Power Rangers: Guardians of Harmony

Chapters

Legacy of Power (2/3)
Legacy of Power (3/3)
Past Conflicts
Legacy of Power (1/3)

Legacy of Power (2/3)

~Legacy of Power (2/3)~

Twilight and her friends followed the Roc to the entrance of the Ancient Sisters’ Castle, after crossing the Serpent River and the bridge over the gorge, which proved to be less challenging than the last time, of course thanks to the fact that there was no crazy pony trying to kill them. Once inside, she flew from torch to torch on a hidden hallway, stopping every time to check that the girls were following her, before flying further through the hallway. After they reached a point with no windows, the bird started to light a few torches with blue fire, which, if it provided good illumination, it also gave a cold atmosphere to the hallway, as if winter had started five weeks ago.

“Twi, ya'll sure this’ the right way?”

“What do you mean, Applejack?”

“I mean, secret passages usually don’t get to anyplace nice, as far as I know. Not to mention that It is giving me the chills. Literally!”

“She.” corrected again Fluttershy, who was too amazed looking at the majestic roc bird to be frightened of walking on that dark hallway, seeing as she was in the front of the group, followed by Twilight and Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash in tow and Pinkie Pie closing the procession, appearing and disappearing multiple times, prompting to more giggles from her every time. Soon, they found themselves on a huge chamber, walking on a bridge that lead to the top of a tall pillar, inside of which found an ancient elevator mechanism, which worked pretty well for so many years of disuse. While descending, the two girls continued their conversation.

“Honestly, AJ. I don’t see why you are so worried. You know the princesses wouldn’t ask us to come to this castle without a reason. Yes, things had been a little... odd, since this morning, everypony turned into humans, changelings, and yes, I also have my reservations about this bird.” The alluded squawked from its perch, on a corner of the contraption. “But I have complete faith that Princess Celestia will have an explanation to all of this.”

“I understand sugarcube. It’s just, that I’m a little concerned about this. I’m not a mar- woman that does a lot of thinking, and I know we are important, for the Elements and that stuff, but don’t you think this is a bit too much?”

The student’s eyes widened for a second, before shaking her head and looking away from her friend. “I’m sorry, Applejack. The only reason I can think about why these kinds of things happen to all of us is precisely because we represent the Spirits of Harmony...”

“I-called-it-first!”

“Yes, Pinkie. I ignore if we’ve became the spirits because we’ve become so good friends with each other or if we are friends because we represented the elements even before we met. Heck, we even got our Cutie Marks almost at the same time. Call it destiny or whatever; I couldn’t care less about it, because otherwise I wouldn’t have so many wonderful friends like all of you.” A gentle smile appeared in each of them, but Pinkie Pie looked more like she was going to tear up in any second. “And if being your friend means to carry the safety of Equestria on my shoulders, then I’m fine with that!”

That was it, as Pinkie Pie burst into tears while holding Rainbow Dash in a deadly hug, making her struggle for freedom between the arms of the party girl, prompting the group into a fit of laughs of Rainbow’s expression. After recovering and separating Pinkie from Dash, Applejack resumed the conversation. “Shucks Twi! I’ve never thought of it that way. I’m sorry about being distraught about that.”

“It’s okay! I also realized this just recently myself. And in all honestly, I wouldn’t change it for nothing.” Added, giving her friend a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, me neither.” Her smile turned into a serious frown. “But there’s still one thing that I can’t get out of my head.”

This surprised the magician a little. “Then what is it?”

Applejack hesitated a few seconds, but she willed herself and began. “Are you sure that Princess Celestia...”

“I’m really sorry to interrupt, dears.” cuted Rarity “But I think we have arrived.”

Effectively, the elevator had stopped its descending; the double doors they have crossed to get in the machine were opening to reveal a large hall made entirely of polished crystal. The floor was perfectly even in every meter of its surface, while walls and the ceiling had a more rough work, giving the idea of a crystal cave, with a big opening on the highest portion of the ceiling. In appearance, it looked similar to the farthest end of the throne room in Canterlot Castle, except for the lack of windows and thrones and the extra wooden furniture, making it look more like a common room.

What caught most attention of the chamber was that in the farthest wall, where the thrones would’ve been found, was a large fire place, in which burned a purple and pink flame over a single log, while two wisps of fire parted from its core before turning inward and spinning around two fire whirls, making the whole flame look like a heart. Twilight wasn’t sure of what was it, but noticed five small items inside the fire.

“I’m glad you arrived unharmed, my little... ‘ponies’.” Everybody turned to the right to find the source of the voice. There appeared a tall woman, taller than Applejack, with a pale white skin, deep blue eyes and a blue and long hair, that started normal on her head before turning into a wavy cloud of stardust, blown by a nonexistent wind. She was wearing a long dark-blue dress, with black metal jewelry, that covered most of her body, except her hands and shoulders, which sported a black blot with a small, white moon on it. She was the same figure that appeared at the end of everyone’s dream. She is Princess Luna.

The blue bird flew and landed on her shoulder, giving Luna an affectionate nudge with her beak. “Thanks Polaris, you may rest now.” she brushed a little her feathers before letting the bird fly to a perch near the fireplace, near another bird that was positively a phoenix. “I’m sorry for the perils you’ve been through, my friends.” started the Princess of Night. “But as you may have noticed, the real danger is only beginning.”

~~~~~

During yesterday Saturday, both princesses had reunited since the dawn as it has become routine between the two of them all the weekends, to spend together those forty eight hours as quality time after a thousand years of being separated. They went to the castle's terrace at dusk in order to do together the transition from day to night with the others company. That evening had proceeded like any other, they walked down the gardens while contemplating Luna’s starry sky, shared an interesting anecdote of their week, and sometimes communicated their concern about a law or a security issue.

That night in particular, this topic was the recent Changeling invasion that occurred during the wedding of their niece with the captain of the Royal Guard just four weeks ago; both agreeing that what was more unsettling was the fact that it took place right under their watch. It was no secret to them that Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen, had been trying to take over Canterlot in the past, in order to devour the land and spread her kin to all of Equestria. But all those attacks, as well as the Changeling existence went unnoticed to the common public after each victory. But her attempts had become even more frequent, and with the wedding about to take place, Celestia was forced to put up a city lockdown, to prevent Chrysalis of invading the city and ruin the event.

However, not Celestia or Luna could predict that Chrysalis would impersonate the bride in order not only to steal the love from Shining Armor, but to sabotage his shielding spell and lead her spawns on a massive invasion of the capital, which was quickly repelled. But the damage was done. Since then, witnesses had assured having seen strange ponies around Canterlot, or ponies acting weird; for that reason, both sisters felt much obliged to double the security in the city and direct interviews to everypony who was suspected to be an impostor, so basically everypony in Canterlot was examined and proved contrary of the accusations, which helped to decrease the paranoia between friends and neighbors, but the sights of changelings didn’t reduce.

“Seriously sister; this ‘sightings’ are not but paranoid occurrences of our subjects. They are still recovering for the recent events, so it is natural for them to still be unsure. The fear will leave soon enough.” said Luna. Celestia simply smiled, before taking again a sad expression.

“You are right, Luna. Frightened hearts can easily find their courage again. But it is my duty to watch over their well being. Even more now, that I have failed at that.”

“You are not to blame, Tia. You could not had the chance to notice that monster posing as Cadenza since you, both of us were looking right into the opposite direction, that was part of her plan, none of us could have predicted that that would be her approach. Like some ponies say: ‘What is done, is done’. We cannot keep regretting the past, but put eyes on the future.” She added this part with an exaggerated wave of her hoof forward, almost losing all elegance.

Celestia, was pleased to see her little sister acting more like any other pony and less like a princess, it was an habit from old times, and it conflicted with Celestia's goal to create an equalitarian society, regime that Celestia herself has implemented since five hundred years to further enforce the principles that created the country, to which Luna was adapting just wonderfully, of course thanks to whatever happened in the last Nightmare Night, event that helped Luna to regain the confidence on herself. Also, the words of her sister were comforting the Princess of the Sun to her very center.

However, her relief was again shoved away by her guilt. Princess Celestia takes great pride of her ability to make wise decisions and always succeed on every campaign she started. But whenever she let herself to make a mistake, that usually led to suffering. It had happened only a few times; the first time was a thousand years ago, where she noticed her sister’s resentment and simply discarded it as a phase. She spent centuries regretting her ignorance after banishing Luna, and in her pain, the kingdom almost collapsed.

The last time was during the time she was looking for any threat outside of Canterlot, she let the queen of an entire race of hatred-spawn monsters to sneak into the city posing as her “niece” and go through her schemes, ignoring her cold behavior and thinking of it as “wedding nerves”. Now, half the ponies she so deeply wants to protect are utterly affected by the invasion that took place that day, and their pain hurted Celestia like daggers. Only one thing was clear for her.

She won’t let another mistake to happen.

“If anything, I am the one who should feel guilty. You did everything you could when the scam was revealed. Meanwhile, I was slumbering in my chambers. At least that’s my share of the blame. Don’t you think, Tia?” she finished with a gentle smile.

“Thanks Luna. But still, I cannot stand that anything else to threat Equestria. I won’t allow more of those creatures on our...” she stopped in mid sentence as something ahead caught her attention. Luna followed her gaze to see a black figure hovering near the floor a few meters in front of them, dashing to the south-west grounds of the castle. The rapid flapping of its wings revealed the creature to be not a pegasus, but a changeling. Luna attempted to call a guard to dispose the invader, but was cut quiet when Celestia rushed after the changeling, giving it chase.

Anypony else who knew Princess Celestia like most ponies, would never think of her having a vengeful and loathing side; she was a benevolent ruler that would never think of punish a bad pony, if not as a last resort. But Luna knew otherwise. She has been witness of Celestia anger in two opportunities, against an enemy of harmony, and then Luna herself; so she, better than anypony else, can tell when Celestia was at anger.

Both followed the creature, trying to corner it, or at least drive it outside of the city, but to no avail. Every time they got closer, it quickly run faster, getting away from their shoot ranges, only to let them get near again and escaping her horns a second time. It was like if the creature was playing with the princesses. Suddenly, it took higher from the ground, as did the co-rulers chasing it, flying straight into the window of the Canterlot Tower, where was kept the vault of the elements.

A small flash of green peered from the windows of the tower and both sisters accelerated their flight, fearing the worst. Once inside, they found the stone door of the vault crumbling beneath a layer of green fire, and the dazed changeling walking away from its ark. They landed in front of the creature, pointing their horns toward it, charging a magic blast. The insect-pony gave them a twisted smirk, before disappearing in a burst of fire, leaving its two would-to-be captors confused.

“Do not bother with my pawn!” said a disgusting voice from behind them. They spun in place to watch their interlocutor. “For its part in this campaign has ended.” The Changeling Queen: Chrysalis was walking toward the center of the room from the main entrance, a confident yet malevolent smile crossing her face.

“What art thou doing at oust castle, Thou Witch?” Bellowed Luna at the Changeling with all the strength of her lungs, feeling disgust at the first sight of that creature, who she only has heard descriptions of: a disturbing satire of her and her sister.

”Why Luna, that is not the correct manner to make a first impression. Unless it is you who is greeting one of your servants, ‘My Liege’.” added with a mockingly exaggerated bow. Luna’s eyes flashed with arcane rage, but before she could charge at her offender, a gently hoof was placed over her shoulder, which immediately soothed her anger. She looked back at her sister, who was locking eyes with Chrysalis.

“You didn’t answer the question. However, I would rather skip to the part where you and your people get expelled from our kingdom.” A stern look carved on her face, which would have been enough to run cold anypony´s blood. The Queen of the changelings did not shuttered, but instead she broke into laughter. Luna´s expression did not change, but she knew that her sister´s patience was short for those whose were fool enough to laugh her.

“Please, Celestia. Where is that famous hospitality of yours? Must every time we meet end in conflict?” faked an innocent pout, before turning into a defiant frown. “Even though I have came to your castle for more… ‘Casual motives’?”

“Do you think we are stupid?” said Celestia while flaring her wings wide open, sending currents to every corner of the room “Many times you have made clear your motives, and last time proved yourself to be a deceitful and cruel monster!”

“Oh, stop it! You are making me blush. How is Cadence, by the way? Enjoying the Honeymoon I hope.” The glare of the Sun Empress turned venomous “anyway! I give my royal word, over the lives of my people, and mine, that I have not come to Equestria this night looking to feed my colony, but to request an audience with the princesses of Canterlot Castle. I do believe you are forced by the same law as I to listen to any single proposition brought to you by anypony, whether you would agree or not.” Her face turned into a more serious and solemn expression, she actually wanted to negotiate. Luna was not convinced, but had to concede along with her sister after she folded her wings back to place, but remaining in guard.

“Proceed.”

Chrysalis simply smiled while moving a lock of long and unclean blue hair from her face. She then started to walk toward the princesses while speaking. “As I have said, I am not looking for sources of love in your little ponies to feed my changelings; I have found another more... ‘Willing’ source of aliment for them to nourish that do harm to no pony.” She snorted at the incredulous looks of both alicorns. “It is the truth. My people need to feed on the emotions of other living beings by its expenses no more! Be happy your Majesties! This is a new for me and you two to rejoice!” added with a small laugh.

“Sorry if I withhold my excitement. It still hard to think you are saying the truth.” Added Luna, knives thrown with every word.

“Believe what you want.” Her face turned into something none of the princesses could only guess was... “We are very grateful for that, my people is surviving, and that’s the only thing that matters to me.” Happiness! The Queen of the Changelings is actually showing a genuine emotion of joy! Both princesses glanced at each other, and then looked back at the queen after their silent conversation.

“Then what is your request? If our kingdoms are no longer to interact with each other, why did you call for an audience?” Chrysalis started to giggle, who quickly became a maniacal laugh, making Celestia and Luna grew uncomfortable.

“Oh, right! I forgot. Care to make the honors, ‘Sweetheart’?” shouted to the ceiling. Next, a flash of light lit up behind the two alicorns.

“That would be truly a delight, ‘Honey’!” Both rulers turned in place to face no other than the spirit of chaos himself: Discord.

~~~~~

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute!” interrupted Rainbow Dash to Luna’s narration of the events. After they arrived, the princess asked them to seat on the couches and chairs placed on the “Crystal Chamber”, as she said it is called. Then, recapitulated the events of last night, and when arrived at the part where the draconequus makes his appearance, she was received with said reaction. “What in Tartarus? Discord and Chrysalis...”

“Are lost for each other?!” finished Fluttershy, a shocked expression forming on her face.

“They would definitely make the most strangely-fitting couple in all the world.” added Rarity.

“Yeah! Who have thought it?” said Pinkie while looking sternly at no place in particular.

“Girls, calm down! Princess, please continue.”

“Thanks, Twilight. As for this revelation, my sister and I were as shocked as you are now. When we got an explanation of Discord’s presence and his... ‘Alliance’ with Chrysalis.” For a brief moment, the face of Luna turned a little green, the sole idea disturbing enough for the mistress of the night to avoid the word “relationship”. “We discovered that it happened the day of the wedding.”

“That day again? I mean, all that happened then was that changelings almost took over Canterlot.”

“Think of it, Applejack. What exactly occurred during the attack?”

“Welp, ponies were scared, things were out of control, those pests were making a whole wreck, everything was...” She stopped right there, eyes the size of peas.

“Everything was a chaos. That is why Discord got loose again. I can only assume that during the mayhem caused by Chrysalis forces, he broke free again. Fortunately, it has been only months since his last imprisonment rather than a millennium, so he is in a weakened state.”

“That’s why things aren’t macky-whacky just yet?”

“That is a clever way to put it, Pinkie Pie.” complimented the princess, making the pink dressed girl to raise her head in proud. “Yes, Discord’s magic cannot affect the whole reality this time, and only on a small grade. Now, about his, thing with Chrysalis, seems that he got also repelled by that shielding spell cast by Captain Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Then Discord would wound up, powerless, to the same place as the changelings.”

“Then comes the part when the two... Um... You know.” said an awkward-faced Rainbow, while spinning her main fingers around each other.

“Er... Yes! At that moment they formed their alliance. As for why, I ignore if their sentiments are genuine, are born from their own interest, or if it is a secondary effect of the love infused spell that sent them out of the city. But they truly found a mutual benefit for being together. Discord, who adores havoc and destruction, finds quite amusing the chaotic and vicious nature of the changelings, and they feed on the ‘love’ he gives in return, if he is capable of such; which ultimately pleases Chrysalis, whose only goal is the survival of her swarm.”

“Then, why they attacked again? I mean… they don’t need to threat Equestria if they have, well... each other?”

“I was getting to that part, Fluttershy.” deadpanned the princess.

~~~~~

“Let me answer your question, Luna! Good to see you, by the way.” said Discord. “You see, even though I am having the bestest of fun I’ve had in millennia looking at the antics of my Queen’s subjects, there’s one little detail that keeps me up at night and deprives me of my happiness.” He snapped his taloned fingers and teleported next to Chrysalis.

“And I couldn’t stand to see my poor ‘sweet-tums’ in that state, so we had a little talk and he told me what is bothering him, which coincidentally, also bothers me.” added the insect-pony, while cuddling her companion, before giving a scheming look at the other two present. “We are both sick of ponies! With both your ‘harmony’ and ‘good sentiments’!” both teleported to each side of the room, facing the two alicorns in the middle.

“So I had the most incredible idea that I could come up with.”

“We, honey.”

“Whatever, now listen: We are going to use the magic of the Elements of Harmony to restore my strength and power up a spell that will transform the whole reality at once and change all the livinging beings into... dramatic pause... Changelings!” Both princesses, startled, rose from the floor in shock at the revelation.

“What?!” yelled Celestia, fear and shock visible on her face. “You are crazy, Discord! What you plan to do is not only horrible, but also threatens to destroy the very balance of nature!” Discord just chuckled.

“Balance? *Pfft* Oh my, Celestia. I thought you were the smart one. ‘Spirit of Chaos’, remember?”

“Why yes, with every corner of Equestria and every place on the World plagued with changelings under my command, Chaos will roam free with no one to resist. ‘Harmony’ will mean nothing, and Changelings will feed endlessly of the love and happiness Discord professes to me and my people!”

“We won’t allow it! We are going to stop you now for good!”

“And how exactly do you expect to do that, Woona?” said Discord while clapping his hands. Right after, the chest containing the six Elements of Harmony came from the destroyed vault floating toward him. “We are ready for the spell. We got the elements now. You two cannot use them since you lost your connection to them due to some, ‘family issues’. And their current wielders are far from here in Ponyville! As for what I see you already lost!” added with a triumphant smile, while raising high to the ceiling, along with the elements and Chrysalis.

The elements got out of the chest and directed to the center of the room, right above the princesses, and started to spin while the two enemies charged both their magic. Luna’s mind was in blank, Discord was right, they could do nothing to stop that spell in time, or at least that’s what she tough, because Celestia had another thing in mind. In a fraction of second, the white coated princess shot up to the elements at the same time the Draconequus and Changeling shot each spell to the center of the formation, meeting each bean at the same time Celestia placed herself in the middle of the elements, horn glowing bright. A flash of light, a shockwave and then… darkness.

~~~~~

“When I woke up, I found myself here, transformed into a human. Right after that, I visited all of you through your dreams and requested to come here at haste. And, here we are” Finished Luna, a defeated look on her factions. All the other girl looked at the princess, a feeling of uncertainty among all of them, even Pinkie Pie was dead-shocked. None of them said a word. Except…

“Then, Princess Celestia is in Canterlot Castle, right?” asked Twilight, straightening herself on her seat. “She is there to make sure things are under control.” But Luna didn’t answer, she hesitated a second, but remained silent. Twilight now stood up from her seat. “Right?”

“Sugarcube.”

“What, Applejack?” She didn’t notice that she yelled at her friend. Applejack remained calm nonetheless.

“I don’t think you want to hear that.”

“Hear what? It is not like the Princess is... That’s what’s bothering you? Come on AJ, I told the same to Rainbow before. She sent us the envelope with the powers, remember?”

“It was I Twilight Sparkle.” cuted Princess Luna. Twilight was stunned in place by the broken tone of her voice, and when she looked at the princess, her heart stopped at the sight of tears running down Luna’s face. “I sent to you the envelope.” She motioned her hand toward the flame and it revealed an image of a mountainside in which they all knew was located the current castle of their rulers, except that there was no palace, but a perfectly round crater.

“I summoned you to this place because Canterlot Castle is no more. And...” More tears were shed. “I am sorry, my friend, but if Celestia was to be fine, even unconscious, she would have arrived to this Chamber along with me. I am afraid...” Tears started to leave visible marks on her white skin, at the same time she brought something from a folding in her robe. It was a broken piece of gold, shaped much like the silver tiara on Luna’s head, with a charred amethyst on its center. “… That my sister is no longer with us.”

Those words echoed in the expanding space that is the student's head, eyes fixed on the broken crown that was burning in her retinas, but nothing could be found inside Twilight’s mind, since it went completely dark, as if a candle faded its flame inside a dark room. She could not tell you when she fell on her knees, nor when she covered her face to hide her tears, nor who, when or how many hold her in arms and she let out a pained cry. Everything started to lose importance as the meaning of Luna’s words sink on her thoughts.

Princess Celestia is dead.

For the rest of them, though they all could guess what had happened, it still was painful to hear the news. Applejack took her hand off of Twilight’s shoulder and removed her hat from her head; a deflating sound startled her, so she turned around to see Pinkie Pie with her hair flattened down and looking like she was going to cry in any second. Fluttershy rushed to Twilight after she fell on her knees, holding her own tears, to hug her friend, using a wing to cover the student’s face, although it didn’t silenced the pained wail.

Rarity simply brought a hand to her mouth and looked away from the group while shedding a few tears. Rainbow got up from her seat, grumbling something beneath her breath as walked angrily to one of the walls before punching it, easily breaking the crystal. She stared at her distorted reflection in frustration as the cracks fixed by themselves.

Inside Canterlot Castle, now transported inside a cave of unknown whereabouts, somebody was releasing her own frustration into a group of seven scared Changelings. “You let them live!?” A blast of magic obliterated the one in the middle. “The ‘Spirit of Everfree’?!”. The two on the left exploded. “You fools! How it is possible that a whole battalion of you couldn’t defeat a group of six silly girls?!” The “creature” in front of the insect minions released another blast from her spear, a twisted branch with a jagged blade on its end, and destroyed the other two on the right. Her green demonic eyes darted to the last two remaining, her sickening pale face contorting itself demanding an explanation of the failure her soldiers were reporting to her.

She was wearing black robes, with small holes on sleeves and skirt, before revealing her bare hands and feet, white as the skin of a ghost. A small crown rested on the top of her head, from which flowed a long and unattended blue hair, a strand of which crossed right in front of Chrysalis face. One of the Changelings snarled something at his queen, in hopes of easing her anger. “They have become stronger too? But how can that be pos...” Her look turned even angrier. “Luna!” hissed, before sending a last blast to the remaining soldiers.

The rest of the Changelings shifted uncomfortably on the ceiling of the castle’s throne room, while the queen disposed of their comrades and started to walk back to the end of the room. “This is intolerable! First, the spell to turn everypony into Changelings didn’t work. Not only that, but also didn’t destroyed the Elements of Harmony! Thanks to Celestia’s stupid sacrifice! And now her sister is interfering again with our plans. It was a really simple task I gave to you: Destroy the Spirits of Harmony!” shouted to the ceiling. “And not even that you could do!”

