A Dashed Shade Of Red Part 1: Hidden Mysteries

by TheSuperTransformerFan

Rating: everyone
Tags: Comedy, Cozy Glow, Starlight Glimmer, Adventure, Science Fiction, Power Rangers, Crossover, Alternate Universe, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Rainbow Dash
Length: 15148

Steel and Rainbow Dash try to bring Zoey and Nate together, and collect memories...despite the strict restrictions Grid Battleforce has on dating. Part 1 of the Rainbow DashXRed Ranger Arc.

Rainbow Dash, everyone’s favorite Wonderbolt, is persuaded to “accidentally” run into Twilight Sparkle, so that Starlight and Spike can try to collect some memories of their best moments. However, Steel, the Silver Ranger, also has a mission of his own...to bring the gold and yellow rangers, Zoey and Nate together, despite the strict circumstances of Grid Battleforce which forbid relationships between rangers. When the two jobs intertwine, both the Beast Bot and Wonderbolt try to bite off more than they can chew!

Meanwhile, Devon’s own dad, the Mayor, has been secretly meeting with Robo-Blaze and Robo-Roxy. What plans do they have concerning him? As this happens, the rangers, and their Equestrian allies are getting more suspicious by the minute! The mayor may be hiding something...but what? Is he being kidnapped? Does he have another secret identity underneath? There’s only one way to find out, and more than one way to do it, and at the same time, save the world! Sooner or later, someone will have to reveal the truth to the heroes, and it may not be pretty.

The rangers and ponies aren’t safe, not even within the walls of their base. Because on top of it all, there may be a traitor in their midst.

Continuity:
Beast Morphers - Takes place after “Boxed In”, and during “Secret Struggle”
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic - A rewrite of first act of the season 10 episode, “Deep Tissue Memories,” so most of this will probably not be canon.

This is the first story in the Rainbow Dash X Red Ranger arc.

I don't own anything. MLP & Power Rangers are both owned by Hasbro.

Published 2021-06-05 03:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2021-06-05 03:00:01 UTC

Prologue: A Delightfully Devilish Plan

It was dusk at Grid Battleforce, and everyone was just starting to get ready to head home, to prepare for the next day. Little did everyone know that it wouldn’t be normal tomorrow.

In the training room, Nate had just finished developing the newest weapon in the Power Rangers Arsenal, and was showing Ben and Betty it. “Wow!” The twins said in awe.

“Phenomenal.” Nate said, holding it up, and proud of himself. “The Beast-X King Spin Saber is ready to test!”

“Ooh. Spintacular!” Betty said, excitedly as she took it from him. “Could I try it out?”

“Oh, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Nate said nervously. “Well, okay...just grab the handle and spin it!”

Betty was ready to give it a go, as she shouted a war-like cry and spun the sword around her wrist. Nate and Ben were so far amazed with how she was handling it. She then turned to them, and spun it high into the air.

“You got it, sis!” Ben said in excitement, as he and Nate was watching.

Betty kept spinning the sword wildly as if she were fighting a robotron. “Not bad!” Nate said in astonishment.

Just then, she swung it so high up in the air, she started to lift off the ground like a helicopter. This started to frighten the two geniuses. “Uh oh!” Ben said, nervously. “Betty? Betty!” He and Nate raced over to her, as Ben grabbed her by the legs, and Nate by Ben’s legs. “Betty, Let go!” Ben cried out in shock.

“Or, not?” Nate said worriedly.

The two were flying around like Inspector Gadget’s Gadget Copter, like there was no tomorrow! “SIS!” Ben shouted. “I’m slipping!” Nate dodged for impact as the Burke twins landed in a pile of empty Morph-X barrels.

They both got back up, with Betty holding it up in the air, not spinning it. “It works perfectly!” She said, bravely.

“Uh, is it supposed to do that?” Ben asked in shock.

Betty decided to put it where the Rangers would use it later. “We’ll put it in the transporter case!” She said, as the twins went over to the lab to put in said case.

“See you, Nate.” Ben said as they left.

At that moment, Nate’s Beast Bot brother (AKA the Silver Power Ranger)...Steel, and everyone’s favorite Pegasus Wonderbolt (AKA the Element of Loyalty)...Rainbow Dash came in the training room just as the twins exited. “Hey, Bro!” Steel said.

“Hi, Nate!” Rainbow Dash said, waving.

“Hi, guys.” Nate said to them.

“Is there any chance you could help tweak the stabilizers on my zord?” Steel asked, curiously. “Last time it went into Scarab mode, it almost ‘bugged out’ on me.”

Rainbow Dash started to giggle. “Get it? Bug out? Because it’s part-bug, and...”

“Okay, I get it, you two.” Nate told them, getting the message. “But, it’s late and I’ve been working on the Spin Saber all day.”

“Spin Saber?” Rainbow asked, curiously.

“Yes. It’s a new piece of weaponry that I worked on today.” Nate told them. “It’s getting late for any Zord bugs.”

“Bugs...” Rainbow said, as she and Steel started to giggle.

“I got it, okay?” Nate said to them. “How about tomorrow?”

The two comedians looked at each other, and smiled. “Oh. Okay then, Nate.” Rainbow said. “See you tomorrow!”

At that moment, Zoey (AKA the Yellow Power Ranger) came in. “Hey, boys.” She said, greeting them.

“Hi, Zoey.” They all said, calmly to her.

She set her backpack down, and showed them her Zord diagnostics on her tablet. “Check out these diagnostics on the Chopper Zord’s controls.” She said. “Something’s off.”

Nate looked at the tablet, and saw the problem. “You’re right.” He said. “I’ll double check your entire system tonight.”

“Tonight? Really?” Zoey asked.

“But..you said you were exhausted.” Steel pointed out.

“Yeah.” Rainbow added. “Shouldn’t you be tired, and heading out by now?”

“Anything you need, Zoey.” Nate told her. “No problem.” He left for the lab, to fix her Zord system. “Bye.”

Rainbow and Steel both felt that something was rather a bit...off, regarding what just happened earlier. “I don’t get it.” Rainbow said to her. “Steel just asked Nate to work on his Zord, and he said he was too tired. But, you asked them same thing, and suddenly, he’s....” just then, both their minds clicked, as they slowly put the pieces together.

They both silently gasped. “Wait a sec...” Steel said in realization. “Does my brother like you? I mean...like you like you?”

“Sounds like somepony’s got a crush on someone she thinks she shouldn’t!” Rainbow joked.

“Uh, Nate?” Zoey asked, in disbelief. “Like me like me?” She playfully scoffed. “Trust me, dating is the last thing on my mind. I...I gotta go!” She grabbed her backpack, when a magazine fell out of it.

The two took notice, grabbed it. Zoey tried to grab it back. “Give me that!” She said.

“But, what is it?” Steel asked, jokingly. He held the magazine up, as he and Rainbow looked at it. Zoey was sweating with fear as she tried to snatch it back, but they held it out of her reach.

“Glitz Magazine?” Rainbow Dash asked, reading the title. “The ultimate guide to first dates?!” She cracked out in laughter, as she fell to the floor, pounding down in hysterics as Zoey blushed. “Are...are you an EGGHEAD?!” She jokingly asked. “Like Twilight?!” She continued to laugh so hard, she might burst a blood vessel.

Steel saw her laugh so hard on the floor. “I do believe Rainbow Dash has snapped.” He said to Zoey, as the Pegasus finished her round of laughing, and slowly start to get back up.

“You like Nate?” Rainbow asked her.

“Okay!” Zoey said, snatching the magazine from the laugh buddies. She looked around, to make sure no one was around to hear this. “You two can’t tell anyone.” She said seriously to them.

“Why not?” Rainbow asked.

“Because...” Zoey told them “The truth is...Nate and I both like each other.”

Rainbow gasped in excitement as Steel raised his arms up in the air. “THAT’S AWESOME!” he said a little too loud.

“I knew it!” Rainbow said as well.

Zoey grabbed Steel’s arms, and Rainbow’s wings and put them down. “SSH!” She said to them. “It isn’t awesome at all.”

“How is that not awesome?” Rainbow asked, confused. “Having a boyfriend can be really cool! It’s like that magical time of year when a young man’s fancy turns to love!” She started to flutter in excitement.

“But, that’s just it!” Zoey pointed out. “Rangers dating Rangers is against Battleforce rules!”

“What?!” Steel and Rainbow both said in shock, as Zoey put her magazine in her backpack.

“If you ask us, that’s a silly rule!” Rainbow said, seriously, smiling.

“I agree with Rainbow!” Steel agreed. “People say ‘Love is the best thing in the world’! What could possibly be the harm in dating?!”

“Who knows?” Zoey sighed. “But Nate and I aren’t going to break the rules.” She packed up her backpack and left the room.

“We hear you, Zoey.” Steel said, as they watched their friend leave. “We won’t tell the others.”

As their friend left, Steel turned to his friend. "We're not going to let Zoey keep her relationship with Nate a secret, right?" He whispered.

"But you heard her." Rainbow whispered back. “Rangers can’t date Rangers! If we were in the Crystal Empire with Cadence, it’d be a totally different story! But, this is not that story!”

"Since when we have left any of our friends hanging when they needs us, even if she didn't realize it?" Steel pointed out.

Rainbow pondered for a moment, and realized something. "Well, you do have a point." she pointed out. “Zoey has been in ‘like-like’ with Nate, and she’s been keeping it a secret for a long time, so...” a devilish smirk came across her face. “Maybe, we could bring her and Nate together, and get the Commander to drop that silly rule! It’s that simple!”

Steel grabbed her as if she were off her rocker. “We can’t tell anyone!” He said seriously.

“How come Zoey knows?” The Pegasus asked.

“Dash!” Steel said again.

“Alright.” She sighed. “I still think that’s a silly rule, though. So, are we all still up for it?" She asked.

Steel sighed. "We are.” He said. He put out his hand. "No contest."

Rainbow spat on her hand. Steel was confused, but pretended to spit on his hand, and the two formed their pact. “So, do you always do that whenever you plan stuff with Applejack?”

Rainbow blushed. “Yeah, AJ and I sort of do that whenever we plan something.” She said. “Also, I think Starlight should be coming tomorrow. She wants me to get some memories of me and Twilight.”

