Author's Notes:

I realize that a lot of people will probably be annoyed that I chose a particular store over Sugarcube Corner, but I feel that the joke is funnier like this.

I am not sorry.

---

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Chapter 8

When Applejack woke up the next morning, Rarity was already gone. She probably left around the time Applejack went to sleep. She did leave a note saying thank you though, which was odd. What exactly was Rarity thanking her for?

She put on her skimpy work clothes and stepped downstairs, where she saw everyone, including her little sister Apple Bloom sitting in front of the TV watching the news.

“The string of murders is truly beginning to worry officials,” the newscaster said, “The frequency combined with the brutality of said murders has detectives baffled, but most of all unnerved.”

“The bodies were just left out in the open,” the police chief said once it cut to him, “It looks like they were cut with some sort of blade.”

“What can you tell us about the killer?” the newscaster asked.

“Whoever they are, they have absolutely no regard for human life,” the police chief said, “This person is deranged, and above all arrogant. They just left the bodies out here to be found.”

“What the hell?” Applejack asked frowning.

“What could this person's motive be?” the newscaster asked, clearly sounding worried herself.

“Assuming they have a motive, you mean? These aren't the murders of someone with a goal. Whoever is doing this, they see it as no more than a game. Homeless people, men coming from work, people at work, all of different ages. They just see a person, and decide to kill them.”

“They'll be easily caught, won't they? I mean, they're not even trying to stay hidden.”

“That's why this isn't going to be easy,” the police chief said gravely, “Whoever is doing this is highly dangerous, and probably is just that confident that they won't be stopped. We have to proceed with absolute caution.”

“Granny Smith? I'm scared,” Apple Bloom said leaning into the elderly woman's embrace.

“I know, Bloom. Don't worry though, Ponyville has the best darn police force in the state,” Granny Smith said turning to Applejack, “No school today sugarcube. This serial killer's got the whole town afraid.”

“I see,” Applejack said, trying her hardest to hide her suspicions. Was it possible that this killer was…

“Well, chores ain't gonna do themselves,” Macintosh said, “Applejack, if ya wanna take the day off, ya can.”

Applejack was about to answer him, but her cellphone rang at that moment showing Rarity's number, “Hold that thought, alright? This is important,” Applejack ran into the hall and picked up her phone, “Ya saw it, right?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Rarity said, “Applejack, do you think it's Luna?”

“I can't imagine anyone else bein’ so brazen to jus' kill a bunch of people out in the open an' leave em,” Applejack said, “I think I got an easy out for the day, so I can head to the Everfree Forest. Somethin’ tells me we gotta get ready fast.”

“I agree. I'll track down Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. You know where Twilight lives, so could you find her?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, I'll leave right away. See ya there,” Applejack said hanging up. She knew going out in what were essentially daisy dukes and skimpy red shirt was going to attract attention, but she didn't quite care at the moment.

“Why are ya goin to the Everfree Forest?”

Applejack stopped immediately at the sound of her little sister. She slowly turned to Apple Bloom with a nervous smile.

“Um… I've got… a thing to do… ya know…?” Applejack said.

“It's super dangerous right now, an' Granny Smith don't want any of us in town at the moment,” Apple Bloom said.

“I… can imagine, but this is super important. Like, if I don't go, somethin real bad's gonna happen,” Applejack said.

“This has somethin’ to do with why ya always come in so late, don't it?” Apple Bloom asked, surprising Applejack, “Granny Smith an' Macintosh don't know yet, an' I ain't tellin them, but you're skippin’ curfew, ain't ya?”

Applejack sighed and knelt down in front of her little sister, “I know how this looks, especially with my track record, but I promise you that what I'm doin’ is important. I can't tell ya, cause I promised that I wouldn't tell anyone, but jus' know that I'm out there tryin’ to help people, alright?”

Apple Bloom looked unsure, but she nodded and hugged Applejack, “Be careful, sis.”

“I will. Keep coverin’ for me, alright?” Applejack requested. Apple Bloom nodded and released Applejack, who immediately ran out of the house and into town. As she ran, she pulled out her cellphone and called Twilight.

“Hi Applejack,” Twilight answered.

“Hey, ya saw on the news?” Applejack asked.

“I did. I'm in town right now,” Twilight said, scaring Applejack.

“What?! What in tarnation are ya doin there, girl?!” Applejack asked frantically.

“I'm looking for something for Celestia,” Twilight said, “I think I might have pinpointed the thing that she wanted me to find.”

