Sunset Shimmer’s POV:

You know, there was a time I thought nothing could stop us. Call it overconfidence, call it a sense of bravado or perhaps a permanent form of being high after we as a team had scored victory after victory. In all honesty, I don’t know exactly when it did get to me, this little bout of stupidity and arrogance, but I think I can narrow it down. Probably started up right after the time we defeated Goldar for the first time, alongside Zen-Aku -The damned wolf- and his Predazord, and the Red Dragon Thunderzord. You remember that right? Well, if not, let me give you a quick recap before I die.

I’d just come back from the hospital, and like some sort of blazing phoenix burning bright, I returned stronger than ever. And just in time too, considering I saw that gold griffon ...baboon… whatever the fuck he is… standing over my team -My team, my family- ready to murder them. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’d killed Rangers before, considering Kingsley did tell me that he was older than the Earth itself at one point. I could believe it, even if Kingsley told me that this version of Goldar that I’d fought had been supercharged beyond belief. He’d admitted he was terrified of even seeing Golder alive and well, and that was before knowing just how much power he’d been given.

A right cross hit me across the face, drawing blood from my lip. My helmet, it lay nearby, visor shattered from a powerful kick. One of my shoulder pads was about ready to fall off, cracked and battered from battle.

I looked into the eyes of my opponent, her blood red visor untinted briefly allowing me to me to see those violet eyes of hers. Guess she wanted me to know the face of my killer. I felt a powerful punch hit me in the stomach, sending me flying back into a wall as bricks flew everywhere. Chuckling, the mostly white-suited figure rested her sword on her shoulder. A jagged black arm blade lay nearby, sliced off with a lucky swing of my Phoenix Blade.

I fired off a green blast of magic from my horn, but a dark red shield of hard light met it in midair. Nearby, I looked at the unconscious forms of both Sunburst and Robert. Vapor and Lightning probably lay somewhere nearby as well. Mystic Mother only knew what state they were in.

“Oh Sunset, when are you going to learn?” the White Ranger -Hah, that was a laugh!- as she called herself chuckled. Her voice was mostly disguised, but I knew who it was under that helmet of hers. “Don’t you get it yet? Your entire team, defeated. Bodies broken, close to death! Retinax wanted a Ranger Killer, well… He got one in moi.”

Arrogance, that swagger. Seemed some things we did share, as much as I hated to admit it. Retinax had actually pulled it off, believe it or not. He’d created the perfect opponent, something to match our every move. A Ranger to wipe us all out in one clean stroke.

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists as I picked myself off the ground, and groaned out as I clutched my chest in pain.

“Feeling that? Oh, I’m sorry… Did I hit the pretty little Princess too hard? I’d have thought one of Celestia’s prized student would have put up more of a fight!” the Ranger taunted. A blood red bolt of magic was sent flying towards me, and my last thought before it hit was simple.

So that’s how the world went out for me, not with a bang but a whimper.

About Two Weeks Earlier...

Robert grunted out in pain as he grasped for a rock above him. Whose bloody stupid idea was this again?

“Oh right, mine…” he thought to himself while he shook his head before thinking in his native language: “Heilige Scheiße, ich bin ein höllischer Idiot … And all just to impress the girl I… Well, not entirely sure where my relationship stands with her.”

From his phone, hitched to his belt, music played. Joan Jett’s version of Light of Day, to be accurate.

“Well I've been out of the woods for six days and nights now
Well I'm a little hot wired, but I'm feeling alright
I got some money in my pocket and a long lean ride
I got to make it down to Galveston by Saturday night, now

“Well I'm a little down under, but I'm feeling O.K.
Got a little lost along the way
I'm just around the corner to the light of day
Well, I'm just around the corner to the light of day...”

“You alright up there?” A voice called from several feet below. Robert smiled at the sound of it.

To be perfectly honest with herself, Sunset wasn’t sure where her relationship stood with Robert either. It seemed like one minute he wanted to commit, but the next… She had caught his eyes wandering from time to time, especially whenever he saw Luna. She knew they had a history, she wasn’t stupid after all.

