Midnight and Demon Shimmer weren’t sure where exactly Tantabus had brought them – it looked like a ruined castle under a pitch-black night sky with a dark fog swirling around them. “Yes… this will do nicely.” Tantabus smiled.
“What exactly is ‘this’?” Midnight asked in annoyance. “Where are we?”
“The Lucid Lands; a dimension of nightmares between the realm of dream and the waking world,” Tantabus explained. “I modeled this little corner after the Castle of the Two Sisters in Equestria; the exact reason why Nightmare Moon created me – to torment her with nightmares of her actions. But I grew tired of only giving her nightmares, so I wished to spread my influence.”
“You failed in Equestria.” Demon Shimmer snarled.
“Indeed. But I will not fail in this new world. In this world, I will reign supreme. Just as soon as those Power Rangers are dealt with.” Tantabus scowled.
“We’ve both faced them before; they don’t go down easily.” Demon Shimmer assured.
“Just the same as when I faced their counterparts.” Tantabus nodded. “Which is why we must remain in the Lucid Lands until we have gained our full power. In the meantime, I can use my influence to create monsters from people’s worst nightmares and send them to the waking world.”
“Monsters won’t be enough.” Midnight pointed out. “They’ll need reinforcements.”
“I have that covered as well,” Tantabus assured as she waved her blade and weaved magic in the air. “Now my children, come forth with your malice and hearts of darkness; bring forth your mistress’s will and show this world why you are known as… Knightmares!” A bolt of black magic shot from her weapon and made the fog condense into legions of feminine-appearing forms in jet-black armor with pony ears in the helmets, long black ponytails similar to the Rainbooms’ snaking out the backs, and short straight swords with vicious curved handguards covered in spikes.
“Whoa… yeah, those oughtta do the job.” Midnight smiled cruelly.
“I think so.” Tantabus smiled as she conjured a throne in the back of the chamber upon which she sat. Then she pointed her blade at one of the Knightmares. “You. Come forward.” At that order, the Knightmare stepped forward obediently and knelt before its mistress. Tantabus then tapped her blade on its shoulders like she was knighting it and touched the tip of her blade to its chest, containing it in a cocoon of dark crystal. “There. Now my Knightmare will enter the realm of dreams and take on the appearance and powers of someone’s worst nightmare. And once it emerges, it will be a true Dream Demon and it will be sent out upon the waking world to wreak havoc.”
“Unless those ‘Power Rangers’ stop it.” Demon Shimmer pointed out.
“While we’re on the subject, how do you know that’s what they are?” Midnight asked. “And for that matter, how did you escape Equestria?”
“All in good time,” Tantabus assured as she watched the Knightmare within the cocoon stir, dark magic seeping into its body.
The drive out to Camp Everfree felt longer than the girls remembered – probably because they felt a serious need to deal with Tantabus fast, but still – but they still made it to the old gate fairly quickly. Timber was out chopping wood when they arrived and appeared surprised as the Rainbooms climbed down from the bus. “Huh. Little soon for our next date, don’t you think, Twilight?” he smirked. “And I don’t think you need the entourage.”
“Sorry, Timber. This isn’t a social call.” Twilight assured. “We’re here for more of those crystals from the caves.”
“Already? What happened to the last ones?” Timber asked, somewhat surprised.
“You wouldn’t believe us if we told you.” Rainbow shrugged.
Timber smirked. “Hey, last time you girls were here, you turned into crystal-covered superheroes to save Gloriosa from herself. I think I can believe whatever else might be happening.”
“Well… this is certainly similar to that.” Rarity shrugged.
“The point is we really do need more of those crystals.” Sunset insisted.
“Well, as long as you’re in the caves, maybe you could help us unravel another little mystery,” Gloriosa noted as she walked over from the main lodge.
“Depends on the mystery.” Rainbow shrugged.
“It’s more of a ‘show, don’t tell’.” Gloriosa shrugged. “Come on.” The Rainbooms were confused but started following their friends toward the caves either way.
As they walked, Sunset felt her journal buzz and quickly checked it, finding a message that left her alarmed and confused. “What?” she asked quietly.
“What is it?” asked Twilight.
“Princess Twilight just got back to me,” she answered. “But she just asked, ‘How do you know about the Tantabus and the Power Rangers?’ In all caps.”
