It was a rainy morning in Ponyville. The skies had been dark since Sunset had woken up and rain trickled down relentlessly. Endless droplets of water lashed against her window and the sounds of the wind outside were muffled by the walls. A miserable sight to wake up to, but one Sunset had to face regardless.
Yeah, it was official, she hated today already. Maybe she should just curl up and go back to sleep. Not like anyone would notice her skipping out on today…
Or at least they wouldn’t have had her morpher not started buzzing. Already, the sounds of the buzzing coupled with Sunset’s ringtone began to accompany the noises of the world outside.
Sunset groaned, and reached for her morpher resting on the bedside table. “...it’s not even 9 yet guys, can you just let me sleep in? Unless there’s a Reverse Empire attack, leave this channel alone okay? More importantly, leave me alone. Haven’t even had my coffee yet…”
“Fine, just trying to be friendly…” Vapor’s voice said, and Sunset groaned. Of course, the chipper mare would already be up at this time of day. “Get to know my fellow girl, eh? So, from ranger to ranger, just asking? Does the spandex feel a bit tight? Chafe a little maybe?”
“It’s not spandex…” Sunset grumbled.
“I call it like I see it, it’s brightly colored spandex,” Vapor replied. “It’s almost ghastly if it weren’t so fitting for superheroes? ...maybe a bit too fitting, I dunno.”
“Anyways, what’s up?” Sunset at least decided to ask, seeing as how this was a call for her, and not some other random freak in her house.
“Like I said, wanted to get to know you, mare to mare!” Vapor babbled. “I mean, that is a thing right? Where we hang out and talk about what’s going on in our lives, and try to fail or pass the Bechdel–Wallace test as much as possible?”
“Bechdel-Wallace?” Sunset cocked a brow, surprised the slightly ditzy mare even knew what that even was. “Did you swallow a dictionary or something?”
“...why does everyone think I’m a ditz?” Vapor said. “I can be smart! ...y’all have so little faith in me. So, I gotta ask, what’s it like to be under house arrest? You have some ankle monitor or something? Like, if you go too far outside the perimeter, do a bunch of hot stallions in armor come up to arrest you? ...so how do you ranger up then? Does the morph-run off destroy your monitor and then does Shining have to requisition a new one?”
“Hell if I know,” Sunset shrugged. Truth be told, she didn’t even think about the monitor whenever she morphed. Still, whatever that punk cop didn’t know wasn’t worth knowing. Sorry, punk cop teammate. “...so are you just calling for a reason, or do you want to annoy me?”
“You looked like you could use a friend, like… whenever I see you, you just look so lonely. It’s in the eyes. They always look so sad…”
Sunset’s eyes felt wet, before she dabbed at them. Goddess, she shouldn’t be crying this early in the morning. “...don’t presume to know me, okay? I’m fine just the way I am.”
Sunset looked outside her window, where she saw the guards, standing out there in the rain and the mud. She couldn’t decide how she felt about it, sympathy? Pity? Annoyance? Anger? Maybe Pride. Yeah, that worked. Pride, pride in herself that she seemed to be worth the trouble.
“Pfff, keep telling yourself that, and maybe one day you’ll start to believe it…”
Far and away, the Reverse Empire’s generals plotted. “Clearly, we need a new approach,” Gray remarked. “The Diamond Beast exposed a clear cut weakness in the Rangers, they’re all still new at this and while they’re friends, that is also their greatest failing.”
“Are you sure?” Cozy said, taking a sip of her juice. “Because, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but in this land friendship is quite literally magic…”
“Magic is a unquantifiable element, a ‘wild card’ if you will. It cannot be studied or controlled in a lab environment. So it’s not worth a thought. Logic however, is,” Gray replied with a ‘look’ at Cozy. “Logic dictates we strike at the Rangers themselves. Tear them apart. As the Diamond Beast has shown, they care for each other and cannot function as anything less than a team. We take that team apart, and our path to victory is assured.”
“And how do you suppose we do that? Just walk up to them and tell them to stop being friends? Not likely. There’s nothing that we can do that’ll break up their friendships,” Cozy remarked, kicking up her feet. “Not to mention, they’d probably try to smite us or whatever kind of stupid hero talk that they use instead of our lingo.”
“We don’t specifically have to destroy their friendships to send the entire team into disarray.” Gray pushed his hands together and cast a wicked gaze towards the corner of the room, where a new dimensional bug was ready to be used. “Just as long as we make sure that they’re not rubbing shoulders with each other, we have a fighting chance at crushing them.”
