The Shining Armor

For the first few days away from Equestria, all went well. Despite the Doctor’s predictions, there had been no Dark Matter attacks or anything resembling such. Flashfire had surmised a simple solution. In his words: “We can’t ignore the possibility that with Lupus gone, his entire galaxy is in chaos. He had subordinates under him, and those subordinates had subordinates. It’s like a pyramid, with Lupus being the base to support everything in this case. Take away that base, and everything crumbles and falls into chaos. Everyone’s trying to grab power where they can, try to make it to the top and become Lupus’ successor. I doubt they’d be concerned with us, least not for the moment. They’re trying to re-establish order in the system, and as long as we stay out of anyone’s way we should be fine.”

Of course, some took issues with this. Jabari being one of them, even now as he played Vivaldi Danza Pastorale (Celebration of Spring) on his violin, nicknamed the Bloody Rose he thought back to what he’d told the Beast Star:

“And if someone gets any ideas? I mean, the best claim to being Lupus’ successor would be to slay us, his killers!” Jabari had argued.

“Think about it, could anyone have time to go after us?” Flashfire had replied. “I mean, everyone’s so busy fighting with each other vying for a piece of the pie if you will they couldn’t possibly go after us. And that’s presuming anyone aside from those two assassins the Doctor mentioned even know our names, much less where to even look for us!”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right about that. Those two, they’re the ones we should worry about,” Jabari murmured, while idly tossing the Pegasus Kyutama in his hand. “Let’s hypothesize for a moment. No scientific basis for this except for one theory I have. Remember the Scorpius Drone? Old One-Eye, with the arm blades and the stinger tail?”

“Par le créateur…” Flashfire sighed while shaking his head. “How could I forget, that’s not exactly a face that’s going to be going away anytime soon. What exactly are you getting at?”

“I think I might know,” Stripped Gear piped up, snatching away the Pegasus Kyutama from his grip. “This had been bonded with Lupus for Faust knows how long, right? And that Scorpius Kyutama from the looks of it was bonded with the drone. I don’t think any traces of that bond will be going away any time soon.”

“Exactly,” Jabari put in. “Now I’d noticed before we left Equus that the remains of the robot had gone… missing shall we say. Maybe someone threw them in the lava, bit too creeped out by the head. I wouldn’t have blamed them frankly, but it’s also quite frankly possible that someone stole them in hopes of fixing that thing up, and that someone is with Dark Matter and that very same someone knows how to track the signature of a Kyutama bonded to one of their members. And we have two of those types of Kyutama now. It’d be far too easy for someone to follow our trace energy we’re leaving behind now that those two Kyutamas are in our possession.”

“Well, we can’t just dump them now, can we?” Flashfire murmured as he cast a look towards Flurry Heart, who was making a map of the known galaxy on a small datapad. “I mean, one of them’s a Kyutama now bonded to our newest Ranger.”

As he finished the song, and sat down on a nearby chair putting the Bloody Rose back into its casing and closing it up he briefly cast a glance outside a nearby viewscreen to a section of space where a day before a wormhole had rested.

“I don’t like this, not one bit…” Jabari muttered to himself. He was distracted by the sounds of fins clapping together and turned his attention back to his ‘audience’. He sighed. Right, he told himself. He’d forgotten that the pool room for all its peace and tranquility was home to a collection of Equus’s last remaining sirens. Creatures who just loved a good song or two.

Sirens, like most of Equus’s creatures, could be described as a hodgepodge. Most of their being was a long sleek serpentine shape that could vary from the length of a small bus to a train depending on age with a fluked tail but grafted to the upper body of a horse-like creature. The body swapped out the fur with scales, the hooves with fins and a fin to replace the mane normally found on a horse’s head to complete the deal. Long ago considered dangerous due to the actions of a specific trio sent away to some long forgotten world by Starswirl the Bearded, it was found in later years most were generally peaceful and just wanted to be left alone or sing their songs to those who would listen.

“You’re worried, aren’t you?” the lead siren who bore a delicate salmon pink covering her scales asked. Crescendo, her name was if Jabari remembered correctly. The other two accompanying her was a light teal green and the other a pure albino respectively.

“Yeah, I’d be worried if something was wrong with me if I wasn’t worried about Flurry,” Jabari sighed, casting another glance outside the viewscreen. “We all are. Soon as she, Coldcast and Spada went through that wormhole to find out what was on the other end and it closed up…” he trailed off, before shaking his head. “Agh, maybe I’m being paranoid. All the scans Stripped Gear ran on that wormhole, and to be more accurate what was on the other end said it was safe, no signs of Dark Matter ships to speak of.”

“No. No,” Crescendo spoke softly, shaking her head and resting a massive fin on Jabari’s shoulder. “You’ve got every right to be worried. And you’re not the only one really.”

Jabari looked at her in surprise, eyes widened. “S-Seriously?” the zorse asked.

“Yep, seriously,” Crescendo replied, nodding her head in turn. “Not even a few hours ago, Flashfire himself walked in here, probably hoping the waters would take things off his mind. I dunno. But I could tell he was afraid for Flurry, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.”

