Chapter 4

Elsewhere, a group of fishermen pulled their net out of the water and dropped it onto the boat releasing all the fish they caught. That's not the only thing they caught though.

“What is that…?” one of the fishermen asked.

“I… think that's a corpse!” his partner exclaimed.

“Call the police!”

They quickly dropped the corpse into the storage room and got to work calling the authorities. Unknown to them, said corpse slowly started moving, its eyes glowing deep blue and becoming slitted like those of a cat.

“They… live…!”

After school, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie all made their way back to the Everfree Forest. This time they took Pinkie Pie's van, which she borrowed from her older sister apparently. Just like all of them, Pinkie Pie looked a little different, being a little more curvy like the others, and having slightly fuller hair herself. She also reported the same powers, including a few that neither of them had even experimented with.

As they drove back to the Everfree Forest, they passed by the jeep they used last night, which was totaled.

“That confirms it,” Applejack said, “It really did happen.”

“Daddy's going to be so confused…” Twilight said to herself. They stopped right at the gate to the forest and started making their way inside. Just as Twilight suspected, Fluttershy was leaning against a tree waiting for them.

“Hey,” Applejack said. Fluttershy turned to them and walked over to them, probably looking the most impressive out of all five of them. Where as before her large breasts seemed a little out of place, now her entire body had filled out a bit more, making her look almost like a goddess. They were still really big, but they sort of fit better.

“Well damn,” Pinkie Pie said, “Magic did your body good, huh?”

“This is all your fault,” Fluttershy said holding her arm and turning away, “My brother wouldn't stop looking at me this morning, making lewd remarks about my body whenever he could.”

“Wait… your brother?” Rarity asked.

“He's a lecher, so he'd fuck anything with a pussy,” Fluttershy scowled to herself, “It was bad enough when I became a tit monster. Now this?”

“You're here for the same reason as us, I'm guessin’,” Applejack said, “So we can figure out what happened.”

“I'm here so you can fix it,” Fluttershy said harshly, “It's your fault that this happened to me. My life was perfect before you came here and invaded my sanctuary.”

“That's not fair,” Rarity said stepping forward, “I asked you what you wanted to do, and you decided yourself to come with us. You could have gone home at any time. Besides, look at us. We're all in the same boat, and we're just as scared as you are.”

“Um… I'm not scared,” Twilight said raising her hand slightly, “I'm actually really enjoying this…”

“Let's just head back to the castle and see if we can learn anything about what happened to us,” Rarity said, “You know this place well, right? Could you lead us there?”

Fluttershy huffed, rolling her eyes, “Fine. I'll lead you there. Just remember that this place is still my sanctuary, and I want you all gone when this is done.”

With that, Fluttershy turned and walked deeper into the forest, her long hair flowing in the wind.

“She'd be really hot if she wasn't such a bitch.” Pinkie Pie said whispered as they walked.

“Quiet,” Rarity said, “She's right up there. I'm sure she can still hear you.”

Twilight looked ahead at Fluttershy and ran up to her smiling, “Hi! I'm Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. Seventeen years old, blood type A positive, IQ-” Fluttershy cut her off by groaning loudly and walking ahead to get away from Twilight, who wilted immediately, “O-oh… Never mind then…”

Applejack frowned looking at that. Yeah, she didn't see her and Fluttershy becoming friends anytime soon after that.

The trip was mostly silent. Applejack stayed next to Twilight, who was visibly still upset at how Fluttershy brushed her off. Pinkie Pie stayed with them also trying to comfort Twilight. Rarity was a bit behind Fluttershy, who hadn't once turned around to face them. Rarity sighed and caught up to her.

“You need to apologize to Twilight,” Rarity said.

“I didn't ask her to reach out to me, and she was probably going to go on for hours.” Fluttershy said.

“That's just how she is,” Rarity stated, “I think she's autistic or something. Either way, you came off as a real bitch just now,” it looked like what she said hit Fluttershy, whose eyes widened briefly before she looked away seriously, “Seriously, what is your deal?”

“I… I'll talk to her later, alright?” Fluttershy said softly, “Just… give me some space. I'm not comfortable being close to people.”

Rarity shook her head and backed away from Fluttershy. She did not get this girl at all.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, they reached the castle again. Thankfully, they didn't see any of those monsters from yesterday.