“So you’re saying we separate them?” Cozy asked the mechanical man.
“Exactly. Get a monster out on the field that stops the rangers from getting close to each other. Divide and conquer, as the humans always say.” Gray nodded.
“I think we can do one better,” Cozy said reaching into the cocoon and pulling out a dimensional bug “You know, for the smartest guy here, you lack a certain imagination! I say we steal a Ranger away!”
“Steal?” Gray tilted his head to the side. “How does one steal a ranger, little girl?”
“...you’re from another dimension right?” Cozy asked. “...I’m surprised it hasn’t hit you already. Maybe Blue gave you one too many knocks to the head! I’m saying, shove one or two off into their own little personal prison. Maybe that’ll cause them to reflect on their mistakes…”
With that, she tossed the dimensional bug through a portal and watched it infect a mirror. The mirror emanated an eerie glow of green light and lifted from the ground. The light enveloped the mirror and mangled its shape, making it grow larger and larger. Some new limbs burst out of the sides of the mirror, edged and sharp in design. Even the feet were a pair of bladed diamonds. The new creation finally landed before Cozy and Gray, with its large mirror body, reflective arms with points so sharp that it looked like they could puncture anything, and a face with small yellow dots for eyes and gargantuan fangs sticking out of its mouth.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Cozy Glow swooned at her own diabolical creation. “This is Reflecto, one of my finest works. He has the power to trap anyone in a whole new world; one that they won’t be able to get out of!”
“...so we’re naming the monsters now? I always liked the Beast names, practical and to the point,” Gray remarked.
“Silly Gray. That’s what the stuffy, no-fun generals would always say. Learn to live a little and have fun when you’re taking over the world, why don’t you?” Cozy chuckled as she waltzed over to ‘Reflecto’.
“Now then, I trust you know what to do?” She asked the monster.
“Yes mistress, it is time for one or two Rangers to reflect on their mistakes!” Reflecto cackled before he walked into a portal and vanished. Gray sighed to himself.
“...I better go after him, make sure he actually does this right and doesn’t get distracted,” Gray muttered before following. It wasn’t long before the Rangers learned of the new monster. They found him just wandering the streets zapping ponies right and left.
“Sunset, we’ve got a new monster on the streets,” said Autumn, calling her through their morpher. “Be here soon!”
“Hey, you!” Vapor Trail stood proudly before the new monster. “I don’t know what you’re doing here, but we’re putting a stop to it right now!”
“On the contrary, Rangers. This particular monster is putting a stop to your fun and games right now,” said Gray as he leered towards the team of heroes. “Reflecto—don’t even ask me where the name comes from—is going to make sure that you never see the light of day again.”
“BURNING REIGN!” called out Sunset, before Gray was forced to dodge a slash of fire.
“Great, so it’s not only cold and miserable, but you had to just appear and ruin my day even more?” Sunset asked, her helmet forming around her head to finish off the morph. She slammed a fist into her outstretched palm. “...anything else you want to do to tick me off even further?”
“This!” Reflecto fired a ray of energy from his hand at the team of Rangers. It struck the ground in between them and detonated, sending the entire team flying in all directions. Said team then tumbled to the ground like ragdolls in the cold, rainy wind.
“...okay then, ask a stupid question…” Sunset muttered, picking herself out of the mud. “And to make matters worse? Goddess, my boots are trashed!”
Summoning, well, the falcon summoner, she fired off a series of arrows at the mirror monster. Thunder rolled as the battle broke out with a new fever.
Gray managed to isolate Ranger Black, going with the former beat cop sword to sword.
“Oh, been looking for an excuse to deal with you again,” Robert said, jumping off a wall into the street below with Gray following as they dueled onto a set of train tracks, lightning flashing. “Okay, seriously, I gotta ask, Bender. Like, I do. How do you do it, drink and smoke? Doesn’t seem like a very robotic thing to do!”
“I’m highly advanced! Radiguet built me with only the most impressive of technology!” Gray shouted, slashing downwards with Robert cartwheeling to the left to avoid the strike. “Far more advanced than anything your puny human brain can imagine…”
“I dunno, I can imagine quite a fair bit,” Robert said, kicking him in the stomach before whirling around to score an energy infused slash. “Also, Radiguet? I’m sorry, but whenever I hear that, my brain just goes ‘Radagast’? Like, it really does.”