“You gonna answer her?” asked Rainbow.
“I think that’s the only way we’re going to get an answer.” Sunset shrugged so she quickly scribbled a quick description of what happened at the school to the princess.
When they arrived at the cave, the Rainbooms couldn’t help but look around in awe. “My word, I can hardly believe I forgot how magnificent this cave was.” Rarity smiled.
“Well, there’s been some… new additions.” Gloriosa shrugged.
“What sort of new additio- ohhh whoa…” Rainbow’s awe was shared with the others when they saw the large crystalline tree in the back of the cave, somehow in the same place as the first crystal formation Gloriosa had found the Geodes before.
“Princess Twilight told me about this once…” Sunset said almost breathlessly. “It’s the Tree of Harmony; the source of the Elements of Harmony in Equestria. But… what’s it doing in this world?”
“It just… showed up here out of nowhere a few hours ago.” Gloriosa shrugged.
Twilight, Spike, and Sunset glanced at each other in surprise. “That’s right when the girls first transformed,” Twilight remarked. “There’s no way that’s a coincidence.”
“But why is it here in the first place?” asked Spike.
Then the girls noticed their bracers were blinking in the same colors as their Ranger suits, lightly tugging them toward the tree. “Ah think we’re ‘bout to find out,” Applejack noted, prompting her and the others to hold their bracers up to the Tree. The Tree’s branches glittered and whined with energy as brightly colored bolts of magic shot to the bracers, a sound like freezing ice emanating from them. The bolts quickly stopped and as Twilight quickly zipped over and opened Rainbow’s bracer, she saw the crystalline wiring was fully intact once again, as well as a small portion of the paneling on the opposite end of the device locked on some sort of spring-loaded hinge and a diamond-colored trigger-like switch above the strap, and two small red buttons right next to the disk. She looked and saw the other girls’ bracers had these same extra attributes, making her curious about what it meant.
Then more magic flowed from the roots of the Tree to a few crystals in the wall nearby, just as Sunset’s journal buzzed again. Quickly he checked it and was surprised. “Whoa. Okay, I think we just got our answers,” she noted.
“What does she say?” Twilight asked as the other Rainbooms watched the crystals in the wall.
“Apparently, Tantabus was created by Princess Luna as a way to punish herself for her actions as Nightmare Moon by subjecting her to the same nightmare over and over again to make sure she never forgave herself for what she did to Equestria,” Sunset explained as she read the princess’s notes.
“Yeesh, that sounds masochistic.” Timber pointed out.
“No kidding.” Sunset shrugged before she continued reading. “The strange thing is Princess Twilight was certain she and her friends had defeated Tantabus before it could escape from the dream world back in Equestria.”
“So how did she get to our world? Never mind our real world?” asked Twilight.
“I don’t know; neither does Princess Twilight.” Sunset shrugged. “What she does know is that if she isn’t stopped, then Princess Celestia and Luna have advised her to…” Her face paled as she read this part. “…to close the portal to Equestria. Permanently.”
That drew the attention of the entire chamber. “You mean that… if we fail to defeat Tantabus…?” Rarity asked in shock.
“Then we’ll never be able to go to Equestria again.” Sunset nodded in response; her face still pale as she fully comprehended the implications. “I’ll never get to go home.”
Everyone was shocked by this turn of events; they knew Sunset had already been grappling with the question of whether or not to go back to Equestria after they graduated from CHS, but now the option seemed to have been taken out of her hands. Rainbow narrowed her eyes as she walked over to Sunset and set her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “We’ll make sure it doesn’t come to that,” she assured, her words reinforced as the crystals in the wall formed into small round crystalline keys with a stylized lightning bolt symbol emblazoned in gold in the centers.
[Imagine color and Ranger lightning bolt at your leisure]
“And it appears we’ll have the power to do just that.” Rarity noted as she picked up her blue key from the wall.
Twilight’s eyes popped. “That reminds me; what did Princess Twilight say about the Power Rangers?” she asked.
Sunset looked back at the book, trying to ignore the part about how she might lose her path home as she read on. “Uh… ah, here it is; ‘It took me some intense research – as well as vigorous questioning of Princess Celestia and Starswirl the Bearded – but I have determined that the magic within the Elements of Harmony is indeed linked to another source of power beyond just the Magic of Friendship. They are linked to some manner of interdimensional energy field known as the Morphin Grid; the power source of a legacy of heroes across hundreds of dimensions known as the Power Rangers, each dedicated to the defense of their own worlds’.”