“Alright, we're here,” Fluttershy said, “You take the lead from here.”

Applejack nodded and walked ahead, briefly meeting eyes with Fluttershy. Rarity and Pinkie Pie followed her, but Twilight lingered a bit, looking sad still. Fluttershy took a deep breath.

“I'm sorry I cut you off,” Fluttershy said to Twilight, “That… wasn't right of me. My name's Fluttershy Wyrmwood.”

Twilight perked up when Fluttershy said that, “That's really a pretty name. My Mommy was named Twilight, so I inherited her name.”

“That's… cool,” Fluttershy said, “Look, I just wanted you to know that I didn't mean to be a bitch earlier. I… just don't want any friends right now.”

“That's odd,” Twilight said, “Having friends is fun.”

“Yeah, it is,” Fluttershy said softly, “While it lasts.”

Fluttershy walked into the castle. Twilight tilted her head in confusion, but then ran after Fluttershy to rejoin the group, her entire air had returned to normal.

The interior of the entire castle was exactly how it was when they were there before, only brighter as the sun was still out. Here they could all make out more of the throne room's interior, as the sun shined through the ceiling, making the entire throne room look like a work of art.

Sadly, they didn't see any hint to what happened to them though.

“Doesn't look like anything is different,” Rarity said folding her arms, “So fearless leader, any bright ideas?”

Everyone turned to Applejack, who looked around confused before pointing to herself.

“Hold up, I'm fearless leader? Sweet!” she said, smiling to herself before quickly composing herself, “Um, so we found the coins a bit in front of the throne. Our first bet would be to start there.”

As everyone followed Applejack to the throne, Fluttershy took a frustrated breath.

“So she's the leader now? She's the reason we're even in this mess.” Fluttershy pouted. The girls all walked toward the throne, but stopped as the wolf from last night stepped out from behind the ruined seat.

“Whoa!” Applejack said holding her arms out to defend the girls behind her, “Stay back…! I'm warnin’ ya!”

“Hold on,” Twilight said stepping forward, “I… think he was waiting for us.”

“Yeah, to eat us!” Rarity cried.

“No, that's not right,” Twilight said, “He saved us, remember? This is the wolf who fought the monsters last night.” Twilight slowly walked over to the wolf, scaring everyone else.

“Hey, be careful Twilight!” Rarity requested. Twilight, ignoring the protests behind her, knelt down in front of the wolf and held out her hand. The wolf tilted his head a bit, and then sniffed Twilight's hand. After a second, he turned to the throne and placed his paw on it. A light shined under the throne, and a second later it moved to the side revealing a secret staircase.

The wolf looked at the girls briefly, and then slowly walked down the stairs. Twilight turned to everyone.

“He wants us to follow him,” Twilight said.

“What is goin’ on here?” Applejack asked.

“Maybe… that wolf is the actual guardian of the forest,” Fluttershy reasoned, “That means, those monsters weren't sent by the god of the forest to curse us.”

“Do you listen to yourself talk?” Applejack asked Fluttershy, “Cause ya sound crazy a lot of the time.”

“No, I think this time Fluttershy is onto something,” Rarity said, “That wolf protected us last night by fighting those golems. If that's the case, then two things are true. One, those monsters were not supposed to be here, and two,” she held her gem out, “these things were supposed to be found.”

“Oooh, you think we're like the chosen ones or something?” Pinkie Pie asked pulling out her pink gem, “Like, these gems were left here for us specifically to find?”

“I doubt they were left her for us directly,” Twilight stated pulling out her blue gem, “But they were probably left here to be found by someone.”

“So… what then?” Fluttershy asked, surprisingly pulling out her yellow gem, “Were those monsters left here by someone who didn't want them to be found?”

“We ain't gonna learn anythin’ jus' standin’ around here,” Applejack said, holding out her red gem, “Let's head down to get some answers.”

The four of them nodded, finally all on the same page, and then walked down the stairs. Strangely, the pathway looked like they were entering another dimension, as the walls looked almost like blank space. At the bottom, they saw an opened door, the wolf standing before the door waiting for them.

Once they reached the bottom, the wolf walked inside what looked like a mixture of a futuristic control room and an ancient library. The walls were white and golden, and there was what looked like a pool of water in the middle of the room. Surrounding the room were bookshelves lined with books, and there were two doors at either side of the room. There were a few seats around the room, and surrounding the pool of water were six pedestals with different colored gems: red, blue, yellow, pink, black, and green. At the far end of the room was another throne, this one being golden with red cushions.

