At Dark Industries, Sombra had finally returned from whatever he had been working on.

The leader of the Mimics smiled, as he stepped through his office and opened the elevator that led down to his secret lab. Riding it down, he smiled ready to do a few tests to confirm that his plan would work. However, as soon as he stepped into the room, he found something that made his smile vanish.

His lab was full of machinery, jars of Mimics and three of his generals.

Gule, Maya and Greye were all sitting around, not looking to be in the best of conditions. "What is going on here!?" He stepped forward, as the three stood to attention. "What are you three doing here? What is all this stuff doing here?"

The three frowned, as Gule stepped forward. "Master. The Riders attacked our base." Sombra's eyes widened in shock. "They took us by surprise. Our alarm picked them up and we barely managed to get the Mimicreeps to intercept them in time. We transported what we could from the base and fought against them, but they managed to get the better of us."

Sombra growled. "Did they learn where you sent all this stuff?"

"No, master." Maya shook her head. "We escaped into an alleyway and they didn't see us transport anything. There should be no way they figured out where this lab is."

"You had better hope they hadn't," Sombra stated. "And where's Frill? He has something I need. He had better kept it safe."

"No idea," Greye stated. "He left as soon as we escaped. Said he had a task to accomplish. And he had a Mimic Spawn with him. Maybe we'll be getting a new teammate." Sombra frowned, wondering what he was planning.

Meanwhile, as Corvyn's lab, the man was staring at a bunch of new cocoons that had been brought to his lab.

Those cocoons contained a spider, peacock and vulture, the animals that the three generals were using as their hosts. They had also discovered a tiger in one of the rooms, uncocooned which looked like it hadn't been fed in a while. That tiger had been transported back to the zoo it had originally been stolen from, whilst the trapped animals were contained in separate rooms.

Currently, Corvyn and Twilight were trying to figure out how to use the new Stampede Mimicore. With its amazing power, not having it would be a waste. But that power made handling the energy almost impossible.

Most of the others had gone home for the night, including Shining and Thorax. Currently, only Flash, Twilight, Fleur, Pinkie and Applejack were still there, though they appeared to be getting bored.

So bored that Pinkie had started pressing a button on a machine that didn't appear to be doing anything. Every time she pressed it, a clicking sound filled the air. "Would you stop that?" Sheave asked, with Pinkie giggling as she pressed it several more times. "Seriously. You should stop."

"Why?" Pinkie laughed as she flicked the switch, only to suddenly find herself getting electrocuted.

Everyone flinched, as the girl suddenly shivered and cartoonishly became see-through to reveal her skeleton. The lights eventually shut down and Corvyn's computers went offline, the man turning to Pinkie and seeing her swaying there with even frizzier hair and smoke coming off her head.

"Ha," she giggled, "funny." She fell to the ground, as the lights came back on.

"Can one of you get her out of here?"

"A'm on it." Applejack reached down and hoisted Pinkie over her shoulder, as she said something about someone named Fun-Shine Bear and No-Heart.

Once they were gone, Flash stepped up to Corvyn. "So. Find anything?"

"This Mimicore is legit. Definitely no virus or anything that could be a problem if we used it. But like we confirmed, the power it contains was just too great for Shining to handle."

"It was probably meant for Gule," Flash stated before Sheave took over.

"I doubt it," he stated. "If Shining couldn't handle it, I doubt a human body could. Even if that body is now part Mimic, that much power would probably burn it up from the inside out."

"So then who were they making it for?" Fleur asked, with nobody knowing how to answer that question.

"So what do we do with it?" Flash asked, as Corvyn handed him the device.

"Shining might not have been able to handle the strain, but you and Sheave might. By splitting the strain on your minds, you might be able to use it." Flash took the device and as he stared at it, he looked at the hercules beetle on the main core.

"Maybe. But it feels like Shining would be the one best suited to use it." Everyone frowned, wondering what he meant. "All these different powers are the user's disposal. It needs someone who's not just strong, but has the tactical skills needed to best utilise them. And that's Shining."

"True," Corvyn nodded. "But unless he can find a way to handle the energy, he's never gonna be able to use it."

"Too bad his Mimic can't help," Fleur sighed. The others nodded, wondering what would happen if Shining's Mimic was in control of the man's body.

But then, suddenly, one of Corvyn's machines beeped and he rushed over to it. "Mimics?" Flash asked, with Corvyn looking unsure.

"Yes and no. I'm detecting a residual Mimic trace, but it's decaying too rapidly. The Mimics have probably already left the area they were in."

"Why didn't we detect them earlier?" Fleur asked.

"I'm still fine tuning these machines after having them moved here. Be thankful it picked up the signal at all." He typed away at the computer before nodding. "Okay. I have a location. It's...that school you were in when we met Katar."

