//------------------------------// // After the Fight is Before the Fight // Story: Power Rangers Shadow Force // by Layton13 //------------------------------// A flock of birds suddenly screeched before flying up into the air, just before the tree they had been sitting on fell over. Looking bellow the canopy, a Red Ranger lay on the ground, the remains of a broken in half tree next to her. Rubbing her forehead, she looked up, straight at the silver and pink Ranger who dusted off her hands. “That was sloppy. You need a more balanced stance, or any opponent who knows their way halfway around a throw can send you flying,” she said, looking at the Ranger on the ground. “You could have just told me that. No need to throw me into a tree of all things!” Red grumbled, crossing her arms and pouting. “I thought you were who wanted to train. Wasn't it something along the lines of: 'Now that you are also a Ranger, we can spar for real!' Right?” Cadance asked, a slight chuckle in her voice. Lemon just grumbled even more. “And really, after what happened to you, it would be irresponsible if I didn't train you for the next time you actually face someone who knows how to fight. Now, if you were so kind and stand up. We aren't done yet.” She was just finished speaking when she suddenly ducked down, just barely avoiding two kicks from the Green and Pink Ranger. Gracefully, she avoided both blows, before coming back up behind them and tapping them playfully on the back of their helmets. “Nice try, but just a bit to slow. If you plan on surprising an enemy, try to avoid stomping on the ground like in a race.” “How did...” Sunny muttered, spinning around and just staring at her, perplexed. “I have not the slightest clue,” Sour added, following the other Rangers cue. “And something else. When your opponent surprises you, try not to let them take advantage of that,” she added, before, out of nowhere, punching Sour in the face and immediately thereafter, pulling her leg closer and snapping it out, hitting Sunny with the side of her foot. Both Rangers had not even a second to react and landed unceremoniously on their asses. “Ouch! What the fuck!” Sunny was the first to shout, holding her stomach as she did so. “I'm just teaching you how to fight. That is all. Don't worry, this won't be more than a few bruises. Pain can be a surprisingly good teacher. Trust me, I know that all too well,” she added with a light smirk underneath her helmet. “But once it subsides, you tend to learn how to avoid it.” “Oh yeah!?” It came from behind her, once more. “Then, let's see what this will teach you!” Indigo shouted, pointing at Cadance before dashing forward. She just shook her head and easily blocked the first wide swing from her student, following it up with a precise gut-punch. But this didn't seem to stop the Ranger in the slightest. The next punch was just as easily blocked, and she once again managed to squeeze in a counter-attack. But just like before, it didn't do anything, it was almost as if... “Clever. Using Sour's Metal Coin to avoid any counter attacks from me. Very clever. Was that your idea?” She asked, blocking the next attack that was coming for her by merely sidestepping it. “Nope! Sugar's idea,” she simply returned, continuing her relentless assault on her principal. Cadance nodded in return before saying: “I see. I had expected that to be honest. I must say, a good idea. But,” she once again sidestepped the next kick of Indigo, but instead of just dodging, she instead grabbed for her leg. Wrapping her arm around it and holding it in place, she continued. “What she didn't account for, however, is the fact that I'm by far the better martial artist of us two. You're fast and strong, but you lack the actual skill to truly capitalize on it.” And with that, she grabbed the suit around Indigo's shoulder, pushed her leg upward while pushing the shoulder down. Before Indigo had even any idea what was going on, she had been lifted off her feet and thrown to the ground with a pained grunt. “Wha?” She grunted, looking around confused. “Simple. You left yourself way too open for counter-attacks. Even if you think you can't be hurt, there is always a clever opponent who can take advantage of this error. Always keep your blind spots guarded. Besides that, good strategy,” Cadance stated, jumping backward from the Ranger. “Now, where are you, Sugar? I know you are here.” Almost as if on cue, a small tree flew towards her, the Crystal ranger only barely managing to dodge the projectile. And right in its path was the missing Blue Ranger, in the middle of a swing against her. She couldn't do anything besides pull up, bother her arms, and block. While the attack pushed her back a bit, she wasted no time in pulling her leg closer and kicking out at her student. Sugar noticed the attack barely in time, jumping above her in a somersault before throwing another punch. Sadly, at this point, the element of surprise had passed, and Cadance managed to catch her punch. “Excellent use of your environment, your teammates, and the element of surprise. But you weren't fast enough. You need to