“Starlight’s coming tomorrow?!” Steel said in excitement. “Phenomenal! We could let her in on the plan, and...” Rainbow glared at him.

“I thought we wouldn’t tell anyone.” She said bluntly.

“Oh, sorry.” He said. “So, how’s she doing? I can’t wait to see her!”

“Me too!” Rainbow said. “So, our plan for tomorrow should be that maybe we could secretly do it without anyone noticing, and make them realize how much they’re meant for each other? It’s like us playing Cupid, or like two mini-Cadences!” She giggled.

Steel groaned. “Don’t say it like that.” He said.

"Oh, sorry. So, when do you wanna meet and discuss this over?” She asked.

“How about, tomorrow morning, at the crack of dawn, right her in the training room?” Steel suggested.

Rainbow thought that sounded like a good plan, as she beamed. “Awesome!” She said. “That should give us enough time to prepare before I run into Starlight to collect memories of me and Twilight.”

“It should be!” Steel said in agreement.

Rainbow smiled, as she yawned. “Well, I’m tired. I’ll see you tomorrow!” She flew slowly out of the base. “G’Night, Steel!” She said, sleepily.

“Good Night, Dash!” Steel said, as she left. “We’ll make sure this plan works without the others, OR Starlight even knowing it!” he snickered quietly, as he rubbed his hands together. “Delightfully devilish, Steel!” He walked out of the training room, and to the lab for his maintenance check, and to rest up.

He and Rainbow had a plan for their two ranger lovebirds, and they were about to pull it off without anyone noticing! That is...unless Starlight and Spike happened to catch wind of it. But, they could always deal with that when they found out, later on!

Author's Note

Dash and Steel with their crazy explanations!
The commander’s gonna need her medication!
When she hears Steel and Dash’s lame exaggerations,
There’ll be trouble in town tonight!

The Element of Loyalty and the Silver Power Ranger have a plan to bring Zoey and Nate together! How can they do it without the Commander, Starlight, or their friends knowing about it? Can Rainbow discuss the plan before she meets up with Starlight? Or will Starlight meet up with Dash first? Find out in part 1!

Part 1: The Mayor Kidnapped?!

It was early in the morning at Coral Harbor. The sun was just about to rise, as a rainbow streak buzzed through the town on a mission to a certain place she needed to get to. Rainbow Dash flew over the buildings, scanning for Grid Battleforce. “Okay. Base...base...” she looked, and didn’t see any sign of it yet. “Where the heck is the base?”

She wanted to meet up at the base with Steel to come up with a plan to secretly bring Zoey and Nate together, without the other Rangers...or the commander knowing about it. “This town looked a lot bigger than I thought.” She surveyed the town, and sighed. It was almost morning, and she was worried she wouldn’t come up with a plan in time.

She was about to give up and fly back to Equestria, when she saw a giant Morph-X tower just a few meters away from her. She flew down, and saw the base itself in its presence. “How come I didn’t notice that before?” she wondered as she landed right by the building.

She did a quick scan to left and right of her. She sighed with relief, that Starlight or Spike weren’t there yet. She knew they would come by later on in the morning, and would beg her to collect some memories for their scrapbook. Rainbow wanted to collect the memories, but helping Steel with his guy/girl problem...that was more important, right now.

She was about to fly inside the base, when she felt a tug of magic on her tail, pulling her down to the ground. Rainbow wondered who did that as she got back up to fly, only to get pulled down to the ground again. She groaned, and figured that Starlight and Spike had already arrived, and were wanting to get their friends to recall some memories a little earlier, just so they could get a head start. She looked on either side of her. And, she was right: Starlight and Spike had both arrived, as she predicted, and she could tell they wanted her to collect some memories.

“Starlight?! Spike?!” Rainbow asked, as she got back up. “Look I KNOW that you guys can pop up anywhere to get some memories, but next time, can you please knock?!”

“That’s not important right now.” Starlight said, smiling. “Spike and I want you to do a little errand for us.” Spike nodded.

Rainbow sighed. “Make it quick, okay?” She asked. “Because I need to see Steel before the sun comes up!”

“You’ll have time for that later.” Spike said, as they pulled her away from the base. The Pegasus tried to zip over there, they continued to drag her away. “We want you to talk up some memories with Twilight when she shows up.”

“Come ON!” She said, angry. “I need to talk with Steel about Nate and Zoey before it’s morning!” She saw the sun rise up. She sighed in worry. She then got an idea, as she flicked Starlight’s horn and tipped Spike over.

"Ow!" shouted the time pony, as she rubbed her horn.

“You’ll have to catch me first!” Rainbow called out as she dashed away from them and into the base. She flew so fast, that she went past the training room 5 times, before actually stopping there. She sighed, as was about to go in when the memory duo arrived behind her.

“Hey, what’s the deal?!” Starlight shouted.

“Guys, I was going to see Steel, because...” she pondered for a bit. “I was about to get him to help me find Twilight, so we could talk up some memories together!” She giggled nervously. “Yay?”

The duo smiled in relief. “For a second there, we thought you’d run off and do something TOTALLY different.” Starlight sighed.

“Yeah.” Rainbow sighed in relief, as she smiled. “Like I’d ever do that! So all I need to do is get Twilight to talk about a couple of memories?“

“Twilight's so busy, we were trying to think of the only place we could think of where you could ‘run into her’.” Spike answered. “We were going to do it at the spa, but since you’re at the training room, that works too.”

“Thanks again for agreeing to this.” Starlight said. “I know this place isn't exactly your kind of thing.”

Rainbow’s eyes bulged and was shocked, before going back into her usual attitude. “It sure isn't!” She said. “But, you know, it's for Twilight, so I'm willing to suffer through anything. And I wonder how Devon’s been doing, since he got the new Beast-X King Zord! How’s he doing?”

Both Starlight and Spike giggled. “I think there’ll be time for all that later today!” Starlight answered, as they went in the training room. Luckily, Steel was there, which the Wonderbolt was happy to see.

“Steel!” She said, waving to him.

“Rainbow Dash! Perfect timing!” Steel said, excitedly. “So, got any plans for how we can bring Zoey and Nate together?”

Rainbow blushed upon hearing this, as her friends were right behind her, shocked as well. “What?” Starlight asked, she and Spike wanting to know.

“On...an entirely different subject!” The Pegasus giggled, embarrassed and happy, trying to cover it up.

While Rainbow Dash was talking about her plan with her friends, two villains...Robo-Roxy and Tempest Shadow had a vile of Morph-X, and were searching for the Storm King. “Hello?” The Robo-Villain asked. “Where IS he?!”

“Chill, Roxy.” Tempest said, calmly to her. “He’ll be here! We just have to keep searching.” They were about to search, when they heard a voice call to them.

“I’m right here!” They turned to see none other than the Storm King, waiting for them nearby a van. They rushed over to to him. “Did you bring the Morph-X?” He asked them.

“Of course, Master!” Robo-Roxy said, handing it to him.

“Just as you ordered.” Tempest said, smiling smugly.

“Well, hurry up!” The Storm general demanded. “I have business to attend to!” The two girl villains took a plug from his staff, and filled it with the Morph-X.

“This’ll be quick!” Robo-Roxy said.

“Ah, excellent!” Their boss said, as he felt the Morph-X energy flow through him. He unplugged it, and threw it to the side. “You two need to ensure that I don’t run out!” He told them. He transformed into the alias of Devon’s dad, Mayor Daniels!

“Much better!” He said, as he stretched and the transformation was finished.

At that moment, Zoey was walking right by and saw the two girl villains, and their boss. “Mr. Mayor?!” Zoey said, shocked. The girls turned around, and gasped.

“Quick!” The Mayor called out. “She’s trying to kidnap me!”

Zoey wasted no time in rushing over to them, but the divas stopped her. “Uh-Uh! Don’t you interfere with our plans, Little Rabbit!” Robo-Roxy said sternly to her.

“Step away from the Mayor!” Zoey said to them.

“How about you try and make us?” Robo-Roxy answered as she got out her blasters and aimed them at her. “Let’s get her, Tempest!” Her teammate nodded as they got ready.

The fight was on, with Zoey running up to the two baddies, and dodging their every attempt to blast her! No matter how hard they tried, the teen dodged them. Finally, she jumped up and kicked them both to the ground. But, they wouldn’t give up as they started to recover.

Zoey was ready to take it up a notch as she readied her Morpher! “It’s Morphin time!” She called out, as she plugged her key into said device. “ACTIVATE BEAST POWERS!” She shouted, and within seconds, she was transformed into her ranger form.

“Field Jumper...Yellow Beast Ranger!” She called out, as she posed.

Tempest and Robo-Roxy were ready for round 2 with the yellow ranger! “You should’ve stayed in your burrow!” Tempest growled as they charged.

“No chance!” Zoey said, as she got herself ready to fight.

“Your mistake!” Robo-Roxy said, as her blasters turned into Yo-Yo like projectiles. Zoey gasped, as she swung them around. She tried to use her Saber, but it got knocked out of her hand. She had to take a different turn to fight.

“Last chance, Yellow!” Tempest said evilly. “Surrender now, or we make things difficult.” She readied her horn to fire at her.

“NEVER!” Zoey said angrily.

Tempest just chuckled. “I was hoping you’d take the second option.” She said, as she fired a barrage of magic blasts, while Roxy swung her Robo Yo-Yos at her. Zoey tried to fight back, but she was outnumbered weapons wise. She dodged their attacks, and whipped out her Beast-X visor.

“Visor Linked!” Zoey called out, as she linked her visor with her morpher, and got ready to turn into her super mode. “ACTIVATE BEAST-X MODE!” Within a matter of seconds, she and Jax linked to form Beast-X mode.

“Beast-X Mode ready!” Zoey said, and got ready to charge at them again!

“Do something, Roxy!” Tempest said, nervously to her teammate.

“I will...with these!” Robo-Roxy said, as she whipped out her blasters, and tried to shoot her. However, Zoey jumped up, and tried to kick the divas. Unfortunately, they ducked her. But, she changed course, as she turned back to them!

As she landed toward them, the villains tried to clash it out with the ranger, but she was stronger than the two of them combined, as they couldn’t get a clear shot of them! Finally, Zoey jumped, only to be whacked down to the ground by Roxy’s Yo-Yos.

