Equestria Rangers

by Shadowmane PX-41

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Science Fiction, Comedy, Equestria Girls, Crossover, Sunset Shimmer, Main 7 (EqG)
Length: 212206

Following a meteor shower in the city of Canterlot, Sunset Shimmer and her friends are about to transform into a new generation of heroes...

One night, a rare meteor shower streaks across the sky of Canterlot, illuminating the city down below with an array of twinkling stars shooting past one another.

But not all meteor showers just pass by, and as Sunset Shimmer and her friends are about to find out, this one shower might just end up changing all of their lives for better... or for worse.

Published 2017-03-28 21:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2021-06-09 21:58:29 UTC

Prologue: We Are Not Alone Part 2

The Rainbooms ran towards the park and saw a group of people had gathered around the colossal black pillar of smoke where the ship had crashed. They squeezed and squirmed through the people as they tried to get the best vantage of the impact. After wriggling past the audience, they soon emerged at the front and laid their eyes on the chrome wreckage.

The crater that the ship had made completely buried the front end under a large amount of dirt and grass. The wings on the side of the ship remained intact, but they had been damaged by the fight it had been in with the Wolfpack fleet. Small crackles of electricity sparked from the gaps between the serrated edges of the wings. The engines pointed up towards the sky, no longer spitting smoke, they had died down completely and lacked any form of life. At the back of the ship, there was a large steel door which had been dented and battered with the impact. The metal had been buckled and bent completely out of shape and looked damaged enough to the point where humans could just pull it open.

"What the heck..." Sunset Shimmer slowly stepped towards the doors and reached out for them. Her fingers twitched as she eventually touched them and began to pull them open. "This isn't like anything I've ever seen before. And being a unicorn from Equestria, that's saying something."

"Uh, are you sure that's such a good idea to get that close, Sunset?" Applejack raised her finger as she watched Sunset wrap her fingers around the dented door. "What if there are some evil aliens in there?"

"I don't think that there'd be any evil aliens in this ship." Sunset turned back and shook her head at Applejack and the girls. "It didn't look in the least bit threatening, and from the looks of things, it had taken some pretty bad hits in space. And if that's not enough, this thing is practically buried. Even if there was something bad in there, it might've been hurt too much to fight, or just straight up turned into alien goo."

"I dunno, Sunset. Have you ever seen those alien movies?" Pinkie Pie tiptoed up to Sunset and took a peak inside of the ship. "What if there's some freaky alien that forces you to give birth to another alien baby that rips your stomach open so that it can run home to mama? Or what if it has another mouth for a tongue?"

"Pinkie, you watch far too many scary movies." Sunset yanked the doors off of the frame and dropped them down onto the deck inside. "Now come on, girls. We've gotta get to the bottom of this as fast as we can."

The other Rainbooms climbed up towards the entrance of the ship and took a quick glance inside before moving forward. The ship's interior was completely dark, yet small neon lights could be seen flickering on the walls and ground. The girls all crouched down and ducked underneath the twisted frame above their heads before disappearing inside of the ship.

As the group of teenagers ventured into the ship, the sound of sirens could be heard filling the air outside as police cars and black vans darted up towards the site and skidded on the road before coming to a complete stop. Officers burst out of the doors and began corralling the crowd of people, gathering them all up and barking orders at them as they soon surrounded the alien ship. Within minutes, they had managed to clear the area and set up posts and used police tape to cordon off the ship to the public.

"Area secured. You're clear to come out now, sergeant." A police soldier picked up a walkie-talkie and spoke into it before sliding it back into the latch on his belt.

The front door of one of the police cars opened up, revealing a man with white skin and blue hair. Dressed in navy blue officer's garments with a baton clipped to his hips, he approached the alien ship. He had a special badge on his right chest muscle, showing a star attached to a shield, with a golden badge attached to the left side.

"Good work, men." He walked underneath the tape and came within touching distance of the spaceship. He slid his hand over it and gave it a few knocks with the back of his left hand. "Looks structurally intact. Make sure that no-one gets in here, got it?"

"Yes, sergeant!" The other soldiers saluted him and took up defensive positions around the fence, pulling out flashlights from their pockets and flipping the switches on.

Inside the ship, the girls saw nothing but darkness and feint lights as they moved through the long and hollow corridors. Small sparks flew from the ruptured and damaged wires and pipes around them, but they quickly fizzled out as soon as they appeared. The foreboding darkness had all of the girls twitching their eyes as they tried their hardest to remain silent. The only one with any confidence left was Sunset Shimmer, who didn't seem fazed by the dark shipwreck whatsoever.

"This whole place seems rather spooky..." Pinkie Pie's hands trembled and froze up as she looked around. "For once, I don't think it'll be fun to be scared. We should just get out of here while we still can, Sunset."

"Come on, Pinkie Pie, we haven't even gotten to the heart of this ship yet." Sunset put a hand on Pinkie's stomach and gave it a few pats. "Besides, we've faced worse than this, right? What's waiting for us inside can't possibly be worse than three demon girls, three evil sirens, and an over-competitive school, right?"

"Plus, we've got the Magic of Friendship. No need to worry about a thing, Pinks." Rainbow Dash slid her hand against Pinkie's back as she gave her a wide grin. "Nothing's gonna scare you or try to eat your brains while I'm here."

"I know you're pretty brave, Rainbow, but this is legitimately terrifying." Fluttershy held Rainbow's hand as tightly as she could as she pressed her body against her friend's. "All this darkness and quiet is just too much. Why, at any given moment, the aliens could be hanging over our heads or ready to attack us from below. Oh, please keep me safe!"

"Calm down, everyone." Sunset Shimmer waved her hand and slid down to the bottom of the corridor. She came to a stop at another door that automatically opened, but shuddered and jolted as more sparks fell behind it. "We're here. The pilot's room." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small gold necklace with a blazing sun on it. "Put on your Camp Everfree Crystals now and stay on your guard. We don't know what's on the other side of this door.

The other Rainbooms reached into their pockets and pulled out their own necklaces with their own corresponding emblems emblazoned on the front. They held them up to their necks and clipped them on, feeling them gently collide with their upper chest. Once they were all dressed up with their magical artefacts, they all slid into the open crack in the door and entered the pilot's room.

The pilot's room was in no better shape than the rest of the ship. More flickering lights and sparks could be seen in the large room, with a oval-shaped seat impaled into a glass screen with nothing but dirt, worms, and rocks on the other side. A metallic table could be seen on the girls' right with part of the ceiling torn off and hanging above it with more embers tumbling from it. A small glimmer of a holographic image could be seen above the table, but it had been distorted and didn't many any discernible shapes as the ceiling panel dangled above it. Just beneath the chairs, there were a series of consoles with buttons that didn't look like anything human at all. Circles and symbols were all that could be seen instead of letters and numbers, but none of them were broken, despite the rest of the room's disrepair.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Sunset Shimmer called over the noise of static and electricity as she stepped into the room and walked up towards the chair. "We come in peace. We're not gonna hurt you."

"Sunset! Look!" Applejack's eyes shot open as she saw a human arm dangle down from the chair in the glass. "They might need some help!"

"Good catch, Applejack." Sunset immediately saw the hand and fingers draped over the edge of the chair and quickly ran down towards it. She grabbed the chair with both hands and tried to free it from the glass, but it didn't seem to budge whatsoever. "C'mon, girls! Give me a helping hand!"

The other Rainbooms ran down to the chair and put their own arms around the sides. Together, they all pulled the chair as hard as they could, but they only managed to budge it slightly, even with the added strength they were supplying. After a few more tugs and yanks, the girls all began to sweat as they tried to dislodge the chair. Finally, when Applejack's crystal pendant began to glow, the seat finally came out of the wall. Once it did, the girls all tumbled backwards and let go of it, hearing it crash above their heads.

"Thanks, girls." Sunset Shimmer stood back up and used the ship's console to prop herself up. She walked up to the chair and saw a human teenager sitting in it, with shining white skin and a black bowl-cut hairstyle. "Now then. Let's see what we're dealing with here..."

"Ugh..." The girl in the alien chair groaned and rubbed her head as she groggily opened her eyes and looked around. The impact had left her with a massive bruise in her head and the dark purple clothes around her body had been ripped up at certain parts as she opened her eyes. "Where am I?"

"It's alright. We're not here to hurt you, alien." Sunset Shimmer put her hand on the girl's chest and watched her eyes open all the way. "You look really beat up. Do you want us to take you to the hospital and get you patched up?"

"Wh-what? Who and what are you?" The alien teenager opened her eyes and got up from the chair. She tried to stand upright, but a sudden loss of balance in her legs caused her to topple and fall over Sunset's shoulders.

"Hey. Take it easy." Sunset held the girl up and helped her keep her balance. "You were just in a spaceship crash, weren't you? Why don't you sit down for a bit?"

"There's no time. He is coming." The girl fluttered her eyelids and woke up all the way as she pushed herself off of Sunset's body. She tried to make it towards the hologram table, but she ended up falling onto her hands and knees as her balance was severed once again. "I need to find a group of brave warriors to fight the coming war."

"War?" Rainbow Dash ran up to the black-haired teen and squatted down so that her eyes met with that of the visitor's. "What do you mean by war?"

"An army is coming. Mar'zek and his followers are going to tear this planet down until they find me." The girl pushed herself up with her arms alone and ran over towards the table. She pushed the hanging panel up and held it in place before climbing up onto it and welding it back in to the ceiling with lasers from her eyes. "If I don't find some heroes now, the Wolfpack will destroy this world!"

"Alright, dear. Just slow down for a second." Rarity walked up to the glowing white girl and patted her back. "You seem a little tense. Would you like a spot of tea to help you relax?"

"I would usually indulge in a relaxation activity, but time is of the essence." The girl jumped down from the table and began typing away at a small console on the side. "I need a group of beings strong enough to fight off the forces of evil. Do you think you could point me in the right direction?"

"You're avoiding our questions." Sunset Shimmer walked up to the girl and put laid her hand on the alien's arm. "Let's see what the problem is, shall we?" And without another word, her eyes flashed a bright shade of white as she began to peer into the newcomer's mind and memories.

All that Sunset could see in the alien's mind were explosions and sparks as she watched ships around her get blown up, one after another by the Wolfpack's fleet. She saw the way that the survivor had managed to outrun the wolves by flying into a rainbow-coloured vortex before being hit by the last few homing missiles that had followed the ship through the wormhole.

As the planet broke through the atmosphere, she watched the alien retrieve six diamond-shaped crystals from a hatch by the chair and clutched them tightly as she ran out of the pilot's room as clouds and sky began to fill the screen. Alarms blared in her ears as she saw the life-form running through the corridors and arriving at the small trap-door hatch that the crystals had fallen out of.

"Mar'zek will never get his hands on these..." The alien said as she gave the crystals one last glance and threw them out of the bottom of the ship, down onto Canterlot High's grassy field. "Because they'll soon belong to their rightful owners!"

The memories finally came to an end when the ship crashed into the ground and buried itself underneath the grass, sending the chair flying into the screen.

Sunset broke out of the alien's train of thought with her mouth agape. Complete silence fell between the whole group as Sunset took everything that she had seen and let it swim around in her mind. She felt a sharp tingle in her chest as she saw the alien girl sigh and droop her shoulders down.

"What did you see, Sunset?" Rarity asked, noticing Sunset's distress almost immediately.

"This girl was... running. Running away from some giant ships." Sunset began to shed some tears as she turned to Rarity and the other girls. "I watched as her pursuers destroyed every other ship that travelled with her, then threw crystals down onto Canterlot High just as we were running away from the stargazing event."

"How do you know about that?" The alien girl jumped off from the table and looked Sunset in the eyes. "Do you have some sort of telepathic powers that I'm not aware of?"

"Yeah. I can see into people's minds thanks to the help of this little trinket here." Sunset showed the girl the necklace with her Cutie Mark grafted onto it. "But let's get back to the manner at hand. First of all, who are you?"

"My full name is Sla'ri'sek Midrel'gea; child princess of the Aeonic Unity of Harmonites from the planet Utopia in the Correllias Galaxy." She bowed before the humans and stretched her arms out to her sides.

"That's an awful lot to take in." Sunset gave the girl a smile as she put her hand on her chest. "Why don't we call you Elaris?"

"Elaris?" She tilted her head.

"Yeah. It's much easier to pronounce, it rolls off of the tongue better, and, you do kinda look like an Elaris to me, girl." Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Hmm... A simple name, yet delicate at the same time. I like it." She smiled and clasped her hands together. "Very well then, you may call me Elaris, if that so suits you."

"Alrighty then, Elaris!" Pinkie Pie bounced on the spot and pulled her into a tight hug. "I can just imagine that you and I are already gonna be the bestest of friends!"

"Oh. Is this something you do on your home planet whenever you greet someone?" Elaris lifted her eyebrows as she broke out of Pinkie's embrace.

"No. That's just a Pinkie Pie thing." Fluttershy shook her head and let a small chuckle slide from her lips. "But we do occasionally do it whenever we're happy."

"Anyway, let's get back on track here." Applejack walked in front of the other girls and took her hat off. "Who's this Wolfpack you were talking about? And why were they tryin' ta kill ya so badly?"

"The Wolfpack are widely renowned as some of the most feared pirates in the galaxy." Elaris shuddered as she began to talk about them. "Led by a commander named Mar'zek, the Wolfpack attack, pillage, and destroy whatever they can find. Anything that they think is important to them, they will try to capture." She looked out at the chair where she had stowed the crystals away. "I managed to steal something from them in return for their continued crimes across the galaxy, but they must've caught wind of my plans, as they all chased down and destroyed my allies with little remorse or any chance of negotiation."

"You mean those crystals?" Sunset tilted her head. "But why? They look like ordinary jewels to me..."

"The most important lesson for any intergalactic being is never to judge things by their appearances." With a few taps on the holographic table's screen, she materialised giant images of the very gems that she had thrown away. "What you may call crystals, we see as a way to end the Wolfpack. For these stones allow the wielders to transform into a legendary group of colour-coded warriors. I hoped that if I could return them to my people back home, we could've trained some of our people to find out who was worthy of using them, but the Wolfpack destroyed my entourage before I could even lock on to my planet's co-ordinates with the hyperdrive."

"Colour-coded? You mean like the Power Rangers?" Pinkie Pie smiled and waggled her butt from left to right. "Now I REALLY wanna find them! I was gonna go get 'em anyways, but now that you've said that we can become Power Rangers, I'm all over that!"

"Pinkie Pie, Power Rangers don't exist." Sunset Shimmer shook her head and held Pinkie at the hips. "The whole show was just a localised version of a show with the same plot from Japan. The only difference was that they added some elements of a high-school drama in the version here."

"Aw, c'mon, Sunset. Learn to let your imagination run wild a little more." Pinkie Pie gave Sunset a wide smile as she clapped her hands together. "Anyway, I think I saw those crystals back at Canterlot High. We could go get 'em for you if you want, Elaris."

"Even if you do get the crystals for me, I would still need to find the right people to learn how to use them; to control the vast powers that they would have." Elaris tipped her hand at Pinkie Pie. "It is still a very kind gesture, though, but I won't let civillians get caught in the way of my business with Mar'zek and his wolves. You could end up getting yourselves killed if they find them first."

"Just leave it to me. I'll get those crystals back here in ten seconds flat." Rainbow Dash pointed towards her chest and turned towards the door. All of a sudden, her crystal glowed bright blue and she left the ship at the speed of light, leaving a rainbow trail behind her as she disappeared from sight. She returned just as quickly as she had arrived, with the six gems sitting delicately in her hands. "See? What did I tell ya?"

"Incredible..." Elaris's gaze was more fixated on Rainbow Dash than it was the gems as she retrieved them from her clutches. "So some of you are telepathic while others can move at reality-bending speed? Of all of the planets I have visited, I never thought I would've come to one with such extraordinary life-forms on it."

"Oh no, it's just us." Sunset Shimmer chuckled meekly as she rubbed her necklace. "Everyone else on this planet is perfectly normal."

"Still, I suppose that I should thank you all." Elaris bowed before the Rainbooms and closed her hands up. "If there is anything that I can do for you, let me know."

"Well, I suppose that I wouldn't mind giving those crystals of yours a quick feel." Sunset leaned in closer to Elaris's hands and saw as the jewels all glowed through the cracks in her hands. "I'm not sure what's up with them, but I don't think that they were as shiny as they are right now..."

"Well... I suppose that there's no harm in letting you just touch them." Elaris opened up her hands again and held them out towards Sunset and the Rainbooms. "Just pick one, though. You never know just what could happen if you choose them all."

"Only one, huh?" Rainbow Dash looked at the shimmering gems in Elaris's hands and watched as the necklaces around her necks and the other Rainbooms' necks shone in response. "Hey, girls? Maybe we should touch the ones that are the same as our own."

"Huh?" The other Rainbooms tilted their heads at Rainbow.

"Call it a weird hunch or something, but I get the weirdest feeling that these things are supposed to be ours." Rainbow Dash took her necklace and placed it by the blue crystal, watching the shine get even brighter as the two were inches away from each other. "Yep. Definitely a hunch. I'll take the blue one. Rarity, you can get the white one, Fluttershy'll have the yellow one, Applejack's gonna have the orange one, Sunset? You'll get the red one, and Pinki—"

"Ooh! Ooh! Let me have the pink one, Dashie!" Pinkie was practically running on the spot as her grin grew more and more. "I wanna be the Pink Ranger and get a super-cool pink animal-shaped Zord and everything!"

"Alright, alright, Pinks! Calm down!" Rainbow Dash chuckled and gave the pink one to Pinkie. "I was about to say that you'd get the pink one anyway. No need to get so demanding about it."

"Hey, wait!" Twilight raised her hand and pushed through the other girls. "What about me? Isn't there a seventh one for me?"

"I apologise, but Mar'zek must've hid the last one pretty well, because not even we were able to find it during our espionage mission." Elaris turned towards Twilight and frowned. "If we ever do find it, I'm sure that we'll let you have it."

"Hey, don't feel bad, Twilight." Sunset put her hand on Twilight's shoulders and gave her a warm grin. "Once we get out of here, I'll get you some nice jewels from the sho—" Before she could finish, a sudden jolt of pain struck her stomach as the gem in her hand glowed even brighter "—Hey! What's going on here?!"

"Sunset? Are you al—" Rarity was about to help Sunset up, but the same affliction struck her as well "—GAH! What's happening to us?!"

One after another, the other Rainbooms underwent the same process. They squeezed their stomachs as the pains inside of them grew more with each passing second. The gems shone radiantly through the cracks in their hands and illuminated the entire ship, shedding light onto a once-darkened husk of machinery and otherworldly alloy.

"What's happening?!" Twilight turned towards Elaris as she watched the Rainbooms writhe around on the floor.

"The crystals! They're reacting!" Elaris squinted her eyes as she adjusted herself to the light. "These friends of yours; they're the chosen ones. There's no other explanation for it!"

"The chosen ones?" Twilight saw the girls gain auras in the colour of the crystals they were holding. "But that means—"

"Yes. These new heroes, the ones that Pinkie Pie calls Power Rangers, they're about to appear! Our prayers have been answered!" Elaris couldn't help but smile and cheer as she got down onto her knees and began to bow up and down repeatedly. "Hail! Hail the heroes chosen to fight the Wolfpack! Rise to your feet, don your armours, and prepare to transcend your humanity!"

After a while, the girls were levitated into the air, halting the pain within their bodies. The crystals that they were holding floated out of their grasp and hovered in front of them. The light that they were shining began to project jumpsuits onto the girls bodies, starting with their feet and moving up towards their waists, then their chests, until their arms and heads were covered up with the new suits. With a final blast of light, both Elaris and Twilight were knocked back a few inches and slid on the ground from the power of the radiant burst.

Each of the Rainbooms was now dressed fully in a spandex outfit that matched the colour of the gems that they had been holding. Their suits all had the exact same patterns on each of their chest pieces. They all had a chrome belt which housed the crystals that they were holding, with a small golden disc that they could slide to conceal the geodes. The only different parts of their uniforms were the helmets, which had black visors in the shape of the girls' individual Cutie Marks.

"No... way..." Pinkie Pie was the first one to break the silence as she looked at her new pink suit. "She turned to see the other girls and threw her arms up high, spreading confetti everywhere. "We're the Power Rangers!"

"Power Rangers?" Twilight gave her glasses a quick rub as she examined the girls' new suits. "What's going on here?!"

"The chosen ones have been decided." Elaris stood up and knelt down on one knee as she looked up at Sunset and her friends. "Praise be to you all. We are not worthy to be in your presence!"

"What?" The other girls looked down at their new bodies and felt the soft spandex move in tandem with their arms. After one quick examination, they all chorused, "WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO US?!"

Author's Note

So, you can decide what the girls' suits look like, minus the helmets and belts. When it comes to Power Rangers designs, I don't really want to make any comparisons or similarities to the suits from the TV series, so I leave it all up to you just how these suits look like. At least until my friend, Serenade Sketch finishes the cover art for this story, that is.

But as always, have a very nice day, and I hope to see you all again soon after my two-week holiday in Tenerife!

Prologue: We Are Not Alone Part 3

"Captain! We have a situation." One of the wolves aboard the Wolfpack flagship tapped on a monitor which showed a bright red light blinking on and off on a star map.

"Speak up, Scal'zek." Mar'zek stood up from his throne and stomped over towards the screen. "What is it now? We destroyed the fleet of Harmonites with our superior weaponry. Heck, the salvage is coming back as we speak." He leaned over and hung the nails of his claws over Scal'zek's shoulders. "What is so important that we need to stow off now?"

"I'm reading a powerful energy signature from co-ordinates 0-7594 Omicron. A planet called Earth." He punched in some buttons on his console, showing a projection of the planet to him and Mar'zek. "More specifically, down in this large chunk of land known as the United States."

"It is a vegetation planet. Nothing there could possibly be of interest to us." Mar'zek waved his claw as he turned away and crossed his arms behind his back. "Turn the computer off and return to the homeworld once the salvage is fully loaded on the ship."

"No, sir! Don't leave yet! It's a signature unlike anything we've ever seen before!" Scal'zek poked his head out from behind his chair as he watched the captain leave the room. "It's the same resonation as the Power Crystals.

At that note, Mar'zek stopped in his tracks and turned his head towards the wolves. "Power Crystals? As in the ones that the Harmonites keep close to their hands?"

"Yes, sir!" Scal'zek nodded.

"If the Power Crystals are out in the open, that means that we can swipe them easily and make ourselves the strongest pirate force in the universe!" Mar'zek ran straight back to Scal'zek. "Wolves! Initiate hyperdrive sequence! Prepare for a jump to this E-arth world!"

"Roger that, captain." Scal'zek activated the ship's PA system and spoke into the microphone. "Attention, all wolves! Captain Mar'zek has had to cut the salvage operation short. The Power Crystals have been sighted on a planet known as Earth!" his voice echoed throughout the entire ship and transmitted to the other ones. "Return with whatever you have and prepare to jump into hyperspace!"

All of the wolves burst out of the destroyed Harmonite ships with their arms loaded with ship parts and valuables. They all wore black spacesuits with thrusters on the back so that they could propel themselves through the tractionless void of the cosmos. Within a few minutes, the wolves had landed back on their respective ships and took their suits off before preparing to make the jump to Earth.

"For too long have the Power Crystals slipped through my fingers." Mar'zek pushed his fingers against each other as a wicked smile grew on his lips. "The work of my father and his ancestors before him will finally come to fruition. At long last, the Wolfpack shall seize control of the Power Crystals and become the most powerful beings in all of existence!"

"Hyperdrive systems engaging. Waiting for your mark, Captain Mar'zek!" Scal'zek called out from his seat as a massive blue vortex with the Solar System on the other side of it appeared in front of the fleet.

"LAUNCH!" Mar'zek thrust his arm out towards the portal.

The Wolfpack ships' engines fired up and began to slowly push the ships forward. As they began to move, huge crystals similar to the ones that Elaris had used to avoid being blown up in the battle beforehand appeared around the ships' rear ends. They all glowed as the ships generated blue ripples around them. Once the streams of light around them formed an arrow, the ships shot forward and hurtled through the portal. After making the jump successfully, the wormhole behind them closed itself up.

"This. Is. So. AWESOME!" Pinkie pie bounced around Elaris's ship in her new pink suit. She performed cartwheels and handstands as she felt the entire suit stretch and bend around her. "I've always wanted to be a Power Ranger ever since I was a little kid! And now, I am! I can punch bad guys in the face, fire guns that go pew-pew, and get my own animal zord!"

"Pinkie Pie, I appreciate the situation, but I think that you should calm down a little." Rarity walked up to Pinkie and gave her shoulders a gentle push downwards. "Our fashion sense is completely out of whack here! We look like astronaut suits without the faces!"

"Rarity. Does everything have to be fashion with you?" Sunset tilted her head and held her hand out. As she did, a fireball shot out of it and flew straight past Rarity and Pinkie before hitting a wall and dissipating into embers. "Whoa! Where did that come from?!"

"The Power Crystals are beginning to embed themselves into you. New powers are beginning to emerge as we speak." Elaris smiled as she watched the other girls feel themselves down and move in their new uniforms. "Still, of all the people in the universe, I would never have guessed that a bunch of teenagers from E-arth would have been the chosen ones."

"First of all, it's Earth, not E-arth." Rainbow Dash shook her head at Elaris as she reached down towards her feet. "Second of all, would you mind explaining why we're dressed up like this?"

"The Power Crystals' strength coats you in these new battle armours, enhancing your physical strength and agility ten-thousand fold." Elaris smiled and clasped her hands together as she watched the Rainbooms gather together in a line. "You are what my people like to call the Perfect Ones."

"For the sake of the suits, though, I think that we're just gonna stick with Power Rangers, if that's alright with you." Pinkie raised her finger.

"Whatever you wish, Perfect Ones." Elaris bowed before the Rainbooms and knelt down on one knee. "I am your humble servant. I will do whatever you say and abide by whatever choices you make."

"What about me?" Twilight put her hand to her chest and looked Elaris in the eyes. "Are you my servant as well?"

"No," Elaris said.

"Well, that was pretty blunt of you, weren't it?" Applejack crossed her arms.

"Did I do a bad thing?" Elaris hung her head and slid towards the Rainbooms with her hands put together. "Forgive me, Perfect Ones! I was a little too rash. What may I call your assistant?"

"She's not our assistant. She's our friend," said Sunset Shimmer. "Her name is Twilight Sparkle, and if it's alright, we'd like it if you were to treat her with as much respect as you would with us."

"I understand. I will make sure that this Twilight Sparkle human isn't left out." Elaris took a brief look around the damaged ship. "I'm sure that I can find some way that she can contribute to our battle against Mar'zek and the Wolfpack."

"What is Mar'zek? What is the Wolfpack?" Twilight took a few steps towards Elaris. "Do you think that you could explain it to us?"

"Ah, yes. What are the Perfect Ones if they don't have an enemy to fight?" Elaris nodded and walked over towards the front of her ship. She tapped a button on the pilot's seat, causing a small disk to spring to life out of the top of the room, projecting images towards the glass. "They are the most feared pirates in the universe. They shoot to kill, take no prisoners, and leave nothing behind when they pillage and plunder." The next image showed two wolf claw marks forming a diagonal tic-tac-toe grid, with blood dripping down off of the bottoms of each scratch. "They are the Wolfpack. Led by Captain Mar'zek, son of Captain Sli'tra, son of Alpha Ji'gra, they destroy everything in their path to obtain ultimate power."

"So, they're a bunch of wolves?" Fluttershy lifted one of her eyebrows underneath her Power Ranger suit.

"Typical. The most horrific creatures in the galaxy are a bunch of ragged wolves." Rarity scoffed and pulled her hands from her hips, causing a pair of white swords with flowers blooming out of the hilts to appear in her hands. "Whoa! Where did these come from?"

"Rarity? You have swords? That's so cool!" Pinkie Pie tapped the tip of the blades with her middle finger. "Usually, it's the Red Ranger that gets the swords, with a few exceptions here and there."

"Truth be told, I was not aware of the power of the crystals myself..." Elaris walked closer and felt the blades of Rarity's swords, hearing a high-pitched and melodical whine as she slid her hands over them. "So beautiful..." She smiled.

"Swords out of thin air? Intriguing." Twilight came up to the blades and nearly impaled herself on the razor-thin tips. "If I had the proper time to analyse this sort of thing, we could be making all kinds of groundbreaking discoveries. But this whole thing's a massive discovery in itself." She gazed towards Elaris. "We have the answer to one of the planet's biggest questions! We are not alone in the universe! There are other forms of life out there! I feel so excited!" She beamed and bounced on the spot.

"Strange. Do all humans act like this when they discover us?" Elaris watched Twilight's euphoria.

"Well... just Twilight." Rainbow Dash came back over to her side. "She gets a little bit over-excited about this kinda stuff; especially considering that you're an alien from another planet and all."

"So, if I might ask a question?" Applejack raised her hand. "What in the heck do these suits even do? Aside from making us look like a bunch of spandex-wearing ninnies?"

"I'm not really sure myself. My father always said that the ones who can control the crystals would be gifted with so many different powers." Elaris put her hand on Applejack's chest. "Already, from this touch, I can tell that these suits give you superhuman strength. And as this Rarity of yours demonstrated, special weapons tailored to you and your personalities."

"When you say weapons, what do you mean by that?" Rainbow Dash asked, holding her hands out. Almost immediately, two blue guns with lights on the side of the barrel and wings at the back warped into them. "Whoa! I've got lasers!"

"Lasers, Rainbow?" Pinkie asked, before her own weapon appeared. Hers was like one of those toy guns that blast air at the kids, but it was all coloured pink with cupcakes and candy on the paint. Inside of the cannon was a mass of swirling magic that looked like it was covered with confetti and sprinkles. "Ooh! I got a Party Cannon!" Pinkie's eyes lit up. "Well, I mean, I already had one anyway, but now I've got one that can fight against bad guys too! I'd better make sure to put some labels on 'em when I get home; just so I don't mix the two up."

"Hold on, now. Before we get too carried away with our new things, we've gotta get our bearings first." Applejack examined each and every part of Elaris's control room. Sparks crackled off of the broken wires and electronics and steam slowly hissed from the pipes. The screen sitting in front of the pilot's seat was cracked and chipped, with all kinds of signals flickering on it. "We've gotta try and fix Elaris's ship. She can't make it back home with how bashed up it is."

"I appreciate the offer, Perfect Ones, but there is a few problems with that." Elaris walked over towards the exit. "First of all, this ship came from my home planet. The materials and technology are much more advanced than you might think. Second, the Wolfpack will have tracked me here and will start ravaging this planet until they get what they want."

"Well, I'm sure that we can handle the Wolfpack just fine." Sunset nodded. "We've fought magic before and battled creatures from other worlds, so I think this is just another day in the life, really."

"The Wolfpack aren't your average bunch of wolves, ladies," said Elaris. "They're vicious, dangerous, unwilling to listen to reason, and have horrible breath."

"Oh my..." Fluttershy shuddered. "They sound awful."

"That's because they are." Elaris looked out to the night sky, poking out of the back of her ship. "Whenever they go pillaging, they make sure to leave nothing behind. Entire settlements disappear overnight whenever they attack. And the lifeforms they don't kill? They torture and interrogate them until they wish they were dead."

"But... why would this Wolfpack want to attack you anyway?" Twilight asked, pushing her glasses closer to her face. "What do you have that they could possibly want?"

"Those crystals your friends now wield." Elaris pointed at each of the Rainbooms' chests. Moreso, to where the crystals now laid. "The Wolfpack will stop at nothing to keep on powering themselves up. And with the power of of these jewels, they will become unstoppable."

"So... these crystals are our only hope, then?" Twilight leaned in closer to the one in Fluttershy's suit. "Then we'd better hold on to them. And make sure that those wolves don't get their claws on them."

"I just wish we could talk this out every once in a while. Having to fight wolves makes me feel uncomfortable..." As Fluttershy sat down and crossed her legs, she felt something else appear in her hands. A bright yellow flute, with a rainbow-coloured neck piece close to the mouth hole. "Oh. What's this?" She felt the slender textures of the flute as she lightly grasped it with her fingers.

"It looks like a flute..." Applejack squatted down and took a look at the glowing neck piece. She saw animals flash by, one after another like a slideshow. "Fluttershy. Can you play the flute?"

"Not really. All I can play is the tambourine." She shook her head and held the flute up to her mouth. "But... I suppose I could always try to learn it."

As Fluttershy blew into the flute, a picture of a flock of birds flashed on the top of the flute. Streams of yellow energy flew out of the end of the flute, summoning ghostly forms of birds, which glistened a pale shade of yellow as they flapped around the control room and landed on her shoulders.

"Oh. Hello, little guys." Fluttershy patted the birds, listening closely to their melodic cheeps. She chuckled at the affectionate display and played on the flute some more, causing the birds to vanish. "Oh!" She jumped at how sudden the disappearance was.

"I see." Elaris helped Fluttershy back up. "So, that is your weapon, Fluttershy." She grabbed the neck piece and twisted it around, changing the animal on top from a bird, to a bear, to snakes, and many more. "Interesting. From the looks of it, the creature on the top is the one you can summon, and then I would assume that these other holes give it commands."

"Yes. That sounds about right." Rarity came to Fluttershy's side. "So you can control these animals all on your own. I suppose that works well for a girl like you, Fluttershy."

"You think I can still be a good asset to the team with this?" She asked as she clutched the instrument in both hands. "I mean, I don't even know how to play the flute; let alone use it to fight evil."

"Aw, c'mon, Fluttershy. You're very useful." Rainbow Dash patted her back. "You could call animals any time before. Now, you can do it two different ways! You'll be able to tear the Wolfpack a new one easily!"

Before anyone could say or do anything else, a large rumbling noise broke through the air, reverberating all throughout the control room. As everyone lurched backwards at the sound, Elaris scrambled to the back door of her ship, running as fast as she could.

"Oh no..." She moaned as she looked out into the skies above, seeing a fleet of ships appear high in the sky. "They're already here."

"Who's here?" Sunset ran out of the ship, looking up at the wide fleet in the stratosphere.

"Let us at 'em!" Rainbow readied her two hand lasers. "We're ready!"

"The Wolfpack..." Elaris just stared in horror at the large fleet of ships. The sheer size of them made her body freeze up and caused her arms to tremble like jelly.

"Hey! What are you doing in there?" One of the soldiers guarding the spaceship turned to see Elaris and the Rainbooms standing on the edge of the crashed ship. "This area is off-limits to the public!"

"Sorry, mister, but we don't have time to talk right now," said Twilight as the others soon joined her. "We've gotta save the world from—"

"Let me handle this." Elaris conjured a stream of rainbow-coloured magic from her two hands and made a bright ring of light. She threw it in the air and spread her arms out to the sides, widening it until it was the size of the ship and the girls inside it. "We just landed here, militants, and would prefer it if you gave us some privacy!" She threw down both of her arms, causing the ring to transform into a bright pillar of light that disappeared just as fast as it had arrived. Once it dissipated, both the ship and the girls had completely vanished from sight, leaving all of the men standing there looking thunderstruck.

The very same pillar of magical energy that had caused the girls to disappear from the park now reappeared on the top of a hill, conjuring the ship and Rainbooms into being. Because the ship was back on solid land and not partially buried, the girls all had to hold onto the frame as it rocked and tilted on re-entry.

"Whoa..." Rainbow Dash stared out and saw the city of Canterlot out in the distance. The rest of the town looked so much smaller from the hill that they were now situated on, so it was natural that she would be moved by it. "You. Are. Amazing!" She turned back to Elaris. "How'd you do that?!"

"Harmonites like I have powerful magic at our disposal." Elaris smiled and held both of her hands together at her navel. "Though, I'm just starting out myself, and I really just wanted to erase their memories or at least knock them out. I didn't mean to teleport us away."

"Either way, that was some next-level stuff right there." Sunset was also awestruck at how much distance they had moved in that short period of time. "I don't think I've seen teleportation magic since I left Equestria."

"I'm glad that you all like it. But I still wish that I could have more control over it." Elaris sighed and hung her head. "How am I ever going to fend off Mar'zek and the wolves in this condition?"

"Well, we've got those super-duper power crystals. We could shake those wolves off your backs." Pinkie smiled. "Plus, we've gotta break in these new weapons one way or another."

"Yeah. Speaking of which, what's mine?" Applejack asked, and received her weapon as if it had been a scripted part of a play. The next weapon to appear in her hands was a large sledgehammer, with apples adorning the cheeks. A large jagged circle was on both ends of the hammer, with an orange hilt underneath it. "Well, speak of the devil..." She held it up firmly using both of her hands to do so.

"Five weapons. All that remains is yours, Sunset Shimmer." Elaris tapped one of the edges of Sunset's crystal, seeing a radiant light begin to poke out of it like a chicken hatching from an egg. "Let us see what weapon you shall fight the Wolfpack with."

As Sunset saw the light emerge from her chest and twirl around in front of her face, she saw a red handle appear out of nothingness. As she grabbed onto the handle and pulled it out of the cosmic light, she found herself holding onto a large, sharpened sword with a circular frame for a hilt and a flame pattern on it.

"This is... a sword?" As Sunset got a feel of the new weapon, she felt a button on the hilt. As she pushed it in, the sword she was holding suddenly split in half down the middle, and one of the two halves of the sword moved to the other end of it, transforming the single sword into a large twin-sided one. "Okay. That's pretty cool." As she said that, she felt another button by her little finger. As she pushed it, both sides of the sword suddenly span up like a helicopter blade, nearly pulling her away at how fast they were slicing. "Wh-whoa!" Sunset pushed the button again, stopping the rotation straight away.

"Alright. Now that's a pretty cool sword; especially for a Red Ranger." Pinkie pointed out as Sunset transformed the sword back into one.

"This is all so much to take in..." Sunset sighed as she tried swinging the weapon around in its' single form, before switching to the double form. "An alien crash lands in Canterlot, we get another set of crystals, and the seven of us have to stop an army of wolves from destroying the world just to get our new powers for themselves. You would never think we lead a normal life in the first place if this ever got out."

"I know that it is all a bit sudden for you, but if you could help me out in repelling these wolves and fixing my ship, I would be most grateful." Elaris bowed before them. "Can you save this world—no, this universe from Mar'zek and his Wolfpack?"

"Well, of course." Sunset nodded. "We're always up to save the world. We've done it a few times before, and we're not gonna let it all end right here and now. Right, girls?"

"Nuh-uh! Those wolves are gonna go running back home to their mamas with their tails between their legs!" Pinkie fist-pumped.

"They set themselves up and we'll knock 'em down!" Rainbow Dash nodded and smiled confidently.

"Ah shucks. Ah'm in too. Wouldn't want a pack of wolves messin' up my home and friends." Applejack gripped the handle of her hammer tightly.

"It's only fair that we teach those beasts some manners after what they did to Elaris's poor spaceship." Rarity held the swords she had to her side.

"I'll help too. I mean, that is, if you want me to." Fluttershy poked her head out of the other girls.

"Then it's settled." Elaris nodded and held the girls' hands together. She opened the palm of her right hand down and poured a small beam of light into their hands, causing it to travel up their veins and around their bodies. In the Rainbooms' eyes, they saw very brief flashes of giant robots shaped like animals and coloured like their suits. "This light of mine should give you strength. In case the Wolfpack give you a hard time, your new powers will allow you to summon powerful machines to stem the tide of the surging wolves."

"Ooh! Are those our zords?" Pinkie's eyes lit up once again. "Thank you thank you thank you, Elaris!" She violently and vigorously shook her hand. "Now, we're full and complete Power Rangers! And when the Wolfpack comes running, we'll be ready and waiting!"

"I still wish we had a better name for the group." Rarity muttered. "But, I suppose that it does have some sense of authority to it, so that's what we're going with, I suppose."

"For now, though, we should probably get some rest." Twilight climbed off the ship. "It's getting late and we need to take some time to process all of this. We'll see you in the morning, Elaris."

"Oh. Before you go, I want you to have these." Elaris took out six little chips. "These also came with the crystals. They're fashioned in the shape of... something, but I don't know what they are."

"Those look like SIM cards to me." Applejack picked up the orange one. "We earthlings put these here into our phones, and they give us the power to use the internet on the go."

"But, since these ones are magical, they must give us access to talk to you, Elaris!" Pinkie Pie squealed and took hers right away. "What's your phone number? Do you have one?"

"Oh, no no no. That won't be necessary." She waved her hands after the other girls took their cards. "Just put it into your phones and you'll have a direct link to my ship. I'll be able to monitor everything from there once we get the repairs done."

"I'll help you out with the ship." Twilight installed her SIM card first. "Since I don't have a crystal of my own, I figure that I could give you a hand in making the repairs while my friends fight the Wolfpack. Just until I get a crystal of my own later on."

"I'd like that." Elaris smiled and patted Twilight on the shoulder. "Very well, Twilight Sparkle. I'm looking forward to working with you."

"We should all chip in too." Sunset nodded as she put her card into her phone next. "With this Wolfpack coming, we'd better come prepared. Or Earth is finished..."

Author's Note

So, you're probably wondering why the heck this story's back from the grave, right? Well, the reason is that, my friend, The Bricklayer, has kinda inspired me to keep on writing this story after he showed me and allowed me to collaborate with him to write his own Power Rangers story. Gotta say, thank you, Brick. You've really re-lit a fire that I thought would never go out.

Now, I've got plenty of ideas back in my head and I'm looking forward to sharing them all with you. This Power Rangers crossover is back, baby! And hopefully, it's here to stay.

The Hunt Begins

The Wolfpack fleet sat quietly above the Earth, staring down at the world beneath them. The army of ravenous lupine brutes snarled, working hard to evaluate the salvage they stole from the other ships, as well as make any maintenance to their ships.

Captain Mar'zek, the leader of the pack, sat idly on his chair, drumming his claws on the sides. As a wolf—and a barbaric one at that, he did not like to loaf around, but he knew the vast size of the planet, and that a simple search for the crystals they lost would not be an easy task. But he knew that he had to set a good example for his kind.

"If I know my prey like I think I know my prey, and I'm pretty sure that I do, they will have made the Perfect Ones by now," he said. "The defenders supposed to challenge us and bring order to the universe. Ha! Pathetic."

"Then what are we supposed to do about it, captain?" Siel'Viz approached him from the side, sliding her claws against her purple breastplate. "If we just let these heroes train and gain power, then retrieving the crystals might seem impossible."

"That's exactly why we can't let them train, or have a single moment to rest." Mar'zek turned to his female vice-captain. "We must start ravaging the planet as quickly as possible. But exactly how quick do the people of this forsaken ball of water and dirt learn?"

"That is the question, is it not?"

From the shadows, a much elderly wolf stepped forward, with fur as white and pale as the snow itself. He was less armoured than the rest of the pack, and wore a tattered and torn lab coat in place. With a cane in one claw and a small dagger around his belt, he stared up at his captain.

"This is a very special planet, my lord." He bowed before Mar'zek. "The species here, these humans are quite unique. While most of the races we conquered and pillaged have a set series of traditions and rituals, the ones here have different ones depending on what corner of the world they live on." It raised the cane and tapped it on the ground. "I'd very much like to take some of these humans for myself and dissect them a little, just to see how they tick."

"Vi'al. A pleasure." Mar'zek nodded before the scientist. "It's not very often you come out of your little laboratory, isn't it?"

"For a chance to see the Perfect Ones snuffed out, I wouldn't miss it for the galaxy." Vi'al chuckled to himself in a raspy voice. "And besides, science takes time. Experiments can be re-worked, amended, and change ever so much. Plus, it would be good to stretch some of these old bones against these 'heroes' you're talking about."

"Please, my old friend. This is not something that should concern you, given how aged you are." Mar'zek stood up and petted Vi'al, only for his paw to be swatted away by the old wolf.

"Nonsense! Even the oldies need some exercise now and again." Vi'al scoffed and looked down to the ground. "Besides, I've longed to taste fresh air after all that time revising my hypotheses. Just a quick hunt would do me wonders."

"Then at the very least, take some hounds with you." Siel'Viz lifted a claw. "If those Perfect Ones really are what the legend says, then they will be able to kill you."

"Again, you are mistaken." Vi'Al shook his head. "In fact, I believe that, once we meet these heroes, they'll be in for a little surprise..."

At Canterlot High School, the Rainbooms were all gathered together, chatting to each other about the usual subjects. Fashion, video games, Pinkie's odd ramblings of food portmanteaus, and the odd little argument between Rainbow Dash and Applejack over who was better at hard work. But to them, they knew that their normal lives—if you could call them that—were about to change.

Ever since they had met Elaris and retrieved the crystals capable of transforming them into the Power Rangers, they had been thinking long and hard about the battle ahead; their duel with the Wolfpack. They could already envision how the fights would play out, but were never able to see the ends of those battles. Whether they would win or lose remained a mystery with how much they had to take into consideration.

"Hey, girls? What if we don't even need to fight?" Sunset Shimmer eventually lifted a finger. "I mean, these new suits are cool and all, but we've already got the Magic of Friendship on our side. We can just rainbow-laser those creeps back to whatever corner of the universe they crawled out of, right?"

"Well, yeah, but this way is much more fun!" Pinkie Pie jumped onto Sunset's back and nearly threw her onto her chest. "Plus, we never really get thank yous and prizes for being superheroes these days with just magic. I mean, we did a lot, but all we really got out of it were friends and memories."

"I gotta agree with Pinkie here." Rainbow patted Pinkie on the back. "We've been through an awful lot, but now the game's changed and the ante's been upped. We're not just a crisis-team for magic-powered teenagers anymore. We're, like, total superheroes now!"

"Yes. And I wouldn't be surprised if we find ourselves a lot busier right now." Rarity was busy weaving some fabric together. "We'll just have to work double duty. Both for stopping magical threats to Equestria, and for this Wolfpack that's coming here."

"Still, it's gonna be AWESOME!" Pinkie bounced gleefully up and down. "I can't wait to get into battle, to get our own little Zords, and to stop the Wolfpack like true rangers!"

"But like I said, maybe we might not need to fight." Sunset shrugged. "I mean, who knows how long it'll take for the Wolfpack to even get here?"

As if fate had answered her question for her, all of the girls' phones began to ring. A hexagon with seven pieces appeared on their screens as they took them out, with what looked like the sigils of all of the Rainbooms on each circular piece.

"Ooh! We're being called to battle!" Rainbow ran on the spot giddily, nearly dropping the phone as she answered it. "What's up, Elaris?"

"Girls. I hope you're ready for this." Elaris's face materialized on the screen, with the ship's bridge right behind her. "The Wolfpack have landed on Earth, right at local Canterlot Mall. And they're causing chaos..."

The phone screen changed to show a new image. Though it was very fuzzy, it showed the mall under siege by the Wolfpack, with Vi'Al and another wolf leading the charge. Small fires littered the ground, and the screams of people could be faintly heard as blaster fire rang out across the complex. Before they could get a clearer image, the screen went back to Elaris.

"I'm sorry that I could not show you a more precise location. My ship took a fair amount of damage when I ran from the wolves." Elaris sighed. "Maybe once they are driven back, we can try and fix it."

"Sure thing, Elaris. C'mon, girls. Let's move!" Rainbow nodded and put the phone away. "Y'know, I kinda think it's unfair that we don't all get to transform together, but these wolves look REALLY dangerous. Hope you girls don't mind I get a headstart."

"No, no. It's fine, Rainbow." Sunset patted Rainbow on the shoulder and saw her clutch the geode around her neck. "You get there first and try to hold them off. We'll be there as fast as we can."

"Got it." Rainbow nodded and bolted off out of the school and down the road as fast as she could, the magic of her pendant aiding her as she left nothing more than a rainbow contrail behind her.

"Twilight. You'd better get to Elaris's ship. She could use some repairs right about now." Sunset turned to face Twilight.

"You sure that you can handle this without me?" Twilight asked, lifting a brow. "I mean, I still have my geode. I can levitate those wolves and keep them pinned down for you." She held it up.

"The faster that we can get Elaris's ship back together, the better chance we have of beating these wolves." Sunset held Twilight's hand and looked her in the eyes. "Don't worry. We'd never leave you out of the battle, Twilight. We've just gotta prioritize for now. Plus, you've got all the smarts to fix the ship up."

"Okay." Twilight nodded. "You girls get to the mall and stop the Wolfpack. I'll try and keep you up to date with Elaris."

"Thanks, Twilight. You're the best." Sunset nodded and smiled as she ran with Twilight and the others out of the school and into the sunny day outside.

Rainbow Dash came closer to the mall when she pushed the button in the middle of her belt buckle. It began to radiate a brilliant light which quickly enveloped her skin.

"Time to power up! This is gonna be so awesome..." Rainbow put her hands to her cheeks as she prepared for her transformation. "Now all I need is a witty one-liner to make it extra-cool. Hmm..." After a few moments of thinking, the perfect call-out came to mind. "Got it! Equestrian Stars! Shine Bright and Let's Fight!"

Blasting forward, Rainbow became completely engulfed in the bright light. And when she leapt forward and somersaulted into the air and landed on her knees, she had transformed back into her Power Ranger outfit. With blue running from head to toe, silver streaks running down her chest, a small blue neckpiece, and a cloud spitting out a lightning bolt for a visor, she was ready for battle. Reaching to her hips, she pulled out her two blasters, with a black finish, wings stretching out of the sides of the barrel, and all seven of the lights of the rainbow running over the top.

"Faster than ever, the Blue Ranger!" Rainbow posed with her guns, pointing them straight out in front of her. Dashing ahead, she ran into the mall and watched the Wolfpack shooting at the last fleeing humans.

"Listen to their screams! I love it!" Vi'Al chuckled to himself as he put his claw around the side of another wolf, unlike the grunts leading the attack. "This is what I live for, my friend. Chaos. Destruction. Misery!"

"Yes, Vi'Al." The other wolf nodded. "The faster we tear this planet up, the faster we'll retrieve those crystals, and the sooner this universe will bow before us!"

"Hey, wolves!" Rainbow Dash called from the other corridor, firing her blasters at the invaders. "Didn't you get the memo? The mall's closed!"

"What?!" Vi'Al turned to see Rainbow, pointing her guns at him and his troops. "Looks like we've got some resistance. Just another reason why me and my compatriots love to conquer..."

"But you are sadly outmatched, little one," said the wolf beside Vi'Al as it clicked its' claws. "Hounds! Turn your attention to this new face, and let her know we wolves mean BUSINESS!"

The hounds turned to face Rainbow, then charged towards her bearing their fangs and claws.

"You want some of this?" Rainbow grinned, then flipped backwards. "Twin Rainbow Blasters! Open fire!" Pointing both of them at the wolves, she fired a quick flurry of blasts at the wolves, hitting them in the chests and making them stumble backwards. But that didn't stop them from moving in on her.

Rainbow kept on firing, but soon enough, the wolves were upon her. Tapping the bolt of lightning on her neckpiece, she barreled through the hounds, knocking them over. Stopping once she was on the other side of the horde, she let loose another hail of blaster fire again, aiming for their heads this time.

Some of the wolves struck by the blasters fell onto their backs, detonating as their heads hit the floor. The ones still alive burst through the flames and leapt towards Rainbow. They took more of the shots, but it wasn't enough to faze them as they came crashing down on top of her.

"Uh-oh!" Rainbow, not wanting to be a pancake, ran backwards from the leaping wolves, only to be subjected to Vi'Al and his partner's claws, which both grazed into her back in an 'X' formation. "Gah!" Rainbow groaned as she tumbled forward, feeling the sting even after the attack had landed.

"Rule #1 of combat, little one. Always keep your eye on your enemies." The partner snarled, putting his foot atop Rainbow's scratched back. "And now, you'll suffer for it." He leaned down and whispered in her ears. "I think I'll take your ear first. I always like it when others hear what I have to say."

Rainbow tried to throw the wolf off of her back, but his force, added with the pain on her back, made it hard for her to show any sign of resistance. Even as she squirmed, she felt the scratch marks feel more and more painful. She tried her blasters, but her arms were swiftly pinned down by the wolf, who hunched his body over her head and leaned forward to add more pressure to the wound.

"Even if you could fight back, the hounds are already here." Vi'Al watched the grunts arrive at the pinned down Rainbow, licking their lips as they stretched their claws out. "There is no escape for you."

"That's what you think!"

Everyone turned to see Sunset, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie standing tall at the doors of the mall, all ready for a fight; except for Fluttershy, who stood behind Applejack with her hands on her arms.

"Is this yours?" The wolf who stood on Rainbow grabbed her by the scuff and lifted her up. "Because if it is, then I'm afraid you're much too late to save her. I, Preda'Tor, have her right in my clutches. And once we Wolfpack wolves have our prey, we NEVER let them get away!"

"Then we'll just have to make you let her go." Sunset smirked, and pushed the button on her buckle, as did the other girls.

"Equestrian Stars! Shine Bright and Let's Fight!" The Rainbooms called out, as they too gained auras of light which enveloped and transformed them into their respective Power Ranger outfits.

"Hides away, but not today. Yellow Ranger..." Fluttershy litfted her flute ready for combat, though, she just slipped behind the others.

"As elegant as a gemstone and just as blinding, White Ranger!" Rarity twirled both of her swords and held them at her waist.

"Strong as the sturdiest of oaks, Orange Ranger!" Applejack brandished her hammer and clutched it with both hands.

"So bouncy, you can't catch me, Pink Ranger!" Pinkie still hopped on the spot even as she pulled out her weapons; the pair of mini airguns.

"Burning sword, hot enough to cleave through all evil, Red Ranger!" Sunset held her sword out and pointed it at the wolves, causing the blade to catch on fire.

"Glad you could get here, girls." Rainbow chuckled and turned back to Preda'Tor and Vi'Al. "Looks like I'm not as 'prey' as you guys thought."

"Power Rangers Equestrian Stars!" The girls all called out as Rainbow finally shot at Preda'Tor and Vi'Al's faces before running back to the others.

"And then there were six..." Vi'Al chuckled to himself and watched in awe as the Rangers walked up to him and his pack. "I'm half interested to see where this goes."

"It'll go one way, Vi'Al. With their heads on spits! Hounds! Charge!" Preda'Tor pounded his chest and thrust a claw forward, sending the marauding pack of hounds towards the Rainbooms, who all charged in to meet them.

Pinkie jumped in first, blasting at the Hounds with her air-guns. Confetti and streamers met the wolves and blew up into tiny sparkles around them, disorienting them as Rainbow followed it up with more shots from her blasters. In the chaos, the wolves blindly ran towards Rarity, who gracefully used her swords to slice precisely across their skin.

"Too hot to handle?" Sunset ran through the wolves and swung fast with her fire sword, both cutting through the wolves' bodies and igniting their fur. Then, leaping over the burning wolves, she sent one final slash at them, making them all explode and leave nothing but ash in their wake. "Maybe you should've dress more prepared for summer!"

Fluttershy watched a small batch of wolves advance on her from afar. Yelping, she started to play her flute, sending out a spectral bear to run them down. Still worried that they would strike her, she kept on playing, commanding the bear to claw and gash at them while they were on their backs.

"My turn!" Applejack came forward, lifted her hammer high, and smashed it into the ground. "Terra Hammer!" With one powerful strike, the earth between her horde of wolves cracked and splintered, before shards of rock burst up from the cracks and went straight through their bodies. "How'd ya like them apples?" She asked as the wolves fell flat onto their bellies.

"So, you think you've won because you can fight a few hounds?" Preda'Tor smirked as he watched the last of the hounds explode into pieces. "Pathetic! Now, you're gonna see how a REAL wolf fights!" He charged forward and widened his claws. Lunging towards Fluttershy, he performed a somersault with his nails to transform himself into a living sawblade.

"Fluttershy! Head's up!" Rainbow called, firing her next shots at Preda'Tor to try and knock him out of his attack. While the shots landed, they barely did a thing as he came close to scratching her up.

"Huh?" Looking up, she watched the new wolf coming towards her. Letting out a scream, she inadvertently twisted the neck of the flute to a new animal as she rolled and ran away, trying to relocate to a different part of the mall to keep playing her song, only for the wolf to chase after her.

"Now that's not fair, preying on our poor little friend like that." Rarity tapped the diamonds on her neckpiece and hurled diamond shields towards Fluttershy, which made Preda'Tor's attacks bounce straight off them. "I think you need to be taught some manners." She ran forward and slashed at the beast's next attacks, before pushing forward and causing him to lurch back. "Twin Diamond Swords! X Slash!" She swung her swords in the same pattern he had used to hit Rainbow in the back, hurling him into the wall behind her.

"Twin Rainbow Blasters! Double Barrel Mode!" Rainbow took one of her blasters and straightened the handle in line with the rest of the weapon before putting it on top of the second one. Combined, both of the laser guns fired together at Preda'Tor, with the blasts from both barrels being more thick and powerful than usual.

"Grr..." Preda snarled and drove his claws into the ground, sprinting ahead as a bull would if it saw red. Or in this case, the Red Ranger, Sunset Shimmer. "Enough of this!" He performed a claw uppercut, forcing Sunset to guard. This allowed his other claw to slash her from above, knocking her into the floor.

"Sunset!" The girls called as they watched Sunset duel with Preda, sword meeting with claws. Both sides were fast and strong, and neither one gave the other any opportunities to attack. Seeing no end to this, the other rangers rushed to Sunset's aide, only for Preda to whip out his own sword from the belt around him and swing it at them, sending a purple energy shockwave that knocked them backwards.

"Stay out of this, you curs!" He howled to the girls. "I prefer my fights one-on-one!" He was about to strike Sunset again, when he saw her channeling fire through the tip of her sword. "Huh?"

"Time to seal the deal." Sunset grinned as she pointed the sword at the ground beneath Preda'Tor's feet. "Fire Sword, Scorched Earth!" Drawing a circle around the feet of her opponent and slashing the sword straight up, Sunset consumed Preda'Tor in a thick pillar of flame, leaving no part of him untouched with her raging fires. Once she was content with how much she had cooked the killer wolf, she ran to the pillar and swung straight through it, causing a massive explosion to erupt with Preda'Tor at the center.

"You..." Preda'Tor spluttered as his whole body had been charred to pieces. "You... vermin!" He stood back up and let out a blood-curdling howl, as the moon suddenly appeared in the sky above. "Time to see how you deal with a REAL Wolfpack soldier!"

"Those Perfect Ones are strong on their own, yes." Vi'Al had been watching from the sidelines the entire time as a red, blood-like aura began to wrap itself around Preda'Tor. "But the Wolfpack never goes down without a fight. And now, it's time for them to witness first-hand our real power..."

"What's it doing?" Sunset asked as it watched the wolf take in more and more of the red magic.

"Ooh! I think I know what it's doing!" Pinkie lifted and wiggled her hand in the air. "It's gonna super-size itself, just like in the TV shows!"

"WHAT?!" The other Rainbooms jumped at that, and turned towards the maddened, torched, and scarred wolf.

"Yep. In every series of Power Rangers that I can count, the monsters always find a way to grow super-duper big and cause true mayhem!" Pinkie pointed towards the wolf. "Then, we all swoop in with our super-awesome Zords and combine them into a Megazord. Then, we whoop the hairy hide of this big, bad, wolf and blow him away instead!"

"Feral Fury!" Preda'Tor cried, throwing his arms out as he craned his head to the moon once more.

The blood inside the wolf began to bubble and churn, as red and black lightning bolts ran through it. His heart began to beat faster and faster as it pumped the blood throughout his system. His muscles began to grow exponentially in size and his claws for all four of his paws curled up tight. Slamming the sharp nails of his claws down onto the ground and causing holes, Preda'Tor grew to the size of a mountain, with the Rainbooms so tiny that he could crush them underneath his foot.

"Now, Perfect Ones!" He stared down at the girls. "Let's see how you fare against THIS!"

Super Size Me!

"How are we gonna fight THAT thing?!" Rainbow moaned, looking skyward towards Preda'Tor's face. "It's the size of a skyscraper!"

"Well, duh. We just gotta get our Zords." Pinkie reached into the pocket of her outfit and pulled out her phone. She went into the "Recent Calls" part of her phone and tapped on Elaris's number. "Elaris. We kinda need your help on this one. The thing's gone super-huge and we don't know how to fight back."

"So, you've noticed the Wolfpack's Feral Fury." Elaris's face appeared back on the screen. "It's their most powerful form, but also, their most tricky to master. They can only use it if they enter a near-death state. If they can use it, though, it transforms them into a mountain-sized version of themselves, while restoring most of the damage done to them in that fight." She sighed. "It's as if they've been completely reborn."

"Reborn?!" Rarity lurched backwards.

"Yes. The good news is that, once a Wolfpack uses its' Feral Fury, it can't do it again. So all you need to do is take it down, and it will stay down for good." Elaris nodded, a smile reappearing on her face. "You should have access to your mechs by now. Raise your devices skyward and call them down from the deepest reaches of space."

"From space?" Sunset asked.

"Like this!" Pinkie lifted her phone up, causing a bright beam of pink light to sprout up from it. "Zord! Come on down!"

The others followed suit, raising their phones into the air. More beams of their respective colours fired into the air, signalling for their Zords to come to their aide.

Suddenly, high in the sky, a series of bright stars shimmered in the distance and glowed brighter as they came hurtling towards the planet. Streaks filled the air as the stars blasted through the cosmos, leaving behind entrails of multiple colours in an aurora borealis pattern.

"Captain! Unidentified energy signature off the starboard bow!" A wolf in Mar'Zek's flagship bridge called out, as a bright light flashed on his monitor.

Mar'Zek jumped off of his throne and ran towards the front of the bridge, looking out of the glass windscreen towards the left. He watched as six giant vessels; each with a different shape, careened towards the planet. Their velocity, coupled with the powerful slipstreams they left behind, sent tremors through the captain's ship, shaking him onto his knees.

"The legends are true..." He stared in awe at the new ships. "They have awakened. The Perfect Ones have their Zords!"

Back on earth, the Zords finally broke through the atmosphere and landed before the Rainbooms. All mechanized, with colour-coded plates and armour to signal which one belonged to who. Two birds were first. One had red plates and was constantly on fire, while the other was blue and had a nimiety of thrusters on the wings and on the back. The next one to land was a large, orange-coloured bull robot; complete with golden horns and a nose ring. Following that was a titanic, yellow-plated mechanical bear, with claws that stretched out of the paws at the front. Next, a streamlined, pure white leopard-like mech landed. Purring gently, its' tail stretched out and bathed in the powerful sunlight. And last of all, a large, pink kangaroo-shaped robot landed, with its' pouch opening and closing as it hopped around.

"Whoa..." Rainbow's mouth hung open at the sight of the colossal machines that stood before them. "These are OURS?!"

"Yes. Yes they are." Sunset nodded, taking a closer look at the coloured plating. "Now, how do we get inside these things?"

"Just jump, silly." Pinkie ran towards her kangaroo and leapt high into the air. Much higher than she could remember, at least. "Like this!" With a somersault, she came up to the head of her Zord, and fell into a hatch on the head that opened once she was in the proximity. She landed on a leather-bound seat, which revolved to face the windscreen at the front of the cockpit. Buttons were littered all around her, glowing and flashing, waiting to be pushed. "Ooh! Super-cool!" She beamed and took a huge sniff of the air around her. "It's got that new Zord smell too! Nice and fresh..."

"How did she make that jump?" Sunset asked as Rainbow Dash made the jump next. She watched as her friend soared towards the underbelly of her beast and caught a bar that protruded out of her Zord's open hatch. As it pulled her inside, Rarity darted towards hers, performing an acrobatic leap as she climbed the legs of her lynx and went in through the back of the neck. "Well, guess there's no reason in questioning it."

Fluttershy went into her Zord by jumping onto the paw of the bear. It kindly patted her head and let her enter through its' chest. Next was Applejack, who kicked herself off of the ground, grabbed both horns of the bull, twisted the ends of the horns, and jumped down the trapdoor into her cockpit.

Once all of her friends were inside their own respective Zords, Sunset Shimmer was last. Her phoenix swooped down on her as she ran for it. And with a single jump up through the mouth of the bird, she found herself in another chair, which raised itself into her own cockpit. It, along with the ones of the other Rainbooms' Zords were all the same, but with a different colour scheme inside.

"Hah! Now who's in trouble, ya big doofus?" Rainbow chuckled as she readied her Zord and clutched the two joysticks by her side. "Now there's six of us, ridin' these super-cool mech suits, and you're just a regular old wolf again!"

"So... It looks like you came prepared for a fight." Preda'Tor laughed himself as he stomped forward. "Good. It's no fun when my prey is at a disadvantage! This will be FUN!"

"You girls ready?" Pinkie asked, as a spectral headset appeared on the inside of their helmets, snugly secured around their ears and mouth.

"Yeah. As ready as we'll ever be." Sunset nodded as a similar headset appeared for her too.

"Got it!" The other girls called out as they got their own headsets as well.

The Zords all charged into battle, as Preda'Tor ran towards them too. Rainbow Dash and Sunset swooped forward and overhead Preda'Tor, their immense speeds throwing off his balance and causing him to stumble backwards and firmly stomp the ground to regain it.

Preda'Tor made the first strike, slashing downwards against Applejack's bull Zord. Though the hit was fast, it barely grazed the beast-mech and stopped as soon as it collided with the body. He was about to make another strike when Pinkie's kangaroo Zord jumped over the horns of the beast and kicked him back violently before landing nimbly on its' own two feet.

"Thanks for the save, Pinkie!" Applejack gave a thumb's up.

"No problem, AJ!" Pinkie nodded and pressed some buttons on her cockpit. "Now, let's see what these things can do!"

Pinkie's kangaroo Zord opened up its' pouch and started to rummage around in it as Preda'Tor got back onto his feet and charged towards her. When he was within striking distance, Pinkie managed to pull out a ball the size of the robot's hands. Just as Preda'Tor was about to slash downward, Rainbow drove her falcon Zord straight into the side of the overgrown wolf and smash him away.

"Meddlesome pests..." Preda'Tor skidded on the balls of his feet and slid his hand across the back of his sword. It began to glow with bright purple energy and crackle with lightning. "Try some of this!" Swinging it horizontally and vertically, he sent shockwaves towards the Zords in an attempt to take them out from a distance.

Pinkie, Applejack, and Fluttershy took the hits hard, and as their Zords were knocked backwards, they felt sparks begin to fly in the consoles behind them.

"Girls!" Sunset took the joysticks of her Zord and shoved them forwards, commanding her phoenix to swoop down to the beast. As it sent another wave of strikes, she stood in the way of them and flapped the wings of her mighty bird, sending her own fire energy towards the ones sent by Preda'Tor. Both exploded as they collided, and as the ashes settled, both sides went forward. "Leave them alone!"

"They shouldn't have got their hands on those crystals, then!" Preda'Tor pounced forward and grabbed Sunset's phoenix by the wings. "They are the property of my captain, and I will not allow such life-forms like yourselves to lay claim to them!"

"Then maybe you should be focusing a little bit more," said Rarity as her Zord charged forward and leapt into him. He immediately let go of Sunset's phoenix and tumbled to the ground as the white lynx scratched his face swiftly with its' mechanized claws.

"Not good enough!" Preda'Tor curled his legs and kicked Rarity's Zord into the air, following up with a leaping sword slash that gashed the machine's stomach. "You are weak! Human! That is why you are not worthy of those crystals!"

"Is this weak?!" Applejack charged in with her bull Zord and trampled Preda'Tor as he landed. All four of its' hooves dug into his back as it ran over his body. "You need to learn your place, mister wolf!" Applejack pushed some buttons in her own cockpit, causing the horns of her bull to rotate and face forward, while the tips opened up and began to glow brightly. "Bull Zord Cannons! Fire!"

Preda'Tor took one of the orange bolts of light that fired from Applejack's bull Zord cannons before using his sword to deflect the rest. Cutting through them with ease, he ran back towards Applejack and was about to drive his sword straight through the mech's face, when the ball Pinkie pulled out of her Zord's pouch smashed against his head and threw him to the ground.

"Catch, ya big doofus!" Pinkie's mech bounced along as the ball came back to her side. She gave it another kick once it rebounded and hit Preda'Tor on the belly as he landed.

Fluttershy just watched the battle unfolding before her, watching as Preda'Tor kept on getting back up, even with all of the hits that he was taking. She just quivered as she watched the wolf hack and slash away, eventually catching wind of the girls' fighting styles and adapting to them.

"Oh, I can't watch..." She covered her eyes as he caught Applejack's bull as it charged and flipped it onto its' back.

"C'mon, Fluttershy! Get in on this!" Rainbow spoke to her through the headset on her head. "We can't beat this thing without your help, y'know."

"I know, Rainbow Dash, but he's just too strong for us." Fluttershy clutched at the controls of her Zord and felt her arms shake as she began to gently push them forward. "Even if we could hold him off, I don't think these machines'll last long like this."

"Well, we've gotta try, at least." Rarity's lynx came up to Fluttershy's bear and stood next to her. "I know it can be frightening, dealing with a powerful race of alien wolves. But you have to remember that this isn't the first time you've battled evil with us."

"So what are you waiting for? Help us out, Fluttershy!" Pinkie's kangaroo leapt forward and kicked the wolf in the head, only for its' feet to be caught as it tried for a follow-up attack. He jumped himself and threw her into the ground, landing violently on the belly of the Zord.

"Okay..." Fluttershy looked towards the buttons around her. "Maybe... this?" She pushed one, looking away from the button as she did so.

The bear Zord Fluttershy was controlling let out a loud roar, as the claws on its' side began to grow sharper. It slashed in an 'X' pattern, sending yellow shockwaves towards Preda'Tor's back. Once they connected, the bear immediately charged in as the wolf fell to his knees and struck him again as he got back up.

"That's it." Preda'Tor's eyes began to glint a dark shade of black. "It's time to wrap this mess up and go home with our prize!" He roared and threw his hands out, sending a pulse of lightning across the ground that knocked the Zords back and sent explosions up their bodies.

"Hunter Frenzy!" Preda'Tor screeched and dashed forward at blinding speeds. He disappeared right as he was about to crash into Applejack's Zord and reappeared behind it, shoulder ramming it into a skyscraper. Next, he leapt skyward and grabbed both Sunset and Rainbow's birds by the wings and clapped them together repeatedly, before skydiving back down into Pinkie's kangaroo. All three Zords took the blow heavily and fell to the ground. Then, he turned towards Fluttershy's bear and jump-kicked it backwards into Rarity's Lynx, before vaulting over them and and performing a falling elbow strike on both of the disoriented robots. Needless to say, all of the girls had been bounced around like peas in a frying pan and caught electrical sparks as they were thrown out of their seats and fell to the floor of their cockpits once the attack was over.

"On my honour as a Wolfpack warrior, I will NOT allow any other race to get the better of me." Preda'Tor breathed heavily as he punched his claw. "You are finished, humans. Now, accept defeat and hand over the crystals. Then, we will leave this planet alone."

"This isn't working!" Sunset cried out as she stumbled to get back into the chair of her Zord. "He's too strong for us to take out like this."

"How are we gonna beat him?" Fluttershy asked, wobbling as she got back onto her feet.

"We need... to combine." Pinkie got back up, coughing slightly as she clutched the side of her cockpit chair. "We need to make our Megazord and REALLY take the fight to this guy!" She almost fell back to the ground as she got back into her seat.

"It's not like we can keep fighting like this anyway." Rainbow spluttered as she got back into the seat of her own Zord. "Let's go with Pinkie's idea."

"Right." Sunset nodded as she finally re-positioned herself. "Ready, girls? This is gonna take a team effort to pull off."

"Trust us, Sunset. When do we ever work alone?" Rarity asked, grinning as she climbed back into her chair.

"Equestrian Rainbow! Shine Down!" The Rainbooms all called out as they thrust their hands to the ceiling and hit a large button above their heads.

All six of the felled Zords began to glow, just like the girls did when they transformed. All rising from their states, they launched themselves upwards and began to converge on Sunset's phoenix. The animals contorted and twisted themselves, parts retracting and reshaping as they began to form pieces of one huge, combined mech.

Rarity's lynx and Applejack's Zords became a pair of arms, Rainbow and Pinkie's transformed into legs, Fluttershy's bear lost its' head and took up the chest, and Sunset's phoenix landed nimbly on top, with the wings clipping into the back of the bear and extending. The mouth of the flaming bird then opened up, revealing a giant metal face belonging to that of a human as hands and feet finally popped out of the arms and legs, as well as glowing orbs that linked the limbs together, as well as one on the chest and one popping out of top of the head.

All six of the Rainbooms now found themselves in a much larger room than before, with blue skies and clouds all around them. They stood on glowing discs in the room that corresponded to their own colours, as a rainbow began to appear behind them. Once they were all standing in place, a new set of consoles appeared out from the bottom of their discs, with buttons, levers, and more to fiddle with.

"Equestrian Star Megazord! Ready for battle!" The girls called as their new, combined mech lifted its' hands and made fists out of them.

"Very well, then." Preda'Tor snarled and ran towards the combined robot. "You'll die with a bang, not a whimper!"

The battle raged on again, with both Preda'Tor and the Equestrian Star Megazord trading blows with each other. Punches, kicks, and more were given to each other as both sides clashed; neither one giving the other an inch. Even as Preda'Tor pulled out his sword again, the Megazord was meeting the blows by blocking, dodging, and even grabbing the blade at times.

"Come on! Come on!" He howled, leapt into the Megazord, and slashed at the head. "Are you really strong enough to stop us?!"

"Oh, we're strong, alright." Sunset pressed a button on her station. "Phoenix Guard!! Burn bright!"

The wings of the Megazord began to curl up and form a veil around the front of the mech, engulfing Preda'Tor in them and forcing him to tumble backwards as his fur began to burn. Then, they unfurled and blew the flaming wolf backwards, knocking him into the mall he had originally come from.

"What... is this?!" Preda'Tor asked as he tried to put the flames out, only for them to spread to more of his furry body.

"Looks like he's starting to get weak. Ready for the finale, girls?" Sunset smirked.

"Yeah!" The others nodded.

"Equestrian Star Megazord! Final attack!" The girls tapped at the sigils of their neckpieces and sprouted wings, pony ears, and tails as their bodies glowed. Then, they pushed down on the biggest buttons on their devices, turning the cloudy skies around them into a pure room of rainbow light.

On the outside, the Megazord's orbs began to glow, with symbols appearing in each of them. Lightning, diamonds, apples, butterflies, balloons, and a bright sun appeared and made the connectors burst with colour and glow, creating a large, circular insignia on the back of the Megazord with a pentagon of light in the middle, coalescing with the positions of the orbs.

"This is not... the end!" Preda'Tor groaned as he watched the Megazord accrue more and more light.

The girls yelled and thrust their fists forward, causing the Megazord to charge in and grab onto the still burning Preda'Tor. Then, the orbs finally let loose the light, showering the wolf in a massive laser of energy which knocked him out of the city entirely.

"THIS... IS NOT... THE END!" Preda'Tor screamed as he landed on the outskirts of the city, erupting into a massive explosion as soon as he hit the ground. Nothing more of him remained as the chaos began to settle down.

"We won!" Pinkie giddily bounced and ran on the spot as the lights began to fade and the Megazord went back to its' original state. "We did it!"

"Yes. Yes we did." Sunset nodded and smiled as she watched the embers began to fizzle out and extinguish as they danced in the air around the late Preda'Tor. "But how many more of those wolves are we gonna see now?"

Meanwhile, Vi'Al had been watching the whole fight unfurl from the roof of the mall he had invaded from.

"So... The prophecy has been fulfilled at last." Vi'Al grinned and brought his claw to his chin. "The Perfect Ones have been chosen, and they finally have their little 'toys'. While this brings a certain threat to my captain and his crew, I can't help but think about all of the exciting research to follow!

"All of the fights that are yet to come will really fill in the gaps in my schedule. I will make sure that the Wolfpack will make dozens of new advances now." He tapped on a button on his chest. "Many thanks, Power Rangers." Then, purple energy coiled around him as it looked like he was pulled through a dimensional rift, disappearing from sight.

One Step

“That was such a cool fight!” Rainbow was still running round the Rainbooms as they all made their way back into Elaris’s ship. Their helmets were off, but they were still dressed in their ranger outfits. “The way that we all held our own against that big, bad freakazoid wolf, then combined and blew him away with the Magic of Friendship and that giant robot, it was sick!”

“I know!” Pinkie squealed. “And that’s only the first fight we’ve had as rangers! Who knows how many more are gonna come now that we’ve provoked them? It’s gonna be super-duper!”

“Calm down, you two.” Sunset chuckled and tousled both of their hair. “We’ve just got one fight with a bunch of space wolves under your belt. Don’t let it get to your heads.”

“But they are right, Sunset. How many more fights will we have to face before this Wolfpack is finally sent home with their tails between their legs?” Rarity tapped her friend’s shoulder. “It’s probably going to eat both into my dressmaking time and my spare time.”

“I thought those were the same thing.” Applejack smirked.

“Oh, pish tosh, Applejack.” Rarity booped her nose. “A lady can’t be too versed in one thing all the time. Why, it would make them look like they have nothing else to do with their lives. I want to at least have some other doors open, you know.”

“Still, I hope we don’t have to fight them all the time. I don’t think I really contributed anything at all in that fight.” Fluttershy idly twiddled her fingers together. “Other than playing that flute, I can’t do anything without you girls watching my back.”

“Oh, Fluttershy. You were totally awesome out there today.” Rainbow Dash held Fluttershy’s shoulders and smiled at her. “Heck, your animal flute powers were awesome against Preda’Tor and his hounds. Plus, that bear Zord was devastating once you got it going. You got some talent, girl.”

“Thank you, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy blushed and smiled back.

“You did great out there, rangers.” Elaris approached the girls as they entered the control room of the ship. “But we’ve got a long way to go if we’re going to beat the Wolfpack or Mar’Zek.”

“Elaris told me all about the wolves while you went off to fight them, girls.” Twilight walked forward as well. “The Wolfpack are ruthless mercenaries who either take, or destroy so they can take afterwards. They blow up planets and moons if necessary, slaughter species that impede their progress, and, on rare occasions, 'add' non-wolves to their ranks after 'dealing' with their honorary ‘crewmembers’ friends and families.”

"By add, you mean enslave. And by deal with, they capture, torture, hold hostage, and even kill." Sunset deadpanned and crossed her arms. "It's never a good sign when the villain says they'll 'deal with someone'."

"The Wolfpack are bred without mercy. Planet Lupis, their origin, is a violence-torn world. Being peaceful and lovey-dovey will only result in being an easy target back home." Elaris turned towards the screen and slid her finger across the right arm of her pilot seat, causing a small black planet to appear on the screen in front. "Only wolves may lead the Wolfpack, and it's a law in their kind that when they die, they must transfer everything to their next of kin."

"And since Mar'Zek is a wolf, he's probably carrying out the will of his dad." Twilight lifted a finger as she pulled the picture to the right, showing the Wolfpack insignia; a pair of blood-soaked claws underneath a wolf's head. "If it's true that every wolf from Lupis has to transfer everything to their kids, then this guy found himself getting a whole lot."

"Well, duh. If he's the son of another murderous space pirate captain, it's only fair that he'd get his father's ship, his fleet, and the crew too." Rainbow tipped her hand. "But still, that's a heck of a lot of stuff to get for your dad biting the bullet..."

"I just hope that Mar'Zek has no family of his own, because if we kill him, then he's just going to transfer the whole Wolfpack army to them instead..." Rarity put her hands to her side. "And then everything will just keep going again and again and again. It'll never stop."

"Oh no... I don't want to fight these wolves forever. Just one time was bad enough!" Fluttershy piped up. "How can we stop them if they're just going to hand down themselves to Mar'Zek's kids?"

"True, but there is another way around that." Elaris turned back to the girls. "You just need to take out Captain Mar'Zek and his entire fleet. Without a fleet to give, the Wolfpack will never belong to them. Problem solved."

"Beg pardon, but how are we gonna destroy a whole darn fleet and that wolf pirate captain, may I ask?" Applejack lifted a finger. "If we beat Mar'Zek, then the ships are just gonna high-tail it outta there faster than a bull seein' nothing but red on the Running of the Bulls."

"Yes. That is the problem we've been having to face..." Elaris paced on the spot, turning back and forth as she tried to formulate a plan of attack. "Me and my kind have always been trying to take out the Wolfpack every step of the way, but every time we get close and kill their leader, they always let their crew slip away before we can finish them off. Will history just repeat itself if Mar'Zek is destroyed?"

"Trust me, Elaris. It won't." Sunset Shimmer stepped to her side and wrapped her arm around her neck. "With both these crystals, and the Magic of Friendship on our side, we'll tear down Mar'Zek and his fleet. That, I promise."

"Magic of Friendship?" Elaris asked, tilting a head.

"Yeah. These super-awesome pendants we always wear." Rainbow tapped her neck, only to find that she was still dressed in her ranger attire. "Only now, they're kinda attached to our outfits. One sec." With another tap of the button on her belt, Rainbow transformed back into her regular clothes, and her blue geode swung gently from her neck. "These things. They might not look like much, but when we just give 'em a little squeeze..." She demonstrated, and she grew wings, pony ears, and a tail while her hair elongated. "Ta-da!"

"Interesting. So you already had powers before I gave you all the crystals?" Elaris slowly hobbled forward and reached out for the pendant. "Do all humans on this planet have these powers?"

"Oh, no. It's just us, darling." Rarity transformed herself back into her normal clothes, as the rest of the rangers did the same. "But I have to say, they work so well to our personalities. And the way that they interweave into our outfit fabrics like that while retaining the ability to use our magic, it's a bedazzling spectacle. Plus, it saves my neck from getting a rash whenever we do go into battle, which is a bonus."

Applejack chuckled and patted Rarity's back. She never could pass down a laugh at one of Rarity's luxury talks; even if they made no sense to her.

"Anyway..." Twilight rolled her eyes. "I've also been working on the ship, but in order to fix it up, we're going to need to get some strong metals and galvanize them so that they retain their original shape when she goes through space and leaps through wormholes. The gravitational strain when you fly a spaceship at high speeds can be a real downer if you're not fitted out well enough."

"Uh, english, Twilight?" Rainbow cocked a brow. "You know I don't understand a bit of that egghead babble."

"We need strong metals that will keep her ship from falling apart when she goes back to space." Twilight groaned and slapped her face. "Honestly, Rainbow Dash, I really should teach you about all the big words I use someday."

"Twilight, the day that happens, is the day I quit all of Canterlot High's sports teams." Rainbow scoffed. "Just getting to the point is easier than dragging things out and confusing everyone."

"But not when getting to the point means rushing it and leaving vital details out of the picture." Twilight leaned closer to Rainbow and tipped her hand. "Haste makes waste when it's not handled carefully, you know."

"But people don't wanna keep on waiting for new updates, Twilight. They just wanna get in, enjoy things, and get out without having to do all of that waiting or listening." Rainbow's eyes widened as she patted her shoulder.

"No. They want to see stuff that's perfectly crafted with love and care, not just forcibly pumped out because the fans are getting impatient." Twilight turned her back to Rainbow shook her head. "Maybe they do for you, but I'm not like you. I'm a lot smarter."

"Girls. If you're going to argue about this, don't. There are more important matters at hand." Elaris walked between Rainbow Dash and Twilight and placed hands on their backs. "The Wolfpack now know that you are here, and have been chosen by the crystals. They'll stop at NOTHING to defeat you now."

"Then we've just gotta keep hitting them back just as much as they hit us!" Pinkie Pie bounced on the spot and punched her hand. "We're the Equestrian Star Rangers now, and we can't just sit back and let them destroy our world. We gotta be ready for battle at a moment's notice, even if it means dropping out of class, losing grades, and lowering our chances of getting into a great job or college once it's all done, but who cares about that anyway?"

"I care!" Twilight stumbled forward and nearly fell on her face with how wobbly her legs had become. "Pinkie!"

"What? Every Power Ranger does it." Pinkie shrugged. "They're all doing fine when school or job time's happening, but as soon as the bad guys send a new monster, they always say they'll be right back, totally ditch the guys and gals they were hanging out with, and jump straight into battle! And then when they come back, they don't get punished for it at all. At least, not on-screen, anyway."

"But we're not some TV show that follows a storyline. This is real life, and this isn't a game, Pinkie Pie." Twilight threw her hands to the screen, which still bore the Wolfpack logo. "This is real life. These wolves are real, their claws are real, and the pain we feel whenever they wanna attack us? That's real too. This is a serious matter, Pinkie!"

"I know. Just wanted to break you into the whole ranger life, since you're all pretty new to it." Pinkie smiled and clasped her hands together. "Plus, now that we're all rangers, we've gotta follow the traditions. Y'know. Having to cut out a lot of classes and activities, wait until everyone leaves so we can ranger up, get new powers as the fight goes on, and all that jazz."

"How... much of that show did you watch, Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked, lifting a finger.

"Oh, every episode of every version of the show." Pinkie's smile grew wider as she turned back to Fluttershy. "Some of them kinda went downhill because of different producers, others did well but weren't as widely recognized as the others, and then there's that one series that I don't even wanna mention."

And just like that, there was a deafening silence, as everyone's mouths dropped wide open.

"This... Pinkie Pie of yours is a rather... interesting girl." Elaris finally broke the silence and closed up her mouth first. "But all that energy will come in handy when fighting the wolves."

"Oh, you should see her on the drum kit." Rainbow Dash smirked and put a fist on her chest, banging it in a respecting fashion. "Girl can pound out beats almost as fast as I can with my sick guitar skills and not get tired at all. It's a miracle."

"Pound out beats?" Elaris tilted her head and felt her pupils shrink. "Is that a good thing?"

"Oh, don't worry, Elaris. It's a normal earthling thing to do." Twilight pulled her into a sideways hug. "It's all drummer talk. Maybe we can teach you all about this world while we're trying to save it and get you back home."

"That would be wonderful, rangers." Elaris nodded and looked into the eyes of each of the Rainbooms. "I bet there's a whole wealth of information to be learned from the seven of you."

"Oh, there's a wealth alright." Rainbow's grin would not move as she also began to hug Elaris. "There's so much you can learn from us, you'll practically have a degree by the time you go back home."

Everyone just started to laugh at the notion, while Elaris just stood there as everyone came around and hugged her closely. At first, she didn't know what to make of it. She had never encountered this level of affection or euphoria back on her home before, so it was difficult for her to make a reaction. Not wanting to feel like she wasn't making a good impression, she ended up laughing along with the Rainbooms and began to hug them back, completing the circle.

Meanwhile, back on Mar'Zek's flagship, in an entirely different chamber, Vi'Al was busy looking at a monitor, which showed the Rainbooms battling against Preda'Tor. He paused their moves, studied their postures, and gathered data on their strength and powers, his fingers rapping against the buttons on the console panels beneath the screen all the while.

The room that he was in was unlike the bridge that he had come from. Instead, it was filled to the brim with machines and chemicals. Electricity crackled as the devices all did their jobs around him. Centrifuges span, analyzers whirred to life, and chemical handling apparatus had liquids and solids either travelling through tubes or being transported from one to another before they were deposited in appropriate phials or boxes.

"So. These rangers are like the prophecy had foretold..." Vi'Al stroked his fur as he kept on watching and collecting the battle diagnostics. "Strong, fast, agile, and willing to fight until the end; even when Feral Fury is unleashed. And those mechs of theirs..." He swiped his claws across the panel, which began to show the Zords battling the enlargened Preda'Tor. "Those things are worth experiments all on their own. Raw power being generated from pure will and determination, powering these machines and amplifying their destructive capabilities tenfold..."

"Vi'Al."

The doors to the laboratory opened, showing Mar'Zek walking inside. He was still dressed in his combat armour, but had a red paste painted onto his cheeks and around his eyes.

"Will you be coming to the funeral of Preda'Tor?" Mar'Zek asked, lifting a brow. "Or do you have more of your 'experiments' to finish?"

"As much as I value Preda'Tor's work with the Wolfpack, we are strictly a group for the strongest of the strong, my captain." Vi'Al turned from the device and faced his leader. "Not to mention, we've got so much data and information to rummage through now that those Perfect Ones have been chosen and defeated him. I must make sure to keep on working, or you could be next, captain."

"Highly improbable, Vi'Al." Mar'Zek slid his claws against each other, making a grating noise as they collided. "I have slain many a species, destroyed entire worlds, and gathered the finest soldiers and armaments the universe has to offer. They are not ready; nor will they EVER be ready to fight me and live to tell the tale."

"Still, it never hurts to be prepared..." Vi'Al just went back to his work. "After all, let us not forget the time we were ambushed on Keplar-9 by that Arctic Tatzlwurm. The beast nearly swallowed you whole if not for the gear I provided for you." He glanced back over his shoulder. "It's better to have and not need, than to need and not have, after all."

"I know that, but the least that you could do is show them respect. Preda'Tor was one of the finest soldiers I had trained. Without him, I don't think that we would have ever amassed such an army." Mar'Zek pushed his claws together, each bone making a cracking noise as it bent. "Although, that was back in the days when I first inherited the army. Now, we have so many more loyal warriors, each with their own pros and cons, and who will wear the rangers down until they are nothing more than shells."

"Believe me, master, I do respect Preda'Tor and his work for the Wolfpack, but now that he's been destroyed... I have a whole new slate of studies." Vi'Al grinned. "After all, a scientist never leaves research to chance, or to let it fester. I will still observe the funeral from here, but as it stands, my work is my mission. You have yours, and we all need to do our part."

"Very well." Mar'Zek walked back out the door and took one last look at Vi'Al. "Then I trust that you will be able to provide?"

"Of course, master." Vi'Al knelt and bowed before him. "Once we analyse these 'Power Rangers' and their powers, we will find the easiest way to get rid of them; and to bolster our own forces at the same time."

"Hmm..." Mar'Zek went away and sealed the door behind him, leaving Vi'Al with nothing more than his videos of the battle.

"These rangers..." Vi'Al zoomed in on a shot of all six of them posing and holding their weapons for battle. "They're the product of pure research! Why, the things I could learn from them could benefit us AND all the people back home on Lupis!" His menacing, toothy grin grew as he typed away, pulling numbers out from every attack that landed on the simulated Preda'Tor. "Oh, my dear rangers. You've only just hit the tip of the iceberg. Wait until you see what lies beneath it..."

Breath of Fresh Air

"The Power Rangers have finally been assembled, their Zords gathered, and the planet safeguarded." Mar'Zek kicked up his feet as he drummed his claws against the sides of his chair, while his wolf cronies types and pounded away at the consoles and otherworldly keyboards on the bridge. "While I am only very slightly angry that they took Preda'Tor, this makes the whole hunt a hundred times more interesting." He smirked, a grin forming on his face. "Resistance in any form is fun; for I always love to see them desperately fighting back before my claws slash their limbs from their bodies."

"He hasn't felt like this for a long time." Vi'Al stood next to Siel'Viz and patted her shoulder. "The captain does enjoy a good scrap every now and again."

"It's in a wolf's nature to enjoy a hunt that's challenging. Even I must attest to that." Siel'Viz stepped forward to the captain and patted his shoulder. "To see them writhing and panicking, fumbling around with their firearms and melee weapons before it all comes crashing down around them, it's just ADORABLE."

"It is also in a wolf's nature to soften them up with attacks from the lessers before the alpha deals the finishing blow, Siel'Viz." Mar'Zek petted her chin. "And it is not just us that could use some exercise. All of the wolves in the fleet need to make sure they experience combat every now and again, so they don't get rusty."

"Then who should we send, master?" Vi'Al was the last to approach the wolf captain. "There are many loyal warriors in the Wolfpack army to choose from, and they only need your approval."

Mar'Zek sat back up and pushed a button underneath the end of the right-hand side of his chair. Within seconds, a holographic sphere consumed him, and the world he could see began to transform into a digital scape. Screens popped up one after the other, showing off many creatures of all shapes and sizes on them, as well as how they fought against simulations of enemies.

"I need something strong to start out with, to choke the rangers into submission for the other wolves to feed on..." He tapped his claws against his chin, and scratched it tenderly, repeating the words in his head over and over again. "Choke... Of course!" Mar'Zek grabbed a picture and threw it to the side, causing all of the others to spin like a centrifuge of colours. He drove his nails through one of the picture and enlargened it, showing off a wolf with a radioactivity symbol across his chestplate, and a small filter mask over his muzzle. He had a large pair of tanks on his back with a pipe flowing from them into a small gun. "Ahn'Taier! Perfect!"

A small button appeared beneath the screen, and once it was tapped, the digital bubble Mar'Zek was in popped. The remnants flowed hastily and reformed in-front of him, creating a holographic projection of Ahn'Taier from the video footage. It flickered and pulsated with light, but it remained stable nonetheless.

"You called, captain?" Ahn'Taier bowed before Mar'Zek, the pack on his back almost blotting him out.

"I want you to go down to earth and spread your poison wherever you go. Fill the lungs of everyone you meet with your airless toxins and watch as they struggle to survive." Mar'Zek cracked his neck and drove his claws against the edges of his seat. "Then, when everyone is gasping for breath, the Power Rangers will arrive. Make sure they never have fresh air ever again."

"Understood. By the time I'm done with them, they'll make skunks and old cheeses smell tolerable." Ahn'Taier stood up and tightened his grip on the gun. "You have my word, captain!" The hologram disappeared, and surveillance footage showed up of Ahn'Taier entering a pod before it was loaded up into a mechanism.

"Meteor Cannon loaded, aim!" Mar'Zek swung his left arm out, which brought up yet another screen for him. It showed off planet earth, as well as an aiming reticle. He pinched the picture and pushed his fingers out, zooming in on Canterlot. "Target marked. Fire!"

And the second he finished talking, a loud rumble rang out through the ship as the pod was shot out towards the planet, hurtling at speeds beyond compare. As it got smaller and smaller, Mar'Zek reclined in his throne and tapped one final button, transforming the windshield into a large screen which showed Ahn'Taier in his pod.

"Power Rangers, let this be known that we of the Wolfpack mean business." Mar'Zek flashed another smile as he laid his arms down. "Ahn'Taier's poisons are unmatched, and no matter what kind of odor resistant suits you drape yourself in, it will still find a way into your bodies. Say goodbye to that precious little luxury you call oxygen!"

At Canterlot High, the Rainbooms all gathered together and waltzed down the halls, their belts painted to look bland and normal so that nobody would pay them any attention; or discover their secret identities. With books and bags either on them or in their hands, they had a busy day of lessons ahead of them.

“Man. If I ever have to do another one of those science lessons, I think I’m gonna barf.” Rainbow stuck out her tongue and watched as Pinkie Pie slammed a paper bag into her mouth. “Not right now, Pinkie. But thanks anyway...” She took the bag and slipped it into her own.

“I agree, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity grimaced and shuddered, looking into her own bag. “It’s nice to see where humanity got its’ roots, but it’s just a little bit too... drawn out for my liking.”

"Mmhmm." The other girls murmured to themselves as they turned the corner and went towards the cafeteria.

"Hey, you think we'll have to do other superhero things now?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Y'know, like foiling robberies, saving cats, rescuing people from tricky situations, those kinda things? I don't just want every one of our ranger duties to be just tearing down the Wolfpack."

"Rainbow Dash, a hero answers all calls." Rarity pinched Rainbow's cheeks and put a hand around her belt buckle. "I'm sure that there'll be more things for us to do outside of battle. Plus, I always was a fan of the Super Gems when I was a little girl, so this is my childhood fantasy come to life."

"I thought your childhood fantasy was to become the best fashion designer the world has ever seen." Applejack just lowered her brows and crossed her arms.

"One of my childhood fantasies, Applejack. I'm allowed to have more than one, aren't I?" Rarity just scoffed and put her hands to her hips.

"Whatever the case, we should probably eat up." Sunset went into the cafeteria and headed towards the counters. "You never know. Hunger can strike even the most powerful of heroes." She winked.

Elaris was in her ship, examining all of the damage that she'd taken on her arrival. Panels were dangling out of the walls, wires were hanging from the ceiling, and some of the frames around the doors had been buckled under the strain of the escape. As she went over to feel one of the walls, sparks burst out of it, causing her to jump and land on her back. Moaning in her hands, she got back up, knowing that she had a long job ahead of her.

"If there are metals here that can fix my ship up, the rangers are going to have to find a LOT of them," she said to herself. "They might not be as durable and eye-catching as the ones back on my home, but they'll have to do. At least until I can get it properly fixed."

Suddenly, her screen burst into life, as a single word message appeared with Twilight's face beside it. It read "Hi, Elaris? How's it going?"

"What...?" Elaris slowly hobbled forward towards the message and watched as an ellipse appeared beneath it, followed by another message.

"Since you gave us those SIM cards to talk to us, I thought I could message you back as well. Don't want all of our talks to be about the fate of the world and how the bad guys are making another attack." The next message appeared. "Anyway, you should be able to talk back to us if you use the keypads on your ship. Go on. Give it a try."

Elaris went over to the pilot's seat, pulled two pads by her side together, and swiped down on the combined pad. It transformed into a hard-light projection earth keyboard, with the keys lighting up as she tapped on them. She looked up and saw a little box appear underneath Twilight's message, with a single line at the end of it. As she typed in more letters, a message of her own began to appear before her.

"Like this?" The message read. She tried to send it, but couldn't find a button anywhere that indicated a send protocol. Then, her eyes turned to the edge of the keyboard and saw the enter key begin to glow green. Pressing on it, the message shifted up and appeared in a blue box.

"Yeah. Now you're getting it." Twilight's new message popped up underneath the one Elaris sent. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

As Elaris typed her next message, she heard an alarm go off inside her ship and red lights coated the room. The wall of text messages vanished, and in its' place, the Wolfpack pod with Ahn'Taier in it ferociously crashed into the fountain at the park, causing everyone to scream and run away from the impact site.

"Guess that'll have to wait for another day..." Elaris said to herself as she transformed the keyboard into yet another screen and pushed a hexagon icon with seven dots, each coloured to the Rainbooms and their ranger outfits. "It's time to fight, girls."

Everyone was gathered around the cafeteria table with food on their trays. Rainbow Dash and Applejack had sloppy joes, Pinkie's was full of fruit and yogurt, Rarity and Fluttershy had finely-prepared salads, and Sunset and Twilight both had pots of mac and cheese.

"Dig in, everyone," said Sunset as the Rainbooms reached out for their food.

As their hands got inches from the pots, bowls, and buns, all of their phones went off at the same time. Vibrating viciously as a small, metallic noise played on it.

"Aww man..." Rainbow groaned as she pulled out her phone with the others.

"What is it, Elaris?" Twilight asked, being the first to look at her without the feeling of despair and disappointment over not being able to eat lunch.

"A Wolfpack agent just landed at the park, and the people are already starting to run from it," Elaris said as the screen transformed to show Ahn'Taier spraying poisonous streams of gas as people. "You'd better get over there right away, before they do something terrible."

"Do we HAVE to?" Rainbow moaned, turning the camera towards the sloppy joe on her plate. "And we were just about to eat as well. By the time we kick his butt, lunch will be over, and we'll all be starving!"

"If you don't stop the Wolfpack, you'll never eat lunch in this town again! Now get to it, girls!" Elaris lowered her brows. "Twilight, on me. Sunset and the others, morph up and take this poisonous wolf down."

"Plus, it's always good to do some exercise every now and again, Rainbow Dash." Rarity slipped her phone back into her pocket. "But Elaris is right. Save the world first, eat later."

"Sorry, my little sweetheart. Looks like mommy's not gonna be able to eat you today." Rainbow Dash looked down at her sloppy joe, giving it a small pat on the side. "Maybe some other day." Her arms drooped down and swung limply.

"Cheer up, Rainbow Dash. I'll be sure to whip ya up something mighty special with Granny Smith and the other apples once we stop this guy." Applejack slung an arm around Rainbow's shoulders. "For now, though, we'd better get over there and morph up."

"Yeah. Come on, girls." Sunset stood up and charged out of the cafeteria, with the other Rainbooms behind her. As they ran out of the school and ran down the road, Twilight immediately broke off and headed down another sidewalk towards Elaris's ship.

"Equestrian Stars! Shine Bright and Let's Fight!" The Rainbooms called out as they pressed the buttons on their belts, causing the crystals to radiate a brilliant flash of light that enveloped the girls.

As the Rainbooms ran through the city, a corridor of twinkling stars surrounded in spacial matter surrounded them. Each of the Rainbooms' tunnels was coloured like their ranger outfits were as they ran. Tiny shooting star showers rained down on their legs, with each one turning into a piece of their armour as the falling stars ran up their legs and arms, before pelting their chests and backs. A larger star hurtled towards their face and hit them head-on, transforming into their helmet pieces. Comets flew along side them before overtaking the Rainbooms and colliding in front of their faces. They reached into the lights and pulled out their weapons from it before finally breaking back into the real world.

"Equestrian Star Rangers!" The Rainbooms called out as they came back to reality and ran towards the park.

"Are you feeling light-headed? Woozy? You should be!" Ahn'Taier growled as he aimed his twin pistols and fired more toxic air from them. It slammed into the fleeing humans and caused them to fall to the ground, coughing and spluttering as they tried to hold on to whatever air they had left in them. "As long as my toxin lingers within your body, the air you breathe will slowly kill you. So I hope you know how to hold your breaths!"

"Good thing we don't need to breathe!"

Ahn'Taier turned to see the Rangers run into the park and stand before him. Swords, lasers, flute, hammer, mini air-blasters and all.

"So. You're the ones who hunted down Preda'Tor, are you?" Ahn'Taier asked, pointing his guns at both of them. "Well, you're lucky that he was defunct as opposed to the rest of us." He clicked his fingers, and smaller pods with less impact smashed into the ground in front of him. Hounds; the grunts of the Wolfpack, burst them apart and barked viciously as they stood in front of the Rangers. "Hounds! Choke whatever air they have left so that I can fill it with my gas!"

The grunts moved in, and the Rainbooms readied their weapons before charging in. All except Fluttershy, who still hung on the back and played the flute by herself, the spectral animals bursting out of it acting as both her attacks and her defense.

"Come on!" Rainbow Dash ran through the minions and combined blaster fire with a series of kicks and flips. She even ran into a wolf and vaulted off of it, so she could backflip and launch another volley at the dazed soldiers. "Heh. Just like the last batch; all bark and no bite." As she looked away, a Wolfpack Hound leapt onto her back and tried to bite at her neck, the slobber dribbling all over her as she tried to shake it off.

"Get outta here, ya mutt!" Applejack ran over and swang her hammer like a baseball bat, smashing the wolf who was trying to eat Rainbow Dash into a group of others. As they all tumbled like bowling pins, Applejack leapt up and drove her weapon into the ground around them. "Terra Hammer!" The cracks ripped open and spewed rocks, puncturing and piercing the wolves and turning them into walking swiss cheese.

"Honestly, must it always come down to violence like this?" Rarity just stood on the spot and swung her blades in the directions of her incoming attackers, ducking and jumping whenever an attack came hurling her way. "You wolves have no tact." Clapping her swords together, she brought the hilt to the part of her neckpiece.

The blades began to glow, and Rarity used the ends of them to trace shapes around the wolves. "Diamond Breaker Blades!" Whenever she finished circling a wolf with the traces, she thrust her swords forward through the center, trapping the wolves in thick crystal deposits. Once all of her wolves were encased, she brought the swords to her side, like a samurai waiting to strike its' foe. As reinforcements rushed to break the trapped wolves out of their crystal prison, she quickly drew her swords again, chopping the crystals in half. The resulting slash not only severed the wolves inside, but also struck the ones that were still moving. All of them, however, exploded in a bedazzling array of explosions.

"Uh, girls?" Pinkie Pie bounced and ducked under her wolves, still trying to shoot the mini party cannons at them. "Have you noticed that this is a lot more wolves than usual?"

As if to further add to Pinkie's observation, another set of Hounds came crashing down from the skies above. Again, cocooned in metal pods that broke to pieces with only the slightest bit of force. It seemed like after one wave was defeated, another just took its' place.

"This is taking forever..." Sunset groaned and swung her fire sword at the wolves on her side of the battlefield. Each incendiary slash ignited their fur and cooked them to a crisp, but more were there to meet her blows with melee attacks of their own. "At this rate, we'll be worn out by the time we get rid of them."

"That's the point, isn't it?" Ahn'Taier grinned to himself behind the gas mask he was wearing as he brandished his guns at the girls. "This is a method Captain Mar'Zek likes to call the Chokehold. The Hounds hold the line, and I choke you all."

"Then we just need to get these wolves away. But how?" Rainbow Dash asked as she felt the horde moving in on her. She had fired off so many rounds that her blaster barrels were on the verge of overheating. "We don't have the power to take them all down at once, do we?"

"Hmm..." Sunset leapt backwards and watched the Rainbooms all fighting. With Rainbow Dash's guns, Applejack's hammer, Rarity's twin swords, Fluttershy's flute, and Pinkie's mini-cannons, as well as her own fire sword, a thought came into her mind. "Girls, I've just had the craziest idea, but we should form a hexagon around these wolves."

"What's the plan, Sunset?" Rainbow Dash asked before being thrown to the ground by another hound.

"We need to form a hexagon pattern around the wolves. It's a bit of a weird idea, but I'm going to try and get us to combine our geode magic with the weapons we've got to perform a combination attack. Kind of like if we trap the wolves in a pen and take them out before they can escape." Sunset had to jump over another pair of Hounds as she explained, before striking them in the back to create another pair of fireballs.

"Ah got ya! Let's see if this works..." Applejack tapped on the neckpiece where her geode would be, causing her hammer to glow. The large, drum-like head split out and contorted into a line of solid steel squares, which transformed into a bulky wall large enough to conceal Applejack behind. "Come and get some, wolves!" Using her new wall as a battering ram, Applejack ran into the wolves and mowed through them with ease.

"Let me help out with that." Tapping her own emblazoned geode part of her neck, Rarity conjured up a series of diamond-shaped barriers that pushed the wolves away from her and stumbled them long enough for the other rangers to corral them into the hexagon.

"My turn!" Rainbow Dash hit her geode piece next and ran at lightspeed around the wolves. Zipping through them, all that she left was a blur as she made tiny strikes on the bodies of the Hounds. She kept this up until Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Sunset, and Pinkie were all in position, before she finished up the hexagonal formation.

"Equestrian Star Aurora!" The Rainbooms all called out, all pressing their geode pieces together as they drove their weapons into the ground. The result caused a bright ring of light with six seals appearing under the girls' feet to appear. The wolves inside were completely ensnared by the magical ring, and as they tried to claw their way out or attack the Rainbooms, their swipes and slashes merely bounced off and hit them back. "Rainbow Lights!" They held their arms out palm-up, then raised them high in unison, forming a colossal pillar of rainbow-coloured energy to consume the Hounds, making them all disintegrate as they cried out in anguish.

"What?!" Ahn'Taier watched as the attack finally fizzled down, leaving nothing but the Rainbooms in its' wake. "No-one has ever been able to stop the Chokehold before!"

"Then maybe that's because they weren't a very good team, like us." Rainbow Dash smirked as she picked up her blasters, as the other girls did their weapons. "Now, are you gonna roll over and run away to your master, or are we gonna have to do this the hard way?"

"The hard way is the ONLY WAY when you serve Captain Mar'Zek. It's either complete the mission or die." Ahn'Taier snarled as he adjusted the knobs on the tops of his guns, to change the amount of toxin loaded into them. "But really, it applies more to you than me. Because I never lose. And you're about to see why!"

Choked Out

Ahn'Taier ran towards Sunset and the others, claws extending from the roof of his twin gas blasters. Lunging towards the rangers, he combined his toxin attacks with swipes and slashes from the claw extensions, while at the same time, narrowly avoiding strikes from the girls at the same time.

"Tell me, what do you wolves want with this planet?" Rainbow Dash asked, flipping away from the wolf before letting loose another wave of shots from her own guns. "We didn't do anything wrong!"

"You're right on that regard, rangers. You did do nothing wrong." Ahn'Taier shuffled to the side and let the blaster rays hit the tree behind him. "Rather, it was your little friend that did all the wrongdoing. But enough of that for now. Let's stay focused on the fight at hand!"

He jumped towards Applejack and pinned her to the ground with his arms and legs holding hers down. Biting and gnashing at her face, she could only turn her face to the side as the teeth came inches away from her neck. Groaning and straining, she tried to pull her limbs free, but Ahn'Taier was both too heavy and too committed to his attack.

"Hey! Get offa her right now!" Pinkie Pie darted over, aimed both of her wrist-mounted air cannons, flipped over his back, pointed both of them in his face, and fired. The resulting blast sent him skyward, allowing Applejack to flip herself back onto her feet and run towards where he was going to land.

"Try this on for size!" Applejack yelled as she caught Ahn'Taier with her Terra Hammer, then swung it over her head so that he was smashed into the ground. "There's more comin if'n ya get back up. Just warning." She pulled the hammer back up and held it to her chest.

"Big words, coming from such a lowly APE." Ahn'Taier twisted the valves on the tops of his blasters, loading more and more poisonous air into the blasters. "Let's see how you fight without any air to breathe!"

He aimed his guns at Applejack's face and sprayed her from head to toe with the mist, coating her with the airless gases. Seconds later, she tumbled to the ground, gasping for breath as she felt it all begin to leave her lungs. She even pulled her helmet off to try and get some of the air back into her system, but to no avail.

"Applejack!" The girls all cried out as they watched her hack and wretch as the poison wormed its' way around her body.

"What did you do to her?!" Sunset shouted, stamping forward as she ignited her fire sword. "Tell me now!"

"It's only a simple toxic gas. Nothing really mind-boggling but still quite charming." Ahn'Taier chuckled to himself as Applejack turned back to the rangers and grabbed their legs in desperation. "Once it finds its' way into a human, it doesn't leave that easily. Her lungs are becoming polluted, and it is only a matter of time before she chokes herself to death. That is the true nature of the Chokehold strategem!"

"Girls..." Applejack's voice was withered and coarse, as she tried to breathe in again.

"You're sick..." Sunset snarled, the grip on her sword tightening as the flames around it began to intensify.

"No. I am one of Mar'Zek's trusted Wolfpack wolves. You may have bested Preda'Tor, but that was merely a fluke." Ahn'Taier loaded up more poisonous air into his guns and took aim at the rest of Sunset's friends. "Compared to the rest of the crew, you are NOTHING before us. And now, watch as your friends prove my point, as the air leaves their lungs as well!"

He fired a powerful wave of the toxin at the Rainbooms, but before it could hit, Sunset ran forward and held her sword out in front of her. The flames bursting out of the blade collided with the toxin, causing it to ignite and turn into a large flamethrower stream that split at her hilt. The resulting flames travelled back towards Ahn'Taier before hitting him in the chest and detonating, knocking him onto his back.

"Wait..." Sunset watched as Ahn'Taier lifted himself back up slowly, shaking while patting out the flames on his fur. "That's it! The gas is highly flammable! Which means..." She looked back at Applejack, who was beginning to calm down as her movements became more lifeless. "Applejack! Catch!"

Sunset pointed the tip of her sword at Applejack, launching a small fireball that travelled at high speed towards her mouth. It hit the roof of it and travelled down her throat before reaching her lungs and burning all of the poisonous air that she had taken in. Her body rumbled and gurgled before Applejack let out one massive burp, with a huge breath of fire accompanying it.

"I... I'm alright." Applejack felt the air flowing back into her body as she stood back up, picking up her Terra Hammer once more. She slipped the helmet back on and patted Sunset on the back. "Guess ah owe you one, Sunset."

"It's alright, Applejack. That's what friends do, don't they?" Sunset gave Applejack a smile and returned the favor. "Now, let's light up this wolf's world!"

"Yeah! He's on the ropes now!" Pinkie Pie ran to their side, along with the rest of the Rainbooms. "Let's take him out in style!"

"Oh, we can do it in style, alright." Rainbow Dash added, twirling her twin blasters.

"You talk a big game, but words are pointless in combat." Ahn'Taier finally got back up, refilled his guns, and pointed them at the girls. "Now. COME AND FACE ME!"

Ahn'Taier twisted the dials on his guns and loaded them up with more of his poison. "Quickfire Pollution!" Shots rang out of his guns like bullets. One after another, they shot towards the Rainbooms as clumps of mist, exploding whenever they hit something on their travels.

Some of the attacks were batted away or dodged, while the ones that Sunset held off burst into flames before dissipating moments later. Eventually, after a relentless wave of attacks, Ahn'Taier's tanks ran out of the toxin, and his guns clicked to indicate that he was out of ammunition.

"Very well. We do this the old fashioned way. Like REAL wolves." He pulled off his pack and threw it towards the fountain. He pushed a button on his wrist and turned back to the girls.

"Fine by me." Sunset darted forward and swung her blade at Ahn'Taier, the flickering fires barely scraping against his hairs as he slipped past her attacks. It took her a while to make contact, and the times that she did, he grabbed her sword and threw it away from him before retaliating with claw swipes of his own.

The other Rainbooms joined in, but Ahn'Taier jumped over them as they tried a combined attack. Even as Fluttershy called out falcons to try and knock him out of the air, he still grabbed them and crushed their heads in his hands, causing the apparitions to disappear in small bursts of light.

"Come on, ya big coward! Too afraid to fight us for real?" Rainbow Dash pressed against the sigil of her neckpiece and glowed bright blue. "Then we're just gonna have to chase you down!"

Shooting forward with her equestrian magic, Rainbow Dash ran back and forth past Ahn'Taier, dealing him multiple swift strikes to his body. They didn't leave much of an impact, but they still staggered him and caused him to stumble long enough for Applejack's hammer and Rarity's twin swords to strike next, followed by a slash from a ghostly lion Fluttershy conjured up, and more shots from Pinkie's air cannons.

"We're not done yet, ya big meanie!" Pinkie pulled out sprinkles from thin air and lobbed them at Ahn'Taier. Once they hit, she activated her own magic and detonated them on him. The resulting blasts, while small, still threw him to the ground again.

"Back on your feet, wolf!" Rarity slipped a diamond barrier under Ahn'Taier's back and lifted it airborne, only for Applejack to jump up and dive her hammer through his chest again, shattering it under the intense pressure. Both Ahn'Taier and the shards of her leftover barrier tumbled to the ground, with the spikes burrowing into his back.

"You do have some bite after all, don't you?" Ahn'Taier spluttered, as he now started to cough and catch his breath. "But as long as I still live and breathe, you haven't won this fight."

"Says the guy who can't even get up anymore." Rainbow stomped on his chest, further drilling the spikes of Rarity's shield into his body. "That Wolfpack of yours doesn't stand a chance if this is all they're throwing at us."

"Oh? Is that so?" Ahn'Taier reached for the skies, and the backpack he once carried lifted from the fountain and flew to his side. It smashed Rainbow Dash off of his body and sprayed a poisonous cloud around him and the Rainbooms, who immediately jumped back so as not to get affected again. "Care to prove that theory?!"

As Ahn'Taier finally climbed back onto his feet, the backpack reattached to his body and red lightning began to spew from it. His body warped and contorted, and his blood began to charge with the same electricity. He craned his neck towards the sky, where the moon began to appear in it as it blotted out the light. He let out a deafening howl, one that echoed across the park and caused the girls to take steps backwards to avoid the noise.

"He's going feral on us! Get the Zords ready, girls!" Sunset said as the howl finally stopped.

And just like before, Ahn'Taier began to grow in size. Him and his technology expanded as he did, to the point where his pack was the size of a skyscraper, and his guns looked like oversized cannons.

"I hope the human race knows how to hold its' breath!" Ahn'Taier roared as his feet dug into the ground, tearing up the road beneath it.

"Zords! Come to us!" The Rainbooms all pulled their phones out and lifted them skyward, transmitting beacons of light that pierced the black sky and brought back the sunlight.

"Falcon!"

"Bull!"

"Lynx!"

"Kangaroo!"

"Bear!"

"Phoenix!"

Each of the Rainbooms' Zords landed heavily on the streets of Canterlot, with each of them standing up or flapping their wings; ready for the battle ahead. The girls then leapt into the air and climbed in through the hatches, sitting down in each of the chairs as they were loaded into the cockpits of their Zords.

"Equestrian Star Zords! Ready for battle!" The girls all chorused, as each of their individual mechs posed before Ahn'Taier.

So... These are the mechs that defeated a Feral Fury wolf, eh? Vi'Al had told me about these things, but I just passed it off as a mere coincidence. Ahn'Taier watched as the zords all stood before him. Guess it's time to see whether or not the rumors were true!

"You think that hiding in those oversized tin cans can protect you from the Wolfpack?" Ahn'Taier's guns stretched their claws again, and then elongated even further as smaller, more slender blades poked out of the tips. "Think again! The Wolfpack have torn through many a machine before those!"

"Then I hope you're prepared to back those words up." Sunset took hold of the joysticks and piloted her phoenix, lighting the flames of her wings as she dived towards him. "You know that your gas can't stop these fires, so don't even try it!"

"Who said I was using the gas to fight you, red one?" Ahn'Taier jumped up at Sunset as she swooped down on him. He grabbed her wings and threw her over his shoulders, straight into Rarity's lynx. "The Wolfpack need to be able to handle anysituation; and adapt on the fly." He rushed forward and coated Fluttershy's bear in the gas, before leaping over it and sweeping the legs of Pinkie's kangaroo while it was trying to bounce to him.

"Get off them!" Rainbow Dash charged straight into the pack on Ahn'Taier's back and knocked him off of the girls, unbeknowingly creating a small hole in it as he fell face-first into the ground.

"Normally, I don't like violence, but I can't just let you get away with this after what you did to Applejack!" Fluttershy shoved her sticks forward and drove her bear towards the downed Ahn'Taier. She swung its' claws at him, striking the pack on his back. It only received scratch marks before Ahn'Taier rolled back and pushed his feet off of her chest, knocking her over as he stood upright.

"Is that all? I was expecting more." He pointed the guns at the bear's face and was about to fire, when Rarity's lynx pounced on him from the side and flung him like a ragdoll.

"So were we, darling. But I'm afraid that's just life." Rarity tutted and commanded her zord to jump on top of Ahn'Taier, her own claws gashing his face and striking him over and over before he pistol-whipped the robot away.

"Irksome little..." As he got back up, Applejack's bull smacked him back down again, trampling him and his gas pack. Mere seconds later, Pinkie bounced on him over and over again before leaping back off again. "No! I will not stand for this!"

He pointed his guns for the umpteenth time at the girls, but as he fired, his mist was much less powerful than before. As he looked down the barrels of each, he thought that they had jammed, so he tried to smack the guns to try and fix the issue, unbeknownst that Sunset was right behind him, and could see the whole picture.

The damage done to Ahn'Taier's pack was extensive, and what was once a small hole done by a falcon dive had now begun to crack and spread out to the corners. The thing was starting to fall apart, and Sunset knew what she had to do. Grinning to herself, she whispered. "Checkmate."

"Why isn't this thing working?!" Ahn'Taier growled as he pulled the pack off and checked it extensively. As soon as he saw the cracks, he let out a gasp, which was then followed by a swift kick to the chest from Pinkie's Kangaroo zord.

"Sunset! Finish him off!" Pinkie called as another kick sent him airborne.

"Got it!" Sunset slammed both of the joysticks forward, causing the flames on her phoenix to intensify. She zipped forward like a shot and spiralled, turning herself into a flaming spiral on a collision course with Ahn'Taier and his leaking pack of poisonous air. "Phoenix Driver!"

As she smashed through the pack, Sunset finally stopped spinning and spread her wings out, cutting straight through Ahn'Taier's body. She left nothing more than flames in her wake as the embers finally met with the corrupted air, turning it all into one giant bomb; one that engulfed the screaming wolf in a massive fireball as his entire body was seared and charred to a finely cooked crisp.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash fist-pumped as Sunset flew back to their side. "Another wolf bites the dust!"

"Good job, rangers. Another wolf down." Sunset sighed and leaned back in her chair as the zords finally stopped moving, resting gently against the buildings of Canterlot. "Victory is ours."

"Ahn'Taier too?!" Mar'Zek screeched as his claws grinded against his throne. "I've lost two of my Wolfpack to these heathens already?"

"They are pretty desperate, I'll give them that, but still nothing compared to us, my captain." Siel'Viz brushed her paws down Mar'Zek's shoulders. "Perhaps we should just have the fleet fire on the planet now and save us the trouble."

"No, Siel'Viz. I lost them. This was my fault. So, it's only fair that I amend my mistakes with some personal action." Mar'Zek stood up and activated a device on his wrist. Punching in digits and code, he formed a ring around his feet, which quickly transformed into a black vortex that he fell through.

"Oh, I pity those Power Rangers now..." Vi'Al walked into the bridge and approached the empty throne. "If anything makes the captain leave his bridge, then it's DEFINITELY in trouble."

"Since when did you show mercy to our enemies, Vi'Al?" Siel'Viz asked, cocking a brow at him.

"I don't. I'm just so sad that those rangers are about to die. And I barely even started my work on them." He sighed and looked out to the planet's surface. "But I suppose they were pretty interesting for a while. A flash in the pan, so to speak. Shame that research is about to go up in flames, but the captain never loses a fight, after all."

"So, you wanna power down and go grab something to eat?" Rainbow Dash smirked as the girls climbed out of their zords. "I'm feeling a bit peckish after that fight."

"Yeah, I could use a bite to eat." Applejack nodded. "Seein' as how our lunches have probably gone to the dogs..."

The girls' phones rang, and Elaris and Twilight quickly appeared on the screens.

"Good work, everyone. That wolf didn't stand a—" Before Elaris could finish, an alarm went off in the ship.

"Wait! I've got another Wolfpack signature here!" Twilight quickly took up the screen. "And from the looks of it, it's right on top of you!"

"What?!" Sunset immediately took up a combat stance, as did the others. Weapons bore, the girls put the phones away and tapped on the their crests. "Girls! Get ready!"

The black portal opened up, and Mar'Zek flew through it. Driving his claws into the fountain, he smashed it into pieces, spreading pieces all over the park square and sending some towards the girls. Snarling, he looked up at his prey, cracking his knuckles as his eyes pierced into their visors.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Mar'Zek straightened himself up and held out his claws for combat. "Preda'Tor and Ahn'Taier are dead because of you, and I cannot allow such actions to go without consequence."

"Uh, girls? I have a bad feeling about this..." Fluttershy immediately hid behind Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer, clutching onto their arms as she poked her head out through their shoulders.

"Who are you?" Sunset asked, holding her sword out.

"My name—" He threw his claws out, shooting black energy out of the palms that tore into the buildings around him. Glass and bricks were destroyed beyond repair, and the cars by those buildings exploded as the energy slammed into them. "—is Mar'Zek. The leader of the Wolfpack." Recalling his energy, he slapped the center of his chestplace, causing a helm to appear on his head as armour covered the rest of his body. "And this planet will be your grave, Perfect Ones!"

The Big, Bad Wolf

"So. You're Captain Mar'Zek?" Sunset asked as she pointed the tip of her blade at him. "That was pretty fast."

"Yeah. Now we can clean this mess up and call it a day." Rainbow Dash twirled her blasters at her sides. "We've got all that we need to totally crush you, wolfie."

"Rangers. Do NOT underestimate Mar'Zek. He has torn entire galaxies to pieces just because they obstructed his path." Elaris spoke through their phones. "And every time he raided them, he always cherry picks the best technology and weapons to add to his own arsenal. He might not even show off everything he collected this battle."

"Don't worry, Elaris. We know how to handle ourselves in a fight. This ain't our first rodeo, after all." Applejack tightened the grip on her hammer. "Plus, we've got our own magic. We can just use both of our powers in tandem, right?"

"For Perfect Ones, you disappoint me." Mar'Zek snarled and clawed at the ground with his feet. "When you felled Preda'Tor, I thought that we would have a real fight on our hands. But then, I reconsidered; and remembered that he was one of the first Wolfpack wolves I had on the team. And he was on the verge of becoming defunct anyway." He pressed his front paws together, hearing bones crack as he did so. "Now, Ahn'Taier, that made me sad, because you exploited a weakness involving his gases. A real Perfect One fights without having to rely on cheap, underhanded tactics like that."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're upset because we took down a couple of your wolves. You gonna cry about it?" Rainbow taunted.

"If anything, the one who'll be shedding tears is YOU." He took up a sprinting posture and disappeared, only to reappear within touching distance of Rainbow Dash. He grabbed her and threw her to the ground. "As I see you bleeding from head to toe, armour shredded and visor cracked."

The other Rangers charged in on Mar'Zek and tried to pull him off of Rainbow Dash, but he immediately leapt to the air and fired the black streams from his armoured claws again, coiling them around the girls and using them as whips to smash them both into each other and into the ground.

"Alright. No more nice Rainbow Dash..." She tapped at her sigil on the neckpiece and started to move at superspeed. She dashed to Mar'Zek and readied the blasters, only for him to charge forward and grab her by the face. It was then that she let out the blaster shots, aiming directly for his eyes. "EAT IT, ya mangy mutt!"

Mar'Zek took the shots, but merely staggered backwards as a silver visor of his own hastily reacted and shielded his eyes from being destroyed. Grunting, he shook it off and punched Rainbow Dash in the chest, leaving a tiny chip on her light-blue suit.

"Confetti Bombardment!" Pinkie Pie announced, shooting a barrage of confetti out of her wrist-mounted air blasters. They coated the ground around Mar'Zek and detonated, shrouding him in a ring of rapid miniature explosions; cutting off his movement.

"Pitiful, if anything." Mar'Zek burst out of the explosions, piercing through the rising clouds of smoke that rose from the detonations. Pouncing on top of Pinkie Pie, he held her down and slashed across her face twice, leaving massive scratch marks on her helmet. She fired back, but he merely snapped his head up before punching down hard on her chest, leaving another chip on it.

"Pinkie! I'm coming!" Applejack sprinted towards Mar'Zek and swung her hammer horizontally. She gave it just enough force to swat him into the buildings across the road. "Terra Wall!" Lifting her hammer into the air, Applejack created a massive stone wall around her and Pinkie, before quickly turning to face and help her up.