Their blades met, sparks flying. Gray twisted his sword, attempting to disarm his opponent but Robert reacted by twisting his sword as well, his blade scraping along Gray’s own. He elbowed the robot in the face before leaping forwards to score a downwards slash.
Gray staggered, before with a war cry he went on the offensive. Striking forwards with the force of lightning, Gray’s rapier became like a spear, striking several times a second. It was all Robert could do to stop himself from being impaled.
He ran up a wall, and rebounded off it to kick Gray in the head in a diving kick, but the robot grabbed him by the leg and slammed him into the ground with a sigh of: “So foolish…”
Robert recovered, and wrapped his legs around Gray’s neck, and pulled himself upwards drawing his blade again. He leaped up, before coming back down with a powerful slash. Gray was quicker though, and blocked the blade with his own. Gray then punched the black ranger into a wall.
Clutching his chest in pain, Robert groaned.
“Give up,” Gray said, leveling his blade at him as he strode onto the tracks. “I promise I’ll make your end swift and painless.”
“Yeah, got two words for you. Screw off!” Robert shouted before charging forwards and punching Gray. Hard. Equipping a certain gauntlet, he took a cue from Autumn with a cry of: “Bird Buster!”
Gray staggered back, but recovered and slashed Robert across the chest making him let out a cry of pain. Lightning flashed in the sky, ripping downwards with a jagged bolt, and Gray caught it with his blade before slashing again.
“I grow tired of this,” Gray leapt backwards, away from all of the rangers. The rest had been handling Reflecto quite nicely, I might add.
“Well, then, Reflecto. Do the honours, since that little squirt seems to think so highly of you,” He patted Reflecto on the back.
“Right away,” Reflecto shuffled forward to the other rangers. He planted his hands on the glass chest that he had, which caused it to emanate with a foul, dark energy.
“You need to take some time off. Really reflect on your lives!” As soon as he finished talking, a powerful surge of light erupted out, and it felt like he had become a giant vacuum with how the Rangers were fighting against the force he was projecting. For Sunset, Robert, Vapor, and Autumn, the struggle was too much. Soon, they all found themselves pulled from the ground, screaming as they were absorbed into the mirror chest of the beast, vanishing from the world.
“What the…” Shining Armour watched as he saw all of his teammates projected from the center of the monster, just like from that god-awful show that he remembered showing little Twily all those years ago.
“Guys! Are you alright?!” He asked.
“What do you think, dumbass?!” Robert yelled, his voice slightly muffled. “Now get us out of here!”
Shining gripped his sword, the blue ranger not quite sure what to do. He studied his opposition, before with a little “no.” implanted his sword into the ground.
“Shining!” Sunset breathed.
“...No, it’s too risky, I can’t do it. If I destroy the mirrors, I risk destroying you…” he said.
“A wise choice,” Gray seized the opportunity and dashed forward towards Shining Armour once again. Slashing his sword erratically, he was able to meet Shining’s blade with each strike. With his morale decreased, it wasn’t hard for Gray to find an opening in Shining’s defenses and deliver a horizontal slash to said weakness, knocking the blue ranger to his knees. “Without your allies, you are nothing.”
Then, a black shadowy form appeared in front of Shining, a crescent-shaped blade holding back Gray’s own. Zen-Aku’s golden eyes bored into Gray’s unfeeling optics. “He’s not alone, he’s still got one ally left. Now, I would suggest you flee, before I’m so inclined to drop all pretenses of being nice.”
“Very well then, but I still have your team, blue boy!” Gray laughed mechanically. “Think on that.”
With a snap of his fingers, he and Reflecto vanished.
“We… we need to talk to Starswirl…” Shining breathed out before he and Zen-Aku teleported out.
Back at Canterlot Castle, the group reconvened. Shining explained the situation to the wise old stallion…
“And…. and just like that, they were gone! Zapped into… well, they’re not dead, just putting it out there. But they’re somewhere. Just not sure where. I’ve studied magic, part of my royal guard training of course, so my best guess is they’ve been teleported into some dimension just a few steps away from our own…”
“Hmm, yes. I’ve long since theorized the existence of other dimensions, but proving it has been another matter entirely...” Starswirl replied, running a withered hand through his beard.
“Until you got sucked into one with the Reverse Empire,” Shining pointed out and Starswirl winced. Shining immediately felt guilty. “...I’m sorry, I’m an ass. I forgot, you still have friends trapped there. If I may ask, what happened? How did you and the Pillars get sent there?”
