“Well, gotta give you props Chancellor,” Sunset remarked as Neighsay or rather Kamen Rider Savior jumped down into the square to meet them, drawing his daidaimaru, a curved blade themed after an orange slice. “You’ve really reached new heights of snake-fuckingly-crazy. Seriously, gotta hand it to you.”

“Oh, such words…” Neighsay commented as he slowly advanced forwards. “They’re unbecoming of royalty.”

“And being a bigoted dick is unbecoming of a noble, so touche there,” Sunset sneered out. “What can I say, spend enough time around a certain Orange Ranger and he and his unique charms began to rub off on you.”

Robert honestly didn’t know if he should take that one as a compliment or an insult, so he decided to go with the former.

“Flattered Sunset-Chan, I really am. But really, I don’t think this is quite the time,” Robert remarked, drawing his Kitsune Blaster and spinning it in his hand before the weapon primed itself with a small humming sound. “Can we just kick this guy’s sorry arse, and get back to our daily lives eh?”

“Right, but first things first. Neighsay saw it fit to introduce himself via his title, so I don’t see any reason why we can’t do the same eh? It’s only polite, really. And I do so know how much nobles like Neighsay thrive on that sorta thing,” Sunset sneered again. “With a Virtuous Heart, Blazing Phoenix!”
“Lightning Speed! Ferocious Thunderbird!”
“Cunning Wit! Fighting Fox!”
“Great Strength! Monstrous Leviathan!”
“Shadowed Intent! Vampire Bat!”
“Tupuxuara, Power Ranger White!”

“Cute, really cute titles,” Neighsay acknowledged. “For children playing around, pretending they’re defending their home in a war they completely don’t understand.”

“I’d say we understand far more than you,” Trixie remarked. “Thrax and his monsters are bad, and we’re good. And we blow up the monsters saving everyone and we get showered with praise. Nothing too complicated to understand, really. Now, I’d advise for you to stand out of our way with your cheap knock-off excuse for armor, and actually let the real heroes do their job.”

“Oh, you really are naive. It’s almost cute,” Neighsay remarked. “You want to know where I got this armor? It was actually inspired by a friend of yours, Princess Twilight. I think you lot might know her. See, originally I was just going to use the Pomegranate and Blood Orange Lockseeds separately, but after seeing her Dragon Jimber Arms, inspiration struck me and I decided to try a little experiment.” the Chancellor continued.

Lightning’s only response was slow clapping, and a loud sarcastic response followed by this: “Wow, really impressive use of plagiarism there, you half-brained rat bastard fuckwit.”

Being.. Well, who he was, and not allowing himself or wanting to be upstaged by his rival, Robert couldn’t resist a snide remark of his own.

“You know what it reminds me of?” the Orange Ranger added. “It’s like watching a really bad mime start coughing and fuck up his act, so you chuckle because he mucked up badly, and he just starts sobbing and breaking down, and it’s just pitiful.”

“Enough talk, and insulting each other,” Neighsay growled, quite annoyed by this point as he pulled out his Sonic Arrow. “Let’s get down to business.”

He pulled back the bow strings and fired a crimson trailed arrow of energy towards the Rangers, who rolled or leaped out of the way to avoid the ensuing explosion. Robert fired a Kitsune Scattershot, nine little balls of energy finding their way towards Neighsay, with the Armored Rider taking the shots, staggering back a little but for the most part, he seemed unfazed.

From atop their perch, Goldar and Thanatos continued to observe with careful eyes.

“You know, if this turns sour you might actually have to jump down and interfere,” Thanatos noted. “I mean, they’re your opponents aren’t they? Not this newcomer’s. That is, unless you don’t really care who kills the Rangers.”

Goldar’s response was to only growl and grip the hilt of his blade tighter.

Meanwhile, Neighsay continued to fire Sonic Arrow shots, and any time one of the Rangers managed to get in close for a strike he whirled around on them and slashed them across the chest with the Sonic Arrow’s sharp edges drawing blood before kicking them backwards.

Sunburst, getting wise to this tactic, managed to jump back right before Neighsay could whirl around to strike, and summoned his Navi Blaster before firing one powerful shot that sent Neighsay staggering before Sunset ripped a column out of the ground and smacked the so-called Savior with it, stone shattering on impact.