stop throwing every punch by thinking about it. You need to be more instinctual. Your body needs to move faster than you can actually realize it.” However, Sugar wasn't done just yet, pulled her arm back, and tried again, only for her leg to also be caught. Even worse, Cadance didn't just stop it; no, she used her own momentum against her, continuing her motion before throwing her to the side. [Sw-Sw-Sword!] It echoed behind her, and when she turned around, Lemon had already jumped into the air and brought her blade down on her. This time, she wasn't fast enough; the Red Ranger clipping her arm a bit, letting a few sparks fly. As she stumbled to the side, Lemon immediately followed up with another swing. [Gl-Gl-Gladius!] [Ae-Ae-Aegis!] The sword and star-shaped shield appeared in her hands, just in time for Lemon's second strike to bounce off the shield. Still, she could feel the power she had put into the attack. But things were not to slow down. The moment she had managed to realize what had happened, the Red Ranger had already swung the weapon back towards her. While she managed to get her shield between herself and Lemon every time, she was already in the next swing before she could ever mount a counter-attack. Each strike seemed to flow into the next, like a wild river. Once more, she had parried a strike, but something felt off this time. She just couldn't put her finger on i- In this short moment of carelessness, her student had kicked forward, knocking her shield to the side, before lunging her blade at her. In an eruption of sparks, the blade pierced her, letting her stagger back. Lemon immediately dashed forward, ready to strike once more, but Cadance was prepared this time. Parrying the weapon with her own, she quickly followed up with a kick to Lemon's stomach, throwing her backward. “Not bad. Your faint was fantastic, but your follow up was too sloppy again. You act. You've got the instincts of a fighter, but you lack the basics to make it truly work. Once you have those, there will be very few opponents that will ever be a problem to you,” she stated. [St-St-Strength!] [Do-Do-Double!] She would have said something more if she hadn't been interrupted by the sounds of Coins activating behind her. Spinning around in an instant, she managed to pull her shield up just in time for it to be hit by Sour's punch. Instead of trying to push against the powered-up attack, she simply jumped backward, letting her student stumble forward. The two Sunny's, however, didn't join in on the confusion and rushed towards her. Both came at her from different sides, ready to take her on at the same time. But they should have known better than this. One came in with a punch to her head, while the other aimed for a kick to her stomach. Instead of a block, Cadance jumped into the air and spun around in a sort of sidewards pirouette, managing to scrape by both attacks, before extending both of her arms. In one fell swoop, the pincer attack had turned against them, and one Sunny was knocked against the ground, while the other one revived a painful uppercut. Both fell to the ground, letting out a pained grunt before the one she had punched in the face disappeared, leaving only Sour standing. Both eyed each other before Cadance took the first step, Sour responding by entering a fighting stance, just like she had taught her. She followed suit, raising her sword, ready to bring it down at any point while pulling up her shield at the same time. Both combatants circled each other, eyeing every move the other one would make. Each step they took just served to tense their muscles, ready to burst at any point. The Green anger was the first to snap. In the blink of an eye, she had dashed forward, pulling up her fist, before bringing it down on Cadance. From above, it looked strange; several trees started to shake, out of seemingly nowhere as the remaining birds in one hundred meter radius shot into the sky with loud screeches. Down bellow, Cadance was giving it her all to push back against the immense strength of her student. And from the looks of it, she was losing. Her feet were pushed through the dirt, leaving small tracks behind, while Sour just kept pushing, her battle cry growing louder and louder. She was almost there! She knew it! Just a little bit more and she could- This thought was quickly cut short, as Cadance, out of the blue, stepped to the side. With her fist scratching past the shield, she crashed into the ground, rolling over it until a small boulder stopped her in her tracks. Not without almost breaking apart from the impact. [Ea-Ea-Earth!] Sour was just in the middle of pushing herself back up, ignoring the multitude of bruises she had taken away from this attempt, as it cried out. In an instant, she looked up and towards her principal. Her sword was glowing a bright orange before she swung it forward. Not even a second later, the ground began to rumble, and a sharp wall of stone and compressed dirt erupted along the path she had swung. Without any sign of slowing down, she took all her strength and pushed herself off the ground, rolling to the