“Flashfire, afraid?” Jabari asked, blinking in surprise. “No… No, I can’t imagine that. Seriously, the buck’s always been calm, cool, and collected under any form of pressure. Reason why he was chosen to be the leader of the Paladins.”

“Oh, is that what you think?” Crescendo asked, teal-blue eyes eyeing him critically. “Ever considered that’s just a mask? I mean, everyone has a breaking point. Even him. Pressure’s going to get to him eventually, and believe me if losing a leader if only temporarily isn’t it than I don’t know what is! Seriously, here’s what happened…”

Humming a song under his breath in Prench, that’s where she found him. Entering the pool room where she and her sisters called home, she heard the jacket-clad unicorn singing to himself, perhaps not realizing she was there or maybe just not caring. Maybe he wanted to see her. Why else would he enter this particular room singing a song? Most of the crew only entered this room for the calm tranquil atmosphere it provided, or to listen to her or her sisters sing but Flashfire was definitely not most of the crew suffice it to say. Whenever he visited her, even just to talk or observe her it was not without some hidden reason.

“Ce pouvoir miraculeux fait son entrée ici

“Ah, ce point éloigné se rapproche
Donc je ne suis plus jamais rempli de regret
Plus vaste que le ciel
Je vais utiliser ce pouvoir pour y faire face
Voler, le temps jugé tout

Le temps a jugé tous les destins
Passage dans le "maintenant"
Le temps a jugé tout au ciel
S'élever de plus en plus haut...” he sang to himself. Crescendo couldn’t resist a chuckle, her great-grandmother was the lover to a Prenchman and so she knew some of the language if only just. Here Flashfire, the holder of the Cerberus Kyutama singing a song about the sky when he was drawing from the constellation of a decidedly ground-based creature. Then again, some of the lyrics fit really like the ones about rising higher and higher and such, with a distant goal becoming ever closer.

“You could swoon a mare with a voice like that, ya know?” Crescendo burst out laughing as she poked her muzzle from above the clear waters. “Make ‘em fall right into your arms. Seriously, if I didn’t know you were a demisexual then…”

Flashfire balked, not even allowing Crescendo to finish whatever she had to say, possibly some bawdy joke as was often the case with her. Nice as she was, like most sirens she could still be seductive or crass when she wanted to be. “How the hell did you-”

“Figure that out?” Crescendo finished. “You’d be surprised on how much certain crewmen gossip on your sexuality, some of them with seemingly nothing better to do. Honestly, I hate it really. Pony’s private life should be his private life, ya know?”

“Yes, quite.” Flashfire grumbled. “Remind me to keep my personal files under better lock and key. Thought I could trust crewmen and women to keep certain things to themselves…”

“But to serenade moi with your lovely voice and grumble about busybodies isn’t why you’re here, is it?” Crescendo asked, tilting her head sideways. “You need advice, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I suppose…” Flashfire mumbled, shuffling his hooves in embarrassment and letting the mask drop. Crescendo, she was one of the few creatures on Equus aside from Coldcast he allowed to see his true self. Long ago, when he was deep-sea diving for fish to feed a Vault whose food supply had run dangerously low with new food days away, Crescendo and her pod had saved him from a giant squid who’d decided he’d make a tasty snack. Ripped the damn thing in half with their jaws and made a meal out of it, Crescendo leading the charge and soothing the squid into a tranquil state with her singing before her sisters went on the attack.

“Honestly, and you must not let this get out but I’m really worried here. I mean, here we are far away from Equestria or anything resembling home and I’m expected to lead a group of heroes from different races and backgrounds with widely diverging personalities as some sort of ‘team’. Seemed easy enough back when I was planetside, but now that we’ve left Equus far behind…”

“Trust me, if anybody’s going to find a way to make it work, it’ll be you Flashie,” Crescendo grinned, showing a set of razor-sharp teeth. “Listen, you think it’s easy for me either? I mean, I’m managing an entire pod of sirens who aren’t exactly comfortable being far from any real bodies of water and only get fed via fish and calamari thrown from a bucket! I have it worse than you do, always afraid that I’ll have an uprising on my hands. Or fins, as it were. Thank Faust for Concerto and Muse, otherwise, I’d go crazy!”

“Yeah, I suppose…” Flashfire murmured, leaning over the railing to look down into the tank below him where he saw the two other fully grown sirens swimming about with the rest of their podmates. It couldn’t exactly be called a pool, not with how massive it was or how deep it went. Most of the crew just preferred to call it a pool for one reason or the other. Maybe because some used it for recreational swimming. Not like the sirens really minded, they were happy for the company. Even they got bored of spending time with just their own species, social animals as they were.

“Point being, I know you’ve got this. You wouldn’t have been picked to be the team leader if Stardust didn’t believe you were the best choice.” Crescendo said kindly.