Zoey tried to get up! “NO!!!” She called out.

But the two divas approached her, to finish her off. Robo-Roxy aimed her weapons at her. “This is the end, Yellow Ranger!” She said.

“Sorry, it had to be like this!” Tempest said, as she got a stone orb, and was ready to kick it at her. Zoey looked like she was doomed, and it looked like it would take a miracle to save her now!

Back at Grid Battleforce, Rainbow Dash was just starting to go over her plan with Steel to bring Zoey and Nate together. Starlight and Spike were starting to get suspicious. “What’s this I hear about Zoey and Nate?” Starlight asked, starting to get in edge.

Rainbow was starting to sweat with fear. “Well, I...” she started.

However, she was saved by Devon as he came in. The Pegasus took in a breath of relief, as she wiped her forehead. “Devon! Thank goodness, you’re here!”

“Hey, Rainbow!” Devon said. He then noticed Spike and Starlight. “Hi, Spike! Starlight!”

“Hi. Devon!” They both said, nervously. Then turned back to Rainbow. “What secret plan?”

Rainbow kindly shoved them out, and closed the door. “Uh, nothing.” She said. “Anyways, how you doing?”

“Pretty good.” Devon answered. “Getting the memory book ready for Twilight is pretty hectic. I need some time to talk. Becoming a ruler is pretty exhausting for Her.”

“Oh, that’s good to know!” Rainbow said, before looking around her twice. “For my memory project, I’m supposed to talk to Twilight, but since you’re here, I’ll talk to you instead.”

“Really?” Devon answered as his pal nodded. “That sounds like a good way to pass the time.”

“Wait...” Steel started to butt in. But, Rainbow cut him off.

“Tell me about it!” The Wonderbolt said, as she kindly pushed her bot friend out. “I choreographed a whole routine for the coronation and led the Wonderbolts through it today. It really took it out of me.” She turned back to Devon. “I can't imagine leading everypony in Equestria. I was going to come to the spa this morning...Y-You know, for... for the deep tissue sports massage.” She stretched her arms, and wings out. “It really helps with the sore muscles and flexibility.”

“Well, You don’t have to prove it to me, Rainbow.” Devon said, as he let out a chuckle. “I believe it.” Rainbow sighed in relief, before looking sideways to get ready to talk up some memories with her friend.

She flew over to him, quietly, tapping him on the shoulder, getting his attention. “So when do you think Twilight realized just how athletic I was?” She asked him.

“Um, the first moments we met.” Devon replied.

The 3 main Power Rangers arrived right where Sombra was. They were shocked to find out they were under his spell!

”You monster!" Ravi growled.

”Let's get him!" Devon replied.

"Well, if it isn't the World-Famous Power Rangers." Sombra replied. "You look taller on TV!"

”Isn't it rude to say you look uglier in person?!" Devon asked.

"What is this?" Zoey asked. "Attack of the giant black hole?!"

"Not a problem!" Ravi said.

They hit their transporters. "Transport! Beast-X Blaster! Beast-X Saber!" Both weapons appeared before them and they combined to form their strongest weapon: The Beast-X Cannon!

”You won't be laughing AFTER we defeat you!" Zoey said, and their aimed right at Sombra. "Ready..."

"...Aim..."

"...FIRE!" and they took 3 shots at the smoky spirit, which hurled him out of the Crystal Empire.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sombra shouted as he lost the battle against the Power Rangers.

The Mane 6 snapped out of the spirit's spell, and were shocked at what just happened.

”That...was...AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash yelled in glee and hugged the ranger who just blasted Sombra.

”Uh, Thanks" Devon replied.

"Oh, come on!" Rainbow Dash said, "Using your blasters the way you hurled him outta the empire was just amazing what you did to him!”

As Rainbow was chatting with Devon, the book of memories started to glow, and Starlight and Spike both gasped as they opened up the book and got ready to record the memories.

At that moment, Cozy Glow flew up to them silently. “Hey, guys.” She said. The two shushed her, and she had to be quiet while they did their job.

“Yup.” The Pegasus sighed. “I've been a sporty pony my whole life, and it’s gotten so much better since me and my friends met you! But, working with you guys can ache my muscles, sometimes. So I occasionally come to the spa a lot because, um... sports!”

Devon giggled. “Come on, Dash.” He said. “You don't have to pretend you don't like spa treatments. Everyone knows you're an athlete, but it's not exactly a secret you like to be pampered, too.”

Rainbow started to blush. “How did you know?” She asked, her face starting to sweat and her smiling being crooked.

“We just know sometimes.” Her friend answered.

“So, you all knew about that, huh?” Rainbow sighed in defeat, ready to hide herself in her wings until this was all over.

“And there's nothing wrong with it.” Devon said, calmly to her as he smiled. “In fact, you should enjoy your indulgent treatments...even if they’re not for sports.”

“Really?” She asked, looking up for her wings. Devon gave a non-verbal nod. “I suppose it is okay to like different kinds of things.”

“Exactly.” The teen answered. “I'm not only a ranger, Twilight’s not only a princess, and you're not only an athlete. Think of all the non-sports things you're into.” Rainbow started to ponder as more memories started to spark up.

“Okay, you got me there!” Rainbow said, as she smiled at blushed at the same time.

“See?” Devon told her. “There are other things you can, besides be an athlete, like pranking, reading and messages. And that doesn't make you any less of you or anything else.”

Rainbow sighed in relief, as she knew that she could tell Devon anything at that her secret was safe with him. “You're right. What do you say we do some ranger training together?” She asked him.

“That sounds like a great idea!” Devon said, as she raced over to the other side of the training room. “Come on!”

Rainbow smiled and was about to race over there with her friend, only to be tugged on by her tail. She was pulled to the ground as the door opened and Starlight, Spike and Cozy Glow came in the room.

“We don't have anywhere near enough memories for your section of the book!” Starlight said seriously, holding up the book.

“Sorry, Dash.” Spike said. Rainbow groaned in anger.

At that moment, she got a call on her wristcom. She answered it, and could instantly tell that it was important. “Uh, can we put that off later?” She asked them. “Apparently, somepony needs help.”

Cozy, Starlight, and Spike looked at each other, And the time mare sighed. “Fine. I guess we can take a little break.” Starlight said. “But, make sure to be back so we can collect more memories. Okay?”

“You got it!” The Wonderbolt said happily as she flew off to the scene of the battle, while the trio could only wonder how long this was going to take, and how ready she would be to collect memories when she got back.

Meanwhile, Tempest and Robo-Roxy had Zoey caught between a rock and a hard place. Zoey needed some help right about now.

They raised their weapons at her. “Prepare to be destroyed!” Tempest shouted victorious. Zoey braced for impact, as they got ready. But, that moment would never come as Rainbow Dash had arrived and slammed into the two, sending them to the ground. “WHAT?!” The broken horned unicorn shouted in shock as she saw her arrival.

“NO!” Roxy shouted in rage, her fists clenched.

Zoey looked up, and was surprised to see who was there. “Rainbow?” She asked.

“Zoey!” Rainbow said as she came to her. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Her teammate said. “Let’s go kick some Robo-butt!”

“With you all they way!” Rainbow said, as they charged at the evil divas.

Roxy and Tempest tried to get to the heroines, but Rainbow was quick to pull some punches, and with Zoey’s help, they moved so fast, that neither side could get to the other. The two divas kicked them both to get back, but the hero girls had a trick up their sleeve.

“Rainbow!” Zoey called out. “Use your sonic rainboom!”

“Roger that!” Her friend shouted as she flew high up in the air, and dive-bombed to the ground straight down, that she produced a cone shaped rainbow, and formed her signature move!

Zoey jumped up as well, and did a swirling corkscrew kick to them. “JACKRABBIT SPIN STRIKE!” Zoey shouted.

“What?!” Roxy said in shock, as Tempest got scared as well.

Their combined attacks sent the divas sprawling to the ground, and the hero girls and landed in victory.

“And, that’s how you get it done!” Rainbow said, holding her hoof out.

“Oh yeah!” Zoey agreed as they hi-fived.

Robo-Roxy’s and Tempest’s plan failed, as they growled at them, while Robo-Roxy started to short out. “You just wait!” She said, pointing to them furiously.

“Next time, you won’t be so lucky!” Tempest shouted, pointing at them as well, before they both teleported away.

“We were so close!” Zoey said, quietly with frustration.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get them next time!” Rainbow said in the same hushed tone as her friend.

The Mayor had a look of an icy stare before, shifting to smiling as he rushed over to them.

“Mayor Daniels!” Rainbow said as he came to them. “We held them back!”

“Don’t worry.” Zoey added. “You’re safe now!”

“Thank you, Zoey! You too, Rainbow Dash!” Mayor Daniels said happily. “You two really saved my skin.”

“We’re just happy we were there.” Zoey said in relief. “But, why were they after you?”

Rainbow was also wondering the same thing too. She couldn't help but notice how beyond shocked The Mayor seemed to be at seeing them rescue him. "I know we weren't expecting things to turn out that way, but he’s acting like he was happy to see us, when he looked like he had something else on his mind." The Wonderbolt thought to herself. "Something doesn't feel quite right about The Mayor." But she didn't dare to express such thoughts out loud, as she knew better than to throw random speculations out there for all to hear.

Nevertheless, the two heroines went back to Grid Battleforce with the figure they saved in tow, where they would tell them about what happened. Something odd was happening with the Mayor. Something rather...off. But, they had little evidence to prove that yet. Until they collected more evidence, then they would find out what was really going on.

Author's Note

That’s all for part one! The first part of memories already filled, and the Mayor saved! But, something has been...off about him. Zoey knows it, and Rainbow Dash also knows it. But, they need to find out more about his meeting with the villains. Once they find out more, they’ll get to the bottom of this yet! However, not all secrets can be good! What will happen when they tell about their latest battle? Find out in the next chapter!

Flashback(s) Used in This Chapter:
Friendship Is Magic Pt. 2
Unleash The Beast! (Fanfic)
Applejack’s “Day” Off
Read It And Weep
Griffon The Brush-Off

Part 2: The Secret Stakeout

Zoey and Rainbow Dash had saved the Mayor from being kidnapped, but Rainbow could instantly tell something seemed off about him. When they got back to Grid Battleforce, they had instantly told their friends what had happened. Everyone was shocked when they heard this news.

