"Baron Nero, I come with good news," General Schwarz said as he knelt down before the Baron in the engine of the Kuliner.
"You had better, we are running out of energy here," Baron Nero said as he pulled his hat down a little. "You best have some good news for me General or you'll be the first to go."
"Yes sir, it seems that there is an abundance of Tenebraean Energy in this universe, we simply need to tap into it," Schwarz said with a nod. "The only problem is..."
"Please don't tell me that fool Amethyst Shard followed us here," Nero said as he checked his watch again for a moment. "We do not need her giving us trouble right now."
"No, but three of the local Equines fought against the Crows and were able to defeat them," Schwarz said and Nero narrowed his eyes a little and looked at him.
"You're telling me that three mere Equines, small horses, managed to defeat our Crows?" He asked as his mouth went into a sneer. "That is unlikely."
"They lacked refinement, if I had a chance I would be able to..." Schwarz started to say.
"Your supply of energy is too low, we'll need to do something else," Nero said as he leaned on his cane a little and looked at Schwarz. "You're lucky General, for now this failure will be excused because you gave us information on what we needed. Report to your troops and get them ready, I'll get Madame Noir in here."
"No need, I'm already here," the noblewoman said as she walked in and gave Nero a look as Gritta came in behind her and waved a little at Schwarz. "You're going to send another one of our Shades out then?"
"We need the energy to live Madame Noir, unless you have another suggestion as to what to do," Nero said as he leaned on his cane a little. "Are you ready for this, or am I going to have to handle this on my own?"
"Of course, but I will have to tap into the reservoir in order to draw enough energy for the summoning," Noir said with a nod. "We will be on a time limit unless you want to draw more energy from it."
"We will be fine, as long as the energy is claimed within the time limit," Nero said as he gave her a nod. "Bring forth a Shade, the time has come to take what we need from this universe."
Madame Noir nodded as she reached into her dress and extracted an old quill pen. She made motions in the air with it as if drawing and chanted out loud in their native tongue. The pen glowed with energy as a creature started to take form with two heads visible but still hidden by the shadows.
"Snatcher, be a dear and go to the nearby town," Noir said with a wicked smile as she looked back at Baron Nero. "Take all the energy you can, lets make these equines suffer."
"Yes milady," the monster said with a slight bow as it vanished into a pool of darkness.
"This had better work," Nero said as he took his watch out again and checked it. "We have four hours before this universe kills us all, if your little purse monster doesn't get the job done then I will make sure that you die first."
"Don't worry Baron, we will be just fine," Noir said with a smile as she looked back at Gritta. "We all have things to preserve. Perhaps you should remember that before you believe that I would do something as callous as send a Shade that can't do the job."
Nero just pulled his hat down over his eyes for a moment before he turned and looked back at the energy gauges. They were now running on empty and the Reservoir had been partially depleted, they were going to have to split the drained energy between their systems and the reservoir to make up for that, and that wasn't going to make things easy.
"Very well, let's just wait and see what happens," he said as the lights around them shut off one by one.
The Shadow Line was now on a timer, and they were going to have to make sure that they didn't run out of time.
00000
"Okay, that was not what I expected," Scootaloo said as she pressed a button and de-morphed followed by the others. "I just have to ask, what's a Power Ranger? It sounds like a Power Pony or something."
"That's a long story," Amethyst said with a shake of her head. "It would take way too long to explain, but what you have to know is that you're far from the first group to bear that name. As I said, you're stepping into a Much bigger world right now because of what's been happening."
"Yeah, Ah'm still confused," Apple Bloom said with a shake of her head. "How exactly is this gonna help us fight tha Shadow Line?"
"You have access to powers that you've never had before, each Ranger form comes with weapons and extra tactics to use in battle," Amethyst said.
"You might want to tell them about the color change option," Archie pointed out.
"I was just getting to that," Amethyst said with a groan and a shake of her head. "Yes, you can change your color based on what train you place in your morpher during battle. Its not a technique that is often used because of how tricky it can be to pull off, but it can be used to confused an enemy. Do not use it unless absolutely necessary."
"So, are there more of these, Power Rangers out there?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yes, but that's a long story, I have been to other realities where Power Rangers have risen to fight great threats to their worlds," Amethyst said with a sigh. "I, made these after my reality's Rangers failed. But I've always been afraid to try and use them again because I was afraid the same thing might happen to the new team."
Scootaloo paused a moment as she lifted her foreleg and looked at the morpher for a long moment. The strange piece of equipment was like nothing she had ever seen before, or ever experienced before. She examined the sort of boxy yellow train that was part of it, she had no idea exactly what to think of it, she was still processing the fact that she was now something called a Power Ranger, even temporarily.
Sweetie Belle was just as shocked and confused as Scootaloo was as she looked at her own. It looked a little like Scootaloo's only with a heart as the front window instead. It was a strange thought, she had no idea what to expect from this kind of power or why Amethyst wanted them to use it.
"So, uh, why couldn't you just use it?" She asked curiously as she looked at Amethyst. "I mean, you've been traveling around with these things for how long?"