"Thanks, Applejack. I thought I was a goner." Pinkie grabbed onto Applejack's hand and held tight as she was pulled up by her.

"Don't sweat it, Pinkie Pie. We're always gonna have your back, from now until the end of time."

Applejack motioned to pat Pinkie's back, but flung into her own wall as Mar'Zek struck her on hers. A third chip had been distributed, and he kicked her straight through the hollow stone pillar she had created, bringing the whole structure down around them both.

"You cannot stand against what I am." Mar'Zek grinned sadistically as he turned his attention to Fluttershy. Dashing to her like a real wolf, his sharpened claws tore through the grass. "Thousands of others have tried, and all have fallen before me. You will be no different, rangers."

"Guess again!" Rarity darted to Mar'Zek, swinging her swords straight upwards onto his belly. The armoured wolf was flipped onto his side as she leapt forward graciously and performed a swift series of strikes with her swords. "Even the biggest of curs can be stopped. I should know. We've dealt with our fair share of monsters and beasts in our time."

"I am no cur, child. I am Mar'Zek; the leader of the Wolfpack. And I am the most powerful pirate captain in existence!" He leaned back and kicked himself back onto his feet, knocking Rarity onto her back. He tumbled down over her and planted another chip on her chest with a punch as she tried to get back up. "And by the time I am finished with you and your pathetic excuse for a team, you will never be able to forget it."

Fluttershy hid behind a tree as the other rangers continued their fight. Trembling, she clutched the flute in her hands, hesitant to play it as she heard the girls cry and yell in agony as Mar'Zek continued his relentless assault. She could hear the gear humming to life and firing away, the sounds of lasers and energy filling the air, accompanied by even more explosions. She felt like she had been dropped straight into the middle of a war; even though there was only one bad guy to defeat.

Eventually, she mustered up the courage and started to play some notes, only for her neck to be grabbed by Mar'Zek's metallic claws. She was about to scream, but his other claw held her mouth shut as he ripped her up from the ground and into the foliage above. He slammed his hand onto her chest, depositing the fifth chip. Then, he proceeded to throw her out of the tree and into the other girls.

"This is an INSULT." Mar'Zek howled and shredded the tree into splinters, leaving nothing of it in his wake. "You cannot defeat two Wolfpack wolves with this display. So sloppy, so un co-ordinated, so WEAK!"

"We're not weak!" Sunset's sword burned even brighter as she swung it towards him, sending fiery shockwaves in his direction. She saw that he destroyed one, so she ran towards him, swinging more and more his way. As the gap between her and him closed, she saw some of the flame strikes land on his body and knock him backwards. "And I'm not just gonna sit back and watch you bullying my team; my FRIENDS!" Her next strike landed, and it hit him square in the chest as she finally pressed her helmet to his.

"Your friends are insignificant. And you yourself set a poor example as a leader." Mar'Zek reached out and grabbed Sunset's sword, throwing it into the fountain behind her. He then grabbed her by the legs and swung him over his body, stamping her into the ground and leaving holes with every impact. "The Perfect Ones are supposed to be invincible, fearless, fast on their feet, and capable of stopping even the most powerful of threats." He grabbed Sunset's helmet and tore it off of her head, revealing the human girl underneath. "And so far, all I'm seeing is a bunch of underage, under-experienced, and underwhelming INFANTS carrying the crystals. MY CRYSTALS!"

"Go... to Tartarus!" Sunset spat in Mar'Zek's face as she tried punching and kicking his armour.

"You first." He punched her back to the other rangers, the sixth and final chip placed on her suit. He bent his legs and held his claws out to the Rainbooms, gathering black electricity as the chips on their bodies began to glow. "Soul Decimator!"

Mar'Zek threw his arms out to the side, firing black lightning down at the Rainbooms feet, knocking them into the air. As they hurtled and flailed their bodies, time slowed down to a crawl for Mar'Zek as the chips broke and transformed into spiky target markers. Jumping to the markers, Mar'Zek performed as many claw strikes and laser-based attacks on the rangers as he could, launching to the next one and repeating the same process. This went on and on until all six of the Rainbooms took significant amounts of damage. Finally, he landed on the ground and hurled a black device into the air over his shoulder. It broke into six pieces and poised itself over the Rainbooms, pointing down over their chests and smashing into them as time restarted again, deluging them in thick, black pillars of energy. He didn't even look back at the massive ball of flame that sprung up as the girls were drilled into the ground by the columns.

The resulting attack was so destructive that the Rainbooms were forcibly de-morphed, their suits breaking like glass as their regular clothes returned to their bodies. All of them let out moans and groans as the pain covered every inch of their bodies. They were bruised, battered, and even bleeding in places. But all of them could not even find the strength to stand as Mar'Zek turned back to them.

"Like I said. Pathetic." He stood over their limp and motionless bodies, leaning down to face Sunset as his suit disappeared, revealing the wolf underneath. "The only reason you're still alive from that attack is because you hold the crystals. If you were not in possession of them, I guarantee you that six graves would have been dug, and there would have been funerals in your honor; or lack thereof."

"I'm not... giving you... the crystals!" Sunset screeched as she tried to push herself back up, only for Mar'Zek to stomp on her back and twist his foot into her body. He watched her writhing for dear life under his foot and sighed.

"If I killed the six of you here, it would be an act of mercy. And mercy is something we Wolfpack warriors do not have," he said. "As much as I want to rip those crystals out of your bodies right here and now, your little demonstration has made me rethink exactly how valuable they really are. Are the Perfect Ones really just a fallacy to dissuade hunters like my crew from trying to take the gemstones that create them? Or are they just holding back for the real battle?

"Either way, killing you here would disappoint me on both accounts. So, that is why I will let you live." He walked away, leaving the Rainbooms behind. "Consider yourselves VERY LUCKY, rangers. I never let people leave battles with me alive."

"Nngh..." Sunset crawled forward, desperately trying to catch Mar'Zek as he walked away from her and the team. "No! Get back... here!"

"You are not ready. And you never will be ready." Mar'Zek stared back at her as a portal opened up in front of him. "But, if on the odd case you do still want to try and fight against the odds, then keep those crystals of yours. My wolves will keep checking up on you until you can give me a good fight. Until then, you are not fit to be my opponent; nor are you fit to be the Perfect Ones chosen by fate." He started to walk through the portal. "Farewell, Power Rangers." And he walked through the vortex, leaving no trace of himself behind as the hole vanished.

The Rainbooms all drooped their heads to the ground, feeling the stone and dirt pressing against them as they tried to move. The pain they felt from the fight was intense, and not a single limb was complying with them. They just laid there, limp, like ragdolls, or marionettes with their strings cut. Even Sunset succumbed to the pain, nearly on the verge of tears as she closed her eyes and accepted her defeat.

"No..." Twilight saw everything on the monitor with Elaris at her side. "Girls! Get up! It can't end like this!"

"Now you see, the power of Mar'Zek. The leader of the Wolfpack. The Killer of Suns, the Cleaver of Armies, the Bringer of Ragnarok." Elaris shuddered, pressing buttons on her console. "I'm bringing the rangers back to the ship, but it's going to cause all the systems to turn off."

She fiddled with the buttons and switches, and light swirled around the room. It cascaded into center of the room and formed a small spiral of light, spitting the Rainbooms onto the ground before it and the rest of the bridge were enveloped in a thick veil of darkness.

"Girls!" Twilight ran over and quickly flopped down to Sunset's side. "Please, tell me you'll be alright..."

"Twi...light." Sunset moaned, struggling to keep hold of her consciousness. "Are we... dead?"

"No. But from how badly he beat you and the others, it won't be long..." Twilight watched as the other Rainbooms were being tended to by Elaris. She was picking them up and carrying them off to another section of the ship. "Captain Mar'Zek has shown himself, and he's already proven himself to be really tough." She watched Rainbow and Pinkie mildly twitching as they were carried off. "And if we don't get stronger, he's going to run us over, and the rest of the planet as well..."

Sunset tried her hardest to stay awake, but the heavy concussion and physical trauma she had accrued in the fight, coupled with all of the other damage she had taken were just too much. In the end, her eyelids drooped before closing, her breathing beginning to dwindle as she drifted off into a deep sleep. Not dead, but near it.

Mar'Zek re-entered the bridge, immediately placing himself back on his throne. He was immediately met with Siel'Viz and Vi'Al's gazes, who both applauded as he laid his arms down on the seat.

"A wonderful display, my captain. As we expect of you." Siel'Viz bowed before him.

"Quite so. You put those rangers in their place for what they did to Preda'Tor and Ahn'Taier." Vi'Al rapped his claws together, the nails slipping through the cracks in his paws. "I'm sure they are both proud of you, my captain."

"Yes. Though I am not proud of the prey I fought. It was much too easy for my liking." He groaned, slumping into the seat. "The Perfect Ones were not nearly as strong as I wanted them to be, and they fell to their knees fast as well. If anything, I feel like this is less of a hunt and more so a smash and grab."

"Well, we only just arrived here, my captain, and we still have a lot to learn about these Power Rangers you fought." Vi'Al stepped forward and bowed before him. "I haven't even started the research yet and already they intrigue me. The Perfect Ones are supposed to be these supposed heroes, and while they can hold their own against your troops, they just fell like boulders in an avalanche as soon as you stepped in. All of those complex layers should keep me busy for a while."

"And there he goes again..." Siel'Viz groaned. "No matter how easy or hard the battle is, it's just another one of your excuses to stay cooped up in that lab, instead of on the frontlines like a real Wolfpack wolf."

"Siel'Viz, the Wolfpack wouldn't even BE HERE TODAY without my technological advancements. You should be more appreciating of the wolf who upgraded, repaired, and modified the fleet so that we had the power to make all those other hunts." He huffed and glared at her.

"Still, there is no honor in fighting enemies by just crafting tools for the rest of the army, Vi'Al. If anything, you should die fighting, instead of being stuck in that little room of yours." She stomped in his face.

"ENOUGH, you two." Mar'Zek grabbed both of them by the snouts and threw them to the ground. "Siel'Viz, train the rest of the crew on my ship. Vi'Al, you get back to the lab and do those experiments you love so much. For now, though, I want you both out of my sight while I reflect on the lackluster fight I just went through."

"Yes, captain!" They both got to their feet and ran out of the bridge, the door opening and closing as they went through it.

Mar'Zek stood back up and paced back and forth in front of the throne, thinking back to the fight he had with the Rainbooms. Every clash of metal, every explosion, and every scream and cry echoed in his ears and all he could do was sigh as he turned towards the windscreen at the end of the room.

"Why? Why do you stay your hands, rangers?" He asked, staring down onto the planet's surface. "You have the crystals. Why do you not choose to unleash their full power? I deserve a fair fight. WE deserve a fair fight. And right now, all I'm seeing is a team that fluked their way through two of my wolves. Where is the fun in this?"

Scarred

Each of the Rangers groaned as they were laid on a set of beds. The walls were dimly lit a pale shade of malachite. Small ripples ran up the walls as otherworldly hums from the machinery began to sound. Small streams of light energy were trickling down from the white roof and landing where the Rainbooms had suffered the most painful injuries. Deep gashes and claw marks were slowly being cauterized, and the blood that was once pouring out was beginning to stop.

"We're very lucky that they're even alive after that battle." Elaris despaired as she checked on the console outside of the med bay. "If Mar'Zek causes things to bleed, they often die in seconds. I've seen it many times before. Even when some of the strongest warriors in the universe fought against him, he still cleaved the ground by their feet red with a single swing of his claws."

"How long do you think Sunset and the others will be out of action?" Twilight asked, gently placing the tips of her fingers against the one-way window. "They've not just got Mar'Zek and the Wolfpack to fight, but they have school as well. We can't just have them miss out on days."

"Hard to say. Most of the devices on this ship were rattled, knocked entirely out of place, or destroyed beyond repair when I was shot down." Elaris turned away and sat down, propping herself against the mirror. "It could take seconds, days, or at the very most... years."

"Years?!" Twilight's eyes immediately widened, and a toothy frown formed on her face. "But we need them back now! The Wolfpack's just going to cause more and more chaos unless we get them back in the field!"

"Yes. But I doubt that Mar'Zek will want to make another large-scale attack like that after the way he dispatched the Rangers like that." Elaris tapped her hand to her chin. "Mar'Zek hates when things just surrender, or when the fight is very uneven. And it's that hatred that drives him to fight harder, faster, and with even less than no quarter to give to his opponent."

"Still, he said that he would send his crew to keep an eye on us, to see if the girls get better and better as Power Rangers. That's proof that we're not out of the woods yet." Twilight's eyes were still fixated on the rest of the Rainbooms, watching as their wounds were beginning to be sealed up by the light. "He's just going to keep using the world as a punching bag, over and over again. He'll hurt people, he'll capture or kill them, it'll be pandemonium..."

"That's one of Mar'Zek's oldest tricks in the book. The pressure points. That's how he bullies and torments the strong, by preying on the weak and catching them off guard. No matter how strong the race is, he always finds a way to choke the life and resistance out of them." Elaris shuddered, stood up, and looked at the Rainbooms once again. "The tactics of a tyrant leader..."

As the air around both Twilight and Elaris grew cold, they both turned back to the Rainbooms, still watching their motionless bodies be coated in the healing rays of light. None of them let out a single whimper or breath as they felt the damage begin to restore. Instead, they just sat there, like bodies in a morgue. The only difference was that they weren't dead. Yet.

"Is there any way that we can speed up the process?" Twilight asked, shattering the silence again.

"There is, but I'll need the ship to be fixed up some more. And I'm not sure whether or not this planet has the parts I need to complete the repairs." Elaris turned towards the corridor, where she saw more sparks fly out of her busted pipes and wires. "I'll need some strong metal to fix up the damaged hulls and walls, and some wires to act as temporary conduits until I can make it back to my home and get it properly repaired. As for the screen, I don't suppose you have glass on this planet, would you?"

"Oh, we've got glass. Plenty of it, in fact." Twilight perked up for the first time since they regrouped at the ship. "As for all the other stuff, I'm sure that I could get some of it for you." She walked off towards the ship's exit. "Do you want a full glass screen, or just bits and pieces? In fact, why don't you just contact me through the ship's communications bridge?"

"Well, I would love to try and keep in contact, but the ship's almost completely dry of energy. It took all of it for the girls to be teleported back here after that fight with Mar'Zek, and even after the reboot, only a few areas of it are fully powered up." She heard yet another spray of electric globes shoot out and flicker around before colliding with the floor of the ship. "I can activate the cloaking device at this much strain, but nothing else."

"Then we'll just have to do that. After all, we can't let the Wolfpack or anyone else find this ship. It'll just add to the already high list of problems we've got at the moment." Twilight just gave a soft nod and walked out, prompting Elaris to follow after her. She watched as the alien girl pressed a small, concealed button by the door's entrance, before they both climbed out together.

When both Elaris and Twilight left the ship, they turned back and watched as it briefly began to glow a quick shade of saturated rainbow colours before it vanished, leaving nothing but blue skies, trees, grass, and the ship's entrance in its' wake. The door began to close, and the ship vanished entirely from the public eye, the cloaking device now in full effect.

"Alright. Now let's go." Twilight pulled out her phone and fiddled with the buttons, before a map of the world opened up for her. She put a pin on the map where she and Elaris were standing. "That should keep us from getting lost."

"Quite advanced technology. I like it." Elaris gave a smile as she watched Twilight put the phone away. "Now, let's get moving. We never know when the Wolfpack could strike again."

"Wait! Before we do, do you have a disguise?" Twilight asked, looking at Elaris's pale skin tone and otherworldly garb. "If people think you're an alien, they might call the authorities. And then who knows what could happen?"

"You're right. One second." Elaris was about to lift her hands up over her head, when she stopped briefly. "Uh, can you look away? It's not nice to watch a girl getting changed, after all."

"Oh yeah. Sorry about that." Twilight just gave a sheepish chuckle and turned away from Elaris.

Elaris continued to raise her hands over her head, and as she brought them down, a white and blue ring formed over her head and followed her down. As it did, her body and clothes transformed drastically. As the ring passed through her, it gave her golden bangs, cream-coloured skin, and an aquamarine and amethyst skirt. She also wore a set of plain, navy blue trousers with emerald shoes, which had little gemstones encrusted in the buckles.

"So. How do I look?" Elaris asked as she watched Twilight turn back around as the ring vanished at her feet.

As Twilight turned back to the transformed Elaris, her eyes widened at the sight. There was almost no trace of her old body now, as her new form stood in its' place. "Whoa... You look like a totally different person now!"

Elaris just chuckled. "Do you like it? I fashioned this look myself."

"Yeah. I do. You look very nice like this." Twilight nodded, her face lighting up more and more now. "And I bet the others would like it too once they get better."

"I'm sure that they would. But let's not dwell on that for now." Elaris began to walk off, her hands by her side. "We've got to fix the ship up. The faster the better. The sooner that the Rangers get back into action, the sooner we can put an end to Mar'Zek's heinous plans to take the crystals from them."

"Mmhmm." Twilight nodded and followed after Elaris as she walked off down the hill and towards the city of Canterlot. "So, what do you want first? The metal, the wires, or the glass?"

"The metal is the highest priority. The ship's already torn and mangled enough as it is. Where's your nearest foundry?"

"Follow me, Elaris." Twilight quickly overtook her and started to jog, leaving Elaris to follow behind her. Together, the two girls found themselves running to Canterlot, with the metal on their minds as they left nothing but footprints in the grass behind them; ones that quickly straightened back up.

Up on the Wolfpack Flagship, Mar'Zek entered a large room with an army of holographic training dummies appearing before him. Drawing his sword, it crackled with black and purple energy as he lowered it to his side. Tightening the grip on his blade, he watched as the illusion army dashed for him, weapons like swords and spears flailing in the air as they did so.

With a single swing of his blade, Mar'Zek dashed straight through the army of training dummies, re-appearing on the other side of them in a flash. Turning his back, he watched as a series of explosions rang out as the fakes either disappeared or were launched skyward. And the ones that did were subject to another frenzy of swings and slashes, similar to what he performed when dispatching the Rainbooms. For the ones that he missed, he threw his sword away, watching as it buried itself into the body of another, then grabbed it with an energy whip protruding out of his gauntlet and swung the sword and victim around, like an elongated morningstar. The attack cleaved through every last one of the remaining doubles, leaving nothing in his wake as he pulled the sword out of the last dummy and crushed its' head with his free claw.

"I don't stay my hand. So why do they? What do they have to gain from holding back except suffering and torment?" He asked himself as he sheathed the sword. "It doesn't help their cause or give them any sense of a flaw. What is their plan?"

Grunting, he just watched as another army appeared before him. Shaking the thoughts off, he drew his sword again and performed a heavy horizontal slash. A thick shockwave of energy hit the first set of soldiers, cutting straight through their bodies and rending their chests from their legs. A similar, vertical slash then followed, opening a large hole on each side of the slash, pulling the rest of the army together before he dashed forward once more, cutting the rest of them down in the blink of an eye.

"They have all the power in the world, yet they choose not to unleash it all against me? Against Mar'Zek? Leader of the Wolfpack?! WHY?!" He howled so loudly, that every other wolf in the ship could hear him. "It makes no sense! It's an affront to the prophecy of the Perfect Ones! They tarnish it with their weakness and I will not stand for it!"

"Mar'Zek. Calm yourself down. For the love of the stars in the cosmos..." Vi'Al walked through the door and into the training room. "All of this yelling is causing a number of problems with my experiments. Y'know, data on the Perfect Ones is rarer than every planet in every galaxy aligning themselves at the same time. Do you know how long it takes for every single one of those planets to align?"

Mar'Zek turned to Vi'Al and just let out a weary sigh, putting his blade back in the holder again. "I apologise for the disturbance, Vi'Al. I'm just confused, frustrated, and a bit let down. Why are the Power Rangers so weak and fleshy? I was able to dispatch them with merely a thought. Surely, it shouldn't be this easy."

"Exactly. Which only means that there is still time for us to waste for them to show their true colours." Vi'Al walked inside and went towards a console, playing around with the settings on it. He changed the arena to show a laboratory, with more targets materialising around or behind the equipment. "Plus, you've been in that training room for almost a whole day. You can't expect to let the other wolves in the Wolfpack go rusty now, can you?"

"Nngh... You're right there, Vi'Al." Mar'Zek stomped out of the simulation and watched as Vi'Al entered, to prepare himself for his battle training. "This is just my way of venting all of my anger after being lead astray. Needless to say that it will hopefully be the last time I ever have to let loose like that in this room while we're here on Earth."

"Oh, trust me, my captain, this planet is going to be a rather interesting expedition for all of us." Vi'Al sniggered as he drew a small, curly dagger from his pocket and swung it, elongating it into a sword. "After all, we're graced with the Perfect Ones. So what if they're not perfect as they say they are? We can still hunt them down and call it a day once they're all powered up."

"True, but in the meantime, they are weak. Fleshy. Surviving on pure miracles and beginner's luck." Mar'Zek just stood back and watched as Vi'Al rushed in and slit the neck of one of the holograms, before tossing the sword through another one's head and teleporting to it to pull it out. "Preda'Tor and Ahn'Taier's guards were down, and they paid the price for their lack of attention. Still, they have proven to me that these foolish teenagers need time to grow. And when that time comes and I finally get an actual fight out of them, victory will be all the more sweeter..."

"Well, that's why you have me on the crew, to keep track of their power, and whether or not they will be able to live up to the legend they supposedly carry." Vi'Al pointed the tip of his sword and drew scribbles in the air. Swinging the blade, he sent the lines he had drawn all across the room, cutting through everything that they touched. Just like his captain before, the attacking projections were all chopped to pieces by the slivers and shattered before vanishing.

"At the very least, they will be well-rested the next time we face each other. My blade already made sure of that." He watched the room transform back to the empty training hall. "If I wanted to, Soul Decimator would have caused their bodies to disintegrate into particles before dissipating in the column of destruction I left. But... let's just say that for once in my life, I was feeling...—" He choked on his own words "—merciful."

"Now there's something new. Mercy out of you, my captain." Vi'Al lifted a brow at the wolf captain. "Are you sure that you're not going to let it weaken you? After all, letting your enemies go free could give them time to study you, and learn how you fight. In desperation, many species' fight or flight kicks in, and when it does, they can do some pretty extraordinary things."

"I hold technology from more than a thousand galaxies. I've amassed an army that dwarfs any and all other races." He slammed his foot against the ground. "Nothing is stronger than the Wolfpack, Vi'Al. And if something is, then we cut it down and remind it of its' rightful place in the world. The strong have always preyed on the weak, but the weak are pathetic; incapable of providing the strong with a satisfying battle."

He bore his fangs, which gleamed in the light of the neon strips around the room as he paced around Vi'Al. "Now the strongest cull the strong, so that their rule is unchallenged. And all the while, they adore the thrill of the fight. For when the strongest and the strong collide, nothing short of a spectacle can be seen for miles around, as mountains crumble and tectonic plates are ripped apart at the seams. For in truth, the Wolfpack do not hunt for treasure or riches, or anything like a normal band of pirates." He grabbed the hilt of his blade again. "No. We fight because we love to fight the strong; to show them that in truth, they are lying to themselves about their reputations and building themselves up so we can tear them down again. It is a never-ending hunt for us, and one that always keeps adding more and more prey for us to sink our teeth into..." He drew the blade yet again, the sound of it leaving the scabbard echoing throughout. Raising it skyward, he proclaimed loudly, "And we. Are. FAMISHED!"

His Mark

Author's Note

So. Here's a re-done version of His Mark. C.L.A.I.R.E's not in this, as I wanted to keep a more somber mood and show just how badly the damage to the girls had been done was. I know that this is kind of strange, making a re-post of the same chapter only a day after it's been shown, but I feel that this chapter simply wasn't living up to the story and that I wanted to set things right again.

Again, comments are always welcome.

His Mark

Sunset Shimmer was alone with her team. Nothing around them but darkness, and mist rising around their feet. All of them were dressed in their ranger outfits and armed with their weapons, holding on tightly to the hilts of each weapon. In the shadows, a pair of black eyes pierced through the empty world.

"You are weak." Mar'Zek's voice accompanied the eyes as he stepped out of the shadows. "You think that you are strong, but in reality, you are just cowering behind your powers and crystals." He drew his own sword, pointing the tip of the blade at the girls. "You were lucky fighting my crew. But that ENDS here."

Sunset had been in this situation before, and she was remembering how ferocious of an opponent Mar'Zek had been the first time they had clashed. As every single strike and clash rung in her mind, her confidence began to fade away. As did that of the other girls. As the grip on her blade got even tighter still, she tried to hold it steady, only for the hilt to break into pieces under the pressure. Her breathing went heavy as she turned to the other girls, who were also having 'nam flashbacks to seeing Mar'Zek again. Their weapons also crumbled in their hands as they watched the wolf stomping towards them.

"Even my mere presence causes you to forego your weapons. Looks like the Power Rangers really are a fallacy." He rushed forward and grabbed Fluttershy by the neck. Crushing it, she was immediately de-morphed before tossed to the others. "And it would seem that your armour is just as flimsy as the rest of your charade. Worthless bags of flesh..."

Leaping towards the downed Fluttershy, Mar'Zek crushed her under all of his four claws. Rather than there being a bloodied mangled corpse, she just disintegrated into a mound of dust. The sight was morbid enough for the other Rainbooms to jump at the sight and start to run away.

"Oh goddess, oh goddess, oh goddess..." Sunset kept on repeating to herself as she ran, not spending a single moment to look back. She could hear the noise of Mar'Zek dashing towards them on all fours, with the thunderous sound of many Hounds joining him on his hunt.

Screams rang out from Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and even Pinkie Pie as they succumbed to the horde of wolves, leaving only Sunset and the pack left. As she continued to run for what she hoped was a way out, she was soon boxed in by the hasty wolves. They penned her in and stood upright, barring her off from trying to escape. She simply skidded into them and was turned around to face Mar'Zek again, who stood back up and channelled energy through his sword.

"If you really are the chosen ones that the crystals have designated, they they chose poorly. And you and this planet are not worth our time." He said, the tip now touching Sunset's neck and speeding her breathing up even more as she stood paralysed, stricken with fear from head to toe. "You can take solace in the fact that you successfully wasted my time, and that you and your friends are going to reunite; along with the rest of the human race once I blow it to pieces!"

Ripping the sword away from Sunset's neck, he raised it skyward and leapt high into the air, poising the tip beneath him as he started his descent. Rocketing down towards the motionless Sunset, he performed one single slash, and she was split clean in half.

Sunset Shimmer screamed as she woke from the nightmare, whipping herself upright as she sat on the med bay bed. Surrounding her were the rest of the Rainbooms, still fast asleep and being tended to by Elaris's healing machinery. Despite being free of the dream, Sunset was still hyperventilating and clutching her stomach; her hair a complete mess and wrinkles forming on her forehead.

"What...? What happened to us?" Sunset asked as she tried to stand up, but felt all of the strength in her legs faded instantly. Groaning, all she could do was lie back down and stare up at the bright, white circle above her head, which continued to pour the healing spores. "The last thing I remember was us losing to Mar'Zek, but... what's this place? I don't remember it."

As Sunset's head leaned to the left, she watched the other girls twitch very softly, still hanging on to the shreds of life that they had left after a ferocious battle like that. Through all of the pain that they had faced together, there had been none of it like this before. For once, Sunset felt that the girls could have been outright killed. That alone left a bubbling sensation in the pit of her stomach as she clutched it.

For once in her life, Sunset had been reminded of just how mortal she and her friends were. No matter what kind of powers that they held, it meant nothing at this point. For everything that had happened, and the battle with Mar'Zek being any indication, it was a fall from grace unlike any other. After all the fights the girls had seen through before and during the time they received their crystals, a number of thoughts buzzed through her head as she let out long and weary breaths.

Is what we've been doing good enough? She asked herself again and again. She tried to counteract her own argument by reminding herself of the battles she did win; against the sirens, Midnight Sparkle, and all of those other teen-like girls who took magic for themselves. All of those victories, were they just leading up to this? The biggest loss of our lives? And even then, why does it sting so much more than I thought it would?

"Sun...set?" Pinkie Pie's voice rose from her body as she tried to lift herself back up. "Did we lose?" Her hair deflated and drooped down her shoulders ungraciously.

"Yeah, Pinkie. We lost." Sunset groaned again as she felt another jolt of pain surge up from her body. "And not only that, we lost BADLY."

"That's an understatement if ever I heard it." Rarity woke next, propping herself back to a seating pose. "We were nearly killed! Blood, guts, everything! I could almost hear the funeral organ playing while I was sleeping like that!" Her lips quivered, and in seconds she found herself in tears, which streamed down her clothes and onto the bed itself.

"Rarity..." Sunset reached out to try and stop her from being melodramatic, but this time, she knew deep down that there was no better time for Rarity to let it out like that. Her hand drooped, and fell back down to her side.

"Seriously, I'm all for saving the world, but not if it's gonna get us torn apart like that." Rainbow Dash was the next to wake up, sparing no time to try and stand up only for her legs to crack in the process. "Ow ow ow..." She hastily scrambled back onto it.

"Rainbow Dash, don't strain yourself. You only just woke up from surgery." Sunset finally got back up onto her feet and found the strength to stand again, courtesy of the healing energy drifting around the room. "And I wanna say that we've been through worse, but I'm afraid I can't. That was, by far, the worst thing we've ever been through in our lives."

"As soon as I get patched up, I'm going to see if there are any petitions to outlaw alien wolves coming to our planet, and then if there is one, I'M GOING TO SIGN EVERY SINGLE LINE THERE IS!" She screeched loudly, almost sounding like an endangered bird of prey.

"Calm down, Rarity! For once, I think you're beginning to fly off the handle a bit too much here..." Applejack was the next to break off from her sleep and speak to the others. "But I do have to agree with her, Sunset. These dang wolves have gone too far. I ain't never seen that much blood in my life, and I've been to a slaughterhouse before!"

"Trust me, Applejack, I want to stop them as much as the next guy or girl, but you felt what he did to all of us. He completely crushed us without even breaking a sweat." She threw her arms down in front of her. "I've seen some dangerous creatures before, but he's completely blown them all out of the water."

"Then what are we supposed to do about it?!" Rainbow Dash moaned, feeling her legs restoring ever so slightly thanks to Elaris's machinery. "We're the Power Rangers, for goddess's sake! We can't just throw in the towel like that!"

"But at the same time, we can't even fight back against him. We can't win, we can't lose, no matter which side we pick, we're forced into a corner all the same..." Pinkie's voice sounded more meek and husky than usual. Her hair swung lazily as she stood back up. "Girls? If we fight the Wolfpack again, are we going to lose again?"

"To be honest, I don't really know anymore, Pinkie Pie. My mind's been nothing but Mar'Zek ever since that fight..." Sunset rubbed her temples, her frustration causing her fingers to press deeper and deeper against her skull. "I can't even think straight without having some image of him pop up. And after that nightmare... I don't even know if we can even look at him again without being shaken to the core with fright."

"Nightmare?" Rarity asked, climbing off of her bed and walking over to Sunset's side. "Whatever happened?"

"We were fighting Mar'Zek again. In... somewhere. I don't know where it was, but it was all black and misty." She hung her head as she started to recall her dreams, the screams beginning to ring in her ears again. "We were scared. And because we were scared, we were holding on to our weapons much tighter than usual. They broke, he killed Fluttershy, and then as we ran, he cleaved up the rest of you." Looking up at the Rainbooms, Sunset's own display of waterworks began to start. "All that was left was me, and he cornered me with his wolves. Then, with one swing from his sword... it was all over, and I woke up here."

The other Rainbooms felt their spirits shatter as Sunset's story came to an end. Even in their sleep, they weren't free from Mar'Zek or his blade. Some of the Rainbooms wanted to say something to change the mood, but they ended up choking on their own words and stopped. Even Rainbow Dash, the bravest girl of them all, had become hesitant, and she couldn't find anything to say.

"We... we're pathetic."

The girls turned to see Fluttershy finally waking up. She, out of all of the Rainbooms was the only one who didn't try to sit like the rest of them. Instead, she was firmly rooted to the bed. Even as the others got up and walked around to see her, she didn't move an inch.

"All those times we were using the Magic of Friendship? It was all a lie. To keep us safe from the real danger." Fluttershy's fingers shivered as she continued to gaze at the ceiling. "We're not special. We're not unique. We're just prey like all the rest. And the Wolfpack are going to hunt us down and slaughter us all..."

"Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash's heart sank as her face became crestfallen. Now it was her turn to cry. "Don't say that. We can do this..."

"Rainbow Dash. Don't be brave when you don't mean it." Fluttershy lifted her hand up and pulled Rainbow's down when she saw her rubbing the backs of hers. "You're scared just like me. And no matter what kind of tough girl act you put on, it can't hide just how afraid you are of the Wolfpack."

"What are you talking about? I'm not..." Rainbow Dash also had a look back at the battle against Mar'Zek, remembering just how easily it was for him to overpower her and the other Rainbooms. Even with her combining her geode's magic with her blasters, it wasn't enough.

"Don't deny it, Rainbow Dash. You're just as petrified as I am, to know that we were almost killed." Fluttershy patted Rainbow's chest and looked at the others. "We might be Power Rangers, but after that, my eyes were opened. We're humans. Not gods."

"I've never seen you this sad before." Applejack tried to reach for Fluttershy's hand, but found that it was pushed back to her side by her.

"I've already given up. I've accepted my fate as cattle for Mar'Zek. Whatever the rest of you decide won't make a difference." She lifted her head up and hid her face underneath her locks of pink hair. "We can't win. If we try, we're just going to be killed."

All of the Rainbooms wanted to believe that there was another way, but they couldn't fight the truth. They themselves were evidence to back up Fluttershy's claims. Even though the wounds may have healed, the memories would last forever; permanently burned into their minds as a reminder that there would be no mercy from Mar'Zek.

"I... I..." Rainbow Dash stumbled backwards towards the door out of the med bay. "I need to go." And without another word, Rainbow Dash bolted off out of the room as fast as her legs could carry her. As she took off out of the ship, the others could hear her as she began to wail and cry as loud as she could.

"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Sunset got to the door and reached out for Rainbow, but by the time she entered the corridors of Elaris's ship again, it was all too late, and Rainbow quickly left the ship behind her.

"Sunset?" Rarity hobbled over to Sunset's side, twiddling her fingers and closing her knees together. "Do we... have to go back outside again?"

"Rarity? What's gotten into you?" Sunset asked, watching how Rarity was using her curled hairstyle to hide half of her face away. "Why are you acting so shy?"

"If I go back out there, Mar'Zek will hunt us all down and steal the crystals. So that's why I don't want to leave this ship." Rarity's voice got quieter and quieter as she turned back. "And with Rainbow Dash breaking down like that, my confidence has been knocked even further."

"I don't want to see the Wolfpack ever again after that fight..." Pinkie Pie's hair became so flat and straightened out that her whole back was coated in pink hair. "If you do go out there and see Pound and Pumpkin again, tell them that Pinkie's not coming home tonight."

"Let's face it, Sunset Shimmer. The world outside's not safe anymore. And if we try and go out there, then those wolves are gonna want to fight us again." Applejack patted Sunset on the shoulder as she came to her side. "Sure, Mar'Zek may not want to fight straight away, but we know that he will want another scrap like that later on. And then... what happens next? After we get mangled up and spat out like that again?"

"I don't want it to happen again." Sunset shook her head, swinging her hair to and fro.

"Then don't ever leave the ship. Stay here with the rest of us, and together, we'll ride this storm out. Surely, those wolves can't stay here forever. And if we just stay hidden, then that Mar'Zek feller will have to give up the hunt eventually." Applejack sat down, propping her back against the oval-like walls.

"But we can't stay here. That's the other problem," said Sunset. "We have families, friends, school! We can't just throw them away like this and live a life of hiding away!"

"The Wolfpack will destroy our friends, our families, and our schools. We're not throwing them away if they're going to get to them first." Fluttershy turned over. "If I sound like a defeatist, then I'm sorry, Sunset."

"It's not your fault, Fluttershy. And it's neither of your faults either. But the way that you're all acting, thinking that it's all over after one fight, isn't going to change a thing. We can't wait for our problems to go away; we have to make them go away. And if we do die in the process, then so be it." Sunset turned her back on the girls. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and find Rainbow Dash. You're welcome to join me if you want." Slowly, Sunset walked out of the med bay, leaving nothing behind but her footsteps.

The Rainbooms could only watch as Sunset Shimmer walked out of the med bay, towards the exit of the ship. As all of their thoughts festered in their minds, the four of them tried to find words or actions to express how they felt, but nothing came from it. Instead, all they could do was muster up what little strength they had, curl up against the med bay, and cry softly, letting their tears drip down from their eyes and stain the floors. Drop by drop, one after the other, they left large, wet marks on the ground under their heads.

Chasing a Rainbow

Sunset Shimmer ran down the street, frisking the streets as she dashed by them for Rainbow Dash. After all that had happened, and even with the memory of Mar'Zek still burning itself into her mind with each passing second, Sunset knew that she had to at least try and inspire some sense of confidence. After all, she was the Red Ranger, and she had to set an example for the rest of the group.

"Rainbow Dash? Where are you?" She called out, hoping that in vain, she would hear a response. When none came, she just kept on running, down towards the next stop on her path. "Come on, girl. I know you're braver than this, even with Mar'Zek stuck on your mind..."

Sunset ran for what seemed like minutes on top of minutes, checking high and low for Rainbow Dash and examining each and every little shop, gap, and hole that she could have fit into in an attempt to find her. Even when she got the idea to try and simply call Rainbow on the phone, she got nothing more than a dialtone and an audio cue to leave a message.

"Rainbow Dash!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, her eyebrows coiling into furious slopes as she threw her arms downward.

In the end, Sunset finally made it back to Canterlot High, where she saw a lonesome Rainbow Dash sitting quietly in the middle of the soccer field. Not a single other soul was around her, and all that she did to occupy her time was fiddle with a soccer ball; rolling it in her hands with her eyes more focused on the grass beneath her. Her eyes had tears residing in the lids, but not a single drop hit the ground.

"Rainbow Dash?" Sunset asked, before slowly making her way towards the middle of the field. The sun behind her began to sink as the both of them were blanketed in its' golden rays. "Are you... okay?"

"How does it feel, Sunset? To be the leader of the Power Rangers?" Rainbow looked up from the ball and locked eyes with Sunset. "To know that the world's gonna come crashing down because we're not ready to fight him? To know that, even with the Magic of Friendship, it doesn't mean a thing when fighting Mar'Zek?"

"Rainbow Dash, trust me, I'm as scared as you are about this, but running away from your problems won't fix a thing. You can hide away with the rest of the Rainbooms all you want, but sooner or later, we're all going to have to face the music." Sunset sighed and sat down next to Rainbow.

"And by face the music, you mean get slaughtered and cut into a thousand tiny little pieces by his sword." Rainbow Dash just huffed and crossed her arms. "Sunset, I know that you're trying to cheer me up, but I don't think it's gonna work this time." She just went back to the soccer ball. "Let's face the facts, Sunset. We lost, and we can't beat him. There's nothing you can say that'll prove us otherwise because we're the evidence that we can't win."

"I'm not saying that we can't win, just that we've got no choice but to try and fight back. And if we lose, then we lose." Sunset put a hand on the ball and looked Rainbow in the eyes again. "Hopelessness is just a lie we tell ourselves to think that we can't do better, when in reality, it's all just a lie that limits us from what we could do if we gave it enough time and commitment."

"Honestly, Sunset, this has to be one of your more weak speeches." Rainbow Dash stood back up and turned away from the sun and looked towards Canterlot High again. "But still, if it's your best, then I can't really get mad at you for it. It's funny, really. I thought that I was one of the bravest students at CHS. But after Mar'Zek totally kicked our keisters across the country with that fight, the fact that you're still gonna try and be brave even when you're scared too is pretty awesome, Sunset." She let out another heavy sigh and slumped her arms down. "But for once, awesomeness won't make the cut. We've gotta make do with what we have. And right now, all we've got are ourselves and those crystals. And even then, he thrashed us!"

"True, but we've only just started out, to be fair." Sunset lifted her finger. "Just like when we started out with the Magic of Friendship, all we could do was shoot massive rainbow lasers at things. And now look at us." She rubbed her own geode. "We've got the ability to lift things easily, run at the speed of light, make confetti blow anything up, no matter how big or small, and much more! There's no way that Mar'Zek can beat that, can he?" As she recited his name again, she quickly dropped the act. She curled her arms up and squatted slightly. "Actually... can he? He doesn't know about magic, right?"

"See, Sunset? Even when you're trying to be brave when talking about him, you go straight back to being afraid the second you think about what he can do." Rainbow just turned back, a big frown on her face. "You're a cool girl, and I'm still honoured to have you as a friend and all, and we still are gonna be friends from now until the end of time. But the girls are a train wreck with how they're acting now, and even you and I are big old 'fraidy cats!" Letting off another sigh, Rainbow could only watch as the sun sank beneath the trees. "At the end of the day, we're just human. We're not special. We're not unique. We aren't as different as the rest of the kids at CHS. All we have that makes us special are our magical powers and our crystals."

Both Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash just sat together, neither of them finding the words or momentum to keep the conversation going. They had both said enough and couldn't add anymore to the topic. Instead, they just sat and watched as the sun slid through the leaves and foliage of the nearby batch of trees and deeper towards the ground below. The wind was the only thing that broke the silence around them, as did the leaves that were torn up by it.

"Y'know. You're right, Rainbow Dash." Sunset finally spoke once the sun had properly left the skies. "We are human. And what's so wrong with that?"

"Huh?" Rainbow's ears pricked up.

"What's so wrong with being weak and vulnerable?" Sunset asked, looking down at her fingers as she flexed them. "What's so bad about having a weakness? A limit?"

"The fact that you can have it turned against you?" Rainbow Dash's eyebrow raised as she answered.

"If we have weaknesses, it just goes to show how unique we really are. Nobody's really perfect, deep down. Perfection is all a lie we keep on telling ourselves so that we don't keep trying to push ourselves further. And anyone who proudly proclaims that they don't have any weaknesses or flaws is really lying to themselves; even if they don't know their own yet."

"Sunset? What are you even trying to say?" Rainbow Dash stood up and stepped away slightly. "Have you finally cracked under pressure?"

"No. In fact, I think I'm starting to feel a little bit better about this whole thing. Not entirely, mind you, but it's a start." Sunset stood back up and laid her hands on Rainbow's shoulders. "We're weak. That much is true. But is it really worthy crying over and whining that we can't do anything about it or that all our wins before were for nothing?"

"Well..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her head, looking back down to where her scars and bleeding cuts had once laid.

"Okay, okay. Probably not the best example to use given how we nearly died and everything." Sunset blushed and waved her hands in front of her face. "But the point is that we're still who we are because we're weak. We're not going to be entirely perfect no matter what everyone else says or thinks about us. Even if we're the Perfect Ones like he keeps on saying, we really aren't. We're just a bunch of superheroes chosen by a set of space rocks. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Sunset? Is this a motivational speech or something you'd say at a funeral?" Rainbow's brows remained ever raised. "Right now, I'm having trouble figuring out which one."

"We've lost. And that's good; even if we nearly died outright from it. It just means that we have the potential to get better and better as we go along. And, like he said, we're supposed to get stronger so that we can face him again." Sunset wrapped her arm around Rainbow's back, patting it softly with her palm. "Plus, if we just sit around and mope all day, nothing's ever gonna be done about it, isn't it? The Wolfpack will keep on attacking innocents and destroying the city if we don't step up. So which is better? Sitting around and hiding until they go away, or getting out there and fighting, even if it might seem like a pointless battle?"

"Sunset?" Rainbow Dash reached out for Sunset, thinking that she had finally gone off the deep end.

"Rainbow Dash. I'm not going crazy here. I do honestly think that this is good for us. Not the dying bit; no, no, no, no. But everything else." Despite all the things that had happened, she was smiling. "Yeah, I know that it's gonna be impossible to fight with him still breathing down our necks, but we're gonna have to try and work hard to make sure that we're not scared the next time we do have to cross swords. If we let our fears own us, then what are we?"

"Human?" Rainbow Dash just gave up trying to ask, her mouth hanging semi-open and semi-closed.

"No. We're more than human because of our fears. And fear is a natural part of life. You aren't going to be brave about every single thing here and there." She put her hand on Rainbow's chest, feeling her heart beat softly. "There are going to be things that always terrify us and traumatise us, like Mar'Zek did with his battle. But if we just focus on that and make our lives solely around that, then what are we really achieving?"

"Nothing. And that's just no fun at all." Rainbow shook her head and coiled her hands into fists. "You're right, Sunset. He's the big bad wolf, but we can't just roll over like that. I'll still take up my weapons the next time we have to fight. And even if he's disappointed with us and wants us dead, that's just too bad for him."

"Exactly. That's the push you need, Rainbow Dash." Sunset nodded and looked out towards the road beyond. "And once the other girls realise that they're not perfect, then they'll grow as well. And together, we'll not only get strong enough to fight Mar'Zek, but also brave enough to fight Mar'Zek."

"Yeah. The only question now is when that day's gonna come..." Rainbow pondered, scratching her chin as she tried to look into the future of her as a Power Ranger, and what kind of new powers she would wield. Most of her visions were fuzzy, and didn't even add much except her managing to imagine some shots doing damage to the Wolfpack captain.

"I don't know. And I don't think I ever will know..." Sunset just stared out as well, catching a glimpse of a passing car and some people heading for home. "But for now, we need to get some sleep. We can't just keep on worrying about the future without focusing on the here and now." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She rang Twilight's number and pressed the phone to her ear.

After a few rings, Twilight's voice finally came on the phone. "Sunset! Thank goddess you picked up. Me and Elaris were practically panicking when we saw that you and Rainbow weren't on the ship anymore. Where are you?"

"We're at CHS's sports court," she said. "Me and Rainbow just had a bit of a talk about this whole Ranger business. Y'know, I tried to cheer her up even though deep down I'm probably going to seem like a massive hypocrite the next time we see Mar'Zek."

"Well, whatever you're talking about, I hope that everything all works out for the two of you. And I hope that you get a good night's sleep." Twilight said, accompanied by the sounds of footsteps on the metal floor of Elaris's ship. "It took an awful lot of talking, but we finally managed to get the rest of the girls to leave the ship and head for home. They're gonna try and sleep it off and hopefully start tomorrow refreshed and renewed," the footsteps died down. "You should do the same, Sunset. Rainbow Dash too. Stress does a lot to you."

"Yes. And we can't have the Power Rangers be stressed out; especially when the Wolfpack still lingers." Elaris's voice now came through the phone. "Don't dwell on him, and instead think about yourselves. And how you can grow as Rangers. Or as you earthlings always like to say: 'Goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite.' Am I right in saying that?"

"Yeah. You're pretty much on the nose, Elaris." Sunset nodded. "And some sleep does sound nice right about now. I'll see you and Twilight tomorrow, okay?"

"Of course. Sleep well, Sunset Shimmer. Give my best to Rainbow Dash." And with that, the phone call ended.

"Come on, Rainbow Dash. We'd better get home for the night." Sunset put her phone away and took Rainbow by the hand before the two of them walked off out of the courtyard and towards their respective houses.

"You think you're right, Sunset?" Rainbow Dash tilted her head to the side. "About the whole human thing?"

"I know that I'm right." Sunset grinned. "It might not look that I'm right and I could be entirely wrong the next time we have to fight. But hey. It's good to have something to believe in when the chips are down, right?"

"Yeah. I guess." Rainbow Dash just blankly nodded, still thinking back on everything. The battle, Sunset's nightmare, and all of the defeatist natures that the rest of the Rainbooms were going through. It all weighed down heavily on her and it made her quick to judge everything that Sunset was saying. For now, only time would tell if she was to be believed for her bravery.

Back to Basics

"So. Now that we know how powerful the Rangers are to become, the next step is figuring out who should push them to get better." Mar'Zek leaned back against his throne. "Vi'Al, Siel'Viz, I want you to inform the crew about my change of plans. And in the meantime, I shall choose who goes out next to hunt the Rangers."

"Understood, captain." They both bowed before him and jogged out of the bridge.

"Now then..." Mar'Zek tapped the button, summoning the digital screens around his chair again. Once more, he was encapsulated in his little bubble of crew selection. "Who should I use to give the Rangers a poke today? Who do I feel is devoted enough to lay their lives on the line to test them out?"

He swiped through the screens with his claws, examining each and every individual member of the Wolfpack that was still left standing. Eventually, his eyes were fixated on a monster that looked like its' skin and bones were the other way around. Purple in colour and with what looked like a skull instead of its' face, it carried a large cannon in its' arms, and let loose some shots. They exploded in mid-air, spreading shrapnel out to the surrounding targets.

"You. You'll do." He smirked and tapped the screen, creating a video call with the monster. "Barebones, you've been chosen. Report to the Meteor Cannon and prepare to engage the Rangers. Immediately."

"By your command, Captain Mar'Zek." Barebones spoke in a husky and brittle voice, lifting his cannon up to the screen. "And if they crumble before me, I'll use their bones to make mine stronger." He let out a cackle before the call ended, and Mar'Zek appeared back in the bridge.

"If you do kill the rangers, that would be an unfortunate denouement for the prophecy of the Perfect Ones." He said, pushing his claws together. "And yet, this is just what they need. Death pushes people to become stronger. The fear they exert can cause them to do extraordinary things. So prepare yourselves, Rangers."

The Meteor Cannon was loaded with Barebones in the shell and pointed towards the planet. After the trajectory was calculated, the cannon was fired, and the monster was launched at breakneck speed.

The Rainbooms were all walking down the street with bags in their hand, talking about their usual topics; friendship, Canterlot High, and what they planned to do when they graduated. For most of them, they were lost in their own little conversations, almost completely oblivious to the world around them.

"So, Rainbow Dash. What do you plan on doing after you leave Canterlot High?" Rarity tipped a hand. "Aside from trying to get a job and everything?"

"Well... I actually haven't thought about that." Rainbow rubbed the back of her head and blushed at both cheeks. "I mean, I kinda have a plan, but it mostly involves sports and me looking awesome at doing 'em, really."

"Knowing Dashie, she'll find a way to make it work." Pinkie rubbed her hip next to Rainbow's and used her fingers to force a big smile on her face. "And if that doesn't work, she's still a Ranger, so she's got that to lean back on."

"And I'm sure that once we repair Elaris's ship, we should be able to fly all across the universe. If she'd let us, that is." Twilight pushed her glasses closer to her face. "There would be so much stuff to discover, so many planets to set foot on, we could grow the planet in so many amazing ways with the stuff we'd find!"

"By the way, Twilight, how is the progress coming on the ship?" Sunset cocked a brow and looked into her eyes. "Like, while we've been fending off wolves, how have things been going on your end?"

"Well, we're starting to fix the wires in the ship, and we've got the tools we need to properly fix the monitors, so I'd say we should get some of her lost modules back up and running in no time. Providing that there aren't any more shake-ups, that is."

"Yeah. The last thing we need is someone destroying the ship again." Rainbow put a hand to her side. "I mean, it was already beat up when we first saw it, so who'd wanna break something that's already broken?" She tipped her hand out. "What was that saying again? If it's broke, don't break it?"

"It's actually 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' But I suppose you're right about that." Applejack nodded. "The ship's not gonna get any worse from here."

"Speaking of ships, look!" Fluttershy pointed towards what looked like a shooting star, but one that got bigger and bigger as it crossed the skies. "Do you think it's one of Elaris's friends? Did they try to fight the Wolfpack and got shot down as well?"

The other girls just watched as the "star" got larger and larger in size. Now, a full fireball with a metallic center, it was hurtling straight for the city. Bits of metal were stripped off with the friction, and it tore through a skyscraper on its' descent before crashing into the ground, sending a loud soundwave pulsing across Canterlot.

"Whatever it is, we should check it out." Sunset tapped at her crystal. "Girls. Morph up!"

"Equestrian Stars! Shine bright and let's fight!" The girls called and posed before they were morphed into their ranger outfits and charged into the scene, with Twilight hurrying towards the ship.

Barebones and his group of Hounds were terrorising the city, launching their weapon fire out at innocent civilians and tearing through the glass walls around them. As splinters shot out around them and tinkled on the ground beneath, the marauders quickly emptied their district.

"Now, there should be no more interruptions. Me and the Rangers can have a proper fight." Barebones let out another shot from his shrapnel cannon, which tore through another building's glass. "Let's just hope they don't chicken out. I hate it when my prey has to run away like that."

He pricked his boney head up and heard the sound of footsteps running towards him. Seconds later, the Rainbooms stood before them, proudly donning their Power Ranger outfits and brandishing their weapons.

"And there they are. In the flesh. Or lack thereof once I'm done with them." Barebones muttered to himself as he stomped forward and pointed his cannon at them. "Rangers! I have a bone to pick with you! Now, let's see if you can get through mine!" He taunted and launched another shot, spreading the razor-sharp pieces of shrapnel across the ground by their feet.

"Eugh! What a repulsive, horrible, disgusting creature!" Rarity groaned as she pointed her swords at him. "Thank goddess you're wearing clothes. Anything less and I might have just fainted."

"Horrible and disgusting are actually compliments for a Skeltor like me, so thank you for that, my dear." Barebones grinned toothily and primed his cannon for another shot. "But let's not get distracted by that, and get back to focusing on what matters here. I'm sure you know by now, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Mar'Zek wants to test us again, so he's sent you down to try and kill us." Sunset tipped her hand. "It's gonna get repetitive and boring after a while, y'know."

"Not if you could see half of the members of the Wolfpack. Trust me. What you've battled before? It's just the tip of the iceberg." He tightened his grip on the gun. "Speaking of tips, here's one. Try not to die to the Hounds. Get them!" And with a thrust of his finger, the Hounds rushed forward, snarling and growling at the Rangers.

"Of course..." Rainbow Dash groaned and dashed into the fray first, letting loose blasts from her guns. "It's always the same with you. Hounds first, big monsters afterwards."

"Just a little warm-up. After all, the best way to fight prey is if they're all fired up for the fight itself." Barebones turned away from the Rangers and let some more shots fly from his shrapnel cannon. "And while you're busy with my dogs, I think I'll give this place a makeover; make it seem more like a Skeltor's grounds."

"Not if we've got anything to say about it!" Applejack swung her hammer around, sending Hounds flying. Little whimpers came out of their mouths as she channelled earth through the hammer, creating little flying streams of small stones that pierced through them. "Ya'll better head for the hills if you know what's good for ya!"

"And hey, if ya don't, it beats having to sit in a classroom all day." Pinkie played leapfrog with her Hounds, firing blasts from her party cannon-style wrist airguns at them as she leapt. After a few jumps, she rolled under the legs of a couple more and blasted the one at the end into the rest of his crew, knocking them all over like dominoes.

"Animal Flute! Falcon!" Fluttershy twisted the dial on her flute and played some notes, conjuring a bright yellow falcon, dripping with spectral energy. Giving it a nod, she ran with it and watched as the bird swooped through the Hounds, knocking them back into each other. Soon after, she found herself cornered, and flipped over one of the Hounds before pinning it down with her feet. The others tried pouncing on her, but another dive from her pet sent them crashing into the ground. "Thank you, little guy." She winked at it, though no-one could see it through her helmet.

As Sunset fended off her batch of Hounds with her Flame Sword, she looked up briefly and saw that more pieces of one of the buildings were being shredded to pieces by the cannon blasts. The resulting damage caused the rest of the structure around that level to crumble and fall. She backflipped out of the way and swung her sword out at the Hounds, sending one last flame shockwave at them before the rubble flattened them. "Watch your heads, boys. Someone should really put up a falling objects sign around here."

"Yeah right. Like space wolves would ever pay attention to the rules." Rainbow Dash clipped both of her blasters together and merged the barrels together. Two more barrels poked out of the end and a handle came out of the top. "Twin Blasters! Minigun Mode!" Pulling the trigger on the handle, the barrels all rotated before letting loose a huge stream of shots that tore through the Hounds.

After a long battle with the Hounds, the Rangers finally moved onto Barebones, who had let one last shot fly from his cannon. Now, what used to be a simple and calm city street, had turned into something from an end-of-the-world movie, with massive holes and slashes coating the walls around them. The floor itself had splintered, and there was destruction all around. And right at the center of it all was Barebones.

"You know, we Skeltors have a fine tradition on the battlefield. Whenever we have a disagreement on anything; even the food itself, we must face ourselves in a proper arena. Or, if one is unavailable, then we are allowed to destroy the area around us and use it as our own temporary stage." Barebones stomped forward. "I used to be really good at these fights, you know. That is until Mar'Zek came along. I tell ya, even though we Skeltors don't have to worry about bleeding or organs being torn up, he still managed to break many of the bones in my body."

"Then how are you still here today?" Sunset asked, tilting her head to the side.

"The Wolfpack is also comprised of some of the galaxy's strongest monsters. It's not just wolves, you know." Barebones primed his cannon for another blast. "Creatures from all corners of the universe, just waiting to be invaded. If the captain doesn't kill 'em, he converts them into serving him. Tell me. What's the betting that you'll soon be joining him?"

"Okay, you know what?" Sunset swung immediately, striking directly in his chest, which caused his shot to travel over their heads and smash into one of the razed skyscrapers. "You talk too much. Let's get on with the fight!"

"Yeah. We'd never join up with Mar'Zek!" Rainbow Dash modified her blasters again, shifting the parts until she was holding a makeshift rifle in her arms. "Twin Blasters! Sniper Mode!"

"If that's the way you wanna play it, then let's go!" Barebones rushed towards the Rangers, as they did to him. When he wasn't firing at them, he was using his cannon as a massive club in the hopes that he would knock the girls flat. As he fought, the bones on his body contorted and shifted, until it looked like he was covered in spikes.

Sunset Shimmer pounded against his bones, but despite the attacks she made, none of them felt like she was making an impact. She felt like she was smashing against a brick wall or a tree; one that refused to offer any feedback. Even as she ignited it and tried slashing through it, nothing could change the steadfast posture of Barebones, who met her last strike with a shrapnel blast right to her chest. The impact knocked her back, and the shards stuck out of her chest.

"Nngh..." Sunset plucked the sharp pieces out of her chest, seeing that they had punctured her suit, but hadn't hit her skin yet. "I'm not done yet!" Standing back up, she tightened the grip on her sword and darted back into the fight.

"Animal Flute! Rhino!" Fluttershy adjusted her flute and played a note, summoning a ghostly rhino to her side. Running alongside it, both she and her beast smashed into Barebones and knocked him back a few feet. She then watched as the beast she summoned trampled over Barebones, chipping some of his bones.

"That's all? Hah! I barely even felt that." Barebones just got back up and launched another salvo of cannon fire. He hit Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack with a single ball, as it erupted in the air and spread the barbs across their bodies as well, knocking them to the ground. "You might be good at being butchers, rangers. But these bones are loaded with only the finest calcium. There's no way you're getting through to me."

"Think again!" Rainbow Dash called out, and a powerful shot struck Barebones' skull, chipping it slightly and causing him to tumble to the ground.

The girls looked up to the roof of one of the torn buildings to see Rainbow Dash waving at them from it. Pointing her sniper down at Barebones, she continued to fire at him as he got back up, aiming for his head once again. Unfortunately, it was harder for her to land a clean shot, and she ended up striking his armour and gun while he stood on his feet again.

"Long range, eh? I don't think so!" Aiming and revving up his cannon again, Barebones launched a wave of shots out of it, tearing down the ground floor of the building Rainbow Dash was standing on. The structure couldn't support its' own weight anymore, and the whole place came falling down, spilling its' contents all across the place. "Try hitting me from there, little one!"

"Gladly!" Rainbow called, and another blast hit Barebones straight in the back of his head. "Double headshot, baby!"

Barebones growled and looked around, to see Rainbow on an entirely separate building. Her neckpiece was glowing, and it still continued to glow as she bursted down to the Rainbooms' side in the blink of an eye.

"How'd you like that? Powers of superspeed." Rainbow folded her arms cockily, with her sniper reverting into two separate guns.

"No matter how many times you wanna try and fight me, you can't. You can't destroy a Skeltor." Barebones simply bashed his cannon against the ground over and over again, almost autonomously. "You can try and fight, but nothing you do will get through to me; not even a blow to the head."

"Can't hurt you?" Pinkie Pie asked, before popping up by his side and letting her wrist-mounted cannons fire in his face. He was just hit with an airwave and some confetti. Despite being pushed backwards, he still stood strong. "Yep. Definitely can't hurt him."

"Hold on, now. Ya'll are forgetting me. My Terra Hammer might be what we need to put this bag of bones in his place." Applejack stepped forward and pointed the end of her hammer at him. Letting out a battle cry, Applejack ran forward and swung her hammer at his head, hitting his cannon as he used it as a shield once more. She continued to strike him with her massive mallet again and again, but with each strike, she was just met with his cannon again. She couldn't get to his head. "Come on! How are you stopping all of this? Even with my super-strength, ah can't even stop ya fer one second!"

"Skeltors never get tired either. We are, after all, a race of skeleton people." Barebones grabbed Applejack's neck and threw her backwards, before following up with the umpteenth shot from his cannon. The blast was so powerful that it de-morphed Applejack back into her usual attire. "More than I can say for you fleshies. You get winded so easily, and now even I managed to force you out of your Perfect One form? Weak."

"Applejack! Are you alright?!" Sunset snapped her arm downwards and fished Applejack back onto her feet.

"Y...yeah. I'm fine, Sunset. But that guy hits like a freight train..." Applejack groaned and clutched her chest, feeling the strength in her legs vanish as she toppled back to the ground. "Think I'll just lie down for a bit. Get my strength back."

"One ranger down, and five more to go!" Barebones stepped forward again, firing the next salvo at the Rangers. In response, they either shot down the attacks in mid-flight or tried to evade in time.

"Looks like they're taking a beating out there," Twilight watched everything happening on the monitor of Elaris's ship. She was sitting in the chair, while Elaris was busy tinkering with some of the systems within, reconnecting wires and putting pieces back together. "Any luck with those repairs?" Twilight looked over the console to see Elaris's back.

"Almost," she said, the sounds of electricity crackling as she welded the wires back together. "Just one more circuit to close, and we should be good. Just gotta be extra careful... And... Got it." She finished welding and closed the hatch up.

"Codex restored. Analysing enemy." A voice cut through the ship, which sounded sweet and caring, but was masked with metallic tones. "Name: Barebones. Species: Skeltor." The computer said, as all of the other stats and data appeared on the screen.

"A Skeltor. Now those things are tough to deal with unless you know where to strike." Elaris stood back up and looked at Barebones from top to bottom. "The Rangers don't have to hit every part of it, unlike the other Wolfpack members. Instead, they just need one good hit at his weak point, and he's finished."

"Problem is, where is his weak point?" Twilight asked, eyeing up Barebones from skull to foot. "He looks heavily armed and armoured, and Applejack just got knocked out by him."

"I once had to fight my way out of Skeltors once when I was a little kid. They're scary things, yes, but they're all held together by one bone, right at their nexus." Elaris modified the picture to show Barebones without any of his equipment. A bone in the middle of his spine and ribcage was illuminated for both of them. "If the Rangers can strike there with enough force, it should be enough to topple him. The only downside is that Skeltors can't be killed. They can be separated and incapacitated, for sure, but because they're already dead to begin with, it's physically impossible to snuff him out."

"Hmm... I think I might have an idea." Twilight pulled out her phone and chose to call Sunset. Typing her contact and hitting the call button, a single dial tone passed before she got through. "Sunset. It's me, Twilight. We've got some info about the monster you're fighting."

"What's up, Twilight?" Sunset asked, bringing her hand to her head.

"The creature you're fighting is a Skeltor named Barebones, and there's a reason why your attacks haven't been managing to hit him," Twilight said, before a little screen popped up on the inside of Sunset's ranger helmet, showing details about the monster in question. "His weakest link is heavily fortified by both his already tough armour and the bones around it. But if you and the rangers get a clear shot, you can dismantle him in a snap."

"We could've used this info a little earlier, Twilight." Sunset looked down at Applejack, who was still recovering from the fight. "Why'd you tell us all this now?"

"We literally just got the Codex working again while you and the girls were fighting him," Elaris said as an image of her appeared as well. "We'll explain once you get back to the ship, but for now, regroup with your team and try to take Barebones off-guard, so you can get at his weak link."

"Got it." Sunset nodded, and the call ended for her, bringing her back into the fight. "Girls. This guy does have a weak point, but it's right at his heart. He's not gonna let us get at it, so we're gonna need to find some way to drop his guard."

"But what about Applejack?" Pinkie Pie pointed at the pain-ridden cowgirl. "She's still out of her Ranger form, and it doesn't look like she'll be able to get back up in time."

"Are you done prattling on over there?" Barebones asked, readying his gun for another shot. "This is a test, after all; not a friendly chat."

"Well, excuse us for trying to figure out a way on beating you." Rarity just scoffed and readied her swords again. "Honestly, don't you Skeltors have any sense of manners?"

"Manners mean nothing on the field of battle, my dear. And they'll mean nothing to you too, once this next shot goes through your heart!" He shot yet another shrapnel cannonball at Rarity's chest, only for it to be cut in half by her swords.

"Well, if that's the way we're playing this, I see no more reason to hold back." Rarity threw her arms down and darted into the battle once more, her swords swinging faster and more erratically as she pounded against Barebones' armour and cannon. It didn't pierce through them, but that wasn't her goal.

"And tell me, what are you trying to achieve by doing this?" Barebones asked while trying to smash her with his cannon's massive frame.

"This!" Rainbow Dash ran around Barebones' back while he was focused on Rarity, letting blaster shots rain down on his neck as she vaulted over it.

"Now you're showing some guts! Too bad, I gotta rip them all out of you!" Barebones jumped backwards with great force and fired another set of shots down at the Rangers, coating them with a rain of shrapnel. They were just about to hit, when Rarity formed a diamond barrier around them all, which caused the spikes to stop dead in their tracks as they collided with the gem-like shield.

"Not this time, you brute! Diamond Prison!" Rarity swung her swords up in a hasty motion, encapsulating Barebones' body in diamond, but leaving his head and neck exposed for an attack.

"What?! What kind of trickery is this?!" He howled, trying to fire a blast from his cannon to try and break him free. But each and every one of them just bounced off of the hardened gem mold and exploded ungraciously around his feet.

"Off with your head, beast!" Rarity swung her sword hastily through Barebones' neck, severing it from the rest of his body. She heard him scream as his head flew through the air, before landing in her hands. "Alas, poor monster, I knew him well. He served a crew of wolves and met his end at the hands of the Power Rangers." She posed dramatically with her arms, as if she was in a drama class.

"Well, this isn't the first time I've been decapitated..." Barebones deadpanned before he was thrown away. He could only watch as the other Rainbooms advanced on his still bound body.

"And trust us. It's gonna be the LAST." Sunset's sword burned bright with yellow and orange flames.

"Equestrian Star Rangers! Final Attack!" They all called as they moved in on the headless neck of Barebones, which was still wriggling and writhing as the rest of the body tried desperately to break free with the shrapnel cannon. Eventually, it expended all of its' fire, and lurched as the girls all aimed their weapons and let loose a combined stream of light energy down on his exposed body. "Fire in the hole!" They all called out as their combined attack energy came crashing down on the body. Every other bone in their path shattered before the one that bound the rest of his body was struck. It formed many cracks before it exploded, shattering the diamond around it.

"No! You've broken all of my bones!" Barebones' head cried. "Not even the captain could do that!"

Sunset de-morphed and walked over to Barebones' head, lifting it up to hers. "Tell your captain this, bonehead. The Power Rangers aren't going anywhere, and we're sure not gonna stop now."

"Well, I would, provided that I had a body and everything so I could go back and tell him." Barebones rolled his eyes at Sunset. "Hey, y'know where there's a good skeleton nearby that I could attach myself to? Don't worry, I'm not picky."

Shaking her head, Sunset just tossed the skull into the nearby sewer drain and turned to face the rest of her team. "Equestrian Star Rangers, the hunt is over."

"Captain? Do you think that I should go and retrieve Barebones?" Vi'Al asked, as he followed Captain Mar'Zek down one of the corridors of his ship. "After all, he is a Skeltor, and I have many a set of bones to fix him back up again."

"An interesting proposition, Vi'Al, but he's served his purpose in the Wolfpack. If we sent him out again, the Rangers would just take advantage of his weakness again. There's no use in using the same attack twice." He folded his arms.

"At the very least, he tried his hardest to cover his weakness up." Vi'Al tipped his hand. "You can't fault effort, captain; especially not your own. After all, it's you who picks who joins the Wolfpack, not a humble scientist like me."

"I know. I don't need to be reminded of my own code of conduct, and my hierarchy for who is on my Wolfpack." He let out a faint snarl, his claws glistening in the lighting of his ship. "And besides, Barebones was the most brittle of us all. Sure, he's a powerful fighter, and I respect him for how he fights, but there's no arguing with the result of a battle. His own people can vouch for that fact."

"Ah yes. The Skeltor rules for disputes never lie. When a Skeltor loses an argument in their customs, the result is final, and they have to put up with the result by law; no matter how much they despise it." Vi'Al pushed his fingers together. "Naturally, you can imagine that their legal system is all kinds of flawed; all that infighting and bickering, when they could be putting their heads together for a grander scheme."

"Anyways..." Mar'Zek brought a claw to his chin. "They're starting to find their feet. My crew are testing them well. And though I may be receiving some losses and essentially sending them off to die, they at least die for what they devote themselves to; my cause. And that, in itself is the most honourable way that a Wolfpack agent can die; knowing that they served their captain well."

"As long as you continue to set the example, your crew will follow you to the ends of the universe. It's only natural that power and respect wrest total control and authority over the masses." Vi'Al nodded.

"Yes. And their devotion benefits us all. For as they grow stronger, we gather their data. And the more we fight, the more cracks and flaws we uncover in them. No matter how strong the Power Rangers become, we will always be one step ahead of them. And when the time comes that they can give me a real fight, I'll make them so petrified that every other phobia they have might as well be conquered." He grabbed the handle of his sword again, feeling dark purple energy crackle from it. "Fear is the catalyst for defeat. And as long as the Rangers are scared, they are weak. And their weakness WILL be their undoing. And trust me, my old friend,—" he turned to Vi'Al "—there's more than one way to break your enemies."

Repairs

Back in Elaris's ship, the Rainbooms were all working hard on repairing the bridge. New metal plates were being put into place to fix the holes in the walls, wires were being woven back together, and anything that had been heavily damaged was taken out of its' place and put aside, so that Elaris could properly examine the damage herself.

"So, Elaris, I have to ask about something," said Rarity, as she finished fixing another set of wires, pulling a metallic mask off of her face. "Just how many features does this ship of yours have?"

"My ship is actually a rather... interesting make and model." Elaris said as she pulled her head out from behind the pilot chair, closing a hatch on it. "Unlike many other galactic spaceships, this one is actually run and maintained by a self-generating AI composed of celestial matter. Unlike the machine and computer-related artificial intelligence devices seen on other systems, this one is made entirely out of cosmic energy."

"So that means..." Rainbow pulled her head away from the plate she was welding onto the ship.

"Yes. My ship's AI is made out of a living star. One that generates all of its' power and activates all of the modules that give me and you all of our benefits." She opened the hatch back up again and pressed the large button at the center of the miniature panel.

Suddenly, the ground beneath the Rainbooms seemed to shift, yet they stayed firmly planted where they were. The metal platform beneath the tempered glass retracted, to show what looked like a metal hole with a miniature sun burning brightly in the center of it. It shot a column of light up, revealing a woman made entirely out of light with a pair of bracelets on her arms. Clasping her hands together, she watched as the Rainbooms and Elaris all gathered together to face it.

"Hello, everyone. You summoned me, your highness?" The woman said, in a kindly, young voice; almost akin to that of a young adult.

"Whoa..." The Rainbooms all spoke in harmony with each other as they stepped towards the ghostly human.

"Rangers, I'd like you to meet the heart of my ship; the thing that supplies the ship with all of its' benefits and modules, the Logical Universe; Correlli Yaranum." Elaris nodded and brushed her hand against the AI's hips.

"L.U.C.Y. for short, right?" Pinkie Pie lifted a finger. "Y'know, L for Logical, U for Universe, C for—"

"We get it, Pinkie." Twilight gently lowered Pinkie's hands. "So, this is what keeps your ship up and running, Elaris?"

"Yes, Twilight. Yes it is. L.U.C.Y. is a complex and unique system that absorbs cosmic matter from other suns around it. Without the stars, she wouldn't be able to sustain herself, and she would power down very quickly." Elaris nodded, clasping her own hands together. "Further, she can assimilate the data of a planet she comes into close proximity of, giving me information on every corner and province of that planet, as well as the plantlife, food, and inhabitants of it."

"Sounds kinda overpowered, doesn't it?" Rainbow Dash tipped a hand at L.U.C.Y. "Won't that make Elaris super-smart and able to have an answer for everything?"

"Not exactly." L.U.C.Y. shook her head. "While it is true that the princess has gathered the information on many planets and learned many different things about them, she does not know of the current affairs on the planet, nor any of the political matters that might be occurring. That kind of data is sacred to the public, and as such, I am unable to analyse it."

"Further, she can only track information of a creature on the planet if I actually go down to the planet and visit it first-hand. And even then, I need to make sure that she is within range," Elaris added. "And yes, while I admit that I have seen the Wolfpack captain's home planet and a few planets of some of his other crew members, I'm unable to find a weakness unless it runs deep within the species as a whole. And so far, finding weaknesses for Wolfpack Wolves has been... difficult, to say the least."

"We only managed to fix the Codex system while you were fighting Barebones." Twilight said, messing around with the buttons on Elaris's pilot chair consoles, which showed a holographic recreation of the Skeltor, as well as all of the data she had been looking at earlier. "We could find some data on a Wolfpack wolf, but then again, those creatures are tough. Captain Mar'Zek, the Feral Fury skill they have where they grow giant, and who knows what other wolves work for him? Not every wolf could be the same, so the data could be a bit unreliable; especially against Mar'Zek and all of his gadgets and gizmos."

"And Mar'Zek is ruthless for his technology." Elaris swiped on the console, to show a hologram of the Wolfpack captain in their ship, which made the other girls back up slightly. "You know how your planet is a mix of different races and cultures? People you've invaded or been invaded by? Well, Mar'Zek is the same. A Wolfpack wolf with an amalgamation of gadgets, weaponry, and modified armour of the races he's conquered. Which would probably explain how he was able to use that Soul Decimator move of his to de-morph all of you and leave you near death when you first fought him."

"He said that he conquered over a thousand galaxies, so I don't even wanna know just how strong that he really is..." Twilight looked closer at his armour and weapons, the sword clutched tightly in the palm of his right claw crackling with energy. "But if a thousand is any indication, I'd say that he's far beyond any normal Equestrian Magic monster we've seen before. Which is why we need to find a way for you all to get stronger; so that the next time you have to fight him, he doesn't just wipe the floor with all of your butts."

"I have an important update relating to your comment, Twilight Sparkle." L.U.C.Y. raised a finger and turned off the hologram of Mar'Zek, before sending a string of light out from her body out towards the ship's corridors. "Given the current state of the ship, and with how quickly the Power Rangers are progressing with repairs, we will soon have the Forge ready. Once it is repaired, we can begin research and creation of new powers, weapons, tools, and even Zords for the Rangers to take control of."

"The Forge?" Fluttershy's eyes lit up as she looked down the corridor of the ship where the light lead off to.

"Yes. The Forge. Your crystals are powerful as they are, but with enough time in the Forge, we can refine them so that they can make you even stronger. You will be able to fight better against the Wolfpack and gain new methods of performing your duties as Perfect Ones," L.U.C.Y. said. "However, the Forge itself is still in need of repairs. And before it can be worked on, the conduits leading to it need to be patched up first. Otherwise, the room will be without power."

"And the Wolfpack could send a stronger monster to defeat us..." Rarity tightened her hands into fists. "Just tell us what you need to repair the Forge, and we'll get right on it, L.U.C.Y."

"First, the bridge must be fully repaired in order to begin work on the other parts of the ship without transferring all of the power." L.U.C.Y. nodded, looking to where there were still holes and crumpled wires jumping out of them. "Once those areas have been tended to, you can then begin to work on the Forge."

"So what are we waiting for?" Rainbow Dash immediately went back to welding metal to metal and reattaching the wires together. "Let's get that Forge all fired up and get our Ranger Modes supercharged! The Wolfpack aren't gonna know what him them!"

"Patience, Rainbow Dash of Earth," said L.U.C.Y., waving her hand softly. "The Forge is a complex machine to work with, and even then, there is still the matter of fixing up the room itself. You and your friends might need to spend some time preparing the room before you can begin working up your weapons and powers."

"Not to mention that you need to properly repair the ship and attach the correct wires to each other in order to keep the ship's power fluctuating at a stable pace, without causing any short circuits." Elaris walked over to Rainbow Dash, gently grabbed her arm, and manipulated them into attaching the wires in the correct way; her way. "You were about to connect the power transferring wire straight to the engines. And that would've sent the ship hurtling into the town."

"Okay, so I'm not the best spaceship mechanic on the planet. But I'm sure that it can't be that hard once we learn all of the bits and pieces, right?" Rainbow Dash just shrugged idly and rolled her eyes.

"I am also equipped with a nimiety of other features, some of which could be damaged beyond repair if they are overcharged, so please be cautious with your repairs. Otherwise, the ship could be damaged even more than usual." L.U.C.Y. walked over and grabbed Rainbow's other arm with her spectral one, but had the inability to control it like Elaris could.

"Alright, alright! Geez. Ya don't need to get so grabby about it..." Rainbow pulled both of her arms out of Elaris and L.U.C.Y.'s grasps and brought them back to her side. "We'll take it slow and steady. Just as you want."

"Very good. In the meantime, the last parts of the bridge shouldn't be hard to repair, but I would advise that you weld the metal in place, rather than fiddle about with the wires. That stuff is more for the professionals than anyone else. Twilight, your highness? Sunset Shimmer? Would you care to oversee wire reattachment procedures?"

"Yes. Of course." All three of them balled up their hands and nodded together.

"Very good. Now, I must rest. Too long in this form without the proper power to maintain it could be harmful to my systems. And being that I am actually a star, if I explode, I could cause a black hole to pop up in Canterlot. And that would be trouble for everyone and everything involved." L.U.C.Y. faded back into the sun she came from and the floor sealed itself back up again. The metal underneath the glass stretched back out and locked into place once more, disguising the hole with the mini-sun once again.

"I still can't believe that you have an actual sun for your ship's AI, Elaris," said Fluttershy, as she went over to help Rarity with another metal plate. "How did you even fit her into the ship in the first place?"

"My people have actually been creating miniature suns for a long time now. It's a long and complicated process, and they're mainly to be used for the creation of machinery and ships." Elaris walked back over to her control chair, opened up the hatch once more, and continued to configure everything once again. "If someone managed to find out a way to create and replicate the miniature sun process we have, then it could advance their planet by eons. They would be able to hyper-advance themselves within seconds. And if the Wolfpack find out about it, then..."

"Yeah. Let's NOT talk about the Wolfpack anymore." Sunset shook her head and made fists out of both of her hands. "For now, we need to get back to work. L.U.C.Y.'s counting on us, and we've gotta make sure that the Forge is up and running as soon as possible. Otherwise, we could get swarmed on by a higher-level monster. And that would be a disaster without the right tools."

"Ooh, I hope that it won't be a disaster." Fluttershy laid the next metal panel down as Twilight began to work on the wires.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy. You and the others have been doing great as Power Rangers." Twilight pushed her glasses closer to her face as she grabbed the edges of a snapped wire and brought them closer; the electricity already beginning to create a faint link to the two sides. "You just keep on doing what you're doing in the field, and me and Elaris will be back here on the more heavy stuff. Efficiency!" Pushing the wires together, she caused a brief eruption of sparks which landed by her feet and caused her hair to frizz within seconds. "Or, then again, I could use some guidance myself..."

"The ship is a complex system, Twilight. I don't blame you and the others for not knowing how it works." Elaris clipped some wires together and brought power back to her hatch before closing it up and moving over to her side. "Here. Let me give you a helping hand. Now, it can be tough, coupling them together, but with the exact right angle and speed, you can reconnect these things easily." To prove her point, she took Twilight's wires and pushed them together, unfazed by the electricity spitting out of the shrinking gap. Both wires clipped and fused with each other, causing the lights around the bridge to grow brighter and brighter, pushing back some of the lingering shadows.

"Bridge Secondary Functions and Auxiliary Power Reserve reestored," said L.U.C.Y. as the lights turned blue and white around the Rainbooms, who all chattered with each other happily about the ship being restored.

"Come on, everyone. Let's keep on working." Sunset nodded proudly. "And let's make the Power Rangers even stronger!"

Back on the Wolfpack flagship, Mar'Zek and Vi'Al were overseeing a group of Hounds, welding some devices of their own in a quiet and slightly dark room, only illuminated by the sparks that danced all over the place and the dim lighting across the bottom of the room. There were metallic cages all around them, with different kinds of guns and weaponry stashed within them. Thick locks held the doors shut, and each of the weapons had an energy outline around at least one part, be it the blades of spears and swords, the barrels or magazines of guns, or even tiny things like cosmetics, every weapon had one part that shone in the darkness.

"So remind me, Vi'Al. What is this new device that you're creating?" Mar'Zek asked, cocking a brow towards the scientist wolf.

"Well, I'm glad that you're taking an interest in the devices, my captain," said Vi'Al. "This is what I like to call a Conquer Collar. You strap it onto something, and it'll cause them so much suffering that they'll have no choice but to obey you. Even the most steadfast, mindless, or downright insane creatures in the galaxy will bow before your knees and do everything you say, without having to resort to long and drawn out tortures."

"I see. And this is just one collar?" He asked, picking the device up and examining it from top to bottom. It was made entirely of metal, with short spikes that shot out of the lower half with the push of a button. Said spikes coiled dark purple electricity between each other until Mar'Zek pressed the button to switch it back off again. "Interesting. When do you think you will have all the tools needed to mass-produce these devices?"

"It shouldn't take too long, what with the reserve fleets already taking out more and more planets as we speak. Soon, you'll have a massive monopoly of all of the universe's biggest resources at your disposal, captain." Vi'Al bowed before him as he set the collar back down again.

"The reserve fleets? You left production of this tool to them?" He asked, his ear lifting as he turned back to the scientist. "Then that only benefits the wolves in that division; not us. In a sense, you have only made one collar and won't have the necessary resources to make more. A costly oversight on your part, Vi'Al."

"Oh, pish-tosh, captain. You worry too much." Vi'Al tipped his hand and pulled out some blueprints, handing them to the captain. "Plus, you're underestimating the power of this contraption. It can make any wolf that steps out of line in your command fall right back into it." He watched as Mar'Zek unrolled the blueprints and examined the Conquer Collar at its' core, and all of the extra details surrounding it. "Do you have any wolves in particular you would like to use it on?"

"There is one. But he's not ready for it yet." Mar'Zek handed the prints back to Vi'Al. "For now, you just focus on the Power Rangers. For all we know, they could be getting more and more powerful. With four victories under their belt now, I'm already beginning to feel like they're comfortable being this planet's last hope. How wrong they all are." He turned away from Vi'Al and walked out of the armoury. "Hope is nothing more than a fatal delusion when fighting the Wolfpack. And the more they believe in it, the more it will continue to create the illusion that they can win. When in actuality, they will be walking closer and closer to their defeat." The doors slammed shut behind him as he left for another part of his ship.

Climate of Fear

Sunset Shimmer walked into the bridge Elaris's ship to watch most of the other Rangers practicing their weapons in Elaris's ship. Their weapons weren't doing any physical hits to the ship, however, and were more so disappearing before they could hit the hulls or consoles. Rainbow tried to gun down Pinkie Pie as she flipped and bounced all around the room with her wrist-mounted party cannons, Rarity locked swords with Applejack's hammer, and Fluttershy was simply playing her Animal Flute to herself in the corner of the room, letting the creatures she spawned cavort and dance around her.

"Looks like you're all pretty fired up for today, huh?" Sunset smirked as she walked towards the pilot's chair, where Elaris kept a watchful eye on them all. "Did something special happen today?"

"Oh, not really major or anything, Sunset. We've just gotta make sure that we're properly prepared to deal with the Wolfpack." Rarity said as she swung her swords in an X fashion across Applejack's hammer. "After all, he can't keep on throwing his grunts and low-level monsters at us. He has to step up the difficulty sooner or later."

"And when that happens, we've gotta make sure that we're not rusty." Rainbow Dash grinned as she grabbed Pinkie and let some shots fly at her face, only for her to bend backwards and let them fly over her. "Plus, I kinda like being able to spar with my friends. We never used to do that before all of this Power Ranger stuff."

"Yeah! Plus, fighting can be fun when everyone's not trying to be super-mean about it. Like when you see those karate tournaments on TV!" Pinkie demonstrated by sweeping Rainbow's legs, leaping over her, and firing a barrage of party cannon shots at her downed target. "Booyah! Take that, Dashie!"

"Alright, Pinks. I'll give ya that." Rainbow grinned, then activated her geode's powers. "But let's see how you handle someone who's faster than you." And without another second wasted, Rainbow Dash started to dart around at light speed, causing Pinkie to try and leap back in the air, only for Dash to slide under her own legs and backflip over her, letting more blaster shots hit her in the chest.

"Going geode, eh?" Pinkie grinned and ignited hers, causing the confetti that she launched from her cannons to detonate on impact, leaving little sparks in their place. More and more blasts came, and Rainbow couldn't keep up with the little sparks, until she finally ended up tripping over herself and crashing straight into both Applejack and Rarity. "Well, two can play that game, Dashie."

The other Rainbooms could only just chuckle at the sight as Rainbow climbed out of the pile of teens. Even Applejack and Rarity, who had also been tangled up in the mess, were chuckling slightly as they all got back to their feet and went back to where they were before the collision.

"Looks like all your fears about the Wolfpack are all up in flames." Sunset nodded at the girls as she drew her sword, but with the flames suppressed and non-existent. "With that in mind, the Wolfpack should be running in fear from us."

"Oh, I don't think that's all entirely true." Fluttershy gripped her flute tightly in her hand. "Mar'Zek is still a very dangerous wolf. And I think we've still got a long way to go before we're ready to fight him. We're good, but he's better in every single way."

"Well... yeah, I guess that's true." Sunset had flashbacks to the battle with Mar'Zek that she and her friends lost. The screams still echoed and she felt the scars where he had dealt the most destructive damage with his Soul Decimator attack. Shaking her head to let the memory disappear, she swung her own sword slowly. "But that doesn't mean we can just give up. We need to fight. Better than doing nothing and just giving into our fears."

"But we can't stop fear either." Fluttershy stood up and put her flute away. "No matter how brave or strong we are, there's always going to be things that make us terrified, or at least give us scares. It's what we choose to do when it comes that's what's really important."

"Hmm... That's true as well. And look at you now, Fluttershy. You're a Power Ranger. There's gonna be nothing that scares you now that you've got all these new tricks up your sleeve." Sunset came over to her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to her side. "With you as the Yellow Ranger, I know you won't have to be afraid of anything anymore."

On Mar'Zek's flagship, he was already selecting another member of his crew in the bubble of screens and lights. He flicked through many different aliens and fighters; wolves, humanoids, and many more. He all took a look at their fighting styles and weaponry before moving on to the next one, spoilt for choice; as someone of his calibre should have been.

"I think today, we should test the Rangers' resolve. See if they're as fearless mentally as they are physically." He said, scrolling through many more crew members until he found a feminine wolf touching targets with her sharpened claws. As the tips touched their heads, they glowed dark purple and made the victims' eyes glow the same colour. "Cold. Callous. Mentally destructive. Perfect." From there, Mar'Zek watched as the female stepped away and watched as the holograms, watching as they started to panic as they jittered on the spot and ran erratically in all directions. Until finally, she darted forward and performed an X slice across their chests, shattering the projections into shards. "If I no longer scare the rangers, then she just will." And he tapped the button underneath to video call her.

"What are your orders, captain?" She smiled, flashing a pair of spiked hand fans as her face appeared on screen. "Need to give someone a good scare today?"

"Yes, Para. And I have a job for you." He nodded. "Report to the Meteor Cannon. You are about to be launched to earth. Find the Power Rangers and touch them. Then, watch as they cry and scream, as their nightmares destroy them from the inside out."

"Of course, master. I'll make them so traumatised that they'll have to invent a name for the phobias I give them." She bowed before him, ending the call.

"The Perfect Ones are strong both in body and mind. At least, that is what the legends say." Mar'Zek stood up and watched as the cannon aimed itself at Earth, calibrated the trajectory, and fired off a shell at it. "But if these Rangers conform and surrender to their fears, it will be yet another disappointment for me. And disappointments truly are the worst thing imaginable; even more so than death itself. Good thing that my Wolfpack wolves do not disappoint, then; not even in their own deaths."

"Okay, okay, okay. Let's try and change things up a bit." Rainbow Dash said as she gathered the others together in a semi-circle formation. "How about we try five on one? The five of you try and take me out. Feel free to use whatever you want in doing it." She pulled out her blasters and casually swung them around. "After all, we've gotta learn how to handle crowds as well."

"Rainbow Dash, are you sure that you want to fight all five of us together?" Rarity asked, tipping her head to the side. "I mean, not that you couldn't hold your own against the Wolfpack or us, but five Power Rangers against one?"

"Isn't that a bit too much?" Fluttershy asked, reaching out towards her.

"Well, y'never know until you try, right? Plus, it's training. If Mar'Zek wants us to be at our best, we have to be even better than our best, right?" Rainbow grinned and held the barrels of her blasters firmly. "Now come on, girls. Give me your best shots."

Before any of them could oblige, an alarm rang out through the ship, and the screen materialised the shell that Para was travelling to earth in. "Calculating landing zone: Optimising for velocity and trajectory." L.U.C.Y. said, before showing the location of CHS. "Target will be landing at Canterlot High School."

"CHS?!" Sunset's eyes wend wide shock. "Girls! Morph! NOW!"

"Got it!" The other Rainbooms immediately complied and activated their crystals.

"Equestrian Stars! Shine Bright and Let's Fight!" The Rangers all called together before instantly morphing and darting out of the ship without a second to spare. Leaving Twilight and a stunned Elaris in their wake.

"Does Canterlot High have any significance to you?" Elaris asked, looking closer at the school itself. "Because it sounded from Sunset's point of view like it did."

"Without Canterlot High, we have nowhere to go. It's our school, and one that we've protected lots of times in the past." Twilight turned to Elaris and pushed her glasses closer to her face. "Things like the Sunset's darker side, the sirens, and... even me..." She hung her head briefly as visions of Midnight Sparkle began to flash in her own head, before a look at the screen brought her back to reality. "And now, even the Wolfpack want a piece of the 'attack Canterlot High and all of its' students' pie. Why do these things always have to happen to us?"

"I'm... sorry to hear about that, Twilight." Elaris reached over and placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder, massaging it gently and seemingly rhythmically. "But rest assured that the Power Rangers will prevail over these Wolfpack wolves and bring order to the universe. After all, they're your friends, correct?"

"Yeah. And we've fought all kinds of things together." Twilight sighed as she turned her attention to the screen and watched as the Power Rangers darted onto it, ready to intercept Para.

"Okay. We've not got a lot of time." Sunset said as she held her sword out. "Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, you get everyone out of there before the Wolfpack agent lands. Applejack, Rarity, you make sure that it doesn't completely tear the school apart when it lands. Fluttershy, hold on to that flute of yours. You'll need it once the fighting starts."

"On it!" Rainbow tapped her geode neckpiece and ran off into the school at blinding speeds, with Pinkie close behind her.

"I'll form a diamond barrier at the top. To make sure that it doesn't leave a garish crater in its' wake." Rarity looked out at the school, and how far she was from said roof. "Applejack, can you give me a helping hand with that hammer of yours?"

"Sure thing." Applejack readied her hammer and performed a heavy strike on the ground, causing two splits to form from it. Both parallel with each other, the land quickly sprang up like a giant plank made of stone and earth. "Does that help?"

"Wonderfully. Thank you, Applejack!" Rarity darted up the makeshift ramp, swords at her side. The way she ran was very similar to that of a ninja's, likely from some sort of anime. Once she made it to the edge, she leapt gracefully into the air and landed on the top of the domed skylight, watching as the meteor cannon shell came hurtling towards her. "Now then. About you..."

Tapping her own geode neckpiece, Rarity channelled white light between her swords, held them high, and swung them downwards, creating a dome shield around Canterlot High. Within split seconds, the whole school had been barricaded off, with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie herding the students out to the sports court at the back. Rarity made a slight breach in the barrier with a point of her sword, watching as all of the students and faculty ran out. Once everyone was clear, another jab of her swords' tips filled the split back up again. As soon as the hole was sealed off, the shell smashed into the barrier, causing a massive explosion that engulfed the air around the dome in flames.

"Alright then. Who've we got this time?" Sunset asked as she watched the explosion begin to dissipate and fade away.

From the smoke and ash, Para leapt out and landed before the Power Rangers, mere feet away from Sunset and Fluttershy; who had to back up once she stood back on two legs again. The other girls quickly ran to their side as Para unfurled her blade fans before them.

"So. You're the ones that Captain Mar'Zek needs to give a good scare, is it?" She asked, pointing the edges of the blades at them. "Well, you sure look the part. But looks are cheap compared to your actions."

"Enough talk. You know the drill by now. He wants to challenge us, so let's just cut the formalities and get right into the fighting, shall we?" Sunset drew her flame sword, the fires burning brightly as she took up a combat stance. "Another wolf in the grave is another step closer to beating Mar'Zek."

"You claim to be fearless, Rangers. But let's just see if that's true or not." Para hunched down, put her fans to her sides, and dashed forward, swinging the edges out as she engaged the Rangers in combat, twirling and slicing at them with the five points of her fans.

"Is that all you got?" Rainbow asked as she got up to Para's face and launched a volley of blaster shots, only for her fans to repel them all. "Come on! Let's see some real Wolfpack power!"

"You are getting braver, I'll give you that." Para's fans continued to slice and dice the air as Rainbow evaded slash after slash. "But even so, Wolfpack wolves know nothing of fear. You, on the other hand, are going to get a first-hand experience of true terror." After lowering her fans, she watched as Rainbow charged in at her with blasters. Letting a few shots strike her on the chest, she charged forward and grabbed Rainbow's entire skull, channelling her purple energy through it. "Living Nightmare!"

From Rainbow Dash's point of view, the entire world began to shatter and break into millions of shards. Canterlot High, her friends, and Para herself disappeared as reality itself collapsed around her. And in its' place, Rainbow found herself in a cutesy land of bright colours, rainbows, and creatures bearing the biggest of grins. From her feet, flowers of varying shapes and sizes sprouted up, coiling around her body and giggling giddily like schoolgirls.

"Gah!" Rainbow fumbled to break free from the plants and stumbled backwards, toppling over and landing on her butt. From there, she watched as a pink moose and aquamarine horse ran past her face, laughing to themselves as they left sprinkles and stardust behind her. "Wh-Where am I? And where's my friends? And that Wolfpack wolf?"

"Hi there." came a shrill and childish voice belonging to that of a gerbil with big, cartoon-like eyes and hearts on its' cheeks. "Can you hug me?"

"Hug?" Rainbow Dash stood back up. "Look, kid, I appreciate the thought, but I've gotta fight this big, bad wolf. And I gotta find the quickest way outta here. So, do you mind telling me where the exit for this crazy place is?"

"I wanna hug you!" The gerbil cooed, before leaping onto Rainbow's chest and wrapping its' tiny arms around it.

"Okay, kid, that's WAY too close for comfort." Rainbow tried her hardest to brush the gerbil off, but no matter how hard she tried, it stayed stuck to her chest. "Kid? Kid! I need to focus!"

Suddenly, some loud rumbles could be heard, and the ground beneath Rainbow's feet began to shake and tremble. The gerbil managed to jump off at last, but everything else was still there. Including, one new arrival.

There, in front of Rainbow Dash, a large, bipedal hippo-like creature with bright yellow skin, a large set of thick teeth, a poofy pink dress around her waist, and a pair of tap-dancing shoes came charging towards her. Arms outstretched, as if to give her an even bigger, and tighter hug than what she had just endured. Guffawing to herself, she trounced over a stream of water, splashing everything around it to get closer to Rainbow.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Rainbow immediately turned away from the hippo and ran endlessly, watching as more and more of the cartoonish animals, creatures, and other things around her started to grow faces and adorable features. The sun, the clouds, and even the grass beneath her feet lit up as it all came to life around her. "Wake up, Rainbow Dash! Wake up! Girls! HELP ME!"

Back in reality, the girls could only watch as Rainbow turned tail and ran away from Para and the school, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust behind her. Her screams could still be heard as she bolted away, but everyone else could only watch as she crashed into a house wall.

"What did you do to her?" Sunset asked, swinging her flame sword at Para once she turned her attention back to the fight.

"Simple, really. I gave her a fright." Para met Sunset's swords with her own set of miniature knives, repelling the slashes and performing a series of double-strikes on her chest and head once she broke past her defensive posture. "Isn't that the point of fear-mongering? To let everyone have something to be terrified and worried about?"

"Fear-mongering?" Sunset asked, before using her sword to guard against another strike from Para. "Oh, that's it. You're going down!"

"You first, dear." Para grabbed Sunset's face and performed the same move to her, splintering her view of reality. Then, as she stumbled and staggered on the spot, Para rushed Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, evading all of their blows and attacks before clutching their heads and breaking their realities around them as well.

All that was left was Fluttershy, who watched as Sunset, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie's visors flashed dark purple as Para's nightmare-enducing powers sank into them. She could only watch as the girls looked around frenetically, their bravado immediately dissipating as they looked around at the worlds they were stuck in. The nightmares engulfing them and warping their senses. Screams rang out, and a couple even fell to their knees, writhing and moaning loudly.

"This is what you call bravery? Pathetic." Para spat on all of the Rangers by her feet, before looking up at Fluttershy. "Only one more, and then I think we can call it a day. Maybe we can just destroy the planet and forget about the crystals and Perfect Ones after all. Plus, the captain really needs to eat. Being a space-faring pirate captain tends to leave your belly wanting, shall we say?"

"They're seeing their... nightmares?" Fluttershy asked as she watched Sunset and the others experience suffering. Even when Rainbow Dash got back up to her feet, it wasn't long before she ended up running off in another direction, right back into Para's hands; which resulted in her being thrown to the ground with the others.

"This is how I fight. This is my place in the Wolfpack." Para furled up her fans and stepped past the Rangers, and up to Fluttershy's head. "And it is high time that you see just how menacing we Wolfpack wolves can really be." Hastily reaching out for Fluttershy, she grabbed her own head and deluged her brain with the nightmare energy. "My name is Para'Noia. The Wolfpack's Scare Tactics agent. If the Captain and his power doesn't frighten you anymore, then I know EXACTLY what will!" And just like that, Fluttershy's vision of reality broke and vanished, with the wolf being the last thing she saw before her nightmare world began to materialise.

Para'Noia and Anxiety

Rarity found herself in a dull and miserable world of grey and black. Every single colour in the entire world had been snuffed out, and even the sun's rays had been diluted and quelled by a veil of thunderclouds. The only speck of colours were on her own body, and even then, her ranger outfit had been swapped out for what could only be described as a human kaleidoscope, with colours cobbled and surgically fused with each other in an erratic style.

"Eurgh! What manner of fashion crime is this?!" Rarity groaned as she looked at her threads, twirling and craning her neck around to see every part of herself. "Whoever designed this must have the worst tastes on the planet!"

Her cries didn't go unheard, as the people around her began giving her leers and stares, turning away or spouting spiteful comments and insults under their breaths. Such things like "Walking daycare" or "Colourblind idiot" were said, and they didn't even bother to try and make it inaudible. They were loud enough to pierce Rarity's ears and make her wince at them.

"You!" Said a teenage girl with spiked hair and tight jeans, other details masqueraded by the lack of colour. "You're breaking the law."

"Law?" Rarity asked, looking at the girl with a cocked brow.

"Colours are against the law here. You're breaking the law by wearing colours." The girl punched her hand and cracked the knuckles inside. "When someone wears colours like those, the citizens are authorized to beat the stuffing out of them, and break every single bone in their body for not conforming to this new society."

"Lawbreaker!" Another man called out, stomping towards Rarity with his fists raised too. "Stay still so I can nail you right in the gut!"

"You're not allowed to wear colours, you moron! Now let me hurt you!" Said another girl.

Soon, Rarity found herself slowly being encompassed by the rough gang of humans, her window of escape closing ever so slowly. All Rarity could do in the situation was run towards the first girl, shove her to the ground, and run away with the angry mob chasing her down through the streets. No-one gave her a hand, and anyone else she did see joined the mob or tried to block her way.

"What did I ever do to deserve this?!" Rarity bawled as she tried to drown out the yells and chants of the ferocious crowd behind her. "I didn't choose to wear these clothes! Someone! HELP ME!" She screamed, but no-one answered her prayers. For this was her nightmare, and one that she would never wake up from.

Pinkie Pie's nightmare world was entirely different. To her, absolutely nothing seemed to move. The Rainbooms and Para'Noia had completely frozen in time, as had everything else around her. Birds had stopped flying mid-air, and even some of the leftover smoke from when Para's pod had smashed into the earth had stopped.

"Huh. Pretty weird idea for a party trick," said Pinkie as she walked towards Para'Noia. She tried to poke at her to see if she would move, but all that happened was that she bobbled around like a fragile vase in the house. "If this is a Wolfpack wolf, then I'm the president. I mean, she's not even doing anything to me. Or the girls, or the city, or... anything else for that matter..." Her eyes bulged out of her head and she had them touch Para's snout. "What's your game, Wolfie? Tell me?"

Nothing. Not a single peep came out of Para's mouth.

"Don't do the silent treatment with me, sister. I've seen plenty of meanies do mean things with mean magical powers here. You can't fool me with this 'everyone is now a statue' trick. Plus, as far as villain powers go, this is pretty lackluster, all things considered..." Pinkie said, but only to herself. "Am I right, girls?"

The other Rainbooms, again, were motionless to her.

"Okay, I think I take that back. This is a pretty bad spot we're in." Pinkie Pie's eyebrows lifted when she saw the lifeless state of her friends and the world around them. "Girls? Hello? Earth to Rainbooms. You there?"

She tapped Sunset's head, but with much more force than she was expecting. Sunset Shimmer's statue-like state swung around before tumbling to the ground, breaking into pieces, and then causing the fabric of reality Pinkie was in to shatter as well, leaving nothing more than a black void in its' wake.

"Uh oh..." Pinkie watched as the cracks continued to spread, quickly covering the world around her. The other Rainbooms, and even Para'Noia were then to crumble and disassemble, their arms and legs crashing against what little remained of the ground, with some screams and moans of anguish accompanying them all. Well, all except for Para'Noia, who let out a laugh as her form was destroyed.

"You ruined everything again, Pinkie Pie..." Rarity wailed like a pretend ghost would. "You destroyed everything because of your silliness..."

"No! No I didn't! This was all that mean wolf's fault! Pinkie Promise!" Pinkie flailed her arms around, trying to find the voice. "Cross my heart and hope to fly—"

"And now we're all going to die." Rainbow Dash's voice finished for Pinkie, before a spectral stream of purple energy sewed Pinkie's mouth shut and removed it from her body. "And it's all your fault. Not Para'Noia's. Yours.

Pinkie tried speaking again, but how could she without a mouth to use? All that came out of it were muffled moans and whimpers, as the other Rainbooms' voices spiralled around her head, while the world broke down even more around her.

"Your fault! Your fault! Your fault!" They all chanted, in a haunting harmony to each other, with Para'Noia's laugh becoming more and more maniacal as it filled the other noise in the air.

If Pinkie could speak again, she would have let out a large scream.

Applejack woke up to find the world around her had changed drastically. Everything around her now towered over her body, and large shadows coated her from head to toe. There were giant stairs, doors, lockers, and other such items all around her, and as she tried to move forward, she barely covered even an inch of distance. She had been shrunk down to the size of a speck.

"Girls? Where in the heck are ya'll?" She asked, looking around for the other Rainbooms or, heck, even Para'Noia so that she could get some answers out of her. But as she scanned the colossal rotunda-like entrance hall of CHS, there was not a single soul in sight. None large, and none tiny like she was. "And just what in tarnation happened to me?"

Then, out of nowhere, the school bell sounded, and the sheer intensity of the noise was enough to make Applejack put her hands to the sides of her helmet to try and drown it out. Her ears were being pierced harshly, and her walk cycle had been reduced to trips and jagged steps forward as she tried to press on.

And before Applejack could even make it to the center of the room, she heard the sound of stampeding shoes and loud chattering voices. Turning around, she watched as students from CHS came out of their classes and filled the land around her, all the size of titans and with voices that could deafen even the most mute of people.

"Wh-Whoa! What in the heck is this?" Applejack jumped and dived out of the way to avoid being flattened by the giant humans. "And why in the heck am I so tiny like this?! Someone better give me a straight answer right now or—"

"Hey. Did you hear about that girl, Applejack?" Said a pair of girls nearby. "The really tiny one? No bigger than a grape?"

"Yeah. Always thinking herself as one of us, a big human with lots of heart. When in reality she's as teeny-weeny as a fly." A second girl said to the first one, while giving a mean-spirited laugh. "What a dork, thinking that she's one of us. She can't even keep herself safe around us big people."

"What?! I sure can keep myself safe, no matter how big or small I am!" She yelled out to the girls, but they couldn't hear or notice her.

"She never should've come here in the first place. She should've stayed with the mice under the floorboards. As least they're small enough to see her," said the first girl. "Applejack, Applejack, cry off home and don't come back!" She laughed shrilly at the bully-like pun she had made.

"Why you..." Applejack's face muscles twitched and contorted as she ran towards the girls and tried to give them a piece of her mind. She got to their legs and tried to climb them, but as she got to their waists, they started to move away from where they had been standing, causing her to lose her grip and tumble back down to their legs, where she made another desperate grab at the cloth of the trousers.

She missed, and hurtled towards the ground at a rapid pace. All that she could do was scream as she smashed against the hard, polished floors of CHS. Only for them to rip apart like paper, and for her to fall down a black and purple void, right into Para'Noia's two fingers.

"And lo and behold, the Power Ranger is not as big and bad as she makes herself out to be, isn't she?" Para'Noia mocked as she squeezed Applejack like a toy, then brought her closer and closer to her mouth, watching as she scrambled to get away from her. "But there's always a place for everything in this world; even if they're BITE-sized!" And without another word, she threw Applejack into her mouths, hearing her let out a large and high-pitched scream as she vanished down the wolf's gullet.

Sunset Shimmer's nightmare-scape was engulfed in flames. Every speck of grass, the buildings around her, and even the air that surrounded her was laden with ash and embers, flickering and dancing as they left a titanic plume of smoke and fire around them. She was still cloaked in her ranger outfit, but her helmet had been charred and laid by her feet, a large portion of it destroyed beyond repair.

Laughter could be heard as the sound of laser-like magic cut through the roars of the fires, tearing up the ground and causing human screams to ring out. Explosions slightly peaked through the veil, but were mostly covered up by the already expansive fires around her.

"Girls?!" She called out, looking at the bodies of the other Rangers, mangled and unresponsive as their helmets were non-existent as well. Their weapons laid next to their bodies, broken and torn up, with parts scattered all around them. "Oh no... No, no, no, no, no! This can't be happening! Not again!"

"Weak." Was the only word that she could hear, from a voice all too well.

Atop Canterlot High, Mar'Zek stood before her, garbed in his armour and with his sword crackling with dark energies. He held the helmets of the other five Rainbooms and threw them to the ground, causing them to shatter before her, with the sounds of glass tinkling as their pieces spread out by her feet.

"Sunset Shimmer. Once again, you fail to meet my expectations." He said, leaping from the roof of the building and landing before her, causing the ground to crack and rupture around her feet, lava quickly filling the gaps around her. "You haven't gotten stronger at all, and instead, you allowed yourself to succumb to one of my crew. I did warn you and your friends, did I not?"

"Who said I... was still weak?" Sunset asked as her hands trembled and shuddered, yet still gripped the flame sword. "What you did to my friends... I'll make you pay!" She yelled, but couldn't find the strength in her heart or legs to move forward and strike him.

"You say that you are strong, but your body and words betray you. Para'Noia broke you, Sunset Shimmer, and the rest of your friends." Mar'Zek performed a casual side-slash with his sword, turning away from Sunset as he did so. The strike shattered Sunset's sword and caused her to de-morph, fingers landing very close to the growing tides of molten lava. "And now, this planet will pay the price for wasting my time. We've destroyed the core of the planet, and right now, it's transforming this place into a supernova. Now, I'll let you and your friends spend your last moments together in this rotting, decaying, void of a world that once was. At least, in death, you and your friends die together, along with the hope of this Earth of yours."

Sunset tried to get back, but could only manage as much as watching Mar'Zek open one last portal and vanish through it. "No! Stop!" She cried, watching as he disappeared into the portal of swirling light and energy, returning to the comfort of his flagship. "We're not weak! WE'RE NOT WEAK!" But as the lava broke the ground around her even more and separated herself from the rest of her friends, her breathing only got more and more heavy. And the buildings and trees starting to collapse around her as the devastation got greater and greater was the last straw. "SOMEONE HELP US!"

Fluttershy's world wasn't that different to that of the one she was already in. In fact, everything was the same, except the sky had gone from a clear and sunny day into a grim and bleak thunderstorm, tossing rain and bolts of lightning down on the world. The other Rainbooms were squirming as their nightmares continued to play out in their heads, and Para'Noia just took a few steps back from her.

"Interesting. Very interesting." She said as she opened up her fans again. "I put you in a nightmare world, and yet you still see it as our current fight. Is being a Power Ranger really such a harrowing and scary task for you, my dear?" She asked as she sent out purple energy kunai blades at her, only for her to play her animal flute and cause an Eagle to take the attacks before vanishing.

"Yes. This is a very scary thing for me; especially when I see my friends suffering like this." Fluttershy walked forward, continuing to play her flute. Perfect notes came out, causing her spirit animals to appear beside her, proudly walking with her. "But I don't just choose to sit down and cower. Sure, they're terrifying, but I'm a Power Ranger now. If I feel afraid, I know that I can face my fears with my friends. Both real, and ghostly." She petted a cat that leapt into her arms and watched as it graciously leapt down to her feet.

"My Living Nightmare has never been beaten before. But you know the old saying: There's a first time for everything." Para'Noia charged towards Fluttershy and clashed with her ghost animals. Punches from gorillas, charges from rhinos, and the occasional trampling, pecking and scratching from others, but she was able to cut through the majority of them and get back to Fluttershy's face. "Sadly, that day is NOT today! Die, vermin!"

Fluttershy dodged to the left and right as her fan blades slashed and gashed the air in front of her. Eventually, she kicked and pounced on top of Para'Noia's body, playing the flute some more, which caused a giant bear to appear and give the wolf left and right hooks across her face. It seemed that, if there was any fear in Fluttershy's heart, it was buried deep within her as she continued to play her flute, angelic notes coming out of it; even over the rain and lightning.

"No fear, even WITH Living Nightmare playing havoc on you... What kind of Perfect One are you?!" Para'Noia asked herself as she tried to break free from Fluttershy's hold, only for her to play another note and cause the bear to rip her from the ground and swing her into it over and over again.

"I'm no Perfect One. I am a Power Ranger. And whether or not I'm scared, I still have a job to do." Fluttershy played one last note that caused the bear to throw Para'Noia towards her, prompting her to charge at her and deliver one final punch to the flying wolf's face, causing some teeth in her jaw to fly out on impact. The last blow was so intense that it caused a bright light to envelop Fluttershy and Para'Noia, bringing them back into reality. The purple flash on Fluttershy's visor broke and vanished, as did the stormy weather over her head.

"No-one... No-one has ever been able to escape Living Nightmare before." Para coughed and hacked as she stumbled to get back onto her feet. "Nobody! But you, my dear... you've been the first. And now, you're gonna see a whole 'nother side of me." She chuckled slightly, threw her arms out to the side, and howled into the sky, causing the moon to appear and blacken it instantaneously.

"Wh-What?" Fluttershy just started to walk backwards as she watched dark energy coil around Para'Noia's body.

"You should be proud of yourself. Not only are you facing your fears, but you're letting me use a side I thought I'd never use." Para grinned as her eyes flashed dark purple and red. "So, if I don't make you scared in my world, then I'll make you scared in yours. Feral Fury!"

Just like before, red and black lightning coiled inside and outside of her body, her blood began to bubble and pump vigorously, and she buried her claws into the ground. Within seconds, she grew to the size of a skyscraper, as did her spiked fans. With one last howl, she covered the ground below her in darkness, covering everything beneath her up.

"Try facing your fears now, little Rangers! You couldn't possibly control your Megazord while you're stuck in your nightmares now, could you?!" Para'Noia roared down to the black clouds beneath her.

"Bear Zord! Come to me!" Fluttershy called out as she jumped into the air. Seconds later, her zord came running to her side, and she grabbed onto the head before climbing in the hatch and sitting in the pilot's seat. "I may not be able to fight you with all of my friends, but I'm sure that I can hold my own against you, Para'Noia."

"With ONE zord? Hah! I'm gonna enjoy carving that thing up right before your eyes. Seeing you scream and wail as your precious little bear is torn limb from limb by my fans." She cackled, sharpening the blades against each other. "After all, if I can't scare you, then I'll just have to scar you instead!"

Mar'Zek and Vi'Al were watching the fight unfold from the bridge of the flagship, watching the screen as Fluttershy's bear zord stood adamantly against Para'Noia's humongous form.

"One zord against a Feral Fury Wolfpack Wolf? She's completely lost her marbles!" Vi'Al commented. "Why, I bet you ten thousand space bullion that she loses this fight badly to her."

"Don't underestimate her just yet, Vi'Al. After all, Para'Noia's Living Nightmare has brought empires to their knees, and terrified even the strongest of fighters in the galaxy. Even I get some chills when we spar and she uses her powers on me." Mar'Zek pushed his claws together. "So the fact that she was able to survive it, break through the facade and cause Para'Noia to go giant is already raising my confidence in the power of the Perfect Ones again. Even if the other rangers fail to break out in time to join the fight, at least we saw something interesting today, didn't we?"

"Of course, captain." Vi'Al nodded hastily. "I should probably document this fight for future reference. Good thing I always keep my clipboard with me at all times." He pulled a large tablet out of his coat and started to write things down with his paws.

"Now then, Yellow Ranger. One Feral Fury wolf still stands, and the rest of your rangers are afflicted by the dark powers of Para'Noia. What do you do now?" He asked, leaning closer and closer to the screen. "Fight or flight? That is the question. But knowing how you've battled so far, I think you know the answer by now. Don't you?"

Waking Up

"You must be joking." Para'Noia stomped forward, unfurled her fans and swung them at Fluttershy's Bear Zord, metallic paws clashing with serrated blades. "One Zord against a Wolfpack Wolf like me? You're just ASKING to be destroyed now, my little Ranger."

"I never ask for anything, apart from a quiet life with my friends. And I certainly didn't ask for you to plant those nightmares in their heads." Fluttershy shoved her joysticks forward, causing the bear to scratch down the center of Para's face, causing her to preemptively guard with her fans. But as she tried to defend, the claws were too strong and ended up pushing them down while leaving their razor-sharp marks on her. "You'd better set them free right now, or my Bear Zord is really gonna leave a mark, you nasty wolf!"

"Set them free? SET THEM FREE?!" She cackled maniacally before vaulting over Fluttershy's Bear Zord, sliding the blades across its' back as she landed behind it. Sparks flew out and the cockpit rattled as Fluttershy tried to re-orient herself. "No-one escapes my Living Nightmare unless they either defeat their fears or I sever them from this mortal coil!" Para swung her blade fans again, sending black energy towards Fluttershy's Zord, who just managed to escape at the last moment. "You went with the former. Though how you saw our fight on the ground as your fear is beyond me."

"I told you. I'm afraid of everything. I just choose whether or not I let it control me." Fluttershy maneuvered the Bear Zord towards Para'Noia and clashed with her fans again, claws and kunai colliding with one another. "The way you choose to make us afraid, it's very bad. And I thought the Wolfpack were honourable warriors."

"Taunting me? How very brave of you. But every Wolfpack Wolf knows not of defeat unless they experience it first hand." Para'Noia swept the legs of Fluttershy's Bear Zord, kicked her away, and pounced directly onto the Zord itself, swiping the blades against the face of the beast as it was downed. "You have had flukes against Preda'Tor and Ahn'Taier. I am NO fluke. I am the Wolfpack's Scare Tactics agent; a title I wear with honour! What titles do you have, Yellow Ranger?!"

"I don't need a title. I'm a Power Ranger. I don't need anything other than that any my friends!" Fluttershy quickly flipped the Bear Zord back onto its' feet and caught Para'Noia's next fan attack, then proceeded to rip the fans out of her hands and throw them away, before delivering a powerful headbutt to her face. "And as long as you hurt them, you make me angry. And NOBODY MAKES ME ANGRY!" She screeched before ordering the Zord to charge at Para'Noia once more and knock her to the ground.

All Para'Noia could do was chuckle as she sharpened her claws, causing the tips to glow crimson. "Y'know, as infuriating as you are, Yellow Ranger, you provide me with an actual challenge. Not many creatures can do that these days; especially not fleshy humans." Throwing her arms out to the side, she caused blood-red tendrils to spike out of her claws, which wrapped around the fans and brought them back to her hands. "If this is the way you continue to fight, the Captain Mar'Zek should return to this world much sooner than we anticipated. To see that raw emotion fuelling your drive to fight and power behind your tools, that's what we want to see. And it's something we revel in before we deal the killing blow to our prey..."

"Talk scary to me all you want, Para, but I am a Power Ranger. And that means that I have to uphold my duty. Afraid or not afraid. Wolf or no wolf," Fluttershy's tone remained adamant as her grip on the handles of her Zord tightened even more. "Whatever nightmare you throw at us, I know that it's not real. You can fool my friends, but you can't fool me."

"Then no more nightmares. Time for action! And time for me to bust out a move I have not used in years." Para brought her fans down to her sides and channelled black energy into them. Once she had gathered enough, she twirled them around in her hands, creating the illusion that she was holding a pair of saw blades, then dashed towards the Bear Zord. "Blade Hurricane!"

As Para collided with the Bear Zord, she encased it in a violent tornado, the winds masking her movements. Slash after slash, she moved and struck the mech in a nimiety of locations. Back, underbelly, legs, and even the face itself, completely invisible to Fluttershy as the winds howled and tore up the ground around.

All that she could do in the midst of the storm was hold on. Even as the room around her rattled and she let out some groans of agony as her Zord was viciously torn up by Para'Noia's Blade Hurricane, she still held firmly onto the joysticks. As sparks began to fill the cockpit and fizzle out around her feet, she was still keeping a firm grip on the controls.

"If fear does not weaken you, then maybe pain will!" Para'Noia boasted as she slid backwards through the Bear Zord, dealing a hasty driving strike across its' back before reappearing outside of the storm. Raising her fans high, she caused the winds to pick up dramatically, pulling the Bear Zord from the earth itself and launching it high into the sky itself. "It's been fun, Yellow Ranger, but every nightmare must come to an end!"

With one last leap, she jumped into the sky and performed a mouth-like strike on the Bear Zord, swinging one fan down and the other upwards. The hit caused a massive explosion, causing the Bear Zord to hurtle back down towards the earth and land violently onto the streets, tearing up the houses around it.

"This doesn't look good..." Twilight watched from the screen back in the ship as the Bear Zord smashed back into the ground. "At this rate, Fluttershy's going to be torn apart. And the rest of the Rangers are still stuck in Para'Noia's Living Nightmare..." The screen flickered to show the rest of the Rainbooms screaming and moaning, clutching their heads as they were either running around hectically, or on their knees and chests. "What can we do, Elaris?"

"Well, there are no ways for the Rangers to break out of their nightmares unless they're brave enough to face them like Fluttershy was. But... given what I'm seeing, they must be seeing some TRULY TERRIFYING things." Elaris scratched her chin as she zoomed in on the others. "This Para'Noia wolf is incredibly powerful, Twilight. The sheer ability to manipulate fears and use them against the victim is something dangerous; regardless of who they are."

"This must be how Mar'Zek asserts his dominance if he doesn't intimidate the other planets he visits. He sends in this Para'Noia to cause them all these nightmares." Twilight watched as the screen went back to Fluttershy's Bear Zord, which now had wires and parts of its' body mangled and torn out of proportion. "Unless the others can bring in their Zords, they're all finished."

"There might actually be a way for Fluttershy to gain the edge, actually." Elaris leaned in closer towards the screen and fiddled around with the console by her lap. "Fluttershy. Do you hear me?"

"Yeah, I... hear you, Elaris. But I'm not sure how long I can keep this up." Fluttershy's voice came through, despite being accompanied by some radio static. "This is a tough wolf, and one Zord can't beat it. We need the Megazord, but the rest of the girls are still in their Living Nightmares."

"Look. There might be a way that you can still pull through, but it's not going to be easy," said Elaris. "Look around. Have you seen something pop out since that last attack?"

Fluttershy looked around the cockpit of the Bear Zord, and noticed something was different. By her feet, a small cylindrical object had popped out, a cartridge big enough to fit her flute. "Yeah. I see something. It's round and long, kinda like a test tube in the science lab back at school."

"Each of the Zords has a desperation mode that only activates when they take enough damage individually." Elaris tapped more and more buttons on her console, revealing schematics for the Bear Zord. She then changed the picture to show it in its' current, damaged state. "Put your Animal Flute into the hatch, then pull the hatch to you and play it normally. See what happens."

"Okay." Fluttershy took out her flute and put it into the hatch. Once it snapped in place, the hatch quickly closed up and popped out even more from the console, revealing that it was on a cord. As instructed, Fluttershy brought the device close to her mouth. "I just hope this works..."

"This is the end, Yellow Ranger. Your friends are suffering, your Zord is bested, and there is no way out of this fight." Para'Noia's creaked her neck and cracked her knuckles. "Keep on fighting. It's the only honourable thing you can do. Surrender here would be too disappointing."

Fluttershy looked up at Para'Noia and took a deep breath. Playing into the flute, she caused the cockpit to light up, and then the rest of the Zord followed suit as it stood back up, despite the damaged frame and dislodged wiring. Her body started to glow as she put a finger on her neckpiece where her geode would be, before sprouting pony ears, wings, and a tail that popped out of the back of her suit.

"There we go..." Para'Noia chuckled as she ran in for another series of attacks, only for a giant, yellow-tinted ghostly eagle to appear and knock her away mere inches before she rammed into the bear. "What?!"

"Oh my!" Fluttershy remarked as she watched the bird fly away, vanishing just as quickly as it had appeared. "I can use my flute, even when I'm piloting the Bear Zord?"

"Yes. This is the Zords' last resort. They can utilize the weapons of their wielders and all their powers. The other Rangers' Zords can do the same, except with varying powers and effects," Elaris's voice spoke through her helmet. "But be careful, Fluttershy. Overuse of this power can cause strain on your Zord's core. And too much time could cause it to self-destruct entirely. So be sure to finish Para'Noia fast."

"On it." Fluttershy nodded and played more and more notes with her flute, summoning a wide range of spectral animals around her zord. All different shapes and sizes, in varying forms, but all big enough to duke it out with Para'Noia. "We're not weak, Para'Noia. Whatever your captain might think. We're just getting stronger and stronger every day."

"Clever... But I still remain unconvinced that this will be my end." Para'Noia growled as she spun her fans up for another Blade Hurricane. "Use all the parlour tricks you want; it won't do you any good. After all, he is watching, and he's judging you. And when the time comes that he'll fight again, he. Is. Going. To. MASSACRE. ALL. OF. YOU." Yelling, she ran forward one more time. "Blade Hurricane!"

As the winds began to pick up, Fluttershy just turned the dial on her flute to call forth a flock of birds. Eagles, falcons, hawks, and more. They all flapped their wings in seemingly perfect harmony, blowing the tornado Para generated right back at her, causing her to skid on the edges of her feet.

Once that was done, she twisted the dial again, still playing more and more notes. The birds all disappeared, and in their places were lions, tigers, bears, elephants, hippopotamuses, and many more. Within seconds, she had amassed her own army of ghostly animals, all standing by her side as the Bear Zord glowed a majestic shade of topaz.

"No! No, I won't let you beat me like this!" Para'Noia tried to break out of the storm she had created, only for her fans to amplify the weather around her. "No! I cannot lose to ONE ZORD! It took all of them to beat the other wolves before me!"

"Equestrian Star Bear Zord! Final Attack!" Fluttershy triumphantly called out as she thrust the joysticks forward, sending all of the beasts dashing towards Para'Noia and her storm. "Spectral Stampede!"

All of the animals rushed in, broke through the storm, and ran through Para'Noia. After a few, she was knocked onto her backside. Nothing but ghostly hooves, paws, and talons covered her vision as the hurricane around her began to die down. As she stumbled to get back up, Fluttershy's Bear Zord was the last one in the group, and as it ran towards Para'Noia, it gained a powerful yellow aura, which rammed straight into and through the titanic wolf like a comet. The impact was so forceful that it caused the wolf to scream, as black and purple lightning spewed out of its' body.

"Captain! I failed you!" She cried, as the pain within her began to intensify. "The Ranger managed to conquer her fears!" And with nothing more to say, she exploded, leaving nothing more but a huge ball of flame in her wake as the black air around CHS began to dissipate.