“So we’re all following in the footsteps of an army of heroes in parallel universes?” Rainbow asked in surprise but still smirked as she grabbed her red key. “This deal just gets more and more awesome every minute.”
“Looks like it’s going to get more awesome for you in a minute,” Sunset remarked as she continued reading. “‘From your description, however, it sounds like this Morphin Grid has different ideas as to who should fill which Ranger role in your world. It appears that Rainbow Dash’s loyalty to her cause and installation of your drive to win has named her the Red Ranger; leader of the team’.”
“I’m the leader?!” Rainbow asked happily. “Ho-ho, this is great!”
“Oh dear, this shan’t end well; I just know it.” Rarity remarked as the other girls grabbed their crystal keys.
Sunset just kept reading. “‘Rarity’s generous spirit and graceful nature deem her as the Blue Ranger. Applejack’s honest mind and strong heart make her the Green Ranger. Fluttershy’s kind heart and disciplined acts have named her the Yellow Ranger. And Pinkie Pie’s gift of always bringing people laughter as well as her… general bottomless pools of energy and so forth… have named her the Pink Ranger’.” She stood up and looked at her friends as she read the last sentence. “‘Starswirl has agreed that from here on, they will be known as the Power Rangers Crystal Harmony; defenders of both our worlds’.”
“Crystal Harmony…” Applejack smirked as she looked at her green key. “Ah like the sound o’ that.”
“You guys gonna be okay with taking orders from me?” asked Rainbow.
“Well, it’s worked out well enough with the band, I suppose.” Rarity shrugged.
“We’re all in, Dashie. Let’s be heroes!” Pinkie announced.
Fluttershy looked nervous, but still smiled and nodded. “I want to help.”
“Then I guess we’re agreed.” Twilight shrugged, turning to Timber and Gloriosa. “I hate to impose, but… do you think you guys would be able to support us from here? Make this cave our sort-of… command center?”
Timber smirked as he looked around. “I think I’ve got some ideas.” Then the Tree of Harmony resonated and shifted several sheer white crystals out of the surrounding walls, almost like screens.
“Looks like the Tree has ideas of its own,” Gloriosa noted as static appeared on a few of the screens… before the static quickly gave way to what looked like CCTV footage of a monstrous mix between a minotaur and a wild boar with a large club in its hand attacking people near Sugarcube Corner with a legion of Knightmares.
“And it looks like we just got our first Ranger mission,” Rainbow noted.
“That’s back in Midtown; we’ll never make it in time.” Rarity pointed out.
Then their bracers beeped a simple six-note tune as the upper buttons flashed red, an image in black appearing with what looked like a sparkling flash. “What’s this?” asked Fluttershy.
“It looks like a teleportation spell,” Sunset noted.
“We have teleporters? Awesome!” Rainbow smiled. “How does the spell work?”
“Just think of where you want to go and press the button, I guess.” Sunset shrugged.
“All right, let’s do this,” Rainbow smirked as the girls all did as they were instructed, pressing the buttons and disappearing in blasts of colored magic.
“Think they can handle this?” asked Timber.
“We’re about to find out.” Sunset shrugged.
Sugarcube Corner had been in the midst of renovations for a few weeks now, but this attack by the monster and Knightmares certainly put a damper on the Cakes’ plans to open soon as the monsters were destroying their surroundings and sending the people running. “That’s right! Run, you foolish humans! Run!” the monster roared. “This city belongs to Tantabus now, by decree of me; Boarbatusk!”
“Guess again, piggy!” Rainbow yelled as she and the other girls charged from nearby.
“Ah, the children my mistress warned me of,” Boarbatusk smirked through his snarl. “Do you really think you can stop me?”
“We know we can. Let’s do it!” Rainbow roared as the team charged, all fighting their way through the Knightmares; Rainbow delivered powerful and fast blows left and right, Rarity weaved fluidly between the blades and swung swift chops at their weak points, Applejack bashed them all aside with powerful strikes, Fluttershy simply dodged and lightly shoved them aside, and Pinkie… well, she bounced off their heads and knocked them all into each other, but it was an uphill battle; for every two Knightmares they defeated, six more took their place.