“When the Reverse Empire invaded my home, the assault was ruthless. They used not a monster to trap my compatriots in their world, but rather a machine. A device that sought us out and ensnared us in their pocket dimension,” Starswirl began. “I would call it a stroke of luck that your Princess Celestia managed to free me from limbo. I… I can be forever grateful to my former student for freeing me from that hell.”
Shining decided not to press, but there was that lingering feeling he wasn’t being told everything. History books, however rarely, spoke of a seventh pillar. A scholar of some sort, even if he was never named that always traveled with the other six. So why wasn’t Starswirl mentioning him…?
“So how do we free our friends from their hell?” Shining asked.
“That monster. Reflecto. It was the one that spirited away your friends. Not in the same way that the Reverse Generals did with their machines, but rather with a new kind of power.” Starswirl turned away and consulted his books for a way to combat a beast made purely out of mirrors. “The hardest thing about a mirror monster like this is that it has the potential to nullify and reverse any attacks back to the aggressor. But perhaps… we can turn that against it. Give me some time, Shining Armour. I’ll find something.”
“...you sound like you’ve faced something like this before.” Shining commented.
“I’m Starswirl the Bearded, of course I have,” Starswirl replied.
“...right,” Shining muttered. “I’m just not sure we have the time…”
“Of course you don’t,” Gray’s voice crackled as he appeared inside a crystal ball. Shining’s fists clenched and he let out a small snarl. “Your friends? Oh, they’re not going to last. They’ve got 48 hours before they… expire.”
“Give them back!” Shining shouted.
“Oh, I can. Just… not without a fight. See, if you can hold out against me for 24 hours? Well, I’ll gladly give you your friends back. One must have a sense of honor about these things yes? However, if you lose you die and so do your friends. So, I win. I’m just giving you a fair chance.”
“I’m taking it…” Shining said without even a moment’s hesitation. He was a Royal Guard and he’d failed in his duty, so now it was time to fix that. “It’s a deal!”
“Shining, wait!” Starswirl barked but it was too late. Shining had made his choice, and Gray knew it judging by the smirk he was wearing.
“Back to action!”
Meanwhile, inside Reflecto’s world, Sunset Shimmer found herself traversing a foggy void of dark purple light, with gray sand crunching beneath her feet and a harsh wind blowing against her face. The rest of her teammates had been separated from her and the air felt acrid. For miles around, nothingness surrounded her. Until at last a bipedal shadow came into view and stood over her, like a menacing mountain of gooey black mass.
“...Hello? W-Where am I?” Sunset said, shivering in the oppressing cold and finding herself on a dark cloudy beach, waves crashing at her hooves.
“You should know where you are,” A distorted voice echoed on the winds as the water on the beach crashed against her boots. “After all, you caused all of this, Sunset Shimmer.”
Sunset whipped her head around, trying to find the source of the voice. “Who are you? And what do you mean? I’ve never even seen this beach before!”
“This beach used to be our home,” said the voice, as the giant shadow looming over her warped and contorted into a face she knew all too well. It was Princess Celestia, one very disappointed looking Princess Celestia at that. “And then, you failed us.”
“She’s right you know,” another shadow said shifting and morphing as it changed into an orange stallion, with a very red beard. He adjusted his glasses. “Look at me sister! I don’t have strong magic and I barely passed school, but at least I didn’t take a grab for power!”
“I… I…”
“You know what you wanted,” Celestia said, shoving Sunset into the sand. “You wanted to be an alicorn like me! You wanted to be a Princess! I ask you, are you really the kind of Princess Equestria needs?”
“I don’t know why Celestia chose you as her personal student,” Sunburst added. “I would have been better, maybe she might have helped me focus my magic! I’m already pretty smart, top of my class!”
“Nononono…” Sunset said clutching her head to try to block out the voices. “I… I’m sorry! I didn’t know what I was doing, so just shut up! I was jealous! I get it okay! I’ve paid enough!”
“Have you?” Celestia asked, raising a critical eyebrow.
“I was replaced! I’m under house arrest! Half of Equestria hates me,” Sunset said as the rains set in, swamping her mane and her fur. Sunset was drenched from head to tail. “You don’t think I don’t hear the whispers when I’m out? That I’m a traitor, that I should have been locked up or banished! I have to live with that humiliation every day! That’s my punishment!”
“See, I’m inclined to disagree,” Sunburst said, flipping through the pages of a spellbook. “You haven’t paid enough. You live with your humiliation you say? How about you don’t live at all?”
