AN: Three years ago, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic aired into an unsuspecting world. Brony or not, you can't say it hasn't changed the world for the better.
Chapter 54: Awakenings
Maybe he had overdone it.
Powering the monsters was one thing but to use a modified version of the Ritual of Da'Lana to enlarge them while engaging the Orange Ranger was a bit too much, even for him. Xonix groggily propped his head on his chin and wondered why he was wasting time inside his mental 'Power Coma' room. He could hear his slow and laborious breathing in his ears as his body struggled to reassert control over the damaging energies that had coursed through him but…this time was different. The ever-present wisps of fog that had chronicled his first, and subsequent, visits were gone. In its place was a dim light that seemed to stream from cracks in the floor. The gravel that he had been accustomed to had changed as well, replaced by lush carpet that was soft and almost ticklish under his feet. There was also a new addition as well, someone who had not been present previously.
"I am asking you once more, who are you and what are you doing here?"
Casting an eye over the humanoid figure in front of him, he wondered exactly what manner of attack had sent the consciousness of the creature to this realm. Thick straps of silver metal tightly strained against horribly misshapen flesh that had taken on the appearance similar to a horse and thick tendrils of something that looked eerily like bones or mini-vertebra hung from the back of its head. There wasn't any sign of a tail, though he wasn't so sure if that was a good thing or not. He would have wondered about the identity of the figure but the blood-red visor gave it away. He had been present, after all, when the trademark radiator-grille facemask had been melded onto the face of his brother.
"I will not ask another time. What manner of nuisance has brought you here, to the realm of Lord Zedd?"
He wasn't too miffed about answering right away though. No matter what dimension he was in, Zedd had always been one to wait for the other individual to explain his or herself…no matter how long it took for the other party to respond. Slowly shaking his head, he wondered exactly where Zedd's body was in the base and if Discord was truly loyal to him. However, dealing with Zedd and Discord would have to wait until he woke from the Power Coma. Opening his mouth, he wondered if Dark Hoof had succeeded in carrying out the attack on the base of the Rangers. There were things that needed to be done, both in this dimension and his home, if he wanted to stick to the planned timetable his brother had given him all those years ago. He still wasn't so sure about how he would possibly become the winged skeletal beast that had come to him in a vision but if that meant a minor psychic link with the Orange Ranger; then he would do his duty to ensure history played out as it was supposed to.
"I am sure you already know who I am."
The figure shook its head vehemently as if it were denying the information its brain was telling it. Xonix rolled his eyes and hurriedly had to shut down the rather logical part of his brain that was questioning if his eyes in his body were really rolling or it was just something concocted in the dream void. One headache was enough pain to deal with, thank you very much. Besides, if he had learnt anything from this dream void, it was that the world around him was constantly shifting…meaning it wasn't very healthy to keep thinking about things like this.
"But…the plague…don't tell me you were sent here of all places? No, wait, that's not it."
Xonix waited patiently, stretching out the kinks in his tail as the dimensional copy of his brother connected all the pieces. He wondered how many days had passed since he had been struck down and how long the recovery period would be this time. They had slowly been getting longer and longer, if he didn't find a way to negate the effects then attacking the Rangers with a monster enlarged by the Ritual would only be a once-in-a-year event. Of course, he didn't have to use the Ritual as he had the growth spell already in his body but the Ritual looked…more evil. There was a lot to be said about mystical runes that appeared out of nowhere and glowed with an unholy light; even if they spelled out the recipe for his version of Space Snail Pie in an obscure dialect of Huran that was dropped several centuries ago.
That being said, if he was going to increase his magical power, he would need some sort of enhancer. Edward's notes had mentioned some sort of life-giving tree in the human city of Reefside, though it was needed intact for some event in the future. Obviously appearing in front of the tree in his monstrous form would give reason for everyone to panic, not to mention sending all the Rangers in the world after him within seconds. Though that would be amusing for a few moments, he would rather not experience being impaled on the flaming blade of the Orange Ranger's again. A more covert mission would be necessary and could easily be accomplished by a monster in disguise. He doubted there were any special precautions in place anyways, though conquering worlds had taught him to be wary of unknowns. Such an unknown was how much longer the dimensional double of his brother was going to take to piece everything together.
"You…who are you, really? You cannot be my brother yet you look just as he would have had he survived."
Zedd looked at the reptilian creature in front of him as he began to slowly accept the situation. Thanks to the combined energy blast by those accursed Rangers and the new Battlizer of the Purple Ranger, he had been stuck in this limbo for…time didn't really flow here but by his calculations it had been more than a year or so at least. He had heard muffled sounds around him that sounded like Discord and had wondered if what he was hearing was what his body was hearing. It was also slightly disconcerting to be hearing random beeps every now and then, bringing to the forefront of his mind the many times before his meeting with the Anishan that he had been forced into healing tubes.