“Holy… shitaki mushrooms…” Twilight said looking around.

“Seriously? You said that?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Daddy tells me it's rude to curse.” Twilight admitted cutely.

“This place… looks new.” Applejack said.

“So you noticed that too,” Rarity said, “Just what is this place?”

The wolf stopped in front of the pool of water, turned to the girls, and began to glow. He then slowly shifted into a human man. He was wearing purple and green robes, brown shoes, and had long dark blue hair. His eyes were a strikingly bright green.

“Finally,” the man said, “I waited eons for someone to find the Power Coins,” he looked at the shocked girls in confusion, “Honestly, I was expecting you to be older.”

“You're… the guardian of the forest…!” Fluttershy said, immediately running to the man and kneeling before his feet, “Forgive the intrusion, sire! These fools had no idea of the powers they were tampering with!”

“She's sounding like a nut job again.” Pinkie Pie whispered to Applejack, who sadly had to suppress her laughter. The wolf turned man just backed away from Fluttershy looking awkward.

“Uh… I don't know what you're talking about… but apology… accepted…?” he said.

“The five of you are not intruding,” another voice said from all around them, “In fact, you girls are exactly where you need to be.”

The girls frantically looked around the room to find the origin of the voice, eventually all looking up as a bright light shined down before them. Out of the light descended someone else. This was a woman, looking to be in her early to mid thirties, and was the most stunning person anyone had ever seen. She had long and wavy multicolored hair that fell all the way to her waist, pink eyes and was wearing a white gown, golden wrist guards, a golden necklace, and a golden crown on her head. What was truly striking though was that she didn't seem to have feet and looked somewhat transparent.

All five of the girls looked at the woman before them in awe. She was beautiful, gentle, yet powerful in her own right. Applejack was the one who stepped forward first.

“Um… who are you…?” Applejack asked the ghostly woman.

“I am Celestia. Many eons ago, I was a Queen who ruled in this very castle. This is my vassal and personal mage, Spike.”

“Nice to meet you,” the man, Spike, said waving to the girls.

“You… are floating,” Rarity stated, “I'm not the only one who sees this, right? The woman in white is floating.”

“No, I see it too,” Pinkie Pie said, “I'm debating on whether this is the best moment of my life, or the most terrifying.”

“Are you… a goddess…?” Fluttershy asked. Celestia giggled sweetly.

“I'm sorry Fluttershy, but no. I'm not a goddess. I'm just a very old spirit who's been sealed in this chamber awaiting someone to bond with the Power Coins.”

“You mean these, right?” Twilight asked holding out the blue one. Celestia looked at Twilight and smiled warmly.

“That's right. Those are the Power Coins. Special gems created to allow the wielders to become Power Rangers,” Celestia explained.

“This is soooooooo cool…!” Pinkie Pie said, “She's talking like we're going to become heroes of some kind.”

“Actually, that's not too far from the truth,” Spike said, “You should probably sit down. This is going to be a long one.”

All five of them chose a seat and sat down, Twilight and Applejack naturally sitting together on a long seat, Pinkie Pie sitting in one of the lone chairs that looked super soft, Fluttershy choosing to sit close to the pool of water, and Rarity opting to sit away from the group by the stairs, but still close enough to listen.

“The Power Rangers were a team of female warriors. Me, my sister, and four others used the Power Coins to defend this planet's Crystal Heart,” Celestia said, waving her hand above the pool of water. Above it, a magical representation of six warriors in different colored armors appeared, “I was the Red Ranger, and the leader of the team.”

“Wait, I count six warriors,” Pinkie Pie said, “Why were there only five coins?”

“Because one of the Power Rangers betrayed them,” Spike said, “Celestia's younger sister, Luna. She was the Green Ranger, and at the time the strongest fighter.”

“She became consumed by jealousy, and her desire to covet more power,” Celestia continued, “To this end, she sought to use the Crystal Heart as a means of adding to her own power and become something akin to a god.”

“What was she jealous of?” Applejack asked.

“Of… me,” Celestia said somberly, “She challenged my rule, claiming to be the better choice for queen as she was in fact stronger than me in both body and mind. Sadly, she felt that power was all that was needed to be a leader, so she turned against her fellow Rangers, fighting us to get to the Crystal Heart.”