The Rainbooms were all at the edge of their tethers. Rarity was about to receive a left hook to the face by one of the angry mob, Pinkie's ground was about to crack beneath her, Applejack was about to be stomped on by a passing student, Rainbow Dash was still being smothered by the cute creatures, and Sunset's world was beginning to break apart at the seems. But right before it looked like they were about to break, a bright light materialized in all of their worlds, causing everything around them to disintegrate and give them some space to breathe. Seconds later, the light engulfed them, and they found themselves back at Canterlot High, still clad in their ranger outfits.

"We're... alive." Rarity looked down at her hands, and then to the rest of her friends. "We're alive!" And she darted towards the rest of them to give them a massive group hug.

"But where's the Wolfpack wolf?" Applejack asked as she looked around. "Weren't we just fightin' one right now?"

"We were, but then she hit us all with that spooky black magic and caused us to have massive nightmares about stuff," said Pinkie Pie as she lowered her arms. "But I agree with ya, Applejack. Where is she?"

"It's okay, girls. You're fine," Fluttershy's voice came through on their comms. "You were all stuck in there, and I had to deal with Para all by myself."

"Fluttershy? You beat a Wolfpack wolf alone?" Rainbow tilted her head to the side. "Am I on another planet or something, 'cause I don't think that's what would've happened in real life."

"It's true, girls," Twilight's voice now spoke to them via their helmet systems. "Fluttershy was very brave today. She managed to break out of Para'Noia's living nightmare and use the Bear Zord to beat her. All on her own."

"She's a very brave Ranger, through and through. And definitely worthy of being one of this planet's protectors," Elaris added. "You should all be very proud of her for what she did."

The Rainbooms all looked skyward to see the Bear Zord, standing tall in the sunlight, despite the damage that it had taken during the battle. It craned its' head skyward and let out one triumphant roar as the light around it began to vanish. Shortly after that, Fluttershy jumped out of it and landed back at CHS; de-morphing shortly after.

"Welcome back from dreamland, girls," she smiled.

Seconds after she stopped speaking, the other Rainbooms all de-morphed as well and ran to her side, giving her one giant group hug, all cheering for her and giving her massive pats on the back.

"Equestrian Star Rangers, the hunt is over," Fluttershy whispered as she simply smiled and returned the hug to the other Rainbooms.

"So. Para'Noia has fallen. A very interesting development." Mar'Zek stood up and walked off towards the bridge's exit. "Vi'Al. Siel'Viz. Inform the crew that the memorial service will begin shortly. And be sure that they don't step out of line," he said. "Even with her gone, they still need to remember their places. The last thing I need is a mutiny on my fleet just because my scare tactics unit is up in flames."

"Of course, captain." Both wolves bowed as their captain left the room.

"Bravery is a powerful weapon when used correctly. And the Rangers are starting to find theirs again. They no longer fear the storm that is coming their way, or the lightning that it brings to desecrate their world," he said to himself as he stomped down the corridors. "But no matter how strong or brave they build themselves up to be, it will matter not. For bravery is only as powerful as the person itself. And they are no match for me; even with their victories."

As he walked through the bowels of his ship, Mar'Zek passed by a series of rooms. Living quarters, training barracks, and more passed his eyes. All filled with loyal hounds who served their purposes in their fields. He paid none of them any mind, as he approached a large black door with a series of chains decorated on the front. He pushed the central seal of the door, causing the chains to retract, and for the door itself to open.

What Mar'Zek walked into next was a room unlike any other. Wide and spacious in design, with thousands of prison cells. Stretching across the walls and up to the ceiling itself, even the closest cells seemed to be a fair distance away from the exit, and were not even bathed in the light of the corridor before it. As Mar'Zek walked in, the door behind him began to close, the crash and chains echoing throughout as he approached the edge of the room. There were no prisoners in any of the cells, and only the sound of his own footsteps to accompany him towards his destination.

Just past the edge, a series of titanic chains hung forebodingly, reaching far down into the bottom of the room; a dark void where not a single thing could be seen. Any additional cells beneath the threshold were completely hidden, cloaked completely in black.

"Soon. We will find a use for you." Mar'Zek addressed the darkness beneath him. "If it comes that the Rangers get too powerful, you will remind them of their own mortality; and the reason that they cannot defeat me. You are the deadliest of the Wolfpack, and who would have my place if not for my powers and prizes. But do not think your freedom is your ticket to my position in this crew." He drew his sword, which crackled once more with dark energy. "No matter what happens. You are still beneath me. And if the Rangers, by some sheer miracle, manage to overcome you, then they'll truly be ready to defeat me."

The Forge

The Rainbooms all walked back into Elaris's ship together, all chattering to each other, mostly about what they had seen in their Para'Noia-generated nightmares and how harrowing it was for all of them. Fluttershy's story was the most interesting to tell, as she told the Rangers first-hand about the battle she had with the wolf.

"You must've been so brave to fight that Wolfpack agent all by yourself, Fluttershy," Rarity was the first to comment on the story. "She didn't do too much damage to you, did she? You don't need any first-aid or anything like that?"

"Oh, I don't. But I think my Zord might need some." Fluttershy brushed the back of her hair and thought back to the vicious attacks that Para'Noia had landed on the mech. She could still hear the crackling electricity of the wires that hung out of the robot, almost reminiscent of the damage the ship had been through when it first crashed into the city. "Poor thing. I wish I could fix it up myself, but I'm not really the best girl when it comes to fixing up giant robot animals. The small and cuddly ones, sure. But the big ones? Not a chance..."

"Yeah. I don't know how we're going to be able to fix those bad boys up. Unless Elaris's ship somehow has some kind of Zord-fixing super laser," Rainbow rubbed the back of her head and could only dream of such a thing. "Plus, even if she does have one, how are we gonna be able to get this thing to fly, or, heck, do it without the whole town noticing it and freaking out?"

"Well, there's more than one way to fix up anything; no matter what it could be. A grill, a car, or a giant super-powerful robot that only we, the Power Rangers can operate." Applejack grabbed her sleeve and rolled it up, revealing the fleshy arm beneath it. "And it's like my granny always said: Nothing is beyond repair. No matter how battered, how bashed-up, or how mangled it is, with just a bit of grit, elbow grease, and lots of hard work, ya can get anything back up and running in no time."

"Yeah, but the Wolfpack did quite a number on my poor Bear Zord. The thing could be out of combat for weeks with all those cuts and gashes..." Fluttershy could only clutch her chest and let out a crestfallen sigh, thoughts of her Zord running through her mind and how viciously Para'Noia had fought to destroy it. "Even though we won, I still don't know how long it'll take for it to get back out on the field.

"Don't worry about it, Fluttershy. We can pick up the slack for you if your Zord can't get back out in time for the next Wolfpack wolf." Sunset wrapped her arm around Fluttershy's shoulders and pulled her in for a side-hug.

"Yeah! And it might not even be a wolf next time! It could be something like a robot, or a sea-monster, or something that flies, just anything that might not grow big and mean like the wolves can," Pinkie mouthed off, clasping her hands together innocently. "But hey, if a wolf does come along, we can handle it. We can always do what you did. Despirateton mode! No wait, uh... Desposition mode! Uh, definitely not. Despaci—no, what am I thinking? That makes no sense whatsoever."

"Desperation is the word you're looking for, Pinkie Pie," said Twilight as the group all walked back into the bridge of the ship. "Welcome back, girls. That last fight must've been pretty rough, huh?"

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Rainbow Dash brushed the air, when in reality, her body was still frigid from the memories of her Living Nightmare. "Trust me, girls. If you saw what I saw, you'd totally understand why I don't do cute and cuddly stuff all the time. Especially you, Rarity." She tipped her hand. "I mean, it's good in small bursts, but to be living in a world like it where cutesy-wutesy stuff happens twenty four seven? Nuh-uh. Rainbow Dash is out, thank you very much."

"Cutesy-wutesy?" Rarity couldn't help but let out a little giggle; her hand cupping her mouth. "Forgive me for saying this, Rainbow Dash, but I think I would have very much preferred your nightmare over what I had to face. Now I feel slightly unnerved about my upcoming line." She let out a short breath.

"Para'Noia's nightmares must've done a real number on you, huh? I can understand your feelings of anxiety and dread, Rangers, but we need to press on." Elaris walked up to Twilight's side. "Mar'Zek is still only testing you. The Wolfpack have MUCH MORE POWERFUL soldiers at their disposal, from all matters of planets and galaxies. And right now, you're team is very strong, but sooner or later, he will send his stronger troops."

"Luckily, we have some good news for you." Twilight pulled out what looked like a rounded, chrome-coloured remote control, and pressed a button on the top of it. Lights lit up around the bridge, and a trail of them lead towards a room to the left-hand side of the ship's monitor screen. "The Forge is open for business. Today's specials are Ranger suit upgrades, weapon modifications, Zord repairs, research into new technology, and a training area to test our new tools out."

The Rainbooms all cheered and hollered as Twilight and Elaris lead the way into the new section of the ship; one that had been previously closed off to them all. As they stepped through the archway leading down to their new section, the girls were already beginning to think about what could be waiting for them on the other side, how the Forge would look, what new weapons were at their disposal, and how cool their new powers would be.

The Rainbooms were treated to a sight unlike any other. The room seemed to split into three different paths, but what awaited beyond them straight ahead was an astral plane that Twilight and Elaris walked into. Though their feet didn't look like they were touching the ground, they were still walking across the stardust towards a large, glowing ball of light. When Elaris laid her hands on it, the ball turned into a large, neon-lit forge, with lava popping out of a simulated sun in the distance.

To the right of the forge table, there was a more digital section of the room; the training area, which simulated cover to hide behind, Wolfpack Hounds, and even transformed into different environments like jungles, beaches, and mountains. Each change lasted a few moments, before transforming into something else entirely; never staying to one form for too long.

To the left was a room that was more akin to a waiting room at a dental clinic or a hospital. There were couches and chairs for the Rainbooms, with many screens around them. From there, they had a perfect view of the training area and every single inch of it. And even if there was a part that they couldn't see properly, that was where the screens came in, as they showed off additional angles of said simulated ground.

"Whoa..." All of the other Rainbooms all chorused together as they examined all three sections. Mostly, they were looking at the Forge itself, and paid no mind to the range or the waiting area. All of them took step after step, up the stairs and into the spacial plane, walking out into the nothingness of the cosmos and towards Elaris and Twilight.

"Welcome to the Forge, girls," said Twilight, as she looked back towards the table, where Elaris was using her magic to mold the lava into many different shapes, almost as if she was working with pizza dough. "If you're wondering why it's all... spacey, that's part of Elaris's magic. She told me that all of her people's technology combines cosmos with sci-fi stuff."

"It's very cosmic, that much is true." Rarity was already examining the room from top to bottom, ideas flowing into her mind about what could be done in the form of decorations or wallpapers and posters. "I guess it fits with the rest of the ship; considering that this ship is powered by something completely out of this world."

"Thank you for the feedback, Rarity," L.U.C.Y's voice spoke through the room. "Trust me, I wish that I could change my own layout myself, but that is not my will alone. It is something that only my pilot and her people can do."

"Anyway... the Forge is a very special place. Elaris's people have mastered a special kind of construction called Celestineering. Where they can create stars and suns themselves to serve as the cores for many of their bigger machines and ships." Twilight pointed towards the sun at the end of the Forge. "But this great power comes at a cost. See, they're just like actual suns themselves. And if they get destroyed then..."

"It creates supernovas. While still small, they're strong enough to pull anyone and anything into it, and tear them to pieces in seconds, much like the actual black holes that come from dying suns themselves." Elaris sighed and walked away from the table. "If our sun cores get destroyed, then there is little to no hope of us surviving the aftermath. If the cores of my planet were destroyed, then..." She stopped, stricken with horror as the image came to her mind, of thousands of black holes popping up on her home, the destruction and simulated screams burrowing their way into her mind. "We made a bold move trying to fight the Wolfpack like that. If they come and attack our home, and destroy the cores that we cherish, then nothing could ever be able to repair the damage."

"Then it's a good thing they're focusing on us, and not your home, girl." Rainbow Dash stepped out into the spacial forge and patted Elaris on the back. "Don't worry about your home. It's totally fine. After all, that Captain Mar'Zek guy's not gonna stop until we kick his butt."

"Rainbow Dash, the Wolfpack is more than just the fleet Mar'Zek has. Given how much of a presence it's had and how mant worlds it has conquered, I wouldn't be surprised if it spanned the whole universe, stretching out from galaxy to galaxy." Elaris looked back at the starry veil surrounding the forge. "Sure, the reserve armies might not be as strong, but they all follow the rules of Mar'Zek, and he will have most likely trained them to be merciless, ruthless, unyielding monsters of monsters."

"And that's why we were chosen as Power Rangers; to stand against them. To stop them from doing all these terrible things." Sunset joined Elaris, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash. "And this Forge you made is going to be a great way to get the edge over them. Now, if things get too tough, we can make new gear to counteract theirs, upgrade our weapons and zords, or even get new weapons and tools we can use to save the day."

"Yeah. We're totally gonna give the Wolfpack a big scare when they see our super-cool new moves!" Pinkie bounced over all of the girls and landed daintily behind them all. "They're gonna be so scared of us that they won't even wanna come out of their ships!"

"True, but remember, girls. Mar'Zek is only testing you at the moment." Elaris gently pressed Pinkie's shoulders downward to keep her from bouncing too high. "Every move that we make out on the field, he's monitoring; to try and find the best variable that he can to defeat us all. Stay on your toes, and don't keep fighting the same was as you always do. The wolves WILL adapt, girls. You need to remember that, and face it head-on when they get the upper hand."

"So far, we've only really been using our Ranger powers to get the job done. The Wolfpack ain't seen the Magic of Friendship that we use to beat all our bad guys." Applejack folded her arms over each other. "All the giant rainbow-lasers we've used on demons, sirens, and the occasional magic-hungry nutcase, it'll stop the Wolfpack too if things get real hairy.

"But will the Magic of Friendship even be enough to stop them?" Fluttershy lifted a finger slowly. "I mean, they are an
extremely powerful group of space aliens. Why, they've even managed to beat us a few times."

"True, but we've done the same with them, picked off some of their wolves and sent them packing." Twilight massaged Fluttershy's shoulders and gave her a tender smile. "Plus, your Bear Zord should be ready for its' repairs."

"But... how are we gonna be able to fix a zord that big?" Fluttershy cocked a brow at Twilight and Elaris. "How is it gonna be able to fix into the ship?"

"I have thought about that," said Elaris, before turning back towards the forge and raising her arms up dramatically. After a short build-up, the Bear Zord burst through the starry floor, and appeared before Fluttershy and the others. All of the damage was still visible, even though it had been scaled down to match the height of the girls.

The Rainbooms could only watch as Elaris lifted the lava that had already been laid out on the table and wove it around the damaged parts of the mechanical bear. Patting it down carefully and putting any loose wires back into place, the lava quickly molded into the splits and cracks, before cooling and forming uncoloured metal. From there, she quickly reached out into the endless horizon of the Forge and pulled out a yellow tube. She plucked out some pigment from it and spread it around the zord's body, quickly giving it back the colour that it had briefly lost.

"I can't keep repairing the Zords forever, girls. Try as I might, overuse of the sun in the Forge can cause it to blow up as well. The same goes for new weapons and tools, I can't just churn them out like a factory or an arms dealer." Elaris gave the Bear Zord a quick pat, causing it to disappear beneath the stars again. "You'll have to be extra careful when going out onto the field, for who knows what could happen if push comes to shove and the Wolfpack did some real damage?"

"We'll be sure to remember that, Elaris. A black hole going off in Canterlot would be the LAST thing we'd want to happen." Sunset turned her gaze towards the sun at the other end of the forge. Despite it being there in broad daylight, she didn't squint at its' light; even slightly.

"However, Rangers, I can say that I was working a lot on a project while you were on the way back to the ship. I had no time to rest, and I didn't even speak to Twilight once throughout," said Elaris. "I can't really say what it is either, because I only recently got this part of the ship up and running again, and it would take an immense amount of solar residue to create. But rest assured, that what I plan on making will make you very satisfied."

"In the meantime, girls, you might wanna check out the training systems. Test yourselves out against the wolves, dangerous conditions, or even yourselves." Twilight pointed back to where the space met solid ground again. "And, lets be honest, if you trained in the pilot's room, it would've eventually become a liability and we would have had to have done even more work to re-repair the bridge. And I know that you don't like having to repair something that's already been fixed over and over again."

"Sure thing. Come on, girls. Let's give it a try." Sunset quickly turned back, left the astral plane, and was the first to enter the digital training section; the area already being digitally integrated around her. As the first few Hounds appeared, she was quickly morphed and armed, and rushed into battle against them.

Meanwhile, Mar'Zek was busy training against his own holographic copies of the Power Rangers, his blade clashing with that of Sunset's and Rarity's. With every strike that he dealt, he could see the flickers of the programs appear and disappear as the figures contorted and tumbled before him. As he saw the others charge in, he dashed towards them; conjuring a dark purple contrail around him. He barrelled through them, sending all four of them flying before he leapt back, lined them all up, impaled them, and drove his sword into the ground; sparking up a giant web of dark energy that shredded the clones of the other girls. All six of them faded away shortly after he lifted his sword out of the four he had skewered.

"As we know, the Rangers in their current state are weak. That is why you were able to defeat them so easily, my captain," said Vi'Al, as the simulation around the Wolfpack captain ended. "Though, that may be attributed to the many prizes you have claimed in your never-ending conquest, my captain. That or they are just plain terrible at fighting against you. Either way, this entire simulation is nothing at the moment."

"Then why have me train in it? I can take down thousand-man armies with fewer attacks than this." Mar'Zek lifted a brow at Vi'Al as he readjusted his lab coat.

"That's exactly the point, my captain. If the Rangers last longer than the armies you battle, then they are more worthy of your time in training as well. Plus, this is only the base variable. They have so much more time to develop and grow. So much more new data can be extracted from future performances. And when we run that into the simulations, I can assure that you will have more worthwhile, intense, and—dare I say it—fun training sessions."

"I haven't had fun since I tore down the Archipelago of Abhorrence in Sector Q-18. Seeing all those maggot-ridden monsters scream and cry before my feet, before challenging the finest of them all? I enjoyed every second of sending those creatures back to whatever pits they crawled out of." He sighed, sliding his sword back into the scabbard by his hips. "And Plagueraven makes a very efficient tool for spreading chaos without the need for a full-scale invasion. I'm almost glad I found her there. A shame, really, since every quest from there has really been more and more easy for me. It's almost like the universe isn't even trying anymore to fight me. They just accept defeat or make a very poor effort to show bravado and resistance."

"True, but these Power Rangers are the exception; the stray variable in our warpath. They've already taken down some prominent Wolfpack figures. Preda'Tor, Ahn'Taier, and now Para'Noia too. Need I remind you of how high their body counts were, and the bounties that were laid on their heads? They were almost in the billions for space bullion."

"True. And now nobody will be able to collect. Not that they would want to, anyways. After all, no-one who fights a Wolfpack wolf lives or goes home. Until now, that is." He pressed his foot down on the floor again, causing the ranger doubles to respawn in the room. "These Power Rangers. Red, orange, yellow, blue, white, and pink. When I'm done with them, and their crystals are mine, I'll personally stuff and mount them, de-suited and disarmed, and hang their helmets and weapons above my throne, as a sign of warning to those who would challenge me after." Clutching the handle of his blade again, Mar'Zek waited for the rangers to charge in. Once they were at arms' length from him, he drew the sword at breakneck speeds, decapitating all of the computerised girls at once and causing them to fade away again. "No matter how big you think your victories are, Power Rangers, you accomplish nothing. And only delay the inevitable. And you don't even know how insignificant the difference you make is..."

System Shock

On the Wolfpack's flagship, Mar'Zek was watching back the battles the Rangers had fought since donning the suits. All the wolves and crewmembers he had sent out, as well as the hound infantry that acompanied them, all falling before his eyes, over and over again. His claws rapped against the arm of the chair as he examined their form, the way they held their weapons, and the weight behind their attacks.

"It's so strange." He turned to Vi'Al by his side. "How can a group of such sloppy, unfocused, under-experienced teenagers possibly stand a chance against the Wolfpack? My Wolfpack? Are the warriors I recruited getting slow in old age? Or is there something more that I'm just not seeing in them?"

"Nonsense, captain! Your crew ALWAYS train rigorously every single day. We don't let a single agent rest or slouch. Ever!" Vi'Al piped up, pulling his eyes out of a clipboard with data scribbled on it. "But I do agree that it does raise some questions. And let me say, it's been really fun to try and decipher the algorithms and conundrums as to how these children can fend off your army."

"Bah! Nonsense!" Siel'Viz howled and hunched over, slamming her hand against the throne's side. "Captain. Send me down next. I'll teach them a proper lesson."

"No, Siel'Viz. You would completely flatten them with your combat expertise. Thirty years of military training on Lupus versus six teenagers who barely know how powerful they really are. It's a heavy mismatch, and it would be a mercy kill." He pulled Siel'Viz's hand off of the throne. "And remind me. What are the three golden rules of the Wolfpack?"

"Rule number one. Only fight those on your level; Rule number two. Leave nothing in your wake after the mission is complete." She stood back upright and stared out at the stars. "And rule number three. The Captain's word is law."

"Exactly. And my law is that you are not permitted to go out into battle against the Power Rangers." Mar'Zek gave her a sideways glare before activating the digital bubble around him. "However, that does not mean that nobody will be fighting the Power Rangers. It's only a matter of choosing who is next to hunt them down..."

With how many screens had been turned to static, Mar'Zek had to think long and hard about what aspect he wanted to train next. The Rangers were strong of mind, but he had to question their strength and resilience. With that thought in mind, his eyes turned towards a screen, showing a human warrior with electricity crackling through his long, spiky hair, draped in a yellow, body-tight suit with black bolts of lightning running down it. He was hovering in the air thanks to a current of electric bolts, and launched volleys of electricity down at his targets, which chained to other targets at close proximity. Then, it showed him overloading a makeshift power station and blanketing a region in darkness.

"Strong. Sophisticated. Elegant. He will do well against the Rangers." He tapped on the screen, starting a voice call with the human on the other side.

"Master. You called?" The human bowed before him, his scottish accent on full display.

"Yes I did, Livewire. You are to report to the Meteor Cannon. I have chosen you to be the Power Rangers' next opponent." He grinned. "I'm launching you at the power station. From there, take out anything that still stands in the wake, and then get rid of the comm lines. Send Canterlot into a complete blackout. Then, focus on the Rangers' technology."

"This another one of your tests, master?" He asked, lifting a brow. "Because if it is, I'm gonna love every second of it."

"It is. The Rangers rely on technology to win. But what were to happen if that technology were to completely disappear on them? Would they still take up arms? Or would they fall before us?" He asked. "Either way, you are going to give us an answer."

"Understood. Glory be to the Wolfpack." He gave a salute by pounding his chest twice with the side of one of his fists, before the screen vanished, and the cannon began to target the city. A single shot fired, sending reverberations of the noise throughout the ship.

The shell careened through the cosmos, broke through the atmosphere, and caught fire due to the sheer velocity it had. From the ground, it looked like a single shooting star, hurtling through the skies. But little did everyone know just what awaited it inside.

It was a very late night at the Canterlot Power Station. A lone facility filled to the brim with industrial technology. Power transformers, electrical conduits, fuse boxes, cooling towers, and many more; all channelling the same currents between each other, before distributing them to the rest of the city. Steam was vented every so often, and the noises of metal tools fixing and bolstering the devices could be heard deep within the complex.

In the control room, a lone worker sat quietly at his desk, eyeing up each of the different screens on display, keeping a close eye on the other employees and the machines that they were working on. He had a few magazines scattered around of varying interests, as well as a mug of coffee and a few snacks laden around. Mostly, for him, it had been a very quiet night. That was until he decided to take his eyes off of the screens for a brief moment and catch a glimpse of the stars outside. One of which being the shell that housed Livewire, shining brighter and brighter as it came darting towards the facility.

As the worker adjusted his glasses and blinked at the bright cannon shell, he eventually opened his eyes to the truth. That was no star. And it wasn't just passing by. Letting out a gasp, he ran towards a button that would set off the alarms, but the second his hand touched it, the shell crashed down, engulfing the power station in a massive explosion, sending flames and electricity in all directions.

From the rubble, tumbling down around him, Livewire stood back up and began to coil electric energy between his hands. With a sinister smirk on his face and his eyes glowing a shade of bright blue, he threw his arms out, sending a web of energy out through the facility, trailing down each and every corridor and destroying whatever remained of the facility.

His reach extended to every single appliance through the base. The lights above the corridors grew in power before bursting; the computers all lit up with blue screens with error messages on them before they combusted and spread their parts across the area; the elevator systems were fried before the wires were cut, sending every single box tumbling down to the bottom floor; and every area that was even the slightest bit damp was now charged with electricity, frying anyone or anything that stood on it at the time.

"Y'know how they always say that lightning never strikes twice in the same place? Hah! What a buncha idiots..." Livewire then threw his hands into the air, sending another wave of electricity into the clouds, causing them to transform into storm clouds and gather around him. They sent out thicker, louder, and more widespread bolts of lightning, which all smashed into the cooling towers. The excessive force caused every single one of the beaker-shaped buildings to crumble, debris raining down around the foundations and burying anything that laid inside.

"Captain. The power station is down. Moving to engage the comm lines," Livewire spoke through a device mounted on his arm before running out of the site.

"Very good, Livewire. I can see now that my visit to Nimbus-12 was not for nothing after all," said Mar'Zek through the device. "Now. Twist the knife, and put the whole city into a state of chaos!"

"Acknowledged." He ran towards the nearest telephone tower and let another wave of electric energy launch out of his hands. Sparks flew from the metal, and the cables all snapped one after another. The same lightning then chained itself to any other nearby towers that were stationed around the site, until every single one of the lines had been cut. "Towers are down, Captain. Canterlot and the Power Rangers have no way of communicating or using their gadgets. Moving into the city now. I'll radio you as soon as daybreak comes."

"Exceptional work. You might just have a promotion on the cards if you continue to impress me like this," Mar'Zek replied.

"Understood. Thank you, Captain." Livewire began running towards Canterlot, trailing sparks and voltage behind him as he did so. "Initiating radio silence now. Disengaging voltaic energy." He tapped a button on the device, shutting off the link between him and the captain. At the same time, the lightning that he conducted started to fade away, leaving him with nothing more than his suit and his body. "Now then, Power Rangers. Let's see how ye recover from this!"

The next day, the Rainbooms were all gathered around Canterlot High, with their hands curled and their phones securely in their pockets. They took a look around at everyone else and noticed that not a single one wasn't talking. Even the more quiet students were engaging in conversations, sharing looks with each other.

"So... I guess I'm not the only one who had all the power out this morning, huh?" Rainbow Dash broke the silence between the girls at long last.

"It wasn't just you, Rainbow Dash, I'm pretty sure that everyone around the country is sharing in your troubles," Rarity spoke up. "All of the power in my house was down as well. I had to use the oven to blow-dry my hair this morning!"

"Because of the power outage, we had to take toasted and microwaved goods off of the menu today. Not to mention that the TV was totally on the fritz, and it was really hard to take any card payments too!" Pinkie Pie threw her arms out. "Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen Mr and Mrs Cake write up posters and warning signs that fast. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen them do that, period!"

"Oh, I don't see what everyone's so fussy about." Fluttershy coiled some hair around one of her fingers. "It was pretty fine for me this morning."

"Yeah, because you're not that into technology like most of the other kids here at Canterlot High. And now, they're all beginning to panic because it's just... gone!" Rainbow threw her arms up, her eye twitching as her fingers squirmed.

"Well, I don't think that there's anything that we need to worry about. All we can do is just give Elaris a call and we can figure this whole thing out, right?" Sunset reached in for her phone and opened up the contacts list on her phone. She tried to call Elaris, but her phone refused to ring even once. She tried again. No response. After the third time yielded nothing, she just closed her phone up and turned back to her friends. "Okay. That might be a problem."

"What is it, Sunset?" Rarity asked, putting a hand on Sunset's shoulders.

"It's not just the power that's gone today, girls. It's the phone line as well. I've got no 4G, and none of my attempts to get to Elaris worked. No tech, and no phone calls either. What is going on today?" She asked, looking to each of the girls for an answer, who could only respond with silence and raised shoulders.

"Rangers." Elaris reached over Rainbow Dash's shoulder and tapped her, causing her to jump and yelp loudly.

"Gah! Elaris! Don't do that to us, OK?" Rainbow Dash barked, her hands noticeably still shaking from the surprise.

"I apologise. But I think that there's something you need to see. And I don't think any of you are going to like the look of it." She said, turning towards the door and walking back out of the school. "Come on, girls."

But before she could take another step forward, the school bell rang, and everyone started to make their way towards their classes. Pretty soon, Elaris found herself pushed aside by the other teenagers and ultimately knocked onto her back with how she had tried to navigate through them. When everyone else had gone, the Rainbooms all reached their hands out towards her and helped her back on her feet.

"Oh. You have your... classes. I see." Elaris turned back to the doors, which all closed once the students were properly situated inside. "Well, I can always wait, if you wish."

"Yeah. Sorry about that, El. We forget to tell you about that. See, we're not just Power Rangers twenty-four seven, y'know." Pinkie gave her a few pats on the back. "We've got school, education, to learn about the world and what we wanna do with ourselves once we go to college and all that stuff."

"I understand. Completely," said Elaris. "Well, in the meantime, why don't I go back to the ship? Work on some modifications and upgrades in the Forge? By the looks of the damage done today, you might need those as soon as physically possible..."

And without another word, she walked off, leaving the Rainbooms all feeling a sense of dread inside. What could have been so bad that Elaris had to come and see them in person, instead of giving them a call with their powered-up phones? Many of them hypothesised and imagined what it could have been, but all of them didn't have any proof or real ideas on what the true damage was.

Later, after all of their classes had come to an end, the Rainbooms were all gathered in the bridge of Elaris's ship again, watching as a holographic model of the city materialised before them, with a series of bars to the right of it displaying the power that the city had. Shortly after said gauges appeared, they were completely drained, which also caused the city projection to transform more and more, turning the chunky buildings into outlines of themselves.

"Last night, something must have happened to the generators and power units in your city, as well as the comm lines themselves," said Elaris as she turned on a screen, showing a news report that none of the girls had ever seen before. "Since every form of communication and information has been severed, I have had to expand L.U.C.Y's reach to another city for the time being, to find any trace of a clue as to why this has happened. And so far, this is the best I could come up with."

"And now a reminder of our top story today: Canterlot City has gone completely dark, after what could only be described as a terrorist plot enacted on the city by an unknown group of individuals," said the newscaster, showing pictures of the ruined power station. "At 2:30AM last night, the city's power station was destroyed and left in ruins. Further investigations went on to report that the entire facility had been completely overloaded with energy, and the devices could not handle it. As for the damage, the only theory that people have been making so far was that a series of bombs were detonated both in the main building and around the cooling towers themselves. The police in the area are unaware of the situation at the moment, as not only was the power completely cut, but the phone lines around the building were also destroyed, making it physically impossible for anyone in the region to make or receive any and all calls."

"What the..." Sunset was horrified at the state of the site, looking at every single piece of the wreckage like each one was just as horrific as the last.

"This HAS to be the Wolfpack's doing. It couldn't be anyone else's." Rarity snarled and balled up her hands. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Those heathens have gone way too far this time. Forcing me to resort to primitive devices just to look my best?! I WON'T STAND FOR IT!"

"The reporters have been unable to confirm as to when the power station will be restored, but until it does, the entire city of Canterlot is completely dark on both power and communication," the newscaster continued. "Shops and restaurants all across the city have put up signs that they can only take cash payments, as credit card readers have also been knocked out by this attack. Further, banks have seen a rise of visitors in the past few hours, as people are scrambling to receive any money that might have been lost to them by other means. Well, whatever may happen to the city, in the meantime, it is a complete dark zone; one that will quickly desolve into chaos and anarchy unless the situation is handled rapidly."

"This is not good. Electricity is one of the main assets of the entire city." Sunset turned the news report off and looked back at the city outline. "Without it, traffic will be out of control, jobs will be halted, people famished for entertainment, and much more."

"Not to mention that nobody will be able to let anyone know about it. These Wolfpack soldiers are ruthless..." Applejack took off her hat and held it down by her side. "Look. Let's just find that wolf or whatever it is that did this and bring it down, alright? And while we're at it, we'd better lend a hand in fixing up that power station once it's all over."

"First things first, we need to know what could have done all this." Elaris began to pace back and forth through the room. "Who could have been powerful enough to destroy all of this, but still make it out alive?"

"You think it was Mar'Zek? To prove a point and try and teach us a lesson?" Fluttershy asked, silently lifting her hand. "He does want to test us, after all. This must be another one of those tests."

"No. Captain Mar'Zek would never do something like this in an attempt to pick off strong warriors. He always, always, ALWAYS launches a full-scale war assault on the planets he conquers, and leaves the destruction to the rest of the Wolfpack while he goes for the strongest fighters on said planets." Elaris just shook her head, taking one more look at the destroyed power station from a still image of the news report. "Still, it boggles the mind to wonder who could have done this..."

Suddenly, the alarm blared, and the screen changed again to show a map of Canterlot. There was an area of the map that was radiating with a bright cyan glow, sending small ripples out around it that faded as quickly as they appeared.

"Everyone, I'm reading voltaic energy in the central district. It's in a strong concentration and it's entirely unfiltered. Nothing's being powered up by it or benefiting off of it..." Elaris jumped into the chair of the bridge and zoomed in on the marked area, highlighting it once it had been scaled up. "In non scientific or formal terms, it's a massive ball of lightning, right in the heart of the city.

"How many volts is it, Elaris?" Twilight asked, running up to her side. "Is it lethal electricity?"

"I'm calculating the power now, and it's not looking good. It's reading electrical powers of up to fourty million terawatts. That's enough to electrocute the entire sea and everything both in and on it!" She frantically began typing away at the console. "L.U.C.Y.! Configure ranger outfits! Raise electrical resistance to the highest levels!"

"Understood, but you should know that this power is only finite," L.U.C.Y. said as the crystals began to glow and shimmer, as little spores of light were absorbed into them. "If the Rangers take too much damage, then this protection will disappear, and the voltage will kill them on the spot."

"Girls. I've given you a shield, but it's not going to be enough." Elaris lowered her brows. "Whoever this Wolfpack agent is, destroy them and contain that energy quickly. Otherwise, Canterlot could be completely destroyed."

"Got it! Rangers! It's Morphin' Time!" Sunset called to the rest of her team as they all tapped their crystal belt buckles.

"Equestrian Stars! Shine Bright and Let's Fight!" They all called and posed, hastily morphing into their Ranger forms before dashing out of the ship to meet their opponent.

The Storm Rages

Livewire hovered through the streets of Canterlot, electricity crackling from every inch of his body. Looking out at the nearby citizens, he saw them quiver at him and his form and power. Casting a sinister gaze, he clicked his fingers, creating jagged gates of electricity that soon surrounded them and caused them to scream. They tried to run, but as they made contact with the electric cages, the energy shot all up their bodies and stunned them on the spot, while also causing their hairs to spike and frizz.

“Dinnae bother tryin’ ta escape. No-one can withstand a Nimbian’s weather powers,” he said to the rest of his captors. “And besides, the Power Rangers need an audience to witness their destruction. How ye humans always keep running away from the Wolfpack ah don’t know. We’re totally harmless; s’long as ye let us in...”

All he got from his prisoners were more whimpers and blubbering whines as he towered above them. He smirked at them while coiling lightning around his fingers, then sending it trailing through the cages, giving everyone gentle static shocks; yet still strong enough to make them flinch.

“What? Are ye scared of a little lightning?” He taunted, his hair erupting in the fashion of a tesla-ball. Volts spat out in every direction, with his hair thrashing and flailing with each and every one. “Bah! You earth folk are such babies. Why, when I was a lad, I was spitting these out with merely a thought.”

“That’s far enough!” Sunset called out from behind Livewire, with the rest of her Ranger team by her side. “Step away from those humans and set everyone free! Now!”

“Well, well, well. If it ain’t the ragtag children who’ve been giving my captain a right pain in the neck...” Livewire turned to face his prey, creaking the bones in his neck as he locked gazes with them. “You lasses have been a nuisance for the Wolfpack ever since you took down Preda’Tor. He and I would share drinks in the mess hall by the gallon, and now he’s buried on this wretched tomb planet.”

“If it’s any consolation, you’ll soon be joining him!” Rainbow Dash pointed her blasters at him. “We’re not scared of some human in a spandex suit!”

“It’s not SPANDEX!” Livewire howled, launching a chunky bolt of lightning through the Rainbooms’ legs, hitting the ground behind them. The resulting explosion launched them all towards Livewire, who threw his hands into the air and released more lightning, which danced and contorted through the skies before striking them in the back mid-flight. “That’s just an insult to us Nimbians. These suits represent who we are and the legacy we lead. To call them by such an unappealing name is just revolting; even for superheroes like yerselves.”

"Rrgh... He's strong!" Rainbow Dash struggled to find the energy to get back up. "And we haven't even had a chance to make our first hits yet!"

"I've barely even tapped in to my lightning powers yet, and already the Rangers are squirming by my feet. Honestly, the Captain keeping you all around is a mystery I may never unravel." Livewire snapped his wrist back to his hand, static shocks trailing between his fingers. "Between you and me, he should have given you mercy; cause clearly ye don't deserve to stay alive after these poor performances."

"And who are you to judge?" Sunset finally got back to her feet and readied her sword. "You're not a monster. You're a human! Why do you wanna serve the Wolfpack? What do you gain out of it?" Yelling, she charged towards Livewire, swinging her sword down at him.

Livewire immediately reacted to this and grabbed the sword with one hand, stopping it in its' tracks. He pulled Sunset towards her and kicked her in the chest with both feet before gliding over to her side again. "You wanna know why? Because I need to exert my power, and lord only knows my fellow Nimbians weren't gonna give me the chance."

Rainbow Dash let lasers fly, all of which hit Livewire in the back and caused him to stumble over Sunset's body. Snarling, he turned back to the rest of the rangers and watched as they all stood before him.

"Cheap shot." Livewire spat towards the ground.

"See what you think of this, then!" Rainbow Dash immediately modified her blasters, bringing them both together and coalescing the barrels together, creating a large gun with a pump underneath it. "Twin Blasters! Shotgun Mode!"

"You'll have to get close. And I don't do close-quarters!" Livewire clapped his hands together, sending a massive wave of electricity towards the Rangers.

"Terra Hammer!" Applejack swung it viciously into the ground, creating a massive stone spike that caught the lightning attack and detonated once it impacted, leaving the girls unharmed. "Think ya'll skipped a class on lightning that day!"

"Earthbending powers, eh? Oh, you're gonna be a fun lass to play with. Ah can tell it from the look on your face..." Livewire gave Applejack a sadistic grin and flew towards her, wings of pure electricity visible on his back. "Tempest Trident! Come to me now!" As he approached Applejack, he raised his hands into the air, causing a singular bolt of lightning to rain down upon him. He caught it and moulded the energy into a makeshift trident, before swinging it at the Rangers.

Applejack's hammer met with his trident, and Rarity's swords were soon to follow. Every strike they made was fast, but he was able to match them for speed and power. Every single time the weapons struck each other, literal sparks flew off and danced in the air around them momentarily before fizzling out. Neither side gave the other an inch, but eventually, Livewire's strikes were too much for the girls to match, and he broke through, poking both of them with the tips of his trident.

He stomped forward, trying to drive the weapon further, but Rainbow Dash's shotgun blasted him in the back, causing him to fall to his knees. Pinkie was quick to follow with a pair of uppercuts, with her cannons launching as she made her strike. Livewire was sent flying, and Fluttershy's flute followed up with a dive from the falcon, before Sunset caught the falling Wolfpack agent with a shockwave hurled from her flame sword.

"Ya think this is powerful? This is nothing compared to the pain I had to go through!" Livewire growled loudly, the energy in his hair growing in power with every second. "But why should I let you know about my story when you're about to die?" He clicked his fingers, and a group of Hounds appeared before him. Driving his trident into the ground, he created electrical veils around each of the footsoldiers. "Voltaic Hounds! CRUSH THE POWER RANGERS!"

"Voltaic Hounds?" Sunset could only watch as the electric grunts moved in on the rangers, trailing volts as they ran and surrounded them. "I've never seen this before!"

"Voltaic Hounds?" Twilight repeated as she watched the Hounds begin to attack the Rangers, every claw swipe, kick, and punch being assisted by electrical energy. "Did Mar'Zek enhance them since our last battle?"

"No. The Hounds are still as they've always been. They've just been powered up by this new agent." Elaris pointed closely towards the electric outline that the Hounds all had. "Whatever this guy did, it seems to have amplified their power by giving them elemental properties. And I'm pretty sure that everyone in the Wolfpack is seeing this as well, and will most likely use it for later encounters."

"While we're on the subject, do you have any clue what that guy could be?" Twilight said, panning the screen's camera to show Livewire, casually passing the time by turning his trident into other weapons while the Rangers fought against his Hounds. "He's a human, but he still works for the Wolfpack. Any ideas?"

"Well, judging from his appearance, he could be an infiltrator species designed to look human while still maintaining full lightning-powers or..." She began typing away at the console, bringing up a detailed scan of Livewire. "Oh no... This is not good."

"What? What is it?" Twilight asked, quickly laying a hand on the console.

"I thought they were all destroyed! I thought that Nimbus-12 had been completely wiped out!" She said, bringing up more and more information on Livewire through her monitor. "Unless... he's the sole survivor of his species."

"Elaris? Who is this guy? And why did you freak out over him?" Twilight stepped in front of the screens, breaking Elaris out of her trance.

"Sorry about that, Twilight. What we're dealing with is a Nimbian; a human who has the power to control weather effortlessly. On Nimbus-12, what weather element you had determined where you would live, and since he controls electricity, he must have lived in the Voltic Sky City of Cumulo." As she continued to type, she brought up images of Nimbus-12, and the different corners of it. "But then... there was an accident. One day, one of the Nimbians went rouge, and ended up using their powers to drop everyone else on the planet; even going so far as to assassinate the King of the Elements; the ruler of the whole planet."

"You think that was him?" Twilight pointed to Livewire. "The same guy, I mean? Not the king, but the one who killed all those others?"

"Yes. Though he serves the Wolfpack, there are still some who know him well. His real name was lost in the accident, but ever since, he has been serving under the Wolfpack under a codename chosen out by Mar'Zek," Elaris finally pulled up what looked like a sigil engraved on his back. It showed a massive lightning storm, with bolts raining down from the clouds above, striking archaic markings with intricate patterns. "Livewire; the Wolfpack God of Lightning."

"God of Lightning? Do you think he was the one who destroyed the power station as well?" Twilight saw the screen rapidly change back to show the Rangers struggling to fend off the Voltaic Hounds. Quickly, she darted over to a speaker by the front of the ship. "Rangers, we've got a problem."

"Yeah. We've got a problem alright, Twilight. And it's trying to hit us right in the face!" Sunset said, deflecting an attack with her sword, only for the aftershocks to knock her back into her friends.

"These Hounds are way too tough for us to handle!" Rainbow Dash shot down one with her shotgun, only for two more to punch her in the gut, then immediately follow with an uppercut. She was sent flying, causing a small bolt of lightning to impale her and send her back to the ground, vanishing upon impact.

"Yeah! Whatever that guy did, it made these meanies even meanier!" Pinkie said, barely being able to vault over her enemies anymore, as the lightning fields repulsed her and sent her stumbling backwards. She tried to fire her party cannon wrist launchers, but her shots were deflected by the Hounds' strikes.

"This is nothing. You Rangers are nothing. And yer an insult to the power you hold," Livewire scoffed, turning away. "I'll leave you all to die now. If by some miracle you manage to stop the Hounds, ye aren't gonna be able to stop me from blowing out the rest of the planet's comm lines and power stations."

"N-no! You're not getting away from me!" Sunset twirled her sword and drove it through the earth. "Eruption!" Yelling loudly, she caused pillars of fire to erupt beneath the Hounds' feet, lifting them high into the air for a few moments. "Girls! After him!"

"Right!" The other rangers nodded and fled the scene as fast as they could, leaving the wolves to tumble to the ground. But as they ran, they didn't see the Voltaic Hounds run after them, gaining more and more speed as the energy trickled out of their bodies.

"Running away from Hounds is not what we call strength. It's cowardice." Livewire turned back and spread his arms out wide. "And here's what we do to cowards!" Slamming his arms down, he created a wall of pure lightning that smashed head-on into the Rainbooms, throwing them all back to the Voltaic Hounds.

All of the Rangers were struck by the Hounds once they were in range, sending them back towards Livewire. He quickly followed up with another lightning wall, before driving it and the Rangers into the Hounds, creating a massive electrical explosion that destroyed every single window and lightbulb in the city.

The force and magnitude of the explosion was so powerful that the Rangers were all de-morphed, strewn about on the roads, looking up at Livewire and the Hounds. All of them let out pained groans and moans as they tried to get back up, only for him to create a snare net and the weighted balls to hold it down with, before throwing it over their bodies.

"This is a right royal mess. You are a mess. You are so pathetically weak that I'm gobsmacked you even have those crystals in the first place." He looked Sunset in the eyes. "I'd be going against the captain's orders, but so what? As far as I'm concerned, your funeral starts right now."

"Girls! We... need to... morph again..." Sunset couldn't even reach out for her crystal, the force of the lightning net already beginning to sap her of all of her remaining stamina.

Just as Livewire was about to charge his next attack, the device on his arm transmitted a screen to both him and the Power Rangers.

"Livewire. I've seen enough," Mar'Zek said as his picture appeared on the screen. "The Power Rangers have fallen. Your mission is complete."

"You want me to put them out of their misery? Retrieve the crystals for ye, captain?" He asked, tearing his vision away from his felled foes. "They clearly dinnae deserve to even be held by them."

"No. I will decide what happens with them." He said, putting his hands together. "Do you see now, Power Rangers? You. Cannot. Win. If you cannot even defeat Livewire, then you stand no chance of defeating me, the leader of the Wolfpack."

"We're not... done yet!" Rainbow couldn't even get her words out properly with how violent the shocks were to her body.

"You have two options now, Power Rangers. Accept defeat and join my crew, and I will let you keep the crystals that you hold. In fact, I will even give you proper training with them, and transform you into the real Perfect Ones that you are meant to be." He held one claw up, before lifting the other. "Or, you can choose to die peacefully, If you do, my crew will immediately leave, and the crystals will go to your graves. Either way, you cannot choose to defy us any longer."

"Option... number three. You choose... to leave us alone... and get stronger!" Rarity tried to fight back against the net, but only found the pain getting stronger and stronger the more she tried to thrash around.

"I gave you multiple chances to get stronger, but you are not improving at all. If anything, you are at a stand-still." Mar'Zek stood back up and cracked his knuckles. "You have no new forms. No different techniques. No way of surviving. You. Are. Weak. And I HATE the weak."

"No. You just haven't given them any time!"

Everyone turned to see Twilight Sparkle and Elaris standing before the Hounds and Livewire, all dripping with sweat and breathing heavily as all of them held a number of glowing chips in their hands.

"Well, well, well. There's the Harmonite who managed to steal from us and get away..." Mar'Zek chuckled and zoomed in on Elaris's face. "I knew that I would see you someday, my brave little pillager."

"You stole the crystals for yourself. I wouldn't allow it to go unpunished!" Elaris barked, tossing the chips to the Rangers. "The only reason your Wolfpack still breathes today is because no-one has ever been brave enough to stand against it. Well, now, that day has come. And even if we die, then so be it. At least we died fighting the most powerful fleet of killers in the universe!"

"An interesting hypothesis... So death merely drives you?" He just chuckled to himself. "Well, if that's the case, let's see that drive. Livewire. Kill this Harmonite, and the girl next to her. Then, you may return."

"On it, Captain." He turned the screen off and stared down Twilight and Elaris. "I was just about to destroy your friends. But, eh, I'll take what I can get. I'm not a picky guy, after all." Pointing his hands to the sky, he threw a large column of lightning into it, forming a massive black cloud over the heads of all of them, which violently spat lightning out in all directions. "Electric Monsoon!" He threw his hands down, causing as many lightning bolts to fall as there were raindrops in a cloud, coating the entire street with explosions.

In the wake, Elaris had held up her hands, but had been reduced to her knees, as a small shield surrounding her and Twilight vanished, causing her to tumble unconsciously to the ground. As for the Rangers, the net had disappeared, and they were all standing proudly before the Voltaic Hounds and Livewire. Their suits were back on, only now, they had lightning bolt patterns across the sleeves and legs.

"The cockroaches still squirm. Interesting." Livewire grinned and clicked his fingers, conjuring another strong aura of electricity around the Hounds.

"You're not stopping the Power Rangers today." Twilight continued to breathe heavily. "Girls. I've bought you time, but that Thunder Chip is only temporary. You don't have long to break through Livewire's defences. Do what you can and return to the ship."

"How long do we have?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'd say around three minutes before the chips burn out. Now go! Stop the Hounds and get back here, so we can discuss a way on stopping Livewire!" Twilight reached over Elaris's body and lifted it up over her own, before running off out of the city with her.

"Looks like we're on even terms now, you bully!" Pinkie grinned and smashed her cannons together. "And we're gonna take that and run with it!"

"Running. Something you were given the chance to do, but didn't take it. Hounds! Deal with them!" He turned away from the Rangers, letting the Hounds charge in on the girls.

"We need to do this quickly. Before these new forms deactivate!" Rarity charged her swords with her geode's powers before rubbing the blades together, creating massive electrical sparks. "Diamond Discharge!" She created a string of reflective discs around her and stuck her swords into two of them, creating a web of energy that clipped each of the Hounds together."

"Confetti Bombardment!" Pinkie shot herself into the air and let a barrage of shots fly down onto the chained wolves, each and every speck of confetti landing on them and exploding shortly after. The kinetic shocks then leapt to the other Hounds, causing them to stumble and stagger even more.

"Stone Slinger!" Applejack swun round on the spot, swinging her hammer as she did so. This caused rocks to rise from the ground and orbit around her, impaling the Hounds with each rotation.

Animal Flute! Bees!" Fluttershy blew out some notes, causing a swarm of ghostly bees to drive themselves through the Hounds rapidly. Each and every sting bouncing between the Hounds and adding to the ever-growing chain of attacks that beat them senseless.

For the Hounds, it was all too much for them to handle, and before Sunset and Rainbow Dash could add their own attacks, the Hounds fell to the ground and exploded around the Rangers.

"Finally have your strength back, do ya?" Livewire teased, sliding his foot along the ground. "Good. Now, let's put an end to this silly nonsense, shall we?"

"Infernal Trail!" Sunset's sword burned ferociously with blue flames. Holding it to her side, she ran towards Livewire and slashed him across the chest twice with the sword, leaving a slash mark on his suit. After that, she ran a circle around Livewire and trapped him in a massive wall of fire.

"Weak!" Livewire swung his hands out, dousing the flames immediately. "A Nimbian controls weather itself!" He floated higher and higher into the skies above the Rangers and clapped his hands together. "Electric Monsoon!" He called, bringing down his signature attack once more on the girls."

"Not this time!" Rarity brought the girls together and activated her powers, causing a forcefield of her own to surround the Rangers and collect all of the lightning that blitzed down on them. She aimed the collected energy at Livewire, then lowered the shield, sending the whole attack towards him.

"Got him!" Rainbow fist-pumped.

"Not yet!" Pinkie called, as Livewire simply snapped his neck back to the girls and grinned sadistically.

"This is more like it." He laughed as he called more and more lightning around him. "Now, you Rangers are giving me a fight. And going all out on me like that? Well, that's just making it more and more exciting."

"Well, we're just getting started!" Applejack's grip on the hammer grew tighter as she smashed it into the ground. Vaulting herself up into the air she performed a somersaulting move with it and smashed Livewire in the back, leading him towards the ground. "Landslide!" Applejack hit the ground with her hammer, causing a series of giant boulders to tumble from the sky and bury Livewire beneath them.

It didn't last long, though, as the rocks all self-destructed, revealing Livewire beneath them, bruised from the attack. Panting to himself, he stood back up and faced the Rangers once again.

"Well, now. You're really not holding back anymore, are ye?" He grinned, laughing lightly under his breath. "Maybe this is what being a Power Ranger does to you, and right on the verge of being slaughtered too." He was still radiating pure electricity, even when his hair looked like it was falling out. "Guess I need to go all out too, then."

"Don't even try it, Livewire. We all know that's just gonna end badly for you," said Sunset.

"On the contrary, Rangers. It's gonna end badly for you. Especially when you consider that I, a weather-controlling Nimbian, was only really getting warmed up by our last tussles." Clapping his hands together, he formed yet another storm cloud; one that covered the entire sky this time. He floated high into the air and gathered the resulting ionised energy forming in the clouds. "I'm about to change all the rules!" After that, he just left out a fit of maniacal laughter.

"Hold on!" Pinkie pointed towards Livewire. "You're gonna go giant on us like the other Wolfpack Wolves, aren't you?" She yelled. "You saw what happened to your friends, and we can totally crush you with 'em!"

"Don't flatter yourselves. Ye kilt-less lassies ain't even worth that kind of punishment," he chuckled, as the thunderbolts masked the light on his face. "I have something more fitting in mind for you..." He reached into the air directly above him, causing all of the lightning stored in the clouds to gather around his location and stream down onto the ground, creating a massive, blinding lightning bolt. "Voltic Titan! Rise up and flatten these tiny Rangers!"

The Voltic Titan

From the blinding pillar of lightning, a massive, physical form emerged. First, the feet, which were curled upwards at the toes. Next, came the knees, that were jagged and sharp. Following that, the chest and arms, which were buff and muscular. Finally, the head, which looked to share the same hairstyle as Livewire, but donned what looked like a helmet. Every single part of the giant beast was made out of pure lightning, with not a single physical part to be seen. It gained a pair of blue tesla ball like eyes, before throwing its' arms to the side and roaring into the skies, causing massive deluges of lightning bolts to rain down on the city.

"Yer gonna need more than just a Megazord to beat this thing, lassies! But by all means, go ahead and try." Livewire folded his arms and flew upwards, resting delicately on the shoulder of his new giant. "Should be amusing to see you try and fight the thing that assassinated the King of Elements back home!"

As the Rainbooms all took up stances, a light seemed to fade away from their chests. And with it, the lightning patterns on their bodies began to disappear as well, reverting them back to their original Ranger outfits.

"Looks like the Electric Chips wore off. We're gonna have to be really careful against this guy now." Sunset turned to the rest of the crew. "We're not gonna be able to beat him until Elaris and Twilight finish on the permanent versions. Until then..." She turned to the skies, where the Voltic Titan stood directly over their heads. "We're gonna have to fight that thing first."

"Right. Let's call the Zords." Rarity gave a nod and reached for the sky. "Everyone! Megazord combination!"

"On it!" The other Rangers chorused. "Zords! Come to us!"

One by one, the Zords fell from the skies, before quickly contorting and fusing into the Equestrian Star Megazord. The Rainbooms all leapt into the cockpit and took their positions on their pedestals as the mech sprang to life before Livewire and his Voltic Titan.

"If you can handle this, Rangers, then you'll be able to a least stand a chance against me." Livewire grinned and tapped his fingers together. "Doesn't mean you'll win, though. Wolfpack agents are far stronger than you could ever think."

"How 'bout you stop boasting and get on with it!" Rainbow barked as the Megazord trudged towards the Voltic Titan.

"Okay then. It's yer funerals!" Livewire leapt off and watched as the Megazord punched the Titan, only for it to coil around its' body like a snake. The beast quickly lost its' form and regained it around the Megazord, before channelling its' energy inside, and causing a series of electrical explosions to detonate on its' captive, before leaping out and landing before the girls once more.

"Nngh! What just happened?" Sunset watched as the Voltic Titan slammed its' hands into the ground, spreading electrical coils throughout the city. All around them, glass began to shatter and machines began to explode, causing a catastrophic chain of chaos across the city. Some screams even rose up from the surface streets during the attack.

"Ye realise that you're in way over your heads, girls. Captain Mar'Zek has hand-picked the most powerful warriors from across existence. No cheap knock-offs or goofy phonies here. We are the real deal." Livewire's face grew a malicious smirk as he clenched his fist tight. "If you have any sense of intelligence, you'd give up right now and join our crew. Otherwise, we'll just keep pushing you closer and closer to the brink."

"What makes you think that we'd ever give up to you?!" Applejack roared, slamming her hands down on her Megazord Podium, causing the mech to perform a punch attack. It missed Livewire entirely as he threw himself off of the Titan's shoulders and flew onto its' head.

Livewire just let out another deranged laugh. "Are ye serious? Yer still fighting me? That's just priceless!" He slapped his knees and balled his body up in his fit, as the Voltic Titan grabbed the Megazord's kneck with both arms and send virulent electrical energy across it. Small explosions rang out, and the cockpit was filled with sparks.

"Sunset! Any ideas?!" Rarity called as she desperately clung onto the podium she stood on, the Megazord shuddering and shaking from the excessive voltage.

"The Voltic Titan. It's made of lightning. We just need to find something that electricity can't touch and we might have a fighting chance." Sunset frisked the area as the beast backed off and returned to Livewire's side. "Now then... what is there that we can use?"

"You're stalling!" Livewire bellowed, channelling more electrical energy through his hands. "If there's one thing I hate, it's people who take time with fighting. And yer about to see why!" He threw his hands skyward, launching bolts of lightning into the air. "Electric Monsoon!"

The same amount of lightning bolts rained down on the Megazord, causing another wave of explosions to run up and down its' body. The shocks and shakes were so violent that it threw the Rainbooms off of their control stands and into the back wall of the cockpit.

"This isn't going anywhere!" Sunset groaned as she just ran back onto her stand and threw her hands forward. She moved the Megazord, which was starting to crumble at the seams towards Livewire. She ran it straight through the Voltic Titan, the static energy coiling through her body and causing everyone's hair to stand on end as she barrelled through and charged down the street.

"Seriously? We're running away from this thing?!" Rainbow Dash groaned as she wobbled back onto two legs and lurched back towards her stand. "You know that Mar'Zek's gonna blow this planet up if we do that!"

"I know, I know! But we're getting our butts kicked out here and I'm not just gonna be a punching bag for the Wolfpack!" Sunset snapped her neck towards Rainbow, a seething glare in her eyes invisible behind her visor.

"You're running away? Now that is rich." Livewire folded his arms and watched as the Megazord disappeared into the town. He grinned and stretched his arm out, gathering up more and more energy with each passing second. Then, as they got farther and farther, he just shrugged and turned his back. He activated his comm device, bringing Mar'Zek back onto the screen. "Captain. The Perfect Ones have fled. Shall we decimate the planet and move on?"

"No. As much as I am disappointed in their actions, you were no better, Livewire." Mar'Zek grumbled and folded his arms. "Always fight those on your same level. They clearly aren't. If we were to kill them now, it would be an act of mercy. And you know my zero tolerance policy for mercy."

"It's not mercy if they've killed some of your wolves!" Livewire gnashed his teeth. "Preda'Tor. Ahn'Taier. Para'Noia. They've made this personal by spilling our blood!"

"Personal or not, my crew served their purposes. Call it expendable if you wish, but they clearly fell behind in their power and skill as Wolfpack Wolves." He rapped his claws against the side of his chair. "As for you, return to the ship at once. You have violated one of my golden rules."

"Who cares what ye think? I've slain gods! I've served your crew and slaughtered many a fine foe in me time!" Livewire snapped, his eyes viciously bulging out of his head as he threw his arms downwards. "You can punish me by killing me for all I care. I am ENDING those Perfect Ones right here and now! Then, I'll destroy the planet of my own accord, seeing as you are clearly lacking in proper judgement!" He threw the comm device to the ground, watching as it shattered against the torn up roads. "You think that you can play cat and mouse with me, Power Rangers? Well, the joke's on you. I've never lost that game once in me life." Livewire clicked his fingers, causing the Voltic Titan to turn into a serpent of lightning energy. One that dashed off with its' master towards the distant Megazord.

Sunset Shimmer, the other Rainbooms, and the Megazord sped across the outskirts of Canterlot towards the sea, just past a small wood. Trees toppled to the ground and splintered underneath the robot's gigantic feet, and a large path was led behind in the stampede of metal. As they approached the beach, they saw that it was almost empty. People had likely evacuated after having heard the distant devastation that had been going on in the city.

"The beach?!" Rarity yelped before turning towards Sunset. "As much as I do love some sun, sand, and sea, we've still got to fight Livewire and his Voltic Titan! How are we supposed to do that here?"

"Rarity, I know that it's a bit confusing, but I've got a plan." Sunset just stood firm on her podium and pounded away at the controls. "Do you remember that science class about Canterlot High, how glass was made?"

"Nope." Rainbow shook her head.

"Nuh-uh!" Pinkie joined in.

"I have... some faint memory of it." Fluttershy lifted a finger. "Though, I don't really know how that has anything to do with the situation."

"Let's put this into a scientific perspective, shall we? The Voltic Titan is made out of lightning energy, right?" She asked, getting nods from her peers. "Well, if that's true then we just need to figure out what can stop lightning dead in its' tracks. There's some good options there, but I doubt that rubber or wood would work at this rate. If there is a giant excess of rubber, then Livewire would just find someway around that and just go for us himself. And trust me, I bet he's worse than that big, lumbering oaf of a monster he's got."

"Cut to the chase, Sunset! How are we gonna stop Livewire?" Applejack helmet-palmed and shook her head.

"Just trust me on this, girls. We'll need to be in perfect sync with each other to pull this off." Sunset, underneath her Power Ranger outfit just gave a grin.

Just then, a ferocious arrow of bright white lightning cleaved through the sky, splitting the clouds apart for a brief instance. It contorted and twisted before crashing down into the ocean, creating the Voltic Titan and Livewire. As they stood in the ocean's waters, it crackled with electricity, spreading out across the distance and into the great beyond.

"YOU! You have broken the Wolfpack's rules, Power Rangers." Livewire howled as his Voltic Titan ran towards the Megazord, kicking up water and sand around him. "You have dissatisfied our lineage, by showing weakness! As an honourable Wolfpack Agent, I will end your life right now, take those Crystals for myself, and blow this entire planet to pieces! Then, and only then, will I stomp out the Captain and take my rightful place as a champion of champions!" His Titan grabbed onto the Megazord's legs and threw it out into the waters, before drilling its' hands into the sea. The lightning was conducted all across the mech, and the Rainbooms were once more launched from their positions into the ceiling. "Do you have any last words before I blow that puny Megazord of yours to pieces?!"

"Actually, I've got two." Sunset kicked herself off and smashed into the central button on her panel. "Zords! Separate!"

The Megazord broke back into its' original six pieces. Battered and torn, they all leapt out from the electrified ocean and darted towards Livewire and his Voltic Titan. The Kangaroo and Lynx behind him, the Bear and Bull in front of him, and the Falcon and Phoenix flying overhead.

"Divide and conquer? You must be getting desperate." Livewire just smiled as his Voltic Titan smashed the ground, causing an electrical explosion to spread out around him, blowing the six Zords away. "You. Cannot. Win. Accept that and lie down like the dogs you are!"

"Hey, blondie! Call this desperate?!" Rainbow Dash slammed the joysticks of her Falcon Zord, causing it to charge at speeds akin to that of a fighter jet. It cut through the sky, leaving a powerful slipstream in its' wake as she came back to the beach and struck Livewire directly in the chest with the beak of her Zord.

"Ground team! Now!" Sunset barked through her visor's microphone, causing Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy to get to work with their Zords.

The Kangaroo Zord bounced, the Bear and Bull Zords dug and threw sand up around them, and the Lynx Zord channelled Rarity's barrier magic around the Voltic Titan. All of these combined actions whipped up a tall tower of sand around the Voltic Titan, corralled and stacked together within the walls of diamond. The Voltic Titan roared as loud as it could and generated a lightning storm around the Rainbooms, throwing down bolt after bolt onto the Zords in an attempt to stop what they were doing. While some of them landed their marks, the others were dodged by the team of girls, or blocked by some extra barriers formed by the Lynx Zord.

"Rainbow Dash! Keep Livewire busy! We're just about to bury the Voltic Titan!" Sunset called.

"Got it! I've been waiting to give that punk a beatdown!" Rainbow gave a thumbs up and shot her Zord off across the sea, jetting back towards Livewire.

"You... You... YOU! DISGRACEFUL! UNETHICAL! IMMORAL! DISRESPECTFUL LITTLE TWERPS!" Livewire bellowed at the top of his voice, giant towers of electricity burying into the ocean, causing a massive tidal storm to form around him. "I'LL BURY THE LOT OF YOU AND DANCE ON YOUR GRAVES!"

Rainbow Dash had to jerk the controls of her Zord around as plumes of water burst up from the sea, while the sky spat more bolts of lightning down from the heavens. The windscreen was a complete blur as she just swiveled, dove, swooped, and swerved through the ongoing carnage and pandemonium. One strike would have been enough to end her flight, so she needed to be as careful as could be. Eventually, she broke through and fired at Livewire with a series of missiles and gunfire, only for him to generate a bubble of pure voltic energy around himself, causing every single shot to explode and disintegrate on impact.

Back on the beach, the Voltic Titan began to climb out of the sand by laying its' hands on top of the walls around it. In response, Sunset's Phoenix Zord fired quills out at the wall's apexes, causing a wall of flame to stand atop them, which then turned into a dome, encapsulating the Titan as the other Rangers finally filled it to the top with sand.

"Sunset! Now!" Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy cried out as they all began to push the diamond walls inward, crushing the Voltic Titan and letting the sand bulge out of the top.

"Infernal Spiral!" Sunset declared as she took control of the Phoenix Zord's controller and thrusted it in towards the frame. The Phoenix Zord spun around and around as it dived to the ground, its' fires growing bigger and bigger with each second. When she made it to the box's top, she pulled the device back out, causing the Phoenix Zord to stop and beat its' wings as strong as it could, causing a humongous spiral of fire to engulf the sand-drenched Voltic Titan, transfiguring all of the sand holding it into a glass rectangle, with the monster deep in its' center.

"Finish it!" Sunset called out as the diamond walls holding the prism of glass vanished.

Rainbow Dash, hearing the command, stopped firing on Livewire's shield and flipped backwards towards the beach. The engines fired and launched her at supersonic speeds back through the supercell-levels of wind, lightning, and water being swung up around her. She took much more hits on the return trip, with some parts of her wings being torn off in the confusion. Some alarms began to blare in the inside of her Zord's control room, but she didn't care. She finally cut back out through the damage and returned with the other Rangers.

"Zords! Fusion Attack!" The Rainbooms all chorused as they put their hands on the center of their Zords' control mechanisms. The six robotic animals all glowed brightly before they lurched towards the giant block of glass and struck hard. The Kangaroo, Bear, and Bull Zords dealt heavy ramming attacks to it, while the Falcon, Phoenix, and Lynx followed up with an array of claw strikes, leaving thousands upon thousands of cut marks on the glass slab. With the damage on full display, the Zords leapt skyward and fused back into the Megazord one more time. "Final Attack! Titanbreaker!" The Megazord fell from the sky like a meteor and punched straight through the top of the glass, It shattered all around it, along with the Voltic Titan itself as the Megazord impacted the ground, causing a gargantuan wave of sand to spread out across the impact zone. When the dust began to settle, nothing more than shards of glass remained. The Voltic Titan was no more.

"Sweet mother of..." Rainbow caught her breath for a few moments as she looked down at the wreckage. "We did it! We actually beat that thing! We're even more awesome than ever!" She leapt for joy on the spot and even pulled the other Rangers into a tight hug.

"Don't celebrate just yet, girls. We've still got one more guy to beat before the day's done." Sunset turned the Megazord back around, back out towards the ocean, where Livewire stood with his storm raging in the distance. "Him."

"Ye... actually beat the Voltic Titan?" Livewire stood gobsmacked, dumbfounded even. His storm began to wither a tad, but still raged on. All he did was hang his head and chuckle to himself slightly. That chuckle evolved to a small laugh, then maniacal. "Oh, NOW it gets interesting! I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but now I don't need to hold back anymore! I can just destroy you with ALL of my powers!" He laughed some more as the winds whipped up beneath him, causing a colossal tornado of water and lightning to form around him. "Power Rangers. You've awoken a sleeping dragon. And it's time you felt its' full force! PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR GRAVES DUG!"

Stepped on a Livewire

Twilight ran back into the ship with Elaris, helped her back into the pilot's seat and reactivated the console, bringing up a video feed of the Megazord standing adamantly on the beach. From there, Elaris pounded hectically on the keys of her console, trying to find some data on Livewire.

"That guy was pretty tough. I just hope that the girls know what they're doing." Twilight clasped her hands together as she watched the mech charge forward into the ocean.

"Those Thunder Chips we created didn't have enough data to sustain a full-time use. We should make sure to fix that once this stops," Elaris didn't stop typing, even during her conversation with Twilight. "Now then, Nimbians, Nimbians, how do we fight Nimbians?"

"Uh, forgive me for sounding a little bit off, but what's a Nimbian?" Twilight lifted a finger.

"A Nimbian can control weather to a heavy extent, to the point where it becomes the be all and end all of their power. They lived together on Nimbus-12 before it mysteriously vanished. Mar'Zek must have been responsible for that." Elaris pulled up a datafile, showing a breakdown of Livewire's body, while text in another language started to fly up a box on the right hand side of the picture. "The stronger a Nimbian's control over their weather is, the more dangerous they are. And this Livewire fellow seems especially dangerous if he was able to do all of that to the girls."

"You're telling me." Twilight winced, just rubbing her arms that she counted lucky hadn't been torn up by falling glass or bruised by other means.

"A Nimbian always has their limits. Excessive overuse of their power can have catastrophic effects, no matter how powerful they can be. Even the King of Elements, the Nimbian who ruled over everyone else on Nimbus-12 can be withered and exhausted after he uses up his strength." Elaris fiddled more with her device, establishing an audio link with the girls in the Megazord. "Rangers. Livewire's been out there for quite some time. All you need to do is survive this storm and you'll win."

"Survive? Elaris, as much as I am a fan of your little tidbits, it's not helping much right now!" Rarity cried, as a distant explosion burst into the conversation. "This Livewire is tearing us apart!"

"Even so, you need to stand tall. If he keeps on using his power like this, he'll burn himself out. That's your cue to move in for the finishing blow." Elaris removed the file on the Nimbians, restoring the video feed of the battle at hand. "If he throws the world at you, meet it. Break through his assault and cut through the storm!"

"Elaris, what are you—" But Sunset was cut off with a single push from one last button.

"You can do this. I know that you can. You've faced insurmountable odds before and always overcome them. Preda'Tor, Ahn'Taier, Para'Noia, all of them have fallen before your might, Power Rangers. Now, add another name to that list!" Elaris couldn't help but give a smile as she made a fist out of her hands.

"Do you know the last time I had to use this much power, Rangers?" Livewire asked as he threw his hand towards them, causing a wave of electrified water to crash down on the Megazord. "It was during my last raid with the Captain. Together, we pillaged and plundered the Hellfire System." He raised his hands and punched them together, making two waves spawn from the Megazord's sides, which promptly sandwiched it. "Planet after planet, destroyed. Species wiped from the face of existence, and all so we could get our hands on one single Wolfpack wolf, hiding out in the cosmos. He couldn't run from his calling, and now his pinnacle has been reached! UNLIKE YOU, who shall fall deeper and deeper into the abyss!" His tesla-ball hair wriggled and squirmed as tiny bolts of lightning crackled between them. He clapped his hands together, causing the tornado he surrounded himself with to spread, launching the Megazord back onto dry land.

In the attack, the Rainbooms were bounced around like peas in a frying pan, hitting every single corner of the cockpit, until they all smacked face-first into the windscreen and collapsed in a heap against the back.

"The Captain has grown weary, confused in his arrogance. He has forgotten the ways of old. Once I destroy you, I shall remind him of just how weak he is. I shall be the harbinger of his hubris, as I take yer crystals and finally give him the duel he so desperately wants!" Livewire snarled and flew towards the Megazord, bringing his hurricane with him. "He should have destroyed you when he had the chance. His so-called honour is vanishing with these weak attacks from his lessers. If they are simply to die, then what is the point of sending them, when he can land the sword through your necks himself?!"

"What good is honour if you Wolfpack wolves attack the people, cause untold chaos for them, rather than for us?!" Sunset leapt back up to where she was meant to stand and clung on tight, typing some commands to make the Megazord stand back up. "If anything, your 'honour' is nothing more than downright delinquency and mischief. You don't have honourable battles with your strongest rivals; rather beat them down and force them into conflict through twisted means! Well, as far as I'm concerned, you're all beyond saving because of that!"

"And what good do you know, Sunset Shimmer of the Power Rangers?!" Livewire's water drenched the Megazord, lifting it from the ground until the girls came face-to-face with Livewire. "You are not Wolfpack Wolves. Yer not well-versed enough with war and destruction to even know what the meaning of the word is for us." Livewire lobbed a volley of lightning bolts at the Megazord's windscreen, causing it to splinter, crack, and eventually shatter into pieces.

"Lightning Comb!" He declared, as he reached out for the girls, manifesting giant electrical hands that forcibly grabbed and threw the girls out onto a single solitary piece of land that had been ripped up in the storm, leaving the empty husk of the Megazord to tumble downward and separate into the six animals that formed it, before they turned into globes of light and flew back towards the town. "If ye have any sense of dignity left, you'll die right this instant for me. For the Wolfpack. You have failed to protect this world, and now we have come to collect what you owe us."

"No! It's you who's gonna be the one to go boom, Livewire!" Pinkie Pie pointed outwards with her wrist-mounted party cannons. "You meanie Wolfpack Wolves should have just left us alone!"

"Whether it was power or not, you should have just turned away and left us, rather than come to this world and hound us!" Rarity whipped out her twin swords. "Now, you've just made us angry. And we will not tolerate your brutish kind hurting the innocent any longer!"

"THEN PROVE IT." He grabbed Rarity by the throat and pumped a massive amount of lightning energy into her body. "PROVE THAT YOU CAN KILL ME. PROVE THAT YOUR SPECIES HAS SOME MEANING."

Sunset leapt out and swung her sword at Livewire, cleaving his hand clean off of its' body, releasing Rarity from its' hold. She then proceeded to grab him by the throat and swing that sword across his face repeatedly, leaving big cut marks until he just screamed, calling down another torrent of water and lightning down onto his body, knocking her back into the others.

"You're not killing my friends, Livewire. No matter what, we will be the ones to kill you first." Her eyes glowed bright red as she stood back up, a powerful aura enveloped her body and covered every square inch of it. "You have no right to invade our world, and now you are going to pay. For everything."

"For all of the chaos you Wolfpack Wolves have created, we're not just going to sit down and cry like babies!" Fluttershy took out her flute and twisted the dial. "They say you should be kind to everything you meet, but there are just some people that don't deserve it. You're one of them."

"Today, the Power Rangers are gonna put you down, turn away from your exploding body, and stand proudly as heroes. The Wolfpack can kamikaze into the planet fer all ah care, but we're not just gonna let you torment us any longer!" Applejack whipped out her Terra Hammer and swung it around in a spiral motion.

"Such bravado. Horribly misplaced." Livewire stood back up, his eyes beginning to glow pure blue, until there was no trace of them. Only blue spotlights remained in place of his eyes, as his remaining arm and legs also donned a radiant sheen of light. "VOLTIC VORTEX!"

Livewire swung his arm out towards the back of the storm, creating a clearing out towards the sea. That clearing was then filled with more and more volts of lightning, which danced around the sky, creating what looked like a ring reaching out through the ocean. Said ring conducted more and more voltage until there was nothing more than an endless stream of pure electrical matter.

"I have never been driven this far before, Power Rangers. Now, I will show ya exactly how I murdered the King of Elements. If you survive this trick, well, let's just say you'll never have to worry about pain ever again." With a click of his fingers, Livewire created a gust of wind that began to push the Rainbooms closer and closer towards the Voltic Vortex. "And just to make sure that you definitely go flying, Electric Monsoon!"

His signature move rained down on the platform, breaking it up piece by piece, splitting the Rainbooms up further and further from each other and blurring their vision of each other as the hurricane's waters gradually grew thicker and thicker Screaming at the top of his voice, Livewire sent lightning orbs careening off in every direction, groaning and howling to himself endlessly as his hair became more and more frazzled and messy. "DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! BLEED! FALL! FADE! VANISH! DISAPPEAR!"

Rarity dug her blades down onto her platform and sent out diamond barriers with her geode. Though they were almost knocked off course, they still found their way to the Rainbooms and repelled Livewire's desperate attempts at hitting the girls.

"I WILL NOT BE DENIED MY DESTINY! TO SURPASS CAPTAIN MAR'ZEK AND BECOME THE NEW LEADER OF THE WOLFPACK! A TRUE GOD AMONG EVERYTHING!" Livewire screamed, his body turning into pure lightning as he reached out in every direction. "YOU POWER RANGERS ARE MERE ANTS, FOOTNOTES IN ME LEGACY! AND NOW, YER ABOUT TA BE WIPED FROM THE HISTORY BOOKS ONCE AND FOR ALL!" He fired himself out of the hurricane, went to the beach, and created another wind blast towards it, pushing the storm closer to the Voltic Vortex. "DEATH TO EVERYTHING! DEATH TO THE WEAK! DEATH TO THE STRONG! LET THEM ALL DIE FOR ME, THE KING OF STORMS!"

Sunset Shimmer, feeling overwhelmed and battered to the edge by the storm couldn't hold on anymore and tumbled off of the edge, flying out of the storm towards the Vortex on the other side. The others were quick to follow, their weapons vanishing as they lost their balance and fell from their footholds, limply spat out towards the gate of lightning.

Rarity tried to create another one of her barriers to catch the girls mid-flight, but her co-ordination had been knocked by the overwhelming amount of sensory force that was being applied. The noise was beginning to pound away at her mind and the g-forces were already playing hell with her body. She made one at last, but it only barely stopped their flight right as they were about to collide with the gate.

"So, this is it?" Rainbow Dash asked, grabbing onto Sunset's hand as the girls fell towards the sea's veil. "Are we really about to die?"

"We tried our best, but Livewire's not gonna stop." Pinkie slowly pressed her fingers on Sunset's head. "I think Dashie might be right about that."

"I... I..." Sunset wanted to find a word to counter the argument with, but all of her will to continue was being sapped by the intense storm that had surrounded her and her friends. Unable to muster up a single word, she ended up fainting mid-air, arms and legs flopping like ragdoll limbs before the other Rainbooms.

"Sunset! Sunset, wake up!" Fluttershy grabbed onto the silent Sunset and began shaking her around.

"Come on, girl. Don't do this to us now..." Applejack also clutched Sunset's body in the attempt to wake her.

The water crept closer and closer to the girls. Despite their efforts to wake her up, they couldn't break through to Sunset, and she remained motionless as they collided with the sea, buried underneath a thick layer of water, with waves still ripping through it. Together, the six rangers fell further and further into the ocean, weighed down by their suits, protected by nothing more than the oxygen in their helmets. But even that proved to be too much, as the other girls fell one by one, into a pitch-black void.

"Perfect Ones! It's not over yet!" A distant voice cut through the distorted and warped darkness within the Rainbooms' heads. A dim light began to shine in the distance, which only glowed more and more as the voice became louder and clearer. "You're supposed to beat this traitor, not roll over to his lunacy!"

When the Rainbooms came to, they found themselves on the beach's sand, still being ripped apart by the hurricane-force storm in the distance. They all got back up slowly, groaning to themselves as they tried to readjust to their new surroundings, only to find that an armoured figure was standing before them all. Clad in spiky armour with purple accents, a black 'X' mark dividing the eyes and mouth, with the single vertex on the tip of the nose. Bladed greaves were seen on the foot with smaller but just as deadly array of knife-like edges were seen on the figure's forearms. The Wolfpack sigil was seen on the chest, with a high number of marks across it, similar to the ones seen in a prison cell.

"Oh, thank the captain you're awake. For a second, I thought I was going to have to take the crystals and use them on Livewire." The helmet retracted and mechanically morphed to show the wolf beneath it.

"Wh-whoa!" That was enough to make Sunset jump back onto her feet and take our her sword. "Not another one!"

"Don't get the wrong idea, Rangers. I'm not here to kill you. Yet, that is." She bowed before them. "My name is Siel'Viz, and I am the Captain's right hand wolf. The only reason I'm not slitting your throats right now is because I've got a different mission to attend to." She turned to face Livewire, who had his feet boring into the ground with heavy breaths.

"This is... treason!" Livewire barked, sweat dripping down his forehead. "A Wolfpack Wolf killing one of their own! The Captain would be utterly ashamed of you, Siel'Viz!"

"Funny, because he distinctively told me to kill you after you so rudely hung up on him. So, I immediately took him up on that offer because, A, Vi'Al's still hard at work in his lab; B, the Captain doesn't do mercy; C, I've been wanting a fight since we first arrived on this planet, and now I finally get one." She swung her arms out, extending the claws on her arms as the mask reappeared on her face. "By the way, ladies. Appreciate you cutting off one of his arms. Saves me some time."

"Electric Monsoo—"

"Sever String!" Siel'Viz darted forward and grabbed Livewire by the throat as he tried casting his attack. From there, her blades metamorphed into a frontal cone-like guillotine edge that gouged his throat as she swung it back and forth across him. As he choked and coughed on the pain, she flung him into the air, squatted on the spot to take in energy, leapt back into the air as he began to fell and attacked so fast that she almost became invisible to the eye, with nothing more than crimson red slashes of a sharp weapon and the sound that went with it to accompany it. When she finally reappeared, Livewire had been cut into thousands upon thousands of little pieces. As Siel'Viz fell back down to earth, she ate every single last piece, before letting out a giant fire-ridden belch.

"Consider that your decommissioning, traitor." She remarked as she turned back to the Power Rangers. "I apologise for what you had to witness there, Rangers, but I haven't had a good meal in a long time. And there is nothing I like eating more than people who break the rules."

"Why? Why are you still doing this?" Sunset asked, weapon lowered as Siel'Viz walked over to her side. "I thought the Wolfpack were supposed to work together at trying to kill us; not off themselves when they step out of line."

"It was Livewire's own fault for getting too wrapped up in himself and letting his pride go before our laws," Siel'Viz answered. "He should have just obeyed orders and returned to the ship. Instead, he decided to deny Mar'Zek's orders and try to kill you of his own accord. He has no honour among us, and certainly no honour among any other species. I can guarantee you that he will not be missed or mourned; not even by us."

"You... you killed him because he was going to kill us." Applejack de-morphed along with the other girls.

"Consider it a free pass, Rangers. You won't get another." Siel'Viz scoffed. "The other Wolfpack agents are going to be trained harder and harder. And, unlike Livewire, they WILL obey orders. I can guarantee you that." She turned her back and pulled out a device, which she activated, creating a small portal back to the bridge of Mar'Zek's flagship. "And believe me, what you just saw? That's just a taste of what is to come when you finally get the chance to fight me." As she walked through the portal, it closed, causing the storm around the girls to instantly dissipate, dying down into a wonderful summer's day with clear skies and blinding sun.

"A free pass?" Sunset repeated those words to herself, over and over again as she relived the execution. "Just who are these wolves? Why are they like this? They want to kill us, then they don't want to kill us? What motive could they possibly have for keeping us alive, even after we've disappointed them?"

"Well, whatever the case, I say that we should take them up on that free pass and get out of here. We need to get more stuff from Elaris's Forge." Rainbow Dash put a hand on Sunset's back. "Plus, I'm definitely not staying around to clean up all this stuff, even with my super speed and all our other powers."

"In any case. Equestrian Star Rangers. The hunt is over, I guess?" Sunset meekly gave out her victory catchphrase, while still unnerved by what she had been through with her friends.

Bending the Rules

Mar'Zek watched as Siel'Viz executed Livewire over and over again on a recorded screen. Every single time he replayed it, he let out a low and gravelly snarl. His claws rapped endlessly against the edges of his throne and the other wolves paid him absolutely no mind, for fear that saying anything would have them slaughtered on the spot.

"To think, he was staging a mutiny on me..." He finally cut through the silence. "Me. The leader of the Wolfpack. The one who sits at the apex of all life. A part of me wanted to see him try, but that would have meant the Rangers would have been eviscerated in the process. It seems he has forgotten the Wolfpack way of honour."

"Traitors are eliminated immediately. That's one of the biggest rules in the book." Vi'Al pressed his claw tips together. "A shame, really. I wanted to try and implement Nimbian DNA into some of the Hounds. Now I fear that I will never have that chance again. That being said, a peon like him definitely had no place in our ranks if this was his true code of conduct."

"The Rangers are progressing nicely, but do you ever consider that maybe we're going a bit too easy on them?" Siel'Viz asked from the other side of the throne. "I mean, all you're throwing at them are the lackeys lower down your food chain. If they were to face some of the more elite threats we have, they'd crumble instantly."

"At the same time, we're molding them into the ultimate weapons of mass destruction. So that way, when we eventually throw down on that fated day, it shall be a fight for all of the universe to remember." Mar'Zek stood up. "The stars will shake and shudder, as the cosmos rip apart by the sheer gigatons of force we exert. Now that will be a fight I adore; win or lose."

"Not that you have any intention of losing, I take it?" Vi'Al interjected with a raised claw.

"Oh, no. Those Rangers will fall before me, as have everyone else since my father's passing. And whether or not they finally cave in and become Wolfpack Wolves themselves, or become devoured in the wake we leave, I will still come out of it satisfied either way." He finally stood up from the throne. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to have a chat with my prisoners."

"Captain, I really think that you should stop interacting with those wolves. They've already caused enough damage as it is to your empire and what you've made." Vi'Al laid a claw on Mar'Zek's shoulders. "Be happy with the Wolfpack Wolves you have that remain loyal to you; don't just bet on traitors who use skulduggery as a means of enjoyment."

"If Livewire was able to plan his revolt with the power he has, it would only lead the other warriors in my unit to plan for themselves as well. I must remind them of who stands at the apex." He pulled Vi'Al's claw off. "And if I must resort to the wolves who nearly killed me to get my point across, then so be it."

"I still think we should have executed them when we had the chance, not leave them in the brig to rot and fester." Siel'Viz turned her back to the captain. "You're taking an awfully big risk by doing this, you know that."

"Yes, Siel'Viz. Yes I am. But this is the first planet we've been to where there have been deaths within our ranks. They will be drawn by that." Mar'Zek stomped out of the bridge and down the corridors. "They might still want me dead, they might have wanted to atone for their crimes. Regardless, they will want the Power Rangers dead."

Back in the brig, Mar'Zek stood before the titanic chains in the dark and dingy void of empty cells and silence. He laid his hands across the rails and looked down into the darkness that the chains were dipping into. Moments later, he clapped his hands together so loud that it echoed throughout the chamber, filling the silence intermittently. A response to his action came, as the chains started to rise; fishing out what looked like giant pods from the depths. They ascended more and more, until the prison bars revealed themselves, shrouded with a radiant glow of red from the inside. The colour was then immediately blotted out as five shadows emerged and stomped up towards their tiny windows.

"Recall your crimes. Prisoners." Mar'Zek boomed, folding his arms before the cages.

"Attempted assassination of Captain Mar'Zek, leader of the Wolfpack." The center cage spoke in a large, boastful, booming voice.

"Mutiny aboard the Alpha Slayer flagship." The cage to the right of that one spoke, in a more refined, lady-like accent.

"Unlawful conduct within the Wolfpack." A third spoke, with a male voice. It had a level of sophistication to it, as if he had been through multiple elocution schools in his life.

"Gave misleading information." The fourth spoke. A male that time with a deeper voice than the others.

"And finally, mental instability." The fifth and final cage spoke, laughing maniacally to himself under his breath, before he erupted into a fit of hysterics. "Not that insanity is a bad thing, now is it? We all need a bit of fight-fight, a bit of hurty-hurt, and a taste for blood!"

"Silence!" Mar'Zek boomed out, thrusting his arm to the cages. An energy blast accompanied it, causing all five of the cages to rock and shudder, knocking the wolves inside to the floor. "As captain of the Wolfpack, I should throw you all into the nearest sun as soon as possible and be done with you. However, there are some targets down on earth that have long since attracted my attention." He fiddled around with the devices on his wrist, creating an image of the Rainbooms before the prisoner wolves. "They are the Perfect Ones that the Harmonites prophesised would be champions of the crystals. However, they prefer to call themselves the Power Rangers."

"Ah yes. I've heard tales from the wolves on high that these Power Rangers have been quite a nuisance for the Wolfpack." The boastful cage spoke, flexing his fingers. "In fact, judging from the tone of your voice, it sounds like you are getting desperate in trying to defeat them, captain."

"A sign of weakness is a wolf who cannot follow through with his plans for conquest. Mayhaps it's time that you step down and bequeath the leadership role to us instead." The regal-voiced one spoke. "Those foolish peons stand no chance against my powers."

"I would sooner devour every Suugwroth in existence than give you the helm of the Wolfpack Empire after what you pulled" Mar'Zek snarled at her. "However, one of the others, Livewire tried to stage another mutiny down on earth. I personally sent Siel'Viz down there to eradicate him once he decided to break away." He turned his back to them. "If the crew of this era believe that a mutiny is possible with enough power, then they will use that as a basis to overthrow me. So, I am considering releasing you out onto the Rangers as a show of force, when the time is right, of course."

"The ace in the hole trick? Weak, weak, weak! I hate it when hurty-dolls are put down like that!" The manic wolf slashed and crashed against his bars vigorously, but it still didn't break. "Just beat them down now and throw us the corpses! We've not eaten in ages and we're going to starve! Do you know how hard it is for me to play with my toys when I'm on an empty stomach?!"

"Be lucky that I'm not sparring against you right now, you deluded oaf!" Mar'Zek leapt at the cage and thrust his sword towards the wolf inside, pressing him against the walls.

"The master... He's angry. Please, please don't be angry with me master. I live for the hunt..." The prisoner cowered before the bench inside, before frantically swinging his arms and legs around while mumbling gibberish to himself.

"In any case, the Power Rangers have drawn blood. And that alone proves that they are a worthy challenge for the Wolfpack." Mar'Zek nimbly leapt back onto the edge of the platform, eyes locked with the other inmates. "When your time comes, my wolves, you will remind them of their mortality, how far away from the mountaintop they truly are." He then walked off away from the cages and clicked his fingers, causing the cages to lower into the abyss once more. "Prepare yourself to smell fresh air once more."

"Oh we will, 'captain'," they all said in unity as the cages disappeared into the void below.

"So... This Siel'Viz." Elaris watched the footage of Livewire's execution for herself, taking notice of every single slice and strike left on the Nimbian's body before it all came crumbling to pieces. "She seems like a higher calibre of Wolfpack wolf than the ones you've been facing so far, girls. If I had to take a guess, I would say she's one of Mar'Zek's inner circle; one of his right-hand agents."

"So basically, what you're saying is that she's super-tough. Got it." Rainbow Dash flexed her fingers out as the screen faded away. "Eh. I'm sure I could take her on with my speed. She wouldn't even know what hit her."

"She didn't seem to do much, but that could be a ploy, making us believe that she's one note..." Rarity scratched her chin, a myriad of thoughts running through her mind. "Not to mention, if she is second-in-command or somewhere around that level, we'd stand no chance if we were to duel her on the battlefield."

"In any case, we'd best get the Forge up and running. That Thunder Chip I installed barely came out in time with how much you were being pummelled out there. Even then, I didn't have enough time to properly modify it to its' fullest potential." Elaris clambered off of her chair.

"Elaris, wait. Before you go, there's still an issue that we need to resolve." Sunset grabbed onto Elaris's shoulder. "The town's power station and telephone lines were completely destroyed by Livewire. Without them, the whole city has no power or communication. Everything's gonna fall apart if we can't get things all fixed up."

"That's the sad truth of a large-scale attack like this, Sunset Shimmer. The larger something is, the more anguish people feel when it crumbles. In addition, it takes more and more time to rebuild a mountain than it does a piece of dinnerware." Elaris picked Sunset's hand off, turning to face her rangers. "I can't rebuild the town as it is on my own and my ship can't be of much use either. There's still so many parts that need repairs before I can be of any help outside of relaying information or building new gear for you."

"But... what'll we do? How will the people cope without their power and technology?" Fluttershy weakly lifted a finger. "It's like we've all been taken back in time to a tech-less world."

"Yeah. Hi-tech gizmos and fancy-schmancy machines have completely overtaken the planet! Without them, we'll all turn into mindless gorillas, doing things by actually doing them instead of using stuff to do it for us!" Pinkie wailed, clutching her temples vigorously, as the other Rangers just gave her stares. "What? Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just saying."

"Fluttershy's right, though. The human race has integrated so well with technology that cutting it out puts another roadblock between us and the Wolfpack. With no proper way to talk to each other, we'll have no clue when a Wolfpack agent will show up unless we're all at Elaris's ship all the time." Twilight stepped forward, pushing her glasses closer to her eyes.

"Some honourable wolves they are, huh?" Sunset deadpanned and folded her arms. "What they call honour is nothing more than cowardice; twisting the rules of the game for their own benefit. This Mar'Zek of all people should know that if he wants a fair fight with us."

"Sunset, what did you expect from a EVIL MASTERMIND OF A SPACE PIRATE ARMY?" Pinkie Pie asked, her eyes popping out her head as she pressed them against Sunset's. "Have you ever seen a movie or a cartoon where the bad guy plays by the rules and acts fairly to the competition? Or read a book where the bad guy isn't actually the bad guy because of their consequences and the harsh conditions they're in?" She paused briefly. "Okay, maybe you have, but Mar'Zek's nothing like those guys and gals!"

"Definitely not. That guy's ruffled every feather in the chicken coop with this Wolfpack hullaballoo." Applejack just lowered her hat. "Ah honestly couldn't care what everyone else thinks of me after this. They can call me a murderer until the cows come home, but what we're doing is the right thing."

"Applejack is right. Friendship is a powerful thing indeed, but these Wolfpack wolves are far beyond any sense of redemption." Rarity nodded. "We can't just fire off rainbow-lasers at everything and expect to work out. Sometimes, we need to get a bit more physical with our message." And she held out her twin swords for effect, posing as if they were a pair of scissors.

"Plus, we've beaten the other wolves and shown nothing but joy in it, so what's the harm in knocking a few more down for the count?" Rainbow Dash grinned.

"You're making it sound like you all enjoy killing the Wolfpack..." Sunset's mouth started to drift open as a bizarre feeling overwhelmed her stomach. Her hands grew cold and the breaths she took were thinner than ever. Even as she held her own sword in one of her hands, it trembled and shook along with her legs. "Look, I know that they've not done some good things, but... are we really no better than them if we kill for the sake of killing? And when we know that we can kill and are capable of killing, can we stop ourselves from dropping the sword on them? Or do we keep on doing it, believing that we're untouchable, surviving more because of the fact that we've killed people?"

Everyone in the room just blinked, before Pinkie said, "Wow. That's deep, Sunset."

"It's not for the sake of killing, but rather to keep the world safe. The meaning of death is completely different for every scenario, Sunset Shimmer." Elaris's hair drooped down her shoulders as she tenderly patted Sunset on the chest. "There are people who will kill blindly, without goals or ambitions. Some do it to drive home their points in political warfare while others fight en masse to protect their worlds come war. But you girls? You fight for the sake of protecting the weak from threat like the Wolfpack. Whether or not you like it is out of the question when they come crashing down."

"Still, the whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. We're responding to their killings with more killings. What's stopping us from completely taking control of the Wolfpack for our own when Mar'Zek is killed?" Sunset's eyes twitched as a lump formed in her neck. "I... I... I need to go!" And without a single word, she barrelled out of the ship as fast as she could.

"Sunset! Wait!" The other Rainbooms called after her, but not a single one gave chase, as she was already out of their line of sight. As her footsteps stopped echoing, the others began to think more about what she had said, letting the words fester in their minds.

Back in the bridge of the Alpha Slayer, Siel'Viz and Vi'Al were talking to each other in the absence of Captain Mar'Zek.

"What do you make of these rangers, now that they've been through all these fights?" Vi'Al posed the question to Siel'Viz, clipboard firmly in hand.

"They're not gonna cut it." Siel'Viz scoffed. "Pink? She's much too childish. Orange? Far too stubborn and slow. Blue? She's much too reckless and open to attacks. Yellow? Strong for sure, but too timid to fight to her fullest. White? Well, despite her swordplay, she's only good for offense. Red, though? Given time, she might be useful. However, that means nothing when she commands a group of callow children against an army of wolves." She let out a sigh and played back the videos of the Rangers' fights. "Still, I'm kinda glad that Mar'Zek broke them in instead of me. If I had the chance, I would've put an end to them right there."

"I'm glad that he stepped in as well, for if you had done so, it would've been a violation of the Wolfpack law. And you'd have been executed instead of Livewire." Vi'Al stared at each of the screens as closely as he could. "Yet at the same time, if you had died, then the other Wolfpack wolves would still be alive. But then Mar'Zek would've been without one of his most powerful agents. The amount of constants and variable for every decision is quite tantalising, isn't it? To take one path, closing the others out, never knowing what could have been. Every step that we make is a veritable gold mine for science. Every fight they get into, every opportunity we have to study their strength, all the tactics that we form in the hopes of fighting back, it all gives me goosebumps."

"If you love them so much, why don't you fight the Rangers next?" Siel'Viz teased, flashing a sadistic grin at him. "I'm sure they'd love to try fighting back as you bore them with all your talk about spacial displacement and molecular distortion, or whatever science mumbo-jumbo you like to go on about."

"Harrumph! I'll have you know that science is used in EVERYTHING. Even when you waste your breath against a wolf of heightened intelligence such as I, you are technically contorting the particles of the air around you while using kinetic force to move your lips up and down." He scolded and turned his back to her. "But, in any case, my technology would be wasted on the Rangers. Not to mention, again, it would be a mercy killing if they were to face me. I know everything that there is to know about science. With the right tool, I could turn them into water or completely evaporate all of the blood within their bodies without a single thought whatsoever. No. I need to know that they are ready to fight science itself before I go down there."

"I know that. They just need a little incentive to toughen up, that's all. Another of the Captain's agents should do the trick just well." Siel'Viz turned and left the room. "We've still got plenty more tricks up our sleeves to give the Rangers a run for their money..."

The Pen

Mar'Zek returned to the bridge and took a seat in his chair, watching as Vi'Al and Siel'Viz stepped aside. As soon as they were out of his way, he re-activated his dome of screens, flipping through all of his remaining warriors. He took more time than usual, though, thinking about Livewire's betrayal beforehand.

"If I am to test the Rangers more, perhaps it is time that we tone down the chaos and take it to a more... philosophical level." His eyes finally turned to a screen showing a Wolf with blue skin, with the tips of his fur white as snow. He held a book in one hand and a pen in the other.

"Through callous acts and blind conflict, those who fight will fall. With stroke of pen felling mighty sword, bringing an end to all." The wolf on the screen spoke while writing. Once he finished writing, the digital training dummies were besieged by black energy from all sides, before they all exploded around him. "And when the fields of battle fall silent, only the dust will remain. Not a single soul resisting death left to bathe in the light of the sun again."

"Exceptional. Another literary masterpiece from the one and only." Mar'Zek pushed the call button on the screen, bringing up a video chat with the writing wolf.

"Ah. My day is blessed with the omnipotence of the Captain." The wolf chuckled as he took up his pen and book. "With this call, my fate is set in stone. All I need is your word and I shall dispatch the Rangers once and for all."

"Then by all means, Noh'Vehl, write us another one of your epic tales. The Fall of the Power Rangers." Mar'Zek grinned. "And please, flex your destructive lexicon as much as you want. Who knows? You might just make it an intergalactic best-seller..."

"Understood. Let us make the Rangers' denouement a tragic one." The call ended, and the cannon started to prime itself. Moments later, it fired, with the shockwave ringing out through the ship.

"Now then. They say that the pen is mightier than the sword. Let's test that theory, shall we?" Mar'Zek grinned as the shot hurtled down towards Canterlot. "Brace yourselves, Perfect Ones. For your story is about to take a rather dark turn..."

Sunset Shimmer sat alone in the park, water trickling down from the fountain behind her and air rushing in and out her hair. As the rest of the world stood tranquil, all of her thoughts were entirely different. Every battle, every exploding Wolfpack Agent, every life-or-death scenario ran through her mind. She had been in quite a few battles to save the world from evil before, yet this was something she had never expected. Now, she was in a war, an ongoing feud with an almighty fleet of wolves who knew nothing more than battle and pillaging. Naturally, she couldn't help but feel a bit out of place with all of the stuff that she had done; especially now that she was the Red Ranger of the Equestrian Star Ranger team.

"Were we really chosen by fate to fight? To never stop battling monsters? Or are we just really, really unlucky to have been dealt such an awful hand in life?" She asked herself as she stood up, slowly walking away from the fountain. "Ever since the Fall Formal, I don't think I've ever known peace. Whenever everything's going wonderful, something always comes along to remind us of just how weak we are, of just how vulnerable we are." More memories sprung out towards her as her footsteps blotted out. "The Dazzlings, the Friendship Games, Gloriosa Daisy, Juniper Montage, Wallflower Blush, Vignette Valencia, and now the Wolfpack. This world is not peaceful. It never will be peaceful. There's always someone hiding around the corner and ready to fight us. And only us."

Right as she reached the edge of the sidewalk, the noise of an explosion broke the silence around her. Looking up, she watched as another Wolfpack Meteor Cannon Shell hurtled towards the fountain. She dove across the road, almost being hit by a car in the process, as the shot collided with the earth, sending a massive wave of flame and force outward.

"Equestrian Stars! Shine Bright and Let's Fight!" She called out, hastily morphing as she skidded on her hands and feet. She stood back up, fully donned in her Red Ranger uniform as the dust began to settle from the crash site. "Okay. Let's see what we've got this time."

"A wandering soul, wracked with grief and torment. Longing for another reason to fight other than to slaughter. Such is the being known as Sunset Shimmer, the Red Ranger of the Power Rangers. Though her heart remains pure and just, she knows that deep down there is nothing to do but dirty it so that the world might know peace and prosperity once more."

Noh'Vehl launched out of the rising plume of smoke and landed before Sunset Shimmer, his feet burrowing into the remnants of grass and dirt beneath him. With his book opened as wide as could be, he twirled the pen in his free claw as he approached Sunset.

"Alright, buddy. I don't know what you said about me, but it's all lies. Especially coming from you!" Sunset drew her flame sword and held it out for battle.

"Through her fits of rage, Sunset tried to fight back, ignoring the words of the wolf who stood before her. But through every single swing of the blade, she struck naught but air, as this new face easily evaded all of her attacks, countering with a move of his own." Noh'Vehl wrote in his book as Sunset performed her actions, and sure enough, it all came to pass. Her swift swings couldn't connect with him at all as his speed heightened, leaving only a blur as he evaded each attack she threw. Once she failed to hit the last one, he grabbed the blade by the handle, pulled Sunset close and struck her helmet's visor with the palm of his hand, with a small trace of black energy accompanying it as she hurtled to the ground. "She looked on with a sense of confusion, dread, and unnerve as this new wolf continued to write in his book, the story entirely in his control."

"Nice storybook. You going for the narcissist of the year award—"

"She retorted, in a rude and almost callow fashion. But the wolf did not listen, and only lowered his book and pen for but an instance." He said as he finished writing. "Sunset Shimmer. How pleasant to see you at long last. I've heard tales of you and the other Power Rangers' feats. While they are not great tales, they are still stories nonetheless."

"Let's just cut the writing garbage and get on with this, alright? You want to fight me because Mar'Zek sent you down to challenge us." Sunset picked her sword back up.

"As she stood by, Sunset started to struggle, her grip on the blade weakening more and more with each passing second. She knew that by fighting this wolf, nothing would change, even when her fight or flight reflexes were beginning to kick in at the thought of seeing a Wolfpack Wolf." Noh'Vehl wrote. "For all of her victories, she had only suffered heavier losses. Even now, even after overcoming her fears of it, the fight against Mar'Zek lingered on in her mind, the scars forever emblazoned onto her body as a sign that she is never safe from him or his fellow wolves."

"Huh?" Sunset wrote, before a sudden surge of fiery pain rushed up throughout her body. Groaning and wincing, she collapsed to her knees and looked down at the ground. She was de-morphed instantly and when she saw her skin again, she noticed that there were a lot more scar marks than usual. Marks that hadn't been there before. "Wh-what the?!"

"In defiance, she stood back up, still wanting to fight regardless. She believed that she could win, as she had done so many times before. But even as she took back her sword and locked horns with this interloper, would things really change?" He wrote, causing Sunset to morph again and rush back into the fight. Noh'Vehl stopped writing again and met Sunset's attacks with some claw attacks of his own.

"You think you're so hot just because you write a book? That we can't win against you?" Sunset cried out, her thoughts completely fractured as she ferociously swung at Noh'Vehl. "Well, tell that to the other wolves that we've beaten so far!"

"I need not tell them. For they knew they were weak the moment they died. I, on the other hand will not." He drew his pen like a sword across Sunset's neck, launching her backwards into a tree. As soon as she crashed, he continued to write in his book. "In the heat of battle, Sunset let het guard down a great deal. All that she cared about was defeating this wolf, going home, and dwelling on the shadows of her wins. But those cares were misplaced, as this new wolf conjured a seal beneath her feet, tangling her within a web of dark tendrils."

As he wrote every single word it, it happened in reality, with Sunset now bound by the sigil around her, the dark power eating away at her body with every hit. "She struggled, resisted, even tried to feign her pain. But at last, the symbol turned into a pillar of pure darkness, overwhelming her body and forcing her back into her weakened human state." As he pounded in the full stop, Sunset was indeed consumed by darkness, de-morphing once again.

"Sunset!" A distant voice called out. Immediately, the other Rainbooms came rushing to her side, throwing themselves into a wall-like formation around her body in protection.

"Are you alright?" Rainbow Dash asked, helping Sunset stand back up.

"No. No, you need to get out of here fast!" Sunset whimpered as she watched Noh'Vehl ready his pen and book for another few paragraphs of deadly scriptures. "This wolf. He's not like the others!"

"The other Power Rangers stood around Sunset, a quintuple of warriors all branded with their Crystals. At the sight of their felled friend, they took up a battle posture and morphed in seconds. They would not let this transgression go unpunished." Noh'Vehl chuckled.

"Equestrian Stars! Shine Bright and Let's Fight!" The other Rainbooms called out, morphing on command before they all stumbled, disjointed and confused as to what had happened.

"Whatever... he writes..." Sunset groaned, before she blacked out behind the other Rangers.

"Before they could hear what she had to say, Sunset's vitality sadly gave out on them, severing her conscious thought," said Noh'Vehl. "In the wake of the attack, they darted into battle, only for the Wolfpack Wolf standing before them to write another deadly passage in his book, deluging them with more of his malicious magic."

With their mindsets and thoughts completely overwritten by the book's words, the Rainbooms charged and fell right into Noh'Vehl's trap. Five giant cracks split open from the ground, forming sharp waves to rise up out of them and slice the Rainbooms from below. They all hurtled through the sky before another few words were scribbled into the book, causing five pillars to slam into them from above, burying them into the ground. The attack de-morphed all of them in an instant.

"N-no way..." Pinkie clutched her chest as she writhed on the floor. "This guy's a total cheater."

"We didn't even stand a chance..." Rarity reached out for her swords again, but was only met with Noh'Vehl's foot standing before her.

"As the six teenagers laid defeated, they pondered everything that they had gone through up until now. The battles against all of their old foes came to mind instantaneously. The very same feelings that Sunset were feeling beforehand were now being projected onto them. For all they knew, she was right. There was no point in fighting the Wolfpack if all they would do was continue to fight back. They were, after all, only six compared to an ever-growing army." He wrote more and more as the Rangers tried to stand once again, their bodies strained under all of the stress. "Whether or not what they were doing was right no longer mattered. This was the decisive moment that the Wolfpack had been waiting for. However, in what they presumed were their final moments, the wolf did not lay the final blow and instead decided to leave them rotting and festering on the ground. He needed to do nothing more. In their current state, they could not fight back."

"Enough of the... writing!" Sunset moaned. "Just stop this! We didn't do anything to you and your kind! Why are you hurting us so much?!"

"Sunset's question fell on deaf ears as the Wolfpack agent prepared to transmat back to his ship. But right before he left, he imparted one last question among all of them before fading away." He closed the book, tucking it and the pen away before bringing the Rangers close to him.

"Do you girls enjoy bloodlust? The sheer intensity that you feel when fighting us Wolfpack Wolves? Do you like killing and want to continue killing because you like it?" With that question hammered into their heads, he vanished back onto the Alpha Slayer.

With the book's power out of the vicinity, the Rainbooms found the strength to stand back up again. However, none of them showed any emotion other than pure horror, their entire bodies feeling numb and cold from the anguish they had just been through. They all looked at each other, the faces telling them that none of them disagreed with the fact. They couldn't even walk properly without slowing down or wobbling mid-step, their vision fuzzing up as they tried to regain their composures.

"Girls. You don't believe that, do you?" Sunset asked weakly, her voice almost gone from thinned and hollowed breaths. "You're not... killers."

"He's trying to... get under our... skin." Rainbow Dash panted to herself as she trudged forward towards, each step feeling like she was fighting a ferocious snowstorm in the coldest of climates. "But... he does have a point."

"We've been... enjoying this. We have indeed liked killing these Wolfpack Wolves." Rarity's lip quivered as the question repeatedly played over and over again in her mind. "No matter what, we will be killing again. And we have no choice but to keep killing these wolves until Captain... Mar'Zek falls." She lost balance momentarily and felt to her knees, with Applejack and Fluttershy helping her back up.

"Whatever happened, this just got... a whole lot... more real." Pinkie Pie lost her own balance and tumbled onto the ground, planting face first into the dirt. "This isn't a cheesy cartoon story anymore."

"And what's worse is that guy is still out there. He can continue to use that book against us." Sunset planted her hand against another tree for support. "No matter what we do against him, we're just puppets to his little storybook. With that pen in hand... he can do anything to us at anytime, from anywhere."

"Whoever this Wolfpack agent is, he's definitely not playing around." Sunset looked at the battered remains of her and her friends. "We need to get back to Elaris's ship, on the double. Because it's definitely not safe for us here. Or anywhere..."

Back on the Alpha Slayer, Noh'Vehl sat alone in his quarters. A quiet room with nothing more than stacks of books, both written and blank. The ones that had been filled with pages chronicled the other battles that he had been involved in, climaxing with the Wolfpack's victories over the planets they invaded. The blank ones just sat there, the nimiety of blank pages like a swarm of artist canvases, ready to be filled with imagination.

"A pity, that I am to be gifted with these powers of mine. With this pen and these books, the Wolfpack shouldn't have to fight. Whatever I chronicle comes true, no matter what the circumstance or battle." He sighed and kicked up his feet on the bed, toes drooping over the edge. "It shall take the Rangers a long time to prepare themselves for our second meeting. So perhaps I should write the future. After all, idle claws and all that..." He picked up a blank book and was about to write in it, when Mar'Zek's voice burst over the speakers.

"Noh'Vehl. Congratulations on kicking down the Rangers a peg. A pleasure to see one of my wolves working so hard at their job," he said. "I trust that you are already hard at work preparing for your next meeting with them?"

"Of course. But at the same time, I feel that I am already prepared. These books of mine are all the training I need. I do not need physical attacks or long-range combat to prove that wolves can still be deadly," he responded to the Captain by walking over to a funnel, pressing a button beneath it.

"In any case, it is still mandatory that you partake in some mock combat. You cannot win every battle by gallivanting off into the world of your dictionary. Report to the training range at once," said the Captain as the intercom stopped.

"Understood, Captain." Noh'Vehl slumped taking the book and pen with him. "What a shame. Rather than write a tale about how the Wolfpack will finally triumph over the Perfect Ones, I am burdened with a pointless and menial task of fighting hand-to-hand. What was to be a treasure will now be nothing more than tiresome filth that only a battle-hungry ape would enjoy reading." He walked out of the room and trudged off down the corridor. "Alas, such is the price of success as a writer. No matter what you do, you cannot always write what you want. Always encumbered with other such tasks in the process. I am glad that I do not write unfinished stories chapter by chapter, as the audience would always crave more. No. One tale is all that they need to know the truth of a literary prodigy's creativity..."

Sharpening the Sword

Author's Note

First of all, big thanks to The Bricklayer for giving me a helping hand with this chapter. Especially after I'd given a helping hand to him more times than I can count for his stories. I couldn't have done this without ya, buddy. And for all the rest of you, I hope that you all enjoy it for what it was.

Sharpening the Sword

"This Noh'Vehl. He seems like he would belong in Mar'Zek's inner circle. What with that book he's holding." Elaris played back the battle the Rangers went through with him, watching as he wrote in the book, manifesting its' contents the moment they were laid out. "With all that power, it's surprising that he's been sent out at this stage in the game. Normally, I would expect him to have more authority within the Wolfpack."

"Whatever rank he's in, he's still a Wolfpack Wolf. I say that we go out there again and let him have a good ol' taste of Friendship Magic." Rainbow groaned, throwing her hands to her laps. "We were just caught with our pants down that time. This time, we're totally ready for him.

"Rainbow Dash, as much as I'm up for that idea as well, you saw what he could do with that book of his." Rarity tipped her hand to the screen. "Whatever he wrote in that book just came to life! With a weapon like that, he could have completely finished us off without even having to lift any kind of sword. And you wanna throw yourself back into that?"

"Well, what other choice do we have, Rarity? We can't just not go out there and do nothing! The Wolfpack's testing us!" She wailed, splaying her fingers outward. "If we don't meet their challenge, they're gonna destroy the planet!"

"I have to agree with Rarity, actually. We were just awful out there, ambushed or not." Fluttershy just clutched her flute, curling herself up on the seat she was on. "I know that we're the Power Rangers, but fighting a wolf who can control the story itself? We'd need some super-superpowers in order to take this one down."

"It doesn't matter what we try, we're facing a book who is literally controlling everything with nothing but a pen and paper! I've been in some humiliating situations before, but this one just takes the cake!" Rainbow slammed her hand on the wall. "Whether we're being controlled like some goofy characters in a children's book or not doesn't matter. What does matter is the fact that if we don't fight, we're dead? D-E-A-D!"

"There has to be something that we can do..." Sunset paced the floor back and forth, plans running through her mind about how she was going to tackle this new wolf. "Elaris, L.U.C.Y. Do you think now's as good a time as any to put that forge to good use?"

"Well, there's always a good time for the Forge, but I'm not sure what exactly you need Sunset." Elaris lifted her head up from the alien consoles and looked her in the eyes. "If it is true that this wolf is capable of warping the battle to his own ideas, then we would need to build something that would guarantee success. Anything less could spell the end for you and for this planet."

"Not to mention, if it is true that the book can distort time and space, making it malleable for this Noh'vehl wolf to use, then who is to say that he won't write the weapon out of existence afterward?" L.U.C.Y. added to the conversation, changing the image on the screen to show a more detailed analysis of the book in his hands. "If this wolf is smart, then he will have created multiple copies of this book; the Lupus Lexicon as it is formally known on their homeworld for himself to abuse its' power. However, it seems that only he is aligned with its' power, therefore meaning that if any other wolf were to find it or the copies, then they would be utterly useless to them without finding the original book first."

"At least there's some good news there." Sunset deadpanned, forcing a small grin. "But what if Mar'Zek finds the book after the fact? After all, I'm sure that Noh'Vehl would have kept the original in a safe space for him to use as a fallback plan in case his wolf does get killed in battle."

"True, true. He could just completely wipe out all of that hard work with a single pen stroke. But still, how in the stars above are we supposed to beat him? We can't attack him normally, we can't make a new weapon, and if we went for the Zords, that would completely backfire too, given how that book makes him so untouchable. Ugh!" Sunset clutched her hair, almost to the point of ripping it out. "Does anyone in the Wolfpack even fight fair?!"

"More importantly, do we fight as we love it?" Fluttershy lifted her finger. "Do we love the thrill of the kill? To smile and be happy when we take a life?"

That question left the entire room in silence, a cold, misty sensation coiling around the Rainbooms as it festered in their minds. For all their battles, just now the thought hounded them. Every struggle, every conflict, every clash they had been through so far with the Wolfpack, had it all been to feed an unearthly desire that none of them admitted, yet knew deep down how exhilarating the sensation was?

“Ah… really don’t wanna have to think about this.” Applejack let out a long and dreary sigh, tipping her hat over her eyes. “Thing is, that’s what they want us to think, right? That we’re just gonna sit around and keel over, thinking too much about this whole life-or-death stuff.”

“Well, so far, it’s working fairly well, Applejack. I’m starting to feel a bit mentally fatigued by it all.” Rarity’s hands quivered as she tried to ball them up. “Thing is, we’ve never had to physically destroy people before. Sure, we’ve hit them with the Magic of Friendship, but they didn’t die from it. They just… lost all their powers.”

“...I’ve been doing some thinking,” Twilight asked. “Here’s the thing, we don’t fight because we want to, correct?”

“No. We just fight because there are some bad people out there doing very bad things. We don’t do this because it’s our job or something…” Fluttershy’s hair draped over half of her face as she sat down, both slithering against the wall.

“That’s what Mar’Zek’s plan is in the long run, I suspect. He wants to make us into blood knights like himself. The thing is…” Twilight sighed. “He’s wrong. We fight not because we want to, but because we’re the only thing standing between the Wolfpack and Earth’s annihilation. We fight because it’s our duty to protect Earth.”

“Even so, Twilight, I hate this. I hate how we’ve been roped into fighting, day-in, day out. Is it ever going to stop? Are we ever going to be normal teenagers again?” Sunset asked, her facial muscles tensing up as she made fists out of her hands. “Because from the way I see it, we can’t ever be normal again. We will need to keep fighting. If it’s not the Wolfpack, then it’ll be something or someone else. We can’t escape. And we know we can’t escape. That’s what’s truly terrifying about all this.”

“That’s the thing, isn’t it?” Twilight asked. “Maybe we can’t, but we don’t have much choice in the matter. The people of not just Earth, but the galaxies are counting on us. We don’t have to know their names, or any of their faces. We fight because they need our help. Call us messiahs or whatever you may, but we fight not because it’s our only option, but because it’s the right option. Do we leave the galaxy to the wolves, or do we defeat the Wolfpack and let the galaxy finally know peace?”

“There is one thing that’s for sure, we can’t just let them continue to do what they’ve been doing. Especially after having thrown the gauntlet at us. But… the way things are going, it could take years before we’re ready to take on Mar’Zek. I’m not sure that he can wait that long…” Sunset took a very deep breath. “Excuse me. I think I need a moment.” She walked out, not even bothering to look back on the others.

“Sunset… Please don’t do this to yourself.” Twilight meekly reached out for her, but she was already gone.

Canterlot High. How many times had it been the battleground for Sunset and her friends, she wondered, walking up to the front doors once more. Whenever she saw this particular building, all that she could think of what how it hosted some of the most vicious battles seen in her time. Herself, the Dazzlings, Midnight Sparkle, Wallflower, and now the Wolfpack. What would have once been a seemingly normal high school with seemingly normal students turned out to be a nesting ground for Equestrian Magic and otherworldly showdowns, with Sunset and her friends being the one thing keeping the place from collapsing under all the chaos.

“You know, in another life, I would have passed this place off. But now…” Sunset laid her hand on the door without pushing it open. “Now, I know that you’re much more. I can’t let you fall. Not now. Not ever. You’ve really changed my life…” Eventually, she walked inside, walking down the silent, empty corridors with nothing more than the sound of her footsteps as a company.

The lockers laid gently by the walls were as plain as day. All painted the same shade with the same lock and the same design. Some of them were decorated with marks and stickers so as to distinguish each from the others, but the majority of them were barren. Sunset didn’t mind that. It came with the territory of a high school, as far as she knew, at least. She went through a series of lockers until at last, she came to hers. Nothing special about it, but it was hers nonetheless.

She pulled the door open and reached for her book, the one that allowed her to commune with the other Twilight back in Equestria. A smile came to her face as she brushed the top with the back of her hand, then took out a pen, flipped the book open to the first clear page and began writing.

“Dear Twilight. I know we haven’t really spoken much in a while, The craziness of high school and princess duties, am I right?” She let a tiny, almost inaudible chuckle form as she wrote. “Anyway, I’ve got a bit of an… an issue that I wanna talk to you about. Is that alright?” She stopped, waiting for a response.

“I’m always here for you Sunset, you know that right?” Twilight asked after what seemed like an eternity. Sunset sighed to herself. She forgot about the time disconnect between Equestria and Earth. They were always a few hours ahead. It may have been early evening for Sunset, but for Twilight it was probably the dead of the night. She winced, realizing she probably interrupted Twilight from a good night’s sleep. She honestly envied her. A restful night was hard to come by these days for Sunset personally.

“Well, let’s just say that… something new’s been threatening our world. And for once, it’s not Equestrian Magic. It’s a bunch of space-wolves, call themselves the Wolfpack,” she started. “Me and my friends have been fighting hard against them, but they’ve been trying to break us recently with words, rather than through claws. Twilight… I’m not gonna sugarcoat this. We’ve been killing them. And they think and are making us think that we like killing them. Is that… the truth?”

“Do you like killing them?” Twilight asked after another long silence, presumably digesting her words.

“Yeah. I mean, me and my friends have felt satisfied from striking them down. But now we feel like we want them to kill us. As if they enjoy the thrill of watching us believe that we’re doing this to fulfill some sick desire. That’s why I came to you. To get some knowledge from another opinion that isn’t the Wolfpack or my friends.”

“I… I see,” Twilight replied. “Sunset, remember when we talked about what may or may happen to Equestria in the next few billion years? After your little adventure with… the Kyurangers was it?”

Sunset, of course, hadn’t mentioned that the Wolfpack was involved in their little adventure with the Kyurangers, fearing Twilight wouldn’t believe her, but now she figured if there was any hope of getting her Twilight’s opinion on matters she figured it was now or never. Twilight had to know the Wolfpack existed.

“Yeah. Listen, Twilight. This Wolfpack? They’re evil. Powerful as well. Remember when you had to fight Lord Tirek back when he was trying to take everyone’s power for himself? Well, Mar’Zek is Tirek with all that power but less of the size. And now, he’s commanding these Wolfpack wolves from some kind of spaceship. If we can’t stop them, if they win, we might need to flee to your world.” Sunset almost didn’t want to continue, but she swallowed her pride and went on. “The Power Rangers--what me and my friends became to try and fight back, we’re good, but we’ve still got a long way to go. If we can’t make it… then I’m counting on you to keep us all safe.”

“I… I understand. But do you remember what I said when you told me Equestria’s sun is going to broil over within the next few billion years? Sunset, do you?” Twilight wrote back.

“Yeah. I know. But I can’t let you come over to Earth either. You’ll get slaughtered by the Wolfpack here. The only reason we can fight back at all is thanks to being Power Rangers. Without that power, we can’t fight. The Magic of Friendship isn’t gonna be able to hit every wolf all at once.”

“At least… not yet,” Twilight remarked, and Sunset could have sworn the tired Alicorn was probably smirking right about now as if she’d come up with an idea. “But remember what I said. We don’t worry about what-ifs, or maybes, or what may come. We worry about the here and now, what we should be focused on. And right now, you should be focusing on what you can do. And that is, protect the planet however you can.”

“Alright. I suppose. Thanks, Twilight. Always good to know I can rely on you for words of advice. Speaking of which, have you got an idea for a weapon that we could use against the Wolfpack? Kinda like a friendship weapon?”

“Just give me some time to think, I’ve got something that might help. Just creating it is the issue.”

“Alright. Well, I’ll be sure to keep the book close. Whenever something comes to mind, just let me know, okay?” She finished, placing a full stop at the end. “Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset closed the book and turned away, only for Noh’Vehl to be standing right there in front of her. She let out a scream, tripping over her body in surprise as she fell to the ground.

“Well, well, well. Now, this is an interesting observation.” Noh’Vehl chuckled to himself, pen and book at the ready. “It seems you and I share something in common, Sunset Shimmer. We both wield books with unique properties. Tell me, can your book re-shape reality as mine can? Because if so, we’re going to have such an interesting duel.”

Sunset swore under her breath. She should have been watching her back. She shouldn’t have gone off alone. Drawing her blade in a flash of fire, her eyes narrowed.

“Aww, now this is sad, isn’t it? Didn’t anyone ever tell you this old saying? That the pen is mightier than the sword?” Cackling, he snapped the book open, sending a very brief pulse of dark energy out that quickly vanished from sight. “Sunset, in her haste to end the Wolfpack wolf before he could change fate once more slashed blindly with her sword. Each strike unfocused, erratic even. But not one blow could land, as her foe evaded each strike, then barrelled through her with all of his strength.”

As much as she wanted to stand still and fight the story, Sunset found her body manipulated by the same dark energy that came from the book, arms and legs moving entirely on her own as her sword swung through the air, barely missing Noh’Vehl’s body as he dodged in all directions. Eventually, after the last one, he ran into Sunset, his foot pinning her down as he stopped on the other side.

“The wounded Sunset laid barren, clawed foot driving into her body.” He wrote, his foot burrowing into her chest. Any more pressure and it would puncture it. “Now, then. About this book you so hold dear to your heart.” He scribbled another passage, teleporting the book from the locker into his hand. He frisked the pages as quickly as he could, reading the words at a heightened pace. “Eh. It could use some work. This story you write seems quite a bit too much like a self-insert. Honestly, Miss Shimmer, you need to refine your tastes a little.”

“Get your hands off that book…” Sunset growled as she picked herself up off the floor, clutching her chest with blood dripping onto the floor from the gauges in her arms.