“Cute, but hardly an effective tactic,” Neighsay remarked. “Now, let’s see how you handle some real power…”

He flicked the cutting blade on his Driver twice, making it call out: “Pomegranate Jimber Blood Orange Au Lait!”

He drew back his bow, and fired one powerful volley of crimson energy arrows at Sunset and Sunburst knocking them out of morphed form in one powerful explosion.

“So, who’s next?” Neighsay asked, raising an eyebrow under his helmet. “Please tell me someone amongst you can put up something of a challenge…” he sighed.

A blur of white speed came towards him, only for Neighsay to reach out and grab her by the throat, and slam the Ranger into the ground.

“And I really didn’t mean you, showmare,” Neighsay remarked. “Or Empress Trixie, or whatever you call yourself nowadays.” he sneered. “You really think I haven’t been keeping an eye on you since the whole Alicorn Amulet mess? Watching your every move, gauging on how much of a threat you were to Equestria’s infrastructure? I must say, it’s actually a pleasure taking you down. This entire experiment is yielding unexpected results.”

He was soundly kicked in the throat by Trixie. “Shut your damn mouth, Chancellor. Whoever that pony was, that was not Trixie.”

“But it was, you allowed yourself to take the Alicorn Amulet freely, and then even after Twilight ripped it off, you placed it back on again and with Ranger powers this time around to boot!” Neighsay coughed out.

“That… that was not me.” Trixie hissed getting in several quick slashes with her own blade before it was blocked via Neighsay’s own with sparks flying off of it as metal met metal. “That was just something that sick fuck Retinax cooked up in a lab, just so he could have his own evil Ranger. He got one, for a while, I’ll grant him that but I’m back in control now. And now this is my stage. And you, you are decidedly not wanted on or anywhere near it!”

“Trixie, duck!” Lightning called out and Trixie was only too happy to do so, as Lightning flashed her whips in such a way that Vapor’s trident was sent hurtling towards Neighsay’s head, only for him to raise his free hand and catch it before it was tossed aside.

“Pathetic, that’s really the best Equestria’s finest can muster up? Cheap tricks, and dirty tactics?” Neighsay asked. “Now for a real show hmm?” Neighsay removed his blade from the housing that held it. He lifted it up in a guard motion and got into a horse stance. “Come and face me if you can.”

Robert smirked and went into SPD SWAT Mode before pulling out his Delta Enforcer, and firing a barrage of shots towards Neighsay with the rifle.

A soft chuckle came from the helmet. With quick speedful movements some of the shot’s were blocked and few hit but didn't slow him down. “Is that all you got?!” He would quickly charge at Robert doing his best to hit a weak point in the armor. The daidaimaru, as it was called, struck, again and again, cutting through Robert’s suit, and coloring the already red blade with a crimson tinge before Robert was kicked in the stomach and sent staggering backwards. Neighsay grabbed one of the two Lockseeds off his belt and placed it the Sonic Arrow’s slot.

“Blood Orange Squash!” the belt called out, before drawing back the bowstrings and firing, with the resulting shot trapping Robert in an energy version of an orange, before Neighsay’s horn light up in an orange tint and he summoned lightning bolts to rain down upon Robert knocking him out of his Ranger form in a green flash of light. As Robert, his uniform stained with blood and covered in scorch marks, rolled along the ground groaning out in pain, Neighsay chuckled and shook his head.

Neighsay grabbed Robert to pick him up and put his blade to his neck. “Look, are you fools thinking you can beat me? You lot call yourselves defenders of Equestria? Run or this will happen to you.” He lifted up his armored hand it came down smashing into the back of Robert’s head. Hard enough to knock him out but not kill him. Neighsay didn’t want to do that, not yet at least. He only wanted to humiliate the Rangers publically and show Celestia he was better suited to defending Equestria and its borders against all threats. Tossing him to the ground “You didn’t deserve this. You don’t follow what Equestria was made for. It should have been me not you!”

Suddenly, waves of lightning and flame were sent towards Neighsay, and Lightning and Sunset stood covered in the Orion Armor swords in hand.