side. What she couldn't see, however, was Cadacne swinging he blade once more, this time to the side. As soon as she did that, the moving wall suddenly took a turn to the right, right towards her. And it was gaining on her fast! She could only hear the rumbling coming closer before she came to a stop and dared to look behind her, right into the incoming attack. This time, there was no last-minute evade; no, she just had to take it. The sharp ends of the wall slashed across her suit, before throwing her to the side, where she just remained laying there, her head raising one last time, before falling back down. “Not bad. But you need to learn when to attack and when to defend. A misplaced attack will leave you open for an opponent to capitalize on, while an unnecessary defense will leave you stuck in it, without a way to escape it,” she said, moving the Coin from her sword once more. “Now, Blue! I know you're still out there. What is your plan you came up with?” On cue, something shot from the treetops, straight at her. She was just slightly too slow to avoid the first few hits, hitting her with the accompanying sparks. The following, though, those were quickly bouncing off her shield and erupting around her. It didn't take long till the clearing was filled with dust and smoke. “I see,” she muttered, listening closely to the rustling of the trees, pulling up the shield every time she did hear something. “You're trying to keep the element of surprise. By keeping the battlefield dusty, you can keep snipping at me until you actually hit something.” And just as she finished that sentence, another bolt hit her in the shoulder. “Good plan, but.” [Mi-Mi-Mirror!] “A plan with no end goal will eventually fall apart,” she finished, swinging the shield around, just in time for it to block the incoming barrage of energy bolts. Almost like water, the attack dove into the shield, before shooting back out again. She could hear the falling of a tree, just before the next volley. Each time the shots came in, it just got easier as the dust and smoke settled again. Blue was about to unload once more, as Cadance suddenly jumped forward, directly at her. Sugar's eyes widened behind her helmet, before pulling the trigger as often as she could. The Crystal Ranger, however, simply pulled up her shield once more and absorbed every single bullet as it came towards her. And before the Blue Ranger could even think about dodging, she was bombarded with her own projectiles. With a loud crash, followed by an explosion, she landed on the ground with a pained grunt, quickly followed by the remains of the tree she had been sitting in. “See. Your plan needs an endpoint. A war of attrition can easily go in your opponents' favor if they manage to turn the tables,” Cadance continued, landing next to her before deactivating her suit. “Training's over!” She quickly shouted thereafter. It only took a bit of time till her Rangers dragged themselves to their position. Each one of them looked absolutely spent. Bruises and a few cuts were all over them. “That! Was! Awesome!” Lemon was the first to shout, ignoring all her minor injuries and threw her hands into the air. “I know you were good, but this! This was absolutely incredible! You kicked our ass to next Sunday! And the way you managed to block my attacks! Just unbelievable! Oh! Oh! And how you dodged Sunny's attack was just... Just... Ahhh!” She continued, her energy seemingly endless. “I... Thank you. It's good to know that I don't need to sit on the sidelines anymore. It's time to repay you all for how much help you've been until now,” she returned with a smile. “Still,” she continued, letting out a light sigh before her expression became more serious. “That only means you all need to step up your game. You've seen what the Changelings have in their ranks. If we continue like this, you will be overwhelmed again eventually. Your fighting skills still leave a lot to be desired.” “I mean, we managed until now, and with someone like you on our side now, we can't lose!” Indigo encountered, smiling at her. “Only because we are to sixth now, doesn't mean things will get easier. The Changelings will step up their efforts as well. We can't rest on our loreals. We have to keep pushing but trust me, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you again. I promise that, now that I actually can do something!” Cadance immediately said, staring at Indigo as she did so. “Ye... Yes,” it came back, a bit embarrassed. “Good. Now, let's get back to town. It's getting late, and we wouldn't want your parents to worry more than they did when we returned from Griffonstone,” she added with a light chuckle. “Still amazed, they believed the fact that you defended a friend from some thugs.” And with that, all the Rangers dispersed once more. But what none of them knew was the fact that they were being watched from the shadows. >--------------< A few days ago, in the caverns bellow Change Industries, both Thorax and Pharynx were kneeling before the throne of their mother, who was looking down at them with an uninterpretable expression. “So, the Crystal