All over Canterlot, people were beginning to worry.

The mysterious devices that had been showing up all over the city, were starting to freak many of them out. Especially since info had been leaked about the Mimics being the ones that planted them. Many wondered what they were and why the Riders had allowed them to be put there. And others wondered why they weren't being removed.

"Let's go, people." A construction worker yelled, as his men tried to work on removing the device.

Several stepped up to the device with jackhammers and began to break the ground around it. But when they did, the whole thing suddenly sparked and sent energy flying into the tools. "Gyah!" One of them yelled, everyone dropping them as the devices short circuited and exploded.

"Rats!" The head worker yelled, as everyone moved away. "Whatever that thing is, it ain't coming out of there."

"Don't be so sure!" He looked around and saw a bulldozer, rolling towards the area and placing the shovel on the ground. Since the surrounding area was nothing but wasteland, they didn't have to worry about the roads.

The machine dug up the ground and prepared to do the same with the section that held the Doom Pillar. But as soon as it reached that section, it suddenly stopped and found it couldn't unearth the device.

Then, a bolt of lightning hit the machine's engine and caused it to start sparking. "GET OUT OF THERE!" The boss yelled, as the worker quickly unbuckled themselves and leapt out of the cap. Everyone else ran for it, with the bulldozer eventually exploding.

The shockwave knocked everyone day, as the fireball filled the area and metal pieces fell everywhere. And when the flames finally died down, the Doom Pillar was shown completely untouched.

The workers stared at it in shock, as the boss turned towards the driver. "That's coming out of your pay." The driver huffed, whilst the workers continued to look worried. It seemed that nothing could unearth the Doom Pillars. And that just made them more terrifying.

In Corvyn's lab, the heroes were dealing with an even greater issue.

Flash was sitting in one corner, terrified to go anywhere near the rest of his friends. It had been like this since the previous day, when he had accidentally used the power of the Maleficore. He had almost caused serious harm to the people around him and if something wasn't done soon, he might very well end up hurting his friends.

"So what's going on?" Twilight asked, as Corvyn stared at the computer. "Why did Flash suddenly transform like that?"

Corvyn hummed, as he stared at the data. "I'm only guessing here, but I think it might be tied to Flash's emotional state." Everyone looked confused, but Flash just listened and learned so he could prevent it from happening again. "The Maleficore is pure negative energy. So not only does it infect whatever it comes in contact with, it's also drawn to high levels of negative energy."

"I'm confused." Rainbow frowned, the others feeling just as confused.

"All beings give off energy. For humans, it's normally just thermal radiation. But you can also give off some form of emotional energy. You've felt it before, right. When someone's in a really bad mood, you can almost feel it radiating off of them and use it to keep clear."

"Oh yeah," Pinkie nodded. "I see that all the time. Really creepy black shadow surrounding people. It's how I know if someone needs help cheering up."

"Right," Corvyn nodded. "Well that's what's happening here. Whenever Flash is overcome with incredible amounts of negative energy, the Maleficore will activate. Basically, if Flash gets mad enough, sad enough, or feels absolute despair and hopelessness, it'll give the Maleficore the ability to activate and transform him."

Everyone frowned hearing this. Flash could be a pretty chill dude at times, but they knew his temper wasn't something one wanted to get on the receiving end of. "I'm willing to be this isn't some random side effect." Shining turned to Thorax, "the Mimics must have designed it to do that."

"I guess," Thorax nodded. "So Flash can't get angry, scared or sad?"

"Not unless he wants the Maleficore to activate." Corvyn stared at the scans of the device, then over at Flash. "And in a fight, it's easy for any of those emotions to get the better of you."

Flash nodded. "Especially when you have an annoying guy constantly yelling in your ear." Sheave laughed at this, Flash groaning as he clutched his head. The others worried at this and Twilight turned to Corvyn.

"Please tell me you've found a way to stop this. There has to be some way to undo the Maleficore's effects."

"There...might be. But finding it could be tricky."

"What do you mean?" Flash asked, clearly wanting to know any possibility of returning to normal.

Corvyn typed away at his computer and a few moments later, a holographic image of a device was floating in front of them. That device was some kind of sphere, which seemed to be sparking with energy. "The Maleficore is pure negative energy. The only way to cancel it out, is with a source of pure positive energy. My world called them Beatucores."

"Beatucores?" Flash stared at it. "And this thing can stop the Maleficore from turning me insane?"

"Possibility," Corvyn replied. "I would need to configure it to mix with the Maleficore's negative energy. The two energies would mix together and cancel each other out, leaving nothing but pure supercharged energy you'd be able to use fight against the Mimics."

"Great," Flash smiled, "where do we get one?" But the look on Corvyn's face told him that was easier said than done.