“Oh, I will. Provided that you can use it to beat me, that is.” He threw the book to Sunset, watching as she caught it. “If this really is a copy of my book, then we must see which is the better one. Which story’s end will be the happy one and which, the sad heart-wrencher? I’m quite curious to see what IMAGINATION you have in the heat of battle...”

Sunset swung with her blade again, a weak attack considering her injuries but given she was so mad at the Wolfpack Agent -not because of his lust for destruction, but he because he was holding one of the only links to her past- she didn’t really give a damn. Without the book dictating her actions, she only had a short window of time to hit him before he took control of her again. She ran into his body with the blade held horizontally, trying to push him back. She managed a few feet before one of his legs reached up and kicked her in the chest, knocking her to the other end of the corridor.

“Sunset!” Rainbow Dash cried out when she saw her friend smash against the wall. Charging into the scene, she immediately locked eyes with Noh’Vehl and snarled.

“...Rainbow, what are you doing here?” Sunset whispered.

“What, you think I was stupid enough to let you go off alone, especially now of all times? Hell no, friends always look after each other!”

“Isn’t it beautiful? Friends always there to have your back when things get rough. Bleh.” Noh’Vehl groaned. “Honestly, friendship is such an overrated and overused concept in stories these days. If anything, it will pass for infants to enjoy; not for true veterans of the literary world such as moi.”

“Y’know, talk is cheap. If you wanna do something, just do it!” Rainbow activated her geode and ran for Noh’Vehl.

“Rainbow stopped.” Two words and that was all it took, Rainbow Dash was frozen on the spot thanks to Noh’Vehl’s book. “Perhaps you seem to forget, Blue Ranger, that I control a book that dictates everything. Your friends can fight as much as they want, but in the end, a pen stroke is all that fate needs to move fo-”

Of course, while he was monologuing Sunset grabbed the book out of his hands before mustering up her strength and ripping it in half as the Wolfpack Agent roared in shock and rage.

“...You know, you really shouldn’t monologue so much. Bad for strategy, gloating really. I would know.” Sunset remarked.

With no words, Noh’Vehl reached for a dagger and slashed at Sunset, throwing the pen away as he howled, pouncing on top of her body. “And you should know that a Wolfpack Wolf ALWAYS has a backup plan!”

Rainbow then kicked him off Sunset and morphed in a flash of blue light. “So, what are you going to do now, without your precious book? Seems quite interesting, you without your reality-warping abilities now,” Rainbow remarked slamming a fist hard into Noh’Vehl’s face and then kicking him in the stomach. Noh’Vehl howled and leaped forwards but Rainbow simply rolled under him and kicked him into a locker. “See? You’re just pathetic.”

“Do you think I did everything by book and pen?” Noh’Vehl ran towards Rainbow, a flurry of claw swipes and teeth gnashes flying at her face. “No! We. Do. Everything on the Wolfpack payroll!” He said while attacking Rainbow easily dodging the enraged strikes. Anger, it had a tendency to ruin judgment and combat capability. “You and your delinquent friends fail to realize that our captain plans for every outcome! Every situation! And every attack you Power Rangers make!” With one last blow, he broke through Rainbow’s guard in a stroke of luck and pinned her to the locker, his headbutting against her helmet. So Rainbow did the only logical thing and kneed him in the groin before letting him have it with her laser cannons.

“You know, shutting up is a thing right?” Rainbow said as Noh’Vehl staggered backward, clutching his chest in pain. Sunset’s book lay forgotten on the floor.

“Twin Blasters! Overclock!” Rainbow cried out, energy surging through her guns as she pointed them at Noh’Vehl. “Fire!” She cried out, letting a series of much bigger, much faster, and much more heavy-hitting laser blasts ring out. Each and every one of them hit Noh’Vehl, coupled with cries of pain from him and explosions from the impacts. He was flung all the way through the walls of CHS, out onto the parking lot.

“The reviews are in wolfy,” Rainbow remarked blowing the smoke off her blasters like an old west gunfighter. “And your books suck!”

“I… I see how it is. If this is my last piece, then it shall be my grandest one yet…” Noh’Vehl panted heavily, his hands barely keeping him propped up. He stood at last, then watched as a blood-red moon appeared in the sky. “Feral Fury!” One howl to said moon later and his body was already contorting and bubbling with power, his blood running ferociously and coupled with energy as he grew to the size of a skyscraper. “Let this be your final chapter, Power Rangers!”

“...Saw that one coming,” Rainbow muttered as she looked towards Sunset staggering out of the building. She walked over to her and looked at her friend seriously. “You, you take a rest, okay? Let me and the girls handle this moron, okay?”

“No. I got into this mess. I’m gonna get us all out of it, Rainbow. I appreciate the concern, but last I checked, I was the leader.” Sunset turned to Rainbow, before her legs gave out again, causing another tumble.

“Sorry, Sunset, doctor’s orders,” Rainbow said, summoning a ball of blue energy in her hand and firing it skywards. “I need Equestrian Star Zord Power, now!”

“Heard that. One Zord, coming your way,” Elaris’ voice came from Rainbow’s helmet as the Falcon Zord hurtled onto the scene, colliding with the energy bolt she sent out. It grew in size until it was large enough to climb inside, then she leaped into it.

Not long after Rainbow set herself up in the cockpit of her Falcon Zord, the other Zords came running in as well. Rarity’s Lynx; Applejack’s Bull; Fluttershy’s Bear; and Pinkie’s Kangaroo. They stopped at her side as they all turned to face Noh’Vehl.

“Where’s Sunset?” Applejack asked. “Ah didn’t see her Phoenix Zord. Is she in trouble?”

Rainbow, as the Falcon’s wings moved forwards and fired off a barrage of missiles at Noh’Vehl, looked to see Elaris teleporting Sunset out, presumably towards the Med Bay. “...She’ll… She’ll be fine.” she stammered out, not entirely sure if she even believed those words. She steeled herself, she had to focus on wolfy here, and Elaris knew what she was doing. Sunset would be alright, she just knew it. She had to be.

“In any case, we’d better get to work. This big, bad wolf must’ve done a real number on her.” Fluttershy tightened her grip on the Bear Zord’s controls. “Without the Phoenix Zord, this could be a challenge.”

“Not really. Think about it,” Applejack surmised noting what Noh’Vehl was missing. “That their wolf doesn’t have his book correct?”

“Exactly, Sunset destroyed it,” Rainbow confirmed.

“Well, yippie-ki-yay on that!” Applejack cheered. “Now, Ah’m not the brightest apple in the bushel at times, but even Ah know that over-reliance on one thing can only lead to disaster.”

“Well, normally, I would say that makes our jobs easier, but--DUCK!” Rarity suddenly yelped, as Noh’Vehl leaped over Applejack’s Bull Zord and reached for its’ tail. A punch from the Kangaroo Zord, and then another knocked him backward into a nearby mountain. Rainbow, before Noh’Vehl could recover let him have it with another missile barrage.

Every missile hit, leaving a massive ball of flame in its’ wake. But Noh’Vehl just jumped out, grabbing Rainbow’s Falcon Zord and throwing it down into Pinkie’s Kangaroo Zord, before trampling over both of them and running for Fluttershy’s Bear Zord, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Fluttershy’s Zord just grabbed him by the leg and tossed him towards the Bull Zord which rammed Noh’Vehl sending him flying into the atmosphere.

“Rangers. Do you think I’m just going to lay down and die like this? Think again!” Falling back to the earth, he did so as if he were performing a wrestling move from a top rope. “I am a Wolfpack Wolf. Dying is NOT in my vocabulary! I. AM. NOT. WEAK!”

“Yeah?” Rainbow asked as all the Zords charged up lasers. “Then what’s this?”

The lasers fired, all punching holes right through Noh’Vehl. “No! NO! My story isn’t finished yet!” With that last remark, he collided back with the earth, going up in a massive detonation.

“...Equestrian Rangers… This hunt is over.” Rainbow sighed.

“No!” Mar’Zek snarled, slamming his hand against the arm of his throne. “He was one of my finest wolves! How did the Rangers manage to beat him with a man down?!” Breathing heavily, he watched as the screen faded, vanishing in a fit of static. “How could someone with an artifact like that, someone of that level of power be so… weak?!”

“If anything, those rangers are shaping up more and more every day.” Siel’Viz gave a toothy grin. “I can’t wait to have a real fight with them. See how long they last against me and my years on the front lines.”

“I for one have to come out of this with a smile as well. Those Rangers were unable to perform their Megazord combination and yet they still took out a Wolfpack wolf like that. That opens up another branch for me to extend my research,” Vi’Al chuckled. “Don’t be so downhearted, captain. At least he died for a cause. Your cause.” Vi’AI remarked, all the while holding a certain book with a blazing sun on it. While nobody had been looking, he’d grabbed it from the CHS hallways. Odd thing was, it wouldn’t open for him. But that was a problem he was sure he could solve soon enough.

He just growled, flashing a look of rage at his left and right-hand wolves. Simmering, his claws scratched the arms of his chairs, the piercing noise ringing throughout the room. “Noh’Vehl. You will be remembered. Your devotion to this cause was just. Let it be known, that like all the others who have fallen, we will be sure to finish what you started. Rest in peace, old friend.”

“So… I assume you girls did alright without me?” Sunset asked, hooked up to all sorts of medical machines as the girls walked into the Medical Bay.

“Sunset, we were awesome out there!” Rainbow’s smile was gigantic, to say the least. “The five of us totally kicked his sorry butt all the way to the moon and back!”

“Yeah! You should’ve been there, it was totally great!” Pinkie clapped her hands together and bounded on the spot.

“They really were good out there, Sunset. You should be proud of them for being there to pick up the slack.” Elaris patted her back. “Just as I’m proud of you, for standing up to that Wolf even without all of your friends to support you.”

“...Trust me, Rainbow did most of the work,” Sunset replied as the young woman smiled weakly. “Without her showing up when she did, I would have been toast.”

“With butter and candy on top? Now, that’s a special kinda toast you don’t wanna be.” Pinkie folded her arms.

Sunset just laughed. “Yeah, Pinkie. That kind of toast.” She reclined back into her bed, neck resting against the plush foam. “Thanks. You really saved my butt today.”

Rainbow fist-bumped Sunset before hugging her gently as she could. “Hey. That’s what we’re here for right? As I said before, friends look out for one another, and I dare say friendship… It could probably take on the universe if needed.”

“You know that sounds so cheesy right?” Sunset teased.

“...Hey, sometimes cheesy works right?” Rainbow shrugged as everyone laughed.

Oozing Charisma (Part 1)

A frail wind blew on through hills of Canterlot on a cold night, not a single soul to be seen wandering the streets. At least, not where they would usually be. For the night was the time of skulkers, or prowlers, of people who had no other business to be out except for some important item runs or business affairs. All in all, everything was quiet all over the city. Outside of it, well that was another story entirely.

You see, outside the city lay a dig site. Mostly bent on searching for dinosaur bones, really the researchers were. A few dinosaur tracks had been found a few weeks before, and then a week later a rock wall crumbled away to reveal the bones of a Saurophaganax and since then everybody was in a rush to see what else lay in those hills. Apatosaurus fossils were speculated, given the type of tracks found but nobody really knew. Currently, one James Navarro was working late at night -determined to find the next big fossil before any of his comrades- and had stumbled across something… unusual. Some sort of large metallic canister buried in the soil.

He wanted to walk away, but he couldn’t, finding that his legs were moving closer and closer to the canister. He thought that maybe, for a brief instance, he was being moved by someone, something, if not for his own curiosity. Step by step, with the gravel crunching underneath his boots, he finally arrived at the giant bin and wrapped his hands around the lid.

This proved to be a foolish endeavor, as soon as he began to pry open the lid the man was blasted back into some barrels. Something trickled out of the space dumpster -if you will- and slowly oozed onto the ground before reforming.

Looking upwards, the purple being sniffed the air and grimaced. Seems quite a bit had changed in 6,000 years really. The air was more odious than ever, humans had progressed quite a bit as evidenced by the high rise apartment blocks jutting up in the distance, their lights glimmering in the distance. But even through all this, one thing remained the same.

“What is that odious stench? It smells like... teenagers.” the being grumbled before his eyes widened. He sensed something, something he hadn’t sensed in a very long time indeed. With a loud roar, he began throwing blasts of lightning towards the sky, the purple-colored bolts lighting up the sky in jagged streaks. “Ladies and gentlemen, the Ooze is back!”

Rainbow Dash tossed and turned in her bed, dreams running through her mind about the battles that she had, as well as a few interpretations of how she and her friends were going to fight Mar’Zek and his wolves. Most of them just involved her getting into her Falcon Zord, mowing them down with weapon fire before taking it straight to the Alpha Slayer Flagship. Just when she was about to get the happy ending of her latest thrill-seeking dream, she felt her body being shaken around like a ragdoll.

“Nngh! Just… give me five more… minutes, Applejack! I’ll paint your barn when I’m ready, k?” She moaned softly as she was just hurled around more. “What?!” She finally lurched, waking herself up from the dream, still clad in her pajamas.

There, right beside her bed was Elaris, cloaked with brunette hair and a cream-colored skin. She was draped in a green skirt with frills at the waist and wore a pair of black leggings which ended at a pair of green sneakers. Rainbow let out a sharp yelp and cursed under her breath at the surprise as her heart rate slowly returned to normal.

“You know I could have attacked you right then and there Elar?” Rainbow asked. “I could have easily mistaken your for one of the Wolfpack!”

“Then that proves your training is starting to take effect. Only the paranoid survive, as the saying goes. Sorry to wake up you up so early, Rainbow Dash, but we’ve got a bit of a situation,” she said. “Something just came up and I fear that I’m going to need all of the Rangers to handle it.”

“Is it another one of Mar’Zek’s wolves?” Rainbow asked, her voice still groggy. “We can just suit up and drop him if that’s what you want.”

“No. It’s not a Wolfpack Wolf. At least, I don’t think it’s a Wolfpack Wolf…” She thought about it for a few moments before returning her attention to Rainbow Dash. “In any case, get the other Rangers awake and head for my ship. I’ll explain once you’re there.”

“Mmph… Fine.” Rainbow Dash sighed and looked at the clock. It read 3:48 AM. That was going to completely ruin her mental clock for the week, not to mention all that training she had put in for CHS’s latest soccer match. Still, she used her geode, got dressed, and darted out of the house as fast as her magic would carry her.

“Whatever it is, I’m not sure I like the sound of it. There’s enough on our plates as it is…” Elaris muttered to herself as she walked out of Rainbow Dash’s house and went for her ship.

“...No sense of personal space, that woman,” Rainbow muttered. “Seriously, I could have been sleeping in the nude and you know how embarrassing that would have been?”

Far and away, across the dimensional barrier rattled along rails long-since forgotten a spectacular train bearing the face of the sun across the front clad in the finest of golds. Wheels clattered against the lines, and the steam whistle blew. This was the Solar Streak, once the finest train ever to ride the rails and a valuable tool of the Mystic Force Rangers.

Inside sat a group of possibly the oddest bunch of misfits you’d ever meet. A washed-up stage magician, two pegasi—one with a prosthetic wing glowing with magical runes—dressed in flight jumpsuits, an orange unicorn wearing a nice suit and spectacles nose deep in a book, a human dressed in an orange variation of the SPD uniform and finally a near-perfect mirror image of Sunset Shimmer.

The three of them trotted through the interior of their space train, walking past the gold-lined walls and marble floors, with ceilings of pure crystal hanging above their heads. A few leather couches lined the walls around them, with small trees growing out of the nearby planters at each side. Gigantic murals and logos could also be seen dotted around the room. Some of Celestia, some of Equestria, while others depicted far different things entirely. Things this author would prefer not to mention. Regardless, it was like something out of an emperor’s castle. It had a few updates and remodelings since the Mystic Force days, befitting of its new owner who wanted nothing but the finest things. Gone were the trappings of the golden age of rail travel, and instead these fittings were their replacements.

Sunset, for her part, found it mostly pompous and ludicrous but then again considering it used to be owned by a narcissistic tyrant she shouldn’t have been surprised. It seemed Celestia hadn’t gotten around to removing her former self’s ideals of beauty from the Zord.

“Gah, think I’m probably going to go blind from all this… this gold!” Robert muttered before eying Trixie who was checking herself out in a mirror doing a small twirl and blowing herself a kiss. Sunburst still had his nose deep in a book -Something on dragons- and was paying no attention to his little sister’s antics. Then again, it was probable he was used to them by this point. “At least someone’s enjoying this… this… whatever it is.”

“And to think, not even a year before and you probably would have enjoyed this!” Lightning Dust teased from her seat, cleaning off some Tenga blood from her Crystal Saber, the Thunderbird Crystal set deep within its center as always.

“Oh, shut it Lightning-Bitch,” Robert muttered. His words were tactless, although his tone was more light and teasing. It was more a regular game to them by now, instead of just insulting each other in genuine hate it was more brother-sister banter in a way.

“I don’t hear any denials…” Lightning teased, and Robert began muttering some very unkind words towards her under his breath in German along with how he’d like to toss her into Shalifar. This too was half-hearted.

“Now Trixie, you do remember why we’re here right?” Vapor commented, the Wonderbolt cadet pulling Trixie away from the mirror.

“Yes, yes, I know. Team-building exercises and all that,” Trixie said waving a hand dismissively. “To make sure I play well with others. That’s why Sunny-Bunny over there decided to send us on a trip across the dimensions to some other world and see how well we work together trying to find one single ticket. I’m egocentric, not deaf.”

Sunset suppressed a sigh. She then thanked the Gods that Solar Flare while she still had Celestia’s body had never been given any access to this train otherwise Mystic Mother only knew what she would have done. Giving a genocidal maniac access to a dimension-traveling train was only asking for trouble after all. She was glad Celestia had the willpower back then to hold back her evil side. She then smiled in remembrance upon the team’s defeat of the monster. Or more accurately, her first morph into the true Solaris Knight who played a key part in Solar Flare’s defeat.

“Oh, I’m not going to be the one to stop you, just going to be helping out… Her, on the other hand… Well, that’s another matter entirely.” Robert trailed off as he pulled out the Solar Cell Morpher and tossed it to Celestia shouting: “Here, catch!”

“No… NO!” Solar Flare screeched out in fury as Celestia caught the Morpher, and in a flash of energy, it’s color changed from a furious violent red to a more calming dark cobalt blue. She pulled out a red and gold ticket and punched it before throwing it.

“Magical Source, Mystic Force!” Celestia yelled as the ticket enlarged itself and covered her before she emerged with elaborate gold and dark blue armor grafted to her form.

“Out of the Fire and into the Fight! Power of the Sun, Solaris Knight!” Celestia yelled out as her face became covered by a helmet to finish the morph. Her charred wings became a pure, glistening white once more. They expanded to their full length and width, as the armor of the now purified Solaris Knight powers gleamed in the sun. An explosion of pure Morphin’ Grid energy erupted from behind the Princess of the Sun as she stood ready for battle.

Sunset sighed. Oh, those were the days, when it was just simply them against Thrax or Solar Flare’s looniness. Now with the emergence of beings like Lord Drakkon and Wyatt coming to their world things had become more… complicated.

“Sunset-Chan?” Robert asked in a concerned tone. “You alright?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry. It’s just… Things are different. I’m not sure if I like different.”

“Hey, different is good, without different you wouldn’t have moi…” Robert smiled kissing her on the cheek. Lightning faked a gag alongside Trixie before Vapor smacked them both upside the heads.

Sunset returned the smile briefly, before sighing. “Yeah, it’s just Rangers turning evil -if only temporarily- a mysterious Purple Ranger/Samurai who nobody seems to know anything about except for you and that whole Lord Drakkon nonsense? Mystic Mother above… I’d just long for the good old days at times.”

“...What, the times when your land was ruled by a tyrant and I was an egotistical little arse?”

Sunset chuckled. “You’re still the latter.” she teased and Robert laughed after faking being shot.

“You wound me Sunset-Chan, you really do…”

The train whistle blew again as the Solar Streak erupted out of the dimensional barrier and into a grand modern day city, the sun just barely beginning to rise over the skyline. Sunset then stepped off the train and brought out a ticket.

“Now, you know the drill. As soon as I toss this, this train? It’s going inactive. The only way to bring it back to life, and for us to get home? Find the ticket. Understood?” she asked.

Everyone nodded before Sunset tossed the ticket somewhere in the city with one powerful throw. Behind them, all of the lights on the Solar Streak shut down and Trixie swallowed nervously.

“So that’s it then… Stranded. Well, as they say… On with the motley,” she thought before marching off gesturing for the others to follow. “Well, come on then! That ticket won’t find itself, and Trixie doesn’t want to take all the credit!”

The Rainbooms were all gathered in the ship, with bags hanging under their eyes as they tried to stay awake. Even with the bright glow of the ship around them, they were still battling their own bodies in a bid to wake up.

“Rangers. L.U.C.Y. just picked up this energy reading from outside of town a few minutes ago.” A map of Canterlot and the surrounding showed up, with the exact hillsides that the Ooze had burst out from. “We’re not entirely sure what it is, but it is not of this world. And judging from the sudden lightning effects it launched at the sky, it’s not friendly either.”

“My only assumption would be that it is a Wolfpack Wolf. However, there is insufficient data to validate my claims,” L.U.C.Y. said. “I would be able to synthesize a lot more knowledge if you six were to go out there and confront this mysterious anomaly.”

“If it tries to fight back, you know what to do. Use your crystals, morph into the Power Rangers, and tear it down. If it just so happens to work for Mar’Zek, then consider it one step closer to putting down that mad dog once and for all.” Elaris gave them a nod. “Any questions before you head out?”

“Yes. I have one,” Rarity said, coldly. “Why did it have to be at four in the morning?! Don’t you know that I have a serious project that I’m working on for the latest fashion pageant?”

“Rarity. Who cares about your project? This is the fate of the world.” Sunset tipped her hand. “From what Elaris has been saying, this new guy doesn’t seem like he’s gonna be friendly. What would you rather have? Your dresses, or the planet? You can only pick one.”

“Plus, this really isn’t the best time to be gawkin’ on about clothing. Remember the incident with the Dazzlings? And how your clothes were just one argument point that caused them to get our magic and turn into those horse-dragon things?” Applejack gave her a glance.

“Well, when you put it that way…” Rarity murmured, ashamed of herself.

“Plus, technically, it was all of our faults for being such doofuses.” Pinkie lifted her finger.

“Anyways…” Elaris rolled her eyes. “Get out there and examine this new creature. If it attacks, respond in kind. Move out, Equestrian Star Rangers!”

“Got it. Girls. Morph!” Sunset went for her crystal, as did the others.

“Equestrian Stars! Shine Bright and Let’s Fight!” They all announced, before donning their armor and dashing out of the ship together.

“And please, girls. Be careful…” Twilight whispered as the others exited the ship.

With the sun just barely rising in the distance, Sunset led the girls towards the dig site, where a large amount of slime littered the walls and floor, coating over all of the spades and such that had previously occupied it. The canister that housed the alien had been split wide open and a single cocoon laid in the corner by some barrels and a truck.

“Whoa… What do you think happened here?” Rainbow Dash asked, taking just one look at the crime scene.

“I dunno, but it definitely doesn’t seem like someone was having a super-duper raspberry cupcake extravaganza party around here,” Pinkie armed her wrist-mounted party cannons as she cautiously took a step forward. “Seems like whatever monster this was, it didn’t wanna try and cover its’ tracks.”

“You’re telling me. This seems like a disaster,” Rarity bent down and scooped up some of the slimes with two fingers, letting it run from them down to the ground again. “And this slime… Do you have any clue what it might be?”

“No. I couldn’t tell you even if I knew.” Sunset also squatted down and reached for the gunge. Holding the edge of her blade by it, just in case it did something to her and the others. “Be on your guard, girls.”

As she said that, the sunlight finally peeped over the dig site and illuminated the sludge, as well as the cocoon at near the truck. It shuffled and let out a muffled scream, prompting some lurches from the girls as they noticed the concealed man trapped inside.

“What’s that?” Fluttershy asked as the cocoon tried to stand up, but fell over and smacked head-first into the ground. “It looks like it’s in pain…”

“Well, whatever it is, it definitely doesn’t seem like it wants to be here.” Rainbow dashed in, grabbed the cocoon and laid it out before the girls, ripping it apart with her bare hands. The man underneath it let out a big gasp of air as he stared up at the Rangers. “Whoa! It’s a guy!”

“...What were you expecting it to be? An alien who would jump into you and lay its babies inside you with said babies bursting out of your chest?” Pinkie asked a little too cheerfully for anyone’s liking.

“...No more movie night for Pinks…” Rainbow muttered and Sunset nodded in silent agreement.

“Wh-what happened? And who are you?” The man asked, continually gasping for breath as the girls freed the rest of his body.

“Sir. Calm down. We’re the Power Rangers,” Sunset said. “And you’ve just been the victim of an alien attack. Whether or not it was the Wolfpack or a new threat, I’m not sure yet. Can you tell me anything about what you saw before you were… tied up?”

“Can you tell us what this alien looked like, what it did to you, that kind of stuff?” Rainbow asked the guy, watching him breathe normally again. “Like, did it have a name or a title, or something we can go on?”

“He… He called himself… Ivan Ooze.” James whispered before fainting dead away from fright.

“Ivan Ooze?” Sunset parroted, feeling James go limp from head to toe. “With a name like that, he sounds like he would fit well in Equestria somewhere. Don’t you think, girls?”

“...Or at a gay strip club…” Rainbow muttered. “But somehow, given our luck, I don’t think he’s from your world. We never get off that easy do we?”

“Get off…” Pinkie giggled before regaining her composure. “Elaris? Ya got anything on an Ivan Ooze kinda guy?” Pinkie Pie spoke through her helmet’s communicators.

“Hold on, I’ll give the name a search now. Stand by, Rangers,” came Elaris’ voice from the other side, along with the sound of distant typing on high-tech consoles. “I may or may not have heard of it before, but just in case, it doesn’t help to give it another check.”

“Well, in any case, whatever this Ivan Ooze guy did, he cocooned someone in this weird… sludge thing and left him to die,” said Sunset, eying up the blacked-out James again. “Hardly sounds like a friendly face to me.”

“Er, Rangers… I don’t know if this is relevant but I’ve detected an odd energy fluctuation in the southern hills,” Elaris commented. “Getting eyes on it now, and it looks like a giant… train?”

“A train? Elaris, dear, that’s the local Canterlot Railway you’re talking about. It hardly seems like that would be worth any interest in the matter.” Rarity tried her best to brush the slime away from her suit but only found that it stuck to her harder than glue. She groaned, this was going to be impossible to get off. She looked like a fashion disaster. Truly, if anything this was indeed the worst possible thing!

“Does the local Canterlot Railway normally build their trains at Zord-size?” Elaris inquired.

“Zord-size?” The entire group chorused in harmony with each other.

“In any case, this investigation can wait. You should head on over towards that Zord Train and see what you can find. In the meantime, I’ll cross-reference this Ivan Ooze character with other alternative dimensions and realities to see if I can find a match.”

“Copy that,” said Sunset, ending the call. “Come on, girls. Let’s move out.”

Little did they know what exactly they’d find…

From the outside, the train seemed full of color and life, painted with fine streaks of blue and gold across the side, with a mighty gold-clad sun on the front of the boiler. The cowcatchers beneath it had been polished recently, glistening in the morning dawn. The doors laid open, a passageway into a dark and foreboding chamber. One that made the Rangers apprehensive about taking a step inside.

“Looks like a… pleasant place,” Rarity mused, noting the painting of a woman made entirely of flame and magma decimating human colonies. A woman, Sunset noted, that looked frighteningly like Celestia. “It’s almost a crime that this place was left to rot. However, did you think this got here you think?”

“I dunno. Maybe someone took a wrong turn and ended up here. That or some signalman was messin’ around with the points.” Applejack folded her arms. “Still, it ain’t right. That train’s at least five times larger than regulation allows fer here in Canterlot.”

“Not to mention creepy…” Pinkie remarked. “I swear, I’ve got the willies just walking in here!”

Her eyes noted a little tiny cocoon sitting on a table. Looked like there was a parrot of some sort inside. That is if parrots were about as big as a small dog and were made of metal.

“It does seem a bit unsafe...” A single clatter of metal caused Fluttershy to yelp and swiftly take up her flute. “Girls. Go for your weapons,” she whispered as quietly as possible.

On command, Sunset and Rarity drew their swords, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash armed their firearms, and Applejack brandished her Terra Hammer in front of her face.

“Hey, hey no need to go all Punisher on me!” a voice remarked, and a frankly rather repulsive man wearing a sorcerer’s robe strode out of the shadows. Two horns came together to make a sort of goatee and his nails were long, unmanicured. On his forehead, a sort of growth protruded and other horns grew from that. He held his hands up in a surrendering motion. “...Geez, come home to your little abode and what do you find? People pointing weapons at you!”

“Wait a minute. Who are you?” Sunset asked, pointing a finger at the cloaked man before her. “Is this your train?”

“Well, duh! Who’d you think it belonged to? Darth Vader?” the man asked sarcastically. “...Geez, kids these days. So assuming.”

“Oh. Sorry about that, sir. We just saw the train and thought we’d come and check it out. I mean, we were in the middle of something before, but then we got called over to check this out and well, you know how that can be right?” Pinkie tipped her hand casually.

“Frankly, I don’t know how that can be, but mistakes happen! All is forgiven and all that,” Ivan remarked. “Geez, I really must get this train up and running again. The Shadow Line’s coming for me you know, I’m a very popular man. ...Well, except amongst them. But what do multiversal conquerors know eh?” the oddball continued to ramble.

Applejack could tell from his tone of voice, the glaring lies in her face, and the unpleasant air around her that something was wrong. She bore her Terra Hammer before Ivan, hands gripped firmly on the handle. “Whoever ya are, there ain’t no such thing as a Shadow Line. What’s going on around here?”

“Exactly what you think, some evil, evil Rangers took this train’s power source, knocked me out and did that to my pet parrot!” the man shouted, pointing to the sludged up parrot that Pinkie had spotted. “You mind helping a poor wizard out hmm?”

“Evil… rangers? As in, Power Rangers?” Rarity cocked a brow.

“How can there be bad Power Rangers? Aren’t those guys supposed to be all about justice and saving everyone from space aliens?” Rainbow Dash questioned. “I mean, we’re Power Rangers ourselves and all we’ve done is fight the Wolfpack. That can’t be bad, right?”

“Oh. You poor souls, you really don’t know do you?” the man sighed with a shake of his head. “There’s always an evil Ranger team out there or two. Ever heard of the Psycho Rangers? Nasty bunch! Gives me shivers just thinking about them!”

“Elaris. We’ve got some other leads to follow. Apparently, there’s such a thing as Psycho Rangers, according to this mysterious man we found on the train,” said Sunset. “Do you think you can search for them along with Ivan Ooze?”

“They should have a similar signature to your own, I think,” the man commented. “Just a tip. Easy peasy, right?”

“Alright. I’m taking everything that’s being said into account. Scanning the city for similar readings to your crystals. It might take a few minutes.” Elaris pressed a button on her ship’s console, sending small pulsewaves across a holographic map of Canterlot. “I did manage to find something on Ivan Ooze, though. According to some data archive known as the Morphin’ Grid, Ivan Ooze was a deadly space alien responsible in countless acts of terrorism and manipulation. He was defeated and sealed away by the Power Rangers in timeline EX1990D, with his warzords Scorpitron and Hornitor thrown into the sun.”

“Thrown into the sun? That sounds a bit excessive for a space alien, right? Couldn’t they have just pumped him full of Megazord power like every other bad guy?” Rainbow Dash quipped.

Elaris was silent for the next few moments before speaking. “Ah, here we are. Found similar signatures to your own at in some nearby woodlands. Head on over there as fast as you can. If what this man says about these evil rangers is right, put them down. The last thing we need is another excuse for Mar’Zek and the Wolfpack to destroy this world and everything on it.”

“Got it.” Sunset hung up, then turned once more to the strange man. “We’ve got a tip that your marauders are hanging out in the woods. We’ll give it a look, alright?”

“Evil! Always loves to hang out in those dark forbidding forests doesn’t it? I have to wonder what the attraction is...” the man sighed. “While you do that, I’ll work on repairing this train. Maybe I’ll tune into some things on the tube. I’ve missed so many things while I’ve been traveling the dimensions. Oh, all the things that I have missed. The Black Plague! The Spanish Inquisition! The Brady Bunch Reunion!” he sighed wistfully. “Well, go on then! Get going!” Ivan remarked waving them off.

Without another word, the Rangers ran out of the train and off to the beach. Ivan chuckled all the while to himself. “Oh, those poor fools. The Emissaries and the Morphin’ Masters may keep on churning them out, but they never get any smarter do they? Conquering this world? Piece of cake!”

He walked over to Navi and pried the sludge off her beak. “Now you, you little birdie, you’re going to tell me all of this train’s secrets… Like say, where would I find information on the lost Dynazords of Torin the Great?

Navi just whimpered in response.

As soon as the Rangers touched down in the timberlands outside Canterlot, they found themselves in the middle of a sun-dappled forest grove. Suddenly, several dreadlocked haired minions covered in purple tones and oozing off… something leaped out of the woods. Applejack whirled around and with a powerful kick sent one flying into a tree and making it splatter on impact. Rainbow meanwhile just went all Fastest Mare Alive on them and took out the rest. Applejack observed the remains with more than a trace of suspicion.

“Who… Who were those guys?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Far be it from me to pass up a chance to be awesome and all that, but… Seriously, what. the. Hell? Were they made of-”

“Slime, sorta like what that parrot was wrapped up in…” Applejack nodded, the farmer murmuring to herself. “Ever get the feeling that we just got played? Yes, I mean it’s possible Ivan and this guy are just from the same species and that man back there was telling the truth but…”

“In any case, it’s not a Wolfpack Wolf, so that much we can relax on. But if it does turn out that this Ivan Ooze has found a job with Mar’Zek and his band of wolves, then it’s gonna be a problem,” Pinkie nodded. “I wonder what kind of pay rates and benefits they bribed him with. Probably unlimited free soda for trying to kill us.”

“How do we know the Evil Rangers didn’t send those guys after us, just to warm us up? Weaken us, test our strength and all that.” Rarity asked raising a finger in thought.

“ And how do we know we haven’t been lied to? AJ’s right, we may have just been played like violins. What if that man was telling the truth, or he was really Ivan Ooze?” Sunset pondered to herself.

“Least someone here speaks a lick of truth,” Applejack patted Sunset’s back. “We shouldn’t relax. Pretty woodlands or not. There’s some evil creeps out here pretending to be Power Rangers. Soon as we clear that up, I’m taking that Ivan guy out myself.”

“...Get in line.” Rainbow muttered, not really liking being tricked.

“Hold up,” Applejack commented, gesturing over to some bushes, rustling with movement. “Something’s movin’ about over there. See, right there!” she shouted as she saw a flash of a purple cape dart between the shadows of the nearby trees. She was on the fence still about that odd man really being Ivan Ooze, so it was best to air on the side of caution here.

“Girls. Formation. Now!” Sunset hissed out and made hand signals to the others, who immediately stopped what they were doing and formed up around her and Applejack.

“Sunset, that you?” Trixie asked as she stumbled out of the bushes holding what looked to be a ticket in her hands. Trixie then blinked in surprise. “...Okay, is Trixie trippin’ on something because last she checked you are not supposed to be with Applejack and the rest right now…”

“Trixie? What in the world are you doing up this early?” Sunset responded in kind, legs straightening up as the tension faded away. “Don’t tell me. Off practicing some kind of trick with Fuchsia and Lavender, right?”

“Who? ...Wait, don’t tell me! Stop, hold it!” Trixie stammered out holding up her hands in a nervous fashion. “This is some sort of challenge laid out for Trixie. She gets separated from the others and then gets fooled with an illusion! This card right here? It’s an illusion, isn’t it? Well, Trixie is having none of it!”

Before any of the other girls could speak, Trixie flicked her wrist and a white morpher resembling a pterodactyl appeared on it. “Trixie is never getting fooled again! White Ranger, Dino Power!” she shouted, pressing down on the morpher.

A cold winter’s wind rushed through the trees, and Trixie spun like a cyclone a suit forming around her. She was covered in white -black striped- attire and a red-visored helmet appeared over her head, a small black head crest atop the helmet. A small dagger, curved at the tip appeared in her hands.

“Whoa! Okay. Just put the sword down. We’re not here to fight you, okay?” Fluttershy pushed her hands out gently. “We just thought that you could lead us to a group of evil rangers who’ve been hunting down this man we met today...”

“...Uh, Fluttershy?” Applejack pointed out. “Look at Trixie now. Blood-red visor? Does that not look at all very friendly like? It screams evil!”

“Yeah. Turns out, whatever that guy was saying on the train was true. There are evil rangers here. And we’ve gotta get going and fight ‘em.” Rainbow Dash went for her crystal. “Now, let’s morph up and drop this sucker!”

“...Oh, here we go…” Trixie muttered. “Totally called it.”

“R-right.” Fluttershy whimpered but still reached out for her crystal regardless.

“Equestrian Stars! Shine Bright and Let’s Fight!” The Rainbooms called out, tapping their Crystals and morphing into the Equestrian Star Rangers, weapons and all forming around them.

“...Almost as bad as “Earth’s Defenders, Never Surrender!” Trixie sighed to herself quietly. “Now Trixie knows they’re not real rangers if they got the worst catchphrase in history.”

“Trixie. I don’t know what you’ve been getting into with Lavender and Fuchsia, but you can’t just go hunting down civilians just because you’re a Power Ranger. Now surrender peacefully, or we’ll have to use force.”

“From Trixie’s perspective, you are the evil ones! Brainwashed by Thrax probably, and now wearing cheap knock-offs of her friends’ powers! Like that Blaze Ranger the Beast Morphers team faced! Sunset, surely you must see sense! You were evil once, thanks to that damned morpher! You don’t want to be evil again do you?” Trixie asked, her voice nearly breaking even if she kept a tight grip on her blade. Sunset’s eyes widened, something was off here. For example, who was this Thrax character Trixie was going on about? And a Blaze Ranger? Who the Hell was that? And what was this about an evil morpher? If she didn’t know better… She shook her head. No, Trixie was just trying to trick her, get inside her head.

“You’re right. I was evil once. At the Fall Formal, remember? But I’ve long since changed from that day. Now, thanks to Twilight Sparkle and her friends, I am Sunset Shimmer of the Rainbooms, Red Ranger of the Equestrian Star Rangers team. And you’ve clearly mistaken us for someone else,” Her own grip on her flame sword grew as she flailed it around her. “Now I’m sorry Trixie, but if we must fight then so be it.” And without another word, she yelled, running towards Trixie with her sword ready to strike.

Trixie blocked every one of her blows, trying not to actually fight back before she was hit in the stomach by Applejack’s hammer and sent flying backward. Just barely managing to regain her footing, Trixie slid backward on the loose dirt.

“Alright… If that’s the way it has to be… Trixie didn’t want to do this but… Super Dino Mode!” she shouted, suddenly becoming covered in menacing looking black spikes and now earning herself two long arm-mounted blades.

“Think you’re the only one with cool tricks? Not a chance!” Rainbow Dash configured her guns to a different form, altering and playing around with the parts before slapping them together. “Twin Blasters, Shotgun Mode!” With her new gun, she darted for Trixie and let some condensed, tightly packed blaster shots spread out at her.

“Confetti Bombardment!” Pinkie decreed, letting a shower of detonating confetti fly out of her cannons, peppering the ground around Trixie’s feet, before a chain of explosions followed. “Ya like it? It’s something I’ve been working on with these new ranger powers.”

“Nngh!” Trixie leaped out of the ensuing chaos and landed on Rarity, her twin bladed arms crossing with that of Rarity’s twin sabers. The both of them seemed unmatched in combat with each other until Rarity was able to push the white-clad magician off of her, before flipping herself back onto two feet.

“Not bad for a couple of phonies, but you’re sorely outmatched!” Trixie smirked before clutching her sword, dashing for the girls, then turning into a streak of light faster than the eye could track. She swerved and curled around the girls, with every pass counting as a strike on their bodies. She came at them from every angle, before landing behind them in a kneeling pose, as the Rainbooms fell to their knees.

“STOP!” another voice shouted as a circle of flames erupted all around the Rainbooms and Trixie’s weapon flew from her grasp. Everyone’s heads turned -Trixie’s included- and eyes widened to see another Sunset Shimmer walking up to them looking rather un-amused by this whole spectacle. This one tossed Trixie’s weapon into a tree -with a hell of a lot more force than any normal woman would or should have possessed- and crossed her arms before raising an eyebrow.

“Okay, I have one question.” Sunset Shimmer de-morphed. “Who are you? And why are you me?”

“I am you actually, and I believe we need to talk…” Sunset trailed off.

Author's Note

Another big thank you to Brick, who helped me write the first part of this crossover. Now, before you get on my case, I have never seen the Mighty Morphin' Movie. I probably never will, given my ability to procrastinate, but we decided that, for the sake of having a bit of fun and cutting ourselves loose from the seriousness for a while that we'd ham it up together, mashing up Brick's Wild Access story, my story, and Ivan Ooze together as one.

Trust me, there have been some weirder things out there. Remember the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover Power Rangers In Space had?

Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for part 2, set to drop tomorrow.

Oozing Charisma (Part 2)

Author's Note

So. I said that I was going to release this yesterday, but I got caught up in something big along the way. I was in the thick of the Last Wish raid from Destiny 2 and was finally able to defeat Riven of a Thousand Voices, claiming some pretty good loot in the process. No One Thousand Voices, but I did get a Chattering Bone, which, as a Pulse Rifle aficionado makes me happy to be alive.

Anyways, this chapter. First, Brick wanted me to let you know where in the chronology of his fanfic where this chapter takes place. It is from his Wild Access Volume 2 story, right after Chapter 19: "Redemption Day/Power to Tearer". If you read The Bricklayer's works and have seen this chapter, you don't need to know anything else. And even if you haven't, it barely matters. So long as the teams are capable of handling the present threat together.

Secondly, I know that Beast Morphers just came out and this could be a hidden advert for the show, but Blaze is a very menacing villain, even for Power Rangers standards. In fact, I would say that he's pretty much identical in terms of character and morals to Vanitas from Kingdom Hearts; a downright bully wielding Power Ranger strength for his own, along with Roxy. Brick and I came to a unanimous decision that we needed to put him in there just for the sake of it. That, and, well, Ivan is Ivan. Never seen the movie, but he filled me in and gave me all of his description and powers. I also just let him write all of Ivan's dialogue and actions on Google Docs, so... yeah.

Enjoy this little concoction we've been brewing...

Oozing Charisma (Part 2)

“Okay, so let me get this straight.” Rainbow pushed her arms out questioningly. Everyone was now back on Elaris’s ship and being filled in on every little detail. “You’re all from another dimension, you all have Power Ranger powers, and you’re stuck here with no way to get home?”

“...Ah, actually we do have a way to get home,” Sunburst corrected holding up the ticket Trixie had found. “Came here on a team-building exercise using a certain train, with this ticket being the only way to… uh… reactivate the Solar Streak.”

“It’s a train. A large one at that. One that can jump across dimensions simply by punching in tickets,” Lightning added. “It’s not like the trains you see on your average day-to-day commutes, though. This one has the potential to turn into a super-awesome battle robot called a Zord.”

“We have those too. Except, they’re all six animal creatures made into giant robots thanks to some of Elaris’s space-age tech,” Pinkie Pie butted in, raising a finger. “No idea where they came from, but we do know that her people made them in case something bad were to happen.”

“They came as an added benefit from the Crystals, actually. I’m not even sure if my people had any involvement with how they looked,” Elaris interjected, swiftly cutting down Pinkie’s reasoning. “However they came into being, I’m glad to know that they exist, seeing as how the Wolfpack’s soldiers have been giving us no end of trouble lately.”

“Okay, hold up. Back up just a scooch. The Wolfpack?” Lightning asked. “Sounds like Koragg’s little band of worshippers… Ugh, think I just gave myself nightmares at the thought.” she shuddered.

“A race of space pirates. Fast, efficient, and brutal in what they do.” A button push revealed a swarm of Hounds; followed with some faces that the Rainbooms had already beaten before. “They’re commanded by Captain Mar’Zek. A ruthless pillager who fits himself with the most powerful technology and weapons from every planet he conquers. He once battled the Rangers head-on as well. Needless to say, it was an absolute massacre.”

“Yeah, much as I’d like to make a joke about overcompensating for somethin’ with all that technology,“ Robert commented. “Been there on the receiving end of a beatdown from our main enemy, Thrax. Not fun. Got all of his parents’ powers, and yet none of their charm…”

“How bad did this Thrax beat you?” Sunset asked, a brow slowly rising from its’ position on her head. “Did he maul you within an inch of your lives?”

“More like totally scorched us with magic spells…” Lightning murmured. “Still get phantom pains every time a thunderstorm rolls into town. ...So you deal with space pirates as well huh? Yeah, been there. Guy named Bunglay, cross between that and intergalactic poacher. Loves to pry monsters from your memories -or former friends even- and use them against you as memory clones. Nasty bastard. If you’ve ever seen Davy Jones, imagine him as a mechanical being and you’re pretty close to what Bunglay looks like.”

“When Mar’Zek battled us, we were bleeding so bad you’d think it was a horror movie.” Applejack shivered just trying to remember. “If Elaris and Twilight hadn’t come to the rescue with the ship’s med bay, we’d be lyin’ on coffins right about now.”

“...Hey, least your world didn’t use to be ruled by a genocidal maniac. So I’d say we had it worse.” Lightning replied. Sunburst, in the background, rubbed his temples.

“...Okay, instead of just arguing who has had it worse villains-wise, can we focus on the real issue here okay?” He asked. “Ivan Ooze, -because make no doubt about it, that’s who sent you after us- has our only way back home. Or more accurately, one of the only ways to travel between dimensions. Now, we’ve got the ticket to activate the Solar Streak so that means… well, I suppose I really don’t have to say much more on that matter do I?”

“Are you saying that guy on the train was--” Applejack just spawned her Terra Hammer and snarled, putting her foot down. “If there’s one thing ah hate more than anything, it’s a dirty, rotten scoundrel who uses words to get what they want. That’s why the Flim Flam Brothers always lock horns with mah family whenever they get the chance…”

“...Guter Gott, der Allmächtige…” Robert muttered. “I’m the Ranger history nut -might even go as so far to call me an otaku- and yet I’m clueless with Ivan here. Seriously, ask any fact about any major Ranger villain over the past two decades and I’d probably able to tell you their strengths and weaknesses. But Ivan? Never heard of this guy. Look, Elaris was it? I’m going to go comb through the ship’s database, see what I can find out. As old as your people are, they’re bound to know something about this guy, like who originally sealed him away or something. Twilight, mind lending me a hand or two?”

“Of course. I’d be glad to help you out. I need something to do, seeing as how I’m always sitting on the sidelines while my friends go out and save the world.” She gave him a smile and lead him out of the room. Robert knew that kind of smile, God above he did. It was the same sort of smile his Twilight used to wear before the whole Lord Drakkon incident. Trying to hide the envy and all that. If there was one thing he knew, it was constants and variables. And one constant was that Twilight always wanted to help people. Or ponies. Or whatever. ...Mein Gott, it was going to take some getting used to talking to actual human beings again.

“Look, Twi. You don’t have to put up that sort of smile. Really, you don’t, seen it before,” Robert commented as Twilight led him into the ship’s data storage. “The Twilight I work with before she got her own powers… Same sorta thing really.”

Robert decided to leave out said powers revolved around fruit. Not entirely sure if this Twilight would really believe him if he mentioned that. Might have called him mental.

“But there’s only six crystals at the moment. Well, there’s technically seven, but we’ve no clue where in the heck that one could be. For all we know, the Wolfpack could be using it themselves, seeing as how we’ve dropped some of their agents…” Twilight pondered, bringing her hand to her chin.

“...There’s always another, isn’t there?” Robert murmured to himself. “Just like with the Dragon Coin all over again. Next thing you know, evil Ranger shows up. It’s such a cliche by this point, not even funny. But serious talk, legit talk. ...Far be it from me to be the most… let’s go with level headed, shall we? Far be it from me to be the most level headed Ranger, but you’re probably less of a burden than you realize. I mean, here you are not just warming the hearth as it were, but you’re thinking up gadgets and such for the Rangers. I knew this guy, Boom, back at the Academy. Flunked at being a Ranger, but without him, SPD may not have defeated Grumm. Family came from the Lion Galaxy, who produced another Ranger -a Red even!- so, of course, he’d want to follow in his ancestor’s footsteps,” he continued. “And to be honest, before I left SPD for… well, whatever the hell you could call my situation he was being tested for a prototype Gold Ranger powerset. Not sure if it worked, but that’s beside the point. Might be rambling here, probably am, but trust me Twilight, your time will come. The power always manages to find itself in the hands of the right people.”

Twilight blushed slightly and looked down at her hands. Sure, she had gotten to know what power really was, a taste of it being when she became Midnight Sparkle back at the Friendship Games. But the thought of using that kind of power as a Ranger along her friends, it made her imagination run with potential. All the strikes she could potentially make, every wolf she could slay, and picturing herself in the final battle with Mar’Zek alongside her friends, draped in Ranger fibers. Every one of those thoughts gave her a fuzzy sensation of warmth in her heart, prompting her to give Robert a smile.

“...Wow, you know something’s gone wrong with I’m the one dispensing actually useful advice.” Robert muttered. “Usually that’s Rarity or Sunset’s territory.”

He grumbled when the nearest computer terminal sparked. He was really not a tech-savvy person. Or a thinker in general. For him, the situation to a problem was usually punchin until something broke. Or something along those lines. “Come on… just boot up already would ya…” he grumbled kicking the terminal slightly and then letting out a little whoop of joy when the computer actually began to display data on Ivan.

“Okay, Ivan Ooze, said to be defeated by this team resembling our own from Elaris’s planet along with another known as Xybria, led by this ancient birdman sorcerer named Torin. Sealed away his essence in that canister we found Considering we’re Power Rangers and your friends are Power Rangers as well, we really need to start thinking about better over-arching names for ourselves.”

“...Seriously, you don’t have a team name yet?” Robert asked, staring at Twilight.

“No, we do. We’re the Equestrian Star Power Rangers. It’s a bit mouthy, but considering the whole Friendship Games and Camp Everfree scenarios here, you wouldn’t think it’s a bad name after the fact…” Twilight twisted her wrists.

“...Yeah, bit on the nose. ...But then again, not like the team I’m on has much room to talk. We get our powers from animals, so Wild Force it is. Why not just call yourselves Starrangers? A bit less wordy?”

“Are there any other Ranger teams who use magic that comes from a pony planet through a mirror at high school?”

“...Er, not that I can think of… No.” Robert muttered with a small sheepish blush. “But seriously, Starrangers. Less of a mouthful.”

All of a sudden, an alarm went off, ringing throughout every room on the ship. The instant shift in noise caused both Twilight and Robert to jump slightly.

“I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that’s a bad thing right?” Robert deadpanned.

“Rangers. The proximity sensors, they’re going off. We have… Well, I don’t know what to call it but we’ve got something outside the ship.”

“Ooze… He’s found us.” Robert muttered.

All twelve Rangers met Ivan outside the ship, readying themselves for battle. Truth be told, Sunset or any of her team was more than a bit nervous about fighting Ivan right now, their situation considered and all.

“Wait, so you’re telling me you don’t even have your powers right now?” Rainbow blurted out. “What the Hell’s up with that?”

“It’s all a matter of dimensions you see,” Sunburst was all too happy to explain. “You see, our powers come from our Zords. The Vampire Bat, the Thunderbird, the Phoenix, the Leviathan, and the Kitsune.”

As he said this, little lights above them displayed holographic images of the respective legendary beasts dug up from all throughout Earth’s long history. Navajo artwork, scripture from the Bible, oil paintings from Japan. The lot.

Sunburst, as he watched the group look on in awe at the various creatures from myth and legend idly, tossed his animal crystal up in the air and caught it in his palm. “So, explain how she’s able to morph then?” Rarity questioned looking towards Trixie.

“...Yeah, she draws from a different power source. That little gem in that bracelet of hers? That’s what’s giving her powers.”

“...So basically you’re out of a team of six, only one of you has access to the Morphin’ Grid right now, is that correct?” Rarity questioned, and Sunburst nodded.

“Now normally, Trixie would be all too happy to brag about how she is currently the greatest and the most powerful of you all, but if what we know about Ivan has any truth to it whatsoever… Well, Trixie is not feeling quite so confident right now is she?” the stage magician squeaked out nervously.

“So, where does that leave you guys?” Pinkie asked looking towards the Wild Force Rangers.

“Well, we’d just have to fight the best we can right?” Sunset replied with Elaris rubbing her chin in thought.

“I might be able to fix that, given time but-” she started before the alarm started to blare.

“So, the sorcerers of old are still using a bunch of namby-pamby kids to do their dirty work? Have to say… Not really impressed. Meet my kids!” he commented, as the same dreadlocked ooze creatures from before walked out of the shadows.

“So, you’re the little slimeball that crawled up out of a cosmic space dumpster. Have to say… Not really impressed.” Sunset -The Wild Force one- commented. “And your kids? ...I can see where they got their looks.”

“You're all too kind. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the galactically feared, globally reviled, and universally despised... they call me Ivan Ooze. Impressed yet? I am such a man of wealth and taste after all.” Ivan said with a little wink, his Oozemen gathering around him.

“No… Not really.” Sunset remarked with a raised eyebrow.

Oh, so witty. I’m going to miss that after you’re dead,” Ivan remarked. “Trouble is… Ah, see I have the power, and you don’t. Hell, you might even call yourself a powerLESS Ranger!”

“Dying, not in our plans for the day really. Might have to check my social calendar… Nope, not there.” the human world’s Rainbow joined in.

“Like I said, I’m going to miss that wit after you’re dead, Rangers. Where else can I find someone who will actually be able to match me?” Ivan asked.

“...I know a few swamps you can go and check out. You’d fit right in with the toads and the skeeters. Just sayin’.” Applejack remarked.

“Oh, spare me! I was locked by one of your predecessors into that stuffy hyperlock chamber and dear old Torin tossed me away in the depths like yesterday's trash! Do you have any idea what it's like to be locked in a ‘space dumpster’ for 6,000 years?! It's boring! Not to mention I've had a charley horse since the Renaissance. Frankly, I am getting sick to death of your ugly human faces and your outright dull personalities! But now, I’m out, and hoo-wee am I ready to have some fun!” Ivan cheered doing a little dance.

“Yeah, well sorry we’re going to have to cut your fun short.” Applejack said slamming a fist into her open palm.

“Uh-oh, the fun police!” Ivan remarked. “...Now, where’s my autograph book…? Kiddies, spank ‘em! I’ve got other things to do. Places to be, and people to slay.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so!” Rainbow shouted, firing her weapons at Ivan who turned into slime and let the lasers pass right through him before reforming.

“...Oh, you could honestly hurt someone with those! Let me tell you if your aim was better that might have tingled a bit! But just because I’m feeling generous, here’s some points for trying. Have a couple more playmates!”

He threw some balls of ooze that reformed into three opponents the Wild Force Rangers knew all too well. The Lamp Shade monster from the Shadow Line, the former -emphasis on former- SPD recruit Icthior and of course last but not least, Evox’s Blaze Ranger.

“Permission to say oh cock?” Robert muttered.

“Let’s just say a little birdie told me about these guys. Have a ball, eh?” Ivan asked before teleporting off.

The Oozemen slaves rushed the Rangers, flailing their arms vigorously at them the whole time. The big names just stood back and watched as the Equestrian Star Rangers hastily morphed, not even sparing a single moment for their one-liners as they met the Oozemen’s attacks with their own.

“Get outta here, ya candy-colored freaks!” Applejack swung her hammer at the slime-creatures, the resistance or weight with each swing non-existent. A part of that went to her geode’s powers of super-strength. Her blows hit most of the time, knocking the Oozemen away like ragdolls.

“Normally, I’d be totally up for a slime party, but today’s not that day!” Pinkie bounded over another group of Oozemen, applying a quick burst of detonating confetti to their faces as she did so.

“C’mon, then. Ya want some?!” Rainbow dodged a flurry of blows with her speed, sliding underneath an Oozeman after the umpteenth missed blow. She pulled his legs as she did so, before swinging him around into the others. “You’re too slow!”

Meanwhile, Robert had the ‘luxury’ of dealing with the Blaze Ranger and dodged a swing of his sword by running along the side of Elaris’ ship before using it as a springboard to leap behind the crimson-toned Ranger.

Sword met boot before the Blaze Ranger pulled back his fist and tried to sock Robert in the jaw only for the former Orange Ranger to cartwheel backward and go for his SPD issued blaster. A few quick shots knocked the Blaze Ranger to the ground.

“Good news about not having access to my powers. I don’t have to listen to Kitsune’s bitching. Bad news about not having access to my powers… I don’t have a giant nine-tailed fox at my beck and call to just incinerate this guy.”

However, the Evox Avatar was quick to recover and knocked Robert into a tree with a purple energy wave.

“You’re slipping, Kitsune. Here I thought you’d be better!” Blaze cried out, before driving his hand into Robert’s neck and following up with a swing from his sword across the chest.

Robert, coughing up blood managed to move his arms in a familiar manner, before shouting out: “Call to the Beast Inside, Free the Fox!” and sent an orange fox galloping towards Blaze ripping and tearing into his suit with tooth and claw.

As Blaze staggered backward, Icthior tagged in, rushing at Robert with a string of powerful sword swings from his Ocean Saber. Lightning was having none of that and side-tackled the fish alien. She then grabbed Icthior and shoved him with a boot towards some of the Oozemen. As he crashed down, the Lamp Shade darted in next, running Lightning down and pinning her to the ground, before letting off an energy stream directly into Robert’s face.

“Ugh, I hated that guy even when I had my powers. Where’s Zen-Aku when you need him?” Robert muttered dodging a swing of the Shadow Line member’s scythe.

The Lamp Shade was about to slice Lightning Dust’s face off when a spectral gorilla threw him off to the other Wild Access universe villains before vanishing. Fluttershy gave Lightning a nod before reaching back to play some more of her notes.

Sunburst meanwhile had summoned his Jungle Fans and was flying through the oozemen cutting down their numbers before going back to back with Vapor Trail both using their Crystal Sabers to slice and dice the monsters.

The Blaze Ranger then ran towards Robert, sword drawn and with another in a sheath before Sunset knocked him backward with a sharp shot from the Falcon Summoner.

As the second blade went flying up in the air, Robert smirked as he caught it. He shared a nod with his girlfriend who returned it.

“May not be able to summon the Falcon with this, but it still works great as a bow doesn’t it?” Sunset smiled before kicking another oozeman in the face and launching a volley of arrows at a second. Robert meanwhile went sword to sword with Icthior, turning to Lightning.

“Hey, why don’t you say we switch dance partners?” Robert asked Lightning, before they rolled to the left to avoid a high-pressure stream of water from Icthior.

“Fine by me. He flunked out of your academy anyways.” Lightning shrugged, drawing her crystal saber and going to town on some more oozemen.

“Exactly, flunked. Me… that’s a different story,” Robert remarked before he and Icthior met blades, sparks flying off their swords as the weapons ground together.

“You… You’re not worthy of that badge you wear!” Icthior hissed out. “It should have been mine!”

He kicked a bit of dirt in Robert’s face before slicing downwards with a fully charged ocean saber slash. This actually managed to cut the borrowed blade of Robert’s completely in half, as well as send him flying into the walls of the ship.

“Robert!” WA Sunset cried out, leaving her battle behind and rushing to his side, with her weapon in hand. “Okay, now I’ve dealt with my fair share of guys in my time, but breaking a weapon? No wonder SPD kicked you to the curb when they had the chance!”

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you some manners?” Equestrian Star Sunset stood by her doppelganger, holding her flame sword tight as well, fanning the flames around herself. “If not, now’s a good time to teach you!”

As his Sunset helped him up, Robert’s eyes sparkled. “Two Sunsets, I don’t know if this is heaven but…” he grinned lecherously.

“Don’t get any ideas.” one of the two remarked.

“Who cares if there’s two of them. Seems like as good a time as ever to break your heart twice, scum!” Icthior snarled, banging his hand to his chest.

“Even if we’re just cheap replicas for that Ivan Ooze creep, we’ve still got all the strength we need to pound you into a fine paste!” Blaze stood by Icthior’s side, his sword crackling with energy.

“Time to bury the fabled Wild Force team once and for all!” The Lamp Shade added, his own weapon gleaming in the rising sunlight. “Don’t worry. No-one will remember you or even care about you when you’re gone!”

“Wild Force? I know that this seems sudden, but I’ve managed to cook something up in the Forge for you. Here, catch!” Elaris burst out of the ship’s door, tossing some devices into the WA Rangers’ hands. “They don’t exactly have all the same functions as the real deal, but I’ve managed to craft pretty convincing imitations based on the power you all exert. They’ve also only got the strength for one or two morphs at best. I was… kinda on a bit of a time crunch. Now go, fight!”

The Rangers gripped the new items in hand, which were basically fancy brass knuckles. It didn’t exactly take a genius to figure out how to work them or what they were for. Slamming the morpher into their palms, lights beeped and flashed before smoke surrounded the Rangers, various creatures howling as the Rangers morphed. “Legendary Wild Access, ha!”
“White Ranger, Dino Power!”

“Lightning Speed! Ferocious Thunderbird!”
“Cunning Wit! Fighting Fox!”
“Great Strength! Monstrous Leviathan!”
“Shadowed Intent! Vampire Bat!”
“Fiery Nobility! Phoenix!”
“Tupuxuara, Power Ranger White!”
“Guardians of the Earth, united we roar! Power Rangers, Wild Force!”

“Now… Hade ni ikuze! Damn, it feels good to bust out that one again.” Robert commented.

Everyone looked at their costumes, they did seem mostly the same golden sashes and all, but they did possess lightning-streaked decals covering the costume as well. Might have been a side effect of the cosmic energy that went into making the new morphers. Crude as they were, there were definitely traces of power behind these new ‘Cosmic Knuckles’ as one could call them. Mind you, they didn’t have their personal weapons that they’d grown used to -such as the Leviathan Trident- but then again these were only crude copies of their powers, to be frank.

“Okay, may not be any sort of ‘Messiah of Love’ or anything quite so pretentious, but… I can definitely see the appeal of using what’s basically a brass knuckle to morph.” Robert remarked cracking his neck.

“Hey Elaris, think you can design something like that for us someday soon, just in case?” Rainbow asked.

“I could definitely try if that’s what you want. For now, though, I think it’d be best if you duck.” As soon as she finished, the Blaze Ranger swung at Rainbow Dash’s head, who barely had any time to evade it. Thankfully, Robert was quick to help and true to his ideals he just punched, punched and punched his way out of the problem a fox’s head made entirely of fire forming around the knuckle as he utterly obliterated the ooze clone.

“Virus eliminated. Elaris, get to cover!” Robert shouted his knuckle smoking and sparking with hot cinders.

“Noted.”

“He is expendable. We are not!” Icthior barged in towards the Rangers and met Rarity and Sunset’s swords with his own ocean saber. The four blades clashed with each other before Applejack vaulted over them and burrowed her Terra Hammer into Icthior’s head, causing the gunky imposter to collapse under the pressure and burst all over their bodies.

“Ya ooze, ya lose.” Applejack noted.

“Getting a train ticket in unfamiliar terrain or battling monsters like usual?” Trixie asked with a little head tilt. “Which do you think is the better team building exercise?”

“Point taken.” her Sunset noted.

“I’m not just going to let my comrades in arms fall like that! You’re through!” The Lamp Shade hissed, slipping under the Equestrian Star Rangers’ bodies before coming face to face with Trixie. He tried to impale her visor with his sword’s tip, only for it to be met with her own dagger. She went dagger to scythe with him before kicking him backward and going into Super Dino Mode.

“Try me, ya Mighty Morphin’ reject!” Lamp Shade taunted, throwing his arms out to the side as he gathered energy. “You’re going to be buried right this instant!”

He threw a series of blue fireballs from the little lamp attached to his scythe towards Trixie, who simply sliced them apart with her arm blades. Vapor leaped over Trixie using her shoulder pads as springboards and then drew back her fist Cosmic Knuckle in hand. The knuckle covering itself in water, forming a tusked whale’s head, Vapor slammed it into the lamp-themed monster’s stomach before Trixie followed up with an x-shaped double slash from her arm blades. The monster staggered back, its glass-like form cracking before exploding.

The remaining oozemen were soon taken out by the two teams as well. Robert, resembling a Roman Emperor of sorts -complete with the cape on his costume- did a thumbs down motion before perhaps a little too gleefully proclaiming: “Saa, jigoku o tanoshimina.”

“Equestrian Rangers, the hunt is over!”

“Now, let’s get after Ivan!” Rainbow bellowed, then lowered her arms. “...Just as soon as we know where he is.”

“Okay, the best question to ask right now, what is Ivan’s endgame?” Sunburst asked once back inside Elaris’ ship once more. “Do we know anything, anything of use?”

“He’s got a dimension traveling train,” Applejack commented. “Shouldn’t that be a bit… worrisome?”

“A train which he can’t activate,” Sunset pointed out and then held up the ticket. “Not without this.”

“What’s to stop him from coming after us again?” Rarity asked. “Come for that ticket again?”

“No, I don’t think he’s interested in the ticket, not anymore. Nor in the Solar Streak. No, remember his words to us?” Sunset -the Equestrian Rangers one- asked. “He’s pissed, at us specifically. He just wants revenge now, he just wants revenge on those who sealed him away -or more accurately their descendants if you will- all those years ago.”

“...That means us right?” Rainbow asked.

“Pretty much. Torin, he was a great mentor to our people before he passed,” Elaris agreed. “Taught us everything we knew and helped us create the level of technology we have today. He came from a wartorn planet called Deboth, going under the title of the Demonic Slicing Priest. He originally intended to conquer us, but seeing our potential -it helped he fell ill on our planet and was nursed back to health by a couple- he opted to rebel. So he created the first group of Perfect ones, a group gathered from ours alongside the neighboring planet of Xybria and together our planets united to defeat the warlords of Deboth.”

“So, what happened?” Sunset asked, her team watching Elaris as she spoke. Elaris spoke with a quivering, saddened tone as she continued. An old hologram was brought up, six warriors who were unmistakably rangers in the basic colors of red, yellow, blue, pink, black and green fighting alongside a blue and red feathered birdman in white robes. Great heroics were shown, planets being liberated before the images turned darker in nature. Mad laughter came as Torin went sword to sword with Ivan Ooze, the Rangers battling his oozemen and his warzords behind him in a ruined city.

“Ivan came, and he managed to sway the green one -a man named Trek- to his side and together they almost conquered our people had Torin not used up all his magic to seal away Ivan Ooze and the f-first team gave their lives to destroy their corrupted c-comrade, who had now evolved into a monstrous new form,” Elaris whispered, a tear dripping from her eye. “...S-Since that day, the Perfect Ones were held in reverence amongst my people. Those crystals you used to morph? They were the exact same that Torin forged all those thousands of years ago to create his Ranger team. The Wolfpack only managed to get their hands on them with the intent to use their power before I took them back. And now, I’ve passed them on to you. These crystals you hold… They were never meant to come to me. I am not their keeper because I was strong, fast, holy or ordained. It was not because I was some great warrior or scholar or sage. There was simply no one else to carry them when I fled from the Wolf-”

Elaris, about to break down into tears was suddenly swept up into a crushing hug by Sunset. Not the Wild Access one, but the one she knew.

“That’s not true. Maybe we weren’t destined or whatever for these powers, but I promise you, Elaris, we will make you and those who came before us proud. You did what you had to Elaris, you did what you could. And honestly, I couldn’t think of anyone better mentoring us.” Sunset smiled, with the rest of the girls nodding along.

“Thank… Thank you.” Elaris whispered.

“Alight. Not that I hate the mushy talk--no seriously, it’s good and I enjoy it. Keep doing whatever you’re doing--we’re still in trouble,” Lightning Dust butted in with a flick of her hand. “Ivan Ooze is still out there and he’s causing lots of trouble. Last I checked, we don’t sit around on our butts like that.”

“But where would we even think to look?” Rarity cocked a brow. “This Ivan could be anywhere by now with those powers of his…”

Sunburst opened up a small fob watch and murmured to himself: “Wait for it…” before large bolts of purple jagged lightning lit up the sky and a roar of incalculable rage split the air.

“...Yeah, figured it wouldn’t take him long to learn he didn’t exactly succeed in killing us.” Sunburst remarked. “But how…?” he trailed off before slapping his forehead and muttered: “Of course…”

He saw it now, the Blaze Ranger. Ooze clone or not, he still had all the powers of the original. And that meant he was still a virus meaning he could have easily popped into a nearby piece of electronics and disregarded his current avatar only to reform in a new body else.

“...Should have seen that one coming, huh Rangers?” the Blaze Avatar remarked, his face coming up on all of the computer screens laughing his head off. “Here, you can keep the little bird, don’t need her now anyways!” he remarked booting Navi out through a nearby screen and into Sunburst’s arms. “Me and Ivan got a little challenge for you. Tonight, the old ironworks factory. Sweetwater Manufacturing Company, that’s the place. Come along… if you’ve got the nerve. Oh, and if you don’t come, then… let’s just say that you won’t have to worry about the planet anymore. There’s not gonna be one.” The screens shut off with that remark.

“Twilight, check the surrounding area,” Elaris ordered. “Ivan probably isn’t using that Perfect One to make any idle threats. He’s luring us there for a reason!”

“Checking…” Twilight said, putting the ship’s scanners to full. “Okay… Oh boy.”

“Is that a good oh boy, or a bad oh boy?” Pinkie asked. “Like a goodie-goodie ooh I’m going to get a treat oh boy, or an oh crap kind of oh boy?”

“Which do you think?” Twilight deadpanned. “There’s a very strong energy signature, quite close to our Zords buried underneath the ground. That’s what Ivan’s been doing. While he pitted us against each other -or attempted to anyways- he just bided his time and began digging that thing up.”

“Then we need to call out our Zords! I’ll go first!” Rainbow Dash was about to call it but was restrained by Sunset and Applejack instantly.

“Hold yer horses, Rainbow Dash! What if it’s a trap to destroy the Megazord too?” Applejack asked, fighting the thrashing teenager.

“Well, we don’t know until we try! Plus, this Ivan guy already has his ranger knock-offs, so I say that we’re done playing around. We need to FIGHT!” She snarled, throwing Applejack off, but not Sunset.

“And fall into a trap, dying in the process? No wonder you’re blue and I’m red Rainbow Dash…” Sunset deadpanned to herself. “What do we know about this Megazord?”

“It’s called the Blizzard Force Megazord, it was Torin’s first attempt to create a Megazord, using the powers and DNA of Earth’s most powerful creatures at the time,” Elaris explained. “A… failsafe in case the first Perfect Ones’ Megazord were to be destroyed.”

“...Great, a dinosaur-themed Mecha. Why not?” Rainbow muttered with a small roll of her eyes. She’d seen enough crazy by now, so she could accept this.

“...Should we tell her?” Vapor asked Lightning in a whispered tone, who simply shook her head.

“If Ivan gets his hands on that Megazord, he could cause untold chaos. We need to move. The sooner you get to that manufacturing company, the better, Rangers,” Elaris punched in some commands on her panels. “Get out there and do what you do best.”

“Are you ready… Senpai?” Pinkie asked the Wild Force Rangers.

“Huh… So we’re senpai now? I can roll with that.” Sunset asked before blinking in confusion. “...Wait, what’s a senpai?”

“...Just go with it, it’s a compliment.” Robert shrugged before cracking his knuckles and bringing out his Cosmic Morpher -before Sunburst had any chance to spout off the dictionary meaning of ‘senpai’ as he was ought to do- with the rest of the team soon to follow.

“It’s Morphin’ Time.”

Nightfall came quickly to Canterlot. The sun had dipped down beneath the horizon, with the moon’s eerie glow coming into play shortly afterward. The lights would have turned on by this time, but the power station was still under repairs. It gave the Ranger team of twelve the perfect cover of darkness to slip into the manufacturing plant undetected; even with their bright, color-coded uniforms. It also sorta helped the eyes on the helmets also functioned as lights.

“...Mystic Mother, this place gives me the creeps…” Vapor murmured. “I hate the old abandoned factories… Always expect something to jump out at me.”

“You’ve been watching too many horror movies girl,” Lightning remarked before teasing: “Would you feel better if you had Zen-Aku here to protect you?”

“W-What? N-No!” Vapor stammered out, slapping her sister on the arm in shock.

“Sounds like denial to me…” Lightning teased.

“Who’s…?” Applejack trailed off.

“Former Duke Org, basically former villain. The name literally means Good-Evil which should give you an indicator of his true nature really, Currently, he’s trying to walk the path of atonement. We actually have him to thank in a way for Trixie being on our side again. ...What I wouldn’t give for him to be here right now. Even without his Predazord, trust me he’s quite capable enough to take us all on, and probably win if he wanted to,” Sunset -the Wild Access one- commented. “I’m not kidding, he gave the first Wild Force team quite the run for their money. Even took some of their Zords for a time.”

“Sounds like he knows his way around breaking people like us,” Rarity held her swords close to her chest and shuddered in fear. “Mayhaps you could have used some back-up when fighting him. After all, it never hurts to have more than one ace in your hand.”

“Oh, he was long before our time,” Sunset replied. “He’s well over a couple thousand years old by this point actually.”

“Navi, any sign of movement?” Sunburst asked.

“Sorry dad, but it’s too dark to see a thing right now,” the little parrot replied as she flew above the old ironworks. “You’re on your own.”

“...Like always then I suppose.” Sunburst sighed.

“Wait. Since when did he talk?!” Sunset staggered at the sight, almost stopping outright.

“It’s sorta a long story. I’d tell you it, but your world’s kinda in danger right now. And Navi’s a she.” WA Sunset lifted a finger.

“Oh, you have no idea!” Ivan cackled as he blasted the Rangers backward with blasts of purple lightning, looking very Darth Sidious-like really. Of course, the Blaze Ranger avatar was by his side, sword in hand. Even as the smoking Rangers picked themselves up off the floor, Ivan continued to monologue. “From this moment forth the world as you know it shall cease to exist! Welcome to my Nightmare!”

“Meh. Just seems like a showdown in a factory to me. Not really spooky scary or anything.” Pinkie shrugged but armed her cannons regardless. “You’ve really gotta work on your scary pitches, Ivan.”

“Well, pretty fancy-schmancy. I guess if you invest your money well over 60 centuries, Elaris can get you all kinds of fancy toys eh?” Ivan remarked.

Rainbow had none of it and just fired a bolt of energy in his face, with Ivan simply stopped with his palm. “Y’know, I kinda wish there was a world where monsters didn’t talk and just attacked. Saves us a lot of time, don’t ya think?”

“Elaris is one of the best mentors, and friends we could have asked for. You just need to shut yer trap!” Applejack shouted, raising her hammer.

“Oh, Elaris this, and Elaris that. I was the supreme ruler of the foulest empire in the universe! Her people robbed me of that! And now… it's time to pay the piper!” Ivan shouted, and conjured up a flute and began to play an eerie tune.

“Once this Blizzard Force Megazord is unearthed, your planet is going to be destroyed. Then, we’ll take those crystals from your ashes and use it to forge a new empire all of Ivan’s,” Blaze paced, his blade drawn with an echoing noise that rung throughout the building. “The only consolation we’ll give you is that your Wolfpack will be dead and buried shortly after you.”

Just like that, the ground trembled even as Ivan continued to play his tune and the massive components of the Blizzard Force Megazord. One, a largely blue and purple -with bits of cyan even thrown in- colored Carnotaurus Zord, and the other a Chasmosaurus in white and purple hues erupted from the ground. They quickly began freezing the whole area over, covering the entire surrounding mountain range in snow and ice. Ivan continued to play his flute all the while, then shouting out: “Carnotaurus, Chasmosaurus, combine and destroy those impudent pests!”

Ivan was quite true to his words, as what happened next… Well, I’ll let Rainbow and Pinkie describe it for you reaction-wise.

“No way…” Rainbow whispered as she watched in horror as the Carnotaurus Zord run forwards parts shifting and moving with the Chasmosaurus Zord combining to form an arm, the head detaching to form a shield.

“No fair, that’s just cheating, you big bully!” Pinkie shouted as the Carnotaurus Zord’s tail became a sword, a grinning devilish head on the Megazord appearing.

“Now ladies and gentlemen, and other various human germs,” Ivan announced. “Rejoice at the rebirth of the devil of the ice and snow, the Blizzard Force Megazord!

“Speak of the devil.” Blaze chuckled with venom in his distorted, dual-toned voice.

The newly coined Megazord now stood, raising its shield and sword armed for battle. The massive white -with pink and blue hues- prehistoric mecha stood tall, looking absolutely terrifying in stature. “And it is I who shall be piloting it, doing you in as I do so! You, before you die, shall be referring to me as your lord and master, He-Who-Is-To-Be-Revered, the grand and the glorious Ivan OOZE!”

“Hey, my sister was going to get the Grand and the Glorious copyrighted!” Sunburst shouted for all the good it did, all the while wondering where exactly she’d vanished to. Trixie wasn’t a coward, so she couldn’t have fled, but where… He suddenly smirked underneath his helmet. Of course. That’s where she was.

“Priorities man,” Blaze chuckled before turning to the Equestrian Rangers. “Play with your toys, Power Rangers. See what good it does you. The weak... are simply prey for the strong! That's why we need power! The power to stand up to any foe, no matter how strong! That’s why I gladly accepted Evox’s offer, and that’s why I’m so pleased to help Ivan.” Blaze continued before an unwelcomed voice cut him off.

“So sorry to interrupt your little monologue, but I can’t help but note a bit of plagiarism.”

All of a sudden, a portal opened up, and from it stepped Vi’Al, the Wolfpack’s scientist and the left-hand wolf of Captain Mar’Zek. His lab coat stood out more than it needed to in the darkness, and he bemusedly readjusted his glasses before them.

“It is true that the strong need to be culled by the strong, so as to ascertain the true champions at existence’s apex. But do not forget that you are far from that position.” He scoffed. “The Wolfpack are deserving of that honor. And what you seek is far from your grasp. You only have the right to seek that strength if you are one with us. And if there’s one thing that I don’t ever agree with, it’s downright theft of ideals!”

“You misunderstand me. Only those who seek strength are worthy of respect,” the Blaze Ranger stated as a three-way fight broke out between the Hounds, him and the WA Rangers. “The weak, those who don’t bother to seek out strength and allow themselves to be trampled can stay where they are. You fall under the latter category. You and your pack just plunder and pillage whatever you desire, you take strength from others never developing any of your own.”

“Absurdities from a peon of lesser strength,” Vi’Al leaped from the group of hounds and struck at the Blaze Ranger with a sword made out of pure, focused energy. Every slash had a metallic hum to it, and the light beam supercharged itself with every hit that landed. “Talking about under-developing to a scientist is basically signing your own death warrant. But I suppose that a monkey never can learn anything more than primal fighting instincts…”

“...Okay, should I start playing Ranbu Escalation right now ‘Kumon’?” Robert deadpanned as he punched the Blaze Ranger backward with a hard right hook. “Seriously, that’s who you sound like. Got him nowhere last I recall. Other Sunset, you take care of Ivan. We’ll handle these guys!” he shouted, as he and the rest of the team continued to clear out the hounds.

“On it. Come on, girls. You’re with me!” Sunset lead the charge, running for Ivan, with the rest of the Rainbooms in tow.

“Go right on ahead, Rangers. I see no need to trouble you with violence at this stage of our game,” He dealt a series of fast-paced strikes to the Blaze Ranger, with the last one knocking away his sword, impaling it into a wall. “After all. It’s blatant rip-offs like this that really upset me. The captain would have dealt with this matter personally, but he is far too busy with other matters at the moment.” He kicked Blaze away and pounced on top of him, his fangs diving into Blaze’s vizor, cracking it into pieces.

“Go… to hell!” Blaze flipped himself off of Vi’Al and darted for his sword striking Vi’Ai across the chest. Mind you, there was barely any impact, as the slash on his chest quickly regenerated itself. Vi’Ai sighed to himself.

“Look at that, I’ve already grown bored with you. Perfect Ones, deal with him as you like. Goodbye for now.” The same portal opened up, leaving the Wolfpack left-hand to step through it, back onto the Alpha Slayer taking his hounds with him.

“...Not sure what the Hell that was about, but who cares? You’re not touching Master Ivan!” Blaze snarled, picked himself up, grabbed the sword and ran for the Rangers, who were within easy striking distance. Ivan meanwhile, had launched up into the cockpit of the Blizzard Megazord.

“Shall we tango?” He asked the Equestrian Rangers. Not waiting for a response, he began wildly swinging his blade at them, some of his strikes coming very close to grazing their skin with how close they were to him. If that didn’t work, he just tried outright stomping on them.

“Zord time, I think, ladies,” Rarity remarked, with the others nodding in agreement. “As much as I hate to destroy such a masterful piece of equipment…”

“Do it, girls. Besides. Your Megazord looks much better than that old, chrome-colored pile. I swear, my people needed to get more creative with their colors…” Elaris called from the distance.

“Zords! Come to us!” The girls called out, throwing their arms upward vigorously.

“Falcon!”
“Bull!”
“Lynx!”
“Kangaroo!”
“Bear!”
“Phoenix!”

The Zords burst out of Elaris’s ship and hurtled towards the factory through the night sky, growing in size until they eventually landed before the Blizzard Force Megazord, sending tremors across the ground in the process. It didn’t take long for the Rainbooms to climb into each separate zord and get comfortable in the cockpits, getting a grip on the joysticks as the Blizzard Force Megazord reared its’ head towards them.

“Go on. Go for your Megazord. I wanna have a proper one-on-one with you, girls. Mano-a-Mano! Put up your dukes! That’s how they did it with Muhammed Ali, right?” Ivan spluttered. Down below, the Wild Access Rangers chased Blaze all over the ironworks factory, flashes of teleportation being visible in the dark of the night. Each time they met, blade met cosmic knuckle, boot met fist.

“Here’s the trouble with your little philosophy,” Sunburst stated to Blaze as he dodged a sword swing before catching another strike in his hands and kicking the dark ranger back a few steps. “You say you want to be someone who’s in a position where the strong no longer suppress the weak?” he lectured before gesturing towards the Blizzard Force Megazord and the frozen over landscape surrounding them. “Look around, that’s exactly what you’ve given yourself over to, a man who does exactly what you hate!”

“SHUT UP!” Blaze roared slashing forwards before he and Sunburst vanished in black and crimson flashes of teleportation energy respectively. Meanwhile, another battle continued to wage. The Rainbooms against Ivan Ooze in their Megazords, the showdown of the ages. Modern power vs prehistoric might, etc.

“Zords, combine!” The girls called out, immediately pounding in the buttons needed for a Megazord configuration. The six separate zords contorted, twisted, and bent themselves into shape before coming together to form the Equestrian Star Megazord, with the Rainbooms all standing in the cockpit together. “Equestrian Star Megazord! Ready!”

“Yuck, seriously who barfed a rainbow all over your pile of scrap?” Ivan gagged, playing his flute once more and he raised his mecha’s shield firing a laser blast at the Equestrian Star. “Oh wait. That’s right. You Power Pukes are always a pain for the eyes…”

“Well, you’re no better, Ivan!” Sunset stated, commanding the Megazord to charge in on the Blizzard Megazord. It took it a mere jog to get to Ivan’s Zord and start hand-to-hand combat with it. Giant fist meeting giant fist, both sides being shaken up in the process.

Ivan then played his flute once more, and the Blizzard Force Megazord really showed why it was named as such firing a beam of ice towards the Equestrian Star Megazord almost freezing it over completely. The only part that it couldn’t freeze over was the Phoenix Zord, for obvious reasons. The rest of it, though? Completely iced from top to bottom.

“May be old, but this thing still has some kicks!” Ivan laughed, kicking the Megazord backward into a block of nearby mountain ice crashing before he drew his sword once more advancing slowly towards the Equestrian Star.

“Come on, you old girl. Don’t fail us now…” Rainbow Dash tried willing her Zord to move, as the other Rainbooms did the same. “Sunset, what are we gonna do?”

“I could try to overcharge the Phoenix Zord’s fires, but that could drain the other Zords of their power, hindering our mobility…” Sunset watched as Ivan’s Blizzard Force Megazord drew closer to them. “Do you think we can sacrifice speed, girls?”

“May not have to!” Trixie shouted into their comms. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has an idea~! What, do you think she is just going to leave a certain giant train just sitting around?”

“Wait, are you saying--” Sunset tried to speak, but was cut off by the roar of the train’s whistle as the Solar Streak rattled towards them on rails of golden light.

“See, I hadn’t vanished after all! I always have a trick or two up my sleeve!” Trixie laughed, blowing the whistle again. Down below, the other Rangers were finishing their fight with the Blaze Ranger, having gone from the top of a chimney back down to the ground floor of the main factory, fighting atop a catwalk above a smelting pit. Both Vapor and Lightning punched the catwalk, sending the Blaze Ranger flying before Sunset leaped forwards and finished him with a flame-infused flying corkscrew kick.

Landing on the other side of the catwalk, she snapped her fingers as the Blaze Ranger exploded into a pile of sludge. “And that’s… that.”

Meanwhile, the Phoenix Zord, letting out a burst of hot searing flame that completely defrosted the Equestrian Star allowed Sunset a chance to breathe a sigh of relief. The Megazord then leaped on top of the Solar Streak still rattling towards Ivan on rails of light and drew its sword.

“Now for the finisher!” Trixie shouted.

“Couldn’t agree more.” Sunset grinned. “Equestrian Star Megazord! Final Searing Slice!”

The cockpit throbbed and pulsated with energy as the Rainbooms glowed brightly from head to toe, gaining their wings, ears, and tail extensions. On the outside, the Megazord gained a radiant aura as it flew towards Ivan still atop the Solar Streak, the giant steel blade drawn out wide as it too gained a rainbow hue as the Solar Streak charged towards its adversary. It barrelled towards Ivan and then stuck, the sheer power of the slice sending both Ivan and the Blizzard Zord right out of the Earth’s atmosphere and hurtling towards the sun. Ivan cursing and swearing up a storm in ancient tongues didn’t really notice the bright yellow orb hurtling towards him until it was far too late to do anything about it.

“But all I just wanted to do was have some fun…” Ivan moaned out as his last words before 27,000,000 degrees of sheer celestial heat scorched him solid.

“Equestrian Rangers… The Hunt is over.”

The sun started to rise as the WA Rangers stood by their Solar Streak, resting on the station and ready to depart. The Equestrian Star Rangers and Elaris had stood by, ready to send them off back to their own dimension.

“Well… I guess this is goodbye, for now at least,” Sunset said, shaking the hand of her counterpart. “Honestly, I hate goodbyes. And endings really,” the Alicorn Princess sighed. “Half the time I’m of the mind to tear the last page out of a book, just so it doesn’t end for me.”

“Well, I for one hope that your story never ends, Wild Force Rangers.” Elaris gave them all a smile, hands pressed together by her chest. “You and your team were exceptional in fighting Ivan and his minions. If this is what the Perfect Ones are in other dimensions, I have high hopes for my team as well.”

“Well, I suppose we’re all stories, in the end, aren’t we?” Sunburst asked before raising an eyebrow. “...You sound like you’re familiar with extra-dimensional happenings. You wouldn’t have happened to have met this Wyatt guy, would you? Passing through Kamen Rider and all that? Wears a Tartarus of a lot of pink…”

“I’m not sure I have, but I’ll be sure to keep the name in mind.” She gave them a wink.

“Yeah. If you ever feel like coming to visit sometime, we’d be glad to have you around,” said Fluttershy, giving them a gentle grin. “The world could always use more Power Rangers.”

“Exactly, and may the Power protect you all.” Lightning said, fist-bumping Rainbow in a rather awkward manner before blushing. Vapor had to suppress a smirk and had to bite her lip to stop herself from giggling. “Wh-what?” She started to blush, cheeks flushing red.

Robert and Trixie couldn’t help but stifle some laughter of their own as they watched Lightning’s face grow more and more beetroot-like in color.

“Look, if there’s some kind of beef between me and you in your world-” Rainbow started.

“No, it’s not that, it’s hardly that…” Lightning trailed off, before silencing herself before she said something truly embarrassing. Waving the Equestrian Star Rangers off, the Wild Force Rangers boarded the Solar Streak, and as the whistle blew headed for home. Elaris smiled, waving them off before turning to her team. Her team.

“Girls. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done today,” She gave them a bow, plucking the sides of her skirt as she did so. “You’ve not only managed to stop a notorious criminal from using our technology against us, but you’ve proven that you are getting stronger.”

“Hey, you don’t need to thank us, El. We just did what we did.” Pinkie gave her a victory pose with her fingers.

“N-Not only that, but you managed to help stop a villain from my people’s past, the killer of the first team of P-Perfect Ones…” Elaris whispered, and Sunset placed a supporting hand on her shoulder.

“It’s what we do, isn’t it?” Sunset smiled before turning to her friend. “I have to agree with her thought Pinks, we are getting stronger, each and every one of us every day. But we can’t stop now, can we? We’ve got a whole pack of wolves to put down, right?”

As the Rangers cheered, Elaris couldn’t help but think this. “But… But what if that’s exactly what Mar’Zek wants…?” and wonder if they were playing right into his hands.

“Captain. If I may have a word with you?” Vi’Al spoke to Mar’Zek as he took a seat on his throne again. “I’ve been looking at all of your past fights and I can’t seem to notice that you’re picking off some of our earliest, oldest assets. Don’t you realize that their age and experience could have been of advantage to you in your endgame?”

A small snarl came from the wolf captain before he let out a sigh and stood up before his associate. “The Wolfpack is expansive. Over a thousand champions from almost a thousand worlds. Surely, I cannot keep all of them within my rank and file. One of the hard parts of leadership is dealing with loss, both on the field of battle, as well as through the passage of time. We rely too much on ourselves, believe that our power is the only power that we have. We become lax, we let our guards down more often, we grow complacent. That complacency is what decays our strength, makes us WEAK.” He tightened his hand into a fist.

“Weak? Captain, what are you--” Siel’Viz tried to speak, but she was hastily shut down by him.

“There is no room for weakness on my ship. The weakness that my wolves show through their belief that their kills are easy. Sure, you can call me a madman for giving them that belief in the first place, call it a double bluff all that you want, but I still stand firmly by my belief that weakness is the enemy. It has no place in our cause,” With a fire in his eyes, he turned to Vi’Al. “Your science is a powerful weapon, old friend. But do not let that completely overwhelm you. In the pursuit of knowledge, you lose everything else without even noticing it.”

“Captain…” Vi’Al shuddered, letting those words ring in his mind. To think that he was beginning to feel weak was a new concept for him, completely unearthed by this speech.

“As for you, Siel’Viz, my old war partner. We may have been on the battlefields of Lupus together, in training for when this day would have come, but your excessive training goes to waste, regardless of whether or not you have a fighting sense.” He turned towards her. “No matter how hard you push yourself, whatever limits you may have, it is never good enough. And while I am very grateful to you for your services and contributions to the Wolfpack, never forget that all it takes is one well-aimed strike to end a life. Even grizzled war veterans know this; whether it be in the thick of battle, or in the luxuries of their companions.”

“I understand, Captain. Thank you for enlightening me.” She kneeled before him, eyes locked firmly on the floor.

“Whether or not these wolves deserve to remain as part of my crew is purely down to how they gauge themselves against the Power Rangers,” Mar’Zek turned towards the glass windscreen of his bridge. “In time, even the biggest herds must be culled. The weak are dead weight to me. And there is a weakness within every single living thing. The difference between someone strong and someone weak is knowing what weakness that you yourself have, and completely removing it. Only by purging and conquering this do you become strong. Only by doing this, do you deserve to remain in my Wolfpack.” He looked back at his associates. “Go now. You have work to attend to. But never forget that you are always plagued with weakness. Work hard to stomp it out.”

“Yes, captain.” Both of his wolves gave a bow before walking out of the bridge, the words sticking to their mind, causing their hairs to stand up as their footsteps cut through the otherwise silent corridors of the Alpha Slayer.

“And as for you, Power Rangers. You are strong. You know you are strong. Through the defeat of your weaknesses will we finally have a duel that will be remembered for eons upon eons of time. Let us hope you keep up the good work…” He gave a toothy grin as he reclined on his throne, staring out onto the surface of the earth. “Now, time to strike where it hurts the most I believe… At their very hearts!”

Heartbreak

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Mistress of Arms

Siel'Viz laid on a table on Vi'Al's laboratory, surrounded by machines of all shapes and sizes. Her armour was now long-gone, and a plethora of dog tags hung from her neck, each one chronicling the memory of the bravest warriors that she had put into the ground. She reached up and rubbed the tags, weak from all of the tranquilisers Vi'Al was pumping her limbs with. A small smile forming on her face as she did so. At least that would stay with her. The pride of her past. Said smile soon withered once her 'doctor' decided to use his mouth.

"You know, of all of the creatures that I've tended to, of all of the species I've dissected and examined, you are without a doubt one of the finest pieces of work I've ever had thrust upon me," Vi'Al was scribbling down notes while also keeping a steady flow of chemicals flowing into his patient. It was almost as if he was a blur with how much he was moving around. "Imagine. Me, working on one of the Captain's inner circle. At first, you would have called me a mad wolf, but that oaf of a human discredited that notion."

"What do you think about this Shining Armour fellow? What did you personally draw from him when he took out my eye?" Siel'Viz asked. "Where do you think he fits into the grand scheme of things? A tool for the Wolfpack to break the Power Rangers, or another in the endless line of cattle we see before us?"

"Personally, I would say that he would make a fine Wolfpack warrior. Just... not like that. In his current state, he would be even less useful than even the weakest of our Hounds," Vi'Al dismissively waved his claw and dug through a metallic crate, shifting parts around. "That being the case, it's hard to tell whether or not he actually acted as a hero or whether he just landed a fluke shot because of your boastful nature. We cannot prove his alignment in our game without more data. And, given how the Captain has freed you from the rules, I doubt any more data will come out of it."

"What can I say? War's a rough life," Siel'Viz gave a demented laugh. "It's a wolf-eat-wolf world wherever war goes. You either live to kill or get eaten alive. If you can't keep your head above water in the battlefield, then you are to be scattered to the winds, as bombshells, bullets, cannon fire and aircraft fill the silence you would otherwise hear.

"Even some of the most powerful soldiers in the Lupus brigade that I knew met a tragic end. Either they were met with someone greater than them, or they got themselves killed recklessly. Now, I feel like I'm about to join them, drifting in the afterlife." She clutched the first tag she could touch. It was getting harder and harder now that all of the drugs were being planted within her body. "You did have the Hounds gather my 'personal stash', right?"

"Absolutely. In fact—" The laboratory door opened, revealing a group of Hounds stomping inside with a collection of steel boxes "—Here it is now."

"I thought I'd never have to fight another battle wearing you, considering how easy it got for us in recent memory. But now, look where we are." Siel'Viz began to black out as the Hounds unloaded the gear and laid it out on a separate table for Vi'Al. "Looks like the Power Rangers proved me wrong on that regard."

"Alright now, my dear, all you need do is sleep. By the time you wake up, everything will feel like it never even happened in the first place. That, and I guarantee that the weakness residing in you will be a thing of the past." Vi'Al pushed a few more buttons, yanked a few more levers, and let out one more influx of tranquilisers with the push of a button, causing Siel'Viz to fall into a deep slumber. "For all that the Power Rangers have done for us, I feel that it's time that we repay them back tenfold..."

The Rainbooms all gathered together in Elaris's ship, their thoughts a pure blank save for the attack on Rarity's parents. Even now, the news stung to think about. The Wolfpack were not just another group of people looking to cause chaos for them. They were merciless killers; relishing in their deeds if for the sole purpose of causing them to suffer. Some of them paced the floor, thinking of the more violent ways to fight back against them, while others sat down with crossed legs and hands in their eyes, mopping up their tears.

"My mom and dad... They've been travelling for all their lives, barely having any time to come home for me and my little sister," Rarity spoke up, her voice much more brittle than usual. "I... I never really knew them that well, except for the fact that they loved us and their adventures very much. And the day I finally get them to come home and stay there the Wolfpack RUIN EVERYTHING!"

"Rarity, I can only say that I'm sorry for your loss. It's utterly devastating to lose family like that; especially when it comes to battle," Elaris lowered her head to the console of the ship. "I can go to sleep and still hear the screams of my people being gunned down as we ran with the Crystals to this world. Their families must feel a gaping hole in their hearts too."

"It's still just fucked up if you ask me." Rainbow Dash punched her own hand. "We should just go right up to Mar'Zek's ship, blow it up from the inside out and let him watch as everything around him burns!"

"As much as I'd like the idea, I don't think that going to the Alpha Slayer is such a good idea, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy meekly lifted a finger. "I mean, it is the flagship of the Wolfpack. It's going to be packed with security and horrible countermeasures..."

"Not to mention, it's the size of a country. You'd get lost in there very quickly," Twilight added, before coming over and patting Rarity's shoulders. "Look, as much as I hate it as well, we can't just storm the Wolfpack's flagship because of it. I mean, you could take a wrong turn, end up at Mar'Zek's throne room, and then what? You'd be dead meat wearing Power Ranger armour."

"Consarn it, then what DO WE DO?!" Applejack screamed, punching a hole in Elaris's ship with her bare hands, the metal buckling and twisting around her. "The Wolfpack is going straight for our hearts! We can't just sit around and do nothing all day!"

"Well, there is... one thing that we can do," Sunset spoke up, holding the handle of her sword as the fires flickered before her. "Right before Siel'Viz ran off, she said something to Shining Armour. Said that if we knew what was good for him, we would evacuate him from this planet. Now, I'm not entirely one to guess on hunches, but I think that means he's going to be attacked by her, probably off-guard as well."

"Wait, what?!" Twilight's eyes shot open as the words echoed on her mind.

"If you know what is good for this man, you will evacuate him from this planet. He shot my eye. No-one has ever shot my eye before. And the next time he sees me, he's either joining the Wolfpack or going six feet underground!"

Instinctively, Twilight whipped out her phone and punched in a number, planting the device to her ear, she heard the noise of a call trying to reach the line. "C'mon, big brother. Pick up, PLEASE. You need to hear this!" A few more repeats of the noise, until finally, it stopped."

"Hi. You've reached Shining Armour. Sadly, I can't help you right now. Either I'm busy with my best little sister in the whole world, or I'm doing my job. Heh, one or the other. Leave a message and I'll get right back to you." Her phone said, in what seemed like a perfect, if a bit garbled recreation of his voice.

"Dammit! Straight to voicemail!" Twilight hung up and put the phone away.

"We HAVE to find Shining Armour. And fast." Sunset ran over to Twilight's side. "For all we know, either the Wolfpack could have gotten their hands on him already or he's about to get caught."

"I... I might not have been able to save my family. But I can take measures to make sure that this kind of stuff never happens again." Rarity brushed away the last remnants of her tears and snot, before standing back up and lowering her brows. "Everyone. We're going to Canterlot PD. That means you too, Twilight."

"I couldn't agree more," she said. "Shining Armour's always been there for me, so now it's my turn to be there for him. Before he gets..." She slid a finger across her neck.

"Before you go, Rangers, I've been working on something in the Forge, but it's not quite done yet. It should be something that'll help you fend off the Wolfpack a bit better," Elaris lifted her fingers. "I'll head on over there to apply some finishing touches. In the meantime, you go and defend this Shining Armour fellow."

"Roger that. Team, let's move!" Sunset charged out of the ship with the rest of her friends close behind, Twilight included. Within seconds, the bridge became empty as Elaris jumped out of her seat and ran off to the Forge.

Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms ran through the streets of Canterlot, the air giving way around them as they barreled down the sidewalks towards the Canterlot Police Department. With the thought of the Wolfpack making another attack ringing heavy on their minds, they knew that they needed to act fast, to save Shining Armour and everyone else around him from the invading wolves.

Rarity herself ran next to Sunset, almost leading the charge herself at times. For all of the joy she had felt when being with her family, the thought of one of her other friends losing family was a haunting thing to think about, a fear that she needed to fight if she stood any chance of staying a Power Ranger.

"Alright, team. If we're fast, we can get everyone out of the building before the Wolfpack even have a chance to lay their dirty claws on it," said Sunset as they turned another corner. "Then, after we take care of business with Siel'Viz, I say that we treat Rarity to something extra special."

"Ooh, like a ten-layered cake coated in sprinkles, fudge, cream, eclairs, and every dessert under the sun?" Pinkie beamed.

"Well... Not exactly like that, Pinkie. Ah say that it's gotta be something extra good for her, given how the poor girl's just seen her parents getting shot down in front of her eyes," Applejack interjected. "But thanks for the input anyway."

"Just one more road to pass, everyone. We're almost at CPD!" Sunset barked, wrapping her arm around the nearby lamppost and using it to slingshot herself down the other path, prompting her friends to follow suit. "Now we can..."

But what the girls were expecting to see was not a pleasant sight whatsoever. Canterlot Police Department had been completely razed from roof to door, with a massive fire engulfing the scene. The walls had been ruptured, their pieces lying splintered around the ground. There was no sign of people caught in the blaze or running out of it in the nick of time. It had been totally destroyed.

"No! We're too late!" Rarity exclaimed, nearly catching her fingers on the fires, embers just grazing the space around her as she hastily retracted her body.

"You know, Power Rangers, I do have to give you points for effort. You want to fight the good fight no matter what the consequences may be." Siel'Viz'z voice cut through the fires, her silhouette showing with a body hanging limply underneath her arm. "Even when I end the White Ranger's parents, another in your bloodlines stands up to fight in their stead. How would the rest of your parents react when I slaughter them in cold blood?"

"Siel'Viz!" Rarity morphed in the blink of an eye, swinging her swords against the fires. The sudden rush of wind put some of them out, but only for a brief instance. "It's about time you came back for a proper fight! You've got a l—"

"Say one more word, White Ranger, and I gut this Shining Armour fellow right here and now. How much do you think his organs would sell for on the black market?" Siel'Viz interjected, wrapping thin wire around Shining Armour's body, tightly constricting him.

"You won't get the chance to put him up for sale, Wolfie!" Rainbow morphed and pointed her twin blasters at the Wolfpack agent. "Now, do you wanna settle this in the fire pit, or somewhere with fewer civilians?"

"Not here. It won't make me feel alive." She shook her head, lifting Shining Armour over her back. "After all, how can I feel alive when I know my prey cannot handle a burning arena?" She opened up another portal with her devices. "Rangers. I have a question for you all. Do you like war? Do you enjoy going into battle, obeying the orders of your drill sergeants and squad leaders?"

"Enough with the corny old talk about war already!" Pinkie morphed next, her cannons locked and loaded as they pointed at Siel'Viz. "We're not here to join the military, just be regular old superheroes. Nothing more, nothing less."

"We don't need to join some rag-tag bunch of strongmen to take you on." Applejack whipped out her Terra Hammer and morphed as she smashed it into the ground. "Ah reckon we'll do just fine against you!"

"Spare me your delusional hopes, Power Rangers. You've not been in real combat. To feel the adrenaline rush of aircraft roaring over your heads, of bullets ringing past your ears, of the satisfaction of killing an enemy soldier and claiming their tags!" She pulled off her chestplate for a brief instance, the dog tag collection showing plain as day. "But if you still think that you can handle me, one of Mar'Zek's champions, then come and find me at the Canterlot Allied Forces Base. There, we'll be settling this little spat between us once and for all!" Siel'Viz threw Shining into the portal, before she dashed through herself, the fires dissipating instantaneously with her departure.

"Canterlot Allied Forces Base?" Twilight parroted. "Why would Siel'Viz possibly want to fight there?"

"Probably to go with this stupid soldier act she's putting on." Rarity grunted, demorphing along with the others who had. "But I didn't even think that Canterlot even had a military."

“It’s just because we’ve not seen a real war in our country for a pretty long time now. I mean, the whole place is just one big, dusty old base with a bunch of people walking around,” Pinkie Pie chirped.

"And now, little miss Siel'Viz is using it as a spot for her final showdown..." Rainbow Dash tightened her hand into a fist. "And she's holding Twilight's brother hostage. We need to get over there as fast as we can."

“But she’s one of Mar’Zek’s top wolves…” Fluttershy’s hands wrapped around each other as hair drooped over her eyes. “How are we going to fight someone like that, especially when she’s got your brother as a hostage, Twilight?”

"I... I don't know. I'm not even sure what I can do without another one of those crystals." Twilight twiddled her fingers, metaphorically shrinking in comparison to the other Rainbooms. "But I have to do SOMETHING! I can't just let those fiends do this to him!"

"Well, we can't just do nothing. We're supposed to be the Power Rangers, after all. And I'm pretty sure that sitting around and letting the villains do bad things isn't in the job description." Sunset reached for her phone and opened a comm link with the ship. "Elaris. We're too late. The CPD's been raided. Siel'Viz stole Shining Armour and is holding him hostage at Canterlot Allied Forces Base."

"Understood. I'm sweeping the location now for any signs of Wolfpack activity. I'll let you know if she decides to bolster the defences," said Elaris on the other end of the line. "In the meantime, I discovered an... interesting signal that I think you girls should check out. Come and meet me back at the Forge."

"But Siel'Viz..." Sunset's eyes widened. She'd never known Elaris give the team an order to fall back after a Wolfpack agent made their threats clear. She almost dropped the phone in response with how violently her fingers twitched.

"It won't take very long. You can run for the base immediately after I'm done talking." She pounded away at some buttons on a console. "Firing up teleportation sequencers. Transmatting you back now."

With one last button push, columns of light, colour-coordinated to the suit of each Power Ranger erupted from the ground, swallowing up the Rainbooms and completely blotting out the rest of the world. Once the light diminished, the team were back in Elaris's ship, looking directly at the infinite cosmos of space that was the Forge. The Harmonite in question for their return came through the doorway, walking up to the group.

"Rarity. I think you and I need to have a little bit of a talk about the situation with your parents." Elaris strolled up to the White Ranger, raising an arm and planting it on her shoulder. "Do you remember when you bought them a crystal, to commemorate their return to Canterlot?" She asked, pulling it into view.

"Yes... Yes, I did. But I don't see how this has any relevance to the mission, Elaris." Rarity recoiled, almost as if she had been physically attacked with the memory of her parents being struck by Siel'Viz's attacks. Her heart turned cold, and she could feel a large lump forming in her throat as she let the event fester in her mind once more.

"Well, it seemed that something triggered in that crystal the moment the blow landed. A quick run through L.U.C.Y.'s scanners revealed that it has the same power fluctuations as the White Ranger Crystal, yet has a unique variable and ether flow that I've not seen from you or any of the others'..." Elaris chucked the crystal into the Forge, where it hung in mid-air, slowly spiralling in front of the group.

"Affirmative. I have detected a unique quasi-augment wavelength that seems to correspond with that of Rarity's Power Ranger form," L.U.C.Y. called out. "Data analysis seems to indicate that she can use this crystal as an extension to her own strength when its' energy readings coalesce with that of the White Crystal."

"In other words, in theory, this crystal should allow Rarity to become a stronger Power Ranger. Maybe even stronger than that of Siel'Viz." Elaris moved through the other Rainbooms and started using the Forge, bending the metaphysical cosmos with waves of her hand. She threw both of her hands towards her, causing stardust to fly from the edge and into the crystal. "But so far, the crystal's currently out of alignment and its' wavelength is sporadic. I'll fine-tune it to sync with that of Rarity's crystal. I'll warp it over to you as soon as the work's complete. You just have to survive against Siel'Viz until that job's done.

"Cool, girl! You've got yourself an upgrade in the shop." Rainbow Dash threw herself onto Rarity's shoulders, poking her head out from Rarity's side. "As soon as Elaris is done working her magic, you'll be able to cleave that wolf like a Christmas turkey!"

"Oh, well, I wouldn't go that far..." Fluttershy meekly lifted a finger at Rarity's metaphor. "But I agree that Rarity's gonna have an edge over the Wolfpack."

"I also discovered that in your lives as CHS students, you used your own tools for added mobility and combat. Rainbow and Sunset with a pair of bicycular vehicles, as well as Pinkie and Rarity with what look like wheel extensions for their feet. I think this world refers to them as motorcycles and rollerskates, I think?" Elaris briefly turned her head from the Forge. "During your off-time, I've been working on the devices in theory, trying to tune them with your respective crystals, but no matter what I do, the data always gets corrupted. Perhaps once we repair the ship some more, we can finalise these things for your own personal arsenal."

"At least that's some good news. We'll work as hard as we can to fix this ship up once Siel'Viz goes down." Applejack slid her thumb across her mouth, holding it up as she headed to the exit. "Come on, girls. We've got ourselves a wolf to hunt."

"Elaris. You keep working on that crystal as hard as you can. I'll go with the girls this time," said Twilight, earning stares from the other girls. "What? You don't think I can handle myself out there?"

"As much as you can, Twilight, this is the Wolfpack. AND one of Mar'Zek's inner circle we're talking about here. You're gonna get yourself so hurt that not even the hurtiest pain machine on this planet could feel as painful as a beatdown from one of those meanies!" Pinkie flailed her arms outward, fingers almost reaching the roof of the barracks.

"Oh, I know what you're trying to do, girls. And it's not going to work, I'm afraid." Twilight clutched at her own geode, using her own magic to levitate the girls out of her way. "Need I remind you that I've got my own magic as well? Sure, it can't do much on its' own, but it should give me some chance of fighting back. Maybe not defeating the Wolfpack, but at least serving as a distraction."

“Yeah, but the Wolfpack are gonna have that entire place under heavy security, Twilight. One of them finds you and it’s game over, girl.” Rainbow Dash locked her hands together, with knuckles pointed outward. “If you go out there, you’ll die.”

“If I let Shining Armour get hurt, he’ll die. Think about it. The best thing a little sister can do for her brother is giving him her life; even if it means she loses her own in the process.” Twilight left the room, leaving the speechless Rainbooms behind her. “I’ll be seeing you at the edge of the military base, girls. Bring all the Ranger power you want.”

“Twilight… Don’t do this. Please. You’re going to get yourself killed out there.” Sunset limply raised her arm, only for it to tumble back down after, as Twilight had already long-since left her and the others behind. She stood boldly, hands contorted to fists as she clutched her crystal. “We have to go, girls. No point in us waiting around while we let our friends walk into the firing line.”

“In the meantime, I’ll keep working on the new crystal as much as I can.” Elaris returned to her post, continuing to use the Forge to pump the jewel with energy. “It might take a few minutes, but as soon as it’s done, I’ll send it over to you, Rarity. Use it well and tear Siel’Viz down a peg or two.”

“Thank you. We’ll do our best.” Rarity clenched her fist and pumped it, a small, subtle smile showing on her face as she turned to the rest of her team. “Girls. Let’s move. It’s time to go and save Shining Armour.”

“Yeah! And while we’re at it, let’s save Twilight from being eaten by wolves!” Pinkie bounded upward, only receiving glares from her friends. “What? Not like that’s really gonna happen. Those guys wouldn’t like the way she tastes. Bookworm isn’t a very appealing flavour for monsters these days.”

“Missing the point entirely Pinks…” Sunset thought. “Girls. On me.” Sunset morphed, prompting the others to do so, completely foregoing their usual catchphrase. There was no time for it now, they had to save their friends. “Let’s go!” She ran out of the ship with the others in tow, off toward the military base.

Twilight laid on the top of a hillside, looking down at the base through a pair of binoculars with a star-shaped crest between the two magnifying lenses. Where there were once human soldiers, there were now the Wolfpack. Some holding the troops hostage through metal restraints, forcing them to work, or hijacking aircraft around the base. She scanned the whole base, checking each corner of it from top to bottom, warehouses to barracks, but couldn’t find Siel’Viz or her brother anywhere.

Twilight began to pant frantically in fear. What if… what if her brother had already been transported back up the Alpha Slayer? What if even now Mar’Zek was running weird experiments on him? As the images of such a grizzled fate flashed through her mind, Twilight couldn’t help but shed sweat, her hands growing cold and jittery as she tried to keep up the search.

Then she heard the sound of energy rifles cocking and slowly turned to see Hounds with weapons trained on her.

“Like pigs to the slaughter, they come!” one of the Hounds cackled.

“Where’s the rest of your friends, little girl?” The other asked, pointing the weapon at her nose. “Coming to shoot down our mistress, are they? Fat chance of that happening.”

“I know why she’s here. She’s come to stage a desperate rescue on that man we captured back at the police department.” The first hound let out a boisterous, chesty laugh. “Guess we really have cornered Twilight Sparkle after all. And now, she’s doing the most desperate thing she can to be a hero like her friends. Isn’t that just precious?” He showed his fangs to her.

“Sorry, boys, but you’re not really my type.” Twilight clutched her geode, catching both wolves in a pair of magenta auras, lifting them up off of the ground. “But while you’re here, let’s play a game. It’s called target practice!”

Twilight threw the wolves back down the mini-mountain, right into Sunset and Rarity’s swords. The impact from both sides was large enough to slice the Hounds in two, causing their bodies to detonate behind the Rangers as they reached the top of the hill to join her.

“Twilight…” Sunset said. “I know your brother is involved in all this, but that’s exactly why you shouldn’t be here. The Wolfpack… if they capture you, they’ll just toss your brother aside or use you as a bargaining chip or something!”

“Then what do you expect me to do? I can’t just sit on the sidelines and give you tips and advice all the time. I should be out there. With my friends. We’ve fought everything together, haven’t we?” She asked, peering into Sunset’s eyes. “With all the stuff you’ve done together, I’m starting to feel a bit cast aside, as if I don’t even matter in this whole Power Ranger business anymore. If anything, this is my chance to prove more than ever that I can handle myself just as well as you girls can.”

“Yes… But…” Sunset trailed off, but couldn’t find a refute to that argument as her eyes met Twilight’s own. Twilight was firm in her stance, unwavering. “Fine.”

“Thank you. I’m glad to see that you still believe in me.” Twilight pulled Sunset into a sudden hug; one that she quickly received back from her. After that was done with, the girls huddled together, lying down in formation as they got eyes on the site. “Now, how do you think we should tackle this?”

“Oh, how about emerging from your little huddle and facing me head on? That seems like such a Power Ranger-type thing to do after all...” Siel’Viz asked through the comms systems, causing all the girls to jump. “Typical. The easiest way to assassinate a figure in war is to use stealth. In what world do you think I’m as gullible as that?”

“Siel’Viz! Where are you hiding Shining Armour?!” Rainbow barked through her comm device.

“Let my brother go!” Twilight shouted.

“It is far too late for you to rescue him. The Wolfpack is breaking him down as we speak. Give him a few more hours of torture, and he’ll be wearing our sigil with pride,” she spoke, a venomous tone accompanying her. “But first, I think it’s only fair that the entry fee into our rank and file is to take one of his eyes. After all, he took one of mine, so it’s only fair, don’t you think?”

“No!” Twilight shouted. “Let my brother go, I’ll go in his place as long as you—”

“Your bargaining posture is highly dubious. And anyways… You don’t settle things in war with talk and political deals. You settle things with bullets, aircraft fire, grenades, utter pandemonium!” Siel’Viz remarked. “Do you think we amassed such a grand army by talking them down or negotiating deals with their planets’ leaders?” She asked, causing Rainbow and Applejack to punch the ground in succession, leaving large holes afterwards. “Come, Power Rangers. Enter my little base. We’ll finish this as any soldier of war would. With blood and with steel! Let us see if you’re worthy enough to defeat me…” The link dropped with the sound of static, leaving the Rangers in silence.

“She knows we’re here. We’ve got to move fast.” Applejack clutched her Terra Hammer and held it up firmly, as she stood on two legs once again. “Twilight. I don’t think I need to ask you this, but—”

“Yeah, I know. Just bring my brother back safe okay?” Twilight asked.

“We’ll be sure of it.” Fluttershy patted Twilight’s back as she used the other to hold her flute close to her heart.

“Come on, girls. It’s time to go to war with the Wolfpack.” Rarity lowered her brows as she channelled magic through her swords, sharpening the tips of her diamond blades.

“For Shining Armour. And for Twilight.” Sunset punched her chest. She looked to the others and saw they were mimicking her gesture, a salute of loyalty to one another in a way. She darted off towards the gates leading into the base, leaving Twilight on the hill to act as overwatch.

As they ran for the entrance, the hounds instinctively raised their weapons for battle, but as soon as Siel’Viz’s garbled voice came through on their devices something surprising happened. They bowed, stepped aside, and called to the other wolves inside, who had most likely heard the orders of their commander. It didn’t take long for the Hounds to scatter, leaving a large space for the Rainbooms and Siel’Viz to battle. Yet the ones who had taken over the planes and jets simply stayed where they were on the runways, ready to launch at a moment’s notice.

“That’s odd. They don’t want to fight us?” Pinkie tilted her head at the docile Wolfpack soldiers. “I thought for sure that they’d come down on top of us like a swarm of angry insects…”

“Best not to tempt fate, Pinkie. I don’t want to have to deal with this many wolves all at once…” Fluttershy laid her hand on Pinkie Pie’s. “It’d just be too barbaric.”

Once all of the Rangers took their place, the warehouse in front of them opened wide, revealing Siel’Viz walking out towards them.

“Barbaric you say Yellow Ranger…?” Siel’Viz asked. “You don’t even know the meaning of the word… But you soon will!”

There was a mechanical chunk where her eye had been shot out, with a wide red line of light popping out of it. The armour that she was in was a noticeably darker shade of black than the last suit she wore, and her sword shone brightly in the afternoon sun. There were also a bunch of holes in the back, but not holes that exposed her flesh. Rather, they were hatches for something that the Rangers couldn’t see yet.

“Look upon this grand and magnificent sight, Power Rangers. Is there no better home away from home for a war veteran like myself?” She asked, stretching her arms outward to show off the base. “The freshly cut grass, the well-kept tarmac, the rigorous assault courses inside, even the vehicles and weapons these people keep working so well on. Truly, it warms the heart, doesn’t it?”

“You talk too much,” Rainbow stated readying her weapons. “Now let Shining go!”

“Oh, I already did. Right now, he’s all the way up there. With the captain and his crew.” She pointed skyward. “If you came here hoping to pull him out of some human interrogation chamber, I’m sad to say that it won’t break him as well as we can break someone. But I can at least appreciate the effort. It’s no fun in fighting a war where your enemy never acts for themselves, strategizes, comes up with a plan and ultimately fails!”

“Funny, isn’t that what you’ve been doing?” Rainbow had to ask. “You and your plans haven’t worked yet… And we’re here to keep that from ever happening!”

Siel’Viz opened up her chest armour, revealing over a dozen dog tags hanging from her neck. Each engraved with the details of some of the kills she made, showcasing the victims of her rampage, as well as the powers that came with them. Fluttershy let out a squeaking noise. “Do you know what these are, Power Rangers? I suspect your Yellow Ranger does…”

“Dog tags. Usually worn by soldiers to identify each other when they go out into battle.” Sunset tightened the grip on her sword. “Frankly, I was expecting you to show them off at least once. Not like a soldier to go out into battle and not claim their enemies’ tags.”

“Exactly. In my time with the Wolfpack, I have collected a myriad of tags. Each one entirely different from the last,” she said, rubbing each of the tags with her claws. “Every one of these people put up the best fights I’ve had in my entire life, pushing me to my limits, making me act on instinct to survive. Truly, the greatest satisfaction is taking an opponent’s tag after such a ferocious battle with them.” She sighed in pleasure, stomping towards the Rainbooms. “And once I take your tags for my own, I’ll keep them for myself, while the captain takes back what was once stolen from him. The crystals that he rightfully seized from your precious Elaris’s homeworld!”

“That will never happen,” Rarity said as she summoned a certain gemstone into her hands. “Your conquering ends tonight. You took my parents from me, and I swear by their lives your warmongering is going to end here.”

“Oh? A rather bold statement. Unfortunately for you, you are at a severe mismatch.” She cackled slyly under her breath.

She slammed her foot down onto the ground, then did the same with the other, taking a wide-legged stance as the black armour she wore sprung to life with green lights running up her body. Said lights wrapped themselves around her arms, legs, and what was left of her chest as it closed back up, concealing the tags. Once the neon reached the holes on the back of her suit, a series of elongated, mechanical arms poked out of them, each taking a weapon and pointing them at the Rangers, as she held her own sword out to them.

“The joy of going out into battle. Of feeling aircraft soar over your head. To feel bullets rattle against your armour, to drive your knives and other such weapons into the throats of your enemies and reap the rewards!” She called. “To be at war is to feel TRULY ALIVE!” She charged towards the Rangers, instigating the battle.

“White Ranger Power, Revive Mode!” Rarity shouted in a fury slamming the gemstone into her morpher. “Paladin Armor, activate!”

However, Rarity suddenly found herself wracked with electric shock after electric shock before she screamed and clutched her arm in pain as the gemstone fell to the ground. As soon as it hit the roads, she was slashed backwards by Siel’Viz, before the arms on her back let loose a torrent of bullets into her body.

Sunset and Rainbow Dash moved in to fight in her stead. Sunset’s swordplay colliding with Siel’Viz’s, while Rainbow tried to get behind the Wolfpack agent. As she tried to move in for an attack, the hands grabbed her by the ankles and tossed her into Sunset, before the both of them were locked into a chokehold by the Wolf and tossed into Applejack and Fluttershy.

“Now, do you feel the full power of the Wolfpack’s finest armour?” Siel’Viz asked. “This is, after all, the suit that felled the Cosmos Council of Ragna-8, killed the Unkillable Enzroth of Libic-3. And the suit that the captain himself enjoys fighting against!”

Sunset studied each of the many arms wriggling about, watching closely as they juggled polearms, guns, grenades, and more around. “You… You overcompensating for something?” she asked, her helmet having been shattered. Wiping away blood from her mouth, Sunset managed a smirk. “So basically, all we gotta do is remove those arms from that armour of yours right?”

“Like you’ll even get the chance.” Siel’Viz coldly grinned as the jets took flight, being piloted by the hounds. “Have you ever heard of the term Air Superiority? If not, let’s just say I hope you girls have anti-air weapons on you right about now!” She boasted as the jets reached the air, turned around, and let loose a run of machine gun fire and missiles down on the Rainbooms’ location. “Welcome to the war, ladies!”

However, Fluttershy was ready for this and blew into her flute sending massive hawks of yellow energy up into the air to scythe through the wings of the jets. One by one, the Hounds parachuted out of the ravaged vehicles, not even bothering to activate the parachutes as they bore their claws towards the butter-yellow girl.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow shouted, shooting each Hound out of the air with carefully placed shots. She barely had any time to look at the explosions before Siel’Viz’s arm attachments swept her legs with polearms, followed by a lunge at her face with the wolf’s sword.

Sunset whipped her sword in a blaze of fire and managed to burn through one of the arms with the shockwave. It landed with a bang, releasing the grenade it had been holding with the pin taken off. Sunset was momentarily blinded by the flashbang allowing Siel’Viz to shoulder charge her and send her sprawling to the ground.

“Time to shake things up!” Applejack spun her Terra Hammer and swung it into the ground, causing an earthquake to form around her. As Siel’Viz tried to jump away, a large stone erupted out of the crumbling ground, almost impaling her had she not dodged in time and landed behind the orange cowgirl.

“On your left!” Rainbow shouted and Applejack whirled around to send Siel’Viz flying with her hammer before Rainbow ran after her with her speed powers, and let loose a torrent of blaster fire into Siel’Viz and dislodged two more arms with her spray and pray tactics.

“Such tactics are hardly befitting of a warrior!” Siel’Viz shouted. “You have no strategy, just blind luck!” She used the remaining hands to push herself back to Rainbow Dash, pinning her to the ground. She punched her face repeatedly, while the arms prevented the other Rainbooms from getting close as they splayed outward, firing bullets or swinging the melee weapons wildly. “Get me the tanks!” She howled, prompting the remaining hounds to run to the remaining warehouses. Applejack was already anticipating this and slammed her hammer down once more bringing the warehouses down on top of the wolves.

“You’re no true warrior,” Applejack shouted. “You order your men to do everything for you! Never fighting on the front lines yerself!”

Siel’Viz heard the insult, vaulted off of Rainbow Dash exactly as Applejack had planned. However, what the farmgirl didn’t see coming was her picking her up with the bionic arms and let the sword strike at her chest over and over again. Tossing AJ aside, Siel’Viz ran towards Sunset, kicking her in the face.

“Why… Why do they fight for me?” Rarity wondered as she saw the Rainbooms take Siel’Viz apart piece by piece “This is my fight, after all. I… I have to avenge my parents!”

“Fitting. The Power Rangers were born in war. They will die in war.” Siel’Viz boomed, pulling her arms over her body as Pinkie jumped over her and let loose a stream of explosive confetti. A swing outward and the Pink Ranger was smacked into Sunset once more. “You are no true veterans yet. But at least you will die with the thrill of having faced one in your lives.”

“A war… a war should never be thrilling,” Rarity whispered as she picked herself up off the ground. “A famous man once said this: ‘War is Hell.’ You should take a cue from that,” she said slicing off the final two arms with her swords. “Once you take a life, you can never go back from that. That’s what my friends were doing, trying to keep me from killing you and becoming just like yourself. And I thank them for that.”

“You realise, of course, that this is not the first battle that you have had, right? Preda’Tor, Ahn’Taier, Barebones, Livewire, Noh’Vel, all who you have slain before.” Siel’Viz turned her gaze towards Rarity. “How hypocritical of you to say that you aren’t acclimated to the feel of killing yet.”

“Yes, but that was in simple self-defence. It was never cold-blooded murder like I planned to do to you. And when you go down, it won’t be in cold blood,” Rarity stated the gem glowing with power.

