Sunset Shimmer’s POV:

We're all freaks, all of us. None of us should have been chosen. We've all got problems. Let's see, there's me, who was far too ambitious for my own good, and there's Lightning, a walking egomaniac, Vapor, who keeps her cards too close to her chest and's far too secretive for her own good, Sunburst, a nervous wreck, and of course you, Robert. A walking list of problems all by yourself. Yeah, that’s what we are. We’re not even close to being worthy. I mean, take me, if you knew my story you wouldn’t want me to lead anypony or anyone into battle. I saw a chance to grab power before I was ready and I took it, like a little filly or a foal sticking his or her hoof into a cookie jar. And I had to be stopped before the power overwhelmed me. I have Celestia to thank for that. Despite all she’s done and what she might do as Solar Flare, I still see her as the mother I never had growing up. I know Robert would probably drop dead from shock if he heard that, and I wouldn’t blame him if I was in his position, but that’s the truth of the matter. But to be honest, this story isn’t about me, I’ll tell mine later. It’s about two very different but still alike in some manners, Power Rangers. You probably already know who I’m talking about. Yep, Lightning Dust and Robert Williams. Anyways, what I’ve done is put each member of the team in a cave all to themselves and let them tell a little story. Mind you, in this case these two have an interconnected story to tell...

Lightning Dust’s POV:

So, yeah. It’s me and that dickbag Robert who get to be the focus of this story. Mind you, I don’t think of him as much of a bag of dicks as before when I first met him nor do I want him dead. (Yes, you’re free to gasp.) Maimed maybe, but not dead. To understand that, you’ll have to just sit down and listen. So… SIT DOWN!!! Okay, channeled my drill sergeant there for a moment to see if you got the point. I think you did, not all of you humans are stupid little sacks of flesh. Smack! Ow! Geez Sunset, whack me a little harder next time why don’t you… Okay, okay! Geez! Hurts like a bitch...

Anyway, you might guess why no one wants to get into a fight with her. Mind you, she’s got a soft and caring side. I guess she’d be like our team mom, if we had such a thing. Still, there are sometimes after a fight with an Org, and we’re celebrating, I notice that smile slip off her face, for just a second before it returns. Now, onto Robert. I must admit, I was not expecting HIM of all people to become the fifth member of our team. As he himself might put it "...Well, there goes the bloody neighborhood." I felt my whole world shatter when he demorphed in front of us. Yes, I do admit prejudice played a part in that. That attitude of his doesn’t help either. Then again, I got onto the team, and look at me. I’m no saint myself. We’re all probably broken in some way I think…

Now, my early years. I grew up in Stratusburg, just like Vapor alongside my big brother Sky Stinger (May have mentioned him before, may not have. Doesn’t matter.) and the rest of my family. Trust me on this, it’s a BIG family. Like nuclear type of family. I was always the runt of the litter, so you must imagine I had to prove myself in some way. It gets even worse when your father is the oh-so-famous Wind Rider, the one who set EVERY flight record in the book. You might notice my… displeasure towards him. Trust me, if you had to live up to his records he was constantly bragging about and get compared to him your entire life, you’d hate him too. Sky doesn’t like him either, he’s just less obvious about it. Put it this way, he doesn’t want to punch someone in the gut everytime he hears his father’s name. So, to sum it up, I don’t like my dad. Mind you, he doesn’t like me very much these days, as I got kicked out of the Wonderbolts Academy, where he trained to get those record breaking skills. Needless to say he wasn’t pleased when he heard. It was only with Rainbow’s help that I got back in by the skin of my teeth, and she was one of the ones who got me kicked out in the first place ironically enough. I should hate her, but after this… I don’t. I… I just can’t find myself to hate her after she did something like that, a gesture she really didn’t have to do, no reward for doing it or anything besides getting my awesomeness back on the team. Huh, guess she’s been taking lessons from that frilly frou-frou of a drama queen Rarity. I guess she saw something in me that I didn’t and I’ll be forever grateful to her for that. I don’t know if I really deserve a second chance, but I’ll take it.

Now, enough of my backstory, not like there’s anything important to say anymore. Smack! OW!!! Dammit Sunset, stop!!! Fine, I’ll tell how I got my Animal Crystal, just lay off! Geez...

