In Corvyn's laboratory, a portal opened up before the figure stepped out into it.

He was quickly followed by Flash, Shining and Thorax. Pharynx and the Rainbooms then followed, Thorax and the non-Riders amazed by the place as Corvyn pulled his hood down. When they saw his pointed ears and head-gem, they were just as shocked before remembering Corvyn was from another universe.

"What's this about?" Shining asked, as they moved over to a part of the lab where Flash and Shining hadn't been before. This one had a bunch of computers lining the wall, along with some kind of round table that appeared to have a computer screen as its top. "You said our world was in serious danger. More danger than when the Mimics were just attacking?"

"Indeed," Corvyn nodded. "That device they planted means they've moved onto the next step of their invasion."

"Which involves those Doom Pillars, right?" Corvyn nodded at Twilight's question, as he activated the screen on the table. When it powered up, it showed an image of Canterlot from above. The map then had five red dots, which everyone assumed were the Doom Pillars.

"This is how my world was conquered before. These Doom Pillars will allow the Mimics to turn Canterlot into their foothold." Suddenly, several blue dots appeared on the map as well, creating a perfect circle alongside the red ones that surrounded most of the city. "Once twelve of them have been placed in the right spot, they'll create an energy field that will make it impossible for any non-Mimic to survive within it."

"That can't be good," Flash frowned before counting the blue dots. "So they need twelve of these Doom Pillars."

"Thirteen," Corvyn corrected him. "Twelve standard Doom Pillars..." A green dot then appeared in the very centre of the circle, "plus a Control Pillar that will need to be placed in the centre once the others have been activated. If that Control Pillar is activated, Canterlot will be lost."

"Seriously?" Thorax gulped. "So if they've already got five in place, that means they only need seven more before they can use the Control Pillar."

"Exactly," Corvyn nodded. "But we have an advantage. We know where each of those seven pillars will be placed. That means we can stop them."

"How?" Sunset asked, looking worried that Canterlot would be lost forever.

"The Doom Pillars are their key to taking this city for themselves. But it's also their weak point. The Doom Pillars are all designed to be connected to one another. Before being activated, they all have to be synced up. Which means if one of them is destroyed, it can't simply be replaced. At least not now that some of them have been activated."

"So if we destroy one of them..." Shining nodded. "Alright, then that's what we'll do." He stared at the spots where the Mimics would need to attack. "Seven spots. Seven areas we need to keep safe. The Mimics will eventually attack one of them. And when that happens, we'll be waiting."

Flash nodded. "And we'll bust up as many of those Pillars as possible." The others nodded, as Corvyn got to work on something that might help them against the Mimics.

Later on, Shining had returned to his apartment.

The man sighed, as he stepped into the place and looked forward to a hot shower and a few hours in his bed. He would need all the energy he could get, in order to be ready for the fight that was to come the next day.

But as he stepped in, he suddenly found himself smelling something really good. And when he reached the kitchen, he found Cadance there cooking something. "Hey," she smiled, "what happened to you yesterday? I haven't seen you since you ran off to help Thorax." She gave him a worried look, "is he okay?"

"He's fine." That wasn't technically a lie, but Shining felt bad about not telling her everything.

Shining sat at the dining table and waited for Cadance to finish, his fiancee soon approaching with two plates that she put down. She asked what had happened with Thorax and Shining quickly made up a story about the Kamen Riders arriving to save him at the last minute.

"Did that new Rider I heard about show up?" Cadance looked genuinely interested. "I heard about it today. Some new Rider calling himself Changeling, apparently showed up with the other two." She took a bite of her food and looked curious. "I wonder where all these Riders are coming from?"

"Who knows," Shining shrugged as he quickly ate his food. Ever since learning about what he really was, he had been curious about how stuff like this actually worked. Did he have a digestive system, or was the food just sloshing around in a muddle of slime until he went to the bathroom?

That thought almost put Shining off his food, but he finished it anyway. Once that was done, he took the plates and pots in order to clean them whilst Cadance headed into his bedroom for something.

When he was done, he dried his hands right as Cadance stepped out. "What do you think?" Shining looked around and was greeted to the sight of his fiancee in beautiful lingerie. His entire body went stiff, as Cadance stepped forward. "I know you've got a lot going on, but we haven't had the chance to be together in a long time."

Shining realised she was right. They had been on many dates and spent time together, but neither of them had been able to get themselves in the mood for anything else since before the Mimics showed up.