"If I knew where to get one, I would have already collected it and used it before now." The others frowned at this, as Corvyn thought for a moment. "But there might be one spot."

"Where?" Flash asked, clearly desperate to get his hands on one. Corvyn pressed a few buttons and the hologram changed to show a castle. "What's that?"

"The one place nearby that might have a Beatucore. The home of the Royal Family."

"You guys had a royal family?" Applejack asked, with Corvyn shrugging.

"Yes. We still had a government, but the royal family's head was always the one who was in charge. Anyway, it was customary in this country for rare cores to be kept at the Royal Family's castle. Most of the high powered cores were used in the battle against the Mimics...even though it was too late to stop them by then." He shook his head. "Anyway. If there are any Beatucores left, they may be held in the vault of the Royal Castle."

"So I've gotta go there?" Flash asked, with Corvyn nodded. "How far away is it?"

"Actually, it's not too far. Located just outside the city...or what's left of this city. You should be able to get there in about an hour on your bike." Flash nodded, as Corvyn began to prepare a map to help him find it.

However, everyone was a little worried about Flash going out into Mimic territory on his own. "I'm going with you." Flash turned to Twilight, shocked by her declaration.

"Twilight, no. It's way too dangerous out there. There'll be Mimics all over the place. And what if I lose control and go Malefic?"

"Even more of a reason for you not to go alone." She poked Flash in the chest. "I was able to remove the Maleficore last time. I'll do it again this time. If you lose control and there's nobody around, you could stay like that for who knows how long."

Shining sighed. "As much as I hate my sister going to unknown territory, she's right. You can't go alone and Twilight's the best one to keep you under control. I'd go, but we can't risk two Riders being MIA."

Flash frowned, but eventually nodded. "Alright. Let's get going."

"Then here." Corvyn threw Twilight some kind of tablet, the girl turning it on and finding it was acting like a GPS. That should get you to the castle. I've also added a blueprint of the place, so you should be able to find the vault. Once there, place the tablet on the vault and hold it. The tablet has a magnetic beacon, so I'll be able to detect it and open a portal at its location."

The two nodded before everyone prepared to head out to their assigned spots. With only two Pillars left to plant, this was do or die time.

The building Corvyn's lab was located in, was another half buried skyscraper.

At the bottom of the skyscraper's un-buried area, a window was opened before Flash's bike shot out of it. Flash let out a cry of excitement, whilst Twilight screamed in terror as she held him around the waist. The pair hit the land and began to fly through the desert at high speed, Twilight having mounted the tablet onto the bike's controls so Flash knew where to go.

The speed they moved at made them nothing but a dust cloud. If a Mimic happened to be passing, they wouldn't see a thing.

At the Mimic Lair, the Generals were preparing themselves for another successful attack.

Greye was currently working on something, a pair of tube-like devices that had some kind of glass screen on one side. "Almost...got it!" The other Mimics turned to him and moved over to see what he had made. "With these, those annoying little toys won't be a problem any more."

"You mean you've found a way to destroy the Rider's Drivers?" Maya asked, with Greye looking confused before shaking his head.

"No. I have no idea how we deal with those." He held out the device. "But these should take care of the guns those humans acquired. They might not have done a lot of damage to us, but our Mimicreeps will be happy they're dealt with."

"And those devices can do a lot of damage," Frill stated. "Those magical girls somehow used several of them to destroy the Gecko. If they figure out how to do that and not destroy their weapons, it could be an issue for us."

"But like I said, it won't be an issue." Greye smirked, as Maya took the device. "All we need to do is wait for them to charge up. Might take a while, but it'll be worth the wait." He activated it and the device started beeping, as the bottom of the device turned blue. But it was only a little slither of blue on an entirely black screen."

"If you say so," High stated. "Anything to get those final two Doom Pillars in place. We can't let the Riders get the better of us. Especially with Shifter supercharged by the Maleficore." The other Mimics frowned. Their master had explained what the Maleficore would do and whilst it was helpful in the long run, fighting against a super powered Rider wasn't fun."

"Let's get going," Greye stated. "The quicker we do this, the less chance Shifter has to mess it up before the Maleficore finishes its work." The others nodded and prepared to head out.

Back on Earth, Morphic and Changeling had arrived at the areas were the last two Doom Pillars were to be placed.

Rainbow and Pinkie were at the site with Morphic, whilst Applejack and Rarity were with Changeling. Sunset, Fluttershy and Pharynx had remained behind at the lab, the three realising they had little to offer the fight at this point. And they weren't alone.

The remaining soldiers and cops from the previous conflicts had also arrived. Many of them had been severely injured, meaning the numbers had been drastically reduced. But with the spots down to only two, all the able bodied fighters had been split into those two areas and were just waiting.