“Hey, may not like the ass,” Lightning remarked, her voice coming out as a growl. “But even I can tell he’s a far more qualified defender of Equestria than you. All I see, is just a bigoted old man far too wrapped up in his pride to admit he’s outmatched. Cute, you taking on us one or two at a time, but how about all at once? There’s still five of us, right? Five on one, you really ought to think about those odds.”

The two attacks would hit Neighsay of course, while his armor smoked and he stood getting ready for the next attack. Suddenly, his whole vision was clouded by smoke, and the next thing he knew were quick, precise attacks from Trixie’s sword cutting into his armor, before he felt a presence behind him, and whirled around only to see Trixie draw some arrows in midair and launch the volley right at him. They launched, but only just in time as Trixie was zapped unconscious by a bolt of magic.

Neighsay, pulling the arrows out of his armor, groaned in pain as he saw Lightning and Sunset running towards him swords glowing with a gold light. He would find a way to block both attacks, simply raising his own blade. Sunset’s eyes widened in shock, she’d known nothing that was able to block a sword swing with that much strength behind it, much less withstand it! Neighsay simply chuckled. “You really don’t think I don’t know everything about you two? Guess again. Let’s see what I can remember…” Neighsay remarked, grinning devilishly under his helmet. Oh Lightning, for one that failed the Wonderbolts. You really think you can defend Equestria after that failure? Oh and Sunset still the failed student of Celestia that went evil for nothing? She who went demon just because she never got what she wanted? Such a child. But you Lightning, you still never cease to amaze. That father of yours didn’t raise you right. He would have shown you that your betters need to be honored. I am better than you no wonder why you failed to live up to his expectations. Maybe he never was a good father. I think he just saw you as what you are. A burden, a worthless child that got in his-”

Neighsay’s ranting was soundly cut off by two punches to the face. One from Lightning, and one from Sunset. “Look, I may be still new at this superhero gig,” Sunset remarked. “But even I know you really shouldn’t monologue during a fight. Really bad form, makes you look like the Mane-Iac out of the Power Ponies comics. So why don’t you take that smug and superior attitude of yours, and would you kindly... shove it.” she finished.

“And you…” Lightning continued. “Can just shut the Hell up about me and my father. Newsflash, took a bit of convincing but Spitfire took me back on as a Bolt. I’m not going to be up there flying with the best anytime soon nor breaking my father’s records but at least this time around I intend to earn my status the right way. No stupid risks, no recklessness. And one last thing. I think you forgot about one of us…” she trailed off, before Neighsay whirled his head around to see Vapor Trail, angelic white wings fully extended, and blowing up a howling, slashing gale of hurricane force winds. Nearby trees were beginning to creak and crack, bending in the gales, as Neighsay stood his ground, trying to avoid losing his footing.

He started to lose his footing and fly. He did a movement of his hands, horn glowing orange once more, causing some strange black holes to open up and out of those black holes chains of lighting. A few of them would stab into Sunset not enough to hurt her to surprise her and send a charge, the sheer voltage knocking Sunset unconscious. A few would wrap around Lighting Dust and he would use that to slingshot himself and smash his helmed head into hers knocking her out. He smirked, as he saw Robert’s fallen Shadow Saber implanted in the ground and Vapor backing away from Neighsay in fear.

“Oh, it pains me to do this…” Neighsay muttered, shaking his head. “I always hate to lose good ponies,” he remarked, picking up the katana and pulling it out of the ground before welding it alongside his own sword. “I didn’t want to kill, not really, but this should show Celestia that I’m the only one qualified to defend Equestria, not anyone else.”

Raising the blades, Vapor shut her eyes and braced for death. The blades came down but did not meet flesh. Instead, metal meeting metal was heard and Vapor’s eyes shot wide open as Goldar stood above her, his massive blade meeting Neighsay’s own…

Far below Canterlot, lay a maze of crystal caverns mostly long forgotten by the populace at large. Mostly. They’d only recently been rediscovered by one Twilight Sparkle after she was sent down here by Chrysalis to keep from interfering with her invasion of Canterlot during Shining Armor and Princess Cadence's wedding. Further exploration teams had later been sent down after this, with Celestia realizing that via not remembering these caverns and shutting them off or least keeping them under armed guard they were leaving open a very wide hole in their city’s defenses.

