Chapter 6: Hazy Mind

"Back in Equestria once again."

Night Shade tapped his chin with his left hoof and stared at the ceiling in thought. His last memory had been falling into a hole or pit while a figure was obscured by an explosion. Trying to think about the incident made his mind hurt and, try as he might, he couldn't recall any details since defeating the Power Rangers on the backwater planet his brother had taken such an interest in. Biting back a laugh as he thought of what everypony around him was calling him, he shook his head and trotted to one of the many consoles on the walls. Whoever had ripped them out had done a relatively shoddy job and the cut connections could be easily fixed…well, if only he could transform back into his original form.

Shaking his head, he summoned the magic from deep within him and pried off the front panel to expose the wiring underneath. Skimming over the cut wires and mangled connections, he moulded his magic into a set of claws and began the delicate work of repair. Since his awakening, Dark Hoof had filled him in on the details of the last mission of the Trotters. The information was more than a few hundred years old but he found it interesting to learn exactly what had transpired on Efas. The weapon that their Rangers had been creating had been a dimensional matter transporter that would encase the object in an energy field before transit. This was to ensure the contents wouldn't suffer any degradation from the caustic portal they had developed. The planet had been razed to the ground and all of the Rangers mercilessly killed in ways that made him shudder. However, in the midst of all the chaos around them, the Trotters had forgotten about King-Emperor Beltfast.

The King-Emperor had somehow survived the ransacking and rape of the Royal Palace and had slowly dragged his dying form to the control panel of the Matter Transporter. With a final yell worthy of admiration, the King-Emperor had extended all six of his arms to activate the machine. However, Slashing Vengeance had thrown one of his energy-charged shears at the head of the King-Emperor, decapitating him. However, the slumping body of Beltfast ensures that the planet of Efas had the last laugh as the machine activated automatically. Dark Hoof had struggled hard against the energy encapsulating him but it had all been for naught. The machine had exploded the very second the transportation process had begun, flinging them into a random dimension while sucking out almost all of their energy. Well, that explained the strange pulse of light reported on the Intergalactic grapevine.

There was also no use worrying about anything now as he knew his advisors would continue to send monsters down on the planet, thus paving the way for its takeover upon his eventual return. If he continued to do well, his top warrior would also be in the line for a promotion or two when he found his way back. Hissing in pain as a shower of sparks burst from a repaired line, he looked down at the massive scar that prominently stretched over his chest. He had no such memory of any event that could have caused such a wound and he couldn't really turn his head around to check if a similar scar stretched along his back. Actually, he was slightly apprehensive about seeing such a scar as it would mean that he had let his guard down and been impaled on something. However, there weren't many things that could have penetrated his skin in his normal form. Shaking his head, he carefully connected several wires together and held his breath in anticipation.

As expected, there was no hum of the machinery powering up. While there was emergency power in whatever location this was, the Main Power Generators were far, far below them…and could only be accessed by a freefall drop through a fairly large tunnel with a strong net at the bottom. Needless to say, none of them were too keen on attempting such a leap of faith – and that meant that they would be stuck with Emergency Power for the time being. They could still keep an eye on several locations around Equestria and even Deinos Terra Firma, but anything else would be like…like…well, it would be damn hard. And that was why he made sure that everyone around him knew a few basic spells like teleportation and a few offensive bolts as well. The last thing he needed was to get caught with his proverbial pants down.

Flash

"Now, Ranger, your battle truly begins!"

End Flash

Night Shade blinked once and shook his head violently. Rolling the words around in his mind, he was surprised at how familiar they seemed. Yet, to the best of his knowledge, he had never spoken them out loud to an attacking Ranger before. Rangers, whenever they attacked him and his forces, always came in groups and it would be a strange sight to see a single silhouette of a Ranger in a battle. Well, he guessed stranger things were possible. Abandoning his task, he walked over to the makeshift balcony and looked out at the burnt remains of the Everfree Forest. Discord had stated that he had created a fire to draw the Rangers out in what he hoped would be their last confrontation but it had gotten out of control during the fierce fighting. Out of control; looking around the charcoal around him, he knew that was a huge understatement as the damage looked like it had been done within a single instant. However, one would need a massive source of magical energy to pull that off and, not that he distrusted Discord's words, he doubted his old 'boss' had the power to pull something like that off.

There was also something Discord was hiding. He could sense a strange power coming from the hornless pony and it felt frustratingly familiar as well. Something about it sung seductive songs about the power to crush his enemies in a single blow and, more importantly, the feeling of triumph over his opponents. He knew there was one time in his past which he had come very close to that power before but, much like everything else, it was maddeningly just out of reach. He snorted and shook his head, allowing his mane to fall over his eyes. He would let his 'boss' keep his secrets for now.

"Our first monster failed, my Lord."

Nodding solemnly at the voice behind him, the ebony pony turned and walked to where Dark Hoof was standing in the doorway. In all truth, he wasn't expecting victory to come that easily. The Rangers had been battling against Discord for a long while and, even with the two-year break, their instincts were as honed as ever. Chuckling to himself, he mused that if the monster had somehow overwhelmed the Rangers, he would have destroyed it himself. That would have surely galvanised them into getting stronger for their next encounter.

"I am aware of that. Has Psychocorn finished the first batch of new Golems yet? For some reason, I cannot access the energies needed to create them myself."

"Yes, my Lord. He should be just about finished. When will you send them out? Striking now would be the best –"

Night Shade shook his head. Sending out new grunts so soon after an enlarged monster attack would mean that he wasn't confident in the abilities of those around him. It would create discord in the ranks and cause those closest to him to challenge his top position. If he was in his original form, he could afford that luxury as nothing would want to challenge him but in his Equestrian form…well, he was no better than a sitting duck. Magic and power only got one so far and if determination was lacking then the individual would become stagnant.

"We will give them a few days to recover. Once they have rested sufficiently, we will attack the lands to the north. If the intelligence that was presented to me before was correct, then the Changelings had a hoof in Discord's downfall. We will show no mercy."

Dark Hoof bowed once and left him alone. Closing the door with a flick of his tail, he walked to the balcony and sighed heavily, taking inventory of everything around him. There had been a change in the air since his awakening as well as the feeling that all was not as it seemed. His memory was fuzzy and was dotted with holes, images and strange flashes of Orange. He was back in Equestria with no memory of how he had returned and wondered exactly what the vials of Harmony Energy had done to his internals all those years ago. However, he did know one thing.

All of Equestria would finally fall to Xonix.

TBC…

AN: Yup, I'm guessing everyone saw that coming. If you didn't, you haven't been paying attention in my stories.