"Crystal Prep?" Twilight asked, looking nervous as she took out her phone. "I hope Cadance is okay." She called and waited with baited breath, then sighed. "Cadance. Thank goodness. Are you okay?" She nodded, "alright. We've just detected Mimic activity at Crystal Prep. Is anyone there?"

The others listened and she nodded.

"Thank goodness. Alright. Stay there and I'll call when we know what's happening." She hung up, "Cadance said the school should be empty."

"Well the Mimics were there for something," Flash stated. "Let's go." Fleur nodded.

"Should we call Shining and Thorax?"

"Let them rest," Sheave stated. "If we need backup, we'll contact them. Until then, the two of us should be enough."

"I'm going to," Twilight stated as Corvyn gave her something.

"This scanner should be able to pick up any trace of the Mimic. But it's got a limited range, so you might not get anything at first." The girl nodded before Flash and Fleur summoned their Drivers and took out their Mimicores. Hopefully, nothing bad had happened at Crystal Prep.

As Shining arrived at his apartment, he intended to simply grab a sandwich and hit the hay.

But as soon as he opened the door, his nose was struck with the amazing aroma of something cooking. He headed inside and found Cadance, the woman in the kitchen washing a bunch of pans she had used to cook whatever was in the oven.

She turned to him and smiled. "Hey." She stepped over and kissed him, "you're back. How did everything go today? I didn't hear about any Mimic attacks."

"Nope." Shining's clothes melted and in a few moments, changed into something that was more comfortable to wear. "It was us doing the attacking today. We managed to find the Mimic's base and staged a siege."

"Really," Cadance gasped. "That's amazing. How did it go?"

"Good." Shining moved over to the living room and sat down. "We didn't manage to destroy any of them, but we got them to leave their base and confiscated a bunch of stuff. Including a new Mimicore."

"Really?" Cadance smiled.

"Yeah. But when I tried to use it, I got blasted across the room. It was powerful, I couldn't handle it." He expected Cadance to ask if he was hurt, but she seemed to be focusing on something else at the moment. "Too bad I couldn't use it. I bet it would he made me really powerful."

"Indeed." Cadance reached out and gripped something, drawing a large kitchen knife from its holster. "Guess it's a good thing you got them away from the Mimics." She moved towards him, knife at the ready, as Shining remained with his back to her. "Who knows how powerful it would have made them."

"Yeah," Shining agreed without turning to her. "Still feels like a waste to have it and not use it." Cadance prepared to stab him, "hopefully Corvyn will figure out how we can use it." This stopped her, Cadance stepping back.

"You don't have it on you?"

"No. Corvyn's trying to figure out how it works." Cadance frowned, putting the knife down and getting back to work cooking. She would need to figure something else out.

When Shifter, Twilight and Hudie arrived at the school, Shifter stepped forward with his Shift Striker in Pierce form.

He led the other two through the building, as Twilight tried to use her scanner to pick up the residual traces of the Mimic that had been there. "Anything?" Hudie asked, her Grace Grazer at the ready in case they needed to fight.

"I'm not picking anything up," Twilight replied. "Whatever Mimic was here, they left a while ago."

"Why would a Mimic even come here?" Shifter asked, looking around a corner and not seeing anything.

"This is where I was created," Hudie stated. "Maybe you or Greye left something when you fought." Shifter thought about it, but didn't remember Greye mentioning anything about that.

But before he could say that, Twilight detected something. "I've got a trace." She rushed after it, with the Riders following suit. They made their way through the school until they arrived as a hallway. There, Twilight's scanner was picking up a weak but noticeable signal. "Something happened here."

Hudie then noticed something on the floor. "What's that?" She hurried over and picked it up, seeing it was a small piece of amber. Amber they all recognised.

"Oh no," Shifter whispered before Twilight's scanner led her to a door that was locked. But it didn't stay that way thanks to her magic, allowing her to open and look inside. And she quickly wished she hadn't, as she let out a horrified gasp whilst dropping the scanner to the ground.

As it shattered, the others rushed over and saw what had her so horrified.

The room was a small broom closet, filled with mops and buckets. But something else was also inside. A Mimic cocoon, holding the unconscious body of the school's principal. "CADANCE!" They all screamed, seeing Shining's fiancée trapped within it.

"No," Twilight shook her head, "that's not possible. I...I spoke to her."

"Or someone like her," Shifter frowned. "Looks like the Mimics are getting smarter and took her phone." He stepped inside and placed a hand on the cocoon, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I promise, we'll find a way to free you."

"How?" Hudie asked. "Her Mimic could be anywhere."

"No," Twilight replied as her body shook. "The Mimics didn't just do this to hurt us. They had to have a plan for this." It was then that she realised what must have happened. "SHINING!"

