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?"