Okay, it began in what used to be The Canyonlands National Park in Utah, in what is now called Appleloosa. I was flying above the rocky outcroppings of the wind blasted buttes and mesas. Back long before humanity’s Golden Age, if there ever was such a thing, these lands used to belong to the natives that lived there.

They believed in a mighty creature called the Thunderbird. For those in the Algonquian mythology, the Thunderbird controls the upper world, either that being the sky or our world (I’m not really sure on this aspect) while the underworld is controlled by the underwater panther or Great Horned Serpent. Make of that what you will. (Ancient human mythology is weird). The Thunderbird throws lightning at the underwater creatures and creates thunder by flapping its wings. But the legends differ from tribe to tribe. For example, The Menominee tribes of Northern “Wisconsin” tell of a great mountain that floats in the western sky on which dwells the Thunderbirds. They control the rain and hail and delight in fighting and deeds of greatness. They were the arch-enemies of some type of great horned snakes, the Misikinubik (I dare you to try and pronounce that) and have supposedly prevented them from overrunning the earth and devouring mankind. Shame, might have saved Celestia the trouble. (The killing part, not devouring.) They are messengers of the Great Sun himself. Finally, the Ojibwe version of the myth states that the Thunderbirds were created by Nanabozho (Again, I dare you to try and say that aloud. Seriously, do it for me because I can’t.) for the purpose of fighting the underwater spirits. They were also used to punish humans who broke moral rules. The Thunderbirds lived in the four cardinal directions and arrived with the other birds in the time of spring. In the autumn they migrated to the south after the ending of the underwater spirits' most dangerous season. Yeah, it seems like despite the differences in culture, there are always a few common threads. If this doesn’t sound like me talking, you’re smarter than you look. Alright, you caught me. I confess, it’s Sunset Shimmer who did the egghead stuff for me on this bit.

Anyways, where was I? Mystic Mother above, I’m starting to sound like Sunburst when he rambles. OH, right! My Animal Crystal and how I got it. I was soaring above the plains of Appleloosa and generally being awesome, when I felt a great power calling out to me. If you’ve ever felt the experience of flying, you know what it’s like to be free as a bird and have nothing but the open sky. So, what did I do when I felt this great power? Well, what did you think I did? Went after it of course, you fools! Eventually, just as the sun began to set, I found a small mesa which had a collection of mud-packed huts on the side of its cliff face, remnants of those who came before us. ...Man, that sounded deep. Against my… somewhat debateable judgement, I decided to explore them, Daring Do style baby! ...Okay, maybe not as cool as that but still pretty cool. Laying there on one of the hut’s floors was a glowing aqua crystal. As soon as I picked it up, I felt a great power surge through me and for the first time I was sent flying skywards, not of my own free will to the place I would soon know as the Animarium. From then there on, you can probably guess the rest. There Sunset, you happy? Smack! OW! She just slapped me again, for being rude...

Robert Williams’s POV:

Anyways, I suppose it’s time for my confessional… what’s Sunset thinking? Putting us in separate caves like this to ‘record our thoughts’. Bah! A bloody good thing if you ask me, as you can now listen to my thoughts on everything. I have no idea whatsoever what any of the others are saying, nor do I care, especially in the case of a certain Ms. Lightning Bitch, who if you ask me desperately needs a good shag in the sack with a stallion or mare. Might loosen her up a bit.

So, there I was, on the Animarium, now officially part of the most messed up team of Power Rangers in history. Mou… show me another team with more problems, and I’ll amend that statement, but for now… Anywho, all six of the other Rangers were staring at me slack jawed. No, that’s not a correct way to properly put it. If you ever saw Aladdin and that scene where Genie drops his jaw all the way to the floor in classic cartoon fashion, that would be more accurate. Mind you, can’t say I blame them. I thought my career was over as well when Artilla (Remind me later to settle a score with him whenever I get the chance.) smashed my Morpher.

“Okay… Anyone who feels free to speak up on my new found Ranger status or better yet thank me for saving all of your worthless arses,” I shot an apologetic look at Sunset, “please do so now.” I remarked, no hint of arrogance or rudeness at all. Sunset was probably the first to recover from her shock and give me a smile before putting a hand on my shoulder. For the record, it was a very beautiful smile. Wait… what?! Nope, nope, nope, not going there, nope! No fraternization between teammates! SPD rule number one!