"Too long, and I... have my reasons," Amethyst said with a shake of her head.
"Wait a second, I'm Ranger 3 and she's Ranger 5," Scootaloo said as she pointed over at Sweetie Belle confused for a moment. "Shouldn't there be two more?"
"Well, yes, I do have five Morphers and chargers," Amethyst said with a sigh. "For now the three of you will have to do, I'll compensate if we need to. For now, you three should get back to town, I'll contact you on your Morphers if there's any more signs of Shadow Line activity."
"Just, be careful okay Amethyst?" Scootaloo said with a nod. "We don't want to lose a new friend."
The three Crusaders headed out of the train and shut the door behind them which left Amethyst standing there in silence with Archie. "Friend?"
"You know, an acquaintance that you're not involved with," Archie said with a roll of his mechanical eyes.
"I know what a friend is," Amethyst said with a shake of her head. "But, I didn't think they were mine, they're just ponies that are helping me out right?"
"That's up to you to decide Lady Amethyst," the robotic owl said as it flew up to its perch and started to scan for any signs of the Shadow Line out there.
Amethyst looked back out the window at the three ponies and sighed a little as she shook her head and pulled her hat down a little. She didn't know what to think about having those three mares as friends, for now, she just had to worry about saving this universe.
Before it was too late.
00000
"Ah'll see ya'll tomorrow," Apple Bloom said as she waved to her friends and headed off towards the Apple Family house in Sweet Apple Acres.
"See you later Apple Bloom," Scootaloo said with a smile as she waved to her friend and two mares started down the road back to Ponyville.
"So, what are we supposed to do now? Let our lives go on as if nothing happened, waiting for this, Shadow Line to attack us?" Sweetie asked as she looked over at the Pegasus worried for a moment. "I mean, we're not exactly cut out to save the world, we fought those Crows sure but that doesn't mean we can fight everything they throw at us."
"Yeah, I know, we're not our sisters or whatever, but maybe we should try, if we need to at least," Scootaloo said as she raised her foreleg and looked at the Rail Morpher for a long moment. "I still have to figure out this Power Rangers thing honestly, and it feels kind of like Amethyst isn't telling us everything."
"Yeah, I know, I don't really like it," Sweetie Belle said with a shake of her head. "Though, it actually felt kind of cool, to be a Ranger you know? Maybe we should try and help a bit, especially if there really is a threat to Equestria, we can probably figure this out."
"Yeah, maybe," Scootaloo said and nodded a little. "It did feel cool though I do have to agree. Do, you think we should talk to our sisters about this when they get home tomorrow?"
"Might be a good idea," Sweetie said with a nod as she looked down at her own Rail Morpher. The two of them had been sharing a house in Ponyville ever since they had finished school, but Rarity and Rainbow Dash had said that if they ever needed anything they'd be willing to help as best they could.
Mind you, they doubted they meant they'd help with this kind of situation, but it wouldn't hurt to at least see if they could think of something.
"Hey you two, where have you been all day?" A voice asked as they entered town and they looked over to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon coming out of a nearby building.
"Oh, you know, the usual, helping ponies figure out their cutie marks, nothing different really," Scootaloo said with a shrug. "What about you two?"
"Just checking on some things at the shop," Diamond Tiara said with a shrug. "Dad said he thought he saw something by the shop's back door earlier and he wanted us to check and make sure everything was okay."
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged a brief look. They didn't actually know if it might be connected to what was happening, but it was probably nothing. For the moment they had to just hope that it was unconnected.
"Did you see anything weird in there?" Scootaloo asked and the two Earth Pony mares just shrugged a little.
"No, nothing more than usual," Silver Spoon said with a shake of her head. "We think we may have seen something, but it kind of vanished before we could do anything."
"Okay, thank you," Sweetie said as she looked down at the Rail Morpher for a moment. If there was anything they probably would've heard something from Amethyst by now anyway. "Okay, well thank you anyway."
They were about to walk away when there was a sudden beeping sound coming from their Morphers. "What's that?" Diamond Tiara asked as Scootaloo lifted her foreleg.
"Long story," she said as she hit a button on it. "What's the word?"
"I've got a reading of Tenebraean Energy coming from a nearby store," Amethyst's voice said from the morpher. "I've got Apple Bloom on her way to meet up with you two. I'll send what assistance I can from here, let me know what you see in there."
"Alright," Scootaloo said with a nod as she looked back at the other two. "Can you let us in there? It might be nothing, but we need to make sure. It could be a big problem if we don't that will threaten all of Equestria."
"Yeah, sure," Diamond Tiara said as she blinked in surprise. She wasn't sure what to think of this, but if the stakes really were that high then she shouldn't risk it. So she headed back and unlocked the front door as they headed inside.
00000
The shop was quiet as the four ponies entered the store as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked around. There didn't seem to be anything going on right now, though the room seemed, darker than they expected. Scootaloo tried to turn on the lights but nothing happened.