Morphic leaned against a wall, in his Tough form, whilst Pinkie and Rainbow kept themselves entertained. The soldiers were busy making sure their weapons were ready, but also seemed to be giving the Riders and girls a wide berth.

"At least it's not Shifter," Morphic then heard a soldier state. "The last thing we need is that guy showing up and attacking us." Morphic frowned under his suit, hating that Shifter was losing the trust of the people.

"Hey!" Rainbow cried, "it's not his fault. The Mimics did something to make him lose control. He can't help what happened."

"Maybe," a cop stated. "But unless he can get it under control, he's nothing but a liability. I hope he's not at the other spot." Rainbow was about to say something, but had to stop when a light caught everyone's attention.

Morphic jumped into action, running over to the front of the soldiers, as they prepared their weapons and the girls activated their magic.

From out of the portal, a bunch of Mimicreeps leapt out and quickly charged into battle. The soldiers started firing at them, whilst Morphic ran in and used his tail saw to slice through them. Pinkie started throwing cupcakes in their direction and Rainbow moved at super speed, ramming through the horde and knocking them down.

As this happened, Frill and Greye leapt out and looked around.

The Mimics saw only one Kamen Rider and smiled, whilst the soldiers and the two girls fought against them. "Simple," Greye stated as he moved over to where the Doom Pillar needed to go.

But before he could reach it, a construct of a croc head flew towards him and he almost got bitten.

He leapt back, as Frill unleashed his darts that stabbed into the croc. The energy construct was soon destroyed, but Morphic managed to get between them and the spot they were about to place the Doom Pillar. "I don't think so." He raised his arms, his saw and jaw ready to do some damage. The Mimics chuckled at one another before charging, ready to deal with him once and for all.

At the other location, Changeling, the girls and the soldiers found themselves facing down their own opponent.

High and Maya had arrived with a bunch of Mimicreeps, which the soldiers started firing at. The Mimicreeps were blasted and melted into puddles, as Changeling charged forward with his swords at the ready. "Take this!" He swung his blade at High, but the Tiger Mimic sped away from him.

However, before she could get too far away, she suddenly found herself ramming into a wall of gemstones and bounced off it. "Augh!" She hit the ground, as Changeling turned his attention back towards her.

Maya punched the air and sent several webs in his direction, but they were all blocked by Rarity's shields again.

"Sorry!" Applejack ran at her. "But ya'h fought him enough times. It's startin' to get borin'." She reached Maya and threw a punch, the spider woman leaping backwards as the force of Applejack's fist sent the air flying forward.

At the same time, Changeling started slashing at High whilst she remained boxed in by Rarity's gem walls.

Seeing no other option, the Mimic fought back by slashing at Changeling. He blocked and deflected the claws with his swords and at one point, managed to knock them away and leave her open for him to spin around and kick her in the chest.

But High was ready for this and summoned a bunch of lightning, which concentrated around her chest. So when Changeling's boot hit her, he suddenly found himself getting zapped. "GYAH!" He pushed away, as his foot went numb.

High took this opening and shot forward, slashing at him several times. Changeling tried his best, but his numb foot made dodging difficult. All he could do was block with his swords. But even that proved difficult. And when he tried to slash back at her, High leapt backwards before firing a bolt of lightning.

The energy shot forward and struck Changeling, blasting him backwards with a cry. And as he crashed into the ground, High laughed whilst the Rider groaned. This wasn't gonna be easy.

Flash and Twilight had been driving for a while. And with Twilight navigating them through the desert, they eventually arrived at the location Corvyn had given them.

"There it is!" Twilight pointed towards a large sand dune up ahead, Flash staring at it and seeing a bunch of tall towers sticking out from behind it. "The castle Corvyn told us about." Flash revved his engine and they headed up the dune. But when they reached the top, Flash saw something that made his eyes widen.

"WHOA!" He swerved his bike around and headed back down the dune, Twilight yelping in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Flash stopped the bike and got off, Twilight doing the same as the pair climbed up the hill but stayed low. When they reached the top, Twilight got a better look at the castle. It was a large building, only being half buried by the sand. The large towers could be seen sticking out of the desert, along with a large section of the building's upper half.

And when she looked down at the sand around it, she saw what made Flash worry.

Tons of Mimics were guarding it. Creatures of all different kinds, patrolling the area. There were Mimics styled after snakes, turtles and lizards. Ones shaped like the grasshopper, spider and crab Mimics Flash had fought before. And even some avian Mimics, like doves and hawks.

"So many Mimics," Twilight whispered. "What are they doing here?"

"I don't know," Flash replied. "But if we want to get into the castle, I'm gonna have to take them down." Twilight frowned, worried Flash might lose control again. "You head in once I draw their attention to me."

"You want me to go in there on my own?"