His horn glowed, and glowing runes appeared at his hooves before a figure rose up out of the sand. Mechanical, dressed like an elegant lord complete with monocle to cover his glowing red eye and some very spiked hair. General Kilobyte lived again.
“A mare leads the Power Rangers?” he asked, in his distinctive english accent. “What a joke! I could do better, and I’m a villain! Then again, I suppose you would know a thing or two about being a villain, wouldn’t you? From the sounds of it, I’m doing your nation a favor…”
He drew his blade, and advanced before breaking into a sprint. Sunset went for her morpher, but to her shock and horror found it wasn’t there.
As she dodged the robot’s swings, Sunset let out a shout of: “Princess, you have to stop him! I’m your student, you wouldn’t possibly let-”
“No, you’re not my student. I moved onto a better one,” Celestia said ruffling Twilight’s mane before the two walked off into the gloom. “Goodbye, my little pony…”
Sunset fought back a sob, even as she created a shield to block Kilobyte’s strikes.
She slid back, before summoning and redirecting a lightning blast at Kilobyte. He barely seemed fazed, thanks to his extreme durability. Sunset groaned, of course. She read he was able to take on a whole team at once and well… there was a reason for that. Flashing away in a teleport, she kicked him in the side, before teleporting away again only to come flying in with a magically enhanced punch. Kilobyte staggered only to slash at the air and Sunset had to teleport away again before tossing a fireball his direction.
Again, he didn’t seem fazed. “...well, at least deprived of Venjix, you can’t grow…” Sunset muttered.
Guess what happened?
She was promptly proven wrong.
“OH COME ON, YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!” Sunset yelled as she fled up the beach from the now skyscraper sized robot. Every single step that she made seemed like nothing as the titanic machine effortlessly reached down and scooped her up, without even needing to take a step. Fighting against the restrictive clutches of Kilobyte’s titanic claws, Sunset found it hard to breathe as the piercing eyes of Kilobyte pierced her soul.
“This is the end for you! Shame how you didn’t last as long as the last red falcon...” Kilobyte remarked as he charged up an attack that would erase Sunset from history. Particles materialised around him and assimilated themselves into his body, making his aura glow a harsher shade of red with each second.
Sunset’s eyes widened, before she teleported away only to slam into the dirt of a cavern. The laws of physics still did exist after all… Picking herself up off the ground, she broke into a sprint, her hooves splashing against a puddle. In the water’s reflection, she saw Autumn, also demorphed, battling against a crimson snake-themed Ranger in a burning village. Frighteningly, her mouth had completely vanished.
Sunset tried not to think about it too much, even as she ran. But to her shock and horror, she found herself on that exact same beach again, minus one Kilobyte. She let out a breathy whisper of: “...what the hell?”
Again, nothing came to greet her. Not even the shadows. Instead, she was all alone. Time seemed to pass faster than she could have fathomed. A single second seemed to her like a minute with how little was happening. All that was going on was the water raking the coast before her eyes, and the vast desert sands lying idle behind her. A true no man’s land wherein she was the lone mare inhabiting said land.
As she walked, she was hit by memories of a life she was trying to forget.
“So, is it true?” the memory Sunset asked. “Am I really going to be your personal student?”
“Congratulations Sunset, you’ve earned it,” said the memory Celestia, and the present day Sunset had to fight back a sob, wiping away her tears. She seemed so… happy, Celestia had seemed so proud of her. Her! Her of all ponies, the screw-up! That was what she’d given up, that was who she’d given up. And for what? Promises of power?
“No…” The real Sunset watched as the memory finished, leaving her in nothingness again. “I don’t deserve this. I haven’t earned anything. I was just chosen for something I wasn’t ready for. And now, because of it, everything’s going wrong.”
Again, a torrent of memories hit her like a tidal wave.
“Is it true?” Sunset asked, confronting her teacher. “Tell me! Is it true? Are you actually considering taking another student?”
Ah yes, the present Sunset mused. That was when it had all started to go horribly wrong.
“I am a Princess, I think I am allotted time to tutor more than just one young mare. You are not the only one with potential, I should think. Consider this a gift to you, you could help this young mare as well. She needs help in the area of friendship just as she needs help to control her magic.”
“I… I see,” the younger Sunset said. “But… why? Why should I?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do.”