“Relax, my queen.” came a voice from one of the thrones. Sitting there was Discord, transformed as well. His face was like of any other human, ignoring its grey color, yellow and red eyes, and the funny looking fang protruding from his mouth, and a white hair, growing to his shoulders, with black streaks in the middle of his head and temples. His clothes were a positive chaos of a wardrobe: a brown leather vest and pants, a golden armor glove on his right arm, while his left was covered on yellow bandages. A green leather boot on his right foot with golden linings and another black, smaller shoe on his left, with a beige tight running up to his knee. Strapped to his red belt were two mismatching swords: a full straight, silver rapier on his left hip, while on his right rested a golden claymore with four prongs coming from both sides of the blade. “Plans are boring, anyway. There’s an order to follow on them, where is the fun of that?”

“Yes milord. But we could have restored your powers already if not because of Celestia’s meddling! And now, the spirits are now in possession of the elements once again. It is just matter of time for them to turn us both into stone!”

Discord stroke his white beard for a second. “I see, you have a point. But don’t worry about that. First: they don’t have a single clue of where are we, so they won’t come here any sooner. Two: maybe I am not at full power right now, but I can restore my powers. Taking out the powers from the elements would sure make things quicker, but I believe that a spontaneous amount of chaos itself would be more satisfying. It may be a long wait, but it makes things interesting.”

Chrysalis, now calm, smiled at her new king and seated on the throne next to him. “You are right, Dis. And also, the Princess of the Night has little experience at governing a country, and without Celestia, she must be completely helpless.”

“Exactly! We have the upper hand. We just need to play well our cards and soon all of Equestria will be ours” Said while standing up and walking forward. “Now, those six are still a problem, last time I made the mistake to underestimate them, and they turned out besting me, they are very crafty at ruining one’s fun.” brought out of nowhere a toy binocular. He looked on them and pressed its lever two times, before grinning. “Seems however they are having problems right now. Looks like the best time to take them down by spreading a little Chaos!”

“But honey, they just repelled an ambush directed to them; another attack would do just as much.”

“I am aware, sweetie.” said Discord while crossing his hands on his back. “A simple Changeling is not strong enough to defeat them now that they have those new powers, even less since the Princess is helping now. But what about changing one of them with the strength of a big and fierce creature?” Turned to see the complying face of his companion, she then called forth one of the pests attached to the walls to descend, a little reluctantly, in front of the lord of Chaos. Discord grimace grew wider as he popped the fingers of both hands, sending a lightning zapping across the room and striking the stained glass depiction of his first defeat, scaring further the trembling minion. “Weird, that never happened before. Anyway, tell me, Chrysalis: Are Manticores fierce enough?”

After Twilight drought herself up, she fell asleep in one of the couch. Princess Luna called the other five near the fireplace in order to let her sleep at peace. All the other have recovered as they could, Pinkie’s hair was again frizzled, but she was still serious… sort of; while Rainbow was regretting having punched the hard wall of the chamber. Luna ascertained everybody was fine before glancing again at the girl resting her mind on the other side of the room. “I can understand perfectly how Twilight feels right now, though I never came to know Celestia the way she did, so it is only natural that her hurt is deeper.

“My Sister was a great pony, with a greater heart and valor. It pains me to request you this, but we must hold up our grief for now. Her intervention on that spell was meant to change its results, thanks to that we haven’t become changelings, but turned into humans and maintained our pony abilities of magic, flying and strength.” said while pointing at Rarity, Rainbow and Applejack respectively. “She gave us another chance to defend us from this new threat. We cannot waste it.” She waited until all five girls nodded in understanding. “It also had an effect on Equestria history, as everybody now remember their whole lives as if they lived them as humans, and every document has replaced the term ‘pony’ with ‘human’.”

“That’s why Applebloom didn’t believe me when I said we were ponies!”

“Correct, Applejack. It also allowed everyone to know what a human is and to easily adapt at this new form. You six and I remember because we bore at least once the Elements of Harmony. That is also the reason why I called all you here.” Her face turned away to the top of the fireplace, as a dark blue staff with a crescent moon at its end appeared on her hand. The staff lit up and from the largest face cut of the wall emerged a silver book with golden borders and a cylindrical spine with golden knobs on each end. The royal crest, a crescent moon eclipsing an eight pointed sun, was emblazoned on its rear face, while a stylized lightning symbol that none of them had seen before was on the front of the text.

All the teenagers looked with curiosity the textbook as it landed on Luna’s grasp. “Long time ago, a powerful wizard named Zordon came over Equestria, short after the beginning of our reign. He told us stories of his travels, and about his constant battle with the forces of darkness. He was amazed by our kingdom and the level of peace and harmony we had achieved, but could not stop to notice that evil and malice existed in our land. Fearing that this evil would one day be too great for us to handle, and wishing to do something to help Equestria when most needed, before leaving he created the Crystal Chamber and left with instructions of sealing the chamber, while leaving inside the greatest source of power on our world, in this case: The Fire of Friendship.” she motioned at the purple flame burning in front of them.

“Wait, princess. Are you trying to say that this fire is the same one from the Hearth’s Warming pageant?”

“Yes Rarity, this is the same flame ignited by Clover the Clever the day Equestria was founded, and from which the Elements of Harmony were first forged, and up to this day, it still burns.”

“Wow, then it must be like the most powerful thing all over Equestria!”

“That’s just what she said!” putted Rainbow Dash, still rubbing her hand.

“Oh, right!” The party girl giggled a little.

“We left the fire inside the chamber, with the promise that it will open by its own when it was required. This is the moment. During his staying, Zordon studied the fire, along with the Elements and Equestrian magic and culture, altogether with his own science, and I believe he found a way to transmit and adapt his legacy to us. This legacy is one that speaks of a group of remarkable individuals, who harnessed the Power to protect the worlds, and even the whole universe, from the evil that threatens it. This team was known as The Power Rangers.” She opened the book with her telekinesis, pages started to pass slowly. None of the other young women around it could make any of its content, except for depictions of masked warriors, a variety of arsenals and illustrations of gigantic creatures, comparable in size with a full grown dragon, even bigger. “This book is a detailed report of his findings, explaining how to convert the source of Power from our world into the different forms to wield it. Your newfound abilities are just one of these forms.” said while returning the pages to the beginning and showing to the girls its contents.

PASSIVE ABILITIES:

Ghost Walk.

Strenght Boost.

Haste.

Lucky Strike.

Vanish.

Reflect Shield.

“Those six only? I thought it would have more options.”

“Actually Applejack, this part only contained the enhancing spell I sent in the envelope. The ability each of you developed took form for what you would be more capable to master based on a special trait from each of you. The list appeared afterward, to keep record of it.”

“Okay, that’s really cool and everything you want. That’s an awesome book, by the way. But why are you telling us this, Princess?”

“Rainbow, you can call me just Luna. You all can.” interrupted the Night Princess. “As for your question, I believe you all know the answer. But First, I recommend you to look at your shoulders.” They all did, each one of them was surprised by what they discovered. The Cutie Mark of each of them was shining so brightly that could be seen through the clothes covering their skin.

“Ooh, shiny!”

“For my stars!”

“Oh... my.”

“That light, my friends, is your own soul resonating with the Fire of Friendship. It appeared right after you came closer to it and the items that it is containing right now. Since you are all connected in spirit to the Elements of Harmony, it is only you who can canalize the power of harmony and the flame itself.” All the girls exchanged looks of various emotions, before looking to Luna, who has put the book away, then focused her gaze to the flame, which stuttered slightly before releasing five golden objects from it. “When I wound up here, also did the five elements. They were gravely damaged by the dark magic used on them. Fortunately, Zordon’s book said that in order to access the power, new forms must be created for them to work, purifying them once more and allowing their function even when by their own. These, are the new forms of the Elements of Harmony: The Harmonizers.”

Their respective Element of Harmony flew in front of them, though the gems now had a different color and all of them were round and the metal piece was now a bracelet rather than a necklace, with the symbols of the Sun and the Moon at each side. Each jewel Levitated in front of its owner as Luna spoke up again. “I believe that Discord didn’t replenish his powers to its full extent, so he would likely try to steal the Elements again and restore it. Giving them into your care is the best way to keep them safe, as they are now bonded to your very souls.

“Fluttershy: You are a pure and kind being, who seeks helping everyone and always forgives with little effort. You will become the Pink Ranger.” Once she finished, the pink orb in front of the surprised animal keeper disappeared in a flash as the artifact placed itself on her left wrist.

“Pinkie Pie: Happiness and joy follows you wherever you go, as well does hope and an unbeatable spirit. You are going to be the Green Ranger.” The same happened with Pinkie’s element, leaving her more confused than excited.

“Rarity: You are always willing to give away selflessness, as long it is to help others in need. You are now the Blue Ranger.” Rarity examined her bracelet with an amazed look.

“Rainbow Dash: Indeed the fastest flier around, but you are even faster to leave everything else for those that need you. You shall be the Yellow Ranger.” She accepted the princess compliment with a proud smile, then pumped her fist up in acceptance of the Harmonizer.

“And you, Applejack: Through honest and hard work you have accomplished great feats, never trying to take the easy way when it could hurt others and your heart always walks on the road of righteousness. For those reasons, I pronounce you: the Red Power Ranger, Leader of the Power Rangers: Guardians of Harmony!”

Applejack saw as the magical item hovered to her wrist and the red jewel disappeared from it, noticing also that her mark has stopped to shine, but it didn’t matter to her as she repeated the last part of Luna’s statement. “Leader? Sorry, Luna, but I am not leader. Shucks, I dun even run the farm!”

“Better question: Why Pinkie has not said anything yet about not being the ‘Pink Ranger’?”

“Because I’m the comic relief Dashie.”

“Don’t go changing the subject, you two! I mean… what about Twilight? She’s way better leader than I am. She is not going to be a Ranger too?”

“Sorry Applejack, but due to Discord’s magic, the Element of Magic has gone missing once again. After all, it’s the most elusive of the elements. Besides, even if…” She stopped her answer and looked past the cowgirl’s gaze. They all turned around to see their friend, now awake, but with a defeated look on her face.

“Even if we had it, I could not use it because I can’t in this state, right?”

“Twi!” Her friends rushed to the meeting, she received them with a small smile, begging them not to worry for her. “Are you okay sugarcube?”

“How long you’ve been awake dear?” asked Rarity.

“Yes, AJ. Thanks! And I wasn’t sleeping actually; I got just a little tired. But I got up when you started to talk about that Zordon.” After she got near the flame, she took a glance at her shoulder, noticing her star shaped mark wasn’t shining. She then turned to Luna, who gave her an understanding look, along with a sigh.

“I am afraid you are correct. You are truly a powerful magician, capable of great feats of the ancient arts, more than any other could aspire for. But right now you could not wield the Element of Magic because your spirit is wounded, and those kind of scars take time to heal completely. But they can, and yours will. As for the Element of Magic, although it tends to be very mysterious, I am positive it will return to its rightful wielder, once she is ready. Just like it did before.” She gave a warm smile to the purple haired girl in front of her, who gave a smile of her own in response.

“I also believe the same Prin... Luna. And I also agree with what you said.” She turned to the blond girl; green tiny eyes glanced everywhere looking for somewhere to hide. “Applejack, I couldn’t think of anybody more capable for this than you.”

“Well, thanks a lot Twilight!”

“Sorry Rainbow. You know it’s the truth.” The rainbow headed girl pouted before nodding in agreement. “Applejack, you are strong, trustful, dependable and determined. You’re stubborn sometimes, but a good person nevertheless. I know sometimes I work as the backbone when troubles brew, but most of the time, I would rather be more like you than myself.”

“Twilight, I...”

“Trust me. If there is anyone capable of this, it is you.” The hat wearing girl looked down a second and then to the rest of their group, only to meet glances of approval and support. The most surprising was Rainbow Dash, who walked next to her with a deadpanned face, gave a friendly punch to her friend’s shoulder and then gave the most reassuring smile she’d ever made.

Applejack found herself smiling in return, the worry she had felt dissipated and was replaced with the confidence and trust all her friends were putting on her. She looked again to Princess Luna, who was also smiling. “You can count on me, Luna”

There was a small cheer between the girls, and as the five shared a group hug, the student neared herself to Luna. “Things won’t be the same now, will they?”

“I think not, things are sure to be different from now on. But our main priority is to make sure things don’t get worse.”

“Agree.” Her eyes turned away a little, and then flashed again to the princess with a sheepish smile. “Um, it would matter if I take a look to that book?”
Luna could not do else but chuckle at the petition. Seems her thirst of knowledge keeps undaunted, that is a good sign. “Go ahead; I was hoping you would like to read it instead of me actually. I am not too much of a reader.”

Legacy of Power (3/3)

~Legacy of Power (3/3)~

“Woo hoo! Can you all believe it? We are super heroes! We are going to fly around the city, trap bad guys in the alleys, save dumb reporters. It will be so much fun! How do we get started? Huh, huh?”

After learning from the events regarding the last night, the five girls gathered at the living room in the middle of the Crystal Chamber and were discussing with various degrees of excitement their newly acquired title of "Defenders of Equestria", while Princess Luna and Twilight were sharing their own conversation.

“Pinkie Pie, as much as exciting all of this could be, I should remind you how important is this new title.” cuted Rarity after holding her hyper friend to keep jumping all around the Chamber.

“She is right Pinkie.” added Fluttershy. “We are the only ones who can now defend Equestria of... well, whatever Discord and Chrysalis are up to.”

“So that means no goofing around while doing it! Got it?”

“I know that, Dash! But we are not doing nothing, but waiting to do something.”

“Well, yeah... but... whatever. Besides, the part of ‘flying around the city’ would be a little too difficult for you three. No offense.”

“Actually” Interrupted Twilight, seating on one of the chairs with the Book of Zordon on hand. “The book says that all of you will be capable of flying while on ‘Ranger form’! As well of use some level of offensive magic and extra strength.”

“What!?” yelled Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy at the idea of a flying Pinkie.

“Cool!” cheered Pinkie Pie at the idea of flying.

The orange dressed girl sought quickly to change the subject. “Say Twi. What else says about this Ranger form?”

Twilight beamed slightly as she started to share her knowledge with them. “It is fascinating! It says that the Ranger form is basically a magic armor that protects the user from powerful attacks after ‘Morphing’. It also allows access to the abilities I’ve mentioned, as well to general and particular arsenal for each Ranger.” She opened the book to show some kind of magic wand, that looked more like a short sword, with a metal handle and circular guard with five gemstones embedded to it, clockwise: pink, blue, red, yellow and green, the title reading “Cast-Blades”. Twilight however was reading a different entry of that section. “It says that ‘each individual’s weapons can be brought together for an ultimate attack’. I think it is to be used only as a last resort.”

“Well.” started Fluttershy. “I guess that is important... I can’t imagine the damage we could do if we are not cautious!”

“Right. Luckily, as I said you can also use magic. I guess it wouldn’t be too difficult to transport the enemy out of cities with the extra power.”

“Welp, I reckon that’ll come in handy.” stated Applejack.

“Most certainly, it would be truly disastrous if we end up doing more damage than the one trying to prevent. What would think everybody of us?” said Rarity.

“Oh my gosh! We forgot about everybody else. Once they found out we are the Power Rangers, they’ll be treating us different. Doing us favors and following us all around!” stammered Fluttershy, starting to hyperventilate for the idea becoming famous... again. While Rainbow started to grin for exactly the same reason.

“Actually, for that very reason, none of you should never reveal your identities.” started Luna. “It was a direct warning from Zordon, which Celestia and I agreed. Should any of you try to get an advantage from your new status, or use your powers for your own benefit, you will prove yourselves unworthy of it and risk losing it.” finished the blue haired woman, while the shyest of the group sighed in relief.

Applejack motioned like she was going to say something, but remained silent. Luna caught this and walked to the tallest of the girls she had gathered. “However Applejack, if keeping this secret to your family bothers you, you may inform them of this.”

She smiled at the princess reassurance. “Thank you kindly, if some sort of ‘end of the world’ thing which I have to slip away from the farm to fight it pops up over there, I reckon Granny wouldn’t mind as long as she knows where I am. She and Big Mac, and Applebloom would worry less if they knew I’m fighting there than not knowing where am I.” She paused for a second in though. “Think again, Applebloom would probably found out anyway. She is a lie-detector, you know?”

Suddenly, Philomena and Polaris started to squawk and chirp loudly, which startled everyone. Luna rushed to the birds to check on them, and then beckoned the girls to come to the flame. Once there, the fire started to swirl in a perfect ring, while a image formed in the middle of it. “Discord has started his attack!” Now they were watching Ponyville through the vision of the flame, the streets were plagued by more changelings, and with them was some kind of monster. It looked like any other changeling, but bigger and with an orange coat, a feline face with red mane, red leathery wings coming from its back and a stinger instead of an arm to its right. All the girl watched in shock at the creature, while Pinky just rubbed her ears and muttered something about the buzzing.

“What the hay is that thing?” asked Rainbow Dash. As in cue, the book on Twilight’s hand opened by itself and its pages flew until it opened on a entry that was starting to appear. “I repeat, awesome book!”

“It is a ‘Chaos-ling, a changeling transformed in appearance by chaos magic to have the strength of any object or creature. This one is called Cat-Tastrophe, a Changeling with a manticore’s strength.’ Wow, this book is really accurate.”

“Wait, if it draws power from a manticore... then what happens with the real one?” Asked Fluttershy really concerned. A passage of the book highlighted itself, prompting Twilight to continue.

“‘‘Chaos-lings are a fusion between the vessel and a changeling. However, when destroyed, the vessel will simply return to its original form completely unharmed’” Said the Twilight, calming the shy girl before continuing. “‘It is stronger than regular changelings and this kind is capable to gather negative emotions like fear and sadness, and convert them into love for the colony.’”

“So that is what Discord and Chrysalis plan now!” said Rarity. “She wants to feed on every people’s emotions in Equestria again, while their monster creates chaos and destruction, that beast.”

“Oh my goodness!” yelped again Fluttershy. “Didn’t you say Discord was weak? Because if he is... and this monster is doing a mess on Ponyville... then... then...” Stuttered, and a loud gasp came from Pinkie Pie.

“Then he will become much and much stronger every time and everything will go ‘kaput’ with chaos!”

“Welp, it won’t happen today! Not as long as we’re all here to do something!” added Applejack, looking decided at her friends. “What do you say?”

“I say, it’s time for some serious action!” said Rainbow while placing a fist on her palm

“Let’s do it!”

“Agree. Let show those brutes what are we made of!”

“Um... yes?”

“Then go ahead!” Spoke Luna. “To morph, call forth your element from your very being and place it on your Harmonizers while saying the command spell: ‘Harmony Spirits, Power up’.”

They all walked away from the flame and stood side to side in a single line. Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie traded glances before the girl in the middle spoke up. “Alright team, it’s Morphing Time!” The right mark of each started to shine.

Fluttershy spread both arms to each de. “Kind Spirit!” The flutter of butterflies on her shoulder turned into a pink light that flowed to her right hand in the form of a amethyst orb. She then brought her left hand near her chest. “…Power Up!” Plunged the jewel on the bracelet, took a neutral position as a ring of pink light raised from her feet, transforming her clothes into a pink suit and boots, with white gloves and pants and a white stripe running down her torso. A golden belt with her Harmonizer was around her waist, a sheath rested on her right hip, and she also donned a pink skirt with a white border. On the shoulders of the overall was a combination of the royal crest and the lightning symbol, just where her Cutie Mark would be and a golden rhombus adorned the top of her left chest. Light particles gathered around her head and formed a pink helmet, a grey and round mouth protector and a black visor that resembled butterfly wings in the front, white borders that extended from the top and both sides of the visor, and two elliptic patterns on each side of the upper half of the helmet. Transformation ended, a meadow appeared on the background as the Pink Ranger crossed arms in front of her chest and spread her left upward and her right bended to the side, each hand wide opened and her feet close together.

Pinkie, smiling as always, thrusted a fist forward before opening it with its palm up. “Happy Spirit!” The balloons on her shoulder turned on a green light that darted to her palm and formed the emerald orb. Clutching the element, she raised her arm while bringing the Harmonizer near her face. “Power Up!” Slammed the jewel on the socket and a suit similar to Fluttershy, albeit bright green and without skirt, appeared on her body, with a circular golden symbol on the left of the suit. So did the helmet, the top border of the mouth was concave while the visor was a ‘m’ shaped heart, making the whole facade look like a smiling face, with two round lines at the sides of it. The background turned into a rocky field, the Green Ranger jumped once before placing fist forward her while the other motioned near her body, her feet separated from each other.

Rarity raised her hand up wide open. “Gentle Spirit!” The blue light coming from the diamonds of her mark ascended into the sapphire orb appearing on her hand. “Power…” Motioned her arm to the side at the same time she raised the Harmonizer to the right shoulder, before placing the element on it. “…Up!” The sky blue suit appeared, this one with a skirt too, a golden hexagon emblazoned on her chest, as well as the helmet, which’s visor was a crown-shaped diamond with three prongs on top, while the mouth protector was simply shaped like an upside-down triangle, and on each sides were two pointed stripes engraved to it. The background was of a frozen valley, the Blue Ranger brought both hands to her left, before delivering a quick chop with her right hand and then placing them around her waist.

Rainbow snapped her fingers with her arm hanging beside her, and the lightning symbol turned into wisps of light down to her opened hand and into an orb of amber. She quickly raised her hand, releasing the jewel in mid air before… “Loyal Spirit. Power Up!”… Catching the orb with the Harmonizer. Yellow suit and helmet appeared; the former with a triangle symbol on her left chest and the later sporting a visor similar to a stylized lightning with two prongs coming upward from the two top corners, her mouth protector shaped like an arrow head pointing downward, and jagged patterns on both sides of the helmet. The Yellow Ranger appeared in the middle of the sky, giving a spinning kick before standing on a running position.

“Honest Spirit!” Applejack brought her Harmonizer in front of her, while light coming from the apples on her shoulder gathered inside her charging fist, which she punched towards the harmonizer, opening it in the last second to drop the ruby sphere on its place. “Power Up!” Her red suit appeared, with a golden square adorning it and an oval visor on her helmet with two small gaps on the top border, somehow resembling a Stetson hat, a pentagonal mouth protector, pointed toward her chin, and squared lines adorning the top sides of the helmet. In the middle of a dessert, the Red Ranger stepped forward, gave a pair of punches before adopting a battle stance.

“Whoa, that was frigging awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow.

“It definitely was. And the costumes look great also.” said Rarity.

“I guess, they are nice.” added the Fluttershy.

“Alright girls! Let’s take off.”

“Yeah! My first flight ever!” With that, Pinkie summoned a pair of green wings and rose from the floor, only to fall back after hitting the ceiling, grumbling an “Ow”.

“Just a tip: Eyes on the path” Recommended the Yellow Ranger, before summoning her own wings, now yellow in color, readying to take off. So did the rest of the team, wings appeared on their backs as they raised and flew toward the opening on the ceiling, which lead to the highest tower of the castle, and then to the outside, taking direction to Ponyville.