"Probably safer than being around me at the moment." Twilight didn't like that statement, but also knew he might be right. "Just be careful. There's no telling what's waiting inside the castle." Twilight nodded and Flash moved over to his bike, getting on it as he summoned his Driver and took out his Mimicore.

"PIERCE!"

Flash revved the engine and placed the Mimicore into the Driver, the bike shooting forward and over the sand dune. "HENSHIN!" He slammed the Driver shut as he disappeared over the hill.

"MIMIC! HEDGEHOG!" Twilight rushed up the sand dune and by the time she reached the top, Shifter was at the bottom and fully transformed. "Defending all with a shield of spines, impaling all that try to do harm!"

The Mimics had noticed his appearance and quickly charged, as Shifter started firing his spines towards them.

The projectiles stabbed into them and he raced between the Mimics that had been closest, whilst also slamming his foot into some with his spikes extended. The Mimics couldn't get close to him, as he drove around sending projectiles in every direction.

As soon as the Mimics were all distracted, Twilight used her magic to transform into her pony form.

With her new wings, she took to the air and flew over the battle. The flying Mimics were all below, but all it would take is one to look up and they would know she was there. Luckily, Shifter had noticed her and seemed to have a plan.

He took out his Shift Striker and placed a Mimicore inside. "FLIGHT!" The Device quickly transformed and when it did, he activated the turbine and unleashed a powerful gust of wind that began to blow the sand around him into the air.

Within moments, a sandstorm filled the area in front of the castle.

"Seriously?" Sheave asked. "Why put yourself at such a disadvantage, just so she would be safe? It's stupid." Flash frowned, but ignored him and increased the intensity of the wind. This blew more sand into the air and enlarged the cloud.

Twilight flew up and managed to stay out of its range, but the Mimics all found themselves getting blinded. "What was that you said, about a disadvantage?" Shifter didn't seem to have an issue, since his mask protected him. "I think this puts me in a pretty good spot." With the Mimics blinded, they were an easy target to shoot down whilst Twilight managed to reach the castle and found an open window to fly into.

Landing, she began to run through the castle in search of the place Corvyn had stated the new core should be located.

But as she turned a corner, she gasped when she saw a bunch of Ant Mimics standing in the hallway in front of her. "Uh oh." The Ants turned to her and all hissed, Twilight frowned. "Why are there so many bug Mimics?" But she knew why. Wish insects being so numerous, it made sense they would be the perfect creature to use as hosts. Small and easy to contain.

The Ants attacked and Twilight acted fast, flying up to avoid their attacks before using her magic to throw them back.

Once they were out of the way, Twilight flew forward as fast as she could. And soon enough, she was past the group. But the Ant were quick to pick themselves up and chase after her.

Back on Earth, the fights continued as Frill used his swords to block Morphic's weapons.

One blade was soon snapped into the jaws of his croc head arm, whilst the other was ground into by the tail blade. Frill groaned, as he fought against the attacks. But it kept Morphic locked in place and unable to attack Greye.

The Mimic moved towards the spot where the Doom Pillar needed to go. But as he did, several soldiers rushed up to him. "I don't think so!" One yelled, pointing his weapon at him. But before they could fire, Greye held out a device and smiled when he saw it was fully charged.

He pressed its button before throwing the device into the air, the weapon beeping several times as everyone realised what it was. "GRENADE!" Everyone ran for it, as the device exploded. But instead of an explosion, some kind of energy wave flew out of it.

That wave hit everyone and did nothing to them, the humans and Mimic being completely unharmed. But when it struck the weapons Corvyn had made, the guns began to spark before completely exploding.

The soldiers screamed, as their weapons blew in their hands. They were knocked away, leaving only Morphic and the girls unharmed.

This allowed Greye to open a portal and take out a Doom Pillar, which he thrust into the ground and activated. "NO!" Morphic yelled, finally overpowering Frill and throwing him away.

He ran forward, but Greye spun around and swung his fan blades around. This unleashed several energy blades, that Morphic had to brace himself to defend against and avoid getting hit. "Nice try! But the Doom Pillar will remain untouched until it activates." Morphic growled, as he prepared to keep fighting. But he soon had another problem.

With the weapons gone, there was nothing protecting the soldiers from the Mimicreeps. Rainbow and Pinkie did their best to defend them, but there were just too many of them. As such, Morphic had to run to their rescue and cut his way through the monsters as well. Hopefully, he could defeat them all before the Doom Pillar activated.

Over with Changeling and the others, their fight continued as well.

Changeling ducked under High's claws and used his blades to slash at her, but she was able to avoid them and jump back. She then charged up power before unleashing it in a single powerful burst, which Changeling was barely able to block using his swords.

"Gyah!" The energy from the bolt made him flinch and stagger backwards, allowing High some breathing room.