Ranger has returned?” She finally spoke up, a piercing chill in her voice that let both their hairs stand on edge. “Y... Yes, mother. Their connections managed to find the information before we could. And our spies were too slow to get the information to us, I'm afraid. That allowed them to find the Coin before we managed to. I'm...” Pharynx stammered, clenching his fist together, on the verge of slamming it on the ground as he spoke. “It's disappointing that Stock Holder has failed us so thoroughly. I had expected him to be perfectly suited for his assignment in Griffonestone. But it seems that was a mistake,” Chrysella sighed, leaning back in her black stone throne. “But regardless, he has proven to be at least capable enough to keep his position. Still, if he shows signs of further failure, we have to remove him.” Pharynx's entire body was on edge, every muscle in his body twitching and begging to act. But his last talk with his mother had taught him one thing, patience when she was involved. “Now, to you, Pharynx. You once again failed me. Which is quite a shame,” she sighed once more. He didn't respond, just lowered his head further. “Furthermore, Stock told me that you prevented him from taking the Shadow Coins earlier, am I correct?” She continued, her voice feeling like it dropped ten degrees in warmth as she did so. “My Queen... My assignment was-” He tried to say, only to be interrupted by a wave of her arm, the cloth cutting through his words. “I'm very much aware of what I ordered you to do, my son!” She said, her voice chilling to the core, so much so that he almost could feel his blood freeze in his veins. “I... I tried to focus on gaining... Gaining the remains of the Crystal Hearth. I... I know how powerful the Rangers can be... I... Wasn't convinced he could pull off a victory... So... I retreated to focus on gaining access to it before they could...” He stammered out, droops of sweat running down his forehead while his breaths became shorter. “Which, didn’t pan out, am I right?” She continued, grabbing the staff next to her. “No... It did not... I made a mistake... I thought he wasn't strong enough... But he was... Then I thought we could find the Crystal Hearth before they could... But we couldn't... And in the end... I failed once more...” Pharynx let out another sigh. “Failure after failure. That's all you've brought me until now. Each time, you let victory slip through hands like sand. And time and time again, I end up offering you another chance, hoping you would stop disappointing me, but no. Each time, you fail worse. Failure is an irremovable stain on your soul. It can't be washed away, because it's scratched into stone. Failures are eternal,” Chrysella continued, slamming the staff to the ground and rising from her seat. “Yes...” Pharynx stammered, his expression had morphed into a nervous grimace. “M... Mother... I think he understands that,” Thorax tried to say but was silenced by another slamming of the staff, his head quickly lowering once more. “Until now, I've only been disappointed at you, but soon, this might become anger. I've given you every bit of my Hive to help you, but still fail each and every time. I'd advise you to not make me angry again, my son. Because there are many more that can take your place. Perhaps, you'd be better served as an enforcer more than a general,” she coldly continued. “No! I'll... I'll promise! I'll not let another mistake be etched onto my soul! I will keep searching and deliver what you want from me!” Pharynx shouted out, this time slamming his fists on the floor once more. “Good. I expect nothing less from my sons. You're both dismissed,” she stated, before once more sitting back on her throne. Both bother quickly left the room, and before Thorax could even say anything to his brother, he had already stormed off towards the elevator. The entire way to his office, his blood was boiling underneath his skin, and everyone could almost see it. Each employee that saw him coming ducked out of the way immediately and stared at the clearly angry man. Slamming the door shut behind him and stepping to his expensive desk, it finally boiled over. With a primal scream, he brought his fists down on the wood. With one swing, it gave in, wood splintering off of it and the desk collapsing under his might. “Why!?” He burst out, his eyes burning with hatred. “Why are they still here! They were beaten! We had the Coins! Their mistakes should have caught up to them! But no! No! They are still here! And they are even stronger! Every time it looks like they are beaten, they come back! Stronger and stronger! This shouldn't happen! Why don't their failures stick!?” This continued onward for a while until all his anger hand burned away and turned into pure determination. “I swear! I will bring down the Rangers!” >--------------< Once more, a few days later, the sun had set over Canterlot City, and the streets had fallen mostly silent, or at least in Lemon's suburb. She really should be sleeping right now, but she was still way too energetic to really rest, and after an hour of turning in her bed, she