"Is there something wrong with the lights?" Sweetie asked as they looked back at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
"No, it wasn't like this before," Diamond said with a shake of her head. "Something about this is weird."
"Yeah," Scootaloo said as she shook her head and they stepped forward into the store proper. Scootaloo brushed against a display which knocked a few things over as their eyes adjusted to the darkness, and forms started to become visible.
The same bipedal forms with the hats and axes from before, Crows. Scootaloo groaned as she ducked out of the way of an axe as it swung at her head and kicked the Crow that had tried to attack her with her hind legs.
"What are these things?" Silver Spoon said as she backed up with Diamond Tiara.
"Crows, its a long story!" Sweetie called back as she levitated a large box over the crows and dropped it on the unsuspecting footsoldier as it collapsed into a heap. "Well, at least we know they fall for the old levitating something behind them trick."
"Yeah, just would be nice if we could all do that..." Scootaloo said with a roll of her eyes as she kicked another Crow as hard as she could. "Think we should try morphing?"
"I don't think they'll let us," Sweetie pointed out as she hit another one with an axe that had been discarded. "Maybe if we can force them out of the..."
There was a loud crashing sound as a set of shelves came falling down on the Crows that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had pushed over onto them. "Your dad's gonna kill us for that you know..." Silver Spoon said as the Crows melted into pools of shadow.
"I think given the alternative, its acceptable," Diamond Tiara said as she looked back at the two Crusaders before taking out another one of them with a swift strike from her forehood. "Do you mind telling us what's going on here?"
"Long story short, they're invaders from another universe trying to take energy from Equestria," Scootaloo said as she kicked one Crow into another one. "They're called Crows, we fought them before and ouch!"
She felt the ax of one of them graze her taking off part of her tail as it did and shook her head as she kicked it with the full force of her hind legs.
"You okay Scoots?" Sweetie asked and Scootaloo nodded a little.
"Like I was saying, we fought them earlier, they're trouble but nothing we can't handle," Scootaloo said as the Crows started to be forced back out of the store until they were finally pushed out of the open front door and sprawling in the streets.
"Well, well, it seems four little ponies are causing us some trouble," a voice said from up ahead and the shadows coalesced to form a strange creature. It at first glance looked like a black purse with a golden handle and clasp, only the clasp had tow heads and it was carrying a golden staff weapon. "You're too late, we've already put everything in place for our real plan! This world's energy belongs to the Shadow Line!"
"Not yet," Scootaloo said as she took a battle stance. "What in Celestia's name are you?"
"I'm a Shade, a servant of the Darkness known as Snatcher, and it'll take more than a few clever moves to take me down!" The strange monster said with a cackle as it swung its weapon at the mares and they jumped back. "You're nothing more than children to me!"
"We'll see about that," Scootaloo said and looked over at Sweetie Belle who gave her a nod. "You ready for this Sweetie?"
"I am," Sweetie replied as they both raised their forelegs and took out the train chargers.
"All rangers, prepare for boarding," the computerized woman's voice said from the Rail Morphers. "All combatants are to remain behind the white line."
"What?" Snatcher said as suddenly a glowing white line appeared in front of it and the Crows. One of the Crows jumped back behind the line just in time. "What are you doing."
Like before energy flowed into the two mares as their suits formed over them with a loud whistle. The railroad lines and numbers 3 and 5 appeared on their helmets as they had before.
"Ranger 3 - Yellow!" Scootaloo said.
"Ranger 5 - Pink!" Sweetie Belle added as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon just looked at the two in shock.
"ALL ABOARD!" The computerized voice said as a loud train whistle was heard coming from it again.
"So you've become Power Rangers, it won't help you!" Snatcher said as it ran forward and swung its weapon at them again, surprised to have it connect with a large hammer Scootaloo was holding in her foreleg that blocked the strike.
"Yeah, go Scoots!" Sweetie said with a smirk as her friend spun around and knocked the purse monster back with her weapon. "We're not going to let these things take away our town!"
"You're just delaying the inevitable!" Snatcher said with a growl. "Crows, attack them!"
The Crows charged forward at the two Rangers as they swung their axes at them, a few of them connected sending sparks flying. Sweetie Belle rolled out of the way of another attack as she drew a strange pink claw like weapon.
"What's this?" She wondered as she looked at it, but didn't have much time to dwell on it as another Crow attacked her with its axe. "Well, take this!"
She swung the claw weapon at the strange creature and slashed at it which sent the footsoldier flying back and just barely able to get up.
"What is going on?" Silver Spoon whispered to her friend as the two watched in surprise.
"I honestly have no idea, but I'm starting to think we need to stay out of their way," Diamond Tiara said as they started to back up a little.
Diamond stopped after a moment when she saw that Snatcher was quietly moving over towards Sweetie Belle as if preparing to grab her. The Unicorn wasn't suspecting anything because she was too distracted fighting the Crows, but Diamond Tiara knew she had to do something to save her friend.
The pink Earth Pony ran forward and caught the purse monster by surprise when she slammed her hooves right into the monster's back. Snatcher looked back in surprise as it saw Diamond and Silver Spoon joining the fight as best they could, ducking and fighting the monsters as they did.