“I figured about as much. I had my suspicions from the very beginning that you might be the Kitsune Ranger. Things like you getting transported to the future through some mystical time warp don’t just happen randomly. There’s always a cause and a reasoning behind things like this.”

“If you say he moves in mysterious ways, I will punch you.” I remarked before wincing as I flashbacked to the last conversation I had with Sunset. “Er… Listen, I’m sorry about what happened last time. Me socking you in the nose and all. Lost my temper.”

Everyone turned to stare at me right then.

“Wait, that was you?” Lightning gaped before sighing to herself and letting a palm slide slowly down her face. It was almost comical in a way. “... I guess I should have figured as much.”

“And none of you are going to attack me? I mean, I punched a member of royalty here, I think judging by your kind’s past behavior towards me, I’m expecting it.” I retorted. Both Vapor and Sunburst winced and shared a guilty look with Vapor whispering “Sorry.”

“No, I’m not going to hold that against you. You had every right to punch me. For all you knew, I did worship Celestia like a goddess for what she did. Tartarus, I practically did at one point when I was a filly, everypony does at some point in their lives. And while we’re on the subject, there’s something everyone here needs to know. Earlier this day, Princess Luna came to me with information regarding Celestia. That little genocide spree of hers, it wasn’t entirely all her. We’re dealing with a Nightmare Moon type of situation here.”

That got everyone’s jaws dropping once again and looks of fear shared between the rest of the Rangers. Me, I was just completely confused.

“Alright, can somebody grab my brain with the Astro Megaship, as it’s been soundly blown into orbit. I’m completely lost here. Someone want to fill me in?” I asked. Sunset blushed, as she reminded herself Robert wouldn’t know any of this.

“Okay, long ago, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia ruled alongside each other. However, Luna got jealous of ponies not enjoying the night for what it was, and developed a darker personality which we call Nightmare Moon. She went mad with power and had to be banished to the moon for a thousand years, leaving Celestia to raise both the sun and moon alone.”

“Okay, ignoring the laws of physics which are soundly broken by pretty much everything you said in that sentence, how do you expect me to believe any of this horseshit? I’m a cop, I need evidence. I can’t take just everything at face value here! Show me Celestia actually transforming into her Nightmare Sun self-”

“Solar Flare.” Sunset corrected.

“WHATEVER! I don’t care what she calls herself! For now, she’s just one mad mare who goes all Dalek on whatever pisses her off! Give me actual evidence before you feed me this load of bull and try and whitewash your ever so perfect Princess. Ever consider Princess Luna was lying and trying to protect her sister from me? Because make no mistake, I will go after Princess Genocide and bring her to justice, mark my words!” I snarled before teleporting down to Earth needing to clear my head. Perhaps a visit to that sweet shop or Fluttershy’s cottage would do it.

I eventually found myself taking a walk through the Orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, enjoying the fall leaves as they fell from the trees in peaceful shades of red, orange and yellow. While I admit America had its flaws, but this was one of the few things I liked about it. It was beautiful almost everywhere you went. Well, except Florida, that was just a place full of swamps with alligators to eat you whole, bugs to sting you and snakes to poison you and crappy cities for old people to retire to. Suddenly, I felt a presence from behind me and quickly morphed and pulled out my Fox Blaster ready to blast whoever was mental enough to sneak up on me in my current mood right now.

“Okay okay, no need to go all gunslinger on me now! I just want to talk.” Lightning responded, taking a step back in fear. Good for her. She’s not as stupid as she lets on.

“You? Just talk? Hah, I’ll believe that when pigs start to sprout wings and fly like little hummingbirds.”

“Okay, actually I’m here to convey a message from Princess Shayla.”

“Then she can come down here and deliver it to me herself then instead of being lazy and sending you down to say it for her. Unless of course you came here for a different purpose, like trying to kill me yourself. I do remember you saying you wanted me dead, after all.” I mocked, twirling my blaster around my finger like an old western gunslinger.

“Alright, that’s it. You’re really getting on my nerves.” She replied testily.