hand jumped out on her small balcony. Sitting down in her comfy chair, she leaned back and looked up at the night sky. It really was a lovely night, even if she only saw a few stars. It really let sink in how much things had changed. From actually realizing their mistakes during the Friendship Games to becoming superheroes and now her principal becoming one as well. It was surreal. And it felt like all of this started so long ago, but yet, not much time had passed. And soon, the Fall Formal was about to happen. Really, she could just lay her, look up at the sky and listen to the sounds of the cicada as they sang their songs. Even if they were extremely loud today... Too loud... Jumping up from her chair, she ducked to the side, just in time for her to avoid the fate of the wooden furniture, as it was crushed to pieces. Looking up, she could see a Changeling, standing on her roof. She could barely make out its features. It had a gray carapace and a broad body. Two wings hung from his back like a cape, and two red buy eyes stared at her. On its hands, it had two long stingers and was currently rubbing them together, creating a horrid sound. All in all, it reminded her of a cicada. “Is nothing sacred to you? Not even sleep?” She shouted up at the monster. It, however, didn't answer and simply continued playing its atrocious song. And this time, she could see the air around it distorting, before rocketing towards her. This time, a flower pot was its victim, shattering with a loud crack. “Apparently not! Fine then! Light up!” [Re-Re-Red!] [Shine Bright! Red!] Cad in her suit, she quickly jumped up on the roof as well, landing with a loud thud. If her parents hadn't heard anything until now, they now defiantly would. And that meant she needed an explanation for all of this. She was pulled out of her thoughts by another sound wave of the monster. Dodging once more, she could see the roof getting damaged out of the corner of her eyes. “Oh, come on! Really?” She shouted back at the bug before dashing forward. The next blast, she dodged by somersaulting over it, ignoring the sounds of roof-tiles shattering and falling down towards the ground with a disgruntled huff. Landing in front of the Cicada Changeling, she quickly tried to kick it. The Changeling, however, had already stepped backward, before immediately jumping back towards her, stingers ready to stab her. At once, she could feel the entire weight of the bug on top of her! It felt like someone had dropped a sack of cement on her. And things just went from bad to worse as she felt her the ground starting to move bellow her. She was rolling down the roof! She desperately tried to claw at the tiles in a last-ditch effort to stay on top. But, in the end, the roof just ran out of ground, and both she and her opponent plummeted to the ground, the heavy thing landing right on top of her. This time, it felt like someone had just dropped a truck on her, as all the air was pushed out of her lungs. Her vision faded for just a second, and as it returned, she looked back at a razor-sharp stinger, pointed directly at her face. Her eyes widened in shock as it pulled the deadly spike back and thrust it forward. Impaling the ground right next to her. Her breathe as running a mile a minute, and for a few seconds, she couldn't process what in Tartarus had just happened. The Changeling looked similarly confused, looking around frantically. Only as a shot rang through the night did she understand what was happening. With her mind back in order, she quickly pushed the monster off her before dashing to the other end of her front-yard, catching her breath. As she did so, she could see Sugar standing across the street, on her own roof, and repeatedly shooting at the Changeling, who had finally figured out what was going on. Raising to its full height, it once more rubbed both stingers together, and within seconds, the spot Sugar had been standing on exploded in derby. The Ranger, however, was unharmed as she somersaulted over the shock-wave, landing in her own front-yard, before quickly resuming fire, all while rushing down the street. The Changeling glared at her before rushing after her, right into the middle of the street. With a growl, it started to play once more, faster, louder, and ultimately, more intense. This also translated into the shock-wave, as it encapsulated the whole street this time. Cars started to sound their alarms first, followed by their glass breaking, before being pushed to the side, until, finally the asphalt shattered and cracked beneath them. Sugar ducked behind one of the cars before it was thrown aside. Still, that didn't really guard her against the attack, as the glass fell on her and the car tried crushing her between it and another one. She barely managed to roll out of the way but got hit by the attack full on. Sparks erupted all across her body as she was thrown backward, tumbling over what remained of the street. Lemon just stared at her friend, admits all that rubble. Her hand clenched into a fist, she dashed forward with a loud scream, pulling out her sword. [Sw-Sw-Sword!] The