Author's Notes:

So. Here's a re-done version of His Mark. C.L.A.I.R.E's not in this, as I wanted to keep a more somber mood and show just how badly the damage to the girls had been done was. I know that this is kind of strange, making a re-post of the same chapter only a day after it's been shown, but I feel that this chapter simply wasn't living up to the story and that I wanted to set things right again.

Again, comments are always welcome.

Sunset Shimmer was alone with her team. Nothing around them but darkness, and mist rising around their feet. All of them were dressed in their ranger outfits and armed with their weapons, holding on tightly to the hilts of each weapon. In the shadows, a pair of black eyes pierced through the empty world.

"You are weak." Mar'Zek's voice accompanied the eyes as he stepped out of the shadows. "You think that you are strong, but in reality, you are just cowering behind your powers and crystals." He drew his own sword, pointing the tip of the blade at the girls. "You were lucky fighting my crew. But that ENDS here."

Sunset had been in this situation before, and she was remembering how ferocious of an opponent Mar'Zek had been the first time they had clashed. As every single strike and clash rung in her mind, her confidence began to fade away. As did that of the other girls. As the grip on her blade got even tighter still, she tried to hold it steady, only for the hilt to break into pieces under the pressure. Her breathing went heavy as she turned to the other girls, who were also having 'nam flashbacks to seeing Mar'Zek again. Their weapons also crumbled in their hands as they watched the wolf stomping towards them.

"Even my mere presence causes you to forego your weapons. Looks like the Power Rangers really are a fallacy." He rushed forward and grabbed Fluttershy by the neck. Crushing it, she was immediately de-morphed before tossed to the others. "And it would seem that your armour is just as flimsy as the rest of your charade. Worthless bags of flesh..."

Leaping towards the downed Fluttershy, Mar'Zek crushed her under all of his four claws. Rather than there being a bloodied mangled corpse, she just disintegrated into a mound of dust. The sight was morbid enough for the other Rainbooms to jump at the sight and start to run away.

"Oh goddess, oh goddess, oh goddess..." Sunset kept on repeating to herself as she ran, not spending a single moment to look back. She could hear the noise of Mar'Zek dashing towards them on all fours, with the thunderous sound of many Hounds joining him on his hunt.

Screams rang out from Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and even Pinkie Pie as they succumbed to the horde of wolves, leaving only Sunset and the pack left. As she continued to run for what she hoped was a way out, she was soon boxed in by the hasty wolves. They penned her in and stood upright, barring her off from trying to escape. She simply skidded into them and was turned around to face Mar'Zek again, who stood back up and channelled energy through his sword.

"If you really are the chosen ones that the crystals have designated, they they chose poorly. And you and this planet are not worth our time." He said, the tip now touching Sunset's neck and speeding her breathing up even more as she stood paralysed, stricken with fear from head to toe. "You can take solace in the fact that you successfully wasted my time, and that you and your friends are going to reunite; along with the rest of the human race once I blow it to pieces!"

Ripping the sword away from Sunset's neck, he raised it skyward and leapt high into the air, poising the tip beneath him as he started his descent. Rocketing down towards the motionless Sunset, he performed one single slash, and she was split clean in half.

Sunset Shimmer screamed as she woke from the nightmare, whipping herself upright as she sat on the med bay bed. Surrounding her were the rest of the Rainbooms, still fast asleep and being tended to by Elaris's healing machinery. Despite being free of the dream, Sunset was still hyperventilating and clutching her stomach; her hair a complete mess and wrinkles forming on her forehead.

"What...? What happened to us?" Sunset asked as she tried to stand up, but felt all of the strength in her legs faded instantly. Groaning, all she could do was lie back down and stare up at the bright, white circle above her head, which continued to pour the healing spores. "The last thing I remember was us losing to Mar'Zek, but... what's this place? I don't remember it."

As Sunset's head leaned to the left, she watched the other girls twitch very softly, still hanging on to the shreds of life that they had left after a ferocious battle like that. Through all of the pain that they had faced together, there had been none of it like this before. For once, Sunset felt that the girls could have been outright killed. That alone left a bubbling sensation in the pit of her stomach as she clutched it.

For once in her life, Sunset had been reminded of just how mortal she and her friends were. No matter what kind of powers that they held, it meant nothing at this point. For everything that had happened, and the battle with Mar'Zek being any indication, it was a fall from grace unlike any other. After all the fights the girls had seen through before and during the time they received their crystals, a number of thoughts buzzed through her head as she let out long and weary breaths.