“Yes, well Stardust hasn’t exactly made the wisest choices in the past has he?” Flashfire muttered. “I mean, leaving Pharynx to become chilled Changeling for the past few billion years for one! And let’s not even get into the crap he pulled with poor Fågel!” he scoffed. “For all I know, he may have chosen me at random. Irony really, for all I told my petit frère on how there was no such thing as being picked arbitrarily I can’t help but wonder if the same applies to me at times…”

“Now, that’s enough of that!” Crescendo barked. “You, Flashfire Lulamoon, are Cerberus Seagreen, leader of the Kyurangers and if you were picked as the team leader then there has to be a reason for it. Now get that right through your head, okay?” she stated firmly. She would have used the pun ‘Okyu’ as she heard Stardust and Flashfire on rare occasion use but the tone wasn’t right for the setting as of right now. “Don’t make me leap on out of this damn pool to slap you upside the head with a fin, ya got that?”

“...Got it.” Flashfire squeaked out, in a small timid tone of voice before he regained his composure and adjusted his jacket letting the small embroidered silver star on the back gleam in the light. “You’re quite right, I’m the leader of this squadron and despite all the crap we’ve been through, I’ve got faith in the heart that I can pull this team together. After all, fire only forges the steel bonds of friendship non?”

Crescendo shot him a fang-toothed grin. “Now that’s the spirit! That’s the buck I’m used to seeing. Now, you’ve got a job to do, non?” she asked, going into a bad Prench accent imitation that actually made Flashfire burst out laughing.

“...You’re terrible, you know that?” he remarked.

“Hey, anything to see you smile again. World’s just not right without Flashfire smiling a bit.”

“Now, none of what I just said leaves this room okay?” Crescendo requested with a small flush gracing her features, and Jabari was nodding all the while even as he took it all in. If he didn’t know better, he would have sworn the siren had a crush on his boss. But that was ludicrous… right?

“Exactly. Now how did it go again… Oh yes, cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye,” Jabari repeated, doing the time-honored motions with his hands before Stripped Gear’s voice crackled through the commlinks.

“Uh Jabari, you may want to get up here. There’s something you might want to have a look at…” the unicorn remarked in a slightly nervous tone of voice.

“I’ll be up there on the double!” Jabari said, breaking into a spring but not before sending Crescendo a thankful look.

“Okay, what am I looking at here?” Jabari had to ask, his suit’s amber wings unfolded, and two small oxygen hoses hooked into a tube on the flight suit’s back. Currently, he was floating outside the ship, in what could only be called a cosmic mothball storm. His hands were resting in the suit’s holsters, ready to draw twin laser pistols if needed. Looking through his visor, the Pink Ranger scanned the area, trying to get any readings at all from these strange objects. He was getting electrical currents but not much else.

Nearby, Flashfire was in his suit as well wearing a similar propulsion device, his sword in its sheath. His cape had retracted into his shoulder armor somehow, Jabari didn’t know exactly how he managed to do that. Stripped Gear’s suit upgrades never ceased to amaze him really. These new wings definitely completed the Aquila Pink look though, he had to admit.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say snowballs,” Flashfire remarked as he reached out to touch one only to get a small zap. “Snowballs with a shocking surprise that is…”

“That’s a terrible joke,” Jabari said flatly, shooting the unicorn a glare under his helmet.

“Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood,” Flashfire shrugged. “Crescendo says I’ve got this stick up my derrière, and that I need to lighten up more.”

“Isn’t just Crescendo who says that…” Jabari thought to himself with a slightly amused smile. “Stripped, you got anything for us, like say on whatever the Hell these things might be? What are they, cosmic snowballs that’ll just drift us on by harmlessly or something we should be actually worried about?”

“Okay, running analysis now…” Stripped Gear’s voice crackled through the comms. “Honestly, I can’t make any real heads or tails of ‘em. I’d suggest you bring one of them into the ship’s lab for further study really. Just be careful m’kay?”

“Trust me Stripped,” Flashfire said as he grabbed one of the ‘snowballs’ in an aura of magic. “We’ll be real careful. Now, what about that project you and Jabari have been working on, the one that’ll bring Flurry and the others back to our reality?”

Further scans of the wormhole from before, just as it had begun to close had revealed it was a trans-reality breach. Happened very rarely, but happened it did on this particular occasion. Personally, although he would never dare voice these thoughts aloud, Flashfire though Flurry a imbécile for taking the Draco Voyager in herself and not letting him do it. But Flurry was a stubborn one as Flashfire had rapidly found, and was a particular fan of the saying: “Never ask someone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.”

Part of the reason why he admired her so much at times really. Just not on this occasion. Especially when his petit frère was one of the two Rangers that followed.

“Ah yes… That. The Cancer Claw Cannon. Name needs some work, but it should do the job just nicely I think. Just needs a few more fine-tunings and adjustments and we should be okyu to go!” Stripped chimed in.

Jabari slapped a palm to his face and let it slide down his visor.

“Oh no… Not him too, I thought Flashfire and Stardust were the only ones who made that horrible pun…” he thought to himself, quite unamused.