The magical image changed to show the green warrior fighting the other warriors. The scary thing was that the green warrior had added armor, being a golden plate over her chest and shoulders. She was also far more violent and brutal as a fighter.

Fluttershy grimaced looking at that, “That's so cruel. She fights like a monster…”

“She was able to take on all five of you by herself?” Twilight asked, “She must be terrifying.”

“She is,” Celestia said, placing her hands over her heart, “Through her dark desires, she gained the power of the Darkness, and used that power to create golem soldiers known as “Putties”.”

“You saw them last night,” Spike chimed in, “Those creatures that engaged you when you found the Power Coins? Those were Luna's Putties.”

“She wanted to make sure no one else found the Power Coins,” Rarity stated, “Does that mean… she's still alive too?”

Celestia nodded gravely, “If the Putties were able to be formed, then I'm afraid so. Unlike me though, she has preserved her life force within her body, and will soon regain her strength. She will once again try to claim the Crystal Heart, and as a result destroy the entire planet.”

“Hold on, WHAT?!” Applejack asked, mirroring everyone's surprise, “She wants to destroy the whole planet?!”

“The Crystal Heart is sort of like the heart of the planet,” Spike said, “Your town of Ponyville is where the Crystal Empire once stood. They defended the Crystal Heart.”

“Each and every planet has a Crystal Heart,” Celestia said, “and thus a team of Power Rangers that defends it. This planet's Crystal Heart has gone defenseless for far too long though. My sister has awakened, and thus we need new Power Rangers to rise against her.”

“I'm afraid of where this is going.” Rarity said nervously.

“The five of you have now bonded with the Power Coins,” Celestia said looking around at the girls, “You Rarity, bear the power of Generosity. Pinkie Pie, you carry the power of Laughter. Fluttershy, you carry the power of Kindness. Twilight dear, you wield the power of Faith. And finally you Applejack, wield the power that I myself once possessed. That being the power of Honesty. You girls must awaken to those virtues within yourselves and become the new Power Rangers.”

There was a heavy silence in the room, as Celestia words sunk in. This ghostly woman had asked five teenagers who barely knew one another, didn't even like each other, to team up and fight against some evil demon possessed woman. Five girls who could barely be accepted into society now were told they'd have to protect the entire planet.

This had to be some sort of joke.

“I'm… going to go now,” Fluttershy said, slowly getting up and walking to the stairs.

“Wait, are you serious?!” Spike asked, “The fate of the world rests on-”

“I'm not some hero,” Fluttershy said, not turning around to face them, “I barely know how to fight, I'm afraid of almost everything, and most of all, these girls are not my friends, so I can't team up with them. You picked the wrong one, I'm sorry.”

With that, Fluttershy walked up the stairs. Rarity looked at Celestia and Spike apologetically.

“I'm sorry, ma'am, but I have to agree with Fluttershy on this one. This is all too much to take in. I'm going to go too,” she met eyes with Applejack briefly, and then walked up the stairs too. Surprisingly, Pinkie Pie also stood up.

“I need to do some serious soul searching. I mean, this is a dream come true, but it's one of those things that's really scary when it actually happens, so yeah…” Pinkie Pie quickly ran up the stairs too. Twilight turned away from everyone biting her lip nervously.

“Twilight?” Applejack asked looking at her, “Ya okay?”

“Is this too scary for you as well?” Celestia asked softly.

“I'm sorry, miss ghost lady. I know this is really serious, but… can I think about this for a day?” Twilight asked looking up at Celestia earnestly. Celestia nodded with a somber expression.

“That's fine, dear,” she said with a saddened smile.

“Applejack, I'll wait for you upstairs,” Twilight said.

“Alright, see ya upstairs,” Applejack said. Twilight nodded and slowly walked upstairs, a scared yet thoughtful look on her face.

“Aren't you going to head out too?” Spike asked almost accusingly, “Follow your friends?”

Applejack took a deep breath, “How serious is this? Like, if we don't do this, what are the chances that the planet will survive?”

“There is no chance, Applejack,” Celestia admitted, “Luna will go unopposed, and she'll take the Crystal Heart for herself.”

