Pinkie Pie: Hey all! It's getting exciting isn't it! I know it is, but the author has more planned and the copyrighted stuff isn't his but he wants it to be but its better that it isn't cause it would boost his cashflow by a lot and he'd not know what to do with it…and that would be a bad thing. Enjoy everypony…while I attempt to stop the author from banging his head more.
MM: And with this chapter, Rangers of Equestria becomes my 3rd longest story! No party Pinkie...
Pinkie: Aww...
Chapter 12: Fearing Evil
Zedd growled under his breath as he massaged his brain with his hoof-like hand. Discord was too dramatic. Instead of flying toward Canterlot, he was slowly walking there without a care in the world. Groaning under his breath, he pointed his staff in the direction of the mountain city and mumbled another incantation. Six white spheres of energy burst from the Z and flew towards Canterlot.
Grinning as much as he could, Zedd focused his vision on Canterlot and chuckled. Let the Blue Ranger come with his pathetic wannabe Rangers. They would fall easily and he would have the world in the palm of his hand.
Canterlot Tower
No sooner had the words left Billy's lips, an alarm sounded from one of the consoles. Eyes widening, Billy rushed to the main viewscreen followed by the ponies and the Princess. Fingers flying on the keys, he tracked the disturbance and pinpointed it on the main screen. As the image slowly appeared, he turned to address the Rangers.
"This is it, guys. Zedd has made the first formal move. He's sent out a group of foot soldiers and they are terrorizing the citizens. I'm also getting readings of a large object heading this way from the Everfree Forest, but I'll keep an eye on that."
As the image cleared, all eyes snapped to it. On the screen, six grey centaurs with red eyes could be seen attacking. Ponies everywhere scattered as the lead centaur breathed fire from its maw – severely scorching three Royal Guards. As their bodies fell, the centaurs trampled on them and flexed their arms. Billy swallowed hard and scanned them for any sign of weakness. Seeing no obvious ones, he grimaced. Apparently Zedd had learned from the Z Putties and had been paying attention to the later grunts that had sprung up. He turned to the Rangers.
"Right now, you need to do your duty as Power Rangers and protect the people. If things get out of hand, I will come out and fight."
Twilight swallowed nervously as she nodded. After no battles for the three days, she feared she had become complacent…which was utter nonsense. She just had to trust her own instincts so as to not force Billy to use his own energy. Closing her eyes once, she willed her Morpher to her. In a muted purple flash, the crown…thingy…tiara appeared on her head. Muted flashed of colour around her informed her that the others had summoned their Morpher necklaces as well – even Fluttershy. Making a mental note to keep a close eye on the timid Pegasus, she inhaled deeply.
"It's Morphin Time!"
"Magic!"
"Generosity!"
"Laughter!"
"Loyalty!"
"K-Kindness!"
"Honesty!"
In six flashes of light coupled with swirls of magic, the six Rangers morphed and teleported to meet their new enemies. As Billy watched them go, Princess Celestia walked up and gave him a significant look. Sighing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his damaged Morpher. Letting out a sigh of her own, the Princess dipped her head and lightly touched the coin's surface with her horn. In a blue and white flash, the Morpher was repaired and was practically glowing with energy. Dimitria watched the exchange and cleared her throat lightly.
"Is it wise to do this, Billy? Can you not be able to help them another way?"
Billy turned to the Inquiran and shook his head once. He looked at the image on the screen just as the Yellow Ranger was hit hard by one of Zedd's centaurs. Looking down at his temporarily charged Morpher, he sighed again.
"I need to do this to make her see how dangerous Zedd really is. If there was any other way I could do it without endangering myself, I would do it in a heartbeat…"
He let the words trail off as he saw the Pegasus weakly firing her blaster at the centaur with no effect. He had seen how scared Fluttershy was during the briefing, but had chosen to say nothing in thinking the Pegasus would be able to get past her shyness and timidness when the time came…but it seemed like he was wrong. He knew that she shoved away her timidness when her friends were hurt or threatened. She was a strong pony and her friends knew that. He only hoped she regarded him as a friend or else he would be risking his life. Silently, he lifted his Morpher up and inhaled shakily.
It was now or never.
Canterlot
As the six Rangers teleported in, everypony stopped running and screaming and just stared at the new arrivals. Like the citizens of Ponyville, they had heard of the creature that decimated the town and also of the strange other that had driven the first away. Unlike the ponies in Ponyville, they had heard another rumour of six brightly coloured ponies that had appeared shortly and had either, depending on the rumour, destroyed all witnesses or had destroyed the monster when it came back.
Fortunately, the majority of the citizens chose to believe the latter. In a matter of minutes, there were no ponies in sight except the Rangers and the creatures sent by Zedd. Twilight noted that with six of them, they would each have to take one on. That meant she wouldn't have time to battle with her opponent and look after Fluttershy. Lowering her head, she spoke softly into her helmet mic.
"Girls, we have to face one each. Fluttershy, do your best but if you get into trouble, one of us will help you."
Fluttershy nervously squeaked a response as she stared at the centaur in front of her. On the screen it had seemed menacing. In real life it was bed-wettingly terrifying. Its body seemed to be a solid mass of hardened muscle and its coat was a mottled grey. There were no identifying marks on it of any kind and its face was an expressionless mask. On the top of its head, she thought she could see some sort or marking, but she dismissed the thought as a trick of the light. She shakily stood her ground as the others leapt forward to meet their attackers head on.