Crap, ah yes. The ‘Princess Voice’, the disappointed mother tone Celestia was so good at. That one she only broke out when you’d really screwed up and she wanted you to know it. Sunset hadn’t heard it often, given how Celestia rarely showed her anger. But once was enough. Sunset swore she’d never make her mentor disappointed in her ever again. And yet, somehow she managed to do just exactly that! Goddess, Celestia did the right thing, throwing her away when she did. She was right, she was hardly Princess material and Sunset should have known better.
But, of course, the final memory and the ugliest of them all was still yet to come. Sunset knew she was going to have to face it again, face her failure. She wasn’t looking forward to it, she was terrified of it. And yet, run from it as much as you want, it still would arrive all the same. And it did.
“Sunset!” the past Princess Celestia shouted as she stormed into the library. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Around the past Sunset’s neck was a dark grey amulet, pulsing with an angry red energy crackling with power. Sunset didn’t even remember where she’d found the damn thing, maybe hidden away in some forbidden artifacts room. The memories were so fuzzy. In any event, Sunset? She’d put the so-called Alicorn Amulet on -named for the power it granted you- and she had every intent on using it.
“Getting what I so rightfully deserve!” Sunset had shouted. “You refused time and time again to recognize my potential! So I’m forcing the matter! If you won’t make me a Princess the usual way, well… there are alternatives…”
“You don’t know what you’re doing! The amulet! It’s dangerous, yes it’s a shortcut to power but I locked it away because it drives the user mad! Do you understand, Sunset, you have to take it off!”
“I will tell you a secret, all the best ponies are mad right? I mean, look at all the geniuses throughout history, if they weren’t anything but rich because of their efforts we’d be calling them something aside from eccentric!” Sunset snapped. “Am I right?”
Sunset didn’t want to watch, but like a train wreck she just couldn’t tear her eyes away even as her past self actually fired upon Princess Celestia. Obviously, the magic blast was caught, but the damage was done.
“Sunset, stop this!” Celestia shouted, tears in her eyes as she spun to avoid another magic blast. “We don’t have to do this! Listen to me Sunset, you’re better than this! This isn’t you!”
All that Present Sunset could do was watch in horror as she watched herself trying to eradicate the very alicorn who had taught her everything. With every single bolt of magic, dodge from Celestia, and the murderous look that Past Sunset gave, it was like a dagger to her heart. How could she have been so wrong? So stupid? So… weak?
“Well, you are only a mare,” came General Kilobyte’s voice. “You can’t expect to be as strong as everyone else…”
“Hey, for the record? Did you miss the Princess part? Cause sure seems like you did,” Sunset sassed the general. “Pretty sure she’d give your Lord Venjix a real asskicking. Power of the sun and all? It's not pretty.”
“Yes, but Celestia is not here and I am,” Kilobyte said, the moon at his back as he sent a series of three red energy slashes at Sunset, who rolled out of the way to dodge them. “What do you even expect to do? You don’t even have your Ranger powers!”
“I can still stop you!” Sunset said, summoning something to her. “Powers or no powers!”
In her hands now was the Super Ninja Steel Blaster, stupid name but it’s power couldn’t be denied. Pressing the trigger, she fired the rather large cannon weapon and Kilobyte was sent tumbling backwards. She tossed the weapon aside, and summoned Ranger Operator Series Red’s Street Saber, leaping forwards to slash Kilobyte across the chest.
“Even if you stop me, there’s no way you’re making it out of here!” Kilobyte shouted.
“One thing at a time,” Sunset drawled as she struck. “Street Saber Strike!”
Kilobyte was blown to scrap. But he was right, there was no way she was making it out of here. No, Sunset decided. She wasn’t going to give up. She was Sunset Motherbucking Shimmer, and a Power Ranger. This wasn’t going to stop her, she wouldn’t let it. With a loud war cry, she drew back her fist, and punched forwards. The world cracked, and it shook before it became consumed with a bright light…
Meanwhile, hours had passed since Sunset and the others had been sucked into Reflecto’s world. As the morning sun climbed into the sky, Shining nearly collapsed as he and Gray fought atop the rocks, crashing waves below them…
“It’s… it’s over,” Shining panted out, demorphing in a flash of blue light. “Face it, you’ve lost.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Gray said sorta smugly. “Your weak organic form is tired, it’s exhausted. Give up.”
“Not… not until I free my friends!” Shining said slashing at the air weakly, but Gray easily telegraphed the blow and slammed a fist into his gut. Shining tumbled to the ground.
“Oh, don’t you get it yet?” Gray said as he stood over Shining, who was clutching his chest in pain. Gray ripped away his armor with his hands. “That was what you organics call a lie. I had no intention of holding up my end of the bargain, you should have known from the beginning!”