She deeply suspected her boyfriend still harbored feelings for the Lunar Princess, and she the same. If Sunset was surprised by anything, it was their relationship had lasted this long. They’d been together for several months, and yet they still hadn’t said that they loved each other yet. Well, they’d said it, but Sunset wasn’t sure if either of them really meant it when they said it.

“Oh, I’m fine, Sunset-Chan,” Robert replied with a foxy smirk. “Completely and utter-Woah!”

He slipped for a second, and would have fallen right towards the ground below had his harness not kept that from happening… Well, that and something else. He heard a whoosh of flame and found himself in Sunset’s arms.

“Hey, thought we agreed on you not rescuing me if I fell. Said I could do this on my own, you know,”

“...Yeah, that was before I figured out you’re an incompetent idiot at this,” Sunset replied, her head looking over his shoulder. “If you actually knew what you were doing, wouldn’t have had to come to a lightspeed rescue now would I?”

“...Who’s to say I’m not faking, and I just wanted you to wrap me in your arms?” Robert joked. He felt Sunset’s eyes glaring into the back of his skull. “...Okay, not falling for that one are you?”

“Nope...” Sunset sighed. “You’re a terrible liar, you know that right?”

“Eh, one of my faults.” her boyfriend admitted.

“How’d you even make it as a detective?” Sunset had to ask.

“Said I was one… Didn’t mean I was good at my job all the time. Just when I needed to be,” Robert sniped back. “Sure, I can lie to anyone and everyone… Well, almost anyone and everyone but that’s only when I have to lie.”

“...Why do I not believe that? And what do you mean by almost everyone?” Sunset asked, eyebrow raised. Robert sniffed the air, she smelled like lavender today. “Robert?” she pressed when she didn’t receive an answer.

“W-Well, let’s see… There’s my commanding officers, you really can’t lie to them,” the Orange Ranger stuttered out nervously, still feeling Sunset’s eyes on him. “Trust me, Cruger’s eyes… They see right through you. And Sky’s… And Doctor Manx’s… Well, pretty much every high ranking officer at SPD really. Did you know one of them’s a parrot?”

“You’re deflecting,” Sunset remarked. “Making irrelevant remarks to try and get away from the real issue.”

“Which is?” Robert asked, his voice taking on an interrogative tone. “This is going to be a thing for us, isn’t it? Each one of us trying to figure the other out. Like Light Yagami and L. ...Only without the Serial Killer who thinks he’s the next God/Sherlock Holmes caliber Detective thing. ...Wrote Yaoi Fanfiction about them you know, and Hell… If you’re ever into roleplaying…”

“Robert!” Sunset snapped.

“Right, right. Keep on topic. ...Though could we do this some other time,” he corrected himself, before going back into a nervous state, when he remembered where exactly he was. “Like when I’m not hanging off a cliff with only you, who I can’t entirely trust to not drop me right now, and a harness to keep me from falling to my death?”

“Alright…” Sunset sighed before pulling him upwards to the top of the cliff with a flap of her wings and unhitching his harness. “Now, see… That’s the issue I have with you right now. Lack of trust, you just can’t seem to be in a really committed relationship.”

“To be fair… It is my first one,” Robert argued.

“Yeah, I’ll give you that…” Sunset admitted with a sigh. “But I’m not sure I can trust you. Sure, you’re nice and all, but I do know you have a history. You’ve told me yourself, you’ve pulled a love ‘em and leave ‘em tactic on so many women over the years it’s become a habit of yours. How do I know you won’t do the same to me?” she asked.

“I won’t, I promise you that,” Robert replied. “First… No, the second woman I ever loved, honestly. First being Luna of course.”

“That’s the thing as well,” Sunset replied sadly. “You’re in love with her as well, despite your… odd relationship status. And don’t think you can lie to me about that, I can see it in your eyes.”

Robert’s silence said it all on the matter.

“...Yeah, I figured about as much…” Sunset muttered sadly, wiping a tear from her eye. “How do I know I’m not just another... possession for you? Do… Do you love me?”

“Y-yes, I do...” Robert replied, but there was hesitation in his voice. And that was all Sunset needed. She closed her eyes and turned her back on him. Expanding her wings, she took to the skies once more and headed back towards Ponyville.