Back in the chamber, Luna and Twilight looked to the exit from where the Rangers just disappeared, and then motioned to the flame to watch the current events. “I think I should go too.” This surprised Luna, who glanced at her sister’s former pupil. “I mean, maybe I cannot fight with them, but I can still help by putting everybody safe back in Ponyville.” She pondered for a minute. “It is even still called Ponyville?”

“Yes, all proper names stayed the same. And you are right; Ponyville will need all the help they can get, so I am coming with you.” With that said, she teleported both of them out of the chamber and into Ponyville Main Street.

~~~~~

“Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!” screamed a blond woman in a pink summer dress and a lily on her hair, in middle of a panic attack. The flower cart where she and two other girls were hiding just seconds ago exploded, sending charred wood and flowers everywhere. People was running as fast as they could everywhere, but whenever they hide Changelings would spawn in front of them, cutting their chances of escape. All the streets of Ponyville were already plagued with changelings, all of them assaulting people and destroying everything they could. The stone houses had crumbled walls and the marketplace was a complete mess, but luckily nobody was severely hurt.

After waking up because of the racket everybody was making, Spike looked through the window to learn what all the fuss was about. “Oh snap!” Were his only words when discovered the assault that was going on in the town street. Quickly grabbed a green shirt and purple jacket and pants and proceeded to walk down the stairs. “Oh snap!” muttered again while waking both Peewee and Owlowiscious so that the two birds could escape with him, the baby phoenix hiding on his hair. “Oh snap!” repeated again after getting through the library’s door and running to the escaping crow, in direction of the Ponyville Town Hall. “Oh snap, oh snap, oh snap, oh snap, oh snap!”

In his hurry, however, couldn’t stop to notice something while passing the abandoned Sugarcube Corner, walked back in reverse to see a red wagon tied to a blue scooter next to a mantled table that was shaking inexplicable. Approaching cautiously, he grabbed the mantle, but before he could lift it, a shoe got shot at his chest, knocking him away. When he recovered his senses, he saw three somehow familiar faces, giving him back apologetic looks. “Spike! Are you okay?” squealed a girl with lavender, curly hair, green eyes and a plain white and purple dress.

“Well done Scoots!” exclaimed Applebloom, who was now wearing a yellow shirt, blue overalls and her signature bow.

“Hey! I didn’t know it was him, okay?” said the last member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, wearing an orange t-shirt and navy shorts. “Sorry buddy.” added finally.

“Sweetie? AB? Scootaloo? What are you guys doing here?”

“Trying to get our Cutie Marks for hiding” Said sarcastically Scootaloo.

“I thought you said we were going to try archery today.” commented Sweetie Belle, who was received with eye rolls from her two friends.

“Forget about it, we need to get out of here!” Snapped the green haired youngster, catching the attention of the CMC

“We know Spike. But those bugs keep coming out of nowhere.” said Applebloom.

“Yeah! I barely could lose them before getting in here. Those things are everywhere.”

“We didn’t know what to do, so we just... panicked.” said Sweetie with a sheepish smile.

“Okay, I get it. But still, we cannot stay here.” His mind was now working at impressive speed, something he kind of learned for being raised by the smartest unicorn in Ponyville, and also due to the situation that the town was under attack. “Okay, I saw everypo- everybody running to the Town Hall, that’s where we need to get. Scootaloo will drive us on the wagon. Can you with the three of us?”

The purple headed girl grinned, smelling a plan brewing up. “Sure thing.”

“Excellent! Sweetie, can you do some telekinesis?”

She looked down, kicking some dirt. “Not really. I usually get knocked back when I try to.” Cheeks were now bright pink.

“Good! That can give us a speed boost. Everybody on board!” yelled the ex-dragon. While getting on the Crusaders Mobile, he mentally patted himself in the back, he was really confident that this plan could work. After verifying that Sweetie Belle was in position, pointing a small white wand to their backs, he turned to the other girl in the wagon. “Applebloom, I need you to warn me if there comes any changelings toward us.”

“Got it!” said the youngest Apple family saluting while Owlowiscious perched on her head.

“Alright, let’s get going!” With that said, Scootaloo’s back lit up and two stubby orange wings started to make their characteristical buzz, at the same time Sweetie Belle shot out a stream of pink magic. The mobile shot out like a missile as it flew through the street at break-neck speed.

“THIS IS SO AWESOME!” Cheered their driver, while on the other hand, the magic user was screaming loudly, holding to dear life while keeping stable her “propelling spell”.

“Keep it straight! We’ll arrive soon enough!”

“Insect at Five o’clock!” Spike spun in place, finding a Changeling giving them chase just to the left of the stream. He quickly inhaled a mouthful of air, contained it for a second and exhaled a flurry of green flames that made contact on the Changeling, leaving him out of control and crashing on a pile of crates. “Spike! When did you learn to shoot your fire like that?” asked an open mouthed Applebloom.

“Long story!” simply said, before breathing fire over another foe coming from the left of the wagon. <<I should really thanks Garble for the fire breathing lessons... Or not.>> The travel continued that way, driving on a straight line, driven by both wing power and magic, with a fire breathing kid keeping incoming enemies at bay. Soon, they were able see the roof of the Town Hall.

“Arriving at the objective at T-minus twenty second!” yelled the girl on the scooter, turning her head to the passengers.

“Eyes on the road Scoots!” Screamed Applebloom, but her friend had already collided to an errant brick, making the hole mobile to suddenly stop and project the Cutie Mark Crusaders plus Spike and the two birds to the ground and into a pile of limbs and bodies. When they could separate from each other, they were surrounded by five changelings, who were pointing their spiked limb toward the children. But before any of them could get closer, the quartet started to glow on a magenta aura and floated to the Hall and out of reach of the bug-like enemies. They landed safely on the building’s porch and in front of two young women, one holding a lavender wand while the other brought out of nowhere a periwinkle staff and stepped toward the creatures.

“Thou shall not hurt these children!” shouted on a thundering voice as she pointed crescent shaped blade to the changelings and blue lightning flew from it and blasted them into nothing. She then turned to the trio of girls and Spike, her severe face turning into a look of concern. “Are you children okay?”

The CMC nodded at the Princess of the Moon, while Spike gave her a shocked look. “Princess Luna… In the middle of the day? That’s a new one. Twilight, what the hay is happening?”

“There’s no time to explain, get inside. Everybody is already in there.” She cringed in that instant, knowing that she had just said a lie, and seemed that the red haired girl took notice of this.

“Really Twilight?” Her face was a mix of inquiry and concern. “My sister is there too?” Now it was of pure worrying.

<<Geez, Applejack is right, you are a lie-detector!’ She hesitated for a second, glancing at Luna with pleading eyes. The bringer of night crouched to the youngsters, blue eyes locking to each one. “Since you will learn of it anyway, better the sooner than later.” She said, waking curiosity on the girls. Spike was also perked his pointy ears to listen to it. “Your sisters and the other bearers are going to...” Blast was heard and Luna got barred to the double doors of the entrance, knocking her unconscious. The kids hide behind the magician as she instinctively formed a dome shield around the Town Hall, protecting it from more attacks.

A twisted laugh came from the street in front of her, and walking inside a cloud of dust was the Chaos-ling, his stinger hand steaming from its tip. “Oh yeah, headshot! I’m really good at this!” It stopped after noticing the barrier. “Too bad you didn’t put that up before, isn’t it? But doesn’t matter! You are all where Cat-Tastrophe wants you to be…”

“Girls! Spike! Get inside, NOW!” They did enter through the door, but when she turned again to the monster, each perked their heads from a nearby window.

“…It is only matter of time for me to get in there and take away all that misery and sadness from those weak townsfolk. Queen Chrysalis will be very pleased. Oh changelings!” Shouted the monster, and many changelings appeared in a single burst of fire. “Take down that shield!”

<<Where are they?.>> Thought Twilight as she concentrated more magic on the shield, while not feeling tired at all, the constant blasts could easily break the shield.

Three Changelings prepared themselves to strike the shield, but instead of green blasts of fire shot at it, three beams of blue magic came downwards, disposing of the snipers at the same time. Landing between the army and the building, appeared a slender woman clad in a blue and white suit and wielding some sort of magic wand and wings of light fading on her back. “I don’t think so, punk!” said with a determined voice while sheathing her weapon.

Soon, another four women landed to either side of the first one, wearing red, yellow, green and pink suits. The changelings scrambled in confusion at their new adversaries, but the Chaos-ling stepped forward. “Who are you, bozos?”

“Gentle as a breeze; Pink Harmony Ranger!” Crossed arms in front of her chest and spread her left upward and her right bended to the side, each hand wide opened.

“Firm as a rock; Green Harmony Ranger!” Jumped once, before placing one fist forward her while the other motioned near her body.

“Pure as a diamond; Blue Harmony Ranger!” Delivering a quick chop to her right and then placing both hands around her waist.

“Fast as a storm; Yellow Harmony Ranger!” Giving a spinning kick before standing on a running position.

“Strong as a fire; Red Harmony Ranger!” Stepped forward, causing a shock wave, gave a pair of punches before adopting a battle stance. “Protectors of the Balance. Power Ranger...”

Pink and Green, one at each end of the group, placed a hand on their opposite shoulder, while driving the other outward the line, both mirroring the other. Yellow and Blue kneeled forward while pointing both hands to the center of the formation. And finally, the Red Ranger, standing in the middle, stretched both arms outwards. “Guardians of Harmony!” All shouted at the same time.

<<Really? When did they found time to practice that?.>> Thought Twilight after face palming.

“Power Rangers, Huh? You all look to me like a bunch of girls who are too late for Nightmare Night!” mocked the monster.

“Oh yeah? Well, you look like you are too late for your flea bath!” responded the Green Ranger, earning a laugh from the yellow one.

“Whatever!” growled Cat-Tastrophe. “I don’t care who or what are you, nobody, and I mean nobody, can meddle with the legions of Chaos without a fight!”

“We think the same of those who come around Equestria and start hurting people. But what about we take the fight somewhere else?” With that, the Red Ranger took her Cast-blade and thrusted it skyward, casting away a bright light that engulfed the team and the attackers and soon left the central square completely empty. Relieved, Twilight dispelled the barrier and took Luna inside the building, she was regaining consciousness.

“What... happened?”

“They took you off guard. Fortunately, it isn’t severe. The Rangers also arrived.” Luna lifted herself when Twilight reached to help her, but she was too dizzied for the attack and lost her balance quickly. “Majesty, you are hurt! You need to rest!”

“Perhaps. But right now, I must answer to my duty as ruler of Equestria. I have to remain strong for the kingdom, as for they will have some questions for this situation, which I’ll have to answer. Everybody in Ponyville have the right to know.”

Meanwhile, somewhere in the valley between Ponyville and Canterlot, another flash of light appeared, dropping in the Rangers and the Changeling army. Cat-Tastrophe shifted uneasy with the sudden change of scenario “What?! What did you do?”

“We just took you all away from the town so you can’t be hurting nobody else.” Said Applejack

“That’s right, Chump! This is between you and us.” Rainbow then took her battle stance, followed by the rest of the team.

“Aah! This is no good! Queen Chrysalis will have my head for sure! I’ll make you pay for interfering with her Hideousness wishes. CHANGELINGS!” More bursts of fire, and the number of changelings raised considerably, all of them ready to attack. “Destroy them!” The battalion of foes charged against the five girls, who readied themselves and rushed to meet the incoming wave. Soon, the fight was engaged.

Fluttershy found herself surrounded by six changelings, all circling her like hungry wolves. She stood in place still, shifting to each of the enemies around her. “I guess none of you want to solve this talking. Do you?” One of the insect-men jumped toward her. She quickly evaded the attack, grabbed the offender by the knee and head and thrown him past her position and to the foe across it, making both of them to collide. More changelings assaulted her, all of them whim the Pink Ranger easily dodged, deflected and returned in quick succession. One of the attackers thrusted his spiked arm toward her, but she fended the stab to her left and projected her palm square on the Changeling chin. She then readied her Cast-blade and faced the group of enemies. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’.” turned the guard of the weapon clockwise two positions so that the pink gem was aligned to the topside of the wand. Took aim of the Changelings in front of her, [Meteor Rain] but then raised the weapon skyward and shoot a barrage of pink colored beams, that flew in the air several feet before arching downwards and into its objectives, blasting all of them out. “I’m sorry for that.” simply said Fluttershy, while turning away from the explosion.

Pinkie Pie was having even less troubles fighting her opponents, one of them was engaging battle directly with her, throwing punches, kicks, stabs and chops, which she evaded, jumped, deflected and blocked respectively, she then slipped between its legs, stood up and delivered one kick on its back, knocking it out. She turned to a new opponent, ready for continuing. “Alright buddy, wanna dance?” She started to do some somersault kicks toward it and attack with a combo spinning kicks. She followed with a cartwheel attack and a handstand spin. All of the attacks connected with devastating results, She then jumped to the air and landed hands first on the changeling shoulders, she swung to its front and drove a knee to the creature chest, then went all the way up to it back and took the momentum to throw it to over her head and to another group of changelings. “Special delivery! Now, let’s see what can do this baby.” Unsheathed her Cast-blade and turned the guard two positions counter-clockwise and turned herself to the recently formed pile of foes. [Quake Blast] Thrusted the blade to the ground and almost instantly a explosion appeared from beneath the ground, sending them flying to the sky until they were lost of sight. “Don’t mess with the green.”

The Blue Ranger, however, was having more difficulties at fighting her attackers. Rarity was doing some back flips in order to dodge the attacks that were sent at her, but soon found herself between the sword and the wall when stumbled with a mountain side and was surrounded by changelings. “Hmm. You think you have an advantage over me?” They stepped closer. “Seems however, that it is on the other way.” She then reached for her right hip and drew her Cast-Blade. One of the surrounding enemies launched at her, but she swiftly countered with a swing from her blade, leaving a blue stream on its wake. She continued to fence every attacker that drew closer to connect a hit, and each of them fell like flies at the edge of the weapon. On the struggle, Rarity managed to take distance from the wall, but now changelings loomed from every direction, just like she wanted. Turned the guard so that the blue gem was on the top and when the remaining enemies lunged at her, she spun in place, blade pointed outward, [Spiral Dance] slashing the incoming enemies and taking them out in small explosions, which Rarity took to boost herself upward and land on the cliff in a graceful manner.

Much like Rarity, Rainbow fought her opponents with her Cast-Blade, but combining with some hand-to-hand combat. Taking various enemies at the same time, she would kick, slash, punch and shoot in an impressive, non-stopping combo of attacks, all while avoiding being hit by a green blast from one of the changelings. After the enemy in front of her collapsed she turned to face another one, weapon spinning in one finger. “Alright guys. Who’s next?” The three remaining Changelings suddenly took of the ground with their gaped wings, and started to fly away from the battlefield, leaving an incredulous Yellow Ranger looking at their retreat. “Oh, HAY NO!” She summoned her wings and at blinding speed, in just seconds she outran the escaping foes and kicked them square in their heads, sending them crashing to the ground again. “You think you’re fast enough to run from ‘The Dash’?” Still in the air she took her weapon and turned the guard one position counter clockwise and sheathed it again. “Think again.” She started to descend vertically to the ground and about three feet from the floor corrected her course ninety degrees, directly toward the confused changelings, who were now recovering from the previous assault. Right near two meters between she and the insect trio, Rainbow drew again her Cast-Blade, [Iron Blade] a swift movement, and she stopped behind her opponents, five seconds after a yellow streak slashed each of the Changelings and the three of them exploded in a flurry of sparks and dust.

Applejack was decimating troops at a faster pace than any other of the rangers, each of her punches sending them to the air, ground and even other Changelings, making the whole fight much easier. She rushed to one of the enemies and gave it a six-hits kick combo, back flipped, connecting another kick on the insect, landed on her knees and propelled herself forward and delivered a punch that sent the current opponent and other two behind it hurtling in place. she turned around and gave a spinning kick to the three bodies in the air, throwing them to the remaining changelings. “That’s it, time for some pest control!” Drew her Cast-Blade and made the guard to spin and stop right when the red gemstone was on the topside and aimed it to the remaining enemies. [Final Explosion] From it shot a single beam of red light and blasted away the enemies, a big explosion coming from where they were standing just seconds ago. “He. That’s what you get for fighting with- Huh?” Suddenly, a red stinger wrapped around her waist and lifted her from the ground, sending her flying through the air and crashing on a nearby rock.

At the same time, red beams were shot to the other four rangers, blasting them in the air and collapsing against each other. “Ha ha ha! You really thought that you would stop us? Nothing can! Chaos will reign and the Changeling Kingdom will take over Equestria!” Shouted Cat-Tastrophe, his twisted face contorting into a smirk as it released a deep chuckle. The Rangers were starting to recover from the attack and started to ponder on their next strategy.

“That was rather rude, if I may add.”

“Uh-huh. This guy is no fun at all!”

“He is too strong!”

“Aww! Are you going to cry? Boo-hoo.” mocked the Chaos-ling.

“Think it’s time to bring the big guns! What do you say?” Suggested Rainbow, Glancing at the girl with the red uniform

“I say it’s a good idea! Ready?”

“Ready!” After that, each one reached for the jewel on their belts and summoned their respective weapons: a pink bow, a green mallet, a blue lance, two yellow swords and red gauntlet.

“Rodeo Fist!”

“Lightning Blades!”

“Iceberg Spear!”

“Crashing Hammer!”

“Typhoon Bow!”

A new fight began between Cat-Tastrophe and the armed Rangers. The monster shot another barrage of beams from its stinger, which the girls quickly evaded, except for Pinkie Pie, who used the blast to boost herself in the air, readying her weapon for a downward strike. The Chaos-ling barely evaded the attack when it connected to the ground, but the shockwave made the ground beneath it to lift, which was enough to make it stagger and easily trip when the handle of the Hammer swept its legs, followed by a heavy blow on the Chaos-ling’s lying body. “Go!” Finally, he was swatted away it with a golf swing in crashing course with the rock wall.

When it recovered, the Blue Ranger was running toward him, spear aiming at him, when she suddenly drove the blade on the ground and leaped in the air to land a successful kick on its head, followed by three hits from Rarity’s weapon. Annoyed, Cat-Tastrophe tried to deflect one of the attacks with his claw, but to no avail since she took the impact of the move to spin the staff behind her and land a critical blow on its head. “Time for a ride!” She leaped to her back and thrusted the Spear once, then again, and again, stabbing it multiple times and covering it in ice with each blow. After inserting the blade on the ice, Rarity spun in place, dragging Cat-Tastrophe along and sending him flying again to the center of the valley.

He was met with a barrage of light-made projectiles, and saw Fluttershy aiming at him with the Typhoon Bow, preparing a small tornado to shoot it like an arrow. He was not letting himself being treated like that, so it rushed to her to cut the distance and also take her down. The Pink Ranger avoided the incoming attacks by stepping to her left, ducking and jumping over her attacker, leaving an opening on its back so she could deliver a hit with the face of the bow, stand back and shoot the wind arrow. The monster, however, ducked in the last second and the projectile flew past over his head. “Ha! You missed!”

“Would you please turn around?” Said Fluttershy, and when he did, he saw the arrow curving backward and flying again into him, this time connecting with great strength.

“Agh! I’ll make you pay for that!”

“No, you won’t!” Out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash lunged at him, delivering a vicious flurry of slashing attacks, making Cat-Tastrophe to step back with every unblockable strike, throwing him away with a crossed slash. With the Chaos-ling quite far from her, the Yellow Ranger started to swing both blades in circular motion, soon reaching a ridiculous speed of one thousand RPM, gathering electricity in every second. Now, the blades fully charged, she combined both swords into a double bladed weapon and thrown it toward Cat-Tastrophe like a buzz saw, dealing a powerful electric attack that blasted it farther. When he recovered his balance, again, he was met by a metal fist driving into his chest, then two roundhouse kicks and finished with a good ol’ smack on the top of its head. “See you later!” Applejack then covered the gauntlet on a blaze and punched the Chaos-ling on the stomach, sending him as far as the wind went.

Completely beaten, Cat-Tastrophe managed to stand up once again, but too worn out to attempt another attack. “You... You can’t defeat me! You cannot stop the Changeling Kingdom!”

“Are you hearing this guy? He talks way too much.” said Rainbow when the Rangers gathered again.

“I think it’s safe to say we can finish this fight!” announced Applejack.

“Right!”

With that said, Pinkie and Rarity each thrown their weapon in the air, each suspended for a moment before both joined by their respective handles. In that instant, both items slightly changed their appearance, the Iceberg Spear’s tip growing ten times its length and the Crashing Hammer’s head turning sideways and shrinking a little, becoming a pommel. Rainbow then sent the Lightning Blades upward and automatically flanked each side of the blue fuller, morphing into a single sharp edge and attaching to the blade. Fluttershy’s Bow hovered over the weapons’ arrangement and placed itself at the end of the blade, on which quickly shrunk in size and its limbs turned into a branched cross guard. Finally, Applejack lept to the new formed sword and grabbed the grip with her armed hand, the Rodeo Fist transforming into the D-guard. She descended to the ground with the weapon still in her grip, and landed between her friends, sword held sideways.

“Agh! This is not happening!” shouted the Chaos-ling, completely defenseless.

“Ultima Sword!” Applejack swung the blade horizontally, from left to right and a crescent, white wave shot from its wake. “Final Slash!” The energy blade struck Cat-Tastrophe on its chest and continued past him before dissipating. Sparks and lightning poured from its body as it tried to keep its balance, then he turned stiff, giving on his injuries and starting to fall on its back. The Rangers turned away and the Red one planted the Ultima Sword on the ground at the same time the remains of the Chaos-ling exploded on a humongous blast of light.

“We did it! I can’t believe we did it! Woo hoo!” started to cheer Fluttershy, completely over-excited for their victory

“Aww Yeah! That was, without a doubt, totally awesome!!” said Rainbow while high-fiving Fluttershy.

“Totally agree! We have indeed come out with as splendid performance for ‘our debut’!” said Rarity, her voice rushed by the contagious excitement her friend was showing.

“You are Right! Now Dis-alis team will think two times... no, ten times, before coming here looking for problems!

“Well done Rangers.” said a bodiless voice.

“Princess Luna? Is that you?”

“Congratulations for your first victory. For now, you can all return to Ponyville. You deserve a rest.” With that, Luna’s voice faded and the five Rangers took off back to the town to finally rest and meet with their acquaintances.

Back in Canterlot Castle. “GHAAAAAAAAAAH!” A massive column of green and black fire broke through the ceiling, as Chrysalis’ rage was unleashed.

“POWER RANGERS?! Blasted Moon Princess! If we had destroyed both her and her dumb sister when we could, we would be enjoying the destruction of Equestria right now!”

“There there, honey.” Calmly said Discord, walking in direction to his queen while taking off a fireproof suit he just donned a few seconds ago. “I share your anger, my dear. Trust me, when I say that I would take care of things faster than a cockatrice screams if I had my full power! Those little girls have proven to be more challenging than we expected. But thanks for the glorious chaos and destruction done in Ponyville, my powers have regained more strength and your changelings are even stronger thanks to the misery and sadness that Cat-Tastrophe gathered, hence, they only got half victory!” Chrysalis had regained her bearings. “See? Even if we don’t destroy those ‘Ranges of Harmony’, in the end we’ll win this little game. Besides, the next battle may not end the same as this one, because that, my dear, is one of the funny things about Chaos.” Finished with the smuggest smile he was able to do.

Chrysalis eyed her companion through her blue hair, trying to make out what impression Discord was trying to give. “I am sorry, darling. But although my feelings for you, your antics still annoys me. We should be taking this matter in serious hands and not like a game!”

“I could not be more agree.” said another male voice, coming from the main door. None of the presents could make any of its features while he walked to them, since he was covered on a perpetual darkness, it was like the little light that filtered through the windows tried to avoid this being.

“Who are you?” demanded Discord in a lordly tone. The newcomer continued quietly his procession toward the two of them. Discord didn’t noticed that the changelings on the ceiling had suddenly rushed to the nearest exit and that Chrysalis was shaking, instincts telling her of what this... thing was capable. “I don’t think you’d heard me. I said:” Discord drew both of his weapons. “Who are... Gah!” A black claw tightened around his neck and lifted him off the ground, the color of his face quickly escalating the asphyxia spectrum, both swords falling with a clanking sound.

Two red eyes shone on the creature “face” as he directed to both of them. “I wasn’t expecting you to succeed on your task to take hold of this world, but now I’m completely sure of your incompetence. For now, you two will continue to spread chaos and misery, but now you’ll answer to my orders.” said with a cold, but still potent voice stained with anger and hatred. He released his grip on the squirming body, making him collapse to the ground, and proceeded to the two thrones. The only changeling remaining in the room went to the Master of Chaos to help him get up, while trying to recover his breath, Discord asked once again.

“Who are you?”

