The City of Canterlot was currently in a state of transition, as the entire populace had finally learned the identity of the four Kamen Riders that had been protecting them.

Flash Sentry, Shining Armor, Thorax Hive and Fleur De Lis. These four individuals had all suddenly become overnight celebrities, their identities and the truth about their origins having finally been revealed. And whilst many people were concerned about the fact that they were Mimics, many others had come to accept they could be trusted.

The identity of their benefactor had also become known, Corvyn having agreed to work with the human government now that they were aware of his intentions. As such, Corvyn was currently packing up his lab as many other scientists were helping.

"Be careful with that processor," Corvyn told one who was currently wheeling the device towards a portal. "That thing has a bunch of data. I don't wanna risk losing it." The scientist nodded, as Corvyn grabbed another device that he would carry into the portal.

On the other side of that portal, inside a large lab that had been granted to Corvyn, Flash and his sister were working on moving something. Flash's cocoon.

"This is just weird," Scootaloo stated as she stared at the sleeping form of her brother. "That's the real you. But the real you is also out here, pushing the real you."

"Don't hurt yourself," Flash told her. "I gave up trying to understand all this a long time ago." They finally reached the spot where their cocoons were being held, as Shining, Thorax, Fleur, Applejack, Cadance and Pharynx moved theirs into place.

"Remind me why we're doing this?" Pharynx asked, as he and Thorax pushed the cocoon against the back wall.

"My fault," Sheave took control for a second to explain. "I didn't give them the exact location of Corvyn's lab, but I probably gave them enough info to eventually find it. Better safe than sorry."

"I guess," Fleur nodded. "But if the Mimics find out where this lab is, won't they just teleport in like they did the police precinct?"

"Maybe," Shining nodded. "And that's why barely anyone knows where this lab is going to be located. Not even us. We use portals in and out of here, so there's little chance the Mimics will be able to find it."

"And even if they do," Corvyn stepped into the room. "I intend to make this lab the most heavily fortified one in the whole world. If any non-Rider Mimics try and get in, they'll be sorry." The others nodded, as Corvyn put the device he was carrying down. "Besides, we intend to end this before the Mimics have a chance to come here."

Flash regained control, "Twilight and the others any closer to finding the Mimics' base?"

"Yes," Corvyn nodded. "With the info you and Sheave gave us, we're close to locating their lair. And when we do, we'll go in guns blazing in order to stop them once and for all." Flash nodded, the others hoping they could bring their battle with the Mimics to an end soon enough.

Cadance turned to Shining, wondering what he would say about all of this. But she noticed he appeared lost in thought, the woman reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?" He was pulled from his thoughts with a start, then nodded.

"Yeah. I'm good. Sorry. Lost in my own little world is all." He turned to his cocoon and after seeing it was safe, he began to head out of the room.

This made Cadance frown, as she felt like there was something wrong. But she couldn't quite figure out what. The others didn't seem to notice, all talking about what they hoped would be the final battle.

Out in the lab's hallway, Shining walked down it whilst a voice in his head spoke. "Why didn't you tell them?" Shining frowned, as he suddenly found himself back in the white void of his mind. There, the Mimic known as More knelt there. "I would have thought you'd want them to know you and I are in contact with each other."

Shining just stared at him, as his mind flashed back to when he had met his Mimic.

As soon as he had fallen asleep, he had found himself in the void and eventually located the Mimic whose body he was inhabiting. "Hey there," the Mimic told him. "Wondered when you were gonna show up." Shining just stared at him. "I suppose introductions are in order. My name is More. More-Fay-Tic."

Shining frowned, "so you're the Mimic that tried to steal my body."

"Yup," More nodded. "Sorry about that." Shining hadn't been expecting to hear that.

"Sorry? You're sorry?"

"Yeah, I am. Is that so hard to believe?" Shining frowned, "I should probably explain a few things. I've actually been awake and aware of you for a while. And at one point, I had control of this body." Shining tilted his head, "remember when you lost your memory. Or should I say, remember when you were told you lost your memory?"

Shining suddenly found himself reliving the events of when he first used his Tough Form. After waking up in the carnival and finding Cadance hurt. Flash had told him he had been amnesiac before then. But now he understood. "I didn't lose my memories. You were the one in control of my body."

"Yup. I actually had lost my memories. I didn't remember being a Mimic or anything. As far as I knew, I was human. I was you."

"And you lived my life," Shining caught on. "You spent time with Cadance and my family."

"I did. And I loved every moment of it. And when we were attacked, I remembered everything about who and what I was. But I didn't want to help the Mimics. Not if it meant hurting Cadance and my...your family."