"You're no fun anymore," Snatcher said with a growl as it tried to attack Scootaloo this time, only to get hit hard in the stomach by the large hammer. It raised its staff and fired several fireballs at the Pegasus who was thrown back by them. "Fine, you want to play rough, this isn't over yet!"
"Yeah, but we're not letting you go down easily," Scootaloo said as she looked at the monster. "You're not going to destroy our home, not on our watch!"
"You'd like that wouldn't you, but I've already taken some of the power I need!" Snatcher said as it pointed its staff at Scootaloo and then at Sweetie Belle and their friends. "You may have the power, but I'm not about to let you take me down so easily!"
The strange monster cackled as it melted into a pool of shadow and vanished before their eyes.
00000
"Excellent work Snatcher," Madame Noir said as she spoke to the monster on a screen in the main engine of the Kuliner. "You've managed to restore part of our energy here."
"It was an honor to serve you my mistress," Snatcher said as it bowed a little. "I exist to serve the Shadow Line and our glorious Emperor."
"As do all Shades," Baron Nero said as he walked in with General Schwarz behind him. Gritta looked at Schwarz for a moment before she looked away back at her mother. "We still do not have the ability to communicate with the Emperor I'm afraid, but this is a good start."
"There is, another situation," Snatcher said as it paused a moment. "In my time in this strange, Equine dominated world, I've encountered Power Rangers."
"Curious, I was not aware that this world had even figured out how to tap into their Morphing Grid," Madame Noir said thoughtfully. "Perhaps they're getting some outside help however. How many of them did you encounter?"
"Just two, a yellow and a pink one," Snatcher replied. "They seemed to be equines as well, one was orange and purple with wings and the other was white and pink and purple with a horn."
"That was two of the ponies that defeated our Crows earlier," Schwarz said with a scowl. "They must've made contact with our pursuers in the Quantum Reality Train."
"General, do you think they're going to hurt our friends?" Gritta asked meekly as she tried not to look the General in the eye.
"Perhaps, but for now we have to make sure that our forces are prepared," Schwarz said. "What are your orders Baron Nero?"
"Snatcher, continue to draw energy from this world, at any cost necessary," Baron Nero said as he took out his watch and examined it. "You have just a little over three hours left, do not fail me or we will not bring you back in when your time is up."
"Yes Baron, I will not fail you," Snatcher said and shut off the communicator.
"You're being a bit harsh aren't you?" Madame Noir asked as she looked back at Nero who just adjusted his hat a little. "I mean, Snatcher is more than capable of handling Rangers. It wouldn't be the first time we've crossed paths with them and succeeded."
"Yes, but there is something about this that worries me," Baron Nero said as he examined the screen for a long moment. "If they are working for that blasted mare, then they are going to have a lot of tricks at their disposal. I want to be out of this universe as soon as Snatcher is done."
"Of course, it shall be done," Madame Noir said and nodded to Gritta. "We need to get back home as soon as possible still. The Emperor is growing restless, and he still wishes to see his new consort."
"Of course," Baron Nero said and shook his head as he looked at the gauges. "We have only a fraction of the energy we need however. He will have to wait until everything is ready, and then when the time comes we will ride this Kuliner into the streets of the Imperial City victorious. Nothing will stand in our way, certainly not mere equines that fancy themselves heroes."
"Of course," Madame Noir said with a soft smile. "And the Emperor shall reward us all greatly for our commitment to the cause."
"Indeed," Nero said as he took a seat and examined his cane. It crackled with dark energy as it prepared for its task ahead, it was almost time to leave.
00000
"What happened?" Amethyst Shard said as she came in with Apple Bloom. They had come to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle's house in Ponyville where the two mares were talking with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon and getting them both up to speed on what was going on.
"We were attacked by something calling itself a Shade," Sweetie Belle said as she looked over at Amethyst who's eyes went wide. "I'm guessing that means something to you."
"Shades are the servants of the Shadow Line," Amethyst said as she pushed her conductor's cap back a little and shook her head. "They're summoned by the Court of Darkness itself to come to a world and drain its energy to power it. You were able to defeat it then?"
"No, more like drive it off," Diamond Tiara said with a shake of her head.
"And, who are these two?" Amethyst asked as she examined the two Earth Pony mares closely for a moment.
"This is Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, they're our friends, the Crows were in her father's store," Scootaloo said as she gave Diamond a nod. "We were able to stop them, but we don't know where they went off to now."
"Wherever the greatest source of dark energy is around here probably," Amethyst Shard said with a shake of her head. "Which in a world like this, which is predominantly ruled by magic, that could be anywhere. I mean for all we know it could be..."
"What about tha Everfree Forest?" Apple Bloom suggested which cut Amethyst off for a moment as she looked at the yellow Earth Pony in surprise. "Or more specifically tha Castle of tha Two Sisters? Ah heard from Rarity and Applejack that there's somethin' about that place that's got a lot of dark energy or somethin'."