Robert sighed to himself. He fell to his knees and whispered sadly “Es tut mir leid ... Tut mir leid, dass ich so ein Idiot bin…”

Tears rolled down his cheeks as the song ended and began to fade out.

“I'm just around the corner to the light of day
Just around the corner to the light of day
Just around the corner to the light of day
Just around the corner to the light of day…”

“Yeah right,” Robert muttered, muting his phone. “Fuck that.”

Egypt: Somnambula

Vapor found herself wiping the sweat off her brow as she, Lightning and Daring Do -In her A.K. Yearling disguise- bounced and rattled in the backseat of an old Land Rover on a dusty path leading to a town. As she coughed from the sheer dust stirred up, Lightning looked out the window and she saw the Great Pyramids rising high into the sky in the distance.

Local music played from a radio, unintelligible of course unless you were fluent in Egyptian. And none of the three rangers aside from Daring of course was. Not that she cared enough to translate it right now.

“Something on your mind Vapor… You know, aside from the obvious?” Lightning asked, her flight goggles over her eyes to keep the dust from getting in them. Currently, she was looking at her sister’s expression.

“Yeah, Robert, he seems a bit… off lately,” the white mare explained, also wearing her goggles over her eyes for the same reason. They, along with Daring, were clad in hijabs to blend in with the local color. “I dunno how to explain it, he just doesn’t seem himself. Past few days, he’s been… I guess, morose you’d call it?”

“Okay… I admit, that is worrying,” Lightning sighed, surprised at an abrupt character change in the Ranger’s character. Only other two times he’d been like that in her memory at least was when Sunset was in the hospital, and when he’d learned Solar Flare had exterminated humanity. And even then, both times his quick temper had showed itself. “He snapping at anybody?”

“No, not even that. He’s just… I don’t know, depressed I guess you’d call it…” Vapor mused. “Something’s wrong, and I know it.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Lightning admitted, surprising even herself. A few months back, she wouldn’t have given a damn about Robert, but times had changed starting off with their shared experience with Bunglay, and then Robert helping her save Silver Spoon from a fiery death and helping to fend off Prince Olympius in the process. “He’s not cracking any of his usual jokes, nor when that Org showed up yesterday did he even say that phrase of his that he likes so much I can’t pronounce for the life of me or make a show of himself. It’s just not right…”

“So, this is what you do in your off-time,” Daring remarked, showing a slight smile for the first time all day since Lightning and Vapor had met up with her. “Gossip about your teammates and your troubles.”

“What’s wrong with a bit of gossip?” Lightning asked. “Besides, we’re just showing concern. I mean, what if it was one of your teammates who’s acting… off?”

“I work alone remember?” Daring reminded before murmuring quietly: “And now… even that may come to an end…”

Vapor sighed to herself sadly, remembering how they’d got here in the first place…

A few hours ago, Vapor and Lightning had been at A.K.’s cottage, tucked away in a small forest outside Canterlot. Vapor had gotten word of a big change in A.K’s writing, and as big as a fan she was, she just had to meet her in person to find out for herself. Somehow, and she wasn’t quite sure how it’d happened, Lightning had found herself dragged along.

“Hey Daring, open up!” Lightning shouted as she banged on the door, and it was quickly opened by one very annoyed looking Daring Do. Her Dino Morpher rested in it’s hip mounted holster, and as ever, her Energem around her neck.

“Okay, how’d you even find me?” Daring asked, eyes narrowing. “...Wait, don’t tell me, Rainbow Dash blabbed your location to me. Know you two have been dating on and off, or at least very good friends.”

“How do-” Lightning started before Daring cut her off.

“We exchange letters.” she replied simply.

“Actually, Princess Shayla managed to find your house with that fountain of hers and we just simply teleported down here.” Vapor answered.

“...Of course she did. Come in…” Daring muttered as she let them inside. She looked as if she hadn’t slept in days.

“Wait, big change in your writing?” Vapor asked, her eyes widening in surprise as her thoughts ran rampant as to what Daring could have possibly meant. She then let out a little squee as an idea came to her. “Wait, don’t tell me you’ve got a… love interest?”

