leaving now!”

Well, it seemed Alex had wasted no time in recruiting Rebecca to the team; and it seemed Sam Perry was inside the Ultra Cavern for some unfathomable reason. Rubbing his temples with a hand, he walked over to the communication station and knelt down near the communicator. Opening his mouth to try to calm the boy down, he was interrupted yet again by Heather’s soft voice.

“Sorry Wei, we had to bring him along. We were attacked by the grunts of the new evil force and Sam was caught up. He’s having a bit of difficulty accepting Rebecca as the new Ultra Ranger.”

Shaking his head, he let out a harsh bark of laughter before speaking to the Princess.

“And this is why you ensure no civilians are caught up in the process of recruitment…All right. Sam, pull your head out of your ass and listen!”

Twilight blinked in surprise as she heard the Orange Ranger’s voice change from self-deprecating and teasing to harsh and stern in an instant. Fluttershy covered next to the Orange Ranger and she saw him lightly drop his hand to stroke her mane to calm her down. It was an automatic gesture, but allowed the purple unicorn to see the kindness in his heart. Billy felt some of his tension and apprehensions dissolve as well and felt that he had sorely misjudged the young man in front of him; but found it strange that a civilian would be in the secret base of the Rangers.

“Sam, I know you’re confused and possibly a little angry but listen. Rebecca was picked not only by myself, but by the Ultra Crystal she will be wielding. The same Ultra Crystal that has a direct line to the Universal Morphin Grid – one of the strongest energy grids in the universe and that knows everything about anything. From what I can see, this same Grid perpetuates throughout the known Universe and even in alternate dimensions. She will be in a team that will protect her and teach her how to effectively use the power at her disposal. We will do everything we can to ensure that she does not abuse what is given to her. In return, we ask that you be there for her. “

He paused to let it sink in and looked down at the Pegasus at his feet. She looked up at him with her aquamarine eyes and leant her head on his upper thigh. Smiling down at her, he opened his mouth once more to address the person on the other end of the line.

“All we ask is that you accept this and be there for her. Being a Ranger is tough and the things we see can really fuck us up if we don’t have support. We take care of each other as we go but there are some things that even we cannot heal. That’s where you come in. Talk to her and keep your relationship alive but know that there will be some things that she will not be able to tell you. Knowing all this, do you still consent to having her join the Ultra Rangers?”

He heard a heavy sigh on the other end that was followed by a slight electrical crackling and shouts. He guessed Rebecca had accepted the Power of the Brown Crystal of her own accord and was proven right as a light shudder ran through his and Eliza’s bodies. The Ultra Rangers were now complete and Sam had to accept that any decision he would have made was out of his hands. Grinning widely, he spoke once more.

“Well, that takes care of that. Rebecca, welcome to the Ultra Rangers. To the Equestrian Rangers in our dimension, excuses will be made for you and we will ensure that everything is still relatively in one piece upon your return.”

Static started to creep into the transmission and Weihan knew the link between dimensions was fading fast. He nodded at the communicator even though he knew he couldn’t be seen and signed off.

“Bye for now; and may the Power protect you.”

TBC…

Author's Note

Mostly Ultra Crystals related stuff in this chapter, including the completion of the main twelve. Nothing pony-related happens in the Ultra Crystals chapter following this.