“Yes. It will be from old age. You are the ones who will die first! Siel’Viz leapt into the air with the arms, letting a torrent of grenades, bullets, and energy shockwaves from her blades fall on the Rainbooms. They engulfed the battlefield in explosions, causing all of them but Rarity to de-morph under the intense attack.

When the dust settled, Rarity sent Siel’Viz flying backwards with a powerful shockwave from the now glowing gem before she could even get close to her. “It’s rude to interrupt a lady when she’s speaking. As I said, you will not go down in cold blood. No, you will go down when I defend me and my friends… No, the whole world from your tyranny!” Rarity stated as she was engulfed in blinding white light. “Paladin Armor, activate! White Ranger Revive Mode!”

Pulling the crystal into her body, Rarity burst into a pillar of white light. Inside, two large wing-shaped epaulettes landed on her shoulders, as a thick layer of white steel landed on her gloves. Her chestplate gained smaller golden plates right where her shoulders connected with her ribcage. Streaks of gold ran down her legs, creating a brand new pattern that overlapped the stars that were already on it. Her helmet grew spikes akin to that of a crown, with more markings showing under her chin and above the visor’s emblem. A fluttering white cape with a golden edge popped out of her back as her swords began to glow. The blades got wider, longer, and were made out of pure diamond. The hilts grew more barbed edges, with more tiny gems laid into them. A few swings to test them out and Rarity knew she had reached a new level of power; one far beyond that of her last form.

“WHERE IN THE NAME OF MAR’ZEK DID THAT COME FROM?!” Siel’Viz roared out in shock and rage. “Vi’Al never gathered ANY data on this!”

“I am the shield that protects the weak. The barricade holding everything back. The shining light of justice that will keep everyone safe, keep everyone alive, keep everyone free from your cold lies.” Rarity pointed the swords toward Siel’Viz, ready for another round of conflict. “I am Rarity Belle. The White Paladin!” she shouted an explosion of white smoke erupting from behind her.

“So you got yourself an upgrade. It scarcely matters!” Siel’Viz’s arms pointed themselves at the White Paladin. Grenades unpinned and rifles ready to shoot. “Your era is at an end. Those crystals will return to Mar’Zek’s hands!”

“We’ll see,” Rarity said dashing forwards in a blur of white light before sending Siel’Viz crashing into a ruined warehouse. She was going to drive her through the chainlink wall, but the suit brought its’ weapons down to push Rarity back before Siel’Viz could crash into her.

“Do you think I’ve been going all-out on you, Power Rangers?” Siel’Viz asked as she clashed over and over with Rarity’s new swords, having to exert more power with each strike as Rarity deflected and pushed aside every hit. “No. I’ve been holding myself back. Saving this for what I assumed would be my last stand!” A beam of energy erupted from the center of the suit, which pushed Rarity back to her friends. It then opened up, allowing the remaining hands to grab the dog tags and hold them tight in each hand; with every single tag crackling with energy of different colours, of elements swirling around them.

“I call on the souls of my kills! Give me the power to run these Rangers down!” Siel’Viz cried out as the tags sent out waves of fire, water, insects, earth, ice, air, and more.

“And your last stand it shall be.” Rarity stated, the cape changing into angelic wings before she flew towards Siel’Viz, slicing apart the waves until she landed a solid punch to the wolf’s face, shattering her helmet. “Do you have any last words before I end this?”

“Join the Wolfpack,” was all that Siel’Viz said before she jumped over Rarity, using the arms to throw her over her shoulders. She let another swarm of attacks rain down upon her with the dog tags, burying her under a torrent of destruction.

Rarity had just formed an impenetrable diamond dome around her, which was repelling all of the attacks, yet it blotted out the rest of the world with how the smoke settled all around it. Once the onslaught finished, she dropped the shield only to find Siel’Viz charging at her. Rarity swung her swords sending an orb towards her foe and Siel’Viz was encased in diamonds before she lit her blades on white-fire.

“Crystal Calamity!” Rarity declared, leaping into the air and soaring upward with her wings. She dive-bombed the encased Siel’Viz, swinging both of her swords down through the wolf’s back, shattering the diamond cell and causing a titanic explosion to ring out across the base. The winds from the aftershock rushed across the field and overturned anything in their path; including the downed Rangers.

Panting and sweating, Rarity de-morphed. “This hunt… is over,” she said before collapsing from the power overload.

“Holy cow… They did it.” Twilight stood up from the distance, a smile forming on her face. “They actually did it! They beat one of Mar’Zek’s inner circle!”

“But what about Shiny?” Twilight asked herself. “What about my brother…?”

As the other Rainbooms rushed to help Rarity up, they were met with the sound of applause. Applause from the soldiers that had once been held captive by the Wolfpack. They came out of hiding and clapped for the girls as they helped their fainted friend stand back up again.

“Ugh, never doing that again…” Rarity murmured barely able to stand.

“Rarity. That. Was. AMAZING!” Pinkie Pie was the first to break the silence between the teenagers. “You stared that big, bad wolf straight in the eyes and you completely blew her into next century! Or was it next millennium? Who cares? She’s gone now and it’s all thanks to you!”

“No, you did it, girls. You were the ones that took out her arms and helped me not to murder Siel’Viz in cold blood. For that, I can never thank you enough…” she said hugging her friends tightly. ”Don’t you know you’re all my very best friends?”

“Yeah. We all do.” Sunset hugged Rarity as tight as possible, with the rest of the Rainbooms doing the same shortly after.

As Rarity drowned in the hugs of her friends and the cheers of the soldiers surrounding them, she closed her eyes, falling asleep. Heaven knows she needed it after that long battle.

From the Alpha Slayer, Mar’Zek had seen everything, along with Vi’Al. The battle had left them both speechless. It took a good few moments after the screen turned off before Vi’Al broke the silence.

“Well. I guess that settles that. She couldn’t overcome her weakness, even with the modifications I gave her and her suit.” He adjusted his lab coat, pulling the collar over his shoulders. “Still, it is what it is, isn’t it, captain? The weak are purged. Only the strong survive. And as it would turn out, Siel’Viz was not strong at all. She was rather weak, disguised very well as being strong.”

Mar’Zek didn’t say a word.

“If anything, this battle opened up a branch for me to further my research. This new White Paladin form that the White Ranger took up during the battle definitely warrants some study.” He wrote down on his clipboard a note, as if to serve as a reminder of his increasing workload. “In the meantime, shall we begin the funeral preparations for Siel’Viz, captain?”

Again, nothing but silence came out of the Wolfpack captain.

“Uh… captain? Are you okay?” Vi’Al walked in front of the captain, waving a hand in front of his face. “Hello? Are you in there?”

Mar’Zek grabbed Vi’Al by the throat, lifted him into the air and tossed him out of the bridge, before he stood up and stomped out of the room, still not uttering a single noise as his footsteps echoed all the way through the corridors, reaching the ears of every wolf along his path.

“Oh my… I haven’t seen the captain this angry in a long time.” Vi’Al stood himself back up, dusting off the damage as he recollected his tools. “Oh, you’re in for it now, Power Rangers. When the captain gets angry, all bets are off. I’d start packing your bags if I were you, because he’s going to destroy this planet and everyone on it...” He walked off back to his lab.

Mar’Zek trudged through the ship, returning to the darkened chambers of his brig, lifting the five cages out of the dark void once more. The eyes of his five prisoners lit up when they saw his face once more. Once the cages were in position, the Wolfpack captain swung his sword against the metal floor; the clang’s noise filling every corner.

“Siel’Viz is dead.” He spoke gruffly. “The Power Rangers have felled one of my best.”

“She’s clearly not your best then, if you let her die like this, captain.” The center cage laughed boastfully before a ferocious roar came from Mar’Zek.

“I had hoped that I wouldn’t have had to release you from your chains, but it seems like those teenagers are forcing my hand. Now, I am counting on you to fill the gaps where my former right-hand wolf once stood.” Mar’Zek’s sword generated a hefty amount of dark-purple lightning. “But know this. I have taken measures to avoid another mutiny like the one you tried to stage on me. If you dare to try and strike me down, consider your coffins filled.”

“If the Power Rangers make you this angry, then perhaps we should step in. We need someone to teach those heathens their rightful place on the food chain,” said the only female wolf out of the group.

“Those Rangers are going to be destroyed. We will make sure that they never have it easy ever again.” Said the third wolf. “I assure you that a bullet through their brain is enough to make them submit to your rule.”

“Ooh, ooh, ooh! Is it finally time? Time to come out and play with my new hurty-dolls?” Said another wolf, his voice frenzied and giggly. “I can’t wait, captain! Playing with hurty-dolls is the bestest thing in the whole universe. The joy of dressing them up, grooming them for failure, gutting them and selling their skins on the black market once I’m done with them, it makes me want to sing with how happy it makes me!” From inside the cell, claps could be heard.

“You have our word, captain. We will promise not to take your life, so long as we get to fight these Power Rangers in your place,” the last cage said. “It would be so wonderful to taste the fresh air again after so long. No greater feeling than a sightseeing, slaughtering tour of this new planet, wouldn’t you say?”

“May my Lupine ancestors forgive me for what I’m about to do.” Mar’Zek whispered, then raised his sword, sliding the tip of it into the ground. Energy spread out from it, which coiled from the walls to the titanic chains that held the cages upright. Bolts spread across the doors of the cages before they opened wide, allowing five silhouetted bodies to climb out of it. “As the captain of the Wolfpack. I free you from your bindings. Now go, and fulfil the Wolfpack duty we have set you out to do. Rise, my Feral Five!”

Author's Note

So. Yeah. Siel'Viz is dead, the White Paladin is here to stay, and now the Feral Five have been unleashed. Prepare yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, we've got a spicy little ride to take coming up...

Also, massive thanks to The Bricklayer for helping me write out this battle sequence. Couldn't have done it without ya, buddy.

The Scars of War

The Rainbooms were back on Elaris's ship, resuming on the repairs that they had vowed since her arrival on the planet. They had made strides since then, but there were still many rooms in tatters and cables that needed to be rewired or replaced. As the girls laid the pieces down into place and welded them securely, Elaris pounded away at the keys on her consoles, so as to breathe life into the systems and devices once more.

Rarity had been working the hardest out of all of them, using her geode to create diamonds that lifted the heavier objects, or as a screwdriver to slot the screws in and tighten them up to how she wanted it. With every single action she did, a vision still popped up in her head of her parents repeatedly being struck down by Siel'Viz, ending with her finishing the warmongering wolf off in retaliation. As she smiled at the thought of avenging her fallen family, she still felt a hollow and cold sensation within herself, thinking about the fact that she was never going to see Hondo or Cookie ever again; as well as the fact that she was Sweetie Belle's only other living member of the Belle family—As far as she knew, at least. She hadn't accounted for grandparents or other relatives—. She didn't want to cry, but at the same time, she couldn't help herself. Undignified of a lady to feel such things, but Rarity Belle was no lady. She was a teenager deluded into thinking that she was more mature than she was letting on. But in the wake of the chaos, she was reminded of her place; just how small she was in a universe that was out to shoot her and her friends down.

"Mom. Dad. I know that I avenged your deaths, but I won't feel truly satisfied until we end this fight. The fight instigated by that horrible ruffian, Mar'Zek." She whispered to herself as she fixed the devices underneath Elaris's chair. "When my friends wipe him from the face of the earth, then I'll be able to move on. But until then, I don't ever want to let go. If not for my sake, then for Sweetie Belle's sake."

"You alright, Rarity?" Elaris asked, leaning over from the console to get a peek at Rarity's work. "Aren't humans supposed to feel more at ease with themselves after they avenge the murder of someone by striking down the killer?"

"I am, Elaris. I just don't want to let the grief I feel overwhelm me. After all, if we don't defeat the Wolfpack, then all of this; all of our lives, everything that we've existed for was all for nothing." Rarity rewired the device, shoved a panel in, then hammered it into the frame of the ship, causing the machinery to make a humming noise.

"Power output increasing. Readjusting efficient output setting for linked devices." L.U.C.Y said as the hum flowed throughout the bridge. "Command console strength: 100%. Forge strength: 91% and rising. Medbay strength: 100%."

"Interesting. I'll have to write this down for when I return home. My father would be quite interested to know that heartache and suffering cause humans to work at an accelerated rate." She pulled out a pad from the side of her chair, scribbled some notes down onto the screen using her finger, then put it away as Rarity turned towards the monitors on the windshield of the Bridge.

"I know you're feeling down on yourself, Rarity, but you were incredible out there." Sunset walked over to Rarity patting her back tenderly as she started to tamper with the panels on the screens. "That White Paladin form you used was just what we needed. Without you, we would've been toast out there."

"Yeah, girl. Don't think yourself too beaten up about this. You've just gotten stronger." Rainbow Dash said as she hastily zipped out of the room with her powers, taking a pile of broken parts with her. She returned just as fast as she left, the trail behind her disappearing when she got back under her own speed. "Being a ranger's already the most awesome thing ever, but you're running rings around us with that new stuff you got. I mean, I don't think I'd ever get a chance to get something like that even if I worked my butt off for it."

"You totally dealt the biggest smackdown of smackdowns on that nasty Siel'Viz. I don't think we could've ever pulled that off; even if we did have some shiny crystals that made us uber-strong and capable of fighting any wolf, thereby nullifying the threat of the Wolfpack as a whole and forcing the captain to come down for his final showdown." Pinkie took in a deep breath then grinned. "Point is, you're a super Power Ranger now, Rarity. Nothing's ever gonna get in your way again!"

"I wouldn't say that, Pinkie Pie. We've still gotta fight Captain Mar'Zek again. We'll all need to have an upgrade to our Ranger powers if we stand any chance of fighting him and living." Fluttershy felt a shock run down her spine but still fitted in a panel above the centre of the room.

"Vectors realigning. Scanning apparatus 75% restored." L.U.C.Y. butted in.

"But in any case, I'm happy that you've got a boost in strength. Anything to make dealing with all of these wolves easier..." Fluttershy turned from her work, stood by Rarity, and gave her a helping hand in fixing the machinery within the panels of the windscreen monitors.

"I'm grateful for all of your help, girls. But at the same time, I can't help but feel that the Wolfpack will start going after the rest of your families. After all, they stole Shining Armour from Twilight's family and the poor girl's still in a state of shock about the whole thing." Rarity glanced over at Twilight, who idly levitated a panel into the walls and used her magic to fix the inner workings. When she heard Rarity mention her name, she nearly jumped, before feigning a smile and wave as she blushed lightly at each cheek.

"We'll get him back, Rarity. Don't think too much about him." She replied before a sigh fell out of her mouth. "Oh, who am I kidding? The Wolfpack have him under lock and key! He's doomed!" Twilight threw her arms up and slumped to the ground, burying her eyes in her hands.

"Twilight. Don't put yourself down like that. You'll get your chance to fight back against the Wolfpack soon enough. Then, you can show Shining Armour just how strong you really are." Rarity waltzed over to Twilight, sat down with her, and pulled her into a small cuddle.

"But the Wolfpack. They're torturing him. That's what Siel'Viz said, isn't it?" Twilight looked up from her sorrow, looking into Rarity's eyes while trying to wipe the tears out of hers. "If the Wolfpack really are good at torturing him, then we might just have to fight Shining Armour to the death. Death being the key word there."

"Then we need to get onto that ship, break him out of whatever prison cell he's locked up in, get him back to earth, then keep him in Elaris's ship for safekeeping." Applejack turned her head from the panel she had been working on. "Better than taking risks by letting him roam Canterlot unprotected like that."

"I mean, he's capable enough as he is with the police, but against space-wolves who could easily overwhelm him, I kind of agree and disagree with you at the same time, Applejack." Twilight rotated her hand clockwise. "Still, I think it would be best if we allow him to hide in Elaris's ship. At least until this whole thing blows over with the Wolfpack. Then, we can let him out onto the streets without any fear of him getting captured like that again."

"But how would he feel about it, Twilight? To know that he is being restricted by the Power Rangers when he can fight for himself?" Elaris asked, stepping off of the chair and walking over to the spectacled teenager. "You don't want to undermine your brother; especially when he's older than you."

"I know, I know. But this is serious business we're talking about. Shining Armour. My brother, the BEST in CPD, has been captured by the Wolfpack and is being turned against us as we speak." Twilight shot a glare at Elaris, causing the Harmonite to recoil and walk backwards. "We need to get to the Alpha Slayer now. If we don't, then he's going to be a Wolfpack Wolf for sure..."

"And just how are we going to stage an attack on Mar'Zek's flagship?" Elaris tilted her head at Twilight, cocking a brow as she watched the girl stand back up. "It's going to be heavily guarded; not to mention crawling with Wolfpack agents. You and the other Rangers are going to be buried under their power."

"Then what do we do?!" Twilight yelled, her scream coiling around the ears of every girl in the room as she threw her arms outward. "I'm not going to sit around while my brother's being hurt by the Wolfpack. I'm going up there, NOW!"

All of a sudden, an alarm blared on the bridge, filling the room with a red light as the screens flickered to life. The sight of static filled up the space as the Rainbooms ran to Elaris's chair, as she sat down to open up the communication channels, pounding away at buttons and moving dials on her console.

"Unknown audio transmission incoming. Source of origin: The Alpha Slayer flagship," said L.U.C.Y. as Elaris continued to fiddle with her equipment.

"Sounds like they heard you, Twilight. Must be a signal from Captain Mar'Zek himself. But I don't know why in the world it'd be audio-only..." Elaris muttered to herself.

"Do you think Mar'Zek needs a space mechanic to fix his ship's call systems?" Pinkie whispered to Twilight, who just rolled her eyes.

"Highly doubtful. But it does make me question why in the world the flagship would be calling us. Especially with no images to show for it." Elaris pressed one last button, causing a small white line to take the static's place on the screen. "Patching it through now. Just don't expect it to be words of praise or anything like that, Rangers."

"Rangers. You've really kicked up a hornet's nest now." A distorted voice spoke to the girls, with the line forming a myriad of jags and spikes so as to record the audio patterns. "After what you did to Siel'Viz, the Wolfpack's been doubting the Captain's ability to lead. He's furious with what you did."

"Don't need to tell us twice." Rainbow put a hand to her side. "The captain's always gonna be angry with us. We disappointed him, and now we're kicking the stuffing out of his other agents to humiliate him. Don't know why he doesn't just come down here and finish the job..."

"Captain Mar'Zek was raised to be a warrior, who would only fight his opponents if they were on his level of power. His father would hurt him if he was severely beaten by someone better than him, or if he won without any form of challenge. But then his father died, he inherited the Wolfpack and the rest is history," the distorted voice continued. "In any case, the Wolfpack's just unchained a group of wolves from the brig; ones who are far more powerful than you could ever imagine. Ones that, given enough time, can overthrow the captain and seize command of the army he's built."

"Overthrow? I didn't think that there was anyone in the Wolfpack capable of trying to overthrow Captain Mar'Zek..." Elaris responded.

"I was there when it happened. I saw the wolves gang up on the captain, raise their weapons, try and rush him all at once. And the scary part? They nearly won. He was on the verge of dying when he unleashed Soul Decimator on them all. He could have killed them there and then had they not wounded him. He locked them up, but now they're out again thanks to Siel'Viz's death," the voice spoke once more, the lines sharpening and smoothing with each word. "The Captain's likely going to force them into obedience, then turn them on the six of you. Be prepared to be defeated by them, Rangers."

"Eh. Bring 'em on. Our White Paladin over here will be sure to send them running." Rainbow Dash slung her arm around Rarity's shoulders. "After all, she beat Siel'Viz, and she was one of the captain's inner circle."

"As much as I would like to believe that, these wolves—dubbed the Feral Five by everyone in the fleet—have powers that you would not believe. Powers that would break even the most powerful of heroes. Whether alone or working together, these five wolves will destroy you, Power Rangers. There is nothing that you can do to defeat them," said the voice. "I say this not as a threat that will cause you to stop, but rather as an ally who encourages you to keep going."

"Wait, hold on a second. An ally?" Twilight parroted, adjusting her glasses as she got a closer look at the audio line. "But I thought all of the Wolfpack were evil. How can there be wolves who want to see us win against the captain? Shouldn't you be keeping this info for yourselves?"

"We're tired of following the captain's orders. At first, we joined because he would lead us to prosperity and greatness. But now I see that he is starting to lose it. He has spent far too much time on this planet and we can no longer trust him to deliver us to success," the voice stated. "If we're going to pick a side in this battle, it will be a winning side. The side of the Power Rangers. As it stands right now, we cannot aid you just yet, but we will keep in touch."

"Before you go, can ya at least tell us who ya'll are? A name that we should look out for when we're fighting the Wolfpack so that we don't accidentally blow them to kingdom come?" Applejack asked.

"A name?" A small laugh came from the voice, then a pause. "Well, you wouldn't be able to see us on the battlefield because of where we stand on the hierarchy. But rest assured that we can see you. And everything that Mar'Zek and his cronies are up to. I suppose that if you do want a name, then we must provide." The screen crackled, then showed a symbol above the wave of audio depicting a wolf in the middle of an omega sign. "We are the Omega Pack. We're the lowest of the low in his food chain, but can be valuable assets in yours. We will talk again, Power Rangers. For now, know that the Omega Pack has your back." Once the voice finished, the screen cut out, leaving the Rainbooms and Elaris in a silent bridge.

"The Omega Pack?" Elaris repeated to herself as she began typing the data into L.U.C.Y.'s data archives by once more resuming to the task of managing her console's keyboards. "What exactly is happening on the Alpha Slayer...?"

Aboard the Alpha Slayer's lab, Vi'Al was busy at a workbench, using what remained of the armour Siel'Viz had been wearing as reagents for another one of his experiments. It was in pieces, with the scientist wolf running them under a light for any damage, then attaching wires to them which fed the data onto a nearby terminal. As he muttered to himself, a silhouetted figure was pinned to the wall, shaking and grunting as they tried to free themselves from the bindings that held them down.

"You know, for a human ape, you show a lot of potential, my law-enforcing little friend. Given the right amount of care, we can mould you to something far beyond yourself. Far beyond your humanity even." As Vi'Al finished hooking up the armour that he had been experimenting on, he pulled out a syringe filled with purple, bubbling liquid that glowed in the light.

A violent light pounded down on the figure, revealed to be Shining Armour. His CPD uniform had been sliced in places, his mouth was bound shut by a muzzle-like device, and he was stuck to the wall as the restraints held him from his head to his toes. He groaned as he tried to pry the restraints off of himself, only for them to make a buzzing noise and tighten up, burying themselves more into his body.

"If you are the catalyst that forces Twilight Sparkle and her friends to become stronger, then we must use all that we can to ensure that you fulfil your role in the Wolfpack. Had it been under any other circumstances, we would have killed you. In fact, we might still kill you regardless when all's said and done. It all depends on how loyal to the cause you really are." He aimed the syringe at Shining's neck, with his thumb planted on the injector pump. "Don't worry. It will be quick and painless. And by the time it's over, you'll have no need for this Sparkle family you care so much about." The needle came closer and closer to Shining Armour's neck, to the point where it was about to impale his skin.

"Vi'Al. Get up to the bridge immediately. And bring those collars you've been working on. We need to ensure that the Feral Five don't fly off of the handle and stage another mutiny." Mar'Zek's voice came through on the loudspeakers of his lab, halting the scientist in his approaches.

"Well, well, well. Consider yourself lucky this time, Shining Armour of Earth. I've just given you some more time to contemplate joining us of your own free will." Vi'Al retracted the syringe, laid it back down on the table, then picked up five Conquer Collars. The push of a button caused the spikes to launch out of the metal, causing him to chuckle to himself. "These are what we call heavy-duty enforcement. Be glad that you aren't on the receiving end of these bad boys." He pushed the button again, making the spikes burrow back into the frame. "Ta-ta, Shining Armour. Spend whatever free will you have left saying goodbye to your family. Then, we can proceed with indoctrinating you into our crew."

Shining could only struggle more and more as Vi'Al left the room with the collars in hand. As the doors closed on Shining Armour, the lights went out entirely, plunging him back into an abyss of darkness, with only the harsh lights from the consoles and other apparatus giving him an idea of where he was in relation to the lab. Even then, the light was making him close his eyes due to the strain. Torture without being tortured. At least, that's was what he thought of the predicament.

Dominance Is A Matter Of Perspective

Back on Elaris's ship, the Rainbooms were still trying to wrack their brains together on how they were going to fight back against the Wolfpack. Rainbow Dash was furiously rapping her foot against the metallic pipes, while Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack were standing around each other. Elaris, Sunset, Twilight, and Fluttershy were at the consoles of the ship, looking at all of the work that still needed doing on the ship, typing away at buttons to give commands to L.U.C.Y.

"Y'know, I still think it's a lot of garbage. How can the Wolfpack do what they do, say what they say, capture and attack who they capture and attack, yet we can't just go up to their ship and knock the stuffing out of them straight away?" Rainbow broke the silence, pushing her foot away from the metal. "We can't just sit around all day. We need to FIGHT! We need to storm the Alpha Slayer and take back Shining Armour right now!"

"Rainbow Dash, I've told you time and time again that the Alpha Slayer's defenses—"

"Don't. Matter, Elaris." Rainbow slammed the tip of her finger onto Elaris's lips, silencing the Harmonite in an instance. "We are the Power Rangers. We've beaten tons of wolves before this. And we sure as heck can go onto the Alpha Slayer and do this."

"And get torn up by the ship's anti-wolf weaponry? You're asking to lead us right into the middle of a crapshoot, Rainbow Dash. Even if we can fight against the odds and beat Mar'Zek, how are we going to get off of the ship and get back home?" Sunset asked with a lifted brow.

"One of two ways, Sunset. We either grab a teleportation device that those wolves always seem to be using." She tipped one hand out to her right-hand side. "Or, we fire ourselves out of the cannon that he's always sending those wolves out from." Rainbow Dash's other arm went out to her left-hand side. What makes you think that we can't do this stuff?"

"Because, A, the Wolfpack is a fleet of ships that would just respond to our attack and blow us to kingdom come for even trying to do this kind of thing; B, the Wolfpack has some of the best wolves and aliens from other worlds on all of their ships; C, because we are only six compared to an army; D, only Rarity would stand some semblance of a chance with her enhanced form while the rest of you get torn up; E, because you're always one to go off into the thick of battle without even thinking about the rest of your friends; F, because your plan to get us home would be intercepted by wolves or we'd be killed on re-entering the planet; G, because it's imp—" Twilight found her tirade silenced with a death glare from Rainbow Dash.

"What would Shining Armour say about this? The fact that you're willing to not rescue him from the Wolfpack until the right time? The fact that you're putting this whole thing off is putting him in even more danger than he has any right to be in." Rainbow's voice turned cold as her back faced Twilight's face. "If he heard you saying all of this, he would disown you here and now for not trying to stand up for him, to not save him from the most powerful space-pirate army in the known universe." Her hands scrunched up into fists. "If we don't take action, then we are not the Power Rangers."

"Rainbow Dash, what are you saying?" Applejack broke off from her small group, trudging up to Rainbow with her own fists. "Are you just saying that we should do a suicide mission for rescuing one guy? Knowing that every wolf on the Wolfpack is going to tear us limb from limb if we're not careful enough?"

"Yes, Applejack. I am saying that. Because, quite frankly, everyone, we're not good enough. We're going to lose because we're all sitting here thinking when we should be up there trying to save him!" Rainbow threw her arms outward, eyebrows twitching as she stared around the group. "We might not come back from it, sure. But knowing that we at least tried to save him from the Wolfpack before they did anything nasty to him should be some form of proof that we're still competent, right? Now, whether or not the rest of you try to say anything or stop me, I'm going. I'm gonna suit up, fly to the Wolfpack's flagship, break in, save Shining Armour, and come back home whether you like it or not!"

“Now now, listen Rainbow, What exactly do you think is going to come out of this little mission of yours? You don’t even know how to get into the flagship, let alone find Shining Armour inside the myriad of rooms it could have.” Rarity had planted a diamond forcefield by the door to prevent Rainbow Dash from leaving the room. “If you don’t plan this out better, then you’re walking into a disaster waiting to happen.”

“But then how are we going to save Shining Armour? Especially seeing as how Twilight’s not exactly coming up with a plan of her own to storm the Alpha Slayer…” Rainbow turned back to Rarity, letting out a groan. “Her brother is up there right now being tortured and potentially turned evil and she’s not taking charge? I thought she’d be super into boarding the ship with me. Seeing as how he’s her brother, after all.”

“Look, Rainbow Dash, we need to think of the perfect way to board the ship and perform the rescue. I mean, how are we going to fight an army when we’re just six?” Twilight tipped her hand. “Why go rushing in without a plan?

“We don’t exactly need a complex, egghead plan when we’ve got the Magic of Friendship. The Wolfpack don’t have that kind of stuff yet, and we don’t know exactly if it’s going to fail. Numbers, I kinda agree with you on. I say kinda, because of the whole quality vs quantity rule.” Rainbow pulled the hand off of her body. “Twilight. I want you to be honest with us about this whole thing. Why haven’t you figured out the plan yet? Given how serious of a situation this is?”

“The reason I haven’t come up with a plan yet is because I want to be there, to save Shining Armour myself. I want to be the one that saves him from the Wolfpack, make him see that he can depend on me to save this world.” Twilight coiled some hair around her fingers as she looked at the ground. “I won’t deny that I need your help to do that, though.”

“See? You need us for this little job, so why don’t you come along with us? We can all invade the Alpha Slayer together, without having to think about it.” Rainbow’s smile returned as she slid her arm around Twilight’s neck. “If you get into trouble, the six of us can bail you out of it. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Not that I want to interrupt your little motivational speech or anything, Dashie, but there’s a ton of super-meanie-pants wolves up there, not to mention the big, bad wolf himself and his new playmates.” Pinkie poked Rainbow Dash’s shoulders repeatedly. “Unless we get some kinda super-duper boost in Power Ranger powers, we’re going to get turned into pony and Power Ranger pancakes. Which, although they do sound good on paper is a horrible idea in real life…”

“Or maybe not.” Sunset spoke up, causing the whole room to fall silent. “Elaris? Do you remember when we got that call from the Omega Pack? The defectors that want to break off of Mar’Zek’s reign of evil?

“Do you want me to backtrace the source of the call and try communicating with them again, Sunset?” Elaris asked.

“It’s the only way that this idea might actually work. We’re gonna need some way to get onto the Wolfpack’s flagship and if they want to help us out, it gives this thing some ground to stand on.” Sunset folded her arms, looking out at the two teenagers. “I must admit, there’s a lot of holes in it, but if these guys and gals want to give us a hand, then I suppose it’s not a bad plan either.”

“Alright then. I’ll open up a comms channel once I lock on to the frequency.” Elaris fiddled away with the console, opening various different menus until she found a log stating that a call had been made from an unknown caller. She typed in the frequency and attempted to open a line with the Omega Pack, causing the screen in front of her to show static, before the logo appeared once more.

“So, Rangers. You’ve decided to come to us for help.” The distorted voice returned once more, piercing the room and filling everyone’s ears. “And just in the nick of time as well. It seems that the wolves on the ship are getting rowdy. There’s going to be a mutiny in mere seconds, I just know it.”

“Yes. We’re here because we need to ask you for a favour. We’re trying to sneak onto the Alpha Slayer and steal someone that the Wolfpack captured. His name’s Shining Armour. Heard of him?” Twilight was the first one to speak, facing the screen as she ran to it, stopping a few feet from the emblem.

“Ah yes. We know him. The human who took out one of Siel’Viz’s eyes. A brave fighter, that. Of course, we know exactly where he is,” the screen said. “The bad news is that he’s being held captive in Vi’Al’s laboratory, under heavy security. Not because of the angry Wolfpack soldiers wanting to overthrow the captain, but rather because of all of the high technology locks keeping anyone from entering.”

“The laboratory? What are they planning to do with him there?” Elaris asked, blinking at the screen.

“If I had to guess, I would say that he’s being converted into a Wolfpack soldier. And probably a very powerful one at that. Vi’Al wastes no time when it comes to his little pet projects.” The modulated voice spoke once more, lines jumping up and down on the screen to simulate the vocals. “We have a window of opportunity to break in and steal him back. If it is true that a mutiny is going down, then all of the Wolfpack will be converging on Mar’Zek, leaving the laboratory unguarded. I can get you access inside, but the rest is down to you. Get him out of there before the process is complete.”

“But how are we going to get onto the Wolfpack’s ship? Isn’t it supposed to be heavily guarded?” Elaris lifted a finger from the console.

“It is unless...”—As the voice spoke, it lost the modulation as a dark purple flash of energy materialised on the ship, carrying over the voice from the screen without the modulation, pitching upward into a female’s voice— ”You have someone on board to open the door.”

Standing on the bridge of Elaris’s ship was a female wolf with purple-tinted fur, metallic shoulder and shin pads, as well as a thin chestplate. By her sides were holstered blasters and a dog tag with the Omega Pack’s sigil rested around her neck. She gave the Rangers a quick frisk before she lifted her arms.

“Nice to meet ya, Rangers. The name’s Espy. No silly Wolfpack names, no kind of stuff like that, just Espy will do fine.” She walked forward towards the middle of the room. “Sorry I couldn’t bring the rest of the Omega Pack down with me, but they’ve gotta keep tabs on the stuff up there. When you’re working for both sides, you’ve gotta pay attention to everything.”

“Espy?” They all parroted, gawking at her with wide eyes.

“Yeah, that’s right. Wolfpack soldier turned rogue, first think ya think she’s not a wolf, then when the truth comes out and she is a wolf, you’re bound to be surprised.” Espy lifted a brow. “In any case, I’ve not got a lot of time, so we’re either doing this thing or not. Already, I’m hearing chatter on the comms about how the Wolfpack are moving in on the Captain.”

“What more have we got to lose? I’m down for it.” Raindow Dash darted to Espy, standing by her side. “C’mon, girls. Let’s be Power Rangers and save Shining Armour!”

“Hold on a darn second. The Wolfpack are gonna see us coming from miles off. We’re never gonna be able to slip through security like this, whether we’re suited up or not…” Applejack pointed to herself, and how country-western her clothing was in comparison to the fur and armour on Espy’s body.

“Right, right. That is a problem. Hang on, I’ll be right back.” Espy fiddled with the teleportation device on her chest, warping back onto the Alpha Slayer. A few moments later, she arrived back on Elaris’s ship with a set of harnesses, each with a button in the middle of the x-shaped frame. “Put these on and activate them. They’re holographic projection suits, or disguises as you earth-folk like to call ‘em. They’ll turn you into hounds on the outside, tricking the muckers up there into thinking you’re one of ‘em.”

“Wait, for real?” Pinkie took one of the harnesses and put it on her body. As it did, the bands tightened up until they were snug around her body. Then, with the push of the button, a column of light appeared, slammed down on Pinkie, then vanished milliseconds after, turning her into a Hound. “Whoa… Okay, now that is pretty sweet.” Her voice still remained the same, despite her appearance.

“Okay, now that’s clever. I really like that idea.” Rainbow put her harness on and took up her Hound disguise as well, watching as the others followed suit. “Well, there’s one left, Twilight. And you wanna come and save Shining Armour, don’t ya?”

“Of course. You don’t need to tell me twice.” Twilight put the harness down on the floor and tried to step into it, only for the bands to snap her legs up. She tumbled over with the restraints on her legs, only for Espy to grab the harness and push a separate button at the back, releasing the device from her body. “Ugh… Okay, I think I might need some help with this one.”

“Well, six out of seven isn’t bad. I suppose that comes with being Power Rangers, I guess.” Espy, wasting no time at all picked up Twilight’s harness and put it on for her, watching as it tightened before she pushed the button to activate the disguise. “Now then, I’m going to warp you straight to the Omega Pack’s little hideout. From there, we need to get to Vi’Al’s lab and take back Shining Armour. I know the ship like the back of my hand, so leave the directions to me, a’ight?”

“If you need any help, I’ll keep an open comms line out for you, Rangers.” Elaris, still in her chair, readied her hands over the console once more.

“No. For this mission, we need radio silence. If the Wolfpack detect any frequencies coming from this ship, then they’ll lock it down and swarm you like a bunch of skwarg beetles.” Espy walked over to the console and moved Elaris’s hands away. “I appreciate the effort, though. But if me and the Rangers are gonna pull this off, then we need to use close-quarters talking to get the job done.”

“Don’t worry, Elaris. We’re gonna get on that ship and get Shining Armour back. This, I promise.” Sunset Shimmer nodded, before laying a hand on one of the hounds. “Twilight, I hope you know what you’re doing here.”

“Uh, Sunset? I’m Fluttershy,” she said, the voice completely mismatched with her body. “Twilight’s over there.” She pointed to another hound.”

“Nuh-uh. Twily’s over here!” Pinkie’s fake claws jabbed to another one of the disguised Rainbooms.

“Oh, it’s fine, girls. I know what she’s trying to mean. Even if she’s telling it to the wrong girl.” Twilight stepped forward. “Now, let’s get onto the Alpha Slayer, Espy.”

“K. Just take my hand, then give your free one to another one of your mates. Won’t take long, I should hope.” Espy reached her hand out to Twilight, who grabbed it and Sunset’s, who took Pinkie’s, who reached for Applejack, who locked fingers with Rarity, who held hands with Fluttershy, who finished the circuit with Applejack. “Now then. You might want to hold on tight. Wolfpack teleportation can get a little dicey in places.” Using her free arm, Espy pressed the button on her teleporter, taking her and all of the Rainbooms away in a radiant burst of purple light, fading into particles as they left Elaris’s ship behind.

In the same flash of light that had caused Espy to appear in the ship before it, she and the disguised Rainbooms arrived in a small room with a passageway leading out to the rest of the ship, concealed by a large flag of some sort. There were computers scattered across the little alcove, with Wolfpack wolves similarly armoured like espy, but tinted various different colours. None of them were Hounds, but they were all still doing their jobs without anything distracting them, typing in commands on their various keyboards and panels even as their leader returned.

“Ah, Espy. Are these the Power Rangers that you’ve been talking about? The ones that will help us out in our endeavours?” One of the wolves spoke up, with a refined, gentlemanly accent.

“Yeah, Cordin. These are them.” Espy pushed the buttons, revealing the Power Rangers to the wolves in the room. “I’d like ya to meet… Actually, what were your names again?”

“I’m Sunset Shimmer. The Red Ranger.” She put her hand on her chest. “And these are my friends. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight.”

“Right, right. These are the girls who’ve been chopping Wolfpack wolves left, right, and center. With a little bit of luck, we might just throw the Wolfpack on its’ head with all of our little plans.” Espy patted each of the Rainbooms on the shoulders. “I gotta say, at first, when we came here, I thought you were gonna be easy pickings, but no. You’re mean little scrappers when you wanna be.”

“Thanks, I guess?” Twilight shrugged, wincing at the description that Espy used. She hadn’t received that kind of title before.

“Now then, on the topic of getting Shining Armour out. Right now, we’re in one of the large cargo holds the Wolfpack use to store all of their goods that they don’t need at the moment.” Espy ran over to the flag concealing the rest of the ship and pulled it up, showing off the rest of the hold and the crates that stood in them, being overseen by Hounds. “From here, we’re going to take the elevator up to a floor known as Apex’s Realm. That’s where all the higher-ups reside. No doubt that Mar’Zek and his Feral Five, as well as the slimy Vi’Al are up there.”

“Straight into it as always, eh? No rest for the wicked eh, Espy?” A female wolf asked, giving her a nudge on the elbow.

“Nah, Sala. It’s quickfire missions like this that keep us busy, make it so there’s never a dull moment.” Espy playfully slapped Sala’s arms. “Always gotta keep moving, clock or no clock. A machine that ain’t moving isn’t worth keeping.” She turned back to the Rangers. “Now then, disguises on and follow my lead, Rangers. Let’s pull off a heist.”

The Rangers put on their disguises once more and followed Espy out of the hideout and into the cargo hold. Despite them looking identical to the many hounds that patrolled and surveyed the area, the seven girls were sweating in their regular skins. All they could do at the moment was follow Espy. If any of them gave the wolves any sign that they weren’t who they looked like, then everything would go up in flames.

Espy lead them through the hold, past each of the boxes. She had seen everything countless times, so saw no need to stop and look around, although she couldn’t say the same was for her guests. She had to glance back multiple times and make sure that they weren’t distracted with some of the goods that the Wolfpack were carrying with them. Some labels and lights on the crates caught their eyes, which Espy quickly had to pull them away from.

“Hang on, I’ve just had a thought about something.” Sunset whispered as she lifted a finger. “What if the Wolfpack use this as a chance to make another attack while we’re going to save Shining Armour? A two-pronged motion?”

“Hmm… I hadn’t thought about that.” Espy stopped in her tracks and looked back at the hounds. “I suppose we could leave some behind to handle the Wolfpack down there while the rest stay up here. The question though, is who’s willing to stay behind while we find this Shining Armour guy?”

“I’ll go.” Fluttershy wasted no time in lifting her hand up. “I’d much rather fight off Wolfpack on Earth than up here, if that’s alright with you?”

“Shucks. I guess I’d better tag along as well, make sure that Fluttershy don’t get into too much trouble.” Applejack took her place next to Fluttershy, placing her hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, I suppose they could use a little bit of assistance. I shall go and make sure that they don’t end up being overrun by the wolves down there on Earth as well.” Rarity nodded, standing by Applejack and Fluttershy.

“Alright then. I’m sending you back.” Espy took the teleportation device off of her outfit, then pointed it like a set of car keys at the three Rangers. “Good luck down there, you three. The rest of us will take it from here.” With the push of a button, the three Rangers were sent back in the same burst of light that brought them up to the ship.”Now then, we’d better get moving. And fast.” Espy put the device back in and walked toward the nearby elevator, with the other five girls quickly entering with her.

Once inside the large cylindrical lift with neon lighting and a panel sticking out of the left side, Espy placed her paw down on the scanner, which prompted a bar to scan her hand. Once it flashed green, another screen opened up with a series of named floors on them. She pushed the button that read “Apex’s Realm”, causing the doors to close up, cutting off the cargo hold from the team’s view before they felt the device begin to move up.

As they reached the top and the door opened, they already saw a large group of Wolfpack Wolves running through the corridors, lead by the Feral Five. The Rainbooms lurched at the sight of the stampede of fur and metallic armour and weapons, breath incredibly still as Espy just stood with no reaction. Once the entire group had moved and the corridor clear, the team stepped out and followed Espy down the opposite way that the army of wolves had come from.

“Looks like we were right all along. The captain’s about to get slaughtered by the very crew he once tried to lead.” Espy made fists out of her paws and ran. “And I think I’ve got a pretty darn good hunch about who’s gonna be the next Alpha…”

“That big guy leading the Feral Five, the one who didn’t even bother to fight us…” Sunset thought back to the day when the Feral Five were first unleashed on her and her friends, how effortlessly they beat the girls down, how they were floored over and over again. “Ahl’Mai’Tee, I think his name was?”

“Yeah. He’d grab the Wolfpack at the first chance he could get. And he’d make the rest of the Feral Five his new inner circle, along with whatever other of the best and more powerful wolves that he could find,” Espy said. “As for what they’re gonna do once they seize command, your guess is as good as mine. But I know for a fact that the Wolfpack are gonna stop mucking around and clock the lot of you with barely any kind of fight-back.”

“Well, that’s why we’re just gonna get stronger. We’ve already gotten Rarity a power boost after she had to fight Siel’Viz, so I’m sure that we’ll all get super-boosts like that before we have the final showdown with those Feral Five creeps…” Rainbow Dash nodded, pumping her fist. “But enough talking about how awesome we’re gonna be, instead, we’ve gotta get to the lab.”

“I believe, it was right around… here.” Espy came to a door that had another handprint scanner on it. “Now then, Vi’Al doesn’t like anyone else snooping around in his lab, so if he comes back, we can consider this mission a bust. But, knowing him, and the fact that his captain is in danger, no doubt he’ll try to fight his corner for a while, so that gives us some time. Espy opened up a panel above the handprint scanner, revealing buttons in a three-by-three grid. “Now, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from being a Wolfpack lackey, it’s how to take notes. So, if I’m right, the combination to his lab should be…” She pounded in the buttons, causing the grid to turn green, opening the door to the laboratory. “Boom. We’re in.”

The door swung open, filling the darkened laboratory with light once more. The remaining Rangers filed in, with Espy being the last to enter. Apart from all of the equipment that had been scattered around the room, there was one thing that everyone’s eyes were locked onto. Shining Armour, tied in his restraints with his head hung as he looked up at the holographic wolves that stomped up to him.

“Shiny!” Twilight ran over to him, deactivating the cloaking device. His eyes went wide at the sight of her, prompting to try and escape his holds once more, only for them to tighten once more, burrowing themselves deeper and deeper into his skin. “Are you alright?”

He couldn’t speak because of the gag around his mouth, which Twilight quickly ripped off. “Twily! Did… Did you come here to rescue me?”

“Yeah, Shiny. We did.” Twilight looked back at the others, as they disengaged their disguises and approached Shining and the device he was strapped into. “We’re gonna get you off of this ship as fast as we can.”

“Don’t try and pull the restraints! I’ve tried. These things just get tighter and tighter the more they get pulled.” Shining didn’t even bother to move, lest they restrain him so much that his wrists and ankles broke. “Do you think you can get me out of these things, girls?”

“Sure thing. Pinkie, do you have some detonating sprinkles on hand?” Sunset turned to Pinkie, watching as she quickly dove her hands into her hair and pulled out a small tube of them.

“When do I ever not have exploding sprinkles?” Pinkie asked, taking her position at the restraints. “Well, I guess all the times before I had this magical pendant of mine. And before I came to CHS. Man, I really need to carry this stuff around more.”

She let some of the sprinkles fall into her hand as she took hold of her geode with the other. Tossing four different bunches of sprinkles at the restraints, they detonated in a burst of powder, breaking the straps that held Shining up, causing him to flop to the ground like a ragdoll, immediately into the arms of Twilight.

“Don’t worry, Shiny. You’re gonna be fine, trust me.” Twilight carried Shining Armour over to Espy. “Now then, we need to get out of here, fast.” As soon as she said it, the doors swung open, causing Espy to duck behind a device, out of the eyes of the Wolfpack soldiers who barged in. “Oh crap…”

“Well, well, well. Now this is a bold move on your part, Rangers.” Vi’Al walked through the Hounds, staring down the intruders. “Boarding the Alpha Slayer without our cameras picking you up, only to find yourselves caught in a web I wove for you.” He gave them a sadistic, toothy grin as he walked up to Shining Armour and Twilight Sparkle. “Rage does drive us far, doesn’t it? And it seems that your rage, Twilight Sparkle, is directed at us for what we’ve done to your brother. A shame that such a raw element must be destroyed. I’d very much like to see your anger in action but alas, you are not a Power Ranger, and so not worthy of my time.”

“Shut up! Did it ever occur to you that Shining Armour is a special person in my life? Someone that I’m not just going to part with that easily?!” She barked back at Vi’Al, readying her pendant for battle as she lifted a hand to it.

“Family is an anchor that holds you back. You feel worried about their safety when dragged into the firing line. The same feelings that mistress Rarity had when Siel’Viz struck down her family.” Vi’Al pushed his glasses closer to his face. “Because of her rage for our crime, she is now stronger. Will killing your brother make you stronger, Twilight?”

“If I had my gun, a bullet would be going between your eyes right now, buddy…” Shining Armour snarled, glaring up at the Wolfpack agent.

“Rather than see you continue to spend your hatred, I shall turn you over to the Captain. Or rather, the soon to be new captain.” He turned his back to the Sparkles. “Yes, as sad as it may be, the mutiny is already in progress, and the Feral Five are already dispatching Mar’Zek. Truth be told, he had it coming, since his supposed honour is what held us all back. As long as my research does not suffer from his death, I see no reason as to why he should still hold the atoms and particles that allow him to exist.”

“You’re sick, ya know that?!” Sunset barked, morphing into the Red Ranger with the slam of her hand, as did Pinkie and Rainbow Dash.

“No, Red Ranger. I am a scientist. There is a fine line between the two. A line that you fail to see because of your lacklustre IQ.” He chuckled. “Now then. Dispose of them, Hounds. Should they survive, I’ll alert the rest of the ship. There is no way that they are leaving alive.”

The Hounds snarled as they drew their weapons, ready to fight the Rangers as they slowly stomped towards them. As they got close, though, Espy leaned her hand out from where she was hiding, pointed the teleporter at the team and pushed the button, sending them all back to the ship in another brilliant eruption of purple light, blinding the room for an instance. When the light faded, there was nothing but the lab and the wolves remaining.

“Well then… That was rather unexpected.” Vi’Al blinked rapidly, before cleaning his glasses with the collar of his coat. “But no matter. They will not survive the next few cycles with our new leaders at the helm.” He tossed his coat back and slunk out of the door with the Hounds that had followed him in, leaving Espy alone in the room, bathed in darkness as the doors closed.

Shining Armour, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Sunset returned to Elaris’s ship in yet another burst of light. It didn’t take long for Elaris to climb off of her seat and give the Rangers a smile as they walked toward her, with Shining Armour behind them all.

“You did it. You actually did it!” Elaris had a grin from ear to ear as she threw her arms up. “You got onto the Alpha Slayer and out of it with Shining Armour untouched! Now that’s the kind of heroism that Power Rangers are known for!”

“Thanks, Elaris. I’m just glad that we were able to get my big brother back, before those Wolfpack brutes really sank their teeth into him.” Twilight threw her entire body into Shining Armour’s body, tightly pulling him into a hug as she nuzzled her head against his chest.

Shining Armour, in response, could only return the favour and close his eyes, patting her on the back tenderly as he pulled her in closer. It almost looked like he was smothering her with how tight their hold on each other was.

“I knew that you would come for me, Twily. I just knew that you would,” he said, watching as the others gathered around him and his little sister. “Even when those Wolfpack tested on me and stuck some things inside of me.”

“Sounds like you’ve had a bit of a rough time on the ship. Do you want me to lead you to the med bay and check you for any kind of damage?” Fluttershy asked, raising a hand to Shining. “It’s the least that you need after what those Wolfpack monsters did to you…”

“I’ll be fine. No, really. Being in the CPD’s taught me to handle a lot of difficult things.” Shining Armour tried to walk forward, only to find the strength in his body fading as the pain in his wrists came back, causing him to flop to the ground. “But… I guess a little trip to this med bay of yours wouldn’t hurt.”

Twilight just chuckled and carried him up with her geode’s magic. “You’re always being the big brother in charge, aren’t you, Shiny? Well, this time, we’re gonna take care of you for all of the stuff that you’ve done for us.” She lifted him out of the bridge and down the corridors of Elaris’s ship. “Thanks, girls. I really mean that.”

“No problem, Twilight. You spend some time with your brother. We’ll be here trying to figure out our next move.” Sunset waved Twilight off as she hauled her brother through the corridors

“Did you find out anything interesting when you were on the Alpha Slayer?” Elaris asked once Twilight had left the room. “Anything about Mar’Zek’s plans or what soldiers he’s going to send after you next?

Sunset just sucked in some air through her mouth. “Oh, yeah… About that…”

“We heard that there was a mutiny going on and that Mar’Zek was being deposed by those Feral Five jerks.” Rainbow Dash tipped her hand toward Elaris. “If their little movement is gonna be successful, then they’re gonna be leading the Wolfpack instead of him. And the Wolfpack are gonna be a lot more aggressive in their attacks.”

“A mutiny? On the Alpha Slayer? Oh dear. That’s going to be a real problem. And those Feral Five were immensely powerful…” Elaris hastily dashed back to the console and worked away, the tendrils on her body sticking out and flowing through the air more vigorously as she pounded in commands. “And if they’re running the Wolfpack, we’d better get power boosts for you all as fast as we can. If we don’t, this planet’s going to be overrun in a matter of weeks…”

Then, shouting could be heard...

In the med bay, Shining Armour laid on a bed, with Twilight watching as the machines spreaded more of the healing particles through the air. The same ones that had patched up the other girls when they had been felled by Mar’Zek in battle. It took much less of them than usual as they seeped into his wounded parts.

“I just have one question to ask, Twily,” he said. “Why didn’t you come for me eariler? If you guys are the Power Rangers, then wouldn’t it have made sense for you to come before any of this mutiny talk?”

“Well, truth be told, I… didn’t really have much time to come up with a solid plan. Plus, we didn’t really have a way onto the ship without Espy’s help, so… I kinda didn’t plan for your rescue for a bit.” Twilight hung her head, twiddling her fingers.

“You… didn’t?” Shining took the words like daggers to his heart. His own sister couldn’t have come up with a plan to free him days before, leaving him to fester in that room while the Wolfpack carried out their plans. “So… I was supposed to be experimented on? To be a puppet for those things while you just… procrastinated?!”

“I didn’t have much of a choice, okay?!” Twilight swung her arms out. “I’m not a Power Ranger, and I didn’t really have access to the Alpha Slayer. I couldn’t have just hijacked a rocket and used that to board the ship. And if I had, it would’ve crashed and killed me, or the Wolfpack would have shredded me if I’d even tried such a stunt!”

“I can’t believe you. You admitted that there was no way to save me? As if I didn’t matter to you?” Shining Armour blew his nose viciously, like a bull at a fight. “We could have avoided all of my torture if you’d just planned a bit more before this! Isn’t this supposed to be another spaceship?” With the particles still rushing into his body, Shining Armour fell asleep, dropping back onto the bed like a sack of potatoes in the store.

“Due to his elevated condition, I have had to administer a sedative. His rage would have caused the blood in his body to pump faster, possibly aggravating his heart.” L.U.C.Y. spoke from the ship’s intercom. “He will wake up in a couple of hours, so that I can properly heal him without his heart being crippled in the process.

“Shining… I’m sorry about all of this. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. I just… I wanted to save you.” Twilight felt tears running down her eyes. “I shouldn’t have just sat around like this. I just… I just wanted to see you back home. Even if I was a few days late…” She ended up crying into Shining Armour’s chest, letting his clothes soak up all of her sorrows as she sat silently in the med bay. Elaris, from the doorway could only watch the now fractured family.

On the Alpha Slayer’s bridge, Ahl’Maih’Tie sat in the throne where Mar’Zek once sat, with the rest of his Feral Five accommodating the space between him, with Uhp’Grahy’Der and Deh’Mehn’Sha on his right, and Mah’Jehs’Tie and Uon’Buh’Leht on his left. Looking out at the rest of his crew, he could only let out a chuckle as he looked down on the planet.

“For all of his talk about honour, the wolf knew great taste. Such a shame that his supposed honour deluded him like this.” Ahl’Maih’Tie boomed, folding his arms as he kicked up his legs. “Still, I suppose it couldn’t be helped that he was destined to fail. He led the Wolfpack greatly before. I suppose it is true. Anyone can fail at any time, no matter how much of a legacy they leave for themselves.”

“What are your orders now, honey? Or should I say, captain?” Mah’Jehs’Tie let out a chuckle as she unfurled her fans before Ahl’Maih’Tie.

“The Wolfpack have been holding back for far too long. I say that we choke the Rangers out of that little hovel of a town they hold themselves up in,” Ahl’Maih’Tie declared. “After all, we are a fleet, not a single ark. Why shouldn’t we use our numbers to our advantage? Run the planet down? Show the Rangers that we are a force that cannot be stopped?”

“And with that new pet that Vi’Al’s been cooking up, I’d say that’s a very good start.” Uhp’Grahy’Der pointed towards the door, where a new figure stood. With armour similar to a ranger, only with dark purple fire-patterns on the arms and legs, with a glowing crystal sitting in his chest, a visor that looked like a jagged arrow pointing downward, and a pair of sharpened wings welded onto the back. “I would’ve killed that guy for what he did, but any benefit to the cause is what we’ll take, I suppose.”

“What are your orders, Captain Ahl’Maih’Tie?” The new Ranger bowed before the Feral Five, visor pointed to the ground.

“Go down to this planet Earth and duel the Rangers. While they battle with you, we will begin flooding the rest with our troops.” Ahl’Maih’Tie threw his arm out to the dark Ranger. “By the time you wear them down, our Wolfpack troops should have converted a fair amount of the planet.”

“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.” The dark ranger stood back up and walked out, leaving the Feral Five to their devices. As he walked out, he de-morphed, revealing a perfect replica of Shining Armour, only with black, snake-like eyes...

Targeting Twilight Sparkle

The next day, Twilight Sparkle walked down the streets, still thinking about the words that Shining Armour had buried into her head. The fact that she had hesitated in trying to save her, that he had suffered because of her, and that the Wolfpack were able to wrap their claws around him for as long as they did was enough to sicken her to her stomach. She could feel the bubbles in her belly as she tried to suppress her emotions.

"I tried, Shining Armour. I really tried." Twilight whispered to herself. "But what was I supposed to do? The Alpha Slayer's got some of the most advanced defences I've ever seen in my life, and we'd never even heard of Espy and her pack until they called us." The yells of her brother still echoed in her mind.

“I can’t believe you. You admitted that there was no way to save me? As if I didn’t matter to you? We could have avoided all of my torture if you’d just planned a bit more before this!”

"Well, Shining Armour? You want me to plan a bit more? Well, I'm planning the next attack on the Wolfpack right now, as a matter of fact." Her hand bundled up into a fist. "They attacked us and stole you? Well, we're going to attack them and leave nothing. Once El's ship is fully fixed and the other Rangers get their powers up, we're gonna charge head on and scatter the Wolfpack across the stars!

Her walk turned into a route march down the streets, feet violently stomping on the ground, echoing noise with every step that she took. Her shoulders were hunched over and her eyes twitched, as the other hand turned into a fist. Twilight had never been one to show much hostility towards things like this before, but in the case of the Wolfpack; family killing, brother-turning, heartless monstrosities with no regard for anything or remorse for others, this was one of the times where she felt she could make an exception.

The buildings by her side and grass lined next to the pavement hardly seemed to matter, becoming nothing more than a blur as she focused directly ahead of her, towards the next crossing, with traffic lights hanging above the road. Applying force into the button, her thunderous feet came to a halt, arms whipping down to her sides as she waited for the clearance to cross. When the time passed and the lights went green, her advance continued again, still seething about what the Wolfpack had done to her and her friends.

After her trek across the concrete jungle came to an end, she clambered up a light slope and arrived at the local observatory. At least the stars would help her to fix her emotions and calm her down a tad. They always did in times like this. Well, that, and the occasional science project with Spike and her friends, but this was more of a less work-heavy option.

When she made it to the top of the hill and walked through to the car park, she saw a figure all too familiar. Standing there before her, draped in the same police uniform and badge as he always wore, it was none other than Shining Armour. As he saw her standing up, his arms dropped to his side and he approached her.

"Twilight," he said, walking up towards him. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't really know, Shining Armour. I've been trying to think about how I could apologise to you after the Wolfpack captured you and did those nasty experiments on you." Twilight twiddled her fingers, the blood in her body cooling down as a lump formed in her throat. "Right now I'm caught up in a whirlpool of emotions; all of them none too friendly."

"Well, let's just say I've been having a tough time trying to deal with this too. The fact that aliens exist, that we aren't actually alone in the universe. I had hoped that coming to the observatory would've cleared my head about all of this. Didn't expect to see you come here, though." He pointed a finger out towards her. "I thought you'd be busy doing that Power Ranger stuff you seem to love with your friends."

"Technically, I'm not a Ranger. I'm just a girl who provides helpful tips and tricks of the trade needed to fight the Wolfpack." Twilight tipped her hand towards Shining Armour, who continued to gaze into her skull. "The real Rangers are my friends."

"I see. Well then. I'm sure that you don't mind forgetting about me while you go off and fight with them, then?" Shining's voice barely changed as he tilted his head to the side. "After all, big brothers never get remembered, do they? They're always the ones to die first."

"What?" Twilight semi-gasped as she spoke. "It's nothing like that, honest!"

"Oh, it is. After all, my life expectancy's been shortened thanks to you not taking any action. You let the Wolfpack hurt me. You let them torture me." He walked toward Twilight, his voice gaining a hint of venom. "And more to the point, you didn't even think of what would happen if you hadn't rescued me. Some big sister you are."

"I TRIED MY BEST!" Twilight threw her arms behind her back. "My best wasn't good enough, alright?! I understand that! There's no need to stay so bitter towards me about it!"

"Oh, there is, in fact. There's a number of reasons why I hate you actively with a burning passion, my not so little sister." He turned his back to Twilight, unfurling his arms. "You not only decided to jumpstart your life with those magic gems that you have, but you also decided to harbour an alien without my knowledge, without the rest of the world's knowledge. Add to the fact that you never told anyone about the Power Rangers or the Wolfpack, or the fact that this world has any chance of surviving. You've grown petty in your old age, Twilight. Ever since you left Crystal Prep, you've been nothing but a disappointment to me and to the Sparkle name.

"Shining, I..." Twilight tried to speak, but with a crackle of green and purple lightning, Shining Armour donned a new suit of armour, with sharp wings poking out of the back.

"Go HOME, Twilight Sparkle. You are not needed in the Power Rangers anymore. They do not want you anymore. They have no interest in playing with your non-ranger self anymore." Shining Armour revealed his eyes, which now took on their snake-like appearance. "The only one who wants anything to do with you is yourself. And if there's anything that I can't abide by in this family, it's selfishness!" He drew a sharp sword, similar to that of an oversized bird's feather and darted towards Twilight, aiming the blade of the sword towards her.

Twilight, reacting on impulse, grabbed her geode and pushed Shining Armour back with her magic, only for him to slice through the aura and dive towards her, the shockwaves he created from his feet sending Twilight into the nearby lamppost. She groaned and got back up, only for Shining Armour to slice the lamppost in half, one part she grabbed with her magic and used it to repel his next sword swing.

"Shiny! Don't do this! We're supposed to be brother and sister! You look after me, and I look after you! Remember?!" Twilight asked as she strained, her magic being perfectly matched by what her brother had become.

"Please, Twilight Sparkle. Since when have you EVER cared about me? Ever since Canterlot High, it's been nothing but you, you, you and your friends, friends, friends! Everything else in your life's become obsolete ever since." Shining Armour grunted, his sword cleaving through the lamppost, sending the remnants crashing around Twilight's feet. "The Wolfpack aren't the only one who's sick and tired of looking at you and your friends. So am I!" He roared, kicking Twilight down the hill. He swung a shockwave of energy to the foot of the hill, launching Twilight airborne again. The remaining debris he caught in some dark auras of his own, flinging them and Twilight towards him, where he geared up for another strike, only for Twilight to levitate herself and land on the other side of the lot.

"Shiny! Stop it! This isn't you! You need to wake up!" Twilight's fight or flight kicked in, watching as Shining Armour twirled his sword ready for another devastating attack. "Whatever the Wolfpack did to you it's taking control, I just know it! You need to fight it!"

"Fight it? But why would I want to fight this power when the only one worth fighting is you and your pathetic friends?" Shining sniggered as he drove the blade into the ground, sending lightning coiling across it, forming a cage of energy around Twilight. "You said that you weren't a ranger, so now's the perfect time to pick you off, prove that your friends have failed, that you aren't going to save our world!" Lifting the blade high, the cage turned into a shower of lightning and explosions, that sent Twilight flying with a scream as she landed harshly on the road, right in front of Sunset and the others, who jumped at the sight.

"Twilight!" Sunset cried out, looking at the ash-ridden, torn up mess that was Twilight. She couldn't stand or utter a single word. Sunset picked her up and noticed that her breathing was very sparse as if she had air beaten out of her body with a single strike. "Elaris! I need a transmat to the med-bay right now! Twilight's just been attacked!"

"On it. Sending her over now!" A beam of light wrapped itself around Twilight, spiriting her away and leaving Sunset's arms free.

"Hey! That's no way to treat your little sister!" Rainbow Dash ran to the top of the hill and noticed the armoured Shining Armour glaring at her and the other Rainbooms.

"Sister? I don't have a sister. At least, not anymore." He chuckled as the blade took in another torrent of energy. "Why would I, Shining Armour, head of the Canterlot Police Department ever need a little sister? Especially when she left Crystal Prep, disappointing pretty much everyone in the family!"

"Well, technically, you do have a sister. We just caught her and sent her somewhere that you can't get to her. Well, I mean, technically you can because you were already there when we saved you from the Wolfpack but—"

"Silence!" Shining Armour threw his sword towards Pinkie Pie, who sidestepped away from it. With a twist of his wrist, he disappeared and re-appeared by the sword behind Pinkie, taking a swing at her back, landing a blow that made her scream as she was launched into the walls of the observatory.

"Girls! Forget the catchphrases! Morph!" Sunset cried out, slamming her hand on the crystal, turning herself into the Red Ranger.

The other Rainbooms didn't need to say a word as they all went for their crystals and began the morphing process. Split seconds later, they were armed and suited up for battle. Rarity took the time to utilise the Revive Crystal on her swords, taking on her White Paladin form.

"We don't need a bunch of renegade superheroes like you saving the world. All that we need are the police and the military. Nothing else!" Shining Armour dashed towards Rarity and met her swords with his own, engaging the two of them into a flurry of strikes, sending sparks across the battleground. The others tried to move in, but Shining used his feet—crackling with lightning to slam the ground like a sumo, sending tiny waves up from the earth to knock them away.

"Try this out for a change!" Rainbow let a rain of shots fly out from her blasters as she came back down to earth, only for Shining's sword to break away from the action, catch them and lob them back at her, whizzing over her head and grazing past her helmet.

Fluttershy played some notes on her flute, sending spectral animals out towards Shining Armour, but he simply sliced through them and slid up towards the butter-yellow ranger. He was about to land a strike, when she grabbed his arm and threw him into Sunset Shimmer, who drew her sword to meet his back, only to be kicked in the chest as he contorted his body.

"Landscaper!" Applejack drove her hammer into the ground, creating a series of columns taking the form of stairs. She climbed up her creations until she was level with the roof of the observatory before taking a leap of faith off of the top, ready for her hammer to slam Shining Armour into the ground. As the end of her weapon got close to him, he simply leapt up and grabbed her Terra Hammer by the handle, ripping it from her body and throwing her to the ground as he drove the weapon into Applejack's chest, causing the ground beneath her to crumble and topple on top of her. Only then did she get her weapon back, as slabs of concrete road caved in on her.

"Darling, please. That's no way to behave!" Rarity's swords glowed with energy as she charged in on Shining Armour. Her attacks, accompanied by her speed were enough to stagger him and launch him down the path, only for his sword to drive into the road, cutting it in half as he used it as a brake for himself. "Perhaps you could try being a bit nicer to your sister for a change, hmm?" Rarity lobbed a diamond prism towards Shining Armour, which grew and ruptured, sending shards of diamond down onto his body.

"Power Rangers. Always the same. Always predictable." Shining Armour pulled his sword out and dashed back up the hill, jumping when he made it to the top. He saw that Applejack was trying to escape from the tomb that he had created, using her strength to push the rubble out of the way. "Just when you think that you're about to win, karma comes to collect." He landed by the tomb, sword pointing towards Applejack. "Think, think, think. That's what Twilight never did. She never thought about anything other than her own desires. Her Magic-lust at the Friendship Games? That was her. The fact that she wanted to be friends with you, that was her. Not going to Everton and earning some of the best self-training and the best life she could have ever had? That was ALL HER!"

"It's not our fault that Twilight had the worst principal, the worst hand in life, the constant peer pressure helped in no part by you and everyone else at Crystal Prep!" Sunset's sword burned white as her grip on the hilt got stronger. "If anything, you should feel sorry for her now that she's got a lot on her plate, not beat her up like this because you're upset with her!"

"Pah! Why would I ever want to feel sorry for someone like that? People like Twilight are the scum of the earth. Those that don't take every chance that they have and go for the best options." Shining Armour drove the sword into the ground just as Applejack came out, ready to deal him a blow with the hammer. He was consumed in a pillar of black energy, sending Applejack back down the hole that she had tumbled out of, with Rainbow Dash's speed being the only thing that stopped her from plummetting once again. "In life, you don't make friends. They're not the best chance that you have at a happy life. The best chance that you have at the best life you could have is the only choice to make. She didn't make the best choices in trying to save me, so this is what she gets. This is her punishment for being such a disrespectful little brat!"

"Brat?!" The other Rainbooms called out before Pinkie Pie let a Confetti Bombardment fly from her cannons, knocking Shining Armour out of the column of darkness.

"Yes. A brat. Much like all of you." Shining Armour ran up to Pinkie and grabbed her by the neck, energy erupting from his hand as his grip crushed her windpipe, de-morphing Pinkie in an instant before she was tossed back to the others. "Pinkie Pie? She cares too much about being happy and loving her life, when life is a cruel, horrible thing." He watched as Rainbow Dash ran towards him at light speed, only for him to tackle her to the ground. He drove his foot into Rainbow's chest, causing her to de-morph as well. "Rainbow Dash. Arrogant, hot-headed, young. She captains so much, but knows so little."

"Okay, ah can handle a lot of things, but slandering mah friends is a line too far!" Applejack barrelled towards Shining with her hammer, only for him to break it in half with a single swing of his sword, promptly damaging Applejack's helmet with the sword and ripping her entire Ranger outfit from the head down.

"Applejack. Born and raised as a cowgirl; a breed that should have died out years ago." He snarled at her, grabbing her fist with ease as he twisted her arm and heard popping noises coming from it as Applejack cried out in pain. "There is no place for howdy-doody varmints like you in this world."

Fluttershy let out a yell as she blew violently into her flute, sending an entire stampede of all creatures great and small towards Shining Armour. Elephants, lions, wolves, birds, insects, even the occasional sea creature was hurled out towards him. They were mere inches away from his body when he threw his arms out and launched himself through the light, breaking all the spectres and pinning Fluttershy to the ground by pushing his hand to her neck.

"Fluttershy. Brave when she wants to be, but an utter scaredy cat the rest of the time. You are a mystery, aren't you?" He sniggered. "Bravery wrapped in cowardice? That's something you don't see every day. But you seem to be getting the two mixed up."

Rarity drove her sword into Shining Armour's arm, causing him to cry out in pain and jump off of Fluttershy for a brief instance, hand cupped around his stab wound, as blood trickled out of it. Growling, his snake-eyes flashed as he pulled his arms into him, grasping Rarity in a cloud of ghostly energy, pulling her into him as his sword was raised, cleaving straight through her armour and leaving nothing but the teenage seamstress beneath it.

"Rarity. Ladylike in both looks and attitude. But a rather poncy attitude at that. How you haven't been moulded by the higher-up snobs in this world, I'll never know, given how you behave." He glared into her eyes as she tried to push him away, only for him to stomp over her body, leaving her crumpled up on the ground beneath him. "You are not a common girl. You are rich. Act like you are rich and get rid of these friends. You should have no respect for the common man, the people who barely understand your tastes.

"And you, Sunset Shimmer. Where do I start with you?" Shining Armour chuckled demonically as he slithered towards Sunset. "The demon queen of Canterlot, believing that everything's changed both for her and her subjects. No matter how much you put it off, it's always there, lurking in the darkness of your mind. Your want to kill me, to destroy me, to prove that I'm not worth saving. You've already shown it before by killing those Wolfpack clods. Why not kill me? I'm killing your friends. Respond in kind and prove what kind of monster you are?!" He slapped his chest, banging it like a gorilla would in the midst of a battle. "Well? Go on then! Kill me! Prove to everyone that you are evil, that your friends are evil because you all kill the Wolfpack in cold blood!"

Sunset couldn't even respond. She just looked out at all of her friends. Tattered, beaten, bruised, wounded, scattered, depleted of power, left to rot as Shining Armour just continued to approach her menacingly, pounding away at his body as her sword dipped to the ground. Whatever Shining Armour had become, it was very effective. The person that she had once known as Twilight's brother was gone, lost forever within a sea of horror and demented laws, one scorned so much that nothing mattered to him anymore. She didn't want to kill him, but she also didn't want to let him continue. Gathering the moral strength, she raised her sword and was about to strike Shining Armour, but limply dropped her sword as she let out a gasp of air.

"I knew it. You're weak. You've always been weak. Since the day you became friends." He harrumphed and lifted his sword skyward, energy coalescing with it as dark clouds gathered in the air. "No matter how much you want to try and be heroes, you are nothing. And that is why you will not be remembered, why I will stop the Wolfpack and not you. Your days of being Power Rangers are OVER!" Leaping through the clouds, he hurled the sword down into the ground, causing the clouds to fall towards the group. "TEMPEST COLLAPSE!"

The black, fluffy, rain and lightning filled clouds consumed the Rangers, coating them within a veil of darkness. A seemingly endless shower of lightning bolts tumbled down on them and the observatory, leaving a colossal crater in its' wake. When the clouds had settled, both Shining Armour and the Rainbooms were nowhere to be found. Only the remnants of the observatory and the car park, as well as smouldering towers of smoke.

Sunset Shimmer and the others woke up on the bridge, with Elaris looking down at them all. Their condition wasn't as critical as before, as they all managed to get back onto their feet, albeit with some wobbles and stumbles. There were some bruises and cuts on their bodies, but they were minimal in comparison.

"Thank the stars. A moment later and you would've all been atomised by that attack." Elaris wiped the sweat off of her brow, then wrung the tendrils on her body dry, hands and feet coated in twinkling sweat by the end of it. "What exactly happened there, Rangers?"

"H-hard to tell, really. Shining Armour just attacked us all." Sunset stood back up first out of the group, feeling a small sliver of pain running down her back. "He just went for Twilight, then he decided to fight all of us in the process."

"Yeah. He was a total jerk for what he was saying as well, saying things like Twilight shouldn't have been born, that she shouldn't have moved on from Crystal Prep, that we were all brats, stuff like that." Rainbow brushed her body down, trying to clean up some of the residues that had travelled with her on the trip back to the ship.

"That's odd. Considering that Shining Armour never exactly left the ship..." Elaris brought a finger to her head.

"Wait, he never left? But that's not true! He was right there, hurting all of us!" Applejack tried to push herself back up but only cried out in pain as her arm flared up again. "Argh! And pretty badly from the looks of things.

"It's true, though. Shining Armour never left the Med Bay, even when I brought Twilight back there, he was sleeping like a baby..." The screen turned on, showing both Twilight and Shining Armour unconscious on the beds, being tended to by the machines inside. "His emotional state was so distressed that I had to give him an extra powerful sedative to ensure that my treatments fully fixed him up."

"Then... if that wasn't Shining Armour attacking us, then... who in the world was it?" Fluttershy asked as the other Rainbooms finally stood back up. "There can't be two Shining Armours, can there be?"

"Not to my knowledge, no. I'd love to talk with you all some more about it, but you all look worse for wear. You'd better join Twilight and Shining Armour. Quickly now, before your injuries get any worse." Elaris pointed towards the corridors of her ship, watching as the Rainbooms all limped out of the bridge, some even letting out small whimpers as the pain in their bodies kicked in. Once the room was empty, she went back to her console and brought up a video of the fight. "How can Shining Armour be there but also here at the same time? What did the Wolfpack do to him on that flagship?"

The Wolf's Howl

Sunset and the others sat together in the med bay along with the unconscious Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armour. Their bruises and slight hits being tended to in seconds thanks to the curative molecules dancing throughout the air. For the Rangers, it didn't take long for what seemed like the majority of their pain to fade. As much as they were appreciative of their plan, they had gone through so much of it by this point that it hardly seemed to matter. All it took was one battle where Twilight and Elaris weren't there to help and their time on the mortal coil was over.

"I still don't get it." Fluttershy laid a hand on Shining Armour's belly as the machines continued to fix him up. "If he never left, then how did he fight us? How did he get those powers and beat us senseless?"

"It beats me. The guy was completely conked out here all this time. Still, how did he just get up, fight us, then somehow wander back in here?" Applejack looked down at Shining Armour's motionless body. "And before any of y'all say that it was some kind of magic, I'm just gonna shut ya down right there and then. L.U.C.Y. even said that Shining Armour needed some kinda fancy sedative. There's no physical way he could've gotten out of there that fast..."

"Hold on, girls. I'm getting a very bad feeling about this..." Sunset felt something bubbling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to have believed it to be true, but the way that the evidence was piling up before her, she couldn't help but open her mouth. "Remember how Shining Armour was subjected to some experiments on board the Alpha Slayer?"

"I'd rather not think about it..." Fluttershy already knew what Sunset was going to say. She could tell simply from the memory alone. "You don't think that..."

"It's plausible, yes. But I'm not sure if it's got enough data to be true or not. But, what I think happened is that Shining Armour got cloned aboard the Alpha Slayer..." Sunset paced back and forth across the med bay, unintentionally knocking away healing particles that scattered through the air. "This could have been an exact copy of Shining Armour, made to serve the Wolfpack; made to break Twilight, make her feel weak and powerless. So that she could get stronger. As for the powers, I'm not entirely sure what he has, but it's dangerous, to say the least."

"I was afraid you'd say that..." Rarity tightened her hands into fists. "Some honour these wolves have. Choking us out of resources, killing our loved ones, then making replicas of them in order to make us break down? For once, I think I agree with Rainbow Dash. We should just go up to the Alpha Slayer and destroy it from the inside out before any of these attacks escalate."

"But Rarity, the Alpha Slayer's super-duper fortified! I mean, without Espy giving us the fast-track around the place, we'd be full of bullet holes by now!" Pinkie splayed her arms out wide. "We only barely made it out of there alive the last time. That meanie Vi'Al cornered us in his lab if you remember."

"True. But at the same time, we can't just sit here and do nothing like we did with rescuing Shining Armour. If it's true that the Wolfpack have staged a mutiny against Mar'Zek and those Feral Five wolves are now leading the charge, then this planet's going to be crawling with wolves by the end of the day!" Sunset exclaimed, stomping the floor vigorously. "If everyone gets run down with the Wolfpack, we'll be to blame for all of it. Because we didn't work. And that's why this ship needs to be fixed and this other Shining Armour defeated. NOW!"

The shout was so loud that it caused the other Rainbooms' hair to stand on end. But for as furious as Sunset was, there was some truth within her rage. The Wolfpack were a race of conquerors. Why had they not just attacked the rest of the planet to set an example? Why had they only focused on Canterlot apart from their crystals? As the questions continued repeating themselves over and over again in the girls' heads, they could only look on with dread as their faces started to sweat.

"You're right. We can't just mosey around and do nothing anymore. It's time to take action." Applejack stood up proudly. "Pinkie Pie. You, Fluttershy and Rarity handle the repairs. Rainbow Dash and I will fetch the materials we need to fix the ship. And Sunset?"

"Yes, Applejack? What is it?" Sunset asked, the tension in her body quickly relieving.

"Elaris mentioned something about making some kinda super-souped up motorcycle in the Forge. But no matter what she does, it always ends up being a total mess. Ah'm no expert on fancy-schmancy space-age tech, but I think it'd work better if she had an actual motorcycle to work on." Applejack pulled her hat off, revealing a wide grin on her face. "You need to get to Canterlot High and grab one of those bikes we used in the Friendship Games during that Tri-Cross Relay event. Then, bring it back here and maybe that'll be the kicker Elaris needs to fix the stuff up."

"You really sure that kinda stuff will work?" Sunset questioned. Applejack had never been one to conform with the times. Like, ever.

"It might not, but it's worth a try at least. In fact, why don't you go off and get the rest of the gear that we used in that relay? Speed skates, archery bows, anything that'll be useful in stopping the Wolfpack and giving us an edge. If it looks good, grab it and bring it back here." Applejack folded her arms. "We'll do as much as we can back here, but who knows how much time we have before those Wolfpack varmints make their next move? We need to do this now. And when I say now, I mean right now like it was supposed to be done yesterday."

"Alright. I'll do as best as I can. In the meantime, I'm counting on the rest of you to help out back here." Sunset started to make her way towards the door. "And if Twilight wakes up, get her working with Elaris on the codes and systems. I'm sure that this ship could use some kind of digital upgrades as well as physical ones."

"On it. Everyone else? Let's go! Like real Power Rangers, ya hear?" Applejack bellowed to the others. "We need to get this ship up and running in the hour at best!"

"Right!" The Rainbooms all chorused in unison before charging out of the med bay to get on with their jobs. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity headed towards the bridge, leaving Applejack, Sunset, and Rainbow darting out of the ship as fast as their legs could carry them, leaving Twilight and Shining Armour behind.

Down in Canterlot High, Sunset immediately found her way towards the supply shed sitting quietly at one corner of the sports pitch. The gargantuan, grassy, gravelly ground with two giant bleachers standing tall beside it. Without a crowd, it seemed far more expansive to her than ever, but that hardly mattered to her now. She needed to get everything back as soon as she could without anything slowing her down.

But as soon as she arrived at the door, she was met with another obstacle. The door was padlocked and a key nowhere in sight. Of course, why did she ever think it would have been in sight? At the very best, it would have been with Principal Celestia or Vice Principal Luna. She had no time to talk to any of them or even question why she was taking some of their gear, but duty called and the world was about to end if she didn't do this job immediately.

"Darn! Why did I have to be the one without any kind of physical powers?" Sunset muttered to herself, walking back and forth. She flipped out her phone and punched in a number, immediately reaching Rainbow Dash's line as her profile picture popped up on the screen. "Rainbow Dash? The door holding the new weapons is locked. I'd go and get the key myself, but that's not gonna take enough time. Think you can swing by and give me a hand with it?"

"I'm already here, Sunset." As soon as the voice came over, Rainbow Dash did in a contrail of rainbow light. Her super-speed once more on show. "So. This that door ya need busting down? Well, I'm sure that a little bit of Ranger power would be able to do this." She went for her belt and slammed the crystal, preparing a morph. "Equestrian Star! Ignite the Fight!" In the blink of an eye, she donned her Blue Ranger apparel and drew her blasters. "But, just curious about something. Why didn't you try this kinda stuff?"

"Have you ever seen wood and fire go together, Rainbow Dash?" Sunset deadpanned, looking down at her own crystal. "My fire sword would have torched the whole shed, potentially destroying everything that we need to fight back against the Wolfpack."

"Oh. Right." Rainbow let out a weak chuckle and aimed her blasters at the lock, letting loose a torrent of bullets. Every single blast landed against the lock, with it finally breaking under all of the focused fire, falling to the ground with smoke coming off of the charred metal. "Open sesame." Rainbow pushed the door open, allowing Sunset to walk inside first with her following after.

Sunset was the first one to spot the CHS motorcycles, painted their radiant streaks of cyan, yellow, and red. With a sleek, jagged body spiking outward, the friendship games immediately sprang to mind. The day she tore through the track with Rainbow, battling against the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts, how they all grew their wings, tails, and ears every time they did something noteworthy on that day, it all seemed like decades past when she came back to reality. In the midst of her little trip, she barely even noticed the other equipment scattered around. Sports balls, archery gear, even the odd set of small cones that marked the playing field.

"It's perfect. This is just what we need to battle the Wolfpack with." Sunset walked over to the bike, rubbing her hand against the chrome, well-glossed, well-painted bike. Tingles ran up her spine as she took a seat on the saddle, planting her hands on the bars, with the accelerator ready to be twisted. "Rainbow Dash, take the skates and the archery stuff back to Elaris. Then, come back here and help me drive these things back to the ship. Think you can handle that?"

"No problemo, Sunset. Just one little jolt of geode juice and we're good to go!" Rainbow activated her geode once more, the pony-up features showing on her Ranger suit as she turned into a blur once more, snatching up the items that Sunset had mentioned before shooting out of the shack like a rocket. Within the space of a few seconds, Rainbow Dash was back once again, sitting daintily on the other motorcycle. "You might wanna Ranger up too, Sunset. Last I checked, we didn't exactly go into the Motocross stuff with just our casual wear." Rainbow jabbed to Sunset's body.

"Yeah. You're right. I should probably do something about that." Sunset slammed her hand into the crystal, morphing with the lack of a catchphrase as her Red Ranger suit formed on her body once more. Dressed for the ride ahead, she twisted the accelerator; the roar of the motorcycle filling the silence after what seemed like years of being a stationary staple of sports history. "Let's rev it up, Rainbow Dash!"

"You got it, Sunset! Let's pop these clutches and tear through the streets!" Rainbow did the same with her accelerator, the howls of her own vehicle sounding loud and clear as the two cycles pointed towards the door.

Together, both teenagers kicked the pipes standing the bikes up and shot out of the shed, with nothing more than the deafening screams of the motorcycles filling the air around them. Some cheers were let out, but they were completely drowned out by the screeches and screams of the bikes they were on. Slicing through the grass like butter, the two rode the cycles off of Canterlot High's streets and down onto the road, noise following them every single inch of the way back to Elaris's ship.

On the Alpha Slayer, the Feral Five watched as Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer sped on the roads of Canterlot, wind rushing past their suits as they sped towards the ship, completely unaware of the fact that their moves were being watched. Some small sniggers and giggles came from Deh'Mehn'Sha, but the others were still very silent.

"So. They're just now making an ordnance run, are they?" Uhp'Grahy'Der smirked, rubbing a claw over his cybernetic body. "Fine then. Let them run with their new toys. It'll hardly matter in the long run. We've already got this planet under lock and chain."

"What repulsive vehicles. Honestly, had it been a palanquin, I would have forgiven them." Mah'Jehs'Tie flicked her warfan outward. "But, I suppose it is to be expected with meat. Meat sacks have no sense of taste, no sense of dignity."

"The hurty dolls really are getting stronger. Just like the old, bad captain said they would. But it matters not, it never matters with human apes... Never, never, never, never, never!" Deh'Mehn'Sha muttered to himself, body fidgeting wildly while he stood in the same spot. "Just like all little dolly toys, you dress them up really, really pretty, and then you break them! Gyaha! It's so much more fun to break the hurty dolls and all of their little hurty toys! That's all that hurty dolls are. They destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy, destroy! What even is the point of them trying to create when destruction is far easier?"

"Shall I shoot them out of their little rides, Captain?" Uoh'Buh'Leht picked up his rifle, loading a shot into it before cocking it, ready for battle.

"No. There is hardly any need to waste your time. We have a world to conquer." Ahl'Mai'Tie stood proud, raising his hammer high. "Attention, all Wolfpack forces! Descend on the planet! Leave every country, every continent, every place around the Rangers in ruins! Find the strongest and turn them to our side, then throw all the rest into the sun! Let them be examples for our cause's strength!"

The wolves in the ship let out laughter as the rest all rushed to their stations, ships swarming out of the Alpha Slayer and all of the nearby ships in swarms towards the earth. What used to be a blank space between the flagship and the planet was now completely coated in ships carrying Wolfpack agents, creating a hurricane of metal and exhausts as they shot down towards the planet.

Sunset and Rainbow Dash rode their cycles up the hill and back into the ship, slowing down when they arrived at the ramp leading inside. The crying machines now reduced to gentle purrs, both riders drove their cycles into the ship, down the wide, glowing corridors as they arrived back in the bridge with the others.

"We're back!" Sunset sing-songed as she climbed off of the motorcycle, with Rainbow Dash following shortly afterwards.

"And we've got a ton of new stuff that's gonna be super-useful against the Wolfpack. We can make wheels for our boots, use these bikes to rush into battle, all kinds of stuff that's gonna clock our speed up even higher than ever!" Rainbow Dash fist-pumped as she strode off of her bike and towards Elaris and the other Rainbooms. "It's gonna be totally cool once the stuff's done, don't ya think?"

But, instead of being greeted with smiles as the two had been expecting, Sunset and Rainbow Dash were instead seeing the other girls watching the screen, where Espy sat with the rest of the Omega Pack. And from the lowered brows and frowns on their faces, none of them were too happy.

"Sunset. Rainbow Dash. You got here just in time." Espy spoke up. "Not just with... whatever the heck that is, but just in time to let you know that they've started."

"What?! Already? But we were so super-duper fast!" Rainbow began to whine, swinging her arms out in all directions. "We got the motorcycles and the other Ranger goods back in record time. RECORD. TIME."

"Time doesn't matter with the Wolfpack. What matters is action. And right now, they're spreading this message across the world as we speak. Patching you through to the audio feed now." She turned towards Cordin and Sala, who were typing away at another console.

In the blink of an eye, the screen turned red; the violent hues changing the colour of the bridge to a more aggressive state. The Wolfpack logo appeared, with the same bar that had been used for Espy's previous voice transmissions.

"People of Earth. We are the Wolfpack. And we have deemed your planet worthy of conquest." Ahl'Mai'Tie's voice came through loud and clear. "Within seconds, your world will be ransacked. The strongest among you, those who fight back and succeed will be conformers; bending to our will and our will alone. For all of the rest, a swift and merciful death await you. Whether you are cut down by our troops or ejected into the very celestial deity that you worship so much, we will unburden all of you from the mortal coil, freeing you of any trouble that you might have experienced."

"No way..." Elaris looked on in horror as the lines jumped and stabbed the screen around it.

"For too long we have waited to take this planet, let alone the pack into our hands. But, the passing of our previous captain has since opened our eyes. And we see the entire world as one big harvest; one big menagerie to pick and choose from. Obviously, we only pick the best, while leaving the rest to decay," Ahl'Mai'Tie continued. "For those who resist, namely the Power Rangers and all those who dare to strike back, there is no more running. No more hiding. Your time is over. And now, only the Wolfpack awaits.

"You should in no way consider us hostile towards you for the sake of hostility, though. This is all just business. We are not those stereotypical alien invaders who seek to destroy everything that you hold dear like what you've been made to believe. As I've said, salvation awaits for the strong, those who wish to be something more than themselves. And if you wish to fight us, you may just receive your salvation." A chuckle came from his lips. "You will be salvaged from the very life you cling onto should it be death, or salvaged from the weakness that you harboured before joining the Wolfpack. Either way, let our invasion show that we offer you a better way out. Oh, and before you even try it, your earthling weapons are no match for our technology. It's already been proven by those pitiful Power Rangers who dared to oppose us.

"Now then. Ladies and gentlemen. Boys and girls. Children of all ages and creatures of all shapes and sizes. For every single one of you, whether you're ready for it or not, the hunt is on!" Where there would have been silence, instead, there were howls. Howls from every single one of the Feral Five and seemingly dozens more wolves, until a cacophony of wolf howls filled the air.

"That transmission's being played everywhere, to everyone at the same time." The screen switched, to show a number of different locations, with various oversized television screens showing the Wolfpack's message, relayed to titanic crowds of people, who could only stand stricken with fear, only to let it all out with screams and hysteria as they ran all over the place in a frenzy, throwing everything they had been carrying around them. "I don't know about you, girls. But it seems like the Wolfpack just declared war on the human race. If you girls are working on something to stop them, you need to do it FAST."

"They're... attacking everywhere? All at the same time?!" Sunset's entire body grew numb as her legs bent on their own. Her tall stance became a weak, limp kneel as she tumbled to the ground. "But that means... we've failed to stop them. The entire Wolfpack fleet's right on top of us and we're nowhere near close to stopping them!"

The Battle for Canterlot City

Sunset and the Rainbooms were gathered with Elaris in the forge, hastily throwing the things that they had gathered from CHS into it. Once the objects were inside, Elaris got to work, bending the makeshift cosmos around her and lacing it over the items, weaving matter with energy. All the while, the girls could only watch on with shivers running through their bodies, jittering on the spot.

They had every right to be frenzied; panicked, even. The Wolfpack were going to overrun the planet in a matter of minutes if they didn't act. They had been slouching; falling behind. And now, it was all coming crashing down on top of them. If they didn't have some form of defense, then their whole planet was as good as finished.

"Oh, hurry up, Elaris! We need to be out there sooner than now!" Rainbow Dash barked, slamming her hand against the wall.

"I'm going as fast as I can, Rainbow Dash! I'm sorry if you're not experienced enough to handle Harmonite technology!" Elaris snapped back, her eyes casting a death stare at Rainbow Dash for a brief instant before she went back to her work.

"I know, El. But the Wolfpack are sending their ENTIRE ARMY down here! And not just here, but all over the world too!" Pinkie flailed her arms out so much that it almost seemed like a blur with how fast they were moving. "And unless we've managed to fix this ship's engines, we're not gonna be able to save anyone outside of Canterlot!"

"Although I'm sure all of the places around the world are gonna have armies fighting the Wolfpack, they're gonna be torn to pieces. Not just by Hounds, but by all of the agents that the Feral Five decide to capture each part of the planet too! That's why we need this tech ready before they land!"

"I know! Don't pressure me anymore! You don't want to see someone like me beaten down with stress!" Elaris cried. Then, when she looked at the device, she took a deep breath and pushed her hands together. "L.U.C.Y! Divert all of the current power to the Forge!" Elaris barked, throwing her arms out. "Overclock it and make sure that the Rangers have what they need to fight back against the Wolfpack!"

"Understood. Power transference commencing now." L.U.C.Y's voice rang out as the rest of the ship darkened and powered down. The Forge shone a radiant flash of red and gold. The space-like particles brimmed with energy, to the point where they were ready to burst as they laid themselves out along the arrows, skates, and the two motorcycles drifting across them.

"I know that they're probably going to have a headstart on the battle, but at the very least, we can send you out there with a fighting chance, Rangers." Elaris looked back at the team quickly as she got to work, typing away at a console by the forge. "Still, we're on a serious time crunch here. We need to get this new gear made and calibrated to your Power Ranger suits before we can send you out there. Otherwise, it's gonna be a real problem having to put it all on and equip it in time. We won't be able to test it in the practice range, so you'll have to adjust with it as you fight the Wolfpack."
With the device bursting with energy siphoned from every other part of the ship, the Forge eventually turned into a cascade of light as Elaris's hands pushed through the glow. Every single move she made was completely blotted out by the light, so much so that the Rainbooms stumbled backwards; with Pinkie and Fluttershy falling off of the steps and landing on their backsides. Even when the light eventually died down, everyone was still readjusting themselves to the rise and fall of the brightness in the room.

The lights on the ship as well as all of the other devices turned back on, with the forge's power whirring down, to the point where all of the space-particles vanished, leaving a blank chunk of the room with all of the new equipment sitting in its' place. New boots with wheels on the heels; orange and white bows with arrows; and a pair of motorcycles with neon running down the sides, computerized dashboards sitting beneath the windscreens, and decals of Sunset and Rainbow's emblems on the side.

"I'd comment on how totally cool this is, but we've still got the issue of the Wolfpack coming in hot." Rainbow Dash ran over to the new gear, along with all of the others. "I do have time to say thanks so much for this, El. This is really gonna come in handy." Rainbow touched her motorcycle, only for her Ranger Crystal to light up and project light onto it, absorbing the bike into it. "Whoa..."

"The new equipment will be saved onto your Crystals with just a tap. It's simply a matter of vocal activation. Say something relating to your new gear and it'll come into play." Elaris watched as the other Rainbooms got back up and touched their own colour-coded gear, watching as they too faded into their crystals. "Now. All that's left is the engines. I'll head back to the bridge and try to fire them up. The keyword there being try. But as for weapons, they're still in need of some re-tuning after the crash. It could be a while before I help you with air support, if at all."

"No problem, Elaris. We'll be sure to send the Wolfpack scurrying back with this new gear we've got." Applejack smirked and tipped her hat, rubbing her fingers against her geode. "Not to mention, we've got the Magic of Friendship if things get real dicey out there."

"In the meantime, we should get back in touch with Espy again. See if maybe her Omega Pack can give us some help. We're definitely going to need it now." Fluttershy, even with her new equipment, was still shaking on the spot. "I don't want to be able to do nothing against the Wolfpack when they're calling in the cavalry..."

"Right. Come on, Rangers. Let’s go out there and fight for our home!” Sunset charged out of the ship with the other Rainbooms, leaving Elaris alone in the cockpit, typing away at the buttons. This caused the screen to become awash with static, before an image of Espy and the background of her base popped up on the screen.

“Espy. You’ve got eyes on the Wolfpack, right? Can you tell us what’s happening and where they’re hitting?” Elaris asked once the connection came through.

“Well, I can tell you, but I don’t think you’re gonna like it.” Espy hunched over the screen, making it look like her arms were boring themselves into the table below. “The Wolfpack are hitting every single area of the planet together. Dozens of squads are being deployed to each destination. That being said, the Feral Five don’t look like they’re leaving the cockpit yet…”

“So, it’s all grunts?” Elaris tilted her head.

“Yes, but even Wolfpack Hounds can be dangerous when given a leg up. If your Power Rangers are out there, then they’re gonna have to work pretty fast if they wanna try saving everything. I’d deploy my own troops, but as it stands, the Wolfpack unit is pretty tight now with their new leaders. If the Omega Pack get wound up in the fight, it’s not gonna end well for either of us.” Espy looked away and twisted her hand in a circular motion.

“I… see. So this planet’s gonna become Wolfpack territory?” Elaris’s eyes widened as she walked forward. “My ship’s lost the power to fly, and the Wolfpack are striking every town and city down on their warpath. We’ve… failed?”

“Well, you’ve only failed if you want to fail. I don’t exactly know the whole story behind the Power Rangers and what kind of power they hold, but I am pretty well-versed in ship repair.” Espy’s eyes returned to the screen. “I’ve been running some diagnostics of your ship with our little calls and meetings and, given the circumstances, I could fix it up for you right now. Just as long as you don’t go telling the big bad wolves upstairs now, ya hear me?”

“You… you can do that for us?” Elaris’s eyes brightened up as she looked into Espy’s.

“Hey, what they don’t know isn’t worth knowing.” Espy flashed a grin. “Our little secret.”

“Thanks, Espy.” Elaris smiled and let out a huge sigh. “You’re a lifesaver.”

As the Rainbooms rushed into the streets, they heard the distant sound of nearby engines. They looked up into the sky and let out gasps. Wolfpack ships of all shapes and sizes were careening down on the city like a swarm of insects. The smaller, jet-like ones were buzzing around in a cloud-like formation while the larger carriers hung high in the air. It didn’t take long for said cloud of fighters to start blitzing the ground with laser fire, causing explosions to form on each impact. The fly-by attack was enough to send the citizens around the Rainbooms into a frenzy, running in all directions from the ship fire.

“PEOPLE OF THIS PLANET. DO NOT RESIST. DO NOT RUN. YOU WILL ONLY DIE TIRED AND REGRETFUL.” A distorted voice boomed out as Hounds leapt from the ships and landed on the ground, weapons in hand, eyes gleaming, and sadistic smirks on their muzzles. “YOU WILL ALL BE JUDGED AND DEALT WITH AS SUCH. THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.”

“Alright, girls. This is gonna be a rough one so listen up.” Sunset turned to the other Rangers. “Applejack, Rarity, I’m counting on you to save any civilians you can find. Your power should be enough to fend off the Wolfpack on your own.” She watched them both nod with their fists up. “Fluttershy, Pinkie, I need you two drawing the Wolfpack away from Applejack and Rarity. The less wolves they have to deal with, the better.” She stopped and heard a grunt of approval from both of the girls. “Rainbow Dash and I will take to the sky in the Phoenix and Falcon Zords, try and hold off the aerial troops as much as we can.”

“But what if we run into that super-scary Not-Shining Armour guy?” Pinkie lifted a finger. “He’d flatten the two of us like pancakes! Not that being a pancake is bad, mind you, but it’s not the right kinda context!”

“If either of you see the Shining Armour clone, then let us know. We’ll do our best to regroup. Same goes for all of us. But if you don’t, then stay focused on your tasks, girls.” Sunset tightened the grip on her sword, causing the flames to burn hotter. “Now, let’s do this for our home!”

“Power Rangers!” Everyone brought their fists together for a massive bump. Then, while Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy dashed off yelling, Rainbow and Sunset stood together, reaching for the skies.

“Falcon!”

“Phoenix!”

Both Zords rushed into the battlefield, prompting both Rangers to jump up and climb into the mechs. They took their places in the cockpit, grabbed both joysticks and flew into the thick of the Wolfpack ships, already trading weapon fire with the enemy.

The two airborne Zords swooped and swerved through a myriad of chaos. Explosions in the air, laser patterns that looked hypnotic and psychadelic as they filled the air. Rainbow Dash was already dealing with a squadron of fighters while Sunset was gunning down some troops that were raining fire on the town.

Eventually, it got to the point where the ships converged on Sunset and Rainbow’s Zords, dancing around them in the air as they tried to get a clean shot on the both of them. Through barrel rolls, swoops, dives, rises and falls, the two girls were able to fend off most of the ships. But some of them were able to land some hits on the Zords. Small jets of sparks blew at them in the cockpits as they took the hits, before they retaliated and destroyed the Wolfpack ships.

“Okay, enough fun and games. We’ve gotta take out those carriers.” Sunset twisted the Phoenix Zord so that she could see the world on a level plane once again. “If we don’t, then more Wolfpack wolves are gonna drop down and give the other girls a harder time.”

“Got it. Just say the word and we’ll blow those suckers sky-high!” Rainbow’s grip on the joysticks tightened. “And… preferably not try and go with them, right?”

“That’s the idea…” Sunset rolled her eyes as she accelerated the Zord towards the carriers. “I’ve also been trying to patch in Elaris to the systems, but it looks like she’s busy speaking with Espy at the moment. Probably trying to figure out how we’re gonna pull ourselves out of this one.”

“Well, until she’s ready to talk, we’ve gotta take action. Now let’s go!” Rainbow Dash fired up the afterburners and careened off towards the carrier ships faster than before. It didn’t take long for Sunset to do the same with her Phoenix Zord.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash charged into the city, where chaos was unfurling before their eyes. Amidst the stampede of humans and wolves, buildings were ablaze or exploded before their eyes, with Wolfpack ships roaring over their heads as their weapon fire added to the cocktail of destruction and despair. As they tried to run forward to interject in the chase, a gas pipe erupted a few feet ahead, creating a titanic explosion that tore the road up and left a chunky hole in its wake.

Rarity, tapping the part of her armour that represented her geode, threw diamond-shaped discs out to create a bridge over the ravaged road. It didn’t take long for her and Applejack to traverse it and find the Wolfpack and their prey on the other side.

“Ya’ll get away from them right now, ya hear?!” Applejack bellowed, driving her hammer into the ground. The earthbending powers that she channelled through her crystal created a colossal stone wall between the humans and the Wolfpack soldiers that had been chasing them down, cutting off the chase in an instant.

Snarling, the Wolfpack turned from the wall and charged in on Rarity and Applejack, weapons armed and teeth bore as they frantically leaped at the teenage girls. The majority of them who did jump in were sliced in half by Rarity’s diamond sword or sent flying by Applejack’s Terra Hammer.

“I hope you realise that you’ve crossed the line with this whole world invasion nonsense, Wolfpack!” Rarity swung her swords outward in an X-shape, causing an X-shaped shockwave to slice through more Hounds. As they staggered, she sped forward like a ninja, slicing through each of them like butter. “Now there’s nothing holding us back anymore; especially against you!” As she dashed away from her group, they all collapsed to the ground and vanished in balls of flame.

Applejack pulled the wall back down with a wave of her hand. The people on the other side were still running, but a run of airborne wolves had other ideas. With another series of futuristic gatling lasers raining down, the shock was enough to send the civilians flying, before landing as ragdolls on the road. Applejack spared no time in rushing forward.

“We’ll never catch up to them at this rate on feet alone…” Rarity reached for her crystal, then said “Regal Rollers, engage!” As she jumped forward, rollerblade wheels popped out of the bottom of her two boots. Each wheel had a tiny neon strip running along it, which gleamed with light as she started rollerskating her way forward. She passed Applejack in no time at all, made it to the crowd, then threw up a diamond-dome around them as another jet let a bomb drop on them.

As soon as the smoke cleared, the dome shield was being attacked by more Wolfpack. It got to the point where the humans inside couldn’t see the world outside. Instead, faint diamond sparkles in a sea of fur, slashing claws, gnashing teeth, and high-tech armour. The dome started to crack under the strain of the attacks.

Applejack arrived in time and hurled herself at the wolves. Her titanic hammer effortlessly cutting through the air and swatting away the invaders. When the pack turned their attention to her instead of the civies, she ended up smashing the hammer into the ground, causing stone spikes to jut out of the ground, stabbing the wolves through the chest. As she turned away, the spikes crumbled, and the Hounds along with them.

Amidst the chaos, Rarity could feel something tugging on her foot. Among the crowd was a small child with her mother, both huddled up together. She turned her gaze to them, then instinctively reached down and patted the child’s head. “I know it’s scary right now, but it’ll all go away soon, little one. Trust me.”

As soon as Rarity said that, another series of Wolfpack grunts dropped from the carriers in the sky. Unlike the previous batch, the next ones positioned themselves on rooftops. Each of them was armed with a weapon that looked akin to a sniper rifle. They all aimed down the barrels at the group of humans and let loose singular shots as soon as their crosshairs went over their targets. Instead of striking flesh, their shots hit Rarity’s diamond manifestations and Applejack’s earth walls.

“POWER RANGERS. YOU CANNOT STOP THIS TIDE NOW.” The distorted voice overhead returned. “YOU, MOST OF ALL, WILL FEEL THE FULL FORCE OF OUR WRATH!”

“Not before ya’ll feel ours! Landscaper Bow! Engage!” Applejack threw her arms out, causing the Terra Hammer to morph and change into an orange arrow with brown accents at each edge. It also came with a quiver of the same colour on her back, with arrows that looked more akin to miniature drills on sticks. Applejack lowered one of the walls, aimed the bow at one of the wolves, and let an arrow fly into its’ face. As soon as the arrow landed and punctured the skull, it detonated, causing a barrage of stone to strike the nearby wolves on the same rooftop, sending them tumbling to the ground below.

“Nice shooting, Applejack!” Rarity commended as she watched Applejack dispatch the other sniper squads with another series of well-placed shots. When they were all cleared, Applejack put down the stone walls and let the slim slivers of sunlight shine down on them all. “It’s a good thing you didn’t let all your archery practice go to waste back at the Friendship Games…”

“Well, anything ya learn along the way’s gotta be helpful, ah always find.” Applejack turned the bow back into her Terra Hammer. “Now, we’d better get these people to safety. The city limits shouldn’t be far off if we keep moving on ahead. Let’s just hope that Pinkie and Fluttershy are causing enough of a distraction for us to get a clearer path…”

“I agree.” Rarity nodded, then motioned towards all of the people. It didn’t take her long to see the crowd following her. “Come along, ladies and gentlemen. We’ll have you to safety soon enough…” As she spoke, another explosion rang out as another skyscraper was blown to pieces in the distance. “If we can even get you there in time…”

Pinkie and Fluttershy’s first sight when they made it to their corner of the city was a swarm of Wolfpack Hounds. Each and every one identical. Armed and armoured, cold stares glaring at them. As soon as their eyes locked with that of the Rangers, no more needed to be said. Both sides rushed towards each other.

“Get a taste of this!” Pinkie vaulted over the first Wolfpack wolf, letting her cannons fire into his back. She slid on her knees when she landed, punching two more wolves during the slide. Both of them felt her fists and the cannon fire as she went past. From there, she bobbed and weaved past slashes of claws and feet, delivering hooks, uppercuts, and the occasional H-bomb to the hounds. “C’mon, guys. You’d think that, even in an end-of-the-world situation, you’d know how to fight the Power Rangers…” said Pinkie as she blew out another wolf’s legs with her cannon’s exploding confetti.

“I might be a lover of all animals great and small, but somewhere, I NEED to draw the line.” Fluttershy placed the flute by her mouth, twisted the reed, then blew as hard as she could. The notes that she played caused a whole flock of ghostly yellow birds to fly at the Wolfpack, their wings and talons slicing through the oppressors. A quick turn of the reed and another blow, and Fluttershy was spawning her own wolves to tear through the ones that were still standing.

As soon as the last wolf in their area fell, Pinkie and Fluttershy saw as another load of them were being launched towards them. More from the carriers, with some dropping from the stratosphere with fiery contrails around them. The wolves landed by the girls and surrounded them. One Hound in particular drew a pair of whips that crackled with electrical energy.

“You think we can take them all on?” Fluttershy asked, putting her back to Pinkie Pie’s.

“Not all of ‘em. I’d like too, but there’s only so much ammo I have in these mini-cannons of mine.” Pinkie shook her head. “But we technically don’t need to take ‘em all out here. We just need to lead them away from the others so that they can get their jobs done.”

“That is what Sunset said, but look at all of them… There’s like, a couple of hundred of them in this part of town alone. And that’s not even counting the rest of the world…” Fluttershy’s knees started to shake.

“Yeah, but it’s quality over quantity, Flutters. They think that just because there’s lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of ‘em that they can win. Well, we’ve got the powers and they’ve got nothing. Now, watch for the changes and try to keep up, girl.” Pinkie ran through the Wolfpack, letting fly her mini-cannons’ ammo. Sprinkles of confetti hurled through the air, detonating on impact with the Wolfpack wolves.

As the herd all squirmed and tried to box her in, Fluttershy went for the flute, spun the dial, then said “Spectral Stampede!” A blow on the flute sent enough ghost animals out towards the Wolfpack that it would fill a zoo. Bears, lions, elephants, birds, and even the occasional butterfly to lighten her personal mood ran through the horde; crushing, slicing, dicing, and giving Fluttershy and Pinkie an opening to escape through.

“Yoohoo! Come and get us, ya big, bad wolfies!” Pinkie whistled to the Wolfpack as she and Fluttershy made a break for it down the street, prompting the alien wolves to rush after them. “Rainbow? Sunset? Ya think one of ya could give us a little sweep?”

“Sure thing. One gun run coming up. Won’t take long.” Rainbow’s voice came through on the comms devices. And seconds later, her Falcon Zord rushed over their heads, firing its weapons down on the rampaging wolves. A large portion of them had been blown out, leaving small battalions left in the wake. “As much as I wanna say booyah right now, we’ve still got those carriers to blow out. Now, I’d better get back and give Sunset a hand. Seems like she’s struggling to even make a dent in those things…”

“No problem, Rainbow. Go for it!” Fluttershy waved Rainbow Dash off as another army of Wolfpack soldiers dived in around Fluttershy and Pinkie’s position. In addition to the regular troops, a pair of three-storey tall mech suits landed, with a Hound at each chest. Their arms and legs were locked into the machine parts and their movements caused the suits to move.

“Oh. You boys realised that a mech suit’s gonna stand a chance against us?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head as the wolves moved in once again. “Well, ya got me there. NOT!” Pinkie jumped on the head of one of the encroaching wolves, shooting others in the face with her mini-cannons. She bounced on the heads of the wolves that she wasn’t shooting as she made her way towards the mechs. “Fluttershy? Ya think you can give me a hand here?”

“Uh—of course!” Fluttershy’s flute reached her mouth again as she twisted the dial once more. This time, as she blew, a swarm of spectral sharks flew through the air, gnashing their teeth down on the hounds as they swam past. “Oh, uh, Vivian? Don’t eat too much, okay? You’re on a diet, remember?”

When Pinkie was close enough to the mech suits, she narrowly avoided a pair of punches and ran on the arms of the mechs. As she got close to the chests, the mechs jumped backwards and swung their arms into the air, throwing Pinkie Pie off. One of them then reached out, grabbed her mid-flight and threw her into the ground. The palms of the hands then buzzed and glowed, pointing straight at Pinkie’s face.

“Say goodnight, princess.” One of the mech suit Hounds chuckled lowly as the suits continued to gather energy.

“Glory to the Wolfpack. Last chance to join, ya know.” The other Hound’s smirk shone brighter than the palm energy.

“Yeah, but I don’t really like monsters that try to kill me.” Pinkie slammed her hands into the ground behind her head, using the blasts from her cannons to launch herself back into the air. More bursts from the cannons propelled her forward, past the swings of the mech suits’ feet and arms. “Now, if they were monsters that actually cared for other people and lived normal lives, then I’d have some kind of respect for ‘em. But no. You’re not the good kind of monsters, Wolfpack.” She fired two more blasts at the Wolfpack mech suits, only staggering the Hounds inside with the explosions.

“Even if you somehow save this city, you’re not saving the world. Heck, even now, the Feral Five up there are watching as it’s all burning.” One of the Hounds charged back towards Pinkie, driving his suit’s fist into the ground, creating a small crater as she backflipped over the attack. “Heard there’s a lot of people here too. Prime pickings for new recruits.”

“Paris, London, Tokyo, Milan, I think there was also a place called Spain on the list as well when we saw the mission briefing. But either way, I don’t care about names. So long as we get to do our work for the Captain.” The other wolf thrust his punch towards Pinkie, who sidestepped and fired another confetti shot at him as she swung on the arm that she was on and kicked the other mech suit wolf in the face. “You’ll save a city, Power Rangers, but not a world. And that’s the sad truth as to how weak you really are.”

“Well, if I’m so weak, then how come I wasn’t paying attention as all my friends blew up and you got mauled by bears?” Pinkie asked as she landed with her hands and feet on the ground.

Before either wolf could answer, two ghostly bears with yellow auras came from behind, driving their claws into the Hounds. They then ripped the grunts out of the suits and smashed them into the ground, causing them to turn into explosions. With no-one left to pilot the suits, they fell to the pavement like lifeless ragdolls.

“Who’s weak now, huh?” Pinkie asked the suits as she stood back upright. “Oh yeah, that’s right. Can’t really talk when you’re dead.” As she looked more and more at the suits, a grin from cheek to cheek grew on her head. “Actually… that gives me an idea.”

Back at the carriers, Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash were finally close enough to do some damage. The titanic ships stood much longer than anything the team had seen before, with multiple hatches that allowed smaller ships to fly out, accompanied with turrets at each to prevent anything non-Wolfpack from getting inside. Added to that, two mountainous railguns were mounted on each side of the carrier, along with a series of other mounted turrets dotted along the top deck.

“Looks heavily armoured, Sunset. How are we supposed to make a dent in those things?” Rainbow Dash asked as she circled around each carrier, receiving a barrage of weapon fire from each. “If we even try and hold our position to shoot it down, they’re just gonna nail us.”

“Then we go for the easy way out. The engines. The ships can’t fly without ‘em, so we just go around the back and blow them out.” Sunset fiddled around with the consoles on her Phoenix Zord. “Now, I’m going into desperation mode for this, because I want my fires to not only take out the engines, but also cause a chain reaction that should blow out the cores for each ship. But I’ll need a clear line of sight for this to work. If we don’t pull this off, my Zord’s gonna explode.”

“So you want me to lay down some covering fire and get their attention? Sure thing.” Rainbow’s grip tightened as she flew her Falcon Zord over the first carrier. “Come on, big boys! Come and play with THE Rainbow Dash!” As she boasted, the sounds of cannons firing at her could be heard plain as day.

With the attention focused on Rainbow Dash more than her, Sunset drove her sword into a slot and pulled the linked device close to her. The Zord began to thrum with energy and glow brighter, as the fires on the Phoenix Zord intensified. She flew around to the ship’s engine and thrust the flame sword forward, causing a spiral of fire to drive itself into the massive engines. The fires coalescing, the Wolfpack carrier received a series of explosions before it shuddered and tumbled out of orbit towards the Earth, exploding in a catastrophic burst of fire, smoke, and debris.

“One down!” Sunset relayed. “Two more to go! Rainbow Dash! On me!”

“Copy that, Sunset! Birds of Prey Formation is a go!” Rainbow replied as she slid her twin blasters into the Falcon Zord and activated her own desperation mode. “Now let’s REALLY blow those wolves back to their home!”

Rainbow light glowed from Rainbow’s Falcon Zord. As it arched its’ wings for another dash, it moved at speeds akin to that of a small dogfighter, despite its’ massive size. A rainbow trail was left behind as Wolfpack ships turned to dust with a combination of both Rainbow’s Zord speed and her weapons.

“You activated your own desperation mode, Rainbow Dash?” Sunset questioned as she moved her Phoenix to the second carrier. “But… why? Your Zord’s gonna blow up too if you take too long.”

“Sunset. We’re not gonna be able to get close to those ships if the Feral Five know what we’re doing. I’m just making sure they don’t get a chance to respond,” said Rainbow as her Falcon dispatched another series of ships. “I know it’s risky, but you know me. I’m Rainbow Dash. Risky business to me is just another day on the ball court. Now go, girl! Blow those ships to kingdom come!”

Sunset just sighed and breathed deep. With all the pressure already mounting on her, she couldn’t afford to make any mistakes. She flew the Phoenix Zord directly to the next set of engines and let loose another wave of ethereal fire at them. Like the last one, the overdose of unwanted fire was enough to knock the carrier out of the sky and cause it to explode. Alarms in her cockpit sounded as Sunset flew to the last carrier, narrowly avoiding Rainbow and the other Wolfpack fighters around. If she couldn’t make this last hit in time, the Phoenix Zord would go critical and meltdown. When she made it to the last carrier’s engines and destroyed them, she took the sword out of the slot, causing the power on her Zord to stabilise, the alarms to cease, and her to breathe a massive sigh of relief.

“Girls. Carriers are down. The skies are clearing up. Just gotta mop up some of these last bogies and we should be good.” Sunset said, in between breaths. “Report in, Rangers. What’re your situations?” Some static sounded as she waited for a response. “Come in, girls! Respond! Is anyone there?!” More static. As the comm line closed, Sunset feared the worst. Her fears were confirmed when she saw a peculiar shadow standing on one of the sinking carrier ships.

The shadow leapt from the carrier and drove its’ sword into Rainbow Dash’s Falcon Zord, then climbed towards the cockpit, shattered the glass, and threw her to the ground. As the Falcon Zord spun out of control, it grabbed the joysticks and drove it into Sunset’s Phoenix Zord, causing both of them to crash and fall to the ground.

“Dammit! Eject!” Sunset slammed on a button, spitting herself out of the Phoenix Zord as it tumbled towards the ground, dematerialising just as it was about to crash-land, along with the Falcon Zord.

As Sunset landed violently on the ground, she groaned as she stood back up shakily. Rainbow Dash was by her side, but she was also wobbling and swaying as she coughed painfully.

“Who… was that?” Sunset asked as she hobbled over to Rainbow’s side.

“I dunno… but I’ve got a pretty good guess.” Rainbow pointed towards a bonfire where the shadow was walking through.

He swung the sword to dissipate the flames, glaring into the eye sockets of both the Red and Blue Rangers. A scowl crossed his face as he twirled the sword and held it by his side. Purple and green armour coming into focus, and a familiar face that they both knew, it was none other than Shining Armour.

“The… fake.” Sunset growled as she reached for her sword, drawing it out towards the clone.

“The weaklings.” Shining retorted, holding his sword out towards Rainbow Dash and Sunset. “But there’s a fix for that, isn’t there?”

The Fall of the Earth

"You know, it's kind of a dead giveaway that you're working for the Wolfpack when you've got gear like that." Rainbow Dash, amidst her breaths glared into Shining's eyes. "I mean, c'mon, since when has purple and green EVER been worn by a good guy?"

"Since when have teenagers ever been shown to be capable?" Shining Armour asked, speeding towards Rainbow Dash with his sword poised to strike. He swung, but locked sabers with Sunset instead. "All you do is not enough. All we do is not enough. Humanity cannot be trusted to survive by itself."

"And trusting the Wolfpack's the better option?" Sunset asked, pushing with enough force to break the clash, then attempt some strikes on Shing in retaliation. Each of her swings were met with Shining's sword, both blades dancing through the air as they collided in combat.

"If we humans really are worth saving, that we really are worth something in this universe, then why is it taking so long for us to see it? How come we're stuck playing the waiting game; a losing one at that while these big, bad wolves walk all over us?" Shining asked, leaning forward and tackling Sunset to the ground as he tried to impale her helmet with the edge of his sword, only for her to roll with each strike. "In my opinion, the human race is done waiting. We're going to take back our pride, our honour, our strength as the human race by lending ourselves to the wolves..."

"See, that's exactly the kinda talk I'd hear from a bad guy. And that's why we've gotta do what we've gotta do, not-Shining." Rainbow Dash took both her blasters and pointed them at Shining, letting a barrage of shots fly at him as he tried to fight Sunset. She didn't even have time to watch him deflect as she sped over to the other side and launched another wave of bullets. None of them landed as Shining swivelled and sliced each and every shot down before it could land. "Plus, you really aren't convicing yourself that you're human."

"C'mon, girls... pick up. Pick up!" Sunset said to herself as she flipped herself back onto her feet and ran into Shining Armour in an attempt to knock him over, her sword mere inches away from his body. "If you can hear this, get to us as fast as you can. The Shining Armour clone's beating the stuffing out of us!"

As soon as Sunset finished talking, Shining Armour coated himself in dark energy and barreled through Sunset. When she fell to the ground, he threw his hand behind him, sending an orb of black lightning out at Sunset. A small explosion went off before he leapt backwards and pile-drove himself into Sunset. But as he landed, she simply swung the sword out with a yell, knocking him away before he could land.

Sunset got back up, but so too did Shining Armour. Both charged forward and slammed their swords together, pushing as hard as they could to try and overwhelm the other. They let out yells as they tried to take the other down. During the clash, Rainbow Dash fired one more round of blaster bullets. This time, she struck true, as lasers rang against Shining's body and knocked him to the ground.

"Cheap. That's not strength. This is!" Shining Armour pushed himself off of the ground and gathered tiny storm clouds around himself. "Storm Link!" With his clouds orbiting him, Shining Armour threw his sword into the air, rushed Rainbow Dash, then tried to puch her. Every single move that he made, she dodged effortlessly, but what he didn't hit, his storm clouds did, spitting tiny little sparks with each movement. "You might be fast, but you're not very good at taking a hit, aren't ya?"

"Who's the—gyah!—cheap one—nggh!—here?!" Rainbow asked inbetween jolts. "You're just using lightning to get some shots in on me when you can't land 'em yourself!" Using her geode, Rainbow ran rings around Shining Armour, until nothing but a rainbow tornado stood in their place. It didn't last long, as Shining leapt out of it, collected more of the ethereal energy and hurled a wave of it down on Rainbow, smashing her into the ground.

"You're not strong. You're not special. You're nothing in general." Shining Armour stomped on Rainbow Dash's back, then turned on his heel to face Sunset. Another shockwave flung out of his sword directly at her. "And in the end, those that have no place deserve no place."

Before he could say anything more, a mech suit hand punched him directly in the back, knocking him away. His sword dislodged from his grip during his little flight and when he got back up, his eyes were locked on the attackers.

Fluttershy and Pinkie, now controlling the two mech suits that had given them grief earlier stood tall. The black markings and lights now shone bright shades of pink and yellow; probably because of the users inside. The two of them helped Sunset and Rainbow Dash back up before they took up combat stances themselves.

"Not special, eh? Well whaddaya think of these?" Pinkie asked, making her two giant robot hands ball up into fists. "Nabbed 'em off one of your troops, ya big meanie faker!"

"Nothing. They're a dime a dozen, really. And expendable against strong opponents." Shining Armour got up, ran to his sword, picked it up, and was about to slice Pinkie across the chest when a pillar of earth sent him careening into the sky. His ascent was then brought to an end by a shower of white, glowing diamonds drilling through his body and sending him back to the earth below.

"Are those a dime a dozen? I think not!" Rarity put her hands by her hips as she and Applejack rushed onto the scene. "I'd say that those are at least a million dimes a dozen, thank you very much."

"Enough!" Shining Armour snarled as he threw himself up. "So. You're all finally here, eh? Well, that's good. Least now I don't have to go running off to find the rest of you."

"Let's just cut to the chase here. We KNOW that you're a fake. So why even bother trying ta hide it?" Applejack tipped her hand. "Our Shining Armour never left the med bay and Twilight's now gonna be scarred for life with the fact that her own brother tried to kill her!"

"Yeah. And it doesn't even help the fact that now Twilight's in the med bay as well because of it. She's never gonna want to trust her brother again no matter how much we try and explain the situation to her!" Fluttershy punched her mech hands together. "That's just mean for all the wrong reasons!"

"Exactly. That's what we want to be. You think the Wolfpack get ANYTHING from being nice and being courteous? We are space PIRATES for a reason you know. I'm sure you know the basic concept of what a PIRATE is, right?" Shining Armor barked back at Fluttershy.

"Yes, yes, we know. But that doesn't mean that we enjoy seeing real ones, fake ones, space ones, whatever you want to be. Pirates in our world is a no-go!" Rarity held her swords out once more.

"Except when it's Halloween night and everyone dresses up like super-scary monsters to try and get good laughs, candy, a party, or more out of it." Pinkie tipped her hand. "But still, who dresses up like a pirate anyways?! There's so many other good options to pick from!"

"Are you done dispensing with your infantile insults and jokes, girls?" Shining Armour scoffed. "Feh. Always hated kids. They're ignorant and annoying when they're small and a pain in the neck when they're older. Suppose that's why I don't do well with 'em."

"So, what's your plan anyways? Invading the world like this?" Sunset cocked a brow. "You must know that this is pretty much the death of any kind of honour, right? I thought your people prided themselves on becoming the strongest. To me, this seems like you're just stacking the deck."

"Thing is. That was the way of the old captain. He has since been launched into the sun, where he met a rather... fiery demise." Shining Armour turned away. "The Mar'Zek that so tormented you is nothing more than specks of dust in the ether and now the Feral Five stand tall. And under their rule, a lot of the rules have changed. Needless to say, I think you can gather as to what I'm inferring."

"No more honour, no more rules. Tch, just like your average rough and tumble group of ruffians and bad guys. Honestly, that just kills it for you, a lack of innovation," scoffed Rarity.

"You were saying that we weren't honourable anymore, Power Rangers. Well congratulations, you got your wish. Our honour is dead. We never needed it in the first place." Shining Armour cackled under his breath. "Plus, we haven't had a good ol' planet capture in a LONG time..." He paced back and forth. "Just think about all the humans that live on this planet. The men, women, even the children for as insignificant as they are. Somewhere in that massive herd, there's prime bits for us to cherry pick for our cause."

"You lay a finger on them and so help me—"

"So help you, NOTHING, Sunset Shimmer." Shining Armour's sword coated itself in black magic once again. "So help you nothing. And besides. It's not going to be me touching them. It's going to be everyone else in the Wolfpack that's touching your people; turning them to the better side; the ONLY side!"