“Good, that was kinda the point. Let me put it this way, I don’t like you. You think I’m not worthy to be a Ranger, let’s see if that holds true.” I snarked back.

Lightning Dust growled and took a fighting stance and morphed into her Ranger Form.

Lightning Dust’s POV:

Okay, if that’s the way he wanted to play it, that was fine by me. I ignited my lightning whips and lashed out at him but he simply rolled out of the way and fired a blast of golden energy at me which I dodged and flew up upwards. This was to launch a downwards horizontal strike with my Crystal Saber. However, he parried it with his own and kicked me backwards by soundly hitting me in the face while all the while flipping backwards and his fingers turned into claws, and I let mine do the same. As we scratched away at each other, I noticed that he was easily keeping pace with me, blocking and countering my attacks with practiced ease.

I’ll give him this though, he hasn’t even had these powers for but for less than two days but he’s adapted quickly. I honestly couldn’t tell who had more experience, me or him. I mean, he was a Power Ranger before getting access to the Kitsune Powers, and I don’t know how long he had those powers or who trained him, but he was good. I swung a hook at his face, which he countered by blocking and wrapping his own arm around it, locking my arm at the elbow.

“Hey, monkey boy!” I yelled out and lashed hard with my whips but Robert simply stepped aside and punched me in the gut, causing me to bend over in a choking cough.

“You need better insults. That’s just poor frankly. Same goes for your fighting style, you fight like a child. Predictable moves lashed out in anger will be your downfall.” He remarked coldly.

Honestly, I don’t know what Princess Shayla was thinking when she sent me to talk to him about giving Celestia a chance. Maybe she wants us to work together better, or for Robert to have someone, if not me to rely on. But honestly, she made a bad call by sending me down. She knows perfectly well I hate his guts, and him the same.

‘Well, well, well, what do we have here?” The voice said, with a similar accent to Robert’s remarked, and we both turned our heads and to the direction of the voice. Standing atop a hill was a creature that could only be described as a heavily armored blue pirate captain, complete with a hook hand. He had a beard made of mechanical tentacles (At least, that’s what I hoped they were) like a squid’s and two sharp fins on his boots and on his “Hat” were eight glowing yellow eyes. All I knew about him was that he couldn’t possibly be an Org, due to his lack of horn.

“You know, it took me a long time to find you, so let’s get cracking.” The unknown creature remarked.

“Who are you?” Robert snarled as me and him opened up our visors.

“Well, you might say I’m a collector of sorts. One of exotic creatures. And you, you’re the most exotic of all. The last human on Earth, or Equus if you prefer. Name’s Bunglay by the way.”

“Collector my arse, you’re a hunter.” Robert growled. “Now kindly bugger on off. This is a private party between us and you’re not invited.”

“Some kind of party. I don’t particularly care what kind of kinks you have, I just want my money. You’re worth a lot of space bullion to me. And another Ranger in my collection will just add to the payment I’ll get when I turn you over, and seeing as how you’re female… Well, I don’t need to say anymore do I?”

“One, we’re not dating as I would never date such a disgusting creature, and two, you’re not taking me or the Human anywhere.” I snarled out. Bunglay actually seemed pleased by my response.

“I always like my prey a little feisty. Makes the hunt much more fun. Shame you wore each other down so much, otherwise I would chase you. But I’m going to capture you all the same anyways. Let’s get cracking!” Bunglay laughed before conjuring up a cage on a chain and swinging it up above his head several times before he threw it towards us and our whole world was enveloped in light…

(To Be Continued…)

Author's Notes:

Okay, first off, a huge thanks to the Villain In Glasses as without his help this chapter would have been more of a mess then it already is. And as you can see, we actually get an explanation for why Sunburst's chapter was in first person, it was a confession, which took place shortly before the events of the Kitsune Rising story arc. Anyways, this chapter sees the introduction of a character from Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger, the Super Beast Hunter Bunglay, which explains why I changed the intro for this chapter. Don't worry, next chapter will go back to the GaoRanger intro. Anyways, this chapter also shows the start of Lightning and Robert's rivalry which will go on throughout the fic and the start of some of the team's dynamics.

Next time: The Thunderbird brings a storm...