Shining slowly let those words sink in and realised what he was saying. "You love them, don't you?"

"I do. As much as you do. I might not be you, but I feel the exact same way about them that you do. And you may hate me for that, but it's true. I don't want them to get hurt. I want to help you."

Shining came out of his memory, now being back in the present. After that, Shining had managed to leave his mind space and awoke in his bed. But now More could talk to him directly. "I can't trust you," Shining stated. "For all I know, you could be trying to trick me into letting you free so that you can take control of my body again. I'm not gonna let that happen."

"I'm not trying to trick you," More told him. "I really do just want to help." Shining said nothing and kept walking. "Fine. Don't trust me. But when you're finally ready to give me a chance, I'll be here." Shining frowned, unsure how he felt about that.

Meanwhile, in the Mimic's lair, Sombra was staring at a large device that was being powered by the energy stolen by his Mimics.

Said device had all the stolen Mimics within it. Each one slotted into a section that was scanning them and sending the data down towards another device connected to the machine.

This device was a Mimicore, similar to the Maleficleanse Core. The core was currently blank, but it had a bunch of clear plastic screens connected to it by a hinge. Each screen had a wire connected to it that was glowing a different colour, as the energy from the Mimicores was being transferred into them.

Slowly, different coloured images were appearing on each screen. One was a light blue swordfish, whilst another was a yellow owl or a green hedgehog. There was also a red coyote, a purple crocodile and a blue triceratops. Each one appeared around the edges of the screen and when all six screens were placed in front of the main one, the six animals formed a circle that left the centre of the screen uncovered.

Sombra watched the last of the images being formed and nodded, as the device deactivated and Sombra unhooked the Mimicore from all the wires.

As he did, Frill entered and noticed the device in question. "Master. Is that it?"

"Indeed," Sombra nodded. "Within this Mimicores lays the power of several beasts. A veritable menagerie of power. Against something like this, the Riders won't stand a chance."

"You intend for Gule to use it?" Frill asked, but Sombra said nothing and held the device out to Frill.

"The Mimicore isn't complete yet. The main core is yet to be programmed. I require a beast of tremendous power. So I'll be heading out to acquire it. Until then, keep this safe. I won't permit it to fall into the wrong hands." Frill nodded and accepted the device, as Sombra turned to leave.

Once he was gone, Frill placed the device in his pocket and left the room.

Making his way through the building, he arrived in another lab full of Mimic Spawns. All of them in different stages of development. But his focus was on one Mimic in particular, the vulture sitting in front of it and taking out a needle to prick his finger with.

As the slime-like blood flows out of it, he holds it over the jar as the blood begins to trickle out and land upon the Mimic. "You're almost done. Soon, you will reinforce our number. With High gone, Sheave and Katar traitors and all the other Mimics failing. We need a game changer. We need you. And I need to find a host that will give you the knowledge needed to use the strength you will inherit from me. But who?

Shining was in his apartment, getting ready for the day.

Cadance was also there, enjoying a nice cup of coffee before she planned to head to Crystal Prep to do some work she had been putting off. And as she took a sip of it, she watched Shining looking himself over in the mirror. She saw him brushing his hair and hummed.

"Do you shave?" Shining stopped and turned to her, confused. "Well that's not real hair, is it? Just your Mimic's body copying hair. And since it has no reason to grow, it'll stay like that. And I don't remember seeing you with any stubble, so do you actually need to shave?"

"Well...no. Now that you mention it, I haven't needed to shave since I became a Mimic. Can't believe I didn't realise it before."

"That's a shame," Cadance put her cup in the sink. "I kind of like it when you have a little bit of stubble." She moved over to kiss him, "it tickles when I kiss you." Shining smiled at this, as Cadance moved away. "I gotta get to the school. You be careful out there, okay."

"I will," Shining assured her before she headed out.

As soon as she was gone, More chuckled. "Man, she is one heck of a woman." Shining frowned. "It's no wonder I fell in love with her."

"You don't love her. I love her. You just think you love her because you tried to steal my life and my memories."

"Whatever you say, man. It's not like I'm gonna try and steal her from you." Shining said nothing and finished getting ready before heading out, a police detail arriving to pick him up and take him to Corvyn's new lab.

When he got there, Flash, Fleur, Thorax and the Rainbooms were all there waiting for him.

Corvyn, Twilight and Sunset were working at a large computer, the three working together in order to locate the Mimic's base. "I think we've found it," Corvyn explained as he showed a holographic map to everyone. They stared at it and saw an area that was glowing red. "Using what Sheave told us, I was able to narrow down the possible areas the Mimics could be hiding. And after sending a drone to scan each of those locations, I discovered this building was radiating an energy signature."