"That's it!" Sunset's sword grew hotter and hotter, until only white flames could be seen in place of the steel. Screaming, she bolted towards Shining Armour again, only for him to jump out of the way, then vertical swing downwards as he landed.

"Pathetic." Shining Armour turned to see the two mech-suit girls closing in on him. Yelling, he ran for them, his blade cleaving through the legs instantly. As soon as the parts had been damaged, the girls tumbled to the ground. When they crashed, he pounced for both of them with sword ready to cut them both in half. An arrow to his chest stopped the attack, sending him flying backwards a few feet, before more stone fell on top of him.

"How'd ya like them there Landscaper Arrows?" Applejack asked, turning the bow back into the Terra Hammer. "Ah think it's time ya'll hit the hay for today!" Twirling the titanic sledgehammer, the country girl ran over the broken down mechs and leapt with the hammer high above her head. She brought it down on Shining as he tried to push himself off of the ground once more.

"Figures." Shining Armour grabbed the hammer and threw it away from him, before taking the sword and slicing a sigil into her chest. With a click of his fingers, the character glowed before detonating, knocking Applejack away from him. "You're always gonna be nothing." Taking another offensive stance, he rushed Rarity with the sword.

"White Paladin! Awaken!" Rarity decreed, and with a bright brust of light, she donned her ascended form. She met Shining's swords with that of her own, each blade giving no quarter as both she and Shining duked it out, sparks from each hit scattering to the air like fireflies in the night.

"Come on, then. What are you?! What are you compared to us? Who stand at the apex miles beyond your race?!" Shining taunted as his blade swings started to slow down. Feeling that he was losing the rhythm, he leapt out of the way of one of Rarity's breakthrough attacks, then threw his hands into the ground, causing a black circle to form at her feet. Said circle turned into a pillar of gushing goo that sent her airborne, then grabbed her and pulled her back down, for Shining to perform a slice clean through her as she neared the ground.

He was simply blasted away from Rarity by Fluttershy and Rarity, still equipped with their shredded mech suits. The arms still worked, but the entire leg base had been torn to pieces, meaning that they now looked like two teenage girls with cartoonishly large metal arms. Shining growled from the hit, turned to the two, and was met with another series of palm blasts from the robotic arms. With enough under his belt, he started to cut the blasts clean in half before dashing forward to cut the rest of the suit into tiny pieces.

"Like I said. Expendable." Shining started to use his sword against Pinkie, who just used her cannons to launch herself away from his attacks, then land her own once she made an opening. The confetti explosions barely caused his face to scrunch as he finally grabbed Pinkie Pie by the neck and threw her into the ground, stomping her over and over again before one of Fluttershy's spectral animal projections knocked him away again.

"And you're just angry. Anger never wins you anything, Meanie Armour." Pinkie cracked her knuckles as she shotgun-propelled her way towards Shining and punched him in the face over and over again. Each and every shot was accompanied with more of her lethal confetti, which started to show as the clone now had bruises and cuts on his face.

"That's IT. Now, I'm pissed." He snarled. Bellowing at the top of his lungs, Shining Armour absorbed a torrent of dark energy and lifted himself into the air with it. A distorted growl in his voice, the sword returned to his hand. "Ranger Breaker!" He shouted, before landing on the ground with the sword out.

The Power Rangers all came together to move in for a six-on-one attack formation, but as Shining Armour made his next few strikes, another clone of him materialised out of thin air beside or behind the Rangers, slicing them from that angle as well as their front. All of the girls were knocked around by the many different copies of Shining Armour before they were all knocked to the ground. He sprinted forward with his arms to the side, causing more and more fakes to form with him as one Shining Armour turned into a stampede of them. One by one, they all leapt and dealt one solitary strike to the Rainbooms over and over again until the real one performed a strong horizontal slash that blew them into the distance.

"Think you're running away?!" Shining howled, lurching forward. He disappeared, then reappeared by the flying Rainbooms, performing another series of sword strikes at them as more clones appeared with every hit. A hurricane of sword cuts and other such attacks clouded up the girls' vision, until finally, the real Shining Armour deluged them with a pillar of black energy, pushing them all down through the floors of the skyscraper they had been flying over. The attack was so vicious that it turned the mountainous building into a tangled mess of rubble and glass.

When the dust settled and Shining Armour landed, the Rangers were just barely holding on. The suits were still there, but they had been severely torn and dented in multiple places. All the girls could do was cough at the dust, groan with the pain, and hobble as they tried to get back on their feet and stay in the fight. Their shaky stances were all the proof that Shining Armour needed to lower his guard.

"See? You're not gonna be able to fight back like this." Shining Armour sheathed his sword, strolling towards the Rangers. "You see now just how pathetic you really are? You can't defeat me, your world is being converted by the Wolfpack, and even now as you try and stand against me, you're shaking. The Power Rangers are DEAD. FINISHED. Now hand over those crystals, let us be on our way, and don't ever think about donning the hero mantle ever again!"

"N-no!" Sunset drove her sword into the ground and used it to climb back on two legs. "Our world's going under and we're not about to let that happen! So go ahead! Fight us all you want! We're not gonna surrender to you, the Wolfpack, or anything else this universe can throw at us!"

"Suit yourself." Shining Armour, still with the sword tucked away walked even closer. "I won't even need the blade to finish you off with how badly you're hurt, girls. Guess I'll be doing this one the human way. The weak way, even. Weaklings get weak deaths after all..."

With each step that Shining Armour took, Sunset's vision got more and more hazy. She knew that there was going to be some pain incoming if she couldn't defend herself, but at the same time, her stamina and resillience had been pushed to their limits with how ruthlessly he had battled her and the other Rangers and now it was like she was on her last legs. He finally made it to her, rolled his fist backwards for a punch, then her vision cut out entirely for a brief instance as she braced for the attack.

Then, it happened.

Elaris's ship hung above the Rainbooms, firing a series of crystallic beams of light down at Shining Armour, knocking him backwards and staggering him. The thrusters had finally been fixed and the ship was actually flying for the first time since it had arrived on Earth. As Shining Armour was knocked out by the amount of ship fire, it turned around and opened up the hatch, revealing the real Shining Armour on the inside with Twilight standing close behind him.

"So, this the faker that I've been told about?" Shining asked as he took his handgun and fired shot after shot at the other Shining's head. It impacted the skull, but didn't break it. Instead, the bullets left small craters with each hit. "Seems like we got here just in time."

"You girls look like you've been through hell and back..." Twilight watched as she used her magic to levitate each of the Rainbooms up onto Elaris's ship. "Come on. Get up. We've got this."

"So... that's the real me, is it?" Not Shining asked as he got up, wiping his head where he had taken the handgun bullets. "Not very charming to look at, is it? Nothing more than hair, flesh, and weak weapons that only earthlings could use."

"This coming from the guy who's nothing more than a clone? A replica of the real thing? Stock on the assembly line?" Shining Armour asked, letting another series of handgun bullets fly into Not Shining's head, empyting the magazine. When he heard the click, he simply reloaded the gun with a new mag.

"I've already beaten down the Rangers before, and their miserable little wretch of a sister. Y'know? The one that left you to die on that ship because she couldn't think fast enough?" Not Shining watched as Twilight recoiled and slid further back into the ship. "That's right, Twilight Sparkle. Run away! You miserable, worthless excuse for a human! Because of you, I'm here to kill you, your friends, your families, and anyone else who might be associated with your names!"

"Sounds like a good idea. Why don't I use it on you and your little gang instead?" Shining Armour set off another series of shots from his gun before Not Shining jumped up, pushed him through the ship and pinned him down to the ground. Both Shinings groaned at this. The real one in pain and the other trying to kill him.

"You see this, Twilight Sparkle? This is what you've done! You're responsible for all of this!" Not Shining sniggered as he held down Shining Armour's hands and legs. "And like it or not, you and your Power Rangers are paying with interest for all of it!"

As Twilight looked at both Shinings struggling, she noticed something glowing on the fake Shining Armour's back. Inbetween all the colours and dark energy spiralling around him, she saw a black crystal crackling with lightning. Her eyes gleamed as she walked closer towards it, still unfazed by both Shinings brawling on the ship. She reached for her geode as the fake Shining Armour drew the sword again.

"To you... I'm nothing more than a shadow! But... when I kill you, that's gonna change. For once, YOU'LL be the fake, and I'll be the real deal. They have to let me, since I'll be the only one left, that is..." He charged the sword with dark energy, held it high into the air and reeled up for a strike on Shining Armour. "Now... I think it's time for you, Shining Armour of the Sparkle family, pride of Canterlot Police Department to retire. And by retire, I mean LIE DOWN AND DIE!" He brought the sword down, but stopped mere inches away from Shining's face.

The fake clone collapsed on top of Shining Armour, groaning and writhing in pain. As he fell, the real Shining Armour noticed the crystal that one stuck in his back. Still soaked to the brim with energy, it drifted over towards Twilight's hands with her magic. Shining Armour pulled himself off of the fake and pushed him aside, before standing up again.

"That's... mine!" Not Shining groaned as he clawed his way across the ship. "Give... it... back!" his voice became more and more pained as the crystal finally landed in Twilight's hands and glowed a radiant shade of purple as the corrupted power dispelled from it.

"Actually... I think it's meant to be... mine." Twilight watched as the crystal drowned her in purple light, causing a small vortex of energy to consume her vision and completely change her from the inside out. When the lights eventually died down, Twilight too was donned in Power Ranger armour, coloured purple like her, with her star emblem as the facial visor.

"Indeed. I have confirmed the awakening of the seventh and final Perfect One. Optimising weapons set for Twilight Sparkle; the Purple Ranger." L.U.C.Y.'s voice rang throughout the ship as Twilight saw a book form in her hands with her star on the front cover. In each and every page, a myriad of magic flowed from it. With her new weapon in hand, Twilight smiled as wide as she could as she looked towards the fake Shining Armour.

"P-p-p-please, Twilight. We can talk about this, right?" Not Shining's voice became desperate as he waltzed backwards towards the edge of the ship. "Please! Don't do this to me! I barely even lived in this body!"

"And now, you're gonna live as a memory. So thank you for that, not Shining. Thank you for giving me the strength I finally need to do the right thing. And the power to properly save my brother this time." She said as she flipped through the pages at blinding speeds.

"NO!" Not Shining cried as the book took in energy.

"Encyclopediac Extermination!" Twilight called, holding the open book out towards Not Shining. A brilliant cascade of light came from the pages, before magical tendrils wrapped themselves around the fake, pulling him into the book. She watched as he screamed before the book swallowed him whole, before she too hopped inside.

The book realm was far different from the rest of the world. A swirling tornado of bright purple energy, coupled with millions of pages of paper floated around Twilight. She clicked her fingers, sending all of the pages out towards Not Shining, where they all spat out energy, kamikaze-exploded on him, or carved him to pieces.

"How... how could you?! Sister!" Not Shining screamed in pain as he finally collapsed to the ground, exploding as Twilight leapt up high and came back out of the book into the cockpit.

"Equestrian Star Rangers. The hunt is over." Twilight closed the book up and put it away. "For now, at least..." Breathing heavily, Twilight turned back into normal, before Shining Armour's eyes.

"I still can't believe it... all this Power Ranger stuff." Shining Armour and the other Rainbooms were gathered in the cockpit of Elaris's ship, fully restored and back to its' prime, it glowed brilliantly with colour, thrumming with neon strips. "I mean... it sounds like something out of a TV show, yet here it is in the flesh."

"I'm sorry that we couldn't tell you or anyone else, Shining Armour. But... I feared that you wouldn't be able to trust us anymore after the mess we made of saving you." Twilight rubbed her arm. "You probably still don't trust me a bit anyways, not after I caused that fake of you to get made. I probably sound like a horrible sister after having said and done the stuff I did."

"Yeah, but... at the end of the day, you're still mine." He put a hand on Twilight's shoulder and pulled her in for a small hug. "Sure, I'm mad at you for leaving me like that, but you've fixed your mistakes and honestly feel like you feel bad for it. And in my books, an honest apology and feeling bad for what you did is pretty clear grounds for me to show a little leneacy towards someone."

"You... you really mean that?" Twilight asked, her eyes widening a tad.

"Of course, sis. We're Sparkles, for pete's sake." He patted her back, chuckling. We're completely different, but we're still cut from the same cloth, you and I. Except... now you're like a superhero with those new powers you just got. Makes me feel really small in comparison."

"Hey, don't say that! You're the pride of CPD! The best officer on the force! What would this city do if you just decided to slow down or stop?" Twilight just patted him back in return. "I might be a hero with powers, brother, but you're a hero for the people, delivering justice whenever it's deemed necessary."

"I guess you are right about that." Shining twisted his wrist in a circle. "But still..."

"But nothing, brother. You're super, I'm super, we're both super. Mom and dad couldn't be prouder of the two of us. Especially now that we've saved them from a horrible demise." Twilight smiled.

"Yes. I'm seeing no more Wolfpack forces in Canterlot City or the surrounding areas. They've completely bugged out and returned to the Alpha Slayer." Elaris sat at her console, typing away at all of the buttons that she could. "That's the good news. But..." She sucked up her breath and rubbed the back of it. "Most of the rest is bad news."

"The Wolfpack took over the planet, I'm assuming?" Rarity tipped her hand, before screens popped up behind her of many different towns and areas.

"Yes. I'm sorry to say that, while we were successful here, the rest of the planet wasn't so lucky," said Elaris as the many different screens changed from one to another. "At least ninety-nine percent of the territory here on Earth is now Wolfpack territory. They've started to set up their camps, bases, and other resource stations too. Any stragglers that are still fighting back are winding up in containment pens, or being taken to the Alpha Slayer for some 'personal treatment' from the Feral Five..." The cameras changed as Elaris was speaking to picturise her words."

"I... I can't believe it. Look at those ANIMALS!" Sunset groaned as she watched the Wolfpack committing their acts. From Hounds bullying prisoners on a chain-conga line, to the pens showing people getting tortured and held up, and even to the other wolves loading people up on small ships. "Well, this isn't something that's gonna last, believe you me."

"But how can we hope to stop them now? They've got, like, the whole planet underneath their thumb! And all those other places are miles away!" Pinkie moaned, slumping her arms down.

"Well, I said it was mostly bad news. Not all of it bad, though." Elaris leaned back and brought up a pair of joysticks. "Thanks to our little friend on the Alpha Slayer, Espy, we've managed to fix the ship back to full capacity. All weapons, power, flight, and other facilities are online and ready to be used to their fullest. And that includes saving the Earth."

"So we can fight back. Well, that takes a small weight off me." Applejack sighed, putting a hand on the side of the ship. "We should deploy straight away! Uh, just as soon as we drop off our little... passenger here." Applejack turned to Shining Armour. "We appreciate yer help with the assist, Shining, but we've gotta—"

"Hey, ya don't need to tell me twice. You've got a job to do, Power Rangers, so go ahead and do it. I won't stop you. And neither will any of my buddies here at the force." Shining Armour flashed them all a grin. "And hey, tell ya what. We'll even be sure to give you a hand if those wolves decide to show their ugly mugs here in Canterlot City again. Just consider it our debt to you for saving us."

"Thank you, Shining Armour. Thank you so much." Twilight gave Shining a more rigorous hug, pulling him in close and tight, patting him on the back. "I'll be sure to come back safely, then tell mom and dad all about it once this Wolfpack business finally comes to an end."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, sis." Shining Armour returned the hug, patting Twilight's back as the two of them fell into each other's embraces.

"Well, well, well... That certainly makes things interesting." Ahl'Mai'Tie watched as Twilight dispatched the fake Shining Armour clone on the Alpha Slayer's monitors. "At long last, all seven Power Rangers have finally formed."

"Heh. I was wondering when they'd start to upgrade themselves." Uhp'Grahy'Der flashed a toothy grin, pushing his fingers together to make a crunching noise. "Guess I'd better get started on programming some advanced protocols for the tech. Don't wanna fall behind now that those Rangers are starting to play catch-up." And he walked out of the bridge. "Perhaps I'll even speak to that Vi'Al bloke along the way. Sure he'd love to tag along with all of his science stuff."

"One more hurty doll joins the fray..." Deh'Mehn'Sha cackled maniacally as his body shifted and twitched on the spot. "And this little hurty doll likes her books, books, books! She wants to collect information, does she? Well information is wasted on everyone ever made, so what really is the point about it? I'm sure that her mind would be filled with all kinds of book stuff! Blegh! I hate books! Books can't be played with! You can't dress them up, call them pretty names, brush their hair, then rip out their insides! Books are disgusting!"

"Speak for yourself, you beady-eyed freak. I'd shatter that book and her the second I turn them to stone." Mah'Jehs'Tie simple unfurled her fans. "What about you, Uon'Buhl'let?"

"Eh, I don't really care so long as I get my target practice in. Nothing to me but just another headshot marker." Uon'Buhl'Let simply loaded rounds into the sniper rifle that he held out in front of him. "Anyways, your orders, Ahl'Mai'Tie? Should we tear Canterlot City off the face of the earth now?"

"Yes, but I get the strange feeling that those Rangers are going to be fully prepared now that they have that little ship floating around..." Ahl'Mai'Tie rapped his fingers against the side of his throne. "If I were you, I'd start preparing the other bases and reformation camps for any Ranger interference. Give them absolutely no chance to save their kin."

"Yes, captain!" And the other Feral Five wolves fled from the bridge.

"The last city on Earth, Power Rangers. Enjoy your little victory for now." Ahl'Mai'Tie stood up, looking as the sun came into view on the side, bathing the bridge of the Alpha Slayer in its' light, and causing Ahl'Mai'Tie to glow with an ethereal orange aura. "For when the time comes that you fight us, you won't ever see or even want to see the light of day ever again..."

What We're Up Against

"Okay. So, where in the world are we gonna strike first?" Rainbow Dash was the first to break the silence. She and the team had been staring at a map of the planet, with all of the continents painted red, with the Wolfpack logo at the center of each. There was also one tiny dot of non-red land with a small rainbow logo at the center of it. "If we're gonna hit the Wolfpack, I say we strike them where they're holed up the most; cause some real havoc."

"Well, that's a mighty-fine suggestion, but if the Wolfpack ain't dummies, and ah know they're not, then they'll have souped up their defenses right proper. If we go in and hit 'em now, they're gonna shoot us down like a fly under bug killer spray." Applejack folded her arms. "Ah know, we all just want this over and done with too, but if we just go in guns-blazing in the more advanced Wolfpack territory, we're gonna be sitting ducks."

"Indeed. I'm already scanning the areas that Rainbow Dash is suggesting, and I'm already seeing massive anti-air, anti-ground, even anti-subterranean gear in place to prevent any kind of entrance." Elaris sighed as she swiped her hand over one of the consoles. "Still, what I wouldn't give to see them destroyed right there and now. Especially those Feral Five wolves that Mar'Zek freed."

"Yeah. They're running the show now that they've disposed of their former captain. And if they were able to beat him, then I'd say that we've got a mountain to climb if we wanna try and stop them now." Sunset Shimmer brushed her hair to the side. "But, on the bright side, we've got a little extra firepower. Isn't that right, Twilight?"

"Yes." Twilight nodded, looking down at the crystal that gave her the power to turn into a Power Ranger. "We've got all of the crystals together at last. Elaris's Perfect Ones are assembled. Now, all we need to do is hone ourselves, get stronger, and the Wolfpack are history."

"That being said, we can't just spend the rest of time floating in the air." Fluttershy took another look at the map, walking closer and closer towards the consumed continents controlled by callous Wolfpack soldiers. "We've got to make a move before they become too hard for us to beat."

"I agree. If we just let those Wolfpack ruffians fester, then they'll get stronger and stronger; almost to the point where we won't even matter anymore. They could just flick their hands at us and be done with it..." Rarity, using the tips of her foot, rhythmically tapped on the wall of the ship as she leant against it.

"I think I can help with that." The screen changed to show Espy's face on the other side. "Hey, Rangers. How's it hanging?"

"Well, Espy. We were just thinking about potential incursion sites where we could fight back against the Wolfpack." Twilight wandered closer towards the rebel wolf's eyes. "And... since you're part of the Wolfpack, perhaps you could leak some of their weaker points to us?"

Espy just sucked in some air and tugged on her collar. "See, that's the thing about the Wolfpack. They don't do weak; not after what they pulled sending all those carriers and warships down to earth. The whole planet's in shambles. Seriously. Even some of their easier bases to break are incredibly fortified and durable."

"True, but they don't know that you're telling us everything we need to know to beat them." Rainbow Dash smirked and folded her arms. "That's right, isn't it? They don't know? You made sure that they can't listen in on your little chats with us?"

"Yeah. It's taken some work, but I've encrypted my channel for talking on this frequency, so the Wolfpack know that I talk. Just not to you. A handy little trick if you wanna make sure that the big dogs upstairs don't come crashing down on top of you." Espy gave her own prideful grin as she folded her arms. "But anyways, I'm mapping out the planet now and am analysing some of the Wolfpack's bases as we speak. In the meantime, I think I should let you girls know exactly what you're up against in terms of the Feral Five."

"That sounds great. We're gonna need every single little tidbit, gossip, and low-down on those meanie-bo-beanies if we don't wanna get flattened into magical rainbow-coloured paste when we fight 'em!" Pinkie Pie waved her arms all around, almost as if she was using them as weapons."

"First up, we have Uon'Buhl'let. A master sniper and one of Lupus' greatest scouts. He served over thirty-nine years in the Lupurian Shadow Fang; a group of assassins who prowled the galaxy, eliminating people as dictated by their clients." As Espy spoke, the picture changed to show the Wolfpack wolf in question. "Every single kill he made, he got richer and richer. Naturally, it wasn't long before he too was hunted down. And who better to go after him than the old captain himself, Mar'Zek?"

"Of course he would. That braggard always went after the best soldiers in the universe..." Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Anyways. Uon only sees loyalty in riches. The Wolfpack promised him all of the spoils he could ever have so long as he served their cause. Naturally, he quit the Lupurian Shadow Fang to become a bloodthirsty space-pirate; still armed with the same rifle that they gave him back on Lupus." The screen changed back to show Espy pushing her fingers together, making a crunching noise as she did so. "Nasty piece of tech, that. You could be miles away and his shots would still be able to strike you in the head pretty cleanly if he was all lined up right."

"So. We go in close on Uon, make sure that he can't snipe us, and take him out. Right?" Sunset tilted her head.

"He's not a Feral Five wolf just for that sniper, you know." Espy looked out at the back of her hand. "By now, I would imagine that Uhp managed to overclock that gun of his; give it more uses than a large-barrel sniper. Don't think that he's limited to just one gun with the name Uon'Buhl'let. If you're not paying attention, he'll land a killer shot and your lives as Power Rangers will be over."

"Oh my..." Fluttershy could already imagine the feeling of a gun bullet piercing her skin, lacerating her flesh and causing blood to spill. Then, she thought of more and more slicing through her friends as they came face-to-face with Uon and his gun.

"Second up, we have Deh'Mehn'Sha. The guy who calls you hurty-dolls over and over again." The screen showed the next wolf in the Feral Five. "One of the craziest wolves on the planet, he was. Subjected to a vat of neurotoxic chemicals and hallucinogenic drugging compounds mixed together, it's a miracle that he even survived. The result? His ability to mindbend; to get into a person's head and stay there forever. No matter how much you beg your friends to stop, no matter how much you try to bring them back, no matter what, Deh'Mehn'Sha's little mind games are inescapable unless you somehow manage to kill the guy or he escapes. There's no inbetween."

"One must wonder what he thinks from time to time, if he can mindbend, but is utterly insane through and through..." Twilight scratched her chin as she examined Deh'Mehn'Sha.

"When Deh'Mehn'Sha flexed his powers of mindbending, he completely wrecked the Starstringer Festival of the Lunaria Galaxy and, thanks to his mind alone, is the reason why that galaxy doesn't even exist anymore. Guess it's no surprise that he was eventually locked up and taken to Abyssica; the craziest crazy house in all of the cosmos. He was gonna be there for life had the Wolfpack not completely blown the place to kingdom come. Now, all that crazy mind-magic stuff's in his head, and ready for him to use; to play with his hurty-dolls for as long as he wants." Espy's face came back.

"I'm... almost afraid to use my geode on him then, if that's the case." Sunset felt the red crystal draped around her neck. For all of her power to see into someone else's mind, would she even be able to snap back to reality having taken in what she would see in his head?

"Anyways. Deh'Mehn'Sha's overreliance on mind-games and trickery is his weakness. If you can somehow break out of his nightmarish, hallucination worlds and come back to reality, then he's really not that strong in the body department." Espy struggled to smile. "But, see... that's the thing. Whenever Deh'Mehn'Sha uses Insanity on his targets, absolutely NO-ONE ever has been able to escape it. Nobody. I've seen all 32,918 of his fights when he was on the Wolfpack. And yes, that includes the fight he had with Mar'Zek during the mutiny. I've never seen the captain so... afraid like that." Before Espy could shiver, she hastily pounded away at the keys of her computer. "A-a-anyways, girls. Feral Five wolf number three is Uhp'Grahy'Der."

"Upgrader?" Pinkie Pie parroted. "Sounds pretty on the nose, don't you think?"

"You could say that. Like his name implies, Uhp is a massive megalomaniac and paranoid that other people are getting stronger and stronger than him." The screen showed the cybernetically enhanced wolf as Espy gave the description. "He was working on an assembly line on the planet Torvrex-23, applying all of the finishing touches to robots, weaponry, armour, basically a massive quality control guy. But one day, his arm got caught in one of the machines he was working on, causing it to become amputated. Naturally, he had to have a cybernetic enhancement made for it. And that... is when it all started for him."

"He couldn't stay away from the machines, I'm guessing?" Rarity lifted a brow as she examined the mechanical arm. "Well, it's highly unfashionable, given how it's all one shade of chrome and lights."

"He purposely harmed himself, breaking down his squishy flesh body to replace it with machines, until in the end, the only part of him left that wasn't cyber-ised was his face. Even his heart and brain have been hooked up to the machine body he now has, making them completely invincible. You can't destroy his heart or brain without first tearing through his armour, and even then, he's always adapting it for future battles." The screen showed Uhp's armour taking damage from various sources. It got dented, then repaired, then struck again by the same objects that caused the damage in the first place, only for it to leave no impact whatsoever. "It's a special kind of alloy he's made for himself from various different metals and synthetics, woven together into a new alloy he calls Infinitox. Infinitox armour, added with all his cybernetics make him one of the most deadly wolves out there. And if your Power Ranger toys can't kill him, then they will do absolutely no damage to him whatsoever in the next fight."

"Now that's scary. Someone that we can't beat, even if we use everything against him..." Sunset Shimmer shivered as she watched some video footage of Uhp's Infinitox armour in action. She watched as he faced some of the most rigorous fights in his life, watched the armour take a pounding, then take no damage whatsoever in the next video. "I'm assuming it only works for his body and not his face, right? Like, if we hit his wolf face, then he'll be destroyed?"

"That's if you can even get past him to give you a chance at his face. That armour not only improves his durability in the field of combat, but he's also jerry-rigged together a bunch of upgrades to it and will keep making more." Espy's face popped up in a small corner window as the upgrades for Uhp showed up on screen. "Temporal displacement wave engines, microjets in the feet and hands, augmented reality neural uplink, omega-class infiltration software for hacking, even some tricks that not even I know about yet. Be ready for anything, girls..."

"What about the last two?" Fluttershy lifted her hand.

"The last two are brother and sister. Mah'Jehs'Tie and Ahl'Mai'Tie. The Demon Queen of Beauty and the Celestial Scourge as they're known on the ship," One last screen change showed the new wolves. "Mah was the ruler of a colony of Lupus wolves until her lust for beauty drove her wild. She absolutely refuses to accept anything that isn't beautiful and leaves it in pieces; including people, cities, even planets have been razed by her beauty-or-death mantra." Some more footage was shown to accent Mah's cold-hearted nature. Her gaze petrified a crowd of people in a temple hall, before her war-fans shredded through their stone bodies. "A beauty pagent almost a century ago was completely sabotaged by her savage nature, with everyone in it from contestants, to announcers, to even the audience watching, all turned to stone. Naturally, the Wolfpack saw the broadcast and scooped her up very quickly."

"I suppose then, that I would have no problem dispatching her? Seeing as how she believes in make-up, fashion, and the like, we should be able to fight without her turning me into stone. Though I can't say the same for the rest of you, girls." Rarity rubbed the back of her neck as she rejoined the Rainbooms. "N-n-not that you aren't beautiful, darlings. It's just that..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it. She's a raving-loony who's so stuck up and self-centered about fashion and the stuff. We'll take the hit for you so that you can finish her off, Rarity." Applejack put her hand on Rarity's shoulder, causing the fashionista to blush and lay her own hand on Applejack's shoulder in return.

"And the last of the Feral Five and easily the deadliest of all, is Ahl'Mai'Tie, the Celestial Scourge." Espy took control of the chat again, showing the last wolf in all of his glory. "There's a long line of reasons as to why Ahl'Mai'Tie was wanted by the universe. The most damning of all is his power of sun-bending."

"Sun-bending? Now that just sounds ridiculous..." Twilight couldn't help but stifle a small chuckle.

"See for yourself, girls." Espy changed the screen to show a galaxy, with Ahl'Mai'Tie looking out at the sun. He bent and twisted his hands, moving them around in archaic motions, before making a gesture that looked like he was ripping something in half. As he did this, the sun in the galaxy ripped into two pieces and exploded, causing a supernova to form in its' place.

"What?!" The Rainbooms all lurched back at the destruction of the sun and the planets around it.

"The Celestial Scourge. The bender of all suns in the universe. One of the most feared beings ever made." More videos were shown, which demonstrated him calling down pillars of flame directly from the sun, or causing the sun to grow in size, incinerating the planet around him, or shrinking in size to plunge the planets in ice. "If he's not outright destroying suns, then he's using their power to funnel his own. Actually... now that I think about it, he might target you specifically, Sunset Shimmer, since you're named after the very thing he hunts for." Espy pointed at Sunset's sun-emblem on her shirt.

"But how? How can he do all of that?!" Sunset still couldn't close her mouth at the sight of all of Ahl's destructive acts.

"He was once a battle-hardened criminal himself, going around the world, robbing and raiding all that he could see. And he was pretty good at it too. That is... until he got captured and was exiled to the sun of Eta Carinae; the hottest star in the universe." Espy's face took over the screen again. "His exile pod crashed into it and everyone believed him dead, but instead of being consumed by the sun, he absorbed its' energy and became one with it and every other sun he could see. It took him some time to recover after that, but as soon as he did, sun-bending became second nature to him, like breathing and moving."

"If he can control the sun, then why hasn't he already decided to blow it up or mess around with it? Surely, he sees this as a power play and an easy fix to end the Power Rangers once and for all, right?" Elaris lifted a brow. "Think about it. Just a click of his fingers and all of this is over."

"I heard from Ahl'Mai'Tie himself that destroying the sun would be detramental to his goal. He wants the crystals all for himself. He wants all seven of them in his claws so that he can become a god in terms of power." Espy's face came back for the umpteenth time that day. "If he destroys the sun and causes a supernova, not only would the blast wave knock the Alpha Slayer into pieces because of the fact he still needs to take the crystals, but the resulting black hole would destroy him, the other Wolfpack wolves, and everything else in the galaxy. No. Instead, he wants to steal the crystals, then blow up the sun and destroy the galaxy, so that he and his wolves have a safe distance to flee to once the chaos unfolds."

"Technically, in order for him to even survive a black hole, he would need to be in another galaxy at least, given how ferocious a black-hole's pull is. Unless the Alpha Slayer has engines and devices that can outrun the pull of a black hole—which even eats light, by the way—then there's no chance he'd even be able to escape." Twilight went over to the console and pounded in some commands, showing a diagram of the solar system and the Alpha Slayer. "Considering how close these planets are to the sun and how they all obrit around it, a black hole would easily consume them, since they have no means of escaping the hole's pull. As for moving spaceships, there's been no evidence or study of them on this planet, so we have to assume that if the Feral Five do destroy the sun, then they'll be killing themselves as a result. It's a very confusing move to make, to be a sun-bender in this kind of situation. But at the same time, if they've done this stuff before, then it still boggles me as to how much thrust, torque, and power is needed to actually outrun a black hole..."

"True. If you girls want, I can download some schematics of the ship while you're going out liberating the world from the Wolfpack's claws." Espy typed away ferociously at the buttons on her computer. "In the meantime, I've finally finished up the scans and I've pinpointed multiple areas where you girls can move in and strike." The map of the earth came back, with certain points popping out. They extended to show pictures of the area. "I've marked three targets where you girls can make your next moves. Marrakesh in Morocco, Santiago in Chile, and a place in Italy called Florence. The Wolfpack are still barely setting up there, so you could move in and take those places back."

"Sounds good. I say that we all split up into teams so we can handle each area at the same time. It might be a bit complicated, but Elaris can still provide us support with her ship, be it air support or Zord transit." Sunset turned to Elaris and gave her a pat on the back, causing the alien harmonite to blush a tad and give off a slightly dopey smile. "Rarity and Fluttershy, you handle Florence. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie will move on Santiago, and me and Twilight will handle Marrakesh."

"Alright. I'll provide recon and tac-support from right here, your little friend Elaris handles close-range air support and other needs, while you girls move in and take back the world. Sounds good to me." Espy turned back. "And while we're at it, I'll have some of my friends in the Omega Pack cook up some gadgets and gizmos that'll help you later on." As she spoke, she heard a clanging noise followed by some distant shouting. "I'd better go. Sounds like Vi'Al is rallying the troops to fortify the areas. I'll contact you as soon as I can. Espy out." The screen cut off, emptying the digital screen."

"Let's do this, girls. It's time to save the world." Sunset gave a confident nod, then watched the others do the same. "Elaris. Plot our courses and let's get moving."

"Got it. L.U.C.Y. Bring up the chairs." Elaris typed away on the console once again.

"Understood. Materialising." L.U.C.Y. gathered light at seven different areas of the bridge, spawning some chairs that not only had the Rainbooms' logos on them, but were also themed around them and their personal tastes. Rainbow's was very intense, Applejack's was country-esque, Rarity's was like a regal throne, Pinkie's was made out of candy, Fluttershy's was very cosy and covered with frilly-kind things, Twilight's chair was cybernetic and computerised, and Sunset's chair was designed to look like it was made out of flames. "Power Rangers, take your seats and prepare yourselves for departure."

The seven girls took their seats and, as they did, belts emerged from the chairs and clipped tightly around their bodies, securing the girls in place. Once they were all sitting comfortable, a view of the world was shown in place of the holographic wall they had been staring at for the past few moments.

"Now, if you've never expererienced space-travel before, I advise you to hold on. Because this is gonna be rough..." Elaris puleld out a throtlle and rammed it forward. The ship started to accelerate slowly, but then the space around the girls started to creep in on them, as clouds were pulled blindlingly fast towards them. Contrails of colour formed as the ship gathered power, then with a powerful lurch forward, the ship burst forward in a burst of colours and energy, moving at light-speed through the skies.

Divide

"Approaching Marrakesh airspace now, girls." The ship finally came out of the tunnel of rainbow-light and energy. If not for the belts that the girls were wearing, they would have been thrown out of the windshield the moment the ship got back under its' own speed.

"Ugh... Remind me to never, ever, ever try to eat food if we do that again. I think my stomach's gone all topsy-turvy..." Pinkie was the first one to remark. She was lucky that she didn't vomit, given the speed and g-forces she and the others had been afflicted with.

"You'll get used to it, Pinkie. My first lightspeed tunnel, I ended up throwing up on the console. Took a good few hours to clean it up," Elaris casually remarked. "But it's still a very efficient way of getting around, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Much better than having to shell out hundreds and hundreds of bucks for air fare." Rainbow Dash kicked up her feet.

"Anyways, take a look outside, girls." The ship's entire frame turned transparent and camouflaged so that there was no ship, yet the girls and Elaris were still flying. The ground below them was covered in sand, with a searing sun striking down onto it. A wide city was ahead, but rather than the tall steel buildings that the girls had come to know, there were very short buildings in Marrakesh, almost making it look like a maze in places. There were no people roaming the streets freely, as there were now Wolfpack soldiers patrolling them for any stragglers. Along with that, there were large containment pens located in the large blocks of the city, where the humans that had remained were caged up, waiting for the Wolfpack's judgement with no means of escape. "Wolfpack soldiers have locked down the city tight. No-one gets in or out. Especially out."

"How do we set them free?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking down onto the sandy city.

"The pens are locked tight, but there is a sort of skeleton-key that we can use to open them," said Espy as her face appeared as a projection before the Rainbooms and Elaris. "The Wolfpack always designate the pens to the biometric signature of the leader assigned to the area. And here, that leader is Stinger. A Ski'drax alien." As Espy spoke, the image of a yellow-green bug-like, humanoid alien appeared before the girls. It had razor-sharp blade appendages running up its' arms, a pair of mandibles stretching out from its' jaw, a series of antennae poking out of its' head from the top and back. "The Ski'drax are insectoids. Very venomous, but also very durable. That exoskeleton Stinger has makes it hard for physical attacks to work. But break through it, he's nothing more than flesh."

"If Stinger has his biometrics tuned to the lock, then if we manage to take him out, could it—"

"Yes, El. If we take out Stinger, then every Wolfpack pen is gonna swing right open and free the humans. As for the Wolfpack soldiers? They'll split when they know there's no leader. They're territorial, yes. But without a leader? They're like headless Chicondrians that have been lit on fire." Espy interjected before Elaris could finish.

"Anyways. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie. You know your mission. Get down there, wipe out Stinger, and free the humans." Elaris said as she disengaged the interior cloaking, blocking out the city with the frame of the ship once again. "Rarity and Fluttershy, Sunset and Twilight, you four hang back. We'll swing you over to your destinations as soon as we drop the others."

"Alright. So, how are we doing this? We gonna shoot out, or are you just gonna—" Before Rainbow Dash could finish, she, along with Applejack and Pinkie were launched into the air, out of the top of the ship. She could only let out a small yelp, before flipping her momentum so that she landed on her feet. Applejack just landed on her face, while Pinkie did an action-roll on her side as she landed.

"Uh..." Applejack groaned as she pulled her head out of the sand like an ostrich coming back up for air. She gave it so much force that she just toppled over her own self and landed on her back. "Ah don't take kindly to being launched out of a ship without the go-ahead..."

"Well, I think it's super-duper fun! We should totally do more of this saving-the-world stuff if it means we get to play cannonball-Rangers!" Pinkie, still optimistic as ever, jumped up and down on the spot, her boots pushing the sand away effortlessly, forming dinky craters.

"Still, it ain't right. Like being thrown from the rowdiest bull at the rodeo..." Applejack pushed her back as much as she could, hearing the sound of her backbone creaking. "What about you, Rainbow Dash?"

"Eh, I'm down for it. The quicker we get into the heat of the action, the better." Rainbow just twirled her blasters, ready for combat. "So, how's about we go stroll into town, knock down the door, and give this Stinger guy the works, shall we?"

"Hold on, a minute. If the Wolfpack don't know we're here, we can just take the silent path and just stealth-hit him," Applejack raised her hand. She knew that any plan of attack lead by Rainbow Dash would have fallen flat on its' face. "If he can't even fight back, then we have a chance to wipe him out before things get too hairy."

"Did you hear what Espy said? He's a bug with some kind of freaky second skin. There's no way that just stealth-attacking him is gonna work, Applejack. Not unless you can flatten him into gooey guts with that hammer of yours," Rainbow Dash chided, lifting a brow. "Pinkie Pie, back me up on this. Do you think that a hammer can be used to crush a Wolfpack soldier if they can't see it coming?"

"Well, technically, it can. Applejack's a super-duper incredibly strong girl." Pinkie Pie rubbed the muscles on Applejack's arms. "She's so strong that she could compete in the world's strongest woman competition! Or, better yet, hear me out on this, Applejack; the UNIVERSE'S strongest woman competition!"

"Not exactly what I mean, Pinkie." Applejack rolled her eyes. "Whatever. We can't just stand around here talking about whether or not my hammer can split apart Wolfpack jerks. Come on, you two." Applejack just ran towards the city, hammer tightly held in her hands.

The other two Rainbooms hurried after Applejack, before Pinkie could continue talking about the Universe's Strongest Woman or whatever other kind of strength competitions the universe had to offer. Now, the three Rainbooms, properly focused and on task watched as the Wolfpack Hounds rushed down the street. Before any of the Hounds could notice the Rangers, they took cover behind what remained of market stalls and stone pillars. To them, they could only see an empty street.

"Hounds. Far too many of 'em." Applejack watched the stampeding soldiers speed off down another crossroad, splitting off into three separate squads.

"We can take 'em, though. These babies were born to see action." Rainbow Dash looked down towards her blasters. "Just say the word and those Wolfpack wolves get turned into swiss cheese."

"Or exploded cheese! Wait. That is a cheese, right?" Pinkie remarked. "Or is exploded cheese one of those kind of cheeses when I just fill cheese with my special explodey stuff?"

"Focus, you two. We need to find this Stinger guy before the Wolfpack find us." Applejack glared towards Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, though the helmet that she was wearing concealed the unamused look on her face. "And this here place is massive. Ah feel like an ant scurrying down tunnels with this place. "But the second we flatten this Stinger guy, the faster we can mosey on outta here and regroup with the other Rangers..."

Little did they know, that there were a bunch of miniscule insects watching the Rangers from above. Each of them was dripping with a green liquid that burned through the stone beneath them. The insects chittered and replied to each other through twitching limbs and unique noises that only they could make. Then, after which, the insects all grew a pair of slender wings and flew across the city. They all skittered into one large building at the heart of the city, along with a swarm of other bugs similar to them.

The Rangers, unaware that their position had been compromised, continued to slink through the cracks and shadows, making sure to avoid any and all contact with the Wolfpack that they could. After all, the less heat that they had in dealing with the leader, the better. They might have been teens, but they were also divided, and the Wolfpack could use that and overwhelm them if needs be.

"So, where do you reckon that this Stinger jerk would be, Applejack?" Pinkie asked, poking her head over the top of one of the buildings, getting her eyes on the Wolfpack soldiers guarding the soldiers.

"If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say he's waiting over there, in that large building down at the other side of the city. But... there's gonna be a few dozen Wolfpack Hounds waiting for us, I'll bet." Applejack remained undettered. After all, she had a hammer in her hands that was far bigger than any nail that she had ever held before. "Still, ah reckon that three of us should be able to handle our own. And if not, we can just call in Elaris and Espy for some helpin' hands."

"But first, they've gotta drop off the others. And the help's only if we're really, REALLY overrun with Wolfpack soldiers," Rainbow Dash pointed out. "And so far, I'd say that we've got a pretty good chance of putting them down before they do the same with us."

"Don't ever overestimate the Wolfpack, Rainbow Dash. You saw how those monsters attacked Canterlot. They came down like a swarm of angry bees. It was a miracle we were able to save the city in the first place..." Applejack just rolled her eyes. "But hey, what's one city to the rest of Earth? When you think about it, it makes us all really small, don't it?"

"I guess you're right. I mean, do you know how super-gigantic planet Earth us? There's like, around 7-billion people here. Surely, the Wolfpack won't be able to get all of them, right?" Pinkie pitched in her voice. "Surely, some humans managed to slip underground and go into hiding. I'm sure of it."

"We can try and find them later, Pinkie. For now, we've gotta free this place from Wolfpack agents," said Applejack, before a siren spread out through the city. Every wolf and penned human could hear it. The humans could only cover their ears while the wolves let out a savage howl.

"Wh-what?! But we never even came out of hiding! How did the Wolfpack find us?!" Applejack's eyes widened as she felt her grip getting stronger and stronger.

"I dunno. But there's no point in us just hiding now, is there?" Rainbow Dash threw herself over the top of one of the buildings and stared down at the Hounds, who all glared back into her and leapt at her. "Time we play the game differently!" And with that, she let a series of shots ring out of her laser blasters; each one hitting the grunts and causing them to fall to the ground, only to snarl and quickly snap themselves back up onto their hind legs.

Applejack, exasperated by it all, just launched herself up onto the rooftops with her hammer armed. Pinkie came after, performing an acrobatic leap onto the rooftops with her wrist-mounted cannons armed. They regrouped with Rainbow Dash, who stared down the Wolfpack wolves.

"Don't know how we kicked the hornet's nest, but we've definitely kicked it now!" Applejack, with a battle cry, rushed forward and swung her hammer into the chest of one of the grunts, knocking it into the others like a giant, furry, fleshy, baseball. It was able to knock some Wolfpack grunts off, but more jumped on in their place.

"That's an understatement, Applejack." Rainbow Dash, with her blasters raining bullets down on the Wolfpack wolves, ran while shooting. The power of her speed-boosting geode had been a great benefit. One second, she was in front of Wolfpack grunts. The next, she was behind them, and then, she jumped over some wolves to finish off. "One more just for you." She let her guns take in particles of light, which she then fired in a pair of large charge shots at the wolves who were still standing. The shots went straight through their flesh and caused them to fall to the ground; exploding before everyone's eyes. More Hounds rushed through the flickering fires and gnashed their teeth out at the teenagers.

"Ya hungry, big guys?" Pinkie asked, before stuffing her cannons into the mouths of the wolves. Before any of them could bite down and tear off her arm, the cannons fired. The initial air gusts were enough for the Hounds to stagger backwards, but then the exploding confetti caused them to stumble backwards as their mouths bulged from the force of the mini-detonations. This repeated until Pinkie dealt with the last of the wolves that were on her case, until at last, the wolves all fainted from the magnitude of the exploding confetti in their mouths. "What's wrong? Can't handle your food? Thought not. Exploding confetti from the Pink Ranger is a bit of an acquired taste."

"They just keep coming!" Applejack cried out as she threw her hammer into a wolf, then grabbed it as it flew off of it. Once her fingers locked around it, she swung the hammer into the face of another wolf that it sent it flying into the distance. "Every wolf we take down, a couple more just take its' place!" Applejack smashed her hammer into the roof that she was standing on, creating a large hole between her and the Wolfpack soldiers. As the Wolfpack tried to jump over the hole, Applejack just swatted them down. One after the other, she piled the wolves into the house below her, before she leapt up and formed a rocky spike at the end of her hammer, creating what looked like a stumpy pickaxe. "Time to say goodnight, ya mongrels!" She leapt high and smashed the spike into the wolf pile, causing all of them to detonate in a chain explosion that blew smoke and embers out of the open crevices of the house.

"Not good enough, boys! Twin Blasters, Shotgun Mode!" Rainbow Dash declared as she disassembled her blasters and reformed them into one large shotgun-like blaster. She got close to the wolves and pointed the barrel against the head of one of them, before a single blaster blast blew off its' head, causing the body beneath to detonate. More shots fired out, taking out the hounds next to the one that had just fallen.

"Confetti Bombardment!" Pinkie handspring launched herself into the air, letting her cannons fire wildly down on the remaining Wolfpack wolves in the area. Each one of them was attached with her multi-coloured shrapnel of confetti. Each single piece glowed before exploding out at delayed intervals, making the wolves do what she thought was a dance, until at last the pieces that she had left went out together, eliminating the grunts in a final explosion of light and colour. "Now, that's how you make an entrance to a new country!"

"Oh... Is it now?" A venomous came from behind the Rangers, accompanied with insectoid chittering. His 'S's were extended to make it sound like he was hissing each time. "Then tell me, little tin men. How exactly do you plan on leaving this new country?"

The three Rainbooms jumped on the spot and turned to face their new enemy and were immediately met with the sight of Stinger. He was exactly as Espy had shown to them, only now, he had a pair of wings that had emerged from two plates on the back of his skin, and he was surrounded by swarms of insects, loyally coiling around his body.

"Well, well, well. Three little bugs. Though, not exactly the bugs I would consider part of my loyal swarm. No." Stinger flew forward with his rapidly-beating wings. "These are the bugs I live to squash!"

"So, you're the guy who's running this op? Guess that saves us the trouble of trying to look for you, huh?" Rainbow Dash held her blasters, which had now turned back into two pistols again, in each of her hands. "Now, we've just gotta find a way to crush you and then everyone here in Marrakesh goes free, right?"

"Wrong! You have the story entirely wrong, little tin men." Stinger's mandibles clacked together vigorously. "You are joyriding with the gems that my masters seeek. Those little crystals right there on your pretty little belts." Stinger reached out for them, only for Applejack to swing her hammer at his hand. The bugs that were around that portion of his body caught the hammer and pushed it back, which caused Applejack to stumble. "You do not understand the concept of the Wolfpack, do you? We are the superior race in this little power struggle. Everything else is to be destroyed on the leaders' orders!"

"Really? Because all I see is a giant bug with tiny bugs serving as his bodyguards." Pinkie Pie retorted, seemingly innocent, but meaning to insult. "A mean giant bug, should I add? Bugs are never really friendly. Not unless there's some kind of bug that can make candy even more super-delicious than it already i—"

"ENOUGH!" Stinger rushed for Pinkie, swinging his bladed-arms out at her. One of which struck her directly on the chest, knocking her onto the roof of one of the pens. The humans' noises of shock could be heard as they could see the vague strips of pink on her body. Pinkie quickly flipped off of the pen as Stinger extended the blades on his arm and drove one into the pen, slipping through the frame and into the cage. It retracted just as fast as he snarled and flew over to Pinkie.

"Get offa her!" Applejack swung her hammer durectly into Stinger's chest, knocking him backwards into the other Wolfpack Hounds that were charging into the fray. All of them fell in a mangled heap, giving Rainbow Dash the time to pick Pinkie back up again.

"How ya holding up, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked as she patted Pinkie down for any bruised parts. "Nothing broken? No poison got into your body?"

"Nope. At least, I don't think I have any poison inside of me." Pinkie shook herself from leg to arm. "Unless I ate something really, REALLY spiked for lunch today..."

"One sting and you'll be plagued with some of the worst venoms the universe has ever known..." Stinger snarled sadistically as he climbed out of the Wolfpack pile and used his slender wings to buzz back into the air. He pointed his arms out at the Rainbooms, launching razor-sharp needles out of them that were dripping with poison.

"Try it!" Rainbow Dash turned her gun back into a pair of blasters, firing them wildly at the flying stingers. She was able to hit most of them, but some of them flew by and barely grazed her suit. They landed into the ground by Pinkie and Applejack's feet. and spewed green sludge into the ground where they had been hit. But because they hadn't touched flesh, the poison withered away like it was nothing.

"Typical." Stinger snarled as the three Rangers stood defiantly before him. "Not very fond of poison are you? That's to be expected." He licked his lips and cracked a sadistic grin. "Good. I love it when my pray wriggles and squirms before I inject them with my killer sting..."

"You really need a new hobby, ya know that?" Rainbow Dash remarked. The other two rangers ran by her side as the three of them hurled themselves at Stinger once again.

“Alright. Rarity and Fluttershy. We’re just arriving over Santiago right now,” said Elaris as the ship broke out of the lightspeed warp tunnel once again. The skies around them were clear, but the ground was full of rising columns of smoke, and the land had been torn asunder. Tall skyscrapers still stood, but they were heavily damaged and could have toppled over at any moment. Where Marrakesh had been mostly desert land, this one had distant mountains and green grass growing in the distance. “Espy? What’s the Wolfpack agent they have to deal with here?”

“Hang on. Just bringing up the data now,” said Espy as she typed away at the console she had before her. “Alright, girls. There’s not necessarily a Wolf leading the forces here, but there is an exceptionally deadly machine instead. It’s codenamed ‘E.X.E.’ which stands for Extinction Exoskeleton. Personally, I think it’s a little bit too on the nose, but what can you do? Not like they could’ve given it a name up here.”

“I would’ve filed a complaint with the company that made it in all honesty,” replied Sunset snarkily. “Still, what makes this E.X.E. guy so special?” Sunset lifted a brow.

“E.X.E. is highly reactive, boasting the fastest reaction times of any machine or living species,” said Espy. “The Wolfpack actually bought him, rather than forcibly recruited him onto the Wolfpack like most of the others on the payroll. Don’t try and match his speed, though. Use whatever you can to try and control the field and lock him down.”

“Well, I’m sure that with my powers and your Animal Flute, we can keep that brute in check. Wouldn’t you agree, Fluttershy?” She turned to face her.

“Oh, uh… I guess so.” Fluttershy wasn’t the most confident in the fight, but she did know how to properly manage E.X.E. Gripping her flute tight in the palm of her hand, she nodded and gave a smile underneath her helmet.

“But even then, don’t let your guard down. E.X.E.’s weaponry is cutting edge, and it’s been proven more often than not that people that fight it usually don’t survive. I say usually, but you’re not part of that crowd, I’ll bet.” Espy smirked. “If you get overrun, try and see if you can use the area around you to your advantage.”

“And where is he now?” Twilight asked.

“Hang on… Let me do a quick check.” Espy went back to typing, only for a red screen to greet her. “Damn! Feral Five changed the password. I can’t track E.X.E. anymore.” She cursed to herself. “Guess you’ll just have to get his attention. Take out the Hounds in the area and give yourself some breathing space. He’ll have to respond to that.”

“I can’t bring you in any closer without tripping the Wolfpack’s sensors, girls. Brace yourself.” Elaris worked on her own console, and with the push of a button, both Rarity and Fluttershy were ejected from the ship, tumbling to the ground screaming, before daintily landing on their feet. Fluttershy was still whimpering when she landed.

“Okay. For future reference, can we PLEASE not do that again?” Fluttershy glared at the ship. “I almost jumped out of my skin!”

“Sorry, Fluttershy, but it’s not like we can land without someone in the Wolfpack noticing you,” said Sunset through communication lines. “You’ll do great down there, girls. I just know it.”

“In the meantime, I’ll drop Twilight and Sunset off at Florence, then proceed to run tactical on all three operations,” remarked Elaris. “Espy? You know all about the Wolfpack, right? Do you think you can give aid to the Rainbooms if they get overwhelmed?”

“Sure. But it’ll have to be discreet. The Wolfpack are highly attentive, and they’d never think it a coincidence if their agents just happened to leave themselves open or their tech to break down,” Espy added. “Most of the work’s gonna have to be done by you girls, otherwise my help is bust.”

The ship warped once more, and Rarity and Fluttershy were walking on the now-barren and decimated freeway towards the city. To their left and right, they saw a residential area that had been battered by Wolfpack forces. Roofs had been blown off and there were gaping holes in the walls. Most of the greenery was still there, but it too had been flattened down by the Wolfpack army. Even now, there were some soldiers still patrolling those areas, to make sure that there were no humans left behind.

“So. We need to get their attention, right?” Fluttershy asked again, now that she and Rarity had some time to themselves. “Don’t you think we should start with the Hounds over there?”

“It’s a good idea, Fluttershy, but those are only a few soldiers. I reckon that the most chaos we can instigate would be in places where the Wolfpack would be en masse,” Rarity, using her ever-formal way of speaking, replied. Her eyes were fixated on the city. “The way I see it, if we can get up close and personal to the Wolfpack, hit them where they control the most ground, then we can definitely shake E.X.E. from his hiding place.”
“But we don’t even know how many Wolfpack soldiers are even in that city.” Fluttershy shivered slightly. “There could be lots of them, you know.”

“Yes, yes, I’m aware, but you also have to admit that we also have this now.” Rarity pulled out the crystal that she had used to defeat Siel’Viz. “This is what we used to defeat that army and war buff wolf back at the air base. So naturally, I would assume the same would apply here. We can blitz the wolves in the city and dredge up that ruffian with ease.”

“R-right.” Fluttershy wanted to reach out for the crystal, beckoned by its’ glow, only for Rarity to pull it back.

“But first, we actually need to get into the city. And for that, I recommend a brisk jog. Good for the health, and it warms you up for the fight ahead.” And with that, Rarity rushed off down the barren freeway towards the city. “Come along, Fluttershy. No use dilly-dallying over matters.”

Fluttershy followed on without a word. She had faith in Rarity. And she knew that faith could be proven with how she performed.

Rarity and Fluttershy made their way towards a tunnel on the freeway that led into the city. Scorched road signs and signals could be seen around them, with the detonated heaps of mangled metal that were cars, trucks, and other vehicles. Not a single Wolfpack soldier could be seen on the road; not even hiding behind the cars. And that was what put the two girls on edge and made them raise their guards. Were the Wolfpack using stealth technology to conceal themselves and strike the girls down when they least expecting it? Were they all waiting in the city to ambush them on arrival? Or was there some other ominous reason why they weren’t on the road?

At last, when the two of them made their way through the amber underpass and came into the city of Santiago, it was a lot worse. Wolfpack could be seen practically everywhere, guarding their human containment pens, or patrolling the streets for any interlopers. Where there had been minimal security out there, the city itself was now flooded with Wolfpack soldiers; each armed and ready to strike.

“Well, this is the place.” Rarity said as she clutched the gem. “Shall we get started, Fluttershy?”

“I guess so.” Fluttershy reluctantly lifted the flute towards her mouth in preparation.

“Paladin Mode! Engage!” Rarity decreed as a torrent of white light slammed down atop her. She threw the crystal into the hilt of her sword and once more donned her White Paladin form. This transformation definitely didn’t go unnoticed, as practically everyone around her had to shield their eyes from the screaming light. “Hello, boys. Pleased to see me?”

The Hounds weren’t. They let out a loud howl and charged in on Rarity and Fluttershy. As they bore their claws and fangs ready for a fight, Rarity shot forward and with a single sword charge, she barrelled through a crowd of wolves. As the others surrounded Fluttershy, she simply blew a note on her flute, which conjured a titanic yellow ghost elephant. She quickly climbed up the leg of the animal and sat atop it daintily as she let it walk forward and squash Wolfpack hounds underneath its’ large feet.

“I’m sorry to say that Santiago is closed, and that it reserves the right to refuse service to any kind of space invaders, be they wolves, robots, or otherwise!” Rarity joked as she, with little stalling swung her swords at the fur of the wolves. The razor-sharp diamond weapons were able to cut through the Hounds with little effort, but for each one she took down, one more just took its place.

So Rarity got creative, the swords turning into razor sharp crystal darts that cut down the wolves one after the other. “Hah, take that you ruffians!”

“Save some for me, Rarity,” said Fluttershy politely, as with a twist of her flute’s reed, created a yellow falcon with her next note. It flew over her shoulder, and dive-bombed the Hounds that were trying to climb on top of the elephant spectre she was riding on. “After all, these Wolfpack bullies want to test us, don’t they?”

The Hounds were foot soldiers, but they were also adaptive. As they took the pounding from Fluttershy’s animal kingdom, they still remained strong. Some of them were even able to read the patterns of the creature’s movements and find a moment where they were vulnerable. Taking their chances, they were able to strike at the belly of the elephant, and then catch the falcon as it swooped down on another Hound.

“Oh dear…” Fluttershy jumped away in the nick of time and landed on her feet. Just as she was about to summon another creature, the Wolfpack moved in on her. She just had to brace herself and rush towards them. “Leave! Us! Alone!” She said as she started using her flute as a very small; yet still painful staff.

“Oh no, we don’t want to test you…” a voice said as Fluttershy was blasted away by an energy ball. “We want to kill you. There’s a difference.”

“Wh-what the?” Rarity turned to see standing before her, was her target. There before her was a human carrying a gun, but the facade quickly burned away to see that it was actually the silver-chrome body of E.X.E., with his weapon armed and ready for another shot. His mechanical parts now had wires that were pumping highly luminescent red fluids between his joints and straight into a core on his back concealed by an armour plate.

“Cozy, isn’t it? Seeing you Rangers scurry about your home; even when we’ve got it under lock and key,” He smirked, as he stomped forward. “I assume you wanted to get my attention, no? Well, congratulations. If nothing else you certainly succeeded at that.”

“Heh. You’re screwed now, ladies.” One of the hounds snidely remarked. “This bad boy is cutting edge. And with the Feral Five running this joint now, they’ve made sure to give him a tune-up. You’re not winning this.”

“Words hardly matter. Especially words coming from your mouths,” Rarity just tightened her grip on the swords. “What matters is fighting. That’s what you jerks believe in, right? Fighting to take control of things? Cherry picking every single planet you go to and leaving the rest to burn.”

“Ah yes, you are the talker aren’t you?” E.X.E asked one of his arms shifting and morphing into a giant cannon. “Rarity Belle, I know all about you. Top of your class, and head of your own business. A… boutique correct? You were the first to use this new system after the frankly unfortunate demise of your parents. Such a shame really. I’m no monster, I prefer not to involve the innocent in these little crusades.”

“Don’t you... “ Rarity’s grip wavered. She didn’t want to be reminded of her parents’ death; especially given that E.X.E. served the very army that had struck them down. If anything, it was them mocking her more than anything. Sadness and anger welling up, she charged at the machine, falling for the bait. “Don’t you DARE defile them like that!”

“No chance.” E.X.E. grabbed Rarity mere milliseconds as she was about to strike. He applied pressure to her arms and tossed her back towards Fluttershy. “My reflex time has been precisely modified by the assembly line I was born from. And the Wolfpack have overclocked that. I now truly live up to my name: An Extinction Exoskeleton.”

“So what? That doesn’t matter.” Fluttershy stepped forward and readied her flute for another animal kingdom attack. She twisted the reed to a lion’s icon and blew harshly into the flute, which caused a ghostly lion to charge towards E.X.E, teeth poised to rip into him. Only for the machine to grab the lion by the throat and throw it into the ground, stomping onto its neck.

“Do not resist,” E.X.E said. “I know everything you can or will do. You cannot stop me as you are now. I am undefeatable. Drop your weapons and I will try to be merciful. I will put in a good word for High Command. Perhaps they can set you up with a nice prison planet. You won’t be able to leave of course, but you will be well looked after. The finest foods, for example, will be at your leisure.”

“Prison planet? Funny you should say that.” Rarity hung her head. “Ever since you lot came in and ruined everything, Earth IS a prison. Not just to me or my friends, but to everyone you’re trampling over with this little assault of yours,” Rarity bravely took a step forward, her swords gleaming with light. “That’s why I must see you eliminated, E.X.E. I… No, we will save this world come hell or high water!” She swung her blades out, sending a white wave of diamond darts towards the machine, trying to impale him.

E.X.E just shot them out of the air with his laser cannon. “Very well then, I tried to be reasonable.”

In a blur, both Rarity and Fluttershy were down with E.X.E standing over them.

“Get… Off of… Us.” Fluttershy choked as the mechanical foot of E.X.E. was firmly planted on her neck. Energy starting to leave her body, she tried to raise her flute to her mouth again in a desperate attempt to get one last note in, before the machine kicked her instrument away effortlessly.

“Oh well, one last pathetic effort from the truly desperate,” her foe said driving a boot into her shoulder, Fluttershy letting out a whimper of pain. That whimper became a near scream.

Rarity tried to think about how she was going to get out of this with Fluttershy. Then, she remembered just what E.X.E. even was. He was a machine. And even machines had their weaknesses. If it wasn’t their bodies or their programming, then it was something else entirely. “Wait. Hold on. You say that you know everything about us, don’t you?”

“Yes? Though I fail to see what asking me about that will do for you.” E.X.E. remarked.

“Well, then I’m sure that you remember that we recently took a very hard math test the other day, and that we had to do this rather nasty question about the value of Pi.” Rarity knew that this was one of the oldest tricks in the book for dealing with machines, but the oldies were always the goodies. “Wasn’t the answer to that question three or something, Fluttershy?”

“Um… I think so?” Fluttershy didn’t know how to react to Rarity’s words. She was about to die and she was asking a machine what Pi was.

“Do you think that’s right, Mr. Big, Bad Wolfpack Robot? Or are we horribly incorrect?” Rarity asked.

“Since you’re about to die, I might as well humour you in your trivial pursuit.” E.X.E. still stood on them, but still searched for the answer to Pi. “Well, ladies, since you asked, the answer to your little dilemma is 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286 208998628034825342117067982—” All of a sudden, sparks began to fly as more and more numbers were listed off. E.X.E. couldn’t understand the numbers, and in a hint of frustration, climbed off of Rarity and Fluttershy’s bodies. “WHAT IS THIS NUMBER?! WHY DOES IT HAVE SO MANY DECIMAL PLACES?!”

“That is what we humans call a paradox.” Rarity triumphantly put her hands to her side as she watched the spark-spewing robot try to reorient himself. “Pi is infinite. So you’re going to be counting numbers for a long time, E.X.E.”

“Ugh… Sneaky little trick,” E.X.E. despite the fact that he was still counting up in his head, he tried his best to keep focused on the girls. “I applaud you girls for your sneakiness, but it hardly matters. My software prevents me from being destroyed by anything other than force.”

“It’s like having multiple tabs open when you’re gaming right?” Fluttershy said, shoving her flute into the robot’s sternum. “Pretty bad for your internet speed.”

“I’ve been… hit?” E.X.E. trembled at what he was feeling. Fluttershy had actually managed to damage him with an attack. This had never happened before.

“You sound like you speak from experience dearie,” Rarity commented, flipping before E.X.E and slashing him across the back.

“I… I may be?” Fluttershy mumbled blushing under her helmet thankful Rarity couldn’t see her.

“Ugh…” E.X.E. did what could only be described as robotic breathing as his eyes were focused on the girls. “Okay. NOW you’ve torn it.”

As he spoke, the fluids in his wires began to pump at an accelerated rate, as the bright red glow got even brighter. His arms morphed into razor-sharp blades as jet thrusters grew on his legs and feet. “CTRL! ALT! DELETE!”

Despite all this, he went down with one decapitating slash from Rarity. The head bounced off and tumbled to the ground, as the body fell to its knees.

“Your system has ran into a fatal error and needs to restart. Please contact your system administrator immediately,” the bodiless head of the machine spluttered out over and over again as Rarity just threw it to the wolves behind her.

“Anyone else?” she challenged.

The Wolfpack stared her down for a few seconds, before faking her out by running away. They were in no mood to fight a girl who had effortlessly destroyed one of their agents with a single strike and a logic bomb.

“These wolves seriously need to get better men if this is what they send after us…” Rarity scoffed as she looked down at the headless body of the machine. The fluids were still running through its body, though, despite it being decapitated. “Oh God, think I got some of that fluid on my boots! MY BOOTS!”

“Okay. Last stop, Florence, Italy.” The ship once again broke out of the lightspeed tunnel, giving Sunset and Twilight a view of the italian city. There was a lot of wide-open space around Florence, with a heavily-drained river running through it. Many of the buildings had been severely damaged, with bricks, cobblestone, and roof shingles strewn about in the ensuing panic. The city itself had a lot of alleys, but there was a lot of open space where the Wolfpack gathered in droves. One particular building which had been blasted asunder had the ruins of Michelangelo’s David laying about. With the nude stone body headless and its’ rather nasty part in rounded tatters.

“It’s so sad. I always wanted to come here with my family on vacation someday. But the Wolfpack have just shredded it. Stomped all over it with little rhyme or reason.” Twilight wistfully looked down at the city and what it had become. Between the cages, prowling hounds, and other such machines in the city of Florence, it was a harrowing sight. “How could they have done this? It’s just not fair.”

“Don’t worry, Twilight. When this is over and everyone rebuilds the world, I’ll be sure to take you here the first chance I can get.” Sunset supportively patted Twilight’s shoulder, which caused her to look into her eyes. “I promise.”

“Thanks, Sunset. But promises won’t mean anything unless we can save the Earth from these Wolfpack soldiers.” Twilight turned back towards the windscreen. “Speaking of which, Espy? Who leads the pack here?”

“Just checking the dispatch orders now. Accounting for additional manpower and machinery, resources, blah blah blah. Got it.” Espy brought up the image of the next Wolfpack agent. And this one was actually a wolf. She was dressed in a large pelted outfit and had snakes coiled around her as if they were strangling her. “They call her Ophi’Dia. Because of her love for snakes. And yes, she made those snake-clothes herself. And yes, those snakes are also alive.”

“Geez. And here I thought dead animal skins as clothes were bad.” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Trust me, you don’t wanna be on the receiving end of her snakes. Her snakes’ bile is highly corrosive, and it can melt anything with ease. And the bites of those snakes? Well, let’s just say that I hope you girls know how to deal with snake poison,” Espy remarked. “You… do have snakes on your planet, right?”

“Yeah? Why do you ask?” Sunset lifted a brow.

“No reason. Just checking. Though, I don’t think the snakes of your world are half as dangerous as the ones she keeps.” Espy twisted her wrist. “Anyways, she’s holed up in the center of the town. Surrounded by Hounds.”

“Hounds aren’t really that big of a problem. Especially not when you’re with me, Twilight. We’ll blitz the place and give the people of Florence their city back,” said Sunset. “Right, El?”

“Sure. But, uh, might it be best to save the romance for another time?” Elaris cheekily replied.

“Romance?!” Sunset was caught off-guard by that statement. “No, no no no no no. It’s not like me and Twilight are—”

“In love? Sounded like you were to me.” Elaris chuckled to herself. “Anyways, I’ll drop you in now. Then, I’ll assume a place in orbit. I’ll try my best to stay away from the Alpha Slayer.” With the push of a button, Twilight and Sunset were finally launched from their seats on the ship and dropped into the city of Florence, directly by a bridge that stretched over the drained river. “Good luck out there, girls.”

“Oh gods, any other day I’d love to be here…” Sunset said. “Italian Riviera, with a Ferrari and the sun shining down. Maybe park by a cafe and eat a bit of gelato.”

“Never took you for an Italy buff, Sunset.” Twilight lifted a brow. “How long have you been like that? Two years? Five years?”

“Eh, long time. Can’t remember exactly when it started,” Sunset flexed her hand outward. “Still, it’s pretty idyllic, when you think about it. And then get rid of the wolves fouling the place up.”

“Mmhmm.” Twilight gave a nod as she held the book tightly in the palm of her hand. “Well, once we get rid of this Wolfpack girl, we should be able to get started on fixing the place up, right? Once we save the villagers and get them squared away with everything they need, they can rebuild. Then maybe we can experience this place together how it’s supposed to be.”

“Awww, you too are so sweet,” a simpering, sickeningly sweet voice said.

Twilight and Sunset were taken aback by the voice. They saw a snake coiling around one of the pillars inside of the tunnel. Its’ sharp eyes piercing into them. “How lovey-dovey you two are. Gag! Makes me sick.” The snake spoke with the voice, without a master to go with it.

“Wh-what the?!” Sunset lurched back at the fact that there was a talking snake before her eyes.

“Oh, how the mistress is gonna love driving her teeth into you. To get rid of all those disgusting thoughts inside of your head.” The snake went on as it leapt from one pillar to another. “But why let the messenger threaten you? Leave that for the big boys and girls in charge, after all.” The snake leapt again and again, until it was all the way over to the other side of the bridge.

“Alright, now you’re just starting to get on my nerves…” Sunset said. She ran after the fleeing snake, with Twilight chasing after the both of them. If this snake came all the way from Ophi’Dia, then all they needed to do was follow it back to her. Simple.

But the snake wasn’t like ordinary snakes. It was fast, agile, and was able to leap to and fro with the dexterity and precision of a cat. It made it hard for Sunset and Twilight to keep up with it, especially as it tried to elevate itself and climb up the buildings. As it got to the top, however, Twilight simply opened a book and reached into one of the pages. She pulled out some projected steps and used them to walk up to the rooftops. Sunset came afterwards and the chase to follow the talking snake resumed.

It took them towards a large square in the center of town where Ophi’Dia stood proudly. She was sitting on a throne made of living snakes with her living-snake outfit standing out clear as day. The other wolves around her were bowing loyally to their leader and presenting her with whatever offerings they could find. Highly expensive and valuable human art, food, even the occasional bottle of fine wine. Most of the gifts she just took and had the snakes place for her. Like a queen being spoiled by her subjects, she barely even noticed Sunset and Twilight as she was lavished with the spoils of war.

“Okay. That is a LOT of snakes.” Sunset’s eyes widened as she examined the living-snake throne. “And they’re all alive?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, they’re alien snakes,” Twilight added. “That’s the only logical explanation I can make as to why they’re not all dying outright from all of the applied pressure.

“Quantity versus quality, though.” Sunset’s flame sword burned brighter as she gripped it tight. “All we need to do is show them some of this and they’ll back off. That’s how you deal with snakes, right? Or is there something else I’m missing?”

“Well, it’s not entirely a flawed logic, but—” before she could finish, Sunset leapt down to the streets “—Sunset, wait!”

Sunset did a dramatic landing and brandished her blade out to the side. The Wolfpack immediately focused on her, but before any of them could move, Ophi’Dia said “Stop! Is that any way to behave in the company of your queen?” She commanded the snakes to move by shifting her hands, and as she did, the throne warped and contorted to lower her down to the ground. She walked towards Sunset as Twilight leapt down to join her. “Besides. If I’m remembering correctly, these rangers are all ladies. Am I right?”

“Yes?” Sunset said, her blade still pointed forward as the Hounds obediently backed off and let their ‘queen’ handle the issue herself.

“Good. I’ve been wanting to test this new poison out for a while. Trouble with being a Wolfpack agent, some of the more high-class targets get taken by the big boys and girls in charge, and I get left with the scraps…” Ophi’Dia moaned as she waltzed towards the girls; the snakes on her body slithering and dancing around her elegantly. The throne behind her returned to its’ original state, yet still stood stationary in preparation for the fight ahead. “But what a lucky wolf I am. I get to fight two lady heroes.” A sadistic grin crossed her face. “I thought this day would never come!”

“Well, it’s not gonna be a long one, I’ll tell you that!” Sunset swung a fiery slash towards Ophi’Dia. One that she simply bent over backwards to avoid. As it neared the snakes, they rapidly reacted and squirmed so that the fire slash went through the throne and hit the wall behind them.

“Naughty naughty…” Ophi’Dia said before she attacked...

Author's Note

SPECIAL HUGE THANKS TO The Bricklayer for helping me write this new chapter. Thanks for the help, bud. You're awesome, as always.

Insects and Snakes

Back in Marrakesh, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were continuing to hold back Stinger. But he was an exceptionally agile bug creature. His acrobatic moves, coupled with his buzzing wings made it very hard for the girls to get even one strike in. And when it seemed that Rainbow Dash had a clear shot with her blasters, he instead raised one of the pieces of his armoured exoskeleton in the way of the lasers, causing them to merely bounce off.

"Did ah ever tell ya ah hate bugs?!" Applejack snarled as she tried to whirl her hammer at Stinger. He merely barreled into her chest and sliced across her visor with his razor-sharp arm blades, leaving scratch marks.

"No, but I bet you're oh so DYING to tell me that you are." Stinger licked his lips in satisfaction, then slid through Pinkie's legs as she charged in on him. Then, when he was on the other side, he grabbed her by the ankles and threw Pinkie into Rainbow Dash.

"Come on! How hard is it to stomp one bug?" Rainbow Dash felt her breathing get heavier and heavier. Her internal temperature got hotter and hotter, and her hands were beginning to shake. Signs of fatigue and fury both coming together made her view seem hazy as she tried to stay focused on Stinger. "Just slow down and let us just finish it!"

"It's me who should be saying that to you!" Stinger growled as he burrowed his foot into Rainbow's chest. "You wimpy humans are causing the Wolfpack a great deal of trouble! You should have just accepted defeat when you saw us; not fight back because of some deluded hope!"

He made choking noises and built up bile in his mouth; sloppy, green and purple ooze that trickled out of the edge of his mouth. Just as he was about to throw that bile onto Rainbow Dash, Pinkie shot Stinger in the back with her cannons and he fell over Rainbow Dash, causing the bile to instead land on the sand and melt it all away, until nothing but a tiny hole remained where the bile once lay.

"First of all: EW!" Pinkie Pie said as she watched Stinger creak the bones in his neck as he got back up to face Pinkie again. "Second of all, we're not the ones causing you trouble. You're doing it to yourselves!" Pinkie snapped. "Actually, how do you cause yourself some trouble? I've always wanted to know."

"Trust me, Pinks. Ya don't." Rainbow Dash patted her on the shoulders. "But thanks for the save."

"No problem, Dashie." Pinkie patted Rainbow's shoulder back. "Now, let's squish this nasty Wolfpack bug!"

"If'n we can ever hit him..." Applejack watched as Stinger floated before them, inches above the ground. He now surrounded himself with more of his insects, almost as if they were a living cloud of armor. "That varmint's got himself more protected than a greenhorn in a rodeo ring!"

"Yeah. But it doesn't matter how tough the armor is. So long as we can just get close, that's all." Rainbow Dash took a moment to study her foe. The way that he flew through the air, the way his wings buzzed, and his particular skills and weaponries. She had to admit, this was one of the only times where she had to think about things, rather than just go gung-ho and fill the guy full of laser blasts. So far, she knew that every one of the Rangers had not been able to get close to it or even damage it, because of the bugs dancing around him or the exoskeleton that shielded him from harm. "Think it's time to call in the big guns?"

"Big guns?" Applejack cocked a brow. "Rainbow Dash, we ain't even sure if they're gonna work; let alone if they're finished or not." She watched as the monster dashed for her, only for her to sidestep out of the way and bash him into a nearby desert-city house. Unsurprisingly, it was only the house that took any real damage, as Stinger skittered out of it. "But... ah suppose it's worth a shot at least."

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash evaded another one of Stinger's attacks and sent a message through the comms system. "El, how's the work coming on those new weapons in the Forge?"

"The Forge?" Elaris replied, then remembered. "Oh yes! That's right! I completely forgot about that. Just checking the progress right now..." There was a few seconds of waiting on Rainbow Dash's end; time that she had to spend evading the bugs and insects that now swarmed the air like a virulent pestilence, heavily hazing up her view and the views of her friends.

"Might wanna mosey on about it too. We're getting overrun here!" Applejack couldn't hit any of the bugs with her hammer. Despite the bugs being tiny, they were zipping around her like darts. "Pinkie! Could ya give me some help here?"

"I'm trying, Applejack! But these bugs are too small for my cannons to hit!" In the middle of Pinkie's rain of explosive confetti, the bugs simply backed away and cleared the way whenever her cannons pointed at them. Every single shot that she tried to fire ended hitting up air.

"This is just sad, Rangers. You're so weak that you couldn't even hurt a fly." Stinger walked forward triumphantly, his mandibles twitching at the thought of cutting down the girls. "How you've managed to safeguard your home from our advances is beyond me. But that's going to be rectified soon enough..."

"El!" Rainbow called in pain as she was being brought to her knees by the gnashing teeth of the bugs. They were only tiny bites, but to Rainbow, it felt like there were knives being pushed into her skin. She tried her very best to suck on the pain and keep firing, but the bug bites were simply too painful to ignore.

"Dashie!" Pinkie rushed over to Rainbow, only for the creatures to barrel into her chest and throw her to the ground, constantly biting any part of her body that was moving. It got to the point where she couldn't even move at all from all of the excruciating pain that was running up and down her body.

"Girls!" Applejack noticed her felled teammates and tried to head over, but Stinger just chuckled lightly and swept her legs. "G-gah! Get offa me! Get off—aaaaarrrgh!" The way that Stinger held her, added with the endless pain of the bugs rendered Applejack immobile. "ELARIS! WE'RE GETTING POUNDED HERE!"

"I'm trying, okay?! This machine hasn't seen action since the Thirteenth Equinox of Aetheria!" Elaris shouted back; clearly, very, very stressed by how her Rangers were starting to take the strain of it all. "Nngh! Work, you stupid piece of junk!" She smashed her fists against the console, trying to get some kind of reaction. When nothing came, she jsut slumped down in her chair and hung her head.

"What's going on over there?" Rarity asked, her voice coming through on the comms systems shortly after Elaris had tried to get the machine to work. "Do you want us to come over and give them a hand, dear? It sounds like they're getting torn to shreds over in Marrakesh."

"Oh yes. Don't you think we should come on over and give them some help?" Fluttershy's voice came through as well. And that was the moment when Elaris lifted her head up.

"Wh-what do you mean? Aren't you two supposed to be clearing ou—"

"That pile of scrap and bolts? He clearly needed some more upgrades." Rarity said, as Elaris opened up a video channel. Sure enough, the Wolfpack had scattered, and Rarity and Fluttershy were already working hard to free the remaining civillians who had been enslaved by the wolves. Rarity sliced through the walls of the pens while Fluttershy led them all to safety.

"Still, if it sounds like the others are having trouble, we could easily go around and help them out," Fluttershy added in. "It's better to save the Rangers so that they can help save the rest of the planet."

"Don't put yourselves in danger like that, girls. It's not worth it. Trust me." Espy's voice spoke to Rarity and Fluttershy. "The Wolfpack are exceptionally ruthless. And more likely, they'd kill the girls the second they found out that reinforcements had been called. They don't just sit on their hands."

"THEN WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT?!" Elaris howled with rage and fear, knowing that the Marrakesh situation was only going to get worse and worse if an action wasn't taken. "The Forge still isn't working and the Wolfpack are about to murder the Rangers there!"

"You honestly disappoint me, Rangers. Of all the things the Wolfpack had to fight, you're putting up the least resistance we've ever seen." Stinger stood over Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie as the insects continued to bite away at their bodies. "I don't even need to kill you. This is embarrasing enough as it is. I should just give the go-ahead to the Feral Five to blow this planet to smithereens."

"N-no. It... doesn't... end like this." Rainbow Dash tried her best to stand back up, even with the alien insect creatures devouring her strength. Her grip on the Twin Blasters was exceptionally shaky, but she still pointed them towards Stinger's face in defiance.

"What good will fighting do for you? You've lost! Admit it!" Stinger swatted the guns away, dislodging them from Rainbow's hands. They spun through the air and landed in the sand.

"No. We've only lost... when we say we've lost." Pinkie, trembling from the pain, pointed her cannons towards Stinger and fired another shot off. The confetti did explode in his face and stagger him backwards, but he simply knocked her backwards with a vertical swing from his arm.

"When you say you've lost? What kind of petty, childish thing to say is that? You KNOW you've lost, yet you're acting in denial. Just admit it." Stinger taunted; his mandibles clanging together with anticipation for the kill. "It's better to accept defeat when you know you're beaten, than to keep going and die pointlessly."

"We ain't gonna... die like this." Applejack mustered up all of the strength that she could, gripping the handle of her Terra Hammer, ready to swat away Stinger. Putting everything into her arm strength, she made her move. She screamed out in pain and determination as the bugs went away at her body, yet still found the energy left to strike Stinger away. Once more, he was launched into one of the desert-city buildings. "It ain't over. Not until we drive ya'll back to whatever hole ya crawled out of!"

"Big words. But words mean nothing..." Stinger, chittering to himself, clambered out of the house and spread his wings again. Once more, they flitted so fast that the naked eye couldn't see them, and he barrelled back towards the Rangers. "Oh well. Fine by me! I don't make the orders, after all!"

As Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Applejack stared towards the ravenous Stinger charging towards them. As they took one last look to each other, they closed their eyes and curled their hands into fists. Even in the face of impending destruction, the three of them still held out hope and kept that hope burning brightly inside of them even as Stinger moved in for the kill. They felt pain running up and down their bodies. They knew that it wouldn't go away until Stinger himself was put down. Even with the sensation overpowering them, they still had to fight. After all, if they didn't fight, then all the stuff that they had done would have been in vain.

And then, right as Stinger was about to lay down the finishing blow, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash's crystals reacted. They expelled a radiant surge of light and fired tiny particles of light into the air. They broke through the atmosphere and snuck aboard Elaris's ship, landing directly in the Forge.

The Forge thrummed with life and the energy inside of it began to fluctuate. A motorcycle, a pair of rollerblades, and a bow with a quiver of arrows were wrested from the ground and pulled into the stars and cosmos of the forge, smothered and swallowed in a cocoon of light. And as they were enveloped in the Forge's power, they began to change. They bore the emblems of each of the three girls, with a golden pattern running across the aqua bike, pink blade wheels, and the orange bow and quiver.

"Wh-what is going on?" Elaris asked, noticing that the girls down in Marrakesh had been expelling light; light that was being used to blind Stinger and cause him to shuffle backwards away from them, along with the rest of his insectoids.

"Not to intrude, but I have detected a powerful surge coming from the Forge," L.U.C.Y. inquired as the feed changed to show the new equipment in the Forge, shimmering radiantly in the light of the stars. "It would appear that Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack now have new tools at their disposal. Shall I deliver them?"

Elaris was too stunned for words as she stared at the new tools for the Rangers. She had thought that the Forge wouldn't have been read to manifest the new weapons for them until after they had cleared out the Wolfpack in each of the three designated cities. But there they were, ready to go. "W-well, yes! Of course! Right away, L.U.C.Y!"

"Understood. Deploying," L.U.C.Y. responded, and the three weapons vanished from the forge in an implosion of light, shooting towards the planet like streaking meteors towards Marrakesh.

"What in the name of Ahl'MaiTie did that light come from?!" Stinger finally barked through the roaring light. "This shouldn't be possible! It can't be possible!"

"It's like we said." Applejack's helmet came off, showing the girl's face underneath. "It AIN'T over." She sternly replied with a tranquil fury in her voice. "WE say when it's over. Not you."

"Yep." Pinkie took her own helmet off, breathing heavily now that the bugs had been expelled from her body. "We have a right to live, y'know. And then you MEANIES came and totally ruined all of it! Ya think we weren't gonna beat you all silly?"

"Nah. This is the end of you, kid." Rainbow Dash was the last one to take off her helmet, revealing the girl underneath the suit. "It's time someone taught you—and everyone else in the Wolfpack—some manners."

"Bluestreak!" Rainbow Dash threw her arm into the sky, and a blue star crashed into the ground by her, creating a plume of sand. When it finally died down, there was now a custom blue motorcycle with golden accents and a sigil bearing the same mark that Rainbow Dash associated herself with on the nose of the bike. The handles were black and there was a computerised console in the center; likely for Rainbow to fiddle with in battle.

"Earthsplit Arrows!" Applejack threw her arm into the sky as a second shooting star came crashing down. She was able to catch her new bow in her hands as the quiver secured itself tightly around her side. The Terra Hammer disappeared as she took hold of her new tool, drawing back the first arrow in preparation for another big fight.

"Pink Rollers!" Pinkie flipped forward and stood on her hands as the final star collided with her feet, causing a pair of roller-blade wheels to extend out of the boots of her armour. They spun up incredibly fast as the colours finally began to set in; with each wheel as pink as the rest of the suit, with the same golden accents that the other new tools and bike had.

Rainbow Dash hopped onto the bike and revved up the engine, the roar of the bike exceptionally loud and healthy; like a new bike straight out of the shop. The wheels spun and threw up the sand beneath her in a torrent, before she sped off towards Stinger; hair flailing around wildly like a stream of many colours. She rammed the bike straight into his body, hurling the insect like a ragdoll into a horde of Hounds. After she hit him, Rainbow turned the bike towards her Twin Blasters, then leaned down and swiped them off of the ground with one hand. She stopped the bike and watched as the guns disappeared.

"My turn! My turn!" Pinkie started to shuffle forward with her roller blades. With her newly added speed, it made moving around the battlefield a breeze. She was immediately able to close the distance between Stinger and herself very quickly; even with the sand running beneath her treads. Once she got close enough to Stinger, Pinkie readied her cannons and fired as soon as the barrels touched the monster's face. This time, because of her new Pink Rollers, Pinkie was knocked backwards when the cannons fired, and she simply let the wheels carry her back to the safety of her teammates.

"N-no! It doesn't end like this! You don't get a say in when it ends!" Stinger, now noticeably furious with the pain that he was taking, flew into the sky into the blinding light of the sun, vanishing within the radiant glare. He gargled some more bile and spat it towards the girls like a corrosive bomb.

"Alright, girl. Just remember the Friendship Games..." Applejack took a deep breath and aimed towards the careening blob of mucus that was tumbling towards her. Drawing back the arrow as far as she could, she released the string and let the arrow fly. Effortlessly, it managed to piece the goo ball and cause it to detonate, before flying towards Stinger's armoured exoskeleton. However, it didn't bounce off, and at the speed it was flying, the arrow penetrated the armour, causing Stinger to hiss in agony. "Got it! Direct hit!" Applejack fist-pumped as she watched Stinger limply flit towards the ground and kneel.

Stinger, now VERY PISSED OFF with everything snatched the arrow and pulled it out of his skin. He snapped the thing in half and tossed it away as he looked towards the three rangers with a newfound fire in his eyes. Chittering to himself, he called every single bug, insect, and other miniscule creature to his side and let out a scream, throwing his arms out to the side. The bugs danced around him like a whirlwind before shooting off towards the Rangers in a deadly stream.

"Okay, then. You wanna play chase? I'm game." Rainbow lowered her brows and revved up her machine once again. Bluestreak's engine screamed loudly as she took off, attracting the bugs towards her. But however fast the insects tried to chase after Rainbow Dash, they couldn't exactly catch her, leaving Pinkie and Applejack free to fight Stinger.

"Right. That's IT!" Stinger ran towards the two other Rangers and blindly swung his bladed arms out, in an attempt to strike the girls down. Needless to say, they were able to sway, duck, dive, and roll past his attacks, with the occasional block and reversal kick thrown in. "You want to make me look like a fool in front of the Wolfpack? I don't think so!"

"Sounds to me like you're a little bit worried because the tables turned. It ain't somethin' to get worked up about, pardner." Applejack smashed Stinger in the head with the bow and launched another arrow into his knee. It was able to get him to kneel down as she backflipped, kicking him in the chin with her legs. "Ya'll had it comin', ya know." She drew back another arrow and fired as Stinger was launched, striking him in the back before he even landed.

"You meanies always played with the deck totally stacked in your favour. Well now, it's time for us to shuffle that deck!" Pinkie came forward with her cannons again, punching Stinger all over before he landed; with each punch accompanied by a cannon shot, which in themselves, were accompanied by the lethal explosive confetti particles that came speeding out. The arrows that Applejack had burrowed in also exploded when they were struck by Pinkie's strikes, causing more damage to Stinger and leaving noticeable scar marks on his body. "Not literally shuffle the deck, but you get the term, don't ya?"

"What... are you?" Stinger, desperation overwhelming him, started to gasp for breath as he watched Pinkie and Applejack standing over him. Even without the helmets on, they looked like the most menacing people that he had ever met. For once, he felt like victory was not assured. "WHAT ARE YOU?!" He screamed again, recalling the bugs back to his side; forming a bubble around him.

"We're the Power Rangers, buddy. And it's time that you got the message. Earth. Belongs. To. Us!" Rainbow Dash sped forward with her bike. She pushed a button on the console, causing the bike to thrum with energy. It coated her and the bike in a blue, lightning contrail. Twising the throttle again, Rainbow called out the words "Sonic Blast!" And with those words, she burst forward, as a wave of light energy shot out of the bike. The acceleration of the bike greatly increased as Rainbow Dash collided with Stinger's insects.

"No! You're not getting past this!" Stinger's bubble of insects created a net of energy that tightened, acting as a protective bubble that did its' best to fend off Rainbow's charge. But even as he tried his best to hold the shield together, it started to shatter as the bugs one by one popped like bubbles. With enough of his insects exterminated, the barrier finally began to crack. "I... WILL NOT EMBARRASS THE—" Before he could finish, the barrier completely shattered, and Bluestreak's impact once more launched Stinger. As he hurtled towards the building, Rainbow's bike, still wrapped in the blue contrail sped past him. She skidded and performed a 180 spin right before she hit the wall and drove back into the still-flying Stinger.

"Shall we, Pinkie?" Applejack smirked as she readied another shot from her bow.

"Absotivelutely, Applejack!" Pinkie gave a nod. Then, she took her place by rollerblading behind Stinger.

"Twin Collision! FInal Attack!" Pinkie and Applejack declared together as Pinkie charged up one last double-punch and Applejack let her last Earthsplit Arrow fly. When the arrow collided with Stinger's body and the confetti shrapnel with the back of Stinger's head, the explosion was devastating. Pinkie slid backwards on her wheels while Applejack stood firm in the wake of the titanic detonation.

"I... I'm not the bug to squash here. Y-you are!" Stinger gasped and struggled to cling on to life as he inched forward and tried to stand his ground. "How... How did I lose to you? I'm not a filthy maggot! I'M NOT A MAGGOT!" He let out one last scream as he fell to the ground and exploded once more; this time erasing him from existence.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call pest control." Rainbow Dash punned as she climbed off of the bike and stood on the soil of a Wolfpack-free Marrakesh. "Hey, El? We got 'em. The Wolfpack's just been driven out."

"Thank goodness. For a second, I was really worried for your lives there for a second." Elaris took a deep breath and put her hand on her chest. "Well done, girls. Now, set everyone else free and I'll bring the ship around for an exfil."

"Hey, ya think we also have time to help out the others?" Pinkie asked as she wandered over towards the first human pen that she could see, noticing that the Wolfpack drones were retreating into the distance. "Like, how are Sunset and Twilight doing?"

"I haven't actually checked in with them in a while. Let me get back to you on that. In the meantime, again, well done. Keep up the good work and set everyone in the city free. Then when you're all done, I'll bring you back to the ship and we can start to think about our next targets."

"Sounds pretty good to me." Applejack took a deep breath as she started to head on over to the city with the rest of her friends. Now that Stinger had been written out of the picture, she could finally breathe easy; and not just because her helmet was off. One less Wolfpack jerk grindin' their boots on our face. Hang tight, everyone. We're gettin' there...

In Florence, Ophi'Dia laughed like any queen would as she used her snakes as much as she could. She used them as platforms to stand on to get out of reach of Sunset and Twilight's many attacks, commanded them to move whenever the girls tried to take them out, and even used some of her ophidian friends as her own personal pair of whips.

"Come on, now, girls. Aren't you fond of snakes?" Ophi'Dia asked with a smirk as she landed daintily on the tips of her feet. "They won't bite. Not until I tell 'em to that is." She swung the snakes by the tail, which made them instinctively bare their fangs ready to bite down on the Rangers' suits.

"Usually, I don't really care about snakes. But you're really starting to change that," saig Sunset gruffly as she finally caught one of the snakes with her free hand, squeezing down on the neck as tightly as she could. But little did she know that Ophi'Dia used that opportunity to yank the snake—and her—back towards her. "Whoa!" Sunset remarked as she was sent careening towards Ophi'Dia and her many snakes, all ready to tear into her.

"I got you, Sunset!" Twilight opened her book and tapped one of the pages with two fingers. Her finger tips glowing, she drew a rune in the air, which caused a portal to appear in front of Sunset as she was being pulled to Ophi'Dia. She vanished through the portal and reappeared by Twilight's side, although, not without landing face-first into the ground. "Ooh... Sorry about that." Twilight winced and picked her back up. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Sunset nodded. "Thanks for the save, though. Really mean it." She had to take a few deep breaths as she refocused her attention on Ophi’Dia. “Y’know, I’m starting to get sick and tired of seeing snakes in Florence. I mean, it’s one of the nicest places on this planet and you just HAD to screw it up. Don’t you have any kind of respect?!”

“Respect means nothing on the battlefield, darling. It’s all just something stupid that people believe in.” Ophi’Dia let her snakes down and walked forward. “Respect only matters when you aren’t fighting. So whatever you humans want to believe in, don’t. It’s not good for you to respect and need respect when there’s a war going on. Waste of time, really.” She scoffed and tossed her hair back.

“We humans, as you call them, have a right to respect what we want. It’s called life.” Twilight turned the pages of her book to find an offensive spell. Then, she laid her palm on the page and pushed out with that same hand, conjuring a runic ring in the palm of her hand that fired a singular laser of energy. Ophi’Dia took it square on the chest, but didn’t flinch. And as the laser ended its’ stream, the ring vanished.

“Well, whatever the case, I don’t care. You’re preaching to a WOLFPACK wolf. You should know by now that we don’t accept the human race. We never will. Your only option is to fight.” Ophi’Dia sprinted towards Twilight and Sunset. And as she did, her legion of obedient snake pets ran by her side, coiling around her arms and legs. Once she was fully-armoured up, Ophi’Dia launched punches and kicks at Sunset. And when the girls backed away from the strikes, the snakes stretched out and closed the gap, gnashing down on Sunset and Twilight’s limbs.

“Get off of me!” Sunset took her flame sword and swung it out at the snakes that had sunk their teeth into her. With one clean slice, she decapitated the snakes and watched as their heads limply fell to the ground. Once she was de-snaked, she turned to Twilight, kicked Ophi’Dia in the stomach, then carved up the snakes that had latched onto Twilight. “Twilight, you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Twilight brushed the parts of her body that had been clamped by the snakes. “It’s a good thing those ones weren’t venomous, or it would’ve been a totally different stor—Look out!” She pushed Sunset away as Ophi’Dia punched the ground. Once her balled-up paw struck the street, the remaining snakes on her body stretched out and tried to bite again.

Twilight instead flipped to another page of her book and used another one of her spells. This one formed a thick wall of ethereal energy between her and the snakes just as they lurched out for her. So instead of striking Twilight, they instead crashed head-long into a wall of hardened light energy, that faded just as they retracted back to Ophi’Dia.

Twilight got an idea as she flipped through her spellbook. “I wonder…”

Reaching out through time and space, she summoned the Revive Crystal and tossed it to Sunset with a shout of “Catch!”

Sunset’s eyes widened under her helmet and her morpher glowed as the crystal landed on it. Sunset’s armor seemed to ignite, the morpher chanting: “MAX POWER!”

The armor was wrapped in gold, blazing like the surface of the sun, with wings erupting from Sunset’s helmet. Two talon-like weapons appeared in Sunset’s hands with a screeching sound.

“More flashy new suits?” Ophi’Dia joked at Sunset’s new form. “It doesn’t matter what kind of tin suit you put yourself in, Rangers. I can still take you easily.” Ophi’Dia raised her arm into the air, causing the remaining snakes to morph and contort together into a pair of giant hands. Ones that slithered towards her and stood by her side. She threw a punch forward, which caused the fist on her fight to move on her mark, with snakes all raising their teeth ready to chomp down.

“Wh-what in the…?” Ophi’Dia started to pant as she looked up at the menacing form of Sunset Shimmer, which now stomped towards her and her many snakes. Each and every time her boots stomped the ground, the snakes backed off further and further from Ophi’Dia.

“I don’t think you heard me the first time, Ophi’Dia. I LOVE this place. I HATE what you’ve done to this place,” Sunset spoke in a very-deep, menacing tone of voice, almost how she would have spoken from the days she was a school bully. “And as we all know, snakes hate fire. I’ll char every single one of your stupid pets to a crisp if I have to. And you won’t be able to do a thing about it.”

With one last stomp, the snakes were completely pressed against the walls of the buildings around her.

Sunset summoned her sword, and—with one wide swing—ignited all of the snakes in a blaze of fire. Each and every single one of the reptilian beasts turned into dust as they were swallowed up by the wave, leaving Ophi’Dia all alone. “Where are your friends now, wolf? Gone. Reduced to nothingness.”

“Irksome little pest.” Ophi’Dia snarled and threw her hands to the ground. And as she did, the earth begun to shake. The quake was enough for Sunset to snap out of her anger-fuelled rampage, as it knocked her down to her knees. “Did you think those were the only snakes that I had, little girls? No, no, no. You should know that I’ve communed with all kinds of snakes. Even ones from across the stars too!”

Suddenly, something large erupted from the ground. A titanic snake with gray and black skin burst out and craned its neck down towards Sunset and Twilight. Malice in its’ eyes and its tongue dangling out of its mouth, it was ready to feast on the two tiny humanoid flies staring before it. But it wasn’t alone, as more of the giant snakes came out of the ground as well. Soon, one snake turned into many, as the giant beasts stared down both Sunset and Twilight.

“Whoa mama…” Sunset muttered as she took a few nervous steps back eying her talon blades. Twilight wrapped her fingers around Sunset’s own. “What are you…?

“Remember, you’re not alone,” Twilight said. “Haven’t you figured it out by now? We do this as a team.”

Twilight’s costume began to glow with a purple version of the light Sunset had been covered in before. Her morpher began the same general chant of “Max, max, max!” that Sunset’s had.

A flowing coat extended past her waist, a staff forming in her right hand. The coat itself had a star-pattern running down it and the staff had a majestic orb of purple energy at the top of it. Twilight’s helmet morphed into a metallic wizard’s hat as she looked out at the titanic snakes.

“GO! FEED!” Ophi’Dia howled as she swung her hand down, prompting the giant snakes to lurch towards Twilight and Sunset, ready to feast on their bodies. Despite their size, the snakes were exceptionally fast and came rushing at the girls like express trains.

“Remember,” Twilight said as she and Sunset leaped over the snakes. “You’re only at half strength now.”

“Of course I’m not,” Sunset smiled. “I have you.”

She launched herself forwards, digging her talons into the first snake, and then leaped to the next ripping it open in similar fashion. Twilight waved her staff, and a whirling purple tornado sprang to life, engulfing what remained and launching it skywards. A glowing purple orb appeared in her outstretched hand, and she tossed it, the orb growing larger by the second as it neared Ophi’Dia.

“Brat!” Ophi’Dia met the strike head on, trying her hardest to punch it out. But as she struck the orb, it just detonated into her face and she flew through the air, only to land on another one of the many giant snakes that still remained. “Worthless, inconsiderate, snake-hating brats! Both of you!” She tantrumed. “Attack!”

Twilight waved her hand, and chains erupted from the ground to hold Ophi’Dia in place. Sunset dashed forwards, talons erupting in flame before she slashed right through the wolfpack warrior.

The attack was enough to cause Ophi’Dia to hit the ground, still smoldering from head to toe. Looking up at the all-powerful Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle that now stood before her, she knew that she couldn’t win on land. “Think it’s… over?!” She coughed and sputtered as she stumbled around, trying to get back up.

“Looks like it is to me.” Sunset smirked as she folded her arms. “I mean, look at you. You can’t even stand up properly. We should just bury you while we have the chance. What do you say, Twilight?”

“I think you’ve just about had enough time here in Florence.” Twilight went for one more spell in her book. “This last one should be just what we need to finish you off...”

Ophi’Dia just chuckled at that. “Fine. Do whatever little fancy-schmancy moves that you want. But it’ll do nothing to me.” Ophi’Dia’s eyes glowed with rage and the sky turned dark as a glowing moon appeared in it. Finally regaining her strength to stand, Ophi’Dia leaned back as she stood on her two legs and declared “FERAL FURY!”

And with one last howl, her body crackled with red and black lightning as she grew in size exponentially. Now, she was just as large as the rest of her giant snakes, who all saw their mistress’s growth spurt and coiled around her once more, completing her new look.

“Come on then, Rangers. Use your tiny magic spell on me now! I dare you!” Ophi’Dia declared in her new size and state. “See what good it does you!”

“Damn…” Sunset swore to herself. “The other rangers are all elsewhere, so we can’t go for the Megazord right now.” She tried her best to think of how in the stars she was going to be able to fight this new giant beast. “My Phoenix Zord would be able to hold off the snakes, but I doubt it’d stop Ophi’Dia head-on.”

“Hey, don’t I have a zord too? Since, y’know, I’m a ranger now as well?” Twilight asked. “I’m pretty sure that I should have a zord, if you all got your zords when you became Rangers.”

As Sunset was about to ask Twilight about her zord, she saw that Ophi’Dia made another strike on the ground. This time, from the force of the impact of a giant fist colliding with the earth, it was enough to send both Sunset and Twilight flying into the walls, crashing violently against them.

“Well, we don’t really have much time to think about it, girl. We just have to go for it. Now.” Sunset took the moment to throw her arm into the air. “Calling Phoenix Zord!”

As the almighty Phoenix Zord swooped into action, Sunset climbed up to the rooftops, took a running start, and leapt into the cockpit of her mighty machine. Once she was comfortably locked into the cockpit, she stared down the titan-sized Ophi’Dia and the snakes that now adorned her massive arms and legs.

“I can try and stop those snakes, but it’ll only distract her without some kind of offense to go with it,” Sunset relayed through radio. “Once you figure out your zord, Twilight, get it out here and let’s bring this wolf down!”

Holding onto the joysticks, Sunset piloted her Phoenix Zord around Ophi’Dia, lashing the snakes with her robot’s flaming wings and incendiary breath. Sure, it did manage to get the snakes to outright stop attacking, but it did absolutely nothing to Ophi’Dia’s body as she tried to swat the Phoenix Zord away.

“Elaris, we’ve got a problem here.” Twilight opened a channel between herself and Elaris. “The wolf in Florence just invoked Feral Fury. There is a GIANT wolf here and only one zord to fend it off. What should we do?”

“A Feral Fury? That does put some problems forward…” Elaris opened up a video feed on her ship and saw Sunset trying to fight back Ophi’Dia using her Phoenix Zord. Every single flaming strike only affected the snakes, while Ophi’Dia sucked it up and slapped the firebird away. “Do you have any kind of idea what your zord is, Twilight?”

“No. Sadly, I don’t. I was hoping that you’d be able to figure it out for me, Elaris,” said Twilight as she watched the battle continue on. She watched as Sunset unleashed a bombing run of fireballs which struck the snakes directly and caused them to loosen their hold on Ophi’Dia’s body.

“Right… Well, that’s curious. Usually, the zord is dependent on the user. And usually, it can contort to whatever creature best suits you. Such is the case with the girls’ other zords matching with their personalities,” Elaris explained as she brought up the schematics of the other zords. “But when it comes to you, Twilight, I can’t really see a clear-cut creature of this planet that matches with you.”

“So, what? I just have to think of an animal that best matches me and I can fight Ophi’Dia?” Twilight asked for clarification as she watched Sunset come in for another run, which prompted Ophi’Dia to spring into the air and drive her heel into the back of the Phoenix Zord. If it wasn’t for the burst of flame that enveloped it, Ophi’Dia would have smashed it into the ground. “But what do I come up with? And what kind of animal can fight… well, this?!”

She slapped herself in the face, of course! A snake to kill a snake! As it all stewed in her brain, the purple crystal on her belt began to react, glowing a bright shade of light. She took the crystal out, held it skyward and said. “Calling Hydrazord!”

A purple streaking star fired out of Elaris’s ship, growing larger and larger as it finally came down to the earth. And when it landed, a new zord came into existence. Standing on its own pair of legs, there stood a titanic beast with a pair of snake's heads for both of its ‘arms’, with a final snake’s head as the main head. Heavily armoured and ready for battle, washed over with shades of purple, this was Twilight’s newest zord; the Hydrazord.

“Perfect!” Twilight remarked as she ran towards the new Hydrazord. As if the machine had been listening to her, it leaned down and extended its snake-headed right arm towards Twilight. The mouth opened up and the mechanisms inside contorted to reveal a door that Twilight ran into, all the way up the machine to her new cockpit. As soon as she saw the seat, she sat down and laid her book on her legs as she took control of the twin joysticks that allowed her to move the machine herself.

“What?! Another robot?” Ophi’Dia noticed the Hydrazord straight away. “Made of SNAKES?!” Had it all been a cartoon, steam would have been roaring out of her nose right about now. “Is this some kind of joke?! Are you mocking me?! Are you ACTUALLY making fun of me? ME?!” She screamed and ran towards the Hydrazord in a fit of rage.

Each of the Hydra’s heads seemed to look at each other in confusion, wondering just how cray-cray this woman was. No matter, they decided, each hitting the monster with an elemental blast. They reared back their heads and in consecutive fashion fired off streams of fire, lightning, wind, ice and earth. They all hit Ophi’Dia square in the chest, knocking her backwards.

As she stumbled backwards, Sunset let off her own stream of fire from the mouth of the Phoenix Zord, sandwiching Ophi’Dia in deluges of elements. It caused a detonation that knocked Ophi’Dia down to her knees. Snarling, she punched the ground and glared at the Hydrazord, seething hatred growing in her eyes with each passing second.

“This is unacceptable, girls. Do you hear me? UNACCEPTABLE!” She slammed her hands on the ground, causing the two snakes on her arms to burrow back underground off of her arms. They slunk underneath the city and burst back out underneath the Hydrazord and Phoenix Zord, trying to eat them like a pair of sentient venus fly-traps.

The Hydra Zord’s heads just looked confused, before ripping the snakes up out of the ground and tossing them skywards. In her cockpit, Twilight flipped a lever and the kanji for fire came up. All the heads reared back before all five unleashed an incinerating blast of flame. “BURN BLAZE FEVER!”

“And now for you,” Sunset said as she watched the Hydra Zord march forwards. “Ready, Twilight?”

“Hmm!” Twilight nodded and once more used the Fire Kanji to project fire from the heads of her beast. Sunset did the same as her Phoenix Zord’s fires intensified and changed colour from orange, to blue, and then to white. “Let’s do this!”

“TWINFERNO!” Sunset and Twilight called together as the Hydrazord spat a torrent of fire that Sunset’s Phoenix Zord ran through. Now, a titanic ball of flame hurtled towards Ophi’Dia and struck her square in the stomach. The flame was so intense that not only did the snakes completely disintegrate upon impact, but the Phoenix Zord went straight through Ophi’Dia’s stomach, leaving a massive gaping whole where her chest was.

“But… but how?!” Ophi’Dia asked as she fell to the ground, her hole visible to the world. “I should be cold-blooded! And you burnt me to a crisp!” She cried as she finally collapsed, exploding in a pillar of flame before disappearing from existence.

“Elaris. The hunt is over. Ophi’Dia is dead,” said Sunset as the Phoenix Zord reduced its’ fire output and flapped gently in the air, posing with the Hydrazord once the explosion dissipated.

"Thank goodness. Three cities safe and three more Wolfpack agents terminated," Elaris's voice, a very happy version of it came through. "Good work today. All of you. Finish up where you are and return to me. We'll take back this planet in no time."

"Thanks, Elaris. We all did a good job today, no matter where in the world we were," said Sunset as she disembarked from her Phoenix Zord and de-morphed back into her civillian form, as did Twilight. "We'll start setting people free and then you can pick us up afterwards."

"Roger that," Elaris said. "Anything to add, Espy?"

"Nope. You girls are totally living up to that Perfect Ones title the other big dogs upstairs fail to see," said Espy. "But we're far from over. This might've cleared out the Wolfpack in some corners of the world, but there's still tons more bad guys out there that you girls have to put down. And hey. If you need some help, I've got your backs."

"We'll remember that." Twilight said as she high-five-grabbed Sunset's hand. "Good job today, Sunset."

"You too, Twilight," said Sunset, smiling peacefully to her. Then, wrapping her arm around Twilight's shoulders. "So, how's about it? You wanna see Florence with me while we rescue the civillians?"

"Sounds good to me, Sunset." Twilight had to admit, that she had never really seen Florence, but she had always wanted to deep down. And now that Ophi'Dia and all of her snakes had been exterminated, she had all of the time in the world to see the place for herself with Sunset. In a way, they were mixing business with pleasure.

"Great! Let's go!" Sunset spoke, with more vigor in her voice than she had expected. Probably because she was in Italy, and all of those Italian supercar visions in her head were finally coming back now that the Wolfpack had been beaten out of the country. Still, she and Twilight made their way down the city, looking for one of the many pens that housed the Wolfpack's—soon to be free—prisoners.

"Another Zord? How curious..." Ahl'Mai'Tie pushed his hands together as he watched the Hydrazord and the Phoenix Zord eliminating Ophi'Dia again. "Vi'Al. Study this zord. Immediately. And add this Purple Ranger and all of her attributes as well. Then, start to develop the technology you need to put down these girls."

"You hardly need to ask me. These girls are the product of pure research." Vi'Al replied with a grin as he pushed his hands together. "Every second those Power Rangers eat, breathe, sleep, anything really. They are all numbers, data, formulas, and statistics. Like with everything else in life. They are nothing but data for me to play around with and study." He turned his back to the Feral Five and walked off to the laboratory. "And, like with any data, they benefit anyone who uses them; not just themselves. So keep on playing, girls. Give me more data. Shower me with facts and figures. It's what we LIVE FOR as scientists!"

"Captain, before we go on, we should also really discuss those other three Rangers who took out Stinger." Mah'Jehs'Tie replied as she changed the image on the screen. It showed as Rainbow Dash called forth Bluestreak, Applejack her new Earthsplit Arrows, and Pinkie's Pink Rollers. "They too got some new powers. Should we interject?"

"It means nothing to us. We are the Feral Five." Ahl'Mai'Tie brushed off Mah'Jehs'Tie with a wave of his hand. "You petrify all who are not beautiful, Uon can snipe the girls perfectly, Deh can make them go insane, Uhp can upgrade and overclock any and all machines over and over, and I... well, that's for another time." He put his hand to his chest. "They have not warranted our attention yet. We will keep on beating them down. And besides, we have plenty more land that they don't. We can always redirect our resources to the other bases and make the Wolfpack in those regions stronger."

"Well, if you're gonna do that, I might as well see what this godforsaken rock has to offer." Uhp'Grahy'Der stood up from his throne and looked out towards the surface of the earth.

"Going out for a walk?" Deh'Mehn'Sha asked, twitching in his seat.

"More like a scouting trip. Apparently, these humans have constructed large platforms out on the ocean. Use them to drill down to the deeper parts of the planet for oil. Reckon I'll take a stroll and see what I can pull from them." Uhp stretched his arms and legs in preparation. "Don't wait up for me." He tapped on a button on his armplates, opening up a portal. He stepped through and left his compatriots behind.

"Guess I'll scout out the land as well. See what there is to see on this dirtball that we haven't destroyed." Uon stood up from his chair; rifle still slung over his back as he made another portal and stepped through it.

"Wait, you're not gonna leave me here are you?! You know how I get when I'm not doing things! I turn insane! Insane I tell you!" he stood back up and opened up another portal, scampering through. "I need some fresh air!" He screamed as he threw himself through his portal.

"Well, I guess that leaves you and me. I'm in no rush." Mah splayed herself over her chair like a true queen would. "We can take all the time we want sizing up these people. All the really pretty boys and girls, I'll take. All the rest... eh, I'm sure they'll manage without the ability to move around."

"Indeed. We've got all the time in the world." Ahl'Mai'Tie kicked up his feet and put his hands behind his head. "Those Rangers can gear up all they want, but unless these ladies can deliver, I'm hardly impressed. So go on, girls. Impress me. Curry my favour. Then you'll see just how much that bluster and bravado does for you..."

Author's Note

Big thanks to The Bricklayer for helping me to finish this chapter. Seriously, man. Big props go out to you. Couldn't have done this without you.

Revival (People, can't you hear it?)

Deep in the laboratories of the Alpha Slayer, there was some unrest growing between some of the lesser scientists. Not due to the fact that the Rangers were trouncing every single one of the Wolfpack soldiers that they had sent out against them, but also with the sudden shift in leadership and drastic paradigm shift.

Now, they were ones to just put their heads down and get on with their work, but even they knew that the Wolfpack had become more and more sporadic the longer they stayed orbiting this planet. Sooner or later, someone was going to snap. And if not one of the other grunts, then one of them would.

“Hmm…” one of the Wolfpack scientists was busy studying video footage of the Rangers’ combat, taking down notes and comparing it to the fighting styles of the many other creatures that he and his band had encountered in their many pillaging days. “These Power Rangers… Their combat style is unique. Logic would dictate that we find the flaws in their battle strategies and force them into submission with our new tactics. However, that is simply not the case with these new girls.”

“Every single time we try and overpower them or change our strategies, they just keep on adapting,” a second scientist remarked, this one being female with a more cleanly-cut coat of fur. “The way that they fight, the speed at which they notice what we’re doing, it’s quite dangerous. An enemy that cannot be overwhelmed, always changes their plans as we do, and one that we cannot sway. It’s a danger to the Wolfpack. I’m sure of it.”

“But what can we do about it?” A third scientist barked from his table, as he was welding machine parts together. “We’re just the guys they lock up in the labs and ask to make stuff that makes them and the cause better. Everyone else gets to go out there and raid these planets, while we’re the sorry schmucks that don’t even get a single bit of credit.”

“And all the while, those higher up the food chain get everything that they want no matter when they want it.” Another lady wolf spat as she smashed her claws into another table. “And even then, those blowhards up there can’t even keep control of who’s running this outfit. First we lose Siel’Viz—who I will have you know, is a certified war veteran—and now we’ve got those prisoners running this whole outfit? What in the seventy-nine million systems above is happening up there?!”

“Tch. Wolfpack’s falling apart day by day. All because of those Power Rangers.” The first wolf scoffed as he began to compare another video’s footage. “Whatever Mar’Zek saw in those girls, I’ll never know. And yet for some reason, their victories are almost hypnotic in a way. I can’t get them out of my head no matter how hard I try.”

“Have you ever thought to bring this up with Head Scientist Vi’Al, by any chance?” The other male wolf in the room asked, pulling his head away from his assembly job. “That the morale in the Wolfpack is beginning to decline?”

“He’s the head scientist, sure. But he thinks he’s so smart that he gets his own private lab, for god’s sake. Says he never even has any time for neophytes like us.” The first lady wolf just went over towards a machine and examined the ship’s current electronics to see if everything was in working order. A quick sweep of the Alpha Slayer’s blueprint revealed a blinking red light in one of the aft areas.

“Flow to the engines is beginning to slow down. It’s probably because of how idle this ship is. Why don’t these top dogs as they call themselves just drive the Alpha Slayer down to the planet right now? Give these things an actual workout instead of just leave us drifting here like the slag of a scrapped starship?”

“Why if Mar’Zek was here…” said another wistfully. “He wouldn’t stand for this. Having those lunatics in charge of the Pack goes against everything we believe in! They won’t even leave us with a planet to conquer!”

“Those punks have no right to sit on his throne! They simply stole his mantle by rallying everyone else who got sick and tired of having to wait. And in doing so, they’ve skewered the entire balance of power, leaving everything for themselves!” A further wolf drove his claws into the wall and slashed across them; the grinding sound of metal being torn apart by sharpened alien wolf claws causing the other wolves to instinctively put their hands to their ears to blot out the noise. “The Feral Five might be running this show, but they are no captains in my mind.”

“Then it’s settled,” the female wolf said with a smirk. “We bring our true captain back from the dead.”

Silence filled the air as the wolves let the idea sink in. The resurrection of Captain Mar’Zek, with the chance for him to take back his rightful place and finally eliminate the Feral Five brewed with each passing moment. For things to be put back to the way they were. Many possibilities filled the minds of the scientist wolves. Praise from Mar’Zek. Scorn from the Feral Five for allowing his reincarnation. Fear from the Rangers knowing that the true Wolfpack leader was back in the saddle again.

“A very interesting proposition, I say.” A male wolf put the tips of his paws together and smirked. “We should move forward with it.”

“And I know exactly how,” the female wolf -Kin’dred- said before opening up a cupboard and pulling out a familiar piece of bloodstained armor.

“...is that?” someone breathed.

“The last recoverable piece of our grand captain’s armor, and with it the last piece of his soul,” Kin’dred smiled.

“You are aware that by attempting this,” one of the others warned. “That he may not come back as we used to know him.”

“Anything is better than those lunatics,” Kin’dred said. “Began the preparations!”

Over the coming hours, the team of scientists put their plans into action. Now gathered around one large table with the piece of armor resting daintily on it, the wolves were setting themselves to work on machinery. It was almost, in a way, like a space-age operating theatre with how many monitors were set up around it. Other machines were hooked up to the table and to the other gadgets that formed a metallic ring around the armour. Buttons were being pressed and notes were being shared between the wolves. Everyone was hard at work and trying their best to work as hard as possible. It was only a matter of time before their true captain came back.

“How’s the magnetic stability?” One of the scientists asked. “We need to make sure that we hit the right kind of frequency to create a positive enough charge to create a Lazarusian effect that will resurrect our captain.”

“Frequency’s holding. But these machines aren’t designed for really heavy-duty operations. It might be that we need to borrow some stabilizers if the charge gets too strong,” Kin’dred replied. “It’s better to be safe than sorry. And the less attempts we have at this resurrection, the better.”

“Speaking of which, when the captain does come back, how exactly is he going to be able to fight the Feral Five?” One of the scientists brought up. “All of the technology on his person was destroyed at the moment of his ejection into the sun, and the rest of his technology now rests in the hands of the Feral Five. All that he’ll have left is his own strength and his willpower.”

“Exactly,” Kin’dred said. “You forget, before he hoarded technology to himself, Mar’Zek was a champion of the gladiatorial arena. He rose to his position not via what he found by conquest, but by sheer ability.”

“Right. So he does have a dominant strength advantage. But still, the Feral Five are dangerous for a reason. One of them bends minds, another is a constantly-evolving machine, the third is a master of guns, the fourth turns everything she hates into stone, and the leader is in a class of his own,” another wolf piped in. “We’ll need to make the captain even stronger in order to compete.”

“Your underestimate our captain,” Kin’dred said. “He has the ability to adapt to any situation. All of the technology he hoarded over the years? It made him grow fat and proud. His arrogance blinded him from the possibility of being beaten. I love our Captain, but that is the sad truth of the matter.”

“The greatest weakness he ever had. And he didn’t see it right in front of his face. Well, that’s surely something that’ll be stomped out once this resurrection project comes to fruition, won’t it?” He spoke to Kin’dred.

Kin’dred nodded before shouting: “THROW THE SWITCH!”

The switch was thrown, and the machines around the armor came to life. The lights grew brighter, the humming of the devices increased in pitch, and the contraption ready to resurrect Mar’Zek was beginning to spark to life. Electricity coiled around the armour, tiny forks of energy crackling around it, until finally at last, the armor plate was ensnared by a ferocious cage of electricity that lifted it from the ground and filled the room with a violent blue and white light as the sparks began to fly.

“Align the conductors! Prime the trigger for revival!” Kin’dred remarked to two other wolves operating at another end of the room. And as she spoke, they were already typing in commands into their portions of the machine. The lightning that struck the armour from all sides coalesced into multiple, focused beams of pure energy that grew stronger when focused. The armour itself still held underneath the electricity, but was now completely coated in it.

Then, with a blinding flash of light, the Captain of the Wolfpack was reborn. He flexed his muscles, Kin’dred staring starstruck as the massive wolf stepped out of the machinery.

“So, alive again am I?” Mar’Zek said in his deep, slightly raspy voice. “Tell me what has happened. All of it.”

The room was a clamor of noise, all of the scientists talking over each other. Mar’Zek raised his hand, and looked towards one of them.

“Stop,” he said. “Speak to me, you there. Kor’Zak is it?”

“Yes. Captain.” he obediently knelt before him.

“Tell me. What have those PEONS done to MY Wolfpack?” He snarled, tightening one of his paws into a fist.

“Well, captain. The Wolfpack have now established complete and total dominance over planet earth, yet the Power Rangers also managed to get their seventh ranger, a new giant mech for said seventh ranger, and they are now working to take back the planet that the Feral Five stole from them,” Kor’Zak explained as cohesively and as quickly as he could.

“THEY’VE DONE WHAT?!” Mar’Zek snarled, his fur bristling with rage. “THIS IS WHAT THEY’VE LED MY PACK TO?”

“Yes. And they’ve completely skewed the pack along with it,” Kin’dred added in. “Now, the Wolfpack are divided. And because of it, we are losing more and more crewmembers, along with the hounds that they were dispatched with.”

“But…” Mar’zek said. “I assume this isn’t the worst news you have for me?”

“W-Well, n-no sir,” Kor’Zak stammered out. “Ahl'Mai'Tie. He… He leads the Feral Five, and therefore leads the Wolfpack in your place.”

Mar’zek’s meaty fist slammed into a computer console, utterly destroying it. “...so that’s the way it is. They intend to destroy us all. This cannot stand. You two, Kor’Zak and Kin’dred. You have done well this day. I shall see it you are promoted to my chief scientists as soon as I reclaim my chair.”

Both scientists shared a shocked look before Kor’Zak spoke again. “There… there will be resistance, you know.”

“Let them come,” Mar’Zek said cracking his knuckles. “I welcome the challenge. The day those fools decided to throw their lot in with the Feral Five, they have become… loose ends. They must be cut. But you are quite correct, I cannot hope to take this ship back alone. I believe a… distraction is in order.”

“A distraction?” Kin’dred asked. “What kind of distraction, captain?”

Mar’Zek grinned, and Kin’dred felt a wave of happiness go through her. Their true leader had returned.

One wolf was sent flying into a wall as Mar’Zek smashed his way into the prison block. Whispers rippled through the cells as the leader strode his way into the cellblock.

“Is that…?”

“Can it be…?

“Has he truly returned?”

“No, that’s not possible!”

“Is it a ghost?”

Mar’Zek shot some glances at the people around him who spoke of him. And as his eyes met theirs, shivers ran down their spines as their bodies made noises accompanying that fear.

“Behold, I have returned to save you from this perilous hour. The Feral Five were a mistake, one which I seek to correct. And I have learned. I know what it’s like to lose, to feel desperately you’re at your moment of triumph and yet failure still rushes up to greet you. A glimpse at triumph, however fleeting. It has taught me something. Victory must be fought for. And loss is only for the weak, which I shall never be again. Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives all the same. And the Feral Five’s only destiny… is death.”

There was a clamour of discussion between the inmates as the captain’s words sank in. If he truly was alive, then that meant that the Feral Five had no claim to power. That rallied the prisoners even more, and a resounding wave of cheers burst up from their cells.

“On your orders, captain.” One of the prisoners spoke with a snake-like voice. “Tell us what you want and we will deliver.”

“Chaos,” Mar’Zek said. “Deliver this ship unto chaos, I want the Feral Five to know they are not omnipotent.”

He pried open a cell door, behind it twin skeletal beings with cybernetic enhancements complete with nasty looking arm blades. Tubing erupted from their backs and shoulders driving itself into their skulls. “Brothers Dreadknight. You shall lead the charge.”

“Yes sir!” they saluted, and brought their blades to life. The weapons glowed a sharp orange.

He ripped open another cell door, where a poor unfortunate soul lay dead. “Khaotic. You lived so well, and yet so short. However, your weapon shall serve me in my time of need.”