Glittering gems of every color and every size decorated the walls, practically plastering them in color. Only the caves of the Crystal Empire could be more grand. The walls were lined with crystals of the finest shapes and size, and sparkling bright purple and red as they glittered in the sunlight peeking through a small crack in the cavern ceiling. Geodes and gemstones of all shapes and sizes littered the caverns. Some smoothed and refined, while others retained a spikier form. What would have been a lightless cave had been transformed into a piece of art with how the light reflected off of each and every crystal in sight, creating a kaleidoscope of lights that bathed every corner of the cave. It was tranquil, peaceful and if one Sweetie Drops AKA Bon-Bon as she was mostly known had known about this place earlier, she admitted she probably would have come here just for some peace and quiet, possibly to update her personal memoirs or something.

But that wasn’t why she was here today, with one Rarity Belle in tow. Recently, it had been discovered by guards exploring some of the deeper tunnels branching off from the main caverns that these caves linked up with the Diamond Dog mines, explaining why there had been some former Royal Guardsmen in the slaves Sweetie had freed as Kamen Rider Skull, agent of SMILE. Now, Sweetie was no big fan of going back into these caverns as she still had the nightmares of what she’d seen in the Diamond Dog slave mines, but she knew she had to do it. That massive crystal she’d seen in the mines, Earth’s True Gaia Memory was a source that had to be mined.

Now that she thought about it, she’d seen serpentine-like patterns of crystals branching off from the True Gaia Memory as the Alternate Maud’s notes referred to it as. Each pattern undoubtedly hid more Gaia Memories, and each had to be collected and refined before any outside source used them for their own insidious purposes. On a normal day, Sweetie Drops figured she could take a mission like this alone, but Rarity was there to lend her moral support as she alone understood wholeheartedly why Sweetie was afraid of the Dogs having experienced their ‘tender loving care’ herself once. Plus, it helped Rarity had an eye for gems and the Bomb Gaia Memory to boot. Never hurt to have someone with a keen eye for both shooting and looting on your side.

“Ooh, this one looks good,” Rarity remarked, using a magically created pick to pry a red stone out of the walls. The stone she noted, felt warm to the touch. “Probably could refine this into something useful.”

“Pocket it,” Sweetie commented, using a pick of her own on another section of the walls. Strapped to her belt, aside from the Skull Memory was this deep purple one marked with a J. “Keep looking, the last thing anybody wants is some moron with a serious god complex getting ahold of any of these.”

“Yeah, I can think of a few like that…” Rarity chuckled to herself. “Really, I must thank SMILE revealing themselves to me, if only in private and giving me this Gaia Memory for self-defense. Came quite in handy recently,” she remarked, holding up the Bomb Gaia Memory.

“Yeah, so I heard…” Sweetie chuckled, having heard of the tussle with this ‘Shadow Line’ as they’d called themselves from Celestia herself. Then again, she would know, wouldn’t she?

“So, how goes the new additions to the national response plan?” Rarity asked curiously as she continued her work, unearthing several more Gaia Memories in the process and pocketing them in her purse. “Or is that… classified?”

Sweetie Drops’ head whipped around to face her. “How do you even know about that?” she demanded.

“A lady hears things. Twilight may or may not have informed me someone was getting something done up here, she didn’t just elaborate on what.” Rarity laughed nervously.

“Remind me to pay her a visit, not as Bon-Bon and kindly ask her to keep certain secrets to herself…” Sweetie sighed.

“Well, it was going to slip out sooner or later,” Rarity remarked. “If not from Twilight’s mouth, maybe from Luna’s or Sunset’s.”

Sweetie groaned. “Yeah… I suppose you’re right about that,” she muttered before her ears perked up at the sound of what she thought to be boots marching in rhythmic format somewhere above, the cavern’s acoustics carrying them very well. “Hey, wait… You hear that?”

Rarity nodded, going for her magnum and readying herself, her horn aglow as she heard a shout of: “Fan out, find those two!”