“The Mayor was almost kidnapped?!” Starlight asked in shock.

“Robo-Roxy was there?” Spike asked.

“Yes, he was.” Zoey told them, with Rainbow nodding in agreement.

“Apparently, she had plans for him, but we didn’t know what!” Rainbow added. “We didn’t want him kidnapped, so we brought him here.”

Once she had heard this Starlight turned to the commander. “And you want him under watch?” She asked, almost going into Twilighting mode.

Commander Shaw nodded solemnly. “I’m afraid so, Starlight.” She told her. “It seems that way.” She turned to the Mayor, himself. “Frankly, Mayor Daniels, the fact that the Storm King is targeting you is very concerning. We need to take every precaution.”

As she said that, Nate scanned his hand while Cozy implanted something in his hand with the scanner he used. “Ouch!” The Mayor said calmly, the pain excruciating.

“Sorry.” Cozy calmly. “Since you’re being tracked down, we couldn’t take any chances. Nate and I have implanted a micro tracker inside you, to make sure you don’t get caught again.”

Mayor Daniels was shocked as he heard this. “A tracker?!” He asked.

“Yeah.” Nate said.

Mayor Daniels was starting to be on an angry shouting level, for what he said next. “WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO—?!” Cozy started to back away in fright, with Nate following in tow.

Devon, and Ravi were both shocked at what he said. Rainbow flew up to him. “Mayor, settle!” She said both serious and calm.

The Mayor looked at them, and went back to calm. “Sorry.” He said. “Is that really necessary?”

“Now, if the Storm King captures you, we can find you no matter where you are.” Nate said, cautiously to him.

“And to prevent that from happening, two Rangers will act as your undercover bodyguards.” The commander said to him. She looked at the participants in the room. “I need two volunteers.”

Rainbow and Steel looked at each other, and smiled as they grabbed both Zoey and Nate and showed them to the commander. “Hey, Commander! We know someone!” Rainbow said, smirking.

“Zoey and Nate will do it!” Steel said to them happily. As they said that, the others were surprised, and Starlight smiled widely.

“Of course!” Starlight said in excitement. “Who better to model the importance of working as a team such as you two?” She gestured to them.

Zoey and Nate were both nervous. But, when they saw their friends nod, they knew they could handle it. “Of course! We’re up for the task!” Zoey said, comfident.

Nate smiled as well. “Sure. You can count on us, Mr. Mayor.” He said as well.

“Fine.” Mayor Daniels said. “But, I have lunch with the Canadian ambassador this afternoon.” He looked at the two. “You’ll need to keep your distance.”

“Don’t worry, sir!” Rainbow said happily. “We’ll get them their supplies to help maintain their cover!” And with that, they rushed out of them room to meet with Betty.

The Mayor felt like this was his chance to go into secret contact. “Excuse me.” He said. “I need to make an important call to...Hong Kong.” He started to walk out of the lab.

“Of course!” Cozy said, smiling widely, as she looked at Starlight and Spike who were both smiling as well. Devon and Ravi didn’t know WHY they were smiling so broadly, but in a few moments, all would be made clear.

Once out of the lab, the Mayor checked to see if there were any workers in sight. He only saw Steel and Rainbow going to find their friend. He breathed with relief as he went into a corner and got out his communicator to contact the Crystal Dimension.

“Bad news.” He said, silently. “Thanks to today’s fiasco, Battleforce is keeping close tabs on me! They even tagged me with a location tracker!”

Grubber and Vargoyle. who was watching this, were shocked, as Grubber dropped his popcorn. “NOOO!” He said in shock. “Well, what are you going to do?! You can’t teleport here! And if by chance you do, the Rangers and elements of Harmony will know!”

“I don’t know, yet!” The Mayor said seriously to them. “Just find a way to get me more Morph-X, or I’ll transform BACK into the Storm King in front of the Rangers!”

Robo-Blaze and Roxy, with Tempest Shadow watched in shock as they heard this. They needed to act fast. “Yes, Master!” Tempest said. “We’ll come up with a plan right away!”

“You’d better!” He said, before fizzing out.

The villains KNEW they needed to act fast, before things got ugly for both sides. “How long do we have before he transforms?” Robo-Blaze asked.

“A few hours!” Vargoyle said to them. “Give or take...”

“We need to make a plan to get him more Morph-X fast!” Tempest said with worry. The Robo avatars nodded. They need to have a plan to supply the energy to their leader...or else something real bad would happen soon!

Meanwhile, Zoey and Nate were both packing their backpacks for their mission to keep the Mayor under watch. While their were doing that, Betty came in with Steel, Starlight, Spike, Cozy and Rainbow.

“Hey, guys!” Betty said cheerfully. “We’ve been helping Steel and Dash get you ready for your...” she looked around, before whispering to them. “Secret mission!”

“Trust us!” Steel said. “You need to see what Ben and Betty made for you!” They were confused, as they saw the others nod. Ben opened a black hardware box, revealing the clothing capsules they used for Twilight’s coronation.

“Here we are!” Ben said, taking one of them out. “Remember those Clothing Capsules we used for Twilight to get her ready for her coronation after we defeated Evox?” He asked.

Nate was surprised, as well as Zoey as they both knew about those, since they used it for Twilight to get her in her dress for her coronation. “Of course.” Nate said in realization.

“Well, now we have a use for them!” Cozy said, as Ben handed her one, and she got ready to toss it like a baseball player. “As it turns out, these will be perfect for a quick disguise.” She tossed one over to Nate.

“Whoa. Wait!” Nate said, as the clothing capsule materialized a tux-like suit on him. “What the?”

“Ooh. Secret Agent Man!” Rainbow said, whispering into Steel’s ear, as they others nodded.

“Guys...” Zoey started, but she was cut off as the other capsule materialized a nice evening gown in her colours and a diamond necklace.

Ben, Betty, Starlight, Spike and Cozy smiling, warmly as tears started to come out their eyes. “Don’t they look beautiful?” Cozy asked them.

“She’s so gorgeous!” Spike said happily.

“Our little Zoey and Nate...all grown up.” Starlight said as well.

Rainbow had an entirely different reaction altogether as her eyes went wide, and without warning, did a wild cartoon take as she jumped out and shouted, “HELLLLOOOOOO NURSE!” She zoomed over to Zoey and kissed her, unable to control herself, only to be pulled back by her friends.

“Sorry, Zoey!” Rainbow said, recoiling herself. “But, it’s not often I get to say stuff like that!”

Zoey quickly recovered from her shock and saw what she was wearing and was surprised. She saw Nate’s outfit, and they both smiled. “Nice.” She said, before turning back to them.

“But...um, we’re supposed to blend in, not stand out.” Nate added on to her sentence.

“Nonsense!” Steel said, confidently. “You two make quite a pair!”

“I agree with them both!” Starlight said. “You two have been working on inventions and zords long enough to get the feel of things, and what better way to do that, then to blend in, and go undercover?”

Zoey blushed for a little bit, but then breathed. “I guess you’re right.” She said. “It DOES seem like a good idea.”

“No problem. Let’s try another one!” Ben said, as he handed it to Starlight, who threw it at Zoey the way Cozy threw it.

“BEN, NO!” Rainbow said, but to her surprise, it bounced off Zoey and hit Steel, materializing a Princess dress on him.

The others were shocked, but Rainbow had trouble holding her emotions in as she started to giggle, which would turn into a laugh. “I LOVE it!” Steel said in excitement. “So sparkly!”

“You...kinda look just like a Princess.” Starlight said, smiling sheepishly.

“Princess Steel?!” Dash said, unable to hold a laugh in. “Wow! With a disguise like that, I bet Celestia and Luna could easily find a new ruler in place of Luna’s absence!”

Steel turned to her seriously. “Don’t get too cocky, Dash.” He said. Rainbow was still gigglesnorting, but nonetheless, she calmed down.

“Thanks, guys.” Nate said. “But, our regular clothes will do the trick.”

“Oh, COME ON!” Rainbow said, now angry. “SERIOUSLY?!”

“Well, it makes it seem like we’re on a romantic date, and we don’t want to look like we’re breaking the rules.” Nate addressed her. “So, we’d just like to go casual for this one.”

“Aw. Just for one day?” Rainbow asked, giving the duo puppy dog eyes. “Besides, Nate looks really good like a secret agent, and you look just like the duchess of a kingdom!” She gestured to the two in their costumes. “Can’t you just do this one eensy teensy favor for us?”

The two looked at each other, and then Dash until finally, the decided to give in. “Alright.” Zoey complied. “One day. But, that’s it. Don’t tell anyone about this!”

Rainbow and the others nodded. “Gotcha we won’t! Nobody’s stopping you!” Nate started to give her a look, which made her recoil. “And, we’ll stop talking.”

“We’re always happy to help!” Cozy said, as she and the others minus Dash and Steel left the lab in a hurry.

“Bye, you guys.” Zoey said. She then noticed that two of them were still in the room. “Uh, why are you two still here?”

“Because...Steel and I have another idea!” Rainbow said with a devilish smirk, as she nudged Steel. And, they both brought out a pink bouquet of roses and a heart shaped candy box.

“How about this?” Steel asked, showing the valentines’ Day novelties to them. “Picture yourself sitting in the gardens, watching the Mayor, sharing some chocolates with...”

Rainbow quickly sweated with fear, and she saw the look starting to form on Nate, and decided to change topic. “OkayYouguysThanksforthehelpIthinkwe’redonehereBye!” She said, a little too quickly shoving the two out the doors, and closing the doors right away. She listened close to hear if they were acting suspicious about all this. Sure enough, they just went on like it was nothing. The Pegasus sighed with relief and flew over to her pal.

“Steel, that was pathetic back there!” She said calmly. “Why did you start to say that?! We were supposed to keep it a secret!”

“But...” Just then, Steel realized the were supposed to keep it a secret, and they almost blew the whole thing. “Oh....sorry, Rainbow Dash.” He apologized. “I forgot we were supposed to do that.”

“That’s alright!” She said, smiling. “Now, I gotta go. I’ll see you later!” She started to fly out, but Steel blocked her.

“Whoa whoa WHOA!” Steel said, stopping her. “What are you doing? I thought we were secretly going to bring them together!”