Daring chuckled bitterly.

“If it were only that…” she muttered. “Oh chica, envidio tu ingenuidad…”

She then put a notepad in front of both Vapor and Lightning, and their eyes widened.

“Big shakeup indeed…” Lightning murmured, as Vapor’s jaw dropped. The title of the unfinished novel read: “Daring Do’s Last Adventure”.

“Wait, wait, wait, what do you mean this is going to be your last adventure?” Vapor asked in disbelief. Daring sighed to herself.

“Look, I already explained everything to the Ponyville Chronicle,” she replied, with a tone of exasperation. “Listen, it’s over and done with. Nothing you can do to change it, my next book-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lightning butted in as she picked up a piece of newspaper. “What you did say was, and I quote “Author A. K. Yearling announced yesterday that the next adventure novel in her popular series, 'Daring Do and the Curse of the Pharaoh's Tomb', will be her last. Yearling looks forward to her retirement.”

“Sorta explains it all really, doesn’t it?” Daring asked bitterly, and Vapor picked up on her tone. She didn’t sound overjoyed to be retiring, far from it. No, she sounded almost… broken. Meanwhile, Lightning continued on.

“It just says you're giving up writing stories, nothing else. But here’s the thing, most ponies -Aside from us Rangers, and the Mane Six, possibly the Princesses if I had to bet any bits on it- don't know that you actually are Daring Do and that the stories are real. So what you're really saying is that you're giving up being Daring Do, but you're not saying exactly why!”

Daring groaned, knowing that Lightning wouldn’t be swayed. She was just as stubborn as her marefriend, and had the same sense of loyalty, if to her family, as her as well.

“...I can see why Rainbow likes you, you two are so much like in so many ways,” she muttered before sighing. “Alright, if you really want to know... My last quest took me to a village in Egypt, where I started seeing… Well, read for yourself.”

She fished out a bunch of newspaper clippings from her pocket, and handed them over to both Vapor and Lightning.

“Wake Of Destruction: Daring Do Ruins Entire Village Marketplace!” Vapor read, while another headline from Lightning sported: "Dare Or Scare: Local Rogue Daring Do Involved In Frightful Fiasco".

Lightning read this with a tone of skepticism.

“Now you see the problem, everypony’s mad at me everywhere I go over there…” she muttered, flumping down into an armchair. Vapor put a supporting hand on her shoulder.

“Now, that’s not true and you know it. They're not mad at A. K. Yearling. They're only mad at Daring Do. All we gotta do is-”

Daring help up a finger to silence her.

“I know what you’re thinking, and it won’t work. My books aren’t sold over there.”

“So?” Vapor asked. “Good thing then, ponies don’t know you as Daring Do over there, they’d only see A.K. Yearling, wouldn’t they?”

Daring shook her head with yet another sigh.

“Still her publisher to the world’s eye, and Egypt is flocked with tourists. One pony from Equestria recognizes me, and they’d blab I write about Daring…” she trailed off, and Lightning suddenly grabbed her by the arm.

“Alright, you know what?” she asked, channeling her inner Spitfire. “Had enough of this bullcrap of you sitting around feeling sorry for yourself, time to go over there and sort this stuff out! And no arguments!”

Vapor was snapped back to reality when the old and battered Land Rover pulled to a halt, and honked it’s horn and the driver shouted for everypony to get out.

“Well, we’re here, for all the good that’s going to do...” Daring muttered as she looked up at the village gates. Beyond them, lay a bustling marketplace (Flocked with not only locals, but with tourists as Daring had predicted) with various wares like local crafts (Pottery, beaded necklaces and such) and fruits on display and a giant statue base of two ponies. It had been almost utterly destroyed, leaving it almost unrecognizable.

“See what I mean?” she asked sadly. “I guess I've always been so focused on saving priceless relics and stopping the bad guys that I never really thought about the mess I leave behind…”

“This is so awesome! It looks just like that village in your last book where Daring Do recovers the Doomed Diadem from Doctor Caballeron and his gang who chase after her through the desert!” Vapor squealed, losing complete control of her priorities for the moment. Daring chuckled slightly, a brief wistful smile gracing her face before it faded.