He walked into the cell and frisked the corpse of Khaotic to find what he was looking for. Smiling, he fished the weapon from his body, and ignited it. Twin red axe blades hummed and crackled with energy. His prize in hand, he left the cell behind.

“As for the rest of you…” Mar’Zek addressed the other prisoners and let another set out of their cells. Creatures of all shapes and sizes burst free of their confines. “Go now. Send the Alpha Slayer into chaos! Deliver anarchy! Cull the herd! Do everything you can to break the Feral Five’s hold on MY pack!”

It didn’t take long for the prisoners to carry out their Captain’s orders. Now the Feral Five fought a war on two fronts. As the Rangers reclaimed Earth, their ship was now another battleground with madmen running rampant throughout.

As the other prisoners were led out of the block by the Brothers Dreadknight, Mar’Zek stayed behind to free any others with his own bare hands. Either by tearing the walls of the cell off of their hinges or by slicing clean through the locks with his axe. Not a single person stayed behind.

“If you intend to throw me from my throne, be prepared for the consequences that follow.” Mar’Zek muttered to himself as he released another prisoner.

“You were never fit to lead my armies. Only to serve. Nothing else,” He cleaved off another lock and set free another monster. “You grow fat from strength. And that is your weakness. Now, let it be your undoing...”

“Captain. You’re gonna want to see this!” One of the wolves on the bridge of the Alpha Slayer barked as he noticed something on his monitors. He could see video footage of the prisoners that Mar’Zek freed causing chaos among the ship. Brutalising hounds and dismantling everything around them. It was as if they were all behaving like animals down there.

“What is it?” Ahl’Mai’Tie idly flicked his fingers nonchalantly. “Another one of those blockages?”

“It’s the prisoners from the brig. They’ve all been set free!”

Several wolves gasped as they turned their attention from the Hydra Zord tearing through their forces on Earth, and gasped in horror as they saw the leader of the prisoners.

Mar’Zek ripped a piece of the bulkhead straight off the wall and used it as a shield to block laser fire, before tossing it and decapitating several hounds.

“What?!” Mah’Jehs’Tie recoiled in horror at the sight of Mar’Zek. “But we killed him! We personally killed him! How is he still alive?!”

Deh’Mehn’sha just muttered to himself, twitching around like the psychiatric ward lunatic that he was.

“The captain… He transcends death?” He said sporadically. “Well, that’s something you don’t see every day. Forget the hurty dolls down there on earth. I wanna meet this immortal Mar’Zek right now! See what he has in that itty-bitty teeny-tiny brain of his that I can play around with!”

“No… Not yet,” Mah’Jehs’Tie said before shouting at two guards. “SEND EVERYTHING WE HAVE AFTER HIM! He must not, will not reach the bridge!”

Onscreen, Mar’zek bellowed: “Mah’Jehs’Tie, I’m coming for you!”

And deep inside, Mah’Jehs’Tie felt something she hadn’t in a very long time. Fear.

“Whatever cubs decided to bring back that waste of space’ll be hearing from me once this is all over.” Uhp’Grahy’Der remarked. “In the meantime, I’ll override the ship’s interior security and rebrand Mar’Zek as a foreign threat. That’ll shut him down.”

He went over towards one of the consoles, pushing the wolves out of the way. Simply by laying his hand on it, Uhp’Grahy’Der’s armour began to glow a shade of green light that trickled down his hand and into the machine. Technological particle effects appeared as he performed an override on the consoles. The screens showed Mar’Zek, changing his status from an ally of the Wolfpack to a threat. And as soon as it did, alarms blared all throughout the ship that alerted the other Wolfpack members.

“You think you’re strong because you can cheat death, old friend?” Ahl’Mai’Tie spoke as Uhp’Grahy’Der returned to his chair. “No. You were never strong. You were simply carried away. You never could lead the Wolfpack like we do. This. Changes. Nothing!”

Mar’Zek was like an unstoppable force of nature, scything through the Loyalists like they were paper. His sheer strength alone was enough to disembowel any grunts with a single strike, and when he tackled others, their bones and other things that held them together were flattened under his strength. Snarling as a true wolf would, he pounced off of his next prey and barreled into a horde of hounds with guns, guns that tried to shoot him down mid-leap but failed to connect with his rampant body as it drove into them.

“Come on!” He barked as more Wolfpack grunts scurried into the room, noticed their dead compatriots, and the captain that had been shredding them apart.

“COME ON!” Mar’Zek roared as he sprinted into the new wolves, impaled one with his claws, threw that wolf into another wolf, grabbed another grunt by its leg and smashed it into the other hounds around him. “What are you to me?! You are nothing!”

He punched another hound across the room, before striding forwards resting his axe upon his shoulder.

“Is this the best you can throw at me? Is it Mah’Jehs’Tie?” Mar’Zek roared backhanding another hound Loyalist. “Is this the best your army can muster up? I can see why they flocked to you, they’re so weak they’d never be able to make it in my personal troop!”

It was then that he heard the alarms ringing out through the ship and the interior defense mechanisms springing to life. Turrets poked out of the walls and began raining bullets around him; ones that he had to block using the bulkhead piece once more. He ran towards a turret using the shield as cover, then ripped it off of the wall and hurled it into the other one, causing both of them to crumble.

“I OWN this ship, Mah’Jehs’Tie. I know it inside and out,” he said. “You think I don’t know how to beat my own ship? What a waste...”

He ran down one of the corridors into the next room of his stolen ship.

Grabbing another Loyalist hound, he slammed his face into the bulkhead grinding it alongside the metal walls before tossing the wolf behind him.

“This. Is. My. Ship!” Mar’Zek declared as the other wolves in the area charged in from all sides, only for him to jump straight up. As he did so, he tossed the bulkhead down on top of the four wolves, squashing all of them at once.

“Correction,” said a voice as Mar’Zek went flying. A massive gargoyle-like creature, arms replaced with piledrivers slammed his weapons into the floor, creating a shockwave. “This was your ship. Now it is only the Feral Five’s. You died once. You can be killed again.”

“Tectonic,” Mar’Zek took a few paces to the left. “You changed hands so easily, did you? Whatever happened to you? You were loyal to me once. Shouldn’t you be happy that I’m back?”

“You were weak, you failed to defeat the Rangers when you had the chance. Multiple chances in fact. You betrayed us Mar’Zek,” Tectonic said dashing forwards and smashing his former leader through several walls. He sounded… sad to fight his former Captain. “I am sorry for this, but you had your time. Now you are nothing but a ghost of the past, and it is my job to lay you to rest.”

“I’m sorry too. Your people were such a brave and mighty species. To stomp out the last of them, well… it’s a loss I’ll have to take.” Mar’Zek got back up and charged towards Tectonic. He saw one of his piledriver hands jabbing towards him, only for him to run on top of it. Mar’Zek rode it back to Tectonic, and drove his foot into the gargoyle’s head. Tectonic staggered, only to soon brush it off and slap Mar’Zek away.

The wolf rolled along the floor, before Tectonic drove his hands into the floor once more and sent him skywards. Tectonic slammed one arm into Mar’Zek, smashing him through another wall.

“I always wanted to spar with you someday. A pity that this has to be the reason I get to fight you.” Tectonic simply ran through the wall and tried to drive his body into Mar’Zek, but the wolf simply rolled away from his next punch and leapt for his chest, driving Tectonic into the ground.

So Tectonic improvised, driving his piledrivers into Mar’Zek’s chest and making him stagger. One mighty slap from the gargoyle’s arms sent Mar’Zek spinning out of control. Tectonic floored him with another punch.

“Nngh…” Mar’Zek realised just how mortal he really was without all of his tech. Outside of the armour, he was nothing more than another wolf with nothing but his muscles to his name. And that meant that he couldn’t go around saying that he was strong and drop his guard. The last thing that he wanted was to leave himself open in the state that he was in.

“I am sorry,” Tectonic said apologetically, raising one of his piledrivers for the final blow.

“As am I.” Mar’Zek grabbed Tectonic’s arm and ripped it straight off, -sparks flying from the mechanical socket- before using the very same arm to strike the other arm clean off. “It didn’t have to end this way. But alas, life is never fair, is it?”

Using the two dislodged arms, he smashed Tectonic’s head in half, causing the gargoyle to fall apart in a spectacle of cascading stones and rocks.

Mar’Zek looked upon the remains, oddly silent. Was this what he had been reduced to, killing old friends for the sake of reclaiming his chair? If this was a victory, he’d hate to see what a loss was.

“It sickens me to do this. It really does,” He sighed as he laid his hands on the pile of stones one last time and trudged away from the remnants of Tectonic. “I promise you. When I retake this ship, I will avenge you…”

He continued onwards, cutting down anyone who stood in his way. He passed through the core room, plasma inducers providing super-heated energy to the rest of the ship. Below, a pool of searing hot industrial waste. Even to him, he seemed tiny in comparison to the core of the Alpha Slayer; as did the other wolves who worked deep below to make sure that the waste was taken care of. There was very few security in the room, as a fight in the core of the ship would damage the core and send the ship into a meltdown state. The last thing that the Wolfpack wanted was for their flagship to explode in a spectacle of metal and embers.

Then, from out of the fiery waste leaped a demonic hellbeast, his veins glowing orange as he upper-cutted Mar’Zek into the room above. As Mar’Zek recovered, wiping away the blood from his chin, the monster erupted twin blades of fire from his arms.

“You are not the captain.” The monster hissed as it clambered up into the room, leaving fiery pools where its blades touched. “You are dead…”

“Oooh, such witty banter,” Mar’Zek said retrieving his axe. “And here I was hoping we could exchange such interesting barbs.”

“I have no time to talk with a ghost.” The monster hissed as its hooves brought it into the room. “Your rebirth has not gone unnoticed. The Wolfpack knows that you are alive. And your rebellion will amount to nothing.”

“Yes, well, I was hoping they’d take notice,” Mar’Zek said, leveling his axe at the monster. “They couldn’t live with their own crippling failure, so that brought them back to me. Now, have at thee!”

The satyr-like lava monster snarled, charging towards Mar’Zek with its horns pointing straight towards his former captain. A demonic roar came out of its mouth as it tried to run down the wolf, only for him to smash into a wall.

Mar’Zek grabbed it, pulling the beast out of the wall and slamming it into the floor.

The beast covered, and tossed an orb of searing green plasma at Mar’Zek. He side-stepped and slashed at the creature, making it bleed magma. He was punched in the face, Mar’Zek staggering from the force of the blow.

“Always did feel cozy in those lava pools, didn’t you?” Mar’Zek remarked as he looked around the room for something that could work in his advantage. He found a canister of some sort and rushed towards it.

“But that works against you as it works for you,” Mar’Zek snatched the canister and tossed it towards the Satyr. And as it collided with the magma-body of the beast, it exploded in a frosty burst. The canister was one of the stockpiles of the ship’s coolant; one that was working wonders at freezing the beast’s chest.

Unfortunately, living in the plasma pool did wonders for one’s body heat. The ice melted in a cloud of steam, and as Mar’Zek’s eyes widened, he was sent flying through another wall via plasma ball.

A turret popped down from the ceiling, riddling Mar’Zek with laser fire and keeping him from going on the offensive. Or the defensive actually, and he was punched into the bulkhead by the magma beast.

Sadly, the magma beast was so huge, it had managed to rip the turret from the ceiling when charging. Mar’Zek recovered, and slid under his opponent picking up the gatling gun.

He pulled the trigger, and the gun’s barrels wound themselves up with a whirring sound. Then, they riddled the monster with laser fire. The bullets pierced through the monster’s body, leaving massive holes in their wake. And although the holes were being filled back up with the very magma that held it together, the holes were popping in faster than they were being healed and it ultimately caused the beast to stagger backwards.

But finally, the gatling gun overheated, it’s barrels blazing red-hot. Mar’Zek, with a growl tossed the weapon aside with a loud clatter and reignited his axe. He sliced into the hell satyr several times, magma oozing to the floor.

He leapt backwards to avoid a swipe from one meaty fist, but his opponent slammed its arm blades into the floor. Twin walls of fire rushed towards the former Captain of the Wolfpack.

Mar’Zek just made a snarling noise and ran through the corridors of flame as fast as he could, speeding towards the satyr as fast as he could, walls of fire clapping like hands behind him. He slid underneath the legs of the beast as the final walls of fire smashed into each other. He rebounded off the wall, and kicked the monster in the head making it stagger.

Mar’Zek sliced into the creature several more times, before the monster finally collapsed. Falling forwards, Mar’Zek was forced to side step lest the massive beast fall on top of him and squash him.

Letting out a triumphant howl, Mar’Zek let the whole ship know of his victory. He marched down the nearest corridor, only one destination in his mind. It was time to end this farce once and for all. With a low growl, he uttered: “Mah’Jehs’Tie, I’m coming for you!”

“This is absurd! How is he slaying everything around us?!” Mah’Jehs’Tie demanded as she watched Mar’Zek run off to the next portion of the ship. “At this rate, he’s going to exhaust our crew before the Power Rangers!”

Then, the bridge doors were kicked in and in walked Mar’Zek, a seething cauldron of unbridled rage.

Right behind him was Kin’dred. “REJOICE, FOR THE TRUE CAPTAIN OF THE WOLFPACK HAS COME TO RETAKE HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE!” she proclaimed as the angry wolf strode forwards, his axe blade creating sparks as it was dragged along the ground.

“You’re awfully brave, coming to face us after we slayed you once.” Ahl’Mai’Tie stood up boldly from his chair and walked towards Mar’Zek with his hammer gripped tightly in his hands. “You would think that, after one death, you would learn to stay dead. Or at least learn not to meddle in affairs that are far above you.”

“Yes, well, haven’t you heard? You can’t keep a good dog down. All good dogs go to heaven, guess where I went? It only made me stronger,” Mar’Zek said. “In all my years of conquest, violence, slaughter, it was never personal. But I'll tell you now… I’m going to enjoy this.”

“Why don’t we make this battle more… fitting?” Ahl’Mai’Tie banged the end of his hammer against the ground. It didn’t take long for the bridge to contort and change. The walls and ceiling shifted and all of the crewmembers and their consoles were moved underground. The holes were filled with empty space. Now, the bridge; more befitting of an arena, was bathed in the light of the sun from afar. And as it was, Ahl’Mai’Tie’s hammer glowed an ethereal shade of orange as it bathed in the sun’s light.

“If I’m going to execute you, I might as well do it properly…”

“You really are an idiot,” Mar’Zek decided. “I made my mark in the gladiatorial pits, back when I was only just a simple miner. Now look at where I am.”

“And look how far you’ve fallen,” Ahl’Mai’Tie said.

“...look who I’ve risen above.” Mar’Zek deadpanned.

“You seem to underestimate me.” Ahl’Mai’Tie raised his hammer high and smashed it into the ground, causing giant, yellow, fiery drakes to spit out of the hammer and dance around his side. “In the light of the sun, my power grows…”

“I’m well aware of your sun powers. That’s the reason why I chose you in the first place. But even the sun is not invincible. It wears out eventually,” Mar’Zek cracked his neck and bore his claws out towards the Feral Five as the rest of them stood up and joined their leader. Slashing through the sun drakes, Mar’Zek welcomed the challenge. “Now, who’s first?”

Uon’Buh’let was the first to meet Mar’Zek’s challenge. He raised his rifle high into the air and locked the crosshairs onto Mar’Zek. A simple pull of the trigger and a sniper shot spat out of the barrel.

Mar’Zek sliced it in half with his axe. Then, he ran towards Uon and ran him into the ground. As he stood on top of the wolf, trying to gnash at his face to rip it off, Uon just reached down his side and pulled out a serrated knife, slicing it across Mar’Zek’s cheek. Once he saw Mar’Zek stagger, he kicked him off and rolled back onto his feet, then pulled out a small sidearm and let some shots ring out.

“A marksman isn’t all sniper tricks, you know.” Uon declared as he switched from his sidearm to his sniper again. As soon as he pulled the barrel up, he fired, not even bothering to look down the sights. One shot and he was back to his sidearm in case Mar’Zek tried to charge in.

Mar’Zek slashed forwards, sending an arc of red energy towards the sniper. “Oh please. You forget, I know everything about my prisoners. That includes what their weapons can do.” he remarked.

“Do you know everything about me?” Uon made himself invisible; cloaking himself as a true sniper would. “Do you really know everything about me, Mar’Zek? I think not.”

Mar’Zek turned and slashed him down. “...I know you talk too much.”

“Ugh…” Uon glared at Mar’Zek. It would take more than a single slice to take him out, though. And he pointed the barrel of his sidearm at the captain’s knees and opened fire. The shots did cause the captain to stagger, but not cause any major harm. Still, it gave Uon the moment he needed to roll away and get to a safe distance so he could shoot some more.

Mar’Zek just ran towards Uon and, as he did, he watched the beast raise his rifle again. Another shot was fired out, but he swerved out of the way in time. Another shot was fired, and he evaded that. It was as if he knew Uon’s movements inside and out. Even when he went invisible, he had been anticipating it and swung both of his claws out low to stop him from getting away.

Mar’Zek grabbed him and tossed the insane sniper behind him. Ripping off a device from his armor, he crushed it in his paw. “No Feral Fury for you.”

Mar’Zek brought the axe down.

The remaining Feral Four’s eyes widened.

“You…” Uhp’Grahy’Der twitched as he watched the dead body of his comrade. “You…” He seethed with rage as his Infinitox Armor glowed as red as the blood that trickled across the floor. “YOU ANIMAL!”

He roared, and as he did, machine-like particle effects spawned turrets on his shoulders, as well as wrist-mounted guns on his arms and jets on his feet, legs, and back.

“Well, I am a wolf…” Mar’Zek drawled running forwards before taking a leap and slamming into Uhp’Grahy’Der with a diving kick.

“You think that by killing one of us you’ve won this? No!” Uhp seethed and smashed his hands together. He materialised a metallic sword.

“Upgrade!” He declared as he drove his paw into the centre of the sword, causing the sword to become cocooned in the same energy that had created it. Once the cocoon burst, the sword had become a laser-bladed sword that thrummed with energy as he swung it. “I upgrade anything I touch, you fool.”

“Nice to know,” Mar’Zek said, wrenching Uhp’Grahy’Der’s paw forwards onto his axe blade. It crackled and hummed with energy, more powerful than ever. One single slash ripped through Uhp’Grahy’Der’s armor.

Another slash sent twin wolves of energy at Uhp’Grahy’Der, ripping off more armor parts. Again, no Feral Fury for this one. Mar’Zek raised his axe blade above his head, and then brought it down.

“...wow, Feral Three. Can’t even have that funky alliteration anymore,” he deadpanned. “Damn shame.”

“Enjoy your moment, ‘Captain’. It won’t last,” Ahl’Mai’Tie folded his arms and turned his back away from him. “You’ve caused far too much damage here as it is. And I’ve got no time to entertain your prattle. I’d advise you step down and learn your place, ‘Captain’. Before things get ugly for all of us.”

He slammed his empowered hammer into the ground; the resounding noise echoing throughout the entire bridge.

“You took my pack, my pack and turned it into a joke,” Mar’Zek replied. “I think not.”

“Nor do I if you think you can wrest MY pack from me. Plus, you’ve been spending far too much time on this ship.” Ahl’Mai’Tie simply returned to his chair. “You need to take some time off. See the world. Or whatever’s left of it.”

And the next thing Mar’Zek knew, his whole world became a flash of blue light.

He found himself in a forest, Kin’dred and Kor’zak at his side. Mar’Zek sighed, and looked skywards. “Ah well, the damage is done,” he muttered. “It’ll be at least a week before they manage to sort this out.”

And then came the cocking of energy pistols.

“Put your hands where I can see…” a familiar southern accent said as the Rangers stepped out of the gloom. Applejack’s helmet retracted, and her eyes widened. “Mar’Zek?”

Author's Note

BIG thanks to The Bricklayer for the help with this particular chapter. Thanks, man. Couldn't have done this without you.

Kagayaki

“Oooooooh, Japan, Japan!” Pinkie said as she practicality danced in place, her and AJ teleported into a path deep inside the forest. “Always wanted to be here, think they’ll offer us some ramen if we save their country? Cause I’m telling you, I want the biggest bowl of ramen on offer here! Cause honey, saving the world? It builds up a biiiiiiiiiiggg appetite!”

“We’re not here on a sight-seein’ tour, Pinks,” Applejack reprimanded. “We’re here to save the world from that nasty Wolfpack.”

“Gotta think ahead AJ. When, not if we beat those meanies. When!” Pinkie said.

“...wish I was as optimistic about our chances, Pinks,” Applejack sighed. “Yeah, there’s seven of us now, thank the Lord for that but… we’re still fightin’ a losing battle here. So far, we’ve only managed to take down 40% of the Wolfpack’s generals. They’ve still got encampments all over the world, roundin’ up the populace and our numbers are spread pretty thin as it is!”

“Yeah, but we’ve gotten even cooler since we first started. I mean, hello! We’ve got super cool new power ups, I mean have you seen Rarity and Sunset’s new forms? Plus, new ranger and super awesome new ultra zord! Wham, bam, thank you ma’am as it hits you with five elements at once!” Pinkie squeed. “Oh yeah, who’s awesome? We’re awesome!”

AJ quickly shushed Pinkie as she heard something off in the distance.

“Hush,” Applejack murmured. “I don’t quite think we’re alone out here.”

Of course they weren’t. After all, with Wolfpack hounds everywhere chances are whoever was in charge around here probably knew they were coming. That did wonders for Applejack’s confidence. Heck, knowing the Pack’s sense of humor, they’d probably send ninjas up to face them. Ninjas, like actual ninjas of death.

Not the superpowered stereotype Japanese manga liked to portray, the ones that did everythin’ but hide in the shadows. No, the black and assassination skilled ninjas that history told of. Ones with shurikens and blowpipes with poison darts.

“...must be near a lake,” Pinkie whispered, pressing her fingers together nervously. “‘Cause it’s gettin’ awfully misty. Can’t see worth squat right now. Oh, this is bad bad bad! It’s prime fuel for an ambush right about now…”

“Don’t say ambush,” Applejack said. “Please don’t say ambush. Cause if you say ambush, there’s going to be an ambush.”

“So, um, what. You want me to say surprise party instead?” Pinkie asked. “Cause it basically means the same thing if you think about it long enough.”

Applejack rolled her eyes as the two continued trudging forwards through the mist. Then, Applejack let out a yelp as she and Pinkie tumbled down the hillside and landed next to a lake, their faces caked in earth and snow.

“...well, if the Hound Ninjas don’t get us first, it’ll be our own clumsiness,” Applejack deadpanned and picked herself up off the ground, dusting off her clothes. Taking a step forwards, she kept her morpher on standby. Just in case.

Could never be too careful these days.

“Oh, this mist ain’t all natural, I think,” Applejack muttered. “Somethin’s real fishy about all of this, don’t you reckon?”

“Maybe it’s the fish?” Pinkie mumbled, with a fish in her mouth. Applejack stared at her. “...what? Girl’s gotta eat, and hey if I can’t have my ramen I’ll work us up some sushi!”

“Pretty sure you need squid for that one, Pinks,” Applejack said. “But I’m sayin’, something’s strange about this forest. This mist. It’s just giving me goosebumps.”

“Hey, question,” Pinkie said. “You think geese, or is it geesai get goosebumps? Or do they get people bumps?”

“...what does that have to do with the conversation?” Applejack asked in annoyance.

“Sorry, just thinkin’ out loud,” Pinkie said. “It’s a perfectly valid question. Isn’t it?”

Applejack snorted. “You keep being you, okay Pinkie?”

Applejack then opened her comms. “Hey Elaris, is it just me or do things seem mighty quiet around here? Like, when we flew over Japan, it seemed that the Wolfpack hadn’t grabbed a real foothold around these parts.”

“It is rather strange,” she admitted. “Something… I don’t know what it is, but something I can’t quite pinpoint is happening in Japan. I’m having the ship’s sensors scan the area, but there’s something in the air. Like some… energy that’s so different compared to the rest of the planet’s. I’d almost compare it to your own, but there’s a few minor fluctuations that… I’ll try to compensate. I’ll call you back when I have more information.”

“Huh, that is strange. So what, are there Rangers like us here in Japan?” Pinkie asked. “Because if there were, that would be so cool! Hey, maybe we can swap notes! ...or maybe more. Ooooh, I’d love a foreign boyfriend. Let me tell you, Star Hunter? He has this girlfriend in Japan, won’t tell me what she does but apparently it’s something really cool.”

“Star Hunter?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

“...what, you don’t know him? Oh, yeah, he’s one of those guys who has a tendency to fade into the background. No offense intended. No relation to Star Tracker, though they’re both in the astronomy club,” Pinkie said. “He’s kinda quiet, though let me tell you, if you get him going on about things like the constellations he will yammer on and on about it. Whoever his girlfriend is out here, she’s probably a really great listener.”

“Whoo, seems like the mist is finally clearing a bit,” AJ said as they stumbled out of the forest and managed to find an old shrine. Old, yes, but fairly well kept. But for obvious reasons, right now completely abandoned.

Bells chimed in the wind as Applejack and Pinkie slowed to a halt, both getting that odd feeling they were being watched. Then the feeling was gone.

“Come on, let’s just find the general controlling this part of the planet, kick his ass and get out of here,” Applejack said. “...cause something about this place gives me the creeps, and frankly? I don’t want to stay here any longer than I have to.”

Unknown to them, a bird flew away into the trees from atop the shrine and found it’s master. Upon learning of what it had to say, the man smiled. “...so it's finally time huh?”

Tokyo was a ghost town, a bit of a far cry from the usual bustling city everyone saw on TV.

Cars lay abandoned in the street, devoid of occupants. Unusually, one had seemingly been sliced in half.

“...Should we be worried?” Applejack asked upon passing the car.

“Probably…” Pinkie squeaked out.

“Yeah, probably…” Applejack agreed nervously. “...let’s move on, and find this guy alright?”

Mythical legends told of monstrous demons in the mountains, rivers and forests of Japan. The Oni. Demons who struck from the shadows and who ate naughty children. Well, in a sense those legends were sorta true, but not completely.

Still, Ibuki mused, it did allow him and his kind to operate with a certain degree of secrecy. Nobody wanted to come looking for an Oni after all.

...even if people still somehow managed to find them anyways.

And sometimes, the Oni found you.

“You know, if we knew you were coming,” said the Man living in the Western Style House. “We would have laid out some food, welcomed you into our home.”

The Woman agreed. “It’s quite rude really, you could have dropped a notice.”

“You know why I’m here,” said their visitor. “Your magic is going to get people killed.”

“I’d say it’s already gotten people killed,” said the Man. “Why are you only coming after us now?”

“Tell me how to stop it,” said their visitor. “Your latest creation.”

“Yes, that’s sadly not something we can answer,” said the Woman. “It would be rude to tell all of our secrets wouldn’t it? Plus, we have a responsibility to our children.”

“Then another question then,” said the visitor. “Why ally yourselves with these invaders? They mean to destroy your homeland, and I will be honest, after they’re done with Japan? Why would they need you around?”

“We’ve come to an agreement,” said the Woman sipping her tea. “Plus, if all of the humans are destroyed, well does it matter what happens to us? Our job is done!”

“You’re insane,” said the visitor. “Both of you.”

“Just looking out for ourselves,” the Man corrected. “We all have to find a way to survive in these turbulent times. Now, I ask you, Iori Izumi, how will you survive?”

The visitor flinched, nobody had called him by that name in a long time. His eyes narrowed, and he cast one last glance at the Man and the Woman. “This isn’t the end of it, you know. After I’m done with your latest nightmare, I’m coming for you.”

“You can try,” the Man said. “But finding us once? That was easy. Finding us twice… well, that’ll take a bit of luck and a bit more time. And I think you’re running out of one of those things!”

Iori grimaced, before he got on his bike and gunned the engine.

Witness, the threat of the ancient samurai! This ronin had given up the honorable ways of the warrior upon his home planet in exchange for power.

Witness, him striking down the invaders for his new Shogun!

Witness, Applejack and Pinkie in peril!

“What is this creep?” Applejack said, swinging her hammer and trying to shatter the monster’s armor, but she was swarmed by cat creatures before she could do so. Grabbing one of the monsters, she hoisted it over her shoulder and slammed it back down into the ground cracking the pavement.

Pinkie just let loose with her wrist blasters, and punched wildly at the air like a mad woman. It was impossible to predict or read her movements.

She spun out of the way to avoid an air slash by the samurai monster, accidentally grabbing one of the tails of the cat creatures. Pinkie let out a shriek as she accidentally pulled it clean off.

But then the cat duplicated.

“Good grief!” Applejack said bringing the hammer down sending the monsters skywards. “Ya don’t think we could just give them all a huge ball of yawn to play with?”

“It’d have to be a big ball of yarn!” Pinkie said, firing skywards. “Here, cats like to play with whatever small stuff they can get their hands on right? Maybe they’ll like confetti!”

The cats all hissed and yowled.

“...I… I don’t think they’re in the mood Pinkie…” Applejack before the samurai was upon them both, slashing them with a single strike and knocking them out of their morphed forms.

The samurai raised his sword, and Applejack whispered: “Sorry mom, sorry da…”

But he didn’t get a chance to bring it down, before he staggered under a series of rapid fire gun blasts. Bullets of air ripped through his armor, and he let out a roar of shock and confusion.

A man with neatly combed short dark hair stepped out of the shadows, holding an most unusual form of gun. He blew some smoke off of it like an old western cowboy before holstering it. From his pockets, he brought out a whistle and blew into it.

The cat creatures screeched and howled as the wind lashed into them like a gale. A whirling cyclone ripped through the area, and from out of it lunged a demon. No, a man who had chosen up to give his simple mortal life and become an Oni, a warrior of the shadows.

Firing his rifle several times, he dispersed the cat creatures. Barking out a simple order, he said: “Todoroki, now!”

Another oni welding a cross between a war axe and a guitar lept out from over him. He shoved his weapon into the chest of one of the cat creatures, shouting: “Ongeki Zan: Raiden Gekishin!”

Playing a ripping solo, the sheer sound ripped the cat creature apart in a spectacular show of flame and lightning.

“If you don’t want to join him,” the first oni said. “I’d suggest you run.”

The creatures and their master wisely followed his advice, dispersing.

“Who… who are you?” Applejack asked, Pinkie’s eyes wide and seeing stars at the awesomeness just lain before her. The oni resumed his human form, with Todoroki following.

“Name’s Ibuki,” the man introduced himself. “So you’re some of the Rangers everyone’s talking about. “Huh, suppose it was only a matter of time before a Sentai team made it’s way to America…”

“Sentai Team?” Pinkie and Applejack asked in unison before Applejack smiled. “Well, boy howdy! It’s a pleasure to meet y’all. My name’s…”

And then she felt the ground rushing up to meet her…

“She’s exhausted,” the doctor on call, one Asumu Adachi said. “...how long do you say your friend’s been fighting?”

Here, he turned to Applejack.

“Pinkie? Well, shucks…” Applejack didn’t even bother to keep track of the time ever since the Wolfpack made first contact with earth. Especially not with their global domination of the planet. “Way too many fights, is all ah can say. Can’t exactly give y'all an exact number, what with all them hootenannys those wolves keep on having with us. Sorry ‘bout that.”

“You’re both way too tired,” Asumu sighed, writing something on his clipboard. “...but it’s not like the Wolfpack’s given you much of a choice is it? Surprised none of you have collapsed before now.”

“We can’t exactly save the world if we’re collapsed, can we?” Pinkie simply replied as she looked into Asumu’s eyes. “I mean, what can we do if we’re stuck on the ground like limp slugs? Actually, what can slugs even do? I’ve never had the time to find out.”

“Just rest a while,” Asumu said. “If you need anything, buzz me and I’ll come running.”

“If’n ya’ll don’t mind me askin’, who in tarnation are y'all anyways?” Applejack was the first one to ask. “Aside from your names, that is. And what the heck is a… sen-tie team?”

“Sentai, Applejack. S-E-N-T-A-I. It’s a Japanese thing,” Pinkie quickly corrected Applejack. “Plus, we’re not even Japanese. Are we? I dunno. Mom, Dad, Limestone, Marble, even Maud never told me about any Japanese cousins or ancestors…”

“I’m just a friend, that’s all you need to know,” Asumu said before leaving. He rejoined Todoroki and Ibuki, before sighing. “...the Dekarangers would be off-world for this madness wouldn’t they?”

“Well, they are space cops so…” Todoroki said idly, strumming his guitar. “...hey, you sure nobody’s going to talk about… well, you know? We had to cut that uniform off one of them. They’ve got enough things to worry about without their identities being exposed. For god’s sake, they’re only 18.”

“No younger than you were when you started your Oni training with Zanki-San,” Ibuki pointed out. “No younger than Asumu was when he started training with Hibiki-San. Hell, Asumu was even younger than they were!”

“Yes, well neither Asumu or me had to face world ending threats at that age, not unless we wanted to be expelled from our training,” Todoroki said. “They’re practically just kids, those two! They should be in school, not worrying about alien invasions!”

“Yes, well, that’s the way the dice rolls,” Ibuki said and both Asumu and Todoroki stared at him.

“...that’s cold, you know that right?” the guitarist oni said.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” Ibuki said. “What’s happening is happening, and something tells me they weren’t exactly given a choice in the matter. Or if they were, they elected to make that choice for themselves, so some other poor bunch wouldn’t have to take up the powers. I don’t know about you, but I kind of admire that. For me, being an Oni was a duty. Something I couldn’t walk away from. I’m a member of the head family. I’ll be an oni till I die of old age, or someone finally gets lucky and kills me. Those two? Well, they’ll get the chance to hang up their morphers when all this is over. Nobody would fault them, they’ve done their job.”

“But the question is…” Todoroki started sharing a nod with Asumu who knew immediately what he was thinking.

“...would they want to?” he asked before heading back into AJ and Pinkie’s room.

“So. What’s happening?” Applejack asked. “Are we gonna be staying in here for long? Because there’s still a Wolfpack agent running loose in the city that we’ve gotta mop up. The sooner I get those fuzzballs off my home planet, the better.”

“Sorry, just a question, but…” Asumu started. “Do either of you two know what you’re going to do after you ‘get these fuzzballs off your home planet’? Like, answer me honestly, and think about this seriously. Do either of you two know what you’re going to do next?”

“Honestly, ah don’t know. The world’s been too shaken-up by this whole alien invasion as it is.” Applejack put her hands on her laps. “Ah mean, we’ve been invaded by aliens from other worlds. That’s just proven that we ain’t alone out there. Plus, I don’t even know what El’s thinking about doing once we finish our jobs. Don’t even know if ma orchard’s even survived this whole thing. Ain’t even been home since the assault on Canterlot City.”

“I’m going to tell you a story,” Asumu said. “Once there was a boy who thought he knew what he wanted to do with his life, become an Oni and serve his master honestly. But then new possibilities opened up to him, ones where he didn’t have to take lives to save lives. He took this new chance, and never looked back. There’s more than one way to skin a cat, as you Americans say.”

“Speaking of cats, whatever happened to that one we were fighting? Y’know, the one that could copy itself over and over again?” Pinkie asked. “And where can I learn that kind of power? I wanna make so many of me right now, just so I can throw myself a party for once.”

“Focus, Pinks,” Applejack said. “Not rightly sure that’s important right now.”

“Right, right. Sorry. It’s just that the Wolfpack are made from the strongest of the strong in the universe. You ever meet some super-strong guy with powers beyond compare that’s pushed you to the edge? Well, imagine a whole ARMY of those things with many different nasty powers and tricks,” Pinkie told Asumu. “That’s why we HAVE to get back out there, before that super-nasty army of super-powered meanies cause more trouble!”

“I… see. Just think about what I had to say, okay?” Asumu said. “After all this is over, nobody would fault you if you hung up your powers.”

“Personally, I’d like to keep them. In case we get some more varmints trying to invade earth. But…” Applejack looked down at her morpher. “That’s for her to decide; not us.”

“Well, I must respect your diligence,” Ibuki said, poking his head in with a little smile he’d picked up from his fellow Oni, Hibiki. “As for your earlier question, those cat creatures are called Bakeneko. They’re really at their strongest in the summer, but they can appear at any time of year. By pulling off one of their many tails, they can create a one-tailed copy of themself.”

“So… once we get rid of all their tails, that’s it?” Applejack asked. “Don’t see that bad, once you look past the idea of makin’ clones.”

“No, no, didn’t you hear?” Pinkie said. “We’ve got to stop them before they rip their tails off!”

“Right, right. Sorry. I’ve been thinking too much about fighting. One of these days, ah really need to ask Elaris to make some kind of relaxation space for us to cool off a tad. Nothin’ but constant fighting to save the world.” Applejack put her hand to her head and heavily rubbed it. She had been pushing herself far too much. There was a time where she would’ve been proud of a long day’s work, but now that it was nothing but work without a single moment of relief or relaxation, it was starting to break her mind more with each battle.

“Hey, hey. It’s alright, Applejack. We’re all a little bit burnt out by this whole war with the Wolfpack. I’m surprised that Fluttershy’s not broken yet from all of this conflict.” Pinkie gently patted Applejack’s back. “She’s awfully brave to keep on going in the state the world’s in and how… well, Fluttershy Fluttershy actually is. But the way I can see it, if she keeps on being a super-duper superhero, then we have to do the same, right?”

“Y-yeah. Ah suppose.” Applejack just flashed a small grin to Pinkie. “Thanks for the pep-talk there, girl.”

“Anytime, AJ,” said Pinkie.

“So, about that guy in the samurai get-up,” Applejack said. “Who’s he?”

“Didn’t catch his name. But that’s not important. What is important, well he’s an experiment,” Ibuki explained. “Been infused with Makamou genetics. That’s why he’s able to command those Bakeneko. ...but the thing is, all Makamou come in pairs. There’s a Hime out there as well, with our armored friend being the Douji of the two.”

“Great, so there’s two of those rascals to find and fight?” Applejack asked, throwing up her hands in defeat.

“Not to worry,” Ibuki said, pulling out what looked to be little CDs from a briefcase, tapping each one. They all came to life, shifting to the forms of various animals. Wolves, crabs, snakes, apes and hawks. He then pulled out his phone, dialing a number. “...you leave the Hime to me. Time to go hunting. Best part of being part of an organization… you’re never alone.”

Todoroki rushed past, his guitar in hand.

“...guess our Douji doesn’t like to hide, does he?” Ibuki remarked with a wry smile. “You leave this to us, okay? This is what we’re best at.”

“You sure? I mean, we can lend you a ha—”

“Please. For your sake. Stay right there and rest,” Asumu urged as he made a pushing-hand gesture. “You’ve been through far too much with the Wolfpack. You need some rest. A warrior’s death will be swifter, should he overwork himself.”

“But… what about you?” Applejack asked, tilting her head. “Are you sure you’re gonna be alright out there?”

“We’ll be fine,” Ibuki said with a little salute, before chuckling. Huh, it seemed Hibiki had rubbed off on him more than he’d thought.

In a parking garage below ground, he found them. Todoroki slashed and struck at the monster with his guitar, feedback squealing out from the instrument.

“Well, well, well. This is an unusual predicament now, isn’t it?” Said a venomous voice as a samurai draped in yellow and black clothing stepped out of the shadows. He -though it was hard to tell thanks to his female voice- had a large pair of bee’s wings on his back with a sword tucked away in a traditional japanese katana scabbard. He stomped forward a few paces and brought his hand down towards the scabbard. “Whatever happened to the Rangers? I was stationed here because I was guaranteed to crush those teenage girls. But instead, I get you?”

“Yes, funny how that works isn’t it?” Todoroki said. “Guess your audience is a bit wider than you thought! Have to say though, your song is pretty crap though. You’re going to have to take a lesson from a master. Let me show you how to put on a real concert!”

“Sharp talking. Just the way I like them,” he sniggered. “But you should know. The Wolfpack is a hornet’s nest you really don’t want to kick. We’ve proven that we are and always will be the dominant force. What hope do you have against us?” He taunted.

“Man, all I wanted to do was put on a little show for you,” Todoroki sighed before shrugging and planting his boot into the monster’s chest plate, kicking him away. “...oh well, an oni can dream eh?”

He slammed the tip of his weapon into the concrete, before holding up his wrist. On it, a bracelet with a roaring oni face. Flipping the face up, Todoroki ran his finger across the strings beneath it in a quick, furious motion and thunder cracked as lightning split the sky. A jagged bolt ripped through the air as it became thick with ozone, and like Susanoo himself had blessed the man, he was transformed.

The samurai took a step back in shock. This was not something he had seen before. Still. One deep breath later and he returned his hand to the handle of his sword. He was Wolfpack. He was supreme. He wasn’t going to be pushed around by some man who looked like a human guitar. He stood there in wait, as if anticipating Todoroki’s movements and preparing a counterattack.

“Kamen Rider Todoroki, at your service,” Todoroki properly introduced himself, before ripping his guitar out of the ground. Striking at the monster, metal met metal with a loud clang, as sparks flew from two weapons meeting.

“Bee-Ware, from Wolfpack Regiment X-207I, at your service.” The warrior now replied as his blade was now visible. Like everything else about him, it was a yellow and black-striped katana with an exceptionally sharp tip that looked like it could puncture anything. “Not that you’ll be alive long enough to remember all that.”

Another swing of the swords had the same result. Metal blade striking metal blade with neither side backing down for anything. Bee-Ware and Todoroki had a couple more clashes, until finally Todoroki pushed Bee-Ware backwards, causing the aphid warrior to slide on the balls of his feet a few inches backwards.

Bee-Ware let out a roar of rage before slashing forwards, and Todoroki rolled behind a car to dodge the strike. He then kicked the car forwards, pinning Bee-Ware to a wall.

“Ooh, you’re feisty, aren’t you?” He chuckled as he brought the sword straight down onto the roof of the car. With enough force, it was able to split the vehicle in half. He then lunged forward towards Todoroki with the tip of his blade poised and ready to pierce straight through the armour of his foe like a humble bee would sting its prey. This attempt was thwarted, however, when Todoroki bent over backwards and swept Bee-Ware’s legs, knocking the foe to the ground.

“Guess you could say I’m really striking a chord with you,” Todoroki said, picking Bee-Ware up and tossing him through a concrete wall. He leapt into the hole, blocking Bee-Ware’s blade with his axe. “Going to cause a few fender benders, I’d say!”

He punched Bee-Ware in the stomach, making him stagger before striking at the monster with his axe.

“And no, none of those are frets,” Todoroki said, the single horned oni barely holding back a laugh at his own cleverness. “They’re promises.”

“Nngh…” Bee-Ware groaned as he leered at his opponent. “Right then. You wanna play the game like that, do you?” He tilted his head to the side, hearing a creaking noise as he did so. “Well, if that’s the case, then perhaps it’s time I stop being friendly as well.”

He threw his arms to the side and did some kind of ritual, making striking motions with his hands as if dancing. “Jabingudagā no mure!” And as he spoke those words, the sounds of thousands of rushing bees came to his aid; each of them shining a very faint shade of gold. “Come on then, little man. See what your tool can do against this.”

“...pretty sure there are cartoon supervillains more creative than you,” Todoroki said with a drawl. “Bees, really? Amazons Attack already did the deadly bee weapon bit. And I hated that comic.”

“Comic? COMIC?! WE DO NOT USE COMICS TO MAKE OUR ARMIES!” Bee-Ware, offended with that remark, just dashed forward and attacked Todoroki with both a combination of his sword and his now obedient swarm of insects, so that it looked like he was attacking from six different sides at once.

“Damn!” Todoroki swore as he tried his best to fend off the attacks, but the way that the swarm was hitting him was making him lower his guard as he tried to focus on multiple areas at the same time. With a final kick to the chest, Bee-Ware launched Todoroki into one of the cars, which instinctively made its alarm blare.

“...Right,” Todoroki said as he clutched his chest in pain. “Mental note, don’t agitate the supervillain.”

He rolled to the left as Bee-Ware stuck again, slashing the car in half. Todoroki struck at his legs, drawing blood before Bee-Ware spun on his feet kicking Todoroki in the face.

“...I’ve grown bored with you,” Bee-Ware said before snapping his fingers, and with unholy yowls out came the bakenekos. “Time to let the cats out.”

And as he said that, the cat creatures burst through the walls leaving debris in their wake as they stood by Bee-Ware like loyal guardians. The clones only had one tail, while the main cat they all spawned from still had a few tails left to spare.

Todoroki winced in pain, before picking up his guitar. He still had blood to spare. “Where is everyone?” He asked. “Ibuki, hope you’re done with the Hime…”

“Really? Is this all you’ve got? Pah!” Bee-Ware chuckled to himself. “I expected a challenge, but you sorely disappointed Todoroki-San. Oh well, guess it can’t be helped.”

He raised his hand ready to have his ‘pets’ go to work on him. The cats all pounced at Todoroki; claws ready to strike and seal his fate.

Only for a pillar of earth to burst from the ground and smash the cats into another wall. They limply tumbled to the ground, fidgeted around, and locked their eyes on the person who did that. And sure enough, they saw Applejack and Pinkie, fully dressed up and ready to fight. The first thing that they did was scurry over to Todoroki and get him back on his feet.

“You okay there, pardner?” Applejack asked.

“...you should be in bed,” Todoroki said, taking the outstretched hand, and was helped up. “Asumu said it himself, you’re both exhausted.”

“Exhausted doesn’t mean we’re throwing in the towel like that, Todie. The party doesn’t stop because you’re pooped. It only stops when it stops.” Pinkie said as she cocked both of her mini-cannons ready for a fight.

“You’re both insane, anyone ever tell you that right?”

“Trust me. If you’ve seen the stuff we’ve seen, you’d think that we’re perfectly fine.” Applejack said as she brandished her Terra Hammer out at the cats and their leader. “Believe me. This ain’t our first rodeo gig. Never was when those aliens came running.”

Todoroki only mouthed ‘toadie?’ as he watched the two Rangers get to work.

“GET THEM!” Bee-Ware just scowled as he threw his finger forward, which made the cats hiss and charge in on both Applejack and Pinkie again.

Pinkie met the first cats head on by punching them square in their bellies as they came careening towards her; each punch accompanied by a blast from her cannons. Anything else was being struck by Applejack, who was swirling her hammer around and knocking whatever came her way to the side. And when some cats managed to clamp themselves onto her, she slammed the end of her hammer into the ground which caused stones to burst out of the ground like bullets and stagger them off of her body.

“Y’know, all we need is some kind of laser pointer and all of this is over, right?” Joked Pinkie as she gave one of the feral cats a violent belly rubbing, simultaneously pinning it to the ground and scraping its backside at the same time.

“Yeah. But ah don’t think Japan’s made laser-pointers that deal with an invading alien army’s cats yet.” Applejack said as she played croquet using one of the cats as a ball. Knocking it away with her hammer into a pair of other cats, all three of the clones fell in a limp pile. After which, Applejack bounded up and brought said hammer crashing down on top of the pile. But in eliminating the pile of cats, the tails came out of the calamity unharmed and detached. They morphed into more clones and stood defiantly before Applejack and Pinkie.

Then, shots rang out as from the shadows, out stepped Kamen Rider Ibuki. His gun was in hand. Resting it atop his shoulder, he said: “...well, I suppose it couldn’t be helped. You tell the kids to keep themselves in bed, and watch what happens. Honestly, you two are as stubborn as Hibiki.”

“The Hime?” Todoroki asked.

“Dealt with. Just another day on the job,” Ibuki confirmed as he turned his gaze on the bakeneko and Bee-Ware. “Now for them.”

“More allies? Good. Good! Give me a challenge!” Bee-Ware deliriously grinned as he turned his gaze towards Ibuki. “Bring all the friends you want, Power Rangers, because it won’t do you any good!”

The winds howled and lashed through the concrete tunnels as Ibuki began to be surrounded by a whirlwind before emerging from it -boot aimed in a diving kick- with sharp blue armor. Ibuki kicked Bee-Ware, making him stagger back, before firing several tracking shots into the monster’s armor.

He went for his belt, Ibuki attaching the buckle to his gun to form a trumpet. Ibuki shouted: “Ongeki Sha: Shippū Issen!”

Going for his trumpet, he blew into it.The sound ripped through the garage. Then, the armor shattered, and fell to the floor. Bee-Ware snarled in rage. But then Todoroki shoved his axe into his stomach. “Ongeki Zan: Raiden Gekishin!”

Todoroki played a rippling guitar solo, the air heavy with ozone. Bee-Ware stagged, Ibuki letting out a bark of: “Now, Rangers!”

“Ready, Pinks?” Applejack fist-pumped.

“Ready, AJ!” Pinkie replied with her own fist-pump.

“Pink Rollers!” Pinkie announced as wheels appeared on her feet. She sped behind Bee-Ware while he was still staggered.

“Earthsplit Arrows!” Applejack called out as she raised her weapon up high and transformed it into her bow, with her quiver materialising on her back. She took an arrow and loaded it into her bow, drawing back as far as she could.

Applejack fired her arrow and Pinkie charged in on Bee-Ware simultaneously. Both the arrow and the barrage of confetti from Pinkie’s mini-cannons struck Bee-Ware square in his chest and back.

“Twin Collision!” Pinkie and Applejack both called out at the same time as an explosion engulfed Bee-Ware whole, with Pinkie emerging from the fireball as gracefully as an overly-peppy teenage girl on rollerskates could.

Bee-Ware staggered back, before falling backwards in an explosion. Then, he erupted as he grew massive ripping through the roof of the garage. “Hahahaha, at this size I could take over all of Japan, and instill myself as Emperor! Goodbye Naruhito, hello Bee-Ware! Then I’d have my own army of samurai!”

“Wh-what?!” Applejack looked at the monstrous titan that was Bee-Ware. “Elaris! We’ve got a problem! This monster just went super-sized, but it’s not a Wolfpack wolf!”

“What?” Elaris sounded shocked on the other end of the communication. “But how? Unless they’re being amplified by some kind of technology, there’s no way that Bee-Ware could super-size like that. This is bad. Have the Wolfpack managed to crack the threshold restraining their other non-wolf troops?”

“She’s got it! No longer is it just the wolves who have the ability to Feral Fury now!” the samurai said, slicing the tops off skyscrapers with one long beam from his blade. “Try and stop me now!”

He began to march towards the center of town, helpless people on subway trains screaming as he looked in on them.

“...and they say he’s got to go…” Todoroki whispered before asking Ibuki: “You don’t think we can phone Shiratori-San and ask for the Dekarangers’ robos do you?

“Calling Bull Zord!” Applejack declared with a throw of her hand.

“Calling Kangaroo Zord!” Pinkie also replied as she tossed her hand to the side.

And like that, two giant mechanical animals collided with the earth and flourished before Bee-Ware. Applejack and Pinkie barrelled out of the car park and leapt inside, locking themselves into their cockpits and taking hold of the controls as they stared down the monstrous bee-samurai monster.

“Taking care of Bee-siness are you?” Bee-Ware laughed, slashing with his sword only for the Kangaroo Zord to drop kick him in the face. The Bull Zord took advantage of his confusion and rammed him.

“At least he ain’t got no more special tricks when he’s a giant.” Applejack remarked as she readied for another charge. “Pinkie, you ready to curbstomp this jerk?”

Pinkie’s zord was sent flying by a kick from the monster. The Kangaroo Zord tumbled and fell along the road. A few bounces later and the mammal got back onto its’ hind legs and bounded back to the fight.

“Hey, did you see the number of that truck?” A dazed Pinkie Pie asked from inside the mech.

“I’ll give him his number!” Applejack shouted charging to the left to avoid a sword slash, and toppled the samurai by slamming head first into his legs.

“Nngh… Irksome little…” Bee-Ware jabbed the tip of his sword at Applejack trying to stab her bull in the head. But instead, all that his sword poked through was the ground below, down through some pipes and plates of the earth. “Stay still!”

“So you can stab me?” Applejack asked. “Now do I look that dumb? Do I look like an ig-no-rain-moose?”

“Ignoramus.” Bee-Ware corrected.

“Don’t you use your fancy grammar to muddy the issue!” Applejack said ramming him again. “Now speaking of mud, let me stomp a mudhole in your ass!”

“Language.” Bee-Ware tutted as he swept the ground with his sword. Sure enough, it clipped the feet of Applejack’s Zord and toppled it. “Not so brave now, are you?”

“Aw, shut up!” Applejack said as Pinkie smashed her zord’s feet into Bee-Ware’s face again and again. But again, both were tossed into the air. Then, from out of nowhere came a screech as the Phoenix Zord’s claws grabbed hold of Applejack’s zord, while Rainbow’s zord grabbed Pinkie’s by the scruff of its neck.

“Sweet!” Pinkie grinned as she looked at the cavalry of Zords coming to her and Applejack’s rescue. “You’re here!”

“And right on time too, by the looks of it,” Sunset said as she watched Applejack’s zord get back onto its feet ready to keep fighting. “We would’ve got here sooner, but those Twister Sisters didn’t exactly make it easy for us over in Thailand…”

“Especially since they were just three little girls with freaky world-spinning powers. I’d tell you all about it, but I’d rather not think about spinning things anymore today,” said Rainbow Dash.

Then several lightning bolts ripped through the air as the Hydra Zord fired upon Bee-Ware. “Lightning Blast Fever!” called Twilight from inside her cockpit.

“Sorry we took so long, but soon as Elaris clued us in as to what was happening…” Rarity said from inside her zord. “Honestly darling? A samurai? Those are so last century, not fabulous at all!”

Bee-Ware let out a roar charging forwards, blade drawn through the rubble. But all the Zords circled around behind him, tackling the monster to the ground. The earth shook with the force of it all, but soon Bee-Ware forced them off.

“...This guy’s starting to get on my last nerve!” Rainbow grumbled.

“How can it bee your last nerve, Dashie? You’ve only just met him,” Pinkie chimed in. “Personally, he’s on my last nerve. But that’s probably bee-cause I’ve seen him longer.”

“Not the puns..” Rarity and Twilight groaned in unison.

“Can we just blow this guy sky high already?” Rainbow exclaimed.

“I’ll blow YOU sky-high!” Bee-Ware declared as he twirled his blade in a circular motion, sending a shockwave-ring that expanded out, cutting through everything it touched.

“Nothing we do phases this guy!” Sunset said, letting a fire blast fly. A thought sprung to her. “Elaris, do you think it possible we can combine all of our zords, including Twilight’s?”

“It does seem possible. I’m not seeing any incompatibilities on my end,” Elaris replied. “Why not, girls? Give it a go and see what you can come up with.”

“Wow, I was expecting more complications or something,” Rainbow said. “...Like us needing a software update or something…”

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Rainbow,” Rarity said before facepalming as she remembered who they shared the room with, so to speak.

“Hey!” Sunset said.

“...sorry dear.” Rarity giggled nervously.

“Can we just get on with this?” Rainbow said. “AlphaZord combination!”

Parts shifted and moved as all seven zords began to line up and combine. Applejack’s bull served as the chest, as Sunset and Rainbow’s birds stuck themselves onto the back of the thing to create a pair of majestic wings. Pinkie’s kangaroo and Fluttershy’s bear came together to form the arms, while Rarity’s lynx and Twilight’s Hydrazord formed the feet along with a set of armor. Twin hydra heads stuck out as a pair of shoulder pauldrons. With the new zord together, the head popped out last, glowing with all the colors of the rainbow. The new weapon for this new zord was a pair of titanic swords formed from the Hydrazord’s tail, with each one just as sharp as the other. Both blades also had a hilt that shimmered with seven colours; one for each of the Rangers.

“Final Combination: Alphazord, armed and ready for battle!” the rangers called out.

“Ooh! Talk about an upgrade…” said Rarity as she looked around at the new cockpit of their Alphazord. It was glistening on all sides, as if the entire team were operating from inside a crystal cave. The seven terminals that the girls also stood at had more options for them to fiddle around with at their leisure. It also included the same slots for each of their weapons that their previous Zords had, though it looked more like they could be put into the pillar of the terminal, rather than rammed in it.

“A new machine?” Bee-Ware tilted his head as he stared at the new mech standing before him.

“Well then, this should provide some more of that data that poncy scientist is always prattling on about,” He sniggered as he pointed the tip of his blade at the Alphazord. “Come at me, Rangers!”

He slashed at the Megazord as it advanced forwards, only for his blade to break at the third strike. Remnants of his sword tumbled to the ground, landing with a cacophony of clatters. All that was left was the jagged points that still remained of his—now shortened—blade..

“Our turn,” Sunset said, drawing the Mega Swords, before raising them above the Alphazord’s head, and bringing them down. As she did so, a constellation glowed in the sky above, before infusing the swords with glowing stellar energy. “Alphazord: Cassiopeia Strike!”

From head to toe, Bee-Ware was sliced. Cleaved in millions of different patterns, shredded to ribbons. Even the miniscule parts of him that remained were carved up. A tremendous explosion came after that, and the Alphazord stood proudly over the flaming remains of its foe.

“Rangers, this hunt is over…”

Later, Ibuki returned to the house of the Man and the Woman.

“So you’re not dead,” the Man said.

“...what a shame,” said the Woman.

“Yes, well, things happen. I did tell you I’d return though.” said Ibuki casually. Both the Man and the Woman were on edge.

“...what are you plotting?”

“I plotted nothing,” said Ibuki as from out of nowhere both kappa and bakeneko appeared and surrounded the couple. Two cloaked figures, one in white and the other in black also appeared. “I did inform, though. Turns out, your creations aren’t happy that you plotted their eventual starvation.”

“You’re not going to save us?” said the Man. “You really are a demon!”

“No, the true demons are those who turn their back on their children. You call yourselves human, but how many times have you plotted your own race’s destruction? You’ve raised these creatures from birth just to kill your fellow man for the gods only know how long. You’re worse than trash, I almost hope you give your children indigestion,” said Ibuki as he left the area, and screams filled the air.

Night fell over the forests of Japan, and the rangers had been alerted to a strange energy signature by Elaris. There were voices ahead.

“...least a week before they manage to sort this out.”

The Rangers readied their weapons.

“Put your hands where I can see…” Applejack ordered said as the Rangers stepped out of the gloom. Her eyes widened as a sickenly familiar wolf was visible. Though it couldn’t be, he was… But yet he stood in front of them, as if it was a dream. “Mar’Zek?”

Author's Note

Again, MASSIVE thanks to The Bricklayer for helping me write this new chapter. Thanks again, bud. Couldn't keep this good ol' train a-movin' without you. So you guys and gals go and check him out, give him lots of love, and just be nice to him. It's the least you can do for all the hard work he's been doing.

The Enemy of My Enemy

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up a second here.” Rainbow Dash pushed her hands out defensively. “If Mar’Zek’s here, but the Feral Five are running the show, what exactly happened?”

“Long and short, punks decided to have a mutiny against me. Thought for sure that I was dead.” Mar’Zek gruffly retorted. “Fortunately, it helps to have some loyalists among the Wolfpack. People who were fed up with the Feral Five trying to do MY job. So, they brought me back to life.”

“Can’t tell whether that’s a blessing or a curse.” Sunset deadpanned, her sword still in hand. “After all, it just means there’s one more wolf we’ve gotta cut down.”

“I’ve neither the time nor the patience to battle any of you girls right now.” Mar’Zek turned his back. “I need to reclaim my ship from those thugs up there on the Alpha Slayer.” He blew a strand of hair that had fallen over his face. “Unless you ladies know how to fly head-first into a starship armed to the teeth with weapons capable of blasting a Mark 9 Omega-class battleship to smithereens and somehow come out unscathed, that is.”

“I’m trying right now to get us back onto the flagship, but it looks like Vi’Al’s locked us out. Of course, he would…” Kin’Dred was fiddling with a device on her arm, getting an error noise every single time she tried to activate it. “One step ahead, that guy. No wonder you hired him, Captain.”

“He’s always caring about his own agenda. Couldn’t give anyone else but himself the time of day.” A fellow scientist wolf spat at the ground. “Everything’s always facts, figures, data to him. Typical scientist.”

“So… these are… your loyalists?” Twilight asked, examining the Wolfpack scientists accompanying Mar’Zek. “I must say, it’s an awfully small bunch.”

“There’s more aboard the Alpha Slayer, trying to mess with the Feral Five’s remaining members. The chaos they bring should buy us some time to figure out a way to get back on board and finish off the rest.” Mar’Zek explained as he looked towards the clear skies above him. “I’ve had to free everyone in my brig just to try and get some order. If the Feral Five weren’t trying so hard to go against conduct, you’d think I’d gone mad.”

“Wait a second. Rewind that tape a little, buddy.” Pinkie Pie slid up to his side. “Did you just say… remaining members? As in, you’ve actually managed to get rid of some of them?”

“Yes. I simply had to dispose of Uhp’Gray’Der and Uon’Buh’Leht. Didn’t even put up that much of a fight. Regrettable sacrifices, but I’m sure I can find some other machinist and sniper to take their mantle once I get back control of the Wolfpack.” He gazed into Pinkie Pie’s visor, hoping that he was making contact with her eyes. “There’s only three members of the Feral Five left, but they’re the most dangerous of the three. I’m honestly surprised that Deh’Mehn’Sha didn’t try to put me in a trance, like he always does with his prey.”

“El? Are you getting this?” Sunset asked through her comms. “Mar’Zek’s just admitted that he’s killed off two of the Feral Five. As in, literally chopped them down in cold blood.”
“Wait, really?” Elaris sounded surprised on the other end of the line. “Well… That makes it a little bit easier for us. Not by a long shot, but it does take off some of the pressure.”

“Anything else that you can get from him?” Espy’s voice was added to the conversation. “I mean, if this really is THE captain Mar’Zek, then you need to probe him for as much as you can. Who knows? He might even cough up something about the Feral Five that we can use to bring them down.”

“I’ll see what I can find,” Sunset replied, then turned back to Mar’Zek. “So. Deh’Mehn’Sha, you mentioned?”

“Yes. He’s the scrawniest, lankiest wolf in the Wolfpack, but he is known to hypnotise, beguile, and leave everything around him completely lost in their own little worlds,” he replied. “It’s in his name, after all. Dementia does mean the complete loss of one’s sanity, after all.”

“Why don’t you tell us how to get rid of him, then? Since we’re all in the same boat together?” Fluttershy asked, taking a step forward towards the former captain, still armed with her flute. She didn’t want to be caught off-guard in case he pulled anything funny.

“The same… boat?” Mar’Zek blinked. “I fail to see what that means.”

“There’s a sayin’ we got here on Earth.” Applejack stepped forward with her hammer. “The enemy of mah enemy is mah friend. Meaning, that if you both hate something together, ya’ll can put yer difference aside and work together to put it down. At least until it’s gone.”

“How curious. Very, very fascinating. Even when divided, you find some common ground for others to stand on.” Mar’Zek muttered to himself underneath his breath, then turned towards his loyalists. “What say you? Were you aware of this ‘enemy of my enemy’ thing that Applejack just said?”

“It is a saying, yeah,” Kin’Dred replied.

“I see. And, by that logic, would it be beneficial to ally ourselves with these Power Rangers, for the time being?” Mar’Zek asked, lifting his arms. “Especially, given the circumstances? And please, be honest with me. You know how much I dislike dishonesty…”

Kin’Dred’s ears twitched. “Well, there’s another. DUCK!”

“I don’t see no ducks…” Applejack muttered before Kin’Dred shoved her to the ground as screaming jet engines split the air.

The forest exploded in a wave of fire, trees flying as Wolfpack bombers came around for another pass.

“...oh, that kind of duck,” Applejack realized. “Silly me.”

“Underhanded fools…” Mar’Zek glared up at the bombers. He knew that battalion of ships well. “So, the Feral Five really have lost all of their honour; all of their pride. Can’t even give us a moment of peace.”

He snarled and took up a combat stance. “I’ll disembowel those pilots myself!”

“No, captain!” Kin’Dred held him back before he could leap. “We’re not about to let you get killed like that again!”

“Get off of me!” Mar’Zek thrashed around in Kin’Dred’s grip. “They’re MINE!”

“In your state? Not gonna happen!” Kin’Dred barked. “You might be our captain, but a captain’s nothing without his crew to back him up. A captain who rushes off without assistance is asking for it; especially like this.”

“And you seem to forget who I am.” Mar’Zek finally got out of Kin’Dred’s hold and scampered off. “I RULE the Wolfpack. Everything else is beneath me on the food chain; including these traitors!” He climbed up the tallest tree that he could, just as the bombers came down for another run.

They approached the tree line and, as they did, he leapt at one of the ships and clawed at the underside, shredding it with a single claw swipe, causing it to leak fuel and coolant, before ultimately spinning out of control and landing face-first into the ground. Mar’Zek himself tumbled to the ground and used his claws on one of the other trees in his descent. Unfortunately for him, even as his claws ripped through the tree’s bark, he still came down as hard as he could on the ground, causing him to tumble over his body in a heap.

“Captain!” The loyalists all cried together and went off to tend to him, while the Rainbooms were all alone as the ships came roaring towards them one more time.

The guns of the ships spun up and rockets were launched from the bombers directly at the Rainbooms. In response, Applejack took up her Terra Hammer and struck the ground with it, causing columns of stone to burst up from the ground that intercepted the rockets before they even burst through the trees. Said columns were reduced to rubble by the impact, but the Rainbooms were unharmed.

That was until the guns started firing. Then, they all had to jump to their bellies and take cover as the gunfire tore up the ground around them, puncturing leaves, roots, and many more parts of the jungle around them. Another scream of the jet engines could be heard as the ships rocketed over their heads again.

“Alright, I’ve had enough of this…” Sunset muttered. “Elaris, summon the zords!”

“Roger! They’re coming your way!” Elaris replied on the other end. And as soon as she finished, rumbling sounds could be heard as, in the distance, the Rainbooms’ zords came speeding in.

“Kin’Dred… Start taking notes,” Mar’Zek said to his scientist.

“Captain?” the wolf asked confused.

“I said start taking notes. These ‘zords’ are the reason we lost so often,” Mar’Zek replied. “I want to figure out why…”

“O-of course!” She gave a nod and watched as the Rainbooms all entered their Zords and took to the cockpits.

The jets descended from the heavens, thundering down from the skies above as the Rangers combined their zords into their massive mecha form.

“Ready Rangers?” Sunset asked as the mecha readied it’s sword.

But so was the Wolfpack, the jets firing cables at the massive mecha’s legs and pulling a Empire Strikes Back, brought it down. The earth shook, trees flying like toothpicks.

“We’ve… we’ve got to get back up!” Sunset ordered, and the megazord creaked and groaned before electric shocks ran throughout its entire frame. Then two more jets swooped over, and fired a massive energy net, binding the Megazord and try as they might, the Rangers couldn’t break free.

“Hahahahahahaha!” Ahl'Mai'Tie cackled as his form lit up the sky, a massive hologram in front of the Rangers. “Consider this Uhp’Gray’Der’s last present! We’ve been working on a way to bring your Megazord down, and while it’s a shame Uhp’Gray’Der himself couldn’t be here for the main event, I think he would be proud!”

Once he finished saying this, a large rumbling could be heard from above. The clouds above everyone split apart, revealing a giant machine descending upon the battlefield. To say it was large would have been an understatement. It was snake-like in design, but was the size of a mothership. It had long tendrils growing out of the head, extending metal limbs growing out of the body, and had strips of harsh green neon light running all over its’ body. Its’ large two eyes glared down at the downed Megazord and turned red, as did the rest of the neon on its’ body.

The giant snake charged in at the Megazord and knocked it airborne, sending the Rangers hurtling against the walls. As it fell down, the snake coiled itself around the plummeting mech suit and constricted it as tightly as it could, trapping the mech in mid-air. It crackled with electricity like that of an eel, electrocuting the Rangers inside and causing a series of explosions to ring out inside the cockpit. They were all swallowed up by the smoke, until they were ejected back onto the ground, de-morphed and covered in bruises and gashes.

“Your Zords as you put them give you power. But it also makes you dependent on them. You believe they are the only way that you can win. And, for your sake, it is true,” Ahl’Mai’Tie went on. “So, that’s why, as of today, those Zords are officially prohibited. On orders of me. Ahl’Mai’Tie. God King of the Wolfpack and of the universe itself.”

He clicked his fingers, and as he did, the snake machine projected a teal bubble around itself. One that grew brighter and brighter until it disappeared, causing the machines inside to vanish completely.

“NO!” The Rainbooms all let out a cry of horror as the machines disappeared.

“Now, I grow tired of your continued existence. So, I think it’s time that we end this little charade.” Ahl’Mai’Tie went on. “If you survive—which, at this point is highly unlikely—you’re welcome to try and get your ships back. Key word being try.”

“Damn it!” Rainbow swore.

“How are we supposed to fight those jets WITHOUT A ZORD?!” Pinkie Pie shook down the other Power Rangers as vigorously as she could. “We’re doomed! DOOMED, I TELL YOU!”

“Oh come on now,” Mar’Zek said, obviously disappointed shaking his head and crossing his arms. “Don’t tell me this is what it takes to bring down Elaris’ champions. I can’t believe I lost against you idiots time and time again if you’re just going to throw in the towel when times get tough.”

“In case you’ve forgotten, we’re stuck here on the ground, while those guys have jets and are shooting at us!” Rainbow Dash threw her arms towards the jets. “How are we supposed to get rid of those jets with the weapons we’ve got right now?”

“Element of Loyalty?” Kin’Dred asked, shaking her head. “More like the Element of Giving Up.”

“Why you…” Rainbow snarled at her.

“Use your imagination, ladies. That’s what you’ve been doing so far, haven’t you?” Mar’Zek scoffed and climbed up another tree to try and hit down another ship that came charging. “I mean, look at me. I’ve lost all my weapons, all my armour, and I’m back to square one. But does that mean I’m giving up? No!”

He leapt at another ship, smashed through the windshield and cut the wolf piloting it in half. “Are you really the same Power Rangers I thought stood a chance against us? If you are, then prove it! And stand your ground!”

“But there’s nothing we can do. Nothing except…” Twilight looked down at her neck. Of course. She had been so stupid. Of course. She was a teenage girl with magical powers, along with all of her other friends. In all of this Power Ranger business, she had forgotten how the Rainbooms had dealt with all the other threats to their lives; with magic.

“Of course!” Twilight clutched at her geode and did a Pony-Up, gaining the wings, ears, and hair extensions that she and the Rainbooms were known for. Then, she reached her hand out towards one of the trees, elevated it off of the ground, and threw it at one of the ships, who barely had enough time to fly past it.

“There we go!” Mar’Zek praised. “There’s that old fire in your eyes!”

Rainbow ran in a circle, the air crackling as she spun up lightning and like a lance, she actually tossed it at one of the ships. The lightning bolt struck one of the wings, causing the ship to spin and swerve a little, spluttering some black smoke as it did so.

“So uncouth… Why didn’t I think about this sooner?” Rarity, in her new Pony-Up state, manifested a diamond shield. One that she tossed in front of one of the other jets as it came towards her. It crashed into the diamond and immediately exploded, as if it had crashed into a firm, brick wall.

“Batter up!” Applejack clutched at a tree in her new form, effortlessly uprooting it. She swung it around and held it like it was the largest baseball bat she had ever held. A little bit too chunky for her liking, but Applejack knew not to fuss with the tools she had been given. As the next jet came towards her, shooting wildly, she swung the tree and swatted the ship like it was a baseball, over the horizon, where a small smoke plume came out of where it landed. “Outta the park! Just like Babe Ruth!”

“Ooh! Ooh! Me next! Me next!” Pinkie wiggled her arm, then sped over to the nearest tree that she could. And of course, Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie, it was a fairly simple job to climb said tree. She just ran as fast as she could up it, then waited at the top like a monkey surveying the jungle around it. Once a ship got close, she hid underneath the leaves, got some explosive confetti loaded up in her hands, then planted it underneath the ship as it flew over the leaves. She jumped down just as it exploded, taking the ship with it.

“There we go. That’s more like it.” Kin’Dred smirked as she watched the bombers get taken out one by one. She observed as Fluttershy was next. And, using her new wings, she hid in waiting while another ship came around. Once it noticed her, it charged at her and she let out a yelp, ducking under the trees.

The Wolfpack pilot fired on her, trying to clear her out of the trees, but she just kept on running for her life, eventually pulling back a large branch that she then snapped back once the jet got close enough. The branch smashed the windshield, causing the Wolfpack pilot to choke on the ferocious winds that thrashed against his face. He ejected himself from the ship and fell to the ground below.

“Right… Now, how can I do this?” Sunset asked herself as she stood there in wait. Her Pony-Up power was mind-reading. Fat lot of good it would do her when her enemy was soaring around in a Wolfpack fighter jet. She needed some way of reaching it. But how?

Of course.

Charging forwards, she took to the skies with wings of fire.

Burn baby burn.

She met the pilot head-on and landed on the wings. She looked into the eyes of the wolf piloting the ship, causing him to leer at her. He went for the sidearm around his waist, opened the windshield up and started firing on her. At point blank range, he was sure that he would have hit her, but she sidestepped the shots. She got closer, closer, almost touching the controls. But as soon as she was about to step into the cockpit herself, the Wolfpack pilot performed a barrel roll and shook her off. Once she was shaken off, however, he realised the error he made. Once he stabilised, another tree was directly ahead of him. And he had no time to get out of the way. So, he collided with a brief scream before the explosion drowned it out.

“Alright. Ships down. Now, we’ve gotta get our Zords back.” Sunset thought to herself as she flew back down to the rest of the team with those majestic, burning, phoenix wings of hers. She landed gracefully, as the wings on her back vanished.

“...yeah, but how?” Rainbow asked. “Like, they’re on that ship! Like, do we have to go all Lupin the 3rd and steal them back with grace and style, because I’m totes down for that!”

“Highly unlikely my hide...” Mar’Zek watched as the Rainbooms all regrouped, then stomped over to them. “We’d better get moving. If I know the Feral Five like I think I do, they’re gonna see we’re still alive and throw everything at us. And I know that without your Zords, you’re gonna be mutilated.”

“Right.” Twilight gave a nod as she went for her communications device as well. “Elaris. We need an exfiltration. Like, right now. Before the Wolfpack come back for another run.”

“I saw the whole thing, ladies. I was already heading over,” Elaris replied through radio chatter, then her ship ported in above them all. She swooped down low and opened the hatch on the rear. She was waiting on the other side. “Get in!”

“Don’t need to tell us twice!” Pinkie yelled back and scurried onto the ship, along with Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight, in that order. Sunset was the last to get on, and as she looked back, she watched as Mar’Zek and the other loyalists by his side stared back at her.

“Well? Go on then, get out of here. Before the Wolfpack rip you apart!” Mar’Zek waved them off dismissively.

“Not without you!” Sunset called back. “There’s no chance you’ll survive out here all by yourself, captain! Like it or not, the Feral Five are running the show now. And you’ve seen what they’ve done to us. Imagine what they’ll do to you!”

“The captain can take care of himself, Sunset Shimmer. Focus on your own affairs and leave us to think of our own.” Kin’Dred called back over the roaring noises of Elaris’s ship engines. “We will survive. You won’t if the Wolfpack find you. So run as fast as you can and think of a plan!”

“Please, Kin’Dred. Don’t speak for me. I speak for myself.” Mar’Zek stomped forward and placed a paw on the landing ramp of Elaris’s ship. Then another, and then another. Soon, he was face-to-face with Sunset. “If you really are going to walk this path; to fight back against the Feral Five, then you need all the help that you can get. Don’t you humans use the term, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’?”

“Sunset! We need to go!” Elaris called from inside the ship. “The Wolfpack are going to find out we’re still alive if I keep the ship here!”

“Snap out of it, girl!” Rainbow Dash added from the sidelines.

“You’re… really going to side with me? With us?” Sunset asked, wide-eyed. “Even though you’re part of the Wolfpack and have been trying to kill us?”

“Don’t be stupid, we are not friends. But I would prefer to kill you myself and take this planet than let those mongrels have it,” Mar’Zek stated. “Now go, the witch is right! You are running out of time!”

“A… Alright then,” Sunset looked back at Mar’Zek one last time as he got off of the ramp and rejoined his loyalists. She then watched as the ship left the ground and the ramp retracted, prompting her to head back inside with the other Rangers. Sunset still couldn’t bear to think about what would happen to Mar’Zek all on his own like that. He was just as vulnerable as they were. More powerful, yes, but still just as mortally in danger as she and the other Rangers were. The ship flew away from the scene as fast as it could, and Sunset made it back to the bridge with the rest of her girls.

“Hey, you gave him a chance, didn’t you?” Twilight couldn’t help but raise an arm at Sunset, who slumped her shoulders in a defeated posture.

A sigh escaped our lips. “Twilight? I don’t know about you, but I think I might actually be worried for Mar’Zek down there,” she looked into Twilight’s eyes. “I mean, he’s Wolfpack, sure. And a super-powerful one at that. But you saw how the Feral Five fight, right? They fight dirty. There’s no way he’s going to survive; even with those friends of his.”

“If the captain said that he wanted to do this his own way, then we have to respect his decisions,” Elaris said as she returned to the seat of her ship, along with the other Rangers. “In the meantime, we need to think of a plan. The Wolfpack have our Zords, and we’re virtually helpless if one of their agents goes giant. We need to either get the Zords back, or find a new way to fight a giant foe. And I personally lean more towards the giant Zords. Don’t know about you.”

“Yeah, but how…?” Sunset wondered. “What, do we steal them back?”

“Wait, we’re seriously considering my phantom thief idea?” Rainbow Dash perked up, excited.

“...I don’t think any of us are flashy enough, or quiet enough to do the whole phantom thief thing,” Sunset said. “So no. No Phantom Thiefranger.”

“Awwwwww…” Rainbow, and Pinkie for that matter deflated.

“We need to figure out exactly what that thing is that schwooped away the Zords first.” Elaris tapped away at the console at her seat and brought up a communications channel with Espy. The other members of the Omega Pack were hidden behind her. “Hey, Espy? The Wolfpack just stole the Rangers’ Zords with a giant snake robot. Got any intel on that?”

“A giant… snake… robot?” Espy’s eyebrows lifted up ever so slowly as she started typing away ferociously on her console. “No... No, no, no, no, no, no, no! They shouldn’t have finished that! Especially with the chaos that’s going on upstairs!”

“Finished what?” Fluttershy asked, with a brow of her own raised.

“The Feral Five had been working on a series of machines to cripple the Rangers. Stuff cobbled together from some of their own designs with a little help from Vi’Al’s technological prowess and the data he had gathered,”

Espy began to explain as images of the snake robot appeared on the screen of Elaris’s ship. “What you just witnessed was an Anti-Zord classified bot called The Constrictor. But the last time I saw that thing, it was still only being built. How they got to finishing it so quickly is worrying girls. What are the Feral Five doing up there?!”

“Well, whatever they’re doing up there, they’re trying to ruin our lives. And from the looks of it, they’re doing a pretty good job.” Rainbow Dash grimaced. “Without our Zords, we’re screwed six ways from Sundance if the Wolfpack goes giant on us.”

“The Constrictor is explicitly designed for the capturing and impounding of enemy machinery like Zords. That being said, the Wolfpack might have improved on the design since the last time I saw it. What did you girls see when it attacked you?” Espy asked the Rainbooms. “Anything at all? Any kind of structural defects? If it was released that suddenly, then the Wolfpack must have left some kind of fault…”

“Well, it did look awfully slim…” Twilight looked at the snake closer. “And now that I think about it, everything has this… Oh, I don’t know how to explain it. Stress points! Everything has a certain amount of stress it can take, before it falls apart. If we were to somehow vibrate that snake apart… The problem is, the only thing that could do that? Why, it’d have to be the loudest sound ever heard!”

“Well, we are a band, right?” Applejack asked from her seat. “And it ain’t the first time music’s solved all our problems. Both physical and magical,” she said.

“Yes, but you don’t understand,” Twilight babbled. “What I’m talking about, it’d have to be LOUD. Like, really loud.”

“And it’s not like we can hire out Vinyl’s car again. In fact, I don’t even think that bad boy can even fly like a spaceship can,” Pinkie lifted a finger. “How are we gonna make our music so loud that it blows that thing to bits?”

“Well, you’re gonna have to rig together something. And fast,” Espy’s face came back. “If The Constrictor comes back or someone else on the Wolfpack grows, you’re not gonna be able to fight back. As for the Zords that it stole, if my hunch is correct, they’re trapped in the Alpha Slayer’s hangar. I can try and see if we can hijack them, but it’ll be awfully risky…”

“We need amps.” Rainbow Dash spoke up. “And LOTS of them. Thing is, where are we supposed to find amps when the Wolfpack still have parts of the world in their greasy paws?”

“You may not need all of them,” Espy theorized. “Just a couple. I can jury-rig them so their output is greater than normal.”

“Again. Where? Not how.” Rainbow Dash remarked. “I know how we can use amps to blow that thing out of the sky with our rockin’ awesome music, but how do we actually pick up amps when the Wolfpack are breathing down our necks?”

“Can’t we just pick some up back home?” Sunset asked. “I mean, the Wolfpack were forced out of Canterlot City after they threw everything at us. I don’t think they’d wanna try and hit it again if we did such a good job of protecting it.”

“Right, right. But we’ll still need to act fast.” Rarity pushed her fingertips together. “I’m pretty sure that the Wolfpack are sick and tired of everything going on at the moment. Such uncertainty does tend to make someone awfully jumpy you know.”

“You can say that again,” Applejack sniggered; knowing full well how panicky Rarity got whenever she was facing a fashion dilemma.

And like a crack of lightning, Rainbow was gone and then she was back with everything the band needed. “...well you did say to ‘act fast’!”

“Oookay…” Elaris stood there, slack-jawed in awe at how fast it had taken Rainbow Dash to get everything that the group needed. “Are you sure you even need the suits to take out the Wolfpack, girls?”

“Nah, we still need the suits. This is just so we don’t get caught with our pants down.” Rainbow Dash flexed her fingers as she handed off the equipment to each of her bandmates. “Well, that, and it’s just cool to use those powers, y’know?”

“Yep!” Pinkie Pie gave Rainbow Dash a high-five which was more like a vigorous hand slap.

“Now comes the hard part. Trying to figure out how we can use these instruments to shake the Constrictor to pieces…” Twilight studied the musical instruments and the ship around her thoroughly. From where she was standing, it didn’t look like there were any power outlets for Rainbow Dash or any of the others to plug in their equipment. If they could at least find a power source, then the rest could have been plain sailing.

“Does anyone know what we can plug these things into?” Twilight ended up asking the group.

Elaris simply gestured to her ship behind them.

“Oh.” Twilight uttered.

“Now, we’re only gonna get one shot at this. If the Wolfpack figure out what we’re doing, then they will recall the thing so that it can be repaired and reinforced,” Espy went on. “I’ll send a crew to the hangar to see if they can release the Zords, but we’ll have to pull this off at the same time. Make them focus on you and not on us.”

“Right. Rainbow Dash? You got any songs to blow this thing out of the air?” Sunset asked as she and the other Rainbooms began to get set up.

“Oh, I think I know just the one…” Rainbow Dash smirked as she tightened the grip on her electric guitar.

Just a few minutes later…

“Another hero, another mindless crime
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime
Hold the line
Does anybody want to take it anymore?
The show must go on
The show must go on, yeah!”

The music was loud as it echoed and reverberated around the ship. It shook the pebbles and leaves below and could be heard for miles around. It had attracted an audience easily, but not the usual human crowd that would be drawn to the music. Instead, there it came, breaching through the clouds like a majestic sky serpent, though majestic was far from the right word to describe it.

The Constrictor, drawn to the noise, laid its eyes on Elaris’ ship, where the Rainbooms were performing a song inside. Despite how confined they were, they were acting as if there were thousands of people watching them perform at a concert. And there were thousands watching them. The Wolfpack were all watching the Rainbooms from the eyes of the Constrictor, all across the many screens of the Alpha Slayer.

“What are they playing at now?” Vi’Al groaned as he watched the Rainbooms performing. “Music? What a waste.”

Scoffing, he turned his view off and went back to his research, unaware that, on another one of his screens, members of the Omega Pack were skittering about without his notice; ready to carry out their plan to free the Zords.

The Omega Pack operatives travelled in a group, sticking close together as if they were a focused unit of the Wolfpack, when in reality, they were playing against it; not that their higher-ups would notice. There were a few wolves, but there were creatures of other shapes, colours, and forms, all bunched up together and all marching under the same banner.

Knowing the layout of the Alpha Slayer off by heart, it didn’t take them long to find their way to the hangar. There inside, engineers were already working on ships. There were similar jet fighters to the ones that the Mar’Zek and the Rainbooms had destroyed earlier in the forest, as well as carrier ships for large-scale invasions. Sparks flew as parts were welded, galvanised, reinforced, and augmented. The tools buzzing away, filling up the colossal room with echoed noise. And there, in the back, locked away behind electrified gates, were the Rangers’ Zords, all motionless and still, as agents of the Wolfpack were surveying them, so as to decide whether or not to repurpose them, or strip them down for parts.

“You know what to do, team. Let’s just hope that the Rangers are doing their part…” One of the wolves in the Omega Pack whispered as they walked into the hangar.

“My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies
Fairy tales of yesterday, grow but never die
I can fly, my friends
The show must go on
The show must go on
I'll face it with a grin
I'm never giving in
On with the show!”

The Constrictor still flew there, waiting for the Rainbooms to make any sort of move. The Wolfpack had no idea what the girls were trying to pull with this move. But inside, the girls had a plan in mind. Elaris turned the dials up all the way to as far as they would go. All the way to the eleven mark. Once she did that, she pushed some switches up on her own console, trying to see if she could augment the sound even more.

As they played their song, the Rainbooms’ pendants shimmered with ethereal light; the kind of light that only they could produce whenever songs were played. They all needed to channel their thoughts, feelings, and power into this song here and now; just like they did back in the Battle of the Bands at their school.

As they came to the final line in their lyrics, Rainbow and Sunset ferociously strummed their guitars, and a wave of rainbow light, coupled with the rippling of sonic waves smashed against the Constrictor in a dazzling display. The rays struck it directly in the head, sending shockwaves reverberating around its body.

The machine thrashed around as it tried to escape the music, but there was no escape. In that singular climax of the song, it was subjected to the full force of the Rainbooms music and magic. Cracks began to form, and explosions formed one after the other, until at last, the cracks grew wide enough so that the Constrictor exploded in a titanic fireball, illuminating the girls’ view in a wave of orange, yellow, and red.

As soon as the Constrictor exploded, the Omega Pack snuck inside the Zord cockpits, took control of the machines, and tried every button that they could. Eventually, one by one, the many machines came to life. However, they wildly thrashed around, realising there was a Wolfpack soldier inside of them. Alarms flashed inside of the cockpits and the controls moved on their own.

“G-gah! Work with me, you oversized piece of—” a feminine voice came from the pink-skinned, teal-haired girl with six arms who was trying to control Twilight’s Hydrazord. Even with her arms, the joysticks and levers did not want to react to her.

“Just get them out of here!” A second agent; made out of spatial energy barked, as he held his hands out at the levers and dials, which generated auras of light around them. He stopped the devices in their tracks and bent them to his own will, moving them backwards.

The Wolfpack members in the Hangar had noticed the confusion going on with the Zords and were focusing on them, rather than the Constrictor’s destruction. Letting out a howl, they all converged on the mechs to try and get them back under control.

“Lets… Just… GO!” A wolf inside Sunset’s Phoenix Zord smashed his head against the big, red button in the middle of the console. As he did, the wings of the Phoenix Zord were alight with flame, and a torrential wave of it spat out to the side, singing the metal around it and the containment fields of the other Zords. The Wolfpack outside all tumbled to their haunches as they watched the Phoenix Zord break itself and the other Zords out.

“Captain! CAPTAIN!” One of the wolves opened up a communication channel with the bridge. “The Zords down here are going crazy!” He barked in a frenzy as he showed Ahl’Mai’Tie the scene.

“Can we not just have SOME form of peace and quiet around here?!” Ahl’Mai’Tie snarled, witnessing the berzerk Zords spiralling out of the Wolfpack’s control. “Just destroy them if you have to. Whatever you can to shut them down. We’ve already lost the thing that brought them in. I wouldn’t want to have to lose the imbeciles who let them get away…”

“Yes sir!” He saluted, then went to rejoin the other panicked Wolfpack wolves and other aliens as they tried to mount the Zords and weigh them down.

“Come on! We’re your friends! Not your enemies!” Another female wolf, commanding Pinkie’s Kangaroo Zord tightened her grip on the joysticks. As she did, the Zord tried to bounce like a kangaroo to shake her off. It managed to do so, crushing some of the Wolfpack trying to control it under its giant metal feet. It jumped again, and again, and again, until it caused the lights to go out inside the Hangar.

Another alarm sounded, as the Hangar was filled with harsh red light. The chaos unfurling caused the hangar bay hatch to open. Without anything standing between it and the wolves, outer space greeted the room and started to pull things out into it. Supplies, Wolfpack soldiers, ships, and more. It got wider, and wider, until at last the Zords were sucked out of the Hangar one by one, still spinning out of control in an attempt to get rid of the Omega Pack trying to save them.

“Girls!” Elaris shouted as she watched the zords plummet to Earth, like streaking comets. “The Omega Pack, some of them are on your zords! You need to save them!”

“Well, you heard her!” Sunset teleporting into her phoenix. “Activate Megazord function now! All Zords, combine!”
And like that, one after another, the Zords buckled, twisted, and fused into their new form. As it finally took on their new form, the girls got into their new, fused cockpit, standing proudly, even without their Power Ranger outfits.

“Alphazord! Ready!” The girls all decreed as the Alphazord stood proudly, like a colourful mountain.

And then came the Wolfpack’s jets, soaring down to greet them.

“Here we go again…” Twilight uttered.

“But this time, the outcome shall be different!” Rarity declared.

“I’m going to need a beat to do this to,” Sunset said, searching through her tunes before grinning as she found one she liked. Screaming guitars filled her ears. “There we go.”

As a legion of jets came running down to greet the Alphazord, the girls all took control of the machine and had it retaliate in kind. Waves of flame from the burning phoenix wings on its back, torrents of flame from the hydra heads, and straight up swats of the hands when the jets came too close to it.

One ship went down, then another, and another, and another. It was almost rhythmic as Sunset Shimmer and the rest of her team beat down the ships. As a ship was taken down, two more took its’ place. But that didn’t stop the team from fighting back. If anything, it motivated them to fight harder.

Then, after another squadron had been knocked to pieces, the girls witnessed something else. A carrier ship descending upon them, gigantic, and coughing out more and more of the fighters that they had been facing so far. They came out as a swarm of gargantuan, steel locusts, descending upon the world like a plague.

“Going up?” Rainbow gave a smirk.

“Yep.” Sunset smirked back, as the Rainbooms all fired up the engines for the ship’s foot jets, as the wings on its back flapped powerfully, elevating the Alphazord off of the ground.

It sped towards the carrier ship as fast as it could, barrelling through more of the fighters as it did so. It took a few hits on the way up, but the fighters barely even scratched the Alphazord’s chassis. And, whenever a shot was landed, the mech counterattacked with the hydra’s heads chasing after the jets and firing back on them.

“Think you’re so smart, Rangers? I think not.” Another voice, more snide remarked as an image appeared on the screen of the Alphazord. “Do you remember me?”

“Nope.” Applejack deadpanned. “Y'all are all the same. So ah don’t bother to remember names.”

“Typical impertinence. It’s no wonder you have the lowest IQ out of the Rangers, Applejack,” Vi’Al retorted as he addressed her. “Seriously. Even that other buffoon, Rainbow Dash, is more intelligent than you.”

“Can’t tell whether that’s an insult or a compliment,” said Rainbow Dash in response.

“Regardless, I’m afraid that your valiant escape with your Zords is not going to have a happy ending.” Vi’Al pushed his claws together. “You see, I, Vi’Al, am the lead scientist for the Wolfpack. And so, I am in charge of developing all the assets, powers, and armaments that the crew needs in order to fell any foe; no matter how persistent they may be. But enough about my achievements. Let’s get right to the business end, shall we?”

Vi’Al lifted up a remote and pushed the single red button on it. Once he did, the carried revealed some glowing cracks for an instant, before it changed shape, taking the form of a humongous, bipedal robot with massive arms, a chest that opened wide to reveal more ships as well as a beam-weapon for the heart, and a pair of seething red eyes as the head burst out of the top.

“You see this, Rangers? I came up with this design after you thwarted our assault on your wretched hometown,” Vi’Al taunted. “Now, while I’d love to debate how science will trump you in every way imaginable, I need to calm down the chaos that has been happening in the Alpha Slayer as of late. Goodbye.”

The video feed ended, showing the Rainbooms face-to-face with the giant Carrier Mech. As well as the punch it wound up and struck the Alphazord with. It was a heavy punch; one that caused the Alphazord to stagger and fall back to the ground below, landing with a thunderous crash. No sooner had it landed hard on the ground when the Carrier Mech landed on its two feet, stomping towards the Alphazord.

Twilight slammed a hand on a button, and the Hydrazord breathed a blast of flame at the opposing mecha before freezing it solid with an icy mist. Sunset followed suit and used the feet of the Alphazord to kick the Carrier back to the ground before the Alphazord got back onto its own two feet.

As the Alphazord sped towards the felled carrier for another attack, the machine got back up, charged up the chest laser, and fired off a chunky laser that pierced through the air. It struck the Alphazord head-on, causing it to stop in its tracks. But it still stood firmly. It did leave the Carrier enough time to get back to its feet again, however, as well as disperse more jets from inside it.

“Let’s see ya dodge this!” Rainbow Dash slammed her fist onto the console, as the Alphazord opened up hatches on its arms, firing blue buzzsaw waves of energy at the jet fighters dancing around the battlefield. The bladed wheels spun and swirled, homing in on the jets until they crashed into them, shredding the fighters in half before moving onto the next targets. “You can run, but you can’t hide!”

The Carrier came running in, fists tightened up for another strike as it left giant holes in its’ wake from its’ feet. As it reeled back for another strike, Rarity reacted and threw her hand over the console, which gave the Alphazord a colossal diamond-patterned shield on its’ arm. One that it used to intercept and stop the punch. It stood firm as the Carrier kept on punching it over and over, until at last, with the final attack failing to breach it, the shield vanished and the Rainbooms made the Alphazord perform an uppercut, which knocked the Carrier backward again.

“And to finish you…” Twilight said pressing another button, before her zord let electric blasts fly. But that wasn’t enough, and the Hydrazord let loose with cyclonic winds. Both colliding with the Carrier’s body like a full-on tempest. Lightning crackled off and bounced on the mech’s body, splitting off in multiple directions like a trance-inducing light show.

“Let’s do this!” Sunset cried as she and the other Rangers started posing in unison. “Girls!”

Despite not having their weapons, the Rainbooms still posed as if they were wielding them. And as they did so, the Alphazord took up the posture that it needed for the final blow. The Mega Swords popped out of its body and fell into the hands of the Alphazord. Raised high into the air, the swords gathered energy. A constellation formed above the Alphazord, despite it being in the middle of the afternoon. And underneath that constellation, the swords were filled with energy.

“Cassiopeia Strike!” The Rainbooms all threw down their arms and the Alphazord sped forward with the Mega Swords fully-armed and ready to unleash. Once the swords were within touching-distance of the Carrier, they cleaved the machine to pieces, one after the other, faster than the naked eye could travel, expelling all manners of starry energy onto the machine.

Limb after limb was shredded, leaving only the armless, legless body of the Carrier. A sword swung up, another swung down, and both split the remnants of the Carrier into three separate thin slices of metal. All of which fell to the ground as another explosion’s fire burst out.

“The hunt is over!” The Rainbooms all said together, as the Alphazord stood dormant and the remaining Wolfpack jet fighters all fled to the stratosphere.

Meanwhile, back on the bridge, Ahl’Mai’Tie was watching the devastation on multiple accounts. The remains of the hangar where the Zords had been impounded, the remnants of the Constrictor and Carrier Mech that had been butchered by the Rainbooms, and Mar’Zek and his loyalists travelling alone. His breathing became heavy. Forced. Furious.

Standing up with a growl, he picked up his gigantic warhammer and smashed it on the ground; the resounding smash vibrating through the whole bridge. Letting out a scowl, he seethed to all of the wolves around him, Feral Five and underling alike.

“RANGERS!” Ahl’Mai’Tie screamed a scream so blood-curdling, that it would make anyone shiver with fright. “YOU! HAVE! NOT! WON! THIS!” He said, smashing his hammer down with each word that came out of his mouth.

“Brother! Calm down!” Mah’Jehs’Tie stood from her seat and grabbed onto Ahl’Mai’Tie’s shoulders as hard as she could, making the frenzied leader of the Feral Five stop in his tracks. “They have simply hit us hard. But that’s alright. After all, we like it hard, don’t we?”

Deh’Mehn’Sha chuckled under his breath as he hobbled over towards Ahl’Mai’Tie. “Y-yes. The hurty-dolls are playing their own little game. Like good little boys and girlies. They’re completely unaware of the bigger picture.” He said. “But that will all change. Once I play with their brains, they’ll all be cutting each other apart without even knowing it…”

“You talk a lot, but have I seen you doing anything, old friend?” Ahl’Mai’Tie gave a leer to his compatriot. “You say that you’ll ‘play’ with your hurty-dolls, but you’ve done nothing but sit around on your furry rear!”

“He says…” Deh’Mehn’Sha whispered under his voice. “But what he doesn’t know is that my trap is all set up. The Power Rangers will come running, they will play, play! And when they do, that’s when we win, and they lose!” Laughing like a creepy clown from a horror movie, he dashed out of the room, ready to exact his move. “Ooh, my hurty dolls are gonna be in so much trouble!” He clapped his hands together like a giddy preschooler. “Especially that silly Pink One. She’s so happy-go-lucky, cuddly-wuddly, and ever so sickeningly sweet! Let’s see how long that lasts when I get under her skin…”

Author's Note

HUGE thanks to The Bricklayer for this chapter. Thanks, man. Couldn't have gotten this done without you shoving a metaphorical jet up my ass and giving me the drive to write this. Cheers again, mate.

Deh'Mehn'Sha's Trap

The Rangers were just finishing off eliminating another member of the Wolfpack in Denver. With a pair of blows from Pinkie's wrist-mounted cannons, a bevy of bullets from Rainbow Dash's blasters, a tail-swatting from one of Fluttershy's spectral crocodiles, a slam from Applejack's sledgehammer, a torrential beam of magic from Twilight's book, followed by a final triage of cuts from Rarity and Sunset's swords, the Wolfpack agent exploded into flames, showering the team in a cloud of fiery smoke; one that faded shortly after it was made.

"That's another one off of the list." Said Sunset as she de-morphed, basking in the light of the sun. That and the other fleeing Wolfpack grunts now without their leader to command them. "At this rate, we'll have America back on its' feet in no time."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Sunset. There's still a ton of Wolfpack left." Applejack remarked as she too morphed back into her civilian form. "Not to mention, there's still that fancy-pants girl, that crazy-psycho, and the leader of the Feral Five left. We ain't out of the woods. Not by a long shot."

"Yeah, but you gotta admit, Applejack. It feels good to get those jerks off of our home turf." Rainbow Dash reverted back to her normal form as well, putting her hands behind her head. "Doesn't matter how long or how little rest we get, as long as we look awesome putting those wolves into the dirt."

"Oh, I agree. The sooner we eradicate the Wolfpack, the sooner I can get back to a commodity I've been sorely missing since we started; some R&R at the spa." Rarity said, looking as ladylike as ever as her white ranger suit disappeared.

"Uh, what about Mar'Zek?" Fluttershy asked. "He's still wandering out there with his crew. He's gonna be horribly outmatched if the Feral Five find him first."

"I wish we could have taken him too, Fluttershy, but he sounded pretty adamant on his situation," Twilight told her, laying a hand on her shoulders. "Not to mention, the enemy of my enemy rule is kinda sketchy once all's said and done. The moment Ahl'Mai'Tie falls and the rest of the Feral Five get destroyed, all bets are off."

"Well, I wouldn't say all bets. There's still that little extra bet on whether or not I can beat the most Wolfpack. You know the one, right, Applejack? I'm still counting, you know." And like that, Pinkie Pie pulled out an excessively long sheet of paper, scribbling down ferociously on it. "And it looks like, after that last fight, I'm still in the lead. But you're not too far behind, Dashie."

"Heh. Figures. Leave it to Pinkie to count up the number of bad guys we've pummeled." Rainbow Dash couldn't help but give Pinkie a fist-bump at her chart's latest update.

"Anyways, we should probably be headin' on back." Applejack threw her thumb over her shoulder; a gesture that meant the crew needed to shove out. "No rest for the wicked out here. 'Specially not with the Wolfpack still holding the planet harder than a bull rider at a rodeo."

The crew were then warped back onto Elaris's ship. Wasting no time, the Rainbooms all took their seats in the bridge and strapped themselves in tight. Elaris then took the time to disembark from Denver. The ship entered lightspeed again and the team found themselves high in the stratosphere away from the ground and any Wolfpack ambushes and defences. Once the voyage came to an end, the Rainbooms stood themselves back up and turned to Elaris, who stood up from her seat.

"So, you got any more targets for us to hit, El? I'm good for another few rounds with the Wolfpack." Rainbow Dash was the first one to ask as she flexed her arms.

"I'm afraid not, Rainbow Dash. The Wolfpack have been pretty quiet ever since you took out Ahl'Mai'Tie's Constrictor and saved your zords." Elaris explained, standing up from her seat. "Trust me, girl. If I did know where the next place to hit was, you'd be the first to know."

"For once, it's quiet. And I'm not sure that I like that." Sunset Shimmer looked out the windscreen to the skies ahead. Ever since donning the mantle of the Red Ranger, her life had been thrown into all sorts of chaos. But by far, the greatest kind of chaos was the quiet kind; the one where she and the others had a rest. Though it was a comforting thing, she still had the feeling that something bad was about to happen. "You sure that there's no real targets anywhere?"

"I'm afraid not." Elaris shook her head and fiddled with the buttons on her console. "I've even got Espy and her crew working on an extra-tight sweep of the world; to see if we can isolate any Wolfpack camps with encrypted coordinates; places where the Wolfpack don't want anyone to find."

"Y'know, it's kinda weird that these wolves are playing hide-and-seek with us. I mean, they're the big, bad wolves. They're the meanies that stalk the planet, teeth bared, weapons armed, and ready to kick our sorry butts to Timbuktu and back." Pinkie Pie said, throwing her arms in the air. "Hiding seems like the last thing they'd do."

"Maybe they're hiding because we're delivering swift justice unto their kind?" Rarity furrowed her fingers, admiring the nails that she had been working on. "I mean, if I were the leader of a rogue band of pirates, known for pillaging and destroying things, I would be shamefully embarrassed with myself if my own crew ended up losing over and over again."

"Maybe we do deserve some kind of a break..." Fluttershy spoke softly as she looked at the rest of the Rainbooms. "We've been working ourselves to the bone with all these attacks on the Wolfpack. Some rest and relaxation should help us get back on our feet; lift our spirits so that we can get back out there with smiles on our faces and the confidence that we'll be able to save the world."

"Well, it ain't really what ah was plannin' on, but..." Applejack let out a sigh. She had to admit that all of these Wolfpack fights were starting to weigh heavily on her psyche. "Yer right, Fluttershy. If we just spend our whole lives fightin', then we're no better than them."

"Still, where would we even go?" Twilight asked. "There's still a lot of places that are covered by the Wolfpack, so our options for a brief vacation are limited." She pushed her glasses closer to her face. "And even then, there's no guarantee that the Wolfpack would even give us a chance to relax. After all, Mar'Zek didn't give us any breaks, and I doubt the Feral Five—or whatever's left of them—would do the same."

"Well, whether or not they do, we still need some kind of break." Sunset Shimmer looked into Twilight's eyes, putting a hand on her shoulders. "I know that we want to world to come back as soon as possible, but the Wolfpack are still licking their wounds from all the hits we're getting in on them, and there's a whole civil war going on between Mar'Zek and the Feral Five. I'm sure that, with all that chaos going on, it's actually given us some breathing room."

"Fair point." Twilight smiled. She was always concerned when it came to acting out when there were so many variables to take into account. However, with Sunset backing her up, Twilight knew that they would all come out of the chaos unscathed. "Alright. Let's do it." She turned to Elaris. "Elaris. Can you find us somewhere to rest up for a bit?"

"Right away." Elaris started frantically typing away at her console's buttons, like a hacker violently cracking open a firewall or other encrypted program. Sure enough, the map on her screen changed, and now the sweeping bars were looking for places for the girls to relax. Quickly, the console found something. "A-ha. Here we go. There's a theme park that opened up near Denver quite recently. And the attacks you've made have sent a ripple effect that sent the Wolfpack there scurrying. That should do the trick."

"A theme park? Well, it's been a while since we last went to a place like that." Rainbow Dash grinned as she kicked up her feet on her chair. "I'm down for that."

"Me too! Theme parks are like, the bestest of the best places ever!" Pinkie Pie squealed, her voice getting high-pitched and squeaky. "All the rollercoasters that zoom around at speeds so fast you feel like you're flying, the spinning teacup rides that spin so fast you feel like you're in a washing machine, the drop towers that climb all the way to the sky then drop like a sack of potatoes! EEEEEEEE, I'm getting all hyper just talking about it!"

"That's what we've been missing in all of this Wolfpack chaos. All the fun of the fair." Rarity did very much enjoy seeing Pinkie Pie's energy and eccentricity on full display. It was the kind of thing that she longed for, both as a Rainboom and as a friend to see the rest of her friends smiling. "We should go immediately."

"Sounds like it's settled then." Sunset said as she crossed her arms. "El. Set a course for Denver, and punch it!" As soon as Sunset stopped talking, the Rainbooms all let out a cheer as they took their seats and buckled themselves in tight.

"Alright then. Hang on to your socks, ladies. We're off!" Elaris fired up the warp gate and, in the blink of an eye, her ship entered a tunnel of rainbow light, speeding forward as if it were a bullet launched from a gun. It wouldn't take long for them to get there at this rate.

And sure enough, in Denver, the theme park was open for business and people were already inside, enjoying the thrills and spills in the shining sunlight. There were screeches both of joy and fear, cheerful chatter as stall games were played and food was eaten. With how brightly all the colours of the park popped out and how the skies were clear and present, it seemed like this was the perfect place for anyone to get away from it all and enjoy life to the fullest.

Not too far away from the park, Elaris's ship exited the warp tunnel and appeared above the air. As soon as it did, Elaris initiated the cloaking device and the ship camouflaged itself with the sky. With the changes made, Elaris flew the ship towards the ground, parking it somewhere close to the gates, but not too close that the people would be able to see her and the Rangers exiting.

Once they walked through the park's front gates and the price of admission paid, the girls found themselves in the nexus of the theme park, with roads branching off to all of the different areas of the park. From Westland to Thrilligan's Isle, Harrowing Hollow and Layback Lane, there was something for everyone. And everywhere that the Rainbooms looked, there were people enjoying the theme park to its' absolute fullest.

"Alright! This is more like it!" Rainbow Dash's smile reached from cheek to cheek as she took in the sights and smells of the theme park. "We're totally gonna be able to blow off some steam here!"

"I know! What should we do first?" Pinkie asked as she excitedly trotted on the spot, looking around each of the areas of the park. "Ooh, there's just so much to do, I just can't decide!"

"Why don't we let Elaris decide? Since she found this place and all?" Twilight asked, pointing towards Elaris, who was disguised as her human self in order to prevent raising any suspicions. "What do you think, El? Is there anything here that you think would be fun to ride?"

"Hmm... Let me see." Though Elaris was still very new to the customs of Earthlings, she still could tell that everyone here was enjoying themselves on the rides. Whether or not their screams reflected that was another matter. "That ride over there. That looks pretty immense. I'd like to see what that one's like, if you don't mind."

"The Skyslicer? Ooh, yeah. That looks cool!" Rainbow Dash's eyes twinkled with glee as she looked at the towering behemoth of a rollercoaster standing before the girls. "Going for the big thrills first, El? Noice." Rainbow Dash gave Elaris a playful slap on the back, a gesture that made her lurch forward ever so slightly before she regained her composure and stood upright once again. "C'mon, girls! Let's get real excited!"

And with a cheer, the Rainbooms went off on their day. And one walk later, the girls found themselves on the Skyslicer's queue line. The line was a little bit long, however, it didn't stay that way for long, as people went on the ride and got off pretty fast. That long line didn't feel long at all as the girls quickly got to the station. As a group of eight, the girls all boarded the rollercoaster and pulled the headbars down over themselves. While the Rainbooms got themselves settled in nicely, Elaris found herself intrigued by the unique restraints. Like a curious kitten, she reached up and pulled the bars down. And as she pulled it down around her chest, she found the bars unable to move back up.

"Why do these humans need such... odd restraints?" Elaris asked, looking towards Twilight. "Is this... normal for theme parks?"

"Oh yes," Twilight said. "These headbar restraints are actually one of the most secure for a ride like this. With all of the speed and the G-forces that you can get while riding this, this is probably the best kind of restraint. Especially with all of the loops, big hills, and all the other bells and whistles."

"Well, I'll take your word for it." Elaris said, putting her hands on the two metal handles on the headbar. Shortly after, two ride attendants came to check everyone's restraints were firmly locked, by pushing it close to people's chests again to make sure it couldn't go any farther. Elaris was once again intrigued by the unique method of doing things, but shortly after the brief inspection was done, the rollercoaster train left the station.

And up the hill it climbed. As the air around the girls got thinner and the apex of the hill came closer and closer, Elaris looked to the side and saw just how high she was flying. Though she wasn't afraid of heights, that was because she was safe and secure within her ship. Now, she was in an open carriage, and though the restraints were keeping her firmly secured in place, the rest of the ride could have gone in a variety of ways for her. She couldn't help but feel a little shaky in her arms and knees as the train reached the hill. And for a good reason. Because what came next, she wasn't expecting at all.

The train went over the edge of the hill and came speeding down the other side, which was far steeper than the climb itself. The people on board immediately let out their collective screams of fun and terror as they sped down the slope, with the Rainbooms also giving their own squeals. Some fun, others mortified. Elaris herself fell on the mortified side, screeching in horror as the train sped to the bottom, then swooped back up, twisted to the side, and entered a corkscrew, turning upside down before shifting down the other end of the track through a tunnel, wind blasts striking her face and making her unable to scream. All the while, the restraints were keeping her firmly secured the whole trip.

The train made more dips, turns, loops, rolls, and tricks. And all of it in the blink of an eye. Even when there was a long straightaway part of the track, the boosters sped up the ride to make those moments seem like another flash in the pan. Up another hill the train screeched, as the riders all found themselves in the air again and the mounted cameras flashing to take the rider's pictures; most of which were still them screaming or smiling if they had managed to work up the muscle to do so. Then, it dropped down a track that plunged straight down over a pool of water, the jets splashing the people who were nearby. After which, it went up and down some more hills at a speedy pace, then did another pair of corkscrews before finally turning back to the station as the brakes were applied.

"What... was... that..." Elaris was hyperventilating as the train slowly rolled back into the station. She looked at Twilight and saw that her normally straight ponytail was now frizzy, and her hair stood on end.

"That, Elaris, was a rollercoaster." Twilight herself was breathing from the adrenaline rush; her arms still shaking from the speed and twists of the ride. "They're very extreme. Even I can't get over just how crazy they can get sometimes."

"I didn't think anything would be able to phase you after all of the Wolfpack stuff, but... turns out that this world's got more than a few surprises up its' sleeve." Elaris said, looking at the station as they trundled back in gently. Once they were back where they started on the rail, the restraints automatically disengaged and lifted themselves back up. "Oh my..." Elaris watched as the bar snapped back into its upright place, freeing the riders snared in it.

"That... blew my mind!" Rainbow Dash was the first one to say it as she and the other girls walked towards the exit of the attraction. "All the speed, those hills, and those loops! That's the kind of fun that I could never get tired of!"

"I know! The way that we sped on past like 'whoo'sho'whoosh' and screamed like 'aaaaaaaaaah!' I'd almost forgotten just how much fun these places could be!" Pinkie was trotting with glee as she and the other girls kept their pace. "What did you think about it, El? Wasn't it super-duper fun?"

"It was... certainly... an interesting experience." Elaris looked back at the way that the group had come. Even though she was a space-traveller, that was something that she had not experienced in her life. "These humans. They ride these things all the time?"

"If you work here, that is." Applejack folded her arms. "Still. Ah take it that for your first time, it really rattled yer canary cage?"

"I suppose you could call it that." Elaris still didn't understand a thing about Applejack's countryisms, but having spent more than a few days with her, she had been able to gleam the right kind of understanding from the words she said. "In any case, it's a very interesting way to spend your time, I must say. What else do these humans ride in these parks?"

"Let me show you, El." Pinkie Pie said, then without another word, she grabbed Elaris by the wrist and speedily rushed through the rest of the park, carrying the helpless alien girl from another world along with her, like a kid with a balloon. She was going to show Elaris the time of her life.

And so, the day went on with the Rainbooms partaking in various theme park rides and attractions. They spun round and around on the teacup attraction, took the plunge and got soaked on the flume ride, swung high into the air on the swinging boats, and took on some other rollercoasters, each varying in size, speed, and track layout. All of this was building the adrenaline in the girls and very quickly, they found themselves unable to stop, enthralled in the rides and joy the park was giving to them. It almost felt like the Wolfpack had never come to Earth with how deeply the girls found themselves enjoying their day. Even as they played and won or lost in the stall game attractions or spent their downtime munching away on food, there was no end to the pleasantries.

The girls eventually found themselves relaxing at one of the tables, showing off the pictures that they had taken and uploading them to their social media platforms. Some of them had the girls posing, while others had the filters and effects changed to make them look nicer. Mostly the funny-looking filters in the case of Pinkie Pie's pictures. In any case, it was like they were embracing their inner teens as they were spending the moment together.

"This day out, it has been rather enlightening." Elaris said, looking towards the skies. "I've learned a little bit more about the human way of life. And more importantly, how insane I think they are when it comes to some of their thrills." She was still a little bit shaken from all of the rollercoasters and other intense thrills, as her semi-trembling arms and legs showed.

"Yeah. And we've still got plenty of time left." Sunset looked at the clock on her phone and saw that it was still just around midday. "Heck, there's still so much more that we haven't done that we've just gotta check out. Personally, I wanna see what's up with that hall of mirrors."

"And I wanna see what's going on with that little zoo." Fluttershy said, putting her hands together.

"Dunno 'bout you, but there's a certain hangin' bar game ah wanna try." Applejack pointed down one of the lanes where there was a stand where people were trying to hang onto a metal bar for two minutes without falling.

"We've done so much in such a short amount of time, but there's still so much left..." Elaris was looking around at the park from her seat. "Is this normal for theme parks? To have so much to do after having already done so much already? Or have we just had so much fun that we've forgotten about time?"

"Well, whatever it is, I'm having a blast." Sunset said, with a smirk. "What about you, El? Are you having fun?"

"Y-yeah. I guess I am." Elaris said. Though the attractions had been varied and different in every sense of the word, each of them had given her a unique feeling and experience. Something that, as an alien from another world, she wasn't used to. But, she supposed, that was part of the beauty of it. The feeling of doing something that was entirely out of your comfort zone.

"Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's keep this train going!" Pinkie Pie said, as she punched the air with delight. The Rainbooms cheered for her gesture.

So the girls went off again. And like before, they found themselves thoroughly engrossed in the attractions, games, and various other things of the park. From the shows to the experiences, the walk-through attractions to the restroom breaks, there was no shortage of things to be seen and done in the park. And the more that the girls did, the more time seemed to stop for them. By the time that they had done everything that they wanted to do, they still had more than enough energy left to spare to do it all over again. And again. And again.

Pinkie Pie herself didn't mind that the girls were having fun. And to a degree, she was having fun as well. Especially in these hard times, it was important for her and the others to remember that, deep down, they were teenage girls, so they might as well live in the moment rather than commit themselves entirely to business matters. That and, as they had said, they had earned a break and had rattled the Wolfpack enough to the point where they had the chance to treat themselves. Pinkie Pie still wished for the day that the Wolfpack were gone forever and that she could return to the lives that they had all lived before, but she was still proud to be a Ranger regardless. If it meant that she could still use her wrist-mounted party cannons and ride on her kangaroo zord, she'd keep on fighting for the future.

It was then that Pinkie Pie noticed just how quickly all the fun was being had. They had covered so much ground in such a short amount of time that it was almost uncanny. This was nothing like the trips that she and the others had been on when it came to theme parks. Usually, they would have taken more time to get from place to place, and even more time having to wait in line so that they could all chat together about the ride itself, the anticipation building up to getting to the station and strapping yourselves in. But here, it was all flowing like clockwork. Too much like clockwork, and Pinkie didn't like it. Something was wrong. She knew it deep down.

"So, uh... what's the time again?" Pinkie Pie asked as the girls came off of their latest ride. She was hoping that she had actually spent much more time than normal and that this was all just a hunch.

"The time? Let me have a look." Sunset whipped out her phone and looked at the time. Though, what came out of her lips next, Pinkie Pie wasn't expecting. "Huh. What do you know? It's still only 1 o'clock."

"Still only one? And we've done so much!" Rainbow Dash sounded jovial. The kind of jovial that Pinkie could tell was being changed by something.

"Shucks. Ah say we've got more than enough time ta do everythin' all over again!" Applejack gave a toothy grin as she looked at the other Rainbooms. "Whaddaya say, girls? Wanna keep playin' 'til the sun goes down?"

The Rainbooms and Elaris all let out cheers of delight at Applejack's proposition to keep on going. All except for Pinkie Pie, who tried her best to blend in and seem inconspicuous. Her voice was there, but her body language was saying otherwise.

"Sounds like everyone's up for another round." Rarity said, pushing her hands together. "Now, Pinkie Pie, since you are our fun-lover, what do you suggest we start doing again?"

"U-uh... well, that's the thing, really." Pinkie Pie yelped and twiddled her fingers. She couldn't risk the Rainbooms catching onto her little scheme, lest they were part of something much more dangerous. "Y-you were all having such a great time together and, well, I uh... I barely got any time to myself. I kinda wanna go back to that hall of mirrors. Y'know, just for how silly I look." Pinkie took a few steps back. "You can all go and have fun without me, but I kinda just want some me time, okay? You understand right? Of course ya do. I'm a silly dimwit. Okie-dokie-lokie! Bye then!" And Pinkie sprinted off in the other direction, leaving the Rainbooms behind.

The girls were all taken aback by Pinkie breaking off from the group, but as long as she was having fun, then there was nothing for them to worry about. Shrugging, the remaining Rainbooms and Elaris spoke among themselves about what they wanted to do next.

"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!" Pinkie said to herself as she sprinted down the theme park roads; but not with the kind of speed that someone eager to do a ride would have had. She knew that there was more to this park now; that something or someone was playing tricks on her. After all, how could they have done everything and still had time to spare? And why did this park have so much, ran like clockwork, and didn't have any of the boring, draggy-down parts of a theme park? And why was Pinkie seeing all of the same civilians, all of the same bags, balloons, and food that they had been carrying the first time she had seen them. "I've gotta get to the bottom of this!"

She then came to the hall of mirrors and rushed inside, pushing past the kids and grown-ups waiting in line. She could hear a few shouts coming from behind, but she didn't pay them any notice. Finally, she had a room where she could think, where there was nothing but silence, and the reflections of herself all around her. Some of which were warped to make silly forms that she would have laughed at otherwise. But this wasn't the time for laughter. Now was the time for action.

"Wolfpack!" Pinkie Pie shouted into the nothingness around her. "I know you're behind this!" She told the mirrors, which echoed and bounced her voice. "I know theme parks like the back of my hand and I know for SURE that there's always going to be something that's boring or ruins the fun. This place is too good to be true. Everyone's having the time of their lives, there's no waiting in line for anything, and we've somehow managed to do everything once and are about to do it again! Whatever trick this is, you're gonna stop it right now!"

Pinkie waited for a few minutes, then heard silence. Hanging her head, she looked down at the ground. Perhaps she and the others really had gone through all of that fun and she'd been exceptionally lucky with the timing of it all. "Or... maybe I'm wrong. But... at least I can see when something's not right around here." She slowly trudged back towards the exit towards the mirror maze; unaware that there was another reflection that wasn't her own watching her back. That of a bipedal wolf with exceptionally slender skin; like it was malnourished, with a maniacal, whispered snicker coming out of its' mouth as Pinkie made her way out.

And when Pinkie did get out, the world around her had changed rather drastically. Gone were the sunny blue skies above and the people around her. The smells of the theme park food had evaporated into nothingness and were replaced with a foul, acrid smell strong enough to knock even the most strong-willed people out. The rides that Pinkie had once been on were now towering into the sky, making her seem even smaller by comparison. Furthermore, the park itself was made to look more curly and more monstrous, with bones and carcasses littering the floor, bats where the streetlights once hung, and squinting evil grins poking out of every corner. It was a sight that made Pinkie reach back for the exit to the hall of mirrors, only to find that the building had never existed in the first place, and in its' place was a barren patch of nothing. She fell onto her butt when she realized that it wasn't there anymore, looking up into the dark purple, stormy skies above.

Suddenly, the theme park's tannoy buzzed to life, and the jingle that played before announcements rung out, though it sounded heavily distorted and warbly. Then, the voice spoke. "Well, well, well. The hurty-doll makes it to the cheese after all. How fun!" The sound of rapid clapping could be heard over the loudspeaker. "To be honest, I half-expected you gullible little Power Rangers to get completely lost in the land of milk and honey. Good to see that some of you still want to fight back in your own heads..."

"Hurty-doll?!" Pinkie knew that phrase all too well. And it was the one phrase she was hoping she didn't have to hear today. "Oh no... not you..."

"Oh yes. It's me alright..." The voice continued as a large birthday present on a platform trolley was pushed down the road towards Pinkie Pie. It seemed normal, but what was inside the present was anything but. The box rattled and the bow burst, as a pair of claws sliced through the whole thing, revealing Deh'Mehn'Sha of the Feral Five underneath. "Hello, Pink Ranger!" He jovially sprung out of the box and scampered his way up to Pinkie Pie, stopping inches away from her face like an excited puppy. "Enjoy your little playtime at my park?"

"Deh'Mehn'Sha... Why did it have to be Deh'Mehn'Sha?" Pinkie moaned as she looked at the wolf, then tried to deliver a powerful punch to his face. A punch that hit nothing and caused her to fall over onto her face as the solid wolf dissipated into a cloud of coloured smoke.

"Ooh... I love it when they try and fight back." Deh'Mehn'Sha chuckled as his voice echoed all around the park. "The silly little hurty-doll, punchy-punch she goes. Would you believe she tried to hit me? Right there in my nose?" He said, as if he was singing some kind of nursery rhyme as the wind whipped up around Pinkie's body. "But little does this hurty-doll, stupid as she is, know she's going to end the rangers. Now isn't that a twist!"

"Where are you? And what do you wanna do to us?" Pinkie asked, her serious side coming out as she looked around the horror-fied theme park for any sign of the Feral Five wolf. "And why do I get the feeling I'm not gonna like what you're about to say?"

"Again, the hurty-doll's razor-sharp!" Deh'Mehn'Sha said as a large buzzsaw came shooting out of one of the abandoned stalls at Pinkie Pie, with enough force to slice through anything. Pinkie had to duck underneath the sawblade, which sheared off some of the strands of her hair. "Still. For being the ditzy, dumb, bubble-headed balloon lover you are, Pinkamena Diane Pie, your brain is surprisingly unique. It's nearly as warped and crazy as mine! And my brain is rather twisted, let me tell you..."

"Can't tell whether that's a compliment or a threat... And I'm usually good at guessing-games." Pinkie made her hands into fists. "Equestrian Star! Shine Bright and Let's Fight!" She said, whipping out her morpher and hastily transforming into the Pink Ranger.

"Well, since you're so eager, my little hurty-doll, I'll tell you everything I've got planned for today." Deh'Mehn'Sha stepped out of what seemed like the middle of nowhere and tapped on Pinkie's Pink Ranger visor. "I'm going to make you destroy your own friends." He sadistically grinned, then stood in ponderment. "Or... is it that I'm going to make your own friends destroy you?" His pose was short-lived as he threw his paws down. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'm all playing you like fiddles anyway, so it doesn't matter which hurty-doll drops dead first, so long as they drop dead!"

"You'll never make me kill my friends!" Pinkie Pie said, punching at the Deh'Mehn'Sha copy with her fists, again, to strike nothing. This time, however, he reappeared, only to disappear and reappear again when she made more attacks. "The Magic of Friendship's a lot stronger than some silly mind games!"

"So you might think, Pinkie-Winkie. But... who's to say that your friends have a clue as to what's going on?" He chuckled, then ran off into another corner of the theme park, practically begging Pinkie to follow after her. "Well, I'm sure you won't mind if I disembowel them first while you think!"

"Hey!" Get back here!" Pinkie Pie said, bounding into the air. "Pink Rollers!" She declared, as the rollerskate wheels spawned on the heels of her shoes. Speed-skating as fast as she could, Pinkie watched as Deh'Mehn'Sha let out a demented laugh as he ran on all fours like any wolf would, assuring that he would keep up the pace and leave Pinkie in pursuit.

Down the demonic theme park both Pinkie Pie and Deh'Mehn'Sha raced. The Feral Five wolf had a commanding lead over Pinkie Pie in terms of distance, though she was fast approaching. Pinkie had to not only speed skate, but slingshot herself off of streetlamps whenever there was a turn. However, that was the normal part of the whole chase. With how Deh'Mehn'Sha was playing with Pinkie's mind, he made reality shift before her eyes. He made the stalls and other stationary stalls, benches, and other theme park commodities come to life and try to leap into her way, stretch and grow to otherworldly lengths, or even slam down on the path to make it shatter like glass, leaving gaping black voids in the road. Pinkie Pie wasn't deterred, however, and using all of her parkour skills skated over, up, under, and around the various hazards that Deh'Mehn'Sha was forming for her.