“Then why…?”
“I just wanted a good battle, and you gave it to me. You of all ponies deserve a glorious end, even if your cause is really quite inglorious,” Gray said leveling his blade at him. “And now it does end!”
Then, there was an explosion and Gray’s optics widened as he ran down to the source of the sound. There, standing in front of Reflecto who was staggering about aimlessly, were the missing Rangers.
“WHAT!?!” he roared. This gave away his location and allowed Sunset to fire her side arm at him. So shocked was he, Gray didn’t even have a chance to block the blow.
“And there’s more where that came from…” Sunset practically snarled as she marched forwards, morphing in a flash of red energy with a bird’s cry accompanying it. “Now come on guys, let’s get some of our own back!”
“Oh, oh, we’re going after someone else now…?” Vapor said. For her and the other rangers, it didn’t feel like but only five minutes since they’d been captured. But evidently, it had been for far longer. “But there was this guy covered in gold and I… oh, he’s gone now. Never mind then! Well, I can’t say I’m opposed to doing this instead!”
“Oh, I’m so going to enjoy this one,” Sunset hissed out drawing back her fist and slamming it into Reflecto. “You made me relive my days as a bad guy? Well, I’m about to show you and your boss just how bad I can be!”
Slamming a boot into the monster, she made it stagger. Then, lightning flashed in the sky as Radiguet appeared and all the Rangers were sent flying by the white hot bolts of destruction.
“I think not,” Radiguet said, tossing Shining down to them. “I got to hand it to Cozy, she really did a lot of good work on you lot. But the time for playing around is over, I think it’s time I handle this one myself. Now, since a boy, I’ve dreamed of world domination since of a world where ultimate evil ruled over all. Is that so wrong? Now Sunset? Tell your teacher I’ve got a message for her. It thus follows. You’re an old woman, you obviously need a vacation. I think circumstances force us to choose a new leader and I pick... me! 10,000 years of darkness, now how does that sound?”
“It actually sounds terrible,” said Starswirl’s voice as he walked up, staff in hand. It was taller than him, actually, just barely reaching his pointy hat. “I think I’ll pass.”
“Oh, joy. It’s the wizard. I’ve got an offer for you, you and the rest of your sappy lot. Are you bored with your job? Are you bored with your life? Come down to my new Kingdom, Radiguetopia!”
“More like ego-opolis,” Starswirl said, catching the madman’s lightning in his hand and sending it right back at him.
“You impudent old warlock!” Radiguet snapped.
“Yes, well, if the fight for justice and peace includes impudence I’d be happy to oblige…” Starswirl said. “Now let us talk about this Cozy friend of yours!”
“Sorry, another time I think…” Radiguet decided, before vanishing. Zen-Aku meanwhile leaped up to face Gray, a bright red sword -different from the one he usually used- in his hands.
“Sunset, deal with the other nuisance, you and your team. I can handle this one,” the Duke Org said as he readied his blade. “By my master’s name and his honor, you shall stand no longer!”
“...since I don’t know when a wolf suddenly became ‘for great justice!’ and all that,” Sunset said slashing at Reflecto before teleporting away as both Robert and Vapor ran him through with their own swords. Autumn leaped out from behind them, and struck him with one solid fist. “...I’ll just try to cut down on the weird, or at least ignore it and do something I am good at. Namely, kicking ass and taking names.”
“And looking good doing it?” Vapor said as Sunset threw a fireball at her foe.
“That too!” Sunset commented as Autumn punched the mirror monster again.
“Oh, trust me, we’ve all got bones to pick with this guy! What he made me relive…” Autumn hissed, sounding very close to going full-on Nirik. “I don’t want to be reminded of ever again. Now take this! Bird Buster!”
She punched him again with an earthshaking strike, before Sunset’s horn glowed a brilliant opal and runic circles appeared. From these circles erupted blasts of energy. As Reflecto staggered, Sunset placed a hand on Shining, and transferred some of her energy to him.
“There, that should give you a bit of extra strength, enough to finish this guy,” she said kindly. “But you’re still going to need a nice long nap after this. You’re an idiot, you do know that right?”
“It may have occurred to me,” Shining admitted. “T-Thanks, you didn’t have to do that you know?”
“But I wanted to,” Sunset said, dodging a swing from Reflecto only to elbow him in the face. “I don’t want to be the bad guy anymore, I’ve seen where that leads. Nothing but pain and misery. All I want to do now… well, I guess I’ll figure it out as I go along.”
