Chapter Four:
Enter the DANGER Zone

As the movie closed, I could still see tears in their eyes. I didn't realize they were into crude humor. Even Fluttershy, FLUTTERSHY above all else, laughed at the movie! I had expected them to scold me for showing them this, but apparently I was wrong. And now, the storm was just getting creepy. It wasn't stopping at all. What sucked was that it was my turn to walk the dog. I pulled out my umbrella, put on my raincoat and turned to the girls and Spike.

"I'll be back soon girls." I said to them. I was about to walk out when Applejack came up to me.

"I'll go with ya." She stated. "I wanna talk to you." I got instantly nervous.

"O-okay." I said. Geez I sound like Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia; always saying something nervously. We both walked outside with the dog. I closed the door behind us and walked across the street to the fence that posed as a barrier to the preserve in which my new friends had appeared.

"Listen," Applejack started, "I just... wanted to thank you... and apologize for my behavior." Oh, okay. I thought this was going in a completely other direction. "I was very suspicious of you at first. Don't get me wrong, I still am, but... that's understandable. Ain't it?" I nodded. "But seein how happy you've made us during these past couple o' hours, I think I want to try and be your friend." I smiled

"You have every right to be suspicious. I'm happy that you want to give me a chance AJ. I-it's okay if I call you that now. Right?" I asked nervously. She giggled.

"You're a nice kid Jem." She said. I looked at the ground and blushed a bit.

'Keep it PG buddy!" An angel said as he appeared on my left shoulder.

'Nah c'mon! Don't listen to him!' The devil said on my right, 'Who cares if they're older than you?! Besides, they might have age differences like dogs have dog years. They could be your age for all we know!'

'Remind me why I need you both as my conscience?' I asked.

'Because you suck.' They both said

'Get outta here!' I yelled mentally. And with a poof, they were gone. The lightning flashed, and the thunder boomed again. Applejack, Jojo, and I almost got hit by a swinging tree branch, but we barely evaded it. AJ and I had talked some more. We apparently had a lot in common. We were hard working, honest, and stubborn ("What?!" NOTHING!). The storm was finally calming down. So we could see where we were going. I saw a large flower in my front yard. I figured i could collect some flowers for the girls for a kind of house warming gift. I pulled the flower by the stem...

AND IT SCREAMED?!

"AAAAAAAAAGH!" It screamed. Applejack and I both yelled back while my dog barked. "AAAAAAAAAAand scene!" It suddenly said. It proceeded to laugh hysterically. "You should've seen the looks on your faces agh!" He wheezed.

"What in the hay are you?!" Applejack yelled.

"Howdy! Name's Flowey! Flowey the Flower!" The flower said. Why did that name sound so familiar? And why did it make me feel hatred?

(Flowey's POV)

It's right there. The SOUL of determination is right there. But that mare, she seems strong. She has the SOUL of Bravery. She could easily kill me. I'll have to play dumb for now. I can't show them who I really am yet. I'll gain their trust, then tear their SOULs apart until nothing is left. I'll finally rule the timelines!

I put on a straight face and began talking to them. "Quite a storm huh?"

"Uh, yeah... it sure is..." The human said as if he were confused.

"I saw how you fought with that hunter last night." I told him, "Maybe I could teach you how to fight properly with your SOUL."

"Fight?" He asked. "I-I don't want to fight... who would I fight anyway?" Was he really this dim-witted? He was gifted the power of a SOUL of determination, and he doesn't want to use it to it's full potential? I've seen better outcomes than this. Nevertheless, I can't show my true colors yet. I could give him a warning however...

"You didn't hear? Monsters are roaming the Earth nowadays." I told him.

"D-did you s-say... m-m-m-monsters?" The Applejack asked. Yeah I know her name. I have met her before. But she doesn't know it.

"That's right! So you better be prepared Jem!" I said.

"Well thanks for... the... wait... how did you-" Realizing my mistake I decided to take off.

"Well good luck bye!" I said as I quickly descended into the soil. That was too close. I hope I didn't make a mistake in telling him about the attack.

Calvin Streak, the newest member of the State Rangers, was on duty walking around the city. All the hustle and bustle was what he was used too. He had made the occasional reports. There was always miniature problems, like overdue parking meters (The city didn't have anyone to place tickets so he was put on the job.), the occasional J-walker, and just boring problems that people don't care about. All in all, he wasn't the biggest fan of his job so far. The only exciting part of his job, was tracking down the hunter.

The leader of The Hunters was named Silas J. Turner. He was charged with physical assault at age eighteen. He was released from prison a few months later and committed his second crime which was attempted murder. He had lost a game and had begun shooting a Poker Dealer in a local Casino when the authorities showed up and prevented him from doing any more damage. The Dealer lived but is now severely disabled. He was released about 10 years later, due to one of his buddies being an amazing lawyer, and laid low. Twenty years later (The present), he is wanted for attempted murder of a child at the age of fifteen. That was last night. And Calvin saved the kid and the ponies behind him. He watched the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic when it first started airing. He was among the first bronies at age eleven.

Back onto the subject on Silas, he had a very distinct appearance. He was on the chubby side, had a dark scruffy beard and short curly hair. He almost looked like the younger version of Harvey Fierstein. He also had a necklace of a black heart that was misshapen to make it look like it was melting. It was probably a gift from his mother if Calvin had to guess. He was surprised to even be put onto the case. Considering he was still in training, many believed he wasn't up to it. But then they brought his mother up. Calvin's mother was the best Ranger on the force when she still worked for them. Calvin barely saw or talked to her anymore. She had moved to California to work for the LAPD, a real police force. And where was Calvin? In the GARD. The Georgia Ranger Department in Atlanta. The only perk he got was free admission to the Aquarium and World of Coke, which wasn't that bad if you thought about it, but he rarely had time to go anywhere.