"That, actually might be it," Amethyst said. "But we'll have to wait until there's another spike of Tenebraean energy before we know for sure."
"Of course," Scootaloo said with a sigh and shook her head a little. "So, what do we do in the meantime? Just wait and see what happens?"
"We'll need to work fast, the Shadow Line are going to have to do the same," Amethyst said with a shake of her head. "This Shade is being sent out because they need that energy. It feeds their Kuliner as well as whatever their reserves are for, I'm afraid that if we don't stop them they may take too much energy for Equestria to fully recover from."
They let that thought hang over the conversation for a long moment. None of them really wanted to think about what might happen if they did that.
"Well, we want to help," Silver Spoon said.
"No, I'm already putting these three at risk by getting them involved," Amethyst said as she looked at the two mares with a frown. "This is only a temporary arrangement, once your world is saved there won't be any reason to continue this anyway."
"Then why not let us help?" Diamond asked. "If you're only doing this temporarily we can help and we were able to fight off those Crows and the Snatcher thing earlier."
"Its true, they did," Scootaloo said as she gave her friends a nod. "Look, you said you had two more Morphers right? I know you're reluctant to take our help, but if the Shadow Line is really this much of a threat shouldn't we go at full strength?"
Amethyst paused a moment, she hated to admit it but Scootaloo did have a point. She sighed and looked back at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon and nodded a little as she took out the two remaining Morphers and train chargers. "Be careful with these, you've got a lot of responsibility in your hooves. We need to make sure that the Shadow Line is stopped before its too late."
"How does this work?" Diamond asked as she put her morpher on and looked at it curiously for a moment as she looked at the green charger that looked like a sleek and pointed train.
"You put it into your Rail Morpher, it should work, you will be Rangers 2 and 4 with the default colors of blue and green," Amethyst said with a nod. "If the Shadow Line is in this castle, then you need to get there fast."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Scootaloo asked.
"Its not exactly a short walk over there," Apple Bloom said with a shake of her head. "Do yah have any suggestions on what we need ta do?"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of that," Amethyst said as they headed back out of the house together. She took out a whistle and blew into it and after a moment the Quantum Reality Express came out of a portal. "Welcome aboard the Quantum Reality Express, it'll take us right where we need to go."
"Well, at least you know how to travel in style," Diamond said as she looked into the train and then back at Amethyst. "So, this is going to take us into the forest? How? There's not exactly any rails leading in there."
"Don't worry, this train is built to go anywhere, on land, sea, air, and even space if we need to," Amethyst said as they looked at her confused. "Long story, this train was built to be pretty advanced so there are very few limits to what it can do."
"What is it, really powerful magic or something?" Sweetie asked as she looked around at it a bit surprised. "I've never even heard of something like this before."
"Its, complicated, but you shouldn't worry about it," Amethyst said as the train came in for a stop. "Alright, here we are the Castle of the Two sisters."
"No morphing on the train, we don't want any more damage," Archie said as he returned to his perch. "Good luck though, you're going to need it."
"Archimedes, this isn't the time to lecture them on that," Amethyst said as she rolled her eyes at Archie. "Don't worry, you five are going to be just fine. Just get out there and do your best, your weapons come with the suits. There should be enough data in there to make sure you at least have an idea of what you're doing."
"You're not filling us with confidence," Scootaloo said as she looked down at her Rail Morpher.
"Are yah sure yah can't teach us how ta use these?" Apple Bloom asked concerned.
"Sure I can, but we don't have time before its too late," Amethyst said with a sigh and shook her head a little. "Its hard to explain, but its tied into your connection to the Morphing Grid itself. Its complicated and I don't quite understand it myself, but you should be able to at least draw on that knowledge."
"Okay," Scootaloo said as she looked at the Morpher confused for a moment.
It was true, while she had been morphed she had acted almost instinctively on how to use the Signal Hammer. She hadn't really known how to wield it but it seemed to come naturally, maybe Amethyst actually was right but it was still a bit weird the more she thought about it.
"Just get out there, I'll monitor you from here," Amethyst said as she looked back out at the castle through a window. "The future of your world is in your hooves Rangers."
"But no pressure right?" Sweetie asked with a roll of her eyes.
"Yeah, no pressure, you just are the only thing standing between your universe and destruction," Amethyst said as she opened the door. "You five just get out there already, we're all on a timer here."
The younger mares nodded and headed out of the train and towards the castle.
00000
"Yes, yes, so much energy!" Snatcher cackled as energy flew around it and into the monster. "We will have more than enough energy once we're done here!"
"Do not be so overconfident Snatcher, this world may have defenders that will cause problems yet," Madame Noir said as she fanned herself lightly. "We still have a lot of work to do before we're ready to return home. Bring all the Tenebraean Energy back to the Kuliner."
"By your command," the Shade said as it bowed a little before the fiendish noblewoman. "Inform Baron Nero that I shall have everything requested of me shortly."
"Make sure that you do, this world's energy is abundant, we will take what we need," Noir said with a smile as she looked back at the Shade. "If you succeed, you are to return to the train with your stolen energy. If you fail, you will be remembered for your sacrifice."