Cadance wrapped her arms around her neck and pressed her body into Shining's, the pair beginning to make out as Shining held her by the hips. The two stood there, enjoying each other's presence as they started moaning into one another's mouths.

Shining began to push Cadance backwards until her back hit the wall, getting pinned between it and him.

Shining's hands began to slide lower whilst Cadance's moved down as well. But just as she was about to grasp him, Shining remembered who and what he actually was. And just like that, he realised he couldn't do it.

Cadance gasped as Shining suddenly pulled away and almost leapt across the room. "I can't!" She stood there, looking shocked that this had just happened. Shining looked away from her, shame on his face. "I'm sorry. But I can't."

"What?" Was all she could say. "What are you talking about?"

"I...I can't tell you. But...I just can't right now. I'm sorry."

Cadance still looked confused. "Shining. If there's something wrong, you can tell me." She moved closer and placed a hand on his chest. "You can tell me anything. Always have." Shining felt his heart break. He had always been able to tell her any problem he had had. And together, they had always overcome it. But not this time.

"I can't," Shining replied. "This is something you can't help me with." He stepped back and turned away from her. "Please. I need to be alone right now." Cadance stood there, staring at him. She obviously wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words.

Instead, she returned to Shining's room whilst he sat on the couch and let what was happening sink in. A few minutes later, she was back in her normal clothes and had a bag of her other clothes. She gave him one final look before leaving, Shining flinching when he heard the door click shut.

His face became one of frustration, Shining's body shaking as he got up and let his anguish overwhelm him. "RAAAAAH!" He slammed a fist into the wall, barely feeling the pain as he feared he had just destroyed the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Shining hadn't regretted his decision to stay as a Mimic when he made it, but now he realised he might have to sacrifice his relationship with Cadance to stay as Kamen Rider Morphic.

"I have to defeat the Mimics," he told himself. "Defeat them, so I can get back to my real body." He stared at a picture on the wall, which had him and Cadance together in it. "Please, wait for me."

The next day.

Corvyn stared at Sunset, Fluttershy and Pharynx. The three were all carrying unusual weapons, which were A-shaped devices with the tips missing and instead having metal prongs pointing forward. "Be careful with these things," he explained. "They might not be able to do much damage against a Mimic, but they can definitely destroy a Mimicreep with a single shot and do serious damage if used on a human."

"Understood," Sunset nodded as she pointed the weapon forward and fingered the trigger. "We'll be careful." She flicked a button on the side and the prongs began to generate lightning between them, which likely fired when the trigger was pulled.

"Just make sure to keep them hidden when the Mimics aren't around." Corvyn watched them turn off the devices and stick them in their backpacks, as he began to type coordinates into the computer. "You three will be protecting the same spot. Hopefully, you'll be able to keep the Mimics busy until the Riders get there."

"We'll do our best," Fluttershy looked worried as the portal opened. Corvyn nodded before they stepped into it, disappearing along with the portal as he turned his attention back to the map.

Windows appeared on the screen, showing images of all the people that were protecting the spots they had been assigned.

Flash, Shining and Thorax were each on the roof of a building, already suited up and ready for a fight. Twilight and Applejack were protecting another area, whilst Pinkie and Rainbow were protecting another. Rarity was the only one on her own, her shield ability making her perfect for protecting a place on her own.

Rarity was on a bench, looking around making sure there weren't any Mimics around. Despite being on her own, she was confident she could protect the area on her own.

Currently, she had her phone out and it was on a group chat connected to everyone else. But Twilight was more concerned with talking to her brother then keeping a watchful eye out for Mimics.

"You just threw her out?" Morphic flinched, as his phone sat beside him. "How could you do that to her? Cadance came home last night crying."

"I didn't want to throw her out," Morphic told her. "But I didn't have a choice. She wanted to get...physical. I couldn't let her stay after rejecting her advances." His heart was still hurting after that.

"I don't get it." Flash asked from his spot, "what's the problem?"

"Flash, I'm not exactly human right now. Even if I knew for sure it was safe to be with her in this body, I wouldn't do it. If Cadance finds out what I am and after we did something like that, she might not be able to look at me again without throwing up."

Twilight sighed into the phone. "I understand that. I'm still weirded out whenever I think of when me and...Gule, kissed. But that doesn't give you the right to make Cadance feel like that. You really hurt her feelings."

Morphic sighed. "I know. But what else could I do?"