“Well, It should really. I actually based that entire chapter on my experiences here in Somnambula,” she explained.

“...Mystic Mother above, I’d hate to try and pronounce that name,” Lightning muttered. Daring chuckled.

“Trust me, I’ve tried and it’s not an easy task,” she replied. She then heard whispers coming from the townsfolk. Always the same thing, grumbling about how Daring was a menace. Vapor heard them as well and put a supporting hand on her shoulder as Lightning let out a little growl.

“Bet those ungrateful bastards wouldn’t say shit like that to your face, now would they…?” she muttered in distaste as she balled up her fists.

“...Told you we should never have come back here…” Daring whispered, as she walked off.

“Oh no, none of that! Now that’s just stinkin’ thinkin’,” Vapor said, some of her accent coming out. “As a fellow Ranger, I have to make sure you stop believing that, and remind you of who you are. A hero.” she continued kindly, and Daring took off her glasses to wipe away a tear from her eye.

“You’d really do that? All of that, for me? Somepony you barely know?” she asked.

“Rangers together, right?” Vapor asked, and Daring nodded.

“...Easier said than done, look.” she then sighed, before pointing to the center of town. There, in the center of a mass crowd of both townsfolk and tourists, was a mysterious black-robed stallion.

“Here it is! The remains of your– I mean, our Somnambula statue! Now that Daring Do has destroyed it, tell me, where will we hang our glowpaz?” the stallion shouted.

“We don't even have any glowpaz because they were stolen by Daring Do!” Somepony shouted, and the townsfolk began booing as the tourists began murmuring amongst themselves, wondering if it could really be true.

“Oh yes…” Lightning exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. “Mysterious stallion who nopony’s ever seen before! Believe him!” she scoffed, while Vapor and Daring shared a look, both picking up on something the stallion said and filing it away for later.

As the crowd started to call for Daring’s head, as the robed stallion continued rambling on about the glowpaz, and Daring muttered: “Great, getting blamed for things I didn’t even do now…” Vapor had finally had enough of it.

“Daring Do would never steal anything! And okay, she destroyed your statue, but it was because she was trying to save y’all from Ahuizotl!” Vapor snapped. “You know, big jackel like thing… Yea high, weird paw thing on his tail? Comes from Mayan legend? That guy?”

The crowd blinked, although a few tourists muttered in recognition.

“What about the glowpaz?” the robed stallion asked.

“Do you have any proof of that?” Daring jumped in.

“Well… I… Er…” the robed stallion fumbled, and his voice began to sound uncannily familiar to Daring…

“Caballeron, what the hell are you doing?” a fearful voice shouted as rocks fell all around it’s owner.

“What I should have done in the first place, take this idol for myself! Good-bye, Daring Do!”

“Sure, she destroyed a crummy statue, but-” Lightning added in, and Daring facepalmed as the townsfolk gasped in horror as an older stallion dressed in robes holding a staff stepped forwards. He cleared his throat.

“Ahem! This was not some crummy old statue! It was the namesake of our town! If you want to understand us, you must first understand her. Somnambula, long ago, she and another one of the Pillars of Equestria saved our town from a great threat…” he began to explain. “Long ago, this village fell prey to an evil sphinx. Egypt, and New Roam were allies at the time, and they sent one of their best soldiers to help Somnambula fend off the menace...

2,900 Years ago…

It was just at the beginnings of the new Equestria, where empires were starting to form. The sphinx, a creature from ancient legend had put the town -Then unnamed- under siege and had laid waste to it’s crops, and taking what remained for herself. The town would have died out within the month, had it not been for them. Two heroes, who possessed legendary powers and weapons, and would never back down from any threat.

Flash Magnus, an orange pegasus wearing romane centurion garb holding an aegis shield and a short sword turned to his teammate, a tan colored pegasus wearing a white headdress adorned with a gold crescent moon. This could only be Somnambula.

As they looked up at the giant maroon colored sphinx in front of them, they swallowed. Flash glanced at his sword and shield, definitely wasn’t going to cut it.

