"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."