Chapter 3: Destiny

Location: Ponyville

Billy circled the monster warily. He knew what the creature was and had an idea about who had sent it. He shifted his grip on his Blade Blaster and quickly glanced at the ponies behind him. They stared back with an aura of suspicion and fear, which was to be expected. He would bring them to their destinies soon enough but he had to get rid of the monster first. That meant destroying it or damaging it enough to send it packing. Or he could do an emergency group teleport, but that had its own drawbacks.

The only problem he had was his borrowed power was running out. He had already used up a sizeable chunk on his flashy entrance and freeing the injured foal and the rest was running out rapidly. Soon, he would be drawing power from his own body which would not last long at all. He had to finish this fight fast. Inhaling deeply, he ran at the monster, ducking under a wild swing to stab the blade up against its chest armour. As expected, the blade bounced off, sparks flying. Extending his left arm, he grabbed the monster and shoved it back onto what he supposed was a mannequin for dressmaking. Sparing a quick glance at the power meter on the inside of his visor, he stowed his Blade Blaster and readied himself. This would take split-second timing but he could pull it off.

“Power Lance!”

In a bright flash, the double ended lance materialised into Billy’s grip. Twirling it around, he waited for the monster to stand up before discreetly tapping a hidden button near the middle. Jerking his arms apart, the lance split into two and began crackling with power. Praying it would work, Billy crossed both halves and thrust them towards the fish monster. A split second later, a crackling bolt of energy shot forth from the crossed shafts striking the creature dead on. In a blaze of fire, the monster flew back and vanished in a puff on smoke. Falling to his knees, Billy felt his Power Lance dematerialise and started to feel light-headed. He had used up too much power in that last attack, but the monster had been driven away. Weakly, he lifted up his communicator and spoke into it,

“Luna. Need teleportation of myself and six others ASAP.”

Tilting his head towards the group of ponies, he tried to make his weakening voice sound as reassuring as possible.

“Hang on and don’t tense up. You’ll be fine, I promise.”

In a crackle of royal blue and white, the ponies and Billy vanished.

Location: The Lonely Mountain

When Twilight’s vision cleared, the first thing she saw was the strange figure sprawled on the ground in front of her. It appeared to be breathing weakly which was a good thing. What didn’t seem like a good thing were the small lightning bolts crackling over its body. As she was about to prod it with her horn, a bright flash forced her to squeeze her eyes shut. Judging from the surprised and pained cries she heard around her, she was the quickest to do so. Mentally sighing, she tentatively opened one eye and gasped in shock.

Where the clothed figure had been before was a strange animal. It looked like a hairless ape or maybe an offshoot of a gorilla…or what an ape would look like if it had cloth coverings on its body and feet. She slowly backed away until her hindquarters bumped into something cold and unyielding. Stifling a scream of surprise, she whirled around but stopped as her eyes grew as wise as dinner plates.

Around her was a wondrous mix of technology and strange devices. There were windows that showed other locations and something that looked like an energy meter…and a power regulator if she had studied correctly. Dimly, she was aware of Applejack coming up beside her.

“Wha…Twilight, Ah’ve never seen this place before. Where in the hay are we?”

“You are in the temporary Command Outpost built in the Lonely Mountain.”

All heads jerked around to see a midnight blue alicorn appear from a side hallway. Her mane swayed in an unfelt breeze and her crescent moon Cutie Mark contrasted beautifully against her skin. Looking at the group with her understanding and patient blue eyes, she trotted to where the figure lay and gently nudged it with her horn. Rolling her eyes slightly, Princess Luna shook her head as a small smile appeared on her muzzle. Turning toward the ponies, who had all bowed at her appearance, she shook her head once more; eyes dancing with suppressed laughter.

“Rise up, all of you. I’m sure you have many questions, which I will do my best to answer.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by a groan from the sprawled figure.

“Did anyone get the number of that bus?”

Looking at the figure, she saw that it was starting to get off the ground. She watched as it clung to a nearby device for support as it rose on its two legs. Finally gaining its balance, it dusted itself off and looked at the shocked Twilight, stunned ponies and amused Luna. Letting out a stifled groan, it rubbed the back of its head sheepishly and made a strange motion with its arms. Taking that as a sign to continue, Luna spoke again.

“My little ponies, it has been a long time since I have last seen you. Celestia has kept me updated and I am very grateful that the six of you have come together as a team.”

The ponies bowed their heads at the praise while Apple Bloom and Spike gazed at the Princess in awe. Clearing her throat, she looked at the figure and motioned to it with her horn.

“This is Billy. He has come from a…different plane of existence to help with your new task. Billy, can you please brief them?”

Billy looked at the group and back at Luna. Raising an eyebrow, he turned around and spoke aloud – seemingly at the buttons themselves.

“Dimitria, if the patients have healed then let them come to the main chamber. It’s time for explanations.”

As he settled himself against the console, Luna came up beside him and nudged his arm with her nose. Rolling his eyes, he sighed in mock frustration and pulled out the same device Twilight had seen earlier, but now it looked dulled and had a large crack running down the centre of it. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but was distracted by the three forms that stepped into the light: Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle’s horrific injury was gone and while she looked a bit pale and swayed on her feet, the filly stood proudly. Rainbow Dash’s wing was also healed and she flexed it triumphantly for the assembled group to see. Also, Rarity’s scrapes and minor injuries had healed as if by magic…which was probably the case.

As the group rushed towards their friends, Billy toyed with the object in his hands. Running a thumb across the face of the dulled disc, he could faintly feel the lines and ridges that made up the Wolf Power Coin. Sighing slightly, he placed the object behind him and looked into Luna’s questioning gaze. Shutting his eyes, he shook his head once. He should never have told the alicorn about the darkness in his heart, but she did have a point. He had to accept it sooner or later…but if he hadn’t let her die…well, there was no point thinking about it now. His voice cut over the din of the reunion, silencing everypony.

“You are here because you have been chosen by the Elements of Harmony to help save your world. Using the Elements and advanced technology, you will become the first, last and only line of defence against the darkness that is to come.”

He paused for dramatic impact and let a slight smile play over his lips. The next line never got old.

“You will become Power Rangers.”

TBC…

Author's Note

It'll get better...

Billy is using his Ninjetti Power Coin with his cracked Morpher (like Adam in Always A Chance) and is borrowing power from Luna and Celestia to sustain his morph. The darkness in his heart bit refers to Cestria, although I hadn't really thought of how that thread was going to finish up until some time later. I knew she had to die but if it was going to be a casualty during the Countdown or some random event after, I hadn't decided yet.