Applejack sighed, “Alright, but tell me where ya are? That way we can head to the forest together.”

“I'm right in front of the Krispy Kreme.” Twilight said.

“Krispy Kreme, got it,” Applejack said, “I'll be right there.”

Applejack hung up and continued running into town. Hopefully she could get to Twilight before that killer did. If that killer was Luna…

“Okay… so if I compare the old map with this new map…” Twilight mumbled to herself, “And cross reference the ley line information that Fluttershy gave me… the energy from the Morphing Grid probably flows in this direction… so that means that the Crystal Heart is…”

She stopped right in the middle of the road looking down, and then looked up, smiling at the large sign that said “Krispy Kreme” before her. She didn't even care that she was currently holding up traffic at the moment. This was a major victory.

Celestia was going to be so proud of her.

“Hey! Twilight!” she heard to her left. She saw Applejack waving to her from a distance.

“Applejack!” Twilight said happily. She skipped over to her with a big smile on her face, “I found the Crystal Heart!”

“Wait, are ya serious?” Applejack asked. Twilight nodded vigorously.

“I asked Fluttershy to tell me if Ponyville was on a ley line. A ley line is a stream of energy connecting two or more important points. But that's not important right now, sorry. Anyway, Fluttershy told me that Ponyville is on a very important ley line that intersects with two more, so I asked her to give me a map of the intersecting points and-”

“Whoa whoa whoa! Slow down girl. First off, you have Fluttershy's number?” Applejack asked.

“Yes. I asked for it after our last-” Twilight cut herself off with a thought, “I should text her that we're meeting at the Everfree Forest.”

“You should text her that we're meetin at the Everfree Forest,” Applejack repeated nodding.

Twilight immediately pulled out her phone and typed her text message, sending it.

“So, anyway,” Twilight said, “Short answer, I was able to pinpoint the exact location of where the Crystal Heart is,” Twilight said, “Celestia is going to be so proud of me!”

“Well alright then,” Applejack said smiling, “This is good information. Let's share it with Celestia an' Spike once we get to the castle,” Twilight's phone chimed at that instant, “That's probably Fluttershy.”

Twilight pulled out her phone and read the message.

Figured. I'm here now with Pinkie Pie. Rarity's on her way too.

“Fluttershy is already there,” Twilight said, “Let's go too.”

Applejack nodded, and both of them ran to the Everfree Forest. Hopefully this time they'd be able to get a little closer to morphing.

“So that girl is the new Blue Ranger…” Luna said, hiding behind a tree, “Master, she knows where the Crystal Heart is.”

Good… this bodes well for us…

Have her guide us to it…

“And then,” Luna leaned close to the tree as if hugging it, “I'll kill her and the other Power Rangers.”

To say that Celestia was happy that Twilight located the Crystal Heart was an understatement. She literally began laughing euphorically flying around the chamber. It was both sweet, and sort of scary, especially to Applejack who was slowly beginning to realize more and more that Celestia was indeed a real life ghost.

However, it wasn't all happiness today. Turned out both Celestia and Spike saw the news report and confirmed that it was indeed Luna who was doing the killings. As such there was a tense air around the castle chamber. The girls all applied themselves even more into their training, which all five of them were showing real improvement. Even Twilight was now fighting a little better.

It was break time now, and Spike decided to show the girls something else in hopes of inspiring them, and thus lead them all into the room on the right. Here they saw pictures lining the walls of different teams in varying armors.

“Hey, these guys look sort of like ninjas!” Pinkie Pie said looking at one team of Power Rangers.

“That's the style of rangers used on the planet Aquatar,” Spike said, “Like I said, every planet has a Crystal heart, and with it, their own set of Power Rangers.”

“Are they all female too?” Rarity asked.

“Yep,” Spike said, “All of the Power Ranger teams in this galaxy are female.”

“Why is that?” Applejack asked, “I mean, seriously, why only women?”

“It's because of the nature of the magic used,” Spike explained, leading the girls down a long hall, “Men may be stronger on average, but women tend to have more powerful emotions. The Power Coins take those emotions and personifies them. Once you bonded with the Power Coins, you were infused with magic that increased your hormonal level, allowing your emotions to become strong enough where the Power Coins could turn them into power.”

“You said on the hormonal level,” Twilight stated, “Is that why our bodies changed so much?”

