• Published 28th Mar 2017
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Equestria Rangers - Shadowmane PX-41



Following a meteor shower in the city of Canterlot, Sunset Shimmer and her friends are about to transform into a new generation of heroes...

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Choked Out

Ahn'Taier ran towards Sunset and the others, claws extending from the roof of his twin gas blasters. Lunging towards the rangers, he combined his toxin attacks with swipes and slashes from the claw extensions, while at the same time, narrowly avoiding strikes from the girls at the same time.

"Tell me, what do you wolves want with this planet?" Rainbow Dash asked, flipping away from the wolf before letting loose another wave of shots from her own guns. "We didn't do anything wrong!"

"You're right on that regard, rangers. You did do nothing wrong." Ahn'Taier shuffled to the side and let the blaster rays hit the tree behind him. "Rather, it was your little friend that did all the wrongdoing. But enough of that for now. Let's stay focused on the fight at hand!"

He jumped towards Applejack and pinned her to the ground with his arms and legs holding hers down. Biting and gnashing at her face, she could only turn her face to the side as the teeth came inches away from her neck. Groaning and straining, she tried to pull her limbs free, but Ahn'Taier was both too heavy and too committed to his attack.

"Hey! Get offa her right now!" Pinkie Pie darted over, aimed both of her wrist-mounted air cannons, flipped over his back, pointed both of them in his face, and fired. The resulting blast sent him skyward, allowing Applejack to flip herself back onto her feet and run towards where he was going to land.

"Try this on for size!" Applejack yelled as she caught Ahn'Taier with her Terra Hammer, then swung it over her head so that he was smashed into the ground. "There's more comin if'n ya get back up. Just warning." She pulled the hammer back up and held it to her chest.

"Big words, coming from such a lowly APE." Ahn'Taier twisted the valves on the tops of his blasters, loading more and more poisonous air into the blasters. "Let's see how you fight without any air to breathe!"

He aimed his guns at Applejack's face and sprayed her from head to toe with the mist, coating her with the airless gases. Seconds later, she tumbled to the ground, gasping for breath as she felt it all begin to leave her lungs. She even pulled her helmet off to try and get some of the air back into her system, but to no avail.

"Applejack!" The girls all cried out as they watched her hack and wretch as the poison wormed its' way around her body.

"What did you do to her?!" Sunset shouted, stamping forward as she ignited her fire sword. "Tell me now!"

"It's only a simple toxic gas. Nothing really mind-boggling but still quite charming." Ahn'Taier chuckled to himself as Applejack turned back to the rangers and grabbed their legs in desperation. "Once it finds its' way into a human, it doesn't leave that easily. Her lungs are becoming polluted, and it is only a matter of time before she chokes herself to death. That is the true nature of the Chokehold strategem!"

"Girls..." Applejack's voice was withered and coarse, as she tried to breathe in again.

"You're sick..." Sunset snarled, the grip on her sword tightening as the flames around it began to intensify.

"No. I am one of Mar'Zek's trusted Wolfpack wolves. You may have bested Preda'Tor, but that was merely a fluke." Ahn'Taier loaded up more poisonous air into his guns and took aim at the rest of Sunset's friends. "Compared to the rest of the crew, you are NOTHING before us. And now, watch as your friends prove my point, as the air leaves their lungs as well!"

He fired a powerful wave of the toxin at the Rainbooms, but before it could hit, Sunset ran forward and held her sword out in front of her. The flames bursting out of the blade collided with the toxin, causing it to ignite and turn into a large flamethrower stream that split at her hilt. The resulting flames travelled back towards Ahn'Taier before hitting him in the chest and detonating, knocking him onto his back.

"Wait..." Sunset watched as Ahn'Taier lifted himself back up slowly, shaking while patting out the flames on his fur. "That's it! The gas is highly flammable! Which means..." She looked back at Applejack, who was beginning to calm down as her movements became more lifeless. "Applejack! Catch!"