"Which means something is creating power in there," Shining realised.

"Exactly," Corvyn nodded. "If this base is anything like their old one, it'll have a bunch of different machines being used to create Mimics and do whatever experiments they're conducting within there. Not to mention whatever they're using all that energy they stole to accomplish."

"So that's the spot?" Hard Case asked. "Great. What's say we go there and blow the whole place to kingdom come."

"Are you nuts?" Flash told him. "We can't just blow the place up. What if there are people inside? They might have taken someone hostage and not told Sheave about it. The Mimic cocoons are sturdy, but I don't wanna risk damaging them by blowing them up and dropping a building on top of them."

"Flash is right," Shining nodded. "If we're gonna take them out, we've gotta do it the old fashioned way."

"You wanna go in?" Twilight asked. "Attack the building?"

"Yup. We'll head in, take out anyone that gets in our way, find and rescue anyone they might have captured, retrieve the Mimicores they stole, then blow the place up once it's safe to do so."

"I'm good with that idea," Thorax nodded. "But what if they're expecting us to attack?"

"Ya'h won't be going in alone," Applejack told him. "We can help fight the Mimicreeps." The other girls nodded, with Hard Case turning to Corvyn.

"By any chance, do you have any of those blasters that work on Mimicreeps?"

Corvyn smiled, "I've managed to remake a few dozen of them. Not a lot, but enough to be a significant force against the Mimicreeps." Hard nodded.

"Then we'll go as well. Let me know how many of those blasters you have and I'll choose the officers to send with you." Corvyn nodded and went to retrieve the weapons, counting them as he did and telling Hard Case.

The police chief quickly contacted the police's best marksmen, whilst also contacting some of the soldiers that had fought during the Doom Pillar incident. Those soldiers had all recovered from their injuries and were now rearing to battle against the Mimics again.

At the same time, the Riders all prepared for a fight. "I'm not sure about this," Shining told Twilight. "You girls haven't had the best of luck against the Mimics in the past. And now you'll be going into the dragon's den."

"We'll be fine," Twilight assured him. "We'll let you four handle the Mimic Generals and help if you're in need of it." The others nodded, as Hard returned with the cops and soldiers that he had recruited for this mission.

Each one was wielding one of the blasters, Sunset and Fluttershy also being given one. And once they were all armed, Shining spoke up. "Okay, everyone. Hopefully, this will be the fight that stops the Mimics once and for all. We're going all out against them and stopping them once and for all. You all with me?"

"We are," Hard nodded. "We'll follow your lead and if all goes according to plan, we'll be ending the Mimics once and for all. Or, at least tanking whatever plan they're working on right now."

"Alright then," Flash smirked as their Drivers appeared. "What are we waiting for?" With that, they took out their Mimicores and activated them.

"PURIFY!/BLITZ!/SLASH!/FLUTTER!" As soon as the Mimicores were in place, Flash placed his Maleficore into the Driver and the two powers merged to create pure untainted energy. "MALEFICLEANSE!"

Everyone watched as the four each struck a pose, with Flash taking the lead. "Henshin!" He slammed the Driver shut, as the screens flipped over it and activated the device.

"MIMIC!LIGHTNINGBUG!"

"HENSHIN!" The other three yelled, following suit and slamming the Drivers closed.

"MIMIC!HERCULES BEETLE!/MANTIS!/BUTTERFLY!" All four of them crossed their arms, as the slime flew out and everyone watched them be consumed by the cocoons. Eventually, they shattered and revealed the Riders in all their glory. And as the armor formed upon them, their Drivers spoke in unison.

"Unlimitedpower, cleansedofevil.Lightandshadow,unifiedtocreatetrueharmony!"

"Power that shatters everything, contained in a mighty horn!"

"Bladed arms that slice through anything, cutting down the evils of the world!"

"A graceful wing beat, creates a hurricane of power!"

The four Kamen Riders stood there, as everyone watched in amazement. "That still freaks me out," Hard Case stated as the Riders took out their bikes and made them grow. And as they climbed on board, Corvyn activated a portal in front of them.

"Alright," Shifter cheered. "Time to show those Mimics why messing with our world was a big mistake." Everyone cheered in agreement, as the Riders raced forward. The others charged after them, the Rainbooms, police and soldiers following them through the portal.

Within the Mimic's lair, Gule and Greye were training against one another.

Maya was working on creating more Mimicreeps and Frill was in the Mimic lab, giving more blood to the Mimic spawn he had created. The four were completely focused on their tasks, until an alarm went off signalling an unregistered portal. "What's going on?" Gule asked, Greye rushing over to a nearby computer.