"It's over," High stated. "You can't hope to defeat me." She sparked, as Changeling braced himself for the oncoming attack. "Your mommy might have held back on you, but that's not my style. If you're not with us, I'll wipe you out!" With that, she shot forward and high speed.

Rarity tried to put up walls against her, but High managed to avoid them all until she reached Changeling.

"Raaah!" She slashed at Changeling and knocked him flying back, the Rider crying out as his armor was cut but still in one piece. And as he hit the ground, High smirked before unleashing another bolt of lightning. One that threatened to do some serious damage to Changeling.

But at the last moment, Rarity managed to put up a barrier to protect him.

As this was happening, Applejack and Maya were still tussling. And as Applejack threw a punch, Maya unleashed a bunch of webs to hit Applejack's wrist.

"Have a nice flight!" She spun around and swung Applejack away, sending her flying into the side of a building. But before she had a chance to rest, lasers almost hit her and she turned to see the soldiers were running out of Mimicreeps to play with.

As such, she took out a device like the one Greye had. And seeing it was fully charged, she pressed the button and threw it into the air. "Grenade!" One of the soldiers yelled, as the device exploded and created the shockwave.

Like before, this shockwave destroyed the guns Corvyn had made and left the soldiers unable to fight against the remaining Mimicreep. As such, all they could do was protect themselves as the creatures tried to claw at them.

Applejack saw this and realised the people were in danger, the farm girl about to help. But then she noticed Rarity had stopped shielding Changeling, the Rider having recovered, allowing her to shield some of the soldiers whilst throwing more gems at them.

Maya attempted to web her up, but Applejack acted first and ran over to grab her. "GOTCHA!" She wrapped her arms around the Mimic and lifted her up, squeezing tight in an attempt to crush her.

Maya flinched, but managed to fire some webs at the ground and pull.

Applejack felt her trying to drag herself away, but the farm-girl held on tight. However, Changeling saw this and seemed to realise what Maya was doing. "Applejack, let her go!" But it was too late.

Maya released the webs and Applejack suddenly found the force she was pulling against disappeared, resulting in her finding herself suddenly flying backwards and losing her balance. She fell to the ground and let out a cry, as she accidentally hit her head and lost her grip of Maya.

The Mimic General fired a web-line at a nearby wall and used it to pull herself away from Applejack, as High unleashed a bolt of lightning towards the farm girl.

"NO!" Rarity put up a shield that blocked the lightning, which forced her to drop the one protecting the soldiers.

The Mimicreeps attacked and Changeling found himself in a serious situation. Rarity couldn't protect everyone and eventually, someone was gonna get seriously hurt. And if Changeling couldn't find a way to stop this, the Doom Pillar would be planted and everything would end poorly for them.

He had to find a way to stop this.

Back in the other dimension, Shifter continued to fight his way through the Mimics.

He had stopped the sandstorm, but the Mimics were still blind and unable to fight back as he raced through them. "Raaaah!" He fired several spines from his gauntlets and struck several Mimics in the head with them, causing them to go splat as he drove towards the castle.

When he reached the castle, he drove through a window and quickly blasted the entrance to prevent the Mimics from following him through. But as he drove through the castle, he suddenly sensed a bunch more up ahead.

He swerved around a corner and found several Mimics, of the wasp, spider and ladybug variety. But before they could notice him, he hit the side of his Driver.

"CLIMATIC PIECE!"

His gauntlets glowed, as the energy flowed into his bike and formed a large spike on the end of it. And as he raced forward, the spike was pointed right at the Mimics and he soon rammed right into them. The Mimics all screamed, as they were destroyed and Shifter kept driving. But suddenly, he found his bike was making some strange noise.

"Huh?" He skidded to a stop and checked the parts between the body, finding a bunch of sand in the gaps and realising it must have been the sandstorm. "Great."

"Looks like your little sandstorm idea backfired," Sheave laughed. "Just goes to show, helping others get ahead only causes you to fall behind."

"Shut up," Flash told him. "Twilight getting into the castle and finding that core is going to help me in the end." The bike began to melt and shrink into a ball, remaining that way as it slowly expelled the sand.

Shifter picked it up and started running through the castle, hoping Twilight had found the room they were looking for.

Twilight had not found the room, being too busy running from the ants to even look.

The creatures were running after her, some crawling on the walls and ceiling as they did. Twilight was starting to grow tired and if she couldn't find a way to stop these creatures, they would eventually catch up to them.

As she turned a corner, she spotted a chandelier up above her. And as soon as she past it, she spun around and used her magic to pull it down. When it fell, it landed on one of the Ants and knocked it to the ground. But with the Ant's strong body, it was simply pinned for a second before throwing the chandelier off of it.