“Well, this is certainly going poorly.” Rarity pointed out.
“Now would probably be a good time to figure out how these things work.” Applejack pointed out as she held up her bracer… which quickly beeped as Sunset’s voice came in over some sort of com-line, the other red button beeping with the image of a microphone.
“I think we figured that out.” she notified. “Open your Harmonizers and lock in the keys. Then spin the disks and call out ‘Harmonize’ and you’ll morph.”
“I suppose it’s worth a try.” Rarity shrugged as the girls all lined up opposite Boarbatusk in the middle of the street.
“Then let’s do it.” Rainbow smiled as she and the others raised their bracers – apparently called Harmonizers – up to their chests and pressed the trigger buttons which flipped the small hatches at the ends open, revealing small slots for the keys. “It’s Morphin’ Time!”
In sync, the girls held their forearms up with the disks pointing upward and locked their keys into the slots, before thrusting their fists diagonally down their bodies, slamming the locks closed as they went and making the disks flash in the keys’ colors. “Power Rangers!” they all announced as they put their palms against the disks before pulling them back across their bodies fast, spinning the disks as they went. “Harmonize!”
A red light pulsed out of Rainbow's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-red glow, leaving her head exposed. Appearing behind her was a thunderstorm and lightning struck each of her limbs as she punched and kicked, creating her uniform. A final bolt struck her head at the same time a loud neigh was heard, causing her helmet to appear. Streaks of electricity jolted between her fingers as she posed as if she had just finished a guitar solo.
A green light pulsed from Applejack's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-green glow, leaving her head exposed. Appearing behind was a desert canyon and rocks and pebbles landed on her limbs as she stomped and punched, creating her uniform with each strike. A boulder landed on her head and a loud neigh was heard. With a final stomp, she posed in a boxing stance.
A blue light pulsed from Rarity's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-blue glow, leaving her head exposed. Appearing behind her was an expansive ocean and streams of water struck her limbs as she danced over the surface, creating her uniform. A wave of water crashed into her head as a loud neigh was heard, causing her helmet to appear. A ripple pulsed from beneath her as she posed like a dancer awaiting applause.
A yellow light pulsed from Fluttershy's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-yellow glow, leaving her head exposed. Appearing behind her was a field of flowers and petals landed on each of her limbs as she spun around, each petal forming her uniform. A final burst of petals encircled her head as a loud neigh was heard, causing her helmet to appear. Flower petals flew about her as she posed like a ballerina.
A pink light pulsed from Pinkie's Harmonizer as her body was covered in a white-pink glow, leaving her head and over-the-top smile exposed. Appearing behind her were the tops of clouds in which she cartwheeled and bounced around, causing tufts to fly off her and create her uniform. She stuck her head in a cloud and pulled it out as a loud neigh was heard, causing her helmet to appear. She then posed with her hands stretched out as if saying 'Don’t talk to me' to two people.
As they stood morphed and ready, Boarbatusk appeared surprised. “What is this?!”
Rainbow smirked and took that as an opportunity to answer, so she slapped her symbol and thrust her hand out. “Element of Loyalty!” she announced and posed. “Power Ranger Red!”
The others were dubious about this but started to mirror her actions. “Element of Honesty!” Applejack announced and posed. “Power Ranger Green!”
“Element of Generosity!” Rarity announced and posed. “Power Ranger Blue!”
“Element of Kindness!” Fluttershy announced and posed. “Power Ranger Yellow!”
“Element of Laughter!” Pinkie announced and posed. “Power Ranger Pink!”
“Friendship’s Might, Ready to Fight!” the Rangers all announced and posed at once with Rainbow in the center, Rarity and Applejack flanking her, and Pinkie and Fluttershy at the outer edges. “Power Rangers Crystal Harmony!” As their roll call finished, a large explosion resounded from behind them but didn’t seem to do any damage.
“Whoa. Where’d that come from?” Timber asked in confusion as the others watched from the cave.
“Who cares? This is gonna be awesome!” Spike smiled as the group kept watching.
(Cut it)
Boarbatusk appeared at least marginally alarmed by this but snarled all the same. “You think you scare me? Think again! Knightmares, attack!” he bellowed and sent the Knightmares charging at the girls.