Rarity and Sweetie ducked behind a corner magnums in hand as they saw gold warriors themed after Pterodactyls holding massive shields and energy rifles connected to power packs marching into the corridor.

“I thought the only dino-themed Ranger Sentries on our side were based on the original Mighty Morphin’ team?” Rarity whispered nervously. Sweetie’s eyes narrowed.

“Who says they’re on our side?” she hissed out.

“You don’t mean…?” Rarity whispered, eyes widened.

“Yeah, they’re from Dai-Shocker. And I doubt they’re alone.”

Sure enough, from somewhere above the sound of swords clashing was heard. Rarity and Sweetie shared a look, with the SMILE agent pulling out a Lost Driver and slapping it onto her waist before tossing another to Rarity.

“This was… meant for someone else, but I guess you’ll have to do for now,” Sweetie said, pressing down on her Gaia Memory and slamming it into her belt.

“Skull!”

She knew what she had to do, even as she fingered the Skull Memory. She never wanted to be a hero, but it seemed fate had other plans in mind. “Henshin!”

“R-Right…” Rarity murmured, placing the Lost Driver on her waist knowing exactly the responsibility she was about to be entrusted with. “Well, I do love new experiences and all that…”

“Joker!”

“Henshin!” Rarity cried as both she and Sweetie were covered in bodysuits, Sweetie assuming the familiar form of Kamen Rider Skull fedora and all and Rarity being covered in a black bodysuit with two insect-like red eyes and a silver head crest.

“Riders! Open fire!” the sentries slammed their shields into the ground, opening fire on the pair. “Keep them pinned down, Genm will deal with the alicorn!”

Sweetie’s eyes widened under the helmet, knowing that name from SMILE’s files and having no doubts as to who the alicorn was.

“Rarity, deal with these idiots, we need to worry about the big fish!” she barked, as both she and Rarity pressed themselves up against the cavern walls.

“Got just the thing. Really boys, going to all this trouble for moi? You shouldn’t have!” Rarity remarked, pulling out her magnum and slamming the Bomb Gaia Memory into it, pressing the trigger and sending several balls of explosive energy at the Gold Ptera Sentries, smashing through their shields and knocking them flat.

Rarity and Sweetie, or rather Kamen Riders Skull and Joker ran up through the caverns taking down any Ranger Sentries that blocked their path. Soon, they were in the Castle’s throne room watching Celestia as the Solaris Knight fend off a very familiar stark-white form with Feather Edge. The bloodied bodies of multiple Samurai Sentries lay around them.

“Spiky anime-style hair, red and blue eyes? Yep, that’d be Gemn alright.” Rarity remembered from her Twilight’s description, and shuddered to think that underneath that crime against fashion was a version of Twilight gone mad.

“Hey, you in the suit!” Sweetie shouted, firing off several shots at Midnight/Gemn.

Genm shrugged off the shots, completely ignoring them. “Seems a few gnats decided to interrupt. What a nuisance.”

“Gnats!?” Rarity screeched out, quite offended. “You really need to learn some manners, but firstly allow us to properly introduce ourselves Twilight,” Rarity sneered not caring for fancy self-given names of a madmare. “Guess you can call me Kamen Rider Joker, and this is Kamen Rider Skull.”

“You say that like I care.” Genm grabbed Celestia by the hand, tossing her through a wall. “Go back to your banal seamstress work, Belle. I heard there's a shortage of rags in the slums.”

“Oh, pardon me but it seems I must stand corrected,” Rarity remarked even as she noted Celestia picking herself up out of the rubble. “You really need to learn some manners. Now a lady, she may not start fights, but I’m very well allowed to finish them.”

With that, she used another Bomb Maximum Drive on Gemn, making the mare stagger backwards.

“I don’t care.” Genm glared back, taking the blow. “Your pathetic sham of a life doesn’t interest me in the slightest. All those fancy parties and colorful rags don’t make your life meaningful, they merely highlight what a shallow, vapid, imbecile you are.” Ripping the wrist blade out of a fallen sentry, she threw the shard of metal at Rarity’s chest.