~~~~~

Around Ponyville’s Town Hall, All its inhabitants gathered after the attack to the town, everyone finding shelter within their families and friends. Applejack stood on the farthest edge of the crowd holding little Applebloom in her arms, with Granny Smith hugging both of her granddaughters while Big Mac embraced the three of them with his strong arms, all of them relieved to see that Applejack wasn't injured. Pinkie Pie was seating on a cart with both Pound and Pumpkin Cake sleeping peacefully on her arms, while the adult Cakes were asking her where she has been all the time, which she always answered in fun amusement that she is okay. Near them, Rarity was trapped in a massive hug with her family, Sweetie Belle holding tightly to her sister while hiding tears of relief to see her safe, scene which Rarity could not help but receive with great care.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, while usually on their own, found themselves not only with each other, but also with a group of friends of both of them, conformed by Derpy and little Dinky, Lyra, Bon-Bon, Lily, Rose and Daisy, Cheerilee and some children from her class, including Scootaloo. While all of them were scattered on the crowd, Twilight was standing on the improvised stage on the Hall’s porch, or what remained of it, with only Spike by her side and Mayor Ivory Scroll on the other end of the stage. Between them, standing behind a podium, was Princess Luna, her solemn expression drawing the attention of everybody present, comprised by Pony-villians, newcomers from Canterlot City and a handful of Solar and Lunar Guards, everybody on expectancy of the incoming speech. Finally, Luna broke the silence.

“Many years ago, Equestria met their darkest day at the threat of eternal darkness. Cities were destroyed and many lives were lost. That is a memory which I carry with great pain. My sister was wise to try to hide the truth about Nightmare Moon, for it would be losing the faith that Equestria has for her... and for myself. Today however, is a day that will pain me like no other and like any other can imagine. Because for this fatidic day, war was declared to Equestria; the capital city of Canterlot has been compromised; And Princess Celestia, Co-ruler of Equestria, bringer of the day, and my Sister, has passed away. I am telling you this, because keeping the truth from you would be an insult to her memory. Unlike myself, whose banishment was due to a selfish wish that would harm other people, she left us to fulfill her wish of protecting our country from any threat.” She paused in order to regain herself. “Now, the safety of Equestria is in danger, making her worst fears a reality.

“In these dark times, however, our country must remain strong, and we must not forget what her ideals were. She could take rule of Equestria by her own during one thousand years by holding to them. I could not call myself her blood if I could not do the same. When I returned from my absence, she received me not with grudge, nor resentment, nor mistrust. Celestia received me with her Friendship.” A tear dripped over her cheek as a smile formed in her lips. “That, simple, but powerful sentiment, is the very cornerstone of our land, and the very foundation of peace, order and harmony. Friendship is what stopped the endless winter; Friendship is what saved Equestria from the reign of Chaos; Friendship is what defended all of us from the Eternal Night.

“So, as long as we are Generous and Kind to our fellows. As long we remain Truthful and Loyal to our own beliefs. And as long we always remember the Happy and Precious moments we share with each other, Harmony will over-watch this land! With that in mind, I aim to welcome all the people who seeks a shelter of peace right here in Ponyville. And for those who try to broke our peace, we can trust that they will be dealt with great haste by our new defenders, who will come to our aid when we most need it. Thank you Power Rangers! Wherever you are.”

A loud cacophony of cheers and whistles filled the main street of Ponyville after Luna’s speech ended. She was glad to see that the spirit of her people remained undaunted. <<Well, at least for one.>>

“Alright everybody new from Canterlot! ‘Massive-welcome-to-Ponyville Party’ tomorrow right here! Everyone is invited!” Announced certain party-girl through a megaphone she brought out of nowhere. Luna turned to see Twilight Sparkle, who slowly made her way to the celebration and to join with her friends.

<<She has such a wonderful spirit, Tia. Though all of what happened means to her, that doesn’t stop her from enjoying with her friends... Yes, I am aware of that, but I won’t bother them with her. In this instant, the best thing they can do is enjoy themselves. They all deserve at least that. Things will be very different from now on..>>

Author's Note

All three parts serve as the pilot episode. Had to divide it because it was too long. Hope you'll enjoy it

Past Conflicts

~Past Conflicts~

Two days after the people from Canterlot moved to Ponyville, Princess Luna set in motion a series of projects she discussed with Mayor Scroll in order to turn the little town into the sanctuary that she was envisioning for the kingdom. These plans involved a radical transformation for the village and its surroundings, the first one being the expansion of the town’s territory to a portion of the Whitetail Woods on the east of there. Although people were reluctant at first, soon they agreed that it was a necessary change, since it would mean the construction of new residential complexes for the newcomers from Canterlot. And so, construction began.

With the help of the Ponyville’s Landers, the men and women with the deepest connection to earth and plants, some of the nearest trees from the wood were uprooted and replanted further to the south, making sure that the land was appropriate for the species. At the same time, Magicians from both parties began the construction of the new section of town. Many agree that, since the new quarters were going to be exclusively for the Canterlot immigrants, the houses and general layout should remind people the appearance of the former capital, though without the same luxuries.

Also, in order to avoid conflicts between the parties, Princess Luna decided to give the old part of the town a small upgrade in terms of street conditions. Sidewalks were erected on the roads of Ponyville and many private residences received a restyling directed by Canterlot’s architects, as well as surveillance from the Royal Guard on both sectors. In the end, the whole Ponyville became a mixture of the two towns that complemented each other with their own differences, creating a whole new scenery. So far, everybody was happy with the changes and exposed with ease the principles that their now sole princess had in mind and heart while orchestrating the town’s reconfiguration.

It has been a rapid process, and by the time of two weeks, the town’s change was completely settled. Harmony and joy reined the new capital city of Equestria.

Until now.

Discord and Chrysalis had thrown another attack to the city, this one led by a Quarry Eel Chaos-ling. It had a rocky hide covering most of its body, except a scaly left leg, a red tail for an arm on its right and a nauseous eel head, with both eyes placed on the front of the flat, fish-like head and its teeth-filled maw opening on the top of it and going down the middle of its face. It was leading a small group of Changelings to wreak havoc on the Canterlot Quarters and collect the fear and despair from the fleeting inhabitants.

“Hahaha! Look how they run!” Chuckled the monster while destroying a wall with its sword-like fin and shooting some beams from its rock fist. “It’s almost too easy... Huh?” blonde woman with beige pants and grey shirt was cowering behind a fruit stand while protecting a similar haired girl caught the attention of the Chaos-ling, both noticing that they’ve been spotted. “Jo jo. Ain’t that cute? A mother and her child. Your sadness will be a delicious treat for my queen. Get ’em!” With that command, four changelings jumped from the building next to the stand and down to the helpless victims.

Then out of nowhere, a spinning object clad in electricity flew by and stroke the assaulters on its wake, making them disappear in a burst of fire, long before they could reach the woman and the girl. The flying object corrected its course and flew directly to its owner, the Yellow Harmony Ranger, who arrived flying to the scene, catching the Lightning Blades and separating them in one swift motion before landing between the stand and the Chaos-ling, giving the woman enough time to escape flying with her daughter. Soon the other four Rangers arrived from the other side of the street, each one with their Cast-blades on hand.

“Ah, Rangers! I was wondering when would you show up?”

“Why? Aren’t you happy to see us?” Asked the Green Ranger

“Or perhaps you are eager for us to kick you out of town!” shouted the Yellow Ranger in bravado, all the while switching her double swords for her Cast-blade.

“I must say that this one looks more horrid than the last one.”

“And I’ll be the last one you all will see! ‘Cuz I, Boulder-Fish, am going to end all of you. Changelings!” The rest of the invasion team regrouped and engaged battle with the Rangers.

“I’m going after the big fish!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she rushed to the Chaos-ling, only to be blocked by ten Changelings, cutting her way to Boulder-Fish.

While the rest fought Chrysalis minions, Applejack made her way through the battalion and to their leader and engaged into a hand-to-fin combat. She threw a series of spinning kicks to her opponent, which it evaded by walking backwards, making space between the two of them. It then jumped a few yards and shot a ball of snot from its open maw, which the Red Ranger promptly avoided leaping to her side, leaving the green goo to splat on the ground.

“Ugh! I gotta agree with Rares in this one. You’re pretty nasty!”

“Nice words won’t get ya nowhere with me, missy”

Inside of Applejack’s helmet, her face contorted into one of pure offense. <<I don’t know what’s worse: that it thinks I’m flirting with it, or that it called me missy!>> Nevertheless, Applejack reached for her belt and produced the Rodeo Fist in a flash of light, readying the gauntlet to punch the monster into the guts. However after she lunged at Boulder-Fish and delivered a ‘goodby-breakfast’ punch to it, she immediately retreated after seeing that it had done nothing to damage the Chaos-ling, not even a flinch nor a crack on its rock... covered... body.

“I am not as easy to break as you though, eh?” commented Boulder-Fish. Meanwhile, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy managed to dispose the Changelings they were fighting and reunited with Applejack.

“Its armor is too hard! Pinkie, you think your Hammer can be of some help?” asked Applejack while turning to the Green Ranger.

“Okie Dokie!” cheered Pinkie Pie as she readied her Crashing Hammer. Meanwhile, the Yellow Ranger was still dispatching the Changelings that were hindering her, and her patience was running short. With a flick at the handle of her Cast-blade, so the yellow gem was placed at the top side of the weapon, [Iron Blade] she delivered a single swing that cuted through every enemy around her. After all the small fry fell down, she directed her attention to Boulder-Fish with a determined stance.

She leaped from the ground and called up both wings and swords, and ascended a few meters in the air before altering her flight course in direction to the monster, oblivious of its higher defenses. Simultaneously, Pinkie started her race toward the same objective, the Crashing Hammer lingering just behind her, while the other three did their best to keep its attention from their friend. Rainbow let out a war cry, which prompted the Chaos-ling to turn around and take notice of her, as well of the green blur that just leaped on its direction.

“Uh-oh!” Almost instantly, Boulder-Fish withdrew its head, tail and leg on its rock shell and buried itself on the ground, leaving nothing but air in the place where both girls were, now inevitably, going to collide.

“Whoa!”

“Ayayayay!”

“Pinkie, Rainbow!” After they crashed with each other, the other three rushed to help them, ignoring the re-emerging Chaos-ling behind them and readying an energy blast. “You are okay?”

“Watch it!” Yelled the Pink Ranger, but it was too late. The blast landed right in front of them, sending all the Rangers flying away from the explosion. Each landed with a hard thud and tried to get on their feet while Boulder-Fish laughed at them.

“Hahaha! Oh, I’m sorry! I thought that I would fight the Power Rangers, not the Power Losers. Now, if ya excuse me, gotta go to enjoy mah victory. See ya later!” finally said while disappearing in a red flame.

After the Chaos-ling was gone, and after checking that there were no civilians anyway near, the Rangers dismissed the ranger form, the suits dissolving in many speckles of light before fading into thin air. Applejack was the first to stand, and helped Fluttershy recover herself. Then she walked to help Pinkie Pie, passing in front of Rainbow Dash completely ignoring her asking for help to get up.

“Well, thanks for the help.” Deadpanned the speedster while standing up.

“Don’t go trying to make me feel bad, Dash! It’s your fault that monster escaped in the first place.”

“My fault?” echoed Rainbow, clearly upset. “If it weren’t for Pinkie...”

“You can discuss that later!” snapped Twilight through the ‘Crystal Echo’, the channel through which anyone who is currently in the Crystal Chamber or wearing a Harmonizer can communicate between each other, much like Princess Luna can use her Telepathy to do the same. “Right now we have more important problems. Come back to the Cham... SPIKE! Stop eating the walls!”

“Aww, c’mon Twilight, it looks delicious!” Said the bodiless voice of Spike as the connection broke.

“Heh, guess it was a bad idea bringing that kid to the Chamber, Huh?” joked Rainbow, but quickly returned to her hard demeanor after noticing the stern glare of Applejack.

“We are not over yet.” added the blond woman while walking to a seemingly random door, everyone else following suit. She showed the golden bracelet on her left hand and waited for both the Harmonizer and the door shone once in a golden aura and then she turned the doorknob, opening a portal which they knew would lead them to the chamber.

~~~~~

“They crashed with each other?!” asked Discord at Boulder-Fish, who had just arrived to the throne room to give its reports about the attack to Ponyville, including each detail of its encounter with the Rangers. The master of chaos couldn't keep himself from bursting into a fit of laughs, the image of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie crashing on the same spot getting the best of him. “Oh, that must have been hilarious!”

“Yes, Lord Discord. And I’m certain that anger began to grow on the Yellow one, surely it will affect the rest of them.”

“My my. That’s just too rich! Too bad that they’ll be no longer around to... Wait... What did you said?” inquired Discord, only a small trace of concern on his voice.

“That the Yellow Ranger was especially angry by their failure, Milord, and that anger will surely be misdirected to the rest of her team, creating an imminent conflict.”

“You are saying that you had the opportunity to finish off the Power Rangers...”

“And you Let. Them. LIVE?!” bellowed the dark figure sitting on the throne on the far side of the room. The shadowy being had introduced himself as Lord Noctus, but only to give a title to be addressed with, as he eloquently stated. Discord winced at the booming voice of Noctus, stepping away from the scene in case he decided to blast the Chaos-ling, along with him.

However, another figure stepped in the scene. Chrysalis had been keeping the distance between her and Lord Noctus through most of the time, and just recently found enough courage to overcome her instincts and stop her new master from going into a rage. “Wait, Milord. I would be happy to let you destroy this incompetent creature as punishment for its mistake. But It had also proved itself useful for our goals.” said the Changeling, while doing her best to not show any sign of fear.

Noctus glared at her, making clear his interest.

“First, the Rangers could barely make any damage to it, while Boulder-Fish easily overpowered them. Also, if what it said is true, then those pesky girls should be at the verge of conflict. Their disharmony will very easy restore the Chaos magic of Discord, and perhaps we could use it for our advantage.”

Noctus remain in silence for a second humming for himself. “Hmm, yes. The Ranger’s strength comes from their unity. Like a house of cards, poke one of the cards and the whole structure comes down, yes.” He sat back on the throne before dedicating a glare to his addressees. “Very well. You’ll continue to stir on the Rangers conflict for our best interest. Also, gather all the anger from them and send it to the nesting chamber. Begone!” Finished with a wave of his black claw, ordering the three beings present to leave.

“Brilliant, my dear!” said Discord once they were out of earshot. “Making the best out of a bad situation. I wouldn’t have done it better.”

“And you didn’t! That’s why I stepped in front of... that, to save your neck!” responded the Changeling Queen, her body trembling by the fear that just caught up with her from the recent experience. “The good thing is that I had not to come up with a lie to do it.”

“You are right Chrysie. I can already feel their fighting and disharmony feeding up my powers. This is certainly a good situation. At least both of us.”

“That means I won’t get blown up?” asked the Chaos-ling, who had remained silent for most of the time. His interruption, however, only was met with an angry stare from Chrysalis.

“Yes, but only because you are still useful to us. And be sure to not make mistakes the next time, because if the Rangers don’t destroy you, I personally will turn you into dust! Now, leave!”

Boulder-Fish flinched at the outburst of his queen and retreated to another hallway of the castle. Discord, on the other hand, lingered beside Chrysalis, though he was also scared by the demonstration. “You are more aggressive than usual, darling. What’s the matter?”

Chrysalis turned her fierce green eyes toward Discord, who quickly shrunk on the spot and made appear a full body armor around him. “The ‘matter’ is that this ‘Lord Noctus’ arrives at our lair, threatens us, refuses to reveal his true identity and starts ordering us what to do like if it was his plan all along! I don’t like it.”

“Hmm. You are right. I also have my reservations about our new liege.” said Discord while rubbing his neck. “I could only assume that he is waiting to attain victory before deciding he doesn’t need us anymore. Heck, I bet he would freely admit it. That’s why we should have a backup plan.”

Chrysalis eyes widened at this claim. “You? A plan?”

“Believe me; I’m as surprised as you are.” deadpanned the spirit of chaos while wiping dust from his shoulder. “We’ll simply play along until we discover what his true intentions are and then I’ll set my plan in motion. Oh, I can’t wait to see the look on his face.”

“Care to tell me what your plan is?” asked Chrysalis, curiosity and mischief tainting her voice.

“Oh Chrysalis. What’s the point of ruining the surprise?”

The Crystal Chamber was sealed again after the Rangers first victory against the enemy two weeks ago, but not for that it was rendered inaccessible. The Chamber was actually transported to a pocket dimension by Princess Luna, and created a lock spell so that only those with the permission could enter it. That means that there was no longer a physical entry to the Chamber and that the Princess, Twilight and the Rangers can now create a portal into it using any kind of doorway. After crossing a portal, the user would emerge from one of the crystal walls like the surface of a pond and appear on the camber to attend any briefing and problem that should be discussed there.

Right now, four girls and one small dragon-boy were watching in mild surprise the verbal exchange of Rainbow Dash and Applejack about their last battle with the Chaos-ling. The discussion had started very similar to how it began back at the battlefield, but it quickly escalated to a rant between the two women of why they were right and the other was wrong, going from justified reasons, to the most immature of arguments. So far, neither Applejack nor Rainbow seemed to concede on the other’s claims.

“Where did you say Princess Luna was?” asked Rarity to the other magician of the group. Twilight turned her attention from the fight to address her friend.

“She has been very busy with the Integration project the last two weeks, and she told me there was a very important issue she had to attend later today. She is already on it, but didn’t give me any details. She just told me that it was going to be big.” answered Twilight, with a certain disdain on her voice.

Even with the positive changes that the city was experiencing, the people of Equestria was still shocked by the news of Princess Celestia’s death. But the person who was most affected was her former student, the only one apart from Princess Luna who had known Celestia like no one else. And though Twilight continued on with the support from her friends, the princess and many others, she still hadn’t released all her grief. To make matters worse, she was rendered useless to help her friends to fight back the forces of Discord and Chrysalis.

“I see.” added Rarity, dismissing her friend tone for the sake of her well being. The last thing anyone wanted is to further upset her.

“Well, if it is important... I guess it doesn’t matter that she is not around for now... but I hope she returns soon.” whispered Fluttershy from her spot.

“Yeah! She’d have already stopped those two!” added Pinkie Pie, returning everyone’s attention to the discussion.

“If you haven’t noticed yet, I was a little busy fighting a horde of Changelings! How was I supposed to know that it can travel through the ground?!” stated Rainbow.

“You couldn’t, and that’s my point! You can’t go there jumping to action and hope the best result! You need a plan, and that’s what we had before you messed all things up!”

Rainbow’s narrowed her eyes at the accusing claim. “You are still saying it is my fault? Well, who was the one who forgot to tell me about the plan in the first place? Oh that’s right, it was you!”

“I ain’t putting the fault to anybody! I’m just saying that thing would’ve come better if you just had thought of the rest of us instead of yourself.” finished Applejack, hoping to finally end this fight, but soon realizing her mistake.

Rainbow Dash looked like she had been slapped in the face. The last statement of Applejack could be interpreted in many ways, but Rainbow’s bad mood made her understand it in the wrong one. “What are you trying to say?” asked with a dangerous glare, her anger growing suddenly.

“Rainbow, sorry, I meant...”

“What?! That I’m not a good team player? Or maybe you are saying that I’m selfish?”

“Rainbow! That’s not what she meant.” interrupted Twilight.

“How could you even think that I don’t care about my friends?! Well, let me tell you something, AJ: You. Are. Wrong!!”

“STOP!” yelled Fluttershy at the top of her lungs, snapping Rainbow out of her trance-like rampage. She now took notice of two things: she was hovering in the air over Applejack, who was now on the floor. She realized then that she had pushed Applejack and that was the reason why Fluttershy had screamed.

Applejack was more surprised than angry, though she hesitated when Rainbow gave a reluctant hand to help her to get up. “Look, Dash. Ah didn't meant any of what yah said.” she started to apologize, but stopped after noticing a familiar look on Rainbow’s face, one that she’d only seen once in her life.

“You know what? Forget it. I just... agh. I need some time.” stated the speedster while turning to one of the walls of the chamber and opened a portal, disappearing through it, leaving the other five girls and the dragon boy in shock.

“Wow, what just happened?” asked Spike, breaking the silence on the chamber.

“I don’t know. She’s never been so...aggressive. What was all that about?” added Twilight.

“Think nothing of it.” cuted Applejack, turning away from the group.

“Excuse me, dear. But what Rainbow did was very unnerving. How can you tell us to think nothing of it?”

“‘Cuz I already know what’s the matter with her, Rarity.” Snapped Applejack back at the purple haired woman, her own face contorted in a frown. “It was something that happened a long time ago and I reckon she is very sensitive about it, mostly ‘cause my fault, so I promised not to talk about it ever. I’m the one who should be apologizing, not her.”

Twilight was surprised by this revelation. <<Well, if it is really that touchy of a subject, I guess her reaction was somehow justified.’

“Don’t worry Applejack! We won’t make you tell us that secret. Right girls?” asked Pinkie Pie while giving an accusingly serious look at the other three girls.

“Huh? Oh, right! Still, AJ. She shouldn’t have pushed you that way.”

“I’m okay Twi. She just needs to clear her mind, that’s all.” finished Applejack while turning to another wall of the Chamber. “Say, what about we go and check on the new part of town? See what it has?”

“Oh, I know just the place we can go to!” cheered Pinkie, and soon enough the rest of the girls and the young drake followed suit, leaving the sealed Chamber empty.