It was Thorax that replied. "Have you considered maybe telling her? If she knew why you couldn't be with her, she might understand and be willing to wait for you."

"I don't know," Morphic frowned. "As much as I want to tell her, I'm worried about what'll happen if I do. Twilight and the others took a while before they were willing to accept we were the real us. What if Cadance doesn't believe us? What if I tell her and she thinks I'm just a Mimic pretending to be her fiance. She might tell everyone and our secret will be out."

"I think you should have more faith in her," Rarity replied. "I'm sure if you explain things properly, she'll understand."

"But how are you supposed to explain something like that?" Flash asked. "He can't just go up to her and say, I'm actually a Mimic that took over your lover and lost control of myself. Now he's the one in control of this body and he's been using it to fight other Mimics."

"A'h wouldn't tell her like that," Applejack replied. "But he should tell her. She deserves the truth." Morphic frowned, wishing he knew of a way to tell Cadance without her freaking out.

But before anything else could be said, a trio of portals appeared.

Shifter, Changeling and Rarity all jumped into action, Shifter and Changeling jumping down off their rooftops whilst Rarity ran to the spot the Doom Pillar would need to be placed. And as they did, Mimics stepped out of them.

"Hello again," Greye chuckled as he and Frill stood in front of Shifter. "I hope you don't think this is going to go the same way it went the last time we fought. You don't have your little friends around to protect you this time."

"Bring it," Shifter told them before slotting his Blade Core into his Shift Striker. As the weapon formed, Shifter charged at them and the two charged as well.

At her area, Rarity stared High down as the electric tiger smiled.

"This is too easy," she smiled before charging up a bolt of lightning. "I suggest you run. I wouldn't want to mess up your pretty little face."

"You don't have to worry about messing me up," Rarity told her. High then launched the bolt and Rarity quickly formed a wall of diamonds around her, blocking the bolt before the wall morphed into a dome that surrounded her.

High used her super speed to run around the girl, trying to find an angle she could attack from. But Rarity kept her shield up and the Mimic had no way to get an attack in. "You can't stay in there forever." She launched another blast of lightning, which struck Rarity's dome but did little against it.

"I don't need to stay here forever. Just until you get tired. Or until one of the Riders shows up." She just hoped they got their soon.

Changeling stared at Maya and suddenly found himself feeling a little uneasy.

"Hello, Torin." She moved towards him, as the Rider raised his weapon. "Now, now. Would you really raise a blade to your own mother? I created you, after all."

"Wrong," Changeling stated. "You may have created this body, but Torin isn't the one in control right now. You made the mistake of making me Torin's host and this is the result. Now I have the power to fight against you Mimics and nothing's gonna stop me from freeing my mother."

"Is that so?" Maya asked. "Such a shame. I had hoped I could convince you to rejoin our cause. But you leave me no choice." With that, she thrust her hands forward and sent webs shooting towards Changeling. But the Rider quickly slashed at them with his sword before charging at her.

Maya ran forward and threw a kick at him, but he blocked with the sides of his swords before dealing his own kick at her. But she avoided this and leapt back, Changeling running after her and trying to punch her with the crossguard of his sword. She replied by creating a web line and holding it between her hands, using it to catch the sword.

Changeling tried to pull the sword back, but the web it was stuck to refused to budge.

Maya smiled before yanking the web and forcing the sword out of Changeling's hand, throwing it away before swinging her leg around. The kick struck the Rider and knocked him off his feet, Changeling hitting the ground rolling whilst trying to keep hold of his last sword.

He groaned, but quickly pushed himself up as Maya started launching several web shots at him.

"Whoa!" He cried, dodging each and every one of them. But when he tried to counter attack, he found it much more difficult with only one sword. Maya soon had him outclassed the the Rider quickly found himself in trouble, as she three kicks and punches at him with incredible speed.

Corvyn watched as the four Mimic Generals did battle against Rarity and the Riders.

He quickly got in contact with Morphic and the others. "Rarity, Shifter and Changeling need help. Morphic, get to Rarity's location. The rest of you, head to Shifter and Changeling's position."

"What about keeping our areas safe?" Twilight asked.

"The Mimic Generals are all at one of the three locations. Since there's no way the Mimicreeps have the brains to use the Doom Pillars, we don't have to worry about them attacking your areas. Now hurry." Nobody complained and began to make their way to the closest Rider, as Corvyn hoped they could succeed in destroying a Doom Pillar.

