AN: Monster creation and foreshadowing. Rangers of Equestria will be taking a nose-dive into the realm of the unsettling very soon. Enjoy…while you still can.
Chapter 55: Mortar
He was still in a bad mood.
Lord Zedd sat on his throne and looked at the Black Ultra Psycho Ranger practice his blade-work with two daggers that were seemingly made up of the purest shadow. For the past day, there had been no activity from the Rangers; save for an appearance in Ponyville where all of them had been seen fully healed. To make matters worse, a strange unicorn with a familiar Power signature had been seen with them in their walk around town. From the Power signature, Zedd knew that the unicorn was none other than the Orange Ultra Ranger that Creeper had come to destroy for some slight. He was sure that the so-called Ultra Psycho Ranger had sensed the Orange Ranger's presence…but yet he continued to do nothing or even give out some information on his attacking strategy.
"If you don't attack soon, I will have to send down a monster to keep them busy!"
The Black Ranger shrugged and continued to practice his attacks. Zedd growled to himself and looked to the most shadowy corner of the Cavern to where the shadowy form of the Nightmare Moon statue was apparently resting. That monster would be of no help as she only listened to the shadowy being that was her Master. Shaking his head in resignation, he summoned an object into his hands. It was a strange weapon with three parts – a barrel, a base plate and a short bipod stand. To the native Equestrians around him, it looked like a silly object and something that wouldn't be likely to cause much damage to anything. However, Zedd knew what it was capable of and it was a weapon that had been plucked from the battlefield so he knew it was in good operating order.
Zedd wasn't stupid. He knew why Creeper had tricked the Purple Ranger into firing on her friends and he commended it as a good strategy for demoralising and destabilising the Rangers. However, he was in charge of what went on in his Cavern of Evil – as Discord had started calling it – and he wasn't about to let some upstart dimensional evil Ranger tell him what to do. He wanted to crush a united front of Rangers…not a group of splintered and snivelling ponies. Crushing them at their strongest would send a message to all opposition that he was the one that had to be obeyed and followed…or else they would taste death. From the mental links he had forcibly forged with his followers, he knew that they all felt the same way or, in the case of Tricksy, was forced to feel the same way. He was wishing the Orange Ranger would hurry up and destroy the Black Ultra Psycho Ranger already, for Creeper was reminding him a lot like his deceased brother. Toying with the weapon in his hand, he flexed the 'fingers' on his other hoof-like hand and smiled to himself as he thought of what his newest monster would look like.
Summoning up a Z Centaur from its storage area, Lord Zedd stood up and walked towards it. Coming within striking distance, Zedd placed the weapon in its hands and lifted his staff. Due to the somewhat volatile nature of the weapon, he would not be using the Dark Crystal to create any monsters – lest he wanted the Rangers to know where his lair was. Channelling dark energy into the tip of his staff, he chanted the ages-old words that would allow a seamless merging of magically created flesh and manufactured material. As the ironically white energy engulfed the Z Centaur, his visor allowed him to see the merge in all its beauty.
Metallic screws replaced the nails on its hands and the weapon duplicated itself; attaching to both shoulders in a twisted parody of the Purple Ranger's Magic Launchers. The excess metal fused to various points on the former Z Centaur to form armour and a twisted set of horns that fused to its skull. After a moment's thought, he summoned a growth grenade to him and inserted it in the chest of the transforming monster. He would see how this experiment went and if it was a success then he would place growth bombs into future monster. Judging from the screams that were issued from the grunt, the process was extremely painful and would no doubt leave a lasting impression that he was not one to be crossed. He only wished he could use this magic on the Black Ultra Psycho Ranger and see what made the creature tick.
Releasing the monster from the magical grip, he circled the snarling beast slowly; looking at it from all angles while his minions stared in amazement. There was a unique crazed look in its eyes that none of the previous monsters possessed and its hands opened and closed as if it were imagining it was tearing into the tender young flesh of the Rangers. The Dark Lord was pleased with his handiwork and glanced at Creeper – as if daring the Psycho Ranger to say a word against his power. The Ultra Psycho shrugged once as if saying that he didn't care what Zedd was about to do. Rolling his eyes, Zedd looked at the monster in front of him and spoke in a low growl.
"Mortaro, go to the city of Canterlot. We have attacked their homes recently and they will not be expecting an attack on their base. Take a squad of Z Centaurs with you to keep the Orange and Blue Rangers busy."
The creature bowed and trotted away. Zedd shook his head at the retreating monster and summoned up three other items from his 'storage' – a little statue of the human representation of Cupid, a dead tick and a handful of little blue pills. Chuckling to himself, he set the two items on one of the 'arms' of his throne and his visor flashed with malicious glee. Mortaro would certainly bring the Rangers together as a team but Loveshtick would bring them together in ways they didn't want to imagine…
He just hoped her magic would let the remember their…'fun'
TBC…