"You're fast, aren't you? Perhaps a bit too fast..." Deh'Mehn'Sha said, then he stood up and snapped his fingers. Pinkie then noticed that, as he stood, she wasn't getting any closer. In fact, her line of sight directly ahead warped like a whirlpool, swirling and mixing the colours and sights around until it was an indistinguishable mess. One that consumed the world around her, plunging her into a pitch-black realm. One that was quickly filled with purple smoke. "But speed doesn't win everything, my little hurty-doll..." Then, the noise of his finger-snap echoed and reverberated around the void, the sound playing in reverse as Deh'Mehn'Sha's latest visual trick came into play.

There, around Pinkie Pie, gargantuan rollercoaster tracks twisted and turned, dancing through the darkness like monstrous snakes. Round and round they curled, forming loops, hills, and drops beyond anything that she could have imagined. There was no telling where the top was, and no telling where the bottom was. Nor was there any telling if there was a start or end to the track. Then, the rollercoasters came thundering down the tracks, flying straight towards Pinkie, with people screaming in pure horror. Pinkie could only just punch at her feet, launching her up over one of the rollercoaster trains and allowing her to zip to a separate part of the track; one where there wasn't as much traffic.

As she landed, however, a separate rollercoaster came screeching from down below straight towards her. Pinkie jumped away from that one and tried to get to another part of the track. And another coaster came hurtling towards her from that side. This went on and on until at last, Pinkie lost her balance and fell straight down the centre of the conglomeration of rollercoaster tracks, down a swirling whirlpool of metal, people wailing like banshees, and the heavy, yet excessively fast trains they were locked in.

Pinkie fell backwards into a chair; one that started to swing as gravity shifted and she found herself bound into a chair-o-plane; one that was swinging high in the void, with nothing around to signify the sky above or the ground below. And faster and faster it went until the chains that held her seat up snapped, and she fell into the blackened void again. The seat disappeared and she landed hard on a large plinth, with a towering pillar behind her; one covered with lights.

"And the hurty-doll goes splat!" A now colossal Deh'Mehn'Sha loomed over a miniscule Pinkie, armed with a sledgehammer in his hands. The ones used for those strongman hammer games. He hoisted the hammer over his back, then swung down with excessive force at the target marker Pinkie was on. She had mere fractions of a second to escape, but managed to get off in time, where she fell through the purple mist again; into another part of the nightmare.

"Just let it be over!" Pinkie Pie flailed through the darkness as she fell parallel to a series of drop-towers forming around her. More people were strapped into the chairs, all of which were kissing their worlds goodbye. Among them, the Rainbooms, Elaris, and Pinkie's other friends that she had come to know over the years were locked into the machines. "Girls!" Pinkie reached out for the falling drop-towers, which then smashed into the ground, buckling and flattening the metal, squishing everyone in the seats. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She let out a harrowing screech from behind her helmet at the sight of her vanquished friends.

And that's when Pinkie hit the ground hard. The real ground this time. She was back in the horror-filled theme park. Hoping that this time, it was the actual one she was in and not another freaky-deaky illusion. With how much she had gone through in such a brief amount of time, her adrenaline had reached its' peak. At the very least, she needed to be able to fight something. Anything!

"Having fun, Pinkie Pie?" A voice called, and Pinkie looked over to see that Sunset and the other Rainbooms and Elaris were standing before her. A sight that made her eyes shrink to pinpricks.

"Sunset... or whoever you are..." Pinkie slowly trudged over to the girls, her breathing at its' limits. "WHAT IN THE WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS IS EVEN GOING ON ANYMORE?!" She shrieked, shaking the girls around violently.

"Don't you see? You're having a nightmare." Rainbow Dash, still freakishly calm said, and patted her on the shoulders. Such a gesture caused her Power Ranger helmet to crack, then shatter entirely, revealing Pinkie's face and hair underneath the suit. "All you gotta do is wake up. Wake up and see what's really going on."

"You might find that it's for the better if you just stop resisting altogether," Fluttershy said, a little chuckle escaping her lips as she too patted Pinkie Pie. "In fact, we should all stop fighting it."

"B-b-b-b-but you... a-a-a-and I... y-y-y-you were all falling and then, then you, you went squish!" Pinkie Pie was having trouble explaining it to her friends. At least, she hoped that this time it was her friends and not another one of Deh'Mehn'Sha's tricks. But knowing the kind of world she was in, asking for the former was impossible.

"Oopsie. Guess you figured out our little secret." Rarity said, laughing all lady-like, which then transformed into a laugh that sounded like she was some cheesy supervillain out of a comic. "I suppose it is a bit of a riot, isn't it?" She went back to laughing, which got the other Rainbooms and this version of Elaris to start laughing as well. Through their mania-driven laughter, the Rainbooms' and Elaris's faces and bodies changed and warped slowly, until the seven of them fully turned into Wolfpack Grunts, who all went back to their normal voices. "The little squirt thought we were really her friends! When she's nothin' more than a gullible little sack of blood and sugar!"

"O-ho-ho! That's rich!" One of the Wolfpack grunts snorted with laughter, then took a step back with his teammates. "Well, let's not keep her waiting, shall we? She's a Power Ranger. We're the Wolfpack. Let's see how she stacks up..."

"Sucks that this is probably one of the only real things I'll see in this nightmare-park." Pinkie said, cocking the cannons on her wrists and rushing into battle. She stopped on a dime in front of the Wolfpack grunts and delivered rapid punches, knocking the wolves back with the confetti fire. She got halfway through the wolves before she had to backflip away, launching her back at the remaining wolves with another shot of the cannons. She kicked one of them hard and delivered fists into the chests of the other two, knocking them to the ground.

"Let's do this, then!" One of the wolves said, standing back up as if he'd not been punched at all. Quickly, all of the wolves who had impersonated Pinkie's friends were all standing tall before her. Then, they pulled out their weapons. Blasters, swords, a hammer, what looked like a Wolfpack tablet, and a small dagger. With a roar, the wolves all came charging in on Pinkie.

As Pinkie and the Wolfpack battled in Deh'Mehn'Sha's world, Pinkie had paid no mind to the fact that they were holding weapons that bore a striking resemblence to the ones used by the rest of her friends. Nor did she pay any mind to the fact that Deh'Mehn'Sha had stopped warping reality. All that mattered to Pinkie now was survival. Take out the Wolfpack and try to find a way out of this strange world. She even used the Pink Rollers on her feet to outmaneuver the wolves, firing wildly at them. A pair of donuts around the grunts later, and then one of the thin swords stopped her in her tracks and launched her to the ground, as the pair of rapier-like blades pointed at her neck like scissor blades. Jumping into the air, Pinkie fired off another bevvy of explosive confetti down on her targets; every piece exploding with force. Little did she know who she was really fighting...

Back in the theme park that had been cooked up for the Rainbooms, the group found themselves fighting what seemed like a physical replica of Deh'Mehn'Sha. One that was beating them within an inch of their lives. Even under the sunlight, and with the people around them evacuated so as not to cause any trouble, there was still almost no ground for the Rainbooms to fight. This one warped a pair of rollerskates and rushed around and around the girls, firing wildly at them with wrist-armed guns.

"Stop this at once!" Rarity said as any lady would have, and swung one of her thin diamond blades to the side. It caught the Deh'Mehn'Sha copy and fast as lightning, she swung the wolf down to the ground, then hurried to point the blades like scissors at his neck. "For one of the Feral Five, you surely lack the 'feral' element, shall we say?" she said, then watched as the Deh'Mehn'Sha clone jumped into the air and fired a barrage of shots down at the Rainbooms, all of which exploded and caused them to grunt and yelp as the explosions filled the battlefield.

Unbeknownst to the girls, all of these moves were being performed in Pinkie's world as well, all with the exact same motions and timings. It was like two separate battles happening at the same time and place...

One that the two leaders of the Wolfpack were watching from on high. Ahl'Mai'Tie and Mah'Jehs'Tie were watching from the throne as Pinkie Pie battled the horde in her nightmares, and the Rainbooms battled the Deh'Mehn'Sha clone in their version of reality. The one thing that was noticeable watching both of these fights side-to-side were that the wolves and the Rangers were perfectly interchangeable with one another. In truth, Pinkie Pie was viciously fighting the Rainbooms, and the Rainbooms were trying to destroy Pinkie Pie, believing their foe to be the Wolfpack.

"Deh'Mehn'Sha is playing them like fiddles out there." Mah'Jehs'Tie commented, watching as the girls continued to unknowingly tear each other apart. "Such is the force of his will; the might of his mind. And why he was one of us."

"Indeed." Ahl'Mai'Tie said, leaning forward with his elbow on an armoured knee. "The Rainbooms are a mighty force together. But when it comes to a battle of minds, there is no stopping Deh'Mehn'Sha. As armies see enemies as friends, and cataclysmic events as peace and tranquility, that is the true danger of such a force. If he wanted, he could easily overpower the whole Wolfpack and assume command himself."

"So why doesn't he?" Mah'Jehs'Tie asked, looking into her sibling's eyes. "Why is he so content in playing second banana? To just sit back and watch as we run the show?"

"Deh'Mehn'Sha is mighty, but even he can be tamed. For all of his powers of twisting the mind, his physical combat leaves something to be desired. In terms of sheer strength, he is no stronger than that of a Wolfpack footsoldier. Ones that the Rangers have cleaved up countlessly." Ahl'Mai'Tie explained, turning to face his sister. "It is the ability to shift the mind's perspective, to warp what they believe to be real on a colossal scale that is his weapon. And with such a tool, he doesn't need to fight. Not when he can watch people tear themselves apart as they grapple with reality and paranoia-formed illusions..."

"Fair enough." Mah'Jehs'Tie said, turning back to the fight. "After all, if he delivers results and extinguishes the Perfect Ones, then we need not do anything else. Now, let us see how long it takes for those Rainbooms to start dropping to their knees..."

"C'mon! Can't you just die already?!" Pinkie moaned as she took another array of attacks from these super-powered Wolfpack soldiers. The hammer smashed into her chest, knocking her backward. She skidded on the balls of her feet and cannon-blasted herself back over, delivering a series of kicks to the hammer soldier'ss chest, then grabbed the arms of the two sword bearers and threw them over her head. "You're just footsoldiers! Grunts! The guys that Rangers like me cut through by the dozens to get to the real meanies!"

"This should do the trick!" Twilight said, flipping open her book and drawing a sigil with her fingers. She formed a spell circle around the Deh'Mehn'Sha copy's feet and raised her hands into the air. "Ignis!" She declared, and a column of fire burst up, singing the wolf and making it scream in pain.

Pinkie also cried in pain as a similar column of fire—this time being black and red scorched her from the ground up. Grunting and groaning from the pain, she looked into the eyes of the Wolfpack agent with the book and jumped out of the fires. "Confetti Bombardment!" She cried, not even wanting to look at the mayhem she was wreaking as she showered the wolves with confetti.

Deh'Mehn'Sha's fake landed on Twilight's body and snatched up the book she was holding It was just about to tear it in half when suddenly, a bent earth pillar knocked her away and dropped the book back into Twilight's hands. "Ya'll alright, Twilight?" Applejack called, running over to her side. "This Deh'Mehn'Sha guy's tougher than he looks!"

"I'm fine, Applejack. What about the rest of you?" Twilight said, looking over at her scattered group of friends; all of which were on their backs and bellies, trying to recover from the immense attack that Deh'Mehn'Sha had delivered unto them. "Let me give you a hand..." Twilight drew another spell-circle around the downed Rangers. "Sanitatem!" She decreed, as the spell circle glistened with glowing green orbs of light; ones that magically repaired the damage that the Wolfpack wolf had done to them.

"The hurty-doll sees her enemies healing themselves... Now what does she do, I wonder?" Deh'Mehn'Sha said, as his fingers touched Pinkie's shoulders. "Will she fight to destroy them, or will she try to go for the source of the problem?"

"Oh, shut up!" Pinkie Pie delivered a punch to the face of Deh'Mehn'Sha, who again just turned back into smoke. She ran for the Wolfpack wolf healing his allies and punched him to the ground, delivering a left hook, then a right hook, and finally, a double-punch to the face, letting the confetti fire out of the cannon barrels. "Stop being meanies!"

"Does this guy ever give up?!" Rainbow Dash yelled, then grabbed both of her blasters and opened fire on Deh'Mehn'Sha, standing back up onto her feet and running over to the phony. Yelling, she fired a bevvy at the face of the wolf, thinking that she was attacking him, but in truth...

Pinkie Pie was crying in anguish as Wolfpack bullets riddled her face. And since she perceived reality without her helmet on, she felt like the bullets were really starting to hurt her. Tears fell from her eyes as she writhed and the bullets roiled her. "JUST MAKE IT STOP!" She cried to the heavens.

And that's when, in Twilight's eyes, she saw it. Looking down at Deh'Mehn'Sha, she noticed something... weird. This Wolfpack wolf was crying. And not the kind of fake crying either. Deh'Mehn'Sha's voice and grunts very much sounded like he was enjoying himself, but the tears told another story. Quickly, Twilight got back up to her feet and ran to the scene. "Rainbow Dash! Stop shooting!"

"Are you crazy, Twilight?! He's the Wolfpack! And he's one of the Feral Five!" Rainbow Dash said, turning to face Twilight. "Ya think he's gonna give us mercy? He's the whole reason that we lost everything!"

"Yes, you're right, but... look." Twilight grabbed onto Rainbow Dash's hands and made her look at the crying wolf. "He's... crying. Deh'Mehn'Sha is crying. That's not right."

"What could he be crying for?" Fluttershy asked, looking at the sobbing wolf, who was still chuckling maniacally. "There, there... It's alright. We're here for you."

"What do you think's going on in his head?" Sunset said, then tapped on the geode on her collar. With her powers of reading one's mind, she gently laid a hand on Deh'Mehn'Sha's chest. And her eyes went white as she peered into his mental space. But, what she expected to find was something else entirely. For what she was wasn't Deh'Mehn'Sha. What she saw was Pinkie Pie, and Pinkie was being tended to by the Wolfpack that had been ripping her to shreds in the nightmare world. "Pinkie Pie?! Why is he thinking he's Pinkie Pie?!"

"Pinkie Pie? That don't make no sense to me..." Applejack looked down at the Deh'Mehn'Sha copy, noticing his tears. "He can't be Pinkie Pie. And if he is, then ah might as well've been raised on an orange farm mah whole life."

"Still... I can't help but think." Rarity looked around. "We didn't see Pinkie Pie again after she ran off, and we certainly can't find her now. And if this Wolfpack wolf believes that he is Pinkie, then..." Rarity was piecing multiple clues together in her head. And sure enough, it was drawing her to a conclusion. Then, she remembered. Deh'Mehn'Sha's true power was mind trickery. She had seen it first hand when he turned Applejack into a crazy, berserk maniac and let her loose on the group. "Oh my..."

"Oh my what? What is it, Rarity?" Sunset turned to Rarity, making sure that the other Rainbooms kept Deh'Mehn'Sha on the ground in case he did anything strange.

"I think... this whole time... Deh'Mehn'Sha was actually Pinkie Pie, and he's made the real Pinkie Pie believe that we're the enemy." Rarity said, which earned her a chorus of "Huh?" noises from the Rainbooms. "Think about it, darlings. The Wolfpack have the Feral Five, do they not? And in that group of five, Deh'Mehn'Sha can make you believe that there are things there that aren't really there, or that reality isn't what it seems. So, by that logic, it would stand to reason that all of this, this theme park, this wolf right there, it's all just a fake. A sham. A candy-coated little haven for us, and a grizzly nightmare for her."

"Now that you mention it..." Sunset touched Deh'Mehn'Sha's body again to relive Pinkie's most recent memories. And sure enough, she saw it all. Pinkie running off, watching as reality turned into nightmares for her, and her escapades in Deh'Mehn'Sha's nightmare park. Even the fight that they had just been a part of was all the same, just with altered perspectives. "Oh, you're REALLY low, y'know that, Deh'Mehn'Sha? Making us fight each other? That's just screwed up!"

"Aww... it's over already? That's a real shame..." Deh'Mehn'Sha's voice echoed and warbled through the air, as the illusion of him burned away to reveal Pinkie Pie. Who hurriedly got back up to her feet and hugged her friends with a big smile. "Well, it was fun while it lasted. Now, it's time to see how you little mice fare as a pack." He said, and as he spoke, the bright and cheery day of the theme park world was burnt away to reveal the truth.

The bright blue skies turned dark purple and cloudy. The amusement park's stands and rides became gargantuan, curled, and twisted, and the sweet smells turned gruesome and putrid. And standing in the middle of it all was Deh'Mehn'Sha, who looked over the Rainbooms and Elaris with a twisted, toothy grin on his face.

"And so, here we are at last. The hurty-dolls and the runaway alien." Deh'Mehn'Sha walked towards the girls, his claws splayed out and shimmering in the dark, yet still vibrantly-painted hellscape. "It's like a family reunion..." He chuckled.

"Deh'Mehn'Sha!" The Rainbooms all said together, weapons pointed towards him.

"See? Even now, you raise your tools... Anger... Hatred. You're just driven by your want to kill me, aren't you?" He said, his mental stability starting to deteriorate as he looked at the ladies. "That's what you do. Hurty-dolls hurt, hurt, and hurt some more. They hurt other people, and they hurt themselves. Endlessly hurt-hurt-hurting until they drop dead, or someone makes them dead!"

"Is that all you think about us?!" Applejack tightened the grip on her hammer, then smashed the ground with it. She caused a fissure to form in the ground, cracks reaching Deh'Mehn'Sha's feet. And as it split in half, he fell into it, with the land re-forming afterwards.

"Whoopsie. Did you think I'd go bye-bye like that?" Deh'Mehn'Sha's voice echoed on the winds again. "Silly little hurty-dolls. This is all in your head. You can't hurt what isn't there. So you keep on hurt-hurt-hurting. You hurt yourselves trying to fight me. And you hurt mindlessly both inside and outside my little worlds. Tell me. Are you Power Rangers, or are you merciless killers? It's impossible to tell."

"We're not about to do this." Sunset deadpanned as she held her burning sword and turned up the temperature of the flames it was billowing. "You're playing with our heads, and you tried to make us kill Pinkie, and Pinkie kill us. You're not gonna play the morality card on us. Especially when we know what your trick is!"

"Yeah! Take your moral kitty and stuff it back in your mothership, then go back home to where you came from you big jerks!" Pinkie barked; her anger a new breed of rage that she had never felt before. Pure, unbridled loathing. She wanted nothing more than to see the Wolfpack burn for what they had done to her.

"I knew you'd say no. That's why I love you. You're such vicious little hurty-dolls. For as girly-wirly and colourful you are, you have the heart and mind of killers. Fight, fight, fight!" He said, laughing like an insane cultist. "And so, you will fight on and on forever. Even after the Wolfpack blows up. You will never again see peace. So why delay the inevitable? I'll just have to break your little brains here and now!"

And with the monstrous laughter of Deh'Mehn'Sha filling the air, the nightmare theme park began to change. The demonic rides broke off of the ground and flew into the air. Metal mangled and mechanisms buckled as a new form was being shapen. One where the rails, frames, and other pieces all twisted and re-shaped themselves into a new form. As part after part was slapped together, the giant homunculus of metal grew razor-sharp claws on its' hands and feet, a pair of large wings made out of rollercoaster track and chair-o-plane chains, and a giant baton made out of a drop tower. Then, a pair of giant red orbs formed the eyes of the monster as it craned its' head to the skies and let out a clunky, metallic, screeching roar that shook the very ground around the Rainbooms.

"Dancing dollies run around! Dancing dollies smashed to the ground! Dollies all go run and play, never see the light of day!" Deh'Mehn'Sha rhymed like a true horror-movie villain as he reformed on the head of the giant theme-park metal monster. "You like it, Rainbooms? I've been meaning to brush up on my poetry and rhymes, but being so far away from you, I've never had the chance. Oh well. Better late than never!" he said, jumping into the mouth of the monster, which now loomed over the Rainbooms' heads.

"Girls! Zords! Now!" Sunset called and threw her arm into the air.

The other Rainbooms gave simple nods and threw their arms into the air. Without even needing to say the words, the Lynx, Kangaroo, Falcon, Bear, Bull, Phoenix, and Hydrazord all came down together and formed to the two separate Megazords; which stood before Deh'Mehn'Sha's nightmarish theme park giant, ready for the fight ahead.

"Come on then, little hurty-dollies. Show me what you've really got!" Deh'Mehn'Sha said as the theme park golem came stomping forward, bashing the drop-tower baton in its' hands like it was a policeman ready to deliver a beating to the lawbreakers in its' path.

Meanwhile, Elaris looked at the world around her and tried to find a way out of it. Sadly, no such exit came to her. After all, this was Deh'Mehn'Sha's trap world. He wouldn't have been stupid enough to create such an exit. But, that was the flaw in his design. It was all what she perceived to be real. In truth, Elaris still had access to the ship. So, by tapping the device on her wrists, she gained access to the ship's AI. "L.U.C.Y! I need you here, now!" She said to the communicator on her wrist.

"Understood. Please stand by," said L.U.C.Y. as Elaris turned her gaze to the battle. And when she saw what was going on, the alien girl could only wince in horror at what was going on.

Both the Megazord and the Hydrazord were trying to attack Deh'Mehn'Sha's monster, but it always warped and teleported away whenever any of the two giant mechs looked like it was about to get a clean hit in. And when Deh'Mehn'Sha's monster did eventually attack back, it did so by wrapping itself around the mechs, disappearing, reappearing, and swatting them on the backs with the baton, which caused the giant robots to fall over.

"Hurty-dolls, I'm getting bored..." Deh'Mehn'Sha sing-songed as he looked over the two downed Megazords. Making the nightmare world shift and bend once more, he manifested dark energy in the hands of his giant theme park colossus. Energy that fed itself into the drop-tower baton. "TRY and make this entertaining, will you? The Wolfpack HATE it when hurty-dolls break too easy!"

"C'mon..." Twilight said, fiddling with the controls of her Hydrazord. Opening the book, she channelled magic through the heads of the hydra; all of which pointed themselves at Deh'Mehn'Sha and his monster and fired off a plume of heat at the monster. The fires wracked and roiled the beast and it did stumble backwards. But then, the world rippled as the thing disappeared again. "No... not again."

The Rangers looked all over the nightmare theme park for Deh'Mehn'Sha and his giant. But they couldn't find him again. In fact, they couldn't find anything at all. The rest of the contorted and evil world was starting to fade, and nothing more than a black void surrounded them again, with dark purple light at their feet, and smoke forming from said light.

Then, a large light appeared in the distance; one that blinded the Rainbooms and caused them to put their hands over their helmets' visors. The light didn't stop shining radiantly. In fact, it got more and more bright, as the large sounds of a horn blared in the distance. Realizing what it was, the girls quickly shifted their Megazord and Hydrazord out of the way, watching as a large spaceship smashed into the ground between them, spreading debris everywhere. The debris hit the legs of the zords and they both rattled, making the girls fall down to their knees.

"Peekaboo!" Deh'Mehn'Sha said as he and his monster reappeared quickly and pulled both Zords into a giant hug; crushing and buckling the chassis as the dark magic of this mental dimension began to play havoc with the machinery of the mechs. "Isn't this fun, Power Rangers? You, violently attacking me with no remorse, and me winning because of my mind games? It's true what they say after all. Brawn ALWAYS loses to brain. Or lack thereof, in your case."

"Don't... give... up!" Sunset groaned as she tried to force the Megazord into breaking free from Deh'Mehn'Sha's power. She ignited the wings of the phoenix and flapped them at the monster, which did cause it to break the hug. But even then, the Megazord was having trouble standing up properly with its' bent metals.

"Glacies!" Twilight called as she drew another spell circle with her book. Now, the heads of the Hydrazord were channelling ice and firing freezing beams of it out at Deh'Mehn'Sha and his monster. The icy magic struck at the legs of the golem, which did halt its' movement for a brief period of time.

"Aww... that's no fair. Unless, of course, you're me!" Deh'Mehn'Sha cackled as his monster let out another trick. The roller-coaster wings that the giant monster had were now twisting and re-shaping, and now, the rollercoaster trains were pointing directly at the heads of the Zords. The tracks rapidly built and the rollercoaster trains sped forward from naught to two hundred in the blink of an eye, and the rollercoaster trains smashed clean through the heads of the zords, pinning the girls to the walls. Buried underneath a wave of metal and humans, the Rainbooms truly were stuck. "Give up! Hurty-dolls live to be hurt. That's why we buy and play with hurty-dolls in the shops, don't we?"

"Ya'll... truly are... a wacko..." Applejack was trying to push the trains away; having to call on the powers of her geode in order to even start to get some breathing room. Terra Hammer tightly in her hands, she started to smash the piled-up rollercoaster trains back at Deh'Mehn'Sha's giant.

"And yet, look who's winning." Deh'Mehn'Sha twisted his claws, and more rollercoaster trains magically appeared, squishing Applejack against the wall once more. "You're just doing the same things over and over again. You fight, you fight, you fight. And that's why you lose. You're so blind to fight and you don't bother to think of another way. Hence why you are hurty-dolls. Your idiocy makes you squishy. And so much more hurty than your hurty-doll titles suggest!"

As Twilight felt the immense weight of the trains weighing down on her, there was only one thing that she could do. Using her geode, she warped out of the mass of rollercoaster trains and reappeared within a clearer area of her cockpit, only to see more and more of Deh'Mehn'Sha's rollercoaster trains ready to smash into her. On top of that, the mouth of his monster was now pointed at her, and the tongue, made out of the water flume ride was pointed at her as the beast upchucked a large torrent of water at Twilight, flooding the cockpit of the Hydrazord.

"This is... what he does..." Pinkie said, her body feeling choked underneath all of the pressure of the trains. "He... plays with your head."

"It's... so... real..." Fluttershy was trying to push the trains away. And as she felt the metal frames, she knew that these were entirely real; and not just another one of his fake illusions. She blew on her flute, hoping that some of the animals would heed her call, but to her dismay, none such things came.

"Lose. It is all you can do, hurty-dolls." Deh'Mehn'Sha said calmly as he walked on the head of his monster into the cockpit of the Megazord. "You realise that if you don't give up here, then I will just hurt you more and more should you escape. Don't even think about the future. You don't have one." He said, jumping on top of the piled-up trains to the girls' faces. "You're all just playing a losing game. And you'll keep on losing if you keep on fighting. It's better to stop losing altogether, and just accept that you can't win." He said, as he gently rubbed the chins of each of the Power Rangers like a deranged lunatic would when toying with their captives.

"That's where you're wrong!" A voice called out, and before anyone else could say anything, Deh'Mehn'Sha was riddled with laser fire and he fell onto his back.

"What?!" He snarled, looking back at where he had been shot from. And there is where he saw it. Flying in the air was Elaris's ship; the cannons armed and ready to fire again. Elaris was sitting in her cockpit, looking at the world for how it really was.

"It was a nice little trick you had going there, but these mind games have to end, I'm afraid." Elaris said, sliding her hands across the console, warming up the barrels of the lasers again. She fired another set of lasers, and Deh'Mehn'Sha had no choice but to jump and dodge away, scurrying back into his monster's body. The lasers did end up freeing the ensnared Rainbooms as they tore through the metallic pieces that were holding them in place. "Girls! It's all mind tricks! He's not really hurting you that bad! So blow him away now, before he starts to make you think otherwise!" She said through their comms systems.

"Thanks, El..." Rainbow Dash said as she got out of the metal. "It's about time that we stopped havin' fun."

"Yeah. Too much of it is a bad thing, I must say." Rarity said as she shook her head and got back onto her podium, ready for the finishing blow.

"Twilight! It's not really water! And it's not rollercoaster trains either!" Pinkie called through the comms systems to Twilight, who was trying to regain her gravity and balance in the waterlogged Hydrazord. "He's just trying to play mind games on you!"

"We need the Alphazord! Now!" Sunset said as Twilight tried her very best to get back into position. Sure enough, the girl got back into her stand and the water ejected itself from the Hydrazord's cockpit when she tipped the head towards the ground.

"Ready to go!" Twilight said, giving the thumbs-up gesture.

"Alphazord! Combine!" The Rangers said together, and the seven machines separated and reformed again. The bull transformed into the chestplate, The falcon and phoenix zords became the wings of the Alphazord, while kangaroo and bear formed the arms, with hydra heads attached to the shoulders. The rest of the Hydrazord and the lynx zord became the feet and the head popped out at last, with the snake's tail becoming the sword for the Alphazord; the hilt still shining with all seven of the Rangers' colours. "Equestrian Star Alphazord: Ready!"

"And there's the hurty-dolls' big, bad toy! Let's play with it, shall we?" Deh'Mehn'Sha still laughed demonically as he ordered his theme park monster to charge at the Alphazord, trains shooting out from the tracks and water billowing from the mouth, as the drop tower baton was now held like a sword. Jumping into the air, the monster dived down on the Alphazord, which just raised its' blade high into the air and countered the baton's diving swat.

"Fire!" The Rainbooms said together as the tip of the Alphazord's blade fired a wave of magic out at the giant, beastly amalgamation of theme park rides and services. The light roiled the monster and started to pierce through Deh'Mehn'Sha's mind tricks, but that was when the girls saw their foolish mistake.

The real Deh'Mehn'Sha and his real monster tackled the Alphazord to the ground and started to punch and kick the combined zord over and over again. The wild animal and his even wilder machine whaled on the Alphazord, hoping to see some actual dents and damage be done.

"C'mon, c'mon..." Deh'Mehn'Sha said, smashing and bashing away. "Why. Won't. You. Break. You. Stupid. Robot?!" He snarled, seeing that his attacks were bearing no fruit. "You..." He said, turning towards the spaceship that Elaris was piloting. "You're doing this, aren't you?!" He said, as the monster turned its' gaze to Elaris and started to open fire, which made the ship start taking evasive maneuvers. "Stop ruining my fun! Stop telling the hurty-dolls about what's really going on!"

"Now's our chance, girls! Let's take it to him!" Sunset said as she and the other Rainbooms got the Alphazord back onto its' feet.

Drawing the swords, the Rainbooms held them over their heads as they and the Alphazord's sword glistened and glowed with bright, rainbow-coloured energy. "Alphazord: Cassiopeia Strike!" They all said together as the stellar, cosmic energy grew in light and pointed itself at Deh'Mehn'Sha, who was still trying to shoot down Elaris's ship. Racing forward, the Rangers let out a yell as the sword cleaved up Deh'Mehn'Sha's giant theme park creation, leaving no part unsliced. Every single strike felt excessively cathartic to the girls; especially to Pinkie, who had suffered Deh'Mehn'Sha's mind games the worst. And when the final strike was landed and the monster fell apart, all of the girls ended up cheering.

"We got him!" Pinkie squeaked in delight as she watched Deh'Mehn'Sha's project collapse into a pile of scrap. "No more meanie-pants wolf playing with our heads.

"That's one more Wolfpack plot up in flames!" Rarity victoriously posed as she too watched the monster, disassembled and beaten continue to fall apart.

"Excellent work, everyone." Twilight folded her arms in victory.

Then, in the silence that followed, the Rainbooms were still in Deh'Mehn'Sha's and the monster hadn't exactly exploded yet. Something else was wrong. And then, the girls heard it. A beeping sound that echoed through the purple and black void; one that sounded like nothing that they had ever heard before.

"Wait... what's that sound?" Sunset asked as she watched Deh'Mehn'Sha's reality begin to collapse.

"Again, I'm right..." Deh'Mehn'Sha gloated as the real world started to appear before the Rainbooms' eyes. Sure enough, the skies were blue and there were some clouds in the air as the sun poured down on them. But now, they could see what Deh'Mehn'Sha's monster really was. Standing before them was a large, humanoid mech with lights that were glowing red and lighting up in time with the beeps. "You used your brawn. And so, you lose again, hurty-dolls." Deh'Mehn'Sha reappeared in the cockpit of the Alphazord, pointing at the bomb. "Goodnight, sweet princess... Goodnight..." He chuckled, giving them one last wave before he teleported back to the Alpha Slayer, and the beeping of his defeated mech got faster and faster.

"Power Rangers... RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" Elaris screamed through the comms systems of the helmets of the girls' helmet. She knew exactly what that beeping robot was now. It was a bomb; and one that was about to blow the Alphazord and the Rainbooms off of the face of the earth.

Without any second thoughts, the Alphazord separated back into the other Zords, the Rainbooms all ejected themselves and leapt back into Elaris's ship, the zords scattered, the girls took their seats, and Elaris started to open up the hyperdrive portal. And as soon as the gate was opened, the bomb exploded, and a colossal explosion, large enough to level all of New York City in a single blast was detonated; the shockwaves rattling the ship as it disappeared into the tunnel of rainbow light.

"That... was dangerous." Rarity understated as she sank back into her seat. "Let us hope we never have that close of a call ever again!"

"I'm sorry, Pinkie. We should've been more careful." Sunset said as she looked over to Pinkie's chair. "We just got so lost in the fun and games of it all that we didn't even stop and consider if it was a Wolfpack trap. And we almost ended up killing ourselves over it."

"Hey. We're still here at the end of the day, so that's all that really matters." Pinkie flashed a gentle smile at the rest of her friends. "To be honest, I'd be balling my eyes out if I realized that I'd destroyed all of you like that. I don't wanna ever get into a fight like that ever again."

"Me neither. It's not good when friends are turned into foes." Fluttershy pouted as she looked ahead at the light tunnel. "Those Wolfpack thugs make me so peeved I could scream!" She said, swinging her fists downward and letting out a shrill, yet muted scream.

"It is not your fault. Any of you." L.U.C.Y. said to the whole ship. "I have been monitoring Deh'Mehn'Sha's powers, and I am in the process of working out a way to counteract them. That being said, his mindset is rather unique, so I am finding it harder than usual to analyze a clear way of overcoming such mindbending prowess."

"As for how we're gonna beat him, well, there's a way." Elaris said as she added her own words to the analysis. "We've also been looking at Deh'Mehn'Sha's body and, truth be told, he's actually the weakest one in the whole Wolfpack when it comes to physical fighting skills. It's all the mindbending that he does that makes up for it. After all, if you can make anyone and everyone believe that reality is a lie, then why even bother fighting for yourself?" She said, as she went back to pushing buttons and pulling levers. "Horrifying, to say the least..."

"Still. I kinda feel bad that our vacation got cut short like that." Sunset Shimmer was deep in thought. She had been since she had realized Deh'Mehn'Sha's plot. Now, she was worried to go places in case that he was playing more mental tricks on them. "But... we still kinda need a break. Problem is, I don't know anywhere else that's both Wolfpack-free and vacation-worthy."

"Well, I think we'll be able to work something out." Twilight held Sunset's hands and looked into her eyes. "We just managed to walk into a trap. It won't happen again."

"Yeah. And if the Wolfpack try anything shifty on us like that, we'll just beat 'em straight on back to the prairie they crawled out of just like all the other times." Applejack punched her chest.

"Thanks, girls." Sunset sighed in relief, looking at the rest of her team. The road ahead wasn't going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination after what had just happened, but Sunset was confident in the knowledge that, after what they had just been through, anything was possible.

"Now, what about Hawaii? Ya think we've knocked the Wolfpack out there yet?" Pinkie asked. "I dunno about you, but after all that stuff with Deh'Mehn'Sha, I kinda deserve some beachside fun."

"Let me take a look at it..." Elaris typed in "Hawaii" in her species' native tongue, and the map projection she had of the world flared to life. There were red signatures and the Wolfpack's sigil on it, but the threat level read 'Average'. "Looks like there's some Wolfpack forces still there, but nothing you can't handle. None of the Feral Five are positioned there either."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Rainbow Dash cracked her knuckles. "Whaddaya say? Ya wanna go save Hawaii, then have a rest on it for a while, girls?"

A resounding chorus of cheers and raised fists flew into the air as the Rainbooms all agreed in unison with Rainbow Dash's plan. A small cluster of Wolfpack soldiers and agents meant nothing to them now after their brush with Deh'Mehn'Sha and his trap. Their confidence and motivation swelling, the girls were ready to go again.

"Alright then. Hawaii it is." Elaris pushed up the throttle on her ship, and the lightspeed tunnel came to an end, making the ship reappear above the middle of the ocean, with the islands of Hawaii approaching in the distance. All that remained now for the girls was to clear out the Wolfpack and take it back. Then, it was time for some sun, sand, and sea; the perfect reward after surviving such a dreadful fight with Deh'Mehn'Sha...

The Feral Five

Another day had passed and the Rainbooms were all in Elaris's ship. After having fixed a number of things within the bridge, they now focused their efforts on the forge and the practice range. To be more precise, they were running their own combat simulations against Wolfpack Hounds.

"Rainbow Dash! Vault over that wolf and switch to shotgun mode!" Elaris pointed out.

"Got it!" Rainbow did so on command, grabbing onto the sides of the lunging hound, morphing her guns as she clambered over his body. She fired a round from the shotgun, destroying the footsoldier instantly with a shrapnel blast to the face. She then flipped it back over her head and blew another wolf's head off with another burst. "Booyah!"

"Pinkie! Cannonfire on those wolves, before they run Rarity down," said Elaris. "They can't handle an aerial assault, so do what you can to take advantage of that."

"On it. Time to go bye-bye holo-wolfies!" Pinkie bounced once, twice, then three times before flying over the heads of the wolves and letting her twin party cannons rain down a hail of confetti, which promptly glowed before exploding, coating the wolves in a shower of explosions. "No thanks needed for the heads' up, Rares."

"I wouldn't have had it any other way, darling." Rarity, using her two swords fended off a horde of wolves, leaving 'X' patterns on most of their faces and chests while impaling all of the rest.

"Alright, Sunset. I'm going to try one more time to bring in the Suncycle. If the data corrupts again, I'll stop the simulation. Are you prepared to take a ride?" Elaris asked as she played around with a console on the side of the sparring grid. "If it feels a bit bumpy, I'll fine tune it after the fact."

"Yeah. I'm ready. Let's just hope that it works this time. We need all of the stuff that we can get if we're gonna make fighting the Wolfpack easier." Sunset nodded back at the Harmonite mentor, gripping her flame sword tightly as a crowd of Wolfpack wolves swarmed on her position.

"Alright. Transmitting the Suncycle in now." She pressed a button, causing a bright red halo to form over Sunset's head, before a pillar came down on her.

Sunset leapt and arched her belly forward as if she was boarding a motorcycle. She was ready to take the Wolfpack on a ride in more ways than one. The bike formed itself and neared completion, but as she grabbed onto the handles and readied her butt to land on the saddle, a spark formed and the vehicle disappeared, causing Sunset to land ungracefully on her face, with the holographic wolves slashing away at her body before they quickly left as well. She pushed herself up from the pile of wolves that had once been beating her while she was down hoping to see her friends still in the fight. Instead, she saw that the simulation had ended for them as well, watching as they all demorphed back into their casual attire.

"What happened, El?" Sunset asked, looking up at the white-skinned alien once again. "It's still not complete yet?"

"I'm sorry, Sunset. I'm just so sorry. It always does this, no matter how much I try!" Elaris backed up, eyebrows twitching as her hands began to shudder. "You're all counting on me so much to be your leader, but this data just will. Not. Cooperate!" She yelled and punched the monitor as violently as she could. "My family paid over a hundred thousand Nebuloids for this, you know. Worthless piece of mail-order junk if you ask me!"

"I advise you to cease your aggression towards the system, Elaris. That part of my circuits was only reinstalled the last week. If you want to add it back to your workload of repairs needed to properly defeat the Wolfpack, then continue attacking it by all means," said L.U.C.Y. with a cold tone in her voice.

Elaris let out a few deep breaths, then dropped her arms as she let out a long and dreary sigh. "I'm sorry, everyone. I've just been trying so hard to power ourselves up after what happened with Siel'Viz. I mean, first of all, Rarity becomes the White Paladin, then we hear this Omega Pack saying that Mar'Zek's let out five wolves who nearly managed to kill him. At this rate, I feel like we're getting nowhere in terms of strength. We're just constantly trapped in the same place over and over again."

"Hey, hey. Chill out, girl. We'll be able to work out the kinks eventually. We just need some more time to properly get it all hooked up and ready to go. No biggie, really." Rainbow Dash stepped out of the range, walked over to Elaris and wrapped her arm around her shoulders.

"I can wait for a power upgrade. Even if I don't get one, I'm still confident that we can handle whatever the Wolfpack throws at us." Fluttershy was the next to step out of the range and offer her embrace towards the crestfallen alien. "After all, Rarity took down one of Mar'Zek's inner circle, so that definitely counts to how strong we've gotten since then, right?"

"Still. It's the Wolfpack. They're going to be throwing everything that they've got at you. It's a war of attrition and they can still keep going. We can't!" Elaris moaned and threw herself to the ground before everyone. "And no matter what I do, it's never good enough! All I can do is sit on the sidelines and get everyone else to do everything for me. All it's gotten me is pain. I lost my friends, I lost the crystals to Mar'Zek, and now I'm going to lose this battle with his army! I just..." She let a small tear drop. I'm just holding you all back, aren't I?"

"Hey, El... It's fine." Sunset Shimmer brushed her stomach off and squatted down to Elaris's weeping body. "There's no need to get so worked up about it. "We're always going to have your back when it comes to this kind of thing. You can't just give up after so many failed attempts, right?"

"Science is never easy. That much can be said for any species. Any planet. Any form of life, even. But we never just call it a failure after a bunch of mistakes." Twilight Sparkle sat down with Elaris and patted her on the back. "The beauty about science is that it's always worth it to keep on trying out new ideas based on what went wrong and improving off of that. Trial, error, and improvement."

"But I've tried so many—" Elaris was about to continue when a finger placed itself on her lips.

"Don't try and keep whining about it. Just keep doing what you do. And don't stop until you find a solution that works. Look over in great detail what went wrong and try to find a new way to get around the problem. There's a solution for everything, girl. You just need to find the one for this little conundrum. Then, when you crack it, you'll feel much better for doing so." Twilight took the finger off of Elaris's lips. "Trust me. I've been through so many attempts when it comes to properly programming stuff for me, my family, and my friends. It's never right the first time. That's where the old saying comes from. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

"That's right. We didn't succeed when it came to battling Mar'Zek himself, but that's why we're going to try again. And again. And again. Until finally, we put that mangy old dog out to pasture and tear his fleet from the roots up!" Applejack gave Elaris a firm nod as she folded her arms. "You can count on that."

Suddenly, the alarm went, filling the room with a red hue. The other rangers hurried off to meet the call to action, leaving Sunset and Twilight alone with Elaris.

"Listen, El. You don't need to work so hard for us. We'll find a way to fix that part of the ship as well. We'll find a way to create the Suncycle for me and whatever other stuff the forge can put out, alright? But for now, you just need to take it easy and leave the rest to us." Sunset gave her a nod before rushing out with her friends.

"And besides, while they're gone, I can help you out with the machines. I've got a lot of experience when it comes to this kind of stuff, so finding out what went wrong and working around it should be a cakewalk." Twilight wrapped her arms around Elaris's chest and pulled her back onto her feet. "But first, I think you'd need to show me how most of this stuff works. I don't really know how to get into the inner workings of Harmonite technology just yet."

"Thank you, Twilight. Thank you and all of your friends." Elaris let one more droplet fall from her eyes before a smile came back to her face.

The Rainbooms—now kitted up as the Equestrian Star Rangers once again—dashed towards the site of the ruined power station, where the attacker had been triangulated. They fumbled around whatever remained of the site's wreckage with cranes over their heads. Obviously, work had gotten started on trying to fix what had happened to the place after Livewire's attack. But none of the girls had time to think about how long it would take the people of Canterlot to clean up the mess that the Wolfpack had left behind; especially when there were some more of their agents roaming around nearby.

When the Rangers came to the ruins of the cooling towers for the power plant, they saw a sight that they weren't expecting to see. Captain Mar'Zek, the leader of the Wolfpack. His back was turned to them but his sword and the glaring hues of purple energy seething off of it were seen clear as day.

"Rangers. At long last, we meet each other on the battlefield once again." He turned to face the girls, a sadistic glint in his eye as he unsheathed his sword and held it out before them. "Let me just say that I am pleased with your progression. You have managed to slay Siel'Viz. My right hand. My old partner when I was in the war for the Lupus Conglomerate. I mourn her loss, but at the same time, her weakness needed to be culled or her in its' place."

"So you want to fight us again, knowing that you want to see how we perform because Rarity got a power boost?" Sunset cocked a brow as her sword's flame glowed brighter.

"No. I will not fight you yet. The loss of my friend has angered me, awakened the rage that I had long since sated. Trust me, girls. My anger is proof that I deserve to lead this pack to the ends of existence and beyond. If I were to fight you here, it would be mercy. And mercy is a strict law that we do not ever pass onto our foes." He said, lowering the sword. "However. There are some wolves that you will fight. If not here, then later down the line."

Mar'Zek leapt into the air, allowing five more wolves to step out of the shadows. One was dressed in majestic clothing, looking like the epitome of a queen, complete with diamond-studded tiara and two golden bladed warfans. Another showed itself as a rugged wolf armed with a giant sniper rifle, as well as scars across his body from head to toe and a belt made entirely out of bullets. The third newcomer was also male, yet his appearance was vastly different. He was kitted completely in a chrome suit with electronic lights running up and down it. The fourth was a gnarled wolf, twitching with every single move, lurching randomly out towards the Rangers with nothing more than his bare claws and not a single piece of armour. The fifth and final wolf to step out was the largest of all of them, looking like a titan by comparison. He donned armour that was draped in pictures of the sun, complete with a chestplate showing half of the celestial object in question.

"So. These are the Power Rangers that we've heard so much about?" The female wolf asked, before turning her head and letting out a sadistic chuckle. "So undignified. They hold no place in our court and no claim to the Perfect Ones' Crystals."

"True, true. But they make good hurty-dolls, don't they?" The twitchy wolf asked, before scurrying over to Rarity's side, clutching her arm and pulling her in close. "Look at those suits. Those shiny tin suits with flesh inside. I want to just pull it apart and see the little girly-girls inside." He leapt over her to see Pinkie and Fluttershy close up. "Hurty dolls are so, so much fun when you can see their faces. Helmets are bad! Bad! They're censoring you for no reason, hurty dolls! Don't you want to show me your faces?!"

"Forgive the abhorrent ways of my colleagues. They have just been released from the Alpha Slayer's prison and have been dying to meet you." The titanic wolf came over to the crazy one and pulled him back to the side of his comrades. "If anything, you do look ravishing, ladies. Perfect material for when we beat you within an inch of your life and take those crystals from your hands."

"Excuse me, but who even are you?" Pinkie Pie asked, tipping her hand outward.

"This is Mah'Jehs'Tie." The titan pointed to the regal wolf. "Then, Uon'Buh'Leht." He pointed out the sniper next. "The wolf in chrome is known as Uhp'Grahy'der, the... mentally unstable one is known as Deh'Mehn'Sha. And I am Ahl'Maih'Tie." He slammed his fist to his chest. "Together, we are known as the Feral Five. The five wolves so feared by the pack that we were sealed for their own sanity."

"You stand no chance, Rangers. Forfeit the crystals now and we can end this silly facade," Uhp'Grahy'der spoke with a dual-toned accent which sounded half-robotic and half-human. "Trust me. It's for your own good and ours. We've been promised permanent freedom if we can please the captain. And by showing him that we are all-powerful, he'll have no choice but to end our incarceration."

"Yeah, right. And let you take over the world and every other world? Not gonna happen." Rainbow activated her geode and dashed for the Feral Five, only for Uhp'Grahy'der's suit to glow a radiant shade of neon green as he charged at Rainbow in response. Just as she was about to change her gun, she felt a violent punch ram into her helmet, shattering the visor and slamming her into the remains of the tower, where she promptly tumbled like a ragdoll to the ground.

"Terra Hammer!" Applejack swung her hammer out at Uhp'Grahy'der, forming splits in the earth, only for him to slalom through every split before he slid under her legs and glowed once more. He effortlessly lifted her up and ran for the other rangers, using her as his own oversized club to knock them all down before leaping back to his crew.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, ladies. Whatever powers you may have, they're nothing before me. I've been kitted out with some of the most advanced tech in the armoury. You're not going to defeat me." He walked back to his peers. "I could crush you right now if I wanted, but yadda, yadda, yadda. The Wolfpack can't kill weaker opponents. Bunch of hooey if you ask me..."

"At the very least, we can take out some of our pent-up anger on the lot of you." Uon'Buh'Leht pulled out his rifle, loaded a bullet, and aimed at the Rangers. "Helmet or no helmet, this is going to hurt you. A lot." He looked down the sights of his gun, as crosshairs formed on the display over the Rangers, flashing bright red and letting out a buzzing noise as he pulled the trigger.

A sniper bullet careened into Applejack's chest. As it landed, it went through a small portal before reappearing and striking Pinkie's chest. Then it went through another portal and landed on Fluttershy, then Rainbow Dash, then Sunset, and finally Rarity before returning to the magazine of the rifle.

"One shot, so much collateral damage, wouldn't you agree?" Uon chuckled to himself as he vanished, taking a perch atop one of the nearby cranes. He let another shot fire at the pounded rangers, hitting them all once again with the portal effect, causing them all to demorph. "Just some target practice before we have our real scuffle." He chuckled, his refined accent showing as he went back to the group.

"Now then. Just as I thought, you're not very beautiful underneath all of that metal, are you?" Mah'Jehs'Tie let out a fiendish cackle as her eyes glowed a shade of lime, the fans forming a pattern with energy of a similar colour. She swung the fans out at the rangers, turning everyone but Rarity into a stone statue with a single wave of energy. "And that just proves it. My Beauty Judgement is never wrong. Most of you are unfit to look at me. On the other hand, you, my dear might actually be interesting. I look forward to our little brawl, White Ranger."

"Wh-what did you do to my friends?!" Rarity asked, trying to stand up as she looked at the stone likenesses of her fellow Rangers.

"Beauty Judgement sees my beauty as the highest in the battlefield. Anyone and everyone within range is turned to stone if they are not as pretty as I am. Seeing as how you are immune to its' effects, it means that you are just as ravishing as I am. But that still means that I will have to fight you for that crystal. As for the other five, they are utterly useless to you when fighting against us." She swung the fan back, turning the statues back into the Rainbooms. "I'd rather let you breathe a few more days. It's no fun having to waste a powdered nose and the finest make-up this side of existence against brats who don't know the first thing about beauty."

"Beauty, schmeauty! Who needs it when you're fighting against meanies like you?" Pinkie yelled out, clutching her chest in pain.

"Yes, yes, yes! That's it! Get angry, my little hurty dolls! You look so much fun to play with when you're angry. Ooh! I'm going to have so much fun dressing you up, brushing your hair, melting your minds so that you play just like me on the battlefield, oh, it's good to be back!" Deh'Mehn'Sha clapped his hands in a rapid fashion as he picked everyone else up. "Hurty dolls, hurty dolls! How I love my hurty dolls! So much fun when they get beaten and beaten and beaten some more! And even more fun when they see life the way I see it!" He barrelled into Applejack, driving his claws into her head. "INSANITY!" He bellowed, pumping Applejack's head with black energy which turned her eyeballs a similar colour. He then vaulted off of Applejack, squealing to himself as he watched the country girl rise back up onto her feet.

"Applejack? Applejack, what's wrong?" Sunset asked as she watched Applejack morph back into her ranger form, bearing the Terra Hammer in the sunlight.

"You're not sane. You're not happy. You don't ever need your sanity to be happy!" Applejack swung her hammer out towards the Rainbooms, maniacally slamming it into the ground as she let out a demented laugh. "Sanity is weak! Sanity holds us back! Who needs sanity to be happy?! My family never need sanity but they still have it! My family are stupid because they have their sanity! Sanity is a bad thing! We need to get rid of it to be happy again!" She ran around, chasing the Rainbooms down with her hammer, leaving lots of smashed rubble in her wake as she tried to hurt her friends.

"Do you like it, hurty dolls? That's just a little bit of my Insanity for you. It's a magical ticket into a happy-go-lucky wonderland where you can see the world how you want, do what you want, enjoy life the way you want it. And all the while, you've got no clue as to what's going on around you. Not that you ever needed a clue. I never need a clue. Do you need a clue, who in the name of Mar'Zek needs clues?!" Deh'Mehn'Sha called out, still shivering from head to toe. "Applejack sees nothing but what she wants to see. She's seeing moles tearing through her orchard when really the moles are you. She's hurting you, hurty dolls! Just like a hurty doll acts. They hurt others, they get hurt, and their reason for existing is only to cause pain for themselves and for others! Truly, the best toy the universe ever gave, isn't it?"

"Applejack! Stop it!" Sunset ducked a hammer swing. "We're supposed to be friends!"

"Friendship is not sanity! No friends ever need to be sane to be happy!" She brought the hammer down inches away from Sunset's crotch.

"In her mind, she actually said, and I quote; 'get off of Sweet Apple Acres, you darn varmints.' But you'd never know that from looking at her, would you?" He grinned sadistically. "Well, I think playtime is over for today." He reached his hand out to Applejack's head, sucking all of the black magic out of it. "But don't worry, my little hurty dolls. We'll play again very soon, I just know we will."

As soon as Applejack felt the insanity leave her mind, her muscles became increasingly heavy. She demorphed once more and fell into Sunset's arms, dropping the hammer as it too faded away with her suit."Wh-what in the world was I doing?" She asked herself, looking into Sunset's eyes. She turned to see the rest of her friends, breathing heavily as they were splayed across the wreckage.

"I would show you just what I can do, but I would rather not. This is clearly a waste of our time and talent." Ahl'Maih'Tie glared at the felled Rainbooms. "Just as the Captain proved; you are weak. You will remain weak. And by the time you get strong enough to face us, it will be far too late for you and your world. Consider your jobs done, Equestrian Star Rangers." He clicked his fingers. On command, he and the rest of the Feral Five vanished through portals back onto the Alpha Slayer flagship.

"Do you see us now, Power Rangers? You stand no chance. At least, not yet." Mar'Zek stepped back into the ring, looking at all of the girls. He personally reached down and pulled them all up. "But that's what you do. You appear weak, then you grow stronger. After all. Your White Ranger became the White Paladin and felled my right-hand. Surely, the rest of you have an ascendant form ready and waiting to battle the Wolfpack?" He looked around at the girls, who could only shake their heads. "No? A shame then. Well, if it's any consolation, the offer still stands for you to join us. You can have everything you want and more as long as—"

"Never." Sunset seethed, slapping his paw away with the back of her hand.

"Well, that was fast." Mar'Zek deadpanned. "But you should know that there is no point trying to fight for this planet any longer. The Wolfpack have won; claimed this world for our own, and all of the heroes that reside on it. The more that you try and resist us, the more pain and pressure you put upon yourselves, Power Rangers. If you wish to prove me wrong, then by all means. Defeat the Feral Five and prove that this world still has some form of value to you." He opened his own portal and returned to the bridge of his ship, leaving the Rainbooms in the wake of the wrecked power plant.

"Sunset... How are we going to beat these wolves?" Fluttershy asked, trying to fight back her pain as she tried to stand up once more. "They're... far too strong!"

"Yeah. They totally whooped our butts into next year..." Pinkie was rubbing her own bottom to emphasize. "How are we gonna come back from this?"

"I don't know, girls. I don't know. Not unless we get some help..." Sunset grabbed onto one of the edges of the walls and pulled herself onto her feet. "The Omega Pack..."

"We are the Omega Pack. We're the lowest of the low in his food chain, but can be valuable assets in yours. We will talk again, Power Rangers. For now, know that the Omega Pack has your back."

"That's what they said, right? They're the lowest in the Wolfpack, yet they're willing to defect?" She asked the other girls, who simply let out pained noises in response. "Well, right now, we need all hands on deck if we're going to get ourselves back in the fight with the Wolfpack. And this Omega Pack might be just what we need to do it..."

Prologue: We Are Not Alone Part 1

Space. A rather infinite cosmos. One might say that it is impossible to explore all of it, but in a way, that is what retains its beauty. With every star system, we see new life and death, new hope and despair, new stories to be told and forgotten. Stars would alight your journey every step of the way should you wish to take a journey through the seemingly endless reaches of the unknown.

The silence that covered the reaches was then shattered with the roar of spaceship engines as a swarm of silver and chrome ships darted through the darkness, expelling a purple trail of light as their ships flew ahead. There were a couple dozen of ships, but they were all being shot on from something behind them.

Pursuing after the tinier and sleeker ships were a group of giant black ships with red claw markings on the wings that protruded out of the sides. Large cannons poked out of the fronts of the ships while smaller guns and controllable turrets sat on the sides of the ships like barnacles. The giant ships had massive glass windows attached to the front of each, with giant bipedal wolves tapping away at the control panels inside.

"Captain. Their shields are beginning to dampen." One of the wolves swivelled his seat back away from the console, his fangs sharp as his giant tongue slobbered all over them. He was wearing black shoulder pads and had a red chest plate around his body. He wore a scabbard around his waist with a weapon inserted into the small slot. "Your orders?"

"Continue to fire on them." A shadowy figure raised a hairy claw from a larger chair in the middle of the bridge. One of his golden eyes glinted as he began to sniff the air with his nose. "I can smell the blood pouring out of their skins already. Destroy the engines but not the ships themselves. We eat the crew ourselves and take whatever we can find on board as salvage."

"Yes, captain!" The wolf turned his chair back and pulled a small corded microphone to his face. "All guns open fire! Damage them, but do not destroy!"

The guns all turned and pivoted themselves towards the group of smaller ships and began to unleash a deluge of bullets and cannon fire. Yellow lasers streaked down and bombarded onto most of the ships as the cluster broke the formation it was in and swerved and rolled through the blitzing weapon fire. A few ships had massive holes blown through them as the opening rounds of weaponry bit into the hulls.

"So, you thought that you could run from me, could you?" The captain of the fleet coiled his fingers around the arm rests of his throne and cracked his knuckles together. "Nothing escapes from the Wolfpack. You will not be the first." He reached down by the side of his chair and pulled a small hatch open. He pushed the blinking button underneath it and closed the hatch up.

"AUTOPILOT ENGAGED. TARGETS LOCKING." A female voice rang out through the bridge as the leader put his arms behind his head and lifted his feet. A grunt wolf simply ran up to the chair and fell down in front of it, allowing the captain to put his feet up on the body of his felled underling.

The ships all danced and twirled around the lasers and cannon fire, but one by one, they were starting to get blown up by the fleet of ships chasing them. Explosions detonated at the engines and hulls as the weapons connected with them at last. The sheen that the chrome-plated ships once had was now being replaced with fires and dents as the wolf-manned ships continued their ferocious onslaught of attacks on the group.

"The ships are being destroyed faster than we can register, captain! Victory is assured!" Another wolf spoke from his seat as the ships continued to explode.

"Well, of course we're about to win. Do you think I'm blind?" The captain leaned forward, revealing a wolf's snout as his jaws clashed against each other.

"Uh, no sir! I was merely stating the obv—"

"Silence! Enough with your prattle, Scal'zek!" The captain jabbed one of his sharp nails at the wolf on the chair and turned it towards the ships. "You are in my good books so far, but if you want to maintain that image, I would advise that you keep your mouth shut until after their engines have been obliterated."

Soon, the multitude of small ships had been reduced to only two as they nimbly swung and dived through the besieging weapons that hammered down around them. While one of them began to open a hatch on the top to project a bubble of blue light around it, the second opened up small ports around the engines, revealing rainbow-coloured crystals that began to glow as small globes of light began to fly into them.

"Now it's time for the wolves to feed..." The captain was handed a golden staff with a four teeth poking out of the top. A blood-red orb sat in the middle of the four prongs at the end and glowed brightly as he swung it in front of his face and pointed it at the remaining ships. "ATTACK!" He proclaimed as a number of small yellow squares slowly advanced in on the glass in front of him and converged on the ships. Once they were aligned with them, they turned red and grew in size, blinking on and off rapidly.

The fleet of ships behind them all fired off a series of white missiles that left behind their own little streams as they hurtled through space and rocketed towards the remaining chrome ships. They immediately turned themselves towards the other ships and followed them as they tried to dash away from the wolf ships and their captain.

The ship that had the crystals around the engine picked up speed and began to outpace the rockets as a ring of rainbow light began to materialise around it. Electricity crackled around the ring and grew in magnitude as it began to form and complete itself. Once it did, the ring transformed into a multi-coloured vortex that took the first ship away, with some of the rockets flying in after it as it vanished through the light.

The second ship that had the force field around it bore the brunt of the remaining missiles. They struck the ship relentlessly, one after another, leaving nothing but ripples as the blue light surrounding the ship began to diminish. Eventually, it could not bear the strain of fending off that many projectiles at once, and the shield faded out of existence, causing the missiles to slam into the last remaining ship and cause it to explode into a million pieces in all directions.

"ALL TARGETS ELIMINATED. ZERO THREATS REMAINING." The onboard A.I. for the Wolfpack ship announced as the remnants of the last ship split up and dissipated across the stars. "WEAPONS SYSTEMS DISENGAGING."

"Go, my wolves! Board the remaining ships and take what you can!" The captain raised his arms high into the air and held his staff above his head. "And if the crew somehow managed to survive, make sure that you eat your fill!"

The remaining soldiers on the bridge immediately roared and stretches their claws out to the side before bolting out of the doors behind the captain. They snarled and licked their lips as their claws dug into and lifted off of the metallic floors as they soon left the room and ran off towards another part of the ship.

"Captain. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but what are you going to do about that one ship that got away?" A female wolf approached from behind the chair dressed in purple armor. She was holding onto a bar in each hand that had three sharp claws poking out in front of her in a triangle shape. "Aren't you going to give chase?"

"That is what those missiles are for, Siel'Viz." The Wolfpack captain stood up from the chair and placed his claw gently on the female's chest. "If that one ship has eluded our grasp, it will soon explode and leave nothing more than ash and blood."

"Aren't you at all worried about it, though, Mar'zek?" Siel'Viz tilted her head at him.

"No. No I am not." Mar'zek shook his head and turned it towards the stars, watching as a swarm of purple ships now left his own and flew towards the wreckage of the chrome ones that he had destroyed. "What good can one ship do against the might of an empire of wolves?" As he leaned into the light, a toothy smirk appeared on his face.

The remaining chrome ship burst out of the rainbow-coloured wormhole in another region of space, with a blue planet approaching from the distance. The crystals by the engines retracted back into the ship as it continued to fly. Little did it know that the rockets that had followed it were still hot on its' tail as they burst out of the shrinking gateway.

The chase resumed as the small ship performed erratic swirls and curving movements as it tried to get rid of the warheads chasing after it, but it was all to no avail as they crept up to it and slammed into the engines. Fire and smoke poured out of where the weapons had made contact and the ship spiralled towards the giant blue planet with the lights inside beginning to blink red as it broke through the atmosphere.

Students from Canterlot High all gathered outside the back of their school on the bleachers, talking to one another as they looked up to the skies and gazed upon the twinkling stars and moon above. All of them were dressed up in coats as small gusts of frigid wind swept through their hairs and blasted against their faces, but they didn't really seem too bothered by that.

Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, and all of their friends were all gathered together underneath a banner that said, "Stargazing Night. Look up to the sky and watch the stars twinkle." Much like the other Canterlot High students, they were dressed up to make it through the cold winds, with Pinkie Pie even wearing a pair of pink mittens.

"I still can't believe that we're actually gonna be seeing a real meteor shower!" Rainbow Dash's grin spread wider and wider as she examined the stars above. "That's the kinda stuff you'd usually see in sci-fi space movies—not in real life!"

"Oh, I just hope that it doesn't come too close." Fluttershy brushed up next to Rainbow Dash and held her hand. "I don't want to imagine the kind of chaos that they could cause if they crash here on Earth."

"Don't worry, Fluttershy. If the meteors had come close towards the planet's atmosphere, then the government would've authorised that we all evacuate the city immediately." Twilight Sparkle adjusted her glasses and pulled out a telescope from her backpack. She pulled the lens out and extended it before she retrieved the stand that would hold it and began to attach the two pieces together. "Everything's going to be fine. And, if anything, we'll see some amazing astral movements tonight."

"Yeah! And all of those shooting stars in one place can only mean one thing: Wishes!" Pinkie Pie threw her arms into the air and flung confetti out from her sleeves. "We're gonna have so many stars to make our wishes on and with a little bit of luck, hope, Magic of Friendship, and believing in them like those cheesy family movies say, I can't even imagine all the stuff that's gonna come true afterwards! It's all so fun and exciting!" She squealed.

"Alright, Pinkie Pie. There ain't no need to get so worked up about it just yet." Applejack held Pinkie's shoulders and massaged them gently. "There'll be plenty of 'em, yeah, but we've all gotta wait patiently. No use counting yer chickens before they hatch."

"There are chickens involved?" Spike burst out of Twilight's backpack and wagged his tail vigorously. "Where? Lemme at 'em!"

"Attention, students!" Principal Celestia tapped on the microphone and heard the slight feedback ring through everyone's ears as she saw everyone turn to face her. "I'm so glad that so many of you turned up for tonight's events. Now, we might have some up with the idea, but in our eyes, all of you are the real stars." Her attempt a joke was met with the mere chirping of crickets as students stared at her bug-eyed. She let out a small chuckle and stepped back a few paces. "I'll, uh, hand the microphone over to Luna now."

"Students, being a stargazer and night enthusiast myself, I would like to say that I am so proud of you all for coming out all of this way at this time of night to witness the crossing of these meteors." Luna stood by the microphone and smiled at the crowd of teenagers as she clapped her hands and hung them down at her stomach. "Even if you aren't familiar with stars and constellations, I do hope that what happens tonight sticks in your minds for a long time." She looked up and watched as the first few lights shot through the sky above her. "Now, I advise you all to crane your necks up, as the first few shooting stars of the night are beginning to pass us by."

As the students looked up as per Luna's request, their eyes were greeted with the sight of dozens of stars streaking across the night sky leaving behind trails that vanished just as quickly as they appeared. Choruses of "ooh"'s and "aah"'s rang out as the students were captivated by the events happening high above them.

"Wow..." Fluttershy's mouth hung wide open as she saw the stars above her dashing off and fading out of existence faster than she could process what was going on. "It's like I'm looking at bunch of fireflies dancing..."

"You said it, Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash's hand slowly slid down Fluttershy's hips as both of them witnessed the event. "This has to be the most awesome thing that I've ever seen in my life..."

As the students watched the stars above, they loosened up their muscles and sat down on the ground, folding their legs as they started to feel warm and fuzzy inside. Most of their time at Canterlot High was either spent learning lessons that would help them to find a job or watching magical beings duke it out for the fate of the world. So to have all of that replaced with a single night of shooting stars was all the more special for them. No matter what problems or issues that they might have had, it was almost instantaneously lost as they gave the tiny comets an audience.

But in the middle of the meteor shower, a muffled explosion could be heard as a sonic wave blasted away the clouds and spread out towards the rest of the sky. Everyone jumped at the noise and turned to see what looked like another, giant red star in between the other ones flying past.

"Ooh! What's that?" Twilight immediately put her eye against the telescope and turned it towards the new light. "Is that a red star? I've only ever seen them white. I've gotta get a picture of this." And without another second's thought, she pulled out a small phone and zoomed in before taking the picture.

"Let me see that star, Twilight." Sunset Shimmer bent down and looked through Twilight's telescope to try and get a better vantage of the red star. She fiddled with the magnification range until she could make out exactly what was happening. "Wait a second. That doesn't seem like a star to me."

"Huh? What do you mean it's not a star, Sunset?" Twilight turned from her phone and saw Sunset looking through her telescope.

"It has wings, some sort of shiny silver plating or something, and that doesn't seem to be red just for the heck of it." Sunset turned the knob one more time, until she got an accurate view of the small ship that had been attacked by the Wolfpack and hit by the missiles. "It looks like some kind of alien spaceship!"

"An alien spaceship?" The other Rainbooms chorused and gathered around Sunset. They all took turns at looking through the telescope and saw the damaged ship for what it was at last.

"It is! It is an alien ship!" Applejack almost jumped off of the ground when she saw the ship. "And from the looks of things, it's coming right for us!"

As everyone turned their attention from the shooting stars in the distance, they watched as the chrome and silver ship came careening towards them with a veil of fire around the front. Smoke poured out of the engines as parts of the ship were ripped off in the high velocity it was travelling in, and the roar of the noise grew louder and louder as it came closer and closer to the ground.

The students began to panic and scream as they saw the ship growing bigger and bigger as it came hurtling down towards the surface. They all began to run away from the site in a frenzy, pushing and shoving each other to try and be the first ones to clear the ensuing crash and save themselves from meeting a grizzled end.

Throughout the chaos, the only ones who didn't move were the Rainbooms, who were too fixated on the ship to try and move away. Other students pulled on their arms to try and grab their attention, but none of it seemed to work as the seven of them just watched the giant slab of otherworldly material shoot right over Canterlot High.

As the ship flew over the high school, a trapdoor opened up on the bottom of the ship. From the interior of the alien vessel, a single five-fingered hand threw six small diamond-shaped crystals out of it, causing them to tumble down towards the grass. After leaving the ship, the hand moved from the hatch and towards another part of the ship before the hatch was able to fully close.

Sunset Shimmer was so entranced in watching the damaged ship pass over her head that she didn't even notice the crystals fall and rest delicately on the barren ground. After it left, all that she could hear were the sounds of failing engines and the impact against solid ground as she and the other girls were knocked onto their butts.

"What in the heck was that?!" Rainbow Dash asked, throwing her hand out in front of her face.

"I don't know! It just came out of nowhere!" Sunset propped her hands against the floor and pushed herself back onto her feet, helping the other girls stand up one by one afterwards. "But we should check it out at least, before the place gets locked down by the police."

"Ya sure that's a good idea, Sunset?" Applejack tilted her head and pulled her hat from it. "That thing was the size of a race track! Aren't you a little worried about what might be inside that thing?"

"Yeah, Sunset! There are aliens in that thing! We've just gotta wait for the authorities to lock whatever's in there up and send it off to Area 51 or something." Pinkie Pie frowned as she looked towards the pillar of smoke that rose up from the crash site of the giant ship. "I know that it'd be super-cool to shake hands with an alien, but sometimes we've gotta stop acting so silly and do the right thing sometimes."

"While I do agree with Pinkie, I suppose that I should really play the side of the devil here and say that it's at least worth a peak." Rarity raised her finger and turned towards the crash. "Even if the cops do detain whatever monster might be inside that ship, we should really see what they're locking up before they do."

"Well, I think that we should just leave it alone and move on with our lives." Applejack crossed her arms and shook her head with Rarity.

"Ugh. Applejack, you're always so stuffy whenever it comes to new things." Rarity leaned in close and pinched Applejack's cheeks. "Learn to lighten up a bit and be a bit more curious."

"Rarity, we're dealing with creatures from another planet!" Applejack spluttered and threw both of her arms out to her sides. "We should get the cops high-tailing down there to arrest them there varmints!"

"Alright, alright, alright." Sunset Shimmer stepped in between both Rarity and Applejack and pushed them apart. "I can see that we're not going to be able to resolve this with two of you fighting. So instead, we'll take a vote." She walked into the middle of the group. "All those in favour of seeing what's up with that crash, say aye."

"Aye!" Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Rarity raised their hands in the air.

"All against?" Sunset turned towards the others.

"Nay." Applejack and Pinkie Pie raised their arms.

"Fluttershy?" Sunset saw that throughout the whole process, Fluttershy had just stood there with a lock of hair draped down her face. She blew it up once her name was called and looked Sunset in the eyes. "You're not deciding?"

"Oh, I'm indecisive on this." Fluttershy stepped forward and pushed the hair away from her face as she looked out at the rising smoke. "I'm not going to bet on this, as if I side with Applejack, we're only going to reach a standstill. And besides, I think it'd be interesting to see just what kind of alien creatures we find on that ship."

"Well, if you're not gonna vote, then that means that we have a three-two victory for checking the ship out." Sunset Shimmer nodded as she walked away from the site. "C'mon, girls. Let's see what we're dealing with here."

"I still think that we should just let the authorities deal with this stuff." Applejack crossed her arms and mumbled under her breath as she followed the other girls away from Canterlot High and the empty field. "Seriously, first magic, now aliens. Are we ever gonna live a normal life?"

"Oh, come on, Applejack. Isn't your curiosity piqued?" Rarity couldn't help but smile as she walked in tandem with the other Rainbooms. "Don't you just want to see what kind of fashion sense these intergalactic beings have? I wonder what the inside of that ship looks like now that I think about it."

"Of course you'd be in this for the fashion, Rarity." Rainbow Dash put her hands behind her head. "I'm just in this to see who's come to our planet. If they're friendly, then we welcome and keep them safe. But if they're bad guys, we use the Magic of Friendship to pummel their butts straight back to wherever they came from!"

"Well, reasons aside, the more we know, the less worried we'll be about it." Sunset nodded and ran over the road and down the sidewalks towards where the ship had crashed. "And we'd better get there fast. If they just get taken away from us the second we get there, we could be missing out on a great discovery. That, or we could have a new fight on our hands. One's better than the other, right?" She shrugged.

Author's Note

Go go, Pony Crossover!

So yeah, as you may or may not know, I am a fan of the Power Rangers universe. Whether it's the first series from back in the 80's, or some of the newer series like Samurai, I'm partial to a bit of multi-coloured spandex teenagers battling aliens, monsters, and other such monstrosities in such insane japanese-level combat that would never be possible in real life.

The girls are soon going to get their suits, zords, and powers in the next few chapters. Seeing as this is a prologue, I've got all the time that I need to establish everything and get all of the girls suited up and powered up before long.

So yeah, Power Rangers Equestria Girls is a go, people. I hope that you enjoyed this first part for what it was worth and I do hope that you'll stick around for future chapters.

The Stars Align (Crossover with The Bricklayer)

Author's Note

So. Welcome to this wonderful little thing called a Crossover. Seeing as how Power Rangers crossovers are as common as grass and clouds these days, we decided to bring our two series together as one. The Bricklayer brought his team and writing for his fanfic: To The Stars, and I still kept my writing for this story. And the result was this. And the first time I went to bed at 00:37 AM since my new sleeping schedule started.

If you don't know what To The Stars is about, the long and short of it is that it's a Super Sentai-style story, so more focused on the japanese version of the Power Rangers than the localized variants. It features a cast of ten Kyurangers, who are all different species, similar to the Student Six in the recent season of Friendship is Magic today. Of those three, Coldcast, Flurry Heart, and Spada are here for your pleasure.

And the long and short of his story is that the sun has pretty much self-destructed and Equestria's in a new ice age. So this team of ten—yes, ten rangers—have to try and restore order while also dealing with the tyrannical Don Armage and his Dark Matter Empire. I highly recommend that you check it out once you're done with this chapter if you did enjoy it, and just for your convenience, here's a link to it: You're welcome.

Anyways, I've been talking for too long, so let's get on with the show, shall we?

The Stars Align (Crossover with The Bricklayer)

The next morning after they had been healed to full health, the Rainbooms ran towards the bridge of Elaris’s ship. After having received a call that another agent of the Wolfpack was wreaking havoc on earth, they knew that they couldn’t have turned it down. Despite all of the heartache and suffering they had been through at the hands of Mar’Zek, it was still their job to save the planet; no matter how tough the stakes were.

“Girls. I know that your last fight was a bit rocky, but I think this would be a good time to help get your confidence back.” Elaris fiddled with the controls and brought up an image of the monster attacking the city. It had chunky, stone-like arms and bulky, metallic armour. It had no major weapons and used its’ arms to charge forward and bulldoze everything in its’ path.

“What… is that?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head at the sight of the beast on the screen.

“It doesn’t look like a Wolfpack wolf, but at the same time, I hardly think that it’s friendly either.” Rarity lifted a brow as she watched the monster barrel through a building, bricks, and dust hurling all over the place.

“Well, whatever the case, you know what to do. Get out there and clean it up. Let's just hope you’ve had enough time to dwell on your loss and leave it behind.” Twilight walked over to Sunset and the others, clasping her hands together. “If you’re scared, then consider this a way of conquering your fears. Because you can do this. I know you can do this. You’ve done it many times before, and not just with your crystals.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Twilight.” Sunset’s voice was friendly, but her face said otherwise as she kept a frown. “But do you think that we’re really capable of stopping that thing?”

“You wouldn’t have those crystals if you weren’t,” remarked Elaris. “But still, we don’t have a choice in the matter. It’s only going to keep on destroying things if you don’t heed the call.”

“True.” Sunset sighed and took her formation with the others. “Alright, girls. Let’s get this over with.”

“Right.” They nodded, and together, the six of them activated their crystals. “Equestrian Stars! Shine bright and let’s fight!” Throwing their arms out, they were hastily morphed into their ranger forms and darted out into battle.

“Do you think they’re ready for battle again?” Twilight asked Elaris as the rangers shot out of the ship and into the outside world. “I mean… you saw what happened before, right?”

“They need to be ready for battle, Twilight. It’s the only way they’ll get over this anxiety and doubt.” Elaris walked over and patted Twilight on the back. “I just pray that this fight isn’t too much for them…”

Far and away, high above the atmosphere something… rather unusual was occurring. A rare moment when the delicate fabrics of space and time just ripped wide open and formed a gap between the walls of reality. There were sustained variants of this, such as the long shattered mirror world portal back on Equestria but those were formed with magics long since lost to the ages by powerful mages on the levels near to if not powerful as Starswirl the Bearded himself.

This ripple, it was really one of those freak accidents. Something nobody could have predicted. And certainly something nobody could have predicted three different figures falling through. Three shapes, each differing in appearance emerged from this hole. One a deep purple, serpentine in nature and clutching what looked to be an orb in its claws and wearing a gold crown. Another, a deep blue and wolfish. Finally, the third was small and green resembling some sort of lizard.

“Oh, marvelously grand idea of yours Princesa!” one white-skinned being shouted. “Explore a wormhole, just to collect some data and in the process get us sucked into the fabrics of time and space! Really, just a marvelous idea! Dios mios…” Coldcast muttered, already taking note of his new form. He’d lost his original bird-like shape, shedded his feathers and even his wings had decided to take their leave making him now resemble an ape of some sort if not one with falcon’s eyes.

“Hey, the wormhole was emitting some interesting data, and I thought it might just by pure chance take us to some colony where we could settle down with what’s left of our people. A quick trip in and out, see what was on the other side and then return. Kill two birds with one stone as well,” Flurry remarked. “Test the Draco Voyager, and see if all that time it spent frozen in the ice had any effects on its systems.”

“You know, for royalty you make some damn stupid choices, you know that, right?” Coldcast sniped.

“Uh guys, hate to interrupt this lovely little conversation you’re having, but you may want to check your scanners. That’s Earth, the planet that Sunset Shimmer mare I read about in the old history logs went to. Odd thing though, it should be more… developed than this, right?”

Flurry almost at once checked the Draco Voyager’s sensors and her eyes widened. “Okay, Spada… Damn, you’re right. It’s been thousands of years since Sunset went through the mirror portal. By all rights, this planet’s sun should have burnt up as well for that matter, and yet…” she looked out her cockpit window and there it was, a bright brilliant orb shining over the planet with an indescribable caring warmth. One Flurry nor any other Equus resident hadn’t had the luxury of getting for ages. For a minute, she admitted if only to herself she felt jealous. But no time for that now, right now she had to figure out what was going on around here.

“Okay… Okay,” Flurry murmured to herself. “Clearly we, and by that, I freely admit me may have made a very large mistake.”

“Gee, you think? You sent us back in time, and into another dimension!” Coldcast barked. “Seriously, I look like an ape right now! A hairless ape at that!”

“Doesn’t bother me,” Spada remarked. “I mean, I think it’s an interesting experience. I mean, I’ve changed into loads of different creatures in my time and yet this… this is a new one! So enjoy it, eh?”

“I can’t even fly anymore! Wings flew the coop!” Coldcast complained before Spada sighed and shut off his comms.

“So, plan of action milady?” Spada asked.

“We set down, and go on a little explore…” Flurry replied. “Just one word of advice, let’s not mention anything like star-faring adventures, wormholes or changing shape. Don’t want to freak the locals out eh?”

“Agreed.” Spade nodded. “Preparing landing sequencing now…”

However, little did they know their arrival had not gone unnoticed. Nearby, hiding behind the dark side of the moon was the command ship of the Wolfpack.

“Captain! An unknown group of ships just entered Earth’s atmosphere!” One of the Wolfpack wolves on the bridge called as he brought up a projection of the Draco Voyager alongside the Chameleon and Wolf Voyagers. “There aren’t many people on board those things, but we’re getting readings similar to those of the crystals those Rangers are using.”

“What? There are more crystals?” Mar’Zek cocked a brow at the new discovery. “How interesting. It seems like there is more to the tale than I had previously anticipated.”

“What are your orders, captain?” Siel’Viz stepped out of the shadows again, leaning in closer towards the screen. “Pillage their ships and tear those crystals away?”

“No. Not yet, Siel’Viz. For all we know, they could be as weak and fleshy as the Rangers on the planet are.” He dismissively waved his claw. “For now, let’s just sit back and watch these new Rangers in action, shall we?”

“Plus, my research could benefit from a comparison project.” Vi’Al walked in from the end of the ship. “If these new rangers are more professional, then I could more easily calculate the real rangers’ estimated power when they grow more, and tell you how much of yours you’ll need to exert to have a proper fight.”

“Exactly. Know how strong your foe is, then you see their limit. Push beyond that, and you see just how feeble they really are.” Mar’Zek cracked a grin. “Stoneroller, change of plans. There are some more rangers coming your way. Be prepared for reinforcements.”

“Understood, captain.” The stone-armed monster from earlier briefly popped up on the screen. “I’m already steeling myself for the fight ahead.” The screen faded away.

“Now then, Perfect Ones. Let’s see how strong you will become…” The screens turned off, and Mar’Zek rapped his claws against the side of his throne.

Flurry smiled as she let the warm sun cascade down her back, as the three Paladins stepped out of their Voyagers. Hadn’t felt this type of warmth in ages, only just seen artificial suns on the Shining Armor’s holodeck in that Kansas wheat field analogue she liked to go back to every now and then. She imagined it wasn’t that much different for either Coldcast or Spada, and neither of them had the luxury of being born when Equus’ sun was still burning, not just a small little orb in the sky no different from any other star.

She admitted it would have been nice to have any of the AIs with her right now, like the one of her mother or even Celestia but they were back aboard the Shining Armor in their home dimension. She could manage, she’d have to. She was the last Princess of Equestria and so she would have to.

“Mhmm…” Spada sighed in pleasure as he sniffed the air. “Now smell that? That is food, greasy fresh off the grill food I admit but even I can tell it was prepared with love! Hot dogs, greasy steak, so many different types of meat I can’t even begin to count!”

“...How do you know what that smell exactly is?” Coldcast asked, not sure if he really wanted to know. He grimaced, the weather was a bit too warm for his liking. His jacket was made for colder climates, not this. Taking it off, and throwing it over his shoulder, the former griffon observed the city and miles of suburbia in front of him, just over the hillside. It didn’t look like much, but it looked a lot like heaven really when you took into account he’d spent countless hours underground or inside military facilities training to pilot a wolf themed craft.

“I’m a chef, remember. You gain a nose for these things,” Spada remarked. “Odd though. You’d think you’d hear or see people or something...” he remarked, pulling out a pair of binoculars and peering down towards a particular suburb. Bizarrely, nobody was around, and that set of grills he’d been smelling the food from lay abandoned. “Okay, now I’m getting a bit nervous. Nobody leaves food just laying out like that, not without a reason right?”

Running down the hillside with Flurry and Coldcast following, he managed to make his way down into the seemingly abandoned neighborhood. Pulling up his Kyuchanger, he scanned the area.

“Okay, reading life signs from this thing, but everyone’s cooped up inside the houses. It’s almost like the entire place is experiencing a blizzard drill, but the sky’s perfectly clear. Not a cloud in sight.”

“Oh, I don’t like this…” Coldcast muttered. “Not one bit, you hear?”

Then, to answer the question, Stoneroller barreled through some fencing and knocked Coldcast and Spada away with his bulky arms. Punching the ground, he snarled and glared at the team of three.

Gritting his teeth as he picked himself up off the ground, Coldcast turned to look at Spada. “Oh, you had to ask didn’t you?”

“Rangers! Give me a good fight, will ya?!” He taunted, his voice heavily accented to sound like a mindless brute. “Captain Mar’Zek wants me to test you, to see if you’re worthy of holding those crystals!”

“Test? What test? This reminds me of school! I hated school!” Coldcast remarked while Spada turned to Flurry.

“Crystals, you know what he’s talking about?” the former Changeling asked.

“Sorry, got me. But if he wants a fight, congrats. He’s got one. Nobody’d putting civilians in danger, not on my watch.”

“Say the Change!” their gauntlets shouted as the three pulled out their Change Kyutamas and pressed down on them.

“Scorpius!”
“Lupus!”
“Chameleon!”

“Star Change!” all three shouted in unison before their gauntlets projected three stars in front of them that flew towards them and covered them in their costumes.

“The Poison Star, Scorpius Orange!”
“The Howling Star, Lupus Blue!”
“The Food Mei-Star, Chameleon Green!"
"Three stars shining in the Heavens, Space Squadron Kyuranger!” The three chorused, with explosions of orange, blue and green smoke springing up from behind them, the sheer run-off energy of their morph creating them.

“You sure you ain’t gonna cry and run away like those other Rangers will?” Stoneroller punched his hand vigorously. “You know full well what the captain’s capable of. You know you can’t beat the Wolfpack.”

“Sorry, never heard of this Wolfpack. You related to Lupus by any chance, you sound like you’d get along great! But now as my grand frère likes to say,” Coldcast remarked, drawing his blade. “Time to test your luck!”

“Hey! Get out of there!”

The voice came from Sunset Shimmer, as she and her team finally ran onto the scene, seeing the three new rangers standing before them.

“Whoa! Who are they?” Rainbow Dash asked, staring at the newcomers. “You think they’re friends too?”

“Well, they don’t look like big meanies, so I think they are,” Pinkie Pie said. “Plus, they wanna fight this guy too.”

“Enemy of my enemy, after all,” Rarity remarked as she drew her twin swords. “You look like you need some help.”

“Mind if we cut in?” Sunset asked, drawing her own flaming sword.

“Gladly!” Flurry’s voice shouted, though it sounded as if there was both a tinge of sadness hidden in it somewhere, as a giant scorpion’s tail sprouted out from the back of her suit, grabbed the newest monster by the legs and tossed it towards her.

“Batter up!” Applejack leapt into the air and firmly held her Terra Hammer. With a single swing of it, she hit Stoneroller straight in the face and launched him into the ground.

Stoneroller simply leapt out like a gorilla and ran towards Pinkie Pie, swinging his massive, stone arms out at her. She simply bounced and swerved out of the way while also blasting him in the face with her miniature wrist-mounted air cannons. But even with all her attacks, it didn’t faze him in the slightest, and she was eventually swatted away into Rainbow Dash. The two of them tumbled into Fluttershy, leaving them all in a heap.

“...What a team.” Flurry muttered in distaste, shaking her head.

“Double team?” Coldcast asked as he looked towards Spada.

“You’re on!” he remarked as they both placed their Kyutamas into slots on their respective swords.

“Galaxy! Regulus Impact!”

“Galaxy! Chameleon Impact!” the weapons proclaimed before their blade tips glowed with either a green or a blue tone before both Rangers leaped upwards and brought their blades down on Stoneroller’s arm slicing through it and making him stumble back, small pieces of rubble falling off of the arm.

“You… You gotta be kidding!” Coldcast exclaimed.

“Looks like he wants to come back for seconds,” Spada remarked.

“Lucky for you, I’m a Golem, and that kind of stuff is easy to replace. But I know full well what ain’t gonna be replaced.” Clicking the fingers on his other hand, he watched as Hounds dropped in and swarmed the new team. “Get them, you mangy dogs! Show ‘em how the Wolfpack does it!”

“Oh great, more wolves,” Coldcast deadpanned as the Hounds boxed the whole group in and the Rangers fended them off with their weapons but every time one of the mooks was down another seemingly took his place. “Seriously, I do have to wonder are these guys the same species as Lupus? Really, they have to know each other at least!”

“Hey, listen. I don’t know who you are, but I think we should fill you in.” Sunset dashed towards the Hounds and started to fight them off. Her sword collided with their fur over and over again, and she stood alongside the Kyuranger team. “We’re the Power Rangers. And those things are Hounds; the grunts of Captain Mar’Zek’s Wolfpack. He wants our crystals because he’s a space pirate.” She had to jump over another swing and stood on the swords of the Hounds before cutting both of their cheeks with more slices. “That thing isn’t a Wolfpack wolf, but it’s serving him. I can tell it’s not a wolf just because it doesn’t look like one.”

“Grand observation,” Coldcast deadpanned. “You should win an award for species identification!”

“You think it’s gonna go giant?” Rainbow Dash asked, before nailing another set of Hounds with her blasters. “I mean, Preda’Tor and Ahn’Taier did, so…”

“I’m not sure about that yet, Rainbow Dash.” Sunset shook her head and drove her sword through another Hound’s belly, before ripping it out and moving on to the next one. “For now, we should just deal with this monster and fill these guys in.”

“Need a bit of room cleared?” Flurry asked, holding up the Boötes Kyutama. “Because believe me, I can handle that.”

“Sounds divine, darling!” Rarity charged in on more of the Hounds and performed a series of graceful swings with her swords, almost like she was in a ribbon dancing competition. “These things just do not stop coming!”

“Like rats from the woodworks. Believe me, I know the feeling.” Flurry said with a sympathetic nod, though once again if you listened closely you could detect a trace of sadness in her tone. Placing the Boötes Kyutama in her gauntlet, she was suddenly a blur of speed, sending every one of the Hounds flying with well-placed kicks and punches drawing on her Earth Pony strength.

Soon, every one of the Hounds was out of the fight.

“9.9 seconds, that was the time until your despair,” Coldcast remarked, holding up a stopwatch.

“So what? You beat a bunch of Hounds. It doesn’t matter none. Captain Mar’Zek’s still gonna have the last laugh.” Stoneroller came charging back into the fight. He grabbed Flurry Heart and ran, driving her helmet against the ground as he smashed through another house.

The girls, noticeably, seemed to be stricken into a state of fear at the mere mention of Mar’Zek’s name and had stopped moving entirely except to quiver in fear and hold onto each other, occasionally glancing to see if this Wolfpack Captain would appear.

“What the…?” Spada asked. “What could have scared them so badly? Like they’ve lost the will to fight!” he observed as with a few quick thrusts of his rapier, he managed to distract Stoneroller long enough for the monster to turn his attentions to him only for Stoneroller to be kicked from behind by Flurry.

“What, you mean you ain’t never heard of him? Heh. Mar’Zek’s the strongest pirate captain there is. He could’ve killed these girls right ‘ere and there if he hadn’t been so disappointed in ‘em,” Stoneroller gave Coldcast a strong punch that knocked him back, even when he tried to deflect it with his blade. “You’d think that after such a shocking fight like that, they would’ve just gone to hide away forever. But no. Here they are, ready to fight back again.” He focused on Spada, grabbing him and tightening his grip. “That’s actually quite brave, and I can respect that.”

“You know something?” Flurry asked as a long drill appeared on her left arm, resembling a Unicorn’s horn. “You talk way too much. Monoceros thrust!”

Charging forwards, the horn spinning up and alight with a golden energy, it was pointed directly at Stoneroller, who tossed Spada at Flurry knocking her into a gardener's shed.

“And you’re just as disappointing as they are.” Stoneroller just turned his back to the Kyurangers. “If this is really the strength of the Perfect Ones, then I don’t see why the captain doesn’t just blow this whole planet up right here and now. There’s obviously nothing of value here.”

Flurry even as she was groaning out in pain managed to let out a snarl of: “You know, I don’t know what these Perfect Ones are or who this Captain is, and frankly my dear monster, I don’t give a damn about either. But let him know this: You are not welcome here. This planet, this universe is protected. My name is Princess Flurry Heart of Equestria, the last of the Mi Amore and Sparkle lineages. And you. You will be nothing but rubble at our feet by the time we’re done with you,” she snarled, the Monoceros Drill appearing on her arm again, and spinning up once more. “I’d advise you to run right about now.”

“Might as well. I needed a new arm anyways,” Stoneroller started to walk off. “And, after all, this is just sad. I thought I was getting a nine-ranger fight; not a three-ranger one.” He tapped a button on his armour, and a portal opened up before him. “But don’t think you’re off the hook just yet, Rangers. The captain’s gonna keep his eye on you.” And without another word, Stoneroller disappeared through the portal.

Panting and sweating, all nine Rangers demorphed. “Well, that was… pleasant. And we’d only just started on the main course!” Spada deadpanned before he and his fellow dimensional travelers looked at Sunset. “Alright then, think we’re owed some explanations, don’t you?”

“I could say the same for you.” She was looking at Flurry Heart. “What’s Flurry Heart, Twilight’s baby niece doing as a Power Ranger?”

“Our ships, or yours?” Flurry asked, her gauntlet detecting a very distinctive and decidedly non-earth based energy signature coming from somewhere to the west of them.

“Ships? What are you talking about?” Fluttershy asked, trudging over to the Kyurangers. “Oh. Unless you’re talking about Ela—”

“Fluttershy! We can’t tell them that! It’d make them targets!” Rainbow Dash quickly held her hand on the helmet over where Fluttershy’s mouth would be.

“Oh please,” Flurry said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. “I think you and I both know those powers are not of this world. And neither was that idiot. Explanations, now, please. Before I lose what little patience I have left for this particular line of bull.”

“Wow.” Sunset just stared at Flurry. “I think I actually prefer the baby Flurry to the grown-up one…”

“Look. I don’t know where you’re from, but this isn’t the world you know.” Rarity de-morphed and put her hands to her side. “And that thing belongs to the Wolfpack; a space pirate group that’s been notorious across the galaxy as of late.”

“These powers? We were given them to fight back against the Wolfpack.” Rainbow Dash de-morphed next. “A ship crash-landed, and this girl named Elaris was pretty desperate to find some heroes, so she gave us those crystals. Next thing we knew, those crystals became attached to us, and now we’re Power Rangers.”

“And so are you, by the looks of things.” Pinkie went back to her regular clothes. “So. How did you get your powers? What are your zords like? Have you ever fought against a wolf that nearly killed you and made you scared to fight ever since?” She blinked twice. “You don’t have to answer the last one if you don’t want to. Trust me, we can totally relate.”

“I fought a wolf once, but I totally kicked his ass…” Coldcast remarked. “If any of you are interested.”

Spada facepalmed.

“Okay… clearly, we need to exchange info,” Flurry remarked. “And meet this Elaris friend of yours.”

The Rainbooms and Kyurangers, now dressed in their regular attire, walked into Elaris’s ship. Still mangled and torn up through the crash, with wires still popped out, albeit much less than usual, the place was far from a luxurious ride across the depths of space, but still capable of flight with some repairs. The dim lighting by the floor was still operational, even if it did flicker now and again.

“Geez, what a dump,” Coldcast remarked before Flurry smacked him over the head for his rudeness.

“Trust me, it’s not her fault it’s like this. The Wolfpack ate this ship alive when they chased her down here.” Rainbow Dash turned to Coldcast. “We’re trying to fix it now, actually. Do you know how to fix a spaceship?”

“Do I look like a mechanic to you?” Coldcast asked, shrugging his shoulders. “Astronomer sure, Spada’s a master chef and Flurry’s a leader but no gearheads here.”

“You said that you were from Equestria. But how’s that even possible?” Sunset asked, eyeing Flurry up and down. “As far as I knew, the Amore line’s still alive. The Twilight there keeps on telling me all about how she loves to spend time with Cadence, Shining Armour, and you. So… what happened?”

“You know how all those scientists are predicting how one day the sun will broil the Earth to a crisp?” Flurry asked, and sighed sadly. “Take a guess what happened. The four Alicorns, they held out as long as they could but…” she sniffled, before regaining her composure. No, she was a Princess, nobody needed to see her cry least of all her subjects. They needed her, they needed a beacon of hope to cling to.

Sunset felt her blood grow cold. Now she knew that one day or another, the friends she knew back home would eventually die as well. Great. Another thing for her to worry about. That was all she needed.

“Do you know the exact time and year they died? I wanna see if I can warn Twilight about it,” she asked, twiddling her fingers.

“You can’t fight fate, but I’d say in about 5 billion years, give or take the odd century,” Flurry said. “What we did, we knew it was going to happen, so we build deep underground vaults to hide ourselves from the coming fire and just waited till the planet cooled down so we could build ships to take to the stars, find a new Eden if you will.”

“So… you’re actually five billion years old?” Rarity’s mouth hung wide open and almost fell to the ground. “What’s your secret, Flurry? You look so young…”

“Alicorn immortality. And I’m a bit older than that actually. I’m actually six billion. Spent one million of those years in a pod, waiting for the planet to ice over. Immortality, it’s both a blessing, and a curse. Not sure if your Alicorns have it, but…” she trailed off.

Eventually, the group finally arrived back at the bridge, where Twilight and Elaris were busy making some repairs. Welding metal to the damaged walls and re-wiring the machines back into to place, the both of them only pulled themselves out of their work when they saw the nine rangers approach.

“So. Are these the new Rangers?” Elaris asked, walking up to Spada, Coldcast, and Flurry Heart. She gave their bodies a physical examination, patting them and feeling their muscles. “They look so much more mature, so strong… Where are you from, exactly?”

“Long story short?” Spada asked. “Different universe, where time seems to run differently to yours. I mean, you’re six billion or so years behind us time frame wise!”

“Different universe? Which one?” Elaris probed, lifting a brow at Spada. “As far as I’m aware, this universe is N3XU2. Daddy taught me that when I was younger.”

“Er… I’m only a chef here. A very good chef mind you, but not a scientist. Can whip you up a plate of freshly filleted fish on the spot, but tell you which universe I’m from exactly? Sorry, not my field of knowledge.”

“Well, whatever universe you’re from, it’s good to have you here. And with such good timing as well.” Twilight Sparkle came over and gave each of the Kyurangers a handshake. “The girls have been struggling to find their confidence again after they—”

“Got their asses kicked by this Mar’Zek fellow?” Flurry surmised, noting how the girls had frozen up once again by the sheer mention of his name.

“Badly. They were bleeding so much, and their skin had been torn to pieces,” Twilight corrected. “If it wasn’t for Elaris’s med bay, they wouldn’t even have been here today.”

“Geez,” Spada muttered shuddering in fear. “This Mar’Zek guy, sounds as powerful as a Karō…”

“He is. And maybe even more powerful.” Twilight hit a button, which replayed the Mar’Zek fight on the screen with the Rainbooms. Just seeing it caused the six teenagers to hide behind Elaris’s chair. Flurry gave her a look.

“Okay, you could have explained it to us, not made them relive their worst nightmare.” she glared at Elaris.

“Words don’t describe battles with Mar’Zek. Because NOBODY lives to tell the tale. And if they do live, then they either die later due to their injuries or get converted to his side.” Elaris sighed, slumping her shoulders down as she let the Kyurangers watch the full fight. “He is the Killer of Suns, the Bringer of Ragnarok…”

“So what. Just light him up with friendship beams or something. Heroes, real heroes don’t give up. Sure, they’re afraid, who wouldn’t be? But they don’t allow their fear to control them,” Flurry stated. “They pick themselves up off the ground and keep fighting. Isn't the smallest chance of victory enough of a reason for anyone to keep on fighting? The world needs you, Rangers.” As she said this, Soul Decimator was being performed on the screen by Mar’Zek. The Rainbooms were knocked airborne, slashed relentlessly at the speed of sound, and drilled into the ground by pillars of black energy before explosions coated them and de-morphed them.

“Did I forget to mention that he was holding back?” Elaris cocked a brow. “Yes. I said holding back. He’s so much more powerful when he fights for real.”

“Gee. Now doesn’t that remind me of someone?” Coldcast deadpanned. “Oh right, Lupus. He didn’t hold back in his fights, nearly destroyed Equus with two large cannons and an entire fleet of ships along with one very large worm from what Prince Stardust told me, but did we give up? No. No, we didn’t. Like Flurry said, even the smallest chance of victory is enough to keep us hoping we’ll win and someday take back the universe from Lupus’ master, Don Armage and the rest of Dark Matter.”

Before anyone else could say a word, the alarm on the ship was raised, and Elaris quickly changed the monitor to show Stoneroller back in the field, with a new arm to boot. He wasn’t traveling alone this time and was accompanied with Captain Mar’Zek.

“This isn’t good…” Twilight groaned as they watched both the wolf and his golem stomping through the streets, sending people into a panic just by looking at them. “Why is he here again? I thought he didn’t want to fight us…”

“He’s not after the Rainbooms. He’s after you.” Elaris pointed to the three Kyurangers. “He wants to see how good you are, and whether or not you can satisfy his thirst for battle…”

“Oh, so he’s one of those types…” Spada muttered, getting a serious feeling of Deja Vu. “Yep, definitely related to Lupus. The Karō, not the Ranger.

“Girls. I know it’s shocking to see him again, but we need to get back out there.” Elaris pulled the Rainbooms out from hiding, where they got another look at the Wolfpack captain. “Just deal with Stoneroller and don’t even think about Mar’Zek. No point in fighting someone who’s out of your league.”

Flurry’s voice turned soft, as she looked at the six Rangers. “Before… before you go, I have a question. How badly did he affect you? Just how bad?”

“You ever have a traumatizing moment in your life where it seems like your entire family was murdered before your eyes?” Rainbow asked. “That’s how badly he scared us.”

“They made me never wanna leave the ship ever again.” Applejack tipped her hat in shame “I never wanted to see my family, for fear that Mar’Zek would’ve killed me or them on the way.”

“And me too. I didn’t even want to move from my bed with how scary it was…” Fluttershy hid half of her face with her hair. “Don’t underestimate him, Flurry, Spada, Coldcast. He’s just as bad as we say he is, and maybe even worse.”

“And if he fights you too, then you’ll be just as scared as we are…” Rarity’s lips quivered. “Please be careful, new rangers. We can’t have another team get paralyzed with fear like that…”

“Listen, girls,” Flurry said. “I know you’re scared, and you have every right to be, but dropping your duties like this, abandoning your families? You’d be destroying everything the Elements of Harmony stood for. Remind me, what are they again?”

“Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, Loyalty, Honesty, and Magic. I should know, I tried to steal the Element of Magic once.” Sunset rubbed the back of her head with a nervous laugh.

“I know, I read,” Flurry said. “But you need to get back out there. Mar’Zek, he doesn’t care about any of that. He’s going to destroy this planet, and Faust knows how many others besides. You need to stop him here, show him you’re not afraid of the big bad wolf hiding under your bed. You are the Power Rangers, and you are this planet’s only hope. You won’t be alone this time, we’ll be here to help you, but it’s time to stand up. Raise up your flag against the howling winds and show that wolf and his little pack you will not back down!” she exclaimed, pulling out a spear and rising it high.

“You’re so brave…” said Twilight. “You should learn to follow their example more, girls.”

“Well, I can give you points for bravery, that much is true.” Sunset felt an odd sensation creep onto her face. “Wait. Why am I smiling? Mar’Zek is terrifying, and yet I can’t help but smile.”

“Because you know, one day, and maybe it’s not today, he will be defeated,” Flurry said. “Now, I think we all know what time it is,”

“Yeah. It’s Morphin’ Time!” Pinkie smiled. “Girls! Say it!”

The other Rainbooms nodded and took up their poses once again. “Equestrian Stars! Shine bright and let’s fight!” And just like before, they morphed in the blink of an eye.

“Mhmm, but lengthy maybe but you gals make it work.” Flurry remarked with a small shrug.

“Star Change!” the three Kyurangers shouted before in flashes of color they too were ready for battle.

“Alright, team. Let’s go!” Sunset drew her sword and ignited it. Yelling, she ran out of the ship, with the other Rainbooms close behind her.

Stoneroller ripped up whatever he could get his hands on and tossed it out towards the civilians. As benches, cars, and the odd lamppost clattered down before them, it only made them run faster. Mar’zek on the other hand was leaving his mark on the city, through massive energy slivers emanated by his sword. They cut through the walls without any resistance.

“Once again, they run like cockroaches.” Mar’Zek crossed his arms and watched as the humans all fled the scene. “I wonder if this planet has any competent defenders aside from those Rangers…”

“Oi!” Flurry’s voice shouted as the nine Ranger team ran up. “Heard you were looking for us!”

“Speak of the devil, and he will show himself. Along with his advocates, it seems.” He darted up to the Kyuranger team and held his blade against their necks. “Are you going to follow in the footsteps of these teenage girls? Or leave quietly like a smart person would?”

Flurry’s only response? Blast him backwards with a massive wave of magic, and then implant a flag in the ground, emblazoned with the logo for Equestria, which was the Two Sisters raising the sun and the moon. “You really talk too much, you know that right? Seriously, the world would be done a great favor if you just shut up,” she remarked, as all nine Rangers readied themselves for battle.

“Equestrian Stars!” the Rainbooms called.

“Kyurangers!” said Flurry’s team.

“United as one!” They all proudly declared, their colours erupting forth behind them, just like earlier.

“And now, our Friendship will take on the universe, starting with you,” Coldcast stated, drawing his blade.

“And you will fall all the same.” Mar’Zek activated his battle armour, shielding his face and body once more. “Stoneroller, you handle the original rangers. They are not worth my time.” And he charged forward into battle.

“On it, captain!” Stoneroller remarked and ran for the Rainbooms. “Hope you know how to stand up to fifty tonnes of stone smashing against your heads!”

As Mar’Zek clashed with Coldcast, Spada, and Flurry Heart, the Rainbooms charged forward towards Stoneroller. Sunset and Rarity leapt up with their swords while Rainbow Dash took potshots at his face, leaving Applejack to beat his fists away with her hammer. Pinkie Pie then followed up by bouncing over his head and kicking him in the back.

“See that, they’ve got their resolve back.” Flurry stated going blade to blade with Mar’Zek before she switched tactics. She unfurled her wings and blasted the Wolfpack leader backwards with hurricane force winds.

“Not for long!” Mar’Zek charged forward and performed a quick vertical slash at Coldcast, hitting him on the chin and launching him upward. He followed with a leap and a downward vertical slash, launching a black shockwave into his chest.

Coldcast grunted out in pain before his wings unfurled and he rocketed towards Mar’Zek slamming a right hook into his face making him stagger.

“Oh wings, how I’ve missed you so…” Coldcast laughed giddily.

Though it did knock him around, the armour covering his face softened the blow. He snarled and slammed his sword against the ground, causing the parts to dislodge and become part of a razor-sharp whip held together by a light purple stream of energy.

“What, you overcompensating for something?” Spada quipped.

“I have raided more than a thousand worlds. You cannot stand against me and my technology.” He then swung said whip at Spada and Flurry, slicing them repeatedly, but leaving Coldcast alone. The Blue Ranger leaped over the next swing before slicing Mar’Zek from behind and then flying away to avoid the next strike.

“Yeah yeah, heard better trash talk and boasts from Discord when he was alive,” Flurry sighed as she flew upwards and fired a golden stream of magic from her horn right down at Mar’Zek hitting him with the force of an oncoming truck. “I really think Spada’s right, you are overcompensating,” she stated in a bored -or at least unimpressed- tone, before using the Aquarius Kyutama and sending Mar’Zek flying backwards with a stream of highly compressed scalding hot water.

“Come on, ya big doofus! Let’s rock and roll!” Rainbow Dash slid underneath Stoneroller and fired a barrage of shots at his face, chest, and butt as she slid underneath his legs. She ran back out and flipped back on top of his body and grabbed his head as tight as she could.

“Get offa me!” He tried to use his massive arms to knock her off, but Rarity utilized her geode magic to create diamond barriers that blocked his hands from reaching Rainbow. Even with his punches and thrashing, he could not penetrate the shield around Rainbow.

Fluttershy played her flute and ran alongside the rhino that she had created with it. Together, the two of them ran at Stoneroller and knocked him away. Together, the both of them knocked the golem into a transformer, sending sparks everywhere.

Mar’Zek was now properly clashing with Flurry, Spada, and Coldcast. His blade met theirs over and over again. He even knocked their strikes back and countered with a hasty horizontal swing across their chests, before pouncing on top of one of them and leaving his ‘X’ shaped claw marks on the visor.

“It seems that you’re more developed than the previous set of Rangers. But nonetheless, you cannot stop me here.” He leapt off of Coldcast and parried another hit from Spada.

Spada smirked before he vanished from sight and came out of nowhere with a rapier thrust that connected. He then repeated this tactic several more times, getting in a few blows.

“Seems you’re just not quite ready for the main course!” Spada remarked, before grabbing some fish from a nearby market stall and spinning them around like nunchucks. Scarily, he was rather good at it, good enough to get in some blows.

“...Wonder if that smell will ever wash out?” Spada mused to himself.

“You fight me with fish?!” Insulted, Mar’Zek slashed the fish into sushi and stomped forward, pushing Spada against the wall. “You are even weaker than the other rangers!”

“Never underestimate a chef in his kitchen, especially when you provide him with cooking materials!” Spada laughed, before vanishing out of sight once more. He then returned, up above Mar’Zek with glistening chitlin wings unfolded and the Monoceros drill on one of his arms. “Flurry, now!”

“Right, I know exactly what you’re thinking!” the Princess shouted, before sending a swarm of silvery snake projections at Mar’Zek using the Serpens Kyutama keeping him from seeing what came next. That happened to be a powerful thrust to the chest armor from the Monoceros drill ripping and shredding some of the outer layers.

Mar’Zek roared out in rage and kicked away Spada before snarling. Flurry sent him sprawling with a blast of magic from her palm. “You know what your problem is furball? Once the strong crush the weak, and presumably in your line of thinking the strong will crush everyone else then I have to ask you this... Who’s going to be left for you to rule over? Answer, nobody, banana brain!” she shouted, conjuring up energy bananas and throwing them at Mar’Zek making him stumble back from the ensuing explosions. Spada went in again, the Monoceros drill spinning up.

“Honestly now, you should know how much I traumatized the other set. I’m not impressed, nor will I ever be impressed if you keep up these weak attacks,” He just took the damage, standing adamantly as the Monoceros drill finally broke under the extreme pressure. Grabbing a hold of Flurry’s neck, he planted a chip on her armour. “And now, you will pay the price for your lack of strength.” He threw her away and charged at Coldcast and Spada.

Meanwhile, the Rainbooms were still deep into their fight with Stoneroller. They jumped and ducked under his swings, and did get hit on occasion, but most of the time, they gave him no quarter and continued to send attack after attack out at him.

“Alright. That tears it!” Stoneroller leapt back towards a parking lot and started to hurl car after car at the Rainbooms. “You know you shouldn’t even play on the streets like that. You could get run over! Properly flattened! Killed!”

Rainbow Dash narrowly avoided getting hit by the cars, even with her lightspeed powers. Meanwhile, Rarity and Sunset were trying to cut the things in half, while Applejack swatted them away with her hammer. Fluttershy just hid from the car assault, while Pinkie was trying to see how many she could jump over before he ran out.

“Alright. This is starting to get boring.” Rainbow Dash said, twirling her pistols as she charged in again. “Come on, girls. Time to finish this!” She called, letting loose yet another volley of shots at Stoneroller, causing him to stop flinging the cars.

With Stoneroller occupied with Rainbow Dash, Rarity channeled her own magic through her geode. Her blades began to glow and she painted the air around her with them, before tracing her tips around Stoneroller to imprison him in a diamond prism.

“Rhino Charge!” Fluttershy called, bringing back the rhino.

“Diamond Cleaver!” Rarity called, swinging her swords at blinding speeds.

“Terra Hammer!” Applejack leapt up and swung her hammer promptly down at the prism.

“Confetti Storm!” Pinkie put her wrist cannons together and let a stream of her exploding confetti loose on Stoneroller.

“Twin Blasters, Charge Mode!” Rainbow Dash fiddled with the triggers and barrels of her guns and performed a charged shot that was much thicker and longer than her previous shots.

“And for the coup de grace, Flame Strike!” Sunset ran in and swung her sword, cutting straight through the diamond prison.

All six attacks struck at the exact same time, and both Stoneroller and the diamond block that he was sealed in, were properly cut into a thousand tiny pieces before all collapsing on each other and exploding upon hitting the ground. Flames and rainbow energy shot out of the blast as the Rainbooms turned away from it.

Meanwhile, Coldcast and Spada had been sent flying back into a collection of market stalls, while Flurry was on the ground, the chip Mar’Zek had implanted her pumping amp after amp of electricity into her, pinning her.

“And here I thought I’d get a challenge out of you. But in the end, all I get is a repeat of the last time.” He placed two identical chips onto Coldcast and Spada’s bodies. He took a step back and watched the three Kyurangers stand back together again. “This will be goodbye. Don’t expect me to let a second set of rangers live.”

“Y-Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Flurry growled, and even as she let out another scream of pain she ripped the chip off her body and crushed it beneath her foot. Sadly, she was in so much pain, it was fruitless and she fell to the ground once more.

“Soul Decimator!” Mar’Zek howled, shooting lightning down at the Kyurangers’ feet. While all three of them were knocked airborne, only Coldcast and Spada were slowed down by the chip, which once again became a target marker for him. Leaping at them, he performed his vicious series of attacks before tossing the targeting device for the black pillars. Landing down, he didn’t even look at the black columns that drilled into both of their bodies and forcibly de-morphed them.

“You are finished, Rangers.” He turned back and watched as Coldcast and Spada got back up on their feet, though being heavily injured and cut in places and bleeding quite badly. “What? How is this possible? It can’t be… What kind of Rangers are you?”

“Like I said,” Coldcast repeated, an aura of a lightning bolt hovering above his head. Similarly, a six-pointed star hovered above Flurry’s and a collection of gems hovered above Spada. “Our friendship will take on the universe, and that includes you! Elements of Harmony, never doubt just how powerful their magic is. Oh, did we forget to mention that?”

“I even used the lethal version of the attack, and yet you still stayed alive. You are definitely interesting for sure, new Rangers. And if this is what the Perfect Ones will grow into, then I look forward to our next encounter.” He then heard the Rainbooms charging back over to him. “Look at these three, Perfect Ones. Become them, and find me again. Then, our true battle will begin.”

“Oh, we’re gonna get as good as them. Just you wait.” Rainbow Dash could only smirk.

“I will. I’ll wait for as long as I can. I always love wondering how long the desperate cling to life, before either the ground they hold onto crumbles, or someone gives them a little push off the edge,” He opened up a portal. “For now, let this be an example of what you should strive to be, instead of what you are. Farewell, for now, Rangers.” And he walked off through the portal, leaving no trace of himself behind.

Of course, unfinished business was still unfinished business. Seems that Stoneroller had something in him, maybe a mutation in his DNA that gave him a second chance and now he was towering above the Rangers.

“Look at me now! You’re nothing but pebbles compared to a mountain!” He proudly boasted, smashing his colossal hands into the ground.

“Oh, seems some things never change no matter the universe. Constants and Variables…” Flurry muttered as both Coldcast and Spada helped her up.

“Zords! Come to us!” The Rainbooms pulled out their phones and raised them skyward, signalling for their Zords.

“Falcon!”

“Bull!”

“Lynx!”

“Kangaroo!”

“Bear!”

“Phoenix!”

On command, the six giant animal-robots came charging into the city, prompting each of the Rainbooms to leap inside and take control of each of them.

“Hey, don’t leave us out of this,” Flurry coughed out. “We got to see your ship, only fair you see ours.”

“But-” Rainbow started.

“Don’t bother,” Coldcast remarked as Flurry threw the Draco Kyutama skywards, and day turned to night as a massive Asian dragon with purple metallic armor and a gold headcrest emerged grabbing onto the now massive Kyutama like it was a jewel. Two more ships followed a Chameleon and a wolf. “She’s always been a stubborn one.”

“Whoa…” Pinkie looked at the three ships as they took to the field, the Draco Voyager breathing hot blasts of purple flame at Stoneroller. “Now THAT is cool! Looks like something out of that old manga, Dragon something or other!”

“Shenlong from Dragon Ball Z?” Rainbow remarked.

“Yes, him.”

“Is it cool enough to stop this?!” Stoneroller picked up a skyscraper and hurled it at the Draco Voyager, who simply smashed right through it, the golden kabuto helmet protecting Flurry, who’d now leaped inside. Following her move, Coldcast and Spada got inside their own Voyagers.

“This guy might be too tough for us to fight individually.” Sunset watched as Stoneroller trampled the city beneath his feet as he ran for the Kyurangers’ mechs. “Girls. Switch to the Megazord. Then we might stand a chance.”

“Got it.” The other Rainbooms spoke together. “Zords, combine!”

Each of the Rainbooms’ Zords gathered together and formed the Megazord. Rainbow and Pinkie’s zords became the legs, Rarity and Applejack’s transformed into the arms, Fluttershy’s bear head retracted and formed the chest, leaving Sunset’s Phoenix to perch on top of it and become the head, with its’ wings becoming the Megazord’s wings.

“Equestrian Star Megazord! Ready for battle!” They all called together.

“Might be tough to do this without one of the AIs, but I think we can manage…” Flurry murmured, before pressing the combination button on the Draco Voyager’s central console. The head armor detached and the entire mech folded down in the center to become a pair of legs and a torso, with the head and tail becoming feet. A red visored head popped up, and the kabuto grafted itself on top with the Wolf and Chameleon Voyagers forming arms.

“Dragon Knight Megazord, ready for battle!” the Kyurangers called as systems came online, the Megazord standing in the moonlight’s glow.

“Two times the beatdowns, I say.” Stoneroller leapt up and violently punched the ground, causing miniature earthquakes to form at the feet of the Megazords making them stumble. “Come on! You want some? Huh? Do ya?!” He taunted, punching the ground over and over again before starting another of his deadly shoulder ram charges.

However, this time it was a no sell, as the Dragon Knight Megazord simply smacked him into the ground with a raised fist. “Now, that’s enough of that!” Flurry remarked.

The Equestrian Star Megazord picked Stoneroller back up and kicked him away from it before it dashed forward and leapt onto his chest. Leaning down, it punched his face over and over again until it was swatted off by another swipe from the arms.

“So... Ya like to punch a guy when he down, do ya? Well, so do I!” He screamed and grabbed the Dragon Knight Megazord, throwing it into the ground and performing left and right hooks one after the other. “Come on… Let’s see that head pop off!”

“Hold it, big guy!” Rainbow Dash called as the Equestrian Star Megazord wrapped its’ arms around Stoneroller and belly flopped while holding him. Almost akin to a wrestling move on TV.

“Hey, got an idea. An experiment really. Just want to see how compatible our Skill Kyutamas are with the Megazord control systems,” Coldcast shrugged, before placing the Aquarius Kyutama in a small slot as the Wolf’s jaw began to open. “Girls, toss him this way!” he yelled over the comms.

“One big, bad, meanie, coming right up!” Pinkie Pie said, performing a throwing motion with her arms, along with the other Rainbooms. As they threw, so did their Megazord, and they threw Stoneroller towards the Dragon Knight Megazord. The Wolf Voyager let out a blast of pure scalding hot water, sending Stoneroller crashing into a nearby mountainside. In fact, he collided with the mountain itself, coating his head and shoulders with some snow and sending trees flying.

“Nngh…” He groaned as he stood back up. “That barely even hurt me. C’mon!”

“I’m getting bored with this guy,” Flurry remarked. “Let’s finish this, agreed girls?” she asked over the comms.

“Got it!” They nodded. “Equestrian Star Megazord! Final Attack!”

The Rainbooms all tapped at the neckpieces where their geodes would be and all Ponied-Up; their cockpit transforming into a rainbow tunnel of light as they channeled their magic to their Megazord. At the same time, the Wolf and Chameleon Voyagers charged up energy, before forming a meteorite to lob at the monster. “Meteor Crash!” the Rangers called, before tossing it and then kicking it towards Stoneroller with one massive foot like it was a football.

The Equestrian Star Megazord dashed over with the speed of Rainbow Dash as the orbs on its’ body began to light up and show the sigils of each of the Rainbooms’ marks. It got behind Stoneroller and lifted it up high effortlessly with Applejack’s strength. They flew towards the meteor with their wings, threw Stoneroller at the meteor, and further their attack with a powerful beam of rainbow light, formed when the six orbs fired off streams and crossed them over with each other.

“No! I’m cracking up! This can’t be happening!” Stoneroller screeched in anguish as both the laser and the meteor sandwiched him. The force was too much for him to bear, and he was engulfed in a colossal explosion of light and flames with no trace of him left behind once the dust settled.

“Checkmate.” Flurry said, giving a thumbs down before laying back in her seat and sighing in relief slipping into unconsciousness.

“The Magic of Friendship wins again!” Rainbow Dash grinned as she and the others de-morphed inside their Megazord, hugging and high-fiving each other.

“Equestrian Star Rangers, the hunt is over,” Sunset Shimmer stated proudly as she and the others relished in their victory.

“That. Was. Amazing!” Twilight cheered as the group were back in Elaris’s ship again. “You got your confidence back and you stopped that monster from destroying the city!”

“I think it’s safe to say that the Power Rangers are back!” Elaris gave them all a smile as she clasped her hands together.

In the background, Coldcast was singing: “Go Power Rangers, fly Power Rangers, win Power Rangers, here we go!” to himself and doing a goofy dance.

“Thanks, Elaris. But we couldn’t have done this all on our own.” Sunset shook her head and turned to the Kyurangers. “We’ve got our new friends to thank for all of this. Getting us back in action and ready to fight the Wolfpack again. We’d never have been able to face our fears without them.”

“Hey, Friendship is Magic, right?” Flurry said, laying a hand on the younger Ranger’s shoulder.

“Yeah. Friendship is Magic.” Sunset patted Flurry’s shoulder. “And hey, I hope things all work out back in your dimension.”

“Speaking of that, how are we going to…?” Coldcast asked, his earlier cheery demeanor vanishing in a second and mood souring

Suddenly, Flurry’s Kyuchanger gauntlet crackled, and a hologram of a red unicorn with burning orange hair appeared. “Thank Faust, thought we’d never get in touch with you Princess!” Flashfire sighed in relief. “Whatever you’re doing, best you drop it ‘cause we can only hold this portal open for so long! I was never worried of course, but-”

“Liar, he was pacing back and forth in his quarters for hours!” Jabari’s voice chimed in.

“S-Shut up!” Flashfire stammered out, his face turning pink.

Flurry and the others rushed outside, only to see what looked like a giant pincher claw of a crab holding open a gap in time and space.

“Well, guess that’s our ride home…” Flurry sighed before shaking Sunset’s hand. “I’d love to stay and chat, but…”

“I know, I know. Dark Matter’s still on the loose and you’ve gotta clean it up.” Sunset just grinned and shook her hand again, before pulling her into a hug. “Take care, Flurry Heart. You too, Coldcast and Spada.”

Spada smiled, his hands in his pockets, while Coldcast gave a thumbs up.

“Been an honor, you know that right?” Flurry said. “And… and it was so nice seeing you again Auntie Sunset.” she sniffled out.

“Auntie?” Sunset jumped at the title.

“Well, you did come back and visit Equestria every now and then, along with your Twilight. Fun times when I was growing up really. Fun times.” Flurry reminisced and sighed wistfully.

“I… really should check out your dimension if I ever get the chance.” Sunset blinked a few times.

“Yeah. In fact, we should probably check it out too sometime, see if we can’t give the team a helping hand.” Rainbow added, putting a thumb to her chest. The other girls chattered in agreement.

“Yeah, just probably not right now. Be a bit weird explaining why you six are alive… Plus, there’s the fact that we’ve got Don Armage’s personal assassins after us right now if the Doctor’s to be believed.” Flurry remarked.

“Hmm. Yeah. Maybe we should hold off on that for a while until the heat dies down.” Pinkie Pie nodded. “Still, I’d love to throw you a super-awesome Power Ranger Party when we do come around to say hi. Would you like that?”

“I’ll hold you to it, Pinks.” Flurry said as she stepped into the Draco Voyager, the massive dragon beginning to lift itself off the ground with a sound not unlike the whirring of jet turbines. Soon, the Wolf and Chameleon were to follow.

The girls waved goodbye as they saw the three Voyagers vanish into the portal’s threshold for times and places unknown. Flurry smiled as she saw the familiar forms of the Shooting Star Megazord and the Shining Armor appear in her cockpit windows. She was home.

Back on Mar’Zek’s flagship, he was greeted by the sight of Vi’Al, who was practically running on the spot in jubilation. He had a devilish smirk on his face as the captain walked up to him.

“That was a spectacle, captain. Those three other rangers definitely put up the fight we were looking for!” He sounded like he was peeing himself as he threw his arms out gleefully. “Those Perfect Ones have no idea how much they’re contributing to our cause. And the more and more they fight, the more I get to learn. It’s like my own personal fever dream!”

“I know that you’re happy, Vi’Al, but compose yourself. It’s undignified the way you’re acting right now.” Mar’Zek petted his head.

“Oh. Right.” He cleared his throat. “My apologies, captain. But as for what we know about those other rangers, I’ve put their data into account, and am going to work long and hard to project just how strong these other rangers are going to become. Then, when the time is right and they fully blossom, you may finally scratch the itch you’ve had since you first crossed swords with them.”

“Indeed.” He looked back towards the windscreen of his bridge. “Rangers. You have no idea what fate lies in store for you. You may think that this is a victory, but you are far from the truth. For now, contemplate the inevitable and get stronger.” He walked back over to his throne and sat back down again. “And the next time we fight, I’ll finally get to see your real strength on full display.” He chuckled to himself, then laughed so loudly that it echoed throughout his flagship.