A holographic screen appeared and showed the outside of the building, where a large portal appeared.

And from out of that portal, the four Kamen Riders arrived. "They found us!" Gule growled, realising this was likely his brother's fault. And when they saw more humans run out of it, his anger intensified.

"We can't let them in here."

Greye frowned, knowing they couldn't stop them. They had to evacuate. "Frill," he connected to the Mimic, "transfer the spawns to the lab under Master Sombra's building. Maya. We need to make sure they can't get anything from us. I'll Destroy any equipment we can't transport in time and you go down with Gule to hold them off."

"Understood," the other two agreed as Greye turned to Gule.

"I think it's time you and your brother sorted things out." The dark Rider nodded before turning to leave, as Greye headed up towards the lab.

Back outside the building, the Riders were approaching it and spotted an entrance.

But as they got closer, multiple portals opened in the air and a bunch of Mimicreeps fell out of them. "Let's do this!" Shifter cried, as his and Hudie's bikes suddenly melted whilst they unleashed their wings and took to the air. The pair flew forward, their bikes shrinking back down.

Hudie summoned her Grace Grazer and Shifter used his Strike Form Shift Striker, the pair reaching the group and either blasting or whipping at the Mimicreeps.

Morphic was next and blasted the beasts, whilst Changeling summoned his blades and leapt into the air.

He fell into the middle of the horde and started slashing them down, as the humans got closer. "Get ready!" Hard stated. "Target the ones not near the Riders." They all raised their weapons and started firing, the lasers hitting the beasts and doing some damage. It took a few shots for each one to go down, but they eventually succumbed to the weapons.

The Riders fought with everything they had, Shifter changing his weapon to sword mode, allowing them to cut through the beasts. Morphic blasted or punched his opponents away, whilst Hudie wrapped several up and threw them into the air.

Changeling leapt up and slashed at the Mimicreeps she launched into the air, turning them to mush with a single swipe. And as he landed, a large portion of the Mimicreeps succumbed to the blaster fire. The Rainbooms also ran up to them, using their magic and blasters to fight their way through them.

"We gotta hurry," Twilight stated. "They've probably started evacuating. If we don't get to them first, they'll escape with a bunch of their stuff."

"She's right," Morphic agreed. "Let's go!" He ran for the entrance and blasted his way through the doors, the eleven running inside and finding themselves in a large open space. "Is this it?"

"Not sure," Sheave replied. "I stayed on the higher floors. And I didn't really bother taking in the scenery outside the building. But if the Mimicreeps were protecting this place, it must be something special." Everyone nodded and started heading towards the stairs, Shifter and Morphic taking the lead until they reached the top.

When they got there, the pair held their blasters at the ready before kicking the doors in.

They quickly surveyed the area and found it was another empty room, with a few broken desks here and there. They stepped forward, but suddenly found a bunch of red lightning flying towards them.

Shifter quickly blocked it, unleashing his own energy which negated the attacking one. And when the explosions died down, they saw Gule and Maya standing there. "Great," Shifter sighed. "Hello, brother."

"You don't get to call me that," Gule stated. "Not after you betrayed us." He and Maya got ready for a fight, Shifter raising his weapon as well. Morphic looked ready to take Maya on, but Changeling stepped forward.

"I got this," he told him. "The rest of you keep going!" They nodded and prepared to go around the edge, as Shifter, Changeling, Gule and Maya ran forward. Shifter blasted at Gule, who deflected the lasers before throwing a punch in his direction.

Shifter ducked under the attack before changing his weapon to sword mode and dealing several super fast stabs at him.

Changeling slashed at Maya, who did her best to avoid his attack whilst shooting her webbing at him. But Changeling dodged all the attacks and managed to slash at her leg, making her flinch at the damage done to her.

The others used this distraction to sneak around the fight, as Shifter grabbed Gule and pushed him away from them. They eventually managed to get to the stairs and headed up, as Gule broke free of Shifter's hold and threw a punch right into his chest.

"Augh!" He staggered back, as Gule summoned more energy.

"Why?" Gule asked him, "why did you betray us?"

"Why are we attempting to destroy the humans?" Sheave asked. "It doesn't make any sense to me. Why destroy them when it does nothing to benefit us?"

"We are Mimics. Wiping out other races is what we do."

"Not anymore," Sheave stated. "I'm going to help bring the Mimics into the future. Once we've stopped you, I'm going to help our race find a new purpose." With that, he charged and slashed at the Mimic Rider.