Back with Rarity, she continued to keep her dome up whilst High tried to blast her way through.

The strain of keeping the shield up through the attack, was proving rather difficult for the girl. She moaned, as High kept launching lightning bolts from different angles. She wouldn't be able to keep this up forever.

As this was happening, someone happened to be walking nearby and heard the blasts of lightning.

Cadance frowned. Despite her better judgement telling her to run, she chose to go and investigate. So, keeping herself hidden in an alleyway, she looked out at the street and was shocked to see the fight that was going on. "Rarity?" She gasped, seeing Twilight's friend fighting against a Mimic on her own.

She looked around, but couldn't see any of Rarity's friends or a single Kamen Rider.

Rarity let out a cry, Cadance seeing she was falling to her knees. She wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. And as a teacher, Cadance couldn't bring herself to just sit back and watch a young girl in trouble.

So, before she could really think, she ran forward and grabbed a brick that had been inside the alleyway. And with all her strength, she threw it at the Mimic.

The brick slammed into High's back and made her cry out, the tiger stopping her assault on Rarity before turning to Cadance. The Mimic growled, "someone else wanting to play hero?"

Rarity saw Cadance and gasped. "Run! Get away from here!" Cadance stepped back, but High ran forward at super speed and was suddenly behind Cadance. But as she raised a claw to strike, an engine filled the air.

Everyone turned to see Morphic race onto the scene, the Rider accelerating towards High in an attempt to run her over. But the Mimic dodged at the last moment, Morphic passing Cadance and skidding to a stop.

The Rider saw Cadance and Shining's eyes went wide, wondering what the heck she was doing there. But he didn't have time to ask, as High started launching lightning bolts towards them. "Look out!" He grabbed Cadance raced away, as the bolt struck the ground and exploded.

He stopped and let Cadance down, as he jumped off his bike and turned to the woman.

"Get out of here!" Cadance didn't know why, but the Rider's voice sounded familiar. This made Cadance stand there, looking confused. "NOW!" Cadance was jolted out of her confusion and ran, but only hid in a nearby alleyway as Morphic turned towards High. As he did, he took out his best Mimicore and activated it.

"TRI-HORN!"

As High charged up her energy, Morphic replaced his Mimicores. "Mega Morph!" He slammed the draw closed and his belt yelled out.

"MIMIC! TRICERATOPS!" Cadance watched, as his form began to transform. As High rushed forward, Morphic changed into his super form and slammed his fist forward as the armor settled. "The charging force of three horns, triple the destructive power."

His fist slammed into High and the lasers exploded out of his wrist blasters, blasting the Mimic backwards as she screamed.

High crashed into the ground, sparks flying off her body as she laid there. "That hurt!" She got up, as Morphic stepped forward. "You'll pay for that!" She charged up energy before launching it at Morphic, who stood his ground and crossed his arms.

The lightning slammed into him and Morphic flinched, but managed to hold his ground.

When High's attack ended, she was shocked to see Morphic barely had a scratch and he started marching forward again. She growled and attacked, whilst Morphic's arm blasters charged up. Both sides were ready for a serious fight. Neither would give an inch to the other.

Shifter grunted, as he blocked Frill's swords before pushing him back and jumping back to avoid Greye's energy blades.

As he landed, he quickly replaced the Mimicores in his Shift Striker. "PIERCE!" His weapon transformed and he started shooting at the pair, but the two used their weapons to deflect the spines before Frill charged forward.

He once again tried to cut Shifter down, but the Rider blocked the sword with his rifle before spinning around and kicking him away. He then fired, trying to shoot Frill before he could recover. But Greye leapt in front of Frill and deflected the attacks with his fans.

This allowed Frill to recover and launch several feather darts in Shifter's direction. But the Rider counted by shooting them before they could hit him. And as the darts were destroyed, Shifter took out his strongest Mimicore and activated it.

"HYPER STRIKE!"

He quickly replaced his Mimicores and as the Mimics charged, slammed the draw shut. "Shape Shift!"

"MIMIC! LIGHTNING BUG!" His armor melted, as the Hyper Core's energy flowed into his body. And just as Frill tried to slash at him, the armor solidified and unleashed a wave of energy that slammed into the pair. "Ultimate light, strikes to eradicate the shadows!"