A dark shadow covered her and she looked up to see the centaur towering over her. Squeaking in fear, she jumped back and wildly lashed out with her front hooves. The wild blow connected with its chest, sending it stumbling back. Fluttershy's eyes teared up and she started backing away, away from the creature, away from her friends who were battling for their lives…away from this horrid mess. As she backed away, she didn't notice that her Element Blaster was randomly firing bolts of magic at the centaur or that she was backing into a corner.
The centaur kept advancing on the frightened Yellow Ranger. The only thoughts that ran through its magically created mind revolved around death and destruction. Wanting to squeeze its hands until the bones pierced the skin. The only way it could be stopped was if its weakness was discovered and struck with great force. Even if it failed, the Master would make more and they would crush all opposition. As it neared the stricken Pegasus, it raised a massive fist back – ready to send the Ranger to the next world.
Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut…but snapped them open at the sound of teleportation and the sound of flesh striking flesh. Standing in between the centaur and her was the lean form of Billy. All around them, the other Rangers had temporarily paused their battles at the arrival of the Blue Ranger. Fluttershy swallowed nervously and looked up at the human through her helmet. She knew he was risking his life to help her, but he was unmorphed and if he was unmorphed he wouldn't get hurt from morphing. Then again, he would have little to no protection against the centaur's six limbs. In a flurry of movement, the centaur was lying on the ground and Billy had his Morpher on one hand.
"Blue Ranger Power!"
At Billy's shout, all eyes turned to him as a dazzling light covered his body. A distant howl of a wolf was heard and when the light faded, Billy was morphed. With a simple flick of the wrist, she watched the Blue Ranger summon his Power Lance and patiently wait for the centaur to stand up. Sparks fell from her body as she demorphed. She could see him wield the weapon as confidently as he had done before as he thrust out one end to strike its right shoulder.
Inside his Power Suit, Billy was sweating hard. Flash morphing and summoning his Power Lance had almost used up the temporary charge Celestia had given his morpher. He glanced at the power indicator and bit back a curse. On one hand, his "defeat" would look spectacular with the flying sparks and arcing bolts. On the other it would hurt much more. Withdrawing his Power Lance from the "Z Centaur", he twirled it above his head and swung it flat side down. If he was going to go down, he may as well test a theory out as well.
"Billy! No!"
The Rangers and creatures watched as the Blue Ranger's Power Lance connected with the top of the centaur's head…just as it landed a crushing blow to Billy's Morpher. In a burst of blue sparks, his morph shattered violently and Billy crumpled to the ground. His Power Morpher fell into view and he viewed the damage, squeezing his eyes in frustration.
His Power Coin was destroyed.
He felt the power leave him as his feeble connection to his home dimension's Morphin Grid faded into nothingness. He could still feel his Wolf spirit inside him, so he knew he could still go into Ninjetti , but without a Power Coin to act as a conductor…he would never morph again. Fighting the crushing wave of sadness and despair that threatened to overcome him, he looked up to see what his last attack as a Power Ranger did. The centaur was still standing, but it was shaking violently. He let an exhausted grin creep over his face as he saw it fall and break apart with the sound of shattering clay. Rolling onto his side with a wince, he nodded to Twilight and slumped onto his back as he heard the battle resume.
Feeling a damp nose against his cheek, he turned around and saw Fluttershy staring at him with a mix of horror and sadness on her face. He smiled wider and lifted a hand up to stroke her muzzle, causing the yellow Pegasus to nuzzle into his warm palm. His voice was weak but held a note of steel in it.
"Go. Your friends…need you to be strong."
Fluttershy nodded once, her gaze hardening as she looked up to the remaining Z Centaurs. She knew she had to be strong every time she went into battle, as her reluctance and non-violent stance could cause somepony to get hurt…or even die. She wasn't the strongest fighter or flier, but she had to do what she could.
For her friends.
She quietly summoned her Element Morpher again and inhaled deeply. Timidness or not, her friends needed her.
"Kindness!"
The loud shout made everypony pause and look at Fluttershy. Her Element Crystal was pulsing out streams of pink tinged yellow energy that seemed to surround her. Around the tenth pulse, her body was covered in the energy and she flared her wings out. With a crack of lightning her armour appeared on her body, leaving her head exposed. As the winds created by her morph whipped her mane about, she saw Billy tiredly wink once at her before he vanished in a shower of white sparkles.
A swarm of butterflies made of energy enveloped her head and mane before exploding out as her helmet formed. As the power from the Yellow Zeo Crystal entered her body, she felt a small tremor under her feet. The map on her visor told her that something large was steadily moving closer…and it matched the readings from earlier. Launching herself upward and pausing only to catch and throw back Applejack, she flew up above the battle site and felt her eyes bug out.
In the distance was a towering humanoid pony clad in strange barding. Its head was hidden behind a strangely dented helmet with a red ring around a gaping hole. In one fist, it clenched a short sword that seemed to radiate darkness. As she steadied her breathing, the creature spoke in a smooth voice that reminded her of fresh dripping honey.
"Celestia, I have returned from my prison. You took away my freedom and now I will take away your life!"
TBC…
Pinkie: Now we party!
MM: *facehoof*