Spinning out of the way, and catching the blade with her magic, Rarity tossed it aside and began trading punches with Gemn. “You know something, fancy parties, and what you call colorful rags may not make my life meaningful, but seeing a pony’s face light up when presented with exactly what they ordered, that’s what makes it all the while for me. The hard hours of work, the careful planning and the long stressful nights just to bring some simple joy to somepony’s life. I imagine you never experienced any of that. You are just someone concerned with your next experiment, never thinking beyond that and for that I pity you.” Rarity stated, punching Gemn with a hard right hook making her stagger.

Genm grabbed Rarity’s horn, slamming her fist into her stomach. “And what would you know about me, unicorn? I’m not like that sheltered fool you call a friend. You call stitching fabric together work? You delusional bitch.” Slamming Rarity’s head into her knee, she shattered the rider’s helmet, blood spattering her chest plate.

“Does that anger you?” Rarity asked, wiping blood away from her mouth. “You know, I’ve noticed something about you as well. And that is the simple fact that you are very unobservant.”

Genm turned, seeing a very angry helmetless Celestia fire a blast of pure hot searing flame at Gemn from her horn, with Rarity diving out of the way just in time. Genm merely stood in place, the fire licking at her armor.

Giddy laughter escaped her helmet. “Oh you poor, simple-minded fools. Are your brains so small you can’t grasp true immortality? I’ll make it simple for you: you can hit me as hard and as much as you like, but you’ll never beat me.”

“You know,” Celestia sighed. “Frankly my dear student, I don’t give a damn. Immortality, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Eventually, one day soon I suspect, you’ll find yourself standing alone while everyone else you knew died out long ago. I can imagine even you not being able to stand that, a crushing loneliness nothing will ever be able to heal. Frankly, as an alternate version of one of my favorite students and as a Kamen Rider as they call it, you’re nothing but a disappointment,” she remarked, grabbing Gemn by the throat, and then tossing her into her throne, as Skull fired shot after shot into Gemn’s body. “Sure, we can’t kill you, at least not conventionally, but I can imagine this doesn’t exactly feel particularly pleasant, and a trip into Tartarus into a pool of boiling oil probably wouldn’t either. Ponies say I’m too soft, can’t make the big decisions. They forget who I once was all too easily. A warrior, the Solar Invictus. Do I make myself und-”

Celestia’s speech was interrupted by an axe kick to the head. “You truly do you like the sound of your own voice.”

“I could say the same for you,” Celestia remarked. “Seems you love to talk, really. Simple question for you, not hard to ask.”

Without missing a beat, Gemn pounced on Celestia. Straddling her, the deranged Rider began slamming her fists into Celestia’s face. “Get off your high horse, you equine troglodyte.” The floor cracked with each blow, Gemn’s white gloves staining red.

“You know how rude it is to interrupt a teacher when she’s trying to speak? Again, simple question. Why do you think Lord Drakkon never managed to create Solaris Knight sentries? Long and short of it, when I got my hands on this morpher, I took certain measures to make sure nobody but myself could ever use its powers. So really, this battle is entirely pointless. Your little venture was in vain, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia stated.

Gemn laughed, a dark hateful sound. “You think that would stop Sentry production? I’ll give you a little lesson of my own. It doesn’t matter if you locked the morpher. All we need to do is hook it up to a machine and tap into it’s connection to the Grid. Your little precautions are all for naught sadly.”

“And what would you end up with? Demons that burn inside, wanting to die as soon as they morphed? That’s what this Morpher and it’s powers does to anyone who dares use them besides me now.” Celestia remarked. She, of course, was bluffing. She wouldn’t do anything so cruel, at least not now. She’d removed that little feature as soon as she purified the morpher.

“I didn’t think you were this dense. We aren’t using the morpher, we’re merely using it as a conduit for the powers themselves. It’s really not that hard to figure out. And please, you think we can’t adjust those powers?” Genm slammed her fist into Celestia’s jaw, a few teeth plinking against her helmet.

A powerful gust of hot wind sent Gemn flying off of Celestia and down to the other side of the throne room and she smashed through the two great wooden doors. While Gemn flew through the air, both Rarity and Sweetie activated their Maximum Drives and punched Gemn in the gut.