He was on his way now to an alleyway behind the Museum of High Arts as a murder had just occurred. It was reported to be a stab wound and there was a message that everyone in possibly the world needed to see.

As Calvin arrived, he saw the local news, the police department, and the rest of the rangers. "Thanks Dave," The news reporter said, "I'm standing here in front of the crime scene, the body has been taken on a gurney and the message written to humanity is right behind me. As you can see...

Every other noise was blocked out. Strewn across the wall of the alley was a message written in fresh blood. It stated:

"OUr TiME hAs COme. MOnsTErs wIll rulE aGAin. YouR SOULS WiLl bE OuRs."

Next to it was a signature: Madg-S.J.T.

It was Silas's initials. He wasn't just a criminal, he was mentally insane! Calvin ran back to his car and drove away. As he drove, he kept seeing the message in his mind. As he approached the station he thought back to what had happened that night in the clearing. ' That kid seemed to know what he was doing... I guess...' Calvin thought. He walked out of his car and walked inside. He said hello to a few other rangers and stepped into the break room, which was empty. He pulled out his phone and looked up the Message behind the Museum of High Art.

Social media had already blown up about it. Apparently the one killed and had blood smeared across the wall was a kid named Gabriel Brown. He had attended the Georgia Middle School and was with his parents when he stopped to use the restroom and was kidnapped and murdered. 'Poor kid' Calvin thought. He turned off his phone and found a new file in the cabinet. He looked at the name and it said Case:Gabe, 'No. It's changing?' Calvin thought. It kept changing until the letters bent and broke into a new word.

"What's a "Hypergod"?" Calvin thought as he opened the file. As he did so, 10 green vines shot out in synch and cut his skin. He screamed in agony and ran out of the room. He swiftly shut the door and ran to his car. He drove home and didn't stop until he got there.

Meanwhile

(Jem's POV)

The strange encounter with Flowey had been eventful. He was weird, but he seemed nice enough, despite the prank he pulled on AJ and I. I returned him to the ground and walked my dog and AJ back to the house. "That was um..."

"Strange?" AJ finished.

"Pretty much." I said as I opened the door. The others were busy watching reruns of Adventure Time (May it Rest in Peace). AJ and I were about to join when a special news report appeared.

"Do'h! COME. ON!" Rainbow yelled. I was more confused than annoyed. Never had a special news report came up on Cartoon Network.

"We interrupt this program to bring you some terrible ne-" Then a commercial came on.

"Hi do you- @#$%^%#@!@#$%^&*(":><>(Static) like human SOULS? Do you want to appease our hypergod? Then follow these instructions (Static) KILL OR BE KILLED@#$%$#@!@#$%^&*(()_{:>."

"Um, w-what was th-that?" Fluttershy asked as she hugged me very tightly. She saw what she was doing, blushed, and released me from her grasp allowing air to fill my lungs. The program suddenly continued.

"We apologize for any technical difficulties as we were picking up an odd signal. We have some breaking news. Three people in the past hour have been found all over Atlanta. There was an adult male, adult female, and young male. We now report live to Eric Spielman who is at the scene. Eric?"

"Thanks Tom I am currently standing at the latest crime sight behind the World of Coke attraction. The Male has appeared to have been drowned in the Coke Fountain. We believe it was not suicide but a murder. We have found bloody handprints on the scruff of the man's shirt and have traced it to Silas J. Turner. Everyone at the World of Coke attraction stated it had happened at around 2 PM. Turner had escaped from a fire exit and hailed a cab. More information on the matter later. Back to you Tom."

"Thank you Eric." Tom started. "The ones killed are named as followed. Jared Dickson, Alley Brodick, and Gabriel Brown. To each of their families, we apologize for your loss and wish to have a small moment of silence for the three deceased."

"That's just awful!" Rarity gasped, "Who would ever do such a terrible thing?! Killing their own species?!"

"I agree." AJ added, "That's just not right. Why would anypony want to do that to another?"

"That's just mean!" Pinkie added, "Right Jem?! Jem?" They all looked over at Jem and saw tears streaming down his cheeks. His hand was over his mouth. He was in shock.

"Jem, are you okay?" Twilight asked. Spike waved his claw in front of his face.

"Helloooo? Jem? You okay buddy?" He asked. Without a word, Jem jumped up and ran upstairs. They all yelled for him, but Jem didn't care. He ran into his room and locked his door. He buried his head into his pillow and sobbed. He wasn't upset that three people were murdered. He was upset because his best friend was one of them.

(3rd person)

The girls and Spike were getting worried. Jem was upstairs for about four hours. His family had gotten home in the allotted time. His parents went up to talk to him. All the way from downstairs, they heard him scream,"GO AWAY!". They had insisted on him letting them in but he just kept yelling at them to go away. Then the girls and Spike decided to go upstairs and try to talk to him. As Mike and Alex walked downstairs to prepare dinner, the girls and spike walked up to Jem's door. Twilight used a spell to make the door ripple and appear to be jelly-like. They all walked through and saw Jem staring blankly at the ceiling. He appeared exhausted and had clearly been crying.

"Jem?" Fluttershy asked, "Are you okay?"

"I should have known something was wrong when he didn't come over." he said quietly, his voice quivering.

"Who didn't come over?" Twilight asked.

"Gabe. My... my..." Jem started sobbing again. They all surrounded him and hugged him as tightly as they could. "my... best... friend..."

Madjick had collected three SOULs already. She only needed a couple of more to match the strength of a Determined SOUL. It was only a matter of time.

Author's Note

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