Back at his apartment, Shining could smell the casserole that Cadance had just taken out the oven.

As she placed it down on the counter, Cadance turned to Shining and smiled. "Honey. Do you think I could see Corvyn's new lab?" Shining turned to her and looked confused. "What? I was allowed in the old one."

"Yeah. But I'm not sure how Hard Case will like a civilian there. We're trying to get them to completely trust us, which means we need to show them we can be professional about all this. But I'll see what I can do." Cadance nodded, as Shining's phone suddenly rang. "Huh. Twilight's calling me now?" He answered, "hello?"

Cadance watches him listen to his sister and as he does, she can tell something's up.

"What?" His eyes slowly widened and Cadance looked confused, until Shining slowly turned his head towards her and his shock turned to absolute anger. "Twilight. I'm gonna have to call you back." As soon as he hung up, Cadance saw his Driver appear and realised something.

"Well, guess the jigs up." She suddenly grabbed the knife and ran at Shining, who managed to dodge the slash she performed before grabbing her by the wrist.

He swung her around and made her drop the knife before throwing her away, Cadance doing several flips he knew the real her could never perform. And as she landed, he took out his Mimicore.

But before he could transform, Cadance's body began to melt. This sight nearly broke something in Shining, as he watched the woman he loved transform. And slowly, she grew a little taller and thinner before her body began to solidify.

In doing so, she became what appeared to be a humanoid swan. Her body was blue on the stomach, waist, shoulders and arms, whilst her chest, neck, head and legs were white. She had a white short skirt around her waist, which appeared to be made out of feathers, whilst her feet and hands had yellow claws.

Her head looked human, with a light blue face, but she was wearing a white head dress that was designed like a swan. A yellow beak went down and the tip stopped just between her eyes, whilst a white mask covered her mouth. And as the transformation completed, a pair of giant white wings exploded out of her back.

Shining stared at her with absolute hate, as the swan Mimic pulled a pair of feathers out of her wings before attaching them at the bottoms. She then pulled them apart, creating a staff between them as they grew larger. And soon, she was carrying a double-sided spear that she swung around.

"BLITZ!"

Shining dodged her attack and rolled along the floor, as the Mimic leapt back whilst he placed the device into his Driver. But before he could slam it shut, the Mimic ran towards a nearby window and leapt out of it. "NO!" He ran after her, slamming the Driver closed as he did.

In the blink of an eye, he was transformed and at the window. Morphic looked out and spotted the Mimic in the air, flying away at top speed.

Morphic quickly gave chase, jumping out the window as he summoned his Rider Machine. The bike revved up and he was in hot pursuit, racing down the road whilst summoning his weapon. He fired and the lasers narrowly missed the Mimic, who did several spins and barrel-rolls in the air to avoid him before turning a corner.

But as Morphic swerved around it, he suddenly found the Mimic flying at him.

The next thing he knew, he was getting slammed into by her feet and thrown off his bike. "Augh!" He flew back and hit the ground, as the Mimic flew up and did a back spin before hovering in the air.

Morphic groaned, as he got up and grabbed his blaster. But as he aimed at her, she beat her wings and launched several feather darts his way. He gasped and did his best to avoid them, but a few managed to hit whilst she flew down.

He groaned, but kept his ground and stood tall. And as she swung her spear at him, he raised his gauntlets to block them. "Who are you?"

The Mimic chuckled. "Call me, Lorem-Amare-Signum." She pushed him away before firing more darts in his direction, the Rider firing his blaster to deflect them. "And if you want your precious fiancée back, you'll bring the Mimicore you stole to Crystal Prep. And you'll come alone." With that, she took off and flew away.

Morphic tried to blast her out of the sky, but she dodged his lasers before disappearing around a building.

He watched, horrified by the situation he was in. "Cadance." He fell to his knees, as his mind envisioned the look of horror that must have been on her face when she was captured. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" He slammed his fist into the ground, cracking the pavement as he did.

On the roof of a tall building, Frill was waiting there in human form.

He then spotted something in the air and watched as Lorem flew down, landing on the roof before retaking her human form. "Well?" Lorem frowned.

"It appears they discovered my host before I could get the Mimicore. Morphic didn't even have it on him." Frill growled. "I told him if he wanted her back, he would need to surrender it to us tomorrow at the school my host worked at."

"You realise he'll likely bring others with him. They'll likely try and destroy you to free her."

"I know that. We just need to come up with a counter to that plan. We'll then strike Morphic before he can do anything and take the core from him." Frill nodded, though he knew the Riders would likely have a plan of their own.

"What's this about taking a core?" The pair froze before spinning and seeing Sombra, walking towards them not looking impressed. "Frill. I gave you the Mimicore I had created. Where is it?"