“You really do talk too much…” Skull sighed, shaking her head as Gemm recovered. The Rider tried to run towards Celestia in a rage, but was only sent flying backwards via a blast of magic from Rarity.

“And that was for getting blood in my mane!” Rarity exclaimed. “Honestly dear, when will you learn? You and your ilk are not, nor ever will be welcome here. Now would you kindly get lost?”

Gemn summoned a bow, firing off an energy bolt that pierced Rarity’s shoulder. She fired another at Sweetie Drops’ leg, walking past them. Ignoring their taunts and protests, she made her way back to Celestia. “Now, where were we?”

“Let’s see, you hurting my subjects, spouting off arrogant nonsensical babbles. Am I not correct? Now, let’s see what exactly makes you tick...” Celestia asked before thrusting her hand forwards and diving into Gemn’s mind.

Celestia, while she didn’t see much, got what one might call… flashes of Twilight’s upbringing. An advanced but grim city where tall glass skyscrapers gleamed like shards of crystal with the dwellers inside constantly under ever-watchful eyes. A family. Not too different from any other, just trying to make ends meet. Three children of different ages but wearing matching uniforms of what she assumed was a school. A gunshot accompanied a bright flash and suddenly, the smallest of the three children was no longer in the memory. Obsession came after the fact, a human resembling in some ways her Twilight Sparkle constantly in laboratories, writing down facts and formulas, developing technologies beyond Celestia’s comprehension. Of course, this attracted the attention of several unsavory lots. It was at first, defense.

“Gachan! Level up! Mighty Jump! Mighty Kick! Migh~ty Actio~n X!” a belt via Twilight’s own design proclaimed, but all good intentions in this world got twisted at one point or another. She wanted to save people, but in what could only be called a twisted manner of thinking. Soon Twilight no longer played the hero, but the villain and relished in it. The princess’s stomach churned, watching as this Twilight seemed to be performing brutal experiments on girls around her own age. The last thing that Celestia could force herself to watch was this Twilight subjecting herself to similar experiments and take on her current appearance.

"Buggle Up! Danger! Danger! (Genocide!) Death the Crisis! Dangerous Zombie!”

That was the last scene Celestia saw before she pulled herself out of Twilight’s mind, and her eyes narrowed.

“You are not my student,” she growled out, almost reaching Solar Flare levels of venom. But there was something else, a protective warmth as well. Something that Solar Flare had never possessed. “Leave, now. Before I am forced to do something I will not regret. You say you’re immortal, would you like to test that theory?” Celestia asked, as both Skull and Joker’s magnums cocked and were aimed at Gemn.

“Skull, Maximum Drive!”

“Bomb, Maximum Drive!”

Genm trembled, a hand clutching her head. “You bitch! I’m better than your pathetic student! Everything I have I made myself!” Her head snapped to the side, her posture loosening. “S-Spike? How did?” She stepped back, shaking her head. “It’s just a hallucination. Nothing more.” Despite this assurance, her focus continued to drift elsewhere. A growl tore out of her throat and she clutched at her head. “Dammit all! I can’t work like this!”

With that, the air shimmered around her and Gemn vanished as Rarity and Sweetie Drops canceled their transformations and Celestia demorphed.

“...You know, no offense but I really don’t think I’m cut out for this superhero gig, full-time I mean.” Rarity laughed nervously, and Sweetie returned it.

“Agreed.”

“WHAT!?!” Neighsay roared as Goldar intercepted the blow before he delivered a solid punch to the stomach flattering the Chancellor, and sending the Shadow Saber flying from his grip leading the blade to impale itself in the ground once more.

As Goldar rested his sword on his shoulder, Neighsay began to chuckle as he picked himself off the ground.

“...So, this is how low Equestria’s so-called mightiest defenders have fallen, consorting with a mutated ape, one who threatens this country’s very livelihood!” the madman laughed, before drawing back his bow and firing a sonic arrow blast. Goldar didn’t bother moving, and simply sliced the arrow in two with one quick swing of his blade.