"Oh, come on!" She turned a corner, only to see a bunch more Mimics down the hallway.

There was a Snake, Eel and even a red Tiger Mimic, who all noticed her and quickly began their attack. This made Twilight stagger back, allowing the Ants to catch up.

Seeing no other option, Twilight thrust her hands forward and caused the Ants and the Eel Mimics to be thrown backwards. The Snake and Tiger somehow dodged the Magic and the Tiger attacked, using its claws but not appearing to have the same electrical abilities High wielded.

Twilight flew up, but the Snake swung its whip tail towards her and managed to grab her around the ankle. This made her gasp, as she was pulled down and slammed into the ground.

She flinched, as the snake prepared to reach out and bite her with its fangs. But before it could, a green spine flew into its head and destroyed it. "Twilight!" She looked around and spotted Shifter, running towards her whilst the Tiger and Ants turned to him.

She smiled, as Shifter began firing more projectiles at the Mimics. All the while, Sheave kept chuckling. "So much for her finding the room you were looking for. In the end, all she did was get in trouble and need bailing out. So pathetic."

Flash could feel his annoyance raising, but couldn't let his frustrations get the better of him. He knew that if he did, the Maleficore could activate like it had before. Any negative emotion was just a window for the device to take control of him.

The Tiger had managed to slice away the spines and attack, the Ants forgetting about Twilight and charging at him as well. But Shifter wasn't worried.

As the Tiger got in close, his gauntlets grew a bunch of spines that her rose to defend himself. The Tiger's claws slashed at him, but he blocked with his armor and quickly knocked it away before backhanding the creature and stabbing it with his spines.

The Tiger leapt back, as the Ants also attacked. But Shifter was able to dodge their attacks before dealing kicks to their chests, the sharp spines piercing their armor-like bodies and knocking them back. And before they could recover, Shifter fired a bunch more projectiles that ripped the Mimics to shreds and made them melt into puddles of goo.

"Nice," Twilight moved towards him. "Sorry I couldn't find the room."

"It's fine. But we've gotta be quick." He turned towards the corridor he had arrived from. "I can sense more Mimics approaching. Probably the ones left inside and a few I didn't take out before. We've gotta hurry." Twilight nodded and they were about to leave.

But suddenly, Twilight suddenly felt an intense pain radiate through her body. She screamed, Shifter's heart stopping as he watched energy surround her. And when it finally stopped, she fell to the ground and Shifter saw the cause standing behind her.

An Electric Eel Mimic, just like the one he had defeated in the same form so long ago.

It snarled at him, whilst moving towards Twilight and building up power. "NO!" Shifter ran forward and fired his projectiles, hitting the creature and knocking it away from her. "Don't you touch her!" As he said that, Sheave laughed.

"So much for promising to keep her safe. Looks like you couldn't even do that."

"SHUT UP!" Shifter yelled, as his anger reached its peak. But in doing so, he suddenly found himself feeling the same ominous feeling he had felt before.

And once again, the Maleficore shot up from where it was being kept and floated above him. It quickly activated and unleashed the energy burst, which struck Shifter's Driver and made him cry out. "GYAAAAAH!" He tried to fight it, but it was too late. The device flew down and connected to his driver, quickly folding over the screen and turning it black whilst the device spoke up.

"MALEFIC PIERCE!"

Shifter screamed, as the energy sparked around him. And eventually, the armor on his body melted and began to form the cocoon around him once again.

"MIMIC! HEDGEHOG!" The cocoon cracked before shattering, revealing Shifter's suit was now completely pitch black. The armor flew onto him and formed the Pierce Armor, only now it was black and his eyes turned green. "Darkness, engulfs all that stands within it. Unlimited power awakens in the shadows!"

The Eel stared at him, as he just stood there.

The beast then unleashed its lightning at him, but a bunch of spikes grew out of his arm and he raised it to form a shield. The lightning bounced off his shield and hit the ground, damaging it but doing no harm to anyone.

The Eel appeared shocked by this, as Shifter formed forward and stepped over Twilight's body. And as the creature charged up more power, Shifter thrust his hand forward and an extra long spike grew from his arm. It pierced the creature's shoulder and made it cry out in pain, as it released its lightning.

The energy flowed through the spine and into Shifter. But if he felt it, he didn't make it known. He stood there and let the energy flow into him, as he walked forward and kept pushing the spine into the Mimic's shoulder. And eventually, the Eel was pushed up against a wall and stabbed through.

Shifter finally retracted the spine and as it withdrew into its armor, he started firing more spines from the other arm.

The Eel quickly found itself getting stabbed over and over again, unable to escape. And as the remaining Mimics from outside finally arrived, the last spine stabbed into it and it finally melted into a puddle of nothing.

The other Mimics saw this and charged, but the spikes on Shifter's armor extended and he started swinging his legs around.