Eventually, the twosome would return to Stripped’s lab which wasn’t that far removed from the one he had back on Equus. Just as messy and chaotic as ever, with partially constructed Skill Kyutamas laying about. Jabari swore he caught a glimpse of one that looked to be blue and white, themed after the sun and the moon but he really couldn’t make out much detail in it’s half-constructed state. It looked to be gathering dust really, moreso than some of Stripped’s other projects. Now that he thought of it, Jabari had heard Stripped occasionally muttering on how he just couldn’t harness this one Kyutama’s powers and on how impossible it looked to be to actually complete this one.

Maybe this Sun and Moon Kyutama was what he was talking about.

As Flashfire levitated the little ball of ice and electricity into a little glass container before quickly shutting it Jabari cast his eyes to the centerpiece of the room as it were.

A massive cannon, hooked up via wires and tubes to the Cancer Kyutama held in this small glass container and glowing red with energy. The theory was -at least in Jabari and Stripped’s minds- that this thing would magnify the Cancer Kyutama’s powers by one hundredfold and project a giant claw to rip open the walls between the dimensions and bring Flurry and company home. To help with this process, and narrow in on the exact dimension that Flurry had landed in, the Circinus and Telescopium Kyutamas were being used as well, their power being drawn into the cannon.

Personally, Flashfire thought this plan was a bit overly elaborate and a little bit on the crazy side, but if it helped in any way whatsoever then he allowed Jabari and Stripped free reign on doing whatever they could to get Flurry, and more importantly Coldcast and Spada back.

“Okay, you can expect results within the hour!” Stripped cried out. “Trust me, whatever this thing is, as soon as I know what it is you’ll be the first to know rest assured. Now shoo, I work best when left in private! Not when a bunch of other ponies are standing around eying me!” he barked, looking at all of his lab assistants who were chattering amongst themselves. “Shut up everybody, shut up! Don't move, don't speak, don't breathe, I'm trying to think,” he remarked, before looking at a particular member of the Praetorian Guard, a dark grey pegasus. “Commander Nimbus, and with all due respect face the other way, you're putting me off.”

“But-” Nimbus tried to speak, before Stripped held up a finger and put it to his lips.

“Ep-Ep-Ep! No buts out of you mister. What did I say? Now turn your back!” he barked, making the pegasus flinch.

Grumbling, Nimbus did so as Flashfire and the rest took their leave.

“...Real pain to get along with, isn’t he?” Flashfire muttered under his breath leaning towards Jabari as the zorse shook his head.

“Believe me mate, you have noooooo idea.” he murmured before they tried to enter a lift, but the doors took several moments to actually open. Flashfire frowned, he needed to have this ship be given a once-over it seemed, left the planet in such a hurry not all of the primary systems could have been working properly. This could be signs of a much larger problem. If only he knew how large...

In any case, Flashfire found himself in his quarters, reading through a book just to calm his mind. Any book would do, even something as mind-blowingly dull such as “Theories of How Rats Evolved”. As long as it got him thinking on something other than that of Flurry Heart and whatever danger she may have gotten herself into.

“Faust, can’t believe I was such a fool,” Flashfire thought to himself as he pressed a few buttons on his quarter’s personal replicator for a shot of black coffee. It was his preferred beverage of choice, stemming back from his early days learning to be a pilot in the Galaxy Garrison Naval Academy and working long nights and writing up school reports and the like.

Taking a note of how this coffee was strangely cold, he replicated another which was without fault. “More repairs to do. I’ll have to have the engineers check over every inch of this ship before things get dangerous.”

He then turned his mind back to Flurry.

“I let her go off on that little jaunt through the wormhole. I know she said it was just to see what it was like on the other side, see if there was a calm peaceful world -A new Eden as she so calls it- but I can’t help but think that she’s trying to lead Dark Matter’s assassins away from us with the Scorpius Kyutama. I should be doing that, not her!”

Flurry Heart wasn’t the only steadfast believer in that saying of: “Never ask someone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.” Flashfire believed it as well. He would never, never put any of his men or women on his team in unneeded danger if he could do the damn job himself. Leadership was a learning process just like riding a bike except in this case and Flashfire knew this very well, that you never stopped learning. But one of the key things he had always known was respecting your comrades and what they could do, trust in them and believe in them. Work with your team, learn their limits. If they reached their limits, then that was fine. But you needed to respect them all the same.

Flashfire remembered the story of how one commander in the Royal Guards of old skimped out work one day just to have a quick night in with a hooker, and because of that some rogue Changelings breached a city’s defenses and almost took control of it had the Royal Guards not got their fighting spirit back in the last minute and held the line to the very end till reinforcements led by King Thorax and Princess Twilight themselves arrived, returning from the Chaos Lands.

He, this commander, in the end, said he never respected his troops to hold the line against what was probably a doomed city anyhow. Cowardice, that’s what it all came down to and he lost everyone’s respect in the end. He’d also heard tales of how the legendary Shining Armor AKA Flurry’s father had led his troops into battle against Wendigos at the borders of the Crystal Empire near the end of Shining’s lifespan, and although Shining fell eventually he held that line and encouraged troops terrified of the oncoming hoard back into battle. That was the kind of man Flashfire looked up to, someone who would hold the line against any threats to Equus till the bitter end, someone who respected their troops and their abilities and knew what they could do if they really tried.