Sunset pointed the tip of her sword at Applejack, launching a small fireball that travelled at high speed towards her mouth. It hit the roof of it and travelled down her throat before reaching her lungs and burning all of the poisonous air that she had taken in. Her body rumbled and gurgled before Applejack let out one massive burp, with a huge breath of fire accompanying it.

"I... I'm alright." Applejack felt the air flowing back into her body as she stood back up, picking up her Terra Hammer once more. She slipped the helmet back on and patted Sunset on the back. "Guess ah owe you one, Sunset."

"It's alright, Applejack. That's what friends do, don't they?" Sunset gave Applejack a smile and returned the favor. "Now, let's light up this wolf's world!"

"Yeah! He's on the ropes now!" Pinkie Pie ran to their side, along with the rest of the Rainbooms. "Let's take him out in style!"

"Oh, we can do it in style, alright." Rainbow Dash added, twirling her twin blasters.

"You talk a big game, but words are pointless in combat." Ahn'Taier finally got back up, refilled his guns, and pointed them at the girls. "Now. COME AND FACE ME!"

Ahn'Taier twisted the dials on his guns and loaded them up with more of his poison. "Quickfire Pollution!" Shots rang out of his guns like bullets. One after another, they shot towards the Rainbooms as clumps of mist, exploding whenever they hit something on their travels.

Some of the attacks were batted away or dodged, while the ones that Sunset held off burst into flames before dissipating moments later. Eventually, after a relentless wave of attacks, Ahn'Taier's tanks ran out of the toxin, and his guns clicked to indicate that he was out of ammunition.

"Very well. We do this the old fashioned way. Like REAL wolves." He pulled off his pack and threw it towards the fountain. He pushed a button on his wrist and turned back to the girls.

"Fine by me." Sunset darted forward and swung her blade at Ahn'Taier, the flickering fires barely scraping against his hairs as he slipped past her attacks. It took her a while to make contact, and the times that she did, he grabbed her sword and threw it away from him before retaliating with claw swipes of his own.

The other Rainbooms joined in, but Ahn'Taier jumped over them as they tried a combined attack. Even as Fluttershy called out falcons to try and knock him out of the air, he still grabbed them and crushed their heads in his hands, causing the apparitions to disappear in small bursts of light.

"Come on, ya big coward! Too afraid to fight us for real?" Rainbow Dash pressed against the sigil of her neckpiece and glowed bright blue. "Then we're just gonna have to chase you down!"

Shooting forward with her equestrian magic, Rainbow Dash ran back and forth past Ahn'Taier, dealing him multiple swift strikes to his body. They didn't leave much of an impact, but they still staggered him and caused him to stumble long enough for Applejack's hammer and Rarity's twin swords to strike next, followed by a slash from a ghostly lion Fluttershy conjured up, and more shots from Pinkie's air cannons.

"We're not done yet, ya big meanie!" Pinkie pulled out sprinkles from thin air and lobbed them at Ahn'Taier. Once they hit, she activated her own magic and detonated them on him. The resulting blasts, while small, still threw him to the ground again.

"Back on your feet, wolf!" Rarity slipped a diamond barrier under Ahn'Taier's back and lifted it airborne, only for Applejack to jump up and dive her hammer through his chest again, shattering it under the intense pressure. Both Ahn'Taier and the shards of her leftover barrier tumbled to the ground, with the spikes burrowing into his back.

"You do have some bite after all, don't you?" Ahn'Taier spluttered, as he now started to cough and catch his breath. "But as long as I still live and breathe, you haven't won this fight."

"Says the guy who can't even get up anymore." Rainbow stomped on his chest, further drilling the spikes of Rarity's shield into his body. "That Wolfpack of yours doesn't stand a chance if this is all they're throwing at us."

"Oh? Is that so?" Ahn'Taier reached for the skies, and the backpack he once carried lifted from the fountain and flew to his side. It smashed Rainbow Dash off of his body and sprayed a poisonous cloud around him and the Rainbooms, who immediately jumped back so as not to get affected again. "Care to prove that theory?!"