He had always wondered what his brother would have done with his life if he had survived. Before he had left to leave on the futile mission to retrieve the Zeo Crystal, he had seen Xonix glancing longingly at the forbidden doors that led to the darkest of magics. The spells contained in those books could easily destroy the plague but they were locked up for the reason that reading the worlds would unseal the strongest of opposing magics and doom the Universe. That was total and utter rubbish as he had amassed the same level of power and influence during his reign and nothing had come up to oppose him. In fact, the only thing that could have possessed the mythical level of power was Zordon's Rangers. Squatt had even, once in one of the walking blueberry's brighter moments, dug up supposedly lost documents pertaining to a secret project on Eltare called Project Ultra. It had failed somewhat spectacularly with the utter annihilation of the labs and equipment in a massive explosion that had, interestingly enough, coincided with his leaving Aisalar.
However, he had done his mourning for his brother and planet long ago. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't cry as the visor's internal system would vaporise the tears instantly. He had long since resigned himself to being the only survivor of his planet and to never seeing his brother again. Yet, for all intents and purposes, it seemed fate had another trick up its sleeve for him and was showing him everything that his brother could have been. It hardly seemed possible but, with the power of the Grid and the Dark Crystal, all things were possible. Dear Xenu, he needed to sit down hard.
"I can assure you, I am who you think me to be. You should know that all things are possible within the realm of the Multiverse. For instance, this is my second trip to Equestria in several hundred years, though I pushed all memory of the earlier trip to the back of my head. During my first trip, I partnered with Discord and brought about his conquest of Canterlot…before certain events caused me to depart."
Zedd nodded thoughtfully. Discord had mentioned on and off that the last time he had been attacking Canterlot; he had help from a rather shadowy Unicorn known as Night Shade. His top warrior didn't know what had happened until the Red and Blue Rangers had returned from their dimensional travels. Discord had snuck out of the lair to attack the Red Ranger but had come back later in the day empty handed and muttering about how 'he wasn't from here'. He had been noticeably subdued after that, only rising to the top of his game again after he had resurrected Goldar.
"Are the Power Rangers as big of a nuisance in your home dimension?"
Surely with the amount of power his, no, the dimensional counterpart of his deceased brother, put out; the Power Rangers would have been long since reduced to charred fragments of bone littering the sandy shores of Angel Grove. Surely the Ultra Rangers would have come from another dimension separate from this version of his brother? His family name deserved to have at least one dimension in which all the Universe was under their control.
"Power Rangers? I could crush them easily without breaking a sweat and I almost did. No, dear brother, the only things standing in my way from the complete and total destruction of Earth are the Ultra Rangers."
The surprise was evident through Zedd's body and Xonix nodded in resignation. Of course the Ultra Rangers had been in Equestria before and, last time, they had been accompanied by their newest spin-off group: the Crystal Rangers or something like that. Jabarkas had also spoken briefly about something happening during the failed attack with the battleships but he hadn't given much detail. Knowing how fast the Orange Ranger worked, he wondered what would be waiting for him when he crossed over once more. He would not be surprised if there were several hundred Rangers waiting for him; though his surprise would be pretty short-lived.
"Master Xonix, I do not know if you can hear me but I bring good news."
The voice boomed out from the air around them, startling both villains into a temporary silence. Xonix narrowed his eyes at the voice and allowed a thin smile to spread over his lips. If Dark Hoof had found a way to communicate with him in the Dream Void, then his awakening would be at hand. There were still things that needed to be done before he crossed over and he wanted to ensure that this version of Zedd would be victorious in his conquest. After all, there were only seven main Elements of Harmony and the Rangers were only limited to one set of Zords. Nothing could stop the double of his brother but that would all come in time. Dark Hoof's voice continued.
"Dataroach performed admirably and managed to breach the information storage. His signal disappeared from the scanners a short while ago; it is conclusive that he must have been destroyed by the defences or by the spirit of a deceased Ranger. However, the co-ordinates have been received and we will attempt communication with your allies on the other side."
"What have you found of the…other matter?"
There was nothing in Dark Hoof's voice to indicate he had heard; yet, the Trotter kept talking as if he had. For his part, the dimensional double of Zedd looked on with interest.
"As for the other matter, I have personally confirmed that it is fully functional and awaiting a worthy pilot. The repair systems were sluggish due to the state of disrepair but we were assisted by a strange sliver of metal found near the aftermath of an earlier Zord battle. That had the unprecedented move of splitting the…object into two distinct pieces. We can go ahead with both parts of the planned transfer. All that is left is for you to awake."
Xonix nodded thoughtfully, his earlier lethargy slowly draining from his system. Everything was in place for him to take centre stage and leave this dimension – never again to return. Once all the pieces were placed on the board, he would be free to do that. The Zedd in front of him was ruthless, arrogant and evil to the core; however, he longed for the Zedd he knew and still loved. Strength began to creep into his body and he chuckled as the world began to fade out. Casting a final look at the confused horse Zedd, he thought it would be better for the younger being to somehow gain necessary strength.
Perhaps he could kill two birds with one stone…
TBC…