This caused his kicks to stab the spines into the many different Mimic, gouging large chunks out of them and doing some serious damage. He also fired the spines on his arms, shooting several more until he finally stopped and slammed the side of his Driver.

"MALEFIC CLIMAX!"

His right arm transformed into a single giant spike, as the other arm launched several spines that forced the Mimics to all get into a line to avoid them. But this was what Shifter wanted, as he suddenly shot forward and practically flew towards the Mimics.

As this was happening, Twilight was coming around and opened her eyes in time to see Shifter reach the first Mimic.

She was relieved, but then realised what form he was in and panicked. As Shifter's giant spine stabbed into the first one and ripped it apart, he kept moving forward and stabbed all the Mimics before any of them could escape. And as he finished the last one, he rolled forward and landed on his feet.

He slid to a stop, as the last Mimic melted.

Twilight forced herself up and quickly realised that with no enemies to fight, Shifter would turn his attention on only one person. And sure enough, as Shifter stood up, he turned to her and she began to move backwards. But he stepped forward every time she stepped back.

"Flash. You've gotta wake up!" But Shifter wasn't listening and thrust his arm forward, unleashing a bunch of spines in her direction.

"RAAAAH!" Morphic sliced the final Mimicreep in half with his saw blade and as he did, Rainbow and Pinkie turned to the Mimics.

"I gotta try and crush that Doom Pillar!" Rainbow ran forward, moving at super speed whilst Greye and Frill launched their attacks at her. But Rainbow's super speed allowed her to avoid the attacks and get in close, eventually really the Doom Pillar. "One good kick outta do it!" She leapt forward and thrust her foot towards the device, opening the impact would bend and break it.

But before she could get in close, the device unleashed a spark that hit her.

The energy slammed into her foot and Rainbow screamed, as the bolt seemed to stop her in her tracks and knock her back. "Ha!" Greye laughed, "nice try. But the Doom Pillar is close to its full charge. Once it is, nothing will be able to stop it.

"TRI-HORN!"

They both looked around and saw Morphic moving towards them, having activated his strongest Mimicore. And as he replaced the one he was using, the Mimics prepared to fight. "Mega Morph!" He slammed the draw shut and the Driver activated.

"MIMIC! TRICERATOPS!" His armor quickly melted and reshaped itself into his prehistoric form, eventually solidifying as his arm blasts formed. "The charging force of three horns, triple the destructive power."

Now in his super form, Morphic turned towards Greye and Frill with Frill raising his swords.

"You don't scare me!" He charged and Morphic did the same, the pair meeting in the middle with Morphic throwing a punch at Frill. But the Mimic General managed to avoid the triple lasers that fired as he rolled along the ground, then slashed at Morphic in an attempt to cut his legs.

Morphic was able to avoid it and jumped on Frill's swords, using it as a springboard to deal a kick right to Frill's head. This knocked him back, allowing Morphic to jump up and thrust both his fists forward to fire all six of his laser blasters.

The lasers raised down on Frill and blasted him away, making him scream in pain as he was blown away.

Morphic then landed on one knee, one of his triple blaster arms glowing before he punched the ground. This unleashed the energy and sent it flying through the ground towards the Doom Pillar, Morphic hoping to do some damage to it.

But Greye managed to get between him and the weapon and his fans began to glow, the Mimic slamming both of them into the ground and unleashing the energy himself. The two forces then collided and as it did, the resulting explosion shook the battlefield.

The soldiers that were injured had to brace themselves, as the energy shook the ground and sent pieces of debris flying everywhere.

Rainbow and Pinkie nodded to one another, Pinkie taking out a cupcake and charging it with her magic. She then gave it to Rainbow and the girl raced towards the Doom Pillar. And as she got close, Frill stood up and spotted her.

He unleashed a bunch of darts, but Rainbow was able to dodge them all before throwing the cupcake towards the Doom Pillar.

But before it could reach it, Greye jumped in front and the cupcake exploded against him. "GYAH!" He staggered back, smoke coming off his body. And as this happened, Morphic ran forward intending to destroy the Doom Pillar.

However, seconds before he could attack, the energy around the device exploded and formed a dome as it activated.

Morphic threw a punch into the dome, firing a laser at the same time, but this did nothing and his fist bounced off it. He staggered back, as Greye and Frill both laughed.

"Too little, too late." The pair began to walk away, as Morphic turned to them. "One Pillar left. And I'm sure it won't be long before that one's activated as well." A portal opened up behind them and they jumped through it Morphic running after them but being unable to catch up.

"No," Pinkie groaned, "we failed."

Rainbow turned to Morphic, "what do we do now?" Morphic thought for a moment, looking up at the sky as he did.

"Pray that the others can stop the last pillar."