“That, along with the Power Coins intentionally bringing all of you to peak human strength,” Spike continued, “The magic is the source, but it's all on your bodies and how they choose to react to it.”

“That explains a lot…” Fluttershy pouted, rubbing her arm and looking away.

“This is also why we're working so hard to train you,” Spike said, “You can't rely on the magic of the Power Coins when you're out there. You have to know what you're doing. Ah, here we are.”

Spike stopped and raised his hands to present to the girls the craziest sight. Five giant mechs, each of different colors and shaped like a different animal. The red robot was shaped like a t-rex with two guns on it's back, the blue robot looked like a triceratops shaped tank, the black one was clearly a mammoth or something similar, the yellow one was obviously a saber toothed tiger, and the pink robot was a little smaller than the others, but looked like a fighter jet shaped like a pterodactyl.

“Whoa…” Applejack said, all of them looking up.

“Alright, not going to lie…” Fluttershy said, “That's sort of cool.”

“Let me guess, they're ours, aren't they?” Pinkie Pie asked, “Please tell me they're ours!”

Spike laughed, “Yes Pinkie Pie, these will belong to you once your training is complete. They are called Battle Zords.”

“What are they used for though?” Rarity asked, “I mean, with how powerful we become as Power Rangers I'm assuming, will we need all of this extra power?”

“Go,” Pinkie Pie said pointing to the door, “Leave right now. How dare you question this logic? Will we need giant robots, she asks...”

“Trust me, you'll need them at some point,” Spike said, “Not everything you fight will be human sized, nor will you always be fighting an even amount of enemies. These are in case of emergencies on that scale.”

“But… I've never driven a giant robot before,” Twilight said, “I don't even have a driver's license yet.”

“Don't worry. The Zords connect to you once you're morphed, so you'll know how to drive them,” Spike explained.

“Assuming we even can morph,” Fluttershy fussed.

“I don't know,” Applejack said, “I'm feelin pretty good this time around. Come on, let's get back to work an' give it another shot.”

As they all left, Pinkie Pie stayed behind for a bit and looked up at the Pterodactyl Zord, a smile forming on her face.

“I can't wait to become a Power Ranger,” Pinkie Pie said, “It's going to be so cool being able to fly. This just gets better and better!”

She skipped after her friends, who were all gathering at their pedestals. It was time to attempt morphing one more time. The energy building around the girls was growing, to the point where some of them could feel their clothes becoming lighter.

“This is it…!” Spike said, “They're doing it! They're morphing!”

Celestia held her hands together as if praying and closed her eyes. It was beginning to happen, but all of a sudden the girls could feel a mental block, causing the energy to dissipate.

“No no no no no!” Applejack cried frantically, “Come on y'all! We're almost there!”

Despite her protests though, the energy vanished, leaving all five of them unmorphed and exhausted. Spike groaned holding his head in frustration, but poor Celestia floated off to a seat to sit down, a downcast expression on her face.

“Come on, seriously?!” Rarity fussed, almost sounding on the verge of tears.

“We can't give up,” Applejack stated, “Everyone, let's try it again! Maybe if we give it one more-”

“Just give it a rest, Applejack!” Fluttershy shouted, “This is like the seventh time we've tried this, and we still can't get it! Face it, we're not Power Rangers!”

“But we almost did it that time!” Applejack argued, “We were close! Real close that time!”

“Yeah, and then we hit a big mental block, the same one we always hit!” Fluttershy argued back, “You all felt it, right?! That block was us! We're the problem!”

“Honestly, I'm startin to think that you're the problem!” Applejack shot, walking over to Fluttershy, “I've put up with your pessimistic behavior an' bitchy attitude all week, an' quite frankly I've had it up to here with it!”

“I'm the problem?! How do you know you're not the problem?!” Fluttershy shouted shoving Applejack back, “You're the outsider here! Pinkie Pie, Rarity, even Twilight I know somewhat because of school, but no one here knows a damn thing about you, except that you have a criminal record!”

“At least I'm upfront and contributin’ somethin’ to the team besides more negativity! I ain't even sure you wanna be a Power Ranger!”

“Guess what, I don't! I never wanted to be a stupid Power Ranger, but then I got wrapped up in your craziness and had my life turned upside down! Everything was perfect before you showed up!”

As they continued arguing, Twilight once again crouched down and covered her ears, closing her eyes tightly.