“That’s cool with me!” The Wonderbolt said excitedly. “Because, I’m about to do...”

“Secret Stakeout/Zord Simulator!” They paused. That didn’t sound right. They tried again.

“Love counseling/Tronic Beating!” Still didn’t sound right. Third time’s a charm, right?

“Playing Cupid/Memory Gathering!” They both were shocked. “Aw, come on!” She said. “I even said ‘gathering’ that time!”

“Perfect!” Steel said excitedly. “We'll go get some lunch first.” He started to head out, when Rainbow blocked him.

“But, I’m supposed to meet Starlight and Spike to collect stuff for—!” The speedy pony started to wail.

“Wait...” Steel said in realization, hardly believing what he heard, "You mean to tell me, that you’re already got plans to see Starlight and Spike to collect memories for Twilight?! Are we supposed to be learning something here? 'Cause this doesn't even sound like compromising at all.“ He took a good look at Rainbow, who gulped, and finally shook the shock away.

"Yeah, sorry Steel," She apologized, before he looked at her, almost like he was ready to give her a version of Fluttershy’s stare. "Um, Steel? Why are you looking at me that way?" She asked, while slowly backing away. "Look, I'm sorry. Okay?”

“It’s NOT okay!” Steel said, angrily to her. “I mean...I thought you were okay with helping Zoey and Nate get together! But, helping Spike and Starlight with...”

“Hey, Wait a minute!” Rainbow said, stopping herself and Steel. “I didn’t agree to help Starlight and Spike with collecting all the memories! They roped me into this, not me! It’s not like I was going to blow you off! I was also going to help you with our plan, but Starlight wanted me ‘accidentally’ run into Twilight at the spa, when I was running into Devon at the training area, trying to get him tell memories of us with Twilight and the other Rangers!” She hyperventilated for a few seconds before regaining composure. “I never meant for this to happen, so please just CUT ME SOME SLACK! Okay?!”

Steel saw Rainbow’s angry face at him, and immediately, realized he missed what he was talking about. To be honest, he forgot why they were fighting. “Sorry, Dash.” He confessed, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s alright, Steel!” Rainbow said, smiling to him. The two smiled, until finally getting back to business.

“Okay, we get our two lovebirds together! But, then how are we supposed to get the memories for Starlight’s scrapbook? And, more importantly, how are you going to be able to talk to Devon about this?” Steel asked with worry.

“We can’t tell Devon about this!” Dash said, seriously. “Remember?”

“No, not that!” Steel pointed out. “I mean how are you going to get him to collect more memories of you, Twilight and the Rangers? We literally have nothing in common about the two plans? How can we be friends?”

Rainbow halted, and started to get a sick feeling in her stomach. She realized that she didn’t plan these two tasks out well. And, it looked like that the two jobs were about to intertwine, and it was getting to be more harder said than done. “Uh, oh!” She gasped in fright. “Steel? I think we may have bit off more than we can chew!”

She and Steel had looks of uncomfortableness and nervous feeling in their bodies. They really did more than they were supposed to, and it looked like things would get more harder for them, as they would have to juggle the responsibilities of their jobs all at once, and without the commander knowing! They were caught between a few rocks and hard places, and they had to figure out what to do before things got much more ugly, and much more worse for them!

Meanwhile, Mayor Daniels himself was having lunch with the Canadian ambassador at a table in a garden-like restaurant. Nearby, Zoey was sitting on a bench near said restaurant, keeping watch out for anything suspicious. So far, nothing out of the ordinary yet. At that moment, Nate joined her, carrying two bowls of ramen noodles over to them and plopped down on her left.

“Anything happen?” He asked.

“Nothing.” Zoey answered, as Nate handed her Ramen noodle bowl. “But, their Ramen smells good. I’m starving.” She took hers and got ready to eat, while still keeping watch.

“I was thinking...” Nate said to her. “I know this isn’t a date, but it’s nice hanging out. Just you and me.” He smiled.

Zoey smiled at him too. “Yeah.” She agreed. “It is.”

Unknown to them, Steel and Rainbow Dash had already arrived, and were sneakily creeping behind them, ready to set their plan in motion. They saw the pair enjoying their ramen noodles. “Noodles, eh?” The Pegasus said sneaky and quietly.

“Hmmm?” Steel noticed a bamboo stick, and the two got an idea. “Well, hello!” The beast bot said, quietly as to not draw attention. “Just what we need.”

They both nodded, and moved the stick behind Nate’s Ramen bowl, and when the time was right, they tipped over the bowl, onto the ground. The two smiled, and hi-fived. “Delightfully devilish, Steel!” She said, as they watched their plan fall into motion.

Nate noticed his bowl, and picked it up. “Oh, I’m so clumsy.” He said.

“No worries.” Zoey said, confidently. “Here! We can share mine!”

“Thanks.” Nate said, as he scooched over to her to share the food.

The two watched their lovebirds about to share it together. They were so excited, that they could just scream like a pair of school girls at how they managed to make their secret plan work. “Yes!” Rainbow said quietly.

“Our work here is done!” Steel said, proudly.

“Now, let’s go find Starlight.” Rainbow suggested. Steel nodded as they went to find their friend.

Meanwhile, Zoey and Nate were enjoying the shared bowl of ramen, that they didn’t noticed they were eating the same noodle. Their noodle eating brought their faces closer and closer together, until finally, they were about an inch from each other. They were surprised as they were lost in each other’s eyes.

Mayor Daniels took notice of how distracted they were, and decided to put his plan in motion. “Excuse me for a moment.” He said to the ambassador, as he got up from his table.

Nate and Zoey were still lost in each other’s eyes as they both tenderly touched once’s face. They were about to come close for a kiss when... the juice from the ramen bowl spilled on Zoey’s lap, as she got up and Nate was shocked too, as he saw what happened and got up as well.

“I’m so sorry!” Nate confessed. “That was my fault!”

“No! No!” Zoey said. “It was my fault! I wasn’t looking!” Just then they both realized. “The mayor!” She saw that he wasn’t at his table. “Where did he go?!”

Nate noticed too, and contacted the commander on his wristcom! “Commander! We lost sight of the Mayor!” He told her frantically.

“How’s that possible?” Commander Shaw asked in shock. “Find him!” The two rushed off to find him.

As Rainbow and Steel were about to head back to the base, they noticed the Mayor heading to meet with Robo-Blaze and Roxy. At first, they sighed and whistled, thinking it was nothing. Suddenly, they both realized and gasped. “Hey! Was that the Mayor?!” Dash asked horrified.

“I think it was!” Steel answered. “Let’s go!” Dash nodded as the both started to chase after him. “Stop!”

“We knew we shouldn’t have left them alone!” Rainbow said, not wanting to forgive herself as they went after him.

The Mayor was fleeing from the pursuers as fast as he could as he contacted his henchmen. “Bring me the Morph-X, NOW!” he told them. He looked around to make sure, he wasn’t being followed.

At that moment, Robo-Blaze and Roxy, Tempest and Grubber arrived on the scene quickly. “There he is!” Tempest shouted, as they started to get to him.

Unfortunately, Rainbow and Steel arrived behind them. “Going somewhere?” She asked them, with a scowl on her face.

They saw their heroes and growled. “We were!” Robo-Blaze said. “Let’s get them!” The villains were about to strike, but Rainbow clubbed them on the head, and they fell to the ground.

The both got up, still in pain from their recent whiplash. “Ow!” Grubber said, as they got up. “That hurt! You should watch where you’re going!” He got into fighting position, as did the others.

“So much for perfect timing!” Robo-Roxy growled.

“Let’s spilt!” Robo-Blaze said, as they along with Grubber and Tempest teleported away.

“Oh, Shoot!” Rainbow groaned. “We almost HAD them!”

At that moment, Nate and Zoey arrived late. “Stop right there!” Zoey said, as she and Nate got ready to fight, only to see just Rainbow and Steel waiting for them.

“Darn it!” Nate said, disappointed. “We missed them.”

“Those fools!” The Mayor grumbled under his breath, before turning to them, smiling. “Thanks for you four helping to protect me.” He told them.

“No problem, Mayor!” Rainbow said, saluting him. “Always happy to help!”

“Sorry, we arrived late.” Zoey confessed.

“No need.” He told her. “Rainbow Dash and Nate’s brother arrived just in time to help you!” Nate and Zoey looked at the pony and robot, who were smiling at them.

Nate contacted the commander. “Commander, the Mayor’s secure.” He said to her.

“Come on. Let’s get you back to the base.” Zoey said. And, they took the long way back to Battleforce.

As they headed back, Steel and Rainbow were both feeling uneasy about what happened recently. “Hey, Steel?” She asked her friend. “You know… what happened…just now…with Zoey and Nate?”

Steel’s confusion remained for a moment till his eyes widened and he had to hide a deep blush. It wasn’t the only time something like that happened, as similar actions occurred in all the adventures before that. Of course, they never really discussed these events before, though they kept them fresh in their minds.

“I see,” he just responded nervously.

“Yeah…” Rainbow nodded awkwardly.

“So—um—what do y’all think we should do about this?” He asked.

“I—uh—well I—I really don’t know.” Rainbow answered weakly. “But, as long as they’re both together, and the Commander doesn’t know, what could possibly separate them?”

Steel nodded. Besides, they had their plan all set in motion, and it was going so well. What could possibly go wrong? They would get their answer soon when they got back to the base to tell them about their latest encounter with the robot villains, and the broken-horn unicorn and dark hedgehog. Whatever talk they had in mind, it would have to wait for the time being.

Author's Note

And, that’s all for this chapter! Rainbow and Steel’s plan to bring Zoey and Nate Together have gone pretty well so far, and they have successfully stopped Robo-Blaze, Robo-Roxy Tempest and Grubber! But, there are times when secrets have to be revealed! What will happen next? Who will find out? And, will they collect more memories for Starlight’s scrapbook? Find out in the next chapter soon!

Part 3: Blurred Lines

The three Rangers, Mayor and one pony rushed back to Grid Battleforce, after their previous mission. But upon arriving in the lab, they saw Commander Shaw in the room with a solemn look on her face. The Rangers didn’t know what to make of it. But, all would be made clear in a matter of seconds.

“Hi, Commander!” Rainbow said, trying to pretend like it was nothing. “What’s up?”