As Ahn'Taier finally climbed back onto his feet, the backpack reattached to his body and red lightning began to spew from it. His body warped and contorted, and his blood began to charge with the same electricity. He craned his neck towards the sky, where the moon began to appear in it as it blotted out the light. He let out a deafening howl, one that echoed across the park and caused the girls to take steps backwards to avoid the noise.

"He's going feral on us! Get the Zords ready, girls!" Sunset said as the howl finally stopped.

And just like before, Ahn'Taier began to grow in size. Him and his technology expanded as he did, to the point where his pack was the size of a skyscraper, and his guns looked like oversized cannons.

"I hope the human race knows how to hold its' breath!" Ahn'Taier roared as his feet dug into the ground, tearing up the road beneath it.

"Zords! Come to us!" The Rainbooms all pulled their phones out and lifted them skyward, transmitting beacons of light that pierced the black sky and brought back the sunlight.

"Falcon!"

"Bull!"

"Lynx!"

"Kangaroo!"

"Bear!"

"Phoenix!"

Each of the Rainbooms' Zords landed heavily on the streets of Canterlot, with each of them standing up or flapping their wings; ready for the battle ahead. The girls then leapt into the air and climbed in through the hatches, sitting down in each of the chairs as they were loaded into the cockpits of their Zords.

"Equestrian Star Zords! Ready for battle!" The girls all chorused, as each of their individual mechs posed before Ahn'Taier.

So... These are the mechs that defeated a Feral Fury wolf, eh? Vi'Al had told me about these things, but I just passed it off as a mere coincidence. Ahn'Taier watched as the zords all stood before him. Guess it's time to see whether or not the rumors were true!

"You think that hiding in those oversized tin cans can protect you from the Wolfpack?" Ahn'Taier's guns stretched their claws again, and then elongated even further as smaller, more slender blades poked out of the tips. "Think again! The Wolfpack have torn through many a machine before those!"

"Then I hope you're prepared to back those words up." Sunset took hold of the joysticks and piloted her phoenix, lighting the flames of her wings as she dived towards him. "You know that your gas can't stop these fires, so don't even try it!"

"Who said I was using the gas to fight you, red one?" Ahn'Taier jumped up at Sunset as she swooped down on him. He grabbed her wings and threw her over his shoulders, straight into Rarity's lynx. "The Wolfpack need to be able to handle anysituation; and adapt on the fly." He rushed forward and coated Fluttershy's bear in the gas, before leaping over it and sweeping the legs of Pinkie's kangaroo while it was trying to bounce to him.

"Get off them!" Rainbow Dash charged straight into the pack on Ahn'Taier's back and knocked him off of the girls, unbeknowingly creating a small hole in it as he fell face-first into the ground.

"Normally, I don't like violence, but I can't just let you get away with this after what you did to Applejack!" Fluttershy shoved her sticks forward and drove her bear towards the downed Ahn'Taier. She swung its' claws at him, striking the pack on his back. It only received scratch marks before Ahn'Taier rolled back and pushed his feet off of her chest, knocking her over as he stood upright.

"Is that all? I was expecting more." He pointed the guns at the bear's face and was about to fire, when Rarity's lynx pounced on him from the side and flung him like a ragdoll.

"So were we, darling. But I'm afraid that's just life." Rarity tutted and commanded her zord to jump on top of Ahn'Taier, her own claws gashing his face and striking him over and over before he pistol-whipped the robot away.

"Irksome little..." As he got back up, Applejack's bull smacked him back down again, trampling him and his gas pack. Mere seconds later, Pinkie bounced on him over and over again before leaping back off again. "No! I will not stand for this!"

He pointed his guns for the umpteenth time at the girls, but as he fired, his mist was much less powerful than before. As he looked down the barrels of each, he thought that they had jammed, so he tried to smack the guns to try and fix the issue, unbeknownst that Sunset was right behind him, and could see the whole picture.

The damage done to Ahn'Taier's pack was extensive, and what was once a small hole done by a falcon dive had now begun to crack and spread out to the corners. The thing was starting to fall apart, and Sunset knew what she had to do. Grinning to herself, she whispered. "Checkmate."