“I didn't turn your life upside down! You were the one who chose to follow me, an' this ain't fun for me either! But I figure instead of cryin’ about stuff I can't control, I'd try an' adjust! Somethin’ that you seem intent on refusin’ to do!”

“You know what? Maybe it is me! Maybe I am the problem! If that's the case, then I'm leaving!” Fluttershy turned to the stairs, “I never want to see you bitches again!”

“Wait!” Pinkie Pie shouted running in Fluttershy's way and holding her arms out, “We can't do this without you!”

“You better get out of my way, or I'll make you move!” Fluttershy seethed.

“I'm not letting you abandon the team!” Pinkie Pie said, “If we just talk this over-”

“There's nothing to talk over! It's done, we failed!” Fluttershy fussed.

“We only fail if we give up,” Rarity added.

“Then I give up! When will you get it? I'm over this! Now one more time, get out of my way!”

“If she wants to leave, then let her!” Applejack shot, “We don't need someone like her if all she's gonna do is challenge everythin’ we're tryin’ to do!”

“This isn't getting us anywhere, and all we're doing is upsetting Twilight,” Rarity said, “Let's all just calm-”

“Oh my God, Twilight again?! She has even less reason to be here!” Fluttershy exclaimed, “If she can barely handle an argument, she's going to be the first one to die, and quite frankly, I'm sick of everyone coddling Twilight! She can just have a nervous breakdown for all I care!”

“Alright, that's it!” Applejack shouted. She lunged at Fluttershy, and the two of them started actually fighting, while both Pinkie Pie and Rarity struggled to separate them. Twilight moaned loudly before shooting up and running to the fight.

“STOP IT!” she shouted, actually pushing everyone away. At the same time there was a flash of blue light, and when it died down, everyone stopped and turned to Twilight, staring at her in awe.

“W-what…?” Rarity said.

“Twilight…?” Pinkie Pie asked. Twilight, apparently calming down a bit, looked around at the group in confusion.

“What?” Twilight asked, “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“Twilight… ya did it…” Applejack said with a soft smile. Even Fluttershy looked awestruck at Twilight, who was no longer wearing her previous attire. She was now clad in blue and silver armor. It was a full body suit, one that hugged her body tightly, with connecting boots that were slightly heeled. In the center of the chest in between her breasts was a large glowing crystal. Finally, the helmet covered her entire head, and consisted of a black visor with a blue section coming down like a triceratops horn, and a silver mouth guard shaped like a woman's lips.

Twilight looked at her hands, shocked to see the armored gloves. She then looked around her entire body had been altered.

“I did it…! I morphed! I MORPHED!!!” Twilight cheered, “This is so cool!” before anyone could say anything else though, the armor fazed off her, replaced with her original clothes, “Aww…”

“But that proves it,” Rarity pointed out, “We can do this.”

“No,” Spike pointed out, “It proves that Twilight can do this.”

All five of them slowly turned to Spike, as they had completely forgotten that he and Celestia were still in the room. Spike looked pissed and Celestia was actually crying.

“Oh dear…” Rarity sighed.

“Are… we in trouble…?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“So far, Twilight is the only one to exhibit any semblance of what it means to be a Power Ranger!” Spike shouted, “The rest of you? So far all you act like are a bunch of self entitled children! This isn't a game! Didn't you see on your news stations?! Luna is out there killing people as we speak, and instead of trying to shape up, you all have petty fights among yourselves! If the original Rangers could see you right now, they'd be rolling in their graves!”

All of them looked down in shame at his words. Even Twilight, who didn't even know how she did it.

“If this is our only hope against Luna, then I fear for the planet,” Spike said somberly, “Get out. Class is dismissed.”

“Now hold on one-” Applejack started.

“I said get out!” Spike ordered, “None of you are ready, and I don't know if we have time to make you ready at this point.”

“Celestia, come on!” Applejack said desperately, “Talk to him! Tell him to give us more time!”

“I'm sorry, but I need to be alone right now,” Celestia said, rising and floating off, vanishing in a hazy mist. That hurt them more than any of Spike's words.

“Hey,” Rarity said putting her hand on Applejack's shoulder, “Let's… just go.”

All of the girls turned to leave one by one, but Twilight stayed behind briefly looking back at where Celestia vanished before running after everyone. Applejack, before leaving herself, grimaced in frustration, anger, and shame before stomping her foot and walking after her “team”. A psychopath was out on a killing spree, and the only ones who could do anything to stop her could barely even look at each other without tearing each other's faces off…