“So, why can’t I be like that kind of commander…?” Flashfire asked himself as he took a sip of his coffee. “I should have put my hoof down, stopped her!”

“And yet for all your comments on respect for the troops and their abilities, and your love of the phrase: “Never ask someone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.” and yet in the end, you still fail to heed it,” the Celesti-AI remarked, her projector flickering slightly as she strode across the room and knelt down next to Flashfire on a chair. “She knows her abilities, and that of her troops as well as you do. Yes, last of the Princesses she may be, but her going into that wormhole like that it commandeers respect from the rest of the legions you’ve got at your beck and call. Shows them she’s not afraid of anything, and add to that she knows you and Stripped Gear and everyone else onboard this ship would find a way to return her if something were to go wrong.”

Her projector flickered again, as well as the ship’s lights briefly. Flashfire noted this and filed it away on his datapad for more repairs for the ship engineers. Last thing they or anyone else needed was the loss of the Princess AIs. They weren’t just responsible for controlling Megazord operational systems and things like that, they were a sign of comfort and guidance to the crew. That even in the darkest days things would come out alright and light would return. If they were lost now Faust only knew what would happen.

“Yes… Yes, you’re quite right,” Flashfire agreed. “I’m worrying, when I should be planning on how to get Flurry back. You and Crescendo were right. I’m Cerberus Seagreen, leader of the Kyuranger Squadron and the commander of that regiment. It’s high time I started acting like it.”

“Yes, but for now put Flurry out of your mind, it’s having an effect on you. Making you tense, relax a little. Let Stripped worry about Flurry and your teammates,” Celestia advised. “Go have some fun, I hear my sister decided to put on a little concert in that bar everyone seems to frequent. Just let your worries leave you for a little while, okay?”

“A-Alright,” Flashfire nodded, noting Celestia flicker once more. “I’ll try.”

Meanwhile lurking beyond the Shining Armor’s sensor range lay a silver, streamlined craft themed after what looked to be a giant squid with some massive solar sail propelling it. A more elegant piece of machinery from a more civilized age. And now the personal ship of one Sir Ikargen.

“So, it’s done?” Eriedrone’s voice asked, as a hologram of the ruler of the Sagittarius System appeared on the central console. In his hands, was a massive golden halberd axe that could also double as a bow befitting the system he presided over as a Karō. While Eriedrone was certainly no fan of Lupus, the death of a Karō and the chaos that followed could not go unignored.

“Yes, quite. Those little fools aboard that ship have no idea what I just practically gift wrapped them on a silver platter. Not even an ink-ling of what’s about to happen to them, and their ship.” Ikargen laughed. He had to consider himself rather lucky, with three Rangers gone his task was made all the more easier.

Eriedrone rolled his eyes.

“Can the puns will you, Ikargen and actually act with the grace and status your title as one of Dark Matter’s master assassins grants you. I swear, between you and Madako…” Eriedrone grumbled.

“Yes, I apologize. I will not act like such a…” Ikargen trailed off before it seemed he practically had to spit the words out. “Jelly brain like she seems to half the time.”

“I still cannot believe, that Lupus even if he was a spineless coward who abandoned our Lord to die, got defeated by a bunch of Equines from a backwater planet that we thought lifeless years ago!” Eriedrone ranted. “Last I checked, only thing that place was good for was harvesting Planetium with the Moraimars. Still, definitely keeping an eye on it and it’s inhabitants now. Especially with that ‘package’ Lupus managed to deliver to Don Armage before he… passed.” Eriedrone continued, quickly regaining his composure. “Haven’t heard much about it from the main battlefleet, but it seems to have his interest.”

“Anything for our lord and Master to bring balance back to the universe…” Ikargen trailed off. “But no time for speculation, at least for me. I have the luxury of sitting back and watching the show…”

Eriedrone smirked. “I envy you, I only wish I could see the looks on those Paladins faces, especially the former Leo Red’s when their own ship destroys them! I’ll have a fleet on standby, ready to mop up the mess.”

“Shouldn’t be much of one to mop up, Milord, not when all of this is over. Shame really,” Ikargen sighed. “But at least things will be over, quick and simple. And with a grand fireworks show as well!”

Ikargen chuckled as he flew off behind the cover of a passing asteroid. Sometimes, he really loved his job.

Back onboard the Shining Armor, things continued as normal. Flashfire and Jabari were enjoying that concert put on by the ship’s band with the Luna-AI taking up role of the lead singer, with various other instruments like a brass section and a piano giving it a jazzy swing beat. It seemed Luna to everyone’s surprise, had quite the set of pipes.

“Someday you’ll notice – I pray that you’ll realize
These wings on your back aren’t a dream
At last, you’ll have all you need to escape to
The world where you’ll finally be free

“This was all a Cruel Angel’s Thesis from the start
Brought to life, out window now it’s taking flight
Scorching pathos if you betray your memory
Follow this deviant-divine philosophy!”

Flashfire had actually taken up a mare’s offer to dance and although it seemed he had two left hooves, it brought a smile to Luna’s face to actually see the stallion open up more. In the back, near the bar one Fågel/Taurus Black of the parrot species was serving up drinks. She seemed annoyed about something, muttering something under her breath about how the lifts tried to kill her earlier. Jabari noted to have an engineer check that out later.