“I think you might know what’s going on.” The commander said seriously.

The others were confused by what she said. “Uh oh! What did we do now?” Steel joked.

“This is not a time to joke around.” She said seriously. This made them recoil their faces in shock.

“What’s going on?” Zoey asked, confused. “We did do what you asked.”

“I almost thought that you guys weren’t there.” The Mayor said strictly. “But, you deployed you subordinates, Rainbow Dash and Steel!” He pointed to them, and smiled. “Good job, you four.”

“It’s about time you noticed!” Rainbow said smug with confidence.

“Thank you.” Zoey said.

“All in a day’s work!” Steel said happily.

“We just wish we could’ve kept our full watch on you the whole time.” Nate said.

“I understand that, Nate.” Mayor Daniels said, calmly. “Thank you.”

“Which is why I wanted to talk to you about what happened earlier.” Commander Shaw told them seriously, as her face was stone.

“Why? Are we in trouble?” Rainbow asked, nervously.

“That depends on how you view it as.” She said, as she walked up to them. “This kind of mistake isn’t like you. I had a feeling that there was more to this story.” The others were unsure what she was getting at, but pretty soon, things would be Crystal clear. “

“So, I checked the garden surveillance cameras...” she continued. “...and I found this.” She played back the footage shown a few minutes ago, and it showed Nate and Zoey on their non-date, sharing their ramen noodle bowl, almost kissing...which led to Nate spilling the ramen juice on Zoey’s lap by accident. Zoey and Nate were shocked at how someone even saw this. But, the most shocking thing was yet to come.

“Let me replay what happened a few seconds more back.” She strictly continued, and rewound it back a few seconds to show a cyan Pegasus and a beast bot using a bamboo stick, and tipping the second bowl over on the ground, which caused them to share the bowl, and led to the two hiding the scene of the crime.

“Uh...” Steel started to say. But, Rainbow was having a different reaction as she smiled.

“Wow.” She said hushed but, smiling. “That kinda looks like that time Zoey and Nate shared the ramen bowl, and that reminds me of the time Steel and I tipped the other bowl in Nate’s favor.” Devon, Ravi, Starlight, Ben, Cozy and Spike were all shocked at what they heard. “It kinda looks like...”

Just then, the wonderbolt put two and two together, and realized that it was them a few minutes earlier helping their friends. She gasped in shock. “Hey, Wait a minute!” She said in horror. “That US helping Zoey & Nate!!!”

The others, including the Mayor and Commander were shocked at what they heard her say, as they couldn’t believe their ears...or their eyes!

“Wait, you knew about this, Rainbow Dash?” The commander asked her.

“Yeah. I did.” She said, her forehead sweating with every heartbeat. “Zoey told me about this. And, she showed us her Glitz Magazine.” Zoey gasped in shock, as she told them this.

“I see.” She said, before turning to all four of them, with a calm look, but also one that was ready to kill. “Please tell me this isn’t what it looks like.”

“Hold on!” Devon said in surprise. “You guys are a thing?”

“I had no idea.” Ravi said as well, turning to Starlight. “Did you guys know either?”

Starlight, Cozy, Spike and Ben all nodded. “We didn’t even know about any of this.” Starlight said in shock.

“You guys were dating?” Cozy asked. “Like ‘for real’ for real?”

“I can’t believe that this would happen!” Spike said in shock.

“Nobody told us this!” Ben said in utter surprise. “Unless someone managed to catch wind of the whole situation earlier.”

“I can’t believe that guys would even tell...whoa!” Starlight looked at Rainbow Dash, who was indeed nervous. Her look was pretty menacing to her, as the latter started to droop down in embarrassment. “Rainbow Dash, did you find out about this, and tried to get them together, with him?” She asked, sternly, pointing to Steel.

“No.” Rainbow quickly lied.

“Rainbow!” Starlight said, her temper rising.

There was no way out of this one. She had to tell them. “Alright! You win!” She said worriedly and sheepishly at the same time. “I admit it! Steel and I did find out about this, and we tried to bring them together secretly! How did you even find out about this, Commander?”

“We had surveillance cameras outside the whole base.” Commander Shaw said solemnly.

Rainbow groaned. “I knew we should’ve knocked out the cameras before we could execute our plan!” She told Steel, stressed out.

“It seems that no one else knew about all this.” The commander said, with a stern tone in her voice. She turned to Nate and Zoey. “Is this true?”

Nate and Zoey looked at each other nervously. “Yes.” Zoey managed to say. “The truth is...Nate and I...” she took a deep breath before she would say the next few words out of her mouth. “...have feeling for each other.”

Nate sighed. “We have for months.” He started. “But...”

“Rainbow Dash, how could you?!” Cozy spat out, now boarding on anger with her. “You clearly knew that Rangers are not supposed to date Rangers!” She huffed a few times. “How could you easily forget that?!”

“Well...” Rainbow started to say.

“...and you’ve been meeting with Steel to bring them together, when you knew that was wrong?” Spike said, the same emotion as the alicorn filly was. “I don’t think you understand the consequences of this whole stunt!”

“But, Spike...” Rainbow started. “I was...”

“Who cares?” Ben said as well. “You went over all our backs. We’d never do that to you!” He pointed an accusatory finger at her, who was now starting to blush greatly.

“You’re right.” The Pegasus said, as her face turned beet red. “I have no excuses. I was completely over the line.”

“Over it?!” Ravi said as well. “You were so over the line, that you can’t even see it! The line is a dot to you!”

Rainbow was extremely mortified upon seeing her friends all looking at her, like they wanted to throw her out. She had never expected anything like this.

Starlight took a look back at the screen and then back at her friend. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding Spike and I, earlier this morning?!” She asked, now on shouting level.

Rainbow was so embarrassed that she could barely speak. She made an inaudible noice, before she could say the next words from her mouth. “Well...kinda.” She mouthed out. “But, it was for...”

“NO BUTS!” Commander Shaw cut in, interrupting her sentance. “You know dating is a violation of the rules! The four heroes were shocked, and overwhelmed, and even completely sick to their stomach as they had never...ever seen the Commander that angry at them before. “I expected better from you!”

Steel had to interrupt them before they could face serious punishment. “Commander, it’s not their fault.” He said. “Nate and Zoey didn’t want to break the rules, but we wanted to see them happy! So, we...”

“So you what...” their friends asked, wanting to hear more of this.

“So, Dash and I sorta...kinda spilled you bowl of noodles so you’d have to share Zoey’s bowl.” Steel admitted.

“What?!” Dash said in utter disbelief.

“You followed us?” Nate asked in calm shock.

“Well, yeah.” Steel answered, before turning to the commander. “What use is a rule if all it does is make good people unhappy?”

The others didn’t know WHAT to expect, as they were still wanting to stay mad at their friends for lying and deceiving them like that.

Finally, Ravi spoke up. “Kind of a good question.” He said in agreement. “That rule sure made me and Roxy miserable.”

“The real Roxy, or the evil Roxy?” Rainbow asked.

“The real one.” The teen answered. Dash nodded.

“Rules are meant to be followed.” Mayor Daniels said, as started to leave.

“...and broken!” The Wonderbolt interrupted.

“Please stay out of this, Rainbow.” The Mayor said, calmly. “I have an important meeting to get to.” He left the lab in a hurry.

The Commander wasn’t done with either of them yet. “Son, you have a place on the Mayor’s detail!” She said to him sternly. “Do not leave his side.”

Ravi nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.” And left to go find him.

“We’ll finish this discussion later!” She said turning back to the four. “Go!” She gestured them out.

Zoey, Nate, Steel and Rainbow Dash were all mortified that they were told to leave. “And, don’t even think about doing anything like that ever again!” Cozy said, giving them the stink eye. They all left with the Commander in tow, and Rainbow and Steel both felt like their stomach came out of their bodies instantly.

“I guess we should’ve thought this whole thing through, huh?” Rainbow asked, depressed as she slouched and flew slowly out of the building.

“Probably so.” Steel said, patting his friend on the shoulder for relief.

The two pals were left crushed, their honor and respect ripped away from them. Karma had bitten them hard in the flank, or butt as only yesterday it started out as a sneaky plan to bring their friends together. Now it was the commander and the others who found out, and cast them out harshly because of what they did. At this point, neither of them cared anymore. All they wanted to do was apologize, and explain the whole situation out to them. Unfortunately, the prospects of that happening looked bleak. All that was left for them to wonder now, was how things could ever get any more worse.

The vehicle arrived at the side of the road and in it were Zoey, Ben and Ravi. “Stay here, Sir.” Ravi told the Mayor.

“We’ll take care of this.” Ben told him. The Mayor nodded, as they left the car. He had to make sure that they weren’t too close for them to hear his plan. He got out his communicator. “Blaze! Grubber!” He told them. “You have got to ambush my guards! I need that Morph-X!” He started to cough violently as the three returned.

“All clear!” Zoey said, as she opened the door to let the Mayor out. “We can go.” The Mayor stepped out to join the others. They walked to make sure the area was all clear. He started to cough, but the heroes paid no attention yet.

As they were walking, Robo-Blaze and Grubber arrived unnoticed. It was time for them to execute their plan. “Man, how are we supposed to get the master Morph-X now?” Grubber wined.

“I think I have an idea.” Robo-Blaze said, as he spotted a girl wearing her tiara. He approached her and removed it from her forehead. He shushed her silently, as to not give away what they were doing. He brought the Tiara to Grubber, who unleash the robotron key, and plugged it in, transforming it into a robotron!

“Tiaratron, ready for battle.” The robot introduced herself. “My jewels will dazzle my enemies!”

Grubber started to laugh, but one look from Blaze got him to stop. “Go and attack the Rangers!” He instructed her. “As soon as the mayor is unguarded, we’ll get him his Morph-X!”

“That’ll be a crowning glory!” Tiaratron said, as she went off to do her deed.

Back to the Rangers, as they were aiding the Mayor, who started to cough again. Ravi patted him on the back, to reassure him that it was okay.

As they walked by, they heard a scream, and they turned around to see said robotron about to come right at them! “Hi-yah!” It said, as it did a kick, but Ravi deflected it.

“Watch out!” He shouted as Tiaratron tried to go for the Rangers, but Zoey and Ben both traded blow for blow with her. Finally, they regrouped with the Mayor, as they backed away from it.