“I’m proud of you Sunset,” Shining said as together, they slashed the monster.
“Can we save it for later?” Sunset said. “Don’t we have something to do?”
“Oh yes, quite!” Sunset said. “How are you doing up there Zen?”
“I think incredibly well,” Zen-Aku replied as he locked blades with Gray. He broke the lock, twisting his sword before charging it up with flame. “But now it’s time to end this charade I think. In the name of Animaria, Blazing Storm Slash!”
With a single stroke, he sent Gray running.
“And now for you,” Sunset said, leveling her blade at her opponent. “You know, normally I’d let the others finish you, but I’m so mad at you right now? Guess I’m not thinking straight. You make people reflect on their mistakes, right? Two can play at that game right?”
She conjured a mirror, just as Reflecto was preparing an energy blast. It backfired on him, quite literally, and sent him flying before shattering. However, like before, his dimensional bug gave him a second chance at life.
“....Can’t they just know when to quit?” Sunset sighed before the Rangers summoned their zords and went right to Megazord mode. Scoring several slashes with the mecha’s massive saber, Sunset took the lead, before the mecha separated and went right into its other form.
The massive jet surged forwards, leaving a trail of fire in its wake as it blazed across the sky. Firing its lasers at Reflecto, he staggered into the sea.
“Now, the finale! Phoenix Flier Final Strike: Blaze Buster!” Sunset called out as the massive jet became consumed by an aura of flame, before slicing through the mirror monster. It stumbled, every inch of it buring, before shattering apart like glass.
Sunset sighed, and collapsed into her seat. Finally, the nightmare was over.
Sunset walked back to her home, the rain having finally passed and a bright new day shining on her. Yeah, that felt right. She felt as if a great weight had finally been lifted off her shoulders, she wasn’t ‘better’ but she was getting there.
...at least, that’s what she wanted to tell herself. Thinking back, what she’d seen inside that Mirror Dimension? It honestly scared her. Did she really have that much self-loathing that her mind would conjure up a past general to try and kill her? Honestly, she really wasn’t sure if she wanted to find out.
“Not like any therapist will take me…” Sunset said as she retreated into her books. Honestly, everything always felt so much… easier in them, Princesses were rescued and ponies fell in love and monsters were slain without much hassle.
The real world, sadly, wasn’t so easy.
“So now what am I supposed to do…?” Sunset asked before her eyes found themselves drifting to the morpher now resting on a nearby table. “...should I…?”
She sucked in a breath, and strapped it on, before calling Vapor.
“Hey Vapes, you there?”
“S-Sunset?” Vapor asked, sounding surprised. “I… I thought you didn’t want to use this channel for anything non-ranger related!”
“Yes, well, like I said, I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet!” Sunset snorted. “We’re all a little grumpy then, I think right? Plus… I kinda maybe sorta need someone to talk to?”
“Oh, I see,” Vapor said. “Something wrong?”
“A whole lot of somethings really…” Sunset replied, throwing her head back into her chair. “Goddesses above, I’m a wreck!”
“If it helps, I think Reflecto got to all of us. I… yeah, what he made me see, let’s just say I’ll have to really reconsider a few things. I’ve got this friend okay? He’s been… well, let’s just say I need to have a talk with him, tell him that I’ve been lying to him.”
“Failing the Bechdel-Wallace test aren’t we?” Sunset teased. Vapor laughed at the other end of the line.
“What that monster did, getting inside our heads like that? Gave me a bit of a wake up call I suppose,” Vapor replied. “Goddess only knows what Rob and Autumn saw, I’m not going to go pry. But seeing my best friend tell me that I’m lying scum? I… yeah.”
She sniffled.
“Damn that Radiguet, and who’s this Cozy who he and Gray mentioned? His queen? I want to find out!” Vapor hissed out angrily. “She sounds like a pony, which… actually kinda scares me. Just the possibility of someone betraying us like that! Ooooh, it really burns me up! And I don’t even have crazy phoenix style powers like you do!”
Sunset snorted. “Yeah, I want to find out as well. And when I do, you can bet someone’s going to get burned.”
“You go girl!”
“Thanks for this Vapor, you’re absolutely right. I did need a friend, and I’m happy to have one in you. Guess Celestia was right, friendship really is magic. Guess she was right about a lot of things…” Sunset whispered before perking up again. “Also, you’re totally right. Our uniforms are way too tight!”
Vapor could only laugh.