Changeling spun around, just in time to block the incoming slash with her stinger. Tilting its head, it pushed her back with relative ease, before trying to stab her with the other one. Lemon jumped to the side, trying to shove her sword forward once more, only for it to be parried again. And this time, the counter-attack of the monster hit, slashing across her chest with a bright splash of sparks. Stumbling backward, she clutched her chest before pushing forward again. Her chest was burning, but she didn't slow down one bit, just screamed louder. And to her surprise, she actually hit it, this time, the blade slamming into its shoulder. Her enthusiasm was short-lived; however, as she looked down, she could see the Changeling rubbing the two stingers together again. Before she could do anything, the shock-wave hit her square on. She could feel it reverberating through her entire body, moments before the suit started to spark all over. Within moments, she was pulled off her feet and thrown through the air, before landing on top of a car, leaving a sizable dent inside it. Her ears were ringing, and her entire body shivering all over, all while her vision had just become blurry. She could only make out rough shapes, and in no time at all, something massive build itself up above her. She didn't need to think much about what it was; she already knew. She was just about able to make out as it pulled back its arm once more, ready to stab her again. She desperately tried to get her body to move, but besides a few twitches, she didn't accomplish much. Moments before it lunged forward, she slammed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable. But the only thing she could make out was a loud screech, followed by a strange sound coming ever closer. Her ears were starting to recover, slowly piecing together that it was the sound of a bike. Pulling all her strength together, she pushed herself back into a sitting position and looked over her shoulder. A strange, pale-pink bike was approaching. Its handle was shaped like a unicorn head, the horn strangely sparking with light, while the back of the bike had two massive wings standing out of it. And on top of it all, was Cadance in her Ranger suit. She quickly jumped over and through the remains of the road, like it was nothing. Then it hit her like a truck! Spinning around, she frantically looked for the Changeling and sighed a bit of relive as she saw it, laying on the ground, clawing at the vehicle to stand back up. But before it could get any headway on that, Cadance had already reached them, her sword in hand and slashed across its chest as she raced by, before hitting the breaks hard. With a low growl, the Changeling pulled itself back up once more, before dashing forward, swinging its stingers directly at her. With perfectly timed strikes, she blocked the first one, before kicking the monster in the chest, forcing it back. It, however, quickly continued its assault, but this little moment had been enough for her. [Ae-Ae-Aegis!] The shield materialized in her hand, just in time to block the incoming strike. She could feel the scratch across the metal as she pressed against it. The second strike quickly followed, but she pushed back beforehand, getting enough leeway into a counter-attack. Her blade scratched across its belly once more, the sparks illuminating her face as she did so. With its pained screech, the Changeling pushed past all the pain it was clearly feeling, jumping forward to dig its stingers into her. In the blink of an eye, she pulled the shield up, letting the two deadly weapons scratch across it and miss her by just a few centimeters. That, however, didn't mean she was in the clear just yet. The Changeling did not intend to slow down, and within moments after she had avoided the first attack, the entire weight of the monster came crashing down on her. It was as if someone just threw her an eighty-kilo dumbbell. Her legs just couldn't support her any longer, and the whole body fell onto her, knocking the Gladius Coin out of its place inside her Morpher. While she struggled to breathe properly, the Changeling had no such problems and, with a smug screech, pulled its fist back, before stabbing at her. The needle came down right next to her face, going through the concrete like butter and leaving no cracks behind. And with equal speed, it was pulled back once more. The only thing she could do was awkwardly try and dodge with her head. Something that only became more nerve wreaking every time she tried it, with the stinger coming closer and closer. The street beside her head had been turned into a pincushion, and the Changeling was pulling back for another go at it. If his last attempts were any indicator, this time, he'd defiantly hit her. With one desperate last attempt, she tried to push the monster of her with her shield, but it didn't look as if it would be working any time soon. Time slowed down as it came racing down towards her, directly towards her eye, but then, his hand suddenly jerked to the side, scratching across the wing on her helmet, and she managed to push him