~~~~~

Meanwhile, Rainbow took off to the skies right after arriving her home to burn down her demeanor. While not much of the patient type of person, Rainbow Dash never truly gets angry at things. Annoyed, yes. Exasperated, totally. But she’d never got so angry to the point of assaulting somebody else, and less one of her friends. There was only one real thing that really got the best of her once, and while she tried with all that she had for it to not bother her, every time she was remembered of that, she became enraged and had to take it out of her chest in some way, which sadly was with Applejack this time. It hadn’t helped that before being remembered of it, she’d failed at the last battle with the Chaos-ling. <<You idiot! You had it where you wanted it, but you had to make sure that it knows it. But Pinkie and I would have crashed anyway. Guess Applejack was right..>>

She started to fly harder at the realization. She became even angrier because of it. <<No! Applejack was wrong then, and she is wrong now! What happened was an accident! I didn’t mean to hurt nobody..>> It was too much now, flying wasn’t enough to handle it. Quickly, Rainbow looked for something to which she could unload her anger. She found a solitary cloud floating on the rim of the Everfree Forest. Flyers like her had the innate ability to manipulate and interact with weather constructs like clouds; she could stand on it, use it as a bed or even as the cement for a house made of clouds.

Right now, all she needed a punching bag.

She started to viciously punch the little cumulus, discharging all her resentment against it with the full knowledge that no one would be affected by her anger. Rainbow continued to assault the cloud; punching and kicking harder and harder with each hit, feeling the rush of adrenaline wear off, along with the rage. She ended feeling very weary, but also calmer, it was then that she felt something warm on her face. Rainbow reached with a hand and was surprised to find a fresh stream of tears on her cheeks. <<I’ve been crying the whole time?!.>> “Darn it!”.

Frustrated for having let herself show such vulnerability, she proposed a last blow on the cloud, which was too mangled to get another punch and promptly emptied all of its water at once. Rainbow wiped her tears after that, but her heart skipped a beat at the sound of a surprised gasp many feet beneath her position. She slowly looked down to confirm her fears; on the road right below the empty cloud formed a small puddle of rainwater and in the middle of it was standing a dripping figure. Rainbow quickly descended to the ground to take a better look at the poor person she so unceremoniously made rain over.

Taking a closer look revealed that the person was a tall and athletic woman, of a very dark tone of skin, white and black hair that was cut short on the sides and slightly longer on the top and back of her head. She was wearing a white robe with dark grey marks over it, along with a lot of jewelry, mostly golden rings on her neck and her left arm. She also had a stone necklace depicting a coiling line, with seven triangles framing the spiral, reminding her of sunrays. She was currently checking on her bag to make sure that none of the items inside were too damaged before turning her wistful, blue eyes toward Rainbow, who wore in this instant the most apologetic face she could manage at the moment.

“Oh My Gosh! Zecora, I’m sorry!” said Rainbow after recognizing the zebra-turned-human that made her home on the Everfree Forest. The memory showed her and the others standing in the middle of a patch of blue flowers and directing harsh words to the same woman, her image shifting into that of a striped equine inside Rainbow’s mind. “I’m really sorry! I didn’t know you were there, it was an accident!” Her voice broke a little when she spoke that word. “I know! Let me help you dry yourself. Though, I hope you don’t mind a messy hair.”

Zecora however, dismissed her apology with a calm expression. “It is not your blame for this sudden downpour, mine is the fault for having chosen poor. I’ve thought of you fighting that cloud as weather training, and continued my path oblivious that it would result in raining.” She continued her speech as she drew a small bottle and opened it, a purple steam coming out from its mouth. “As for my soggy state you worry none, because this brew will have the work done.”

Before Rainbow could ask what Zecora just said, the steam from the vial directed itself around her, covering her in a purple mist. The brew seemed to be attracted to the water droplets all over Zecora, which started to evaporate at the contact with the stream. Soon enough the rosy mist dissipated in the air and the potion maker was completely dry, who was currently taking note on the amazed look on Rainbow Dash and couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

“See Rainbow Dash? The problem has been solved, without too many hands getting involved.” said in an amused tone before returning to her calm demeanor.

“Yeah, I guess you're right. That magic-potion thing was pretty cool. But still...” said Rainbow Dash while rubbing her head. “It was my fault that you got washed over. I would like to repay you for that. You just name it.” Finished, recovering a little of her bravado in her voice.

Zecora stood for a moment pondering the offer, but finally nodded as she spoke. “Perhaps what you are saying can be true. Come to my hut to see what help can you do.” Then, she led Rainbow into the forest that nobody in his right mind would think of enter. Unless you were exploring it with its sole resident.

“There you go: Two mangoes with papaya, one without sugar; Three orange-apples; and a double banana, grapefruit and jalapeño with extra sugar.” Announced Healthy Mix, a man that though he was in his golden years, had the energy and enthusiasm of a young adult, and his appearance told just as much: well combed silver hair, tanned skin, perfectly groomed beard, and an elegant, yet informal blue shirt with a white apron with a few stains of juice. He was currently delivering the first order of the day from six new clients that just arrived to his juice bar, though he already knew the girl he was attending.

“Thanks, Mr. Mix!” chirped Pinkie Pie after retrieving the plate with the six smoothies and taking a sip from the one with jalapeño, taking in delight the combination of sweet and spicy flavors. “How much will it be?” asked while searching for some bits.

“It runs for the house, Miss Pie. Think of it as a repayment for helping me last week.”

“Oh please, it was nothing.” dismissed Pinkie, while secretly accepting with pleasure the thanks from the store owner.

“I insist!” stated Mr. Mix again; making clear that he was firm with his gift.

“Okay then. Thanks again!” ended Pinkie Pie, taking the plate to the table where the rest were waiting for her. She then distributed the juices: the apple-oranges to Applejack, Twilight and Spike and the mango-papayas to Rarity and Fluttershy, who each took a sip from the straw, winced, and promptly exchanged their glasses to get their respective order. “Whoops! Sorry about that.” added sheepishly after taking their reaction.

“It’s quite alright, Pinkie. Besides, you are the one who showed this lovely local to come and visit.” said Rarity.

“Eeyup, the place is pretty fancy, but homey all the same.” added Applejack while checking the place with a critical gaze, confirming once again that her description of the local is accurate. “Nothing of what I really expected coming from Canterlot.”

“You right, Applejack. Actually, Ponyville remembers me to home right now.” started Twilight. “You know, where I used to live before moving to the castle, it was much different from the higher quarters.” said as a nostalgic smile crossed her face while looking at the new scenery of the town. Suddenly, her eyes bulged in panicked surprise as she realized something. “Oh my gosh! I haven’t seen my parents since the renovation begun! They must have waited for me to visit the whole time!”

“Aw, don’t worry Twilight.” started Spike. “You were busy the whole time with the renovation and that. It’s not like they’ll be mad at you for having completely forgot about them.” finished his effort to cheer up Twilight, which ultimately failed since she planted her face on the table, unable to handle her guilt.

Applejack, after swatting Spike with her hat, tried to comfort Twilight. “C’mon, Twi. It could be worse!”

Twilight raised her face a little. “How?”

“You could have forgotten that until they appeared at your house.”

Twilight watched the scene in her head and couldn’t help but to giggle a little. Definitely, her parents coming to the library looking for her after say: a month was far worse than her visiting after two weeks, and she was sure that her reaction in that case would have been very funny.

“Hehe, guess you're right Applejack. That would be worse.”

“See? And Spike too is kinda right. Now that the renovation thing is over, you have more time on your hands to visit your parents. You aren’t being selfish or something.” Suddenly, Applejack face went from comforting to guilty in a blink of an eye, certain memory resurging a second time that day.

“Applejack?” asked Fluttershy, noticing the cowgirl’s reaction, which in turn snapped Applejack from her stupor.

“Huh? What’s it sugarcube?” asked AJ, oblivious of her former expression.

“Applejack, dear.” started Rarity. “Please don’t play dumb with us. It is obvious that what happened in the morning is upsetting you. Would you like to tell us what exactly happened between the two of you?”

“Nuh uh!” cuted Pinkie Pie. “It is a secret between the two of them! They promised to each other not to talk about it ever, ever again! Not to any. Single. Soul!” stated the party-girl, leaning closer to Rarity with each word.

“Actually, Pinkie.” interrupted Applejack. “We’ve never promised not to talk about it. I’ve decided by myself not to mention it again so Rainbow would no longer be mad for it. Hehe, guess I always find a way to bring that up again.” said while directing a knowing smile to herself.

“AJ, you should really talk about it.” said Twilight, while avoiding the accusing glare from Pinkie. “It is okay to try and forget about past problems, but not when those problems haven’t been solved, otherwise they’ll just get bigger and worse.”

Pinkie stopped throwing knives at Twilight as realization struck. “She’s right Applejack, and you should also tell us about the secret thing that happened between you and Rainbow.” All the girls and Spike dropped their jaws at this statement. “It’s not like I want to know! But Applejack will go nuts if she keeps keeping the secret like that! Like when Twilight did the time when Fluttershy was a model!” Fluttershy shrunk on her seat while Pinkie snorted a little. “You should have seen her. She stuck her head on a potted plant!” Now it was Twilight who shrunk in embarrassment.

Applejack however, was contemplating what Pinkie told to her, finally coming to a decision. “Okay, in a nutshell: I asked Rainbow to help me, something went wrong and I blamed her for that.” stammered Applejack to her listeners without more hesitation, releasing a heavy sight after it. “Whew. I really needed get that off from my chest.”

“Yeaah. AJ, we still don’t know what happened.” said Twilight, barely making any firm statement from that confession.

“And you won’t be hearing any more of it until I get to solve things with Dash. It’s the least I can do.” At that moment, a chiming sound came from the four Harmonizers at the same time, alerting all the girls. They all left the juice bar and went to a more secluded area so they could open the Crystal Echo without drawing attention.

Applejack brought her bracelet near her face and touched the sun symbol on it. Soon enough, the voice of Princess Luna came from the metallic artifact. “Rangers.”

“We’re listening, Luna.”

“Another attack is coming to the city. Come to the Crystal Chamber at once.” Then, Twilight reached for a door and summoned her wand to cast the portal spell on it. Soon, all the six of them disappeared through the silvery surface of the gateway only to reappear inside the Chamber. Princess Luna however, was nowhere to be found inside the room.

“Luna?” asked Twilight after noticing the still empty Chamber.

“I’m sorry for my absence, I’m still attending to other businesses. Now, I need you to watch the Fire of Friendship.” said the bodiless voice of the Night Princess. Soon all the girls gathered around the flame.

“Is it Boulder-Fish again?”

“Yes Fluttershy.” answered Luna, the image of the Chaos-ling appearing in the middle of the Fire. “It is leading another destruction team to the old quarters. At this rate Discord’s powers will recover in no time. You must go and hinder his recovery. Wait. Where’s Rainbow Dash?”

Applejack looked down for a second before answering. “She’s kinda upset right now. It’s my fault Luna, I...”

“We’ll worry about it later, Applejack” interrupted Twilight. “Right now all of you have to go and stop Boulder-Fish. Me and Spike will try to communicate with Rainbow while you fend off the invasion.”

“I will try and get to the Chamber as fast as I can. This fight might be more difficult that the previous one, so be on your guard.”

Applejack hesitated for a second before nodding. “Okay Twi. Also, try to look something on the Book of Zordon that could be helpful.”

“Got it!” said Twilight as she called her magic to draw the Book from a table nearby.

“Alright. Ready Girls?”

“Ready!” The four Rangers lined up and did their respective movements to enter the Ranger Form.

“Kind Spirit. Power Up!”

“Happy Spirit. Power Up!”

“Gentle Spirit. Power Up!”

“Honest Spirit. Power Up!”

After morphing, the four Rangers took off to the opening in the ceiling and crossed another portal that led them to an area above the Everfree Forest in a flash, from where they turned to Ponyville while leaving Twilight and Spike to try and contact Rainbow Dash.

~~~~~

After a short, but tricky walk, Rainbow and Zecora arrived at the latter's hut: a small house built beneath the lifted roots of an old tree, with many masks and traditional items from Zecora’s home. Once inside, Zecora put her bag on a table and started to sort off its contents, producing bottle after bottle filled with blue liquids and many other sticky substances. “Please bring these to the shelf over there, and not to drop one you should care.” said the hermit to Rainbow Dash, motioning to the vials and glasses as she deposited them on the table.

Rainbow did as asked, transporting the bottles of valuable contents with extreme caution and putting them on the shelf as she was told, but unconsciously organizing each potion in color order. After dropping the last lot on its place, Rainbow returned to the main room to ask if there was another errand she could help with, but only found Zecora sitting on the table, her deep blue eyes locked on Dash as she motioned her hand to a chair across of her. “Um. Is there something you wanna talk about?” asked Rainbow while taking a seat.

“It is true the need of a conversation is in order, but it is not me who has a problem that bothers. As hard to hide it you might be trying, you cannot hide that your heart has been crying.”

Rainbow’s eyes turned into plates in that moment. “What? What are you saying Zecora? I’m Rainbow Dash. I never... cry...” She stopped her justification under the knowing gaze of the potion maker and finally looked away in defeat. “How did you notice?” Zecora simply raised the small bottle with the “drying goo” from before, tapping the glass with one finger.

“This can evaporate every liquid that is near, that includes water, sweat ...and tears.” said Zecora, looking intently into the rosy eyes of Rainbow, who was now regretting having assisted Everfree’s sole resident. “I know Rainbow Dash as brave and strong, who never breaks when things go wrong. Not like a failed stunt is what stirs your anger since the chance of failure is always a danger, but something that comes from the heart is what really makes it so hard?”

Rainbow started to sweat; she needed to come up with an excuse to escape from this situation. “Er... I would really like to tell you, but I need to... report to the weather patrol!” said Rainbow, only gaining a flat look from Zecora. “Get into my flight practice.” She continued to stare at her with the resilience of a rock.

“Read the new Daring Do book!”

Nothing.

“Clean my cloud-house?”

Nope.

“Feed Tank?”

Cold as ice.

“Is this some kind of mental, shaman-voodoo trick? Because it’s working.” said Rainbow, finally giving up on trying to evade the incoming talk, the last idea she could come up with was that she needed to save the world. She looked to the door once before turning to Zecora. “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, not even my friends.” Zecora just nodded and invited Rainbow to proceed.

She took a deep breath before starting. “I was helping my friends with something. I kind of rushed a little bit and things didn’t end well for us. Applejack was pissed and we both discussed, but I ended up pushing her to the floor.” She was waiting for Zecora to say something in that part, but she remained silent. “She said that I don’t think about others, and I flipped. How can she say that? I mean, I didn’t do it on purpose, I didn’t want to hurt anyone, what happened was an accident!” She stammered again, closing both fists in an effort to contain her desire to cry a second time.

“Hmm, I still don’t understand why you are so sore”. Asked Zecora. “Tell me, about this conflict is something more?”

Rainbow winced at the question, she really didn’t want to think about that and less talk about it, but Zecora wasn’t showing any signs of giving up. She looked to the ground, gathering some more courage in order to face that memory. “When I was little, right after I dropped from Flight School, besides Fluttershy, AJ was my only friend here in Ponyville. We were the best friends and did everything together; I even helped in Sweet Apple Acres back then.

“One day I got tickets for a Wonderbolts’ show I wanted to go, but I had promised Applejack to help in the farm the same day. I wanted to help with the apple bucking, but I also wanted to go to the show, so I tried to speed things up with a tornado.” She winced after seeing the surprised face of Zecora. “Yeah, I know it was a stupid idea, but I was a fi... a girl back then, so I thought it was a great idea. Applejack told me not to do it, but I had my mind set and so… I made the tornado.

“It worked at first and it picked up all the apples in almost ten seconds, but when I stopped the tornado all the apples went flying in all directions.” Rainbow’s eyes started to water and her voice turned muffled. “And one of them hitted Applebloom in the face.

“I rushed to her, see if I could do something, but before I reached her AJ tackled me and soon both started to fight. I didn’t know why she did that, I was too angry to think about it, not to mention that I was trying not to get beaten up. It wasn’t until her brother divided us that she...” The dam broke. Rainbow started to cry heavily when the full memory resurged in her mind.

*****

Both she and Applejack were rolling on the grass while trying to punch each other. At the same time, the pained wail of a baby Applebloom was filling the air of the farm as the two girls struggled with each other.

“What in tarnation is going on!?” shouted Big Macintosh as he got both of the girls from the floor and broke up the fight.

“I hate you!” Yelled Applejack, her face full of tears. “I hate you! I told you not to, but you did it anyway. You hurt my baby sister. You only think on yourself! You selfish idiot!” She continued to cry at the same time she tried to steal a punch from Rainbow, but she didn’t try to fight back, her anger was replaced with utter confusion and a strange mix of guilt and sadness.

She remained in that state during the travel to the clinic, during the examination and when her parents came back to pick her up. Of course she would miss the show now, whether there’s still time or not, but she didn’t wanted to go anymore. She listened intently when both her own mother and Granny Smith scolded both of them, the only thing she was able to say being “I’m sorry”.

After they were left alone, Rainbow tried to apologize with Applejack for all that happened, but she only turned away from her, ignoring all her pleas and apologies. The only time Applejack turned to look at her; she shot Rainbow with a venomous glare and then walked away from her. When she returned to her home, she went to her room and cried the whole night.

*****

“We didn’t see or speak with each other for-like-a year after that.” ended Rainbow Dash, tears running freely down her face. There was a long silence in the room, only interrupted by the sound of a random bird singing on the forest outside. Finally, Zecora leaned forward and offered Rainbow piece of fabric to wipe her tears while she spoke.

“Scratches and bruises are nothing for a demon of speed, but the scars made by harsh words are certainly more deep. I cannot imagine how you must resent that day; Applejack’s anger must have been the other way.”

“What?” started Rainbow, looking up from the table. “No! I mean, we were both kids. She didn’t know better what she was doing than I did. I don’t blame her for the fight but... I still can’t believe today she called me selfish again.” said while crossing her arms on her chest and looking away once again.

“Very outrageous this is indeed, to bring forth such a subject. Why would Applejack repeat that claim without another object?”

Rainbow furrowed her eyebrows and looked again at Zecora, placing both hands on the table. “Now wait, she only said that today because it fitted to the situation, not to remember me of what happened back then! Actually...” Rainbow paused as realization struck. “She was apologizing to me for that.” She looked at Zecora, who was giving her a knowing smile.

“You said that none of you spoke to the other for a year, then what happened so that you two wanted again to be near?”

Rainbow found herself returning the smile to Zecora, at the same time she remembered what happened the day after that year. “A year after the incident, I bumped with Applejack in the street. I didn’t want to fight so I tried to apologize again, but she just smiled after seeing me and invited me to play at the farm.” She snickered while imagining what her own face must have looked like. “I was surprised she didn’t say anything about the incident, and less that she wanted us to be friends again. I didn’t care and just rolled with it.”

“I’ve heard all you just said, and now I’m completely confused.” started the potion maker, playfully scratching the top of her head. “That angry at your friend again is what I’ve assumed. But it seem that this rage has no real fundament, so why bothering on forgotten statements?”

Rainbow’s smile grew bigger as a small snicker escaped her mouth. “You’re right Zecora, I shouldn’t feel bad for what happened back then if Applejack is willing to forget about it. I mean, friends can always forgive each other, no matter what happens.”

Zecora nodded as she spoke in a reassuring tone. “What you speak is the truth, better said I could not do.” Rainbow was going to add another thing, but a chiming sound distracted her, and before she could say anything, Zecora cuted in. “Now, your work here is now done. There is something that I need to do alone. You can freely go home.”

Rainbow nodded, got up from her seat and walked to the door, but before leaving the hut she turned around to address Zecora one last time. “Thanks for the talk.” she then exited the door and soon flew through the forest canopy and into the air. She brought her Harmonizer near her face and answered the call she received seconds ago. “I’m listening.”

“Rainbow? Thank goodness I found you!” Said Twilight through the Echo. “Boulder-Fish is the old quarters! The others are already there.”

“Okay Twi. I’m on my way!” With that she directed herself to the general direction of Ponyville and disappeared in a blur of speed.

~~~~~

In the small hut located in the forest, Zecora was taking more items from her bag, finally bringing out a small box with runic symbols embedded all over it. “I hope she didn’t give you a hard time, Zecora.”

She turned around, a little surprised by the sudden appearance of Princess Luna, who was seated in the same chair Rainbow was moments before. “It was not problem at all, Princess of the moon. Though I’m only sorry that I could not attend you more soon. But now we can proceed without a hitch...” She paused after noticing a small yellow glow escaping the box’s grove, near one of its corners. “And I can tell very eager are each.”

“They are already responding? That’s amazing, after all this years.” commented Luna with eyes full of wonder at the wooden box.

“These ancients can hardly forget their masters, the passing of eons makes no matter. I hope that in this request you are right, that they will need the Guardians’ might”

“Believe me, ‘better be safe than sorry’. The Rangers might need their help in any moment.”

In that moment, the four Rangers would welcome any help. After intercepting the Chaos-ling on the outskirts of town, Applejack tried to pull out her plan of distracting the monster while Pinkie sneaked behind it to blow him with the Crashing Hammer. The tactic worked this time, except that it didn’t. Boulder-Fish’s rock armor didn’t suffer a scratch, and he easily knocked the Green Ranger a few yards with its giant fist. Next, Rarity and Fluttershy improvised a combined attack; the former would slash him with her Spear in a swift swing freezing it instantly while Fluttershy shot a flurry of light arrows at him. That only managed to anger Boulder Fish, who quickly shot two beams from it finned arm at both girls, sending them flying toward Pinkie Pie, who was just recovering from the last assault.

“Aw, C’mon!” yelled Pinkie before the Pink and Blue Ranger fell on her. Soon, the three Rangers were standing up again as Applejack joined. “Not this again.”

“How in heavens are we gonna defeat his brute?”

“Don’t know Rarity. It has to have a weak spot!” said Applejack.

“How you doing over there?” shouted Boulder Fish. “Ready to give up?”

“Never!” answered Applejack.

“That’s not what I wanted to hear! Oh well, guess I’ll have to use my new little trick to change up your mind.” Said the Chaos-ling at the same time he withdrew his non protected limbs and started to spin at high speed and sliding to their position all the same. Its body had become a deadly screwdriver and it hitted all the girls several times, dealing a lot of damage to them.

/\/\/\

“Ha ha! Look at how he beats them up.” cheered Discord while watching the battle on an old movie projector in the throne room, which was funnily being projected from the head of a Changeling soldier. “Where is your magic of friendship now?”

Chrysalis stepped besides the Master of Chaos to better enjoy the fight, an unfitting giggle escaping her lips. “Indeed they are nothing compared to our true power. Soon the Power Rangers will be no more.”

“Yes.” hissed Noctus from his throne. “With those four out of the way, the Yellow one will have no chance. Victory will soon be mine, provided no one messes up this time.”

Discord stepped toward Noctus waving his armored hand. “You don’t have to worry this time, Milord.” Then turned away and muttered for himself as he resumed watching the show. “Not yet.”

\/\/\/

The girls fell to the ground and loosed their transformation at the same time, leaving them defenseless as the eel Chaos-ling chuckled for himself. “He he, this have been a lot of fun, Rangers. Unfortunately for you, I have orders to finish you off when I have the chance. But I won’t take all the fun away from my siblings.” said as a swarm of Changelings appeared in a burst of fire.