Applejack quickly grabbed her blaster from her belt before they got too close. “Harmonic Defender!” she called and started firing from the hip, blasting down several Knightmares without even trying. “YEEHAW! This is pretty dang fun!”
“Let’s get in on it!” Rainbow smirked as she drew her own Defender. The others did so as well and charged, Rainbow and Rarity quickly flipping their weapons into their sword forms to slash through the Knightmares. Rainbow held hers in a backhanded grip for added maneuverability while Rarity wielded her blade like a fencer. Pinkie and Fluttershy followed Applejack’s lead as they blasted the Knightmares away. It was clear Applejack and Pinkie were having the time of their lives, but when Fluttershy suddenly found herself surrounded, she did the only thing she could think of and ducked, letting the Knightmares slash each other and allowing her the opening to blast them each in the face.
“You Rangers aren’t sending me back to sleep!” Boarbatusk roared. “I’ll pound you to dust!”
“Feel free to try!” Rainbow smirked as she charged and started dueling with the monster, her blade clashing with his large club before being bashed away with a small burst of sparks from her chest.
“Dashie!” Pinkie yelled and raced to her friend’s side as she stood up.
“Guh. Okay, this is getting hard.” Rainbow remarked. She wasn’t wrong; the other Rangers were losing ground to the Knightmares as well.
The team in the cave could see that and were getting worried. “Oh man, they’re outmatched. They need better weapons.” Sunset cringed. No sooner had she said that than the Tree of Harmony started glittering again and sent some smaller crystals away.
The Rangers were all pinned against a wall when they saw their belt buckles glowing in their colors before a small lever similar to those on four-barrel money changers appeared next to the buckles. “Whoa, what’s this?” Rainbow asked.
“Hopefully somethin’ with more kick than what we got.” Applejack pointed out as she tried to blast more of the Knightmares away.
“Certainly worth a try.” Rarity shrugged as she pushed her lever, launching a new blue crystal from her belt with a faint outline in the center that looked like a crossed sword-and-rifle. “Huh. Well, we’d best hope these work out well.”
“Worth a try.” Rainbow shrugged as she and the other Rangers pushed their buckles’ levers and were rewarded with similar crystals. Quickly they popped their Harmonizers open and loaded in these new crystals before spinning the disks.
And their rewards were a great and welcome surprise; new and clearly more powerful weapons materializing in the air in front of them - Rainbow got a large red sword with a blade shaped like a lightning bolt, Rarity got a bright blue axe with a blade that looked like a flawless blue diamond with what looked like a barrel and trigger in the handle, Applejack got a large green sledgehammer with heads that looked like bright green apples, Fluttershy got yellow tonfa with blades shaped like butterfly wings with blaster-barrels almost shaped like antennae, and Pinkie got a pair of nunchucks with handles that looked like balloons.
“Ho-ho yeah, these babies oughtta do the trick!” Rainbow smirked as she grabbed her new sword. “Bolt Saber!” It was heavy in her hands but that just meant she could strike with more power as she swiped the Knightmares away as she charged Boarbatusk again.
“I can’t but agree. Diamond Axe!” Rarity announced as she swung her axe, cleaving through the Knightmares with ease.
“Yeehaw, this is takin’ things to the next level! Apple Smasher!” Applejack whooped as she smashed more and more Knightmares into the dirt without even trying.
“I’m really sorry about this, but it has to be done! Butterfly Battle-Wings!” Fluttershy called as she waved her arms, slashing the Knightmares with her new wings like a trained expert.
“Whee! I didn’t think this could be any more fun! Balloon Basher!” Pinkie cheered as she swung her nunchucks, the chain extending around some of the Knightmares like a whip to allow her a longer reach.
Rainbow couldn’t help but laugh to herself as she swung hard at Boarbatusk with her new Bolt Saber, deflecting his club far easier now as she slashed at him. “Sorry piggy, but you’re about to get thunderstruck!” she smirked and slashed hard at the villain, slashing his club clean in half and forcing him to drop it as he was knocked back into a wall.
“Looks like we need a little more power to take this over the edge!” Applejack smirked.
“I believe I have an idea about that.” Rarity smiled. “If we’re stronger together, then so too are our weapons. If we unite them, we can easily win this!”
“Good call, Rarity. Let’s do it!” Rainbow smiled.