slightly off him. In the corner of her eyes, she could see something red crashing against it, before being tossed to the side. Her body moved on its own, quickly going for the Coinbox at her side and pulling out one, before slamming it into the Morpher before the weight of the Changeling came down on her once more. [Li-Li-Light!] It screeched back at her once the announcement had rung, and the monster tried to stab her again. But this time, she had a way to defend herself. Her arm shot up, grabbing hold of its head, and suddenly started to glow brightly. The screams could be heard through the entire neighborhood before the weight suddenly lifted. In an instant, she had darted away from it, coming to a halt about ten meters away from the thing. It was clutching its eyes and stumbling around, bumping into cars or lampposts, that had miraculously survived its previous attacks. “You're done for!” She finally shouted, her hand over her Coin box once more. In an instant, the Cicada-Changeling spun around, stared roughly in her direction, and quickly began to wildly rub its two stingers together one last time. Cadance eyes widened in an instant, and quickly moved her hand slightly left and picked up another and immediately slammed it into her shield, just before the wave hit her dead on. [Mi-Mi-Mirror!] And it turned out, she was not one second too late, as the shock-wave crashed into her, and with it the shield. Even though it absorbed the brunt force of the damage, she still felt the enormous power that was pushing against her. Her boots were scratching across the concrete, digging new trails into it, the further she was pushed back, until... Like an explosion, the stored up kinetic energy in the shield shot back outward. Ripping through the concrete like nothing before it, bits of the street landing everywhere and revealing the gravel underneath, it slammed into the stunned Changeling. The monster was ripped off the ground and landed easily fifty meters away, leaving small craters wherever it landed, before coming to a stop and collapsing. But Cadance wasn't done with it just yet, pulling out the Coin she had eyed earlier already and put it into the shield. [Fi-Fi-Final! Crystal Heart!] The shield started to glow brightly, illuminating the surrounding area as if it was in the middle of the day. Taking aim one last time, she chucked it straight towards the slowly standing back up Changeling. Like a bright Frisbee of destruction, it soared through the air and went straight through the Changeling, like it was butter. It stumbled heavily, ready to collapse, but before it could, the bright light returned, this time slicing through it vertically, before racing straight at Cadance. Holding out her hand, she caught the handle, it almost knocking her off her own feet as it came to a stop. She remained in this pose for a few seconds before letting out a refiled sigh, quickly followed by a loud explosion as the damage on the Changeling finally took its toll on it. But, as expected, it didn't take long for the giant version to appear. “Oh, no! We're still only to third here! We can't form the Megazord!” Lemon shouted out, having dragged herself next to Cadance with Sugar quickly following. “I'll take care of this,” the Crystal ranger simply returned before pulling out her Zord Coin. [Al-Al-Alicorn!] Once again, the mechanical alicorn galloped down from the skies and pulled the Changeling into its pocket dimension, the sky over Canterlot City suddenly illuminated as it was day. Her opponent wasted no time in quickly rubbing its stingers together once more, forcing her to dodge to the side. Everything she had just been flying over, ripped apart by the shock-wave. Pieces of buildings and ground were flying everywhere, making actually flying quite tricky. Inside the cockpit, Cadance could feel the mech shifting with every bit of derby that came down on her. Still, she kept pushing onward, flying past everything that came her way. That was until the Changeling started to turn. Almost like the light of a lighthouse, a cone of shock-waves started moving closer to her. She had to adjust her direction while also trying to avoid being crushed by the incoming derby. But, no matter how hard she flew to the side, the occasional bit of derby forced her back once more, each time, the wave catching up with her more and more, until eventually... It shook through the entire cockpit as the wave clipped her wing, before swallowing her whole. Sparks were flying everywhere before she crashed down towards the ground with a loud crash. Letting off on its assault for just a moment, the Changeling raised its fist into the air before stepping closer towards her, ready to tear the Ranger out of the robot-like tuna out of a tin-can. Meanwhile, Cadance was breathing heavily, her entire cockpit sparking, lights flickering, and warning lights going off everywhere. She knew, even if she could get this thing back into the air, this would only repeat itself once more. She had to try something different. If only she could... Maybe she actually could. The Changeling, in the meantime, had walked