"Master," Frill gulped before falling to his knees and pulling Lorem down with him. "I failed you. I allowed the Riders to get the Mimicore. But Morphic was unable to use it. I doubt anyone except you could."

"I see," Sombra frowned. "And you're attempting to get it back. And this spawn is supposed to help you with that?" Lorem kept her gaze focused on the ground. "I'm disappointed in you. But I'm willing to let you try and fix your mistake." He placed a hand on Frill's head.

The Mimic feared he would be absorbed, but suddenly felt a wave of new strength flow through him. "Master?"

"A little something to help with retrieving my Core." Sombra glared at him. "But do not show yourself to me again without it." Once the power was given, Sombra pulled away and walked towards an opening portal. The Mimics watched him leave, both sighing once he was gone.

"I can't fail tomorrow."

Shining felt hollow and sick, as he stared at the cocoon Twilight and the Riders had brought to the lab.

Staring at the face of the woman he loved, her eyes closed with a stoic expression, he couldn't help but hate himself for letting this happen. He stepped forward and placed his hand on the cocoon, his head following suit as he held her close. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

"This isn't your fault," Flash told him.

"They only targeted her because of me!" Shining turned to him. "If I hadn't taken that Mimicore, they wouldn't have needed to take her hostage." He pushed himself away from the cocoon and stomped through the lab, grabbing the Stampede Core and staring at it. "They took her for this!"

Corvyn reached out and took it. "I understand your frustration. But getting angry won't help her."

"I need to give it to them," Shining stated. "They've said they'd free her if I gave it to them."

"Don't be stupid," Thorax told him. "There's no way they'll let her go. The second you give that to them, the Mimics are just gonna run away."

"THEN WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO!?" Shining cried, making everyone jump back. Her panted, his anger rising as he turned away and punched a nearby wall. "I...I need to get her back. I can't just let her stay like that."

Twilight moved over to him and wrapped her arms around his. "Shining. I know you're upset. We all are. But getting angry and doing something without thinking isn't going to help Cadance. We have to be smart about this." Shining said nothing and just stood there, letting the others discuss possible plans.

Eventually, Twilight let Shining go and he headed back into the room where the cocoons were being held.

Seeing himself beside Cadance felt horrible, as he sat down in front of the two. He tried to calm himself down, as he sat there and thought about what Cadance must be going through within the Mimic's mind.

"You'll find a way to save her." Shining found himself within his mind, More trying to communicate with him. "Wallowing in self pity and letting your anger get the better of you won't help her. Action will."

"Why do you care?"

"I told you. I care about all the people you care about. Cadance more than anyone." Shining glared at him. "I know you don't believe that, but it's true. I want to save her as much as you do."

"Sure you do."

"Fine, don't believe me. But what are you gonna do?" Shining looked at him. "Like I said. Just sitting around wallowing in your own misery isn't gonna help Cadance. So what are you gonna do? Because if you don't intend to try and save her, then maybe you're not the man who deserves her."

Shining's anger spiked, but he realised More was right. He had to do something. "And I will."

The next morning.

Flash was in his room, the teen Mimic snoring as he dreamed a dream of unlimited chocolate bars. However, his dream was soon interrupted by his phone ringing and jolting him away. "Wha?" He got up and grabbed his phone, answering as he yawned. "Corvyn? What's up?"

"Flash, The Core's gone!" That woke Flash up. "I just woke up and was about to do some tests on it, but it's gone."

"Seriously?" Flash got up, "any idea who took it?"

"Who else? Shining had to have been the one to do it." Flash groaned, as he summoned his Driver. "He's either planning to trade it in a hopes of freeing Cadance, or use it to save her."

"Do you think he can use it?"

"Maybe. But if he can't handle it, it could do some serious damage to him. He was lucky last time. The next time he tries, he could do serious damage. Not just to his Mimic body. It could have a horrible effect on his mind."

Flash sighed as he took out his Mimicores. "Call the others and tell them to meet me at Crystal Prep. Hopefully, we can get there before it's too late." Corvyn agreed and hung up, as Flash looked out the window. "Shining, you idiot. You didn't have to do this alone."

On the roof of Crystal Prep, Lorem and Frill stood waiting for Shining to arrive.

They expected him to show up with a bunch of police, soldiers and the other Riders, likely expecting to simply overpower them. But the Mimics were ready if that happened. "Here he comes," Lorem then stated.

A bike was rolling towards them, moving too fast to be anything except one of the Riders. And as it reached the gate, the Rider had the bike leap up and over it before slamming down on the other side and skidding to a stop.

Shining got off and the bike shrank back down, as he took something out and held it up. The Mimics saw it was the Stampede Core and both leapt down, gliding to the ground and landing as Shining picked up his bike. "You came," Lorem smiled. "An excellent decision."

"Indeed," Frill agreed. "Now hand it over and we'll release your lover."