Back with the others, they continued to run up the building and found themselves in another empty floor.

A few Mimicreeps were waiting for them, but Morphic and Hudie managed to cut through them without issue. And as they did, Rainbow spotted the stairs leading higher. "This way!" She shot off, Morphic calling out to her.

"Wait!" But she zoomed up the stairs before he could stop her, climbing another two floors before arriving at a floor with something in it. A bunch of destroyed machines.

"What the?" She looked around, seeing the machines still sparking and giving off smoke. Other sections had open spaces with wires that were sticking out of the wall, showing a machine had previously been there. "What happened here?" Before she could look around any more, something shot towards her. "WOW!" She back-flipped and avoided an energy wave, which destroyed another machine.

She looked around and spotted Greye, fans at the ready. "You'll regret coming here!" He swung his blades around, sending the energy blades flying at her. But Rainbow was able to avoid the attacks as she raced around the room, barely avoiding them as she tried to get in closer.

But as she ran at Greye, he swung his fans towards the ground and the energy exploded in front of her.

She screamed, as she was blasted back and hit the ground. Had she fallen another inch or two further, her head would have likely spiked on a broken piece of machinery. And as she pushed herself up, Greye prepared to attack again. But before he could, a ribbon wrapped around his arm and pulled him backwards.

"Gyah!" He fell back and hit the ground, looking around and seeing Hudie flying above him.

"You okay?" Hudie asked, as Greye pulled the ribbon off of him.

"I'm good," Rainbow nodded. "Thanks for the save." Greye tried to slash at Hudie, but she dodged the attack and flew around before dealing a kick right to his side. This made him flinch, as Rainbow rushed forward and used her super speed to punch him in the chest.

"Ahhh!" He was thrown backwards, but swung his fans around and unleashed the energy blades. But before it could hit them, a wall of diamonds formed in front of them.

They looked towards the stairs and saw Rarity and the others approaching. "Keep going!" Hudie told Morphic. "I got this guy."

"I'll stay back and help," Rainbow assured them. Morphic nodded and kept running with Twilight, Pinkie, Sunset and Fluttershy. Rarity joined the girls and Applejack grabbed a piece of destroyed machine, throwing it at Greye before he could leap out of the way.

Hudie flew at him and dealt several quick kicks towards him, Greye attempting to block and dodge them all as best he could.

One kick struck him in the face and knocked him backwards, making him cry out in pain as he hit the side of the wall. He used his arm to wipe away from blood, as Hudie flew back over to the girl. And as he launched another energy blade, Rarity put up a shield to protect them before Applejack threw another piece of machinery.

Greye barely avoided it, but Rainbow raced in and swept his leg out from under him. This knocked him rolling and he cried out, as he slammed into another machine. And as he got up, he glared at the girls.

Morphic and the others continued to run up the stairs, Twilight and Fluttershy looking exhausted after what felt like the hundredth step.

Eventually, they reached the top of the stairs and Morphic kicked the door in before looking around. Blaster at the ready, he checked and realised he wasn't in another empty room. This one had a bunch of different Mimics in jars, though he could tell more had already been moved away, all waiting to be completed and used to capture some poor soul. "Not if I can help it!" Morphic took out his blaster and prepared to fire.

"Wait!" A voice in his head called out, "don't do it!"

Shining frowned under his mask, as he entered his mind and turned to More. "I thought you said you were on our side?"

"I am. But that doesn't mean I want to see innocent Mimics get destroyed." Shining glared at him. "Sheave, Katar and me are proof Mimics can change. Who's to say these Mimics won't also see the truth? They could choose to turn away from Sombra and the others just like we did. And even if they don't, they haven't done anything yet. Don't you humans have a saying about the sins of the father?"

Shining thought about this and realised he was right. In the real world, Morphic lowered his blaster. "What are you doing?" Twilight asked.

"These Mimics haven't committed any kind of crime," he explained. "If we destroyed them, who would that make us any better than the Mimics." They realised he was right and all looked over at the Mimics being contained. All of them had a chance to choose the right path.

"So what do we do?" Pinkie asked. But before she could say anything, something shot towards her at high speed.

Morphic reacted first and fired at the object, blasting the feather dart out of the air before it could hit her. He then turned to where the attack came from and spotted Frill, the vulture launching more darts that Twilight caught in her magic. "You dare invade our base again!?"

"And how many times have you invaded us?" Morphic asked, as he noticed Frill was holding two things in his hands. A Mimic spawn jar and what appeared to be a Mimicore. The Riders quickly started shooting at him, Frill using his wings to block them as best he could.

