//------------------------------// // The Battle for Canterlot City // Story: Equestria Rangers // by Shadowmane PX-41 //------------------------------// 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?”