"Yes milady, I exist to serve," Snatcher said with a bow. "You will not be disappointed in my work."
"Excellent," Madame Noir said as there was a rumbling sound followed by a loud train whistle. "And that would be the Quantum Reality Express I'm afraid."
"Don't worry, if those Rangers show up again, we can handle it," Snatcher said. "They just surprised me before, I won't let them get the jump on me again."
"Excellent, excellent, we will send more Crows to assist you," Madame Noir said with a smirk as she waved her fan and vanished into a puddle of shadows as more Crows appeared along with the others.
The door to the ruined castle was pushed open as the Crusaders and their friends headed inside. "Excellent, that's two of them now, I'll deal with them and the Court will be happy," Snatcher said as it gestured to the Crows as they started to blend in with the Shadows.
"There doesn't seem ta be anythin' in here," Apple Bloom commented as she looked around. "Do yah think this might be a wild goose chase?"
"I don't know, something about this feels, off, and familiar," Diamond Tiara said as she looked over at Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. "What do you two think?"
"Yeah, it does kind of feel like back at the store..." Scootaloo said with a nod as she looked around, there was certainly that same darkness. "What's with all the darkness anyway? Its, almost like they're not just powered by it..."
"More like its part of them?" Sweetie asked and Scootaloo nodded a little.
"Ah'm sure that there's..." Apple Bloom started to say as suddenly an axe swung at her head and she dodged it just in time to see a Crow coming out of the shadows with more behind it. "Okay, that's not what Ah was expectin' ta happen."
"You're going to have to try a lot harder than that if you want to destroy our home!" Diamond said as she dodged another axe swung at her. "You're just a bunch of bullies trying to steal what isn't yours!"
"You shouldn't comment on things you do not understand little Equine," the cold voice of the Shade Snatcher said as the strange purse like monster came into view. "We need this energy, it is not our concern what happens to the universes we take it from."
"But yer hurtin' ponies, or worse!" Apple Bloom said as she kicked at one of the Crows. "We ain't gonna let yah hurt more of 'em!"
"Yes, I'm sure you'll try, but that doesn't mean you'll succeed!" Snatcher said with a cackle as it fired lasers at the mares. "This is your last stand, and the Shadow Line will be riding the rails of reality all the way home!"
"I think we're going to need to do a bit more than just fight them like this," Silver Spoon commented as she raised her Morpher. "What do you girls think?"
"Lets do this," Scootaloo said with a nod as she raised her own Rail Morpher and slid the train into it while her friends did the same.
"All Rangers prepare for boarding, stay behind the White Line!" The female computerized voice said as the same barrier from before blocked off the monsters.
The Crusaders underwent the same transformation as before. But at the same time suits appeared on Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara, the former being blue and the latter being green as they struck a pose.
"Ranger 1 - Red!"
"Ranger 2 - Blue!"
"Ranger 3 - Yellow!"
"Ranger 4 - Green!"
"Ranger 5 - Pink!"
"ALL ABOARD!" The computerized voice said followed by a loud train whistle.
"So you've gotten some more of your little Power Rangers, this is far from over and you'll need more than that to take me down!" Snatcher said with a laugh. "You don't know how to use your powers yet do you? It was just a fluke earlier!"
"We'll see about that, Rail Sword!" Apple Bloom said as she drew a sword and swung it at one of the Crows which was knocked back. "Ah think Ah can get used ta this."
"Yeah, this is kind of cool," Scootaloo admitted as she blocked another Crow's ax with her hammer. "Come on, we can do this, I hope."
"Just keep telling yourselves that, this is still my fight!" Snatcher said as it fired more lasers at the Rangers. "You're not about to win just because you have some fancy gimmicks and spandex."
"You know, I don't think this is spandex..." Sweetie commented. "I mean Rarity works with that kind of material all the time, this is probably not spandex."
She ducked another attack from a Crow that she countered with a swipe of her claw, only to have it get caught by the Crow's ax. The footsoldier kicked at her a little and pushed her back and she nearly ran into Scootaloo. "Oops, sorry about that!"
"These things are learning," Scootaloo said with a nod as she looked back at Sweetie Belle. "They know how our tactics work, do you have any ideas?"
"Maybe," Sweetie said as she looked thoughtful for a moment before she raised her Morpher again. "Hey, do you remember what Amethyst mentioned about these things?"
"That could work," Scootaloo said as she hit a button on her Morpher and Sweetie did the same. "Are you sure about this?"
"Hey, I should be asking you that, you're not exactly the biggest fan of the color pink," Sweetie said with a giggle as she tossed the charger over to Scootaloo who caught it and she did the same with her own.
"Changing tracks now," the computerized voice said after a moment. "All Rangers please change within the allotted time."
Scootaloo slid the charger onto her Morpher and Sweetie did the same. After a moment the same rails appeared and they switched colors.
"Yellow line switched to pink line."
"Pink line switched to yellow line."