“You misunderstand my intent,” Goldar remarked as he went blade to blade with Neighsay, either tanking or leaping over slashes from the sonic arrow before countering with blade strikes of his own. “I do not ‘consort’ with the Rangers, not in the slightest,” he stated, punching Neighsay in the face making him stagger. “The only reason I’m saving them is because I shall be the only one to kill them, not you, not Retinax, not even that deranged space pirate and his crew. You are simply an obstacle in my way.”

“An… An obstacle?” Neighsay laughed, opening up more wormholes and shooting out more lightning chains as walls of flame erupted all around the twosome encasing them in a burning circle. “Is that what you think me?”

“Yes, quite,” Goldar replied dismissively, not entirely impressed by Neighsay’s tactics. His third magical eye appeared and channeled the power of Oculous of the Ten Terrors firing off impossibly accurate energy shots that smashed through the lightning chains. “It is your own pride, and your own bigotry to anything non-Equestrian that keeps you from seeing this. Your Princess and her love is not unconditional.”

“That’s all I’ve ever done!” Neighsay roared as he clashed blades with Goldar, sparks flying as the weapons met again and again. “I’m doing all of this in her name! Defending Equestria from any manner of-”

He was cut off by another punch to the face, this one shattering Neighsay's helmet and drawing blood.

“Like I said, Celestia’s love is not unconditional. She doesn’t love us monsters. And she certainly does not love you,” Goldar retorted, as the Rangers began recovering and taking in this sight, not entirely sure what to think about any of this. Mind you, not that any of them were complaining about seeing Neighsay’s ass get handed to him. It was just the one doing it that surprised them. “In fact, you doing all of this in her name, it’d probably make her puke,” Goldar stated, firing a blast of energy from the griffon’s mouth on his chest sending Neighsay into a stone wall. “While I’m not a fan of these Rangers, far from it, I will give them this. They’re far better people or ponies than you could ever hope to be. Your vision is limited to Equestria only, and just it’s pony population. Theirs is not. You do things only for the awards, and the status it’ll get you in the nobility’s eyes. You only share one common trait with the Rangers, aside from the fancy suits. None of you don’t know any of who you defend, or claim to defend in your case Neighsay. Does dying frighten you?” Goldar asked. “It doesn’t frighten them. Now, I could just kill them now, but I want them to be at full strength when they fight me and die. Much more fun that way.”

“He’s right…” Sunset coughed out, supporting Robert on her shoulder. We do this thing for Equestria and her people. We do it for Equus and her people. Young or old, griffon, zebra, dragon, or pony. We don't have to know you all. We do it anyway. And it's not the dying that frightens us. It's never having stood up and fought for you. I am Sunset Shimmer, of the Power Rangers Wild Force and the Princess of Empathy, and dying has never frightened me.”

“We’ll see in time Sunset Shimmer, we’ll see in time,” Goldar remarked and chuckled darkly at some unknown private joke before teleporting out. Neighsay, as he recovered canceled his transformation.

“This… this is not over, you understand me? This is not over!” he shouted, before teleporting out.

“Quite,” Sunset stated, with her eyes narrowed. “Quite so.”

Author's Notes:

Okay, first off massive thank yous to Shagohad12, Thunderclap, and Megaskullmon for their contributions to this chapter. Megaskullmon for the second half of Neighsay VS the Rangers, and Thunder and Shagohad for the return of Midnight Sparkle/Kamen Rider Gemn.

Now, the elephant in the room. Yep, Shattered Grid's astounding and epic conclusion has finally dropped late last month. Perfect way to end the Labor Day weekend, I'd say speaking from experience If you haven't read it already, go do it now! Link below.

https://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Mighty-Morphin-Power-Rangers-Shattered-Grid

Already spoiled too much with the comment about the Emissaries Three, I really don't want to spoil anything else for those who haven't read this issue.

On a side note, I really didn't exactly mean for the Castlevania shout-outs (And I only realized just how apt they are for this chapter, considering one of the villains of the piece) to go this far. I just figured the breaking speech Blue Fangs used on that 'Bishop' was very apt to be paraphrased and used on Neighsay, considering how similar they are in some aspects, using their bigotry and their fondness for their respective Gods as excuses for their actions.

Agh, anyways, enough of my rambling. As ever, comments, thoughts, and critique are welcome.