Frill and Greye staggered back, Shifter using his added power to rush in and deal a kick to Greye that was charged with energy before shooting at Frill. The Mimics cried out as they were blasted backwards, the two slamming into the ground as Shifter landed.

Both Mimics laid on the ground, groaning as Shifter pointed his blaster at them and prepared to fire again.

But before he could, a portal opened up right beside him before several Mimicreeps leapt out. The monsters took the Rider by surprise, managing to knock him down to the ground. "HEY!" He struggled against them and let the Hyper Core pulse, unleashing a burst of energy that quickly destroyed several of them.

But this delay allowed the Mimics to pick themselves up and Frill charged at Shifter. As he blasted the rest of the Mimicreeps away, Frill slammed into him and pushed him further away from the spot that the Doom Pillar needed to be placed.

"Get off me!" The lights on his armor exploded with energy and Frill was zapped, crying out as he staggered away from Shifter. But as this was happening, Greye had run over to the spot as a Mimicreep jumped out of the portal.

This one was carrying a Doom Pillar and it quickly ran over to Greye, handing him the device. "Raaah!" Greye slammed it into the ground and broke through the concrete, as Shifter picked himself up.

"Oh no you don't!" Shifter tried to charge at him, but Frill got in his way. And as the pair fought, Greye activated the device and it began to charge up.

Back with Maya and Changeling, the Rider was still having trouble in his fight.

With his sword now on the ground, his flow was completely knocked out of whack. He hadn't trained to use only one sword. And as he attempted to slash at Maya with one, she was able to dodge and move to the side of his body that didn't have a sword in it.

Before Changeling could try and stop her, he was slammed in the side by her foot and knocked staggering.

She then launched a web-line at him and hit the Rider in the back before pulling with all his strength. Changeling was yanked towards her and she punched him as soon as he reached her, the Mimic slamming him down onto the ground and making him cry out in pain.

"Gyah!" His other sword had been dropped when he was yanked back and now, he had no way of fighting back. "Let me go!"

"Torin!" Maya held him by the neck, "wake up. You're stronger than this." Changeling groaned, as she kept him pinned. But before she could tighten her gasp and cut off air, he found his legs next to her and swept them out with a kick.

The Mimic gasped as she fell to the ground and Changeling quickly rolled to his feet, running over to his sword and picking one up before trying to get the other. But before he could, Maya webbed the other one and pulled it into her own grasp.

Changeling turned to her and quickly charged, attempting to slash at her. But Maya showed she actually had some skills with a sword and managed to block each of his attacks, then knocked his sword away and slashed at her several times. Changeling screamed, as each slash did serious damage to him. And before he could counter, Maya spun around and slammed her foot into his chest.

He was knocked flying back and as he did, Maya launched a web-line at him before spinning on the spot. Once again, Changeling found himself getting yanked back in the opposite direction.

Maya spun him around several times before releasing the web and ending him flying, the Rider crashing into the side of a building with enough force to shatter all the windows around him. And as he fell to the ground, his suit glowed before exploding off of him.

Thorax grunted as he landed, his clothes torn up and his body covered in bruises and cuts.

He tried to move, but all that did was make him feel more pain. All he could do was lay there, as Maya moved over to him and kicked him onto his back. He grunted, then screamed as she pressed her heel into his chest.

Thorax moaned, but couldn't fight back. Maya just stared down at him, clearly able to destroy him with ease. But she didn't.

Instead, she pulled her foot off his chest and began to move away. Thorax groaned, trying to get up and stop her. But he couldn't. Instead, a portal opened and a Mimicreep stepped out with a Doom Pillar. Thorax could only watch in horror, as she prepared to spike the device into the ground.

But just as she was about to do that, Maya suddenly sensed something and leapt back. Moments later, a blue blur shot passed and had almost pulled the device out of her grasp. "Damn it!" She growled, as the Mimicreep was knocked over by the blur and destroyed.

Rainbow stopped and glared at Maya, whilst Pharynx, Pinkie, Twilight and Applejack were running towards her.

"Thorax!" Pharynx cried, seeing his brother injured. He glared at Maya, who stepped away as another portal formed behind her. Before anyone could stop her, she jumped through it with the Doom Pillar.

Danger gone, everyone gathered around Thorax. "Are you okay?" Twilight asked, as they helped him up. He flinched, clearly not in the best of conditions.

"Thanks for getting here," Thorax told them. "If you hadn't, Maya would have got the Doom Pillar in place."