Pinkie watched in horror as she gulped. “I-I don’t like where this is going.”

“Me neither!” squealed Fluttershy besides her, shaking in utmost terror.

“Destroy them!” bellowed Boulder Fish, followed by six Changelings rushing to the girls.

“Whew! That’s what he... Wait!” realized Pinkie at the same time the insect minions lunged over them. Suddenly, the air shifted and the six Changelings were knocked back by six simultaneous kicks to their chest by a blurry figure. After the monsters were disposed, the six afterimages joined in one and turned into Rainbow Dash, who helped each of her friends to stand up.

/\/\/\

“What? Where did she come from?” asked an astonished Discord.

Lord Noctus growled behind him. “No! You said she would not interfere! You two better not fail me again.”

“This fight is not over yet, M-milord.” stuttered Chrysalis under Noctus glare. “They still cannot damage Boulder Fish. We can still win.”

“You better hope! Or I’ll take matters in my own claws!”

\/\/\/

“Where did you come from?” Asked Boulder Fish, but he went unanswered while the five girls had their encounter. Rainbow finished lifting up Applejack, who looked at her with an apologetic smile.

“Thanks Dash. Look I...”

“Yeah yeah, I’m also happy to see me here. What about talk later, save Equestria now?” cuted Rainbow while turning to face the swarm of enemies. “We’ve got a plan or what?”

“We already tried everything we could, Rainbow.” said Rarity. “None of our weapons could even make him tickles.”

“Oh. So we’re pretty much doomed!” sarcastically said Rainbow. Meanwhile, Applejack was opening the Crystal Echo.

“Twi. Any luck with the Book?”

“Actually: Yes...”

/\/\/\

Twilight was holding the Book of Zordon on a page that depicted an intricate chart of crossed entries. On the horizontal entries were images of the Rangers’ symbols and the color of each Ranger on the vertical ones. On the squares where the symbol corresponded with the color were their respective weapon, while the rest of the crosses were currently blank.

“... The book says that you can exchange your weapons between all of you to unlock new power.”

“What kind of power?” Asked Rainbow through the Echo.

“I don’t know.” answered Twilight. “Guess there’s only one way to find out”

\/\/\/

“Got it!” said Applejack, readying herself along with the other girls. “What do you say if we give it another call?”

“I’m with you!” said Rainbow. “Ready?”

“Ready! Harmony Spirits. Power Up!”

The Changelings and Boulder Fish watched in surprise as the Rangers reappeared before them. “No! How’s that possible?”

“Gentle as a breeze, Pink Harmony Ranger!”

“Firm as a rock, Green Harmony Ranger!”

“Pure as a diamond, Blue Harmony Ranger!”

“Fast as a storm, Yellow Harmony Ranger!”

“Strong as a fire, Red Harmony Ranger! Protectors of the Balance. Power Rangers!”

The five Rangers did their respective pose as they shouted as one. “Guardians of Harmony!”

“That’s not fair! I almost have them! Changelings, destroy them!” Shouted Boulder Fish as he and the Changeling army charged at the girls.

“Alright team; let’s try this Weapon-Swap thing.” said Applejack, bringing forth the Rodeo Fist. The other four girls did the same and all five Rangers thrown each weapon to the air, where they all turned into light and flew straight to another Ranger. The Blue, Red and Yellow lights went to Rainbow, Rarity and Applejack respectively while the Pink and Green ones traded owners. When they all catched the wisps of light, they turned into a red broadsword, two yellow tiger-claws, a blue mace, a green blaster and… a pink whirling top?

“Magma Sword!”

“Silver Claws!”

“Tundra Mace!”

“Big-Bang Cannon!”

“Hurricane Spinner!”

They met the incoming attackers wielding their new weapons. Rarity swung her Mace at one Changeling, which made him stumble backwards before she delivered another strike at it. Several Changelings neared to her from the back, but in a single motion battered all of them with the heavy head of the Tundra Mace. “Alright, you are quite helpful. Let’s see what else you can do.” muttered the Blue Ranger to her weapon before spinning the Mace around her and rushing at a group of enemies, the blunt weapon striking them from every angle and making them fall on her wake. Once she crossed the crowd, Rarity struck a victorious pose as she turned to contemplate the finished work.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was currently running from a horde of enemies, evading beans as she rushed to a nearby rock with the group of Changelings close behind. She turned around one side of the rock, while the Changelings stepped on both sides of it in order to trap… nothing. “Yoohoo!” came a mellow voice from behind another rock and the Changelings watched dumbfounded as the Green Ranger appeared from behind the rock with the Big-Bang Cannon in hand. “Say hello to my little friend!” said Pinkie before shooting a barrage of beams that hitted every one of the Changelings. Enjoying her victory, Pinkie didn’t notice the three enemies that were aiming at her. However [Quake Blast], the Changelings lost their sight when a blue explosion appeared from the floor before them, instantly alerting Pinkie from them.

“Would you like my assistance?” asked Rarity while drawing her Cast-Blade from the ground and readying the Mace again.

“Sure. I own you one.” added Pinkie while preparing her Cannon. At the same time Rarity kneeled and putted the staff of the Mace on her shoulder with the head pointing at the Changelings she had just knocked out, energy gathering around each weapon before shooting a red and pink blast at the Changelings, making them disappear in a great explosion while they both turned away from it.

“How does this thing work!?” Yelled Fluttershy, trying to decipher the Spinner while evading the attacks that were thrown at her, managing to block many of them with the top-like weapon using both hands, but so far she hadn’t been able to take any of the foes. One of the Changelings hit her particularly hard, making Fluttershy drop the Spinner to the ground, where it swayed for a second before starting to spin with a high pitched sound.

Fluttershy however didn’t noticed until after she was thrown away with another attack of the Changeling, there she saw the weapon spinning in one place between the Changelings, one of which kicked the Spinner out of curiosity, prompting the weapon to shoot itself to the first Changeling, making it trip as the Spinner continued its trip before stopping in front of the Pink Ranger. “Oh, so that’s how it works.” said before taking again the green top and throwing it to the rest of the foes, immediately starting to spin when it touched the ground and ricocheted to the Changelings, hitting each and every single one of them, before hurling back to its owner.

Boulder Fish fought both the Yellow and Red Rangers, who tagged along to defeat the Chaos-ling with their new weapons. Applejack and Rainbow leaped to the air raising the Sword and one Claw over their heads to slash Boulder Fish, who fended the attack with its rock fist and struck both Rangers with its sharpened fin, sending the two girls stumbling back several feet before they could recover from the attack. “He he he! Seems that your new toys are still no rival for me!” laughed Boulder Fish.

“Are you kidding? This guy is way too though!”

“I know Rainbow! We need to think on something, fast!” shouted Applejack over the battle. “Fast.” Repeated to herself as an idea bloomed on her head.

Rainbow turned to look at her friend, her voice gaining a complicit tone. “You think the same as I think?”

“You betcha!” Said Applejack as both of them jumped from the ground and called their wings, ascending to the sky until the Chaos-ling was many meters beneath them.

“What? Nobody told me you could fly!” yelled the monster at the two airborne opponents. Back at the Castle, Discord drove his palm though his face.

“You think you can handle it?” joked Rainbow to Applejack. “I can do it alone if you don’t mind.”

“Keep dreaming.” said Applejack before both girls dived in direction of Boulder Fish at high speed, readying their weapons. They swooped at him several times, each slash managed to cut off some chunks of his rock body and weakening him.

“Aahh! This is no good! I gotta go gather more rocks!” stammered Boulder Fish before withdrawing himself again and burrowing to the ground.

“He’s escaping!” shouted Rainbow after ascending again.

“Not if we can help it!” said Applejack and without a warning grabbed Rainbow by her shoulder and thrown her like a hammer in direction of the shifting soil. Rainbow recovered from her surprise and started to spin like a corkscrew while pointing the Silver Claws towards. She disappeared through the hole and seconds later Boulder Fish got expelled from it with Rainbow following him in the air, spinning again with the claws extended to her sides and furiously slashing through more of his hide, only for the Red Ranger to deliver a downward slash with the Magma Sword, taking the rest of the armor at once in a fiery explosion, revealing its weak and scaled body.

Boulder Fish fell to the ground at the same time the Red and Yellow Rangers landed. “What was the big idea throwing me like that?!” yelled Rainbow while the rest joined after eliminating the rest of the invasion. “You had luck I catched the gist at the last second! What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking on a more direct approach. You would have done the same.”

“Yeah, but... my point is... that’s not...” tried Rainbow to say many times before giving up and shoving a playful punch to Applejack. “Warn me next time.”

“Agh! You still haven’t won! I can still beat you all!” bellowed the Chaos-ling, holding a scaly hand against its chest.

“I’m sorry to say this, but he is right girls.” Commented Rarity as they all turned to Boulder Fish.

“That’s right. Let's finish this!” Said Applejack as she thrown the Magma Sword to the air, the others doing the same. After that, all the weapons returned to their original form and then combined into the Ultima Sword, which the Red Ranger jumped in over to catch before landing between the rest of the team. “Would you like to do the honors?” offered to Rainbow.

“Oh yeah!” answered the Yellow Ranger before taking the weapon and switching places with Applejack. “Alright, Ultima Sword!”

“No, wait!”

“Final Slash!”

The crescent beam shot past Boulder Fish, striking it in the middle of it as sparks and energy escaped its body before falling to the ground and releasing a big explosion. The Rangers turned away, each holding their own weapon as another blast produced behind them.

/\/\/\

In Canterlot Castle, Discord was slowly turning to it back after Boulder Fish was turned into nothing to see Lord Noctus starting to emit a dark aura from its shadowy body. “Now, Master. I know you must be furious at this, but let’s try to be rational here...”

“Silence! This battle is not over!” snarled Noctus before standing from his throne and unleashing a mighty roar as red lightning escaped from its hands.

\/\/\/

Back at the battlefield, the Rangers jumped after hearing a beastly roar. There, they beheld as the skies darkened briefly and two red eyes shot lightning bolts where a second ago stood the defeated Chaos-ling, only for it to reappear again and swelling in size with each magical blast. Soon, they were facing a regenerated Boulder Fish, but now with a size that could dwarf an ursa. “Ha ha ha! Sweetie, I’m home!”

“What in Tarnations?!”

“How could have he survive the Final Slash?” asked Rarity while taking a step back.

“Forget about that! How did he got so big?” added Pinkie Pie.

“Ho ho, you all look like little ants down there.” joked Boulder Fish as he lifted a foot and tried to stomp on the Rangers, who barely escaped the giant’s step.

“Hey! Nobody stomps on my friends!” shouted Rainbow. Right after she took off the ground to attack the gargantuan monster.

“Rainbow, wait!” Exclaimed Applejack, but Rainbow had already reached Boulder Fish face, who promptly swatted the Yellow Ranger like if she were a fly. She crashed on the ground near the other four girls. “Tried to warn you.”

Rainbow winced a little as she tried to stand up. “Ouch. Yeah, I guess this needs other type of approach. Any ideas?”

“Do not worry Rangers. Help is on its way.”

The Rangers reached for their Harmonizers to open the Crystal Echo. “Luna? Is that you?”

/\/\/\

“Yes, Applejack. I’ve already arrived at the Chamber. Twilight has just filled me in the situation.”

“Luna, how are they going to defeat Boulder Fish now? It is huge!” asked Twilight, her voice full of concern.

“I believe the answer should reveal itself right...”

\/\/\/

“...Now!” As if on cue, five orbs of light appeared on the horizon and flew in direction of the giant Chaos-ling.

“What in Tartarus are those?” asked Boulder Fish. Suddenly, the red light shot at high speed and charged against him, followed by the other four orbs which then turned and rammed toward it in one single blow, throwing him of his feet.

“Wow!” mused Applejack from the ground. The others also expressed their amusement in their own way.

“That was awesome!” added Rainbow. The five orbs suddenly descended near to them and started to hover around each of the Rangers.

“Princess, what are these?” asked Applejack through the Echo.

/\/\/\

“These are Espers, magical creatures born from one of the elements of nature. They were created to aid those who possess the power of the elements.

“Ifrit, the bearer of the flame: your word is his command and truth, Applejack.

“The judge of thunder, Ramuh: he will always fight on your side, Rainbow Dash.

“Rarity, you will find that Shiva, the mistress of ice, is a very valuable ally.

“Titan, the protector of earth: a playful and kind soul, much like yourself, Pinkie Pie.

“And Zephyr, bringer of winds: she will always aid you, Fluttershy.

“They will help you to fight this monster. Call them by their name to acknowledge your bond with your Esper, they’ll undergo a transformation much like the elements did. Do it and unleash their full power as your new Zords!”

\/\/\/

“Alright Luna. Let’s do it girls!”

“Right!”

Fluttershy held her orb in both hands and released to the air. “Go, Zephyr!” Ventus Amica. The sphere shot upwards, creating a wind vortex inside of which the light morphed into a bird-like form. The Pink Ranger jumped into the figure; afterward the tornado disappeared revealing a giant pink sparrow, with golden accents and silvery parts on its face, talons and wings, which opened on either side of Zephyr like a pair of blades.

Pinkie Pie grabbed her orb and started to spin her arm to build up speed. “Go, Titan!” Terris Euphoria. She thrown the Esper, which reached a halt before forming a sandstorm that carried rocks and debris, the light transforming inside of it. Pinkie leaped into the storm before it stopped and let fall all the debris and revealing a green bear, who promptly reared in two paws and produced from a panel in its back a unicycle, he rode once on it before returning on all four.

The Blue Ranger held her orb in one hand and kissed it through her helmet before releasing it. “Go, Shiva!” Glacius Donum. A massive blizzard started to form around the Esper, which was also changing form. After Rarity entered the core of the hail storm, it dismissed to reveal a blue panther, releasing small specs of frost from her body as she let out a roar.

Rainbow held her Esper in one hand near the opposite side of her head. “Go, Ramuh!” Brontus Fidelitas. She thrown the orb to the cloud covered sky, which started to ripple with thunder. Rainbow Dash leapt to the thunderstorm, from which emerged a yellow hawk, who resembled Zephyr in every way except for the jagged edges of its wide wings and tail and its more angular head.

Finally, the Red Ranger gripped the red orb high in one hand before throwing it to the floor beneath her. “Go, Ifrit!” Ignis Veritas. A fire tornado erupted in the spot, with Applejack in the middle of it. The figure inside stepped out of the inferno and revealed itself to be a giant red bull, with golden horns and exhaling fire from its nostrils.

After finishing the summoning, all the Rangers found themselves inside a white cabin, completely empty except for themselves and a crystal altar with many smaller shards with the same color as their Ranger Form floating in front of them, the whole artifact projecting an image of what the Esper is watching. Outside, the Zords had arranged beside each other in front of Boulder Fish, who had now recovered from the previous assault.

“Wow!” mused Rainbow inside the cabin, tanking on the interior of it. “What is this place?”

“We must be inside the Zords, from here it would be easier to command them.” commented Rarity.

“Cool! I’ve never been inside somebody else’s head before!” said Pinkie, watching intently at every detail of the small space.

“I hope you don’t mind me here, Zephyr.” said Fluttershy, who was answered with a small chirp from the sparrow-like Zord.

“So you got more toys!” shouted the giant Chaos-ling standing in front of them. “Well, that won’t be enough to defeat the new and improved me!”

“What do you say buddy?” said Applejack while placing both hands on the crystal panel in front of her. “Can we prove him wrong?” She was answered by the stomping hoof of Ifrit on the ground as he released a bellow from his own. “I thought you’d agree.” Right after, Ifrit charged forward and leaning his head down, pointing both horns at the Chaos-ling as he flared ember from all his body. Boulder Fish noticed the assault too late and was hitted square on its chest; getting trapped between the two prongs and now was being dragged around while being burned by the Bull Zord. “Let’s give him a little ride!” Commanded Applejack along with a flick of her wrist and Ifrit responded by leaning backwards, sending Boulder Fish hurtling to the air.

“Gotcha!” Ramuh had shot himself to catch the monster in mid air and started to fly higher while holding Boulder Fish with his metal talons.

“Agh! Let me go, you big chicken!” yelled Boulder Fish.

“Okay! If you say so.” said Rainbow, removing her hands from the panel and prompting Ramuh to release his grip.

“No wait! Aaaaaaaahhhhh...”

“Whoops! Let’s help him get down faster!” added while resuming her hold on the controls. Ramuh spread both wings and shoot lightning bolts surging from them, which struck Boulder Fish on its back and pushed him faster to the ground.

However, a blue blur rushed to him and started to bite him furiously before jumping away the moment before he reached the ground. Shiva landed graciously near Boulder Fish and started to walk around him. “Stupid cat! I’ll make you pay for that!” shouted the monster before releasing a salvo of green blobs from its mouth.

The Panther Zord simply crouched and stepped aside to avoid the disgusting projectiles. “Ugh. I think he needs to learn good manners!” commented Rarity as she toyed with some of the blue gems from her controller. Shiva started to gather energy around her maw and shot a blue bean from it, which connected to the ground beneath Boulder Fish, freezing it from feet to waist.

“Okay Titan! It’s our turn!” said Pinkie at the same time her Bear Zord reared and brought his unicycle again and rolled toward the frozen Boulder Fish. He passed once sweeping one of his claws and again, and repeated it other four times before jumping in the air doing a front flip and falling on his rear, creating a shockwave that broke the ice and sent Boulder Fish flailing to the ground.

He stood up once again, noticing that his rock armor was starting to fall apart. Suddenly, Zephyr swooped past him dealing more damage before turning back and hovering in place. “Okay girl, we can do this” Reassured Fluttershy before the Sparrow Zord started to flap her wings rapidly, sending air currents that cuted through more of the Chaos-ling’s rock covered body.

However, Boulder Fish didn’t fall. “That’s the best you’ve got?! I haven’t even started!” Yelled before rising both arms and drawing rocks from the entire valley like a giant magnet, quickly regenerating his body completely, much to the Rangers surprise. Then he withdrew inside its body and started to spin around, charging against the land-bounded Zords and shooting debris at the bird ones, all the Rangers receiving the impact with a hard shake. Boulder Fish stopped spinning to watch the Espers trying to recover from the last attack. “Ha ha ha! You see? Nothing can defeat me now!”

“Darn it! He is too strong.” muttered Rainbow while trying to keep her hold on the controls.

“We need to find a way to defeat him before he can regenerate again.” said Rarity, managing to get Shiva to stand again.

“Luna, Twilight? Any ideas?” asked Applejack through the Echo.

/\/\/\

Twilight passed another page from the Book and read an entry next to the image of five Zords that seemed to fuse into another, bigger one. “I think we got it: ‘When the power of each Zord is not enough to eliminate the danger, the Rangers may combine them to form the Mighty Megazord’.”

“You think it will work?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“The Book of Zordon has told the truth so far.” said Luna. “I don’t see the reason to distrust it now.”

\/\/\/

“Alright Princess!” said Applejack closing the communication. “Alright partner. Would you help me here?” As response, Ifrit stood up from the ground and bellowed again, eyes flaring with energy. Inside all the cabins, the jewels of the panel shifted themselves to reveal a circular slot where it could very well fit a Cast-Blade. “Thanks Ifrit. Okay girls, you ready for this?” asked Applejack as she drew her Cast-Blade.

“I’m always ready!” answered Rainbow. All the Rangers then drew their bladed weapons and drove them inside the groove on the stone, a bright light coming from the whole ensemble and into the bodies of the Zords.

“Huh, what are you doing now?” asked Boulder Fish.

“We need Megazord Power, now!” Shouted all the Rangers as one.

Gigas Union Equitas. The Zords rose from the ground as they began to transform their bodies. Ifrit’s lower body spun in place so his back was in the bottom and his belly at the top. The back then opened in two halves, which placed at either side of him and rotated ninety degrees backwards. Finally, the whole piece turned its rear side to the front as the belly, with both hind legs, folded downwards at the same time the bull’s head detached from its place and moved to the top, reattaching itself on the top before shifting his horns backwards and revealing a metallic face inside the bull’s mouth, as the two pair of hooves combined into a single pair of pegs.

Ramuh and Zephyr mirrored themselves as both birds wings folded on the sides of their bodies. Likewise, their talons and tails folded horizontally to be replaced by a pair of iron hands as both birds’ heads rotated ninety degrees downwards, revealing one socket at the back of each. Shiva folded her limbs inside themselves, as well as her tail inside her body and turned her body upwards while keeping her head in the lowest part of the formation. Titan on the other hand, extended his own body until it was about the same length as Shiva, and then adopted the same position as her.

After that, Shiva and Titan landed on the floor head first, one besides the other, as Ifrit descended over them and attached both pegs at the upper end of the two Zords, forming two legs and a torso, then both bird Zords attached to either side of Ifrit forming the arms. After the whole assembly was finished, a magical circle appeared over the Megazord, from which descended a golden broadsword to the hands of the noble giant.

The Rangers re-appeared in one single cabin, with a similar panel in front all of them, all starting to take on the new scenery in various degrees of awe. Boulder Fish, on the other hand, was completely frightened at the sight of the metallic colossus. “What!? No no no! This can’t be happening!”

“Assembly complete!” said Applejack, taking hold of the controls again.

“Odin Megazord!” Shouted the Rangers at once, the Odin Megazord readying his sword. The Rangers motioned forward, as so did the Megazord, who walked near Boulder Fish and delivered a sweep of the sword, he turned around and released another blow, followed by a faster one which made him stumble back while losing large pieces of rock from his cover.

“Whoa! This power is amazing!” cheered Rainbow.

“Yeah! The Megazord is slicing through its cover like butter.” added Pinkie, bouncing on her station.

“I think it only needs another one! Ready to finish this?”

“Yes! Odings strike!” With that command, the Odin Megazord raised his sword, on which started to form a column of energy that arched down toward the damaged Chaos-ling, trapping him in a column of light. Then, the Megazord started to race toward his target, preparing the sword as closer as he got.

“I want my mommy!” cried Boulder Fish. I a flash, the Megazord reappeared behind the binded enemy, his sword now pointing forward. The Chaos-ling cringed as the upper half of his body started to slide diagonally to one side before disappearing in a huge explosion. The Rangers celebrated their victory on their own fashion as the Megazord returned to a passive position.

“You did it! You won!” Cheered Twilight through the Echo.

“Good job Rangers. You did a splendid work.” Added Luna.

“It wasn’t us Princess. It was thanks to you and the Espers.” said Applejack while placing a hand tenderly over her panel.

“Yeah, thanks a ton buddy.” said Rainbow as she touched her station. Outside, the Hawk’s head yelled once in response. Right after, Rainbow Dash felt a strange sensation washing over her mind, making her feel better about everything. “Huh?”

“What is it Dash?”

Rainbow turned to see Applejack, before discarding whatever was that sensation. “Uh, it’s nothing. Think it’s time to go home?”

Applejack simply smiled inside her helmet. “Okay partner.”

“You’ve failed me again!” growled Noctus as he tightened his grip around Discord’s neck. His face was now cranberry colored when he brought up a sock puppet that spoke with his voice and without any sign of strangulation. “I’m sorry, Milord. Those pesky little girls are more resourceful than I thought!”