up to her, ready to push its stinger into the metal of the alicorn and start tearing it to bits. Raising its fist, it was ready to jam downward, when all of a sudden, the horn began to shoot out beams of rainbow-colored light, knocking the monster backward, before the metal started to move. At first, it stood back up, before the front half of the horse suddenly started to twist one-hundred-and-eighty-degrees around, all while the horse seemed to stand upright. The front hoofs pulled back a bit, to reveal a set of metallic hands, while the legs turned into feet. Both arms crossed in front of the face, pulling down the horse head as they did so, turning it into a kind of rapier. Finally, a human head was revealed underneath the horse head, with two wings on each side of it, all while the wings on its back spread out. “Morning Star Megazord!” It echoed across the battlefield, as the Zord made its first step forward. Meanwhile, the Changeling had regained its footing and started to rub its stingers together once more. In the blink of an eye, the gigantic Zord swung its wings and dashed to the side, before flying forward. The horn slashed past the Changeling, leaving sparks to rain down on the ruins of the city below before the Megazord delivered a punch right into its turning head. Staggering backward, Cadance wasted no time and pushed relentlessly forward, swinging her weapon at the stingers of the monster. With one clean cut, it slashed through one of them, letting it drop down to the ground. More screeches from the monster followed before it managed to catch itself. With an intense hatred in its eyes, it tried to rub its stingers together again, but to its shock, it just caught air. It seemed to slowly dawn on it what had happened, just in time before Cadance dashed forward and shoved the horn into its chest. Its screams carried over the entire city, only growing in intensity as the weapon started to glow, before, eventually, a beam of bright light shot right through it. Jumping backward, Cadance cleared the area in time for the beast to explode in a bright explosion, the dimension fading away again, shortly thereafter. As she came back down, police and MRG cars were blocking off the streets, families were gathered outside their lawns, in both shock and surprise. One of which was Lemon with her parents. She had apparently turned back into her civilian form while she had been busy fighting and was now trying to convince her parents she was ok. “Like I said, I'm ok,” she sighed, trying her best not to get crushed by her parent’s hug. “Oh, Lemy! We were so afraid when we couldn't find you. Where were you?” Her mom asked, pulling her even tighter in. “Ugh... Mom,” she sighed, trying to squirm out of her grasp, with not much success, one might add. “I just... Kinda fell off the roof when the Rangers started fighting up there. A stray shock-wave hit me, and I landed in one of our bushes. Besides a few bruises, I'm fine,” she continued. “Oh, thank goodness!” It came back before this more or less continued for a while. Cadance couldn't other than chuckle a bit. Her smirk, however, quickly died down once she saw Shining Armor, talking to a few MRG agents. Without saying another word, she promptly jumped on top of a nearby roof and dashed off into the night. Shining, meanwhile, looked after her, as he got a call on his earpiece. “Excuse me,” he sighed, before walking off somewhere a bit quieter and pulled out a very bulky flip-phone with a touch monitor. “Hey, Light Bulb. I assume you're done?” He asked, a nervous expression on his face. “Yeah, I'm done! I compiled every bit of magical activity that matches the Rangers into a map for you. A few random chunks here and there, but we got a few clusters and those-” It came back from the other side of the voice, the usually energetic voice, quite somber. “I see, just as expected,” he sighed, looking back at a map of the city on his phone. “Crystal Prep and the neighborhood. Both places with increased activity from the Rangers. What about...” He muttered, before taking another deep breath. “What about the security cameras from the Griffonstone Institue for Archeology? You got those?” “Yes... I'll send them to you now...” Light Bulb said quietly. A quiet beep came from his phone, but he honestly didn't want to look down. But he knew there wasn't much of a choice left for him. With a silent sigh, he lowered his eyes and looked at the images. He immediately recognized the faces. The Shadow Bolts and Cadance, right in the middle of the GIA the day of the Changeling attack. He knew! He knew it the moment he had ran into Lemon on Cadance doorstep that day, at least, deep down, he did. “So it is them...” He finally said as he looked down once more at the image, a disappointed look in his eyes. “Probably,” it came back before she continued: “You wanna talk Shining?” “Yes... Yes, I do wanna talk, but not with you. I have a date tomorrow, and I expect to get answers from this,” he finished off with a cold undertone, before closing the phone once more and returning to his work. The night had only just begun after all.