"Will you?" Shining asked. "How do I know you'll keep up your end of the bargain. From what I understand, Mimics need to keep their hosts in stasis the entire time. If they release them, they're forced back into their slime form."

"Mostly," Frill stated. "But since Lorem has another host, she'll simply lose her human form. But she'll maintain most of the knowledge she acquired from your lover, so it's no big loss."

"My gut's telling me you'll still double-cross me." Shining put the core away. "So here's what's gonna happen." He took out his other Mimicore. "You want that core, you're gonna have to take it from me."

The Mimics smirked. "Really?" Frill asked. "This is how you wanna do this?" Shining said nothing, Frill sighing as he summoned his twin blades. "Fine. I've been itching for a fight anyway." Lorem summoned her spear, whilst Shining summoned his Driver and activated the Mimicore.

"TRI-HORN!"

The pair watched, as the man placed the device into his belt before striking a pose. "HENSHIN!" He slammed the Driver shut and crossed his arms, as the device activated

"MIMIC! TRICERATOPS!" Within moments, Shining was trapped inside the amber cocoon before breaking out, the amber forming his triceratops armor with his gauntlets opening to allow the blaster barrels to fold out. "The charging force of three horns, triple the destructive power."

Morphic stared at Lorem before letting out a roar and rushing forward, the two avian Mimics spreading their wings before leaping into the sky. Morphic punched the air and launched his lasers, but they managed to avoid them before Frill flew down.

He summoned his feather blades and slashed at Morphic, who suddenly found himself getting knocked back when he tried to protect himself with his gauntlets. Frill's strength had somehow increased and as he staggered back, Lorem landed and summoned her feather spear.

She spun it around and slashed at him several times, the swan being incredibly fast and hitting him before he had a chance to block.

Eventually, he managed to reach up and grab the spear before it could hit him again. "Cadance. I know you're in there. You've got to fight this!"

"She's not fighting anything!" She yanked her spear away and attempted to stab him in the gut, but Morphic managed to dodge the weapon at the last moment whilst Frill charged and slashed at him.

Morphic did his best to shield himself from the blades, but each hit felt like getting struck by a freight train. "You'll pay for what you did to Cadance!" The Rider told the Mimic, who laughed.

"Don't blame me for your failures. If you loved her so much, you should have protected her." He pushed Morphic back and took to the air, as the Rider launched several laser punches. But he dodged each and every one before unleashing a load of feathers onto him.

Morphic hissed, as the feathers rained down upon him and exploded.

Lorem then flew in and slammed the side of her spear into him, pushing him upwards until they were a good ten feet off the ground. She then pushed him away and spun around, slashing downwards and making him cry out as he was thrown towards the ground.

Morphic flinched, but managed to position himself in a way that he landed and rolled to a stop before jumping back up.

Frill attacked again, slashing at him multiple times. But Morphic managed to avoid the blades and dealt several strikes to Frill's chest, but the lasers didn't even seem to hurt him as they exploded against him. And when Morphic leapt up to deal a kick to his chest, he was the knock getting knocked back.

"Damn it! When did you get so strong?"

Frill chuckled. "My master gave me the power I needed. And with it, I will destroy you!" He leapt forward and tried to behead Morphic, but he leapt back only to find Lorem waiting for him there.

"And so will I!" She slashed at him, Morphic unable to dodge in time. She then slashed at him again, then again and again and again. After the fifth slash, she spun around and dealt a kick to his chest. Morphic roared as he was knocked back, crashing into the ground and moaning as he tried to get up. But the Mimics both unleashed a bunch of feather darts, which exploded against him and made the Rider cry out again as he tried to endure the pain.

After the last dart was fired, Morphic charged up his gauntlets and punched the ground.

"RAAAAH!" He cried, as the energy flowed into the ground and flew towards the pair. But they both leapt into the air and spread their wings, flying up and away from the explosion that followed. This led Morphic to growl, as he tried to blast them out of the sky.

But Frill's feather darts shot down and intercepted the attacks, causing them to explode in the air and allow Lorem to fly down with her spear at the ready. She landed and once again, she started slashing at Morphic with incredible speed.

All Morphic could do was cry out in pain, as he was struck multiple times and unable to defend himself. And just when it seemed he had an opening to counter, Frill landed behind him and slashed him in the back. "GYAH!" Frill then spun around and slammed his foot into his side, his boosted strength propelling the Rider flying until he crashed into the ground.

His suit glowed before exploding off of him, Shining grunting as he rolled to a stop whilst the Stampede Mimicore fell out of his grasp.

Frill chuckled and moved forward, ready to finish him off and retrieve the core.