Noctus dropped the master of Chaos to the floor and stomped him flat on his chest with his black hoof. “Give me just one reason for why should I keep you alive?” sneered through clenched teeth.

“Because he is the only one who can create the Chaos-lings.” shouted Chrysalis from her hiding spot, but was forced to step out to continue defending Discord. “His power is still needed to achieve our goal, as well as my colony. If you destroy him, or me, you’ll be out of resources to take over Equestria.” stated Chrysalis, trying to keep firm her voice.

Noctus removed his feet from Discord, who quickly scampered away from him. “Very well. I’ll keep both of you alive as long as you are useful to me. Yes.” hissed Lord Noctus before ordering them to leave. After they went to a far hallway, they started their private reunion.

“Well, I think he has stated very clearly his intentions for us. Will you set your plan in motion, then? asked Chrysalis.

Discord pondered for a second before turning away from his companion. “Mmm, nah.”

“Pardon!?”

“It’s too soon.”

At this Chrysalis started to steam up. “What else are you waiting? We don’t need him waiting the best opportunity to take us out!”

“On the contrary, my dear. We do need him.” said Discord in a playful tone. “A giant monster only means gigantic amounts of Chaos. We now are going to wait until Equestria is ours and we’ll stab him on the back before he does. It’s the perfect plan.” Discord stopped after seeing the unconvinced look of the Changeling Queen. “Think about it this way: while he thinks he is using us, we’re actually using him. Huh, huh? Perfect! Right?”

She just turned away and started to walk down the hallway, while a devilish smirk crept on her face. “I hope this plan of yours works.”

~~~~~

Back at the Chamber, Applejack and Rainbow Dash finished apologizing with each other for what happened in the morning and Rainbow surprised everybody when she started to tell the story of what happened all those years ago. After she finished, all the girls reassured to her that it was alright and that no one thought less of her for that.

“Thanks guys. You are the best.”

“Don’t worry Rainbow. You know you can always count on us, no matter what you do or you’ve done.” reassured Twilight.

“I know. I just realized that: that no matter how hard things could get, one will always have friends willing to forgive and support each other.”

“That’s a valuable lesson, Rainbow Dash. One my sister would have greatly complimented.” added Princess Luna, entering in the conversation between the girls.

“And I think you also learned to be more head leveled and not being so reckless.” visibly joked Applejack, shoving a punch to Rainbow’s shoulder.

Rainbow however turned back at her sporting a huge frown. “Says the one who used me like a throwing hammer back there!” snapped Rainbow, surprising all the present.

“Aw, c’mon Rainbow. I thought you ain’t even mad ‘bout it.”

“Oh, I’m not mad. I just think it’s funny that you speak of recklessness when you couldn’t stop and think on another plan than using your best friend as a human cannon ball!”

Now it was Applejack’s turn to frown. “Are you calling me a hypocrite?”

Both girls exchanged glares for a long time, making all the other girls and dragon boy to embrace for the incoming fight. But instead of struggling, both girls started to laugh with the other, quickly dissolving the tension in the Chamber.

“Whew! Seems things went back to normal.” sighed Twilight, sinking more on her couch.

“Good one guys.” commented Pinkie. “We almost bought that one. Right Fluttershy?”

“...”

“Shy?” Asked again Pinkie before the other girl fainted on the couch, the previous fright clearly too much for Fluttershy, which in turn only made the rest of them to laugh a little more.

“Well, I should leave now.” said Twilight. “There are some things I want to do before visiting my parents”

“Okay Twi. See you later.” said Spike, before Twilight grabbed him from his pointy ear. “Ouch!”

“You are coming with me.” stated Twilight while dragging the little boy. “I’m not planning on letting you eat this place.” said as the both of them disappeared through a wall and reappeared inside the dorm room of the library. Twilight walked to her desk and started to write down a small list of the things she needed in order to visit her parents and give them a proper apology.

Flowers.

Balloons.

Assorted fruit.

Apology cards.

“I think that should do.” said while levitating the list with her wand as she prepared herself to go out. She walked down the stairs and directed toward the main door. However, when she opened she found a blond woman with a grey shirt in front of it, who seemed pretty surprised by the sudden opening of the door. “Oh, hi Derpy! What brings you here?”

“Hi Twilight! You’ve got a letter!” cheered the wall-eyed woman while lending an envelope to the librarian.

“Thanks Derpy.” said before checking the remittent: it was her parent’s, but there was something odd about it. “Wait... this was sent two weeks ago.”

“Yeah, about that...” started Derpy, looking away shyly with an eye while the other was fixed on the floor. “The mail office on Canterlot was kind of a mess with this whole thing and some correspondence got all mixed up. Only today we’ve managed to sort all the mail to their recipient. I would have finished delivering it earlier, but I got late to work because of that monster this morning.” said with a resentful face... before recovering her happy and oblivious demeanor. “Anyway, have a nice letter!” finished Derpy before taking off and continue with her delivery.

Twilight remained at the door and quickly retreated inside the library to open the card, it would be worse if she arrived at her parent’s new house without having read the last communication from them

Dear Twilight.

Your father and I decided to take on a small trip for our anniversary around the Snake Isles, so we won’t be at home during the three months the travel takes. We’ve already asked the neighbors to house sit for us, so you don’t need to come over. We’ll send you a postal once we get there.

With love:

Mom and Dad.
“Hey Twilight, do you want pancakes for dinner?” Asked Spike coming out from the kitchen, but stopped after seeing Twilight completely stunned in front of the doorway. She then took on an unsettling smile as she started to rip apart her to-do list.

Author's Note

Finally fixed the comment section problem and published this chapter. So, we finally get to 'see' the Zords, this whole ep. was a blast to write. Hope you enjoy it, leave any feedback you can think of in the comments, it helps me improve a lot. See you in ep. 3.

-HSXI "May the Power protect you"

PS: The Megazord's sword might or might not be an Esper :P

Legacy of Power (1/3)

~Legacy of Power (1/3)~

“This is a disaster” Though Twilight Sparkle.

Before her was a twisted version of the place she now called home. Green skies full of chocolate-raining cotton candy clouds with checkerboard floor covering the whole land. Mayor buildings like Ponyville’s Town Hall were now floating upside-down in the air and herds of long-legged rabbits and dancing buffalos running free through the streets and causing...

“Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing, don’t you think?”

The lavender unicorn spun in place after hearing the mockingly amused voice, and now she was seeing the chimerical manifestation of chaos and disharmony himself. Discord was seated on his throne, holding a glass of chocolate milk with his eagle claw, while a malevolent grin crossed on his lips. The fear Twilight was feeling wasn’t enough to make the young pony run away, she stood as straight as possible and gave the draconequus a defying glare “How did you managed to escape again?” It was the only thing she could think of.

The master of chaos’ smile grew wider “Oh, I thought you'd never ask” Snapped one of his fingers and disappeared in a flash of light, only to reappear behind his acquaintance. “You see, it wasn’t really easy. I even doubted that I would escape anytime soon. But let's just say that I got some help from certain five ponies.” Snapped again his fingers and in front of them appeared five grey figures; Twilight’s heart broke at the sight, right in front of her were all of her best friends, all of them looking like they were when Discord corrupted them back a few months, only this time, they all had yellow eyes with red irises and all of them were giving her a mean leer and laughing at her.

“No!” Cried the little pony as she started to run to her right; but before she could reach further, a humongous purple and scaled tail fell right on the way, she looked up to see the creature, but it became difficult since the sky turned completely dark, as the moon changed its course to cover the sun all of a sudden. A lightning bolt struck down illuminating the gigantic purple and green dragon. “Spike?” The dragon only gave an angry roar as a blue cloud of stardust appeared over him. <<It’s not possible! How could this be happening?.>> Now over her former friend and assistant was the queen of darkness herself: Nightmare Moon.

“Remember this day, my little pony, ‘cuz it will be your last” Twilight thought she would throw up in any moment “Because after today, night will last FOREVER!”

Twilight started to cry heavily, turned to her friends looking for a hint of consort, but they only continued laughing at her, now joined by Discord and Nightmare Moon. “How could you all let this happen!? What about being the Spirits of the Elements of Harmony?! What about our friendship?”

“‘Friendship’?” said another twisted voice, and across the dragon and the mistress of night a green burst of fire lit up revealing the Queen of the Changelings. “What a pathetic, little sentiment!” said with a disgusted, yet amused tone, while joined to the evil laughter of everypony present and walking toward her.

“No, no no no NO!” She didn’t know what to do; the three major threats of all Equestrian history were now surrounding her, and have also taken control of all of her friends. She could do nothing. She curled herself in the floor, unable to do anything else but cry. The laughs were now stronger and crueler. She heard a snap of fingers and the last thing she could notice is that she was falling down a crystal cave. She could not scream, however, as the unicorn saw right to her own reflection the image of a creature she didn’t remember to have seen, but that spoke with the voice of one of the royal princesses “Take the envelope and come to the ancient castle of the Everfree. There is no time to waste”. The reflection of what Twilight thought was princess Luna disappeared. <<What does that mean? And how am I supposed to get to the Everfree Forest now?.>>.

Right after that, Twilight fell in the answer, quite literally.

“Ow.” Twilight had fell of her bed and landed right on her face. She managed to get out of bed and to sit up. in front of her was the small basket that her baby dragon use to sleep, a quiet snore from under the blankets confirmed to her that Spike wasn’t a greedy-giant monster. With some relief, the student crawled to the window in order to confirm that Ponyville, now bathed with the first lights of the dawn, was not a chaos destroyed land, shrouded in darkness and infested with insect ponies. “It was a dream” she said, brushing her hand on her forehead to sweep the cold sweat on her face, when she realized something else.

<<Where is my horn? Or Where is my hoof?!.>> She noticed now that at the end of each of her limbs she had hands and feet similar to those of her reptilian friend and most primates. Her coat was shorter, revealing a bare, sand-colored skin, except for a small section of her shoulders where she recognized her Cutie Mark. She was wearing a pink sleeveless pajama, and her purple hair was falling lightly on her back. Panicking, she jumped on her feet rather easily and walked to the full body mirror on the corner of her room to take a better look of herself now.

She now could stand straight with no problem, her build was more esthetic, the middle part of her torso was slightly thinner than the rest of it, on front of her chest were a pair of... <<What are these things, and where the hay is my tail?.>> In effect, in her rear was now missing a tail and her rumps were now more round and defined; her four limbs were also thinner and longer, also her ears were much shorter and were on the sides of her head, not the top. The only things that did not changed were the colors of her hair and eyes. For the rest, Twilight Sparkle was now sure that she was no longer a pony, but...

“A human? I’ve become a Human?! How do I know what’s a human!?!”

~~~~~

“Spike, you did it! You saved me!”

“It wasn’t nothing, Rarity” Behind the dragon knight laid a defeated army of monsters from all kinds, from fierce, wild griffons to greedy diamond dogs. And now he was in front who he had fought through waves and waves of enemies, a pure white coat, a curled and elegant mane, and a pair of deep, blue, beautiful eyes, fluttering at the sight of their savior. “For you, milady, would fight dozens of monsters who dared to keep you imprisoned.”

“My, you are truly a valiant warrior! And a handsome hero too!” Her glance turned to an even more flirtatious one “May I reward you for your heroic feat?” Right after that, the white unicorn puckered her lips toward her prospect.

He waggled his scaly eyebrows before mirroring the motion. <<Oh man! If this is a dream, nopony wakes me up.>>. Unfortunately, his mental plead would go unheard.

“Spike, wake up!”

“Whoa!” He jumped out of his slumber half surprised, half annoyed. He quickly reached for the night clock like he usually does whenever his roommate has to wake him up, whether it was intentionally or not. Spike watched the time, and then took a glance to the window to confirm that once again, it was to early in the morning. “3 a.m., Twilight. Why did you...” He glanced at her for the first time, that didn’t look like a pony at all. “Twilight? Is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me Spike. Before you ask, I have no idea of what the hoof is happening or why we are both humans, or why do I know what a human is.” The former unicorn was speaking too fast for the yet sleepy youngling, but he could make two pieces of that rant.

“Hold it, what do you mean with ‘human’ and ‘both’?” As if expecting that question, the young woman got him out of his basket and put him in front of the looking glass. As the small boy studied his reflection, a feeling of panic started to brew on the mouth of his stomach; scales, spines, claws and tail were all gone, and now he was looking like the same creature as the student who had raised him since he hatched, only wearing purple boxers and less curvy. He had a lighter tone of skin than Twilight’s; he was also smaller, about half the height of her; instead of the line of spines that grew on his head, he had now short, scruffy green hair “This isn’t right, dragons don’t have hair, nor ears” he said after noticing the pointed appendages on both sides of his head “What in Tartarus happened?”

“I told you already, I don’t know how we became humans, nor how do I know what is a human, but I’m just sure that that’s what we are now.” She paused, taking a better look at her number one assistant “But you kinda still look like a dragon.” said with a complicit smile. Spike looked again on his reflection and effectively he still had green, reptilian eyes, small fangs protruding from his mouth, inside of which was a bifid tongue.

But the draconic trait that he didn’t expect still retained was his ability of “fire delivery”, as a ball of green fire shot from his throat, propelling him across the room. Twilight watched as the silver smoke spanned in place “The Princess sent a letter! It’ll surely have an explanation of what is happening.” said, ignoring the fact that a small human was able of burp fire, nor that said “dragon-boy” was knocked down in the other side of the bedroom.

However, instead of the traditional scroll containing the letter from her mentor, the content of the delivery was a red envelope with a simple blue seal on its rear. Confused, Twilight tried to reach the mail, and for her surprise, a strange wand appeared on her hand and started to glow with a fuchsia aura at the same time as the envelope; after that, the piece of paper drifted slowly to her other hand as she lowered the wand, which she was now studying. It was made of a purple material she couldn’t recognize, in the handle was craved a six pointed star and the rest of the stick had a spiraling pattern that looked almost familiar. <<It’s my horn. Whew, for a moment I thought I've lost my magic.>>. She now looked to the other object she had obtained, took a view of the seal, then turned it to find something written on it:

COME TO EVERFREE AT ONCE.

DO NOT OPEN UNTIL YOU ARE WITH THE OTHERS BEARERS.

EVERYTHING SHALL BE EXPLAINED.

“Everfree? But why would Princess Celestia want me to...” The dream! She had a vision of Princess Luna making her the same request before waking. She knew that the princess of the moon has the ability to enter the dreams of those she wants to, but never heard of a situation where it was necessary. It was obvious that both princesses wanted her and her friends to meet with them right now, given that Luna had also visited them in their dreams.

<<I wonder how Pinkie’s dreamscape would look like.>>. A sudden shiver ran through her spine. <<Better not to go and try and understand a “Pinkie Dream”.>>.

And if they were summoned as well, then they would also have become humans. <<Sure hope pegasi can still fly, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be too happy.>>. “Spike, please take care of the library. I’ll be back after discovering what’s going on.”

As she disappeared down the stairs, Spike gave an unamused look, turned to open the closet in the room and, not much for his surprise, Twilight’s wardrobe was now bigger and that every piece of clothing was organized for events and/or purpose. <<Geez, even reality knows Twilight has a problem.>>. He simply took the ones labeled as “Sunday” and “Everfree Forest” and returned to the stairs as the student, ex-unicorn walked back to her room with a sheepish smile “Right! Would you excuse me while I change?”