Is what we've been doing good enough? She asked herself again and again. She tried to counteract her own argument by reminding herself of the battles she did win; against the sirens, Midnight Sparkle, and all of those other teen-like girls who took magic for themselves. All of those victories, were they just leading up to this? The biggest loss of our lives? And even then, why does it sting so much more than I thought it would?

"Sun...set?" Pinkie Pie's voice rose from her body as she tried to lift herself back up. "Did we lose?" Her hair deflated and drooped down her shoulders ungraciously.

"Yeah, Pinkie. We lost." Sunset groaned again as she felt another jolt of pain surge up from her body. "And not only that, we lost BADLY."

"That's an understatement if ever I heard it." Rarity woke next, propping herself back to a seating pose. "We were nearly killed! Blood, guts, everything! I could almost hear the funeral organ playing while I was sleeping like that!" Her lips quivered, and in seconds she found herself in tears, which streamed down her clothes and onto the bed itself.

"Rarity..." Sunset reached out to try and stop her from being melodramatic, but this time, she knew deep down that there was no better time for Rarity to let it out like that. Her hand drooped, and fell back down to her side.

"Seriously, I'm all for saving the world, but not if it's gonna get us torn apart like that." Rainbow Dash was the next to wake up, sparing no time to try and stand up only for her legs to crack in the process. "Ow ow ow..." She hastily scrambled back onto it.

"Rainbow Dash, don't strain yourself. You only just woke up from surgery." Sunset finally got back up onto her feet and found the strength to stand again, courtesy of the healing energy drifting around the room. "And I wanna say that we've been through worse, but I'm afraid I can't. That was, by far, the worst thing we've ever been through in our lives."

"As soon as I get patched up, I'm going to see if there are any petitions to outlaw alien wolves coming to our planet, and then if there is one, I'M GOING TO SIGN EVERY SINGLE LINE THERE IS!" She screeched loudly, almost sounding like an endangered bird of prey.

"Calm down, Rarity! For once, I think you're beginning to fly off the handle a bit too much here..." Applejack was the next to break off from her sleep and speak to the others. "But I do have to agree with her, Sunset. These dang wolves have gone too far. I ain't never seen that much blood in my life, and I've been to a slaughterhouse before!"

"Trust me, Applejack, I want to stop them as much as the next guy or girl, but you felt what he did to all of us. He completely crushed us without even breaking a sweat." She threw her arms down in front of her. "I've seen some dangerous creatures before, but he's completely blown them all out of the water."

"Then what are we supposed to do about it?!" Rainbow Dash moaned, feeling her legs restoring ever so slightly thanks to Elaris's machinery. "We're the Power Rangers, for goddess's sake! We can't just throw in the towel like that!"

"But at the same time, we can't even fight back against him. We can't win, we can't lose, no matter which side we pick, we're forced into a corner all the same..." Pinkie's voice sounded more meek and husky than usual. Her hair swung lazily as she stood back up. "Girls? If we fight the Wolfpack again, are we going to lose again?"

"To be honest, I don't really know anymore, Pinkie Pie. My mind's been nothing but Mar'Zek ever since that fight..." Sunset rubbed her temples, her frustration causing her fingers to press deeper and deeper against her skull. "I can't even think straight without having some image of him pop up. And after that nightmare... I don't even know if we can even look at him again without being shaken to the core with fright."

"Nightmare?" Rarity asked, climbing off of her bed and walking over to Sunset's side. "Whatever happened?"

"We were fighting Mar'Zek again. In... somewhere. I don't know where it was, but it was all black and misty." She hung her head as she started to recall her dreams, the screams beginning to ring in her ears again. "We were scared. And because we were scared, we were holding on to our weapons much tighter than usual. They broke, he killed Fluttershy, and then as we ran, he cleaved up the rest of you." Looking up at the Rainbooms, Sunset's own display of waterworks began to start. "All that was left was me, and he cornered me with his wolves. Then, with one swing from his sword... it was all over, and I woke up here."

The other Rainbooms felt their spirits shatter as Sunset's story came to an end. Even in their sleep, they weren't free from Mar'Zek or his blade. Some of the Rainbooms wanted to say something to change the mood, but they ended up choking on their own words and stopped. Even Rainbow Dash, the bravest girl of them all, had become hesitant, and she couldn't find anything to say.

"We... we're pathetic."

The girls turned to see Fluttershy finally waking up. She, out of all of the Rainbooms was the only one who didn't try to sit like the rest of them. Instead, she was firmly rooted to the bed. Even as the others got up and walked around to see her, she didn't move an inch.

"All those times we were using the Magic of Friendship? It was all a lie. To keep us safe from the real danger." Fluttershy's fingers shivered as she continued to gaze at the ceiling. "We're not special. We're not unique. We're just prey like all the rest. And the Wolfpack are going to hunt us down and slaughter us all..."

"Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash's heart sank as her face became crestfallen. Now it was her turn to cry. "Don't say that. We can do this..."

"Rainbow Dash. Don't be brave when you don't mean it." Fluttershy lifted her hand up and pulled Rainbow's down when she saw her rubbing the backs of hers. "You're scared just like me. And no matter what kind of tough girl act you put on, it can't hide just how afraid you are of the Wolfpack."

"What are you talking about? I'm not..." Rainbow Dash also had a look back at the battle against Mar'Zek, remembering just how easily it was for him to overpower her and the other Rainbooms. Even with her combining her geode's magic with her blasters, it wasn't enough.

"Don't deny it, Rainbow Dash. You're just as petrified as I am, to know that we were almost killed." Fluttershy patted Rainbow's chest and looked at the others. "We might be Power Rangers, but after that, my eyes were opened. We're humans. Not gods."

"I've never seen you this sad before." Applejack tried to reach for Fluttershy's hand, but found that it was pushed back to her side by her.

"I've already given up. I've accepted my fate as cattle for Mar'Zek. Whatever the rest of you decide won't make a difference." She lifted her head up and hid her face underneath her locks of pink hair. "We can't win. If we try, we're just going to be killed."

All of the Rainbooms wanted to believe that there was another way, but they couldn't fight the truth. They themselves were evidence to back up Fluttershy's claims. Even though the wounds may have healed, the memories would last forever; permanently burned into their minds as a reminder that there would be no mercy from Mar'Zek.

"I... I..." Rainbow Dash stumbled backwards towards the door out of the med bay. "I need to go." And without another word, Rainbow Dash bolted off out of the room as fast as her legs could carry her. As she took off out of the ship, the others could hear her as she began to wail and cry as loud as she could.

"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Sunset got to the door and reached out for Rainbow, but by the time she entered the corridors of Elaris's ship again, it was all too late, and Rainbow quickly left the ship behind her.

"Sunset?" Rarity hobbled over to Sunset's side, twiddling her fingers and closing her knees together. "Do we... have to go back outside again?"

"Rarity? What's gotten into you?" Sunset asked, watching how Rarity was using her curled hairstyle to hide half of her face away. "Why are you acting so shy?"

"If I go back out there, Mar'Zek will hunt us all down and steal the crystals. So that's why I don't want to leave this ship." Rarity's voice got quieter and quieter as she turned back. "And with Rainbow Dash breaking down like that, my confidence has been knocked even further."

"I don't want to see the Wolfpack ever again after that fight..." Pinkie Pie's hair became so flat and straightened out that her whole back was coated in pink hair. "If you do go out there and see Pound and Pumpkin again, tell them that Pinkie's not coming home tonight."

"Let's face it, Sunset Shimmer. The world outside's not safe anymore. And if we try and go out there, then those wolves are gonna want to fight us again." Applejack patted Sunset on the shoulder as she came to her side. "Sure, Mar'Zek may not want to fight straight away, but we know that he will want another scrap like that later on. And then... what happens next? After we get mangled up and spat out like that again?"

"I don't want it to happen again." Sunset shook her head, swinging her hair to and fro.

"Then don't ever leave the ship. Stay here with the rest of us, and together, we'll ride this storm out. Surely, those wolves can't stay here forever. And if we just stay hidden, then that Mar'Zek feller will have to give up the hunt eventually." Applejack sat down, propping her back against the oval-like walls.

"But we can't stay here. That's the other problem," said Sunset. "We have families, friends, school! We can't just throw them away like this and live a life of hiding away!"

"The Wolfpack will destroy our friends, our families, and our schools. We're not throwing them away if they're going to get to them first." Fluttershy turned over. "If I sound like a defeatist, then I'm sorry, Sunset."

"It's not your fault, Fluttershy. And it's neither of your faults either. But the way that you're all acting, thinking that it's all over after one fight, isn't going to change a thing. We can't wait for our problems to go away; we have to make them go away. And if we do die in the process, then so be it." Sunset turned her back on the girls. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and find Rainbow Dash. You're welcome to join me if you want." Slowly, Sunset walked out of the med bay, leaving nothing behind but her footsteps.

The Rainbooms could only watch as Sunset Shimmer walked out of the med bay, towards the exit of the ship. As all of their thoughts festered in their minds, the four of them tried to find words or actions to express how they felt, but nothing came from it. Instead, all they could do was muster up what little strength they had, curl up against the med bay, and cry softly, letting their tears drip down from their eyes and stain the floors. Drop by drop, one after the other, they left large, wet marks on the ground under their heads.