“But… why us?” Applejack asked standing up and walking over to Celestia, “We ain't warriors or anythin’ like that. We're just five high school screw up. One's autistic, one's apparently the school slut, one's always got her head in the clouds, I don't know what Fluttershy's issue is, an' I'm jus' a delinquent who messed up her record an' disappointed her family. I don't know, I think ya made a mistake.”

Celestia sighed gravely, “I wish I could give you the answer you seek, Applejack. There isn't a divine reason for why you were picked, nor do I profess to know if you five girls have the virtues necessary to become Rangers. What I do know, is that the Power Coins bonded with you. They wouldn't have bonded with you if they didn't see something.”

“So… what now?” Applejack asked Celestia.

“You bear the same power as I did, therefore you must rally your team. They are afraid, just as you are, but you can inspire them,” Celestia said.

“I don't know,” Applejack admitted, “What would I say? I can see where they're all comin’ from.”

“Say what's on your heart,” Celestia said, “I believe in you, Applejack.”

Whoa, that hit Applejack hard. Celestia believed in her? No one ever believed in her like this before. Not since her father died. Applejack nodded and made her way to the stairs. Hopefully at least one of them was there with Twilight, so she could talk to them about this.

“Well, that turned out to be a bust,” Spike said slumping on his chair, “I guess it's another six million year wait, huh?”

“We can't wait that long,” Celestia said sitting in her throne, “Luna's power is growing as we speak, and the Power has already bonded with them. Like it or not, it has to be those girls.”

“They seem so heroic,” Spike said sarcastically, “If they're the ones chosen, it's not looking good for us.”

“They're not Rangers yet, but I believe in them,” Celestia said, “They'll become what we need them to be, I'm sure.”

When Applejack emerged back in the throne room, she was shocked to see all four of them scattered around waiting for her.

“Y'all waited for me?” Applejack asked.

“Well duh,” Pinkie Pie said, “It wouldn't be right to leave without talking to you about it.”

“You were there for a while,” Rarity said, “Everything okay?”

Applejack folded her arms thoughtfully, “Girls, I'm thinkin about doin it.”

“You don't seriously believe that stuff,” Fluttershy said, “Us? Heroes? Look around. What's so heroic about this group?”

“Right now? Not a thing,” Applejack admitted, “Never thought I'd say this, but your right, Fluttershy. We're not Power Rangers.”

“Exactly,” Fluttershy said looking away.

“But what if we could become Power Rangers?” Applejack asked, “Right now, we're all outcasts essentially. We ain't doin much with our lives, an' no one really believes we'll amount to much of anything.”

“Well let's see here,” Rarity said counting off as she spoke, “A delinquent, a special needs kid, an otaku, a wiccan, and the school slut. We're a real amazing team, Applejack. Truly the best that the world has to offer.”

“I know, I know, we're not much of anything now, but I'm sayin that we could be more. That… maybe this is our chance to become more,” she pointed to Fluttershy, “You love this forest, right? What if you could actually protect it?”

Fluttershy averted her eyes to the side thinking.

Applejack walked over to Pinkie Pie, “Ya love heroes so much. This could be your chance to become the hero you dream of yourself.”

“That… does sound cool…” Pinkie Pie admitted. Applejack ran over to Twilight next.

“Remember how you felt when everyone looked up at ya in school? This is your chance to really do somethin’ that would have made your Mom real proud.”

“Mommy…” Twilight said, hugging herself and tearing up a bit. Finally, Applejack ran over to Rarity.

“An' you. This is a chance to prove that you’re more than jus' “Easy Rare”. This is a chance to figure out who Rarity is.”

Rarity took a deep breath and folded her arms under her bosom, not meeting eyes with Applejack.

“Tomorrow's the weekend,” Applejack said walking to the exit, “I'm gonna be here at noon sharp to tell Celestia that I'm gonna be her Power Ranger. If y'all wanna be more than jus'… this, then meet me here tomorrow at noon, an' we can all go together.”

“But… what if we fail?” Twilight asked, “What if we do this, and still mess up?”

“What's worse?” Applejack asked, “Tryin’ an' failin’, or never tryin’ at all, an' never knowin if ya can succeed?”

She left it at that. As she walked out of the forest, she decided to just have faith in those girls. At the moment, only one was definitely her friend. Two were up in the air, and Fluttershy was still a definite “no”. Still, they were now her team. She just needed to have faith that said team would assemble tomorrow.