But in that moment, a bunch of lasers flew down and exploded around. "GYAH!" He leapt back, turning to where the lasers had come from. And there he saw Shifter, Changeling and Hudie racing towards them, with Twilight sitting behind Maleficleanse Shifter as he blasted at them with his Shift Striker.

The two Mimics were forced back, as the Riders leapt the wall around the school and rushed to Shining's side.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked, getting off and running to him. As she did, she picked up the Stampede Core whilst Shining pushed himself up. "Shining, what were you thinking?"

"I had to try," Shining grunted. "I had to save Cadance." Twilight sighed, understanding what he was saying.

"I know you want to save Cadance, but you shouldn't have come alone. We want to help her just as badly as you do. We all care about Cadance." Shining nodded, Shifter and the others fought against the Mimics.

Shifter and Frill were trading blows with their swords, the pair appearing even thanks to Frill's sudden power increase. Meanwhile, Hudie and Changeling did what they could to beat Lorem. Hudie fought her in the air and whenever Lorem flew low, Changeling attacked.

But Lorem's speed was allowing her to get the better of them, the swan dodging their attacks before slashing at them with her spear. At one point, she managed to knock Hudie down until she crashed into Changeling before launching her feather darts at them. The resulting explosion knocked the pair to the ground, forcing Shifter to break off from his fight with Frill to protect them from getting stabbed.

But this allowed Frill to fire his own darts at him, Shifter barely able to avoid getting hit. And as he did, Lorem flew forward and managed to slam her foot into his chest and knock him backwards.

Shining watched in frustration, as he took the Stampede Core from Twilight. "If only I could use this thing. Then those two wouldn't stand a chance." He considered trying again, but Twilight stopped him.

"Corvyn said if you try that again, it could do serious damage to you. And not just to your Mimic body. Your mind could suffer serious trauma." Shining frowned, as Lorem slashed at Shifter before he could recover from getting knocked down.

"What do I do?"

"Trust me." He suddenly found himself in his mind, where More was waiting. "Shining. Please. You and I both want the same thing. To save Cadance." Shining just stared at him, clearly not sure what to do. "You were willing to trust Sheave after everything he did. Why not trust me?"

"Because I don't know you," Shining stated. "You tried to steal my body. My life. If I hadn't been strong enough to fight you off, you would have replaced me and done who knows what to the people I care about."

"I know," More nodded. "And I am sorry. But I'm also glad that I did. Because you taking control of my body, allowed me to learn what it means to love. And I do feel love. Love for your mother. Your father. Twilight and all your friends. And for Cadance."

Before Shining could argue, something happened. Images appeared around him. Images of events Shining couldn't remember happening. And slowly, he realised he was staring at the memories More had made during his time in control and amnesiac.

He watched More spending time with his family. Enjoying every moment of it. Playing games. Watching movies. Eating Shining's favourite meal. All events Shining would have loved to be a part of.

Then, he saw images showing More and Cadance together. Sitting side by side. Holding hands. Being at an amusement park. And as he watched, he could feel the emotions merged with the images. Love, joy and a desire to protect. Those weren't Shining's feelings influencing them. They were More's own feelings.

"You really do love them, don't you?" He turned More, who nodded.

"More than anything." Shining kept staring at him, his mind and his heart at war trying to decide what to do. And eventually, his heart and gut told him he could trust More. And even if this was a trick, More deserved the chance to prove himself.

"Alright." Shining stepped forward, as More felt the amber holding him beginning to crack apart. "I'll trust you. We'll fight together and save Cadance. Don't make me regret this." More smiled and the amber finally broke away, freeing More's body and allowing him to move.

He flexed, sighing as he was finally able to move. And as Shining held out a hand, he took it and let the man pull him up. The pair shook hands, an understanding forming between them as they turned back to the screen showing the outside world.

Twilight seemed to be worried, since he hadn't said anything for a minute or so. Meanwhile, the three other Riders all leapt back to avoid a barrage of feathers. And as they did, Shining began to step forward. "Guys. Back off!" The three turned to him, seeing him holding the new Mimicore.

"Shining," Shifter cried out, "what are you doing?"

"Don't worry," Shining stated before closing his eyes. And when he spoke again, two voices could be heard. "We've got this." Everyone's eyes widened, as they realised it wasn't just Shining in control of his body. And as his Driver reappeared, he raised his new Mimicore and activated it.

"STAMPEDE!"

Everyone watched, as Shining placed the Mimicore into his Driver before striking a pose. "HENSHIN!" With that, he slammed the Driver closed and the screens flipped over the main screen to create the image of all the animals together. And once again, the energy from the Mimicore flowed into him. "GYAH!" He cried, feeling overwhelmed as everyone worried.

But this time, More was there to take some of the strain. The pair stood together, letting the power flow through them both. And in doing so, they were able to handle what was happening.