“I’m made of diamonds, and this is going to be rough!” Tiaratron Said, as she posed for battle!

The three knew it was time to get serious. “Mr. Mayor, Stay back!” Ben said to him, as the others approached the robotron, ready to fight. “It’s Morphin time!” He called out.

They activated their Morphers and keys. “ACTIVATE BEAST POWERS!” They shouted, and morphed into their ranger forms.

“You two guard the mayor.” Ravi said to Ben and Zoey, as they nodded. “I’ll take care of sparkles!” He went after Tiaratron!

Ben contacted Commander Shaw. “Commander, a robotron has just attacked!” He alerted her.

Commander Shaw received the message loud and clear. “Copy that!” She said. “And, a gigadrone detector has gone off in sector ROMEO-2-1! I’ll send Devon to deal with it!” She turned to Rainbow and Cozy. “Rainbow! Cozy! Get the Racer and Beast-X King Zords and help Devon!” They nodded, as the rushed to help their friends. “And, the rest of you, help Ravi, Ben and Zoey!”

“Yes, Ma’am!” Steel said, as the others nodded, and left to help their friends on the ground.

The Beast-X King Zord was already deployed, as Cozy formed it in cycle mode. Devon’s Racer Zord boarded the cycle. “You ready for this, Devon?” She asked.

“You got it, Cozy!” Devon said. “Alright, guys! You know the drill!”

“Sure do!” Rainbow and Cruise said bravely as the two zords were ready to face Tiaradrone head on!

Meanwhile, Ravi was taking punch after punch with Tiaratron, and kicked her. She only staggered back, as they traded blow for blow, until she knocked him down.

Nate, Steel, Starlight and Spike arrived just in time to see their friend start to heat up, as he was tumbling on the ground. “Ravi!” Steel said in alarm.

“You’re burning up!” Starlight said, worriedly.

“Starlight’s right!” Nate said. “You could overheat!”

“I know!” Ravi said in pain, as he was trying to get up. “I need a minute! Go!”

“Right!” They said, as the started to charge at her.

“Prepare to face us, you walking accessory!” Starlight said, as they ran up to her. They clashed with Sabers, fire breath, and magic zaps to get to her, but Tiaratron dodged them. But, she wasn’t lucky as Starlight jumped and kicked her in the chest, sending her flying.

However, she had a trick up her sleeve, as she used her jet boots to land herself on the ground safely. “I thought Gold and Silver were supposed to shine!” She cackled, as she fired beams from her hands to send the four heroes down to the ground. So far, this would be a tough opponent for them.

Meanwhile, the two zords were on their way to charge at Tiaradrone. But, like the robotron, this one also had trick ready for them, as he fired tiaras from his head, producing flying crowns, as they fired an array of beams at the zords.

They turned around, and was shocked at what they saw. “It has drones!” Devon said in shock, as he saw the flying air Tiaras flying toward them, and their zords!

Rainbow gasped in shock. “Not good!” She said, in surprise.

“Did not think this through!” Cozy said worriedly.

“We can take em!” Devon shouted bravely, as the zords revved toward the flying tiaras, and used the Beast-X King Zord’s staff to blasts the drones down, and out of the way...and the count. The zords landed, and were ready for round 2!

Back to the fight on the ground, as Ravi was just cooling back up to fight again, while Zoey, Ben and the Mayor arrived to him. “How are you doing, Ravi?” Zoey asked.

“Cool enough to get back into it.” He said, calmly to them. “You keep the Mayor safe!” He got up, and got ready to charge at the robotron.

“Got it!” Ben said.

“Roger!” Zoey said, bravely. They went to Mayor Daniels. “Don’t worry. We’ve got your back!”

Nate and Steel, and their equestrian allies were still going at it with Tiaratron, as they tried to get to her, but she kept striking them down. Finally, Ravi arrived, and tried to punch her, but she dodged. Ravi wouldn’t quit THAT easily, as he tried to kick her.

As the fight unfolded, the Mayor watched bravely and worriedly, hoping that the distraction would keep them busy enough for him to get his fill of Morph-X. Ravi tried to get to Tiaratron, but she kept blocking his moves.

Robo-Blaze and Grubber arrived from behind, secretly watching the fight go on. “We gotta hurry!” Grubber said with worry. “The Mayor could transform into the Storm King at any time!”

Robo-Blaze nodded, as he whipped out his key, and morphed into his evil Robo-ranger form. The two approached the heroes. “Give up the Mayor, and we won’t hurt you...much!” Grubber said, evilly as he smirked at them.

“You’re not taking him anywhere!” Zoey said furiously to them.

“And especially not to the likes of YOU!” Ben shouted at them as well.

Just then, Zoey realized something...the new weapon that Nate made! “Hey!” She said in excitement. “Time to test out Nate’s new weapon!” She said to Ben.

“Alright!” Ben agreed. “I was hoping you’d say that!”

“What?” The villains said, confused.

Zoey answered that questions, by hitting her transporter. “TRANSPORT...BEAST-X KING SPIN SABER!” She shouted as a lion-like sword arrived in her hand.

“Here we go!” She said, as she and Ben raced over to them. Zoey spun the Spin Saber in her hand to the villains, who dodged the new sword. But, Ben threw some aquatic punches, and Zoey threw some powerful slashes, that neither villain could block them both.

“How do you like them apples?” Ben asked, as they zoomed over to a nearby pavilion.

“Get back here!” Robo-Blaze said angrily, as he and Grubber chased after the heroes.

Meanwhile, Ravi and Spike tried to throw punches and fire breath toward her, while Steel and Starlight used magic beams and the Striker Saber to strike her down. Nate even tried to use his weapons, but she was a tough diamond.

Ravi whipped out his Beast-X Visor. “Time to pump things up!” He said, as he linked it with his morpher.

“Go for it, Ravi!” Spike cheered as he fought the Robotron with the others.

“Visor linked! ACTIVATE BEAST-X MODE!” Ravi shouted, as Smash linked with him within seconds to form his armoured ranger mode.

“BEAST-X MODE READY!” Ravi shouted as he pumped his fist on the air, turning it into Smash’s fist. He turned to Tiaratron. “Hey, Robotron!”

Tiaratron took notice, and was shocked. “Uh-oh!”

“GORILLA SLAM!” Ravi said, as he ran up to her, and delivered a ferocious punch, sending her to the ground, and making her self-destruct.

The robotron tumbled down, and was shorting out. “Ah! Ugh! You cracked my jewels!” She screamed as she exploded, and was no more.

“Well, that takes care of that!” Starlight said smugly.

“But, Zoey needs us!” Spike said urgently. “Let’s go!” The others understood as the rushed over to help their friend.

Zoey, and Ben were still going at it with Robo-Blaze and Grubber, using the Spin Saber and Aquatic punches to strike them down. The Mayor was watching nervously to see who would win, as the villains tired to get to them, but to no avail as they were splashed to the ground.

“How do you like being a wet blanket?” Ben joked.

The two villains got up, and snarled at them. “Actually, we like it just fine!” Robo-Blaze said, as he used his rapier to strike Zoey down.

“ZOEY!” Ben said in shock, as he saw her go down, and demorph.

“And, you’re next, Green!” Grubber said, as they got ready to strike him down too!

Ben took a good look at the villains, and saw that he was outnumbered. “Uh-oh!” He said.

“No you don’t, Grubber!” Nate angrily bellowed as he, Spike, and Starlight arrived at the right time to stop them. Steel used his Striker Morpher to blast them, while Starlight used her magic to blast them too.

“Out of the way, you guys!” Ben shouted, waving his hands to get them out of the way.

Nate and Spike were about to strike at them, when Grubber took Blaze’s rapier and slashed them with it! Spike was flung off, and sent to where Zoey was. “SPIKE!” Nate called out. But, he was blasted by the rapier a myriad of times, but still stood up.

Grubber saw that the rapier had no effect, so he aimed it at him, and kept firing at him. “FALL!” He shouted. “FALL!!!” He kept blasting Nate, until he started to fall down, which he did and instantly demorphed, the minute he landed.

“Nate!” Zoey and Ben shouted as she saw him demorph.

“NOOOOOOO!” Spike and Starlight shouted in horror, upon seeing their friend fall.

“NATE!!!” Devon, Rainbow and Cozy shouted from their cockpits, horrified upon seeing their friend get blasted down.

Zoey, and the others were shocked that he was down and out, and was furious. She noticed the Spin Saber and got back up quickly.

The villains noticed her get up. “Get her!” Grubber shouted, as they blasted her, but she dodged them all and got to the Spin Saber just in time. She landed nimbly, and was ready finish them. She threw the Saber at them like boomerang! “TORNADO TAKEDOWN!” She shouted as the Saber flung by them, and slashed them down to the ground.

“What?!” Robo-Blaze asked in shock.

“Impossible!” Grubber shouted in horror, as he got back up. Robo-Blaze wasn’t so lucky as he exploded instantly. The hedgehog as horrified. “No! Not Robo-Blaze too!” He said in agony. “I’d better tell Tempest about this!” He teleported away from the Rangers, before they could hurt him even more.

Zoey was proud that her enemies were defeated. Suddenly, she heard a faint voice. “Zoey!” It was Nate! Zoey rushed over to him, while the others were already right by him.

“Nate, please be okay!” Zoey screamed as she watched the light hit. “We don’t want to lose you!”

“We still have a lot to make up for!” Spike said, unable to hold back his tears as he thought back to how they’d left Nate, like he’d meant nothing to their Zord.

“When all this is over, you can continue to hang out with us!” Starlight promised.

“And new inventions as well!” Ben added.

“We’ll do anything to make it up to you, Zoey!” Zoey said as tears flowed down her eyes. “Please, just be healed!”

Suddenly, Nate took in a deep breath, as he awoke, opening his eyes. The others sighed with relief, knowing that their friend was okay.

“Nate, are you okay, Bro?” Steel asked.

“I think so,” Nate said, as he got to his feet and stood up. He saw his friends smiling at him, as they all shared a passionate hug.

After a while, they broke the hug. “Thanks for the assist.” She said, softly to him,

“We make quite the team.” Nate said, smiling at her.

“We sure do!” Starlight said, as she tapped him on the leg, smiling at him as well. Nate smiled back at all his friends who helped him today.