"Okay, this is really not my color," Scootaloo said with a groan, but she raised the claw and rushed forward, using it to slash through a crow while Sweetie levitated up the hammer and started hitting the Crows with it hard.
"Did you know they could do that?" Diamond Tiara asked as she looked back at Silver Spoon who was firing at Snatcher with a pistol that came out of the side of her suit. "I didn't know they could do that..."
"Yeah, me neither," Silver said with a shrug as Diamond swung her axe at a nearby Crow. "Exactly how are these things supposed to work anyway?"
"I guess we just go with the flow, at least they seem to work," Diamond said as she hit the Crow hard with her ax and sent the footsoldier flying. "I don't like these things, they're starting to get on my nerves."
Apple Bloom swung her sword at Snatcher as the monster, sending sparks along its chest as it sent another attack at the Earth Pony. Apple Bloom just barely avoided the attack as Snatcher swung its staff at her and she barely stopped it with her rail sword.
"Ah ain't gonna let yah take us down that easily," Apple Bloom said as she pushed Snatcher back. "We're tha Power Rangers Ah guess, so we're gonna make sure that ya'll get stopped and don't hurt another universe!"
"Crows, fall back to me," Snatcher said as the Crows fell back to where the monster was standing. "You don't stand a chance Rangers, we will take what we need from this world! We need the Tenebraean Energy and you know it!"
"But you're taking so much that there's nothing left!" Scootaloo countered. "Amethyst Shard told us about what happens when you take energy from universes."
"You're not going to get away with it even if we have to chase you and your Court of Darkness all the way back to whatever Tartarus you come from," Sweetie Belle added as she moved next to her friends.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon exchanged a brief look before nodding and walking up next to the Crusaders and drew their own weapons. "Come on, lets take this freak down," Diamond Tiara said and Silver Spoon nodded in agreement. "Come on, lets do this!"
They nodded and ran forward, Scootaloo taking her claw and slashing wildly at some of the Crows that fell back. Sweetie Belle was still getting a little used to the weight of the hammer but she struck as many of the Crows as she could, sending them flying.
"Geez, how do you wield this thing?" Sweetie asked as she and Scootaloo backed up against each other again.
"I don't know, but you'll get the hang of it," Scootaloo said as she slashed through a Crow with the claw on her hoof and it fell back and vanished as the five Rangers turned their attention on the monster itself. "Lets take this thing down!"
Snatcher growled as it fired several lasers at the five Rangers which sent them back a little before they ran forward. Apple Bloom slashed at it with her sword and knocked the staff out of its hands as the other attacks hit it hard and sent it back as it tried to get to its feet.
"Okay, you need to put your weapons together to form the Quantum Rail Bazooka," Amethyst's voice said over the suit's communication systems. "It'll finish the enemy off but be careful, it might react badly to it or worse."
"Do Ah want ta know what she means by that?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked at their weapons. "Come on, lets at least try this and see if it'll work."
They nodded as they took their weapons and connected it together into a large weapon that looked like some sort of cannon was made. A strange train appeared in Scootaloo's hoof and she placed it in there as they fired it at the monster who let out a cry as it hit it and exploded.
"Okay, that seems to have done the..." Diamond Tiara started to say as they lowered the bazooka and then dark energy flew out of Snatcher and into the distance. "What the heck was that?"
"That's what I was afraid of," Amethyst's voice said on the other end. "Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, trade back and get to the train, we're going to need some extra help."
As the five friends started to head out of the castle there was a rumbling as they turned around to see Snatcher growing larger. It now towered over the ruins of the castle as they managed to make it out and headed towards the train not far away.
"How did it even do that?" Silver Spoon asked as she looked back at the others. "Did Amethyst mention anything about that to you?"
"No, definitely not," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. "I think I'd remember if she mentioned that these things can grow larger. Amethyst, is there something you wanted to tell us?"
"Its a side effect of releasing Tenebraean Energy to be sent to the Shadow Line," Amethyst said after a long moment. "Get to the train, we already have a means to fight it. You need to enter the train cars and use your chargers to trigger it, you'll see what I mean soon enough."
"Okay, uh, sure," Scootaloo said with a strange look as they opened up the doors to the train and climbed in.
00000
In the front of the train there were chairs that had special terminals in front of them. There were slots for something that looked like the chargers on their Morphers would fit into them. They took their seats and slid the small trains into the slots as they activated them.
"Megazord mode activated," the same mare voice that came from the terminals as their chairs started to move. "Entering Express Train formation."
"What tha hay is a..." Apple Bloom started to say as readings suddenly showed in front of her as the train cars appeared on it.
The cars came together to form a large bulky robot that was made up of the different train pieces. A head formed from the red piece as the blue and green pieces formed the legs and the pink and yellow pieces formed the arms as a sword appeared in its hand.
The chairs slid into a cockpit where all five of them were now and a screen showed an image of the massive monster ahead of them. A readout showed a large strange bipedal machine as it swung a sword.
"Alright, how does this thing work..." Apple Bloom said as they started moving forward, the robot nearly tripping as Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara struggled to move the legs in sync.