“What… what is this?” Jabari dared to ask as his fellow Kyuranger served him up something green in a glass.

“Faust if I know, it’s just green and it tastes good!” the parrot remarked with a shrug before going off to serve a pure black griffon with light blue markings around his eyes. The lights flickered a little, along with Luna’s avatar but it seemed to be nothing of notice. May have just been a glitch in the power cells, Jabari resolved to check it out later.

Jabari eyed his drink carefully, before taking a swig and spitting it out right all over a nearby pony’s face.

“Damn lying bird…” he grumbled. “Tastes good my flank!”

He then began to shuffle his hooves and bob his head to the song as he listened in closely to the lyrics, it did seem to be made for them in some ways. Perhaps a bit pretentious, he mused as he began to snap his fingers to the song but it fit.

“Shining more than these stars that bathe the galaxy
Go forth, young boy, and you’ll become a legend

“With grace, and in my embrace
You fall deep into sleep, so tempted to stay
In the morning that falls,
You alone will be called
By message from the realm of dreams…”

He groaned, knowing if Coldcast here that little griffon would have this smug look plastered all over his beak never letting the zorse live this down thinking him of a stallion who rarely left the comforts of a good book. He idly wondered what the griffon was doing, and if it was as any fun as this.

...Coldcast grunted out in pain before his wings unfurled and he rocketed towards Mar’Zek slamming a right hook into his face making him stagger.

“Oh wings, how I’ve missed you so…” Coldcast laughed giddily.

Though it did knock him around, the armour covering his face softened the blow. He snarled and slammed his sword against the ground, causing the parts to dislodge and become part of a razor-sharp whip held together by a light purple stream of energy.

“What, you overcompensating for something?” Spada quipped.

“I have raided more than a thousand worlds. You cannot stand against me and my technology.” He then swung said whip at Spada and Flurry, slicing them repeatedly, but leaving Coldcast alone. The Blue Ranger leaped over the next swing before slicing Mar’Zek from behind and then flying away to avoid the next strike…

“Probably not.” Jabari shrugged. Then, he along with everyone else heard the sound of the ship’s main broadside cannons began to fire.

“What the flying…?” Flashfire trailed off before going for his comms. “This is Commander Flashfire of the Shining Armor hailing the Piercing Arrow! You guys okay over there?”

“Yeah, about as well as can be expected,” a female griffon in the garb of a captain commented over the comms. Mostly white feathered, with blue makeup around her eyes. “Still, what the fuck’s going on over there, you guys just took a potshot at us!”

“Hell if I know, but I’m going to find out. Stripped, you got any idea what’s going on around here, this whole ship seems to be going nuts!”

“Ah…” Stripped trailed off nervously as the lights flickered once more. “I’m afraid I may have. That cosmic snowball you brought in? Yeah, no snowball. It’s… it’s…”

“Well, spit it out! I don’t have all day!” Flashfire barked.

“It’s an egg. A Deathworm egg. Seems a variant of the breed got into the power cells, and now it’s got control over the whole ship. There’s already been power surges and fluctuations in the Nova Drive, engineers are heading down to try and stop that from going but these problems will continue if you don’t kill that thing! Not just major ones like our own laser cannons misfiring, but it’s all the little ones as well such as the projector emitters and the flickering lights! Eventually, this ship will go into core implosion as it tries to compensate for every little glitch in the system. You’ve got to stop this worm, now!”

Flashfire nodded in understanding as the Praetorian guardsmen along with Fågel began directing everyone to safety, gesturing for everyone to proceed in a calm and orderly fashion.

“Great, what else could go wrong?” Flashfire muttered as the cannons fired once more, this time towards the Solar Radiance. Then, he got his answer as the lights all over the ship finally went leaving everyone in pitch black. “...Merde.”

Making their way down to the lower decks with only flashlights and pistols in hand, the two soon found themselves waist deep in water. Slogging through the water, Jabari pointed his pistol every which way anytime he thought he saw movement. As he pointed the flashlight attachment at each corner of the room, all that he could see were the steel walls and the water by his hooves. The only sound being that of the soft hum of the lighting. Pipes lined either side of the zorse’s vision.

“What the hell happened…?” Jabari muttered to himself. “I’ve been down in the maintenance decks before, and they’ve never been flooded.

“Pipe to the Sirens’ tank must have burst open somehow,” Flashfire said with a shrug. “That’s my best guess anyway.”

“So, where do you think those eggs came from?” Jabari wondered. “Think we just drifted into them by accident or did someone leave them there for us? Leave them there hoping we’d pick one up, and take it onboard?”

Flashfire gave him a look, as if to say: “What do you think?”

“Right, seems like just a spot of bad luck but can’t be that. I mean, not really. I’m willing to bet everything I own that one of those two assassins the Doctor warned us about left them there, betting on our own curiosity. And we just played right into his hands…” Jabari muttered. “By the Creator, we’re such a pack of idiots!”