He flinched every time, as Morphic rushed in and started punching and kicking at him as hard as he could. "Gyah!" One impact knocked him backwards, as Morphic fired again. But Frill continued to protect what he was holding, as the girls looked around.

Eventually, Twilight spotted something on one of the machines. She gasped and ran over to it, as she pulled the stolen Mimicores out of it. "Yes!" She cheered, seeing all the Mimicores that were taken. She knew she needed to get them back to Flash and Shining, but by the looks of things Shining wouldn't need his.

"HYPER STRIKE!"

Shifter placed the Mimicore inside the Shift Striker, transforming it into the buster form. And as Gule ran forward to punch him, he raised the weapon up to block his fist. He then pushed him back before spinning, swinging the giant sword with enough force to slash at Gule and knock him away.

"Gyah!" He was thrown against the back wall, as Shifter stopped spinning and changed the weapon into its blaster form. And as it charged up with power, Gule pushed himself up and leapt away at the last moment before the laser fired a blew a hole in the wall.

At the same time, Changeling and Maya kept fighting. Maya shot several web blasts at him, but Changeling moved like he was in the matrix in order to avoid every shot. And when he leapt forward, Maya couldn't react in time to avoid getting several kicks to the chest.

"Augh!" She staggered back, knocking over a desk as she fell to the ground.

Gule saw this and launched an energy blast at Changeling, but the Mantis Rider saw it coming and struck the side of his Driver.

"CLIMATIC SLASH!"

His blades glowed and with all the strength he could muster, Changeling slashed at the energy and deflected it. He then slashed at Gule, the X-shaped attack flying at him and forcing the Mimic Rider to cross his arms and unleash a wave of energy.

The two attacks struck one another and cancelled each other out, but left Gule stuck in place.

"STRIKE!"

He looked around and saw that Shifter had placed his first Mimicore into the buster sword, the Rider closing the weapon as he charged forward and the blade glowed orange. "Raaaaaaaaaah!" He swung it at Gule and before the Rider could react, the blade slammed into him and an explosion followed.

"GYAH!" Gule was sent flying backwards and smashed through one of the support pillars, falling to the ground and grunting in pain.

Shifter smirked, as Maya picked herself up.

She fired a web line towards Changeling, but it missed and struck the desk behind him. And with a strong pull, it was dragged towards Changeling and threatened to knock him down.

But Changeling spun around and slashed the desk into four pieces, sending it flying away from him. And as he did, Maya charged forward and attempted to kick him in the back. Shifter saw this, but realised Changeling was fine as he spun around and caught her leg before throwing her over to another wall.

She crashed into it and as she did, Shifter pointed his buster cannon at her and fired. An orange blast of energy flew at her and slammed into the Mimic, exploding and knocking her back against the wall once again.

She screamed and fell to the ground, as Gule began to pick himself up. And seeing Maya down for the count, he realised he likely wasn't going to win this battle. As such, he unleashed a blast of lightning that flew up and struck the ceiling above the Riders.

The pair saw this and leapt back, just in time to avoid getting crushed as the ceiling almost came down on top of them. And when the dust cleared, they saw a portal had formed with Gule and Maya gone.

The pair frowned, as they heard footsteps and looked around to see the police and soldiers entering the room. "What happened?" Hard asked, as Shifter gestured for them to follow. They had to get to the others before it was too late.

Morphic dodged several feather darts, as he leapt towards Frill and threw a punch right into his face.

The Mimic roared, as he was knocked into a table and fell over it. He barely managed to keep from dropping the jar and Mimicore, as he hit the ground rolling. And as he did, Morphic leapt back and hit the side of his Driver to make it power up.

"CLIMACTIC BLITZ!"

As Frill pushed himself up, Morphic's blaster charged with energy and he quickly fired it towards Frill. The Mimic saw it coming and gasped, attempting to escape only for the blast to hit the ground around him and explode. The resulting explosion sent him flying across the room, barely able to hold onto the Mimic Spawn and protect it from hitting the ground.

"GYAH!" He cried, clutching the jar but losing his grip on the Mimicore.

Morphic saw that device be thrown away from Frill and clatter across the ground, as the room shook from his explosion. Twilight managed to keep the jars around them from shattering, as Morphic moved over to pick up the Mimicore. And when he looked it over, the device suddenly activated.

"Huh?" The Mimicore unleashed a burst of light, which spread across his body and seemed to be covering his armor. "What's happening?" But as soon as the light completely enveloped him, it retracted back into the Mimicore and the dots on the screen glowed.

He watched as they created the image of a hercules beetle, just like the one on Morphic's Blitz Core. The beetle was now surrounded by the rest of the animal images, amazing him as he saw a word appearing on the side of it

"Stampede?"