"MIMIC! MENAGERIE!" Shining quickly crossed his arms, as the pipes launched the slime out of them and he was quickly surrounded by the cocoon. Everyone watched as the cocoon solidified and remained like that for several moments, until the cracks formed and it eventually exploded off of him.

The different pieces stopped in midair, each one just floating there whilst melting and taking the shapes of different animals. A beetle, a swordfish, a coyote, owl, crocodile, hedgehog and triceratops. The slime animals all remained there, as the Morphic's form was revealed.

His suit was entirely silver and buffed up like his Tri-Horn form.

The amber animals began to fly around him, each one picking up speed before slowly colliding with different parts of his body. And as they did, they melted and formed armor that surrounded everything except his neck, waist, elbows, back of his knees and ankles in transparent blue armor. It wasn't as thick as his Hercules and Tri-Horn forms, but still thick enough to be intimidating. And then there were the animal heads littering his body.

His right shoulder had a triceratops head whilst his left had a swordfish head. His right arm had the head of a crocodile on the back of it, whilst his left arm had a coyote head. His right knee-pad had a rolled up hedgehog on it and the left knee-pad had the head of an owl on it. His head was covered in a mask that looked just like his Blitz Form, only it completely enveloped his head and the horn was longer with a more defined tip. And finally, on his chest, he had a glass box on it that had an opening on the top and right side. The lines, though you could barely see them, also turned blue whilst his eyes remained yellow.

As the armor finished settling, the lights on his Driver flashed different colours as it spoke out. "Rampage! The unstoppable might of the animal kingdom, raging forth and crushing all that stands before it!"

Everyone just stared at the Rider's new form, as he stood there looking rather intimidating. And when he finally moved, he pointed towards Frill and Lorem. "Prepare to feel the full power of my justice!" With that, he shot forward with incredible speed and rammed his fist into Frill.

"GYAH!" The Mimic was sent flying backwards, as Morphic spun around and slammed his heel into Lorem.

She was also sent flying backwards, but managed to summon her wings and take flight before she could hit anything. And as she did, Morphic reached down and grabbed one of the screens on his Mimicore. He pulled on it and it quickly detached from the others.

Everyone thought he had broken it, but then he placed the screen inside the glass compartment on his chest. And as he did, the screen and the owl on his knee glowed yellow. And as it did, his back armor melted before a pair of yellow wings suddenly shot out of them.

Lorem gasped, as Morphic leapt into the air and flew towards her. He then threw a punch right into her chest, making her scream as she was thrown backwards. Despite never having flown before, Morphic seemed to have complete control over his aerial movements.

Frill picked himself up and saw what was happening, the vulture spreading his wings and flying up whilst summoning his feather swords. He reached Morphic and slashed at him, but Morphic dodged and removed the coyote and swordfish screens from the Mimicore.

He then slotted them into the compartment on his chest, filling it up completely. And as he did, the coyote head glowed whilst the crocodile and swordfish heads melted, getting absorbed into the armor before reforming in each other's place. With the swordfish now on his arm, it too glowed before the blade extended along with a trio of claws.

Now armed and with blades of his own, Morphic charged forward and slashed at Frill. The Mimic tried to stop him, but Morphic was too fast. Eventually, his feather swords were knocked away before Morphic spun around and slammed his foot into his chest.

This knocked the Mimic down, as Lorem unleashed a bunch of feather darts. But Morphic deflected them all whilst his coyote claws retracted back into his arm. He then removed the coyote screen and placed it back on the Mimicore, taking out the hedgehog one and slotting it into the compartment with the other two.

This caused the coyote and hedgehog heads to swap places, the hedgehog glowing on the arm before a bunch of spikes grew out in front of it.

Morphic thrust his arm forward and sent the spines flying forward, as Lorem summoned her head spear and used it to deflect them. But as she did, Morphic flew forward and slashed at her with his swordfish blade. The two began fighting in midair, slashing at each other whenever they were close and using their ranged attacks when they weren't.

The pair appeared even in speed, allowing them to avoid getting hit. But eventually, Morphic's spine managed to pierce Lorem's wing and made her scream as she was forced to glide down.

Morphic tried to take this chance to deal more damage, but Frill launched several more feather darts at him that he narrowly avoided before landing. As he did, he removed the owl screen and replaced it with the triceratops one.

This caused the wings to be absorbed into his arm, as something else grew out of it. A pair of robotic arms, with the heads of triceratops on the ends of them. And every horn they had was actually a blaster barrel, which suddenly started firing lasers towards the pair.

They both screamed, as the lasers exploded against the ground and buffeted them with shockwaves.

As they staggered backwards, Morphic replaced the swordfish screen with the crocodile one and the heads swapped placed once again. And as they did, the crocodile head glowed before a familiar energy flowed out of it. And as he punched his fist forward, the light flew off and formed a familiar crocodile construct connected to him by a chain.