"Why isn't this thing working?!" Ahn'Taier growled as he pulled the pack off and checked it extensively. As soon as he saw the cracks, he let out a gasp, which was then followed by a swift kick to the chest from Pinkie's Kangaroo zord.

"Sunset! Finish him off!" Pinkie called as another kick sent him airborne.

"Got it!" Sunset slammed both of the joysticks forward, causing the flames on her phoenix to intensify. She zipped forward like a shot and spiralled, turning herself into a flaming spiral on a collision course with Ahn'Taier and his leaking pack of poisonous air. "Phoenix Driver!"

As she smashed through the pack, Sunset finally stopped spinning and spread her wings out, cutting straight through Ahn'Taier's body. She left nothing more than flames in her wake as the embers finally met with the corrupted air, turning it all into one giant bomb; one that engulfed the screaming wolf in a massive fireball as his entire body was seared and charred to a finely cooked crisp.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash fist-pumped as Sunset flew back to their side. "Another wolf bites the dust!"

"Good job, rangers. Another wolf down." Sunset sighed and leaned back in her chair as the zords finally stopped moving, resting gently against the buildings of Canterlot. "Victory is ours."


"Ahn'Taier too?!" Mar'Zek screeched as his claws grinded against his throne. "I've lost two of my Wolfpack to these heathens already?"

"They are pretty desperate, I'll give them that, but still nothing compared to us, my captain." Siel'Viz brushed her paws down Mar'Zek's shoulders. "Perhaps we should just have the fleet fire on the planet now and save us the trouble."

"No, Siel'Viz. I lost them. This was my fault. So, it's only fair that I amend my mistakes with some personal action." Mar'Zek stood up and activated a device on his wrist. Punching in digits and code, he formed a ring around his feet, which quickly transformed into a black vortex that he fell through.

"Oh, I pity those Power Rangers now..." Vi'Al walked into the bridge and approached the empty throne. "If anything makes the captain leave his bridge, then it's DEFINITELY in trouble."

"Since when did you show mercy to our enemies, Vi'Al?" Siel'Viz asked, cocking a brow at him.

"I don't. I'm just so sad that those rangers are about to die. And I barely even started my work on them." He sighed and looked out to the planet's surface. "But I suppose they were pretty interesting for a while. A flash in the pan, so to speak. Shame that research is about to go up in flames, but the captain never loses a fight, after all."


"So, you wanna power down and go grab something to eat?" Rainbow Dash smirked as the girls climbed out of their zords. "I'm feeling a bit peckish after that fight."

"Yeah, I could use a bite to eat." Applejack nodded. "Seein' as how our lunches have probably gone to the dogs..."

The girls' phones rang, and Elaris and Twilight quickly appeared on the screens.

"Good work, everyone. That wolf didn't stand a—" Before Elaris could finish, an alarm went off in the ship.

"Wait! I've got another Wolfpack signature here!" Twilight quickly took up the screen. "And from the looks of it, it's right on top of you!"

"What?!" Sunset immediately took up a combat stance, as did the others. Weapons bore, the girls put the phones away and tapped on the their crests. "Girls! Get ready!"

The black portal opened up, and Mar'Zek flew through it. Driving his claws into the fountain, he smashed it into pieces, spreading pieces all over the park square and sending some towards the girls. Snarling, he looked up at his prey, cracking his knuckles as his eyes pierced into their visors.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Mar'Zek straightened himself up and held out his claws for combat. "Preda'Tor and Ahn'Taier are dead because of you, and I cannot allow such actions to go without consequence."

"Uh, girls? I have a bad feeling about this..." Fluttershy immediately hid behind Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer, clutching onto their arms as she poked her head out through their shoulders.

"Who are you?" Sunset asked, holding her sword out.

"My name—" He threw his claws out, shooting black energy out of the palms that tore into the buildings around him. Glass and bricks were destroyed beyond repair, and the cars by those buildings exploded as the energy slammed into them. "—is Mar'Zek. The leader of the Wolfpack." Recalling his energy, he slapped the center of his chestplace, causing a helm to appear on his head as armour covered the rest of his body. "And this planet will be your grave, Perfect Ones!"