"Thank you for holdin' her off long enough," Applejack explained. "You'd better get back ta da'h lab and heal up. We'll stay here and keep an eye on things."

"It's not just here we need to protect," Twilight frowned. "All the spots are still in danger. We can't keep this up forever." It was only a matter of time before the Mimics got the other pillars in place.

Back in Morphic's fight, he and High appeared evenly matched.

The Tiger Mimic raced forward and high speed and when she reached Morphic, she slammed into him and zapped him with lightning. But in his super form, Morphic was able to brace himself and ground the lightning so that it only did minimal damage.

High kept slamming into him again and again, Morphic's low speed making it difficult for him to block or dodge. And despite doing barely any damage, it was beginning to add up.

However, Morphic managed to get a few hits in. He spun around at the last moment and threw a punch right into High's chest, his strength and her speed mixing to do some serious damage and sent her flying back when the laser struck.

"Augh!" She crashed into the ground, but she didn't let that stop her and she quickly rolled back to her feet. She then repeated the process, smashing into Morphic several times. But Morphic once again managed to get a strike in on her after the fifth hit. "GYAH!" She was once again thrown back, taking serious damage whilst Morphic looked just as tired.

The Rider took a deep breath and started punching the air, launching lasers right at High.

The Mimic saw him coming and quickly jumped back to her feet, barely managing to leap out of the way before the lasers could hit her. She tried to get in close, but Morphic kept launching the blasts at her.

High leapt from side to side, unable to really get close as she was forced to avoid him. And when she tried to launch another lightning bolt in his direction, she suddenly found him launching an extra powerful laser to counter it and cause an explosion.

The shockwave knocked High back, whilst Morphic crossed his arms and braced himself for the attack. He grunted, but managed to stay on his feet whilst High hit the ground.

Rarity smiled at this, the girl still guarding the area where the Doom Pillar needed to go. But as she watched the fight, she realised High didn't have the Doom Pillar on her. "Is she just trying to distract us, so the other Mimics can attack somewhere else?" She doubted that, since Greye, Frill and Maya were apparently already in combat. And she wasn't sure if the Mimicreeps had the intellect to activate the device. "Then where is it?"

High panted, as she pushed herself out.

As she did, Morphic approached ready for a fight. But as he did, High spotted someone behind him. Cadance.

The woman had been so drawn into the fight, she had forgotten all about escaping or staying hidden. As such, she was an easy target, High chuckling as she started charging up power. Morphic saw this and braced himself to counter the attack. But he quickly realised High wasn't planning to aim it at him.

"Surprise!" She fired the lightning bolt towards Cadance, who went ridged as she realised she was about to be zapped.

"NOOOOO!" Morphic ran as fast as he could and despite his heavy armor dragging him down, he was able to leap between Cadance and the attack. The lightning struck him in the chest and he could do nothing but cry out in pain, as he was blasted back when the lightning exploded. "GYAAAAAH!" He crashed into the ground and rolled along it until he stopped at Cadance's feet.

The woman gasped and knelt down beside him. "Are you okay?" It was then that Morphic's armor glowed along with his suit, both of which suddenly exploding off of him and revealing the person underneath. And when she saw who it was, she gasped in shock and horror. "Shining?"

Shining groaned, as he tried to push himself up. But he was badly injured.

High chuckled, as she sparked with even more energy. "Goodbye, Morphic." With that, she fired another powerful blast of lightning towards them. One which would kill both of them if it connected.

"No!" Rarity dropped the dome around her and at the last moment, managed to create a wall of diamonds between the pair and the blast. The lightning struck and exploded, but the wall managed to stay up.

However, this was what High was after, as the Mimic suddenly shot forward at super speed and slammed a foot into Rarity's chest.

The girl gasped, as she was thrown away from the spot she was supposed to protect.

As she hit the ground, a portal opened next to High and a Mimicreep leapt out with the Doom Pillar in hand. She smiled and grabbed it, as Shining tried to force himself to his feet. But before he could do anything, High slammed the device into the ground and activated it.

"No!" Shining tried to run at her, but his legs gave out and he fell to the ground.

"Shining!" Cadance cried, holding him up as they watched High beginning to power up the device. "What is that thing?"

"Trouble," Shining groaned. He prayed he could find a way to stop it before it got too powerful, but High quickly began to channel her power into the device.

She looked strained, the process clearly doing some damage to her as her energy was sucked out. But eventually, she pulled away and the device was fully charged. "Got it," she panted whilst the Doom Pillar created a dome around it.