That construct flew towards them, snapping its mouth as it got closer.

Lorem managed to leap out of the way, but Frill couldn't escape in time and the mouth grabbed him in its jaws. He roared out, as the fangs dug into him and he was suddenly pulled towards Morphic. And as the construct disappeared, Frill flew through the air until Morphic slammed punched him and sent several spines into his body.

"GYAAAAAAAH!" The spines exploded and knocked him backwards, as the robotic arms and spines retracted back into Morphic's body.

He removed the screens from the compartment and placed them back on the Mimicore, then slammed the side of the device to make it cry out as the screens all began to glow.

"CLIMACTIC STAMPEDE!"

The heads on Morphic's armor all glowed their respective colours before the light shot off and morphed into the energy constructs of a swordfish, coyote, owl, crocodile, hedgehog and triceratops. The six creatures then charged towards Frill and attacked him, slamming him with their claws, blades, horns, spikes, wings and tail.

Each attack made Frill scream in absolute agony, as Morphic's horn began to glow.

He then leapt up, as the light from his horn flew down his body into his leg. And as he spun through the air, the six animals attacked Frill one more time before they all exploded and flew up to form a sphere of multi-coloured energy. One that Morphic slammed with his glowing boot, sending it flying down towards Frill.

The Mimic gasped as he tried to get away, but the injuries he had sustained were too much and he fell to the ground. "NO!" He cried, as the sphere slammed into the ground and exploded at his feet. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" The explosion consumed his body before blasting him backwards, slamming him into the side of the school hard enough to shatter every window in the building.

Lorem gasped, as she watched him fall to the ground whilst his body was charred and smoking.

"FRILL!" She ran over to him, helping the Mimic up as he barely seemed conscious. Meanwhile, Morphic landed and looked exhausted from using his new form. But he turned back to Frill and Lorem, as a portal formed next to them.

"NO! GET BACK HERE!" He ran at them, but Lorem pulled Frill through the portal at the last moment before it closed.

The Rider stood there, his frustration overwhelming him. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" He fell to his knees, as the others ran to his side. In his mind, Shining felt his body shaking. But a hand on his shoulder made him turned to More.

"It's okay," he told him. "We'll save her. No matter what, we'll save her. Together." Shining stared at him, then smiled and nodded as he focused back on the real world.

He turned to the others, as he removed his Mimicore and his new suit disappeared. And as his friends stared at him, they looked worried. "Shining?" Twilight asked, "are you in there?"

Shining smiled, "yup. But I'm not alone." He allowed his Mimic to take command and More smirked.

"Nice to see you again," he told Twilight. The girl looked confused, "I'll explain later. Right now, let's get back to the lab. We've got a lot of work to do if we want to stop the Mimics and free Cadance." The four still looked unsure, but nodded as they realised he was right. They had to focus on stopping the Mimics once and for all. And that meant finding where they were hiding.

Back in Sombra's underground lab, human form Lorem helped human form Frill sit down as he tried to recover from the damage he had taken.

Maya, Greye and Gule watched from the side, as Frill asked them to bring him some healing gel. "Don't have any," Maya stated. "We didn't have time to recover it when the Riders attacked." She sighed, "and I don't think it would be of much use to you."

Frill frowned, only to sense a presence and look around. And there, walking towards him, was Sombra.

The man stepped forward and glared at him, with Frill attempting to get up with little success. "Master. Please. I can make it up to you. I promise, I won't-" He didn't get to finish as Sombra suddenly grabbed him around the throat.

"No more excuses," Sombra stated. "Your spawn has all of your abilities. Maybe she'll be more useful to me." Frill's eyes widened, as Sombra's arm excreted a bunch of slime that began to consume him.

"No...no...NOOOOOOOOOO!" He was completely surrounded and disappeared within the slim, which was quickly absorbed back into Sombra's body.

Lorem's eyes went wide at the sight, as she watched her father vanish right before her eyes. And when Sombra was finished destroying him, he turned his attention to her. The Mimic's knees buckled before she fell to the ground. "Master. I swear. I won't fail you."

"Be sure that you don't," Sombra stated before leaving. Lorem watched him go before turning to the others, who appeared to be pitying their fallen comrade. But they had more important things to worry about. Like their own survival.

As Sombra left the lab, he growled before taking something out of his pocket. "It's time those Riders learn what it truly means to feel fear and face their ultimate enemy. They will not survive." The object in his hand was a Mimicore. One that was pitch black and when he activated it, red dots could be seen showing the image of a rhino.

"SHADOW!"

Author's Note

Many of you probably thought Lorem wouldn't be sticking around. Sorry, but she'll be here a while. So what did everyone think of Shining's Final Form? I think it's pretty cool, but what do you all think?