With Applejack still recovering from her head injury, Changeling found himself in a serious situation.

The soldiers were once again being attacked by the Mimicreeps and with no way to protect themselves, all they could do was run whilst the creatures charged. As such, Changeling and Rarity were the last ones left to fight against Maya and High.

The Tiger Mimic unleashed another lightning bolt, which flew towards Applejack only to bounce off the dome Rarity had put up.

Changeling then charged and slashed at High, who quickly blocked using her own claws. As his blades pushed against her claws, High unleashed a bunch of lightning that flew into the swords before hitting Changeling. "GYAH!" He pulled away, refusing to let himself drop his weapon, and High used this opening to speed forward.

In the blink of an eye, she was right in front of Changeling and slammed a foot into his chest.

This sent the Rider flying, Rarity gasping but being unable to help due to protecting Applejack from Maya's attacks. As such, the Rider could only brace himself as he slammed into the side of a building and fell to the ground, groaning as he crashed into it.

With her opponent down, High quickly rushed over to the spot the Doom Pillar was needed. As she did, a portal opened up and she pulled out the final device. "With this, our victory will be assured!"

Rarity saw this and gasped, attempting to put a shield around the spot it had to go. But before she could, Maya fired a web-like at her foot and pulled it out from under her.

With a scream, she fell to the ground and her shields vanished, allowing High to slam the Doom Pillar into the ground. Her body then sparked with energy, which flowed into the Pillar and began to power it up.

Changeling, Rarity and even Applejack began to pick themselves up, allowing them to see what High was doing. Using her lightning powers to help the device charge up faster. "NO!" Changeling charged at her, but Maya got between them.

"This is for the good of our people!" She spun around and slammed her foot into his chest, knocking him to the ground with a grunt of pain. She then fired several webs at him, sticking the Rider to the ground. And as she did, High released the device as the charge was complete.

As soon as the Doom Pillar activated, it began to spark and form the shield around it. And suddenly, it did something the others hadn't seen before.

The dome around the device suddenly exploded upwards and formed some kind of shining pillar. And it wasn't the only one.

Back at the other new Doom Pillar, the dome around it also exploded upwards.

"What the?" Morphic cried, as more pillars suddenly appeared from around the city. He quickly counted twelve and realised it had to be all the active Doom Pillars. They flew upwards until they were about ten miles above the city. Several planes and other aircraft found themselves needing to avoid these lights and barely did.

Once the lights were all high enough, they began to spread outwards and curve.

The lights soon met and merged together, forming large walls of light that filled the entire sky above the city before spreading around it. "No," Morphic realised.

"What's happening?" Pinkie asked, as a dome formed around them.

Rainbow began to run and headed towards where the dome would land, but eventually found herself running short of the light. The dome hit the ground and sealed shut against it, as Rainbow tried to touch it. But before she could even get close, bolts of energy flew off it and zapped her.

She cried out, clutching her hand and seeing the burn on her palm. She had to fight back tears, as she ran back to the others. "We can't get out," she cried. "If we try and get through this thing, we'll be nothing but charcoal when we reach the other side."

Everyone began to panic, as they realised the entire city had been surrounded and everyone in the city was now trapped.

Maya and High laughed, as they opened a portal to escape through.

"It's over," High stated. "Once we have the Control Pillar in place, nothing will be able to stop us." Maya nodded, High turning to the hero with a smirk on her face. "I'd suggest you spend what time you have left to be with your loved ones. I'm sure you'd want to be with them when it happens."

"Then what happens?" Rarity asked, but the Mimics leapt through the portal instead of answering.

All the while, Changeling and the girls were horrified to realise they had failed. Canterlot was domed to be destroyed. And even if they could stop the Mimics from placing the Doom Pillar, the city was blocked off from the rest of the world. If the Doom Pillars didn't kill them, eventual lack of food and medical supplies would.

Things were looking bad. Really bad.

In the Mimic's Lair, the four Generals were quickly patching up their injuries.

"We can't wait," Frill stated. "We have to attack now, before the humans have a chance to get to the area where the Control Pillar needs to go." He slapped some gel onto his arm and it healed his injury, as they all started at the large device in front of them.

That device was a larger version of the Doom Pillars. About four times the size of a normal human.

Greye smirked, as he moved over to a nearby wall. "Good thing I kept something in reserve for just the right occasion." He hit a button and it opened up, revealing several Mimics that had been waiting for them. Some were species the Riders had already beaten before, but others were entirely new. The creatures looked ready to mobilise and the Generals all smiled.

Nothing could stop them now.

Author's Note

Things just keep going from bad to worse. Flash has gone Malefic again and is attacking Twilight, the Doom Pillars have all been placed. And the Mimics are one step away from getting their victory. How could happen next?