“Well, she’s… big.” Somnambula swallowed nervously.

Flash only smirked in spite of his fear. He wasn’t afraid of death, and he knew his friend -And maybe more if he was lucky enough- wasn’t either. A Romane centurion never backed down, no matter the challenge. Bigger they are, the harder they fall.

“It’s Morphin’ Time!” he shouted, with his friend soon to follow the cry as braces appeared on their wrists.

“Blitz Power!” they shouted as they morphed into Rangers, with golden fives emblazoned on their chests with black visors on their helmets. Flash’s mask bore a square above it, while Somnambula’s had, above hers, an ellipse.

Two giant figures shimmered in the mist, and soon revealed themselves to be the Blue Wolf Shogunzord, and a pink version of the Falcon Shogunzord. The two leaped into the cockpits, and charged into battle weapons drawn. The Sphinx let out a roar, and charged towards them -Wings extended- even as the Pink Shogunzord swung its dual tongs and the Blue Shogunzord swung its lance...

“The battle waged, it was an epic one, and eventually, our town’s savior and namesake scored a powerful blow with her weapons and killed the sphinx. My ancestor at the time, Prince Hisan, was forever grateful, and gave her and Flash some his most precious treasure in his coffers, gems of pure glowpaz. He even asked for her hand in marriage, but Somnambula had her heart set on another.

She and Flash married, and Prince Hisan, although heartbroken, accepted that, and erected this statue in her honor…” the elder explained, before he growled. “Before Daring Do destroyed it!”

Daring had the decency to look guilty at that, she admitted to herself in her chase with Ahuizotl she had accidentally toppled the statue over.

“And then stole the glowpaz offerings to the two in the process! If Somnambula were here today, she would condemn Daring Do for destroying your– our symbol of hope!” the robed stallion shouted, before Vapor had enough of him, and marched up to him.

“Hold it right there, you said your glowpaz, not their glowpaz! As if it belongs to you alone!” Vapor accused, pointing a finger at him, and the townspeople began to mutter amongst themselves.

“Well, it is mine isn’t it? I mean, I live in this town do I not?” he asked innocently.

But the elder was quick to refute that.

“Then how come I have never seen you before until this week?” he inquired, eyebrow raised.

“I just moved in.” the mystery stallion replied.

“But that still doesn't explain how you knew about Daring destroying the statue, considering that happened before you got here!” he refuted, in true Phoenix Wright style. Vapor smirked, now was her chance.

She threw off his robes, revealing the stallion’s real identity, and the glowpaz necklaces underneath his attire. Daring’s eyes widened, as everyone glared at the not so good doctor.

“Caballeron!” she shouted in fury throwing off her disguise to the shocked crowd, as the pony in question found his eyes widening and the tourists gasped. Daring didn’t care anymore about her secret identity, she was far too furious to do so. “¡Tu bastardo traidor gusano! You tried to frame me for your own crimes!”

Vapor suddenly yelped as she found a knife held to her neck.

“That’s right, I did… Defeat after defeat, never winning once. So, I decided to get you where it would hurt you the most, your pride and your reputation! I admit, at first, I just wanted the glowpaz, but then I saw an opportunity to write you out of the story for good! And with the destruction you leave in your wake, it didn't take too much to convince ponies you were a villain!” Caballeron replied with a smug little smile, still holding the knife to Vapor’s neck.

“Why’s he still smiling, we could easily take him… What does he have up his sleeve?” Daring wondered to herself.

“And it almost worked…” Daring admitted sadly, as everypony continued glaring at Caballeron. “But you forgot about my friends, no matter what, they’ll always be there for me. Friendship is Magic after all, or haven’t you heard?” she smirked.

“Let my sister go!” Lightning shouted, before she and Daring found little red dots all over them. Daring growled, snipers. Of course, Caballeron never came alone…

“I’d suggest if you want to stay alive, my friends, you let me and Vapor leave peacefully!” Caballeron shouted as he dragged Vapor off to a nearby truck. He shouted something in Spanish, and the truck drove off towards into the desert as his men got moving, following after their boss/latest paycheck.