"NO!" Frill cried, as he picked himself up. He realised he had allowed his master's creation to fall into enemy hands. There was no telling what he would do to him now.

Back down below, Hudie whipped her weapon around to try and grab Greye. But Greye was able to dance around and avoid the attacks, allowing him to get in close and slash at her.

Luckily, Rarity was able to shield Hudie and protect her. As his fans bounced off the gem wall, Applejack threw another piece of machinery at him. He was forced to leap back to avoid it, allowing Hudie to take to the air and dive down towards him. And as she got in close, she thrust her foot forward and spun like a drill.

The kick slammed into him and knocked him backwards, Greye crying out as Hudie followed him and eventually pinned him between her foot and the wall. "We've got you now!"

"You've got nothing!" Greye yelled, grabbing her foot and leaping forward. "Raaah!" He swung her leg down and threw her into the ground, Hudie flinching at the impact before he lifted her up and threw her across the room.

But Rarity created a shield to catch Hudie, as Rainbow ran forward carrying a piece of metal she thrust at Greye.

The Mimic used his closed fan to deflect the attack before spinning around and kicking Rainbow away, making her grunt as she fell to the ground. "I won't allow my greatest failure to be my undoing."

"Who are you calling a failure," Katar stated as Hudie picked herself up. "If anything, I'm your greatest accomplishment. I evolved past the Mimic's pointless need to destroy. And when we take you guys down, I'm gonna help our race become something more than what you tried to turn me into."

"Don't make me laugh!" Greye launched his fan blades at her, but she leapt into the air. "You're not evolved. You're nothing but an aberration!" Hudie launched her whip at him, but he dodged it. "One that I will destroy!"

"Not gonna happen!" Rainbow flew around him, circling the Mimic as something wrapped around him. That something was Hudie's whip, which she had caught and was now using to tie him up.

As soon as she finished running around him, tying his arms to his side, Hudie flew up and retracted her whip. This pulled him up towards her, Greye unable to escape, allowing her to slam her foot right into him with as much force as she could muster.

Greye screamed, as he was thrown towards the ground and finally freed from the ribbon. He then crashed into the ground with enough force to shatter through it and crash into the floor below. "AUGH!" He groaned, as pieces of rock came crashing down around him.

The girls rushed over to the hole, as they heard footsteps and looked around to see Shifter, Changeling and the police arrive on the floor. They spotted Greye and then the hole, as Greye pushed himself up. "Get him!" Shifter cried, he and Changeling running to try and grab him. But at the last moment, a portal formed and Greye leapt through it.

"I'm really getting sick of them doing that!" Changeling cried, as Shifter looked up.

"You guys okay?"

"We're fine," Hudie stated. "But Morphic and the others went on ahead." They nodded, with Shifter and Changeling leaping through the hole. The cops took the stairs whilst they went ahead, wondering how things were going for the others.

Back in the main lab, Frill glared at Morphic as the Rider kept examining the new Mimicore.

Eventually, Shining decided to try it out. "Let's do this thing!" He opened the Driver and removed his Blitz Core, whilst activating the new Core.

"STAMPEDE!"

Everyone watched as he replaced the Mimicores and struck a pose. "Mega Morph!" But as he slammed the driver shut, the many screens flipping over it, Morphic suddenly felt a wave of power washing over him. "GYAH!" The power was too much for him, the energy shocking him as he tried to endure it. But eventually, it was just too much. "AUGH!" He was sent flying back, his friends gasping as he was smashed into the side of the wall before falling to the ground.

"SHINING!" Twilight rushed over to him, as his suit exploded off of him. The new Mimicore fell out of his Driver and as he laid there, he groaned whilst clutching his side.

"What happened?" He groaned, as More spoke up.

"All that power was too much for one person to handle on their own. You couldn't endure it long enough for the transformation to complete." The girls got next to him, as Frill chuckled.

"Looks like Icarus got cocky. Now hand that core back to me. Or else." But as he said that, the doors flew open before Maya, Gule and Greye rushed into the room. The Mimics saw what was going on and Gule looked ready for a fight. But before they could attack, they heard the others approaching. They realised they had only one option.

"Let's get out of here!" Greye yelled, running over to Frill as a portal formed.

"No," the Mimic yelled. "I can't leave without that Mimicore!" He tried to get to it, but several explosions forced him back. Those explosions came courtesy of Pinkie, who had thrown all her sprinkles at him.