At that moment, the Mayor arrived to the group of heroes. “Well done.” He said to them. “Thanks. It seems I really owe you two.” Zoey and Nate looked at each other, and smiled. They also saw their friends, who nodded at them in agreement. “You saved me again.” He said, as he calmly shook their hands and smiled at them warmly. The ground team had successfully saved the Mayor from being captured. But, unfortunately, Grubber wouldn’t be so lucky when he got back to report to Vargoyle that he came back empty handed.

Back in the city, the Racer and King zords had just eradicated the drones, but now they had one gigadrone to take care of! Tiaradrone was blasting the zords, which dodged its blasts, as it was riding!

The gigadrone flew up, and back to face the two zords head on! But, the zords got ready too, as they turned around to face it as well.

“Uh, Devon? You got any ideas?” Cozy asked him.

“As a matter of fact, I do!” Devon said, as he hit his transporter. “TRANSPORT...CHEETAH BEAST BLASTER!” With that, his red blaster arrived to his cockpit, as his helmet morphed to scope mode! The Racer Zord, took the King Zord’s blaster staff, and aimed it at the gigadrone.

“KING COMBO STRIKE!” Devon and Rainbow both shouted, which made the Zord fire its staff at the gigadrone, taking it out instantly!

The Zord stopped, and posed in victory for a job well done! “We did it!” Cozy yelped in glee.

“You bet we did!” Devon said happily.

“Virus eliminated!” The three heroes said victoriously, as their obstacle was once again brought down by the hammer of justice! Mission accomplished!

Author's Note

And, that’s all for this chapter! The robotron and gigadrone of the week have just been destroyed, and the heroes have once again proven themselves worthy of protecting Mayor Daniels. But, Grubber will have to explain to Tempest that Robo-Blaze has been destroyed. How can this possibly go for him? And also, what about the Mayor? Who’ll be the traitor revealed at Battleforce? Stay tuned for some shocking answers, and horrifying secrets coming at the epilogue!

I forgot to mention, that Mayor Daniels had referenced Canada in the previous chapter, when he said he was having lunch with the Canadian ambassador. Which is a fun fact, because My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic was created by DHX Media (Now Wildbrain) in Canada, and premiered on Treehouse TV (one of my favourite TV networks) in that same country! Who knew? :)

Epilogue: Shocking Revelations

At Grid Battleforce, Commander Shaw was watching the footage of how Zoey saved Nate, after he almost sacrificed himself to save his friends during the fight with Robo-Blaze and Grubber. She thought about what she said, and realized that she might have been a little too hard on Nate and Zoey...and especially Rainbow Dash, who along with Steel, had worked so hard and so secretly to bring them together.

She saw the others come in, with Rainbow’s body lowered dejectedly, wondering what she was going to say next. The Mayor came in too, although he started to cough a little bit.

“Well done, team.” She finally said to them. “I’m relieved everyone is safe.”

Zoey and Nate looked at each other, and decided to tell her. Nate walked up to her.

Cozy looked at Rainbow, and gestured her to come forward too. “Go on.” She said, pushing her kindly. “Go, and tell her what happened.” Rainbow saw her friends look at her solemnly, and she took a deep breath, and decided to step up and prepare for the worst, as she walked up to Nate’s side.

Nate looked at her confused, but she patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry.” She said, smiling. “I’ve got this. Besides, it’s pretty much all on me, and I was the one who roped you into this.” Nate smiled at her, and the two were ready to tell her.

Nate spoke up. “Commander, we haven’t been dating.” He said, calmly. “We may not agree with the rules. But, we’re not going to break it, if it means jeopardizing the team.”

“And, we should’ve thought about this all the way through, when really...one thing would lead to another, and...” Rainbow sighed. “You know the rest.” She bowed her head down. “I’m ready to face whatever punishment you hand down to us.”

The commander looked at them for a second. “I believe you both.” She said, taking a deep breath, to prepare for what she would say next. “I saw the way you all fought together today...especially Zoey and Nate.”

What she said next, nobody had ever expected to hear. “...and, It’s clear to me now that you’re a great team because of your relationships...not in spite of them.”

“Oh, I knew it!” Rainbow said dramatically. “I knew you would never approve of us dating, and...wait, what?”

The commander nodded, as Zoey and Nate looked at each other, smiling. “I don’t change the rules often. But when I do, it’s only for a good reason.” She said.

Rainbow and Steel both looked at each other in surprise and wonder, as they smiled huge smiles. The Wonderbolt’s and best bot’s faces lit up like Christmas trees. “Does THAT mean?!” She and Steel both asked in shock.

“Yes, you two. It does.” Commander Shaw confirmed. “The rule is...toast, as you might say.”

Rainbow and Steel wanted to scream like fangirls. They couldn’t believe that the rangers’s mentor had actually now allowed Rangers to date Rangers. She couldn’t believe it! “Is this a dream? Anybody? Can you please pinch us to see if this is a dream?”

But, Starlight and the others smiled, and nodded ‘no.’ “Sorry, Dash.” Starlight said happily. “But, it looks like this is all real.”

“As real as real can be!” Cozy said, nodding as well.

Rainbow and Steel were excited and relieved that their mission was technically a success, despite it falling through a little bit.
“AW, YEAH!” They both shouted in victory.

“THAT...IS...AWESOME!!!” Rainbow squealed in pure happiness, in their celebratory moment. “We did it! We finally did it!”

“Do you know what this means?” Steel asked, happily. “You two can be together!”

Zoey and Nate looked at each other, and smiled, as the others shared a kind laugh during this one moment to celebrate.

“Yes, Rainbow.” Starlight said, smiling. “You two did do it.”

“And, speaking for Starlight here, we’re all glad that you two had managed to pull it off.” Spike said, while the others nodded. “Except for one thing...next time...” he went to their faces, as he said the next words. “Would you mind telling ME about it?!”

Rainbow and Steel both jumped back in shock, but then brought themselves back to focus, as they smiled at their friend. “Absolutely!” She said, as Steel nodded.

“You can count on it!” Steel added.

“Good!” Spike said, smiling at them.

They all smiled, as Zoey took Nate’s hand. “So...” she asked him. “You want to see a movie tonight?”

Nate smiled as he took her hand as well. “Affirmative.” He said. “It’s a date.”

Rainbow, Cozy and Spike sighed in relief as they heard this. “Well, that’s ONE less thing that we have to worry about!” The wonderbolt said happily.

“Testify!” Spike said in victory.

“Oh, yeah!” Cozy added as well. The heroes were happy that their villains were defeated, the Mayor was safe, and the commander changed the rules...which meant that Zoey and Nate could no longer hide their relationship and could now date. What could possibly spoil their one moment of happiness?

“I knew we could do it!” Rainbow said, giving her a pat on the back. “I knew we were the best!”

However, the Mayor started coughing more violently than ever, making the heroes turn their attention to him, as they rushed over to him. “Dad?” Devon asked him.

“Mayor Daniels!” Rainbow said in shock. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not well!” Mayor Daniels said, as he pushed his son away, and ran out of the lab.

The others started to go after him. “Dad!” Devon said as they chased him.

“After him!” Starlight said, as they followed suit.

Mayor Daniels had already made it outside to the entrance to the base. He started to collapse, as the heroes rushed over to him. “Dad!” Devon said again, as he tried to confort him.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” Mayor Daniels said, worriedly as he shoved Devon away back to the group. He yelled inarticulately, as blue energy surged though him quickly.

“Dad?!” Devon asked in shock as he watch his father start to change. The blue energy transformed him into his evil alter-ego...the Storm King, as he took the Mayor’s own place.

“What the WHAT?!” Rainbow asked in complete horror!

The others gasped in shock. “The STORM KING?!” Starlight, Zoey, Cozy and Steel all said in astonishment and fright.

Once the Storm King finished his transformation, he got up and growled toward the heroes. “NO!” He shouted at them. “I’M NOT YOUR FATHER!”

Devon was horrified upon seeing the Storm King here, as were the others. The Storm King aimed his Staff of Sarcanas and fired it at the Rangers and Ponies, making them fall to the ground. However, they were unharmed...but rather shocked at they saw what just happened. “The Mayor is gone.” He said. “Best you forget about him.” He laughed evilly, as the hero’s watched with a shock of anger, shock, horror and surprise on their faces.

“You may have learned my secret, but soon, the Morphin' Grid will be mine!” He roared, as he teleported away, just as the heroes were about to get him!

Devon was crestfallen and shocked at what he saw unfold before his eyes. “The Storm King and my dad are...in the same body?!” He asked, trying to process what happened.

The others were horrified as well, upon seeing this. Rainbow Dash gasped, and gulped in shock. “I was wrong.” She said, scared. “That’s WAY worse!”

“You think?” Devon asked her, as he looked at his ally, and them back at the spot where his dad...now their public enemy no. 1, once stood. One of their most vilest villains had possessed an ally of the Rangers, and a family member of his. He was speechless, and in disbelief at what happened.

He turned back to the speedy Pegasus, who was gobsmaked as well. “What do we do now, Rainbow?" He asked her.

Not even the most coolest Wonderbolt could find the light in a situation like this, as she was extremely troubled that her friend’s father was under the control of their opponent, and that they had an entirely NEW problem on their hands! “I don't know, Devon.” She said, sadly and aghast. “I just don't know!”

Grid Battleforce, and the heroes had a TON of Morph-X available for the Storm King to steal, and they had to come up with a plan to not only trap him, but also save Devon’s dad. But, how?!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Note

And, that’s all for this story! Steel and his speedy sidekick have successfully got Zoey and Nate together as a couple! But, the Storm King has possessed Mayor Daniels?! How are Rainbow and Devon going to get their flanks out of this one? Can they save him? The only way to find out is the read the next story in the Rainbow Dash X Red Ranger arc, coming real soon! More memories of Dash will be collected, a love interest will be revealed, and the most galactic villain will make her debut to battle the Rangers, and she just happens to be a former lover of a certain Draconniqus! Stay tuned for our next ranger story, with the spotlight on none other than...Discord! Waitaminute! Why would Discord be the main focus in the story? This is a RAINBOW DASH story arc! Not—! Oh, well! You know what I mean! 🙂 Stick around for more Ranger crossovers next!