Shining growled, angry he had failed. Rarity was also upset, as High and the Mimicreep stepped towards the portal. The Mimicreep glared at them, clearly wanting to attack, but High shook her head. "Leave them. He may be injured, but that Rider is probably still a match for you. And I'm too drained to do anything myself." With that, she leapt through the portal and her stooge followed her, the portal vanishing as the Doom Pillar continued to beep.

Shining hit the ground in frustration, but then turned to Cadance. Whilst the Doom Pillar was a problem, her finding out he was Morphic was just as bad.

Back with Shifter, he and Frill continued to fight as Greye protected the Doom Pillar.

The Rider had switched his Shift Striker to the Strike Form, using the greater speed this allowed him to deal several powerful strikes to Frill's body. The Mimic roared with each attack, Shifter jabbing him multiple times in the chest after getting around his swords.

Shifter then aimed for Frill's hands, stabbing one and forcing him to drop one of his swords. He staggered back in pain and Shifter prepared to attack again, only to find an energy blade flying at him.

He dodged this at the last moment and turned to Greye, changing his Shift Striker to the gun mode and firing several super fast lasers at him. But Greye deflected them all and Shifter could only focus back on Frill as he launched several darts in his direction.

He quickly swung his weapon through the air, the light coming off it forming a long squiggly line that acted as a shield to stop the darts.

Shifter then charged at Frill and managed to hit his other hand, making him cry out as he was forced to drop his other sword before Shifter swung his foot around and struck him in the head. This sent Frill flying and he crashed into the ground in front of Greye, who was forced to abandon the Doom Pillar and attack.

He slashed at Shifter, who leaned away from the blade before dealing a kick to Greye that knocked him back.

Greye grunted, but kept attacking and slashed at him again. But Shifter used his weapon to block to attack and knock the fan away before throwing a punch, right into his chest. "Gyah!" He was knocked back again, as Frill got up and launched several more darts at him.

But Shifter leapt up and over then as his weapon shifted to gun mode again, the Rider raining lasers down on the two and causing them both to cry out in pain as Shifter landed. He then shifted his weapon back to sword mode before slamming the side of his Driver, causing it to power up.

"CLIMACTIC HYPER STRIKE!"

The Hyper Core energy surged through his body, as held his weapon tight and let the power flow into it. He then shot towards the two with such speed, he was nothing but a blur until he was right in front of him. Then, his arm became a flurry of movement that kept jabbing the two over and over again.

Despite alternating between the two with each stab, Frill and Greye felt like they were being struck at the same time.

Both cried out, as they were each struck a total of one hundred times in ten seconds. And after the two hundredth strike, Shifter's foot glowed before he spun around and kicked the air in front of them with a sweep kick. This caused the energy to fly off his foot and form a wave that slammed into the two, Shifter standing with his back to them as both suddenly exploded.

The two screamed as they were blown backwards, both hitting the ground far away from the Doom Pillar.

As they did, Shifter turned to the device and could feel himself getting close to his limit with Hyper Strike. But before he could attack the Doom Pillar, it activated and formed the protective shield around it. "NO!"

"Yes!" Frill cheered, as he and Greye laid on the ground. They both looked happy and as they picked themselves up, which was hard due to their injuries, they smiled at one another before opening a portal. "Later, Rider." With that, they were gone and Shifter could only roar in frustration.

Back at the base, Corvyn was keeping an eye on the areas that the Doom Pillars needed to be placed.

As he did, Thorax was sitting behind him whilst Pharynx held a device that looked like a scan as you shop device. As he held it over Thorax's skin, a red light was coming out of the device and helping heal Thorax's injuries. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah," Thorax nodded, "pain's gone." He sighed, "just wish I didn't get so badly hurt."

"You did good," Corvyn told him. "You're still learning to control your abilities. In time, you'll get stronger and Maya won't stand a chance." Thorax nodded, as Pharynx turned to Corvyn.

"Where are the others?" Corvyn frowned, as he stared at the door leading to the living space.

Inside that room, Shining, Cadance and Twilight were sitting on a couch. The others were off to the side, staring out at the sandy wasteland.

Twilight was using the healing device on Shining, who had just finished explaining everything to Cadance. "So you've been a Mimic this whole time?" She stared at him in shock, as Shining looked away from her in shame. "When you lost your memory, was that because you were a Mimic as well?"