A distant bang filled the area, with metal twisting and crunching accompanying it. Although it was a far-off sound, it was still something to send an icy shiver down both of their spines. The grips on their guns tightened as they tried to trace the noise, only for it to echo and reverberate around them.

“It knows we’re hunting it…” Flashfire murmured to himself. “Cornered animals only get more dangerous in these scenarios, so keep your aim steady and watch your fire. I’m pulling up a map now, should give us a location as to where we are.”

“Thing is, though. Are we hunting it… or is it hunting us?” Jabari asked as he pushed forward through the murky waters with Flashfire.

“You really want an answer to that question?” Flashfire asked. “Okay, there’s a T-Junction up ahead. If luck’s on our side, we should meet up with the creature there.”

“Oh, good,” Jabari muttered sarcastically. “And here I thought you were going to suggest we split up.”

“Faust no!” Flashfire remarked. “I’ve seen a few horror films, and I always know what going off alone leads to!”

“Look. We don’t have time to argue, Flashfire. For all we know, Don Armage could send out another attack, so we need to get this place fixed up as quickly as possible. And if that means having to split up, then we have to take it.” Jabari pulled out his Kyuchanger. “Plus, have you forgotten who we are? We’re a team; one with superpowers. If anything, this monster should be more afraid of us.”

Suddenly, another bang echoed throughout the corridor; this one much louder than before. The audible sound of metal structures collapsing could be heard, with the occasional, slightly inaudible pipe dropping too.

“Oh, that can’t be good…” Flashfire muttered. “Look Jabari, I did some studies on the bodies of the Deathworms we’ve encountered before, back when they were still… alive. You don’t get it, do you? You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? The perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.”

“Please tell me you’re not admiring the abomination?” Jabari deadpanned.

“Hardly,” Flashfire replied simply. “I’m just stating the facts as presented to us.”

“...And it’s normally Stripped Gear who’s doing that, sounding so cold and blunt. You sure you haven’t been spending too much time around him?”

“He’s your boss, not mine. I should be asking you the very same-” Flashfire trailed off before holding up his hand in a motion for silence. “Hold up, what’s that? Swore I heard something.”

He was met with nothing but silence. The only thing that had changed was the scent. What had remained a silent, aroma-less, flooded corridor, was now coated in a thick scent. An acrid, vile, horrific scent that permeated both of their nostrils and wormed its’ way through Flashfire and Jabari’s bodily systems.

“Oh, par Faust c'est le rang!” Flashfire muttered in a tone of disgust. “Well, if anything, we know we’re close.”

“Yeah, that sounds so reassuring…” Jabari muttered. Something shrieked in the background, sounding like it was coming from all around them, and neither Jabari nor Flashfire knew which way to point their weapons.

“Alright, enough of this fumbling about in the dark!” Flashfire muttered before holding up the Pyxis Kyutama and placing it into his gauntlet. Soon a golden compass projected itself in front of him, before pointing towards the direction of the Deathworm, down yet another pipelined corridor.

And sure enough, another noise came. Only this time, it was the closest of all. Multiple crashes sounded, with metal being torn up almost rhythmically. However, despite the compass tracking the Deathworm’s position, it wasn’t there, even though the noise got closer and closer to Jabari and Flashfire.

“Oh, I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” Flashfire muttered. “Says we’re right on top of it, and yet…”

“Oh no,” Jabari muttered as his eyes widened in realization. “It’s a deck below us! Move, now!”

As soon as he stopped talking, the Deathworm erupted from the ground beneath him and smashed Jabari into the ceiling. It watched as he fell back down, straight over his gaping maws. Shots hit the Deathworm, and it whirled it’s three heads to look Flashfire right in the eyes.

“Alright, you bitch…” Flashfire muttered. “You want to eat something? How about me for a change? I’m nice and tasty, aren’t I?”

Snarling and howling in its’ tongue, the Deathworm charged towards Flashfire, flailing around wildly as it took shot after shot after shot. Unlike the others he had seen, the blaster fire either bounced off of it, or barely did anything to stagger it. Also, instead of the golden scales the Deathworms usually bore, this one was covered in a sharp silver hide.

As the Deathworm launched a green beam of energy from its central eye, Flashfire switched out for the Scutum Kyutama and projected a light blue shield of hard light energy in front of him. The beam bore against the shield, but did nothing to penetrate it. As it tried to intensify the ray, all that it ended up achieving was the shield reflecting the beam around the corridor, tearing through more of the hulls in the process.

Suddenly, a barrage of pink energy shots bounced off the Deathworm’s back, with Jabari firing shot after shot from his pistol.

“Hey, ugly! Yeah, I’m talking to you! Get away from the commander!” Jabari shouted, catching the creature’s attention.

The Deathworm barreled towards Jabari, prompting him to let loose another string of shots. Knowing what would happen, the zorse used the Serpens Kyutama and let loose manifestations of silver snakes that swarmed the Deathworm. Jabari smirked.