“Weapons, Combine!” the Rangers announced. The handle of Rarity’s axe quickly slid into the handle of Rainbow’s sword as Applejack’s hammer locked in on top of the axe, one of the hammerheads forming what looked like a weapon stock. Then Fluttershy’s tonfa-blades linked into the tip of Rainbow’s sword with their barrels ready to fire and Pinkie’s nunchucks locked into the sides of the upper hammerhead, their heads aiming forward as they opened to reveal large blast emitters as Rainbow grabbed the trigger and the others quickly steadied the weapon by grabbing its sides. “Harmonic Crystal Cannon!”
“Don’t think you can stop me with that!” Boarbatusk roared as he got up, ready to fight.
“Power Crystals locked!” the Rangers called as Rainbow opened the upper head of the hammer in the stock, letting the Rangers all lock their weapon keys into it before it closed and Rainbow spun the disk between the hammer's heads, powering up the cannon. “Harmonic Final Strike!” the Rangers bellowed as Rainbow pulled the trigger, blasting the villain with a large rainbow-colored shot of energy out at the monster, making him roar in pain.
“Graaagh! Looks like bacon’s on the menu!” he roared in pain as the Rangers all turned and posed before he exploded.
“Perfect Harmony: Crystal Clear Skies ahead!” Rainbow smirked.
Back at the caves after the fight, the Rangers were celebrating their first real victory with their friends. “That was awesome! Where did those explosions even come from?!” Rainbow asked.
“At a guess, I’d say it’s the Morphin Grid showing a little muscle, but who knows?” Sunset shrugged. “And that one-liner at the end? Smooth as silk.”
“You guys did well for your first battle.” Twilight smiled as she looked at the tree. “Your weapons alone were more than enough to impress us all, and I feel like we’re only scratching the surface of what the Tree of Harmony is capable of.”
“We’ll keep an eye on it and see if we can find out what else it can do.” Gloriosa smiled.
“Maybe we can also see about getting some new Crystals set for you for the next fight before it comes.” Timber smirked.
“Thanks, guys. Seriously.” Rainbow smiled, trying her hardest not to scratch her arms.
Applejack noticed this tension and raised an eyebrow. “You okay there, sugarcube?”
“Oh yeah, I’m fine.” Rainbow assured. “It’s just that… I don’t know; for some reason, now that we’re de-morphed, I feel kinda… itchy not wearing my color.”
Applejack almost said something, but then she realized she was onto something; the only green she was wearing was the very top of her shirt and she started feeling a bit itchy as well. “Huh. Y’know, Ah’m feelin’ it too.”
“Well, I suppose there’s nothing else for it.” Rarity smiled, feeling fortunate she was wearing plenty of blue to prevent this itch from overcoming her. “A wardrobe change is paramount to match our new capabilities.”
“Then let’s get going.” Sunset smiled as she led the team back toward the cave’s exit.
“Bye, guys!” Twilight smiled as the Rainbooms all left the cave, leaving Timber and Gloriosa behind in the cave to look up at the Tree of Harmony.
“Looks like we’ve got another job besides keeping Camp Everfree up and running.” Timber joked.
“Somehow I feel like this job will be just as rewarding though.” Gloriosa agreed.
In the Lucid Lands, Tantabus scowled as she had seen the whole thing happen through a scrying spell along with her generals. “I guess calling them Power Rangers was appropriate; I practically felt that blast from here.” Midnight noted.
“That beast was worthless! Was that really the worst nightmare your soldier could find?” Demon Shimmer asked Tantabus angrily.
“Silence!” Tantabus bellowed, strange black magic burning in Demon Shimmer’s chest, causing her pain. “I brought you both out of those girls’ minds and I can send you back just as easily.”
“You won’t though.” Midnight pointed out. “You need us.”
“If for no other reason than as shields!” Tantabus assured as she let Demon Shimmer fall to the floor, the pain gone for now. “Besides, Boarbatusk was just a prototype Dream Demon. The next one will be far stronger. And either way, this was just a diversion. To draw the Rangers away from how I laid the seeds of my true goal. And when that goal is known, not even the Rangers will be able to stop it.” She chuckled cruelly as she turned her scrying spell’s attention to Vice Principal Luna, who was working at her desk clearly still rattled by what had just happened, but – like the rest of Canterlot City – blissfully unaware of what was to come.