"I...I don't know. Never thought of it. Maybe." Shining would need to ask Corvyn about that.

"And the reason you didn't want to...it's because you weren't human."

"Yes," Shining nodded before turning to her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. When this first happened, I didn't know what was happening. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't know what to tell them. But you've got to believe me. I'm your Shining Armor. I might be in another body, but I am him." He and Cadance stared into one another's eyes, the pair saying nothing for several long moments.

Then, Cadance smiled before leaning forward and kissing him.

Shining was taken aback by this, as Cadance pulled away. "I know. I can see it in your eyes. They have the same shine to them. The glow of justice that you love to protect. That's not something that can be faked. It really is you." Shining smiled, as she placed a hand on his chest. "I'm sorry you felt you couldn't tell me this. But it's okay. I'm going to stand by you, no matter what happens."

"Cadance. I don't deserve you."

"True. So don't go keeping a secret like this from me again." Shining nodded, the pair kissing again as Twilight smiled.

Meanwhile, everyone else kept looking out the window. "How horrible," Rarity whispered. "And this used to be just like Canterlot?" Flash nodded.

"That's what Corvyn said. If we don't stop the Mimics, this could become our world's fate." Everyone began to worry, Fluttershy even looking ready to start tearing up. "Five Doom Pillars are left. If we don't destroy even one of them, we could lose Canterlot forever."

"Indeed," Corvyn stepped into the room. "And even with the number of places left to guard lower, we can't possibly protect them all with the numbers we have."

"We need more help," Shining agreed. "I think it's time we asked for some assistance." Everyone gave him a confused look, clearly thinking the same thing.

"From who?" Thorax asked.

"From the military. The police. Anyone willing to help fight. They need to know what's going on. Before it's too late." The others agreed, but couldn't help but wonder how they would react to their request. If they didn't agree to help, the Mimics could very well take over the city.

Back at the Mimic Lair, the Generals were overjoyed at their accomplishment.

"Eight down," Frill stated as he rubbed the healing gel into his body. "Five to go." As he said this, the alarm went off and the Mimics rushed over to the holographic device. As soon as they were in front of it, the device projected the image of their master.

"You're doing well," he told them. "But don't get cocky. You only managed to succeed by luck."

"We understand," Greye nodded. "We'll keep working as hard as we can until the Doom Pillars are all in place. Once they are, nothing will be able to stop us."

"Just don't let yourself get overconfident. And you, Maya." The spider Mimic flinched, "you had a chance to defeat the new Rider. But you left instead. Why?"

"I'm sorry," Maya looked down in shame. "I couldn't bring myself to destroy him. He might be our enemy now, but he's still my spawn. And he's also my host's child. I'm afraid her feelings for her son are also affecting my feelings for my spawn." She placed her hand over where her heart should have been. "Is this what the humans call love?"

"I can understand that feeling. I know I've had spawns that I have found myself growing connected to. It's not something so easily overwhelmed. But we can't have you refusing to fight when the need arises."

"I understand," Maya nodded. "But I don't know if I can get over this."

"Then we'll need to do something about that Rider." The other Mimics expected him to order them to destroy Changeling. But something else happened first.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light appeared in front of them. They were blinded for a moment and staggered back, as something appeared on the ground. When the light faded, they looked down to see something.

It was a strange looking device, which was black in colour. The main part of the device was a rectangular tube, which had two hinges that caused the tube to bend. On the bottom part was some kind of plug that one would see on a USB, which looked like it could slot into something. And on the top was a rectangular frame, with a black see-through window of some kind.

Maya picked it up and when she touched it, she gasped as a cold shiver suddenly overwhelmed her. As she held it, she could feel a sinister power flowing into her. It almost made her drop it, as she turned to her master. "What...I don't understand. What is this?"

"A little something I've been working on since you sent me the scans of Shifter's Driver. It uses a form of super energy, much like the Hyper Core I gave to Gule. But this energy is different. In a way, you could call it pure evil. The Maleficore."

"Maleficore?" Maya whispered, as she held the device in her hand. "And this will allow me to get Torin back?" The figure nodded, as Maya smiled. She didn't know what this device could do, but if it saved her spawn then she didn't care.

Author's Note

So, the Doom Pillars will make Canterlot a Mimics only place. Not good. And there are only five Doom Pillars left. But hey, at least Cadance knows what's happening now. But what will that Maleficore do? Only time will tell.