He staggered away, as Shifter, Changeling and Hudie ran into the room. Shifter had his Shift Striker, ready to attack. "We're going!" Maya launched a web string at Frill, hitting him in the back and pulling him towards them. He barely managed to hold onto the jar, as he was pulled through the portal.

The other Mimics followed suit and eventually, the portal vanished and the Mimics were gone.

Shifter chose this moment to notice Shining, who was getting up. "You okay?" He rushed over to him, Shining nodding as he picked up the new Mimicore. He frowned, wishing he could have handled the transformation. If he had, that power would have been enough to destroy Frill once and for all.

"Is that it?" Changeling asked, as several police and soldiers arrived in the room. "Did we beat the Mimics?"

"We forced them to retreat," Shining explained. "But they'll find a way to bounce back. This is just a setback for them. But one we can take advantage of." He looked around, "let's get all these Mimics to Corvyn. They might come in handy for him." They nodded, all moving around and gathering the jars. As they did, they wondered what the Mimics would do now that they had lost their base.

On the street of Canterlot, the Mimics had all taken their human forms whilst hiding within an alleyway.

Gule let out a roar, as he punched a wall and hurt Timber's hand. "I can't believe we let them chase us away like that!" He turned to the others, "Sombra will destroy us for sure when he finds out about this." The others agreed, with Frill being more terrified than any of them.

"They took us by surprise," Greye stated. "We didn't have enough Mimicreeps to really slow them down."

"Were you able to get most of the tech out of there?" Maya asked him, Greye nodding and explaining that he destroyed anything that couldn't be transported quickly. "What about the spawns?" They turned to Frill, who clutched a jar in his hand.

"I managed to transport seventy percent of the Mimic Spawns to Sombra's lab. I would have transported the rest, but Sombra's lab only has so much space."

"So what do we do now?" Gule asked, as Frill got up. "Where are you going?"

"I have a task that needs accomplishing. And I know exactly what I need to do in order to stop master Sombra from doing to me what he did to High." With that, he left and everyone wondered what he was going to do.

Back at Corvyn's new lab, everyone was carrying the Mimics into an area he would use to keep them safe.

"Why aren't we just destroying these things?" Hard Case asked, as Katar put a jar down on a table. She then turned to glare at him, almost scaring the man as she put her hands on her hips. "What? They're Mimics. They could attack us at any minute."

"These Mimics are babies. They haven't done anything yet. They deserve the chance to prove they can be more than the monsters they were made to be."

"She's right," Corvyn stated. "The Mimics may have destroyed my home, but I refuse to simply wipe these ones out for fear of what they could be. But for now, we'll keep them contained. And when the Mimics are gone once and for all, we can work on trying to help these ones grow into respectable beings."

Back in the other room, Shining watched as Twilight was using one of Corvyn's newly working computers on the new Mimicore.

"So?" He asked, "what's the prognosis?"

Twilight removed the device and handed it to him. "Honestly, there's nothing wrong with it. I've only done a basic study on how Mimicores work, but everything Corvyn taught me is telling me this Mimicore works perfectly well."

"So why did he get catapulted across the room?" Sunset asked.

"Most likely because of how much power this core has," Twilight explained. "It's enthused with the power of seven different animals. Having all those abilities in one core would make it extremely powerful. So powerful that Shining couldn't handle it."

Shining frowned as he stared at the device, knowing that its power would be useful in the battles that were to come. But if he couldn't handle the power, how could he possibly use it?

"So what do we do now?" Flash asked, as everyone gathered together in the lab. "The Mimics don't have a base anymore. So they'll be running scared, won't they? This'll be the perfect time to strike whilst they're off their game."

"Agreed," Corvyn nodded. "But we need to be cautious. There's no telling they might try to keep up from capitalising on their situation. Based on their previous actions, they'll try and target one of us directly. Do something that would make us act without thinking."

They nodded, realising he was right. But the question was, what would they try and do?

As the sun began to set, Cadance was in her office finishing a report.

But as she hit the last period, her Mimic Detector suddenly started beeping. "What?" She gasped, quickly getting up and running out of the room. As she did, she took out her phone and tried to call Shining. But before she could hit the call button, something shot passed her and struck the phone.

She gasped, as the device was knocked out of her hand and shattered.

All she could do was look around and gasp, as Frill moved towards her with something in hand. "Stay away from me!" She cried, as she realised what Frill was holding.

"I don't think so." Cadance tried to escape, but Frill opened his wings and flew after her. Moments later, the halls of Crystal Prep were filled with the screams of a woman being attacked by a monster.

Author's Note

Ouch. That ending hurt to write. Well, Shining has a possible new power up. But he can't use it without More's help. Will he choose to let his new partner join the fight? Only time will tell.