“There’s the restroom. I’ll go back to sleep.” He then returned into bed and fell asleep almost instantly. <<Now, where did I left?.>>

~~~~~

After putting more appropriate clothes, namely a white t-shirt, a purple vest, purple sneakers and lavender pants, she started her way to the outskirts of Ponyville, making a scale at the Carousel Boutique where she found Rarity, also a human, just a slightly bigger than her, a light tone of skin, and a lot more provided in her figure, admiring every new piece of her now bigger wardrobe. She tried to talking her out of it, but Rarity seemed just too dazzled by each ensemble that Twilight’s words went unheard.

Knowing that the fashionista was going to take hours putting on all of the clothes, Twilight brought her wand and practically dragged her using telekinesis with what she was wearing at the moment: black jeans and a white shirt, and lead her to where they were supposed to go. “Honestly dear, that was rather rude coming from you!” Said Twilight’s friend, while trying to keep her pace “If this is really as urgent as it sounds, you could have just asked me to hurry. This is not exactly the best attire to explore a forest” Said, clearly referring to the heels she was wearing.

“I’m sorry Rares, but that’s what I tried before. Besides, we both know that you would take days to choose the best assemble” She said jokingly, to what Rarity just frowned before smiling in agreement. They had passed Sugarcube Corner when the student broke the silence “I suppose you also received a message from Princess Luna, don’t you?”.

“Why yes. Right at the end of what, I must say, was the worst nightmare I ever dreamed”

This called the interest of Twilight. “How was it”.

“It was horrible!” popped a bubbly voice out of nowhere, making Rarity jump to the arms of Twilight. Now alongside them was a girl with pale, pink skin, who was smaller than both of them; she was wearing a pink tube top, with a puffy, pink skirt, a dark blue jacket, striped knee-socks and a pair of light blue sneakers. The other two could tell that it was Pinkie Pie for her curly, bright pink hair and because of her deep blue eyes, which one could mistake for those of a foal, or child, or whatever.

“First, I was in the middle of Ponyville, but it wasn’t Ponyville, but all messed up. Then that big-old meanie Discord appeared, then eenie-meanie pony versions of all of you appeared with him; then a giant Spike with Nightmare Moon; Then that old Changeling Queen appeared too, all of them were saying old phrases they said before, that was odd; then I got really really sad, because all of them have taken over Equestria and there was nothing we could do, then started to fall and fall through a big hole and then the Princess Luna told me to go to the Everfree Forest. Woke up, dressed up, showed up and now... here we are.” She concluded with a big, goofy smile.

The other two friends were looking astonished at the always happy party-planner, before realizing that Twilight was still holding Rarity in both arms. The two separated, and the magician decided to avoid the awkward silence “Good thing to see you Pinkie. But the odd thing is that I had the same dream. Those three villains at the same time, the falling and the message from the princess. I believe your dream was also the same, right Rarity?”

“Yes it was! This is very upsetting: The tree of us, the others might as well, had the exact same dream at the very same time, then we all woke up to discover that everypo- I mean, everybody is now a human. What could that mean”.

“Isn’t it obvious? ‘Spirits of Harmony’. Duh! We are very important somebodies.”

“That’s a plausible theory Pinkie to explain the shared dream, but we should still be on our way to meet with the others. Applejack and Rainbow Dash must be already at Fluttershy’s. It is the best spot to enter the forest, and we need to reach them right away.”

“What for darling?”

She reached for her pocket and brought to sight the envelope for the two others girls. “Because of this. If this says that must be opened with the six of us present, then we should hurry to meet with the rest. Whatever its content is, it may help us in some way. Now, let’s hurry.” The three then started to run, at least the former unicorns, as Pinkie Pie just pranced alongside them waving her arms back and forward.

After Applejack fell from her bed and realized that she was no longer a pony, almost felt that she was going to pass out, but she wasn’t one of those who faint in a situation like this. “Ok sugarcube. Ya’ll just having a bad dream, that’s all” <<But you just woke up from a bad dream!>> “What in tarnation is going on?” She was more like those who start panicking.

“Ugh. What’s all the racket all about sis?” The apple farmer turned around to see a small girl with a messy red hair on her head, and bright, sleepy orange eyes were looking straight to the blond young woman. “Why are you awake so early? The rooster hasn't sung yet!”

“Applebloom!” she kneeled to her small sister once she recognized her “Are you alright? Are you hurt?” She asked a lot more of questions while checking that the youngest Apple family member was completely okay, besides the fact that she wasn’t a pony anymore.

“I’m ok, AJ! Did you have a nightmare or something?” said while trying to put distance between her and Applejack, who was acting way too weird this morning.

“Not sure if I had one or if I’m still dreaming!” She stopped after noticing how stupid that sounded “Scratch that. I mean, haven’t you notice’ that you and I are no longer ponies?” Now Applebloom was giving her sister a confused look. She moved her eyes to the pile of blankets that lay on the floor next to the bed, and then her face changed to an unamused one.

“You fell from bed and hurt on your head, don't you?” Applejack though for a second to correct her sister, but she didn’t as she realized that Applebloom truly didn’t remember being a pony before and that she wouldn’t. Then she remembered the last part of that dream and the request from the princess. <<Everfree, uh?>> “Don’t worry sis, I won’t tell anybody” crossed her heart with a finger and placed her hand over one eye.

“Thanks sis. Shucks, I guess you’re right.” she lied, taking the excuse her little sister gave her, while trying with all her might to keep a natural expression “Say? I think I’m going to take a morning walk. Care telling granny and Big Mac?” Beads of sweat started to form on her forehead.

“Sure, I guess” Said the little redheaded girl while rubbing her eye and drowning a big yawn, and noticing the shining sweat on Applejack’s forehead. “You know that they won’t be very happy with you skipping chores, right?” now Applebloom had a playful look on her eyes “Maybe I could help you with that with the right incentive.”

<<Shoot! You blackmailing stack of...’>> “Okay, cover me up in this one and I’ll get you a box of jelly donuts.” she offered to her sister.

“Two boxes.”

“Wha... agh! deal. You’ll cover me then?”

The small youngster simply nodded and got back to her own room. Applejack then looked for something to wear in order to go out, since it didn’t look like a good idea to enter the Everfree forest with only a white t-shirt and some underwear. She put on a pair of jeans, boots, leather gloves and a orange shirt, tied her blond hair on her usual ponytail and went down the stairs, grabbed her Stetson hat from the perch and got out from the house.

After a while, Applejack managed to reach Fluttershy’s cottage, where she found her friend waiting in the garden already, also turned into a slightly pale human girl. She was wearing a small yellow, long sleeved sweater, a pair of jeans and a pair of boots (not too worn like Applejack’s); but what revealed that it was Fluttershy for her long, pink hair and the rather worried look that she always seems to have.

However, her face showed up a gentle smile when she perceived her friend. “Applejack!” Right in that instant, a small flash lit up in the back of the young teenager and she hovered to their encounter with a pair of yellow, translucent wings, hovering at just inches from her shoulder plates and about the same length as her arms. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you. I just went out a few hours ago and... Oh I was so worry that nobody would show up. Are you okay?” Her aquamarine eyes opened almost pleading for the answer as she landed in front of the farmer and her wing disappeared.

“I’m okay, sugarcube. I was also worrying about ya’ll. I’m guessing you also received that message” Asked, now in a more serious tone.

The face of the shy ex-pegasus, who was a lot smaller than Applejack, became even more concerned “Oh, yes. I mean, it sure was some kind message... but, um, you see, I also had a very bad dream, and when I woke up I was so scared that I didn’t know what to think!” said while starting to hyperventilate, so she stopped before losing herself.

“You said a nightmare?” The animal keeper nodded slowly “One with all the three bad guys we faced in the last two year and that ended with falling through a bottomless pit?” Now Fluttershy face revealed surprise on her look.

“Applejack, you don’t say...?”

“Yes I do.”

“Then we all had the same dream.” Said a third voice, as a figure with blue wings landed near the two of them, making the pink haired girl give a small “Eep!” in surprise. Taking a better look at the newcomer, Applejack found it was another girl, just a little taller than the animal lover and with the same tanned skin as hers, wearing what seems to be a light blue t-shirt under a navy blue jacket, short jeans, red sneakers and multicolored socks. The rainbow-haired teen walked to the other two with a smug smile on her face. “How do you guys doing? Did you like my entrance?” The smile grew to a smirk on her lips.

“Rainbow, I’m very glad to see you. But don’t ever appear out of nowhere like that! You almost caused Fluttershy here a heart attack” Said motioning to the other flier, who was trembling behind her.

“Whoops! Yeah, sorry for that” She gave a sheepish smile while her oldest friend returned an apologizing one. “So, we all had exactly the same bad dream the exact same night and woke up to find out we’re some kind of tall monkeys.” she said while stretched her wings to both sides. “Though I’m happy these babies didn’t go anywhere.” Said the athlete before making her flying attributes disappear.

“Not just that. I bumped to Applebloom this morning, and she doesn’t seem to notice the change. Only I could remember we were ponies just yesterday, so I would bet Twilight and the others do too.”

“So, you think that this... I mean... us noticing all of this and remember being ponies... Could have something to do with the elements?”

“That just what I said!” Came out no other than Pinkie Pie, startling once again Fluttershy, who was next to the bush where the party planner popped up. Soon enough, the other two friends also arrived to the cottage. Rarity, now tired of walking with heels, summoned her own wand, white with a diamond pattern on its handle, and managed to transfigure her clothes into a black running pants, sandals, and a white, sleeveless shirt

“Ha, much better, and still looks very fashionable.” said Rarity while examining her new outfit. Somewhere in the group, a pair of green eyes rolled.

“I’m so glad you three are already here.” started Twilight. “We need to hurry now, whatever is happening, it has affected all of Equestria. Or at least I still believe it is called Equestria. Anyway, all of us had a nightmare with the three greatest threats in pony history: Discord, Nightmare Moon and the Changeling Queen. Am I right?” Twilight waited until all nodded. “Then, we all had this ‘vision’ of Princess Luna asking us to come to the Castle of the Ancient Sisters.” After another round of nods was given, she took the red envelope from her pocket “Good! Princess Celestia also told me particularly to take this; it says to open it only with the six of us present.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” asked Applejack. “Open it!”

Twilight hesitated for a moment, but decided not to waste more time. After all of them got closer to the magician, she grabbed the envelope and broke the seal. Instantly, the paper burnt down as a bright light poured from it, bathing each of them with it. But as sudden as it started, soon it faded away, leaving six confused expressions, specially the student. <<I don’t get it.>> thought Twilight. <<what was all that about?>>

“Well, although it was rather entertaining, I don’t see its point. Why would Princess Celestia send you that light show?”

“Wait, hold it there! Celestia was the one sending that magic thingy? Then why did Princess Luna Talked to all of us in our dream? And why they want us to go to their old palace? Isn’t it better back in Canterlot?”

Wow! That’s a lot of questions. “Okay, in that order; Rarity, I’m not sure; Dash, yes, because she is the one that owns a fire delivering creature: Philomena; as for the ‘dream visit’, it is the quickest way to call all of us, and Princess Luna is the one who can enter dreams; and finally, Equestria is facing a problem that changed all reality, if our presence is needed urgently, they’ll want us to go to the nearest place all six could go at the same time.” she finished her explanation, quickly forgetting her previous doubts.

“Okay.” Said the speedster with a stern look “But why the ancient castle? In the middle of the Everfree?”

Twilight was about to give an answer, when she realized. “I don’t know. Actually, I was wondering the same. If the princesses have not problem to go to their old castle, then why don’t they just tell us to meet at a nearer place like the town hall or the library?”

“Um... maybe it’s because... well, I’m not sure, but because it’s the nearest and most private place they could think about to meet with us.” The other five turned to Fluttershy. “I mean... if they don’t want anybody else to get involved, but the six of us... then they would go to a place anybody else knows about... well, that’s what I think”

“Welp, guess that makes sense.” said Applejack after a short silence. “What’cha think Twi?”

“I agree, but I still would like to hear the answer from Princess Celestia herself. No offense Fluttershy.” Her friend just gave her a reassuring smile. “Okay everybody, let’s keep moving, we already wasted too much time.” Then lead all the group to the forest entrance, Twilight didn’t know about the others, but she was very worried of the whole situation. <<Why did everypony turned into humans? This was malign doing? I have to know>>.

“Now girls! It should be easier this time.”

The first time Twilight and her friends explored the Everfree Forest, they walked through a long road and faced many obstacles that none of them could have passed alone, without each of them, in order to reach the abandoned palace where the Elements of Harmony were left a thousand years ago. This time, however, they were walking on the same road without the menace of death, finally reaching a familiar cliff that Nightmare Moon made crumble under their hooves the last time they went through that road almost two year ago.

Twilight started making her way down the leaned terrain; the rest followed her as cautious as they could, but none of them counted on Fluttershy, who waited last to start descending and slipped over her feet and knocked the rest of them down the hill, except of course of Rainbow, who flew down the obstacle rather than “walk” it, and now was disputing whether to facepalm at her friend clumsiness or crack up at the pile of limbs and heads that was now on the floor in front of her.

“Oh my... I’m so sorry! I didn’t want to slip... it’s just...”

“Aw, relax pal” said the athlete, lending a helping hand.

“Yeah, sugar! It’s not the first time, it won’t be the last. Besides, I reckon we saved some minutes there.”

“Maybe that’s true, but it surely was unnecessary. Clothes are not so easy to clean as coat, you know?”

“You can worry about that later, Rarity.” Cuted Twilight. “We need to focus on getting to the Castle. The sooner we get, the sooner we can get our hoo- hands on the problem.” After that, she continued walking the path, with the other five following close behind. They walked right past a cave where a Manticore was seen sleeping. It registered the sound of their steps and opened its eyes for a second, before yawning and turning over so they wouldn’t disrupt its sleep.

“So, how many other animals did change? I mean, I’ve only seen ponies turned into humans so far, and you said Spike transformed too, right?”

“I see your point Rainbow, I think that this thing, whatever it is, only affected sentient animals.”

“Huh?”

“Animals that can speak.” translated Applejack, before looking back to Twilight. “But I’ve seen Daisy Jo’s herd while coming to Fluttershy’s place, and they’re still cows.”

“Yes, maybe it is because only few cows can talk and because they have not created or adopted a culture like ponies, donkeys, zebras or even buffalos.” Twilight stopped as she realized that she was entering to another of her rants, which soon enough drew confused faces on all of her friends. “Sorry. What I mean is that they tend to act as most animals.”

“Well, that makes sense... I guess. But what about Spike then?” Fluttershy’s voice lowered as she spoke. “You said that he still looks like a dragon... kinda... and dragons usually act like other animals... so why did he change?”

“Maybe because he was raised by an egghead unicorn since the day he hatched.” Joked Rainbow Dash, thought Twilight knew it was light hearted. It is true that Spike looked like a human, but he also looked still like a dragon, and he even can breathe fire. <<Perhaps it is because he wore once the Element of Loyalty, so that whatever happened also had its effects on him in some way, though it’s better not to remember that to Rainbow. I know Pinkie would know not to say that.>> Then she realized that something weird was going on, something unusual. She turned in place and looked to the only one who hadn’t said a word since they entered the forest.

“Are you okay, Pinkie? You’ve been really quiet since we entered the forest. Way to quiet!” Now the other four looked at the pink dressed girl. She kept quiet for a few seconds, directing unnaturally serious glances at each of the presents, until finally she spoke.

“Well, since I believe all of you are yourselves, I guess I can tell you.” She took a quick glance to her back, and motioned her friends to come closer. They all did, with genuine curiosity of what Pinkie has to say. After an unsettling silence, she finally revealed, on a very low whisper barely audible for all the presents. “My ears are buzzing.”

“WHAT!?!” screamed the speedster, her eyes widening in anger.

“Hold your horses Dash! Sugar, would you mind explain yourself?”

Twilight glanced again at Pinkie while rubbing her left temple, something she always did whenever she is about to hear the explanation of one of the inexplicable body twitches of the “Pinkie sense”. Pinkie took a deep and rather noisy breath before starting to speak at lightning speed.

“As you all know, I can know what is going to happen before it happens through many different signals and twitches o my body, that's my Pinkie sense. It goes from a itch on my hoo- er, hand, to a twitchy tail, and it sometimes comes in combos, giving almost infinites meanings for whatever is going to happen, going from something falling or a big, nasty doozy. Now, I wonder how would I know if something’s going to fall now that I have these still-don’t-know-what-for-a-tail.” suddenly, the forelock of her hair started to shake and a branch fell right on her head. “Ouch, mystery solved. Well, right now, my ears are buzzing, and the last time that happened was in Canterlot a few months ago...”

“The day of the wedding?” asked Twilight.

“... Yeah! Right when we were like ‘Team super-duper awesome!’, fighting changelings and stuff. But before that, my ears buzzed while near Princess Cadence. Well, not Cadence, but that fake Cadence who turned out to be that ugly-looking Changeling Queen. In the end, after all those bugs got expelled from the city with that magic ‘power-of-love’ spell from Shining and Cadence, my ears stopped buzzing and realized it was a new Pinkie sense that meant ‘Changeling-approaching’. My ears started to buzz again shortly after I saw you and Rarity, and I thought one of you was a changeling, so I hid because didn’t know if one of you or both were a changeling, then waited ‘till I was sure none of you were an impostor. But the buzzing didn’t stop, so I kept the secret until I was super-extra-hundred percent sure all of you were acting like yourselves, because changelings do a terrible job mimicking other ponies…” Facepalm. “…other people. Then you asked me if I was okay, then I told you all of this and... Here we are!” she finished with a big, goofy smile.

The other five girls stared each other in silence as tried to sink in half of what the frizzled haired girl just said. The word “Changeling” was what caught everybody’s attention, and the circumstances of the context was enough to alarm all of the present, though Pinkie seemed oblivious of that since she was still smiling. Finally, Twilight spoke up. “Pinkie, if what you are saying is true, and your ‘Changeling-approaching Pinkie-sense’ is tingling right now, then that means...”

She couldn’t finish that sentence because Fluttershy gave a loud scream as a ball of green fire burst in the middle of the road in front of them. After the fire faded, a tall humanoid creature stood on the same place. It had a black, segmented body. It walked in two, hoof-like appendages, filled with many holes, while its left arm had a functional, clawed hand, still filled with holes, and its left arm seemed to end on some sort of blade. The creature’s face was almost flat, except for two bluish-green eyes, two small horns on top of its head, and a small mouth filled with four fangs. Another flame burst next to the first changeling, and another, and another; soon, they were surrounded by a whole troop of changelings.

The six teenagers gave their back at each other while keeping an eye to their attackers. “It’s a trap!”

“Don’t tell me, ‘Captain Obvious’! Another brilliant deduction?”

“It is not the propitious time for being sarcastic, Rainbow.” Cuted Rarity, glancing at all the assailants. “But now, I think we should come up with something to pass through this predicament. Any ideas?”

“I have one. What about we change roles?” Said Applejack

“Ooh! I like that plan! I call dibs on Rainbow Dash’s!”

“Pinkie, I think she meant that we should... fight them back... right?” asked Fluttershy, with just a small tremor in her voice.

“Oh! Well, that’s a good plan too.”

Twilight looked back at her shy friend.”Are you okay with that? You usually disapprove violence.” Azure eyes met with the violet ones, with a decided look.

“Well, yes... I mean... It's not like I would hide while all of you fight all by your own!”

“Not to mention we are talking about Changelings. Just imagine they are a bunch of bears with back-aches and we’ll be fine.” reassured Dash, unknowingly clearing up an unsettling scene Twilight witnessed some time ago. With nothing else to be said, the group broke formation and started defending themselves from the ambush.

Applejack was the first to engage battle, trying to connect various hooks and kicks to her adversary, which it easily dodged or blocked. It then leapt a few meters backwards, thrusted its thorn-hand forward and shot a beam of green magic from it. Applejack quickly ducked herself as the beam flew straight where her face was just seconds ago. “What in tarnation? These guys can shoot magic now!”

“I’ve noticed!” Answered Twilight as she counter the beams with her own magic, then tried to land a few hits, but to no avail. The changeling blocked a kick directed to its chest and took grip of her feet and thrown it upwards, making Twilight to spin in the air. She managed to land on her feet and made a few back flips while evading an attack from other changeling. “They’re stronger also!”

“How inconvenient! Last time we barely handled a small number of them...” Rarity dodged various attacks from the enemy in front of her, while trying to land a spinning kick. “... and now we won’t be able to harm them!”

“That’s easy, try to wear them off first...” said Pinkie before evading a fast combo from a changeling, charged at it, slipped between its legs, stood up and kicked in its back. “... and knock them out!” She turned to face another foe, did a similar process, and thrown a fist to the monster’s chest. The creature fell down, but Pinkie’s fist got suddenly bigger and red, big tears appeared in the corners of her eyes, before she started jumping in place holding her injured hand. “Another tip: Aim for the weak spots!”

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were now back to back, ducking shots and hits as fast as they could while keeping their adversaries at bay. Both had called in their wings and were using them as an extra set of arms, blocking and landing attacks as they could. Surprisingly, the pink haired one was fighting quite well, being almost a mirror reflection of her multi-hued haired friend. “If the Changelings set up an ambush for us right here and now...” started Rainbow, before switching places with Fluttershy, who finished the statement. “...Then they must be behind this!”

“Well...” started Applejack before jumping out of reach from her contrary. “For what I’ve seen, that ugly ol’ Changeling Queen is taking great pains to take us out!”

“I agree AJ, she definitely doesn’t want us to interfere! We need to get out of this! We can’t let them outmatch us” Said the magician before fending a magic shot and teleporting near the group of young women, whom were fended away from their respective adversary; Pinkie however was thrown by the changeling she was assaulting, falling in the center of the meadow with a hard thud.

“Okay, that was not fun!”

“Of course it’s not dear. What ever shall we do?” asked Rarity.

“Um... panic?”

“Normally, I would say ‘no’, but I can tell when the things looks rough ahead. It has been an honor to work with ya’ll ladies.”

“Now, just wait a small fraction of second! I won’t give in against the lowest and most cowards and deceiving of the scum that stands in my way trying to take the best of me...” In that instant, Twilight started to feel a strange energy emanating from Applejack. “And less when the whole Equestria need us the most in this same instant. So I’ll keep fighting, even if they beat the apples off my name.” She then shot toward the enemies in front of her; the powerful aura Twilight felt swelling in size. The cowgirl then leapt upwards, spun in the air and prepared a descending kick, which connected on top of the nearest Changeling.

What happened next surprised all the girls, including Applejack.

The changeling was literally nailed on the floor, while the shockwave sent flying the other enemies next to it. Applejack backed away with a shocked face, while looking at the hole on the floor she herself made with her newfound strength. “Wha- what in...?”

“Applejack, that was awesome!” cheered Rainbow Dash, hovering next to the apple farmer. “Why didn’t do that before?”

“I don’t know! I’ve never been that strong before!”

“She is right, Rainbow!” Twilight joined them. “Applejack, that strength is not your own! You are irradiating some kind of magic; it is powered by your resolution. I’ve never seen something like that before! In fact, now that I’ve noticed, all of us have the same magic signature!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“If may I, darling; I suggest we end this conversation later.” The six readied again. “We are not out of danger yet!”

“Applejack, what were you thinking? If we all focus on the same thing, we may be able to trigger the magic.”

“Just focus on not giving up Twi. That’s the only thing that matters to me right now!”

“Alright, the game is on!” said Rainbow.

Battle engaged again, Applejack jumped into a big group of changelings, seconds after, they were flying on every direction as she landed each hit without breaking a sweat. Right punch, left punch, uppercut, a roundhouse kick, and four more changelings were disposed. “Oh golly! I’m kicking flanks just like Buck Morris!” she smiled as she continued to knock out more changelings.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was rushing to a single foe, stood right in front of it, concentrating on not to lose, and waited until the creature launched a claw swipe to where she was; a blur replaced her as the hit almost connected and now she was to the left of the changeling. another attack, blur, and she appeared somewhere else, this happened another two times before she disappeared completely, and then a shower of fists and kicks from every direction beat up the confused creature, before falling on the ground as Rainbow appeared again to its back, with a victorious smile. “Too slow.” she simply said before proceeding.

Rarity was back flipping, in a graceful demonstration of acrobatics and agility, while avoiding enemies’ attacks and putting some distance between her and them. Once she stopped, her eyes dashed to every centimeter of her surroundings, almost for its own, looking for any object to use on her advantage. A little gleam pointed her to notice a small rock next to her feet, the five enemies standing in front of her and several old tree branches right above them. Without more thinking, she stomped on the rock, lifting it to the air, she spinned in place and projected her impromptu projectile with her palm. The pebble ricocheted to three changeling heads before shooting itself upwards, breaking the highest branch, which broke the others, which then fell over the insect-like enemies. She watched amazed at her feat and then gave a mischievous look at other group beside her. “Anyone else wants a piece of me!?” yelled to the changelings, who ran away at the maddened scream. “I thought so.” Said while regaining her composure and facing another group she didn’t scared.

Fluttershy, on the other hand, was having problems landing a single attack, while she was perfectly able to dodge all the incoming assaults. She leapt to the air and hovered all the way back until she bumped into a tree. Right there, Rainbow appeared in a blur of speed, slightly startling her friend.

“Oh yeah! Did you see that? I’m fast! I was fast before, but now I’m faster than ever! Awe-Some!” On her enthusiasm, Rainbow didn’t notice the changeling preparing a magic attack behind her. But Fluttershy did, and by pure instinct, reached her hands to her friend and rotate them both, putting herself between her friend and the magic beam. She readied herself for the sting of pain, but when she heard the blast, she didn’t hurt, looked to her back to see the changeling knocked on the floor with smoke coming from its chest. Then she looked to Dash.

“Are you okay?”

“Fluttershy!” started Rainbow Dash in total shock. “That beam... You deflected it!”

“I- I did?” She then saw another changeling launching at them from her right. “Watch it!” This time, however, she just extended her arm to its full length, opened her palm toward the attacker and a prismatic wall appeared between them. The changeling bumped with it and instantly got repelled away, sending it crashing against more enemies. Fluttershy was surprised, but not shocked, she just disposed five changelings by herself, and confidence began to invade her body. She looked again at Dash, who was giving her a proud smile.

“Girl, you are now way more than 20% cooler.”

The shyest girl of the group simply blushed before giving a decided look at the changelings that surrounded the two friends, as they tagged along against the threat. On the other side of the meadow, Twilight was holding a changeling with telekinesis as another one attempted to strike a sneak attack, but instead of being run over by the attacker, it simply passed through her, like if she wasn’t actually there or like if she was made of mist. She noticed the confused Changeling that just missed her and delivered a swift kick at it before sending the one on her telekinetic hold toward the former, making them collide.

Another Changeling neared Twilight from the left, but instead of escaping, she rushed toward it. She jumped to its chest and phased through its body before turning around and kicking it on the back, knocking it on the floor. They reduced the number of enemies from the ambush, and were even ready for more. “Alright girls, just ten left!” yelled the magician, then the group gathered again at the center of the clear, facing the remaining enemies.

“Leave them to me. They’ll be done in ten seconds...”

“Hold it there partner. Don’t you see something is missing?”

“Oh my goodness! Where’s Pinkie Pie?”

Suddenly, a big, frightening growl came out of nowhere, startling everybody present, and one of the changelings bent down for no apparent reason, cringing in pain while holding its stomach, then its feets were swept from the ground and the injured foe fell backwards, and was immediately pushed further on the floor when it tried to stand up. The others looked confused at their fallen comrade, before the face of one of the started turning left and right, and left and right, and left and right, and left and driven into its own body, before falling down. The one next to it simply cringed as it was lifted a few inches from the ground and passed out while placing its hands to its groin area. Then a low, menacing, almost unnatural voice sounded between both groups. Fluttershy was now shrinking in fear.

“I’AM EVERFREE ITSELF! LEAVE MY DOMAINS, OR YOU’LL FACE MY FURY! NOW!” With that said, the changelings remaining disappeared in a burst of fire, as well the ones that laid down on the clear, leaving only five astonished girls in the middle of it. “That was fun!” Came a familiar, bubbly voice in front of them, the area in front of them shifted as if being seen through water, and right before Pinkie Pie reappeared in the spot, sporting a big smile on her always happy semblant and starting to jump in place again.

“Did-ya-see-me? Huh, huh? Wait! Dumb question. You couldn’t see me ‘cuz I was invisible! Isn’t it like the best superpower ever? I can do now super-secret-surprise parties and be super-sneaky without anybody noticing! Did you see the look on their faces? You sure should see the look on yours now! Anyway, that was incredibly-super awesome! All of us are now super powerful! We’re like the super-mega-ultra Mane Six now! Applejack is super strong; Dashie is super-duper fast; Rarity is super lucky; ‘Shy here makes force shields; I can turn invisible and Twilight is kinda like a ghost! But a friendly ghost!” She kept hopping in place cheering while the others shook heads and did their best to focus again on the matter at hand.

“Well, ‘super lucky’ is not the term that I would use. It was more like I knew just what to do, how and when, like if I was being hinted or something, but ‘luck’ is quite accurate in this case.”

“I’m also pleased of all of this, no complaining.” said the blond girl while checking her wrist. “But how in tarnation did we get that kind of magic?”

Twilight scratched the back of her head, looking for an answer. “That’s a good question.” <<How did we get it? When? Where? Unless>>. “The envelope, that’s it! That is what was inside the envelope! Princess Celestia knew that, if the Changelings are behind this problem, then they would attempt to take us out of the picture so the Elements of Harmony wouldn’t have any wielders.” She smiled; some things were finally starting to make sense. “The envelope contained these six powers within it, so that when I opened it, they went straight to each of us. If I had opened it before we gathered, some would probably went lost or into the wrong vessel!” She concentrated her thoughts to all of her friends, still feeling that magical aura. “And for what I can see, we still have them!”

“Sweet! So now I’m definitely the fastest flier of all Equestria. No, the fastest in the entire World!” Her face lit up of excitement, she readied herself as if about to start a race. Disappeared in a blur, with a rainbow trail running out of the forest, only to come back a second after, holding a bag of chips, which she was munching already. “What?” she muffled at the looks of her friends. “I got hungry, okay? Want some?”

But before anyone could reply, a cooing sound came from the road ahead. When they all looked, they found flying to them a strange bird. It had the same general form and size of a phoenix, except for a shorter tail and straight beak, but the most interesting trait about the bird was its blue and silver plumage, that reflected the sunlight that filtered through the branches like snow in the morning. None of the girls knew what bird it was. None except the one who had access to the library with the most ancient records in all of Equestria. "A Roc bird? But I thought they were extinct." It flew once around the girls, then gently pulled from Twilight’s hair before flying back to where it came.

“It want us to follow it.”

“‘She’, Twilight” Corrected Fluttershy, but started to run with the group as soon as they started to follow the blue phoenix. The relieve Twilight felt minutes ago faded as she realized that things weren’t solved yet, and that she still had questions without an answer, and now she was following a bird she has never seen in her life. Fortunately, the bird was leading them to the place they meant to reach; soon she’ll have her answers.