“W-we’ve g-got to get after her, and the glowpaz!” Lightning shouted, her voice breaking at the possibility of losing one of her closest companions.

“No… Not yet…” Daring trailed off, and Lightning stared at her.

“What the Tartarus is that supposed to mean!?!” Lightning snapped. “He’s got my sister!”

“First things first, there’s something you need to understand. The full history between me and Caballeron…”

Retinax’s Lair:

Meanwhile, back in Turtle Cove’s cave system, Retinax and Zen-Aku stood face to face with a pony, shackled to the ceiling. The pony’s face was hidden by the shadows, but she was feminine in form.

“Well, are you going to cooperate and let this happen nice and easy, or do I have to get… forceful?” Retinax asked. He only earned a spit in the eye for his troubles.

“Go to Tartarus!” the mare snarled. Zen-Aku wanted to reach out, and stop Retinax from what he was doing, but found he couldn’t. It would be so simple, a stab in the back with his dagger, but something… He didn’t know what it was, but it prevented him from doing so.

“Yes, that’s right Wolf, try and kill me if you like…” Retinax thought to himself as whispers came from the shadows. Hidden away out of sight was Doomwing, whispering a spell into Zen-Aku’s ears to keep him from doing anything Retinax didn’t want him to.

Retinax fingered something in one of his hands, it resembled an amulet of some sort. Dark grey and red in color, it had the design of a winged pegasus. Zen-Aku’s eyes widened as he caught sight of it… No, not even Retinax would be this crazy! Combining this power with that of the White Dino Gem…

“Master, are you sure this is needed?” Zen-Aku had to question, snippets of his true self breaking through. “This all seems a bit… much. Surely the Dino Gem would be enough to keep her in line!”

“It’s original bearer broke free of the gem’s control once, as I recall, so I’m only taking extra precautions…” Retinax replied as he approached the mare. Her eyes widened in fright as she saw what he had in hand.

“Please… No, not that! Anything but that!” the mare screamed in terror, knowing exactly what that power could do, she’d seen it for herself. She began to thrash back and forth in her restraints, trying to break free. She would have used her magic to break loose, but a ring had been placed around her horn, restricting her magic use.

“Doomwing, restrain her!” Retinax barked.

Cackling, the rooster-like monster walked forwards and grabbed the mare by one of her wrists as Retinax continued striding forwards. “Heh-he! Now hold still, this won’t hurt a bit!” Doomwing laughed, sounding exactly like a hyena to the mare’s ears.

She soon found the amulet placed around her neck, and her eyes went a deep crimson as the magic ring around her horn shattered as a rush of power filled the mare’s body. Acting fast, Retinax quickly pulled out the White Dino Gem and slammed in onto her wrist, and it transformed into a Pterodactyl themed bracer morpher.

The mare’s body glowed with a white light, before it was covered in the costume of the White Dino Ranger. Mostly white as the name implied, it was covered in jagged black streaks with a crimson red visor. If most Ranger costumes were designed to look protective, inspire hope in whoever saw them, this was the exact opposite. Its design only brought fear to whoever saw it…

And far away in the mountains, two eyes opened as the Dragozord took to the skies once more with two powerful flaps of his wings and a loud screech. His master had returned...

Author's Notes:

Okay, I admit, this was mainly just filler really, but it did introduce the White Dino Ranger fully -to an extent- and helped show that Robert and Sunset's relationship is not perfect. On that, thanks to LegoLassy for helping me with their scene.

Also, on thanks, a thank you to shagohad12 and RuinQueenofOblivion for helping me with implementing the Maskman suits, or at least two of them. Almost used the theme from the show, had I not run across that Egyptian music which worked much better. (Also, yay for me for finally using two of the Pillars of Equestria in a story!)

Now, one last thing, Super Ninja Steel. Please, for the love of god no spoilers please. (Unless there's a Ninja Steel Green or the Gold Ranger gains a Poncho, then you can tell me.) I haven't even gotten caught up on the first half of the show yet.

Next time: Daring unveils her full relationship with Caballeron and their falling out, while the new White Ranger tests her new powers and gains a new Megazord...