“You know, back in the Galaxy Garrison, everyone used to make assumptions about me, and they were mostly wrong ones. About how I was this little nerd who’d never amount to anything,” Jabari stated as a plan began to form in his mind. He knew of one thing exactly that could bite down on that thing’s hide and rip it in half. “They’re still wrong.”

Mouthing something to Flashfire, the unicorn nodded and went for his comms. “Stripped, the teleportation system still up and running? Got a plan to deal with this thing!”

“Not in the slightest, but buy me a bit of time and I’ll see if I can get it back up and running! Nimbus, give me a hand over here! This isn’t a one-pony job!” Stripped’s voice barked out.

The Deathworm mounted another attack, and this time, he managed to grab hold of Jabari. He tried to shoot the shots from his blaster into the thing’s mouths, as it was clear that the hide wouldn’t be penetrated. As he went for the gun and tried to get a clear shot, however, the beast thrashed and flailed around as it tried to claw him apart, and his shots were diverted around the room. One light went, then the other, and before they knew it, the whole area was blanketed in total darkness. Neither of them could see anything, and all they could hear was the angry howling and thrashing of the Deathworm.

Jabari and Flashfire ran for it, using the holographic map projected by the Pyxis Kyutama as their only guide through the maze of tunnels.

The Deathworm continued to hound them, its’ cries and echoes ringing out through the darkened maze of tunnels. More and more parts of the ship were torn apart in the process. And once again, the reverb masked its’ position. It could have been right in front of them, or miles behind.

“Okay, okay…” Flashfire muttered to himself. “Should be just around this next junction.”

He turned as soon as the compass pointed to the left and with Jabari following and soon the two were in a small room that was basically the filtration control area of the ship’s pool. A small little hole filled with water was in front of them, and from behind came a screeching sound.

“On three,” Flashfire said as he and Jabari morphed. “One, two, three!” he said, leaping into the pool with Jabari following. A crashing sound followed as the Deathworm entered, and Flashfire smirked.

“Now, we’ve got you right where we want you…” he trailed off, before using the Andromeda Kyutama to bind the monster in thick unbreakable chains. “NOW!”

A loud roar was heard, and the next thing the Deathworm knew was a set of razor-sharp teeth biting down on it, hard. The very distinctive teal-blue eyes of Crescendo glinted in the murky waters before she and her sisters pulled the creature apart with Jabari and Flashfire looking away not wanting to see what was happening.

“Oh, she’s so getting fed a bucket load of Calamari after this, and a personal performance of Au Clair de la Lune from me and Bloody Rose.” Jabari thought to himself. Later that next day, the Rangers as ship repairs got underway, readied to fire the Cancer Cannon and retrieve Flurry and the others from whatever alternate universe they’d landed in. Suddenly, Stripped Gear began swearing profusely at the top of his lungs.

“What? What is it?” Flashfire asked urgently, a small part of him beginning to panic.

“Faust damn it all! That Deathworm knocked the targeting systems all out of whack! I can’t get a lock on the dimensional rifts!” Stripped exclaimed before a thoughtful expression cast itself upon his face. “At least… the ship can’t.”

“Already ahead of you,” Flashfire smirked. “Voyagers, scramble! The AIs are still being rebooted, so we’re going to have to do this combination manually!” he ordered, as he teleported into his Voyager and was launched from the hanger being thrown back into his seat by the sheer force of the propulsion.

Soon, parts began to shift and change as the Libra, Serpent, Bull and Eagle Voyagers attached themselves to ports on the Shooting Star Megazord and the Cancer Claw Cannon was teleported into its hands.

“Locking on…” Flashfire said. “3, 2, 1… Fire!” he ordered, before the Megazord pulled the trigger and the power of all three Kyutamas used to create this cannon combined and fired a massive red claw of energy that pried open the wormhole once more. Flashfire let out a sigh of relief as he picked up a familiar signature.

“Thank Faust, thought we’d never get in touch with you Princess!” Flashfire sighed in relief. “Whatever you’re doing, best you drop it ‘cause we can only hold this portal open for so long! I was never worried of course, but-”

“Liar, he was pacing back and forth in his quarters for hours!” Jabari’s voice chimed in.

“S-Shut up!” Flashfire stammered out, his face turning pink. Soon, he let out a sigh of relief as he saw the distinctive forms of the Chameleon, Wolf and Draco Voyagers appearing through the wormhole and finally let himself relax. They were home. She was home.

“So, anything interesting happen while we were gone?” Flurry had to ask, raising an eyebrow at the Megazord holding what looked to be a massive cannon.

“Well…” Flashfire trailed off as he and Jabari shared a look.

Author's Notes:

Okay, first off huge thanks to Shadowmane PX-41 for his help on the final stretch of this chapter, the one that's one big walking homage to the Aliens franchise. Actually, I should mention this chapter takes place alongside his Equestrian Rangers chapter, "The Stars Align" which details what Flurry and the others were up to. Go read it if you haven't already. Link below.

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/368556/13/equestria-rangers/the-stars-align-crossover-with-the-bricklayer

Anyways, aiming for a Flashfire focused chapter here, although I admit Jabari got quite a bit of focus as well. Not sure if he stole the spotlight or not. That's up for you to decide, really.