"I've got this," Scootaloo said as she controlled the arm that held the sword aloft.
After a moment of testing it out, the Megazord pushed forward towards the giant purse like monster as it swung the sword only to have it get caught by Snatcher's staff.
"So you have your own tricks Rangers, but I won't let you beat me yet!" Snatcher said as it pushed the Megazord back as it stumbled a little. The monster snarled as it tried to take out the mecha with its staff only to have it be caught by the machine's free hand.
"Yeah, you go Sweetie!" Scootaloo said as she gave the Unicorn a nod and a smile behind her helmet. "Lets take this big ugly monster down."
"Yeah!" Sweetie said as she swung a fist at the monster and hit the monster with its fist. A green leg hit Snatcher hard in what would be its stomach as it fell back.
"Curse you, you won't stop us, you'll all cry when we're done!" Snatcher said as it fired a laser into the mecha as it went back before holding up its sword.
"You need to activate your finishing move, place all your trains in the center console and activate the rail sword slasher," Amethyst said and they nodded.
"Okay, lets try this," Apple Bloom said as they each placed their chargers in the center console as they started to glow brightly.
Outside the Megazord's sword started glowing brightly as it lit on fire. It held it aloft and ran forward and slashed at the giant monster as it fell back and landed hard in the forest around them. After a moment it melted into the ground and with that it was gone other than the flattened trees.
"Yeah, we did it!" Scootaloo said as the five of them cheered. "The Shadow Line isn't going to stand a chance against us at this rate!"
They all just hoped that everything they did had been the right thing.
00000
Baron Nero slammed his fist into the side of the Kuliner as he leaned on his cane. While they had gotten more than enough Tenebraean Energy for their needs, they hadn't gotten nearly as much as they had hoped in order to get them even closer to their home world.
"You said that Snatcher would be able to do the job," Nero said with a sneer as he looked back at Madame Noir who fanned herself a little. "We only have enough to get a few more universes ahead at best."
"Yes, well we underestimated the local equines," Noir said as she fanned herself lightly and shook her head. "These Power Rangers are more tricky than we could have anticipated. I had hoped that it was going to be enough, but we are going to have to keep going as planned then."
"You don't tell me what to do Noir, we need to send another..." Nero said before he was interrupted by a woman's voice.
"You will do no such thing," a woman said as they turned to see a woman wearing a green and gold dress and a tall black headdress with white lines crossing it as she carried a staff. "We have done more than enough in this world to get what we need and need to focus on moving forward."
"Marchioness Morc, how good of you to join us finally," Baron Nero said as he narrowed his red eyes a little at the woman. "We still have a lot we can do here."
"Yes, but the Rangers used a lot of their own energy to do that job," Morc pointed out as she walked closer to Nero. "They are not ready to pursue us, while if we stay here we will be vulnerable. We need to proceed if we are to get back to our home anytime soon."
"I see," Nero said with a frown as he shook his head and looked back at the controls and started to input commands and frowned a little. "We're still having problems connecting with the Emperor. For now we will do as you suggest, what is the nearest charted universe?"
"This one I believe," Noir said as she pointed at one on the screen. "The last reports suggest that its got a lot of inter-dimensional activity lately. We should at the very least be able to move in and out quickly and quietly if there are not any further problems."
"Lord Drakkon, I see..." Nero said as he looked at the data and nodded. "Very well, lets get going then."
He put in the commands and the Kuliner started up again as a vortex appeared in front of it. The demonic looking train let out a long whistle as it moved forward through it, and off into the unknown.
00000
"You five did well out there," Amethyst said as the 5 young mares took off their Morphers regretfully and gave them over to the purple mare. "You fought off that Shade very effectively for being new to this kind of thing."
"Its, not exactly the first time our world has been threatened," Scootaloo said as she rubbed the back of her head a little. "Its kind of a shame that we can't come with you."
"Yeah, Ah know Ah would like ta try and help stop tha Shadow Line if its goin' after other universes," Apple Bloom said. "Yah can't do this on yer own can you?"
"Well..." Amethyst started to say as she looked at them for a moment.
"No, no she cannot," Archie said as he came in for a landing next to Amethyst. "She's good but not that good."
"I'm not going to ask you to do this," Amethyst said with a shake of her head. "I'm not going to lie, if you were to go with me you would be taking on a big task. There's not even any guarantee that you'd make it back home anytime soon, or at all."
"We're starting to figure that out," Sweetie said.
"But we want to help," Scootaloo said. "You're our friend now, and we know the stakes. If there's anything we can do to help, we'd like to do it."
She looked back at the others who nodded in agreement.
"We can't go anywhere yet anyway," Amethyst said with a shake of her head. "All of you need to think about this long and hard if you do want to come. Don't go into this without thinking it through and consulting your families, that's all I ask for now."
"We will," Apple Bloom said with a nod as they headed out of the train.
They looked back at the train for a long moment. They had yet to uncover all the secrets of this strange train, they just hoped that they really were doing the right thing by going along.
Now they just had to make the decision as whether or not they wanted to go.